Coffee Rosens No. 1 (8)
Even though it was broad daylight outside, the house was shrouded in darkness like the dead of night. But this wasn't the natural gloom of sunset. It was an artificial, ominous blackness, thick and sticky like black oil. Squatting in the midst of that sinister shadow was a baby. An infant who couldn't have been more than a few months old. A normal baby should barely be able to hold its head up, lying in a cradle and seeking its mother's breast... but this one sat there perfectly balanced, like a full-grown adult, doing something.
"Hic... Bertrand..."
Celereja whimpered, pressing tight against me.
"Th-that thing... that..."
The baby was clutching a dead goat's liver in both hands, tearing into it ravenously. A foul stench wafted from the goat, swarmed by buzzing flies. Sensing our presence, the baby looked up. Its face was smeared with blood, and even in the darkness, its eyes gleamed with a chilling light as it stared at me and Celereja. Then... it grinned.
Of course. A demon.
Yeah. Who else but a demon could pull off something this insane?
"Saintess. Don't look away. Stare it down."
"Bertrand... let's get out of here... I can't take this anymore..."
"No. Lift your head, Saintess. Look at that baby."
"Hic..."
Celereja trembled violently as she forced herself to gaze at the baby. The moment its eyes met the saintess's, it let out a belch.
Kkuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeek.
"Gasp... gasp..."
Celereja panted at the grotesque sight.
"Saintess. That's a demon. The kind you'll have to fight from now on."
"A... aaa... demon... a demon...?!"
Suddenly, a strange noise came from the side.
"Eek?!"
Celereja jumped in place and clung to me. As I wrapped an arm around the saintess's shoulders and turned, there was someone else there. A woman leaning against the wall, head bowed low. The woman who had given birth to the baby, no doubt. Black blood pooled between her splayed legs, and dark veins bulged across her face.
"Yoooouuuu... aaaaare... huuuumaannnnnssshhh..."
Celereja clutched her head and let out a pained groan at the demon's mind-ringing incantation.
"Saintess. Holy power."
"I'm scared... too scared to do anything..."
As Celereja shook her head wildly, the woman began to laugh without moving a muscle.
"Kekekekekekekekekekekekekeke kekeke kekekekekekekekekeke kekekeke kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke kekekeke kekeke kekekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kekeke kek