208
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 208
Arang handed a small bundle to Caesar.
"Here you go."
Caesar opened the wrapping and examined its contents one by one.
10 yellow magic herbs, 5 wind mushrooms, 10 silver apples, and 1 white snake.
In game terms, it contained a balanced mix of items ranging from minimum B-grade elixirs to near S-grade elixirs.
'I wanted this too when I was Barre.'
Caesar picked up the white snake to examine its condition.
The white snake was treated as an A-grade elixir among strength-enhancing elixirs, with effects that made muscles denser while also refining the physique enlarged by muscles.
Particularly, the white snake from the Red Mountains was treated as near S-grade, as it not only had the existing abilities but also changed muscle properties to allow better magic penetration.
"How did you catch the white snake so cleanly? There's no trace of a knife at all?"
"The Shadow Otter drowned it with water magic. That's why it's in such good condition."
"I'm not sure if I should accept something this precious."
"Of course I should give you good things since you'll be using them. I'm sorry this is all I have."
"This isn't for me though?"
Arang tilted his head.
"Not for you? Then why did you ask for elixirs with your wish token?"
"I was going to give them to my disciple. It wouldn't be bad if I took them, but Gloria would benefit more from them. I have the Millennium Ginseng anyway."
Caesar looked at Raven, who was sipping tea while sitting in a chair.
"Raven, could you store this for me? I didn't bring my spatial bag."
"Sure."
Raven neatly tied up the bundle with telekinesis magic and put it in her spatial pocket.
"By the way, aren't they taking too long? The rain should stop soon."
"Yeah, where did they go?"
Just then, a red fox ran into the clearing.
It was Maru.
Caesar's expression hardened as soon as he saw Maru's condition.
He was covered in mud as if he'd been through something.
Arang and Raven's expressions also hardened when they saw his unusual appearance.
"Great Chief! Something terrible has happened!"
"Maru, what happened? Where's Gloria?"
"Gloria... She...!"
Raum seemed too confused to speak.
"Calm down and tell me what happened."
"She said thank you to Master... No, that's not it!"
Caesar couldn't hold back and shouted at him.
"What are you talking about? What exactly happened?!"
"We were suddenly ambushed and fought. Those... Raum's puppets! They suddenly appeared...!"
Raum, puppets.
Hearing these two words sent chills down Caesar's spine.
The current Gloria would have difficulty handling even one puppet.
After all, Raum's puppets were all made up of skilled knights.
Caesar grabbed his wrist.
And using psychometry, he absorbed every memory of what had happened.
-Gloria! Behind you on the right!
-Run away from me.
-Thanks to you, I survived. Thank you.
-Don't worry, I have a way to hide myself, so hurry and tell Master.*
-Tell him I'm very thankful.*
Caesar's teeth ground together.
Maru trembled in fear seeing Caesar's devil-like expression.
Even Raven couldn't close her mouth seeing the magic waves flowing from Caesar's body.
Caesar's magic waves were tearing apart the magic scattered in the air.
Raven couldn't help but be shocked as she had never seen him this angry, even when he was Barre.
"Raven, didn't you give Gloria a coordinate generator?"
Such a rational question from an enraged Caesar momentarily left Raven speechless.
"Did you give it to her or not!"
"...I have it with me now."
"...Fine."
Caesar released Maru's hand.
Maru held his aching arm as he spoke.
"Ce-Caesar. Gloria will be fine. She definitely said she had a way to hide..."
"How can she hide when she doesn't even have a stealth artifact?"
"...What? No. Gloria definitely said she had a way to hide herself?"
Maru's eyes trembled as he looked towards Raven.
"Right? Gloria can survive. Right...?"
He knows why Gloria lied to Maru like that.
She must have thought Maru would hesitate and get caught if she didn't lie.
"There's no point in staying here. We need to go where Gloria was."
"I-I'll guide you. I know where it is."
"I know too. I read you."
Caesar cracked his neck.
"Raven, give me the coordinate receiver."
Raven obediently handed the coordinate receiver to Caesar.
"I'll go first, Raven, you follow behind. And Arang..."
"I'll send a pursuit team."
"Thanks."
Caesar drew axes in both hands.
And he howled.
"URIYAAAAAAA!"
Caesar's cry spread, causing all the birds living in hiding in the Beast people Forest to take flight.
Please just be alive.
Gloria.
***
Gloria was lying on a soft bed.
When she turned her head, there was a warm fireplace burning, and a heavy blanket wrapped around her body.
Then a very familiar voice came from beside her.
The lost duckling went out to find its mother. But no matter how long it searched, it couldn't find her."
A woman with enchanting long golden hair that seemed woven from gold and blue wall-like eyes was reading a storybook with a joyful expression.
She seemed to know what this storybook was.
This storybook was 'The Lost Duckling', and it was Gloria's favorite fairy tale.
"Then, a mouse came out of its burrow and said, 'Are you looking for your mother?'"
Gloria opened her mouth without realizing it.
"Yes. Have you seen my mother?"
Mother stroked Gloria's forehead and smiled gently.
"The mouse said, 'Your mother went over there to the lake.' The duckling smiled brightly like a forsythia flower and said, 'Really? Thank you, Mr. Mouse...'"
"Mom."
Mom gently stroked Gloria's face.
"What is it, my princess?"
"I just wanted to call you."
Mom smiled softly.
"Princess"
"...What?"
"I just wanted to call you too."
Mom closed the storybook and kissed Gloria's forehead.
"Time to sleep now. That's how you'll grow big and strong."
"But I want to look at Mom's face more."
"Really? Actually, I feel the same way."
Gloria slowly studied her mother's face.
My mom, she looked so much like me.
The eyes, the nose, the mouth too...
My brothers took so much after dad.
"Mom, will I become a knight when I grow up?"
"Really?"
"Yes. I'm stronger than my brothers now. I can find my rabbit doll even when they hide it up in the tree."
"Is that so"
Mom gently stroked Gloria's forehead with her thumb.
Gloria caressed her mother's hand.
It was so warm and soft.
"Dad and my brothers had a really hard time after mom died. Even now when we have family meals, mom's seat remains empty. I think we still haven't forgotten mom."
"I see."
"I haven't forgotten mom either. That's why I'm trying to keep the last words mom said to me."
"Really?"
"Yes. She said to reach out and help those who are struggling, give water to those who are thirsty, and share bread with those who are hungry. She said that's what good children do. If I become a good child, the goddesses will take care of me in mom's place."
Tears flowed from Gloria's eyes, wetting her hair and the side of her ear.
"I tried to live well in my own way, but I'm not sure if I lived well. I'm not sure if the goddesses took care of me either. But... I think I did the right thing trying to live well."
Gloria forced a smile and caressed her mother's face.
"I met a really good mentor. His name is Caesar and he's really amazing. He drove out the mafia and defeated demons even though he's not a holy knight. He built an orphanage, and rehabilitation centers and schools to help injured people. Now in Homigraph, you hear more laughter than crying. It's all thanks to him."
"So are you happy?"
"Yes. Very happy."
"Are you satisfied with that?"
"Yes, really satisfied. But..."
Gloria rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears.
"I have one regret."
"What is it?"
"I couldn't say what I wanted to say until the end. I was too shy."
"What did you want to say?"
Gloria smiled brightly.
"That I liked him. Why couldn't I say it until the end?"
"Then you can just say it now."
"It's too late. I'm already in heaven?"
"What are you talking about? Heaven? This place is very far from heaven?"
"...What?"
Among the five senses, smell returned first.
Instead of the warm fireplace smell, the smell of moss and mold invaded Gloria's nose.
Next was sight.
Gloria's room that had been filled with warm orange light gradually darkened and became gloomy, transforming into a bumpy, humid cave.
Then touch returned.
Tough leather belts were binding Gloria's chest, arms, and legs.
The leather belts were connected to a hard steel bed, not budging no matter how much Gloria moved.
Her mother's figure had completely disappeared.
"What... Is this..."
Gloria turned her head toward where she heard movement.
There stood a man wearing a black hood.
Behind him were countless puppets.
"Nice to meet you, Gloria."
His voice was chilling like fingernails scratching a chalkboard.
He slowly approached and stood beside Gloria.
"I mean it. I'm really glad to meet you."
"...Could it be Raum?"
"Oh, I'm honored you know my name?"
Gloria tried to use aura to break the leather belts.
But no matter how much she tried to move her aura, it wouldn't budge.
"How did you know my name? Did you want to become a holy knight?"
"What exactly do you want from me?"
Slap!
Raum's hand flew sharply and struck Gloria's cheek.
"Come to think of it, I haven't explained to you. From now on, you're not human."
"What nonsense..."
Slap!
Gloria's head turned again.
"You're a slave. A slave who answers when I ask and does whatever I say without question. Watch carefully."
Raum forcefully turned Gloria's head to make her look at the puppets whose hearts had been removed.
"Pull out your fingers."
The puppets, without a single exception, forcefully pulled out their own fingers.
Crack!
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
"Aaaaaah!"
"It hurts it hurts it huuuurts!"
"Please stop, please make it stooooop!"
Gloria's lips became parched as she watched the puppets pulling out their fingers while screaming in pain.
"Wh-what have you done?"
Slap!
Raum struck Gloria's cheek again.
"Slaves don't ask me questions."
Blood flowed from Gloria's burst inner mouth.
"But you must be curious about what happened, so I'll tell you."
At Raum's gesture, one puppet walked over.
"St-stop... Ugh..."
Its face was a mess with tears and snot flowing.
"The holy knights might think I'm controlling corpses, but that's not it. These ones are still alive. They can think and have emotions."
Raum pointed to the heart attached above the puppet's head.
"I just performed a small procedure on them to control their nerves. Really. We can even chat when I'm bored."
Raum's hand moved to the tray beside him.
From the various surgical tools on the tray, Raum picked up a scalpel covered in blood.
"You'll soon be like them."
Whoosh!
Raum gripped the scalpel in reverse and plunged it down toward Gloria's forehead.