There Could Be One More (5)
There could be one more left.
[There's one more. One more......]
Sensing the death throes of his parents, the boy on the cusp of adulthood trembled violently where he hid among the tree roots and underbrush. The voices drawing near grew steadily louder.
[...You damned brat!]
Then, for a moment, the voice filled with rage.
[Still thrashing about, are you......!]
The only voice audible around him belonged to a single person, yet no living presence could be felt any longer. Whatever it was, it raged at something unseen.
"Do you really think I'll lose?"
Then the voice changed.
[Ha, as if a brat like you could dare to beat m—]
No. It was the same voice.
"I can't... any longer."
It was someone else.
"I can't......"
Someone else......
"I can't let you kill any more people......"
Someone else......?
[I can.]
In that instant, the tree the boy had been hiding behind shattered, and black flames erupted in every direction. Pitch-black... flames so utterly black they felt like the night itself.
"Demons can only be answered with death."
The moment he heard those words, Deathbringer understood.
This bastard was the type no amount of talk would ever reach. Even if you jammed the truth straight into his eyeballs, he'd still refuse to believe it and keep doubting.
"I'm going crazy, seriously."
Not that he couldn't understand the feeling. If his own parents had died like that—he had no parents, so he had to substitute Emit in his imagination—who wouldn't develop a paranoia like that?
But having circumstances like that didn't give the man any right to condemn the Demon Knight.
Stuck between two sides that refused to yield an inch, Deathbringer felt nothing but pointless irritation.
"That isn't wrong."
"......!"
"...Lady Proxy."
"The claim that demons cannot be reformed is true, and so is the claim that they are more vicious than one can imagine."
At that moment, the Inquisitor appeared. An ally who had come from outside.
"This is a world where demons disguise themselves as children or the elderly to lure people into traps, or appear in the forms of lovers and family members to bewitch them. Though such cases are rare and their power itself is weak, so they are not treated as high-ranking demons."
How she had known to come, he had no idea. But the timing itself was good. Deathbringer reined in his surprise and yielded the floor to her.
"However, Brother, the Demon Knight is not a demon. Therefore none of the examples you listed apply to him."
"Lady Proxy, that faith of yours......"
"Brother."
The one with a lantern hanging at her waist gently lowered her eyes.
"If he truly were a demon, I would not be standing here right now. He is stronger than I am, after all."
It was a somewhat bitter admission.
"Lady Proxy, why would you say such a thing......!"
"Which means he is not a demon. Paradoxical as it may sound, that is the truth."
"...How do you know he isn't targeting the Hero!"
At the Inquisitor's cry, the Inquisitor blinked. "You're joking, right?" Deathbringer asked as well, the words escaping him almost reflexively.
"Brother, I am still an ignorant person... but even to someone like me, the idea that a demon stronger than I am would endure the discomfort of traveling with me does not seem plausible."
"That is—!"
"Moreover, because of my holy power he has coughed up blood multiple times, he has had to remain confined to the temple whenever we reach a city, and there are the sealing formulas as well......"
At any rate, rather than mock him, the Inquisitor folded her fingers one by one and offered legitimate reasons. Things a true demon would never have needed to endure.
"But......"
"Brother."
Even so, the rebuttals kept coming. It was a bit rude to put it this way, but he was exactly like the Demon Knight. The man had a habit of denying any truth he didn't want to accept.
"You already know the truth, don't you? Leaving the demon energy aside... there is nothing to criticize in his actions."
"......"
Still, yes. Perhaps everyone who had lost a piece of their life ended up like this.
Deathbringer grumbled inwardly without thinking of his own past self. Of course, that risked badmouthing the Demon Knight as well, so he didn't dwell on it long.
"Please look at what is inside, not the exterior. Then you will come to understand just how worthy of respect he is."
"I... I don't know."
"I was the same at first. But once I cast aside my stubbornness and prejudice, I began to see something broader. I am certain you can do the same, Brother."
"But, but if he is not a demon, then why did he approach my family?"
"...What?"
Ah. That.
"Did the Demon Knight bring harm to your family, Brother?"
"...Not harm. But out of all the people in this city, he just so happened to seek out my family and spend time with them. Even though they were complete strangers with no special connection! Are you saying there is truly no meaning in that?"
That... that was certainly difficult to call a coincidence. Even Deathbringer, who knew the Demon Knight, felt a momentary doubt.
"Please tell me, Lady Proxy. Was it truly a coincidence......!"
Yet the Demon Knight would never have intended to harm the Inquisitor's family.
The Demon Knight was someone who had lost his own family, no one else, and had sworn revenge out of that sense of loss. There was no way a person like that would target someone else's family.
So of that much, at least, he was certain. Probably.
"Just a moment......"
Then the flustered-looking Inquisitor pressed right up against him.
"What do you think? I can't think of an answer......!"
It was a request for help from a dense softie.
"Obviously the Demon Knight didn't meet them for any reason like that......!"
"...I don't know either."
The problem was that he didn't know either. If he did, he would already have fired back.
"Th-then what do we do? It really doesn't seem like a coincidence!"
"Well. To me it looks more likely to be a coincidence that broke through a probability of one in a hundred million."
That was only natural—what could the Demon Knight have known that would make him seek them out? It was a crazy statement, but even if the demon inside the Demon Knight had moved, it would be the same.
Unless he could look at someone's face and declare, "You are the blood of so-and-so!" it would be nearly impossible for either a demon or the Demon Knight to track down the Inquisitor's family from a cold start.
"Or... maybe the child approached him first."
That possibility was actually higher.
Because he had no armor, people more often mistook him for an adventurer, but there were still a fair number who took the Demon Knight for a real knight.
And while he might be indifferent to adults, he was remarkably gentle with children... so if a child who mistook him for a knight had wanted to see his sword, he might well have let them look. It wasn't impossible at all.
"A child? What child?"
"It's nothing."
But instead of explaining all of this, Deathbringer stubbornly kept silent.
If they asked how he knew information that hadn't come up in the conversation just now, things would get awkward. He might even get smacked over the head with a shield while being told to respect people's private lives.
Better to keep his mouth shut after all.
"Lady Proxy?"
"Ah, that!"
Anyway, the Inquisitor's patience was nearing its limit. The Inquisitor rolled her eyes this way and that, then suddenly shouted.
"Then let's just go ask him! If we ask whether it was a coincidence or not, won't we get a clear answer!"
It was an unexpectedly sensible reply. Except for the part where they would have to find the inn where the Demon Knight was staying and disturb his night's sleep.
"...He's obviously going to deny it."
"Even so, there is a difference between not asking at all and at least trying to hear an answer, even a false one. Don't you agree?"
The softie seemed quite pleased with the answer she had improvised on the spot. She pressed forward with it.
Well, it wasn't bad. Even from Deathbringer's perspective, there was no better answer than this.
"Then let's go!"
"...Do you know where he is?"
"Doesn't Inquisitor Daniel know?"
"...I don't, actually."
In the worst case they might search all night without finding him, which made it especially irritating.
"This isn't a parade of idiots... There aren't that many inns that can stable a horse, are there? We can just start from those."
"Oh!"
"True... he did have a horse with him."
But if they did that, he would end up short on sleep.
Deathbringer sighed and cooperated. Perhaps because of the Inquisitor's presence, Daniel had calmed down as a bonus.
It must mean the Hero's authority was that high... yet somehow it still pissed him off. The man hadn't listened to a word of his earlier advice.
"Why the face?"
"Should I look happy? This is seriously annoying......"
"Hmm......"
"More importantly, Softie, how did you even know to come here?"
"Ah. That was thanks to Lady Berserk's suggestion. On her way back from training she apparently saw you tailing Inquisitor Daniel."
"Oh......"
"Wait, you were tailing me?"
"That's right! You! Why were you tailing Brother!"
"...No, it's just that."
Yet Deathbringer's anger cooled quickly. It was no longer his turn to get angry.
I used the clamor of the tavern as background noise while I sorted my inventory.
Things I rarely needed to pull out or that were hard to retrieve from my belt went into the bracelet-type inventory; things I needed often or that were small went into the leg-bag inventory.
"Lunch boxes are supposed to be ready tomorrow. Drinking water, Frederick's snacks, salt, willow leaves, and also......"
On top of that, the leg-bag inventory needed a bit of Tetris so it would look neat and be easy to search.
Sitting on the floor of the inn, I stacked and restacked the newly restocked supplies before packing them away.
"Ah, heated stones."
In the middle of it I remembered something I had forgotten. It wasn't urgent. As long as I didn't forget tomorrow, there would be plenty of time to make them.
"Tsk. Stuff like this always only comes to mind after you've already hit the road."
Nothing else came to mind. I frowned slightly at the subtle sensation that always came over me when packing.
There was no particular solution.
"Phew."
Still, from what I had felt on the way to this city, I didn't think I would need anything more. I finished packing everything and brushed off my clothes.
The clothes I was wearing now had no automatic cleaning function, so I had to brush off any dust that got on them.
Thud.
Then I lay down on the bed, carefully untied my shoelaces, and retied them.
"Is this really the place he's staying?"
"The owner said he's here."
Guests had arrived.
"But is it okay to just drop by like this......"
Bang.
"Huh."
How these bastards had found me, well... with Deathbringer tagging along I didn't want to think about it any further. He had his connections in the information guild; finding someone as conspicuous as me should have been easy.
"Demon Knight! We're sorry to bother you so late at night! We came because there was an urgent matter!"
Still, I was curious why they had come. Keeping a thoroughly contorted expression, I examined the faces that had arrived.
The Inquisitor and Deathbringer, plus one face I was seeing for the first time... or rather, someone who looked familiar... Ah. Was this the heretic inquisitor I had fought earlier today?
"Business."
"Your words are far too shor—"
"Ahem."
Why the last person was here was a bit puzzling, but I didn't particularly want to ask.
So I simply stared at the one who had first opened her mouth. Her expression wasn't bad for someone who claimed it was urgent, which only made me more curious about the situation.
"Um, Demon Knight."
Suddenly it struck me that it had been quite a while since I last spoke with these people, and then the thought simply faded. It wasn't an important reflection.
"Today... did you visit a civilian household?"
If there was something important, it was the part about how they even knew that.
"For reference, 'I have no reason to tell you' is not an acceptable answer! We're asking for reasons other than party issues!"
Meanwhile, before I could even open my mouth, Deathbringer cut in first. Thanks to that, the furrow between my brows only deepened further.
"I did."
But why was this an important matter? I quickly turned it over in my head.
Had something happened to that family......?
"Do you know them?"
Caught between worry for the family and the conflict over whether I really had to report every little thing, I chose my words carefully.
If the Inquisitor hadn't promptly added, "Please. This is an important matter," I might well have snapped at them out of irritation.
My generous concept would endure only this once.
"...I don't. Happy?"
"The coincidence is imp—"
"Ahem. We agreed to listen all the way through."
"Is that true? Are you really strangers?"
But I would not endure a third time.
I hadn't committed any crime, and there was no reason for me to submit to interrogation without even an explanation of the circumstances.
"Bursting in unannounced, offering no explanation whatsoever, brushing it off with the word 'important,' and then pressing me for answers—what exemplary manners."
"Ah, that... I'm sorry! It's a habit from interrogations......!"
"I will not listen to excuses. If you have no proper reason to give, get out. Merely discovering my schedule without permission is already thoroughly unpleasant."
I leaned back slightly and put strength into the hand holding the door I had opened.
Thud!
What blocked it was the hand of the gray-haired heretic inquisitor. His blazing eyes finally pierced through Deathbringer's restraint and landed on me.
"No. You're going to explain. Why you met my family!"
It was a rather abrupt remark.
When did I ever meet your family?
"Crazy, why is he so stupidly strong......!"
"Brother, you've gotten too worked up! Demon Knight, please don't misunderstand. This isn't meant to be hostile......!"
"Just tell me already! What were you planning to do after meeting my family—"
"Words not even worth listening to......"
Then, for a moment, a single thought flashed through my mind.
...Hadn't the child I met earlier said his cousin was a heretic inquisitor?
"As expected, you really are a dem—"
It connected like this?
"Brother!"
"Hey!"
Faced with a coincidence so mad I could never have imagined it, I was left speechless. This... this was how it......?
"Demon Knight, are you truly complete strangers with Inquisitor Daniel's family? If you met them even without knowing them, and there is a reason for it, could you please tell us? It is to clear up the misunderstanding. I beg of you."
W-well, yes. I should explain this. If there was a misunderstanding like this, explaining was the right thing to do...... Even I would have a fit if the person I'd fought that afternoon went to meet my family, so I would explain, but......
How was I supposed to say this? That I had been crying on the street, that a little kid had approached the crying me, and that the little kid just happened to be the heretic inquisitor's cousin—how was I supposed to put that......
"Demon Knight, was it... a coincidence?"
I recalled the thought that had crossed my mind in the child's house. I went back over the sentence: "Even if word somehow reached a heretic inquisitor, there's no way it'd make it all the way to the Hero's party, right?"
"Demon Knight?"
"...It was a coincidence."
To think that had been a flag. Damn it!