Prologue
What exactly should I do about this...!? Zagan found himself in quite a predicament.
He was presently in his castle, which had floors made of weathered oak that perfectly matched the stone walls covered in moss. There were carpets on the ground and ornaments adorning the walls to try and cover them, but Zagan never really did any maintenance.
It had been at least two hundred years since its construction, and it was a completely secluded castle with a gloomy atmosphere.
However, before Zagan, who was sitting atop the throne of that castle with his legs crossed as he leaned back, was a young girl who was quietly standing stock-still.
The first thing that would catch one’s attention was her snow-white hair that extended down to her waist. After that, there was the deep crimson ribbon which decorated her locks. She had a small face, large azure eyes that looked like the summer sky, and her lips were a moderately pale pink.
Covering her dainty limbs was a white dress, and through the opening at the chest one could catch a glimpse of two large bulges, which greatly contrasted her thin figure.
However, her eyes were awfully hollow, and her ears tapered into a point.
A member of the legendary race that had been called fairies from Norden since ancient times — an elf.
An individual with snow-white hair was especially rare, and was said to possess tremendous power.
Those girls were considered closer to divinity than humans, but precisely because of that holiness, there was no small number of humans who targeted them. A single strand of their hair, a single drop of their blood, or even the lives of those girls themselves held unfathomable power as a magical catalyst.
And around that ephemeral and mystical girl’s neck... was a boorish collar with a chain attached to it.
A slave’s collar.
And so, this girl’s existence itself was the identity of Zagan’s anguish.
How exactly do I start a conversation with the girl I love...!? A few hours ago, when he fell in love at first sight with this elf and ended up purchasing her, he was still fine. However, since Zagan had almost no opportunities so far in life to speak with a girl of marriageable age, he was now at a loss. He had no idea how to attract the heart of the opposite sex.
The girl in question was also one he purchased, so she had the social status of a slave. Perhaps because of the tension, her expression was stiff. It was to the point where one could describe it as expressionless.
Still, he knew he couldn’t just stay silent forever. He had to say something.
Zagan tried reciting the words in his head.
‘The sky is lovely isn’t it?’ ...No. That’s no good. No good at all.
This was a room with no windows, and if one were to look up at the ceiling, they would be able to spot rusted chains hanging from several torture devices. Besides, in the first place, it was supposed to be overcast outside.
No matter how he thought of it, that was no good. In that case, exactly what should he say?
‘What do you think of this castle?’ Wait, think about it calmly. Isn’t this an abandoned castle littered with corpses and sorcery apparatuses? It looks like an execution site or hell, doesn’t it? That was the only reply that came to mind.
Or rather, he was now regretting that he hadn’t at least cleaned the place up before bringing her along.
And then, it happened just about when half an hour had passed. The one to open their mouth first... wasn’t Zagan.
“Master. Would you permit me... a question... perhaps?” It was a quiet and pleasant voice, akin to that of a chime.
“...What?” Having given a blunt reply, Zagan was at his wit’s end.
Putting it like that, it’s like I’m taking offense, right!? Even though she finally spoke to him herself, he had screwed it all up. And while Zagan was writhing in agony, the girl said the following in a tone like she felt nothing at all.
“Just how... will you be... killing me?”
Zagan then opened his mouth in complete astonishment.
“Hold up! Why would I kill you?”
“Huh...? Am I... wrong?” While saying that, the girl gazed up to the things hanging from the walls and ceiling.
Saws with blood plastered on them, iron coffins with long needles attached to the insides, shears of various shapes and sizes, and many other unparalleled dangerous goods were left around as if they were mere decorations.
They were torture devices left behind by the previous owner of the castle.
And even before that, I left the corpse of the intruder from this morning in the foyer, too. It’s no wonder she’s scared...
Thinking back on it, he felt like the girl’s body had stiffened upon seeing that corpse, which was the body of someone who met a violent end by having their head blown off.
If there existed a sorcerer who would bring a girl to such a creepy place and pleasantly claim ‘I’m a gentleman. I won’t do anything scary to you,’ then Zagan himself would start by giving them a good socking.
With a drip and a drop, cold sweat ran down his spine.
Gazing into the eyes of the girl that seemed to have lost any sign of hope, Zagan was unable to make any excuses.
The beginning of this situation... Well, that was something that happened on the morning of this very day.
Chapter I
First Love is a Nasty Disease That Everybody Suffers
Right at the break of dawn, a shrill scream rang out within an otherwise silent forest.
The foliage from the densely packed trees spread out overhead like a ceiling. It was a forest where even the light of day was obstructed. The neighboring towns even referred to it as the Forest of the Lost. In the center of this forest was an ancient abandoned castle covered in ivy, where rumors had it that a sorcerer who was either a ghost or a devil resided.
And within that eerie forest, Zagan was taking a walk.
He was a young man who would turn eighteen this year. Sporting a black robe with red lining, he had black hair and silver eyes, handsome and noble features. If he dressed slightly more tidily, he could likely name himself as some noble without being so much as second guessed.
“Meyers, please stop! Come to your senses...” Taking a look, he could see a single woman being pinned down by a man dressed like an Angelic Knight.
She was still quite young, likely of the age to still be called a girl. She had beautiful red hair like polished copper and deep blue eyes. Her skin was white, almost as if it were transparent. From the smooth lines of the bridge of her nose, he could sense a certain air of refinement like that of a noble from her. Still, the impression she gave off as a tomboy was far stronger than that.
However, even that lively face was now twisted with fear.
Was it correct to assume that it was the daughter of a noble and her escort? Zagan was thinking of such things while he walked toward them at a relaxed pace.
And during that time, the girl resisted violently and scratched the man’s face.
“Urgh!” However, the one to turn pale from that was not the man. After all, the face that the girl’s nails dug into... smoothly peeled off.
His skin peeled open, and chunks of meat mixed with blood dripped down, drop after drop.
“Eek...” Seeing that ghastly spectacle, the girl let out a yelp.
There was no face behind the skin that was smoothly peeled off. Since the ears and nose were scraped off, he had lost his cheekbones along with any distinguishing features.
So the man is a sorcerer, huh? Zagan knew that his face was the price he paid for
sorcery.
With that grotesque face thrust before her at such close proximity, the pitiful girl’s teeth clattered as she trembled.
And as the man took a knife out from his waist, he slid it across the chest of the girl as if brushing her.
“Ah!” With a gentle flutter, her shirt was cut open and her breasts were exposed. It was easy to imagine what would happen next to the girl.
Staring at the girl, who was no longer able to let out her voice out of shame and terror, the man laughed.
“Haha, you’re making quite the stimulating face there, aren’t you? Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not gonna rape you like you’re hoping. A virgin, you see, is quite valuable to a sorcerer.”
—There’s no way I’ll defile your body— Upon hearing his intentions, the girl’s expression showed signs of relief for an instant.
However, what the girl did not know was that she was going to go through something far more repulsive than being defiled.
“The skin of a virgin’s face, which has been peeled off while she is still alive is... quite a good medium, yes. Don’t die on me too quickly now, understand?” The pieces of meat that had fallen to the ground were reflected in the girl’s eyes.
“N-No... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Seeing the girl scream, the man smiled as if his mood was growing jollier.
“Besides, I personally can’t get enough of peeling off the face of a good-looking woman like you. Relax, after I finish peeling off your face, I’ll show your body plenty of love! Hihyahyahya!” And it was just at that time that Zagan arrived right behind the man.
As he grasped the man’s head like an eagle, he easily lifted him up with a single hand.
“H-Huh...?” Upon having the knife that he had pressed against the girl’s face pulled away, the man raised an idiotic voice.
“Wh-Who the hell are you!?” It didn’t seem he understood the situation he was in, and Zagan was exasperated at the angered man.
“Right back at you. I don’t care if you’re raping or torturing her, but going off and fooling around in someone else’s garden... Even though I was going to take a nap, I’m wide awake now.” Disturbing his nap... Hearing those words, which showed not a single hint of pity toward the girl’s situation, not only the man, but the girl was also in shock.
With the abandoned castle at its center, this entire forest was Zagan’s domain. And also, at the same time, nobody had ever defeated Zagan in this place.
Precisely because he was a sorcerer, the man at least understood the meaning to that. He immediately cast aside his knife and raised both his hands.
“W-Wait! You’re a sorcerer just like me, right? Even if you kill me, there’d be nothing for you to gain. If you let me go, I’ll hand over my research results!” He was begging for his life. Moreover, it was in the realm where he was fine with resigning all of his assets.
To a sorcerer, one’s research was equivalent to one’s own power. Because just by taking hold of knowledge, one was able to touch upon just that much more sorcery.
And despite this, Zagan glared at the man with suspicious eyes, and said the following as if spitting out at him.
“That shitty sorcery that can only be used by peeling off fresh skin? I don’t need it.” And immediately following that, the man’s head splattered to pieces like a crushed fruit.
“...Ah, I went and did it.” The man’s body still straddled the girl. Since his head was crushed, the broken pieces of meat and blood sprayed down incessantly onto her.
Having become completely bloodstained, the girl lost consciousness. If she were to wake up, she would likely be carrying one or two emotional traumas with her.
And as one would expect, treating such a young girl so poorly left a feeling of guilt within Zagan’s chest.
—C-Calm down. I’m a sorcerer. I can restore something of this level easily enough.
If all the remains of blood were gone, then the girl may end up forgetting it all as a bad dream.
As Zagan took a deep breath as if calming his nerves, he raised his index finger and began twirling it around.
“Surging Ring” After saying that aloud, a large circle stretched out on the ground. It was a magic circle delicately spun together with letters and figures. And as if reverting time, all the blood and meat splashed across the girl’s body was torn away from her and gathered on the sorcerer’s corpse. Of course, that also applied to the clotted blood clinging to Zagan’s hand.
This was sorcery. It was something used by drawing a magic circle. And within those, a sorcerer was able to manifest phenomena that ignored physical laws as they saw fit. By devising the construction and process of such things, the difference in individual power was made apparent.
There was also a method of omitting the labor of drawing a magic circle by speaking of its meaning with a spell, but in principle, the same thing was being done.
Although, this sorcery was only one which moved the location of an object, so the mass of meat which gathered at the stump where the head was missing immediately crumbled back to pieces.
But even so, the girl’s body and torn clothes were returned to how they were before. Looking at her face once more, Zagan let out a deep sigh.
Quite a beauty huh? And then, he noticed that a single pendant was hanging down her neck.
“...A cross? Wow, is she from the church?” By church, he was referring to the apostles of the self-proclaimed god who held a grudge against sorcerers, as well as the Chivalric Order which carried out their justice.
Knight was originally a title that identified soldiers who devoted themselves loyally to a king, but they were unable to oppose the power of a sorcerer. However, the church had powers that could oppose sorcerers. Miracles of God, they said.
Those who proceeded to fight with sorcerers were not the knights who served royalty, but the Angelic Knights of the church. And before anyone knew it, the word knight ended up identifying only members of the church.
In other words, the church was the archenemy of sorcerers.
What do I do here...? I feel like they’ll think I’m the culprit if I leave things alone...
For the time being, Zagan did in fact save this girl, but the other side would likely only see it as a falling out between fellow villainous sorcerers. Moreover, he ended up dousing her in a bloody shower.
Even if she were to wake up, it would probably be quite difficult to undo the misunderstanding. However, one way or another, killing the girl that he happened to save would leave him with a bad aftertaste.
“...Well, whatever.” After worrying about it for a little, Zagan decided to just throw her out.
If he just abandoned her on the main road that stretched out next to the forest, then someone would likely find her. If by some chance a villain ended up finding her and caused her further harm, that just meant that she was unlucky. He had no obligation to look after her to such an extent.
Zagan lightly tapped his sole against the ground. And then, another magic circle, different from the one before, was drawn out around the girl’s body.
This was a magic circle of teleportation, which connected to the outside of Zagan’s territory.
However, before the girl could be teleported, something came over from the other side of the magic circle.
“Tch?” Zagan’s eyes shot open.
My magic circle... was hijacked? This was within Zagan’s domain.
In preparation for intruders, Zagan had many magic circles prepared within his own castle and its surrounding land.
It was a barrier.
A barrier that informed him of the location of intruders. A barrier with the purpose of capturing said intruders. A barrier that dampened the powers of all sorcerers other than himself. And also, a barrier that fortified his own power.
In other words, anything and everything within it was Zagan’s domain, where he reigned supreme.
And so, hijacking a magic circle within it was not a feat just any old sorcerer could accomplish. It was an intruder
of extraordinary talent, and yet, Zagan’s reaction was still carefree.
“Don’t just use someone’s magic circle as you please, Barbatos.” What appeared was a tall, thin young man.
He looked to be around twenty years old, about two or three years older than Zagan himself and a fair bit taller. However, there was a deep shadow spread out around his eyes. Wearing a robe that extended into a hood around his head, he also had several amulets dangling from his neck.
Adding on the fact that he broke through the barrier, Zagan knew that this man possessed extraordinary power.
“Yo, Zagan. You’ve got quite the unhealthy look to you like always, I see.”
“If we’re talking about unhealthy looks, aren’t you just the same, Barbatos?”
Among sorcerers, he was the one who would brazenly intrude into Zagan’s domain. And also, he was Zagan’s one and only undesirable friend.
“Also, don’t just use my magic circle as you please.”
“If I don’t do that, then I can’t even teleport here, right?”
A sorcerer’s power was, in short, magic circles. This man had made Zagan’s magic circle his own, and was able to intrude into Zagan’s domain. It was something far more difficult to do than it sounded.
Even though this domain was advantageous to Zagan, it was dubious whether he would be able to win against this man in a head on fight. He was just that kind of sorcerer.
Barbatos then gazed over the unconscious girl and the corpse spread out next to her, and squinted his eyes.
“What’s this? Were you in the middle of a party?”
“All I did was dish out some light punishment to the villain who was frolicking in my garden.”
“Heehee, like you can talk.” Sorcerers were villains without exception. All that interested them was accumulating their own power, and they found little value in the lives of others or in any fortunes. If they found it necessary, they would harbor no guilt in stealing, either.
Even the reason Zagan saved the girl just now was not because of his virtue, but simply because he had no interest in what was going on.
Barbatos continued to stare at the girl.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride - Volume 01 Page 1