The Lecture
Sleeping in a bed that was excessively soft had been wreaking havoc on my lower back for days now. On top of that, I kept waking up drenched in cold sweat, my whole body aching and stiff.
"Nnngh..."
Since doing anything about it was too much of a chore, I had simply let it slide day after day. Grabbing a liquor bottle the moment I sat up, I tipped the hard alcohol down my throat and exhaled a stale, heavy breath.
"Pheeew..."
Right away, I sparked a cigarette and took a deep, lingering drag.
"..."
Having a body capable of holding and channeling mana was undeniably convenient. Even if a total lack of talent limited me to spells strictly within the 9th Class, the vessel was still incomparably tougher than that of an Ordinary Human.
Just look at the lack of a hangover right now. I had poured booze down my throat until I blacked out last night, yet far from waking with a pounding headache, I felt bursting with vitality. With a body like this, drowning in alcohol and chain-smoking probably carried almost zero negative consequences.
Ah, as a side note, magic here was graded from 9th Class to 1st Class, where smaller numbers denoted more difficult and devastating spells. Why magicians were categorized like this while the knights stuck to traditional fantasy conventions with terms like Mana User and Aura User was beyond me.
Knock, knock!
"U-Um... It's time for breakfast..."
A timid knock sounded, and a young maid with brown hair poked her head into the room. Over the past few days, she had been the praiseworthy soul assigned to wake me and tidy up my quarters.
"Is it? Uh, what was your name again..."
"It's Everil... Please remember it..."
"Ah, right. Everil... You don't need to clean so thoroughly, you know."
"I-I couldn't do that. It's my job..."
"Suit yourself. Do whatever you want."
Staggering to my feet, I offered a lazy yawn and swayed toward the door.
"Ah, a-ah! U-Um...! Master Aljen!"
"Hm? What?"
She rarely ever called out to me on her own, so I turned around with a raised brow. Trembling from head to toe, she squeezed her eyes shut and held out a formal noble attire. Where and when had she pulled that out? Just looking at it made me feel stifled.
"P-P-Please put this on! You... you must maintain proper decorum...!"
"I'm wearing clothes right now."
I frowned and gestured at my current outfit, making her face turn pale. I was sporting a wrinkled, oversized shirt paired with rough-cut shorts—a look that, in my personal opinion, suited a noble delinquent to perfection.
"B-But...! Ah... if you could just wear this...!"
"...Who put you up to this?"
"H-Heeek!?"
Startled out of her wits by my question, tears welled in her eyes. Hey, what did I even do to make her cry? That felt genuinely unfair.
"It's not like you went out of your way to prepare that suit out of concern for me. Who told you to make me wear it?"
"T-The truth is... Duchess Pitra did...!"
"Ah~ Mother, huh..."
Recalling the woman with blooming reddish-dark hair, red eyes, and an outwardly gentle, elegant countenance, I let out a sigh. She probably knew I wouldn't listen if she told me directly, so she was trying to correct my habits indirectly through this timid maid who had managed to survive around me for days. It left... a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.
"...Not wearing it. Shove it back wherever you found it."
"Ah...!"
She fidgeted in helpless fluster, but I merely patted her shoulder to calm her down.
"You have it rough, Everil."
"Pardon!? A-Ah, no, not at all!"
"Not at all what?"
"Heeek!? N-No, um... I'm sorry!"
"Sorry for what?"
"E-Ehh...? Ah, uh... eh...?"
Seeing that teasing her any further would burst the dam on her tears, I chuckled, stepped out into the corridor, and gave a dismissive wave. Honestly, with mental fortitude that fragile, I wondered how she managed to do maid work at all.
Gulp!
Fsssh, haaaah...!
A liquor bottle in one hand, a cigarette in the other, I strolled indolently toward the dining hall where everyone would be gathered. Even to my own eyes, I looked like an irredeemable scoundrel, which drew a wry chuckle from my lips.
"..."
"..."
The two knights guarding the entrance to the dining hall seemed to share the exact same sentiment, their brows furrowing heavily at the sight of me.
"Hmm? What's this? Who are you two?"
There weren't usually gatekeepers posted at the dining hall, so I asked with casual curiosity. The pair stepped forward with rigid expressions.
"Lord Stanashila Aljen. You are barred from attending breakfast."
"...Hah."
The sheer bluntness left me momentarily speechless.
"...Whose authority says so?"
"The Vice Commander's orders, my lord."
"Ah~ Hehehe. So my illustrious elder brother gave that order? Man, petty doesn't even begin to cover it. Wouldn't you say? No matter how I look at it, he just doesn't have the makings of a duke~"
As I smirked and sneered, a flash of irritation crossed the stoic knight's face.
"Hmm, but I have business in there and need to enter. Are you still going to block me?"
"Yes, my lord. Even if we must use force."
"Haha... What a remarkable talent. Loyal to a fault. Quino, wasn't it? Our eldest brother's devoted adjutant. It warms my heart just looking at you."
"...Thank you, my lord."
Surprised that I knew his name, his eyes widened slightly before he offered a curt bow.
"Your mother, who raised you all on her own, would be immensely proud if she saw you now! Wouldn't she?"
"...!?"
For the first time, a crack appeared in his composed facade, revealing stark bewilderment.
"Hahaha! A troublesome rascal from a nameless, tiny village tucked away in the empire's fringes rising to become an honorable knight in the Stanasila Knights, serving with such steadfast devotion—what greater honor and renown could there be! Even Ryutz, that arrogant hunter, would tip his hat to you now. Old Man Hashke, the most stubborn geezer in the village, would hail you as the village pride, and Mary, the village beauty and your childhood friend, would blush and look at you bashfully!"
"H-How do you know that...!?"
Gulp.
Swallowing another mouthful of alcohol, I savored his stunned expression for a beat before lowering my voice to a grave, quiet whisper.
"Yet the hometown you love so dearly will burn to ash before long. The people you cherish will be reduced to heaps of slaughtered meat sliding down the bellies of demonic beasts. And the mother who raised you alone will not escape that calamity, either."
"Gh...!?"
Quino gasped, his eyes flying wide with shock. I waited leisurely for his reaction, exhaling a pale plume of smoke.
"...Are you... threatening me?"
A dry scoff escaped me.
"You have ears, so you must have heard me shouting like a madman over the past few days. Surely you know what I'm talking about?"
"...Are you referring to the claim that House Stanasila will be destroyed by demons?"
"What, you don't believe it?"
"I cannot believe it. Such talk is nothing more than the drunken delusion of a master who has lost his senses."
"Oho, coming on strong, aren't we?"
In a world where strict social hierarchy governed all things, spitting words like that at a high-ranking noble was practically begging for the executioner's block.
"I'll grant you special leniency for that insolence. In return, step aside. I have quite a lot to impart today as well."
"I cannot do th—"
"Argh, I said get the hell out of my way!"
CRASH!
"!?"
His stubborn obstinacy got under my skin, and before I realized it, I had smashed the liquor bottle right over his helmet. Never imagining such an unhinged reaction, Quino had taken the blow defenseless; alcohol and glass shards dripped down the sides of his visor.
"You motherfucker! I'm the third son of the ducal house! I am Stanashila Aljen! And a mere grunt of a knight dares bar my path!? Do you have a death wish?! Do you want to die right fucking now?!"
"Lord Aljen, calm yourself. If you run wild any further, even if it requires fo—"
Quino, whose aura had begun to flare with suppressed fury, froze dead in his tracks. Stanashila Pitra had emerged from the dining hall, letting out a troubled sigh.
"Greetings, Duchess!"
"Haaah... Yes, you have worked hard. Aljen, stop causing a scene and come inside."
"Oho! As expected, only Mother truly cares for me. Hehehe..."
Fsssh, haaaah.
Drawing deeply on my cigarette to replace the shattered liquor, I swaggered forward, eliciting yet another heavy sigh from her.
Stepping inside the dining hall, sharp glares from the eldest son and second daughter flew at me like daggers, just as expected. Vivian, the youngest, glanced back and forth between them and me, fidgeting in distress.
Ah, for the record, Vivian had actually sought me out a day or two ago after frantically running around trying to prevent the duchy's ruin. She had hesitated, yet clearly asked if everything I said was a lie. I naturally replied that it was the truth... but doubt had clearly taken root in her mind. Since then, instead of taking proactive action, she had been keeping a low profile, carefully watching the way the wind blew.
"Stanashila Aljen. Because of your incessant morning racket, I mobilized personnel to verify the truth of your claims."
"Hmm?"
Berga, the eldest son, seized the moment to initiate an interrogation with an abrasive tone.
"The results showed that the duchy is the very picture of peace. Not a single monster disguised as a territory resident was found, nor were any magic circles detected. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Same on my end! Claiming that black mana was drifting through the duchy and making me hysterical? Hah, don't make me laugh! After testing through various methods, not a single speck of dark mana was found across the entire estate!"
With the second daughter, Weller, joining the assault, the atmosphere seemed overwhelmingly stacked against me. I merely curved my lips into a leisurely smirk.
"Both of you are complete dipshits. Did someone swap out your brains for rotten onions?"
"...What?"
"Y-You dare call me an idiot...?! I-I have never suffered such an insult in my entire life! You miserable bastard...!"
Enjoying their contorted expressions, my grin deepened.
"If demons and dark mages set their minds on wiping out a ducal house, wouldn't it be weirder if you could just easily spot their tracks? Huh? If a casual glance was all it took, citizens would've reported them ages ago. Wouldn't you say?"
As their hostility grew lethal, the Duke, who had been sitting quietly, finally spoke.
His frequent trips to the Church over the past few days had apparently borne some fruit; a silver rosary hung around his neck. Even I couldn't identify the exact holy relic, but sensing its pure, sacred aura, it was undoubtedly decent. It wouldn't be as effective as he hoped... but surely it was better than nothing. Probably.
"Then how do we find them? Speak."
"Oho, are you finally willing to listen to your son? That brings warmth to my heart!"
"..."
The Duke remained silent. Well, from his perspective, even this much was an immense effort. Mobilizing the knighthood and mage corps based purely on the ramblings of a delinquent with zero credibility would shred his prestige and authority if it yielded nothing. Furthermore, even a holy relic couldn't completely overcome a curse woven by a High Demon, so he likely lacked the mental bandwidth to spare attention elsewhere.
Even at this very moment, he was probably waging a silent, desperate battle against impulsive urges and insidious delusions. I couldn't fathom how that truly felt, but the game's setting lore—which recorded every meticulous detail under the sun—described the psychological torment of Cambello's Soul Pit in vivid precision: in the midst of an ominous, suffocating fog, there existed a single, brilliant ray of light, yet one had to resist the irresistible temptation to walk toward it, or so it went.
"Father?"
"Father?! Why on earth are you..."
"...Silence."
His strained voice, wrenched out from deep within his throat, cast a heavy silence across the dining hall.
Perhaps, trapped in his inner demons, he desperately needed someone who could resolve this impending crisis on his behalf. If that was why he was extending a chance to the delinquent trash Stanashila Aljen, his words and actions made sense.
"Pfft..."
Snickering, I decided to open an impromptu lecture right then and there, distilling only the most essential points.
"Hahahahaha! So it shall be! Out of gratitude for His Grace the Duke's benevolent consideration, I shall bestow upon you my teachings. So eldest son and second daughter, clean out your ears and listen well!"
"You bastard...!"
"How dare you act so arrogant!"
Ignoring the furious siblings, I raised my voice.
"The magic circles of demons and dark mages can never be uncovered through conventional means! The demons have mastered concealment over centuries of cunning, while dark mages perfected it through decades of persecution and purges! However! Depending on the purpose and application of the circle, there is a method to force it into revealing itself! And in the case of our ducal estate, that catalyst is blood!"
"Blood...?"
"I'll recite the exact coordinates of the circles. Splash them with chicken and pig blood and observe the reaction, and you'll immediately see whether I'm lying or not! But just splashing it blindly won't work—you must trace a specific geometric pattern as you pour! Furthermore, distinguishing demonic beasts disguised as territory residents is even simpler: make a shallow cut to verify the blood's color, or pluck a strand of hair and see if it writhes like a parasite!"
Listening quietly, Weller, the second daughter, cut in with a sharp voice.
"Then what about the black mana? If dark mana was permeating the atmosphere, why couldn't I detect it?"
"What are you talking about?! You've already detected it, Dear Sister! You've merely been cursed into consciously ignoring it!"
"What... Do you honestly think that makes sense?"
"Why wouldn't it?!"
"If such an absurd thing were possible, finding the dark magic circles would be pointless anyway! They'd just use that curse to make us consciously ignore everything we see!"
"A curse isn't omnipotent! Nor can it be spammed endlessly! The culprit is likely pushed to their absolute limit just maintaining the curse over the key figures and the Duke's Castle right now! The sacrifices required for the ritual are sorely lacking! Of course, once the Duke's Castle and the ducal capital, Terabaon, are fully swallowed up, that story changes... but fortunately, we still have time, so we must move now!"
Clatter.
The moment I finished speaking, the Duke deliberately set down his cutlery with a sharp clink, commanding everyone's attention, and turned toward Berga.
"Berga. The moment breakfast concludes, dispatch knights to procure chicken and pig blood."
"Father! Are you truly believing this liar's words?!"
"...Do it first. If nothing out of the ordinary is found, I will punish Aljen accordingly."
"I cannot understand this! Why listen to the drivel of such a worthless piece of sh—"
Grrrk!
Gritting his teeth until they groaned, Berga's glare pierced into me like a dagger. I merely flashed a cheeky grin and shrugged.
That very afternoon, uproar erupted across the Duke's Castle and throughout the ducal capital of Terabaon.
Dozens of ominous, repulsive magic circles pulsing with dark crimson light had been uncovered.