Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Lion's Fang Uncle
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Marwen was shooting a chilling glare at the demon inside the iron bars. It was a look laced with contempt and killing intent—not something you'd aim at a stranger.
"Marwen, I told you to show some restraint."
"…Yes."
Marwen took a step back and addressed me.
"Mister, demons are all sneaky scum. They're a race you shouldn't get close to."
I was a demon myself, despite receiving that advice, but in their eyes, I apparently looked like some clueless human.
Bill's disguise suddenly felt all the more impressive.
"The kid's got his reasons—try to understand."
"…I do."
…I'd dropped the polite speech without realizing it.
No, Faust doesn't do polite speech anyway. He's the supreme being above all heavens and earth.
"You must be from out of town?"
"I've been traveling abroad with my parents for a long time. Sorry, I'm not familiar with local customs."
"No need to follow customs you don't know. Just relax and speak freely."
"Uncle, I…"
"Marwen, I've told you time and again—showing your emotions freely is a mistake only amateurs make."
"…You're right. I'm sorry."
Once the uncle-nephew lecture wrapped up, they turned their attention back to me.
"Call me Marus."
"Marus, nice to meet you. You were with the Lion's Fang, right?"
A piercing stare from their side.
Ah, my name.
'A decent fake…'
Faust might not be famous, but as an experimental subject of the Seven Deadly Sins, it was best to play it safe.
"They call me Phon."
"Right, Phon… Ah, so you've heard about me from my nephew here."
"I caught the gist at the inn. You were the vice-captain of the Lion's Fang."
Marwen, the nephew, proudly slapped a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, Uncle was with the Lion's Fang from his youth. Honestly, if he'd stayed on the front lines just a bit longer, he might've even made captain…"
"Marwen. I told you to break that habit of blabbering. Have you forgotten that too?"
"Ugh… Sorry."
What a pair of clowns.
They show up out of nowhere and start yapping about themselves.
'Alright, might as well hear them out, since that's what they want.'
Info on Karl Kurso was fragmentary anyway, and I wasn't sure I'd get any.
This was probably the end of direct intel gathering for today.
Time left in the village was running short.
The most I'd learn in the limited hours remaining was the best eatery spot, average beer prices at the tavern, or some gossip on these guys.
Seemed like chatting them up was my only option.
"But Marwen, you seem to really hate demons…"
"That's…"
Marus answered in Marwen's place.
"His father—my older brother—died chasing traces of the demon resistance army."
"Demons… they're all trash. Father… Father…"
The emotions of a child who'd lost parents were obvious: pure hatred for the culprits, with every ounce of strength.
But it didn't resonate much with me right now.
'We're in a kill-or-be-killed world from the start, aren't we?'
The demons-versus-humans hegemony war had even been started by the humans first.
"Marus, do you feel the same?"
Talking like this to someone older than me felt awkward.
"About demons?"
"Yeah, demons."
For some reason, I wanted to ask him.
His consistently calm demeanor oddly drew my attention.
"Hmm… It's probably an answer Marwen won't like."
"Uncle. I'm fine. And I know I'm still naive. So…"
In other words: Don't mind me—talk freely.
"Fair enough. My view differs from Marwen's. Demons aren't so different from humans."
"…Uncle!"
"Marwen, stand by your words. Or are you going to try silencing me too?"
"Urk…"
"Demons… right, you know they coexisted with humanity long ago, before King Solomon's reign?"
"I do."
It's the backdrop for Lemegaton's tales too.
"That was the past. After the hegemony war broke out, ideologies and good-versus-evil lost all meaning. History only remembers winners and losers."
He pointed at the iron bars with a finger.
"This setup—us staring at that kid through bars—is because of that. Is it because the kid's especially evil, lowborn, or demonic? No… we were just divided into winners and losers."
"……"
Marwen clamped his mouth shut at Marus's words.
"Marwen, I understand your hatred. But hatred is like wildfire. It burns not just the weeds, but the whole field in vain. Always keep that in mind."
"…I'll remember."
"I've told you that many times. This time, live by it."
"……"
What a strange feeling.
In this world, someone viewing it from an unexpectedly fresh perspective.
"You're saying none of this is about right and wrong?"
"There were probably reasons once. But that's all distant now. …Enough of that. It's not a pleasant topic."
Marwen nodded, then suddenly remembered something and tapped my back.
"Oh, hey, you hear that rumor?"
"Rumor?"
"Guess not. It's about Karl Kurso."
"That guy…"
"Yeah, the one who got you in trouble this morning for no reason. Word's spreading."
"What kind…?"
Lucky break.
Info rolling in on its own.
"…Rumor he's a devil."
"…A devil?"
"Pfft! Surprised, huh? I was too at first. Credibility? Eh…"
"What sparked that rumor?"
"The mangled eyes on the corpses, and that he's still at large. Hard for folks to believe no leads unless it's a devil."
"Hmm…"
Curious indeed.
Marus's words seemed more useful to me than Marwen's, somehow.
"Marus…"
"Ah, thinking of me again?"
"……"
"A devil… hmm…"
Marus chuckled softly and asked me.
"Phon, have you ever seen a devil?"
His question threw me off, but I answered calmly.
"No."
"Hm, as expected. I have."
"…What?"
"I've seen a devil."
"Uncle, that story from before?"
"Yeah."
What story?
"Back when I was with the Lion's Fang. Decades ago now. We spotted traces of the Demon King of Gluttony—one of the Seven Deadly Sins—and chased it with the squad. Ran into something bizarre."
"Bizarre… situation?"
"By the time we arrived, Gluttony was gone. Just some horned woman standing there alone."
Marus's eyes changed.
They lit up with a strange vitality.
The light lingered briefly, then faded.
"Looking back even now, I'd never seen a woman so beautiful. The instant I saw her face, I knew she was a devil."
"And after…"
"What do you think happened?"
"……"
"Most of the squad, including the captain, got slaughtered right there. The devil who did that brutal deed just sauntered off. No guilt, no hiding. She was utterly unapologetic."
"Hm…"
"That day, the survivors—including me—all stepped down from our posts. It was that…"
The middle-aged man swallowed hard.
I could guess what Marus meant.
"Karl Kurso isn't a devil. Taking just one or two lives and vanishing… not devil-like at all."
"…I see."
"Whatever Karl Kurso is, he needs catching soon. Copycats could pop up, and ending the threat fast will bring peace to the imperial citizens' minds."
My chat with Marus broadened my grasp of Lemegaton's worldview even further.
His personal take on events in the Solaria continent felt like a fresh shock.
What can I say… if time allowed, I'd have loved more stories.
Contact with Marus revealed how the hazy backdrop of this world was actually a vast, open space.
"Hey! Marwen! Oh, even Lord Marus is here."
Marwen's crew was approaching the wagon.
"…Ah, crap. Friend, sorry—gotta go."
His word choice felt odd.
Friend?
Rumble…
"Hm? Looks like rain? Anyway, catch you later if we cross paths again."
"…It was enjoyable."
* * *
Pour…
The overcast sky finally unleashed its downpour.
I'd planned to leave Liudira before evening, but the freak storm pinned me down.
Creak…
Opening the door and heading downstairs, the innkeeper drowsily greeted me with a nod.
"Rainy roads—heading out?"
"Got a schedule."
"Nothing's more important than making a living. Safe travels. Swing by anytime it strikes you. Oh… feel free to take that robe by the door."
"…Thanks."
Pour…
The deluge silenced Liudira in moments.
Small villages like this—nobody steps out in the rain.
And with the late hour, lit windows were few.
'Perfect time to leave.'
One regret: for all my fieldwork, no solid intel gained.
'Still, I accomplished most of what I came for—no loss.'
Just baseless rumors on Karl Kurso meant the episode's finale was still far off.
The dungeon should stay safe for a while.
Good thing I'd stuck around to ease those what-ifs.
Empty streets in the dead of night.
Pounding rain like a waterfall—I walked alone, finding a poetic charm in it.
Then I spotted a shadow.
"…A person?"
A figure in a robe doubling as rain gear, turning onto a familiar path.
Chills ran down my spine.
"Gah…"
A scream.
This was a scream.
Fwoosh.
Hiding, I checked the shadow's recent deed without being spotted.
Through the rain, blood flowed.
Its owner lay sprawled on the ground.
'…That guy!'
The one who'd picked a fight earlier…?
The one poking into Karl Kurso's whereabouts…
"Urk…"
Now a scream from elsewhere.
Flash—!
I brushed past the mercenary's corpse but had to halt.
"…Damn."
Eyes.
Horizontal sword slashes where eyes should be.
'No way!'
I stopped checking the body and rushed toward the new sound.
That wagon from daytime.
Where the young demon was caged.
The slaver's wagon!
Splat…
Something tumbled from the wagon.
"……"
A demon with mangled eyes.
The starved kid from earlier.
The shadow that dropped the kid glanced my way…
Flash—!
Vanished with the rain.
Chase the perp or secure the scene? Split-second dilemma.
Fwoosh…
I approached the kid first.
Still breathing, but gut-slashed by a blade.
"Grrk… Save…"
Thud…
Two corpses now, in a blink.
Felt like a hammer to the head.
Swish…
Lights approaching from afar.
"Who's there!"
Oh no.
How to explain this?
Could I even explain the situation?
Impossible.
Flash!
Fleeing the scene was my only play.
"Stop!"
Where to…
Where to run?
—Gate guards are down. Hurry.
Bill!
Bill's voice.
It drowned in the rain soon after.
With an escape route secured, my mind cleared—filled with one dread.
"Karl… Kurso…"
The episode's Act 1 final boss had come to Liudira.
Far earlier than planned.
And soon…
He'd come for me.
Maybe before the rain even stopped.