Noir's Story: The Color of Red Light
Noir's story: the hue of red light. Father had been gone before I was even born. Mother said he died in the Dungeon trying to save a comrade. She always called him a fine elf, but I never really knew. If he had truly been fine, he would have saved his comrade and come back alive to hold her. Instead, he vanished with the one he tried to rescue, leaving Mother—her body broken—to raise me alone.
"I'm sorry. My daughter. I'm so sorry."
Mother was a human who hurt a little too much. Every night she would pull me into her arms and weep. No matter how often I asked why, she only whispered apologies and held me tighter. Her trembling embrace was warm. And suffocating.
'Yeah. I don't get it.'
My head felt heavy. My hands shook and my heart raced, but I didn't know why. Was I sick like Mother? I always cried when thorns pricked me or I fell on the ground. Maybe I really was hurting somewhere. But where?
I found the answer the day Mother was struck by a carriage and died.
I had been cooking for Mother since I was little. Even when she could only show tears, she smiled whenever she ate what I made. Getting cut by knives or burned by fire hurt, but if it meant seeing her smile, I could do it forever. When she smiled, the corners of my mouth would lift too, and my chest would tremble. It wasn't so bad.
That evening I set the table and waited for her.
"Mother is late. Yeah. She's taking a long time. At this rate the food will get cold."
Mother usually returned before sunset, but that day the soup had cooled and thickened before she came home.
"This isn't good. I should go look for her. Yeah, that's right."
It meant breaking our promise that I wouldn't go outside after dark, but she had broken her promise to return before evening. So I headed to the general store where she worked.
And then—
"Noir!!!"
"Huh?"
Crack.
I killed Mother. Because of me, Mother died. The carriage had been about to hit me, so she threw herself in the way. Mother was gone from this world now. The carriage, in too much of a hurry to care, crushed her and kept going. It stole what was mine and calmly disappeared.
...Watching that, my chest began to pound. My hands trembled. My breath came short. My head burned. I must have fallen hard when Mother pushed me; tears streamed down my face. I stared blankly at the blood dripping between my clenched fingernails.
Why had my hands suddenly gripped so tightly? And why did it only get worse whenever I thought of Mother's corpse and the carriage that had fled?
While I was thinking, a voice spoke.
[Want to know? Why your teeth grind and you want to fry every human riding in carriages in oil? Huh? Curious?]
"...."
I turned my head blankly toward the voice. A tiny red dot hovered in the air—smaller than a ladybug, smaller than a sunflower seed. At first I thought I was seeing and hearing things, but the alien voice came again and I realized it was real.
[Hey, want to make a contract with me?]
"A contract?"
[Yeah. I've taken a liking to your taste. So let's make a deal.]
"Who are you?"
[I'm a demon. A great demon who grants the wishes of kind, wronged children.]
"A demon?"
Like the one in the fairy tales Mother used to read? The one who turned human lifespans into gold?
[Yeah. So, want to make a contract?]
"If I do, can you bring Mother back?"
[Mother, huh. You mean that lump of meat lying next to you that used to be human?]
"Yeah."
[Sorry. I'm great at burning and breaking things, but fixing them isn't my strong suit.]
Even demons weren't all-powerful. Useless.
"Then I don't need—"
Instead—
[I'll let you take revenge.]
"...."
The moment I heard the word "revenge," my trembling body calmed even though it wasn't cold. My burning head cooled even though it wasn't summer. It was as if my very flesh desired it.
[I'll make every single human who did this to your precious mother suffer the same fate. I can make it even worse if you want. Doesn't that sound tempting now?]
"All of them... the same?"
[Yeah. If that's what you want.]
The more the demon spoke, the more the pain faded. It felt like magic—like scratching an itch, like clearing something clogged.
"I see. Yeah, that's right."
I closed Mother's cooling eyes in my arms and opened my mouth. It didn't feel like my own will; something carved into my body was speaking for me. Like watching another me in a mirror, gazing at another world.
"...Demon."
[Hmm~? Calling me "Demon," huh. Looks like you've finally made up your mind. Go on, tell me. What you truly want, what you desire, what you wish to come true.]
What I wanted, desired, and wished to come true was for Mother and Father to return alive—but this red demon who had appeared like magic had no such power. So there was only one wish I could make now.
"Help me."
Help me cut the throats of the humans who left Mother like this. Help me avenge my dead mother. Help me swing this fist—gripped so hard it drew blood—at them. That was what I wanted, desired, and wished to come true. Revenge. Paying everything back in full. The only path that could ease the stifling heat in my chest and head. Lead me down that path, great demon. I'll give you everything I can.
[...Nice. I like you. This is exactly the kind of contractor "Wrath" needs. I only came to watch out of curiosity at first, but now that I look at you—pretty face, decent mana. You're my type.]
The red dot circled me as if observing, then stopped right in front of my nose.
[Good. Let's make a contract♡]
The demon wanted two things. The first was everything I had. The second was...
"You want... Mother?"
[Yeah. My current contractor is too weak and pathetic to summon the great me into the middle realm. So offer me that human you call Mother as a sacrifice.]
"...But."
[Better keep the hesitation short. The mana left in the corpse is evaporating in real time. And the great demon that I am really, really hates watching people drag things out. So let's wrap this up fast.]
"...."
I gently touched Mother's cold cheek and quietly nodded.
"Yeah. Okay. I'll give you Mother."
[Smart choice, Contractor. Don't worry too much, though. Humans who've entered the realm of death don't feel pain. Actually, they just don't exist in this world anymore. Want to know what dead humans and butchered meat have in common?]
"No."
Hearing the demon's words made me frown for some reason. I didn't like that talk. Seeing my reaction, the demon looked satisfied.
[Mmm. Sweet. See? Someone a little broken like this is way more delicious than those ordinary folks who just stew in anger every day.]
"What do you mean?"
[Huh? Just talking to myself. Don't mind it.]
The demon chuckled and slowly brought the red dot to Mother. Then—
"Huh?"
Mother, cradled in my arms, began to burn. I belatedly remembered that fire was hot and painful and tried to pull away, but strangely, this fire wasn't hot. In fact—
"Warm?"
It felt just like the warmth of Mother's embrace when she was alive. Not bad. This feeling... really not bad at all.
"Warm."
I closed my eyes, holding Mother as she was engulfed in flames, trying to etch this fleeting warmth into my memory and my heart.
But then... wasn't Mother getting smaller?
"Hey, you're kinda suffocating me—back off a bit?"
"Huh?"
A familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from my arms. I opened my eyes.
"...What?"
"Why are you staring like an idiot? Got something on my face?"
Fiery red hair and a dazzling, confident smile.
"M-Mother?"
The being with Mother's face and voice—but much younger—tilted its head, then burst into laughter and spoke with an expression Mother would never have made.
"That's right, my daughter♡ Nice to finally meet you like this?"
"...Yeah?"
That was my first meeting with the demon Croma Ira. The day another color—Chroma—seeped into a world that had been painted only in black.
"Croma... I think Croma is a good name...."
"You're even sleep-talking while sitting up. Impressive."
"Hey, Crow Oppa. Are you actually insane?"
"Huh?"
"Huh? What's with that 'huh' again? You never said that damn wand would make such a loud noise!"
"I never said it would be quiet either."
Ah, this is what they call a fact. True information based on reality and truth.
"Agh, I'm seriously losing it."
Croma-senpai looked at Noir—who had passed out right after the injection—with a worried expression, gently stroking her face. Then she suddenly turned and glared at me. At the same time, I averted my gaze from her fierce stare and spoke calmly.
"There's still one shot left."
I've already instilled the fear of fire, so now I just need to instill the fear of blades. So how about waking her up quickly? Lunch break's almost over, and we still have to talk about the reward....
"...Ah, I really can't hold back anymore."
"Croma! Calm down!"
The moment I finished speaking, Croma-senpai conjured a small flame in one hand and charged at me. Sakana tried to stop her, but when Croma shook her off, the height difference sent Sakana crashing down in a very unfortunate spot. Everyone present accepted their fate. I tried to counter her flame with my own Fire Bullet since I couldn't lose to her, but the cursed message "No injection target" appeared and I got mercilessly beaten with a Fire Punch before collapsing next to Sakana. I figured if I didn't at least pretend to be knocked out, she'd hit me even harder.
Meanwhile, Noir remained fast asleep. The face that had been furrowed as if having a nightmare had relaxed into a peaceful expression. She must be having a good dream.
"Mother's revenge.... Mmm, yum yum."