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Maou no Hajimekata Volume 3 Chapter 5 Part 5

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist  Editor: Weasalopes

「I have to say, it’s pretty impressive.」

Aur muttered, shaking the chains that made the rattling sound.

「And I have to say that I honestly can’t make head or tails out of you.」

Folio said, staring at Aur who was tied to the wall with thick chains.

「Well, be as vigilant as you want, but without your precious magic power I doubt you’ll be able to do much. Shame on you for using it all up during our battle.」

Having no other option, Aur fell onto the hard floor. Such a pity, he muttered in his head. Even if it isn’t his own Dungeon, he would have never ended up in this situation if the amount of magic power in the air wasn’t so abysmally low. But in this poor Dungeon, every bit of magic power he could save up could save his life in a pinch, and now he went and wasted almost all of it. He really got careless, and now he is paying the price.

「Is Froro safe?」

「Who knows? Lady Bran took her, and that’s all I know.」

「… I see.」

Without the magic power, his Dungeon Cube gone and Froro not by his side, he won’t be able to live much longer. There’s no point in him eating any food anymore, since the amount of magic power recovered that way won’t be able to sustain him for even a day, and without Froro to share her own magic power with him, he’s just going to starve to death.

「Lady Folio…」

As Aur was lying on the ground, Radico appeared before him.

「So at least you’re safe.」

「Of course she is. She’s a dear subordinate of mine, after all.」

Since he brainwashed her, he was afraid that they might try to dispose of her.

「Lady Folio, what will happen to Aury now?」

「Most likely we will extract his Skills from him and execute him.」

「Execute…」

Radico’s eyes dropped and her face became clouded with sadness. Seeing that, Aur felt a slight tinge of nostalgia.

「Can you, like, not do it?」

「I’m afraid that is not for me to decide.」

Folio seemed to be quite fond of Radico, because she brushed her hair to cheer her up.

「Tell me. What is your purpose?」

「Purpose… purpose, huh?」

When asked by Folio, Aur’s eyes seemed to be looking far, far away. Right now he’s helping Froro become the true ruler, but that is not his own purpose.

「I just want to go back to where I rightfully belong.」

Even though it has only been a few days at best, he truly wanted to go back home, to his wives, children and friends. Recalling all of their faces, he said what he said.

「So you really have come here from another world?」

「Yes.」

A glimpse of sympathy flashed in Folio’s eyes. To an extent, she could understand how he felt, stranded all alone in a foreign land, engaged in a conflict between the forces that had nothing to do with him.

「Well, I guess I could at least try to convince Bran not to kill you.」

Although she had no idea if she would even be willing to listen to her.

「Much appreciated, but that won’t be necessary.」

However, Aur shook his head, refusing the offer.

「… I see. Well, even if I tried to convince her, it wouldn’t probably change much, so I understand your reluctance.」

「It’s not about that.」

Aur shook his head once more, and Folio shrugged her shoulders.

「It’s because you’re going to be angry with me in a second.」

「What? What are you…?」

But before Folio could even finish tilting her head, Nagia appeared behind her, burying a dagger in her back.

「Are you unharmed, Lord Aur?」

「More or less.」

Nagia’s snake lower half does not make any sound when she’s moving, so Folio didn’t even realize that Nagia was standing behind her.

「Lady Folio?!」

「Do not worry. She’s just paralyzed.」

Radico rushed towards Folio, and Aur touched her shoulder to calm her down.

The paralysis was made possible to Nagia possessing the 『Paralyzing Needle』 Skill extracted g=from the Scorpion Bee.

「Why… how…?」

Folio barely managed to ask by exerting her paralyzed tongue to the maximum. She was certain that Nagia would be dead. Because of her disloyalty and being exposed as the spy, Yueloi and Bran deemed her as no longer useful and ordered her to be disposed of because she knew more than she needed to know.

「Fufufu, it was all thanks to my beloved Lord Aur of course!」

Nagia smiled bewitchingly as she clung onto Aur’s body.

「I never thought he was really going to trust someone like me.」

Betrayer. Sellout. Two-faced liar. Nagia herd those insults countless times, to the point that she actually began to believe them. But they were all right. After all, she did sell the information about Aur to both Sarnak and Yueloi.

「Oh, I believed in you alright.」

That is why Aur believed in her.

「I believed tha you will betray Yueloi as well.」

No one else could pull that off but her.

Aur does not believe in anyone or anything in the first place. Therefore, his suspicions were not suspicions, but a conviction. All this time he acted under the assumption that Nagia was going to betray him.

He used up his magic power, that much was true, But most of that magic power went into secretly monitoring Nagia. He studied her, and learned everything about her: her principles, beliefs, what she wanted and what she did not want. Nagia communicated with all kinds of forces, not just Yueloi and Sarnak, and at the same time she betrayed all of them. She wasn’t driven by profit. If you want to further your own goals, you need a certain amount of honesty, Like Gnome, the merchant of Aur’s dungeon.

So why does Nagia continue to betray everything? Because to her, nothing really mattered. Truth, justice, sincerity, love, all of them meaningless. She has no need for them and sees no value in protecting them. She didn’t believe in anything, because nobody believed in her.

But Aur was the first one who actually believed in her when she didn’t believe in herself and entrusted her with some of his magic: a type of illusion that disguises and hides one’s presence. You can use it to fake your own death or become the ultimate assassin who can sneak everywhere without making any noise. She received so much trust… and yet she betrayed it again. She could kill Aur anytime she wanted. But she chose not to do it.

「Radico, can you break this chain for me?」

「Sure. But you won’t do anything bad to Lady Froro, right?」

「Of course I won’t.」

When nodded with a smile, Radico pulled the chains that bound him with a short 「Ei!」, tearing it out of the wall as if was made out of paper.

「I’ll just get to know her better, same as I did with you.」

When Aur titled his head with a wicked smile, an inaudible scream escaped Folio’s mouth.