Infamy
At the very moment Zeto was busy preparing for the 'desert' he would soon depart for from the Academy, two men stepped into a hall where a coppery, nauseating stench still lingered. On one side, an old man with a long, flowing beard frowned; on the other was a robust, relatively young-looking man. The younger man, his armor clanking as he bent his knee, stood by the entrance and gazed into the empty hall. In their memory, this place was not one that should have been steeped in such emptiness. It had been much noisier, much more chaotic.
This was the demons' intelligence agency, where a ruthless massacre had been carried out by Zeto's... or more precisely, by Shade, the dark spirit of shadow.
The man clad in golden armor swept back his hair and spoke first. "Well, old man? Do you feel anything?"
At the center of the armor worn by the sneering man was the fierce visage of a lion baring its fangs. His name was Zagoras. At least, that was his name as a demon. His human name was Delion. He was currently the vice-commander of the Golden Lion Knights of Terrasia.
Though he was called the vice-commander, the commander, Terlos Ocentia, was nothing more than his puppet. When their subordinates weren't around, Terlos would usually speak to him in formal honorifics. Even when Zagoras mocked him, saying he might as well have sold his soul, Terlos would only laugh while breaking out in a cold sweat. Having experienced Zagoras's terror, the 'incompetent' Terlos dared not resist. No matter how foolish a man was, his own life was always precious. In the first place, if not for Zagoras, Terlos would never have risen to the position of commander.
Zagoras was utterly vicious. He was adept at manipulating humans by exploiting their desires and psychology, and he thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Ah, Lord Helgenas... How could it be this cruel...?" the old man lamented, looking around the hall.
The old man was a demon summoned by Zagoras, and one of the few spiritists who had survived for ages. The Strategist had sent Zagoras to investigate exactly what had happened here. The Strategist's command was as good as the Corps Commander's. Now that the Demon King was gone, the Corps Commander reigned at the pinnacle of the demons.
Zagoras, who had to move without complaint, had sensed the energy of a spirit while looking around the hall, and immediately called upon a demon acquaintance who practiced spirit arts. The problem was the spirit energy felt throughout the entire hall—on the walls, the floor, everywhere. That murky, sticky energy was quite different from the human spirits he occasionally encountered. Rather, it was an energy familiar to demons like Zagoras.
"So, what's the verdict?" Zagoras stood up, straightening his knees, and approached the old man.
"..."
The old man covered his mouth, hesitant to speak, but under Zagoras's pressuring gaze, he finally opened his mouth.
"...Just as you suspected, Lord Zagoras, it is a dark spirit. And a high-ranking one at that. This place... is not empty. It still remains here. The traces of a brutal massacre, a graveyard for demons... It is so horrific that I can barely find the words. Judging by the traces, most of them were trampled and slaughtered without being able to put up any proper resistance. Ah, Lord Helgenas... how could this happen..."
At the old man's lamenting voice, Zagoras let out a sigh and scratched his head vigorously, as if a troublesome nuisance had cropped up.
"So, to sum it up, a demon wielding a high-ranking dark spirit massacred other demons all by themselves. Dozens of them, all at once..."
"And the reason is..."
"Obvious... cannibalism. Some crazy bastard broke the taboo."
Zagoras naturally finished the old man's sentence, uttering a word that was like a 'calamity' to demons. Cannibalism. Why did even the vicious demons fear this so deeply, treating it as a mortal sin and a taboo?
There was a legend passed down regarding cannibalism. It was the story of a demon who stood atop the corpses of countless other demons, seeking to become the Demon King himself. This was something that could never be allowed. To the demons, the Demon King was a supreme being, their absolute ruler and king. After the Demon King met his end in battle against the Hero, this demon had seized upon the vacancy, attempting to rule all demons through sheer force—a traitorous sinner with few equals in demon history. He had heard that there were occasionally those among the demons who secretly revered him, but actually practicing cannibalism was a completely different story.
"The second coming of the 'Nameless One'..." the old man muttered, his hands trembling violently.
The Nameless One. It was the title and alias of the madman who had committed massacres through cannibalism. Literally, he had no name. No one knew what kind of demon he was, what he looked like, or even what attacks or techniques he used. He had been subjected to damnatio memoriae—the erasure of all records.
A vast amount of time had passed since then. The only generation that could claim to have experienced him firsthand were the ancient demons known as 'Elders.' Some demons even whispered: Is the Nameless One truly dead? Or is he hiding somewhere, still slaughtering demons to amass power?
It seemed the old man standing before Zagoras was one of those who held such a view. While the old man shook his head and trembled, Zagoras simply scratched his head, lost in thought.
A lot of unsettling things have been happening lately... Should I keep a low profile?
First came the bolt-from-the-blue news that their test subject, Eisel Ludwig, was alive, followed by the news of the death of his associate, Krektar. As soon as Zagoras heard that the Saintess's knights had been dispatched to the theater where Krektar—under his human identity, 'Oswald'—resided, he had sent Terlos to investigate. According to the foolish Terlos, it looked like the work of a swordsman, so it didn't seem like Eisel had killed Krektar. Zagoras and his associates weren't particularly shocked by Krektar's death. Their reaction was more along the lines of, Well, we figured that would happen eventually.
Dealing with Eisel is already a massive headache... and now the 'Nameless One' has appeared?
Eisel Ludwig, whom they had believed to be dead, was alive and well. But she shouldn't be. The sharper ones among his associates shared Zagoras's concerns. The fact that she was at 'Innocence Academy,' of all places, made dealing with her incredibly tricky.
Eisel was the product of a failure. And this 'failure' must absolutely never reach the ears of the Corps Commander. To their 'Leader,' who had risen to become the Corps Commander's right hand, she was an absolute eyesore. The same went for Zagoras. He was currently on a very smooth path. The position of vice-commander was one he had secured after a long, grueling period of effort and patience.
As the saying goes, it is darkest under the lamp. No one would ever suspect the vice-commander of a demon-slaying knight order of being a demon himself. Furthermore, Zagoras, who was highly skilled in manipulating magi, knew how to conceal his energy so perfectly that no one could detect it. Even so, he had to avoid crossing paths with the Saintess at all costs, so he had been carefully steering clear of Bernice.
His mind tangled with complications, Zagoras muttered a curse. Eisel Ludwig's survival. Krektar's death. The return of the Nameless One. The string of bad news lately was highly unsettling.
"We're heading back. I'll handle the report."
With those words, Zagoras spun around sharply, his cloak fluttering behind him. One way or another, the hall was empty. Though spirit energy surged all around, there seemed to be no evidence left to identify the demon who had committed the cannibalism. At least, demons who practiced spirit arts were rare. Even more so if the spirit they wielded was high-ranking. Zagoras figured this alone would be enough to satisfy the Strategist.
The old man watched Zagoras's retreating back, swallowing the words he couldn't bring himself to say. Could this heinous demon who committed cannibalism have left these traces on purpose? To the old man's eyes, the entire hall looked like a warning.
I gave Bernice just enough information about Delion—or Zagoras, to use his demon name—to avoid raising suspicion. Giving too many details would have been suspicious. I also had to filter out visual information that I, supposedly blind, shouldn't be able to perceive. But even that much would be plenty. After all, it was certain that Delion was a demon.
Bernice asked me not to overexert myself for the time being, bestowed upon me the blessing she hadn't been able to give during the initiation ceremony, and departed. Ah, I also received a small, portable crystal ball. It was essentially this world's equivalent of a mobile phone... and an incredibly expensive item. It was a money-guzzling hippo of an item that drained mana like crazy every time you made a call. While I had no intention of initiating contact, it was given to me to prevent situations like the recent one from happening again. Given my circumstances, they had originally planned to give it to me after the initiation ceremony anyway.
I didn't get to talk to Bernice much. In particular, I missed the timing to bring up Sierra once again.
A few days passed after that. Around the time Edward's class was ending, we received an announcement that we would be heading to the southern desert. I was currently preparing for it. Packing my bags, browsing the general store for useful items... I was spending my time quite productively. Ever since I got the sub-space pouch, organizing my backpack was a breeze, which was very convenient.
Sierra suddenly asked while I was packing. Since there was only one desert on the entire continent, it didn't need a specific name and was simply referred to as 'the desert.'
"I've never been. I hear it's incredibly hot. They say it's filled with scorching sand as far as the eye can see, and sandstorms whip up at a moment's notice. And, of course, we can't forget the Ancient Ruins."
I was actually looking forward to this trip to the desert in my own way. Especially the Ancient Ruins. The ruins were a location that hadn't been fully implemented in the game, so I wondered if I might be able to set foot inside them this time.
The first-years were scheduled to head to the desert for a practical class on hunting packs of 'Outworlders.' Outworlders, as the name suggested, were monsters from another world. They were deeply connected to the Ancient Ruins, and because dimensional gates only opened near the ruins, Outworlders could only be found in the desert.
Though they aren't really monsters, but rather robots... which the people of this world aren't familiar with...
Robots, machinery, mechs that seemed to originate from an era with technology far more advanced than the modern day... In short, they were heaps of scrap metal. They weren't piloted. Hunting robots in a desert... Considering the game's genre, it was quite a random element. While it didn't quite fit the fantasy aesthetic, adding lore about alternate dimensions and such somehow made it work. Even so, the desert didn't play a massive role in the main story.
...At least, that was the case in the game I played.
Since it was much closer than the North, we would likely travel by carriage instead of an airship.
Once we return from the desert, we'll probably get some rest.
I planned to use that time to go and recruit the Hero. Clear the events I need to clear. Visit the ruins. And once I return, it's time for the Hero.
As I packed my bags and neatly organized my plans, I tightened the straps of my backpack and smiled. Lately, I felt like everything was falling into place. I hoped things would continue to go this smoothly.
The Hero Leon, reincarnated into a female body and now named Ray, was currently experiencing a crisis. In the quiet orphanage where everyone else was fast asleep, she was screaming silently.
Dammit... My plushie is gone...
Having returned from her physical training, she was searching for her plushie. It was a rabbit plushie named Becky, almost as big as her, but the toy that was always waiting in her spot was nowhere to be seen. She despaired even as she searched.
The plushie had recently been slipped into her arms by the orphanage director while she was sleeping.
"It's a present, Ray."
The director had whispered, tucking the plushie against Ray. Then, she had watched Ray with a warm smile as the girl hugged the plushie. While pretending to sleep, Ray had actually drifted off. A child's body simply could not resist the overwhelming tide of sleep. On top of that, she had momentarily thought the fluffy texture of the plushie felt quite nice.
A few days of that had led to this current state of affairs. Leon, who used to sleep soundly on the bare ground or even a dungeon floor without a care, had now become Ray—a girl who couldn't sleep properly without a plushie.
Tearing at her hair over this painful truth, Ray ultimately succumbed. She crept through the moonlit orphanage as stealthily as a cat, searching for her plushie.
"Whew... Whew..."
She finally found it. Another child in the orphanage was sleeping, hugging it tightly as if it were their own.
How dare you.
Ray snatched the plushie from the child's grasp rather roughly, hugged it close, and pitter-pattered back to her spot. For a robust adult man to steal a plushie from a sleeping child just to get some shut-eye was an incredibly shameless act, but Ray was currently in a child's body... and she had no room to care about such trivialities.
Lying down in her bed, Ray pulled up the blanket and squeezed the plushie tight.
This is it...
Grinning foolishly as if she had reached nirvana, Ray began to breathe softly and evenly within seconds. She drifted off to sleep. She would likely have a pleasant dream.
...Living in a child's body was truly no easy task.