The figure who appeared with a roar was none other than the Inquisitor, ‘Leonardo Louis Button’.

“…Didn't expect to see you here, Louis Button.”

It was an unexpected appearance.

Broadly speaking, it wasn't entirely unrelated, but my plans for rebuilding the Demonic Cult never included a scenario where he would show up here in person.

‘…He can't have come simply as support to hunt magical beasts.’

Even though a horde of magical beasts had appeared unannounced on the Shandong Peninsula, the urgency of the matter was primarily the responsibility of the Murim Empire.

Of course, as The Order keeps an eye on all the anti-demon fronts of the allied nations, they would have known about what happened here. But for an official from The Order to intervene directly within a nation’s borders was something that only happened when a situation became so severe that initial measures failed to resolve it.

Like when a regional anti-demon war began to turn drastically, or when an allied nation suffered damage tantamount to annihilation.

Of course, that wasn’t to say the sudden magical beast attack wasn't serious.

But that was only when looking at it from a local perspective.

Relatively speaking, the continent was riddled with regions that were more important and in more critical situations than this one.

For him to have come here simply because of a horde of magical beasts was, by common sense, illogical.

…Besides, Louis Button wasn't just any ‘official from The Order’; he was a High Priest, holding the highest rank just below the Head of the Order.

Of course, he was the type who liked to wander around and was known to be restless.

Still, he wasn't idle enough to personally intervene in the affairs of a rural backwater like this.

Which meant.

He had come here for a reason separate from the appearance of magical beasts.

In that case, I could only think of one possibility.

‘The Primal Magical Beast.’

Sure enough.

“…You’ve gotten yourself involved in a dangerous matter, Mr. Seo U-jin.”

He muttered, his gaze shifting toward the Demonic Sword I was holding.

It seemed he already knew.

About the Demonic Sword ‘Chiyou’, and the Primal Magical Beast tied to it.

Shrug-

“Have I?”

“…Don't play coy. We're well past the point where you can feign ignorance.”

“……”

“It's no use pretending you don't know.”

He was right.

It was ridiculous for me to feign ignorance now, especially with the horn-shaped manifestation of the Heavenly Demon's trait, ‘Bronze Head and Iron Forehead’, on me.

Everything had already been laid bare before the Constellation, ‘Sword Sage’.

And there was no way a man who came here knowing about the Primal Magical Beast would be ignorant of the ‘Demonic Sword’.

Pretending not to know about the Demonic Sword in front of him right now would be a pointless endeavor.

“……”

Ssk-

Louis then picked up Jegal Cheon’s severed arm, examined his condition, and clicked his tongue, his brow furrowed.

“…Tsk.”

…It wasn’t hard to guess why.

[The Holy Relic, ‘The Most Sacred Demonic Sword’, snorts as it looks at the severed arm.]

[The Holy Relic, ‘The Most Sacred Demonic Sword’, expresses its fury, saying that for such an incompetent human, even this is getting off easy.]

It seemed he was checking if the arm could be reattached, but there was no way that was possible.

Although I hadn't used its full potential, that wound was undeniably inflicted by a ‘Holy Relic’.

At a glance, it might not look much different from a normal wound, but the divinity infused into the sword cut…

…would have melted Jegal Cheon’s Mana Circuit in the arm.

So it wasn't a typical wound that could be reattached simply by connecting nerves and bones.

At the very least, to restore the damaged Mana Circuit, one would need the power of another Holy Relic with the authority of Regeneration, or a legendary potion like an ‘Elixir’.

…Though it was unlikely anyone would use such a precious ability to reattach something like that (?).

“…I believe an explanation is in order.”

Louis Button, who seemed to have grasped the gist of the situation, asked me.

The intent behind his words seemed less like an actual request for an explanation and more like, ‘What are you going to do about this?’

Shrug-

“We did nothing wrong.”

“……”

“That guy came at us first, spouting nonsense about taking the Heavenly Demon's head and what-not about the Demonic Cult. He attacked with the intent to kill on a battlefield. Considering that, getting away with just one arm is quite considerate.”

“……”

“Don't you think?”

At my nonchalant reply, he glanced at Cheong-yi, who was standing behind me, then covered his face with his right hand and let out a sigh.

Haaah-

“…You've really made a mess of things.”

He muttered as if blaming me, but.

He wasn't actually pointing a finger at me for creating this situation.

The point was more on the ‘messed up situation’ itself.

“…I've had my own connections with the descendants of the first Heavenly Demon. So I have a rough idea of why this happened.”

“……”

“It was probably a fight that stemmed simply from the name ‘Demonic Cult’. Just like all the other incidents that have happened until now.”

In fact, unless it was a special case, he would know better than anyone that this situation qualified as ‘self-defense’, just as I had said.

As he himself mentioned, he was one of the few who was well aware of the misunderstandings surrounding the Demonic Cult.

Therefore, considering the circumstances—that the other side attacked first without any valid reason and that my response of severing just one arm was not excessive—

by the ‘Principle of Self-Protection’ upheld by The Order's laws, the act should be considered justified.

That is.

…as long as it wasn't a ‘special case’.

“But… you will likely be punished for this, regardless of who attacked first, Mr. Seo U-jin.”

“……”

What might seem like a simple brawl at first glance was a ‘special case’ involving a conflict between ‘Heroes’ sponsored by The Order.

As Louis said, the principles for handling it were a little different from ordinary cases.

“…In a normal case, it would be recognized as a defensive act against an unjust infringement, just as you said. But this case is a little different.”

“……”

“Because the arm you severed belongs to a ‘Hero’.”

Incidents that occurred within The Order’s territory were, by the ‘territorial principle’, primarily handled within that nation.

However, in cases directly involving Heroes, the anti-demon war, and The Order, the trial was conducted directly under the laws protected by The Order.

And The Order's legal system was broadly divided into two categories.

The ``, which were the foundation of all of The Order’s statutes and could not be violated by any law within its territory.

And the ``, enacted to protect the various forms of justice that exist under the Commandments.

“…Acts of harm between Heroes are forbidden by The Order's ‘Commandments’.”

That was the problem.

The ‘self-defense’ I mentioned earlier was certainly in line with a form of justice protected by The Order, the ‘Principle of Self-Protection’.

However, an act of harm between Heroes was forbidden by something that belonged to a higher law.

It was forbidden by The Order's ‘Commandments’, which held absolute authority within the framework of the law.

That was the ‘messed up situation’ Louis was talking about.

“Even if your self-defense is acknowledged, the most you can hope for is a reduced sentence.”

“……”

“‘Irreversible damage’ to a Hero's body is, in itself, an item strictly forbidden by the Commandments.”

Due to the long-standing anti-demon war, the current alliance of The Order was suffering from a severe manpower shortage.

Unlike the magical beasts of the Demon King's Army, which bred and multiplied with each passing year, the growth of The Order's forces was somewhat limited.

This manpower shortage was particularly severe among the ‘Hero-level’ personnel who dealt with named magical beasts and titled demons.

Unlike the imbalance between soldiers, which could be covered to some extent by The Order's magic, the shortage of Hero-level personnel was a problem that even The Order could not easily solve.

Ultimately, they had to reach across dimensions and pull in manpower from lower-dimensional planes.

U-jin himself had obtained his current position as a Hero candidate as part of this ‘Hero system’.

Having gone through such a history, from The Order's perspective, every single Hero they had painstakingly recruited was as precious as gold.

This attitude and situation of The Order were specifically manifested in.

The act of ‘Hero-slaying’, which was forbidden by the ‘Commandments’.

“…I don't think you did something fundamentally wrong. After all, you're someone I officially vouched for.”

“……”

“Still, I'll try to find a way to sort this out, but don't get your hopes up.”

“……”

“…It'll probably be impossible.”

At the end of Louis’s low murmur.

Jegal Cheon, who was disgracefully sprawled on the ground clutching his shoulder, let out a metallic laugh, keukkeuk-.

It seemed the pain in his arm had subsided somewhat, and he had been liberated from the fear of death with Louis's arrival.

“…Serves you right, you son of a bitch.”

“……”

“…How dare you cut off my arm, not knowing your place?”

His face dripping with scorn, he spat out his hatred for me as if in a last-ditch effort.

“You’ll be executed for Hero-slaying, you Demonic Cult flun—”

THWACK-

…His voice was cut short.

“…It’s not execution.”

“……”

“…You pathetic fool.”

It was because Louis, his face deeply scrunched in a frown, had kicked him in his repulsively moving jaw.

Louis’s rare curse and the rather satisfying scene drew a laugh from me, but.

“…Orabeoni.”

“…You.”

Despite my laughter, Cheong-yi and Loxy couldn't join in.

…Well.

It was understandable.

The charge of ‘Hero-slaying’ that Louis mentioned was by no means a light one. Just as he said, aside from getting his self-defense considered for a reduced sentence, I would be dragged to court to be sentenced without recourse.

Even if they didn't know the exact details, it wasn't hard to sense the gravity of the situation from the tone of the conversation.

However.

As the person directly involved, I didn't care.

No.

To be precise.

It was actually a good thing.

Smirk-

At a glance, it might have seemed like a flaw on my smooth path as a Hero.

As if a momentary ‘divergence’ had blocked my future success.

[Bucket List #12]

『Hero-slayer.』

…Because it was part of my plan all along.