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Chapter 311: Tell Them (5)

“…I asked him to keep it secret.”

Well… when I spoke to the information broker, I had asked for absolute secrecy without actually trusting that he would maintain it. Moreover, his failure to keep the secret had ultimately created Deathbringer’s trust in me.

Even so, I felt conflicted. It was similar to how I would feel if a bank employee disclosed my account information to someone else.

It was not quite the disappointment of having an expectation broken. The bitter taste filling my mouth came from having a trust that should have been obvious shattered instead.

“Um, I forced him to tell me….”

But when I maintained that ambiguous expression, Deathbringer anxiously watched me while even swallowing his tears. I had not been pressing him about it, so I did not know why he reacted that way. I slowly rubbed the back of my neck.

“I wasn’t trying to rebuke you.”

“…I’m sorry.”

No, I truly had not been trying to rebuke him. I had never desperately trusted the information broker in the first place, and I had been fully prepared for the information to become known.

Even my discomfort now was closer to, ‘Is that so?’ than ‘How irritating’ or ‘That makes me angry.’ So it really was fine. It genuinely was, but….

“Hmm.”

Even if I told him that, Deathbringer would not believe me, would he? To look at it another way, what he had done was equivalent to digging into my background.

“Thank you for believing me.”

“……!”

So instead, I simply changed the subject.

Deathbringer’s tail exploded into a puff.

“Th-th-th-there’s n-n-nothing to th-thank me for.”

Not only that, he stammered as if his ability to speak had broken. It looked like what would happen if a cell phone on vibrate turned into a person.

Was my gratitude really that shocking…? Deathbringer was so astonished that even I forgot my discomfort and became flustered.

“J-just take this!”

In the meantime, Deathbringer suddenly thrust out an arm and offered me what he had been carrying. It appeared to be a breakthrough intended to shatter the strange mood that had developed. Not a bad idea.

“…It gets cold after sunset. I mean, of course, you might return to the city before then, but the sandstorms are harsh too….”

Yet even as he handed it over, Deathbringer fumbled for one excuse after another. This did not seem like another attempt to refresh the mood. It felt more as though he were building a justification so I would not refuse.

“…Thank you.”

And the reason he felt the need to offer that justification was surely the history of refusals my persona had accumulated. Feeling both deeply sorry and grateful for making the giver defend his own gift, I answered.

“……!”

Deathbringer, who had approached to hand me the objects, bristled his tail again. His mouth fell open in a diamond shape, and the foot that unconsciously retreated revealed just how great a shock he had received.

“…S-Sir said th-thank you. T-twice.”

Ah, please. I wanted to clutch my forehead.

“…My sins run deep.”

“W-well, it isn’t really your fault….”

Wow… If this was his reaction now, what would have happened if I changed my speech style too?

I felt bitterly grateful for the imperious manner of speaking I had deliberately maintained to reduce the sense that something was wrong. I had considered switching to polite speech if it seemed safe, but that appeared to be out of the question.

“Do you doubt me?”

“…It isn’t doubt. I just never imagined you would say something like that….”

If saying thank you twice earned me this reaction, what would happen if I began speaking politely on top of it?

The controversy over the demon aside, their cognitive faculties might break first. The Demon Knight would never act like that!

[But that would cease to be a problem if you simply did not stay with them, my Gretchen.]

‘Shut up.’

I silenced Wrath, who unfairly stabbed me with facts, using the magic words, and swallowed the bitterness again.

After glancing around and anxiously watching my mood, Deathbringer hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

The words that had been spoken any number of times until now emerged again, somehow wrapped in a different air.

“For truly trying to stab you back then, for failing to apologize sooner. And….”

“Wait. Why are you…?”

“I was wrong.”

Why was he apologizing for that? It had only been a mishap that could easily have occurred. And everything afterward had happened because I kept my distance and never even let him apologize.

I was slightly dumbfounded, but Deathbringer did not listen. Drip, drip. His cheeks, which had briefly dried, grew wet again.

“I was truly wrong….”

His crying did not end there. The young man’s face crumpled like a balled-up tissue. Though not breathtakingly handsome, his features had been pleasant, and it took only an instant for them to fall apart.

The tip of his nose reddened, and his features lost their neat arrangement. If guilt had a face, it might have looked exactly like that.

“I won’t even ask you to forgive me, Sir… Just, just….”

“No….”

In the end, I let out a helpless breath. This was no laughing matter, but his expression was too absurd, and the foolishness of carrying it in his heart all this time was unbelievable. I was already trying hard enough simply by not letting the corners of my mouth rise.

“I’m sorreeeheehee….”

Proving that both of them were Dumplings, the Inquisitor and this bastard took turns swelling up.

Rubbing the back of my neck at the ticklish sensation, I finally accepted the sobbing Deathbringer’s apology.

[…]

Perhaps it was because there was a narrow gaze fixed on me from behind, or perhaps because this atonement had been wholly unexpected. Either way, the feeling of accepting it was indescribably strange.

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“…What will you do now?”

Deathbringer calmed down a long while later. Hic. The remnants of his long bout of crying occasionally made their presence known between his words.

“Who knows.”

The Meister had asked me this, and now Deathbringer did as well. Then again, anyone who saw someone in a situation like mine could not help being curious about his future.

“Are you… going to leave?”

But I knew no more about the path ahead than anyone else. I told Deathbringer only as much of my plan as I had told the Meister.

I had not decided anything in particular. For now, I wanted to apologize to all of them. I had remained here to do so.

That was the summary of it.

“S-Siiir….”

Yet Deathbringer looked moved by those few words again. I had no way to know what had moved him. Was merely saying I would apologize truly that touching?

“Um, if possible… could we travel together like before…? No, that would probably be too much, wouldn’t it…?”

“……?”

Together? Um… It was not as though I disliked the idea.

I thought of the Inquisitor, Archmage, Berserk, and the Meister who had newly joined them. Would they accept me again?

Moreover, if I traveled with them again, I would end up fighting endlessly….

“After you left… the goody-two-shoes suffered terribly. We never managed to talk properly, so I don’t know what was hardest for her… but whenever she tried to save something, she inevitably reached a moment when she had to abandon something else….”

My fist clenched by reflex. My absence had made the Inquisitor suffer like that? That little child had been forced to make trolley-problem choices?!

This—this was no longer about whether I would have to keep fighting…!!

“Never mind. Pretend you didn’t hear that. You’ve already suffered enough, Sir.”

“…….”

How am I supposed to pretend I didn’t hear that? I barely restrained myself from repeatedly smashing my head against the ground. I could not bear the thought that my Kimchi Dumpling—our little mutt—had suffered, and that I was the cause.

Of course, when I considered my own situation, I knew I would make the same choice even if I went back to that moment. Even so.

[Oh, please. Gretchen, wander for nine years instead. Why insist on taking the thorny path—]

「I also wish to stop you from walking such a difficult road… but please don’t suppress what you want to do. You don’t need to worry about that body either. Kind one, do what you want. Whatever choice you make, I will support it.」

Meanwhile, the beings inside me each offered their own opinion. Wrath consistently refused, while Faust… did not want me to suffer, but believed he had no right to stop me, so he would support me instead. Support that accepted even the greater risk of my death if I rejoined them.

“…We will discuss this again later. We do not know what the Temple will decide.”

Well, anyone with a conscience would normally act that way… and perhaps that was why it instead calmed my heart. I postponed the subject.

“Yes.”

Though a trace of disappointment showed, Deathbringer did not argue any further. Whoooosh. A sandy wind passed through the conversation that had briefly fallen silent.

“…More importantly, is that the Great Demon?”

“Yes.”

“It’s really… filthy.”

That was true. I silently nodded in agreement. The Great Demon Behemoth was a truly filthy demon.

“…You’ll only be able to enter the city once this is purified.”

“Is the situation very bad?”

“Yes, somewhat. Many civilians were caught in the curse… the animals are in an uproar… and the plague has spread somewhat.”

What is that? It’s worse than I expected.

I drew more details about conditions inside the city from Deathbringer. A situation even worse than what I had seen at the wall was unfolding. All the more so because even this was not something Deathbringer understood properly.

‘It’s fortunate the Behemoth was a stupid pig….’

Considering the damage that stupid pig had inflicted on the city, perhaps fortunate was a strange word to use. But viewed coldly, it was true.

Had the bastard been even slightly more intelligent, recognized the situation immediately, and escaped, the damage on humanity’s side later would truly have been immense.

“Purification….”

In any event, purifying this much Demonic Energy would require the Inquisitor to take action or dozens of priests to swarm over it. Given what I had just heard about the city, I did not know whether it could be done within a few days. I sank briefly into thought.

‘This question might be far too late, but… can I absorb this?’

Then, however, an idea suddenly occurred to me.

‘Or would that cause a problem?’

Knowing what had ultimately happened to Biryuho after devouring Moby Dick made me briefly think I had made a mistake.

But if handled properly, this option could eliminate the need for purification and strengthen me as well.

‘Is there no way to absorb it that offers only benefits, like increasing the amount of Demonic Energy I have or improving my physical abilities?’

It was still too valuable to simply abandon. Adding a shameless demand, I pressed Wrath.

Standing off to one side of my vision, Wrath folded their arms and regarded me strangely.

[If you insist on finding a way… you could at least eat it after discarding its name. Considering that a demon’s essence is contained within its name, it would be like eating gimbap without rice.]

‘What are you talking about?’

[…The name is essence, the soul is existence, and the body is a vessel. Humans are different, but that is how it works for demons. The essence determines the nature and form of their power, while without a soul, their existence cannot be established. Finally, the vessel is… precisely that. A vessel containing the other two.]

I frowned the moment this conceptual explanation followed the statement about discarding the name before eating—an idea far too abstract for a human listener. It was not that I could not understand, but it did feel vague.

[…To use a game analogy, the name is like a class. Your skills, stats, and how you develop all differ according to your class, don’t they? And the soul is… roughly the player. Without a player, neither the class nor character in a game has any meaning.]

Fortunately, the explanation that followed made the concept clearer… but comparing enormous concepts like a name and soul to a game class and player felt strange.

It was as though someone had looked at an elaborate work of art, cringed, and reduced it to a single sentence. I felt sorry for the two concepts.

[Do you still not understand?]

‘…No, I do. So is eating the name very dangerous?’

[Usually, the name and soul are eaten together. But eating them also means holding them within your vessel until they are digested. In other words, the name, soul, and body are gathered together.]

‘…Then there’s a possibility it could instead be resurrected.’

[I truly like how quickly you understand.]

In any case, so that was the background behind what had happened to Biryuho. I inwardly shook my head, wondering how even a demon’s dead body could be composed entirely of traps. They were a vicious race from beginning to end.

‘But names and souls aren’t concepts that exist physically. How do you eat them?’

[Names and souls are not physical, but bodies are. And the two do not immediately disappear when the body dies. They remain within the dead body and slowly evaporate. Thus, when you devour a body containing a name and soul, they are absorbed along with it.]

‘…Then how are you supposed to avoid eating them?’

[Ah, that is different. The name and soul are usually housed in the head. As long as you avoid eating that, there is no problem. Though anyone eating while discarding the other two would either refrain altogether or eat only the heart.]

Wrath added that this was what they themselves had done when dealing with the first Gluttony. I had not been especially curious, though another part of me did find it strange.

‘The first Gluttony?’

[The Behemoth you killed was a pig that inherited the title after devouring the corpse of the Gluttony I killed.]

‘Why the fuck did you leave the corpse behind and allow a piece of shit like that to come into being?’

[First, I lacked the power to burn the corpse after fighting it. Second, I did not wish to gamble by swallowing a being equal to me. As I just explained, it is dangerous.]

But as Wrath continued, they let out a light lament. Perhaps it was a sigh. Wrath’s voice sank, faint yet sharp, like someone who had seen something repulsive.

[Moreover, had you seen the first Gluttony’s body, not even you could have suggested eating it.]

‘…What did it look like? No, more importantly, is eating it with my mouth the only means of absorption?’

[For the sake of your stomach, I shall keep this as brief as possible. The first Gluttony possessed the body of a colony. As for what composed that colony… there is no need to say, is there? And Gretchen, if there had been another means besides ingestion, do you think I would have eaten only its heart and discarded the rest?]

I immediately gave up at the demon’s definitive answer, delivered with a kindly smile. I could attempt to strengthen myself only if the method was somewhat normal. I wanted no part of putting that foul-smelling thing in my mouth.

[The heart should still be tolerable. Why don’t you try it?]

‘Get lost….’

The slightly weakened suggestion changed nothing. Eating a raw heart was something I could never do. Given the bastard’s size, its heart would surely be enormous too… Yes, absolutely impossible. Completely, utterly impossible.

「…Feed it to Ratel.」

But while I recoiled in disgust, Faust, who had been quiet until then, added a remark.

[…Wait.]

「Ratel is also a medium connected to an extradimensional space—in other words, it performs the function of the inventory. So you can feed it to Ratel.」

[Do you think the extradimensional space connected to Ratel is infinite?! Something that enormous won’t fit!]

「You swallowed that turtle in Bemurchen. Don’t lie.」

[That was possible only because offering Mammon as a sacrifice temporarily strengthened my power!]

This demon bastard—always pretending to cooperate while withholding the important details. Looking at the master of duplicity who made it impossible for me to lower my guard, I seized the contract’s leash.

[…You truly will have to offer something.]

Wrath immediately dropped flat against the ground.

‘Then I’ll offer half the body and put the other half inside.’

[Ancient magic isn’t meant to be used like this… No, more importantly, aren’t you being too reckless because you aren’t the one acting as party to the contract? If the slightest thing goes wrong with it, the entire price will fall upon that brat—]

「Don’t worry about me. Wrath is exaggerating. There is almost no burden on me.」

Wrath did complain slightly. Judging by Faust’s wording—‘almost’ none—there seemed to be some grounds for it.

‘…If there’s almost none, that means there is some, doesn’t it?’

「It is only the mental effort consumed each time the contract is renewed. Unless my soul itself is used as the sacrifice, I suffer no harm. So please don’t worry.」

I felt a little anxious about the boy’s flat declaration, but relaxed for the moment after confirming that Wrath said nothing.

Wrath was reluctant to use this ancient magic or whatever it was. If the boy had truly been harmed, I believed Wrath would have said so if only to stop me. It was a form of trust, if it could be called that.

‘All right. I believe you.’

[Damn it…!]

In any case, it seemed I no longer needed to guard this pig bastard’s corpse. I lightly tapped the arm of Deathbringer, who might have been deep in thought or might simply have been spacing out.

“Wh-why, why?”

“Could you go to the city and deliver a message?”

“What?”

“I intend to dispose of the demon’s corpse. The Demonic Energy may fluctuate as a result, so they should not be alarmed… Something to that effect should suffice.”

“What??”