TMD - Chapter 24 < The First Night of the Saint and the Devil (6) >




Belled recalled a while ago while looking at Beryl's back, who looked confused. It was before Beryl entered the realm of the night and before his end changed.

A figure crying in agony. A face beginning to be covered in deep blue feathers and scales, and a sword neatly cutting through that neck.

It was the last of someone his mind's eye had seen. If it was a death that was 'becoming a monster's form', he couldn't change the future.

That was a phenomenon that occurred due to a lack of magic power. Unless he could obtain magic power from somewhere right away.

So he summoned the last of them to his Office.

'Your Highness, this is Kilatia.'

His long-time subordinate bowed her head to him, and his expression seemed to indicate that he had guessed what he was going to hear.

'It was an honor to serve you, Your Highness.'

She even said goodbye calmly.

Belled, the devil of the mind's eye. The one who sees the end. It was because he knew that all those he had quietly summoned were demons that he had seen the end of.

The reactions of those who had been notified of his sudden death varied, but Kilatia was not one to desperately fight to live. Rather,

'But if I disappear, you won't be able to use Whisper...'

She was worried about Belled, who would be left behind. Belled slowly closed his eyes.

Kilrlatia's unique ability, 'Whisper', was the ability to convey messages from far away.

'That can be done by looking inside the gates of Hell again.'

Another ability of the Demon Duke Belled. The ability he gained after inheriting the throne was that he could use the abilities of other demons outside the gates of Hell.

Without Whisper, there would be no demons to convey messages, and Belled could not use that ability, so it was inconvenient.

However, it was even more uncomfortable to talk about him until the very end of her life.

'Is there no one who can replace me?'

He said, deliberately keeping his voice cold.

'So, do you want to meet your end in the mansion, or..."

The demons that Belled saw at the end were given two choices.

One was that they would die anyway so that Belled could personally take their lives so that they could maintain their honor until the end.

Or, like a demon, they would fight in the middle of the monsters without looking back, reducing their numbers, and die as Belled saw at the end.

'I will go outside.'

Kilatia chose the latter. And Belled watched them bow their heads and leave until the end.

'Make a gravestone.'

And he gave the order only after Kilatia left the mansion. By then, the gravestone had already been made.

[Kilatia the Whisper, Sleeping Here]

This had happened countless times. Belled thought that everyone would eventually meet the same end as Kilatia. His own end was also death due to a lack of magical power.

But...

"...!"

He turned his gaze to Beryl, who was surprised to see Kilatia's gravestone in front of her.

From the moment she came, he began to think that perhaps, this future could change.

Especially after being swept away by the refreshing energy that was still seeping out of her, the strong stimulation that was enough to captivate even him.

“?”

The demons were glancing back at her. They could feel it instinctively, too. The powerful energy seeping out of her, their meal.

Maybe... maybe.

She could change everything. The question was whether she had the heart to do so.

“Is this, the... graveyard of the people of Vine?”

Belled nodded to Beryl’s words and examined her. She seemed surprised. And she must have seen the face of Kilatia, who was being transformed into a monster.

No human being meets an end like this. Moreover, no land commemorates a monster or a being that has been transformed into a monster by erecting a gravestone.

Only the demons would do that.

You have perfect evidence. What are you going to do now?

“...”

Do you feel compassion for the demons? 

Belled felt strange as he watched her beautiful eyebrows tremble.

The more he did, the more he seemed to be drawn to her.

He felt like he would develop some special feelings toward the Saintess who reached out to even the demons who had given up on being treated by humans and were hiding in the barren land.

Now that you have seen clear evidence, let me know what you think.

The words he couldn't utter lingered in his mouth.

What are you thinking? Why don't you report us to the temple in this land where you know the answer?

Why do you pretend not to know that we are demons and sympathize with us and look at us with pity?

Why do you not try to punish us according to God’s will while responding to words that deny God?

Tell me why. If it’s just because you haven’t found evidence, if we’re enemies, you should deal with me before I become more obsessed with you...

Otherwise.

Go ahead and do what you want to do.

Belled shut his mouth tightly.

A strange excitement came back to him at the thought that something might happen. A strong stimulus that he had forgotten for a long time seemed to pass through his entire body.

His gaze did not leave Beryl, who seemed lost in thought.

***

The funeral ended quietly. It wasn’t a grand ceremony, and it was just a burial in the cemetery, so there was no reason to drag it on.

“...I’ll go finish what I was doing.”

Beryl said as the people dispersed after the funeral. She seemed to want to collect her thoughts.

“Yes, then.”

Belled bowed his head to her. Belled thought as he watched her turn away.

Beryl, who seemed to have a different meaning from the temple, and the way she didn’t show any aversion to him and even her current appearance.

Belled was thinking about her even after returning to his office. Just thinking about that made several hours pass by in a flash.

“Maybe.”

He tried to keep his suspicions to a minimum.

It was funny to see him, who had pretended to be indifferent to death, getting impatient when hope appeared.

In fact, did he want to live, and did he want to have hope that the demons would survive if she supplied them with energy?

Did Beryl really intend to join hands with the demons...

As he thought that, he suddenly let out a hollow laugh. He had been through a lot for a long time, and he had thought that he had become numb to moderate stimulation, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. Rather, he seemed to be weak to stimulation because he had not been stimulated for a long time.

Otherwise, there was no way he would be shaken by a woman like this.

He returned to his office in the mansion and closed his eyes to calm down. Even if his end was set, he had no intention of giving up his life easily for the sake of the demons under his command who trusted him and followed him.

Shouldn’t he let them enjoy as much as possible?

Thinking that, he looked at the mirror again. He quietly watched his eyes in the mirror ripple and create something.

He was lying on the hem of a pure white dress. Belled, who had been basking in the sunlight with his eyes closed, opened his eyes.

And it seemed as if he was looking at the owner of the dress. 

What was hanging over me?

Belled could not see what happened next.

“...?”

However, he used his power once more because he saw something strange. And at the last moment, he looked closely at what was hanging over him.

Something dark green.

There was no way he had seen it wrong. It was when he had been looking in the mirror for a long time.

Boom!

It was Helbas’s signal. He saw one of the brown feathers stuck on the desk in the office burn black and disappear.

Belled closed his eyes. He was using Helbas’s magic, which was one of the demons in the human world who could ‘surveillance’ by borrowing the sight of others.

Then, what came into view was Beryl writing a short letter in front of a place where pigeons were flying.

[To the High Priest.]

It was the writing of the pen tip in her delicate hand. Belled opened his eyes. It was finally time to understand the Saintess’s thoughts.

Thump.

He got up from his seat, closed the office door, and quickly walked out.

Somewhat impatiently.

***

What had I seen earlier? Was the demon called Kilatia originally... a demon that looked like that?

Feathers and scales were typical characteristics of monsters. I bit my lips.

Before coming here, I had originally thought that monsters and demons were in cahoots.

However, Vine was not just acting like that; they were really subduing monsters. They must have been born with the same magical power.

But on the other hand, they were holding a funeral for a monster? No, was a demon becoming a monster?

I wanted to ask about the relationship between demons and monsters, but I couldn’t ruin my plan because of my curiosity.

I should have been someone who hadn’t seen all of this in the first place. I should have been someone who hadn’t even guessed that Vine was from a demon family.

So I managed my expression and quietly returned after paying my respects to the person who was either a demon or a monster.

It must be Vine’s culture as if he were saying so.

“This way.”

“Yes.”

Even as I finished cleaning up the living room with Decarabia, I couldn’t help but think about that image.

It was then.

“Madam, a letter has arrived.”

Naberus’ voice was heard from outside. There was a certain displeasure in the voice.

Where did the letter come from... Ah. The only place to send the letter to me was the temple.

“Give it to me.”

As expected, Decarabia, who was not like a maid, snatched the letter from the family knight without asking permission from the letter owner.

And then, with a shameless expression as if to say, “I’ll receive it anyway, so it doesn’t matter?” she asked me.

“Shall I give you the letter?”

It was as if she could burn it if I didn’t want to see it. It seemed as if she was watching me.

Decarabia must have already figured out where the letter came from. She seemed to be watching how I would treat the letter.

That’s why I answered cautiously.

“I guess I’ll just have to look at it first.”

With a face that didn’t seem to welcome the letter from the temple. And.

[How’s the Duke’s situation? Did you find any traces of the devil there?]

I frowned at the content as expected. But isn’t the urging coming too soon? 

It’s been a while since the meal. At this point, they almost wrote the letter as soon as they got back. It seemed as if their insides were transparent. They want to quickly find and eliminate the devil and go to heaven. But it’s better than coming here and spying on him themself. 

“Shall we take a break?” 

I looked at the letter while thinking about sending Decarabia on a suitable errand. Since I had already decided what to reply to, I only had a short time to write the letter. It would be better to write the reply first and buy some time, then continue to look at Vine. I needed to slowly organize my thoughts. Until then, smoke was at peace. 

“What were you writing?” 

I had thought that for a dozen minutes, because I had never thought I would meet Belled.


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