Chapter 10: I Didn’t Know That (3)

"What... Demons are fighting among themselves?"

The Inquisitor was the first to notice the man rushing toward the demons.

She was bewildered.

He was an apostate—a man who had betrayed God by making a contract with a Demon.

"Why would an apostate..."

Those who made contracts with Demons became little different from their servants. They would not be ordered around by low-ranking Demons with little intelligence, but neither could they become hostile toward them.

Yet he was charging at those Demons without hesitation?

Even allowing his own body to be bitten and torn apart, he persistently searched for the main body?

Something like this... this was impossible.

This was...

"No... That isn't it, Inquisitor. That man is not a contractor of the Demon."

This was outside everything she had learned.

"Pardon?"

"...To think I would actually witness a possibility I had only considered theoretically. Demonic Energy becoming magical power... Hmm. What kind of consequences will this bring in the future...?"

Watching the Archmage mutter with a grave expression, the Inquisitor gripped her Mace tightly.

If it was the Archmage, she thought, then perhaps she knew something.

"Please explain in greater detail, Archmage."

"...... Ah, yes. Since this was only a hypothesis within academic circles, I suppose it is only natural that you would not know, Inquisitor."

The Archmage stroked her staff with her thick fingers before giving an answer.

"That young man... most likely did not obtain that power by making a contract with a Demon. Rather, he became a host to a Demon and learned to wield its power."

"A host... You don't mean to say that he has become a zombie?"

She had learned about zombies.

Those whose bodies were taken over by Demons and who could no longer move according to their own will were called zombies.

Living corpses controlled by the parasitic Demons inhabiting them.

Such beings, for whom only death could bring rest.

"That is correct. However, while an ordinary zombie loses its sense of self to the parasitic Demon, it appears that young man has suppressed the Demon and seized control himself."

"What! Such a thing cannot possibly be possible!"

"What is impossible, Inquisitor? There is no such thing as impossibility in this world. There are only things that we believe to be impossible."

The Archmage faintly smiled as she watched the Inquisitor cry out as though in agony.

It was an ambiguous smile, one that almost looked as though she were crying.

"If that were not the case, then what are we supposed to call the young man before us?"

At that moment, the man who had finally located the Demon's main body sliced the snake apart.

It was the moment when the power of a Demon killed a Demon.

***

"Then I'll tear that mouth apart now, just as I promised."

I delivered the line while happily immersing myself in my Character Concept.

"Wait. It seems there has been some misunderstanding. I apologize for attacking you, so would you please hear me out?"

The mage hurriedly stopped me.

Now that I looked at her properly, she was quite an imposing woman.

"Misunderstanding? That's an amusing word. Is treating me as if I were the same as those pathetic maggots and attacking me what you call a misunderstanding?"

She's really damn tall.

When I looked straight ahead, my gaze only reached her neck. She had to be at least two meters tall.

Or maybe she belonged to a different race.

After all, Legend of Heroes had four races: Middle, Slend, Cutie, and Shaggy.

And the completely beast-like Shaggy race, which resembled bipedal animals, was generally that large.

"Please forgive us. There was Demonic Energy entwined around your arm, so we mistook you for a zombie parasitized by a Demon. As a Demon Hunter, you must know... It is rather unprecedented for a zombie to retain its sense of self, is it not?"

Oh...

How am I supposed to react to this?

For now, it seemed like the story was trying to keep covering things up, so I figured it would be fine to get a little angrier.

After reaching that conclusion, I clenched my fist with a loud crack.

I also twisted my face into an ugly expression. I hoped it looked like a mixture of rage, understanding, and self-loathing.

"What...?"

More importantly, I don't remember the zombie setting.

What was it again?

I feel like it was somewhat different from ordinary zombies.

Judging from the statement about being a "zombie parasitized by a Demon," were they basically something like hosts...?

That actually sounded about right.

Anyway, if you had a complex about it, it definitely wouldn't be pleasant to hear.

It would make you feel like you really weren't human.

"If I had known that you retained your sense of self like an ordinary person, I would never have attacked you. I apologize."

Crack.

I dropped the sword resting on my shoulder and gripped the hilt tightly.

At the same time, I used my right hand to touch my eyepatched right eye and the bangs that had fallen over it.

As I immersed myself in my Character Concept, those things suddenly felt hateful, filthy, and horrifying.

And to that same extent, I began to dislike those people who had misunderstood me.

Not that I genuinely hated them, of course.

It was simply how I felt my Character Concept should react.

In reality, I understood their position, and since I knew they were NPCs anyway, I didn't feel much about it.

But the Character Concept I had immersed myself in wouldn't be able to feel the same way.

"Ha... A zombie, huh..."

Sometimes, when I was acting, there were moments when my vocal cords delivered the lines on their own and my body moved without my control.

Should I say that my Character Concept leaves my hands and starts moving on its own?

I think this was one of those moments.

"How dare... the likes of you treat me as something like that."

And so, I immersed myself even more deeply than usual and raised my sword.

Of course, it seemed a little heavy to hold with one hand, so my sword arm trembled slightly.

Please, I just hoped everyone else thought it was because I was angry.

"...It was clearly our mistake. If there is anything you desire, we will do what we can to grant it."

Ah, this probably wasn't the right time to think this, but this was ridiculously fun.

It was even more enjoyable because the other party—an NPC—not only reacted to me but even played along.

It felt like matching my acting with my college classmates back in my university days.

"Damn it. You'll do whatever you can? If I asked you to cut out your tongues, would you do that?"

"That is..."

"If you can't even do that, then stop with your pathetic apologies."

How am I supposed to play other games now?

No, why am I even thinking about other games?

Legend of Heroes and Deep Pearl are god-tier games.

Still, it would be nice if they patched the movement system and improved player convenience.

"...If I followed my heart, I would rip out your jaws and hang them at the entrance of a village. But then, there would be no difference between me and those Demon bastards."

"...Hmm."

"Get lost."

Anyway, while enjoying myself immensely, I pretended to swallow the anger I had been displaying outwardly.

I also lowered my sword.

Is it really right to back down like this?

I briefly questioned my decision, but I quickly came up with an answer.

Even without considering the story, this was the right choice.

He hated Demons, but that didn't mean he wanted to act like one.

Honestly, yeah.

I think the Demon Knight's Official Settings, which describe him as sensitive and sharp-tempered, stem from the anxiety of never knowing when the Demon dwelling in his arm might go berserk.

In other words, because he never knew when he might become a Demon again and kill someone, he acted aggressively from the beginning so that no one would stay close to him.

But would someone with that kind of personality really become so furious over a single misunderstanding that he'd decide, If I die, you die too?

Against humans who weren't even Demons?

He would definitely be pissed off, but as long as it was a misunderstanding, he wouldn't necessarily try to kill them.

Because the idea that killing humans was something only Demons would do would be firmly ingrained in him.

That was my interpretation.

".........."

I slung my sword over my back and turned around.

The quest included collecting proof of the hunt, so I needed to retrieve it.

"Wait."

I bent down and collected the snake's corpse.

Then I heard the voice of the Priest... I mean, the Inquisitor.

"...I will apologize as well."

I thought she was going to complain about me taking the corpse, so I was slightly surprised that she was apologizing.

"I... No, whatever I say will sound like an excuse. I'm sorry for attacking you first. I sincerely apologize."

Uh...

Honestly, I hadn't even cared.

Looking at the setting, wasn't it understandable that they would misunderstand?

If anything, I was surprised I hadn't clashed with the Temple until now.

Later on, a divine oracle would descend, so even if I wanted to clash with them, I probably wouldn't be able to.

"If you desire compensation for this matter..."

Separately from my own opinion, my Character Concept apparently disagreed.

"I don't need your worthless hypocrisy."

So, I had no choice but to follow it.

"........!"

Still, I was rather impressed by how they intended to drag this into the story even when the player was being this uncooperative.

Of course, I suspected that the original goal wasn't merely cooperation, but eventually becoming companions...

Hmm.

I wasn't entirely sure about that, though.

After fighting like this, it didn't seem like they would easily become companions.

To begin with, I wasn't even sure whether a companion system actually existed.

More importantly, wouldn't it be far too sudden and random?

I'm a Casual Gamer who enjoys pretty much anything, but ordinary players probably wouldn't like an unexpected party member joining them like this.

"It isn't hypocrisy—"

"Now, now, Inquisitor. Please calm yourself."

"Archmage...!"

Come to think of it, didn't I level up while killing that snake?

I'm wondering which skill I should invest in.

The Attack Skills are pretty good, and after what happened this time, detection doesn't seem bad either.

Or maybe I should invest in the Close-Quarters Combat tree to gain more bonuses or increase my defense.

"More importantly, we should return as well. The only reason we have not left is because we had yet to deal with the Demon, but isn't the Purification already nearly complete?"

Oh, right.

Purification.

"...Understood."

I discreetly opened the Purification progress window and saw that it was at 98%.

Just as I had overheard, it seemed those two had been traveling around performing Purification.

I'm kind of jealous.

The Demon Knight class could only perform Purification by setting things on fire.

That was one of the Demon Knight's penalties.

Thanks to it, the class was immune to Demonic Energy Corruption, but its popularity was somewhat lower because of that.

The Priest class had a separate Purification Skill, while other classes could purchase and use things like Purification Stones from the Temple.

But Demon Knights couldn't do that at all.

".........."

"........."

...Could someone explain why those two were following me?

"You must be disappointed after suffering for an entire week."

"...Not at all. It was simply my duty as a servant of God."

Seriously, why are they following me?

I had opened the full map and was heading toward the village in a straight line, but there was no way the NPCs could know that.

Things were already awkward between us, so wouldn't it be better for us to take different routes?

Ah...

Don't tell me this was because of the story?

"I believe I told you to get lost."

Just in case, I decided to threaten them.

The NPC reactions were far too realistic, after all.

"Perhaps my words don't sound like words to you."

I grabbed the hilt at my waist and slightly twisted my body.

I almost instinctively turned toward the right, but I remembered the Eyepatch in time.

I had nearly become some weirdo turning around to look at them with the eye covered by his Eyepatch.

"Forgive us if we have offended you. It was not intentional."

When I turned around, the two of them had spheres of light floating around them.

I wondered why they hadn't turned them on earlier, but I was in no position to criticize them since I hadn't either.

However, what caught my attention was that, besides the spheres of light, there was something else floating in the air that looked like a compass...

"We are following a path-guidance spell. It seems the two of us marked the same destination as you."

The navigation function was implemented through magic?

I had accidentally turned into a guy with an overinflated sense of self-importance.

".........."

Still, it was a relief that they weren't actually following me.

If the only problem was that our routes overlapped because we were both heading in a straight line, then I could simply take another route.

I didn't have anything else to take care of in that village anyway.

And I had no intention of riding a carriage again.

There was no reason not to part ways.

That was, assuming the system would actually allow us to separate.

So, pretending to frown, I changed direction.

We had traveled for several hours by carriage to get here, so if I wanted to return to the starting village, I would have to walk diligently.

"Wait, where are you going?"

The Inquisitor asked where I was heading.

Since I didn't feel any need to answer, I deliberately said nothing.

"Hey, the forest at night is dangerous—"

But I couldn't tolerate words that hurt my pride.

"Perhaps it is dangerous for the likes of you. Do not measure me by your own standards."

"...Even so, it is not good to travel alone."

No, if I had to choose the most dangerous thing in this forest, I'd probably choose you.

So I'd actually be safer alone.

Of course, saying what I really thought would have completely broken my Character Concept, so I instead shouted fiercely.

"Perhaps your ears are incapable of performing their proper function."

Fortunately, even after hearing that, the Inquisitor did not try to stop me.

I had no idea what kind of event that had been.

If it was part of the story, I didn't know what the system had expected from me.

But in the battle between the system and my commitment to the Character Concept, my Character Concept won by decision.

Ahahaha.