213
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 213
Raven shook Caesar's body.
"Caesar...! No, you bastard Barre! Get your senses back right now!"
The magic waves flowing from Caesar's body were unsettling.
Should I say it's dim like a dying candle?
A desolate magic wave, like one emanating from someone who lost their entire fortune at a gambling house, constricted his whole body.
What kind of nightmare was he having that pushed Caesar to this state?
No, did he rush in without any countermeasures while knowing that Raum was such a terrifying being?
Tears unconsciously flowed from Raven's eyes.
"Please wake up. Please wake up..."
Raven couldn't find rationality in her own tears.
Barre, this guy had only deceived Raven from the beginning.
Despite being a demon spy, he pretended to be Raven's one and only friend
And when he approached again as Caesar, he acted as if nothing had happened.
Even though he was someone who only deceived and hurt Raven...
When thinking that he might never return, why does her chest hurt so much and why does she feel like going crazy?
"...It wasn't about trust."
It wasn't about trusting Caesar.
No, it was Raven's fault for believing that this guy would have some way to handle it.
What would happen if he becomes Raum's puppet like this?
Raven wasn't confident she could handle Caesar swinging an axe at her as Raum's puppet.
Raven took a deep breath and pulled out her wand.
If the nightmare he's having is some kind of magic effect, maybe Raven could interpret it.
Raven closed her eyes and tried to analyze the nightmare cast on Caesar's body.
First, calm down and...
"...Huh?"
Raven felt an unfamiliar touch on her cheek.
However, the emotion flowing through those fingertips was so gentle and warm that it didn't give her goosebumps.
Raven opened her eyes.
"I'm back, Raven."
Caesar smiled and met Raven's eyes.
That smile looked so refreshing that Raven finally exploded.
"...You stupid fool!"
Raven kicked Caesar's shin.
"Ouch!"
But it was Raven's toes that hurt.
That made her even more upset.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay! What were you thinking rushing at Raum? When you couldn't even stand a chance against Raum!"
"True, I couldn't stand a chance. But I came back, didn't I?"
"You...! You jerk!"
Raven swung her wand and shot a magic bullet at his stomach.
Caesar's waist bent and he fell to his knees for a moment.
"...Isn't that too much, Raven?"
"Whatever! You deserve to be hit."
It feels satisfying to see him in pain.
From now on, instead of kicking his shin, I should shoot magic bullets.
Caesar got up, dusting off his knees, and looked around.
"More importantly, where did Gloria go?"
"Tatiana took her and left the valley."
"What? Then we should chase after them right away!"
"How could I leave you and...!"
Raven's rationality cut off his emotional words.
Raven stomped her feet in anger.
"Ughhhh...! Fine! I put a tracking spell on her anyway. I know where they are."
Raven swung her wand.
A green line appeared showing Tatiana's escape route.
Judging by the messy route, it seemed Tatiana couldn't figure out where to go either.
"...We can just follow this. Sniff!"
Caesar found it difficult to look at Raven wiping her runny nose and tears.
Maybe Caesar was too reckless in rushing in since he knew how to overcome Raum's nightmare...
Honestly, if Raven hadn't cried, it would have taken Caesar quite some time to regain his senses.
"...I'm sorry, Raven."
Raven glared at Caesar with reddened eyes.
"It's my fault for believing you when you boasted about knowing Raum well. This only ended like this because Raum let his guard down. If he had been serious from the start, you could have died. You know that?"
"I know. I was surprised too by how strong his nightmare was."
In the Valent Saga, when someone fell into Raum's nightmare, they would always wake up if their HP reached 0 in any way.
So he thought it would be simple to wake up from the nightmare as long as he died somehow... But reality was different from the game after all.
Caesar momentarily lost his grip on reality due to a subtle longing for Earth and the emptiness that all of this might just be a strange dream.
"I'll never let my guard down again. I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing to me?"
Somehow... You seem to have become really strict, Raven.
You're giving me goosebumps because you remind me of my ex-girlfriend.
"...Ah, because I made you worry?"
"Why are you asking that as a question when you can read my thoughts?"
"Isn't it a bit inappropriate to read your thoughts without permission?"
"You read other people's thoughts just fine without permission."
"It sounds like you're saying it's okay to read your thoughts?"
"Of course not. Who would like having their mind read?"
Caesar said while tapping his chin.
"But thinking about it, it seems a bit unfair."
"What is?"
"You can read my emotions. But why can't I read your thoughts?"
"...Huh?"
Raven was momentarily flustered by this completely unexpected issue.
"I just naturally sense them. This isn't something with an on-off switch like you have."
"Still, you're reading my thoughts all the same."
Caesar was right.
If Caesar couldn't read Raven's thoughts with psychometry, then Raven shouldn't read Caesar's emotions either.
This was an act of deeply delving into each other's minds after all.
Caesar shrugged and said.
"Let's talk about this later. We don't have time to leisurely discuss these things."
Caesar could have pressed the issue further if he wanted to, but he didn't.
Because they weren't free enough to share such personal conversations.
They needed to decide whether to find Gloria or chase after Raum, and also determine how to pursue them.
Raven nodded as if agreeing.
"Right. Understood."
"Then do you think we should look for Gloria first? If we find Gloria, we should be able to find Raum too."
Rather than targeting Gloria, Raum would surely target Tatiana who was with her.
For Raum, Tatiana must be a puppet he absolutely couldn't give up.
Finding Tatiana before Raum would be important.
Raven spoke while looking at Raum's corpse with its head split vertically.
"He's not really dead, right?"
"Of course not. How could someone with 5 horns on their head die so easily?"
Raum is a pentagon demon and a wizard-type demon, so he's quite tenacious.
He splits his heart into 7 pieces and hides them in various places, and when his main body dies, he moves to the nearest heart piece to resurrect there.
"Do you think the beast people found them?"
"Well, it won't be easy."
Caesar gathered the beast people and asked them to search for Raum's heart pieces.
He judged that finding the demon's heart pieces would be much more helpful since the beast people wouldn't be able to win even if they encountered Raum anyway.
"But since I told them the locations where he usually hides them, they might find them if they're lucky."
Caesar spoke while watching the green light streams crossing the forest.
"Then... Want to get on my back for now? We should hurry to find Gloria."
Without Whitey around, there's no way Raven could keep up with Caesar's running speed.
Getting on Caesar's back would be the best choice since time is of the essence, but...
Raven had cried for Caesar.
Raven hadn't cried when Yan and Mitchell were in mortal danger or when they were trapped in nightmares set by succubi.
The fact that Raven cried for Caesar could only lead to the inference that there were special feelings for him.
He thought it would be inconsiderate to casually ask such a Raven to get on his back.
But Raven casually jumped onto Caesar's back without hesitation.
"Yes. Let's hurry."
Caesar felt awkward instead when Raven responded unexpectedly coolly.
Was this just how Raven was after all?
It was very like Raven to prioritize the greater cause and purpose over personal emotional issues.
Caesar followed the tracking spell Raven had set with somewhat lightened steps.
Raven hid behind Caesar's broad back to avoid the strong wind.
'...My heart is beating too fast.'
Raven casually climbed onto Caesar's back.
Since there was a goal to find Tatiana and Gloria faster than Raum, there was no time to waste, and she wanted to prove that crying in front of Caesar was just out of worry, not because there was even 1% of romantic feelings or anything like that.
But Raven's heart was struggling, saying it was different from what Raven thought.
'I feel like he can hear my heartbeat.'
If Caesar were to read Raven's mind right now, he could probably do so easily, but Raven knew that Caesar wasn't that kind of rude person.
But with her heart beating this wildly right now, wouldn't he wonder why it's beating so fast?
Not wanting to reveal these unfamiliar emotional pulsations, Raven decided to say anything to break the silence.
"...By the way, I'm curious about something."
"What is it?"
"About the story of Saint Lebelia. What's that story about?"
Though she just blurted something out, it was actually something she had been curious about for a while.
It was surprising enough that Tatiana and Lebelia were sisters, but to hear that Lebelia had her blood drawn and was tortured.
Since Raven knew almost nothing about the Saint, she couldn't follow the conversation between Raum and Caesar.
"You know that a Saint is needed to make holy water, right?"
"Yes. Water becomes holy water when a Saint blesses it."
This is the common knowledge known to the public.
Just that water becomes holy water when a Saint blesses it.
"But that's not the truth. When the Saint's blood is dropped into the holy grail, that becomes holy water."
"...Is that really true?"
"It is. That's why the church can't produce potions and holy water recklessly. Because if they draw too much blood, the Saint would die."
Raven found it hard to believe even after hearing the truth.
The Saint's blood being the main ingredient of holy water.
At first, she thought the Royder Church was releasing fewer potions to control their prices, but it had been impossible from the start.
"And when someone receives healing from holy water, the Saint experiences the same pain that the patient went through."
"...What exactly does that mean? Does the Saint get injured instead?"
"No, she only inherits the pain."
Raven felt chills run down her spine.
Just how widely were potions distributed throughout the empire?
And how many people used potions every day?
From small cuts to arms being severed or internal organs spilling out, doesn't this mean the Saint endures all that pain alone?
"Is that even possible? How can the Saint handle all that alone?"
"I don't know exactly. The Royder Church might have their own know-how for keeping the Saint alive for a long time."
Raven's mind was complicated.
Raven had used potions before too.
Though she hadn't been seriously injured and only used potions for scrapes or twisted ankles, it was horrifying to think that the Saint had experienced that pain too.
"Wait, how did you know about this? Who told you?"
"When someone uses a potion, my psychometry reacts strangely sensitive. When the potion is used, my mind connects with the Saint's and I feel the pain she's experiencing in real-time."
Raven remembered how Caesar would run away at the mere sight of potions when he lived in Barre.
"...Is that why you refused to use potions no matter what?"
"Yes. That's also why I became enemies with the Royder Church."
"Then is that why you developed the malaria treatment and established the pharmaceutical company?"
"Yes. Though part of it was also to spite the Royder Church."
Raven both understood and didn't understand Caesar's decision.
She could understand not using potions because they caused the Saint pain.
But she wasn't sure if there was enough reason to establish a pharmaceutical company while making enemies with the Royder Church.
"Did you really establish it just to spite the Royder Church? Not to create alternatives to potions?"
"What I want is to create medicines that can treat people at low costs. Well, it would be better if we could make alternatives to potions too."
Of course, going deeper, it was to build power to prevent Gloria from becoming a Saint... But it wasn't entirely untrue, right?
So they need to find Gloria quickly.
If they lose Gloria here, the pharmaceutical company and becoming enemies with the Royder Church will all become meaningless.
At that moment, a red fireball shot up in the sky to the right.
"It's the beast-people's magic."
Caesar's eyes narrowed.
"Looks like they found Raum."
"I think we found them too."
The tracking spell Raven had set was cut off at a small cave below the cliff.