An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 4

by Fuminori Teshima

  “Is this mithril?”

  “Mithril, you say? You mean the substance that’s said to be on the same level as the metal gods use in legends, orichalcum?”

  “Yeah. This is the first time I’ve seen the real thing. Should’ve known a hidden elven village would have some lying around.”

  “Hey, wait, is that seriously mithril!?” Barbatos shot up to his feet as soon as he heard them discussing the rare substance.

  “Shut it. This likely belongs to Nephy,” Zagan declared. Though, he had to be careful, as someone could have booby-trapped it.

  Guess I’ll figure out whether it’s dangerous before handing it over to Nephy.

  “Oh, come on, at least let me take a look! Actually, where the hell’d you even find that thing?”

  “I found it. At least question the right person!” Chastille said with an exasperated expression on her face.

  “H-Hey, Zagan? She’s... her, right? That crybaby, I mean...” Barbatos looked completely taken aback by Chastille’s words.

  “Yeah, that’s her, alright.”

  “Man, this barrier must be rewriting the laws of the universe! That’s the only way to explain her actually being useful for a change.”

  “How dare you... Don’t you think you’re going too far?”

  “And she’s not bawling her eyes out even though I insulted her!?” Barbatos fell to his knees, acting as if something beyond his comprehension had occurred.

  “I’m in the middle of my professional duties right now. Say, don’t you think it’s about time you get serious? I don’t hate being teased, but there’s a time and place for everything,” Chastille claimed.

  She actually enjoys being teased? Zagan couldn’t believe his ears, but her words seemed to shock Barbatos even more.

  “I-I don’t believe it! What’s this feeling? Am I... trembling?” Barbatos was grumbling and muttering to himself repeatedly in a conflicted manner. He seemed troubled by his newfound knowledge of Chastille’s feelings.

  “I’m going to look into these. I’ll leave Nephy and the others to you,” Zagan said as he stood up and looked over to Chastille.

  “That’s fine by me, but tell me one thing before you go. You can read the elven language, right?”

  “Yeah. And?”

  “What’s the title of that book?” Chastille replied in a dignified tone.

  Zagan was startled by her question, but he quickly regained his composure and decided that she deserved an explanation after going through the trouble of finding it.

  “‘Nephilim.’ It means one who fell from heaven. I think... it’s the root of Nephy’s name.”

  In other words, Chastille had found a journal about Nephy.

  ◇

  The journal began with the following preface.

  Nowadays, there are none but I who know of this fact, but there was once a devil within this village. The devil left the village long ago, but just once, it returned for a single day. And when it did, the devil left behind a baby. That child may well be the harbinger of calamity, which is why I’m documenting all this information. If the devil truly returns one day, I pray that this aids you in vanquishing it.

  —Month of the Dragon, Day of Water.

  Something terrifying happened. That devil returned to the village.

  It’s all that damn repulsive, cursed child’s fault. What manner of trouble will befall this village next?

  When I was a child, that devil was already a calamity that ate away at this village like a parasite. Many of my brethren lost their lives when they were used as sacrifices or test subjects.

  I feel like I can still hear them when I close my eyes. There hasn’t been a single day where their screams cease. They run through my mind, haunting me endlessly.

  How dare that devil bring a baby to this village! Sure, it told me that I may boil or burn that baby as I pleased before leaving, but this is all far too suspicious.

  The baby was carrying a mithril pendant modeled after the Tree of Life. It seemed to be quite a work of art, but I did not know its true nature, so I confiscated it.

  I knew the baby bore no sin, but it was also clear to me that the child could grow to become another devil. I hesitated as I mulled over what to do, but I eventually decided to kill the baby.

  This was for the greater good. As much as I hated it, I had to act in the best interest of our village.

  However, I couldn’t kill it. That thing was already a devil. The trees of the forest rushed in at me as if they possessed a will of their own, tearing off the arm with a blade in it.

  What a terrifying child. I thought of trying to starve it, but the forest still kept it alive regardless.

  I came to realize we possessed no means of killing that thing, so I entrusted the baby over to the village’s most skilled archers, the Neruel household. I felt sorry for them, but in the worst case scenario, they were the only ones who possessed enough power to protect themselves.

  —omitted—

  —Month of the Lion, Day of Fire.

  It has been five years since the cursed child’s arrival.

  The thing’s growing rather quickly. The Neruels have confined it to the cellar, but when it emerges from time to time, there’s always an eerie smile on its face. It’s repulsive.

  The people of the village raised concerns as to whether that thing should be chained down, but I knew it was meaningless to bind it.

  I rejected them at that time by saying that doing such a thing would be unjust, but it was plain as day that my decision invited dissatisfaction.

  Perhaps the only good fortune is the fact that the forest has been silent since I lost my arm. Thanks to that, the veil of fear over the village is thin.

  This is surely the boon of putting out a strict order that it was not to be harmed. Everyone’s happy because they think it doesn’t possess any power.

  Yes, I didn’t even tell the Neruels how I lost my arm. Nobody else needs to know of that nightmare.

  Even though the people of the village hate it, they don’t appear to fear it. It’s fine for them not to know that it’s a devil with enough power to wipe out our village in a single breath. They’ll be happier that way. My only remaining concern is how long that thing will remain docile...

  —omitted—

  —Month of the Sylph, Day of Earth.

  It has been ten years since the cursed child’s arrival.

  It no longer comes outside, and that eerie smile has disappeared. The people of the village have stopped caring about its existence, and the Neruels’ burden seems to have lightened considerably.

  It’s good that it’s peaceful, but I can’t relax. I recently found the corpse of a strange bird right near the village.

  It’s likely a sorcerer’s familiar. And this is the third one that’s turned up in the Month of the Sylph.

  Something from the outside may be trying to invade our village. And when I think of that, the devil comes to mind.

  Perhaps now that the cursed child has grown, it’s coming to pick it back up? Well, I can speculate all I want, but I have no way of knowing what its true intentions are.

  Is this the result that devil desired? Or did it not go as it willed? I don’t know. However, I do know that a tremendous calamity will befall us in the near future.

  I cannot allow that to happen. But, I also believe... there’s the option of having the cursed child clash with the devil...

  ◇

  “...I can’t even bear looking at this...” Zagan shut the book, which even managed to make him feel nauseous, after finishing it. He was currently in the village elder’s room. The journal wasn’t all that long, and he finished reading all of it in but a single minute.

  The author was clearly the elder, and it detailed how Nephy had become the despondent girl he first met. It was all because no one ever realized that the little girl showed her pure smile in hopes of getting along with people.

  Seems that lovely smile looked eerie to them because of their paranoia.<
br />
  Well, that may have been reasonable, considering their first meeting ended with an arm being lost, but the elder was simply getting what they deserved for trying to kill Nephy in the first place.

  As Zagan let out a single sigh, he threw the journal into the air. And without a sound, it turned to ash and crumbled before hitting the floor. He felt sorry for Chastille, who went out of her way to find it, but Zagan didn’t want Nephy ever seeing it. Besides, he could memorize the contents of a book completely by just reading it once, so there was no need to leave such an unpleasant thing laying around.

  Shall I reduce this village to ash after we finish our investigation? At first, Zagan thought to wait until Nephy managed to sort out her feelings, but he no longer felt like that was a good idea. Though, he had no intention of saying that it was for Nephy’s sake or anything. If he were to use such an excuse, he would be no different from the one who wrote that journal. Sorcerers like him loathed people who claimed to act for the greater good.

  Zagan didn’t like it at all, and he couldn’t forgive them, so the only option left was to erase them. Even if they were already dead, he would eliminate every last trace.

  Zagan found Chastille and Barbatos waiting for him as he exited the elder’s manor. It seemed that they were curious about the contents of the journal. And, as the two of them looked at Zagan’s face, they shrank back with a start.

  “H-Hey... You already done reading? So, what was with that book?” Barbatos asked.

  “It’s ash now.”

  “Huh?” Barbatos was at a complete loss for words, and Chastille had a worried expression on her face.

  “It’s probably better... not to ask what was written in it, huh?”

  “Well, I managed to find several clues in it, at least,” Zagan responded, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal.

  “Clues?” Chastille tilted her head to the side, which elicited a nod from Zagan.

  “Seems Nephy wasn’t born in this village. An abandoned child... No, that’s not quite right, but it seems she was brought to this village when she was a baby. And on top of that, the one who dropped her off was considered a devil by this village, which was why they all mistreated her.”

  Oddly enough, Chastille smiled in relief upon hearing those words.

  “I see. That’s good news, then.”

  “...How?” Zagan unintentionally replied in a critical tone, which made Chastille nod.

  “That means Nephy’s real family wasn’t part of this village, right? I don’t know if it will make her feel better, but the fact that her family may still be alive is good news, isn’t it?”

  “I’m surprised you can think of it that way. I mean, even if they are alive, that just means they abandoned her, right?” Zagan stared back at her in wonder as he replied.

  In response, Chastille blinked back in a daze, as if saying, ‘Huh, you’re one to talk.’

  “Even you tried to keep Nephy at a distance once, didn’t you? Why was that?” Chastille responded in a matter-of-fact manner.

  Zagan had once hurt Nephy and kept her at a distance. That was because he felt fear upon meeting the twelve Archdemons. Back then, he knew he would eventually become an ally of those monsters. However, he wished to spare Nephy such a fate. Zagan wanted Nephy to live under the light of day. It was a foolish thought brought on by his own weakness. After all, a real man would protect absolutely everything dear to him, including Nephy herself.

  In other words, she’s trying to say that Nephy’s parents might have also made the same mistake...? Zagan unintentionally formed a bitter smile.

  “That’s quite an optimistic view.”

  “Looking at the way all of you are, I want to believe that’s the case...” Chastille’s levelheaded opinion was completely unusual. It was throwing everyone present for a loop.

  “Huh? Aren’t you gonna track them down and get revenge?” Barbatos said as he knit his brows.

  “...Why do you only ever have such disgusting ideas?”

  “The hell do you think sorcerers are?”

  Zagan felt strangely relieved as he watched the two of them squabble.

  These two actually complement each other, don’t they? Honestly, it felt like they were skillfully keeping up a balancing act. And at the same time, Zagan realized that the anger he had been harboring since reading the journal was thinning out.

  “Well, I guess I’ll limit it to just blowing up the elder’s manor, then.”

  “Why even bother?” Barbatos inquired.

  “As a distraction, I guess?” Zagan replied resolutely. Barbatos was left dumbfounded. And Chastille let out an amused laugh from right next to him.

  “Cracking jokes already, huh? Must mean you’re back to normal now.”

  “Huh...? I wasn’t making a joke, though.”

  “What? It... wasn’t a joke?” Chastille was shocked for some reason, but Zagan felt like he understood what she was trying to say.

  I made her worry about me? Well, Zagan was aware that he must have seemed on edge, so perhaps Chastille’s desire to comfort him made sense.

  Even though she’s usually such a useless crybaby, she knows when to get serious. At the very least, she did once fight Zagan on even grounds.

  “There was one other clue in the journal. It’s probable that the ‘devil’ or whatever from the journal is the one who attacked Nephy.”

  “Huh...? Hold on. If that’s true, then wouldn’t that ‘devil’ or whatever be Nephy’s relative?”

  “The possibility exists, but I don’t have any proof. For all we know, she was abducted as a baby, right?”

  “That’s... true...” Chastille nodded without refuting his statement at all.

  “But then, why’s that guy the culprit?” Barbatos tilted his head to the side as he questioned Zagan.

  “The process of elimination. There are almost no other suspects when it comes to people who can come and go from a hidden village that even the Archdemons didn’t know existed. Plus, they have to be an elf too. The ‘devil’ the journal spoke of was definitely a native.”

  “Hm... The only famous elven sorcerer that comes to mind is ‘Fairy Queen’ Titania,” Barbatos said as he stroked his chin, looking deep in thought. Zagan had also heard that name before.

  “You mean the elf who challenged Archdemon Orias and lost?”

  Archdemon Orias was still alive. In fact, that particular Archdemon should have been at the gathering where Zagan joined their ranks.

  “Yeah. Titania was hellbent on creating an elven country, so she led an army of familiars using elven sorcery and picked a fight with Orias. That’s still considered to be the greatest battle against Archdemons in history.”

  It definitely wouldn’t have been difficult for such a skilled elf to turn Nephy into a child or form the barrier that wrapped around the village. However, Zagan shook his head.

  “Didn’t Titania die several hundred years ago?”

  “Yeah, but I’ve never even heard of any other elven sorcerers. Most of them keep their identities secret, since they get killed when they’re found out.”

  It was the same as Foll hiding the fact that she was a dragon. Elves were used as sacrifices and catalysts, and even a single strand of hair or a single drop of blood had extraordinary value. Enough value that it was worth staring death in the eyes to get a meager amount. Sorcerer or not, there were countless people who wanted to get their hands on them. And because of that, an elven sorcerer would never unveil their identity.

  Guess I’ll try contacting Orias once we get out of here... Zagan didn’t really want to, but that Archdemon seemed familiar with elven sorcerers. And if they were perhaps involved in their current predicament, it would be fine to kill them in response. There was no changing the fact that Zagan was pissed, after all.

  “Well, I can hunt down the culprit whenever I want. More importantly, how are Nephy and the others doing?” Zagan asked as he pulled himself out of his murderous thoughts.

  “If you�
�re looking for Nephy, she’s over there,” Chastille said, pointing over to the plaza in the middle of the village. And as he looked over, Zagan spotted three young girls leaning against Kimaris in his lion form.

  ◇

  “Hmm. So she’s asleep.”

  Chastille and Barbatos returned to the manor to gather any valuables before Zagan blew them to bits. It wasn’t like he planned to destroy it right away, but he was glad that they were getting it ready ahead of time, so he didn’t stop them.

  Kimaris was curled up under a large tree in the middle of the village, and the three little girls next to him were all sound asleep. Nephteros was sitting down next to them, hugging her knees. It seemed she was quite worn out, as she looked thoroughly exhausted.

  “...Hey, that’s your family over there, right? Why do I have to be their babysitter?” Nephteros questioned Zagan with a pointed glare on her face. If she was aware that she had been stuck on babysitting duty, it would have been fine for her to just run away, but she remained regardless.

  “Well, sorry about that. You have my thanks,” Zagan responded, which made Nephteros stare back in wonder.

  “I’ve thought this for quite a while now, but you really are an atypical Archdemon, huh?”

  “I’ve been trying to act more arrogant and audacious, though...”

  “A truly arrogant person wouldn’t offer their thanks to people.”

  Zagan simply shrugged his shoulders as he realized Nephteros had a point. And then, he looked over to the little girls who appeared to be sleeping comfortably.

  They all look so cute when they’re asleep... Nephy and Foll were already angels, but even Gremory looked adorable, which amazed him. And, as he gazed over them with a charmed expression, Nephteros looked up at Zagan like she had something to say.

  “What? Got something to say?”

  “Not really. It’s not like I’m complaining or anything, but...”

  “If there’s something on your mind, then try talking about it. You never know, it could come in handy in this situation,” Zagan claimed in an attempt to ease Nephteros’ tension. He planned to say that in as gentle a tone as possible, but it wasn’t like just anybody other than Nephy could read his words well, so he just had to hope for the best.