That Will Suffice (5)

Judging by the complete lack of reaction so far, it seemed there was no need to worry about madness. At this rate, it looked as though I was simply going to keep wrestling with Dev forever.

In the end I flung the dagger into the riverbed and, with my newly freed hands, hurled Dev into the water.

While the water-hating Dev screamed and thrashed about, I climbed out onto the bank. My soaked body felt clammy.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

You’re the only one who’s cold? Well, I… couldn’t exactly claim the same when I didn’t feel the slightest chill, but thanks to you I was soaked too.

More importantly, you started this, so grit your teeth and endure it with pure spite, you cute little Meat Dumpling.

I glared at him and rested a hand on my hair. The bastard had kicked up so much water while flailing that my hair now hung limp and heavy.

It was already growing out stealthily enough to poke me in the eye; I couldn’t leave it covering my vision as well. I swept it back with one motion.

Swish.

In the meantime Dev came thrashing out of the water, yanked off his hood, and shook himself hard. He slapped the hood a few times, then grabbed his tail like laundry and wrung it out with all his might for good measure. A little funny, honestly.

“Honestly, my lord, you really know how to scare a person half to death……”

More than that, are you still hung up on that? I told you it was a misunderstanding.

“…Please never do that again.”

Still, the fact that he was worried for me was something I couldn’t help but appreciate. Looking at the pouting Meat Dumpling muttering under his breath, I turned my head away.

Instead of getting angry, just a gesture that I didn’t want to talk. Among the reactions that could still show the concept, this was relatively mild.

“And here. Take this.”

Dev held something out. A crude ring—the Sealing Ring.

“If you did that because you were worried about going berserk… well, you’ve got this now.”

Ah. Considering White Wind had already joined us, it wasn’t particularly strange for Dev to be carrying one.

I eyed the thing Dev shyly offered, then snatched it up with a soft tap.

‘If I put this on, won’t the quest window freeze again?’

The thought struck me out of nowhere.

‘If I put this on……’

If I wore the Sealing Ring.

If I didn’t.

Would the broken system window come back?

The color-hunt alerts and the windows that reported quest progress had never appeared just from removing the Sealing Ring before, true.

But still—if I opened the quest window, or the world map.

Would they show? Would the things that had vanished return perfectly intact?

‘I won’t put it on.’

If I simply didn’t wear it… truly.

“My lord?”

Would I finally be able to feel relief?

“Is there some problem…….”

Yeah, right. As if.

I didn’t open the quest window. I didn’t look at the world map either.

Because if I found out whether they were working properly—whether their malfunction really hadn’t been caused by the Sealing Ring—I felt like I would end up walking a path of no return.

Honestly, wasn’t that right? I was already full of suspicions from knowing every cliché under the sun.

And if, in the middle of that, I learned what the Sealing Ring had been made to block, and then thought about the system that had vanished to match it…

Wouldn’t it be stupid not to notice?

“Go.”

Even so, I chose to look away. I decided to bury it again.

No one wants to be confirmed that the place they are standing on is hell.

“Now.”

Instead I opened the tightening section of my gauntlet. Dev, who had been hesitating in front of me, stamped his feet twice more before finally vacating the spot.

A good decision.

In the midst of the dull ache, I quickly slipped on the Sealing Ring and redressed. The moment I wore it, my mana decreased and at the same time my mood improved a little.

Sure, keeping every possibility open was my life motto, but even I had limits to what I could handle.

If I did this, at least for a little while I wouldn’t have to think about what I couldn’t handle. I could endure a little longer.

So that was enough. That was enough…….

[Well, I’ll be. Do humans these days make things like that? That’s mighty wondrous, ain’t it.]

Right then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a ship-horn of a voice boomed and the enormous white snake poked its head out. It was a little amazing that something so huge could move without so much as a tree falling or even a similar sound.

[That little thing manages to suppress demon energy real well, don’t it?]

No… of course it wouldn’t fall. I looked more carefully at the snake’s body. What I had thought was simply rising up between the trees was, strictly speaking, rising through the trees.

[But why’re you usin’ that when you’ve got somethin’ better? Looks like it’ll break easy.]

Well, with a body that size it probably needed that kind of ability just so it wouldn’t smash the forest every time it moved.

…Wait.

“…What did you just say.”

[Oh my! Looks like I made you mad. Sorry ‘bout that. This dang mouth of mine…….]

“I’m asking what the better thing is.”

There was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something better than the Sealing Ring?? I had something like that?? Then why didn’t I know??

[Uh… you didn’t know?]

“I won’t ask twice.”

[Good gravy…….]

The snake raised its tail stiffly like a person throwing both hands up, then scratched its head.

[Well, you’ve got it already. That thing that reeks of the sea.]

“…The sea?”

I hastily rummaged through the list of everything I owned. Sea-related, sea-related… the orb the Sea Dragon gave me?

The items made from the Sea Dragon had gone to the two dumplings, so those were out. Aside from that, the only sea-related item I had was indeed the orb the Sea Dragon had given me.

“…You mean this.”

I took out the cracked orb. The snake nodded.

[Yes, yes. That’s the one. Oh dear. The power’s been leakin’ out, so of course it cracked.]

…This had an effect similar to the Sealing Ring?

[Didn’t the fella who lives in that sea over yonder tell you when he gave it?]

He didn’t.

[Heck, the reason you can understand my words in the first place is ‘cause of that thing. Hmm. Ever since you got it you ain’t felt cold even when you go in the water, and heat don’t bother you much neither. You really didn’t notice?]

Whether it read my expression or simply my silence, the snake scratched its head a little harder.

What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it had just said was something I had never known either.

I had simply thought my game character was originally like that… but it was actually this item’s effect?

And understanding speech was just because of this too?

[Er, maybe you snatched it without even givin’ him a chance to explain, or somethin’…….]

“No.”

[Huh. Then why in the world didn’t he tell you?]

While I sat there dumbfounded, the snake blinked its round eyes and slowly lowered its tail.

[Anyway, that thing is a kind of… condensed power? A blessing? Sort of. So just carryin’ it gives you little bits of help… and the fundamental energy itself has a basic nature of purifying corruption, see.]

The lowered tail pointed at the orb in my hand with a few prods.

[It’s cracked now so the purification’s weaker… but the blessing still worked just fine, didn’t it? That’s just the temperament of the energy itself.]

…It had worked, yes. Ever since I received this, I had never suffered from the cold after falling in water, and even in the desert I had never been troubled by the heat.

I looked down at the orb with an indescribable expression. The thing I had regarded as nothing but a white elephant had actually been carrying part of my convenience all along; it was hard to believe.

“…Is there any way to fix it.”

Separately, the desire to repair it rose in me. Of course—if power was leaking out, then leaving it broken meant that someday all the power would drain away and it would become useless, right? I absolutely could not stand for that.

And… if it had a purifying function, then when it was whole, maybe it would help a little even if I filled the madness gauge a bit in a rage state.

Thinking about how I had fallen into a madness state with no brakes last time, it might have zero effect. Besides, I wasn’t even sure when it had cracked.

[Normally it wouldn’t work, but since I’m here it ain’t a problem. Hand it over. I’ll fix it for you.]

Fortunately the snake had a way to repair it. More than that, it even volunteered to do the repairs for free.

I still didn’t know why this snake was treating me so well, but it was a good thing.

I set the orb on the snake’s tail. With surprising deftness it coiled the tail around it and carried it off.

[While I’m fixin’ it, I’ll stick a few of my own blessings in too. Nothin’ special—just makes the demon-energy suppression a little stronger, and plants you grow won’t die so easy.]

It even added functions while it was at it. Special, sure, but completely useless blessings. I wished the real me could receive them instead of the concept me.

Even succulents die when they come to me.

[Also, even if you get lost in the forest you’ll be able to get out of the forest. It won’t take you to the destination you want, so mind that.]

After kneading the orb a few times inside its coiled tail, the snake lowered it again. The orb, restored to its original state and even more beautiful in color than before, dropped into my palm.

[Ah, and just ‘cause it purifies corruption don’t mean it can handle everything. If it gets exposed to too much demon energy it’ll crack just like it did now, so be careful of that too.]

Ohh. It was fixed.

I turned it over in my hands and looked up at the snake again. Listening to the additional explanation, I could roughly guess why it had cracked in the first place.

Maybe back then, when I went berserk… it wasn’t that it hadn’t helped me—it had simply cracked at that moment and lost its effect.

“…….”

Well, it wasn’t particularly important. Even if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠retraced everything I had no way of knowing for certain.

I just needed to be careful from now on.

“You.”

Rather, what mattered right now was why the snake in front of me was being so kind to me.

Considering it had said things like the forest would be destroyed if I slipped up, was it worried I might bring ruin here and acting like this because of that?

I’m not that kind of person… though I did punch a hole through the forest for the sake of establishing dominance…….

Ah. So that was it.

Lamenting how many unintended misunderstandings I had piled up today of all days, I opened my mouth again.

“Are you a demon?”

[Excuse me???]

I didn’t even need to hear the answer; the reaction said everything.

[Good heavens, no! No! Even so, how could you misunderstand like that! That hurts my feelin’s, y’know?!]

“Then the fact that you eat mana.”

[Ah, that. Well, uh… how should I put it. It’s a bit hard to explain.]

Still, it was better to make things clear. Later, if someone asked why I had left this one alone in one piece, I would need an excuse ready.

Archmage hoped I wouldn’t clash with Sangun, yet if I didn’t clash he was exactly the sort to start getting suspicious.

[Well, it’s true I was born in mana that had been corrupted into demon energy, and so I can eat mana and hold demon energy too… but I’m still a proper intelligent creature who can think. Would I become a demon just ‘cause of that?]

Besides… Archmage had already run his mouth about the possibility of coexistence, and looking at how polite and respectful this one was being, the result of this conversation was 99 % certain to be positive.

A situation where talking wouldn’t cost me anything and no incident would break out. Rather than punching another hole and inviting suspicion, I might as well just talk a little.

[Just ‘cause you got some strange ability don’t make you a demon. Really. Er… guest? You’re holdin’ demon energy yourself, but you ain’t a demon, are you?]

Rustle.

…And decisively, I had just seen Dev’s ears and tail. Ugh. If I didn’t talk here I would definitely draw suspicion. Definitely.

He knew the Demon Knight disliked showing his arm. So he had given him space, yet the anxiety never fully left him.

Deathbringer finally slipped back around the time he judged the Demon Knight would have finished putting on the Sealing Ring. The fact that he had seen the snake called Sangun heading that way only added reason to his steps.

He needed to keep an eye out so that existence would not prod the Demon Knight’s temper.

“…No.”

Guoooooh.

Yet the Demon Knight understanding Sangun’s words was secondary; the atmosphere flowing between them was strangely off.

He could hear only one side of the conversation, and that side was not particularly talkative, so it was already hard to grasp what was being discussed. In the middle of that, the Demon Knight muttered in a hollow tone.

“A demon… isn’t one.”

Guoooooooh.

He let shadows fall over his eyes and moved his lips a few times. His focus locked on, then scattered again.

It was similar to earlier, when he had been sitting on the rock and raising a blade against himself. He did not seem to be looking at the present moment.

“There is no salvation at the end of vengeance.”

Deathbringer suddenly found himself replaying the words the man had spoken.

There was not a single wrong point. He himself had already experienced it—taking revenge did not particularly change anything.

The longer the grudge had festered, the more one had been buried inside it, the truer that became.

It felt good that the enemy was gone, yet one did not know what to do afterward.

No—whether the grudge even disappeared completely once the enemy was dead was already questionable. At the very least, the hatred and anger he had carried had not vanished just because the revenge was finished.

Wasn’t that exactly why he had become the executioner called Deathbringer in the first place?

He had carried out revenge for his dead friend by proxy, yet the rage still boiled inside him. But the revenge was already done, so there was nothing left he could do.

And then he had seen how many people in this world could not even take revenge simply because they were powerless and poor.

So he had found a reason not to stop, and become a revenge proxy. He had taken other people’s endless hatred as his own, or raised the absurdity and injustice of this world as a new enemy, and drawn his blade.

Just as the Demon Knight had sworn eternal, unfinishable vengeance against demons.

“Even though he holds demon energy… if that doesn’t make him a demon.”

And yet……

“Then what… am I…….”

Right now Deathbringer’s heart lurched strangely.

The moment the Demon Knight crumbled, the conviction he himself had been holding up also wavered in a bizarre way.

“What the hell am I supposed to be…….”

Why? Why on earth?

Deathbringer clenched his fist against the unease and looked at the Demon Knight once more.

“I swore to offer every demonic neck in this world to your graves…….”

Then a very thin realization washed over him.

Just as the Demon Knight, who wanted to kill every demon, had been crushed by variables and exceptions—

he himself, who wanted to execute every villain, would someday also collapse under variables, exceptions, and the limits of his own ability.

And so.

“I even meant to offer my own blood last of all…….”

I hate watching you, the proof of my failure, fall into despair.

“What the hell do you want me to do…….”

Yet even so, I hope that even now you will stop abusing yourself.

There was not a single reason for someone like you to go charging toward the cliff.