Dehan was extremely tense.
He couldn’t help it.
He had just discovered that the members of the Daimon Margrave’s family were demons, and before he could discuss it with Yuriel, he was captured and dragged away by Arthur.
Arthur was always a frightening and intimidating figure, but now that Dehan knew he was a demon, he was even more terrified. Dehan bit his lower lip and glanced around nervously.
“Relax, I’m not going to eat you. I haven’t done anything, so why are you so scared?”
Arthur spoke in a deliberately gentle voice, but Dehan still couldn’t relax. He clasped his hands tightly and slowly raised his eyes.
“What do you intend to do with me?”
“For someone who is feeling scared, you speak very clearly.”
“…………”
“I told you, I brought you here just to have a little chit chat. I don’t intend to do anything to you.”
Dehan stared intently at Arthur’s face.
Even though he had a faint impression that he might pass by on the street without noticing him, there was an indescribable sharpness about him. Was it because he was a demon? Dehan cautiously spoke.
“What… do you want to talk about?”
Arthur, now seeming like the conversation had finally started, smiled meaningfully and crossed his legs.
“It seems you found out we are demons.”
“……Yes.”
“Well… erasing your memory would be the easiest solution, but unfortunately, I don’t have that ability. I’m more specialized in killing.”
Dehan flinched.
If Arthur was specialized in killing, then killing Dehan would be easier than eating soup.
Seeing Dehan’s reaction, Arthur laughed again.
“Don’t be so scared. I like children. I have no intention of killing a child.”
Liar.
Dehan had heard that demons hated humans.
They supposedly despised and loathed humans.
Even if it were true that Arthur liked children, it would only be among demons.
“But if you reveal our secret, I won’t have a choice.”
Arthur spoke these frightening words without hesitation. Dehan clenched his teeth.
“Are you saying you would kill me?”
As soon as he said it, his anger surged even more.
He was furious with the demons who seemed to care nothing for human lives, and he longed to see the villagers who had suffered because of them.
“To demons, are human lives truly worthless? Do you think it’s okay to kill or be killed, that they are so insignificant?”
With gritted teeth, Dehan spoke.
He wasn’t free of fear, but his anger had grown larger than his fear.
Dehan glared.
“You can kill me. But don’t think you can hide everything.”
As he spoke each word with force, Arthur tilted his head.
Those affiliated with the temple always sharpened their claws against demons.
Even though they had never actually fought against them.
“First, let me explain something you seem to misunderstand.”
Arthur sighed deeply, uncrossed his legs, and leaned forward.
“Humans, just like demons, often disregard each other’s lives. Even if I were human, knowing the secrets of a noble family would put you at risk of being killed.”
Arthur was saying that it wasn’t because he was a demon that he was threatening Dehan, but that such threats would be natural even if he were human.
Realizing this, Dehan’s blue eyes wavered. Arthur’s words implied that he should not judge them based on prejudice against demons.
“Dehan.”
Arthur looked at Dehan and spoke.
“Have I ever harmed you?”
“…………”
“To be precise, have any of us ever harmed you?”
Of course, Arthur had harmed Yuriel, but let’s leave that aside. Dehan didn’t know that.
Dehan, unaware of these circumstances, looked down and bit the inside of his cheek.
“…….No. You saved us.”
This was an unchanging fact.
They had saved them from death twice.
Dehan’s brows furrowed.
If demons truly desired the destruction of humanity and had no qualms about taking human lives as he thought, why had they saved him and Yuriel? For what reason? He was confused.
“Are we still frightening to you? Just because we are demons?”
Dehan clenched his fists tightly.
“You killed all the people in our village!”
That’s right.
The demons had killed his family. They killed his friends. They killed everyone.
The fact that they saved him and Yuriel now must have some ‘reason’. It doesn’t change the fact that their nature is evil.
“The village in the west! Do you not remember? Did you kill so many humans that you can’t remember? But it was your doing! You killed them all…”
Dehan shouted to justify himself and rationalize his thoughts. Arthur’s lips curled into a small smile.
“When unfortunate events happen, humans always blame the demons.”
“…….What did you say?”
“They never think it’s their own fault. They can’t admit their own mistakes.”
Arthur mumbled as he leaned closer to Dehan.
“The place where you lived was the only rest stop on the way from the western desert to the plains. That’s why you lived more prosperously than other nomads.”
“……….”
“But on the other hand, the security was terrible. It had to be. You couldn’t spend money on security when all your trade goods were being taken as taxes. And the state didn’t provide any protection either.”
Dehan lived in the village only until he was three years old.
A three-year-old child doesn’t know how the village operates, what difficulties there are, or how tough life is.
But now, looking back, he could somewhat understand the efforts of the adults.
The guards who came to raid the village instead of protecting it, the adults who had no choice but to comply with these guards, and the guards who never came even when the emergency bell was rung…
“Wasn’t it inevitable that the village would be attacked by bandits?”
No, that’s not it.
It wasn’t bandits, it was demons. He was told they were demons. The priest had clearly said…
‘Can I trust that?’
Gasp!
Dehan covered his mouth, overwhelmed by doubt.
He shouldn’t think this way. He was a servant of God. A servant who endures, learns, and protects beside God.
Yet he was having these impure thoughts…!
“Does God protect humans?”
Arthur continued, witnessing Dehan’s confusion.
“Just remember this.”
Dehan slowly raised his eyes.
And he stared at Arthur, the face of a demon, standing before him.
“God created us demons too.”
The demon who saved me,
The humans who killed my family… is it?
Dehan was confused. He felt he couldn’t overcome this chaos alone.
***
“Oouch, it’s freezing.”
Shekina sniffled loudly and fidgeted with her gloved hands.
Lucart watched Shekina curiously.
“Why do you talk like that?”
After some contemplation, Lucart asked.
“Are homunculus always so foul-mouthed if they aren’t properly programmed?”
Hadn’t she been cursing before while crying? That’s why Lucart found her to be a very peculiar homunculus.
“No. It’s just that I have a foul mouth.”
“Why?”
Because life is crap… she thought, if she say something like that he wouldn’t seen see her as a child. Shekina shook her head.
“That’s just how I’ve become over time.”
“Huh?”
Lucart chuckled.
How much could a three-year-old have experienced in life?
He thought Shekina was a very strange and amusing being.
“By the way.”
Then, as if he remembered something, he continued.
“There were traps along the way here. Deadly traps that could kill you if you weren’t careful.”
He recalled the magical energy he had sensed. The energy and the dark magic that accompanied it were well known to Lucart.
‘The Elders.’
Lucart’s’ eyes narrowed.
He was angry that someone dared to target the group traveling under his orders.
So he had dismantled all the traps.
But he couldn’t go with them further. Who knows what other traps or magic might lie ahead?
That’s why he wanted to give a warning.
After all, you only have one life.
However…
“I know.”
Shekina answered calmly.
