Chapter 3 : The Hound of Hebron (1)
Chapter 3 : The Hound of Hebron (1)
-The mood is what matters. For lewd things.
With that voice, Deltain woke up from his sleep.
His upper body jerked up as if he had been jolted.
Following that, cold sweat poured down along with his ragged breathing.
Deltain quickly rolled up his sleeve to check his forearm.
The Thorn Bush Tattoo remained motionless, just keeping its place.
Deltain spat out a curse.
"What the hell...."
It was a routine that had been happening for the past few days.
Ever since Agnes had made that provocation that day, Deltain faced that moment whenever he dreamt.
Even if he wanted to make excuses that this was the trickery of the Demon of Lust, the tattoo that would prove it was silent, so for Deltain, it was enough to drive him crazy.
Deltain rubbed his face dry and let out a deep sigh of annoyance.
"Count-nim, I will prepare your meal."
Gerhart, who knew his daily routine inside out, came in and said that.
Deltain nodded and headed to the shower room.
Swaaaa-.
He cooled his head with cold water like that.
*
<154 days remaining until the blooming of the Demon Flower Extrias.>
Funnily enough, Agnes didn't do anything else after that day's provocation.
She just smiled brightly and followed his words so well that it surprised Deltain.
But even that was considered a kind of provocation to Deltain.
After all, the place her gaze was directed toward was the back of his hand where the kiss mark had been left.
"It's almost gone now."
"Then did you think it would last a lifetime?"
"I'm just saying it's a shame. Can't you make one more?"
"Get lost."
A vein popped on Deltain's forehead.
As if she were thoroughly pleased with that reaction, Agnes continued, adopting an artificial tone.
"Hmm? Can't I?"
"I'll sew your mouth shut."
"That's mean."
Agnes didn't hold any more lingering attachment and looked at Deltain.
Humming a very soft tune.
"...What's so funny?"
"You being restless?"
"I've never been like that."
"Liar. Even now, you're just looking at my wrist. Ah, or do you have a fetish for wrists?"
Deltain couldn't stop a dry laugh from bursting out.
"Even if I had such a fetish, it wouldn't be for your wrist. I told you before, your body is so withered and dry that it's not worth looking at."
"Even if you make excuses like that, it's not convincing. I'm pretty even when I'm thin."
That he couldn't refute those words was a truly lamentable thing for Deltain.
Indeed, she was a beautiful woman who suited the nickname 'Everyone's First Love'.
Even her haggard face, deeply stained with the shadow of death, and the dark energy spreading around her cherry-blossom-colored eyes, all merely served as accessories named 'frailty' for her.
"Stop talking nonsense and strip. I'm going to use magic on you again today."
"Did you hold back for about two weeks? Have you started seeing my naked body in your dreams now?"
"Yeah, it would be faster to just knock you out first."
"What are you trying to do?"
Agnes giggled.
"If you knock me out, I'll tell my appa right away. That Count Hebron knocked me out and stripped me."
"Wouldn't Duke Levadein believe my word more?"
"My appa loves me the most in the world. He believes anything I say."
"If the Chancellor is a man who lacks such discernment, the future of the Empire is bleak."
"Don't insult my appa."
Agnes said that and unbuttoned her outer garment one by one.
This, too, was not a very pleasant scene for Deltain.
Because the way she hesitated unnecessarily with buttons that could just be undone, testing the waters, looked exactly like she was trying to seduce him.
Ttak-.
When Deltain snapped his fingers, the buttons came undone all at once.
Agnes pouted her lips as if she were disappointed.
"No mood."
"Why is that necessary?"
When Deltain waved his index finger in the air, her shirt slid down.
Deltain steadied his breathing and placed his hand on her ribs.
"You can't touch my chest again, okay?"
"If you don't move, there's no chance of that happening."
He said that and raised his mana.
<Casting 3rd-rank magic: Drought.>
He created a regular octahedral cube wrapping around her heart.
This was a process to test Agnes's lifespan that could be extended with the magic called Drought.
Because knowing how much of the deadline remained was also one of the important factors for Deltain.
'The Demon Flower must have developed a resistance to this magic too.'
There wouldn't be a dramatic change like the first time.
To hope for a miracle that would extend her remaining lifespan by over 100 days, the Demon Flower was too vicious a creature.
The cube rotated and emitted heat.
Thus, it burned away all the mana that had accumulated in Agnes's heart over the past two weeks.
Agnes's breathing became ragged.
And cold sweat began to flow from her body.
Kung.
Kung.
Deltain felt the heart beating busily beneath the ribs where he had placed his hand.
After the magic was all finished.
<The growth of the Demon Flower Extrias is delayed.>
<198 days remaining until blooming.>
<The Demon Flower Extrias develops a resistance to '3rd-rank magic: Drought'.>
The expected result came out.
Deltain crumpled his expression.
"Is it a failure?"
"It's a success. It's just that the results aren't satisfying enough."
"Isn't that a failure?"
"Your lifespan increased by over 40 days. If this is a failure, then what on earth is a success?"
Agnes giggled and shook her body.
She deepened her smile, feeling Deltain's hand still resting on her ribs.
Then she leaned her upper body forward.
Tok.
Agnes's lower breast touched Deltain's fingertips.
Startled by that, Deltain hurriedly pulled his hand away.
Agnes laughed seductively.
"Virgin. You're startled by just that."
"You crazy...!"
A red flush spread across Deltain's face.
He couldn't bear to face Agnes, so he clenched his fists and trembled.
"...Keep acting uncooperatively like that. I won't come here ever again, Demon Flower or whatever."
"Sorry."
"If sins could be erased with just an apology, laws wouldn't exist."
"I was wrong."
Agnes clasped her hands together.
Then she pressed them against her upper body and leaned her head forward.
She was shining her eyes as if to stimulate pity, but her posture was explicitly taking a form that emphasized her cleavage.
Deltain crumpled his face and turned his head away.
"...I'm leaving. My business here is done for today."
"Are you coming tomorrow?"
"I'm not. Not tomorrow, not the day after."
Agnes's body stiffened.
She stared at Deltain for a moment with an unreadable expression, then asked.
"Why?"
"I have a schedule."
"What schedule?"
"My knights are returning."
"Ah."
Agnes was convinced.
Deltain Hebron's knights.
That meant only one thing.
"Hounds of Hebron!"
"What hounds. They're just sons of bitches."
Although he said that, Deltain didn't seem particularly offended by the nickname.
In any case, his knights, who bore the name 'Hounds of Hebron', were quite satisfactory results for him as well.
"They're demon hunters you raised yourself. Is it okay to call them that?"
"That's why I call them that. Those bastards went on a dispatch without even telling me."
"I don't think that's something someone who didn't even know they were dispatched should say."
Deltain's brow furrowed.
Because he had nothing to say about this either.
"...They're my knights. It's my business how I use them."
"I want to see them too."
Agnes leaned her head closer.
"Show me too. Your knights."
Deltain felt absurd at Agnes's words.
"Do my knights look like neighborhood mutts to you? That they'll come if you say come and go if you say go?"
"I never asked you to call them."
"What?"
"I'm going. To your estate."
Deltain's expression went blank.
Soon, it heaved once and turned into a dry laugh.
"With that body? Forget it. You'll collapse in the carriage before you even reach my house."
"I'm not that weak."
"No, you are weak. I don't know how you were before the Demon Flower started moving, but right now, your life is in danger even if you walk for 10 minutes."
Her heart's mana had been completely burned away to delay the growth of the Demon Flower.
Mana is the vitality of a living creature.
As she possessed a body where all vitality had vanished, she had to be careful even with simple walking.
Agnes blinked, then tilted her head and replied.
"Then you come pick me up."
"What is this again...."
"Escort me. Escorting a lady is the duty of a knight."
"I'm not a knight. I'm a Count."
"Escorting is also the duty of a noble man."
"...."
Deltain examined her for a long time to grasp Agnes's intentions.
However, there was no way an answer would come from doing that.
Agnes was just shining her cherry-blossom-colored eyes and pouring out anticipation.
"Hmm?"
"Did you not listen to me properly? You can't move."
"That's why you can just come pick me up. If I struggle, treat me. If I can't walk, carry me and move me. And set up a table full of delicious food that I can eat."
"Why don't you just ask me to be your doormat?"
"Will you do that?"
A smile bloomed on Agnes's face.
Deltain felt a creepy sensation from that.
"Crazy bitch."
He said that and got up.
He walked toward the door as if it wasn't worth exchanging any more words.
Agnes waved at him and said.
"I'll be ready and waiting. Until you come. Without eating or sleeping. Continuously."
Agnes was convinced.
He would definitely come.
*
The next day, at the Hebron Count's estate.
Deltain was sitting in his office with his legs crossed, wearing a black suit as usual.
The posture of resting one arm on the table and propping up his chin, along with his furrowed brow, showed that his mood was very uncomfortable.
-I'll be ready and waiting. Until you come. Without eating or sleeping. Continuously.
It was because of what he had heard from Agnes the day before.
It was because for some reason, he thought she would really put those words into practice.
After all, wasn't she the woman closest to a madman among all the people Deltain knew?
Deltain worried for a long time about what might happen if she collapsed, then suddenly flinched and jerked his body.
'Why am I worrying about that?'
After asking himself out of pride, Deltain began to continue thoughts close to self-rationalization.
'...No, I have to worry. If the Demon Flower in that woman's heart is gone, the quest and everything else is over.'
Deltain's toes were tapping.
The movement became increasingly restless.
The signs of his uncomfortable mood began to deepen, and by now, the sound of Deltain grinding his teeth could even be heard.
'...A real pain in the ass.'
Deltain stood up from his seat.
"Gerhart!"
"Yes."
"How much time is left until those guys arrive?"
"I heard via telegram that it will take about half a day more."
"Cook something before those guys get here. The menu... yes, the diet I ate when I was doing mana exhaustion experiments."
Saying that, Deltain grabbed and put on his blue coat.
Gerhart tilted his head.
"Where are you going?"
"Don't ask."
Deltain said that and left the office.
Gerhart narrowed his eyes for a moment, looking at the door Deltain had left through, then shook his head and shook off his thoughts.
To feel something strange from his demeanor, Deltain was a person who was always too angry anyway.