Presepe looked up at the man in front of her with a blank expression.
He was not someone she was seeing for the first time. He was a resident of the district.
So, the one they brushed past once before.
On the day that damn statue was broken, at the church.
"..."
The man just looked down at Presepe silently without saying a word.
He still had a very gentle and kind expression, but for some reason, the blue eyes staring at jer felt very chilling.
Come to think of it, I think you looked at me with that kind of look last time too...
Presepe looked up at him stiffly, just as the man did. Although he was the one who had approached first, the man continued to say nothing.
Eventually, after a considerable amount of time had passed, it was Presepe who spoke first.
"What are you doing here? Are you a member of the Knights? But you aren't wearing a Knights' uniform."
If he is neither a Knight of the Church nor a private soldier of Fenrir, then what on earth is his reason for being here? She has seen him at the Imperial Palace, so he certainly cannot be a villager.
"And you know we saw each other at church the other day? You remember, right?"
"..."
"So, was it you who broke that statue?"
She asked him several questions, but the man remained motionless. He didn't say a word and didn't show any movement. He just stared at jer.
Presepe, having run out of patience, contorted her face and continued speaking.
"Please say something. You spoke nicely back then, even though I said it was rude."
"How did you get here?'
However, far from answering the question, the man asked something strange.
“I came here on foot.”
Presepe answered with a look of disbelief.
"They must have been in control."
"There was no one guarding it."
"Wasn't there a fence? It wasn't an ordinary one; it was imbued with divine power, so it wouldn't have been easy to climb over.'
"It was broken. As if the church statues had been completely shattered."
The latter remark was meant to sting, but the man showed no reaction. He merely frowned slightly, as if something was incredibly displeasing to him.
“So, who are you?”
Presepe asked again.
"Who are you to have been in the Imperial Palace church, and to be in this Forbidden Forest today?"
The affection window still didn't appear for the man. Then, is he simply an NPC like Fenrir? But something feels a bit off for that...
"You shine."
"... Yes?"
“From the chest.”
"..."
"What?"
Only then did Presepe's gaze turn toward her chest.
There was only one thing it held. Nidhogg's scales.
Even when it was first discovered, it was wrapped in old cloth, but it emitted a faint light.
So, before leaving Vanessa's house, Presepe wrapped Nidhogg's scales in layers with her own handkerchief and a dirty cloth lying around the house.
Even after doing that, she still couldn't put her mind at ease, so she stuffed it inside her underwear and fastened her clothes tightly.
"It belongs to a monster."
"Uh..."
“A dragon, to be exact.”
She was able to deduce it herself by thinking about what kind of monsters might have scales, but how would he know that without even seeing it?
"There is no need to go around hiding it. It won't shine in other people's eyes anyway. It might look like a suspicious object, though."
"Why?"
"Since fragments of monsters or objects containing magical power are invisible to ordinary humans, their true nature is revealed only to the eyes of monsters, those with magical power, or those with monster blood mixed in."
"Then what are you?"
Is he a wizard? Like Ivan. So, affiliated with the Magic Tower.
Come to think of it, it made sense that he was at the Imperial Palace. If he was indeed the culprit, however, she still couldn't figure out why he smashed the stone statue...
However, the man seemed to chuckle to himself, then gave an answer that Presepe had never anticipated.
"Monster."
And he did it completely nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.
"Yes?"
At the man's unexpected answer, Presepe flinched and looked up at him.
"Isn't that the answer you wanted?"
"No, rather than saying I didn't want to, wait a minute... Then why were you at the Imperial Palace? You are the culprit who destroyed the stone statue, aren't you?"
Presepe was flustered.
"It is an extremely narrow-minded prejudice to assume that just because they are monsters, they cannot even set foot in the Imperial Palace or the Church. Isn't that right?"
"Okay, I get it. Let's assume that's the case. Then why did you leave the stone statue in such a state?"
"Do you have any proof that I broke it?"
There was none.
"..."
Having run out of things to say, Presepe stared at the man while still frowning.
Anyway, he was an incredibly suspicious man. However, strangely enough, she had a baseless conviction that he wouldn't harm her.
No, wait a minute.
If it is a monster and realized that these scales belong to a dragon without even looking at them...
"Just turn your head for a moment."
“Why me?”
"What an annoyingly stubborn personality," Presepe muttered inwardly, forcing a smile as she said something completely different from what she truly felt.
“Please.”
"..."
"Please."
At those words, the man slowly turned his head, and Presepe quickly pulled out the Nidhogg scales she had hidden in her chest.
"This."
Then, holding it out to the man, she asked.
"Dragon's Scales."
It wasn't that she hadn't thought she might be doing something pointless, but regardless, for now, this man was the only suitable person to ask. Especially if he were a monster.
"To be precise, they are Nidhogg's scales."
Rainbow-colored scales were reflected in the blue eyes of the man who resembled the sea.
"Do you happen to know who it is? And where it is?"
“He’s dead.”
He was her father, but she didn't feel any sadness or pity.
It is just a shame that the hope of getting some information from Nidhogg, if he were still alive, has vanished.
"After being fatally wounded in an attack by the Knights and entering a long hibernation, as soon as I woke up."
...So that’s why he said he would come back. And Vanessa was waiting for that.
However, what the man said right after that was a bit surprising.
"He was beheaded by someone you know well. About four years ago."
“Who, who?”
"Grand Master Siegfried."
"..."
"You should know it well enough. That Siegfried killed a dragon and was bestowed the Holy Sword less than three years after joining the Order."
...Ah.
So the dragon Siegfried supposedly killed was actually Presepe's father.
So even that was a foreshadowing.
"But why are you looking for your father?"
The man asked again.
"Are you trying to build a grave for him now?"
"..."
"Or is it because there is something you want to find out?"
At that moment, she saw the man staring at her, his eyes flashing and shining.
"Um, well, naturally, any human being would be curious about their roots and things like that..."
Slightly frightened, Presepe muttered in a timid tone.
"I have no intention of pouring out to you the confused feelings I have after learning about this complicated family history... I am truly sorry, but I hope you can understand..."
It wasn't really her place to say that, having been asked about one side of that 'complicated family history,' but unfortunately, she had no excuse.
"By the way, why did you approach me...?"
Are you trying to harm me?
Even though I don't sense any dangerous energy, it's a monster, you know.
It was understandable that they had run into each other by chance at church, but not today. Because that man approached her of his own accord.
"Well."
The man slowly bent down to meet Presepe's eye level and answered.
"I have something I'm curious about, too."
“To me?”
"The Demon King lives to the west of the Forbidden Forest."
Presepe's body stiffened at the sudden mention of the word 'Demon King.'
"It existed long before Ateloia was established. To this land, to this forest, those seeking to subjugate the Demon King swarmed in day after day, and the war continued ceaselessly."
"..."
"Just as countless humans have died, the Demon King was never left unscathed either—having his limbs severed, his insides spilling out, and even his neck cut off."
“So, so?”
"He was resurrected time and time again. And at some point, the Demon King realized. The fact that there was nothing he could do other than keep repeating this meaningless, endless war."
"..."
"Even though he did nothing, humans kept rushing in, and whenever a disaster occurred, they blamed it all on the Demon King and used it as a pretext for subjugation."
Presepe just stared at the mysterious man without saying a word.
"Yeah, just like a being born to be hated by humans. As if everything had been calculated from the very beginning, when I hadn't done anything at all, until now."
And the man asked with an extremely cold face.
"What would you do?"
Strange questions that are not easily understood
"If you were the Demon King, wouldn't you feel wronged?"
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