The Infinite Journey of a Certain Flame

The burly man yawned, then picked up a shovel and took out a cross pendant: "I am a missionary who travels the world. I came here before, and after hearing about what happened here, I decided to come here to comfort the souls of the dead."

"Is that so? Then it seems you're a good person."

Realizing that the giant man had come to bury the dead, Kiana abandoned her plan to use force.

"You flatter me," the burly man waved his hand. Then he stood up. "Now can you tell me why you're here?"

It's clear that this missionary is somewhat reclusive.

How could they not know what was happening outside?

Kiana pondered for a moment, then said:

"I came here seeking the truth," Kiana said truthfully.

"The truth?" The burly man frowned slightly, seemingly finding this explanation quite strange.

"Actually, I noticed you when you came riding your white horse. You're not saying you want to find out why the villagers died, are you? To be honest, that's a bit naive, knight."

The big man spread his hands and complained.

Kiana was baffled by his criticism.

"I am not a knight."

"If that's the case, then why do you pursue justice?"

"Forget it, there's no point in telling you. Just don't get in the way of my investigation."

Kiana didn't want to waste her breath arguing with someone who didn't understand human nature, so she turned around and walked away into the distance.

“Hey. We haven’t introduced ourselves yet! What’s your name? My name is Reid Arnold.”

The big man shouted from behind.

"Hmm? My name is Kiana." Kiana stopped and turned around, her face cold and stern.

Seeing Kiana's expression, Reid paused for a moment.

However, Reid quickly realized what was going on. He snorted and said, "Since you put it that way, I have some clues. Would you like to hear them?"

Upon hearing this, Kiana was startled.

This missionary actually seems to have some clues?

"Please feel free to speak."

"Actually, even before this happened, I had noticed some demon minions wandering outside the village. I warned them to be careful, and the villagers listened, but they were still kidnapped in the end."

The missionary put down his shovel and dusted himself off.

Seeing how easygoing he was, Kiana didn't think the story was fake.

"So that means this whole thing was actually instigated by the demons?"

"Heh, but I also know something about those demons. Although they look strange, they are still very obedient."

The missionary stroked his chin and stated his judgment: "The Demon King's response afterwards was that he had not issued any orders to arrest anyone. I think a Demon King of such stature should have this much credibility. So the question is why those demons would lie."

This deduction gave Kiana the illusion that she had encountered a famous detective.

However, the other party was a burly, muscular missionary.

"Okay, that's all I know. Goodbye."

After saying that, Reid waved his hand and went back to burying the people.

Just as he left, Kiana suddenly heard the system's mission notification sound.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have triggered a hidden quest: Demon Traitor.]

[Mission Completion Method: Destroy the Pig-Headed Tribe rebel base in one fell swoop, capture the perpetrators, and bring them to the parliaments of the Western nations to persuade them.]

[Mission Completion Reward: Increase host's honor points by 50!]

The sudden mission notification sound made Kiana react instantly.

"The demon race isn't a monolithic entity either? No wonder this happened. The orcs... are they demons that Rimuru hasn't subdued?"

It seems the whole truth has come to light.

Next comes the moment for justice to be served for those scoundrels.

"The coordinates have been determined. Now, let me quell everything!"

Kiana clenched her fist, then leaped into the air, speeding towards her target location...

---

The Pig-Head Tribe's stronghold is located in a very secluded place, hidden in the remote mountains. The stronghold is built against the high mountains and is not particularly large in size.

However, there are many pigmen patrolling back and forth wearing helmets and armor.

Upon arriving at her destination, Kiana didn't waste any words and swung her sword at the gate of the stronghold.

The Blazing King Sword flashed with astonishing fiery light, and upon touching the wooden city gate, it quickly split into countless flashes of electricity, engulfing the entire fortress. The soldiers on the city wall only had time to let out a scream before their bodies were charred. A series of piercing alarms came from inside the castle.

Some of the resting pigmen woke up, and the whole castle was thrown into chaos.

"Damn it, what's going on? Why did someone break in?"

"Enemy attack! Someone is attacking us!"

A group of pigmen ran towards the city gate in a panic, but were stunned when they saw a girl who looked like a goddess of war standing outside the gate.

"Run for your lives! Run for your lives! There's a demon! She's going to kill us all! She's going to kill us all!"

A group of pigmen scattered and fled. Kiana snorted coldly, and a strong pressure burst out from her body, instantly enveloping the entire stronghold and suppressing all the fleeing pigmen.

"Where do you think you're going!"

"How did you find this place! Damn it, kill them all!"

Angry roars echoed from within the stronghold as a group of pig-man chieftains rushed to the city gate, preparing for a decisive battle with Kiana.

"Go away!"

"Boom!"

Just as they arrived at the city gate, they heard it slam heavily, and the pigmen on the city wall were thrown far away and crashed into the city.

"What terrifying strength!"

The group of pig-men inside the stronghold were dumbfounded. This power had surpassed the limits of mortals; it was a power possessed only by gods.

They were all ordinary people who had no idea what gods were or what they looked like. They were also unaware of their own location. All they knew was that they had encountered a terrifying being. They wanted to run away but couldn't move their feet. They wanted to resist but couldn't fight back. They even lost the will to run away.

"Impossible, what's going on?"

Inside the castle, the leader of the pig-men looked at the collapsed city gate, filled with doubt and a sense of fear.

A celestial being suddenly appeared before him, something he had never encountered before.

Is he going to fail here this time?

His heart was filled with confusion and helplessness.

"No, we have to find a way to escape from here, or we'll die here."

This was the initial idea of ​​the pig-man leader.

"None of you will leave here today!" Kiana's voice echoed within the fortress.

Then came a flurry of flashing swords, accompanied by the scorching heat of flames and the crisscrossing of ink-wash sword energy.

In almost an instant, the fortress hidden deep in the mountains and forests was almost completely razed to the ground.

After the great battle, Kiana successfully captured the leader of the orc tribe and tied him up.

"you!"

The man looked at him with hatred, but had no choice but to compromise, saying, "You and that demon king must have some issues, right? Why don't we cooperate?"

"When you were slaughtering those villagers, did you ever think about cooperating with them?"

Kiana asked that question in return, then punched the orc in the face.

With a muffled thud, the instigator of the pig-headed tribe was knocked unconscious.

Kiana, without stopping, grabbed the guy by the collar and flew up.

Next, she planned to go to the camp of the Western Human Kingdoms' Parliamentary Army and tell them everything.

Then, in the conference hall, personally persuade these guys to stop the war!

---

Things went incredibly smoothly, so smoothly that the human soldiers who came out to greet them were dumbfounded.

But no matter how dumbfounded they were, Kiana's goal remained unchanged.

After careful deduction and explanation, these people realized the seriousness of the problem.

"The parliament... should approve of this statement."

Even Ron and his son, who had an extremely tough stance against the demons, were somewhat powerless in the face of irrefutable evidence, not to mention Kiana's even tougher stance.

In short, they eventually reluctantly agreed to start the meeting.

However, Kiana needs to arrive at the meeting location and attend the meeting to provide an explanation.

This isn't a big problem. Anyway, Kiana is prepared to go directly to the council and explain everything, just as the system suggested.

During this period, the human army was basically unable to move.

This also meant that the demons had no reason to attack.

It was only at this moment that both sides finally calmed down.

We all await the final outcome of the meeting...

Because it was essential to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice, Kiana did not choose to fly, but instead traveled by the carriages of nobles.

On their journey, the high-ranking Duke Ron suddenly asked a question:

"Your Excellency, I have some questions."

"what?"