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Elaine stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, after Espel had disappeared. Now that he was out of sight, it felt as if meeting him had been a lie.
When she looked down, she saw traces of trampling on the overgrown grass. This was where Espel had been standing just a moment ago. It was telling her that this really wasn’t a dream, but reality.
Meanwhile, the figure approaching beyond the bushes got closer. Soon the sound of the bushes shaking subsided, and someone walked out from under the shade of the dense trees.
“Elaine.”
Purple eyes reflected her clearly under the moonlight.
The place where Ash was acting as bait was over 30 minutes away from her. Even if he came as soon as he heard the news, it was a long way away. She didn’t expect him to show up. She naturally thought that one of the knights she’d been searching with had come looking for her…
Ash was slightly out of breath, perhaps because he’d rushed over. He went straight over to her.
“I heard that a demon appeared. But I didn’t see you…”
Then he paused when he saw a body lying in the grass. But the pause was short-lived as he quickly narrowed the distance between them and scanned her condition. First of all, there were no injuries. His breathing calmed as he stopped in front of her and opened his mouth.
“What happened…”
The question never made it to the end. His gaze locked on Elaine’s face as if in a trance.
“… Why?”
Ash’s eyes, which had widened slightly, narrowed into a small frown. He cupped Elaine’s face in his hands, his thumb swept over the area around her delicate eyes.
“Why is your face like this?”
“Um, what?”
“Did you cry?”
His softly questioning gaze focused on her. Her eyes were red and swollen, as if she’d cried.
Elaine, who was embarrassed, made an “Ah” sound at those words. She was so absorbed in her joy at meeting Espel that she had no idea what her face looked like at the moment. It must look strange for someone who went after a murderer to have puffy eyes like they’ve been crying.
But she couldn’t say it was because she’d met Espel. Elaine made up an excuse.
“I wasn’t crying…… something got in my eye! I rubbed it, and then……. Did it swell up a lot?”
She asked, sneaking a glance at him. The distance was close. She was worried because she thought the short distance would make her face more visible. She wanted to pull away, but she couldn’t because he was holding her cheek. Above all, the problem was that her heart reacted just by looking at him.
When she saw his face close to her, his eyes shining only on her as if nothing else mattered, her heart started pounding for no reason.
“Excuse me…”
Elaine slightly pulled her body away. Then Ash, realizing his actions, was shocked and withdrew his hand.
When he saw her wet face, his body acted on its own… Ash clicked his tongue and took a step back. Only then did he turn his attention to the fallen corpse.
He’d heard about the appearance of the demon. The corpse lying on the grass covered in blood was definitely a demon.
“How did this happen?”
“Oh, that’s…”
When Ash looked at Elaine, she trailed off for a moment, unsure of what to say. It would be easiest to say that she killed him, but she couldn’t even say that.
The demon’s body was grotesquely distorted. No matter how you look at it, it was not a wound that could be caused by a sword. Examining his body would quickly reveal that she was not the one who killed it.
But she couldn’t say that another demon had killed him either, she might endanger Espel if that happened. In the end, Elaine had to come up with something else.
“It was already like that when I found it.”
“… It was already like that?”
“Yes.”
“Then you didn’t see who did this?”
When she answered ‘no’ this time, Ash stared at her in silence.
Elaine was a little nervous as the purple eyes seemed to see right through her lies with an unreadable expression.
“Okay, I understand.”
But fortunately, Ash did not say anything more and looked away. Just then, the knights who followed Ash to visit Elaine appeared.
Ash ordered the knights to collect the demon’s body and search its hiding place. The body parts found in the hiding place were returned to the grieving families the next day. In addition, it became known within the territory that the culprit of the serial murders was a demon.
The territory was once again in turmoil, but gradually calmed down as the seemingly endless murders came to an end.
* * *
“I feel relieved we caught that serial killer.”
They were in the cafeteria attached to the headquarters of the Knights. Sofia spoke, stabbing at a tomato on her salad plate with her fork.
The restaurant was full of loud noise and the smell of food. Elain was eating with Sophia, Cézanne, and Abel.
“I’m surprised they were able to catch him. I heard the killer was a demon?”
Cézanne, who sat across from Elaine, said.
“We patrolled all night and didn’t hear a single scream, so it must have been magic.”
“I think so.”
Elaine nodded and answered. Abel spoke as he scooped up a spoon full of steaming soup.
“Anyway, I’m really glad we caught the culprit. If not, how many more people would have been harmed…”
“It really is a relief.”
Sophia nodded in agreement. She then gritted her teeth, gripping her fork tightly.
“But how could he do such a cruel thing? Collecting human body parts…”
“Well, they think of humans as bugs, that’s why.”
“No, we look similar, so why are they doing that? They think they’re so great.”
When Cézanne shrugged his shoulders and answered, Sophia let out a little bit of her anger as she jabbed her fork into her undercooked steak. Bright red juices flowed out.
“Seriously, they’re all horrible, and they should all just disappear.”
The other two nodded in agreement. But Elaine only smiled vaguely.
As she said, demons were dangerous and cruel beings. This was true in the cases that were actually heard and spread, as anyone could tell just by looking at this incident. However, Elaine couldn’t agree with the statement that all demons should disappear. Because the one demon she knew, Espel, was different. He neither belittles nor harms humans. Of course, he might be a very special case…
When she thought of Espel, her heart suddenly fluttered.
‘ We’re supposed to meet tonight.’
It hadn’t been long since they’d reunited, but she couldn’t help but feel regret that they’d had to part ways after exchanging only a few words. She hoped time would pass quickly. She was excited at the thought of seeing him again.
“But who on earth killed him?”
Elaine, lost in her own thoughts, suddenly snapped out of it.
“Even if he was a demon, he must have been quite powerful to use that kind of magic, and whoever killed him can’t be ordinary.”
“I heard someone say Elaine was the first one to find him dead, do you know anything?”
The three people all looked at Elaine. Elaine hid her guilty conscious and pretended not to know anything.
“Well, I just found the body already dead…”
Fortunately, they seemed to believe Elaine’s words without much doubt. So, she was relieved inwardly, but then she felt something lightly poking her side. When she turned her head, Sophia, sitting next to her, was smiling meaningfully. She whispered in Elaine’s ear.
“Elaine, it’s okay to be honest with me.”
“What?”
“The one who dealt with the demon was actually you, right?”
“… Huh?”
Elaine’s lips parted in a stunned silence. Sophia’s eyes lit up and she whispered.
“Well, I know how strong you are. You’re not talking about it because you don’t want to embarrass yourself by revealing your skills, right?”
“No, that’s…”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, I’m pretty good at reading the atmosphere.”
And then, she winked at Elaine. Sophia was so confident’ Elaine had no clue how to respond. She never would’ve imagined such a misunderstanding would occur. Was it more accurate to say she was embarrassed or dumbfounded?
“What are you two doing over there?”
Cézanne narrowed his eyes as the two whispered intently. Then Sophia looked at Cézanne and lifted her chin.
“You don’t have to know. It’s a secret between Elaine and me.”
She threaded her arm through Elaine’s arm, emphasizing the word secret. With a triumphant expression, as if he was the winner.
Cezanne chuckled in disbelief at the sight.
“Ah, is that so? I’m really jealous of that.”
Sophia’s eyebrows rose quickly at his sarcastic tone. The gazes of the two people clashed fiercely in the air.
‘Ah, here we go again.’
And in the meantime, Elaine secretly sighed. Thinking about it, these two always had a bad relationship. No, maybe she should say they were on good terms? Or, they were good friends, given how well they talked to each other despite all the bickering.
Elaine tilted her head slightly and continued eating the rest of her meal.
* * *
It was close to midnight. Elaine slipped out of the duke’s residence unnoticed.
With the pale moon illuminating the way, she headed to the place where Espel had asked her to meet. The central bell tower, located on Averon Hill, was not far from the Duke’s Castle. There was a high hill behind the building with a beautiful pointed roof. At the top of the hill was a large tree that was hundreds of years old. The branches stretched out in all directions as if absorbing the moonlight, casting a huge shadow.
The man waiting for her under the tree turned around.
“Ah, you’re here.”
At that moment, the bell rang, signaling midnight. A low voice was heard along with the long, slow sound of the bell. Espel smiled.
“I was waiting, Elaine.”
