"Demon King, Tell Them My Dying Wish" V7 Chapter 1 - Activated Once More
The night sky was beautiful, at least, but that didn't really help much.
He stared at the burning flames. The three of them were sat around the roaring bonfire. A piece of dried meat was roasting on a skewer in the flames.
"... So—"
Orphen muttered to himself.
"... What're we gonna do?"
He was a young man of about 20 years old — his eyes slanted slightly upwards and, to put it bluntly, had a dark look in them. Now, though, he had a rather haggard look in his eyes. He was the only one of the three with dark hair and eyes, and had a very average, non-aristocratic appearance. He was wearing all black, and on his chest hung the emblem of a one-legged dragon entwined with a sword — the emblem of the Tower of Fang, the pinnacle of continental black magic.
His musings were answered by the boy on his right, who was holding his knees.
"No matter what we say... the truth remains the same, doesn't it?"
He was a fair blond-haired, green-eyed boy — probably around fourteen or fifteen years old. He was also dressed in black, but without the pendant. Though, the black shirt and cape he wore didn't match him in the slightest.
The last person to wrap things up was the girl further to the right — that is, across the fire from Orphen. She was around seventeen years old with long hair. A jet-black puppy was sitting on the lap of her tattered jeans as she stared blankly into the fire like the other two.
"The question is, who's going to get this piece... Leki never eats anything, so he's good, but sometimes I wonder if he's photosynthesizing."
She patted the puppy's head as he sat on her lap.
The puppy looked at her — with its bright green eyes — and rubbed his head against the palm of her hand.
"Why can't we just... divide it into three portions?"
Asked the blond boy. Glancing up at him, Orphen spoke in a low tone.
"Majic..."
He uttered the boy's name. Then he proceeded to answer Majic.
"Either all three of us gets a single bite and starve to death, or one of us gathers their strength and goes to the nearest village to call for help."
"And the nearest village is...?"
"Twenty kilometers away."
Orphen mumbled vacantly, then lifted his gaze.
They were sitting around a fire in a grassy area just off the side of the road. The vast sea of trees that covered 20% of the continent — Fenrir Forest — was no longer visible, and the further north they went, the more the terrain would gradually transition from lush forest to wastelands. This place was right in the middle.
At the end of the road, roughly 20 kilometers — or 23, to be exact — there was a human settlement.
Orphen casually added on as he looked in that direction.
"By the way, I'm probably the strongest one, right—"
"No, no, no."
Majic quickly continued without taking his eyes off the meat.
"You should get some rest and put your faith in me, the youngest one."
"Girls... should be taken care of, right?"
The girl's mumbling tone was sharp in spite of her quiet voice. Orphen listened intently to the mumblings, locked eyes with Majic for a moment, then they both nodded affirmatively to each other.
"Rejected."
Both men announced immediately.
"Why?!"
Orphen looked up at her with a sideways glance as she stood up and started shouting.
"Because to put it simple, this is all your fault."
"No it's not—"
She'd stood up, holding and shaking her head. The puppy — Leki — fell to the ground from the sudden shift. He sat up beside the bonfire, staring blankly into it.
The girl clenched her fist and began her lecture.
"Saying I'm responsible infers that I was negligent! We should acknowledge this as force majeure!"
"Oh really..."
Orphen nodded quietly.
"You're claiming that it was an irresistable force that compelled you to use all of the food we had to cook up some inedible dish, Cleao?"
She — Cleao — jumped in closer. She pointed a finger at him and continued.
"Even you ate at least two bites, Orphen! That means you could've eaten the whole thing!"
"Of course you'd try it when you haven't eaten in half a day, you idiot, even if dumping it on the ground wilted all the grass in this field!"
Before he knew it, Orphen had jumped up to confront Cleao. Their fingertips were so close they were slightly touching each other. The night breeze blew past with a sorrowful sound.
"Those two still seem to be doing well."
Majic muttered.
"In that case, I'll just—"
Shunk!
"............"
As Majic reached for the dried meat, a knife flew past his fingertips — and lodged itself into the ground. Pale, Majic looked up.
Orphen, still in a knife-throwing pose, spoke very calmly.
"You thinking about dying?"
"No... It's just a piece of dried meat..."
"It depends on the time and situation."
This time Cleao spoke, but in just a moment, she'd moved to the other side of where Majic was sitting. She held a huge rock in her arms. Her gaze was completely fixed on Majic.
Majic quickly retreated, as if scared.
Cleao, seeing this, didn't make a fuss, but continued in a calm manner.
"Suppose our wagon was destroyed, and we had to walk all the way here from Taphrem. If, say, we chose to stay in a shady inn, and got robbed of our money, we'd be forced to work ourselves to death to pay for the inn bill. I'd then, perhaps, cook with our leftover food. And then, even though I shared some, say nobody would eat it. With all of these things adding up, I think maybe it's about time that somebody died..."
"If one of us dies, it'll be one less mouth to feed..."
Orphen said as he slowly picked up the knife stuck in the ground. He turned to his apprentice, rubbing the back of the blade against his cheek.
"Aaaaahhh!"
Majic backed up, crawling away, whimpering. Or maybe even crying. The boy ranted in desperation.
"I get it! I get the hint! — I don't mind, so please, Master, Cleao, split it up amongst yourselves!"
Majic exclaimed, and turned his back to them completely, as if sulking. With the light of the fire at his back, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, mumbling and muttering in a venomous tone. Orphen looked at him for a moment, then slid his knife back into the sheath sewn into his jacket.
Then he turned to face Cleao. She, too, had just dropped her rock with a thud.
"Now..."
Orphen said to Cleao as he took another stance.
"Majic's heroic sacrifice has brought this war to a climax..."
She looked back at him and braced herself.
"Now it's just a matter of which one of us will die..."
Orphen rubbed the ground with the back of his boot. He lowered his hips and aimed his fist at Cleao, who was preparing her sword.
"The time has finally come..."
Orphen quietly said to himself as he prepared. With a faraway look, he saw an illusion superimposed over Cleao as she stood before him.
"I can't die here... Not with the survival of my descendants at stake."
"Master..."
Majic blurted out, looking over his shoulder at him.
"Please don't get so worked up over a piece of dried meat."
Orphen shouted, ignoring him.
"Okay, let's settle this, Cleao!"
"Come on!"
Cleao shouted back, and at that moment—
"Gyyaaaaaaaaah!"
In shortn, it was just an average night...
Yet, from somewhere out in the distance, a loud scream echoed through the night sky.
— Then disappeared into the endless, starry sky.
The game had been won in an instant. The fighter struck down was Cleao, who'd been distracted by the scream, fair and square. With her lying face down on the ground, Orphen proudly picked up the skewer with the dried meat on it.
"Even though this victory feels empty..."
"Orpphheeeen!?"
Cleao jumped up with a thud. She had a bruised nose, probably from falling on her face.
He was about to throw the slightly charred dried meat into his mouth when — a moment later — she clutched at his arm. She ranted and raved at the same time.
"No! That's not fair! That match is invalid!"
"W-what!? Just because you lost doesn't mean you can act like this."
"Master! Cleao!"
Then—
Orphen turned his head to look at Majic. He was stiff, looking like he was about to run.
Orphen, standing tall and holding the dried meat up high so that Cleao couldn't take it away from him, asked.
"... Going somewhere? Majic."
"Aren't you going somewhere!?"
Majic shouted back, looking like he'd been cornered somehow.
"Didn't you hear that? That scream just now!"
"I heard it."
"And I got hit because I was listening."
Cleao continued without hesitation. She saw Majic's hands flailing in the air.
"If you were listening, shouldn't you understand!? That was a scream just now!"
"Hmm..."
Indeed, it was — a scream, that is. It wasn't far off, judging by the volume and timing of the echo. And, incidentally, it sounded quite urgent.
Orphen thought for a moment, then his face lit up.
"I see! So, you've developed some perverted tendencies to go running any time you hear someone scream! Things like that happen when you live a stressful life!"
"You did it, Majic! You're finally an adult!"
Cleao immediately cheered, but Majic wasn't pleased.
"That's not iiiiiiit!"
He screamed while stamping his feet.
"That's not what I meant! Normally, in a situation like this, you'd go and help, right!?"
Majic looked like he'd reached the end of his patience, and even looked like he was starting to cry. In the deserted night, the boy's voice rang so loud that it would've reached the first person who'd screamed. Only god knew if they would've thought anything of it — even if there were no gods on this continent.
Anyway, as he watched Majic, Orphen ruffled his hair with one hand — the other was still protecting the dried meat from Cleao, who was jumping up and down. With a sigh, Orphen mumbled.
"... I know, I know. I was just teasing you."
"Just teasing me..."
Majic groaned, growing tired of their nonsense. The boy continued.
"Anyway, it's an emergency. I don't know what's going on, but we have to go help."
"Majic..."
Orphen sighed again.
He pushed aside the persistently jumping Cleao, and looked up into the faraway distance at the vast starry sky.
With his free hand he pointed to a cluster of stars near the horizon.
"In the direction of those stars lies the city of Totokanta."
"... Yeah?"
Majic nodded dutifully, even as he stomped his feet in a sort of running motion. Orphen nodded to confirm it.
"Its already been three months since we left Totokanta City..."
"Has it been that long?"
"Yeah. A lot of things have happened since then..."
He continued while counting on his fingers.
"First, I was beaten up repeatedly by that laughing doll in Alenhatam. Then in Kinkhall Village, I was attacked by ghosts and lizards. When we ended up in Fenrir Forest, I was attacked by an assassin of the Kimrak Church and Deep Dragons alike. When that was over, some idiot got us arrested for burning down a protected forest, and I thought I'd finally get to take a break in Taphrem, but was hospitalized as soon as I arrived, and after that, was constantly attacked by assassins. After all of that, not only did I not get a penny for my trouble, but I still haven't collected my debts from those lucky tanukis."
When Orphen blurted all of that out, Majic nodded his head in agreement, although he still had a doutful look.
"... So, what about it?"
"As such! While its only been three months, I'd like to get away from the kind of life where it's normal to just say 'So what'!"
Orphen screamed while clutching the skewer of dried meat.
"I don't understand why this kind of trouble is becoming a daily occurrence! I like peace! I'll never get myself into trouble again!"
He shouted in one breath, then finally calmed down and breathed in — then suddenly looked at the dried meat.
But the skewer was snapped off at the middle, and the meat was missing.
He turned to the side, and before he knew it, Cleao was holding the broken end of the skewer and making a V-sign. The meat wasn't on it anymore — she was already nibbling at it.
"Why yooouuuuu!"
Orphen screamed and tried to jump at her. Majic grabbed his belt from behind and stopped him.
"Hang on, Master! Please calm down!"
"Why would I calm down!?"
"What's the use of crying and screaming?"
"I'll bury her in the ground from the neck down and let the chickens peck out her eyes! Don't stop me!"
"I have to stop you! Anyway, please calm down! Even Cleao wouldn't seriously keep it all to herself!"
Orphen managed to hold his ground (that is, he was dragging Majic along with him) and looked at Cleao with an expression that barely suppressed his emotions.
She was about three meters away. She was no longer holding the meat in her mouth, but in her hand. Before he knew it, she was looking back at him with Leki at her feet. She laughed mockingly, let out a small sigh, shrugged her shoulders, and — just like that — slowly began to chew on the dried meat.
"I'm going to kill that woman, then I'm going to eat heeerrrr! Don't try to stop meeeeee!"
"I told you to stop!"
He started to slide forward again, screaming, when—
Just then, a scream echoed. Again.
"Gyaaaaahhh!"
"............"
Orphen stopped again and turned to look up at the night sky — well, of course, it wasn't like the screamer was going to fly off into the night. Still, after waiting a moment, Orphen blurted out.
"That was surprisingly close..."
"Yeah, it was."
Majic, still holding onto his belt, answered. Cleao also looked surprised, and was looking around to see if she could see a figure standing in the dark or anything like that. Even so, she was still chewing the meat.
Orphen, on the other hand, put his hand to his chin and nodded with a serious look on his face.
"... That's right."
He frowned thoughtfully. Waves of thought swirled around in his head. Then, in the center of that vortex, an answer emerged.
"Okay! Let's go!"
Orphen shouted to the two of them. They both looked puzzled.
"Why now?"
"You didn't want to go earlier, right?"
Orphen raised his hand to silence Cleao and Majic from asking, with a smirk on his face. He waved his finger at them and continued.
"So, just think about it for a second. It's simple — that was a scream. A scream equals trouble. Something attacked them. I don't know what it was, but it couldn't have been anything too bad. Wild dogs or something? And we'll probably get there when it's already over and—"
"And put the guy injured from this so-called-fight in the ground?"
Orphen stammered for a moment when Cleao interjected, dead serious, but...
"What? No, I mean, we'll look like we came to save him, but we just couldn't get to him in time. Maybe he'll give us something or another as thanks."
"... Either way, isn't that just plain mean? It's a little..."
Orphen almost stammered again when Majic spoke up, staring back at him with blank eyes, but unlike last time, a cold sweat broke out on his cheek.
However, Orphen resolutely ignored his concerns, and lowered the hand that'd been resting on his chin. He patted Majic on the shoulder, and with his other hand pointed again, straight at the starry sky.
The full brilliance of the sky seemed to be looking back down at them.
"Majic. Look at this wilderness."
"Huh..."
Majic replied with a wandering look, and Orphen slowly continued.
"When you understand the greatness of nature, you'll understand this too..."
"Even comparing the smallness of your ideas to the scale of nature is no excuse."
Majic answered with surprising ease while maintaining his cold gaze.
He felt his cheek twitching.
Turning away as if to hide it, Orphen reiterated, pretending that nothing had happened.
"Look at the depth of the color in the sky. The depth of the world can sometimes betray what appears to be truth."
"I don't know. That's not really the point."
Cleao piped up. When he looked over, he saw that the girl was placing Leki on her head and quickly putting away her few baggage items.
"If we don't hurry, we won't make it in time."
"Ahh! That's right!"
Orphen let go of Majic's shoulder and grabbed his own luggage. It was a worn leather duffel bag. He stuffed the portable blanket he'd taken out of it back in and shouted.
"Speed is the name of the game! I'll be happier once I get the rewards! Hey, you better take care of that bonfire, or the forest rangers will get pissed off again!"
"... Maybe I should have stayed in the Tower..."
Majic murmured behind him in a slightly regretful tone, but Orphen completely ignored him and counted up all the rewards he hadn't even seen yet.
Just as he'd thought since he'd first heard the screams, they hadn't come from very far away — two or three hundred meters at most. Although the visibility wasn't great due to the forest surrounding them, they could still roughly pinpoint which direction the voice had come from. It was such a clear, typical scream. Though, most screams were like that.
"Even still..."
Orphen asked himself as he ran.
"Who could've been attacked just eight miles away?"
it was only in recent years that the number of travelers had increased dramatically.
This was due to the development of roads being completed, and complete maps of the continent being available at relatively low prices, as well as the beginning of cooperation between the forest rangers and the city police, which guaranteed security outside of the cities, at least compared to a decade ago — or so they said.
The development of the city's roads was a major reason in particular, as was the increase in the number of lodging facilities along them. These days, it wasn't as common as in the past to be asked to pay exorbitant prices at shabby inns — even when the inns themselves were often hideouts for bandits. Unless you were in dire need of money, camping out was no longer necessary.
Conversely, bandits didn't attack people who couldn't even afford to pay for lodgings.
"That aside... those who go through the trouble of camping probably can't afford to pay much in the way of grattitude."
"Like us."
Cleao bluntly added, but he ignored it. Incidentally, she was carrying only a knapsack made of pitch-black synthetic leather. It was a bag without a shred of color or elegance, but it'd been given to her by Leticia, who had helped take care of them in Taphrem, and she'd used it for outdoor training during the old days.
"If there's no reward, isn't it pointless for us to run the whole way when we're just going to end up exhausting ourselves?"
Majic spoke up. He was following a little behind them, and still listening to the conversation.
Orphen turned around and answered.
"If they don't have cash, we can accept other forms of thanks. Especially food."
"You're quite arrogant for an extortionist."
The boy blurted out, narrowing his eyes, and Orphen frowned a little.
"... You're being pretty cheeky all of sudden."
"So are you!"
He shouted back at him.
"Master, in Taphrem that senior sorcerer from the Tower of Fang spoke so highly of you, so I thought you must be this amazing person, in spite of your appearance."
Orphen cheerfully laughed at Majic's grumbling.
"Haha — You're an idiot, Majic. What happened in the past doesn't change who I am in my present life."
"Isn't that actually... a really sad line, though?"
Majic muttered as he ran along carrying the heavy pack in his arms. Plenty of things came to mind, but he decided to ignore them for now.
Of the three of them, Majic was carrying the most luggage — or, to be blunt, it was more like he was at the center of a whirlwind of luggage. Needless to say, most of it belonged to Cleao, but it wasn't just clothes and other necessities, as you'd expect.
The most conspicuous item in her luggage was a sword hilt protruding from the topmost bag. It'd been lost two weeks ago for some reason or another, and apparently, afterwards, Leticia had helped her get it back — though Orphen bluntly declared how much of a nuisance that was. She'd been so happy to get it back that she'd even hugged Leticia for it. The rest of the items were also recovered from the wreckage of the wagon.
Regardless, as they were running along—
The road opened up.
They looked in the direction that the screams had come from, as they'd been running through a wooded area a little ways off the road, but the trees were getting more sparse. Beneath the moon, the world was enveloped in a pallid blue-white darkness. Within which, they saw the silhouette of a huge building.
"... Was there a building like that on the map?"
Orphen sped up his pace while grumbling.
The maps circulating on the continent were mostly published by the Sorcerers Alliance, not because the sorcerers had superior surveying skills, but because the alliance was the only organization that worked on a continental scale. The only other organization that had such a grand scale was the police dispatch working under the Aristocratic Federation, but there was no way they would've issued maps for travelers.
However, due to the spread of the Sorcerers Alliance, most of the continental maps were extremely crude when it came to the north and south. Both of these regions were places where the Alliance's organizational strength either didn't reach or that they had little interest in, but even so—
Orphen narrowed his gaze. The shadow of the building that he saw in the distance looked like a small temple. There was no way they could overlook such a huge structure — and besides, this area wasn't yet under the influence of the Kimrak Church, where sorcerers weren't exactly welcome.
"Orphen..."
Cleao said from behind him.
"It looks like there's some kind of... brawl going on?"
"Yeah."
He'd noticed it, too. Even at night, he could see a large group of people fighting near the building. Exactly how many, he wasn't sure.
Then—
"Gyyaaaaahhhh!"
Three screams rang out. It wasn't from the building where they were fighting, it was from the brush right next to them, which they were just passing.
"What!?"
Orphen stopped with a startled shout. He turned towards the brush. Suddenly a figure came leaping out of it.
"Kyaaah!"
Cleao screamed. The figure was, to put it simple, soaked in blood. He was covered from head to toe in wounds, his leather armor was in tatters, and the sword in his hand was broken.
The man rolled out of the bush, staggered towards them — then collapsed on the spot. No, he'd passed out. He wasn't moving at all.
And also...
Instructed more by his gut than his instincts, Orphen immediately took a stance. He dropped his hips slightly and brought his left shoulder forward. He clenched his right fist and started thinking about what magical composition to knit.
At the same time, a black shadow popped out from within the darkness!
It leapt toward them with such incredible speed, with such intimidating energy that it couldn't possibly be compared to the wounded man. It wasn't too large, though. The black shadow was about a meter in size. Focusing on the center of the shadow, Orphen shouted.
"I release, the Sword of Light!"
An immense white light shot out from the tip of his outstretched right hand. The charged photothermal wave pierced the shadow in a straight line, exploding and setting the target ablaze in an instant. Admidst the roar of the explosion, Orphen stepped back and looked at the shadow, which had lost its strength and fallen to the ground.
It was charred and motionless, shaped like a dog. However, it wasn't a wild dog. That much was clear.
"Master..."
Majic quietly interjected. His tone of voice didn't sound the least bit nervous.
"That's a strange dog, isn't it?"
"... Yeah, it is. It has bat wings on its back, after all."
"Why are you so calm!?"
Cleao shouted at him while flailing her arms around in confusion, even though she was wearing the more dog-like creature on her head.
"There's no way that's a dog! What the hell is it!?"
"Why are you asking me..."
Orphen scratched at his cheek with his finger and turned away from the dead (not) dog, looking back toward the building — and the people brawling nearby.
"If we ask them, they'll know, right?"
Hearing this, Cleao's shoulders slumped a little, and she mumbled.
"... I guess so... But why are you so calm?"
She asked Majic. The boy looked at her in confusion.
"No, it's just, Master is calm, so I don't think there's any need to panic yet."
"Isn't this a problem?"
Cleao narrowed her eyes. Orphen quietly folded his arms and watched.
"... No, well, not if it's a monster of this caliber."
He mumbled, and Cleao looked back at him dubiously, as if she didn't understand what he meant.
Orphen folded his arms.
"True fear and confusion don't come from something randomly popping up out of nowhere."
"......?"
"It's caused by seemingly normal people on the surface who are actually unbelievably selfish and unruly."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
Cleao exclaimed, and he didn't even bother to explain. Orphen let out a sigh of resignation and started walking toward the building again. A spire-like structure protruded from the roof of the building, seemingly raising its fist toward the moon.
"The plan to get some rewards for saving those guys hasn't disappeared yet. Let's take it slow so that we can get there when there are already as few enemies as possible."
"You're such a cheapskate!"
In spite of the protest, she was still following behind him. So, she was taking it slow as well.
"... But in the end, we're getting involved again."
Majic mumbled. Orphen turned to him and answered with a somber expression.
"... Maybe I was a fool for thinking that I could lead a peaceful life with this group."
— Maybe such dismissal was the sad reality of those who'd become so accustomed to trouble.
A not-so-tall spire protruded from the roof of the building — unexpectedly bright as it received most of the moonlight on the roof. It wasn't a tower with any particular function, it had just been added in accordance with the building's design.
The tower was, of course, old and leaning. Its columns and walls were illuminated by moonlight.
At the top of it, the window was open, but there was something stirring within, shining in the moon's silver glow, though no one would notice it.
A small — pale finger gripped the old window frame, which was covered in scratches.
The rest of the hand was tucked away in the room, not exposed to the moonlight. The figure stirred excitedly in the darkness.
... It moved without making a sound.
It wasn't afraid — or perhaps it was. In the midst of the commotion, it had been awoken.
And then, as it had long been commanded, it sprang into action.
Table of Contents
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| (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) |
Activated Once More A Silence More Like Singing Then Everything Started To Swirl Leaping Into The Light Its Bound To Be Somewhere His Angel And Demon |
- Notes
- Force majeure is a french term that means "greater force." Comparable to our "Act of God", or in other words, an event that was outside of anyone's control.