Episode 11
The wall of a small and cozy store.
Things that, to the eyes of ordinary people, appear to be just small stains.
But to me, whose spiritual eyes were maximized through soul magic, I saw fragments of souls burning themselves and spewing out pain.
"how…."
Could it be possible that there were more debris stuck inside this small shop than I had seen while cleaning the barracks?
My thoughts stopped at an incomprehensible situation.
Even the Demon King, who would normally be laughing in a mocking voice, was laughing quietly for some reason.
“You know what’s going on? What do you mean…?”
The moment I was about to ask the Demon King for an explanation.
Ding.
"oh."
The door opened and a detailed voice was heard.
“Sit down. Why are you standing there? Should I get you something to drink?”
That voice, that warm smile, so…
I was scared.
* * *
"…sorry."
“Huh? No, no. It was helpful enough.”
"Yeah. It's actually our fault for bringing you here when it was so hard. You've worked hard. Is there anything you'd like to eat? Just tell me. Tonight's dinner…."
“Honey, you’re going to do it?”
“….”
For several hours, it seemed like I was cleaning because of my complicated mind.
The couple, who had been laughing just a moment ago, had now become something incomprehensible and incomprehensible.
“You go ahead and rest. We’ll clean up a bit more before we go.”
“Yes, then.”
I returned to their house, leaving Mike and his wife behind.
A quiet room.
The space I had become quite familiar with over the past few days suddenly felt awkward.
“Let me ask you again. Do you know what happened?”
-What are you talking about?
A voice full of doubt.
But for some reason, there was a hint of laughter in his voice. It seemed to be revealing the ominousness he had been trying so hard to conceal.
From the moment my teacher left, I spent every day anxiously trying to hide my identity. I avoided conversations with people as much as possible, and I couldn't even imagine becoming close to anyone.
A daily routine of eating proper food, not just stale bread, having people smile and wave at you, and falling asleep in a warm room.
It was a brief moment of peace, the first in years. That peace, that happiness… how far can we truly accept it?
“If you don’t plan on telling….”
My heightened sensitivity robbed me of patience. Just as I was about to nervously torture the Demon King's soul, the Demon King opened his mouth.
-You seem to already know this. Is there any point in asking me?
Now he didn't even try to hide his giggling laughter.
-Then let me ask you this time. What do you think happened?
“….”
A laughter was heard.
-I knew you were dull, but you couldn't even reach this conclusion...
“Stop talking.”
The Demon King paused for a moment before answering.
-Okay, do whatever you want.
As time passed, I heard Mike and his wife enter the house. I tucked myself into bed and not long after, the door opened.
“I saw you sleeping. Wake me up and feed me some food….”
"Just leave it. You worked hard today. I'll take care of it when you wake up later."
After they finished eating, the sound of their chatter came through the thin walls.
“Aren’t you going to wake up?”
“I guess you’re very tired.”
"That's amazing. If we had a child, he would have been exactly that age."
After a long time had passed since they had finished preparing and entered the room.
I slowly got up from my seat and packed my bags.
"Are you planning on leaving? I told you. You must not leave this castle until you face your first trial."
It didn't take long. I didn't have much luggage to begin with. I didn't take the miscellaneous items the guards had given me as gifts.
-Since you've already become the subject of a consciousness that's been activated, even if you run away, you won't be able to escape the ordeal. In fact, it will only bring you even greater trials. I understand your feelings are complicated, but...
“I’m not running away.”
I had no intention of listening to the Demon King any longer. He didn't lie, but he tormented me in every way possible.
If that's the case, then it was something I could check with my own two eyes.
I hoped it was all just speculation. I hoped I could face people tomorrow morning as if nothing had happened.
But if that can't be done... .
Finally, after a moment of hesitation, I picked up the old sickle.
‘Just in case…’
Because the night road is dangerous. That was all.
I quietly opened the door and stepped outside, trying not to wake Mike and his wife. The cold night breeze brought me back to my senses.
It was quite late, but the streets were still crowded. The aftermath of the executions was still ongoing.
I headed towards Amy's General Store, avoiding the drunken, staggering crowd.
The door is firmly locked. If you try to force it open, people's eyes will definitely be focused on it...
"deception."
-Huh?
A small magic circle unfolds around the fingertips.
A magic that conceals one's appearance and presence, learned from the Demon King. The extent of concealment increases with skill level.
'I'm sorry, Amy.'
I broke the window and entered the store. I heard a loud noise, but as expected, no one responded.
The magic circle's revision has already been completed. For the short period of time it retains its magical power, no one will be able to perceive this place.
I quickly covered the windows with the items inside the store and looked around the dark interior of the store.
It didn't look much different than when I arrived during the day. It was tidy, but the fragments of soul still clinging to the objects.
-You're behaving like a thief, not a warrior.
Ignoring the Demon King's groaning, I picked up the nearest object.
An empty vase with an old but fairly clean appearance.
However, the black energy was by no means small compared to the other fragments he had absorbed.
Now that I'm used to it, I absorbed the fragments with the soul magic that unfolded in an instant.
“….”
A brief image flashed through my mind.
Old walls, open doors, a cold wind. Familiar guard uniforms. And familiar faces.
-Are you sure now? What are we going to do?
“No, not yet.”
As the Demon King said, being a soldier is a profession prone to incurring someone's resentment. All of this is mere speculation. To be certain, more evidence was needed.
I slowly reached out towards the next object.
The tremors in my body grew more intense, but I didn't stop moving. In fact, I moved faster.
-Stop! You've absorbed too much in such a short period of time. Even if it's just fragments, it's impossible!
Repeating magic, repeating illusions. Different memories, same faces.
-Besides, at this rate, traces will remain. If the priests find it…
"okay?"
It was a tough time, but it worked out well. If the traces had already been left, there was no need to absorb them one by one like this.
The miniaturization of magic has been successful, and the amount of magic power consumed has been greatly reduced.
Even if you use magic dozens of times, the magic power that was reduced by the deception magic is completely restored.
-You bastard, no way… .
He poured all the magical power he had accumulated into his magic core, and even used the things that were rushing into the empty space in real time to draw a huge magic circle.
A bright light emanated from the magic circle, and at the same time, thick chains stretched out in all directions.
Objects that remained motionless despite being impaled by chains. Instead, the swept away areas were cleared of the soul fragments that had once occupied them, leaving only a clean, purified form.
And chains with dozens, hundreds of shards hanging from them lie quietly before me.
-It's impossible. I'm not yet accustomed to handling orders to the extent that I can handle this amount!
I hesitated a little, but closed my eyes and opened my mouth.
“Ugh, ugh…!”
The feeling of chains piercing through my open mouth. The bitter, bitter taste of my soul. Memories pouring out in rapid succession, without a moment's pause.
“Ugh…!”
The nausea that made me want to vomit never stopped.
When absorbing a complete soul, it wasn't like this. What I saw then were the soul's life, scenes that had a profound impact on my life. I saw happy memories as well as painful ones.
But soul fragments were different. As they were traces of souls harboring a powerful grudge, they mostly showed scenes just before death.
The reason I was able to endure the emotions and pain of the dying person all this time was because it was so short.
Absorbing hundreds of fragments in succession like this was unbearably painful.
My legs gave out and I wanted to collapse, but I couldn't.
The soul magic, which clearly had no effect on matter, supported only my body, rendering it immobile.
In the midst of all this, there was a face that kept appearing.
Not everyone was like that. I often saw other people's faces. But more than half of them had faces I'd become all too familiar with over the past few days.
As always, with a firm and stern expression… .
-Wake up.
Amidst the pain that felt like my head was going to burst and the rumbling that made me feel like my insides were going to vomit out, the Demon King's voice was heard.
Only after checking ahead with blurred vision did I realize I was lying on the floor. The magic circle that had once emitted bright light had vanished without a trace.
-Get ready to move. We need to get out of here.
“That’s, what is….”
By the time I got up from my seat, struggling to get to the floor.
“Is this it? The place where the light came from.”
“The window is broken. Did a thief break in?”
“Wow, you’re a big guy. You robbed Amy’s store.”
A voice flowed in through the broken window, along with light.
“How much time has passed since I collapsed?”
-It wasn't that long ago. If I had been even a little late, I would have been on the execution stand tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the voices grew closer, and I could sense movements as if they were trying to peer inside through the window.
'It's a good thing I blocked it in advance.'
The door rattled several times.
“Hey, someone go to Mike’s house. Tell him something has come up.”
“He’s already gone. He’ll be back soon.”
I relaxed my stiff body and checked my magic core.
In a short while, my magical power had recovered significantly. It was only a small amount, but the focus on increasing my resilience had been worth it.
I sighed and walked towards the door.
“Here! I cleared the window. Let’s go in here!”
"Why don't you just wait until Mr. Mike gets here? You won't be able to go anywhere anyway."
“Do you know what you’re doing inside? Hurry up and come and help me out.”
After everyone outside the door had gathered in front of the window, a fat man was seen trying to get in through the broken window.
The man who barely managed to climb out the window quickly got up from where he was lying on the floor.
'now.'
I unlocked the door and opened it.
“Hey, thief! Who are you?”
But I heard a man shouting next to me.
"deception."
Since I was quite used to it, it didn't take much time to activate the magic.
“Where, where did you go!”
“Aren’t you seeing things differently? Check inside!”
“…Why was the door open?”
I slowly got out, being careful not to bump into people.
There was plenty of time. In a noisy situation like this, it would be okay to just hide.
As I turned the alley and leaned against the wall to rest, I saw Mike running towards me from afar, holding a torch.
-What are you going to do now? I don't think it's too late to go back now.
"yet."
As the Demon King said, if you go back to Mike's house now and hide in your room, you can live as if nothing happened.
Things could get complicated if someone who detected traces of black magic followed them, but the chances of a high-level priest rushing to catch a mere thief at a general store were slim.
But now, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
“There’s still something to check.”
Fragments of the souls' memories alone don't allow us to know the full story. As the Demon King said, he was a soldier, and there could be other circumstances I'm unaware of.
-Well, since it's come to this, I guess it wouldn't be bad to do whatever you want until the end. But what are you trying to confirm?
The place to go is a place I accidentally witnessed in countless deaths.
"prison."
It was a prison where prisoners were executed every day.
0 Comments