That Which Does Not Flow (1)
Was this the first time we had tried using the information guild while enduring Dev’s absence?
Thanks to the pass, getting inside itself was not difficult. Even so, I could not help but wonder just what kind of fights Dev had been waging all this time.
I was not joking. I meant it one hundred percent. The true face of the information guild we had just experienced far surpassed anything I could have imagined.
“Truly vulgar people. They have not a shred of manners among them.”
“Haha…….”
Well, even back in the game, the folks belonging to the information guilds had always been a bunch of rude bastards, hadn’t they?
There were individual differences from city to city, but as a common trait they would try to rip you off or mess with you just short of crossing the line.
But this place—here—was not on that level at all…….
“Still, we obtained what we needed, did we not?”
“You mean that nothing has particularly changed…? Or that even they do not know where the vegetables are coming from because the source is unclear?”
Ha. Let’s drop it. The one certain thing is this: our Meat Dumpling is simply a god.
“The absence of information can itself become information at times. Even if the path is not yet visible.”
“Is that so…….”
“Do not grow too impatient. The Magic Tower investigation team sent to collect specimens of the holy-power-eating beasts has just arrived in Camborer as well. The search will pick up speed from here.”
“…Yes!”
“More than that, I wonder whether his mood has improved…….”
The Archmage, walking at the head of our group, opened the door to the lodging. Creak. Through the opening we saw Berserk and Dev seated at the table.
Dev, no less, was rolled up in a blanket and even drinking soup.
“You’re back?”
I lost my words at the sight. Displeasure that the kid had recovered enough strength to eat? Of course not.
One look at his still-gloomy expression and at Berserk standing with her arms crossed in a watchful posture made it clear he was eating half of his own will and half under compulsion.
No—the reason I was struck speechless was something else entirely.
“Welcome back, priestess. Heal this for me, will you?”
“What? Again… Your, your neck?!”
It had only just healed from the cheek, and now he was wearing fresh handprints around his throat.
“Don’t tell me it was another terror attack…….”
“I-It’s not anything like that, okay?”
Forced by Berserk to reveal the wound on his neck, Dev rolled his eyes away and swallowed the soup.
Judging by the red marks left on the skin, he had been choked with considerable force. Every time he swallowed, his eyes squeezed shut.
“Enough. Hold still.”
“I don’t even need the healing…….”
“Heal him, hunter.”
“Let her treat you.”
In the end the Inquisitor snatched the soup bowl away and set it down, then laid her hands on Dev’s neck while he muttered complaints. Perhaps because it was a place that rarely came into contact with others, Dev flinched.
Whoosh.
Light that only I found distasteful filled the room. The red marks vanished at once.
“Who was it.”
“I keep telling you it’s nothing.”
“We need to know who so we can prepare a response, do we not?”
Immediately the Archmage’s interrogation began.
What, Dev didn’t do anything wrong so “interrogation” is the wrong word? Who cares. Hiding the situation completely from us is Dev’s crime.
“It really is nothing at all—”
“He choked himself. In his sleep.”
“Y-Your Lordship!”
Fortunately we had Berserk, our reliable watcher.
The three of us who learned the truth were stunned, while Dev looked at Berserk with the wretched expression of a jilted lover.
Naturally she only dug at her ear.
“What did you just say?”
“That he strangled his own neck. Berserk barely managed to wake him and stop it.”
“N-No it’s not?! This is just…….”
There was no way Berserk would lie about something like this, which meant this was the truth.
Crazy bastard. Even I don’t choke myself in my sleep. Just how severe is his depression? No—can this even be explained by the word depression in the first place?
“Fine, yes! I did it. But people can do that while sleeping, can’t they……!”
Just as Dev shifted to a brazen counterattack, the Inquisitor, who had been trembling behind him, strode forward.
She cut off Dev’s nonsensical excuse and seized him by the collar, hauling him up.
“You stupid fool!”
“…?!”
Perhaps because they were about the same height, Dev’s forehead was yanked forward and collided with the Inquisitor’s with a dull thump.
“People can do that while sleeping? Nonsense! My patience ends here. If you’re going to offer excuses like that, better keep your mouth shut!”
“…Y-You people were the ones who kept prying after I shut up…….”
“Don’t split hairs! You slicker!”
Had Dev been so startled by the extreme closeness that he jerked his head back?
The Inquisitor simply followed and closed the distance again. Their noses almost brushed.
“I may be dense, but I won’t fall for a lie this obvious!”
“A l-lie…….”
“Inquisitor, that word…….”
“Are you two kissing?”
“There’s a limit to consideration! I don’t know what you’re hiding, but cut it out already!”
“I, I…….”
The moment the Inquisitor released her grip, Dev staggered two steps backward. He barely kept his balance, yet the shadowed corners of his eyes were packed full of something.
“Either speak, or take some other measure. Anything—just stop fretting in silence! Nothing changes if you keep hiding it!”
Yet whatever had been packed so tightly soon transformed into a single emotion. Rage, or else…….
“You think I don’t know that nothing changes?!”
“…?!”
“What do you even know—!”
“I don’t know! That’s why I’m telling you to speak!”
“Fuck, if I speak you’ll just despise me!”
“…!”
“Just like you despise me as a criminal even though you know nothing! No—worse than now!”
Dev shouted with a face flushed red. At those words the Inquisitor’s complexion went deathly pale in an instant. Of all things, the point he had seized was a clear fault of hers that she could not deny.
“That—”
“I don’t need any excuses. I won’t listen.”
Thus the Inquisitor hung her head deeply, and Dev turned away with ragged breaths. His destination was probably the door leading out of the lodging.
Bang!
Dev stormed past me, slammed the door with a thunderous noise, and vanished beyond it.
The remaining Inquisitor bit her lip hard. With zero social experience and what looked like zero peer relationships, this situation seemed terribly difficult for her.
“…Oh dear.”
The Archmage rubbed his forehead at this complete disaster.
Lately he had been acting like a daycare teacher, yet even he apparently had no confidence in handling a situation quite like this.
“…The food I bought for the young hunter to eat has all gone cold.”
Berserk displayed her own brand of unease. In her own way she had bought the food to comfort Dev, and now she stared dejectedly at the spread.
So that was why a feast had been laid out.
“…….”
What am I supposed to do now?
I alternated between recalling the suddenly gloomy atmosphere of the room and the expression I had only glimpsed on Dev’s face, and I began to move sluggishly.
Click-clack.
My military boots broke the silence as I crossed the living room. My goal was not the exit but the room assigned to me.
Rattle.
I entered my room and closed the door.
Click.
I even fastened the lock that would serve no practical purpose yet would clearly convey the message “do not enter.”
All right then. Time to go back out.
Creak.
I opened the window and jumped through it. Being on the first floor, it made little noise.
Clack.
Just in case, I closed the window again. I lacked the ability to lock the inner bolt from outside, but outwardly it would show no sign.
My steps swiftly and stealthily left the temple behind.
Deathbringer walked through the village without destination.
He did not walk the streets. Aside from the risk of provocation, he lacked the confidence to face them.
He had no right to look the people of this city in the eye.
Thus he crossed rooftops in search of a suitable patch of shade. The hood without ear-holes was terribly stifling, yet he did not complain. It was something he rightfully had to endure.
“Hah…….”
And the moment he found a decent shadow, he dropped heavily into it. A cold wind, unusual for the region, blew past.
“…….”
Deathbringer suddenly found himself longing for Skyla. She was too distant to call family, yet too close for a mere business relationship; he wanted to see her.
Even knowing she would scold and reprimand him rather than comfort him.
He did not need comfort right now. What he needed was someone who would dissect his sins one by one and rage at them—yet would not abandon him.
No—being abandoned wouldn’t actually matter. What he truly could not accept, what he refused to allow, was…….
[Those who have only ever enjoyed privilege and never once had to look at the bottom of the barrel, discussing “sin.” Doesn’t it really piss you off?]
“…!”
Deathbringer urgently shifted into a ready stance. His body, jerked upright in an instant, hovered at an ambiguous height as if ready to spring at any second.
“You!”
[Why so startled? As if it’s the first time.]
When had it approached? He ground his lips together as he stared at the existence standing before him.
As if mocking his agitation, the other slowly wore a faint smile.
[I told you last time as well—I only want to help you.]
Would he die? Could he return alive this time?
Deathbringer found himself unconsciously weighing the odds and then flinched in shock. “Return alive”? Did he even have the right to think such a thing? How dare he, how dare he.
[There are far too many people in the world who spout off without knowing a thing.]
His thoughts were forcibly severed. The existence that had closed in until it was right before his nose had seized his chin.
Rustle. The silver silk it wore floated through the air like a fish swimming underwater.
[Of course, if it were the victims or people in the same position, that would be different. But for those who have never suffered the same injustice to casually pile on words—that’s just too unfair.]
“What are you—”
[Isn’t it true? Do you think we don’t know this is a sin? That we feel no guilt toward the people who were harmed by it? No. You don’t. You’re the kind of person who would accept it as deserved if they shouted that you must be punished. It’s just that, even knowing, there was nothing else you could choose. Because you had no power.]
“…!”
The snake coiled around the other’s neck crossed over to him. As the snake’s body pushed back the hood, the glaring sunlight poured down at once.
[Yes! Because you had no power! No money, no authority! For that single reason you had no choice, and yet the ones who can’t even understand that dare to condemn us—that’s truly unfair!]
In that moment it was exactly like that fragment of the past. Sunlight that filled the world with nothing but dazzling radiance.
[What makes you clean and noble is ultimately just that you were lucky enough to be born into the privileged class!]
The kind that had made even that noble bastard look sacred in the very moment of killing someone.
That damned sun.
[I’m not trying to deny the sin. I’m not saying I don’t want to be punished either. But I hate only the condemnation from those bastards. Bastards who were merely lucky, pointing fingers while knowing nothing—that’s still irritating.]
“…What… are you saying.”
His eyes hurt so badly he felt tears coming. Probably that was it. Since that would be the case.
Deathbringer forced out a tightly locked voice. The other smiled brightly.
[You’re the same, aren’t you?]
He could not deny it.
“…You certainly do talk a lot of useless nonsense at great length.”
[That’s my pride. This black tongue is everything I am.]
“So what then? Are you telling me to betray them?”
[Betray? Haha, hahahaha!]
Even so, he would not fall to a demon. With that resolve Deathbringer opened his mouth, only to be rewarded with the other’s uproarious laughter.
[Betrayal requires a bond to begin with.]
Something stabbed sharply into a corner of his heart.
[You know it too, don’t you? That you can stay with them only because they don’t know your past. That in truth no one regards you as special.]
Perhaps not a stab, but a deep thrust.
[In the end you’re nothing more than a replaceable puzzle piece.]
The temperature of the snake crawling over his neck was terribly cold.
[But I am different. I can make you special. I can also give you the power to crush the hypocrites who were merely lucky enough to be born into privilege. You’ll be able to slaughter the villains you want to punish without watching anyone’s reaction. If you only wish for it, if you only desire it.]
Deathbringer lowered his head and looked at his own shadow. A shadow belonging to the shade, invisible.
“And in exchange I become your dog, is that it?”
[I do not treat my contractors carelessly. To me a contractor is a kind of comrade.]
“Heh, so you really are a demon.”
[Well, would I be human?]
Rip.
Something tore.
[Think carefully. Your companions cannot understand you the way I do. They won’t be able to empathize either.]
“…Why? Why do you think they can’t?”
[Are you asking that seriously? A priestess who has been a hero since the day she was born, or a mage who climbed naturally into the privileged class through innate talent—you think they can truly comprehend you?]
“…….”
[Even if they try to understand you, how far do you think they’ll get? It’ll surely start with “I understand wanting revenge, but” and end with “that still wasn’t right.” Because the number of people who can harm them is small, and even if there are any, they possess the power and authority to legally cast their opponents into the abyss.]
Even so the black tongue inside the white shell did not stop.
[Oh, of course the warrior who watches no one’s reaction won’t say anything to you. She might even praise you. But… you know, don’t you? That her position and yours are as different as heaven and earth.]
It was as if she had coated her tongue with poison instead of fangs.
[You who crawled through the bottom and rolled in the mud just to kill a single one. Who, after finishing revenge, had no time to feel relief and had to keep running and running simply to stay alive… do you really think that mighty warrior can understand you? And even if she did, could you truly accept her understanding with joy?]
Engraving itself onto the soul without form.
[The Demon Knight goes without saying. He is the most similar to you, the most alike… yet in the end he seized power. Even though he struggles the same way, he can achieve more, a deeper revenge.]
A poison for which no antidote even exists in the world.
[In the end even the two people who might understand your heart are not your equals. Because they have ability. Because they are people who can act as their hearts please without crawling through the bottom the way you do.]
“…….”
[Because they have the power that allows them to.]
Deathbringer’s eyes squeezed shut.
“…Bullshit. Even you who say that are stronger than me, aren’t you?”
[Haha, true. I am stronger than you. In fact, stronger than most. I am ultimately a being above as well.]
“Then for someone like that to spout—”
[But I am also the only one who can give power to you, am I not?]
“…!”
[There are those—rare as they may be—who can take revenge in your place, or grant you authority, or pour wealth that can overwhelm everything before you. But that isn’t what you want, is it?]
The other released his chin, reclaimed even the snake, and stepped back one pace, then two.
Silk resembling fish scales shifted, revealing a wondrous sight beyond.
[Power. The most primal and barbaric thing, the essence of the world itself—“power.” That is what you want, isn’t it?]
Bwoooom. A massive whale cried out directly behind the other.
[Though the gods turned their faces from you, I am looking straight at you.]
Honestly, a piece of his heart could not help but be tempted by the spectacle.
[So contract with me. Choose me. Abandon the idiots who cannot understand you.]
Ah, in the end even this was proof that he was a weak person.
“…Before the contract, I have… a few questions. May I ask them?”
[Humans are full of suspicion. Fine. Ask. If it is something I can answer, I will.]
“First… who are you? I know you’re a demon, but I want to know exactly who. I need to know clearly which demon I’m contracting with.”
[Ah, did I not say?]
Deathbringer carefully inquired about the other’s true identity. The other answered with a dry tone while putting on a show of nonchalance.
[The world calls me Moby Dick. The seat the King bestowed upon me is Envy. I am one of the seven Great Demons you revere and fear so much.]
He had expected it, but it really was a Great Demon.
Deathbringer instinctively swallowed a groan.
“Then next… why doesn’t someone as great as a Great Demon simply seize my body by force? Taking it wholesale like with the Demon Knight would be more convenient. And honestly I’m so weak that even making me a contractor would be meaningless.”
[Foolish. From my perspective you and other humans are not very different. And do you think the ones strong enough to be meaningful as contractors would ever bother with a contract in the first place?]
“…Well, that’s true. Is not taking the body also because I’m weak?”
[Of course. There is not a single advantage to seizing a body that crumbles as easily as a human’s. Unless one is a lowly being without a proper vessel or who has lost their flesh.]
“So demons can lose their flesh as well. If I contract, can I survive when I lose my body?”
[What big dreams for a human. But yes. It is not impossible. If one uses mighty power to pin the soul to the ground and pour it into a new vessel, that is resurrection.]
“Then putting that as a condition of the contract……”
[That is not allowed.]
“Ah, not allowed.”
Deathbringer clicked his tongue in regret. Separately, the other, as if deciding it had answered enough, raised a hand.
With an afterimage like gathering water droplets, a single sheet of paper appeared in that hand. Extremely luxurious paper.
[If you write your name on this contract in your blood, the contract is established. If you cannot write, speak your name. I will teach you the characters.]
“…Do I really have to say my name?”
[That is how a contract begins.]
The other extended the paper as if telling him to take it. Yet Deathbringer could not readily accept it.
“Just a little… give me a little more time to think.”
[Really now… I believe I have already given you enough.]
“Just a little, a little is enough.”
[…Fine. I am generous, so I will allow it. But do not think of pulling any shallow tricks.]
Then, as if in exchange, the snake flew at him.
[Knowing your name does not let me force the full contract, but at my level a temporary contract is still possible.]
Thud. The snake’s fangs tore into his neck.
[Though calling it a temporary contract is generous—it is closer to a curse.]
Your body shall be slightly strengthened.
In exchange, you must not inform any other of our meeting or of the conversation that passed between us.
You must not call my name in the presence of others.
Leaving a written record even at the risk of death is also forbidden.
At the same time an indescribably cold sensation, like flowing ice, spread through his blood vessels and across his entire body.
It was a sensation that made him wonder whether this was what scorching pain—or rather, the agony of freezing solid—felt like.
[For reference, even writing it down while ready to die is not allowed. Clever humans like you are hardly rare.]
Ah, damn it.
[Well, even if you try, the temple lot won’t look kindly on someone who has already entered a temporary contract.]
He had only meant to extract a little information.
[So do your best. Calling me soon would be nice.]
As expected, it seemed he was not meant to succeed.
Deathbringer’s eyelids collapsed.