Chapter 1210: 197. A Good Person
“P-please... come in.”
Not long after Hamreign knocked on the door, a woman opened it and led the two of them inside.
The woman’s expression was timid, and she was clearly extremely afraid of the two of them. Especially when facing Hamreign, the hands hidden inside her sleeves were trembling uncontrollably.
“You should know what we came here to do.”
“I-I know. Lord Morton already told us everything.”
“Then what are you still afraid of?”
Muen tried his best to make his smile look a little kinder and more approachable.
“We are not going to do anything bad. We are only here to briefly go through the procedure. We will leave very soon.”
“...”
Muen’s handsome and striking face clearly made the woman freeze for a moment, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. But immediately afterward, as though she had suddenly thought of something, she violently shook her head, and her expression became even more frightened.
“Y-you can forget about bewitching me!”
“???”
Muen stared at her in complete confusion.
“What bewitching?”
“S-stop lying. Lord Morton is helping you because you bewitched him, isn’t he? Otherwise, why would he obediently listen to everything you say?”
The woman gritted her teeth and turned her gaze aside, completely refusing to look directly at Muen.
“I originally thought you could only bewitch men, so I did not let my husband come open the door. I never expected that you would not care whether it was a man or a woman! You really are... a pervert!”
“...”
Muen was completely dumbfounded.
What did she mean by bewitching men?
And what did she mean by not caring whether it was a man or a woman?
He had clearly won Morton over through the charm of his personality and a few gentle little methods. What the hell did that have to do with bewitchment?
If he were really that powerful, would he still need to be bullied by Miss Dragon every day?
He should be the one bullying Miss Dragon every day!
Could this get any more exaggerated?
“Do not go over there.”
In a corner of the courtyard that looked very concealed, but was still not concealed enough to escape Muen’s eyes, a middle-aged man was firmly shielding two little girls behind him while solemnly warning them,
“Be careful. This pervert might not even spare children.”
“Waaah... Mommy.”
The little girls lowered their voices and began to cry sorrowfully. It seemed that, in their eyes, their mother, who was facing the “pervert” alone, was already in an extremely dangerous situation.
Their mother... was about to be defiled by the blond-haired villain and become unclean.
“...Where exactly did all of you hear such ridiculous claims?”
Muen finally could not hold himself back anymore. His cheek twitched.
“Who is spreading rumors about me again?”
“Huh? Is it not true?”
The woman frowned.
“This is a perfectly reasonable conclusion that we reached. It should not be wrong.”
“Isn’t that just wild speculation?”
Muen covered his forehead with one hand.
After Miss Dragon’s warning, although this place looked like nothing more than an ordinary residence, he had already been cautious enough.
When they entered, he had even hidden behind Miss Dragon.
He had not expected that he would still be injured.
Mentally injured.
“Heh.”
“Miss Dragon, you are laughing at me, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“You clearly are. I heard it.”
“You heard wrong.”
Hamreign turned around, giving Muen no opportunity to continue questioning her, and walked toward the courtyard.
Then, beneath Muen’s utterly astonished gaze, she stretched out a hand toward the two little girls in the corner.
“Would you like some candy?”
Hamreign’s face was still concealed by mist, just like this scarred land, impossible to see clearly.
But at this very moment, she truly seemed to have restrained all of her majesty and hostility. So much so that when she approached, the two little girls did not appear overly frightened.
Seeing this...
Muen forcefully closed his eyes.
The most terrifying calamity in the world, an evil dragon, an existence symbolizing destruction and doom, was actually handing candy to little girls.
He must have suffered such severe mental damage that he had begun hallucinating.
You monster, how dare you pretend to be Miss Dragon?
Reveal yourself!
“If you eat the candy, will you stop crying? I dislike children crying.”
“Okay...”
With tears still clinging to the corners of their eyes, the two little girls stared blankly at Hamreign as she used those fair, jade-like hands—hands capable of effortlessly crushing a demonic beast’s skull—to unwrap the candies and place them into their little mouths.
The candy truly worked.
The little girls immediately stopped crying. Even the woman and the middle-aged man exchanged glances, and the fear in their eyes gradually faded away.
“Inspection complete. There is no problem.”
Hamreign stood up, turned around, and asked in confusion,
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I am only slapping myself.”
Muen lightly patted his cheeks, his eyes filled with doubt toward the entire world.
“I want to use this pain to return myself to the real world.”
“Is that so?”
Hamreign nodded.
“I can help you with such a small request.”
As she spoke, that fair and slender hand, capable of effortlessly crushing a demonic beast’s skull, began to—
“I’m back! I’m back!”
Muen jolted and looked around with bright, alert eyes.
“Ah, it feels wonderful to return to the real world. Even Miss Dragon in the real world looks much prettier!”
“Then get to work.”
“Yes!”
Muen quickly took out the register and marked it.
“Mm. The Binnings family of four. All of them are normal. By the way, should we inspect the dog in the corner as well?”
“I have already inspected the entire house. There is no problem. Next household.”
“All right.”
They came in a hurry and left in a hurry.
The two of them left just like that, without even leaving behind the slightest trace.
And so, in the empty courtyard, apart from the sweet sounds of the little girls licking their candies, everything suddenly fell into ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) an eerie silence.
After a long silence, the woman and the middle-aged man looked at each other. The tension in their hearts gradually eased, and the woman cautiously said,
“Perhaps... they really are as Lord Morton said. They do not have any bad intentions?”
“I do not know.”
The man pulled a steel plate out from behind his buttocks and sighed.
“But no matter what... I hope so.”
...
...
After leaving the first household, they went to the next one, then the one after that, repeating the process over and over again.
The inspections were tedious and simple. Occasionally, there would be a sentence or two of conversation, and Muen tried to restore his image, which, for some unknown reason, had already become even worse than Hamreign’s.
But it was completely useless. Instead, he suffered all kinds of devastating blows.
Pervert.
Demon.
Evil blond-haired man.
The evil dragon’s *slave.
In short... there was every kind of description imaginable.
Because of the stories left behind by the survivors, Hamreign’s image as an evil dragon had basically already become fixed in the hearts of the people. There was no room left for any “secondary creation.”
But when it came to Muen, this lackey of an Evil God who had followed her here, there was far too much room for imagination.
This was the disadvantage of separating everyone from one another. Information could not circulate accurately, but the people delivering supplies would unintentionally reveal a little “inside information.” As a result, when many things depended entirely on personal imagination and “inside information,” and were further catalyzed by fear, every possible kind of speculation appeared.
And so, in the span of only a few hours, Muen felt that, in the eyes of many residents, he had already completely evolved into something resembling Cthulhu, a symbol of the indescribable and mysterious...
Some people even came up with the especially absurd theory that Hamreign was the lackey, and that he, Muen Campbell, was the true mastermind behind everything.
Heh. They really thought highly of him.
They might as well say that he possessed incomparable bewitching power, to the point that even Miss Dragon had been forced to become intoxicated by his “beauty.”
At the time, Muen had been unable to stop himself from letting out a cold laugh. Then, beneath Miss Dragon’s icy gaze, he had hurriedly offered her candy to calm her anger.
However, time was pressing, and their current inspection method was already inefficient. Naturally, Muen had no opportunity to explain himself.
Fortunately, not everyone looked at him through such “colored glasses.”
Within this cold city, there was always at least a little genuine warmth.
“Big brother!”
The moment they entered the house, an enthusiastic and lively little girl directly hugged Muen’s leg.
“And this big sister too! You came! Mom, Dad, hurry over! Big brother and big sister are here! I told you that the two of them are not bad people!”
“Good girl. Little Daphne is so adorable.”
Muen gently stroked the little girl’s head. The little girl immediately giggled, revealing two dimples on her cheeks.
She was none other than the little girl Muen and Hamreign had encountered when they first arrived in this city.
Daphne.
At the very beginning, it had been Daphne who introduced Muen to the most basic good and beautiful things in this city.
She had even taken him to watch that puppet show and allowed him to learn about that ancient story.
And even now, this innocent little girl still did not believe that the beautiful big sister she had met back then was the legendary evil dragon.
Nor did she believe that the big brother who had lifted her high into the air so that she could watch the puppet show was a bad person.
They were both good people.