The putrid smell coming from that direction appeared to be an alleyway. It was a gathering spot for beggars, waifs and robbers. Even though Kuroka had her sword cane, it wasn’t a place for a blind girl to walk in to.
But, the scent goes this way.
Kuroka stepped into the alley, and strangely enough, couldn’t sense anybody there. Normally the waifs would be around, and if they weren’t, there would be one or two beggars laying around there. But now she didn’t sense a single breathing being.
Kuroka didn’t know. This was where Zagan was surrounded by waifs teaching them arts. And also where Lisette was saved by the silver-eyed sorcerer. Nevertheless, she knew something strange was going on. She carefully marched on, and could sense that someone was standing right in the middle of the alleyway.
It really is the same scent as that time.
At the same time that she was sure of this, she realized another scent was mixed in. It felt somewhat nostalgic. But, she couldn’t remember who exactly it was. Kuroka gripped her cane tightly once more, as if to encourage herself.
“Who are you?”
And that’s what she managed to wring out of her mouth. There was likely something else she should have been asking, she was self-aware of what she wanted to know the most.
And... why did you target my people?
Just what kind of reason did this person, who was most likely a sorcerer, have to attack them? It may have been a completely worthless and meaningless reason. Or perhaps, they had some sort of deep seated grudge. It was also entirely possible that their true target was the Moonless Sky in Kuroka’s very hands.
Kuroka wanted to know, no matter which scenario it was. Just who was it who attacked her people? And having been asked that question, the person in the alleyway slowly turned toward her, slowly opened their mouth, and...
“You... are... Ku...ro...ka?”
An entirely unpredictable question. And an even more unpredictable voice. It was a familiar one.
“Wh...y...? that voice is...” The impossible had occurred. “That voice... is... Mom...?”
It was the voice she wanted to hear just once more, but should have been unable to hear ever again. The voice of her mother.
Why? Why is mom here?
Did this mean that her mother betrayed her people on the day of the attack? And just as that doubt came to mind, Kuroka immediately denied the possibility.
Mom died protecting me!
Her back was slashed, but she still embraced Kuroka and ran. Kuroka would never forget that warmth. The reason Kuroka was able to survive was because her mother managed to run all the way to the church.
Then... is this an illusion made with sorcery?
Did she already fall into her enemy’s trap? Kuroka was shaken to the core as the one before her stretched out their hand. She surely should have run away. Even if she didn’t, she was capable of dodging it. And yet, Kuroka was unable to even raise her voice in all her panic.
And then, a fingertip touched Kuroka’s cheek.
“No!”
Kuroka reflexively tried to swat that hand away. However, she wasn’t able to put any strength into it given her current state. Her precious cane slipped through her hands and went flying elsewhere. However, Kuroka had no leeway to worry about that.
“Ow! Hooooooaaaawwt...?”
Kuroka’s heart jumped up like a bouncing ball, and unable to bear it, she sank to the floor and lost all energy in her body.
My body is... hot?
She couldn’t breathe.
She couldn’t put any strength into her arms and legs.
Her consciousness faded away.
And not knowing what exactly was happening to her body at all, Kuroka collapsed to the ground.
◇
“Ah! It’s Shax! I scraped my knee! Fix it!” “Gimme candy!” “Gimme money!” “Come live with us!”
“Gah! Can it you noisy brats! Go away! I have work to do today! Actually, don’t come talking all friendly like to a sorcerer dammit! I’ll eat you!”
After walking into the shopping district, Shax was swarmed by waifs that came out of nowhere. Contrary to his firm stature, he was a sorcerer with a rather inattentive face. He was somewhere in his mid-twenties with reddish brown short hair and stubble on his chin. He glared at the children with his glass-like eyes, but there was no vigor to it at all and made them laugh at him instead. It had been several months since he came to this city, but for some reason, these dirty children had gotten attached to him.
Dammit... this is why I hate coming out during the day!
Being no exception at all to the great majority of sorcerers, Shax had a habit of shutting himself into his gloomy laboratory. The only reason he was walking about in the shopping district in broad daylight was because someone had called for him.
After somehow managing to drive the children away, he entered a tavern. He took a look around, but didn’t spot who he was supposed to be meeting here.
Shax took a seat at one of the tables, and one of the waitresses came to take his order. She had pointy ears and silver hair that went all the way down to her waist. Her strong willed eyes were like golden moons, and her skin was dark. She was a rare dark elf, but also practically a celebrity here in Kianoides.
Huh? Why’s she in this kinda place?
Shax reflexively hid his face with the menu in his hands. It wasn’t like he would be troubled if she saw his face, but sorcerers were fundamentally shady characters. He hadn’t yet done anything to find fault with, but such behavior was essentially a conditioned reflex.
With the menu in his face, he didn’t notice that the elf’s face completely stiffened up at his reaction. She only did so for but an instant, and then took out a small memo pad.
“Welcome. Will it just be the two of you?”
“Huh? I’m alone here... gah, the hell you following me all the way here for?!”
Before he knew it, one of the homeless children from before was there next to him, clinging to his robe.
“I’m hungry...”
The child looked up at him with pleading eyes, leading the dark elf to look at Shax with suspicion.
“What? He’s not a customer?”
“Missy, I’ll have a beer. He’ll have bread and milk.” Shax replied with a sigh.
“Very well.”
The dark elf scribbled on her memo and left without even a smile.
That was Nephteros, right? The one from the church?
He couldn’t understand what was going on at all. She didn’t seem to recognize him, or perhaps she just didn’t have any interest in him at all. After handing over the order to the kitchen, she went off to take orders from the other customers. A while later, she brought over their bread and drinks. Shax gave the child the bread and milk and drove him out of the tavern.
“Thanks Shax.”
“Yeah yeah, get lost already.” Shax yelled at the child, who smiled back and ran off. “...Dammit, why does this happen to me...”
He let out a sigh and returned to his seat, where he found a familiar face.
“Yo. You’re late.”
“Hey, Chief... that’s my drink...”
“No need to be such a cheapass.”
The sorcerer with a plainly unhealthy countenance, Barbatos, chugged away at Shax’s beer that he had yet to even touch himself.
“Aaah... Hey missy, one more beer.”
“Got it.”
The dark elf showed no signs of courtesy, but she didn’t prod any further. It may have been the case that she just didn’t want to get involved any further, though. After she placed another beer at their table, Shax sat down across from Barbatos and questioned him languidly.
“So? What do you want?”
“A bonus for you.”
Barbatos cut to the chase and dropped a bulky book onto the table. Usually a bonus would entail a pouch of money, and there was none of that in sight, but after seeing the title of the book, Shax let out a whistle.
&nbs
p; “Phew, a grimoire as a bonus, huh? That Archdemon sure is lavish, huh?”
Sorcerers certainly needed money, but grimoires weren’t necessarily obtainable just by having a large amount of money. Not only that, this was a grimoire written by Archdemon Zagan’s confidant, Enchantress Gremory. Judging from the title, the contents of the book differed somewhat from her field of specialty, but such a grimoire would still go for over a thousand gold coins at an auction among sorcerers. Depending on the occasion, it was entirely possible it would even go for five times that price.
Shax didn’t even suspect why it was that he was getting a bonus, or why a sorcerer like Barbatos was handing it over to him personally. And watching Shax celebrate all on his own, Barbatos slipped a single piece of paper across the table in front of him.
“Wh-What’s this...?”
After picking up the paper, Shax’s face froze up completely. It was addressed to Shax, but the sender wasn’t his so called boss.
“Hey, Barbatos. What’s going on here?”
“Hah? Like I know. I was told to hand that to you is all... Seriously, I’m fed up with everyone treating me like a damn handyman.”
Shax was left at a loss.
I have a bad feeling about this...
He didn’t have particularly good intuition as a sorcerer, but getting an order from someone he didn’t usually get orders from couldn’t lead to anything good. In the worst case, he would end up betraying his boss. It was something that Shax himself had already done. And in most cases, once he saw the contents, there was no backing out. As Shax continued to glare at the letter without opening it, Barbatos let out a mutter like he just remembered something.
“...Anyway, the hell is that elf doing working here?”
“Now you ask? Like I know anything about it.”
“Hah? I thought she was supposed to go out with that crybaby today.”
“Huh...? Crybaby?”
It was tiring just having a conversation with this man. Shax was getting a headache and pinched his brow. And yet, Barbatos replied in an unexpectedly docile tone.
“The crybaby and the elf didn’t say anything about coming here. So... they kept quiet and snuck in here? That’s a little bad ain’t it...?”
“What’s that? You being told to keep an eye on that girl or something?”
Well, elves were extremely rare and quite valuable to sorcerers. An Archdemon would surely want to manage the presence of such a race in their domain.
After being questioned by Shax, Barbatos began digging his pinky into his ear in as if he found this all bothersome.
“It ain’t like that, but it may be bad for her to be playing around where that ass Zagan and that crybaby can’t see her... for now, that is.”
“For now? Did something happen?”
Shax was somewhat interested, but right now, his problem was the letter in front of his eyes. And just as he reached out for his beer wondering whether he should actually open it or not...
“You don’t know? There’s some idiot out there who started a rare species hunt.”
Hearing the phrase ‘rare species hunt,’ Shax inadvertently knocked over his drink.
“Gah?! The hell are you doing?!”
“O-Oh... my bad.”
Shax drew a simple magic circle in the air with his finger, returning the knocked over mug to where it was along with all of its spilled contents which had poured over the table, the floor and Barbatos. It wasn’t all that complicated in terms of sorcery, but it took a fair amount of skill to put it together so quickly on the spot. In other words, Shax was a sorcerer who possessed a fair amount of skill that wouldn’t put him far behind Barbatos.
Barbatos pointed a sharp gaze at Shax. His flippant attitude had completely vanished. His gaze was like that of a hound who had just found its prey.
“You know something about these hunts?”
Barbatos was a former Archdemon candidate. He was in a position where if it were not for Zagan, he would likely have taken the seat of the Archdemon himself. This wasn’t a situation that Shax could just try to brush off.
“No, it’s the first I’ve heard of this one specifically.”
“By this one, you mean you know of something else?”
Shax nodded with a sour expression on his face.
“There was a guy who caused a similar incident a while back. He went about hunting and killing rare species without letting anything get in his way. According to the rumors, he killed and obliterated some one hundred species.”
Barbatos’ eyes shot open.
“Oh, I remember now. Was it five years ago? Something like that did happen if I recall. It only showed up in the papers here in Kianoides, but it was a big enough fuss that the church was putting together a subjugation force... In the end, that guy got taken care of I think?”
“Yeah. This town was under the head Archdemon Marchosias’ protection so it was no skin off his nose I guess. But that guy ended up making a move in Marchosias’ domain.”
“...And Marchosias took care of him?”
“It’s true that Marchosias dealt with him. But, I don’t know if he’s dead.”
In other words, his whereabouts were unknown.
Barbatos then put his hand to his chin in thought.
“So that means... he’s going wild again now that Marchosias is dead?”
“No, I think the probability for that is fairly low.”
“Why?”
“Do you think an Archdemon’s punishment would end with just a reprimand? He’s likely met a fate where he was better off dying. Even if he’s alive, he’s probably beyond any recovery. If not...”
Shax was unable to speak of the rest.
If not... there’s no way I could be alive.
That’s because Shax was deeply involved with that incident. If the culprit was still alive, he would surely start by killing Shax first. The fact that this hadn’t happened could even be thought of as proof that the culprit was dead.
Shax wasn’t sure how Barbatos interpreted his silence, but Barbatos simply nodded in agreement.
“Well, they say even the other Archdemons trembled in fear trying not to offend Marchosias. There’s no way his punishment would be so half-assed.”
“That’s how it is.”
Shax wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t telling the truth.
The one who did him in wasn’t a sorcerer.
He didn’t remember their name. It was possible that they named themselves before Shax, but the burden of Shax’s sins were far too heavy for him.
A strange power... or was it a weapon? In any case, it was someone wielding a strange power...
At the very least, it was a power which differed from sorcery, Sacred Swords and even what the high elf at Archdemon Zagan’s side could do. Shax believed they were acting under Marchosias’ command, but there was a major question as to why someone who wasn’t a sorcerer was being given orders by the preceding Archdemon. An Archdemon relying on a power other than sorcery was like denying their entire life.
In any case, Shax saw the culprit get struck down by that power. However, the one being struck down at that time seemed to know what it was. If he recalled correctly...
“Seraph Hunter...”
Barbatos knit his brows at the name Shax reflexively muttered.
“What’s that?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. It’s something I heard while that incident was going on. No idea what it means. The one who said it is probably dead too.”
Shax didn’t know what Seraph Hunter referred to. However, he did at least feel that it was something ominous.
“You know something about it, Chief?”
“...No clue. For now, at least.”
Barbatos’ answer seemed to imply something, but he showed no signs of provided any further details himself.
Well, it’s got nothing to do with me.
However, Barbatos wasn’t so dimwitted that he would let Shax trying to dodge certain details go by.
> “So, you don’t wanna say that guy’s name that much?”
“Erk.”
Shax’s body jolted noticeably.
Shit. He saw through me.
Unlike Archdemon Zagan, this man wasn’t fussy about the means he took to accomplish his goals. He was a truly straightforward sorcerer. He had many ways of avoiding a topic when speaking to someone who surpassed him in power. He tried thinking of an excuse for a few seconds, but gave up anyway. He then spoke the culprit’s name in a heavy tone.
“...Shere Khan.”
Even Barbatos was left staring in surprise and stiffening up.
“...Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh, well... how do I put it...? My bad.”
And now it was Shax’s turn to be taken aback.
“Have you mellowed out?”
“Huh? The hell would you think that?”
Barbatos had no self-awareness of the fact and simply stared back at Shax with a puzzled look. In the past, this man would never apologize no matter what he blurted out. Although, the fact that he wouldn’t prod any further was something for Shax to be grateful for.
It’s already over anyway...
Shax chugged down his drink in one go as if to clear away such painful memories. And watching him do so, Barbatos muttered indifferently.
“...You know that spilled all over, right?”
“PFFFFT?!”
Shax knocked over this drink once more, and returned everything back to normal again while on the verge of tears. As he did, Barbatos stood up with enough vigor that it felt like the table would flip.
“Hey, cut me some slack here, I don’t wanna clean the floor any more than this.”
Shax raised his voice in complaint, but Barbatos couldn’t hear him at all.
“Huh? Why... is she here...?”
“Uhhh, Chief?”
“I’ve got something to do. We’re done here.”
Barbatos didn’t wait for his reply and disappeared into his own shadow.
“The hell got in him...? Gah, so I gotta pay the bill?”
All this despite the fact that the only thing Shax had to drink was the beer he spilled on the floor. After reluctantly footing the bill, Shax wandered off into the shopping district.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 8 (Premium) Page 6