Chapter 13 - Volume 1 (1/2)

Volume 1 Extra 5

Only one here has to die – such admirable intentions you have.」

That alluring voice reached Agedilus’s ears. That strange creature, with beauty not of a man or a woman. If you were to call it ‘androgynous’, that was the same as Agedilus’ beauty too, but this creature’s beauty was full of poison, making one sense the stench of blood.

Its long pitch black hair went against the freezing north wind, wriggling midair as if it had a mind of its own. Agedilus’s jet black hair on the other hand blew in the strong wind as he adjusted his strong grip on his wand.

‘To think this thing would show up here,’ Agedilus internally spat out the words, disgusted, but still glared at the demon with his sunrise-colored eyes. His gaze was like a sharp blade, but the demon receiving it still looked like it was in a good mood. This demon’s rank was next to the demon king, one of the recently revived demon king’s close aides.

Who would’ve thought that such a creature would attack them by itself? Did the demon king unexpectedly think the hero was dangerous? From the perspective of a demon, even if he was chosen by a holy sword, he was still a human, after all, so they thought the demon king would let him go free – but it seemed that wasn’t going to happen.

The hero chosen by the holy sword, Yurifalet Lila Schtorenvihein. The shrine princess who’d received divine protection from the goddesses, Clementine. The head knight of the kingdom’s chivalric order of knights, Alhelm Lix. And then, the palace’s head magician, himself. Could they win if they fought, the four of them? No, could they even make it out alive, let alone win? That’s how dangerous their present opponent was.

That’s precisely why Agedilus chose to teleport away everyone but himself. The memory of his comrades’ shouts just before he cast the teleportation magic rang in his ears again. Yes, comrades. Before he knew it, he had started thinking of the three of them as certainly his comrades.

The hero who always smiled had thrown away his refreshing smile. The princess who valued planning things out composedly had had her silver hair disheveled. The head of the knights who was always joking around had raised his fist up in the air. All three of them said together, 「Don’t mess around!」 just before being teleported, shouting until the final second. They urged him not to, their faces desperate. Just seeing those expressions of theirs made him realize his choice wasn’t a mistake.

「What are you laughing at? Have you gone mad at the face of death?」

「No. I remembered their faces, that’s all.」

In response to the creature’s question, asked as it laughed throatily, he replied with a smile. The demon widened its eyes, tilting its head in confusion. Its doll-like actions and abyss-like eyes, so deep no light reached them, made it very clear that this creature certainly was not a human. He hadn’t ever expected a day would come where such a creature would look at him with fascinated eyes. It crossed his mind that, no joke, he couldn’t decide if he preferred to be looked at with the fearful gazes of his fellow humans over this look.

「Oh? They did look desperate, but what’s so funny about that?」

「It’s because since we left the capital, they’ve caused me nothing but complete trouble. To be honest, I felt like saying, ‘Serves you right!’」

Yes, that’s right. That hero who only knew how to plough fields, that self-important high and mighty queen-like princess, that head knight who only had a thin line between his jokes and serious moments.

When he tried looking back, it really had been nothing but trouble. […] He felt so satisfied at having outwitted them. ‘Serves you right,’ he internally whispered once again. He’d teleported them to the nearest inn town from this primeval forest in the north. While it was the nearest one, it was still far enough that struggling to get back here would take a lot of time. No matter how angry they were, they couldn’t do anything about it.

「So I don’t have any admirable intentions. They’d just cause a lot of trouble if they were here, that’s all.」

「Hmm. You’re rather interesting, huh. That power of yours, too much for any human to hold, do you not wish to offer it to our lord?」

「……What do you mean?」

「Just what I said. Living in the world of humans must surely be difficult with that jet black hair of yours.」

In other words, it seemed to be saying to surrender to the demons. ‘That’s a pretty late offer to receive after so long,’ he thought. If the demons had held a hand out to him while he was in that darkness, no doubt he would have clung to it. But now, he had already broken out of that darkness long ago. The hand that had saved him was not this pale hand.

「What if I refuse?」

「I’ll have you die, of course. Ah, but that’s right. You have fine looks for a human. It would be best to turn you into our plaything to have a good time with.」

「Once again, that’s very appreciated.」

Agedilus smiled. That gorgeous, violent smile.「Tempting offer, but I’ll have to turn it down.」