I leaned the fat guy’s body on a big tree and thought briefly.

‘Before I cure his paralysis, I should tie him up first, right?’

I took a rope from my subspace pocket and covered it in aura before tying up the fat guy’s hands. Then, I lowered myself to look at him from an eye view.

“From now on, only I can ask questions. If you lie or refuse to answer… You know, right?”

His eyes dilated for a moment. Taking that as a sign of agreement, I held out my hand.

[Bianca’s Healing Art]

Then, white light came out from my hand and enveloped his entire body, curing his paralysis in an instant.

“Gaha…!”

Like someone who was drowning and drank too much water, the fat guy exhaled a deep breath before glaring at me with anger.

“You…! How are you alive?! If only you died back then–”

“Wrong answer.”

“Gyaaaah!”

I shocked his body with lightning, forcing him to let out a scream in pain.

‘Fortunately, we were deep in the forest.’

If I interrogated him in the hut or back in the city, I might alert the others and end up in trouble.

‘Still, he said something interesting...’

What did he mean by his words just now? Why did he want me to die?

“Haa… Haa…”

As the lightning died, I let the man rest for a bit.

“Then, answer my questions.”

[White Dragon Vision]

I was looking at his heart as I said that. It was pretty black already, but if he lied, a black spot would almost certainly add to his heart—unless his intention to lie was good, although I won’t count on it.

“Who are you people? Why are you targeting me?”

“...”

“Wrong answer.”

“Gyaaaah!”

“I’ll ask again, who are you people?”

“W-we’re hired assassins.”

“Wrong answer.”

“N-no! It’s true– Gyaaaah!”

I increased the lightning intensity each time. It’s fine as long as I don’t make him faint, and there is still room for that.

“I hope you learned your lesson with this. It’s useless to lie to me.”

He just sobbed as he looked at me. His body was trembling. I sighed at that and healed his injury.

“You know I can heal, right? So don’t worry too much about injury. I won’t leave a scar, and you won’t die. Though you can suffer the entire night if you choose to.”

“No… No! I’ll talk. I’ll talk, so please!”

“Really? Then, I’ll ask again. Who are you people?”

“W-we are from the Truth Society.”

“Truth Society…”

Have I done something to them? I remember dealing with a few people who would do something horrible in the future. Still, I don’t think I have done anything to Truth Society just yet. But what is this?

“Why are you targeting me?”

“B-because… because our prophet told us to…”

“Hm…”

It’s not a lie. That doesn’t mean it’s correct. It just means that, to this person, he believed his statement just now was true.

Above all, that prophet is not a real prophet. He is a fake who can only glimpse a fragmented future; even the future he sees has a significant chance of being wrong.

Basically, he is way worse than the Seer in every way. So, from now on, I should be careful and try to filter what is true and what is wrong about what the fat guy is saying.

“Tell me more. Don’t leave even a single detail behind.”

“A-alright.”

Then, he began the story. Around five months ago, Nicht flew to the Truth Society in his dragon form and burned down all of the secret bases he knew of. It seemed like Nicht did it because of the fake prophet’s prophesy about Bianca being wrong. Fortunately, their main base was safe, but even that was only a matter of time since Nicht sent his undead army and disciples to hunt for them actively.

So, on their wits end, the fake prophet made another prophecy. He told everyone that the solution to this problem was to kill me and appease Nicht’s fury by showing him my corpse. Then, the fat man began to tell me about how the fake prophet continued to do more prophecies to kill me, such as what I was doing, where I would be going, and a few of the abilities I had.

‘He even managed to guess that I was a level 1 aura user, despite it only becoming true last month. However, seeing the people he sent, it seems like he failed to see that I was far stronger than mere numbers could represent.’

It seems like this is not the first time they have tried to kill me, either. The fat man told me they had tried to pay the innkeepers to poison my food, paid a mercenary to lure a horde of monsters to me, and more. 

‘Ah, is that the mercenary I saved around two months ago?’

It was strange that he was trembling in fear when I killed the hordes and asked him if he was okay. So it turned out he had a hand in this, too...

‘Money is scary, really.’

The fat guy then wailed, complaining that even after all the money and effort they poured, I was still alive. So they moved the actual members to kill me right now. And even that had failed.

‘Somehow, he seemed pitiful.’

It really was a pitiful story of how an evil organization was trying its best to survive, even if it meant killing an innocent 11-year-old like me.

‘Well, it was their fault for following the fake prophet in the first place.’

And considering what they did, I realized I don’t have to feel bad about their current state.

“I see. I understand now.”

I rubbed my throbbing head. Now that I understand the situation, what should I do to him?

‘He tried to kill me, so if I want to go for justice, shouldn’t I also try to kill him?’

If I do, I will reduce the damage their organization would have on other people and reduce variables that lead the future to a bad end.

‘Then again, removing negatives doesn’t mean getting positive results.’

It would simply mean that the future wouldn’t get any worse.

‘So if I can use these people, then… I might be able to achieve my goal easily.’

But what is my goal? Saving the world, eliminating evils, and–

‘Finding the hero.’

Since the fat guy and his subordinates' numbers were many, it would be better to use their numbers to help me do that rather than walking around the continent alone. Alternatively, I could use them to help me subdue the fake prophet to use his ability to find the hero.

‘Of course, there is a chance that these people would betray me, but…’

That can be solved by engraving fear in their body and mind.

‘I could also use them as spies to take down the Truth Society.’

The more I think of using them, the more benefits I can see. That’s why, instead of killing them, I decided to use him differently.

“Hey…”

My voice became cold.

“Tell me where the prophet is.”

That night, I gave the fat guy and his subordinates a taste of true education to instill fear.