Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Heart-Eater
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Thump! Thump! Thump……!
My heart was pounding fiercely.
I had expected them to come back.
But this was far too soon.
Danger.
Yes, I was in danger right now.
The moment I realized that, my mind settled calmly.
And I calmly searched for a way out.
Just like always.
‘What should I do first?'
I glanced down at my right hand.
In it was the [Blink Stone] I’d obtained from opening the safe.
There was a way to survive.
If I just used this, I could teleport to wherever I wanted and escape the danger.
But.
I turned my gaze to the side.
“W-what do we do? They’re already here, aren’t they?”
Kayla was stomping her feet in a panic.
Looking at her, I ultimately gave up on that option.
In a game, I would have ditched her without hesitation……
But this wasn’t a game.
‘……I can’t just save myself.’
I felt pathetic for abandoning the most rational choice for survival, but there was no helping it.
If I escaped alone, what situation would she end up in? It was obvious.
I didn’t have the confidence to bear the guilt that would come later if I made that choice.
“Hey, are you listening?”
So I had to find another way.
But how……?
Nothing came to mind.
“For now, hide!”
“W-where!”
This room with the safe was dangerous.
They’d probably search it thoroughly.
“Follow me.”
I grabbed Kayla’s wrist, moved to the next room, and hid under the bed.
The moment I did, I had a bad feeling.
Why do ominous thoughts always pop up at times like this?
‘……Damn, did I pick the wrong spot?’
In horror movies, this was always how people got caught and killed.
I shook my head to dispel the stray thoughts.
What could I do? There was nowhere else to hide.
Kayla must have been anxious too.
“Is hiding here really safe……?”
Don’t say that……
I’m already on edge……
“……Don’t talk. Hold your breath too.”
“…….”
Kayla nodded slightly.
We stayed silent, holding our breaths.
Then.
Thud, thud, thud……
Footsteps from several people approached.
Over ten, just from the sound.
The guys were laughing boisterously and chatting away. Their voices were so loud they carried clearly into the room.
“Hahaha! It’s been ages since we had plunder like this……!”
“Heh, tell me about it. I can’t wait to see the Leader’s face already.”
“If things keep going this smoothly, we’ll be back in District 6 in no time!”
“Kahaha! That’s music to my ears for once!”
‘Plunder…….’
As expected, this wasn’t some shelter or inn.
It was a filthy den where ex-mercenaries gathered to commit all sorts of crimes.
‘Did I walk right into the tiger’s den……?’
I wanted to beat myself half to death for blindly following that old man just the other day.
What the hell had I been so cocky about?
……No, no regrets.
What mattered wasn’t what had already happened, but what came next.
I perked up my ears.
Hoping for any useful info, even trivial.
“But why is our hideout so clean?”
“Hm? Now that you mention it…… yeah, it is. Did the Leader do a rush clean?”
“……What if an important guest came?”
“A guest? Who’d visit our hideout…….”
Silence.
The raspy-voiced man abruptly stopped.
Then he shouted.
“Leader!”
Not just him.
The others shouted in surprise too.
“……L-Leader?”
“……Why is the Leader!”
They bolted somewhere.
I didn’t need to see to know what was happening.
What else could shock guys who’d just come up to the second floor?
They’d found the bodies.
The corpses of their gang.
“Wait, isn’t that Garun……?”
“Garun got taken out too!”
Bam!
A loud slam against the wall.
Then an enraged voice followed.
“Fuck…… who the hell did this!”
“Vice Leader! The blood hasn’t fully dried yet!”
“Yeah…… they couldn’t have gone far. Everyone, move! Grab every bastard lurking near the hideout!”
“Let’s go!”
Thud thud thud thud!
The guys rushed out of the building at terrifying speed.
As expected of ex-mercenaries—it wasn’t just talk.
Quick judgment and action.
Completely wrong direction, though.
We’re still here?
‘Good, this buys us some time…….’
That was when.
The voice of the one called Vice Leader rang out from afar again.
“Hey, runt! You search inside the building! If you find anything, tie ’em up tight! You can handle it alone, right?”
“Yes, I can!”
……Damn, things don’t go perfectly.
Still, not a bad situation.
Their numbers had been greatly reduced anyway.
Just one left in the building.
And the presumed weakest—the gang’s runt.
I didn’t get why they’d assign this to the runt, but……
‘One guy is manageable.’
If Kayla and I teamed up, we could take him down easily.
The key was picking the right moment to strike.
Thud, thud.
Sssdrag, sssdrag—.
‘……What’s that noise?’
One was footsteps.
The other……
Not sure.
Sounded like dragging something……
That was when.
“Useless bastard. Told you to quietly play lookout, and you couldn’t even last that long before dying?”
An irritated voice growled, and a man appeared in front of the door we hadn’t fully closed.
He was gripping an ankle in his right hand.
Dragging the Slicked-Back Man’s corpse.
“Why the fuck is your body so heavy?”
Figuring out who this sudden intruder was wasn’t hard.
Only one left in the building: the runt.
However.
‘What the hell is this guy saying……?’
Even realizing that, confusion hit.
More like, I didn’t want to accept it.
‘Useless? Lookout……?’
A chill ran down my spine.
All the signs pointed to one fact.
That “runt” was the hidden “real Leader.”
Which meant……
‘The mage who created this space…….’
Was him.
The moment I reached that conclusion.
“This’ll do.”
He dropped the corpse right at the door and bent one knee.
As his posture lowered, his face came into view.
Messy red hair, sharp eyes.
With a sunken expression, he reached out.
His hand.
Stab!
Pierced the corpse’s left chest.
Something squishy came out attached to his hand.
The Slicked-Back Man’s heart.
The old man’s words flashed through my mind.
-M-Mage hearts sell for a high price.
It was a mystery.
There was no such lore in the Devil Fantasy I knew.
But now I thought I understood.
It was all because of this bastard.
“Heh heh heh heh…….”
Grinning ear to ear, he brought the heart to his mouth.
Then.
Crunch!
Rip, rip.
He began devouring it ravenously.
Like a starving demon filling its belly.
Dark mana gathered around him in the process.
The unpleasantness of that mana reached even here.
“…….”
I’d seen a scene like this once before.
In the game, sure.
But it was identical to now, so I knew.
That guy……
Was a demon’s kin.
More precisely, kin of the Demon of Greed, ‘Valefor.’
“Yeah, this is it. This……! Uhahaha!”
Valefor’s kin grew stronger in one way only.
By eating others’ hearts.
Especially effective if the heart held mana, and more so with greater amounts.
He ate the Slicked-Back Man’s heart for that reason, no doubt.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
My heartbeat quickened.
More fiercely than ever.
I scrapped any thought of jumping him.
One phrase repeated in my head.
‘……I’ll die.’
If he caught me, I’d die.
Demon kin were way beyond what Kayla and I could handle.
All I could do here was pray.
‘Please, just pass by…….’
But it was futile.
Thud, thud.
The guy who finished eating approached our side.
I held my breath watching his steps.
My mind was a mess of questions.
Why here?
Coincidence?
……Did he hear us?
When?
Meanwhile, he came right up to the bed.
Whoosh!
He bent down and peered under the bed.
Our eyes met. Felt like my heart stopped.
He flashed a creepy grin and spoke.
Blood smeared stickily on his lips.
“Enjoy the show? Little rats?”
……Yeah, he knew from the start.
***
Encountering kin this early was extremely rare.
Maybe once after raising 20 characters?
And it happened to me now.
“……My luck is absolute trash.”
The silver lining: he didn’t kill us right away.
-You two…… are Awakeners, huh?
Saying that, he tossed us into the underground prison and left.
No clue what he was thinking, future looked bleak……
But still, better than dead.
At least we were alive.
“……Locked up again. Locked up again!”
Kayla, on the other hand, couldn’t contain her anger.
From her perspective, it was back to that underground prison, so understandable.
“……Calm down first and think. A way to take that bastard down.”
“……Take him down? That monster?”
“Yeah.”
Kayla bit her lip and sighed.
“……It’s over. All over.”
“…….”
Her tone was pure resignation.
Honestly, I got how she felt.
I was on the verge of losing it too.
‘If only I had magic…… no, even a spellbook…….’
This was our biggest problem now.
Not having learned any useful spells yet.
I’d copied the Slicked-Back Man’s flame magic, but basic stuff like that was nowhere near enough against him.
In the end, I needed stronger magic……
‘……Damn.’
No matter how I racked my brain, no solution.
Even with a Mythic trait, I couldn’t create spells myself.
To escape here safely……
“…….”
My gaze flicked to my pants pocket.
The Blink Stone.
‘Should I use it……?’
I agonized seriously.
Unlike before, there was truly no other answer now.
Humanity and conscience aside, we were about to die.
Kayla seemed to notice my conflict and spoke.
“……Use it.”
“What?”
“You’re hesitating, right? Use it. At least one of us should live.”
“…….”
“……I was dead anyway. You gave me a shot at least. But it ended up like this…… no helping it.”
I clamped my mouth shut, and she added.
“I’m making it clear: you didn’t abandon me. I’m sending you off. Don’t forget.”
“…….”
My chest tightened.
Not because her words hinted at fear of abandonment again.
It was because I knew that, yet couldn’t open my mouth easily.
That was when.
Creeeak—!
Light seeped in bit by bit, and the locked door opened.
The Redhead entered holding a lantern.
“Waiting long?”
His attitude oozed leisure.
His gaze was like he was eyeing toys.
Rage surged.
Especially at my own weakness, helpless even now.
“Whoa whoa, calm down. I’m giving you two a chance.”
“……A chance?”
“Yeah, a chance.”
Toss.
The Redhead threw something at my feet.
A blue-covered book with intricate magic circles drawn on it……
“A book?”
To Kayla’s mutter, I replied.
“……A spellbook.”
“Oh, you’ve seen one before?”
The Redhead crouched to meet my eyes.
Then smirked.
“Can you handle it?”
“……So that’s why you didn’t kill us.”
“Yeah, too wasteful right now.”
Now it all made sense.
He planned to teach us magic.
To fatten up his prey.
So he’d have more to eat.
Yeah, that’s it.
I grinned back at him without backing down.
“Of course I can.”
Valefor’s kin.
He’d made two mistakes.
One: overconfidence in his own power.
Two: misjudging his opponents.
And those mistakes.
Would be the reason he died.