The Sweetest Aftertaste
The merchant was the first to turn tail and flee, screaming at the top of his lungs. “H-Hyaaack!”
Like a line of carefully arranged dominoes collapsing, like a single brick yanked from a meticulously built tower, terror spread in an instant.
“Kyaaa!”
“It’s the devil!”
“Abaddon’s Devil has invaded the Empire’s lands!”
“Run!”
People scrambled in blind panic. Even the knights who had tried to hold their ground stumbled backward with every step Evan took. Their resolve had already shattered under the weight of fear. The moment they met his eyes—now blazing like twin flames—they dropped their swords.
Clang.
Many people possess faith. Very few can keep it when death is staring them in the face.
After giving the fleeing knights—who now looked no different from the merchants—a scornful laugh, Evan slowly scanned his surroundings. In exactly one minute, the once-crowded Whirlpool Market had become utterly deserted.
Only three people remained.
Evan, Iris, and Alphonse—who had fallen hard on his backside, panting heavily yet still glaring at Evan with pure hatred.
“……!”
Ignoring Alphonse’s wordless shouts, Evan dispelled the sorcery. Then he turned to Iris, who had been staring at him in a daze from beginning to end.
“Thanks for staying quiet.”
The moment he had cast the wide-area illusions of Phantasm and Fear using two rings, he had realized it—Iris was completely unaffected by the spells. If she had started waving her hands and babbling “Evan-Evan” or “Nice to see you!” like usual, the sorcery’s effect would have been cut in half at best, or completely shattered at worst.
“……? …!”
Alphonse looked around frantically as the realization that he had been tricked dawned on him. His face twisted in rage, but before he could do anything, a burst of divine power exploded from Iris and sent him flying in a most undignified manner. He slammed into an abandoned merchant stall and lay there motionless, completely limp.
Staring at the pathetic sight, Evan asked in disbelief, “You’re this strong—why didn’t you do that earlier…?”
Bam.
“……”
Evan couldn’t finish his sentence. Iris had sprinted over and thrown her arms around him so tightly it actually hurt.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“…It hurts.”
That seemed to have some effect. Her grip loosened slightly, but she still refused to budge. Evan let out a long sigh.
Can’t be helped.
Both his arms were already pinned, and even if they weren’t, he couldn’t overpower her with raw strength. He had only one ring left—the price for the sorcery he had prepared in advance—and he wanted to save it for emergencies. It wasn’t that he couldn’t cast without a ring, but he saw no reason to go that far just to push Iris away. So he had no choice but to stay like this until she was satisfied.
But then—
Squeeze—
“…I said it hurts.”
“Yep.”
Crack.
“Saintess. Are you listening to me?”
“Yep.”
“You’re not listening at all, are you? Urk! Hey! Let go! It’s gonna break! Grr…!! You crazy saintess…!”
Crack!
“Gah?!”
…
Only after she had thoroughly bruised both of Evan’s arms did Iris finally release him. He stared at her with ice-cold eyes.
“Saintess, were you trying to assassinate me?”
“Ho~ Want me to?”
“Cut the crap. Who the hell are you trying to kill?”
It was perfectly natural for his words to come out harsh. Iris herself seemed unaware, but her prayers were currently no different from bombs. He would need to investigate further, but he suspected one of the curses on her body was either the Curse of Alteration or the Curse of Aggravation. For some reason the curses lay dormant inside her, but the moment her divine power was consumed for a specific purpose, the result manifested in a completely different way.
He had no intention of getting a limb broken so badly he couldn’t move, nor did he want to die instantly from healing a mere bruise. “Let’s go back, Saintess.”
At Evan’s casual remark, Iris’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Evan-Evan, did you come to pick me up?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“……Because I wanted something sweet.”
Evan struggled to recall the answer he had given Natalia and repeated it.
“You’re carrying all the remaining money, so I had to come find you.”
Iris clearly didn’t like that answer. Her lips pursed into a pout before her expression turned gloomy. Her gaze was fixed on the fruit candy that had fallen to the ground, shattered and covered in dirt.
“I was going to share this with Evan-Evan, Strongest Sister, Rowena, the coachman uncle, and the little one…”
“Undead don’t need to eat, and they can’t taste anything anyway.”
At Evan’s explanation, Iris blinked as if she couldn’t believe it.
“The coachman and the kid already left, and the fruit candy sold here doesn’t keep long. It won’t last all the way to Abaddon.”
Buying fruit candy as a snack to share had been the worst possible choice. Hearing that, Iris grew even more dejected.
“It was so tasty… I wanted everyone to eat it together and talk…”
“Haa.”
Evan sighed as he watched Iris crouch down, still unable to let go of her ruined treat. He picked up the least damaged piece of fruit candy among them.
“Evan-Evan?”
It had kept its shape, more or less, but half the sugar had melted into a sticky mess, and it was so coated in dirt that brushing it off was impossible. Nevertheless, Evan shoved the entire thing into his mouth without hesitation and bit down.
Crunch. The half-melted sugar cracked. The dry, mealy apple inside split apart with a dull thud. Grains of dirt rolled around his mouth, gritty and unpleasant.
Disgustingly bad.
“What.”
Evan gave a sharp look to Iris, who was staring at him with her mouth wide open. “I said I wanted something sweet. All the merchants ran away, so even if I had money I couldn’t buy any. This’ll have to do.”
He took another bite.
She thinks this tastes good? Maybe her tongue was broken. Evan seriously considered that throwing his money on the ground would be a better use of it than eating this.
“Evan-Evan, is it good?”
“Do I look like I’m enjoying it?”
“Yep.”
“……Did I get another curse on my eyes without realizing it?”
He snapped at her in exasperation and chewed up the last piece of fruit.
…It was the worst thing he had ever eaten from start to finish. Thinking he would never have put it in his mouth if he hadn’t been craving something sweet, he burned the remaining trash as an offering. It was such a terrible sacrifice that no sorcery could possibly be fueled by it, but since the act of offering itself was the goal, it didn’t matter.
“Shall we go?”
“Yep!”
“And that guy……”
Evan glanced at the still-unconscious Alphonse and spoke with clear reluctance. “We’ll have to take him with us.”
“Can’t we just leave him?”
…Aren’t our lines supposed to be switched?
He had zero desire to drag around a fanatic like this either, but abandoning him felt too risky.
I just caused a scene on the Empire’s land. They’ll definitely send investigators.
Of course, he hadn’t actually brought the Black Sun—he had only layered illusions and fear over the area—so no evidence remained. The investigators could only collect testimonies, and since everyone had seen different fears, the stories would be inconsistent. The knights who had seen Evan’s face up close would also exaggerate his danger and appearance to the Empire’s investigators in order to cover up the fact that they had fled. In other words, the chance of Evan’s information leaking to the Empire was extremely low.
…Except for this priest who had known him from the start.
I’ve never cared if my appearance became known before, but…
If it got out, doing things like this in the future would become impossible. A faint sense of rejection stirred inside him.
No need to tell them on purpose.
“We have to take him.”
“……Tch.”
Iris voiced a small complaint, but she soon walked over to the unconscious Alphonse, grabbed one of his ankles, and began dragging him across the ground. It looked less like she was moving a person and more like she was hauling a sack of potatoes—and with far less care.
Well, as long as he gets there in one piece, it’s fine.
If he happened to smack his head on a protruding rock along the way and lose a few memories, that would be a blessing. Thud. Thump. Crack!
The sounds of Alphonse’s body slamming into various obstacles echoed as he was dragged along.
He’s not losing memories—he’s going to die at this rate.
A quick glance at the ground revealed faint red trails following their path.
“……Just hand him over.”
“Huh? It’s fine. I’m really strong!”
Iris rolled up her robe to reveal her slender forearm and flexed it proudly, showing off her “muscles.”
That monstrous strength doesn’t come from muscle. Is there any reason for her to pose like that?
The question crossed Evan’s mind, but the sight of her looking so pleased with herself made him snort with laughter. He offered up the last remaining ring as the price for his sorcery.
“If you keep dragging him with that monstrous strength, he’ll be an undead by the time we arrive.”
Alphonse’s body floated gently into the air.
“Let’s go.”
“Evan-Evan.”
“What.”
“Thank you.”
Evan didn’t ask what she was thanking him for. After all, what he had done wasn’t for her sake.
“I only moved after calculating loss and gain. I chose the path that benefits me.”
“Benefit?”
“Yes.”
Because of today’s events, the Empire might form another subjugation force and become a nuisance. Once they began official trade with the Holy Kingdom, they might even demand accountability for this incident. Evan had instinctively realized that failing to endure today’s irritation would lead to a long period of troublesome matters.
But he didn’t regret what he had done.
“I felt extremely unpleasant earlier, but after eating something sweet, I feel better.”
Eating something sweet improves one’s mood. Even though the taste had been garbage, it seemed to have that much of an effect. Evan muttered to himself as much.
“Hehe.”
Iris listened to his answer and smiled with her usual silly expression.
What’s so funny?
“Stop laughing like an idiot.”
“Why?”
“……”
“Everyone laughs when they feel good. I feel good right now.”
Iris said so and smiled even more brightly.
“What about you, Evan-Evan?”
At that pure question, Evan paused for a moment.
How do I feel?
Not bad. Actually, it was quite good. Similar to the refreshing feeling he got when his research progressed smoothly, but slightly different. Before he knew it, a faint smile had formed on Evan’s own face.
“Evan-Evan, you smiled!”
“It’s because I ate something sweet.”
“Let’s buy sugar!”
“No. I don’t crave sweets anymore.”
While chatting, Evan slowed his stride slightly to match Iris’s shorter steps.
…
The Imperial capital. At its very center stood the imperial palace. Inside the most ornate golden throne sat a man whose face was twisted in a deep frown.
“The Devil of Abaddon, who has been silent for years, has finally moved? Is this information credible?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Numerous testimonies claim that the Black Sun has invaded the Empire’s territory. There is no other being capable of such a feat.”
Emperor Visere of the Empire furrowed his wrinkled brow and swept back his snow-white hair.
Of all times…
The Devil of Abaddon truly possessed a devilish mind. They had left him alone because he never reacted even when provoked first—only for him to strike the moment the Empire’s defenses were at their weakest.
“What of the Holy Kingdom?”
“They say they are already overwhelmed with treating the Saintess and have no resources to spare for support.”
“What a splendid excuse. In the end, it’s because the Empire is the one bordering Abaddon, isn’t it?”
Visere closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought.
“Is it possible this was simple provocation?”
“Unlikely. For the Devil of Abaddon—who has shown no movement until now—to personally step forward at this exact moment…”
“Indeed. It seems our information has leaked to Abaddon.”
Highly classified information held by the Empire. Information not yet shared even with their allied Holy Kingdom. How Abaddon had learned of it and acted was unknown.
“Dispatch the Spear Hero to Abaddon.”
“Your Majesty, but he…”
“Now that he has been discovered, hiding him is meaningless.”
The Spear Hero had suffered a fatal wound in the recent battle and had been withdrawn to the rear. His retirement had already been decided.
“Even if the spear is on the verge of breaking, we will use it until the very end.”
The Empire currently had no troops that could be mobilized immediately. All available forces had been secretly deployed yesterday to fill the void left by the hero.
“The Spear Hero is to confirm the purpose behind the Devil of Abaddon’s movement. If that purpose is invasion…”
Though his orders were cold, Visere could not hide the grief on his face.
“Tell him to defend the border with his life.”