"Would you be willing to listen to a story, Lady Fíliya?"
Levi slowly stood up and walked behind the bar counter. Since the store owner, Wolf, had already retreated to wait outside, Levi had to personally pour a fresh drink into his own glass.
I'm not willing... Fíliya originally wanted to say that. She was far too lazy to listen to the past of a middle-aged man like him. However, the current situation was indeed unusual, so she had no choice but to suppress her temper.
She gave a slight nod, signaling for Levi to continue.
"I was born in a small country on the southern continent... Although it was far from the influence of the Demon Race on the northern continent, it was nonetheless filled with conflicts between humans."
"To those born there, the notion that 'Magic is a tool for murder' is an eternal, unchanging truth. Even completely unrelated and innocent people were often swept up in magical attacks."
"When I was just old enough to remember, my older brother was shot to death right in front of me by a magical arrow of light falling from the sky, all to protect me."
Oh... this guy has a brother complex, and he's doing this to avenge his dead older brother?
Before Levi was even halfway through his words, Miss Fíliya couldn't wait to pass judgment on the guy in front of her. This time, however, she was exceptionally polite and didn't interrupt him.
Thus, Levi's recounting continued.
"Later, I grew up a little, and then... I encountered a magical attack that remains fresh in my memory to this day... On that day, the city where I lived since childhood disappeared in an instant. By the time I regained consciousness, all I saw was a field of ruins... I couldn't even find the skeletal remains of my parents."
"What made me despair even more was that this attack wasn't even aimed at my city. It was merely a trace of the aftermath radiating from a nearby battlefield... That is likely the reason why I survived."
"A large-scale magic that far exceeds human imagination like that... Without a doubt, it could only be the handiwork of a Great Mage."
"Within those ruins, I saw a collapsed statue of Hero Himmel... Even knowing that it was entirely meaningless, I still propped that statue back up."
"I worshipped the Hero, but I also harbored resentment toward the Hero. At that time, I thought to myself... The Hero did indeed defeat the Demon King, but... he did not 'save the world'."
"Since the Hero had no way of accomplishing it, then let me complete this unfinished great undertaking with my own two hands... That is what I believed... I wonder what Lady Fíliya thinks of this story?"
As Levi spoke, he began to closely watch Fíliya's reaction.
"Trash! The trashiest of trash, rottener than a stinking egg!"
Fíliya delivered her sharp critique without a moment of hesitation.
"You blabber on about some 'great undertaking to save humanity,' but in the end, isn't it just a personal grudge? The Witch of War, Minuse, destroyed your city and killed your parents. It's completely normal and correct for you to harbor hatred and murderous intent toward her; after all, every debt has its debtor... But I still can't figure out which of your brain cells short-circuited? Why would you think about eradicating magic altogether?"
"Also, why kill those innocent mages? What's the difference between what you're doing and what Minuse did? Do you think putting on the lofty hat of 'saving the world' for your own slaughter makes it justifiable? By that logic, I'd say Minuse killing your parents was also for the sake of the greater good."
"You even brought up Himmel, spouting nonsense about how the Hero didn't save the world. I reckon if he knew about this little stunt you're pulling, he'd be so pissed he'd crawl right out of his grave."
"Analyzing this based on your story, I think there are three targets you could rightfully direct your hatred toward... You could hate Minuse, you could hate the country that started the war, or you could hate 'War' itself. The only thing it's impossible to hate is 'Magic', right? Can you tell me what the hell is going through your mind?"
"Don't tell me you actually think that as long as you eradicate magic, you can eradicate war and stop humans from fighting each other. Because if you do, I'm going to look down on you."
Fíliya threw out this long string of words with a look of utter disgust.
"It is indeed impossible for war to be suddenly eradicated... as long as human malice still exists."
"But if magic is eradicated... at the very least, it can drastically reduce the intensity of war. There will no longer be terrifying attacks capable of wiping out an entire city in an instant."
Fíliya's barrage of verbal attacks seemed to have an effect. Judging by Mr. Levi's expression, he was no longer able to maintain his initial composure.
Hah?
After listening to Levi's words, Fíliya merely felt an urge to laugh out of sheer anger.
To put it plainly, magic was just a tool. Whether it was used to kill or to save people depended entirely on the user's intentions... Why couldn't he understand such a simple concept? Instead of hating the people who started the wars, he hated the weapons. I really overestimated these idiots. Truly worthy of being brainless brutes.
"Is that so? I think you warriors aren't exactly slow when it comes to killing either. Although you can't wipe out a city in an instant, a single night is more than enough for you to slaughter everyone... Do you really think that even without magic, these kingdom-destroying, city-massacring events wouldn't happen? Would your so-called 'intensity of war' truly decrease? Ugh, whatever. I suddenly don't want to talk to you anymore."
Fíliya gave the guy in front of her one last look with extremely disappointed eyes, and then prepared to lead her people away.
"Lady Fíliya, do you plan to just leave like this?"
Seeing Fíliya tear away all pretenses, Levi slowly rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Oh? Have we finally reached this stage? Fair enough, when words sour, even half a sentence is too much. Since I already know about your plan to 'kill Serie', there's no way you could possibly let me leave no matter what, right?"
Fíliya turned around with a cold sneer, then shot a glance at Solitär and Aura. Using their party voice chat, she also notified them to stand closely beside her.
"Lady Fíliya, forgive this old man for speaking bluntly... but it would be best for you to cooperate with us. At this distance, I do not believe you have any chance of resisting."
Finally, the dwarf warrior Valros, who was by Levi's side, also unleashed a razor-sharp aura.
But Fíliya wasn't afraid in the slightest. Instead, she continued to provoke them.
"Is that so? I'm not targeting you specifically, old man. I'm just saying that all of you Shadow Warriors are garbage."
Fíliya revealed an arrogant expression, and then flipped both Levi and Valros the middle finger.
The exact moment Fíliya's voice faded, a crowd of figures appeared from behind. All the Shadow Warriors staking out the door seemed to receive a command, instantly launching a surprise attack toward Fíliya's group. At the same time, right in front of Fíliya, the strongest of the Shadow Warriors, Levi and Valros, swung their weapons and launched their assault at her.
Following a massive, explosive boom, the streaming lights of various martial arts directly obliterated the tavern into a pile of ruins.
However, amidst these ruins, not a single trace of Fíliya's party could be seen anymore.
Thousands of kilometers away from the Empire's royal capital, Fíliya gritted her teeth, her face filled with intense annoyance.
"Dammit... I just bought a whole new set of furniture yesterday... I haven't even had the chance to enjoy it!"
No one expected that the very first thing this girl would do was lament over some furniture.
"I didn't expect you to have this trick up your sleeve... When did you learn it? Spatial Teleportation Magic isn't something that can be mastered so easily... Just how many things are you still hiding from me?"
Solitär glared into Fíliya's eyes with a look of deep resentment.
Originally, she and Aura had already prepared to face the enemy, but Fíliya told them via the party voice chat that she could take them away.
Heh... As if I'd tell you I just learned it.
Fíliya curled her lips. Her emotion points were currently absurdly high. Although she had just spent another twenty million points to exchange for this Spatial Teleportation Magic, she was completely confident that she could quickly recoup the spent points, and it wouldn't affect her progress in acquiring that specific magic.
"Sigh..."
Fíliya suddenly let out a long sigh and then sat down on the grassy ground, looking slightly dispirited.
The coordinates she had locked onto for the teleportation were precisely the lakeside wooden cabin she had built with her own two hands.
"What's wrong? Didn't we get away smoothly? What are you sighing for?"
Aura leaned in with a puzzled expression. In her view, escaping completely unscathed after facing so many warriors—and the siege of two supreme experts to boot—was something utterly worth celebrating.
"You wouldn't understand, Aura... Can you imagine that the imaginary enemy you've built up in your mind for so long turned out to be a bunch of idiots? I feel so empty inside!"
As Fíliya spoke, she genuinely revealed a deeply sorrowful expression, and then proceeded to roll around consecutively on the grass a few times.
"...Then what are we going to do now? Since we already know they're planning to deal with that Serie... Are you going to go back and report to the Magic Association again?"
Solitär crouched down, using her hands to stop Fíliya's continuous rolling, before asking slowly.
"Hmm... Well, how should I put this... I'm really annoyed right now. I'm already tired of playing the role of the 'test-taker'. So I've decided, it's about time I gave these bastards a test of my own."
Fíliya performed a kip-up to jump straight to her feet, her gaze toward Solitär filled with a deeply mysterious hue.
____
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