Published: January 4, 2026
Leaving the magistrate clutching his throat in distress, I turned to face the woman.
Supported by a middle-aged woman, she looked like she wanted to say something, but all that came out were pained groans, her face filled with sorrow.
“Wait a moment.”
I said this to the woman and called Apophis.
“You sensed the poison quickly. Can you neutralize this poison?”
“Easy. Like humans breathe.”
Apophis probably meant it’s as simple as breathing.
After responding in that cryptic manner, a purple, toxic-looking smoke emerged from my bracelet and headed toward the woman.
Apophis’s serpent staff, like Leviathan’s water demon sword, can freely change its apparent size. It was stored small inside my bracelet.
Without returning to its original size, it seemed to emit just “something.”
“—!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t harm you.”
The smoke was visibly poisonous, a deep purple.
The woman flinched and tried to run away, a natural reaction.
But I stopped her.
She hesitated, but before she could decide anything else, the smoke possessed her.
It entered through her mouth and nose.
As if she inhaled with all her might, the smoke quickly filled her entire body.
She twitched and started coughing.
Then...
“...Ah, I can speak.”
“““Ooooooh!!”””
With the woman’s voice restored, cheers erupted all at once from those near the front of the crowd who had heard it.
“Her throat was burning so badly... how?”
“I only neutralized the poison. If it were a disease, I couldn’t say, but poison, I can handle it.”
“I am, the god of poison.”
Apophis said proudly in broken speech.
If it’s poison, there’s no one stronger than him; he can control any poison. Apophis’s confidence conveyed itself to me as a feeling.
That gave me reassurance.
“You’re really amazing. Hey, hey, how did you do that just now?”
The “auntie” on the platform was amazed and impressed.
I ignored her to avoid the conversation going off-track and spoke only to the woman.
“You can talk now. Tell me why this happened. You’re innocent, right? I’ll do something about it.”
“...Ugh.”
The woman stared at me for a moment, then silently and tearfully began to cry.
I thought she would proclaim her innocence now that she could speak, but her actions were completely different.
I was a little confused.
But soon I understood the meaning behind her reaction.
“Rena... my daughter... I am Rena’s mother.”
Her words were incoherent.
Gathering fragments of her words in my head, an image formed.
Frowning, I asked,
“Are you by any chance the victim’s mother?”
“...”
The woman said nothing but nodded.
At that moment, the crowd’s anger peaked.
“What the hell is that!”
“Using the victim’s mother as a death substitute!”
“How rotten can they be!”
Insults came from all directions.
I sighed and laughed through my nose.
In a way, I was impressed.
They pushed the victim’s family as the death substitute.
Truly killing two birds with one stone—it was disgustingly clever.
I couldn’t forgive it even more—thinking that, suddenly,
Someone threw a cup of drink at the magistrate clutching his throat, starting a barrage of thrown objects.
Countless things poured down onto the platform like rain.
“Hmph!”
I drew Leviathan and cut them all down.
Burning the slashes with Bahamut’s flames, I left no flying objects untouched.
There were easily hundreds, but I repelled them all.
“You’re impressive!”
The “auntie” muttered admiringly, still annoyingly carefree despite the situation.
Ignoring her again, I addressed the crowd.
“Vigilante justice is not allowed.”
“Are you defending him?”
“So you’re just one of them after all!”
Various insults were hurled at me, and the anger now turned toward me.
How should I handle this? Should I slightly intimidate them with Leviathan and silence them all?
I glanced around.
There were about a thousand onlookers gathered in the square.
A decent number, but not impossible.
Alright then—just as I was thinking that,
“Move! Clear the way!”