234

Chapter 234: Full of Agony (7)

“A wager… the one you made with the demon….”

Meister pushed away from the bars and turned to look at the Demon Knight.

The rational part of Meister that had been getting irritated, wondering why this guy was suddenly acting so stupid, changed its mind halfway through the sentence.

The Demon Knight Meister had seen until now had not been Common Idiot No. 1, but rather Ordinary Person No. 1, someone who could at least be reasoned with.

And Ordinary Person No. 1 had suddenly been downgraded into Common Idiot No. 1?

There had to be a reason for that.

For example, perhaps his intelligence had not actually dropped and he genuinely had no memory of it.

Meister recalled what their grandfather had told them.

『Up to the moment I fired the signal flare.』

If that single sentence had not simply omitted what lay behind it, then it was itself the truth.

In other words, the Demon Knight had no memory whatsoever from after firing the signal flare until waking up here again.

…Not of making a wager with the demon, nor even of the warning he had supposedly left at the very end.

A headache began throbbing behind Meister’s eyes.

“…From what I heard, the demon inside your body said that because of some wager, it couldn’t kill us—or even harm us at all. Everyone involved, myself included, concluded that the wager had been made between you and the demon.”

Still, what needed to be said had to be said.

Meister hurriedly explained the situation to the Demon Knight.

Apparently rather startled, the Demon Knight turned slightly toward Meister as well and parted his lips, only to close them again.

“…Did it say what the wager was?”

Separate from the lack of memory making him seem evasive, it appeared his intelligence truly had not declined after all.

Meister felt mildly satisfied that the Demon Knight did not waste time with questions such as, Is that really true? or, I don’t remember anything like that.

If someone who had at least been reasonable had genuinely turned into an idiot, Meister would probably have mourned the loss for about an hour.

What a relief.

“It said that if we tried to kill you, it would come out again.”

“If that is true, it would have benefited from keeping silent.”

“I agree. The problem is that it claimed even telling us that condition was part of the wager. If that was just an act, great. But if it was true, then we would have had to face a Great Demon with no one capable of responding to it.”

In that sense, the Demon Knight waking up normally was truly a stroke of fortune.

Not only from the Demon Knight’s perspective, but from that of every human here.

“And you also left a message telling us to make absolutely certain we were prepared, so from our side, we had no choice but to trust that warning rather than rush things and screw it up.”

“…I left a message.”

“Yeah.”

As expected, he did not remember leaving the message either.

Meister raked their bangs back once more while looking at the person whose face was hidden by both hair and night.

They wanted a cigarette.

“…It said it didn’t want to lose the vessel it had barely obtained. That was probably what started the wager. The problem is what happened while the two of you were negotiating it. Can you think of anything?”

“…….”

But there was no fire.

That was always the problem.

Even now, fire was still precious in this world.

Fire that did not burn or torment people, but instead helped them, was all the more so.

“Stop right there!”

Meanwhile, the knight standing a short distance away as though on guard against the Demon Knight straightened their back.

The soldiers did the same.

They quickly pulled their lax discipline back into order and adjusted their grips on their weapons.

Every bit of their attention turned toward someone approaching awkwardly.

Judging by the clothes and bearing, the person looked no more experienced than a low-ranked adventurer.

They froze in surprise.

“This area is off-limits!”

Since the stranger had stopped, there was no need to bare their fangs any further.

Maintaining an appropriate degree of tension, one soldier stepped forward.

“Um….”

The stranger’s eyes darted around.

The person looked so hopelessly inexperienced that Meister began wondering whether everyone had been needlessly wary.

Even Meister, who had not tensed up like the soldiers, felt some of their tension drain away.

“Um, well… is it completely impossible to go in?”

Meanwhile, the adventurer’s voice was almost embarrassingly submissive.

They did not seem to have come here armed with some tremendous resolve.

The little tail made by somehow gathering the person’s short gray hair into a tie swayed gently along with each nervous movement of their head.

“If you have business here, identify yourself first.”

“I-I’m an adventurer. I came with the reinforcements.”

“Insignia.”

“Here.”

They looked, by all appearances, like an ordinary civilian with no combat experience, yet they did possess an Adventurer’s Insignia.

Meister narrowed their eyes and observed the newcomer.

They could afford to, since the conversation with the Demon Knight had petered out.

Personally, Meister would rather have continued their previous discussion than watch some greenhorn like this….

But the Demon Knight did not seem ready.

“Why did you approach?”

“I, uh, have something to deliver….”

“To whom?”

“To… that person over there….”

An adventurer bringing something for the Demon Knight.

Meister searched for whatever the adventurer intended to deliver.

It was not difficult to guess which object it was, since the person was holding something fairly large.

The only problem was that it was wrapped in leather, so Meister could not see what was inside.

“…Ah.”

Then a small sigh came from behind.

It had come from the Demon Knight, and it did not sound negative.

More precisely, he seemed to recognize whatever the adventurer had brought.

“Is it important?”

“…Perhaps.”

Meister asked in a whisper and received an answer that was not a denial.

That was enough.

“Unverified items cannot be handed to a prisoner—”

“Ah, looks like the thing I ordered finally arrived.”

Meister spoke loudly and theatrically.

After all, if it had been something even the Demon Knight knew nothing about, there would have been no need to pass it along—it could have been dangerous.

But if he knew what it was, then of course it should be given to him.

That was a right the Demon Knight naturally possessed as a person.

A right that should not be stripped away over a crime that was not truly a crime.

“Now that’s some impressive professional dedication. You could’ve brought it later.”

With that, Meister pushed past the soldiers attempting to block the way and approached the adventurer.

The adventurer looked slightly flustered at first, but quickly changed expressions.

“I was told it was urgent… and since it already took me all day to find it, I thought I should deliver it as quickly as possible.”

“Right. Thanks.”

Ah. So maybe they managed to work as an adventurer because they were quick on the uptake.

Meister awarded some extra points for that and accepted the object.

Of course, the soldiers looked as though they wanted to object.

That, too, was dealt with when Meister glared at Sergei, Sergei rolled his eyes around, and then shot the soldiers a warning look.

“Meister, your conversation….”

“I only need a little longer. I don’t think I’ve been here that long, have I?”

Meister gestured for the adventurer to leave, then returned toward the bars.

The Demon Knight had quietly lifted his head and was staring at Meister.

The faint outline of his face, barely illuminated by a distant torch, looked gaunt beyond belief.

“…You.”

“Here.”

Meister pressed as close to the iron bars as possible, blocking the soldiers’ view of what was being handed over.

Fortunately, the gaps between the bars were wide enough for an arm to pass through.

“…….”

The problem now was the person on the other side.

Even after Meister went that far for him, he hesitated, reluctant to reach out.

Half-swallowed by darkness, the outline of his figure was only barely revealed by the weak light as his fingers twitched.

With each movement, his fingertips sank into pitch blackness or slid through orange light, like a night sky cradling shooting stars.

“Are you taking it or not?”

Meister did not like shooting stars.

During the most miserable period of Meister’s life, the only source of hope had been the stars visible through a tiny window.

And a shooting star meant one of those stars falling to earth.

So Meister hated them.

They deliberately urged the other person on.

At last, the hesitant hand reached out.

“There isn’t anything inside you could use to cause trouble, right?”

Naturally, Meister did not hand over the leather wrapping as well.

Since they had told the soldiers the item belonged to Meister, there needed to be something to show when leaving later.

“…….”

The Demon Knight took the contents—it seemed to be a bundle of papers—and remained silent for a moment.

“Take these.”

Then he held out things that could be stuffed into the leather wrapping.

There were all sorts of objects.

A handkerchief, some kind of head covering, local specialties and crafts from several different regions.

Things Meister had no idea how he had ended up carrying around.

But by that point, Meister was so dumbfounded they could not even laugh.

It struck them anew that the only reason the Demon Knight was imprisoned in there was because he himself wanted to be.

Not because of the iron bars.

Not because of the soldiers guarding him.

Not because he lacked the strength to escape.

Purely because he had allowed himself to remain imprisoned.

“…Thank you.”

Apparently that was also the end of his willingness to talk.

Meister wondered what exactly that expression of gratitude had been for as the Demon Knight turned away, then turned around as well.

They had gained only a few clues, but now it was time to go back and think.

* * *

“If you’re grateful, then think about staying alive. I hate pointless deaths dressed up as ‘sacrifice for everyone’ more than anything.”

I listened to Meister’s words and smiled bitterly.

A sacrifice for everyone.

Could what I was doing really be called a sacrifice for everyone?

Was it right to dress up the selfish desire to rest because I was exhausted as sacrifice?

“…….”

Most people here wanted me dead.

But that did not mean I regretted struggling for everyone.

To begin with, it had been less an effort made for everyone and more something I did because I knew myself well enough to understand that I couldn’t bear watching people die.

I did not resent the people trying to execute me either.

After all, wasn’t it only natural to fear something overwhelmingly powerful that you had no means of dealing with?

Just as people in ancient times deified natural disasters or feared them as the work of demons.

Just as, rather than discover the principles behind them, they first blamed some sinner for provoking heaven’s wrath.

That was simply the sort of animal humans were.

“Hey.”

But.

But….

“Don’t even think about trying to escape.”

There were moments when, even if I understood raw malice and exclusion and accepted the reasons behind them, they still became emotionally unbearable.

Even knowing that humans were simply like this, even knowing the situation was more than enough to explain their behavior, there came a point when the heart simply refused to accept it.

“Don’t worry.”

That did not mean I wanted to complain that no one acknowledged how much I had suffered.

Nor did I want to look back on everything I had done and regret it, wishing I had never bothered.

After all, if I admitted that, then what would all my efforts until now become?

What about everything I had done to the best of my ability?

What about all the struggling I had done to face the present?

“I have no intention of leaving.”

I did not want everything I had done to become meaningless.

That was why I endured.

But my current condition was far too poor to endure every negative emotion being thrown at me as well.

I did not want to endure even that.

I did not even have the strength for it in the first place.

I did not want anyone to acknowledge how much I had suffered, but I was so exhausted that even reacting to insults—getting angry, laughing them off, anything—felt tiresome.

Yes.

I was exhausted enough that merely continuing to live while enduring their hostility felt unbearable.

“Hah.”

So I exhaled softly, raised one knee, and rested my head against it.

In my hand was the information on the “Demon Knight” I had requested two months ago, but I had little desire to read it.

Even learning something, interpreting it, and drawing conclusions sounded tedious.

The high likelihood that I would die at this rate only added weight to my lethargy.

If I was going to die and render everything meaningless anyway, I did not want to bother using my head.

I wanted to rest.

Read only on MUGEX

I buried my head against my knee and closed my eyes.

I missed my parents.

I missed them so much.

.

.

.

“Oh, Great Sage.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

…Apparently the world had no intention of allowing me to rest.

Half-asleep, I felt the area behind me grow noisy again.

Despite how late the night had become, someone had come to see me.

“What brings you here…?”

“The Lord asked me to check his condition.”

And judging by the voices, the visitor seemed to be a Great Sage.

Not Archmage, from the sound of it.

Someone else.

But did I really have to respond?

Did I really need to break the paltry peace this silence and stillness had given me?

I had not eaten anything since waking up, and I curled in on myself a little more around my hollow stomach.

Strangely enough, once hunger crossed a certain threshold and even the sensation of hunger faded, it became rather comfortable.

At least so long as I remained within the restriction of not having to move.

“He doesn’t seem asleep. Can I speak to him?”

“How can you tell he isn’t sleeping?”

“Because I saw him.”

“…His back is turned.”

“In the world you see, perhaps.”

But the visitor did not seem inclined to leave easily.

I exhaled weakly while listening to the two voices go back and forth.

I still did not want to deal with anyone.

“Hmm. You should step away for now.”

“Yes?”

“I need to speak with him alone. Either wait somewhere nearby or return first. Just give us some distance.”

“…Sure. If that’s all. I’ll wait over there. Signal me when you’re leaving.”

…I don’t want to deal with this.

“At last, we can speak alone. I apologize for disturbing your rest. What I’m about to say would be troublesome if anyone else heard it.”

I really don’t want to deal with this.

“So? Are you truly not going to speak with me?”

I really—

“Precious soul from another world.”

Huh?