Chapter 46 - The Death of One, The Birth of Another

 

Hastening his arrival at Bahgwud Village only to see it being brought to ruin, alarm bells sounded in Jae’s head.

Fwoosh~!

“This...”

“Graaaaooooh...!”

“Why...?”

Unable to hear his own thoughts in the face of sudden chaos, it took seconds longer than it should have, but Jae eventually came to his senses. Gazing at the drake attacking and spewing flames every which way upon the village that had already been razed to the ground―he couldn’t just stand still like a mindless doll and watch as the deceased horse was mercilessly beaten even further.

That’s why, even if his brain lagged behind, his body moved nonetheless.

“Graaaoo--”

Thud-!

With a swift casting of razor-sharp wind magic in the shape of a crescent blade, the monster’s head soon fell, followed by the rest of its towering body. Gazing at the overgrown lizard’s carcass for a prolonged moment, certain bad feelings nagged at him from the back of his mind; letting them be for now, he turned to the next pressing issue and quenched the inferno of blazing rubble with a neat combination of wind and water magic.

Scanning the scene as he worked, Jae looked for any sign of survivors to little avail. He recalled the scream from just before, yet couldn’t find any sign of the source.

"......"

From what his mana detection was telling him, he could already make a guess as to what fate had claimed them.

This...

Wreckages of scorched and ravaged houses.

That one drake caused all this destruction...

Strewn remains of charred and half-eaten corpses.

But... I thought I took care of it...!

All around him, all he could see was death.

...It’s my fault.

A result of his own carelessness.

Perhaps he should have seen it coming after taking care of the prior family of drakes that attacked the bandits; he should have ensured no more threats were lurking in the vicinity.

If I wasn't in such a rush to leave, would it be different?

While it might not have necessarily been Jae's responsibility alone that the monsters appeared, he couldn’t deny the guilt he felt after not confirming that the situation had been completely resolved. For his lack of prudence.

He thought everything was done and dusted when the three drakes had been slain―he was careless about that, and he was careless about entering the Sloth Dungeon when he was on a clock. He still didn’t know how much time had passed in the real world from when he entered the Dungeon, but regardless of how severe the distortion of time, there was only more reason to hold himself accountable.

“Fucking shit... Damn it!”

Slam-!

Driving a clenched fist into the ground, Jae cursed without care for his level of volume. He had been refraining from spouting unnecessary profanities since the promise with Aphy, but he hadn’t enough restraint to reign it in this time.

Forcing himself to take in the state of the village, or at least what little was left of it, Jae couldn’t blame anyone except himself, nor did he want to.

But, even in a wholly negative situation like this, a silver lining prevailed.

That is, at least he could sense a few survivors.

He didn’t know if never entering the Sloth Dungeon in the first place would have bought enough time for everyone to be saved.

But at least, because he returned, he could ensure that not everyone would perish.

“Fhuu... Thank you, Gadeun...”

Sensing a powerful source of magic energy in a spot just beneath the village, Jae immediately realised what Gadeun had done, and now that he was trying not to be weighed down by the consequences of his past actions, he could spare to feel relieved.

Rena... She's still alive...

Because, more importantly than anything else, she was alive, and that was enough.

Though it might seem incredibly selfish, perhaps even crazy, to think that way when an entire village had been massacred by a rampaging monster, Jae couldn’t deny the truth of the feelings he held. The only people he knew from here were Gadeun and, if you stretched it, the two guards who stopped him, but aside from them, he had never interacted with any of the villagers. And, for Jae, it was hard to feel as much sympathy for strangers as it was for those he had established a connection with directly.

In any case, Jae rose to his feet. Unable to sense any source of magic energy other than the single, massive one, he recognised that almost every single villager had already passed. Since the attacking drake was so large, it was most likely an adult, meaning a backwater village like this stood no chance of resistance. Speaking frankly, no matter how quickly he exterminated the thing after arriving, the fact remained that he was too late.

Making his way to where the village chief’s house stood, or at least used to stand proudly, Jae walked among the rubble until he found the entrance to the basement. Clearing the way, he descended the staircase and stood in front of a black door, pushed slightly ajar. Reaching out, he pulled it open.

“...!”

“Ah...! W-Who’re you...?”

Within the room built to hide a relic, two kids jumped back in fright: One, a slightly older, hazelnut-haired boy; the other, a white-haired Demon girl.

"......"

He knew it before, but confirming her safety with his own two eyes, Jae sighed quietly once more. Turning his eyes to the evidently wary boy and putting on as reassuring a smile as he could, he introduced himself.

“You must be Bailey, right? I’m a friend of your father’s.”

All the whilst, Rena stared at the black-haired stranger with an oddly absorbed gaze.

 

---

 

“―Where is my boyfriend?”

At that single question, both Nicholas and Kaitlyn froze. They each knew that Amelia only accepted the overly-suspicious deal to come to another world because that’s where her boyfriend, Jae, had also gone, but seeing her so adamant like this, there was no way they could look her in the eyes and tell her the truth. Glancing at each other, they tried to communicate. How do we tell her...?

“Oh, that guy? He’s dead, you know?”

“......”

Fortunately(?), however, Ryan was present to break the ice.

“Gasp-! Ryan! What are you saying!? I'm sorry, Emi, this guy really doesn't know how to communicate effectively. Anyway, it's been quite a while, how are you doing?”

“Yeah, what the hell man!? Listen, Amelia? Don’t listen to this guy. We don’t know anything for sure; i-it’s just a bit complicated, is all...!”

“What? Fuck, you guys are such drama queens.”

“Gosh, stop talking! You can’t just say something like that! Even if... No, like Nick said, we have no idea what really happened.”

"Haa..."

Ryan’s words brought forth a surge of chaos for a moment, throughout all of which Amelia stayed utterly silent. Noticing this, Kaitlyn and Nicholas’ words slowly trailed off. Eventually, when everyone had ceased making a fuss, she opened her mouth.

“Ryan? Can you explain what you meant by that?”

“Hmph. Well, I was gonna say that that’s what the pigs’ reply’d be if ya asked them.”

“Can I take that to mean the truth is different?”

“Maybe? The dude got his ass killed n' now they dunno where the body went. It for sure doesn't mean he's alive."

"......"

"Ryan...!"

"Oh, shut up already. It's what happened, don't shoot the messenger. I'm only relayin' the truth."

"...Can you elaborate on the details? You told me in those bizarre messages that Jae was still alive. That wasn't a lie, was it?"

"Well, I wonder. Whaddaya think? You’re quite calm.”

“This is an important time, so I should be composed now more than ever, no? Besides... I’ve already gotten all the negative emotions out of my system a long time ago.”

“Huh... Anyways, we dunno what the truth is. We've only got some pieces of the puzzle.”

“Even if that’s the case, the fact you summoned me here should be evidence enough that you think he’s safe. You’ve already informed me through the messages that the kingdom that originally summoned you can’t be trusted and they are the ones who "killed" Jae... And, I’m certain you wouldn’t summon me here without at least some sort of proof of his well-being.”

“Oh? And what makes you think that?”

“We were in the same class last year; I know your test scores, and I know you’re not an idiot, Ryan. Even if you act like a dick, you’re smart enough to realise that I’ll just leave if you can’t convince me that you’ll find Jae.”

At her reasoning, Kaitlyn and Nicholas glanced at each other with surprised looks. Although the former was friends with Amelia back on Earth, even Kaitlyn didn’t realise she had thought this deeply into it. It was at this moment that the two began to realise the depth of Amelia’s conviction.

“Hmm... Rude. But more or less. So, what boons d’ya bring?“

“‘Boons’...?”

To Amelia’s confusion, Kaitlyn stepped up. “He means skills or titles. If you concentrate and think or say the word ‘Status’, a window will appear in front of you.”

“Is that how it works? 'Status'... Oh...! Wow. Hey, can you see all this?”

“Not unless you specifically want us to, no.”

Of course, Ryan’s Great Sage’s Eyes could intrude and peek at a target’s Status whether they gave permission or not, but as he had yet to divulge this information with even these trusted allies, he maintained his silence.

“I see. Then, I have two titles, one called ‘Divine Protection of a God’ and the other being ‘World Traveller’... I also have a Communication Skill called ‘Seronian Language Comprehension’, and a Unique Skill called... ‘Resurrect’.“

At that, everyone’s eyes widened.

“Excuse me? Sorry, Emi, did you just say...?”

“”Resurrect”...?”

Amelia nodded in response to Kaitlyn and Nicholas’ astonishment. Behind the two, who had at some point closed the distance to Amelia, Ryan’s gaze narrowed as he looked intently at her.

“......”

Somehow, he felt that her skill was something he couldn't let slip.

 

---

 

In the middle of the basement room, a pedestal stood, upon which the Great Sage’s memory-altering relic of old perched.

Jae approached the head-sized relic, a spherical object wrapped securely in an embroidered white cloth. Sensing the surrounding magic energy be slowly and constantly absorbed into the cloth, it seemed to have a property similar to that of the black substance that made both the door and the coverings of the basement’s walls, though notably different.

It still wasn’t enough to completely disguise the relic’s magic energy by itself, though. Speaking of which...

This thing... Now that I look at it again, it really is bizarre.

A bronze sphere with many intricate carvings and indentations across its surface that was split into different sections like separate land masses or plates on a globe. Within those ‘cracks’, one could peek one level deeper and perhaps notice something red and blue hidden beneath, reminding Jae of electrical wires. When he first saw the relic back then, he had the same impression―that the Great Sage had somehow brought magic and technology together to create something like a fantastical circuitry system. But, looking at it again, it remained unclear.

It’s strange...

The more he studied it, the less he understood, and conversely, the more bizarre it seemed. He couldn’t make sense of it even after having used it to alter Rena’s memory; witnessing the object light up within and whirl around like a mechanical wonder didn’t at all help him to understand the inner science, and neither would staring at it blankly like an ape.

Covering the orb with the cloth and putting it away in Sloth’s Inventory, Jae turned to the kids once again.

“How are you fee--?”

Seeing the fresh tear marks on each of their faces and the flush redness of their eyes, he paused in the middle of his sentence. Needless to say, his question was unfinished, and his words went unheard, but the answer was clear as day.

“Hic, hic-!”

Even in front of a stranger they had never met before this moment, they couldn’t help but bawl. Whether it was because they trusted Jae as Gadeun’s friend, or because they simply couldn’t hold it in, any details were irrelevant.

“Sniff...!”

Bailey, in particular, appeared distraught. After being abandoned by his parents in this village like many other children over the years, he was lucky to be taken in by Gadeun, who since looked after him.

But, now, he had no one.

Eyes shut as tightly as his clenched fists, the eleven-year-old boy screamed his entire soul into his messed-up clothes.

“......”

Wordlessly, Jae approached and placed a hand on the boy’s head. Ruffling his hair lightly seemed to alleviate only a fraction of the pain, but it was better than nothing.

On the sideline, Rena watched the interaction, still viewing Jae with a curiosity-filled gaze. Having lived in Bahgwud for over half a year at this point, she was also upset, albeit not nearly as much as Bailey. Nevertheless, Jae’s appearance seemed to spark something within her, and she couldn’t keep her eyes off him. Noticing this, Jae thought her erased memories of him might be resurfacing, but refrained from mentioning anything.

If she remembers me, that’s fine, I’ll deal with it until we reach the Demon Queen’s Castle. If she doesn’t remember me, that’s also fine. I’ll still take her home either way, so it doesn't make a difference.

Naturally, he wouldn’t go out of his way to remind her of a false truth. After all, he really wasn’t her father, and a misunderstanding like that could wind up being way more trouble than it's worth if it continues for too long.

So, I’ll just leave it.

Furthermore, he didn’t know how or when it happened, but at some point, one of her horns snapped and broke off. It didn’t seem to bother her in terms of pain or discomfort, and she appeared to want to carry it with her, which was fine, but Jae was still concerned.

I can’t believe it... What am I going to say to her mother...?

He didn’t want to get in trouble, but--

“...--died? Is there--...?”

Suddenly, Jae’s enhanced hearing picked up on something from outside.

A voice...? At this time?

His eyes narrowed. He was already suppressing his mana, so after telling the kids to stay in the basement until he returned, he activated Sneak and ascended the stairs.

“Wow, the head is completely sliced off... What monster could’ve done something like this? Or no, was it a blade...? Tsk, I was only gone for a moment...”

“......”

Peeking from behind the pile of rubble that surrounded the basement staircase, Jae spotted the figure―a humanoid male with two horns protruding from the head.

Demon...

“Hm. There don’t appear to be any survivors, but I can't just leave now...”

The young man appeared to be inspecting the carcass of the drake with a frown and glancing at the surrounding wreckage. First confirming that he wasn’t a big deal through Envy, Jae made a move.

"...Then, should I--"

“I’ll only ask once, so be smart about it.”

“!!”

Jae’s voice speaking out unexpectedly, the Demon jolted.

“What are you doing here?”

“...Who are you?”

“......”

“Answer me, human. What killed this monster? You appear to be an adventurer―Was it your doing?”

Did he underestimate Jae’s strength thanks to his mana suppression, or were his battle senses simply weak? Either way, neither responded to the other’s question, but that would soon change as the Demon quietly mustered his magic.

“Ghh-!?”

Snatching the Demon by the neck and squeezing his hand tight, Jae brought his face close.

“Are you sure you want to go down that road? Turn down your magic.”

Feeling the inside of his neck tremble on the verge of collapse, the Demon had no choice but to oblige. As he immediately ceased any preparation of magic, Jae likewise loosened his grip slightly, only maintaining enough strength to keep the Demon in place.

“So, are you going to answer me?”

“Ngh...! Fine! I... I heard loud noises coming from this village and I came to see what the deal was! When I got here, the perpetrator-- this monster was already slain...! Can you let me go now?!”

“......”

Grip-- Thud-!

“Do you think I’m an idiot or something?”

“Argh-!”

Slamming the Demon’s head into the ground with one hand, Jae pressed him down roughly and locked his arms behind his back with the other.

“You must do, right? If you thought a shitty little lie like that would work.”

“No, no! Gh...! F-Fine! What-- what do you want to know?”

“You should’ve been this cooperative from the beginning... As I asked before. Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“Guh... I-I was--”

“Remember. Be smart about this. If you try to lie, I’ll just end it here.”

“Alright! Alright... I get it.”

Shouting, the Demon finally seemed to give up. Following a brief pause, he revealed the answer to every one of Jae’s questions. Rather quickly, it was discovered that this young Demon had travelled all the way from the Demonic Royal Capital of Onyxia to this backwater Seronian village for a single purpose.

“―You say the Second Princess of Asphal had been kidnapped? And you’ve received word of a person with matching characteristics being spotted in this village?”

“Yes...! So please, release me! I was on a crucial mission designated directly by Her Highness in order to rescue the missing princess until this...! Now that this incident has happened, I have to return and report the unfortunate news!”

“......”

Ordinarily, the Demon’s seemingly believable claims and desperation might have been convincing, as all the information he provided coincided with what Jae knew.

However, there was one thing that threw him off.

“Really? Then...”

Moving his face closer, Jae’s chilling breath descended onto the Demon’s nape. Lowering his tone, a cold whisper sounded right by his ear.

“Why does it say you’re ‘satisfied’?”

In that instant, the Demon’s heart skipped a beat as bumps rose all across the surface of his skin.

Aside from the multitude of other holes in the Demon's claim, such as why the queen would only send a single, weak man like this to rescue her precious kidnapped daughter, Jae only needed one piece of evidence to be convinced.

“...Huh?”

“You think Rena’s dead. Why are you satisfied?”

“You-- you know her name!? Wh-who are you--”

Slam-!

“I’m not going to ask a third time.”

“!!”

Suddenly, as if gravity had increased twofold, the Demon felt an immense wave of pressure begin to weigh down on him from above.

“Ghh-! Gaahh...!!”

“Hey, quiet it down a bit. I don’t want either of the kids to come out and see this.”

“Mmph-!!”

Materialising a single piece of rock to shove in the Demon’s mouth as a gag, Jae waited until his resistance died down.

“......”

“That’s better. Now, answer me; what really was your goal here?”

Removing the stone, he raised the Demon’s head for an answer. Looking into his crazed eyes from the side, however, he seemed to have discarded all pretences previously held.

“...The princess...”

Hearing the start of the sentence was already beginning to give Jae a headache.

“Haa, ”the princess” what? If you’re about to start spouting that same nonsense of wanting Rena to be rescued, save it.”

“No...”

Fortunately, the Demon shook his head, albeit weakly due to a lack of strength. Jae wanted to squeeze as much information out of him as he could, despite the trouble, and thus let him talk.

“Then?”

“Humans like you... We’ll never be equal... Foul scum...”

All sense of a facade had disappeared rather quickly, and what was left was now only the rambling cursings of bitterness.

“Hahhh, I just don’t get it. What does humans being scum have to do with you liking the thought of your own kind's princess being dead? We’ve wasted a lot of time here for no reason. Just be straightforward with me, will you?”

“I swear... The minister won’t allow it... Hah, he won’t stop... Even using the princess as a sacrifice...”

Hm...?

Now, finally, they were getting somewhere.

“‘Minister’? You’re lacking details. Give me a name. And what do you mean, ‘sacrifice’?”

However, the place they were going was unsettling.

“Punishment for impurity... And you know what...? The foolish queen... The queen will be next... For tainting the royal Demonic bloodline... And trying to make peace... With pigs...!”

Hearing the Demon’s words, he abruptly dropped his head to the floor as if to say he was done. Now refusing to budge, Jae contemplated on this newfound information he had acquired.

‘Punishment for impurity’, ‘tainted bloodline’, ‘peace with pigs’... It’s got to be some kind of Demon supremacist group, right? Judging by what he said, it sounds like they’re trying to start a revolt, or at the very least get the queen's head... Like I thought last time, it really is an inside job. ‘The minister’, huh...

Finally, Jae felt like he had received all the information he was going to get that could be regarded as useful. With no value remaining in keeping him alive, there was only one thing left to do. Releasing his stranglehold on the Demon, Jae lightly waved his hand before the former had a chance to move.

Demons, like humans, gave experience when killed. At this point, Jae expected it, but the thought crossed his mind that maybe it had something to do with the peculiarity of his Race being classified as Undead rather than an inherent dark side of the System. Regardless, it didn’t matter. Discarding even the slightest hint of curiosity about using Gluttony in this situation, Jae burned the corpse with both Wrath and fire magic, just to ensure that everything would disappear, before turning around and returning to the basement.

“Um... Are you okay...?”

As Jae descended the stairs, Rena approached with short steps and asked, perhaps sensing the darkness and deep thought hidden within his blank expression.

“Hm? Oh, of course. Come on, I should be the one asking you guys that question.“

Her english-- err, her Seronian has improved a lot...

“Tell me. How are you two feeling?”

Crouching down to their height level, he placed a hand on each of their heads and asked. Glancing over to Bailey, Jae then put on a smile.

“You seem to be feeling a bit better now, hm?”

“Mmh... Dad said it’s okay to cry twice.”

“Twice?”

The boy nodded and held up three fingers one by one.

“Once to realise that something big happened, and again to process it. He also said that sometimes it takes a third cry, but the second one is sometimes enough to flush out the bad stuff... I flushed it all out, so I’m feeling better now...”

Wow... That sounds wise, huh? Although, it’s Gadeun we’re talking about, and he seemed pretty wise even when I talked to him just once. Anyway, it’s pretty impressive emotional regulation for a kid, but does it normally work that fast...?

In all likelihood, Jae thought it would take more than just a couple more cries for Bailey to truly be “okay”, but that would probably come later on, perhaps after reality hits for the third or fifth time.

“Alright, you two. Actually, I came here to take Rena to see her mother.”

“Mama...?”

“That’s right. You know, your older brother Jiyeru entrusted me with this, so I couldn't refuse. But, seeing how things have developed... Bailey. Do you want to travel with us?”

Jae asked as if proposing an offer, but the reality was that the boy had no choice. He was only eleven, and though he often pretended as much while playing with his friends, he was not anything close to a knight. Naturally, he also didn’t know any magic. There was no way a kid like him could survive on his lonesome in the middle of Plaentic, with little knowledge of the surrounding forest and lacking survival skills.

That's why, even if he didn’t want to leave the destroyed village for whatever reason, Jae would find some way to convince the boy to join them and survive. For Gadeun's sake.

Still, giving him the option to refuse, even if it was only a pretence, helped put less of a burden on Jae’s mind.

“Mister, are you an adventurer...?”

“No. But I might as well be.”

“Then, um... Can you make me strong?”

At that question, Jae smiled.

“Do you not want to let something like this happen again?”

Bailey gazed at Jae in wonder. Astonishingly, it was as if he had read his mind, and the boy quickly nodded his head. Jae looked him in the eyes.

“I can. But for you to achieve it, you need to work hard. Real hard.”

“! I will...! I’m going to work hard and protect people!”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise!”

Claiming such, Bailey unreservedly stuck out his pinky. Seeing an action for the first time in years, Jae almost laughed.

Haha... I didn’t expect that. So, they even have things like this here, huh...

He reciprocated, and thus the promise was sealed.

“Ah! Me too! Fingy promise...!”

Out of nowhere, Rena also threw her hand forth and tried to make a promise too, although the contents as to what it was for remained unclear... If she even was trying to make a promise in the first place, that is.

In any case, his gaze alternating between the two kids, whose moods seemed to have drastically improved since he first saw them, Jae straightened his back.

“Now then...”

Finally, it was time to fulfil his responsibility.

“We’ve got a long ways to go, so shall we get a move on?”

““Yeah...!!””

By taking the Demon Princess home.