Red eyes were not natural to human beings. Unlike other anime and manga, Zombie Time featured no strange hair or eye colors for humans, with the exception of Magi and their silver hair.

So, a person with red eyes indicated mixed ancestry. Naga and Garuda possessed red eyes, though the latter would very rarely, if ever, breed with someone from another species. However, it wasn’t them people worried about when they saw red eyes on a person.

It was the Berserks.

Berserks always had red eyes, and they were dangerous. Extremely so. If you saw someone with red eyes, the first thing you would think was that they had mixed ancestry with a Berserk, and therefore, you shouldn’t approach them.

That’s what happened with Leith Castilla. His red eyes indicated he wasn’t completely human, something that would be enough to turn more than a few heads wherever he went. I wasn’t sure either, if he truly was descended from the Berserks or not, but given some traits of his personality, I wouldn’t discard the possibility so easily.

Not that the Berserks ever appeared in the manga. But there were tales. Horrible tales.

The demons once fought against them and lost. It took the majority of the planet’s races to unite and take them down, and yet, the Berserks did it on their own.

I gulped and took a step back.

“Now, there’s no need to be so scared” the man spoke pleasantly, still smiling. “I know what you’re thinking, and I assure you my heritage is from the Naga. There’s nothing to worry about.”

I wasn’t worried about that… just partially. What worried me more was the role he played in the manga. He wasn’t really a villain like the viscount… but he wasn’t a good guy either. How to describe him… he was more like a wild card, always eager for a fight, aiding the heroes when it was convenient for him and antagonizing them when not… he wasn’t really loyal to the King, either, only working for him due to a debt of sorts…

He was also totally my type. I had an album with pictures of him right beside the one about Naruto. I also had an album of Gilgamesh, now that I think about it. Both were blonds with red eyes, too… but taking that aside! The reason I was wary of him was because he was a complete lunatic with no sense of self-preservation. He was the one character I could never read and, though fascinating when it came to fiction, it was really inconvenient now that the manga was my reality.

And for some reason he was a little too interested in me. Why? There wasn’t anything remotely interesting about me at a simple glance… maybe he recognized Lucas? What would we do if he decided to take Lucas to the King to serve a sentence too? He was illegitimate, and had no backing from a Duke. He was going to rot in prison!

“What do you want?” I asked, wanting to know the reason behind his interest. It was always better knowing than not, no?

“How rude, but alright, I’ll tell you” he shrugged, tilting his head back and smirking. “Yesterday I slept in the room next to yours, and I heard you playing the violin before going to sleep. My question is; why do you infuse the music with magic?”

What? So that was it? That’s why he’s behaving so creepily? “I have trouble sleeping” I answered simply.

He raised an eyebrow. “Where did you learn such an advanced type of magic? It’s not easy to infuse music with it. Even for those who have an affinity for it. Was it your grandfather who taught you, too?”

Advanced magic? Lucas never said anything about magic music being an advanced type of magic. And although it was kinda difficult to keep it up the first few times, I still managed to learn it in only one week.

“Yes… my grandfather was a great musician. I’ve been practicing since I was very little” I said, thinking it better if he believed it took me a long time to learn. He hummed, pulling up his hood again when he saw people approaching. It was better if no one saw his eyes, they would panic needlessly.

Leith stayed silent after that, and I gave an internal sigh of relief, glad his questioning was finally over. He was naturally curious, so I supposed it made sense he wanted to know why someone so young knew how to play the violin and used magic, to boot.  If that was all it was, then I had nothing to worry about.

But then he talked again.

“Was it you grandfather the one that put that thing inside of you, too?”

“Huh?!”

I couldn’t help it. My mouth fell and my eyes widened in shock. How… how could he…?

“Oh my, you don’t know? That’s really sad. To have such a thing inside you and not even be aware of it…” he commented with amusement. I could see his smile even from where I stood, hidden under his hood.

“I… what…?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I can tell it’s powerful. And malevolent. Not a spirit, then. Maybe a ghoul?”

He… knew I had a demon sealed inside me. That I had something sealed inside me. Was it that obvious? Or was it a special ability granted by his mixed heritage? I couldn’t move, too surprised to even breathe…

“Elaine? What’s going on?” I heard Lucas’ voice from behind me. I blinked, feeling sensation returning to my body when his hand landed on my shoulder… hand I hoped he washed before touching me. Why did he take so long?

“You! What took you so long?!” I demanded, turning abruptly towards him, finally free of the spell the other man plunged me into. Lucas took a step back, unprepared for my sudden outburst, and I quickly chastised myself. There was no reason for me to be so aggressive. “Sorry, it’s just…”

A laugh interrupted us, and the two of us looked at the source of the sound. Leith was laughing, not obnoxiously or noisily, but with a throaty laugh, as if he was trying to keep himself in check. He shook his head, sighing when he was over, and sent us a bright smile as he stood up.

“Well, as fun as this sees, I think we should cut our conversation short… for now” he adjusted his hood that had shifted with the movement, and then huffed. “We’re about to part again, it seems.”

I was surprised when I looked around and realized that, yes; everybody else was collecting their stuff and making a line towards the carriage. I had not even noticed…

“A piece of advice, though” Leith continued, his back already to us as he slowly walked back, “be careful with that thing. It consumes magical power at an incredible speed. At that rate, it won’t be long until… well” he shrugged, chuckling. “Why don’t you try a stronger seal? It might stall it until you find a way to get rid of it.”

And off he went, leaving me behind with a confused Lucas.

Though I’m not proud of it, I tried to talk to Leith again in the next stop, that is, the inn we were going to spend the night in. He was obviously aware of something I wasn’t, though it was his last words about the demon consuming magic that really got my attention.

As far as I knew, that wasn’t in any of the journals I read, not even the viscount’s. Could that be the reason for the death of the user? Magical energy wasn’t as vital as life energy to survive, but continuous draining without a chance to recover could destabilize the od, and ultimately rupture it. No od meant no life energy, and no life energy meant…

Was there really not a way to get rid of this demon for good?

“How did you know?” I asked him after dinner. He looked at me, blinking slowly, apparently pondering my question though the slight twitch on his lips showed me he knew exactly what I was talking about. I huffed impatiently. “About the… thing… inside me.”

“Ah, so you did know?”

“How do I get rid of it?” I diverted the question, and he tilted his head, staring at me with all the patience in the world. I pursed my lips, annoyed. “You said it consumes magical power… why? How did you know?” I repeated.

“My eyes allow me to see the fluctuations in mana inside a person. Yours is almost completely covered by the energy of this thing. Here” he pointed at my stomach, right where the seal was, “it’s concentrated here. It siphons the mana around and leaves the rest of your body with almost nothing.”

I looked down, placing my hand on top of my stomach. I frowned and bit my lip, worried.

“I can tell there’s a seal. It slows down the rhythm at which the thing inside you consumes magic, but it’s also poorly constructed. Almost as if it was made in a hurry” he murmurs, pulling his hand away. “Seals typically cannot be removed or replaced, but you can place another seal on top of it to strengthen this one. As for how to get rid of it…” he tapped his lip, humming softly to himself. I waited anxiously for his response.

“Well, that thing certainly has a will of its own. The swirl of mana indicates it is alive. I suggest transferring it to someone with a greater magical capacity… or creating a new container for it.”

“A container?” I asked, my eyes wide.

Leith nodded. “Or an artificial body. Ah, but considering the nature of this thing, I would think it twice before giving it a body to use. Who knows what it would do? On the other hand, it’s too powerful for any common container… humans are far stronger than magical devices when it comes to sealing stuff, and if it’s even draining you then… an inanimate container stands no chance. It would break in seconds.”

So in the end, it’s just as I thought… the only solution is to transfer the demon to Mathias as soon as I can.

I sighed.

“Now, don’t be so sad. You’ll find a solution soon, no worries” Leith said, patting my head. I looked up to him, admittedly surprised he was being so… gentle… and a smile barely visible from under his hood received me. “That’s all I can tell about your monster, though. You’ll have to figure out the rest on your own. Now, if you excuse me” he stretched his arms above his head, yawning loudly, “I better go to bed. It’s a long way to the Duchy of Sellan, and it’s already bad enough my mission isn’t slaying a wild beast or two, but checking up on some kid. See ya” he waved happily as he disappeared upstairs, leaving me with my mouth hanging open.

What were the odds… of us going to the same place to see the same person?

A.P.R.L.

I just read the last chapter of Berserk... and now I'm depressed. Be depressed with me, yeah?