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Last Embryo Volume 4 Interlude Part 4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

He was wondering what sort of trickery he was going to resort to, but much to his further surprise Orpheus did nothing of the sort. He simply too the silver lyre that was attached to the belt on his waist, unfastened it, thrown it onto the sand at his feet and stood there with his arms widely spread, completely defenseless, waiting for what Heracles was going to do.

Now that he has thrown his weapon away, there was no way for him to fight back or back down from this. And yet, here he was, standing his ground firmly with his eyes filled with iron determination even when faced with Heracles and his truly devilish appearance as he shouted with all his might

「What are you looking so surprised about?! You said it yourself, right?! That you are only going to believe in the words of someone who is at death’s door! Have you forgotten that I am first and foremost a poet?! The one who uses words to spin and weave wonderful stories meant to enthrall my audience?! You should know what that means, right?! Oh yes, that is right! I am willing to do literally everything in order to capture the hearts of my listeners, you included, so if it means that in order to do so I have to lay my life in your hands, then of course I am going to do it without a second thought!」

「Ngh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !!!」

「Now come, Heracles! Do it! Strike me down where I stand! DO IT!!! And once you slay me, make sure to listen to my deathbed confession carefully, as it will reveal the truth to you! This is going to be my last, most important performance, but if it will make you lend your ears to my words and listen to them sincerely, then it will definitely be worth exchanging my life for it! So come on, let the great poet Orpheus reveal the results of his final investigation to you!」

Faced with the ferocious assault of Orpheus’s words, Heracles retreated backwards ever so slightly. As far as he remembered, Orpheus was not someone who expressed his emotions in such a fiery, passionate manner.

Heracles did not know what caused Orpheus to behave in such an unnatural way, but whatever it was, it must have been important enough for him to be ready to lay down his life to make him listen to it. However. . .

「Preposterous! Are you out of your mind?! Have you really gone so mad that you are willing to bet your life on the line just so that I could hear you recite a poem?!」

「That is right! That is exactly right, Heracles! For us poets, our words are our swords, spears, shields, bows, and most importantly: our biggest pride! When it comes down to it, we poets are really not all that different from you warriors! Do you want to know why?! Because just like you risk your lives on the battlefield, we are also risking our lives for our public, always with but a single thought in our minds: 「Please, let my voice reach you!」. And we are doing this every time we go out on stage to perform, with every single poem!」

Heracles was about to ask him 「And you are really ready to die for such a petty reason?!」but ultimately these words did not leave his mouth. He felt like he was going out of the ring with this one, but in reality it was just the opposite. For the poet who was always betting his life so that his words could reach his listeners, there was no greater provocation than that.

「My friend. You have to know that I am not saying all of that on just a whim.  If only I could, I would have explained everything to you in detail, but we simply do not have the time. The irregularity that is happening right now is so serious that I, the traitor, have no other choice but to ask you, one of the people that I have betrayed, for help. Just a while ago I managed to persuade Canaria’s son to lend me his aid as well, but even with him on my side, I still do not know if everything is going to work out. But even so I want to do everything that I can. . . no, I have to do everything that I can.」

When he finished talking, he bowed down to him deeply. Heracles was holding up his fist, but he could not bring himself to swing it towards him. Sure enough, right now Heracles was convinced that Orpheus was a traitor responsible for {Arcadia’s} downfall, but he also sensed within him the same kind of determination that was driving him forward when they were travelling in search of the Golden Fleece on a journey that transformed his human nature, as well as when they were fighting against the Demon Lord Dystopia. The humanity he was feeling emanating from him now was exactly the same as during their past days.

(… But… but it does not change the fact that Orpheus is still a traitor. . . . .  !!!)

He clenched his fist tightly and slowly raised it above his head. If he brings down divine punishment on this man right now, he will definitely bring justice and relief to all the members of their Community who have fallen into namelessness because of him. That is the least that he can do repay them, and to get revenge on their behalf. Even though the current {No Name} Community managed to pick themselves back up again and regain the fame they have lost, surely they must have gone through a lot of hardships for the last three years to get back to where they are now, and many of their members were probably hurt while they were going through the unreasonable amount of trials that have been placed before them. What is more. . .  when Canaria died, what kind of feelings she, who admired Orpheus as her master and longed for him as a man, held in her heart when the time came for her to pass away?

「. . . . . You said that you talked to the boy whom Canaria was raising like her own son? What did that young man had to say when he has heard your story?」

「Well, when I told him the truth he started to chase me, so I ran away from him, but he eventually caught me and I was really prepared that he was going to kill me, but luckily enough for me it did not look like he was interested in taking my life at all.」

「I see. If they boy who had the biggest right of all to claim your life decided to spare you, then I guess am going to stay my fists as well.」

And just like that, Heracles did exactly as he said: he lowered his fist, which was about ready to be swung down on Orpheus and crush his skull. Heracles, known from his legends and folklore for his straightforward and passionate nature actually quelled his anger and stayed his fist from claiming yet another victim. This just goes to show that he must have concluded that Orpheus’s words must have been greatly valuable.

「Orpheus. Before I will listen to your story, there is just one thing that I would like to confirm with you.」

「Of course. What is it?」

「When exactly did you betray the Community? Was it before the fall of the Great Federation? Or after that?」

That simple question made Orpheus a little upset, so much so that he actually diverted his gaze away from Heracles. That was the subject he was purposefully trying to avoid as much as he could. Even if he tried to make excuses now, that would have not lessened the weight of his sins, so he decided to omit that subject entirely.

However, help came to him from the most unexpected side.

Leticia, who heard everything the two of them were talking about, immediately jumped in to offer him a helping hand.