Chapter 11 - The Devil of Regression (2)
There was no time to continue other thoughts.
Deltain approached Agnes with quick strides and grabbed her wrist.
Hwa-ak!
Blue mana surged and wrapped around Agnes's body.
Soon, it seeped into her body.
<3rd-tier magic: Casting Holding.>
<Fixing the state of Agnes Levadein.>
<Warning: Agnes Levadein's mental defense is low.>
<Effect is halved.>
Deltain's expression crumpled.
Naturally, it was because of her body, which didn't even properly accept 'Holding', a spell designed to snipe the Demon of Regression.
'We're screwed. Seriously.'
Deltain let out a hu-uk sigh and looked at Agnes, whose regression had already begun.
She now had the body of a 10-year-old.
Even though he had taken measures as quickly as possible, the reason was that the regression had progressed further in the meantime.
If he had been even a little later, she might have really turned into a newborn baby and vanished.
He had prevented the worst-case scenario, but he couldn't rest easy.
Because of her mental defense stat of 0.1, the regression was still ongoing.
"Deltain. What is this?"
Agnes asked.
Since she was now too short to even reach Deltain's solar plexus, she had to tilt her head way back to look up at him.
"...Did you get taller?"
"You got shorter. You were hit by the Demon of Regression. You've got the body of a 10-year-old now."
Agnes looked at her palms at those words and let out an "Ah."
"Yeah, you're right. There's no scar on my palm. I got a scar from hitting a shelf corner when I was about fourteen."
"This isn't the time to be so laid back. I took measures, but it didn't work well."
"A mistake?"
"Yeah, a mistake. A mistake of overlooking how pathetic your body is."
Deltain clicked his tongue.
Then, he scanned the inside of Agnes's body with mana.
'The Heart Supporter is working well.'
As it was a masterpiece, it seemed unaffected by the curse.
No, it was actually adjusting its own size to fit Agnes's shrunken body and supporting her.
Should he be glad that there was no strain on her heart?
'Based on a mental defense of 1, the time it takes for the regression to end is one week.'
It would be correct to assume that 0.1 means ten times that.
Even if he halved the effect, it meant the regression would end in two days at the longest.
"Changing the route. We have to find the demon first."
The only way to break the curse is to kill the demon that is the host.
He would have to use a backtracking method based on the tail fragment.
While Deltain was sending a signal to gather the Hounds with such thoughts, Agnes grabbed Deltain's wrist.
"Deltain."
"Why."
"How is the Demon Flower?"
"Obviously, it's still there. That's a curse on a higher conceptual level than the temptation."
"Hmm... Things aren't working out easily."
Even while saying it as if it were a pity, Agnes was laid back.
She just continued to act as if she were fascinated, looking at her body and gauging the height difference with Deltain.
Deltain let out a dry laugh.
"Hey, you're the one dying. Could you at least pretend to be worried?"
"You're going to save me anyway. Ah, besides that, how do I look?"
"What?"
Agnes giggled.
She poked her index finger into her cheek, which had become round with baby fat, and said.
"Young me. Isn't it cute?"
Heejuk.
Agnes smiled.
The impression that emerged as her sickly pallor faded was like a mischievous child. Deltain understood the sentiment that Duke Levadein used to talk about until his mouth went dry, calling her 'a lovely child.'
Of course, his answer was grumpy.
"Curse or whatever, should I just abandon you and leave?"
"That's child abandonment."
"You're not a child. Only your body is young."
"My mind is young too. I'm a flower in a greenhouse who doesn't know the ways of the world."
"Something to be proud of."
Deltain sighed, dismissed her words, and then stated the precautions.
"The magic operates based on me. Never leave my side."
"Hmm, then carry me."
"What?"
"It's hard because I have to tilt my head back every time I look at you."
Agnes spread her arms and even stood on tiptoe.
Deltain watched her for a moment, showing a brief hesitation, then let out a deep sigh and picked her up with one hand.
Agnes put her arms on Deltain's shoulder to balance herself and said.
"Wow, the air up here is really fresh."
"Don't do anything stupid. I might just throw you away."
"That's child abuse."
"So what?"
Agnes giggled.
Then, as if she just remembered, she asked Deltain.
"Come to think of it, you know."
"What."
"My body went back to the past, right? Then my hymen also regenerated..."
"Stop right there."
Deltain's eyes flashed.
"One of the things I hate the most is people spouting that kind of crap at children's bodies. I want to snap the necks of bastards like that whenever I see them."
"Hmm, sorry."
Agnes apologized quickly.
It was because the sincerity was clearly evident in the look Deltain had just shown.
"It was a joke. It's my body."
"I hate it even as a joke."
Deltain's expression was heavily furrowed. He seemed to be recalling something unpleasant.
Agnes noticed that and asked.
"Have you seen one? Someone like that?"
"I've seen them, and I've almost been a victim too."
This was also something from Earth.
The incident he experienced when he was about 8 years old was a threat that could commonly happen to an Asian kid abandoned in a strange land like America.
Of course, it remained a trauma for the person involved.
Agnes flinched at Deltain's words, her fingertips trembling.
"Hmm...."
Tok. Tok. She tapped Deltain's shoulder with her index finger and said.
"I should kill them. The person who bullied you."
"They're dead. That bastard's wife found out later and stabbed him with a knife."
"...So it was a man?"
"Let's stop talking about this. I feel like I'm going to throw up again."
"Okay."
And so, the conversation died out.
It was right after that when the Hounds returned.
The Hounds flinched and shuddered when they saw the small Agnes in Deltain's arms.
Meanwhile, only Kaltara laughed heartily.
"My, my! You've been hit hard!"
"Enough, just hand over Cargo."
"Oops!"
Kaltara said that and got off the bike.
Only then did something catch Agnes's eye.
Cardinal Cargo was lying in the backseat of the bike with his cheeks gaunt.
"...Why is the Cardinal like that?"
"It's better if you don't know."
Kaltara picked up Cargo. The sight was just like a kitten being dragged by the scruff of its neck by its mother.
Cargo trembled and lifted his eyelids.
Deltain said.
"Demon tracking. There's a trace in the bushes over there, so find it."
Cargo's Adam's apple bobbed.
He really wanted to say a lot of things, but he held back.
He just said in a raspy voice.
"Ah, I understand...."
At least while tracking the demon, he would be able to get away from Kaltara.
With that small hope in his heart.
*
In [Evil Lore], the role of a priest was simple.
None other than tracking, identifying, and healing demons.
Cardinal Saint Cargo was a priest whose identification ability was terrible, but his abilities related to healing and tracking were high. And that was the reason Deltain favored him.
It was because Deltain himself could do the identification.
Hwi-ing.
A whirlwind blew around Cargo.
The golden divine power was visually showing the texture of the wind.
The divine power, which had been spinning around, moved slowly. It wrapped around the tail fragment and then flew off in a certain direction and scattered.
"It's north."
"We won't have to go back. That's a relief."
Deltain muttered, looking north where the whirlwind had scattered.
Agnes said, looking at the tail fragment.
"Is this the demon's flesh? It looks really gross."
"This is on the cute side."
Deltain genuinely thought so.
The wriggling lump of flesh was the most mundane organ among the demons' bodies.
"Ugh."
Agnes said that, dangling her legs.
Deltain's brow furrowed.
"Don't wriggle. It's hard to keep my balance."
"Child-rearing is originally painful."
"You're not at an age where you need child-rearing."
"Waaah."
"If you want to pick a fight, do it properly. Don't get on my nerves."
Agnes giggled and said.
"Still, it's a relief. That we brought Jerry. I almost wouldn't have had any clothes to wear."
Jerry was one of the maids Agnes had brought. Since she was a maid who originally had a talent for things like sewing, she immediately mended the existing clothes as soon as Agnes's body shrank.
Agnes said, smoothing the hem of the white dress she was wearing.
"Should we buy some clothes in the next city? The mended clothes are too adult-like, so they don't seem to fit this body."
"No need to buy any. We'll catch the demon within two days, and if we can't, you'll die."
Deltain said that and got into the car.
Cargo was dragged back to Kaltara's bike.
When Gerhart started the car, the bike moved first.
It was painful that even the planned camping had to be canceled, but it couldn't be helped.
Deltain was not a person who could afford to be relaxed ahead of a time attack.
*
In the end, they had to take a nap in the car again today.
It was a car with expansion magic, so the seat itself was enough for one person to lie down, but for today's Deltain, that was it.
"It's damn cramped."
Deltain was lying down with Agnes in his arms.
It was because he couldn't be separated from her even while sleeping, as he had to keep physical contact with her.
He thought he should have made it a double bed from the start if he had known this situation would arise, but Deltain immediately erased that thought.
'No, then I would have just been teased.'
The Demon of Regression was a crisis outside of his initial assumptions.
As such, even if he had made a double bed in advance, that lewd woman would have just spouted nonsense.
Thinking about how his stomach would turn in that situation, it was much better to sleep in this cramped space.
"Deltain."
Agnes peeked her head up.
She was using Deltain's arm as a pillow.
"Sing me a lullaby."
"You seem too immersed in that role, get a grip. The Demon of Regression makes your body young, not your mind."
"What a shame. That means you would have sung me a lullaby if my mind had also become young."
"No, I absolutely wouldn't."
Deltain squeezed his eyes shut.
It meant he wouldn't talk anymore.
But Agnes didn't let him sleep.
"How much younger will I be when I wake up?"
"You're saying terrible things, seriously."
Even Deltain, who said that, knew.
That, terribly, she would be even younger when he woke up.
"You can't abandon me just because I'm annoying."
"Then behave yourself."
"Kids don't usually listen well."
"What the hell...."
"Waaah."
Agnes laughed like a mischievous child.
Deltain watched her with narrowed eyes, then snapped his fingers.
<1st-tier magic: Casting Silent.>
"It will wear off in four hours. Go to sleep."
He said that and fell asleep.
*
The next morning.
Deltain, who opened his eyes, faced a five-year-old Agnes looking at him with wide, bright eyes.
The five-year-old Agnes was fair and chubby, yet her features were distinct, making her adorable and cute.
Deltain let out a dry laugh.
It wasn't admiration for her appearance, but a dry laugh he let out because the terrible reality made the back of his neck throb.
"Wow...."
If it was like this even though he had blocked it with magic all night, what would it have been like otherwise?
The form of the words that came out according to the thought was blunt.
"What a truly trashy body."
Flinch.
Agnes shuddered.
Deltain narrowed his brows at that.
This was not a reaction Agnes would show.
"What is it?"
When he asked menacingly, Agnes flinched again.
She rolled her eyes, then opened her mouth with a scared face.
"...Where's Mommy?"
It was a lisping voice.
Usually, Deltain would have thought of an anomaly first, but... the person in question wasn't that kind of person, was she?
Wasn't it Agnes Levadein, the woman who turned Deltain's stomach every time she opened her mouth?
As such, the answer Deltain gave to that lisping voice and anxious-looking face was this.
"You don't have a mom."
A word spoken indifferently.
At that, the five-year-old Agnes's face went blank.
Then it gradually began to distort.
Her eyes welled up.
Only then did Deltain think of the possibility of 'no way,' but it was too late.
"Waaaaaah-!"
A mental defense of 0.1 was a more disastrous figure than Deltain had thought.
Agnes Levadein's mind had regressed to infancy.