“What’s with this guy...”
Chastille shrank back and trembled from the creepy feeling he was giving off. And just at that time, something fell down below Decarabia’s feet with a thud.
“Haah?”
It was Decarabia’s chain and metal fitting covered eye-patch. It was likely grazed by Chastille’s strike just now. And naturally, all gazes focused on Decarabia’s face which the eye-patch had been covering.
“What... the...?”
Chastille let out a bewildered voice. Decarabia’s exposed right eye was tumbling about every which way. His eye-patch had been hiding a silver eye. And this made Zagan freeze up entirely.
What the hell is that eye?
It had the same color as Zagan’s eye. However, the eyeball gave off an indescribable sense of discomfort. It likely wasn’t his original eye, but an artificially implanted one. And above all else...
He planted that kind of cursed eyeball into his own body... is this guy crazy?
No, he didn’t look in any way sane to begin with. The artificial silver eye showed signs of such a sinister curse on it that it made even Zagan feel like puking upon seeing it. Just half a month ago, Zagan suffered from a curse cast by a dragon and an Archdemon. When it came to the simple strength of the curse, this one couldn’t really compare, but that artificial eye had been there far longer — it was likely it had been festering with a curse for several hundred years. A suffocating mana was pouring out of the artificial eye.
Decarabia pinned down his right eye, and let out a sigh.
“...Tch, you ruined it. You, woman, and the cat too, you guys Zagan’s friends? OK. I’ve made up my mind. I’m gonna start by killin’ you two first! Do your best to run, struggle, and desperately resist your death! GYAHAAHAHAHAHA!”
And leaving behind his insane laughter, Decarabia slammed into the ground. A massive cloud of sand took shape, and blocked off everyone’s vision.
“Haa!”
Chastille tore apart the cloud of sand with a single slash of her Sacred Sword, but the lunatic was no longer there.
Chapter IV: There Is No God in This World, but It Seems Demons and Angels Are Lurking Everywhere
This sorcerer had no talent for sorcery. He had a severe deficiency of the requisite mana to put sorcery to use. Nevertheless, there was a reason that he had to get stronger no matter the cost.
His little sister.
He didn’t remember whether their parents abandoned them or whether they died. He had no other relatives, so protecting his beloved little sister became Decarabia’s meaning in life.
There were a limited number of ways the two of them were able to survive as children. It was impossible to do so by upholding a sense of morals. He stole, snitched food, got beaten to a pulp every now and then, and lived a secret, small life in the darkness. The only ways of escaping that life were either to rise above it or just to die a dog’s death.
And the simplest way for a child to rise above it was to become a sorcerer. However, he no longer had any time left. He was at the age where he was on the verge of being an adult, and one day he would be arrested by the adults and judged as an adult. Precisely because he survived until he reached such an age, the number of crimes he had committed was considerable, and it was entirely within reason that he would be executed.
If that were to happen, he wouldn’t be able to protect his sister. And on a certain day where he was in a panic to resolve that, he came to know of the existence of a certain tool.
The King’s Silver Eye—a magical artifact which rapidly enhanced one’s mana and granted them infinite knowledge. In a turn of good fortune, he came to know of the sorcerer who possessed it. If he were to steal it, he could become a sorcerer. And then, he witnessed something while he preyed on the sorcerer waiting for his opportunity.
The sorcerer who possessed the King’s Silver Eye was devoured by it.
It was clear that this was a dangerous item. Nevertheless, he no longer had any choice but to steal the Silver Eye from its now deceased owner. And so, the Silver Eye acknowledged him as its vessel.
Now endowed with tremendous power as a sorcerer, he was freed from the threat of adults. He was now capable of giving his little sister an ordinary life. Those days went by so smoothly he could even see his dream being fulfilled. However, on a certain day, he ended up meeting that sorcerer.
A young man who possessed silver colored eyes just like the King’s Silver Eye. So he challenged that young man, and then...
“...Huh? What happened after that again?”
Decarabia cocked his head to the side while lurking in the forests of the uninhabited island, keeping an eye on Zagan’s group. The wound he had received from the Sacred Sword was deeper than he thought, and was taking longer than planned to heal.
He remembered the fact that he had confronted Zagan that day and lost to him. However, he couldn’t really remember how it all ended.
Wait a tick, why did I end up fightin’ with him anyways?
Decarabia tried searching his mind for the answer, but the King’s Silver Eye embedded into his eye socket throbbed violently as if it were festering. Perhaps because his eye-patch was broken, the throbbing felt like it was far worse than usual. He scratched at his eye to try and stop the throbbing, peeling away his skin and causing blood to pour to the ground. But even so, the throbbing wouldn’t stop, and he continued scratching until even chunks of meat were falling out. And as he continued scratching away, he never even gave a single thought to a doubt he should have had.
Just where did his beloved little sister disappear to?
◇
“How’s your wounds, Kuroka?”
A few hours had passed since Decarabia vanished. The sun was setting. And Kuroka was crouching down, cradling her knees on the beach dyed by the setting sun. As Zagan called out to her, the cait sith didn’t raise her head to look at him, but instead waved her two tails.
“...I’m fine. Miss Nephy’s healing power is the same as Miss Nephteros’, it doesn’t hurt at all. Besides...” Kuroka touched her neck that was on the verge of being crushed by Decarabia. “It really didn’t feel like it would leave a wound anyways... Mister, you did something with your sorcery, right?”
Zagan was seriously injured at the time, but it wasn’t like he was just cowering on his knees either. He managed to place Heaven’s Scale between Decarabia’s hand and Kuroka’s neck on the spur of the moment.
That guy was actually pretty weak. So he wouldn’t be able to break Heaven’s Scale.
It was likely that the mana he possessed as a sorcerer wasn’t really all that high. Naturally, since he did at least defeat an Archdemon, he surely possessed the means to compensate for the deficiency.
Zagan stared fixedly at Kuroka’s face.
“Your wounds seem totally fine, but you don’t look fine at all.”
Kuroka’s tails drooped down along with her shoulders.
“Mister, it’s actually painful if you act kind to me now... Please leave me be.”
“Well, I get it.”
Zagan instead sat down next to Kuroka. And as he sat there in silence simply staring off into the setting sun, Kuroka’s triangular ears twitched about in a troubled manner.
“...I guess that’s just how you are. You really are someone who tries to protect weaker children, huh?”
Decarabia had declared that he would target Kuroka and Chastille before coming after Zagan. Chastille had the Angelic Knights and Barbatos with her, but Kuroka had nothing but non-combatants like Lilith and Selphy. That’s why Kuroka was on her own out here like this. It was a matter of course that she did so to protect them, but it was troublesome if she was misunderstood.
Zagan let out a sigh and poked Kuroka’s head.
“Fool. Just who would protect those who cower away just because they’re weak? You fought for my sake. You were defeated for my sake. And you’re cowering here for my sake. I’m not such a feebleminded king that I would just ignore that.”
“You’ve really seen through everything, huh Mister?”
“That’s because the way you try to carry your burden meaninglessly all on your own is just like Raphael.”
After he mentioned Raphael’s name, Kuroka hung her head down in a troubled manner.
“Is Father doing alright?”
“Yeah. He’s devoting himself faithfully back at the castle. If you’re worried about him, then come visit. The castle’s right next to town.”
“...I’ll consider it... Hey, Mister, did you finish setting things up? It looks like you took a full lap of the island.”
Kuroka tried changing the subject. The reason Zagan had only come to see Kuroka after this much time had already passed was because he was busy doing something else.
“It isn’t anything as elaborate as a setup. This area has become my domain, but it wasn’t yet functioning as one. All I did was setup the simplest barrier.”
Kuroka shook her head in reply.
“I don’t know much about sorcery, but is making a barrier from scratch something difficult to do even for a sorcerer like you, Mister?”
“No, that known as sorcery is fundamentally planted in ‘drawing a magic circle.’ A personally drawn magic circle can have its durability and effect enhanced by substituting portions of the drawing for chants and tools too.”
“So, did you draw a big magic circle that could cover the entire island?”
“Yeah. Although, there’s a way of reducing the steps to do so. If you make good use of it, even your footsteps can become a cornerstone of the magic circle.”
Its effect would likely last somewhere around a couple years. It was more than enough for something he had put together on the spot.
“That guy should still be somewhere here on this island. I’ll be able to locate him with this.”
What I really want to identify is the means by which he’s moving around though.
According to Zagan’s expectations, there was no way of moving around normally. Having said that, he didn’t look like such a skilled sorcerer that he could use teleportation like Barbatos. Zagan had a theory of what was going on, but he didn’t have any definitive proof. If he could find out where Decarabia was hiding, he could find out for sure just how he was moving around.
Kuroka opened her eyes in wonder.
“So, did you find that sorcerer?”
“Yeah. But anyways.” Zagan stuck out a small smoked fish that he snitched. “First, fill your stomach.”
Zagan plopped the fish into Kuroka’s hand, and moved on to chewing one of his own. Kuroka’s mouth popped open in surprise.
“Fill my stomach? Is it fine not to attack now?”
“Hear me Kuroka. That’s a mistake that amateurs often make. There is a need to anger your opponent when taking revenge or retaliating.”
“A-Anger them?”
“Yeah. Anger narrows one’s outlook, darkens one’s eyes, and makes it so that one is only able to see themselves. The humiliation that you can grant them like that will last a lifetime. When one is unilaterally tormented by anger and humiliation, all that is left is despair. And once you gaze upon their figure bawling pitifully, you’ve finally accomplished your retribution.”
“...I’m really glad I’m not someone you want to get revenge on Mister.”
Kuroka had for some reason turned pale, but Zagan continued on anyways.
“Let’s go back to the original topic. A sorcerer can survive for two or three days without eating anything, but it’s a different matter entirely if you consider whether or not they’ll get angry at seeing others eating some delicious looking food. With that guy’s personality, he’s definitely monitoring us too.”
It was pretty petty harassment, but it was effective precisely because hunger was one of the three desires which drove living beings forward.
It’s a different matter if it’s someone like me or Nephy who have stopped feeling anything, but Decarabia is the type to be driven by his desires.
That’s why an attack on his hunger would be quite effective. And that meant that Zagan was luring Decarabia out at all times. The barrier wasn’t required for that. And so, he put on a show of devouring the small smoked fish.
“This is called niboshi, right? This is my first time having smoked fish, but this stuff seems like it would go well with liquor. Seems like Lilith prepared some of Liucaon’s liquor for us too. Would you like some?”
“I completely lose a sense of my surroundings if I have any alcohol, so liquor is a little... Does the niboshi suit your tastes?”
“Yeah. Even having simple things, like smoked goods, is a recent discovery for me after all.”
Kuroka let out a laugh at Zagan’s answer.
“So even you tell jokes, huh Mister? Aren’t smoked goods available all over the continent? Like ham, bacon, cheese, and the like, right?”
“...Mm. You’re right.”
Zagan had never even thought of eating such expensive food before he met Nephy, and he didn’t know how smoked food was prepared in the first place. Zagan’s meals at the time were entirely composed of dried meat which was pickled in salt. It was something that was usually made when livestock was too old. In Zagan’s case, he hunted animals in the forest. Frankly speaking, half of it was rotten. Zagan found out way later that this type of meat was a last resort for farmers who were on the verge of starving out and had no other choice.
What was even more tragic was that he had fed the same thing to Nephy when he first met her. Ever since then, Nephy had become obsessed with the sense of duty that she had to do something about his meals herself. Her meals were delicious, but it hurt his heart a little.
After talking a little, Kuroka seemed to get her feelings back in order a little, and began speaking about something that was hard for her to say.
“I got... treated by Miss Nephy earlier.”
“Mm. I heard.”
“Miss Nephy told me... that she may be able to heal my eyes.”
That was only obvious.
It’s impossible to completely restore it with sorcery, but mysticism is another matter.
The damage to Kuroka’s eyes had happened too long ago. To do something with sorcery, they would have to steal eyes from someone else, or create artificial magic eyes and transplant them. Furthermore, such borrowed eyes would have to have mana poured into them constantly for them to be effective. One couldn’t really call that a ‘complete’ recovery.
There was a possibility that Nephy’s mysticism could overturn that fact entirely. Nephy herself didn’t like the power, but she would use it if it were for the sake of another. At any rate, this should have been happy news for Kuroka, but her expression wasn’t cheerful at all.
“For some reason... I couldn’t answer her...”
It seemed that the reason Kuroka was feeling so down wasn’t because of her defeat, but because of this fact. Or rather than feeling down, it was more like she was worried.
“Hmm. Are you scared of seeing the light?”
“...Yes.” Kuroka nodded at his merciless question. “My people were slaughtered by sorcerers, I joined Azazel, and thinking it was perfectly natural retribution, I killed sorcerers.” Kuroka buried her face into her knees and muttered out. “...I killed... a lot...”
“Don’t worry about that. In any case, sorcerers are a lot that people try to kill all the time. They become sorcerers knowing that full well. The ones who get killed regardless of that are the fools.”
“Is that so...? What if there were people like you among the ones I killed? Just maybe... there were those that would have held their hand out to me...”
“If I could see again, I feel like I would see my sins just that much more clearly.”
Zagan could
guess that’s what Kuroka was implying. That’s why she was scared.
“You fool. If a sorcerer were to do such a thing, it would definitely be a trap. Killing them is the right choice.”
Kuroka scratched her head as if suddenly assaulted by a headache.
“...Ummm, maybe I worded it wrong. Rather than coming to an understanding and getting along, I’m thinking maybe there was another way of handling them aside from killing them...”
“That’s also not a praiseworthy choice though.”
However, it wasn’t like Zagan didn’t understand what she was saying.
This feels like what Nephy and Chastille are trying to accomplish...
Zagan folded his arms and racked his brains over it for a while before coming to an answer.
“Kuroka, you’re the last surviving cait sith of Liucaon, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Then think of it this way. You must survive. As long as you live, you’ll remain as proof of the existence of your people. And so, you killed sorcerers for the sake of surviving. That’s because you would receive the favor of the Church by killing sorcerers. It was necessary. Try thinking of it like that.”
Kuroka was left dumbfounded at his overbearing logic. She then returned a strained smile like it couldn’t be helped.
“Hey, Mister, do I look like I want to die?”
“I don’t know if you want to die, but you look like you don’t know what you’re living for.”
Kuroka’s shoulders drooped down gloomily.
“Lilith scolded me... for the same thing... And when I said that I need to spend the rest of my life atoning for those I killed...”
This left even Zagan astonished.
“I’m sure she got angry. From her perspective, she was finally reunited with her childhood friend she never thought she would meet again, but that friend was practically saying that she had no reason to keep living.”
“I-I do have a reason to live, though.”
“You can’t call that living. Living means enjoying pleasure, fulfilling your desires, and obtaining joy. You can’t call just avoiding death living.”
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 7 (Premium) Page 12
