84
Chapter 84
Munch munch.
Gulp.
I do not eat souls for the taste per se, but every soul has its own flavor. The texture felt between the teeth when chewing, the feeling of fullness as it slides down the throat—each soul possesses a unique taste.
Those who accumulated many good deeds in life have sweet and soft souls. Those who harbored malice often have spicy and crunchy souls. In the past, I preferred the spicy side, but now I prefer the sweet. Since meeting Saint Maria, I have placed goodness at the center of my ideals.
That is why I have not committed a single evil act in this life. I wanted to become kind and noble, just like the Saint.
You might ask if everything I have done so far is not evil. How could that possibly be evil?
Killing my brothers, Leonard and Retavis, was simply because they had built up karma against me first.
Frankenstein of the Southern Ducal House, who was imprisoned in my stead... he would have spent eternity living inside a coffin anyway. Whether it was a prison or a coffin, I simply put him to slightly better use.
That mutt... or rather Wolf King Aru would have been dragged away by Lilith and raised as a thorough assassin through training so harsh it would have erased his personality, had history followed its original course. But after I took him in, Aru now lives a life of freedom, roaming the Demon Beast Forest.
Due to her contract with Lucifer, Beatrice would have endured an eternal life of agonizing misery. I made her realize her own desires, and now she enjoys both the life of a knight and the life of a warrior that she so desperately wanted, right here by my side.
As for Uriel... it is true that I brought about her downfall, but I merely guided her to receive punishment for the sins she committed. If anything, she gained the courage to overcome her past while watching my journey, so Uriel is essentially saved as well.
King of Humans John is another headache to talk about. Thanks to me, he was able to read the letter left by Saint Iroel. He even gained the comrades he loves so much.
The mutant goblin I saved this time is much the same.
Do you think Tragic Hero Claire and her party only suffered because of me? Yes, they lost their lives because of me. And faster than they would have in the original history.
However, there is one thing to keep in mind. My killing the Hero Party can never be categorized as an evil act.
How do we define an evil act? Is it not the act of breaking laws and regulations to harm others?
In the law of the jungle within the Demon Beast Forest, the only rules are strength, wit, luck, and circumstance. The stronger, smarter, luckier, and more advantaged person seizes everything. This means you cannot apply the laws and morality of the Human Realm here.
The Hero Party and the goblin horde were fighting. If I had sided with the Hero Party to exterminate the goblins for the sake of saving the Hero, would anyone call that an evil act? It is the same logic.
I tried to save one goblin, and in the process, I killed the Hero Party who were trying to kill us. Had I not killed them, we would have been injured or killed, so this can never be considered an evil act.
Moreover, since I even devoured them, it is merely a natural act of the strong preying on the weak. Just as we do not perceive eating wild boars or rabbits as committing an evil act.
Therefore, the King of Humans, who possesses a good nature and carries on the will of Saint Iroel, did not stop me. It was a perfectly natural act.
I realize once again how much I have changed since my previous life. In my past life, I would have caused chaos the moment I entered the Demon Beast Forest, plunging all the beasts into the river of corruption, but in this life, having become good, I only choose to do things that benefit others. How exemplary of me. I should brag about this when I communicate with the Saint later.
Humming these thoughts to myself, I swallowed Claire's soul. A power unlike anything before overflowed through my entire body.
I wiped my mouth with satisfaction. Claire was dead, but could not close her eyes. The embers of a resentment that had not yet faded lingered in her empty void.
Who was that resentment directed toward? The Empire that sent her to her death? Or me, who killed her and used her as nourishment? Regardless, it is a meaningless emotion. Every weakling and victim in this world harbors their own resentment, but the strong and the perpetrators do not acknowledge it. That is how it is in the wild.
I reached out and closed Claire's eyes, then stood up from my spot. I grabbed the lapels of my suit and dusted them off several times. It was a shame that blood had stained them so unsightly. Truly untidy.
"M-M-My Lord?"
Just as I was planning to leisurely wait for those bringing the goblins, a woman's voice calling my title drifted from behind. It was the voice of my loyal knight, Beatrice.
"Dame Beatrice? Since when were you there? Did you bring the goblins I asked for?"
I turned my head and gave a gentle smile. I wondered if she had watched everything I did; since I didn't know how long she'd been there, I decided to feign composure for now.
"The thing is... I was actually worried about my Lord being alone with the Hero, so I rushed back. As for the goblins... if you wish, I shall go and fetch them again right now."
Beatrice bowed her head as if apologizing, but her gaze was fixed clearly on my throat.
Oops, she saw it.
"Is that so? Thank you for thinking of me. There is no need to go back. Besides, you are currently injured. Just come and sit by my side."
"Ah, yes... I shall accept my Lord's kindness with gratitude."
"My, how good. I wish our Aru would listen as well as you do. But she will eventually learn to listen, right?"
"...Excuse me?"
"It is nothing, just sit here."
I tapped the spot next to me with my palm. Clutching her abdomen, Beatrice limped toward the place I pointed to.
My wounds healed completely while absorbing the soul, but since Beatrice is human, rapid recovery is impossible. No matter how much she follows my orders.
"You haven't suffered any tears or cuts to the skin, have you?"
"Yes, fortunately..."
"Minor internal injuries can be easily treated with some rest. You don't need to worry too much. But why have you been so restless for a while now? Is there something you want to ask?"
"...."
"Speak freely. Are you afraid I might say, 'You know too much,' and kill you? Put those worries aside. Unless you are a betraying comrade, I may punish, but I do not execute."
Questions become doubts, doubts become distrust, and distrust becomes dissatisfaction. It is better for the future to resolve a subordinate's questions as they arise.
"What... did you just do?"
"What?"
"I mean... I saw you pull a round object from the Hero's body and consume it."
"Ah, that? It's nothing much. That was the Hero's soul. You know what a soul is, right? The spirit part of a person."
"A soul... a soul...? Then, could it be that my Lord has consumed the Hero's soul...?"
"It was delicious. Sweet and tender, like eating well-cooked beef. Hehe, I'm joking. I have the ability to convert the power of an absorbed soul into my own. Though it's an ability I can only use on five beings in my entire life."
"I... I have never heard of such an ability before..."
"Just accept it. After all, the world is a place full of unknown mysteries. Anyway, I needed to become stronger, so I absorbed the Hero's soul. Is there a problem?"
When I asked for an answer with a thin smile, Beatrice hesitated for a moment before responding.
"There is no problem. The point is that my Lord's power has advanced even further, has it not? I... I offer my congratulations."
"Keke, yet you don't feel any repulsion, even though I ate a human soul?"
"No, it is the law of nature that the weak become prey and the strong become predators. As a human, I loathe cannibalism, but to my Lord, a Demon, everyone is merely prey."
"I'm glad you understand. Oh, and keep what you just saw a secret from others. There's nothing to be gained by letting it be known."
"Yes. I shall obey your command."
Even while sitting down wounded, Beatrice remained in a posture with both knees kneeling. Doing that would stretch the wound and hurt more. She really is a woman who is knightly to a fault.
I reached out and pinched Beatrice's cheek. Beatrice remained still with an expressionless face.
"By the way, didn't you say earlier that there was something you wanted to ask me? You were about to ask, but then you stopped."
"Umm... th-th-th... that..."
"Ask me now. I happen to have some time. It's better than wasting time on it later."
I let go of Beatrice's cheek, which had stretched out like a soft rice cake. Beatrice didn't even cover her reddened cheek, keeping her two hands neatly placed on her knees.
"My Lord... I wish to ask what your ultimate goal is."
"My goal?"
"Yes, you have gathered the Wolf King, the King of Humans, goblins... and people like me as comrades, and you are stockpiling power. Is it not because there is something you desire? It has been nearly 200 years since I began spending time with you, yet I feel I still do not know you well..."
"Everyone has at least one goal of their own. Even if it's something as trivial as wanting to eat something delicious for dinner tonight. Naturally, I too cherish a goal of my own deep in my heart."
"May I ask... what that goal is?"
Beatrice's low, alluring voice burrowed into my ear. Her tone was extremely cautious.
"I suppose there's no reason why not."
"...!"
"There is a human woman I sincerely love. Humanly and romantically. I want to spend time with her... but in the near future, a great apocalypse will fall."
"An apocalypse...?"
"There is such a thing. I'll tell you everything when the time comes. Anyway... my ultimate goal is to live together with that human woman. I am building my strength and gathering comrades for that purpose."
It feels a bit off to directly mention Saint Maria, who hasn't even been born yet. If I'm not careful, she might realize I've come from the future. While regression isn't necessarily a secret I must hide, it's best to keep my personal weapons to myself.
Because of that, I only mentioned a human woman, causing Beatrice's face to turn bright red.
"M-My Lord has someone he loves... I truly... never imagined it."
"I suppose I didn't make it too obvious."
"Might I ask for her name?"
"Uh, I'll have to pass on that. No particular reason, it's just a bit uncomfortable."
"Ah, yes. That is quite alright. Still, the fact that she is someone you love... as your knight, I find myself quite curious."
What on earth has she been taking me for to be this surprised? I am quite clearly a male.
Just as I was about to give her a hard time, Aru, the King of Humans, and Uriel emerged from the forest. In the King of Humans' hand, a single goblin was dangling.
While Aru's loyalty and growth in combat were assets, in the end, those were just secondary. The greatest harvest of this venture was none other than that goblin.
I spread my arms and stood up.
"Welcome, goblin friend. Shall we start by deciding on a name?"
*****
While Oscar engaged in various conversations with the mutant goblin.
Beatrice Constantino, the knight serving the Demon, was completely unable to focus on the conversation.
'The human woman my Lord loves... who could it be? Who...?'
Her mind was racing, processing this sudden news.
'But, a human...? My Lord has lived in the Demon Beast Forest for 300 years already. In the last 200 years, I've never seen him spend time with any woman other than our group...?'
The knight's gaze landed on the Demon.
A Demon wearing a white suit stained with red blood, shaking hands with the mutant goblin.
'Unless they made a contract with a transcendent being like myself, any human who met my Lord before me should be long dead... yet he spoke as if they would share a future... could it be?'
A flashing thought crossed the knight's mind.
'I-Is he saying there is someone he loves among our party? Excluding the King of Humans, the only candidates would be Aru, Uriel, and... me... Uriel is an angel, not human, so it's not her...'
The knight's heart began to throb. It was a strange sensation she was experiencing for the first time.
'But looking at how my Lord treats Aru, he definitely doesn't see her as a woman... C-Could it be me...!? M-My Lord loves me...? T-Those times he pinched my bottom... was that because he harbored affection for me...!'
It was the moment the knight's gaze toward her Lord transformed into the gaze of a woman stealing a look at a man.