/
As we got closer to the adventurer’s guild, which was located close to the city gate, the number of people in the streets increased. The number of eyes staring at us also increased proportionately, however most of them seemed baffled, perhaps because I was holding the prince’s hand. The fact that a path opened in front of us was probably because of Luca, right?
We got to the guild and though it wasn’t early in the morning, it was still morning nonetheless, and there were a fair amount of people inside. These people looked our way the second we walked in because neither Luca nor I were suppressing our presence.
The more skilled a person was, the better grasp they had of another’s mana and strength. Both Luca and I had a vast amount of mana and a lot of power. That was why they were checking us out. They were wondering who the hell just walked in.
The result was that after an initial moment of shock, people hissed or let out little shrieks and their bodies froze in fear.
“… should we have suppressed it a bit?”
“Maybe. I feel bad for disturbing the staff in the middle of their work. Zagan and the rest, wait for me in that empty corner, ok?”
As soon as Luca left, I could feel a number of murderous gaze directed at me. As expected of adventurers, they weren’t intimidated by seeing black hair for the first time. But if they didn’t toughen up, they wouldn’t be able to win against me, you know. However, those that were actually any good were keeping their distance while glancing my way from time to time.
By the way, Camilla had taken a large staff out of her bag for some reason and was tapping it against her palm. Miranda as well took out her halberd and let the heavy weapon hit the ground with a thud. What was up with them?
I looked at them and Miranda grinned at me when our eyes met.
“No, this? I just thought I’d let any rude people know that they’re messing with the wrong person here. If I hit them I can just go – ‘sooorry, I fired by accident, teehee ☆1’“
“If anyone has any complaints, isn’t it faster to just send them flying? Ah, I kind of want to take a swing now.”
What’s with this hot-blooded reaction? You’re making people avoid you. Confusion doesn’t even cover their reaction anymore. No, but, this much might be ok if we’re talking about adventurers.
“I’ll also protect Zagan-dono!”
“Wait Noel, don’t pull out your sword. You’re a knight, no?”
I grabbed Noel’s arm to stop her and she looked up at me, her cheeks puffed out.
“Why are you stopping me Zagan-dono? Anyway, I’m still an apprentice knight. After graduating from the academy, you have to spend two years as an apprentice, training under a knight senpai. After those two years, you have to take an exam, the result of which determines whether you can be a knight or not. So I’m not a knight yet.”
“You should avoid starting fights with citizens if you don’t want to sully the name of your knight senpai, Luca.”
“…. Yes sir.” She answered but seemed unsatisfied.
Ah, I see.
“It makes me happy that you wanted to protect me. Thanks Noel.”
“Y-yes!”
When I thanked her, a smile bloomed on Noel’s face. It seemed my assumption was correct.
Noel with her straight posture looked at me full of smiles. Seeing such a sight, Nina, Bennet and Cindy couldn’t help but grin.
It was as this was going on that Luca returned, a small parcel in his hands.
“I borrowed the conference room so let’s go up everyone.”
It’s good that you want to encourage other people but you don’t have to kiss me on the head every single time. Also, why are we holding hands when we’re only going such a short distance?
A staff member waiting next to the service desk guided us up to the second floor and opened the door to the conference room. The key was then given to Cindy for safekeeping and she locked the door the minute the staff member left. We all took a seat and waited for Luca to open the parcel.
Inside were two letters and a leather pouch that was probably a magic bag item.
“This letter is from sensei to Noel. Here, for you.”
“Thank you.”
Luca and Noel each broke the seal on their respective letters and began to read them.
I kept quiet so as not to disturb them, but I could feel Luca next to me getting confused. A crease formed between his brows. Just what was in that letter?
Noel finished her letter first and it looked like there was something she wanted to tell me, but she kept her mouth shut since Luca still hadn’t finished reading.
A good while later, Luca finally reached the end of the letter. He had a very confused expression on his face as he looked our way.
“Um, there’s a lot of information here. I don’t know where to start. Mn… maybe from where this information came from in the first place? I think it’s important to prove that the things written in this letter are correct. However, I can’t really judge if this is the truth or not. The letter states that there’s a demon close by who knows more details about the gods.”
“A demon…? Eh?? A demon close by?”
Nina looked around the room flabbergasted, making direct eye contact with Miranda then shook her head to deny it. That was well, you know?
Anyway, a demon, huh? I’d never thought such a being could become a source of information. Thinking about it though, it made sense.
“The goddess Terre took on the form of a human, and erased her purifying essence on top of that. Which means it wouldn’t be strange for a demon to do the same and slip into our midst. I also told you before, that monsters are born from demonic essence, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will harm humans. There’s no denying that the monsters in Soleil kingdom are violent, but… if this is a demon that had existed before Soleil fell into slumber, then there’s a good chance that they are amicable towards humans.”
“Hmm, I see. Magical creatures don’t have a set lifespan. Furthermore demons are SS rank and can’t be defeated by regular humans. And if the demon took on the form of a human it makes sense that they could have remained hidden in Soleil kingdom for thousands of years.” (Camilla)
“How unexpected. I always thought that information about thousands of years ago could only be found in literature.” (Cindy)
It couldn’t be helped – we humans had limited lifespans. On top of that, I never saw a demon that had lived for several thousands of years. No, maybe I did and just didn’t know it.
If they took on the form of a human, hid their demonic essence and erased their presence, no one would notice them. Also, at some point in this country, demons became a thing of the past. It was said that there was a village of demons somewhere along the vast mountain range.
“Eh, um? In other words, it means I could have brushed past a demon while walking in town and not have known it?” (Bennet)
“That’s right. Maybe even a dragon.”
If SS rank demons could disguise themselves as humans, perhaps SSS rank dragons could too. When I answered her question, Bennet let out a shriek and started trembling. Ah, did that bring back memories of the battle with the dark dragons? Sorry for scaring you by saying useless things.
“By the way, that demon seems to be by sensei’s side.”
Noel’s eyes opened wide when Luca glanced at her. Soon after, however, her face stiffened.
“In his letter, father wrote that he is currently busy with the trial, though it will probably come to an end by mid-November and in December he’ll send Orobas…2 father’s butler to us.”
Apparently father and Orobas had been friends since childhood. The butler, whose duty it was to take care of his master, would look after me when I stayed in the basement, probably on father’s orders. He was the one who taught me how to read. Also…
“Orobas was the one who taught me about ‘Zagan,’ a demon from long ago.”3
I was not abused as a child because I listened to my father obediently. Still I do have some memories of Orobas telling me stories of demons as if they were fairy tales. However, since I was quite young at the time, I couldn’t recall the details of those stories. The reason I took on the name Zagan was because I thought I should have the same name as I did in the game. However, the original Zagan was abused by our father and remembered the stories that the butler who took care of him told him. Which was why when he came to detest the humans who cursed him as a demon and tried to kill him, he borrowed the name of the demon Zagan. It was so that he could become a demon just like they wanted him to be, and so that he could kill them.
I see. So the butler who took care of me was a demon, huh?4
Translators’ Notes:
Kuromaru: Hey guys! I hope you liked this chapter~! It’s all thanks to Reo! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we only have two translators on this project (Me and Reo). And both of us have other novels to take care of too. Soooo we’ve decided it’s time to recruit new blood! Whoever wanna to help out with translating Eroge you can take our translators’ test from the site or our discord~! Thank you for your time and support so far!