Chapter 389: Those who Don’t Speak of Misfortune

Jewel. I was sure I heard Drigman call that name to the person who continued to drip blood in front of me. I only knew one person who had that name. Or should I say exactly who was it?

A magical devilish being who served the Bastion Beast Zebrililith. Bar Agathos.

The jewels she wore around her body served as a shield to protect her. However, that shield also had a menacing force. The heat rays it emitted were so strong that looked like the flame breath of a dragon. In the past, she used that disturbing object with fondness.

She was the woman who reduced five cities to ashes and turned the lives of one large city into jewels. The very nightmare of humanity.

Could that woman be the girl in front of me now? I made a small sound in my throat. Somehow, I couldn’t find any similar traits. I naturally formed wrinkles between the eyebrows.

I could see that the girl who was supposed to be named Leu was showing obvious abnormalities. She was spitting out huge amounts of blood, and yet she was moving her mouth as if nothing had happened. She had a cheerful tone, which contradicted with her pale face and unsteady steps. In other words, she gave off an unpleasant and unnatural feel.

I could say that she was some kind of demonic being. However…

…The Jewel I saw in the past and the way she looked now were completely different.

As far as I knew, the magical devilish being named Bar Agathos should’ve had a blood-reddish hair and white eyes, which were reverse now. Moreover, she had a more feminine shape.

At the very least, she shouldn’t have looked childish like Leu. Why was that?

There was one thing I felt intuitively. However, my eyelids closed slightly as I thought of several other possibilities. Then, I chose specific words and spoke.

「…What’s the matter, Leu? I thought you were waiting for me at the meeting point. 」

I didn’t engage in her conversation, but rather pretended to be confused. I wanted her to understand that I didn’t know anything about the current situation.

Right now, I wanted at least one piece of information. Who really was that girl, what happened and what did she do? Was my intuition correct? Or was I making a big mistake?

Perhaps the magical devilish being named Bar Agathos had an original text that enabled her to transform. I wondered if that body was a temporary appearance. I had few expectations.

「…Ah. We’re acquaintances, though I don’t remember well. But this body is mine. It’s okay, she’ll be gone soon. This is her fate…to understand and give up…」

The moment I heard it. I could hear my eyes twitching and my teeth chattering on their own.

…This body is mine.

I wasn’t so ignorant to say I didn’t know what that meant. I understood that my own intuition had led me to the answer.

What should I do? I had no idea how to digest her words. It was the worst. I felt like I had drawn the worst possible scenario.

This demonic being had stolen the body of a girl named Leu.

After speaking, Bar Agathos sat down in the sewer, unsteady on her feet. Her voice was as high-spirited as ever, but I could tell that her body was already at its limit. Her pale face made her breathe profoundly. Her eyelids were heavy and shaky.

She looks defenseless. Lugis, I heard Caria whisper from my shoulders. As if her original energy had finally returned, her fingertips were slightly grasping my arms. At the same time, her silver eyes were ferociously staring at the demonic being.

Although I didn’t dislike the ephemeral atmosphere from earlier, it would be a lie if the woman I knew, the hero named Caria, were vulnerable. Otherwise, there would be no competition.

I gave a small nod to Caria and turned towards the demonic being who was sitting down and leaning against the wall. I fully understood what Caria was trying to say.

I could easily kill her now. That’s it.

If done poorly, that monster could take down even a fortress with a single touch. Humanity’s natural enemy. It was now showing its weak appearance. Probably not in perfect condition.

It was a desired opportunity. If I killed one of the fearsome enemies, that accomplishment would make up for this defeat. The treasure sword was making noises at my waist, as if it had a will.

I took a step closer with my hand on the hilt. The demonic being raised her head and stared in this direction, looking annoyed.

「…I’m going to sleep. Fix it. Can you do it? No, you have to do it. I like beautiful things. I want them to sparkle like jewels. To do that, I need to be free. It has to go away…So please fix it.」

I wondered if it felt like a dream. The demonic being said out of the blue, showing her unfocused pale eyes.

I stared at her without responding, and within a few seconds, her heavy eyelids closed. She fell asleep with a pale face while coughing up a large amount of blood, making her look like a dead person.

Jewels, beautiful things. I was sure that had something to do with the original text of this demonic being. The original text was their proof of existence, and it was what they sought as their source. As long as it didn’t decay, they wouldn’t die in the true sense of the word, even if they died physically.

However, a physical death didn’t have meaning. It would be greater if they just disappeared from this earth.

While staring at her pale sleeping face, I pulled out my treasure sword. In the dimly lit sewer, a beautiful purple light was drawn. It was as if only the treasure sword had the qualifications to shine in this place.

The demonic being in front of me didn’t seem to lift her eyelids at all. It was as if she didn’t know the act of caution.

All I had to do now was swing the treasure sword down.

「…Lugis. You’re doing the right thing. There’s nothing wrong with your action. 」

Caria whispered with a slow breath. I couldn’t think of what that meant right now.

The white-haired girl Leu. She was definitely unhappy. No matter what kind of life she had lived until now, she swallowed her greatest misfortune when her body was grabbed by a demonic being. I could say that her life was at rock bottom.

She would continue to be unhappy. Even if she were to survive, she wouldn’t be able to live a dignified life with her body ravaged by evil. She would end up causing even more misfortune.

…In that case, it would be better to cut off the source.

The moment that thought occurred.

At the same time, the past flashed through my eyelids. A past with the worst times. No dignity, no will. Days when I couldn’t even survive. That past remained strangely vivid in my eyelids.

A twisted smile appeared on my cheeks. It was self-mocking. I thought I had become great.

I arbitrarily judged the happiness or unhappiness of other people, and interpreted things in a way that suited me in order to manipulate things.

…You are a necessary sacrifice for the good of others. I know it’s unfortunate, but please give up your life.

In the end, that’s what I wanted to say while trying to find reasoning in this or that. My self-loathing made me want to strangle myself.

People who said things like that were never willing to sacrifice themselves. They tried to impose their unhappiness on others to wrap it up with pretense. Their specialty was to give a reason for something that couldn’t be helped, that it was for the good of others.

A common phrase used by cowardly people who didn’t want to cross a dangerous bridge by forcing someone else to cross it. Oh, didn’t I really hate that?

I gritted my teeth in disgust and fell to my knees. Then, I held the magical devilish being…or rather, Leu by her stomach and lifted her up with one hand. I felt a slight fever.

「I’m sorry, Caria. It seems like being right doesn’t suit me. I had a complex upbringing.」

I said those words to Caria, who didn’t say anything when I picked up the demonic being. I was sure that I would receive some harsh words.

Caria spoke with a sigh, still holding on to my back.

「During our journey together, has there ever been a time when everything went right? In fact, what I thought was right turned out to be a mistake, and what I thought was wrong turned out to be right. 」

Then, what should I believe? Caria asked with a smile on her face. Her silver hair was swaying as if she was in a good mood. She seemed to be feeling strangely good now. My life expectancy would increase if she were like this all the time.

Caria leaned against my back and spoke again. It felt like her words were crawling down my back.

「Whether it’s right or not. I believe in you. Isn’t that fine? 」

「…It’s a big responsibility, you know. It would be nice if you were a little more suspicious of my actions. 」

The word “Idiot” was thrown at my back.

Previous | Next

Oh I love Caria and Lugis relationship now. It was a bit toxic at the beginning of the story, but it now feels healthier 😉

—————–

Support us on Patreon and get access to early chapters