Ord's passionate speech was filled with intense emotion and persuasiveness as if he might breathe fire at any moment, but unfortunately, it had no impact on me.
It was proof that no matter how good the message is, if the messenger is trash, it has no persuasive power.
Would anyone seriously listen to con artists, robbers, and murderers gathered together to criticize government corruption?
That's why, instead of being impressed and agreeing with Ord's words, I threw back a scathing sneer.
Perhaps he hadn't expected such a reaction, as Ord let out a couple of awkward fake coughs before finally explaining the real reason.
"So... Heid is gritting his teeth and trying to kill you, so you decided to strike first before you get hit?"
"...For the organization as a whole, that's about right. Though my personal motive is as I said before."
"Ah, never mind that."
Yes, yes. I see that's your setting. You're really serious about your concept, just like a late teenager. But who would believe that?
"What do you mean never mind, my motive is the noble cause and most sublime—"
"Anyway, I understand the reason itself. You drew your sword to survive, right?"
"..."
As I had expected, the reason they decided to assassinate the heroes wasn't because of some grand cause, but simply because they were attacked by the heroes first.
The fight that started from the moment Ord himself and another executive, Hicks, who were aiming for the Jötunn's heart, encountered Heid's party.
That day, Ord lost half of the monster army he had brought, and Hicks even had his head cut off and hung on the city walls.
Since then, Heid has been persistently tracking down traces of the Reversal Society and cutting off their limbs one by one, it seems?
He raided and burned down one of the hideouts of the self-proclaimed second-in-command Ariane, annihilated two branches of the cult group worshipping Ganagl as God's messenger, and destroyed numerous other subordinate organizations, they say.
So, fearing that their organization might be completely uprooted if left alone, they finally decided to eliminate Heid...
"So, do you have a method?"
Now that I knew the reason, it was time to ask about the plan.
I needed to know whether these guys were pushing some absurd armchair theory like the diary of a delusional patient as a plan, or if they really had a secret strategy to bring down a hero.
"We do have one, but... it seems a bit early to tell you about it."
Perhaps feeling a bit uneasy about telling the whole plan, Ord trailed off and hesitated.
Ha, really. So full of suspicion and fear. This guy with both eggs intact had less guts than me who had lost my eggs.
"It's a serious matter, isn't it? I can't just cooperate without knowing what kind of plan you have. I have no intention of joining a suicide march of daydreamers."
I shrugged my shoulders lightly and took a step towards him.
"We're not talking about just any enemy, but a hero. A hero who faced both of you simultaneously, killed one and repelled the other. And not just any hero, but the prince of Hervor himself."
With an attitude suggesting I would shake hands right away if just a few concerning points were resolved, as his proposal was tempting.
"If you were me, could you get involved in something like this without knowing the plan? Rather than stepping into such a dangerous situation without knowing anything, it might be safer to continue living as a wanted person like now."
To be frank, now that I had obtained the Valkyria's helmet, there was no reason I couldn't continue living as a wanted person.
Just by mixing in with the crowd, the number of pursuers would be reduced to less than a tenth.
"You speak well. Do you have the confidence to live as a wanted person? How long do you think you can hold out with just the two of you?"
"Well, probably longer than you guys?"
Ord, not knowing that I had such an item, seemed to judge this as mere bluff.
"You're strangely confident. Do you have something you're relying on?"
"Well. Even if I did, you'd understand I wouldn't tell you, right? No fool would reveal their lifeline to others."
"Hmmmm..."
Ord let out a long hum while hardening his expression. It was an expression that seemed to show serious internal conflict. Although only his mouth was visible.
* * *
In the end, after deep contemplation, Ord agreed to my words.
I had expected that. In an argument, once one side takes a step back, they have no choice but to keep conceding. The initiative in the conversation had already completely shifted to my side.
"Tch, there's not enough time to explain everything, so I'll summarize it briefly. That should be enough, right?"
"Probably?"
Ord, not even trying to hide his annoyance, explained the plan in a very reluctant tone.
"Hmm... Well, alright. That's if things go well."
It was an explanation that I could somewhat understand.
In my judgment, to kill a hero and survive safely, three preconditions had to be met:
A strategy to lure the hero into his grave, the power to kill him, and backing to mitigate the aftermath of killing a hero.
If any of the three was lacking, we would either fail to kill the hero or, even if successful, we wouldn't be able to avoid death ourselves.
And Ord's explanation was barely meeting these three preconditions.
The method to lure Heid was simple. Apparently, if Ord himself, weakened after losing many monsters, exposed his whereabouts, Heid would come running thinking it's a good opportunity?
Luring Heid's party to near the border area was the first step of the plan.
The second step was securing the power to take down Heid. That was precisely the reason why they were trying to bring me in.
My role was to openly cause trouble within the Kingdom of Rhine, to induce as many kingdom troops as possible to chase after me.
Then, the core of the plan was to activate large-scale illusion magic the moment Heid and the kingdom troops arrive at the trap laid in the border area, making them fight each other.
Heid's party might be able to resist the illusion magic, but the kingdom troops wouldn't be able to, so they would end up fighting each other.
The role of the Abyss Priests was to snipe only Heid's party from afar while they were fighting each other.
In other words, helping the Rhine Kingdom troops to kill Heid after a fierce battle.
After that, everything would be resolved, they say?
As a result, it would look like the Kingdom of Rhine had killed Hervor's hero, so it was obvious that the conflict and chaos between the two countries would be extreme.
Both Rhine and Hervor would be in no position to worry about Abyss Priests, so they said they would just quietly disappear using that chaos.
I asked if they could really feel safe with just that, and Ord answered that there was no problem because they had a noble backer in the Kingdom of Hervor who would help them go into hiding.
"A noble? Who is that? Must be someone with some power, I guess?"
"You could say that."
Perhaps the most important information.
I persistently inquired about the identity of this noble 'backer', and Ord, in a tone that seemed tired of it, finally told me the name and position of that person.
How careless.
Thanks to my repeatedly muttering interjections that suggested I liked it throughout his explanation of the plan, he seemed to think I had completely come over to their side mentally.
"I've told you everything there is to tell. Now it's time to hear your answer."
Seeing him urge me to make a decision in a tone like some kind of ultimatum.
If I said NO here, he would probably pounce on me right away, saying I know too much to be left alive. In that case, my answer is...
"Alright, I'll cooperate. Just one last question."
"Again? What else could you possibly ask? Isn't this enough?"
Ord twisted the corner of his mouth as if disgusted.
"No, it's really nothing. Just, well... there's still some time left until the day of action, right? I was wondering how you plan to contact me during that time. You burned the clue to track me earlier."
A question premised on cooperation.
"Ah, right. I forgot to explain that."
Perhaps even Ord himself thought it was a reasonable thing to ask, as he relaxed his expression and let out a hollow laugh.
"There's a hideout prepared about two hours away from here. You can stay there until preparations are complete."
"Oh, really? Pretty thorough."
So he's saying that while there's no way to track me, he's prepared a place in advance so he can contact me anytime if needed?
"That's... yes, enough to shake hands on."
I smiled brightly and extended my right hand towards him.
As if I had learned everything I needed to know, and was ready to put aside my suspicions and cooperate fully.
"Let's work well together from now on."
"...Hmph."
Ord stared at my outstretched hand for a long time, then let out a faint snort and grasped it.
And so, the dramatic negotiation between the Knight of Betrayal and the Abyss Priest was concluded.
I firmly grasped Ord's hand and shook it lightly, as if demonstrating solid trust.
"Umm. It's about time to let go of my hand..."
Ord seemed quite awkward with this kind of physical contact, slightly shrugging his shoulders and trying to subtly pull his hand away, but...
"Huh? Hand? Ah, right."
No, no. Now that we've finally shaken hands like this, if we're going to shake hands, we should do it properly. Right?
We've just barely grasped hands.
The next moment, my dagger was lodged in Ord's temple.
* * *
Crunch!
The blade piercing through the opposite temple. Vivid droplets of blood stain my left gauntlet in spots.
"Gurkh...?!"
Ord, who had been shaking like he'd been struck by lightning, rolled back his eyes while letting out a grotesque groan.
A surprise attack of pulling the grasped right hand hard while drawing out the dagger and striking. He offered his head to me without even being able to react.
Of course. No matter how strong, he's still a spellcaster in the end. How could he respond to a knight's surprise attack at this distance?
The moment our hands grasped each other, his life was already in my hands. And I harvested that life without delay.
"How foolish. You called me the Knight of Betrayal, yet you didn't even suspect that I might betray you?"
I sneered at him while grasping the dagger like a handle, facing his face.
From the start, I had intended to just extract information by going along with his words and then betray him.
I was already falsely accused of colluding with Abyss Priests, and if I helped these guys in that situation, the false accusation would turn into truth.
If that happened, there would be no way to explain it. It means I would have no choice but to live as a top-class wanted criminal for the rest of my life.
They probably knew this well from the start, which is why they used the word 'companion'. Meaning that once we joined together, I couldn't escape anymore.
These kinds of guys are like drugs, once you touch them even once, you can't return to your previous life.
Even if I tried to cut ties after killing the hero, they would use evidence of my assistance in the hero's assassination as leverage to arbitrarily control and use me.
Probably.
So what else could I do? I had to kill him.
Originally, I had planned to mix in with them like a comrade and then backstab them at a critical moment, but looking at the state of their plan, it didn't seem like such an opportunity would come.
From the start, it was questionable whether I could pull off such an act well.
If by any chance my true intentions or Friede's identity were discovered in the middle of them, that day would become our death anniversary.
Therefore, after a moment's deliberation, I finally decided to kill Ord here. Even before asking him various questions.
This bastard was talking so much without even knowing it was his own memorial day. I really thought I was going to die laughing.
Squish.
I turned the dagger like a lever, mashing up the inside of his head, then let go of his convulsing right hand and drew my longsword to hack his body into pieces.
Thoroughly enough that even if he had some nasty ability like regeneration, he wouldn't even dream of regenerating.
"As expected of Miss Hilde! I believed in you!"
Friede, who had been watching, let out a cheer. It felt like I had done something good for the first time in a while, so my mood improved a bit.