I Thought I Was the Monster Duke's Fake Tranquilizer - Chapter 37
At those words, the nobles gasped and covered their mouths.
“What? How?!”
“W-Well, it was definitely fine just moments ago, but it seems the demonic beast had struck a pillar during its rampage, causing a crack…!”
“…!”
“The rescue teams have pulled most people out, but in the end, there are casualties…”
“No…!”
“And what’s more, rather than evacuating in time, a great many people had come outside to watch His Grace in action… so those struck by the debris were numerous, they say!”
It was just then that the count’s face, too, went white as ash.
A voiceâpoised and utterly composedâreached them calmly.
“Demonic beasts have poor eyesight. They loathe places like mine shafts where visibility cannot be secured.”
“…”
“Whereas a massive building, standing prominently in the middle of a city.”
“…”
“Would be exceedingly satisfying to trample.”
“…”
“Moreover, had you sent them underground in the first place, there would have been no one venturing outside claiming they wished to watch me.”
It was a voice that seemed merely to state facts.
And that, precisely, made it all the more humiliating for the count.
“Well?”
“…”
“How does it feel, having caused harm to such precious residents of your territory?”
The count and the surrounding nobles turned deathly pale at those words.
“Take responsibility! Take responsibility, I say!”
Rumble.
Among the residents who had evacuated to the academy, those whose families had been injured or killed came surging into the inn’s courtyard in a great wave.
They were clearly in a state of extreme agitation.
So much so that they could no longer even register whether those before them were nobles or a hero.
“Told us to evacuate! And the building we were in was attacked!”
“What on earth were you people doing!”
“My son… my son will be crippled…!”
“You wretches! Such insolence!”
The count attempted to deploy his soldiers to drive them away, but those soldiers who had family and friends among the residents were reluctant to step forward.
And besides, in a situation where this was the count’s fault to begin with…
Everyone was discreetly turning a blind eye to the count’s predicament whenâ
“It’s your fault!”
“…”
“If only you had slain the beast sooner!”
“Hey! Calm yourself!”
“If you had, the building would never have collapsed!”
The arrow suddenly turned toward Edward.
The middle-aged woman crying out for her son beat her chest and poured her resentment onto Edward.
People flustered, attempting to restrain the woman, but a few among them looked at Edward with eyes similar to hers.
If only you had hurried a little more.
You’re a dragon incarnation, after all.
You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your duty.
Sensing that unspoken air, Tepe and Gorgo once again gritted their teeth.
Edward simply wore an impassive look.
Those among the crowd who still retained some reason, along with the innkeeper, rushed forward to block the woman.
“W-We beg your forgiveness, Your Grace. This person is not in her right mind at the moment!”
“Please, have mercy!”
“O hero! O dragon! Please, mercy!”
He could read the eyes of those begging for mercy just as clearly.
A faith of sorts was visible in themâthe belief that a man who was a hero would surely not punish a civilian who had lost her reason over an injured child.
The belief that a dragon incarnation who had remained on earth out of love for humanity would pass over even this with magnanimity and compassion.
A few nobles who had directly glimpsed the manner of Edward’s speech earlier watched him with mildly expectant eyes, but Edward said nothing. He simply closed his mouth.
He wasn’t even angry.
‘Tiresome.’
It was a sickeningly familiar spectacle.
How was it always the same, every time.
Truth be told, Edward understood why they chose to take issue with him.
There was the fact that they hadn’t known the original plan was to evacuate to the mine…
But in any case, the count was a lord they would have to face for the rest of their lives.
Cross him, and they could be driven from the territory without a word of protest.
Edward, on the other hand, was a hero too busy dashing across the continent every time a demonic beast appeared to stay in one place.
He might frequently rebuke nobles, but he had no history of mistreating civilians or punishing them without cause.
It was easy to shift the blame onto a hero who merely passed through.
“…”
Clench.
The sound of Tepe and Gorgo grinding their fists reached his ears.
Their faces flushed crimson with suppressed fury, but Edward felt nothing in particular.
He merely wondered whether the little mouse he had left behind was sleeping well.
It was just then.
“…You left it to him?!”
A small, pale thing came darting out and jabbed an accusing finger at the crowd.
