The moment Hans saw the fiends, he turned to run. A twitch of Tgurneu’s finger, and the army set on him en masse.
Adlet was speechless, frozen in shock at Tgurneu’s sudden appearance. He didn’t know who to side with: Hans or Tgurneu. “Wait, Hans! Answer me! Were you lying?” he yelled.
Hans ignored him, dashing out of the square, jumping away from the fiends in his path to hide in the shadow of a ruined building. He must have intended to search for another escape route.
“Unfortunately, Hans, I won’t be letting you leave here alive,” said Tgurneu.
Hans slid around the fiends that surrounded him in an attempt to escape, but then, his feet stopped. In the darkness, Adlet could just barely see shining thread. It was tangled around the trees and ruins, surrounding the whole town square in a cocoon-like wall about a hundred yards in radius.
Hans’s sword flashed. But the elastic thread wouldn’t be cut. He swung at it two, three times but couldn’t escape, and fiends were closing on him from behind. He dashed up a ruined wall to try to get away, but the cocoon was above, too. With the fiends still on the offensive, Hans was forced to return to the square.
“So impatient, Hans. You must be wondering how your lie was suddenly exposed. Well, I’ll explain. So why not listen?” Tgurneu taunted, showing Hans a tiny book. “It was the power of this hieroform that revealed your lie. This special book has been imbued with the power of the Saint of Words. It’s called the Book of Truth.”
In a cold sweat, Hans silently heard him out.
“I used this hieroform to cast a spell on you just now. When this spell has been cast on someone, the truth or falsity of their words is laid bare to everyone who hears. If you speak truth, a listener will know it’s true. If you lie, your words will be known as lies. Even if the hearer knows nothing of the Book of Truth, the spell is still effective.”
“…Is that right?” Adlet muttered. So that was how he knew Hans had been lying.
“This hieroform’s power has limits. First of all, it can only be used so many times. And furthermore, as long as the speaker believes what they say is true, the one who hears them will take it as such, even if it actually is not. This is also the case if they believe they are lying. But still, Hans—it seems it’s most undeniably true that Chamo will not kill Fremy on your signal.”
Hans fell silent. He couldn’t afford to be careless with his words right now.
“You have to say something , or this conversation will end. Oh well. I suppose I have to cancel the spell. The effects wear off after ten minutes anyway… It’s been undone. You may speak, Hans.” It didn’t appear Tgurneu had done anything to the Book of Truth. The hieroform could probably be activated and deactivated just by touching it and willing it so.
“Meow …did ya really cancel it, Tgurneu? I don’t feel nothin’,” said Hans. Adlet couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. The spell must have been deactivated. Seeing the look on Adlet’s face, Hans seemed to figure that the spell had been lifted. “…That’s one helluva hieroform. Where’d ya get somethin’ like that?”
“I bought it—for an incredible sum. It cleaned out my coffers. Of course, the Saint of Words never would have imagined the book would fall into the hands of a fiend. Lucky for me, the Saint of Words of that era was a human easily enticed by money.”
Adlet didn’t give a fig about any of that. The real issue here was the revelation that Hans couldn’t kill Fremy with a signal. What did that mean? “Hans…can you not send a signal to Chamo? Or has Chamo not actually taken Fremy hostage?”
Hans said nothing. Adlet pressed him further. “It was a lie that you could kill me instantly, wasn’t it? Because if you could, you would have killed me long ago. What was that strange thing you made me swallow?”
“Just a bitter bug. Not a slave-fiend or neowthin’,” Hans said with resignation. His expression was no longer calm. This was the first time Adlet had ever seen him cornered.
“It couldn’t be, Hans…”
Hans gave a wry smile as if to say So ya’ve figgered it out?
“Does Chamo not know about your plan? She doesn’t believe you actually attacked her, does she?”
No response. That was the same as an affirmative.
Adlet trembled with rage. Pulling needles and bombs from his belt pouches, sword in hand, he slashed at Hans. This meant there was no longer a single reason to let Hans live. Fiends joined him to leap at Hans, and Hans did nothing to strike back. He just frantically evaded them.
Tgurneu observed the situation, arms crossed. “Good grief. You’re quite a man, Hans Humpty. To think you would see through my whole plan and use it against me to boot. I was rather antsy for a moment there when you declared you’d taken Fremy hostage. I’d have preferred to stay somewhere safe the whole time. Simply luring me out to the battlefield was an outstanding feat on your part.” With a glare at Adlet, Tgurneu said, “But Adlet, that was an unsightly performance. You were nearly deceived, and you put Fremy in danger.”
Adlet didn’t need Tgurneu to tell him that. It was unforgivable. Not what Hans had done but his failure to realize the truth, endangering Fremy.
“I didn’t expect you to be such a formidable foe, Hans. I should have arranged for Fremy to kill you before the Evil God’s awakening. I can’t deny that I underestimated you, considering you a mere assassin. Well, what’s done is done.” Tgurneu smiled. The fiends were gradually closing in on Hans.
Then Hans shrieked. “Meoooow! Chamo! Fremy! Come get me! I’m right here! Meow! ”
Adlet realized he was calling the Braves to him. Having failed with his hostage idea, it seemed he meant to kill Tgurneu right now. He was going to lure their allies to them so they could surround Tgurneu. I have to help it escape , Adlet thought.
Tgurneu noticed Adlet’s gaze. “What? You’re worried about me, Adlet? Oh, it’s no problem,” it said with a shrug.