Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Demon's Scent
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Bang, bang!
“Uncle!”
“What’s all this racket?”
“It’s… I’m sorry. The situation was urgent….”
Creak…
At the sound of Marwen’s voice, Marus opened the door.
Drip… drip…
Rainwater dripped from Marwen’s robe.
“What possessed you to go out in this downpour?”
“It’s him. He… he’s appeared in Riodira!”
“…Him?”
Marwen replied in a voice grating like rusted iron, full of passion.
“Karl Kurso! The serial killer has shown himself!”
“…You’re shouting awfully loud.”
“I’m sorry….”
“Are you certain?”
Marwen hesitated at Marus’s question before nodding.
Seeing his genuine reaction, Marus grabbed the buckler and longsword hanging on the wall.
These were weapons he had never neglected to maintain, not even for a day. The buckler gleamed like a mirror, and the longsword seemed sharp enough to slice falling raindrops.
Creak…
Creak…
As he descended the stairs, Uncle Marus asked Marwen,
“The lantern?”
“I… I came in such a hurry… There’s a torch pole, though….”
“Torches are useless in weather like this.”
Whoooosh…
A holy light bloomed from Marus’s fingertips.
[Marus uses the Guide’s Lantern.]
[Illuminates a certain range.]
“Let’s go.”
“Yes! He might still be in town.”
“Stay close to me.”
Marwen nodded, feeling a sense of security.
“Yes, Uncle!”
Splash! Splash!
Even Marus, who had long served as a holy knight, found it uncomfortable to run—the alleys had turned into quagmires.
“There it is!”
The place Marwen led Marus to was where he had found the body the night before.
Rumble—!
Lightning flashed across the sky with a peal of thunder….
And there was the corpse, exposed to the rain.
“This one….”
“…Yes, it seems to match.”
“It’s the man we ran into this morning.”
“The mercenary who was chasing Karl Kurso.”
“…He was unlucky.”
Marus examined the mercenary’s eyes closely.
A scar from a single slash of a sharp blade.
The wound crossing both eyes lengthwise was so gruesome that it was easy to see why Karl Kurso was suspected of being a demon.
Anyone else would have screamed at the sight.
Fortunately, the two present were accustomed to corpses and showed no change in expression.
“There’s another victim.”
“Let’s go.”
A short distance away lay the victim Marwen had mentioned, skin bloated from the rain.
“It’s that demonkin boy.”
“…Yes.”
“Marwen, what do you think?”
“What do you mean….”
“Just until midday, it seemed you wouldn’t care if this child died. But now… it looks a bit different.”
“…You’re right. I never thought he’d die… or that it would be okay if he did.”
“A futile death.”
Stroke…
Marus touched the corpse’s hair.
“Death is equal. Everyone deserves mourning.”
“…I could hate him, but that wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m sorry, Uncle.”
“Hate is a petty emotion. Master it. Set your own true standards for what matters.”
“Yes.”
“Did you speak to the village chief?”
“I sent Friya.”
Friya was the party’s priestess.
Like Marwen, she was still green.
“Good call. Any traces of the beast?”
“Dale’s on that….”
In the distance, Dale, the party’s vanguard, came running.
“Huff… huff… huff… Marwen!”
“Dale!”
“Gah… huff… huff….”
“Catch your breath first.”
“We lost him… huff… damn it… this rain washed away the tracks… huff….”
Marus’s eyebrow twitched at Dale’s words.
“You were pursuing the beast?”
“Yes. But… we lost him.”
“What about the guards?”
“They… all seemed to have passed out during the incident. Even after waking them, they wouldn’t stir for a while.”
“…Calculated.”
“He’s already left the village.”
“Direction?”
“…The Great Forest.”
Thud!
Marwen slammed his fist into the ground.
“Damn it! That bastard!”
“Hmm….”
“Uncle, did you find some clue?”
“There’s something suspicious.”
“Really?”
Marus summarized the situation.
“Inform the chief of the facts, and once things settle, come find me. All of you.”
“Right now….”
“I need time to organize my thoughts. This might all be my oversight.”
A short time later, the incident that had plunged Riodira into terror that night came to a close.
Thud, thud.
“Come in.”
“Yes.”
The four entered Marus’s room in a group.
“What did the chief say?”
“It’s all hush-hush. Nothing’s confirmed yet. Even though we offered help, he stubbornly issued a ban on outsiders….”
“That figures. Karl Kurso appearing in this small village means they could be targeted anytime. Even with the advantage of proximity to the Great Forest, outsiders will stop coming, no doubt.”
“Uncle, do you judge all this to be Karl Kurso’s doing?”
“His methods seem to match. Of course, this is based on what I’ve heard of past incidents, so I can’t be certain… but there’s something off.”
“Something… off?”
Marus spoke with a grim expression.
“That sword wound—I’ve seen it on the front lines.”
“The front lines….”
“I’ve seen similar scars on soldiers who faced demonkin. They all trained in the same swordsmanship.”
“Really!? Then….”
“It means Karl Kurso might not be human. Perhaps… a demonkin….”
“Demonkin….”
It seemed Marus held the key to the fog-shrouded case.
Dale, who had been silently listening to Marwen and Marus’s conversation, couldn’t hold back his curiosity and joined in.
“Sir Marus, you mentioned earlier someone suspicious….”
“Yes. Marwen, didn’t you notice?”
“…Notice what?”
“There’s one fact I didn’t tell you.”
“You kept something from me? What on earth….”
“You didn’t suspect a thing. Did you feel nothing off about the young man you met?”
“…Nothing at all.”
Marwen’s pupils shook greatly, as if in shock.
“No way… Phon, that guy….”
“He’s a demonkin.”
“…….”
“…….”
The room fell deathly silent for a moment.
“I’ve crossed blades with them. I can tell. He’s not human.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“I’m sorry for not telling you. I hoped it wouldn’t cloud your eyes, built up with years of hatred. That’s the first reason I kept it from you—I thought it would be a good opportunity.”
“…The first reason? So there’s another you didn’t mention?”
“Yes, this ties to my past experience.”
“What….”
Marus abruptly stood and closed the rain-lashed window.
Creak…
“The night I first saw a demon, I gained the ability to smell those horrific beings ever after.”
“…Is that true?”
“It’s the reason I still hunt even the faintest traces of those I despise, long after leaving the holy knights—and my curse.”
Marus could smell demons.
“Then….”
“I smelled it on Phon, that child.”
“My god….”
“He’s either a demon cultist or tied to the demonkin resistance.”
“Why didn’t you subdue him right away!”
“Subduing him then would have cost us the chance.”
Chance?
Marwen’s eyes blazed.
“You… let him go on purpose?”
“Yes.”
“To chase the demon?”
“Exactly.”
Marwen was disappointed in his uncle’s decision.
“How… because of that choice, two died in vain.”
“No. It saved more lives.”
“…….”
“If we lose the demon’s trail now, this mistake could return as a disaster to the Empire.”
“But… ignoring the lives right in front of us….”
“Are you saying you’d have chosen differently? That would just be a choice to ease your own conscience.”
“…I’m sorry. I spoke out of turn in my confusion.”
Rattle…
Pour…
The rain continued.
“Nothing’s certain. But miss this, and we lose the last chance.”
“Then….”
“Pack your things. We’ll pursue Phon right away.”
Where to?
Everyone thought of the same name.
“To the Great Forest.”
* * *
Pour…
Splash…
Splash…
Days of forced march.
I told Bill to stay in Riodira. Now that I’d left the village, no one could catch up through this rain in one go.
‘Karl Kurso might….’
Even if so, Bill didn’t need to stay by my side. If we truly faced Karl Kurso, Bill’s presence wouldn’t change the gruesome end.
The dungeon and Rotten Root were not far now.
Two days in the same forest might lose anyone, but my body, linked to the dungeon, reached the destination without wandering.
The Great Forest wasn’t all uniform scenery. Adventurers had built swing bridges over canyons or set up signposts in places.
Humans loved making everything more convenient.
That’s why even places like the Great Forest saw such maintenance now and then.
But recent neglect left them worn.
“Haa… haa….”
Exposed to rain for so long, I seemed to have caught a chill.
My body burned hot.
Of all times, this endless downpour.
Or maybe that’s why I escaped.
‘…They’re coming.’
I learned a day ago that Marwen and his group were following.
I spotted the pursuers from afar—they were desperately closing in. By now, they were probably quite near.
‘Do they think I’m Karl Kurso?’
Or maybe another reason.
The Riodira murders might have just been the spark.
“This bridge, and then….”
A rickety swing bridge appeared.
A shortcut across the canyon.
Bypassing it would take over a day to reach the dungeon.
Ironic that I, the dungeon’s master, benefited from adventurers’ work.
Screeech…
An eerie wail.
The sound from the swing bridge chilled the blood.
Screeech…
I had to cross carefully to the other side.
‘Rain of all things….’
The old bridge shook more unstably under days of torrential rain.
Screeech…
Nearly across.
Splash—!
With a spray of water, my body lurched suddenly.
“Urgh…!”
I lunged forward, grabbing the bridge’s wreckage.
Crack…
“Haa… haa….”
Barely survived.
I slowly climbed the cliff, clutching the debris.
Stroke…
At the cliff’s edge, a hand suddenly appeared.
Pale and smooth.
Nails neatly trimmed.
“…Lucifer.”
“You’ve returned.”
Her hand grasped mine and pulled.
“Huff… huff….”
“You’ve been through much.”
“Yeah….”
My condition was poor.
My heart burned like fire.
Suddenly, rage surged.
‘Why… am I running?’
The Riodira incident was clearly unrelated to me.
But anyone not a fool could see: once pegged as the culprit, death was certain.
And no one would doubt it.
Why?
Because I’m demonkin.
Born demonkin in this new world, that alone made me guilty.
A brief clash with humans showed me that.
I felt I had to confront the root of this foul emotion here and now.
I gave Lucifer an order, and she nodded.
“Understood.”
Soon after she left, she fulfilled my request.
“You called?”
Dark elf queen Ariel emerged from the dungeon, standing alone by my side.
“Can you find people in this forest?”
“Are they moving fast?”
“Probably.”
“Alone?”
“A group.”
“Found them. Which one?”
I described Marwen’s appearance.
Swoosh…
Then pointed beyond the broken swing bridge I’d crossed.
“Over there. Bring him.”
“I’ll make them lose their way.”
Swooooosh…
Ariel’s magic spread through the Great Forest. Soon, the opposite side exuded eerie power amid chilling mist.
Pour…
Rustle…
After a wait, a man emerged from the forest to stand before the shattered bridge.
“…Phon?”
“Marwen.”
He stared at me in disbelief.
Eyes full of doubt.
“Uncle said it. Phon… you deceived us.”
“…….”
“You’re demonkin… right?”
Swoooosh…
Shaking off the uneasy aura around me, my pupils and hair shifted from gold to black.
Pour…
As if the color washed away in the rain.
“……You deceived us.”
“Is it that important? That I’m demonkin.”
“That’s….”
Even if I was demonkin, there was no reason to peg me for the Riodira murders.
Marwen shook his head and said,
“What else have you hidden? Were you toying with me?”
“You approached me.”
“Karl Kurso… right? That’s your real name.”
“…….”
“Got a guilty look.”
As expected.
They think I’m Karl Kurso.
Or someone led them to.
“If I say no, will you believe me?”
“……Have you met a demon?”
“…….”
This question.
- Have you ever seen a demon?
Marus’s question to me.
Odd. Why link this to demons?
“I’m not involved in the village murders.”
“Answer! Are you tied to demons?”
Tied to demons? Obviously lie. But I didn’t want to.
“…And if I am?”
Marwen trembled, as if confirming something, and warned,
“Hahaha! …Then I can’t let you go.”
Yes.
That’s why I summoned him here. I questioned why I should play their game.
“Marwen, one thing I’m curious about.”
“Shut up! A mere demonkin like you….”
“Who gave you that power?”
“…What?”
“It’s revolting. You’ve just been looking for reasons to judge me.”
“That’s because you deceived us….”
“Is a demonkin masquerading as human that infuriating? Or conversing as an equal?”
“You’re tied to demons and not uninvolved in the murders….”
“No… you’re not. Don’t lie to yourself, Marwen. You just hate that I’m demonkin, right?”
Marwen’s face hardened.
“Don’t presume….”
“I have no tie to the Riodira murders, and I’m not Karl Kurso. That answers it, yet you’ll still chase me?”
Marwen nodded.
“Yes. If you’re tied to demons. If you’re demonkin.”
“…….”
“No! Even if not, you’re coming with us. Prove you’re harmless.”
“…Ridiculous. By what right?”
“By human right, I judge demonkin.”
The conversation ended there.
Demonkin and humans had always been thus since the Hegemony War. I felt now how knowing differed from understanding.
A relation of kill or be killed, never to mix.
“It’s Faust.”
“…What?”
“My name. Not some Karl Kurso… Faust. Remember it well.”
“…….”
Grind…
“So your dying words aren’t some other name.”
“Phon!”
I turned and walked away.
Chase if you dare.
Which of you is Karl Kurso?
…Doesn’t matter.
“I’ll kill you all.”