A Man in Despair

Someone had dumped ashes all over a perfectly cooked meal.

And of all the ashes in the world, those ashes happened to be a lump of charcoal named Leon.

"Drop your sword and stand down! Now!"

You're the one who needs to get lost!

He wanted to scream it. He couldn't. Leon was staring Gary down with deadly serious eyes.

"Fucking hell..."

Gary swallowed his rage at Leon's interruption. The Sword Rang officers had given strict orders not to clash with Leon — but that didn't mean he could just walk away. If he went back empty-handed, there was no telling what Daniel would do to him.

"This is between us and that guy. Outsiders stay out of it."

Leon's answer came out dry and flat.

"Ganging up to bully a weaker student is 'your business'? You think that kind of sophistry is going to fly?"

"W-weaker? He's the one who beat those guys lying over there into the ground! He attacked first!"

"That doesn't change the fact that a group of you threatened a single person. More importantly, you were trying to kill this student. Did you think I wouldn't notice that weapon of yours is live steel?"

"You son of a—"

The words died in Gary's throat. He bit down on his lip.

Watching it all unfold, X was reminded of why he had always disliked Leon as a person.

Right. This is the kind of guy he is. An inflexible, insufferable justice freak...

A man whose standard of justice was steel — unbending, unchanging. Once he set a rule, nothing in the world could shake it. That was why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠X had always found Leon so lacking in human warmth.

It made him an effective protagonist, sure, but...

Seeing it play out right in front of him was enough to drive a man insane with frustration.

Gary was just as frustrated — murderously so — but he forced the anger down. Even if he hadn't finished the job, he still had an excuse. He could always take care of it later.

"...Let's go."

Gary gathered the Sword Rang members and headed out of the alley. The back of the dormitory, which had been thick with groans, fell silent. All that remained were X and the five members of the Hero party.

Alright. Now what...

This situation was not good. That infuriatingly decent Leon was going to start an interrogation that wasn't quite an interrogation.

"Are your wounds alright? Your name was X, wasn't it?"

Something exactly like that.

Leon looked X over once, then called over his shoulder.

"Frey, I need you to heal him. The wounds all over his body look deep."

"Okay."

The silver-haired beauty behind him — Frey, the Saintess — drew up her holy power and approached.

Wait. I took the ring off...!

The moment he remembered he'd removed the ring, he nearly had a heart attack. If that holy power touched him — a demon — his entire body would sizzle and burn. And of course, his identity would be exposed.

No choice. I'll have to go with this...!

All he had left was a hastily improvised Plan B.

"I don't need it! Get the hell away from me!!"

X shouted like a man pleading, his face overflowing with frustration.

"Wha..."

Frey startled and stumbled backward at the outburst. Leon's eyes went wide. Rosaria and Diana's expressions turned sharp and hostile.

"...Haa."

Only Circe sighed, watching with a blank face.

X kept shouting, wringing the words from his lungs.

"Stow that cheap pity! I could've handled it myself! He was barely stronger than me...!"

"That wasn't my intention. I think there's been a misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding? Standing there all proud, showing off your power in front of someone who just got his ass handed to him — that's a misunderstanding? Yeah, must be nice for you... getting chosen by the Goddess and everything...!"

X shoved Leon away as he tried to support him. His bleeding arm had been staunched, but the injustice leaking out of him could not be stopped — and he poured that feeling into every word.

"Right. A worm like me, born as garbage, could never even catch the Goddess's eye. No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I pray every day, no matter how much blood and tears I offer up."

A face drowning in despair, boiling with envy — that was the important part. Wearing that expression, he shot Leon a sidelong glare and smiled bitterly.

"But some guy, just because he's talented, suddenly gets chosen by the Goddess one day and becomes a Hero... And what's this? You've already put together a harem? That's our Hero for you. A worm like me wouldn't even dare to look you in the eye."

"Hey. Watch your mouth."

At the same time, X felt a chill at his throat. A beauty with a mane of blue hair had appeared at some point, pressing a dagger to his neck. It was Rosaria, the reincarnated Thief. The original descriptions had painted her as playful, full of mischief — but right now she was overflowing with the kind of rage that wanted him dead.

"Ha. Impressive."

X, of course, didn't flinch. Instead, he pressed his neck into the blade, as if daring her. The dagger cut him. Fresh blood welled up.

"W-what are you doing..."

Rosaria yanked the dagger back in a panic. If she hadn't, she would have pierced his artery for sure. X spoke through the pain rising from his throat.

"That's our Hero. Already got himself a devoted girlfriend, too. Say one wrong word and you'll disappear without a trace. Not even Sword Rang — the Hero's own party."

"Rosaria, stand down!"

Leon hurriedly pulled Rosaria back. Her rage-filled gaze stabbed at him, but he didn't care.

If I'm going to make an enemy of them anyway, I might as well do it thoroughly.

Here, he pleaded with the face of a man driven mad by injustice.

"I gave it everything I had. I ground my soul down to nothing. I worked twice as hard as you, put in twice the time, shed twice the blood and sweat. And I got nothing in return. Do you understand that?"

"I know. I know how hard you've been working..."

"No! You'll never know. What it feels like to rot away in silence with no talent, no ability, nothing at all — you'll never understand that. Not even if the world itself comes to an end!"

The plea, loaded with dark and twisted emotion, silenced everyone. X read the room and quietly observed their reactions. Here, he needed to pretend to recover a measure of composure.

Leon was the first to speak.

"...Why are you so desperate to get stronger?"

Leon asked with a bitter expression. He had seen many people fall into this kind of despair, and none of their endings had been good. They sold their souls to demons, or they took their own lives... He knew he couldn't save everyone. So at the very least, he wanted to hear the reason.

X glared at Leon with jealous eyes, then spat out a single sentence.

"There's someone I have to kill."

That was all. Blind vengeance. If it was this, Leon wouldn't interfere. Helping someone with a personal vendetta wasn't a just act, after all.

"...I see."

Leon accepted the answer with a complicated, unreadable expression. He didn't offer to help. Just as expected.

X decided it was time to wrap this up.

"Now get lost! I don't even want to look at you!"

Hearing that, Leon nodded bitterly and led his party away. Rosaria and Diana's rage and disgust had reached their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠peak, but this was still better.

They gone? Yeah, they're gone.

X let out a long sigh. An unexpected situation had blown up, but he'd handled it well. The performance should have landed with Andras, who was surely watching.

He turned around, about to check the Synopsis, when—

"Hey."

A familiar voice came from behind him. He turned around naturally, and Circe was standing right there, staring at him with complete indifference.

"...What is it?"

"...Hmph."

Thwack!

"Aaagh—!"

Circe had kicked him in the shin. A small scream burst out at the pain shooting through his leg. It was so sudden he dropped to the ground clutching it — and then a warmth spread through every wound on his body. Healing magic, staunching the bleeding and regenerating the wounds.

"Ah, this is..."

He looked up, but Circe was already walking away in the distance. Only then did X understand.

She figured out it was an act.

The fact that she'd stayed quiet even though she knew meant she was keeping her word about not interfering. He had no idea what she was thinking when she helped him, but at least the wounds had been treated.

Fortunately, the situation was under control. Now he needed to check, and fast.

She hasn't run off yet, right?

He immediately opened the Synopsis and checked on Andras.

She hasn't run away yet!

Fortunately, the fish he'd hooked was still in the net. Thanks to the passionate performance he'd put on in front of Leon, far from being suspicious, she was actually looking at this situation favorably. She seemed to think this was the perfect opportunity to turn X into a demon.

Then all he had to do was ride that thought.

X started walking slowly, as if heading back. Then, as if he'd caught his foot on a stone, he suddenly collapsed. These little details mattered.

"Kh..."

The kind of thing a character hungry for power would say was obvious. The ultimate incantation for summoning a behind-the-scenes villain, spoken with the desperation of a man ready to sell his very soul.

"If I could just get stronger...!"

"Would you do anything?"

X lifted his head. A woman stood before him, her identity hidden beneath a black robe. Her identity was obvious.

It was Andras, of course. A cheer exploded inside him. He held it in. He couldn't ruin things after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠coming this far.

"Who are you?!"

X stood up, taking a step back to show his wariness. The robed woman let out a laugh and slowly approached.

"I asked if you'd do anything, as long as you could gain power."

"I said, who are you?!"

"That's not particularly important."

As he backed away from the robed woman, he found himself against a wall. There was nowhere left to run. She stood before him. Beneath the hood, sinister eyes gleamed like a snake's.

"If you could become stronger... would you do it?"

He pretended to wrestle with the question. This was a complete stranger approaching him with an offer. If he jumped at it too eagerly, it would only raise suspicion. He just needed to play hard to get — but not too hard.

"What... do you want me to do?"

"Kuh-huh-huh... It's a very simple thing."

The robed woman placed a finger on X's forehead. And whispered, secretive and close.

"...What?"

"Abandon the Goddess who gave you these trials, who dropped your life into despair. Then you can have your freedom."

"Abandon the Goddess? Don't tell me you're...!"

X slapped her hand away.

"A demon worshiper...!"

Here, he pushed back once. The Church of Deusrute, the state religion of the Empire, was a deeply rooted faith. Telling someone to betray it was a demon worshiper's stock line, and his resistance was a natural reaction. But he left the bait dangling.

"Betray the Goddess's church? There's no way that would make me stronger so easily..."

"It will."

Then the robed woman demonstrated a spell on her open palm.

High-Circle fire magic, the heat packed so tight it seemed to warp the air. He'd known she would demonstrate something, of course, but he pretended to be shocked.

"Fifth-Circle magic...?! How..."

"You can obtain the power you want very simply. All you have to do is abandon the Goddess who abandoned you."

"B-but if I abandon the church..."

Here, he mentioned a practical concern, as if his resolve was starting to waver.

"If I get caught, it's over... You can't just..."

"That's not a problem. There's a method that will never be discovered."

The robed woman pulled something out to show him. A crude-looking gold ring. The Soul Trap Ring, of course.

Naturally, he pretended not to know.

"What's this? A ring?"

"It's an artifact that ensures no one will ever discover any contract you make. It even pays the price of the contract in your place."

"A contract... you mean...?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

This time she pulled out a parchment scroll. It was steeped in a dark, damp sense of foreboding. The robed woman carefully placed the scroll in X's hand and whispered.

"A contract with a demon. That's all you have to do."

"I-I knew it... a demon worshiper..."

"So what will you do?"

She took a step back. Her gaze stayed locked on X's eyes, gleaming.

"Are you going to keep living like this? If you like a life where you devote everything and never see a single ray of light, where no one ever acknowledges you as you rot away... I won't stop you."

"But—" she added, and unfolded magic of the Fifth Circle and above all around them. To deploy high-Circle magic that quickly, and simultaneously, meant she was a considerable talent.

"If you reclaim your freedom and find your true self, you'll discover a light you never even imagined. And to get there, you only have to do one thing."

She extinguished the magic and pointed at the ring and the contract in X's hands.

"Put on the ring, and sign the contract."

"Taking your time to think it over is fine. But if you drag it out too long... you might die before you ever get to use it."

X averted his gaze, lowering his eyes. He clenched his teeth as if too ashamed to look at the sky, and the robed woman smiled in satisfaction and turned away.

"Well then. I hope you make a wise choice."

She began to stroll away at a leisurely pace, her footsteps light, as if she'd just accomplished something significant.

X was cheering on the inside, too.

I hooked her—!!!

Andras didn't have a shred of suspicion. Handing over the ring and the contract at their first meeting was proof of that.

I grilled myself to a crisp for this, you know.

Originally, she would have approached slowly, bit by bit. Identify the target's deficiency, fit it to the Goddess's church, urge them to abandon the faith, get them to wear the ring and inflict a corruption curse, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only hand over the contract once they were thoroughly corrupted. That was exactly how she'd operated in the original Fallon episode.

But right now, you don't have time.

To screw over Gremory, the demon she hated, she needed to create a subordinate demon as soon as possible. With less than a month left, and opportunities not coming easily, her insides were surely burning up.

And then, in the middle of all that, a feast gets laid out right in front of you?

It was no different from dropping a slab of meat in front of a dog that hadn't eaten in days. That was why she'd fallen for it so beautifully.

For now, everything had settled. He'd acquired the Soul Trap Ring and the Demonic Contract, and succeeded in thoroughly deceiving Andras.

Now it was time to take the next step.