Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Demon Order (1)

Demon Order.

It was a general term for groups formed by demon worshipers who served demons, and the demons served by each Demon Order differed from one order to another.

The person who represented and led such a Demon Order was called a Demon Cult Leader.

And Lucia, who was following closely behind me right now, was the Demon Cult Leader of the Valak Order.

Thud, thud, thud.......

Tap, tap, tap.......

After leaving the restaurant, Lucia and I were walking along one of Saengterminum’s paths.

The moment Lucia saw the note I gave her, she changed into plain clothes and went outside. 

The restaurant employees all opened and closed their mouths at the sight, but I supposed that had nothing to do with me.

“You do not seem very surprised even after seeing the note I gave you.”

“I was surprised....... I am also curious why you bothered to tell me that.”

Even though I said I knew she came from a family expelled from the Four Great Houses, she was still that blunt.

It was nothing new. 

One needed at least that much nerve to remain a Demon Cult Leader until now.

I recalled what I had said to the demon worshiper who appeared in the Artificial Rift a few days ago.

‘The Valak I know is not the kind of bastard who would make anyone harm the students of Saengterminum.’

There was a reason I knew that much detail about the High-Rank Demon called Valak.

It was because, in the previous round, I had a connection with Lucia, the Cult Leader of the Valak Order.

To be precise, I should say Lucia had approached me first.

When I first entered Saengterminum... I had been close to a crippled wreck, obsessed only with growing stronger.

Perhaps I had been unable to recover from the shock of being forced by my father to enter Saengterminum.

On top of that, Lloyd’s achievement of becoming the Valedictorian of Saengterminum’s Entrance Exam had made me even more impatient.

Because of that, I had gone back and forth between the Training Hall and the Artificial Rift, devoting myself only to training.

If only I could be acknowledged by my father, the Lord, again... I had even gone so far as to have the extreme thought that I would use any means necessary.

Because I had spread that sharpened atmosphere everywhere in Saengterminum without restraint...

‘You are Aron Bayonel, a child of the Four Great Houses... right?’

Lucia, who had been a Demon Cult Leader, must have approached me in order to make me form a contract with Valak.

Mm, right. 

That was definitely one week after I entered Saengterminum.

By date, ironically enough, it overlapped exactly with today.

‘What business does a dog-person have with me?’

‘Is this not the first time we have met?’

‘Get lost if you have no business with me. I do not have time to deal with a mongrel like you.’

‘Hmm... Then just listen. Once you hear me out, you will think differently.......’

Lucia, who had come to find me, made a short but weighty offer.

‘There is a way to become stronger faster....... What do you think? Would you like to try it......?’

‘...What?’

If I had thought about it even a little, I should have realized it was an invitation to join a cult, but unfortunately, I had not been capable of sound judgment at the time.

After accepting Lucia’s offer without hesitation, I was called to the location Lucia had told me about that very night.

Without even dreaming that the place was the headquarters of the demon worshipers who served Valak.

Tsk. 

Even now, when I thought back to that time, I grew irritated with myself.

It was fortunate that the Valak Order’s ideology differed greatly from that of ordinary Demon Orders. 

How could I have gone there without even looking into it properly?

Looking back on it, I really had been an idiot in the previous round.

Though as a result, I had formed a contract with Valak and become stronger than before.

“How far do you plan to go.......?”

Lucia’s voice from behind brought my awareness back to reality.

“To a place where there are no people.”

“Hmm.......”

By now, Lucia and I had left the roadside where Magestone Lamps had begun to light up and entered a dim alley.

“...This should be good.”

After confirming that we had reached a suitable place, I stopped walking and turned back toward Lucia.

“So.......”

Lucia also stared steadily into my eyes.

Because she had the eyes of a beastfolk, even in the dark alley, her eyes gave off a faint gray light.

“How did you find out about my origin......?”

“I did not find it out myself. I heard it from someone else.”

To answer the urging subtly laid beneath Lucia’s words, I twisted my mouth awkwardly.

Because from now on, I was going to tell her a plausible lie.

“I heard about you from ‘Aron Bayonel.’”

“...What?”

Lucia’s eyes widened at my words.

“You know Aron......? The one wanted by the Dark Empire......?”

“It is not as though I wanted to know him. For the past few days, I wandered around various places to learn the geography around Saengterminum. I also went to the outskirts a few times, where people rarely go.”

“.......”

“And there, I had the rotten luck of running into ‘Aron Bayonel.’ He really was strong. Before I could do anything, he subdued me and threw me to the ground. I was hit by Black Magic, so I could not even move my body properly.”

Lucia silently listened to me.

“Then he told me to deliver a message to a student named ‘Lucia Dorg’ who is currently in the second year here.”

“...He told you to speak about my origin?”

“He said that if I mentioned your origin to you, you would believe I was not lying. He said he would come to meet you, a member of a branch family, soon... so you should prepare yourself, or something like that.”

“And then?”

“What do you mean, and then? He just said whatever he wanted to say and disappeared. Only after a few minutes had passed since Aron left could I finally move my body. It happened just last night.”

I let out an obvious deep sigh.

“I suppose he is not wanted for nothing. I have no idea why he asked me to tell you this either....... I truly cannot understand how psychopaths think.”

When I complained, Lucia’s throat bobbed faintly.

“...Did you tell anyone else?”

“No. I thought I should tell you first, Senior Lucia.”

“.......”

Lucia stared fixedly at me without speaking, then soon raised her tail stiffly upward.

“A lie....... If you really met Aron Bayonel, there is no way you would tell me first. You would have told Saengterminum’s professors first.”

Lucia’s suspicion was reasonable by common sense.

But would she still be able to say that after seeing this?

“Did I look like someone whose head worked that poorly?”

“Hm?”

“...Just watch.”

I cleared my throat with a few coughs.

I had expected this, so I had placed a curse on my own body in advance.

The name of the curse was ‘Curse of Silence.’

As the meaning of ‘silence’ implied, it was a Mid-Rank Black Magic spell that kept certain information secret.

What was the effect of this curse?

It was easier to understand by seeing it directly.

I deliberately shouted loudly enough for people far away to hear.

“Everyone! The truth is, while I was out on a walk, I met Aro-!”

Screeeech......!

At the same time as heat surged up my throat.

Curse of Silence, forced activation.

“Kek! Cough! Cough! Ah, shit.......”

Unable to finish speaking, I clutched my burning throat and coughed dryly.

Damn it....... This really hurts.

Would this be the kind of pain one felt after forcing oneself to swallow boiling water?

If I forcibly endured the pain and tried to speak further, my throat would go beyond being hot and burn away entirely. 

It was quite a vicious curse.

And I had placed such a vicious curse on myself.

Tsk....... Well, what else could I do? 

If I wanted to deceive someone, I had to endure this much trouble.

“You saw that, right? If I try to tell anyone other than you the truth, my throat becomes terrifyingly hot. I think that bastard Aron placed a curse on me.......”

“‘Curse of Silence’.......”

“So this is called ‘Curse of Silence’?”

Lucia, who had noticed at once that I was cursed, brought her nose to the nape of my neck and sniffed.

“It is surprising. Usually, there would at least be traces....... To think he could hide a curse this perfectly.”

Of course. 

I am the one who placed it.

“You are from the Four Great Houses too, Senior. Can you dispel this curse?”

“I have never learned much about curses either.......”

“Haa, and here I thought I might be able to remove it quickly.”

After putting distance between Lucia and myself again, I continued speaking.

“Do you believe me now? It is fortunate that I can at least tell you the truth.”

“So that is why you came to me.......”

Her tail drooped downward.

It was proof that she had been properly deceived.

“You are not under this damned curse like I am, Senior. Judging by this... even if I tell you the truth, the curse does not activate. That is why I was fine when I handed you the note.”

I rubbed the nape of my neck.

“So please tell the professors at Saengterminum on my behalf. Tell them Aron Bayonel is in Saengterminum. If you tell them about the curse placed on me, the professors will probably dispel it for me.”

“I understand the situation. But before that... there is one thing I want to ask. May I?”

“As much as you like.”

“Did Aron perhaps not tell you why I was expelled from the Four Great Houses?”

The reason she had been driven out of the Four Great Houses.

I knew, but saying the reason here would not help. 

There was no need to invite unnecessary suspicion.

I shook my head.

“No. He did not tell me the reason.”

“Haha....... Of course he did not.......”

Along with a smile mixed with relief, her voice sank low.

“If you knew why my family was expelled from the Four Great Houses, you would not have come to find me.”

“......?”

Sssssss.......

My vision grew hazy.

Before I knew it, red mist blooming from all directions had dyed the surroundings red.

I pretended to be flustered and looked around for a few seconds.

Whoosh.......

Along with the sound of a gloomy wind, figures slowly revealed themselves beyond the thick mist.

All of them had black robes pulled over themselves from head to toe.

My gaze, which had been looking over the worshipers, was fixed on Lucia once again.

...Lucia, this girl, called the nearby demon worshipers here in that short time?

She was reacting faster than I expected.

The twenty demon worshipers who had appeared before I knew it maintained a fixed distance and surrounded Lucia and me in a circle.

They were perfectly coordinated, and even their movements had no wasted motion.

Unlike the demon worshipers I had seen in the Artificial Rift, they had not been completely swallowed by madness.

“What are these people now?”

I stiffened my face and acted like a good-natured(?) student experiencing this situation for the first time.

“...Did you do this, Senior?”

“I am sorry, Damon, but I cannot let you go like this.”

Lucia looked at me indifferently, yet clearly.

“Even if it was not something you heard by choice, if you know my origin... I cannot simply send you away.”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

I deliberately frowned.

At this point, I truly began to wonder whether I had a talent for acting.

“You could not have known why my family was expelled from the Four Great Houses.”

“.......”

I knew even without her telling me.

Even so, I did not reply any further and silently listened to the words she poured out.

Though it was not exactly pleasant to hear.

“My family formed a contract with a High-Rank Demon. Without even receiving proper permission from the Dark Empire.......”

No matter if one belonged to the Four Great Houses, proceeding with a contract with a High-Rank Demon without the Dark Empire’s permission was a grave sin among grave sins.

And if that fact was revealed, those who had carried out the contract with the demon became criminals without exception.

Even in my case, the moment I was suspected of having contracted with a Top-Rank Demon, I was immediately treated as a dangerous individual. 

That said enough.

That was how sensitive the Dark Empire was about contracts with High-Rank Demons.

“If it becomes known that I am the child of a family expelled from the Four Great Houses... I will be captured and taken into the Dark Empire as a criminal.......”

“Ha! So that is why Aron made it so the curse would not work only on you? I suppose my thinking was shallow?”

The Sacred Mark engraved on the back of my right hand sparkled.

Fwooooosh.......

Having stored Holy Power in my heart in advance, I spread both hands and raised Holy Power.

“But why are you telling me that so readily? Did you want to lament your circumstances? Or are you going to kill me here?”

“...I thought it would be all right to tell you.”

Black Demonic Aura seemed to ripple from the bodies of the worshipers standing around us, and in an instant, a red magic circle was drawn on the ground where I stood.

“Because you are going to become a believer of the Demon Order too.”

Lucia swiftly extended both hands toward the magic circle, which was emitting a strange sound.

If I used Black Magic, I could have stopped the magic from activating, but I did not.

Because this was the situation I had been aiming for from the beginning.

This situation, where Lucia would ‘Forced Teleport’ me to the headquarters of the Valak Order.

Kyaaaaaaak......!

The instant her hands touched it, a scream-filled shriek rang out from the magic circle.

And in a single moment, my vision was swallowed by a cluster of light.