The Man Who Remained — His Second Life Began with a Humble Bow of Apology. - Chapter 82: The Vermilion Bird Gate Disturbance (Part One).

The Vermilion Bird Gate Disturbance (Part One).

How did things end up like this?

As a crowd jeered and shouted while brandishing wooden swords, Cross found himself pondering that simple question.

It wasn’t that he had any complaints about the situation itself.

He just genuinely couldn’t understand how things had come to this.

He wasn’t particularly perceptive, nor did he understand the workings of the higher-ups. However, Cross, who knew all too well how troublesome it was to both exercise and be subjected to power, had no intention of complaining about a situation that could be resolved simply by hitting something.

After all, swinging a stick around was far easier than dealing with complex matters.

He figured his opponent probably felt the same way.

Thinking thus, Cross looked ahead at the oni standing before him, similarly armed with a wooden sword.

Unlike Cross, whose skin tone was indistinguishable from a human’s, this oni had two massive crimson horns that marked his identity at a glance.

And like Cross, he wore an expression that seemed to say, “How did things end up like this?”, clearly bewildered by the circumstances.

What exactly had happened?

Cross retraced the events in his mind.

Right after sweeping the goblin gatekeeper off his feet, a woman’s shrill voice reached his ears.

“Hey! What is going on here!?”

The shouting woman wore the same light armor of leather and woven grass he had seen on the gatekeepers at Azure Dragon Gate. There were three of them, all petite, their helmets hiding their hair color.

Though there were minor differences in height and facial features, the three female monsters looked remarkably alike.

Seeing them, Cross felt a flicker of admiration.

These women belonged to an exceedingly rare species.

Though three stood before him, he sensed only a single monster’s presence. It wasn’t simply because they were of the same race.

Rather, these sisters formed one monster. They were a communal-type species, comprised of multiple bodies making up a single being.

Their race was called Cerberus.

Imagine the social structure of ants or bees, and it would make sense. Incidentally, there was no rule that they must always number three, nor did they necessarily have canine forms despite their name.

Despite existing as multiple bodies, they were a single entity. And while communal, they had no hives, were highly intelligent, exceptionally powerful, and remarkably tolerant of other species.

That was Cerberus.

Even back when Cross was human, he had only seen their kind three times in his entire life. Since becoming a monster, this was his first encounter.

At that moment, the Cerberus sisters turned a gaze of suspicion and hostility toward him.

Scattered around were four battered monsters, one pale-faced creature, and the goblin gatekeeper collapsed at his feet.

Given the scene, their reaction was understandable.

Cross quietly raised both hands in surrender.

“…You’re not going to resist?” asked one of the sisters.

“Well, I haven’t really done anything wrong. Though I guess I might’ve gone a bit overboard,” he replied calmly.

“I see. Then we’ll conduct an investigation. Please come with us, along with that woman over there—”

That was where it all went wrong.

Ellie still held deep anger over the goblin’s false claim of an “investigation” when he had clearly intended to do unspeakable things to her.

Certainly, the Cerberus sisters seemed upright and principled enough to refrain from such vile acts.

Ellie knew that logically. But emotionally? That was another matter.

“I cannot trust you,” Ellie declared icily. “That little goblin tried to do unspeakable things to me under the guise of an investigation.”

The Cerberus sisters shot her a suspicious glare.

“And what exactly do you mean by—”

Before they could finish, the goblin leapt up and shouted:

“That woman attacked us while we were trying to question her! She beat us all half to death! Help us, Ouka-sama!”

“…I see. And what do you have to say for yourself, woman?” asked Ouka, her three bodies glaring at Ellie coldly, sharply, like interrogators closing in on their suspect.

“If you choose to believe that worthless piece of filth, then I have nothing to say. No matter what I say, your conveniently deaf ears won’t hear the truth anyway,” Ellie spat back with a frigid calm.

Ouka narrowed her eyes. “Such defiance only confirms your guilt. You would be wise to surrender quietly like the man over there. If not…”

The two sides locked eyes, an oppressive tension filling the air.

Just as Cross was about to intervene to defuse the dangerously escalating standoff between Ellie and Ouka, two more figures appeared, drawn by the commotion: Unyou, laughing uproariously, and Haku, pale as death.

“O-oh, Ouka-sama. Um…what exactly is going on here?” Haku asked, her voice trembling.

“Haku of the Ryoneku clan. Why are you here?” Ouka asked curtly.

“There’s no need for formalities; I’m also a vice gate captain, after all. But…um, what exactly is happening here?”

“We were just about to detain these two suspicious individuals for questioning. May I ask for your assistance?”

Unyou burst into raucous laughter at this, while Haku’s face turned even paler.

“Haku. I thought we were on friendly terms,” Ellie said in a tone so icy it could freeze air itself. Her eyes were like sharpened shards of glacial crystal.

Seeing her like this for the first time, Haku shook her head desperately.

“…Do you know them?” asked Ouka, sensing something amiss.

Haku took a slow, calming breath before replying.

“That man is Cross, envoy of the Demon King herself from the Kingdom of Aurafeel. The woman with him is his knight and retainer, Lady Ellie.”

“…Excuse me?”

All three bodies of Ouka’s Cerberus form stood there, mouths agape, stunned into silence.

“There’s no way…that can’t be…” she murmured.

“As captain of Azure Dragon Gate, I vouch for them,” Unyou interjected, still chuckling. “We were with them just yesterday, and I personally escorted them to meet the village chief.”

“…Why are you laughing?” Haku asked wearily.

“Because compared to this, my screw-up yesterday doesn’t look so bad, does it?” Unyou replied with a grin.

“Please don’t take pleasure in others’ mistakes,” Haku sighed deeply.

“…Wait. You’re serious? Not joking?” Ouka stammered, her speech losing all formality.

Haku simply nodded.

With that alone, Ouka’s face drained of color as though she had seen death itself.

“Why didn’t you tell us this earlier!?” she snapped, clearly lashing out from the shock.

“…I forgot to mention it,” Ellie said quietly.

Perhaps seeing Ouka so flustered had cooled her anger somewhat, for her tone was now surprisingly calm.

(For the record, Cross hadn’t spoken up either because he didn’t want to make a fuss. In the end, it didn’t matter.)

And so, after much chaos and confusion, Cross somehow found himself standing opposite the Vermilion Bird Gate’s Chief Gatekeeper, Hibushi, about to engage in what appeared to be a public spectacle of a fight.

He still didn’t understand how it came to this.

But apparently, if they didn’t stage this mock battle, the situation would escalate into a serious political crisis, possibly ending with the resignation of both the Gatekeeper and Vice Gatekeeper—a major blow to the defense of the region.

So, Cross decided to go along with it.

“…Sorry about this,” he said quietly to Hibushi.

“No, I should be apologizing,” Hibushi replied, his voice equally subdued. “You’re getting dragged into our mess.”

“It’s not like you had anything to do with this in the first place.”

“And you’re just an innocent bystander,” Hibushi said with a wry chuckle.

The two men exchanged these quiet words of mutual apology and understanding.

Meanwhile, the crowd surrounding them shouted impatiently for the match to begin.

“…They’re a greedy lot, aren’t they,” Hibushi muttered.

“But it’s still better than that suffocating atmosphere earlier,” Cross replied, thinking silently that eighty percent of that suffocation had been due to Ellie.

“True enough,” Hibushi agreed with a nod. “And honestly… I’m looking forward to this. They say you didn’t budge an inch even against the Azure Dragon Gate’s captain. Plus your past feats… Ah, sorry to drag you into this, but getting to fight someone like you… it makes my blood boil. This is what it means to be an oni.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying this. Let’s put all that earlier nonsense aside and just clash without thinking. That’s more my style too.”

“…Hah. So you do have some oni blood in you after all.”

“Nope,” Cross grinned. “I’ve always been like this. Battles where no one dies are rare. If you can enjoy a fight where you’re just trading blows, you’d be a fool not to.”

“You’re damn right. Fighting is our way of life. And if you’re enjoying this too, then there’s nothing more to say. Let’s have fun.”

As soon as the words left Hibushi’s mouth, the air around them crackled with electrifying tension.

His eyes gleamed, his horns seemed to grow even larger and thicker, his muscular form expanding with raw power.

His lips curled into a feral, savage grin.

Standing before Cross was a true oni—a warrior race for whom combat was pleasure and slaughter as natural as breathing.

Hibushi grasped his wooden sword with a massive hand and swung it down at Cross with all his might.

It was a wild, brutish strike with no technique whatsoever. But if it landed, it would easily create a crater in the earth.

In response, Cross thrust his wooden sword forward in a gentle, almost casual motion.

It wasn’t a counterattack so much as placing the tip in the path of Hibushi’s swing.

As soon as their swords met, Hibushi’s weapon shattered into splinters from Cross’s precise touch.

With a fierce grin, Hibushi tossed aside the hilt that remained.

Seeing that, Cross discarded his own wooden sword as well.

“…What are you planning?” Hibushi asked warily.

Cross replied with a smile that was downright violent, almost like an oni himself.

“It’s a fight, right? We’re here to enjoy it. So let’s do this properly.”

He raised his fists in a boxing stance.

Oni were a race famed for their physical strength.

Yet here was Cross, challenging him to a bare-knuckle brawl without hesitation.

To an oni, there was nothing more delightful.

Grinning with savage glee, Hibushi swung his massive fist straight into Cross’s cheek with bone-crushing force.

From that point on, strategy and tactics were meaningless.

Neither dodged, neither retreated. They simply stood there, taking turns punching each other with everything they had.

Their bodies were battered and bloodied, but neither man’s smile ever faded.

The crowd roared at the spectacle of their brutal exchange.

Meanwhile, Ouka and Haku watched in horror as Cross sustained injury after injury, their faces drained of color.

Ellie, sighing, looked on with a mixture of exasperation and faint amusement at Cross’s delighted grin.

Unyou watched with envy shining in his eyes.

The slugfest—no, this proud contest of wills—continued for thirty minutes.

In the end, it was Cross who remained standing.

His strength, magic, and spirit were completely spent. Hibushi lay on the ground, wearing an expression of blissful satisfaction despite his defeat.

Looking down at the smiling oni, Cross raised a single arm in victory—then collapsed forward, face-first into the ground.