I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 180

“If we catch the culprit… do you think I could kill them before handing them over to the city guards?”

The sudden statement shocked everyone.

“…What?”

How should they interpret that…. Damon furrowed his brows, pondering how to respond.

Edwin didn’t ask for an answer. He spoke to inform them of the center issue, and also as a form of self-reassurance for himself.

“He’s a wizard who’s already killed many people. We’ll have to kill him before we capture him, not bring him in alive.”

Edwin had decided to stop hesitating about eliminating his brother. He had been hesitant before, and that’s how this situation arose. 

More than anything, if he didn’t handle it, Illenas would die. 

So, he needed to make up his mind this time.

The atmosphere had become heavy.

When Illein first came here, she hadn’t expected any of this. She had just hoped for Edwin to wake up. So, she hadn’t imagined it at all.

Now, hearing Edwin’s first words after waking, talking about the death of the culprit, felt like a burden to her. For some reason, that statement didn’t sit well with her at all.

Something about it felt off. Was it instinct or intuition?

She couldn’t understand why it bothered her so much. But despite that, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

The culprit was a serial killer, after all. 

Not just that, but a criminal who had targeted a prince of the imperial family. A truly unforgivable sinner. It was only right that the culprit be captured and punished for their crimes.

But…

It felt as though someone was grabbing her by the back of the head, making it difficult for her to accept. 

And that thought kept swirling around in her mind.

Was it right to kill a serial killer just because of their crimes? She wasn’t sure.

Her thoughts were clouded, and she struggled to sort them out. As a result, she couldn’t focus on the conversation around her.

“Ill…ein!”

She was jolted from her thoughts by her name being called several times, she realized only then that she hadn’t understood what was being said.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! What?”

She quickly looked around, unsure of what the person had been saying when they called her. She wanted to get a sense of the atmosphere to figure out what was happening. 

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the situation was too serious. But, aside from that, her mind remained confused.

“What do you think?” 

Edwin asked for her opinion.

Illein didn’t quite understand what he was asking. She hadn’t fully grasped the meaning behind his question yet, so she asked for clarification.

“Huh? What, what do you mean?”

“The part about killing him. Don’t you think it’s right to deal with someone dangerous like him for the sake of everyone?”

Why was Edwin asking for her agreement? She didn’t understand why her opinion mattered so much. The silent pressure from his gaze made her even more confused. She couldn’t grasp the point of her agreeing either.

However, when Edwin’s intense gaze met hers, she found herself unable to speak easily.

“Hmmm…”

Illein wished someone would come to her aid in this awkward situation. But neither Damon nor Melias seemed to notice.

Melias stood silently, while Damon just smiled as if he found something amusing. 

Illein puffed her cheeks out and sighed quietly, trying not to show it. After a brief pause to gather her thoughts, she finally spoke again. 

It wasn’t a complete agreement, nor was it a denial, but a conclusion she could live with.

“Well… Considering the gravity of the situation, maybe it’s the right thing to do. After all, this is happening in the imperial capital, not somewhere else.”

It was a reasonable thing to say.

“However, I think the issue is us carrying out the execution ourselves. That seems a bit risky, don’t you think?”

Sometimes the truth doesn’t always lead to the right answer. In fact, because it is the truth, many people tend to shy away from it. 

Edwin was no exception. He frowned slightly at Illein’s response, seemingly feeling a bit disappointed.

It was then that Melias, who had been absent from the conversation, finally joined in.

“That’s true. After all, we’re not elite knights.”

Illein gave a small, relieved expression at Melias’ straightforward answer, and Edwin was about to speak but stopped himself. The conversation naturally came to an end like that.

Had Damon not interfered, it likely would have ended there.

Originally, Damon had planned to just listen quietly. He somewhat agreed with Edwin’s suggestion and had been holding back from offering his own opinion, knowing that expressing any view here could later create political burdens. 

However, it was hard for him to stay silent when Melias took Illein’s side.

“Melias, what are you talking about? You, who spars with elite knights?”

For some reason, Damon’s irritation bubbled over, and his words came out sharply. In response, Melias’ neck flushed red, likely from being caught off guard.

“…Well, I manage the family’s knights. Even so, knights who exist solely for battle are different from regular people like us.”

By typical standards, this would make sense. Knights were not considered ordinary people.

Damon didn’t like the way Melias kept pretending to be humble. He couldn’t understand why he was acting weak.