It Could Still Be There (4)
Deathbringer swallowed his irritation from the temple roof.
While the Inquisitor and Berserk had been helping the Demon Knight, he had been lounging around the temple, and that fact left him more than a little uncomfortable.
If he had known something like that would happen, he would have gone with them too.
Deathbringer swallowed another wave of displeasure at a choice he could no longer take back.
It still pissed him off.
"Inquisitor Daniel, are you heading home?"
"Ah… yes."
But what irritated him most was not himself—it was the one who had caused all this in the first place.
Deathbringer quietly sat up at the sound of the name he had committed to memory. Half a face covered in burns, mouse-gray hair.
That was the bastard from earlier.
"Your family will be glad to see you. It's been a while since you went home, after all."
"…I hope so, but."
"Pardon?"
"It's nothing. I'll see you tomorrow."
Naturally, he had no intention of harming the man. The matter was already over, and it was the sort of thing that could easily have happened—though he felt bad saying so for the Demon Knight's sake.
Had the Demon Knight even been hurt? Had any innocent bystander been harmed?
No. And so Deathbringer could not bring himself to lay a hand on that Inquisitor. He truly disliked the man, but he simply could not.
It would go against his own convictions, and it would break the oath he had sworn at Emit's grave.
"…It's been a while since I wanted someone to make a move."
Still, he hated the idea of just pretending he had not seen anything. It was a kind of spite.
Plenty of people had thrown tantrums before, refusing to acknowledge the Demon Knight—but this was the first human who had actually managed to do it.
"I ought to just smack him across the back of the head."
And that was not all. He had made a promise with the softie, so he would not back down, but chasing after answers that never came was starting to wear on him.
He was not ready to give up, but the stress was real. The kind of stress that made him unwilling to let a good punching bag slip away if one appeared.
So he prayed.
Please, let that damn hard-headed bastard give him something to grab onto. He did not even want the man injured—just enough of an excuse to trip him up and send him sprawling.
"Danny, you're home?"
"Daniel! How long has it been!"
"Haha… it's been a while since I last—"
"Big brother! Two-handed swords! They said two-handed swords are better!"
"Ah, Schutz, long time no— wait, two-handed swords…?"
"Oh, today some adventurer showed Schutz a sword. But that adventurer's sword was longer than the one you use…"
"…An adventurer used a long sword?"
"Big brother! I said two-handed sword!"
It was a rather unreasonable wish.
There was no real grudge he could pour out on a man who was only strict with demons and their followers, yet gentle with his family.
"Mm-hmm. It was way longer than yours… about this much?"
"That's… interesting. Swords like that are hard to use, so adventurers don't usually carry them."
"Right?"
"Big brother, two-handed sword!"
"Must have been a skilled adventurer."
"Well, he did look unusual. Two-toned hair, and the clothes he was wearing…"
"Yeah, yeah. I only saw him for a second, but… really strange…"
"Auntie, Uncle, wait a moment. His hair color… what did you say?"
"Hm? I said his hair was two colors?"
"…Which colors?"
"Well. One side black, the other gray."
"…That damn demon!"
But in the end, it had not been a wasted effort.
Even Deathbringer himself had never expected things to turn out like this.
"How dare he, how dare he!"
"…Danny?"
"How dare he go after my family!"
Daniel's vision went red with rising fury. The back of his head still smarted.
"Wait, Danny. What's wrong…!"
"Daniel?"
"Auntie, Uncle, stay here with Schutz! And until I get back, do not—absolutely do not—open the door for anyone! Especially not for that half-and-half-haired adventurer!"
Sure, it was hard to believe, but he had decided to believe it only a few hours ago.
Everyone else had said he was not a demon, that the Proxy would never take a demon as a companion, that he should cast aside his prejudice and narrow-mindedness. That was the only reason he had managed to suppress his rage and contempt.
And now he got stabbed in the back like this? In a form that targeted his family?
Unacceptable.
Absolutely unacceptable.
Demons really could not be trusted after all.
Daniel surrendered himself to the swelling fury and turned back the way he had come. Clank. The old armor he had not yet removed rattled.
"Big brother, where are you going?"
"Daniel!"
"Big brother??"
Of course his family was flustered by his sudden behavior. But there was nothing for it. Right now he could not even spare the time to explain the situation to them.
It was not that he begrudged spending time with his family—it was that he wanted to cut down that damn demon as soon as humanly possible.
Clank-clank.
Yet, to his bitter frustration, his steps were blocked before he had gone far.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"…?"
Someone had stepped into his path.
"Stand aside. I have somewhere I must go."
He felt no demon energy from the other party. Daniel muttered the words on reflex.
The fact that the stranger stood with the evening glow at his back, clothing lost in shadow so that Daniel mistook him for an ordinary civilian, played a part as well.
"Like I said. Where are you going?"
But he soon realized. The sentence "Where do you think you're going?" did not hold curiosity alone.
The clothing hidden in the shadows was the same. The deep green cape, woven thick as nettle, was perfectly suited for concealing something.
So were the boots that casually carried a great many things, and the weapons raised along the forearm so the collar could stand.
"…You."
No civilian.
Perhaps not even a simple adventurer.
The moment Daniel grasped that fact, he widened his stance and rested a hand on his sword hilt.
Ambushes of this sort were rare, but not unheard of, so there was no hesitation in his judgment.
"Identify yourself. Who are you to ask me such a thing?"
Someone with a grudge against him? A back-alley type who hated the temple to the bone? An assassin hired by the relatives of some heinous criminal he had executed? Or… the most obvious and common option: a demon worshiper?
"I saw you earlier. You don't even remember?"
His deepening thoughts were cut short.
He had seen him earlier. When? He had spent most of the afternoon in the confessional, so the only possibility was the morning.
"At the temple."
The moment the word "temple" was given, Daniel's brain kicked into high gear. But where in the temple had he ever seen someone dressed so darkly and… ah.
"…A companion of the Proxy."
"What lousy memory. Wonder if you can even handle tracking work."
"Failing to recognize you at once is my fault. However, I believe I have the right to ask why a companion of the Proxy is here, and why you are blocking my path."
The mocking tone was thoroughly irritating, but Daniel held his temper and kept his manners.
After all, there had to be a reason the Proxy kept this person at his side, did there not? Even if the man looked suspicious, even if he seemed to be displaying a strange hostility toward Daniel.
If he was the Proxy's companion.
If he was someone the Proxy had chosen…
Could everything really be right?
"If you cannot answer, you need not. Simply stand aside. I have somewhere I must go at once."
The being the Proxy had declared was no demon, the being the bishop himself had shielded—while Daniel had been in the confessional, that being had sought out his family.
As if to mock them. Or as if to threaten them.
So this was the result of their faith and trust.
And would this one be any different? He clearly belonged to the shadows, and as a companion of the Proxy he would have walked alongside that demon as well.
"So I'm asking where you're going."
"I told you to stand aside."
"Are all Inquisitors like this? Talking to a wall."
"If you will neither move nor give a reason—"
"The softie at least had the attitude of wanting to learn what he didn't know."
"Then I will force my way past."
Perhaps the suspicion was blasphemous. Perhaps his reading of the other man was a misunderstanding.
But Daniel decided to ignore every such possibility. He could not lose his family again.
Everything that carried demon energy, and everyone who defended such things, deserved to die.
"Are you bullying a civilian right now?"
"I gave you clear warning."
He walked forward with a hard expression. Of course he only stayed tense for the one-in-a-million chance; he did not draw his weapon in advance.
If the other did not attack, neither would he.
"The knight lord is not a demon."
But the instant he tried to pass, the other spat those words. Fire sparked in Daniel's eyes.
"What would you know!"
"Well. You don't, but the lord does."
Swish!
In that brief span the other blocked his path again with agile footwork.
As if he had read Daniel's mind—that he would only respond if attacked. There was no contact.
"Move. I have to go kill a demon!"
"Don't wanna. As long as you don't give up on going after the knight lord, I'm not moving."
"I said move!"
"Nyah nyah nyah nyah."
This piece of trash…!
Daniel twisted his body to force a breakthrough. He still did not draw his weapon. He suspected that showing attack intent first might be exactly what the other wanted.
"I won't let you through."
Yet every time he moved, the other moved to match. The reaction speed was so sharp that shaking him off with pure speed seemed unlikely.
"Stand aside!"
"I said no?"
"Move!"
"Or just hit me already."
"You bastard I'll beat to death…!"
Opening a path by force would only hand the other a justification, and he could not outpace him.
Daniel grew even hotter under the collar.
"Ha. Do they standardize insults at the temple too? You call me the same thing the softie does."
"Last chance. Move! If you refuse, I will classify you as a heretic as well!"
In the end he played his final card. At the same moment the other's expression went cold and hard.
"Me, a heretic?"
"If one who shields a demon is not a heretic, then what is!"
"Wow. You've got a real talent for saying the right thing the wrong way."
"Last chance. Cease protecting the demon and withdraw."
"Building walls in perfectly good ears too, huh?"
One of the man's hands vanished into the cape.
"Separately, how about you stop calling the lord a demon?"
"So you choose punishment after all…"
"Calling the lord a demon is something the lord himself does plenty of already."
And the cape stirred slightly.
Here it comes. Instinctively—or through trained habit—Daniel raised his arm. That kind of motion usually meant a flying stone or dagger.
Swish!
But what flew was no dagger.
Sometimes something else flies instead. Sand… ash powder, or in the worst cases poison powder. So rolling is better than just covering your face.
A senior's advice brushed through his mind at the same instant a white powder slammed into his eyes and nose.
"Cough, cough!"
Even with his forearm across his face, the coughing still came this hard. He rolled sideways against any possible follow-up and blinked rapidly.
Physiological tears wet his eyeballs and vision returned. Fortunately it was not poison.
"Go fuck yourself."
Separately, his clearing sight caught the other man flipping him the middle finger. The bastard was already easing backward, fully aware he was about to get hit.
Veins stood out on Daniel's neck.
"In the name of God, I begin the execution!"
The shortened rallying cry that opened a heresy trial rang out. Only then did the other start to run.
Daniel, free of the powder's aftereffects, gave chase as well.
"Stop right there, trash!"
"Would you stop if you were me?"
If you dropped that man in water, only his mouth and tongue would float. That was exactly the sort of person he was.
Daniel fought to hold onto his reason against the scraping words and poured strength into his legs. Reinforcing his body with holy power roughly matched their speeds.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Clank-clank-clank.
Two sets of footsteps rang side by side across the streets as night fell.
"Halt!"
"I said no?"
"Damn demon worshiper…!"
"Fuck. I'm not a demon worshiper, okay? You're pissing me off."
"Then what is this act you are committing right now!"
Daniel watched the man slip smoothly into an alley and twisted his body the same way. Drawing his sword and holding it like a shield was an extra.
Swish!
"—! —!!"
Something black streaked across his vision and powder bloomed again. "Cough, cough." The distinctive smell of ash suggested this was ash powder too. He was grateful it was not poison, yet somehow that only irritated him more.
Whoosh, tap.
"You don't even know… what kind of beings demons are!"
"Ha, I've probably seen more demons than you have."
Daniel twisted through the air. The man who had kicked off a wall, leapt over him, and landed back on the street was spouting that nonsense.
"If you know, if you know then why do you commit acts like this!"
"No. Ever think maybe I do it because I know too well, you idiot?"
"…!"
"The Demon Knight is not a demon. Absolutely not."
"You've been thoroughly bewitched by a demon!"
"Ha, if I've been bewitched by a demon then you've gone completely blind from your own convictions."
Yet the eyes that spoke those words were so firm that Daniel grew angrier still.
If the man truly was not a demon worshiper, then this was nothing more than bonds and trust toward a companion.
Trust extended in pure ignorance of a demon's true nature, swallowed by a demon's hypocrisy, without even knowing he would be betrayed!
"You don't know. How far a demon will go!"
Demons all deserved to die after all. Demons that would betray even faith this upright—every last one of them!
"From where I'm standing, you're the one who doesn't know anything. How brightly a human can shine even while being eroded by a demon."
"That's all lies! That light is entirely fake!"
"Ha. If it were all lies, there's no way I wouldn't know."
"You don't know demons!"
"And you don't know humans!"
They all had to die.
"What kind of person the lord is, how he endures, with what feelings he stands on this earth!"
The demons that had killed his parents and slaughtered every senior who had guided him—
"You don't know the man who, in his contempt for demons, treats even himself as evil and tries to drive a blade, the man who won't even look after his own life while trying to purge demons!"
—had to die.
"The one who truly doesn't know is you—!"
"My parents died because of a child's voice asking for help."
When emotion reached its limit, did calm arrive instead?
With a mind that had turned crystalline clear, Daniel opened his mouth and spoke distinctly.
"Please help. Please help me. They followed a child's voice saying those words, and they died."
The day he had gone out on his first practical training to become a full Inquisitor, the same day he had lost his parents, rose vivid before him.
"Have you ever even imagined it? That a high-ranking demon could appear somewhere that wasn't even the front lines—somewhere bandit packs showed up more often than demons?"
A child? Where's a kid's voice coming from?
We're in the middle of the forest…?
Listen carefully. From over there…
You're right…?
Just in case… Danny, you stay here. Kal, you stay with Danny too.
Yes, sir.
"You… don't know demons. Not goblins or gnolls or zombies—the lower demons. You don't know how far real demons will go."
…Can't I come with you?
No. But we'll be right back, so…
Hey, Danny. Disobeying orders already? You can't just do that just because we're family.
That's right, that's right. There's always a reason for these judgments. Let's wait quietly, okay?
…Yes.
"Demons are cruel, cunning, and loathsome."
…An ex-explosion?
…That's the direction Mom and Dad went.
This is bad. Danny, hide nearby! I'll just take a quick look at the situation and come back!
No! I want to go too! Please let me go!
No! Stay hidden!
…But!
This is an order from a full Inquisitor to an apprentice! There is no 'but'!
"Beyond anything you can imagine—there are no exceptions for any demon!"
Aaaagh!
Hwaaaaagh!
R-run… run, Da…!
"With demons, the only answer is to kill them."
Run, la… Oh? There's one more, is there?