Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

142 – The Time Has Come

“..So, you’re saying you don’t know who this kid is either?”

“Yes.”

“Kkamang, you don’t know me?!”

“..But, this one,

she calls you Kkamang?”

“..Yes.”

“….”

“….”

“Does that even make sense?!!”

This is unfair.

It’s the truth, though.

*

Black hair and black eyes,

and from her hands,

a black light emanated.

Let me state it clearly,

I have never once

seen someone similar

to this girl, not even once.

In this world,

black hair is

actually considered quite rare.

The magic to

change hair color certainly existed, but

this girl wouldn’t need

to use such magic, even to

change her hair color.

Besides, I’ve never met the child.

Moreover, this girl’s

identity is almost certainly a spirit,

And I’d almost never seen a spirit in my life.

If you could even call it that,

Only those little things

Hovering around Sylvia recently.

And every last one of those

Was small.

At least, not nearly the size of a little child.

“Kkamang!!”

“Kuh-huh…!”

Right, and they certainly didn’t hurl themselves at me like that.

The black-haired child

Instantly launched into my arms,

And my already utterly exhausted

Body went right over with them.

Onto this disgustingly sticky

Floor, with one look.

“…What’s happening?”

“….”

And, that’s when a

Grey-haired woman caught me.

With an arm that looked like it would

Snap with the slightest tap.

“What are you gawking at?”

She looked, at first glance, to be the

Same size as the child clinging to my chest.

And besides, her hair was

Braided into pigtails just now.

I don’t know why but she looked awfully childish─

“You crazy b*stard!!”

“Kuh-huh…!!”

“The little tart in your arms

Made me like this, you got a problem?!”

“No… not really.”

“..Tch, so you don’t know who she is?”

“..No, I don’t.”

Her hand went, for a moment,

Toward my chest.

No, more accurately, above the head of the girl nestled in my chest.

“Heehee!”

Swish, swish.

A touch, like stroking a cat, brushed against me, and a smile never left the girl’s lips. She simply kept gazing at me.

“You know he’s a spirit, right?”

“..I wasn’t certain.”

“Oh? I suppose these guys are

forgotten by humans now.”

“What does that mean?”

Not passed down

to humans, you say?

A spirit, of all things?

Living lives close to eternity,

constantly being reborn as long as

nature exists.

That is what a spirit should be.

For those beings to be

forgotten by humans…

It was something that could never

happen unless they had never

shown themselves even once.

By human standards, that is.

“Hm? Weren’t you aware?”

“Aware of what?”

“..Honestly, you’re a fool, aren’t you?”

“….”

“Ha… how did I end up

with a guy like this as my contractor…”

She roughly grabbed and tugged at the

side of her hair, still shimmering and swaying.

As if she was so irritated

that she couldn’t stand it.

Her appearance, panting heavily,

was quite fierce, but

honestly, maybe it was because of her

appearance, or

that she just looked like a child…

It almost seemed a petulant whine.

Hard to believe it came from a scaled dragon of ash.

“I’m no different from you, see?!”

“..Pardon?”

“..Ah, never mind. Where were we?”

“The…this little one,

forgotten, you said.”

The moment my words left my lips,

she splayed her palm before my eyes,

her five fingers filling my vision.

“Recite the five cardinal attributes of spirits.”

“…?”

“Recite them!!”

The cardinal attributes of spirits.

Simply put, the… the characteristic,

the very essence of their power.

For the most part, they bear

the attributes of the

natural element from which they sprung.

For example, if a spirit

were to be born from flame,

then that spirit must,

without fail, possess the attribute of fire.

The strength of the flame,

its ferocity, are irrelevant.

Only that the fiery character

be prominent within the spirit’s power.

Thus, spirits are divided into five attributes:

Fire, Water, Light, Plant, and Earth, in that order.

And digging a little deeper,

the attributes could be

further subdivided, but

generally, what’s commonly known

to the public are these

five and nothing more.

“Yes, better than I expected, it seems.”

“..But what has this got to do with─”

“Then, a question.”

At that moment,

the hand she had been holding open,

All fingers curled inwards,

leaving only one pointing towards the girl.

“What attribute does that little one possess?”

“..Well, that’s─”

“Let me tell you now, it is not Light.”

“….”

“Light and Darkness can absolutely

never be blended.”

This was a rule the world had set.

Light and Darkness must coexist, yet never mingle.

Perfect good and perfect evil

must exist,

but imperfect good and imperfect evil must not,

for that would be

against this beautiful and perfect world

we are about to create.

“What are you talking about?”

“Just as I say, it is

simply a rule, of sorts.”

“….”

“You wear the expression of someone wondering how I know all of this?”

“..I won’t deny it.”

“Well, I have simply

lived longer than you lot, so it is only natural.”

The way she spoke those words…

seemed somehow regretful, and pained.

So unlike the Demonic Dragon,

who had been the subject of

countless people’s resentment.

“In any case, that is not important, so let us move on.”

“Hehe… Hehehe.”

“Yes… let us.”

Though countless questions

rose within me like mountains,

I did not have the strength

to continue that conversation further.

She seemed too

unstable at this moment.

In appearance alone, she was

still a full-grown adult.

She looked like she could devour a whole throng of people,

but inside, it felt like

she was rotting away, ready to crumble with a single tap.

I decided against continuing the conversation.

“…Thanks.”

Ah, come to think of it,

she could read my thoughts, couldn’t she?

For some reason, my face felt

a little flushed.

“Well, anyway… it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen them too.”

“…?”

“I didn’t remember at first, but watching them fight, it jogged my memory a bit.”

“Mama…?”

Before I knew it, she was once more

slowly caressing the girl’s head,

and her gaze began to gleam.

Not in a beautiful, glittering way that suited

her appearance,

but with thin, slit pupils

like the eyes of a snake.

A look I had definitely seen before.

Like the eyes of a predator

with its prey before it,

or, to be more precise…

it looked like the eyes of a wild beast

upon discovering a prey it’s never seen before.

“But if my hunch

is correct, this is quite something, isn’t it?”

“…?”

“Hey, where on earth

did you pick her up?”

“…I picked her up?”

“…Wasn’t it you?”

There’s no way I could have picked her up.

I barely have enough time to

take care of myself,

let alone enough to look after someone else.

“So, the two of you didn’t actually sign a contract?”

“A…contract, I’ve never done anything like that.”

“So she’s just…

following you around of her own volition?”

“…Yes.”

Why was it, though?

I spoke only the truth.

And yet, her face was

quickly twisting into something sour.

“…A real lucky son of a b*tch, aren’t you.”

“…Pardon?”

“Never mind…it’s nothing.

I’ll tell you when I see you again.”

“…?”

“And try to stay out of trouble, alright? For real.”

And with those words, my vision went black.

*

*Grind—*

Teeth grinding.

*Clench—*

A fist clenched so tightly

that fingernails dug into the palm, and

*Drip, drip.*

Blood began to seep out,

staining the floor.

“Explain.”

“L-Lord Duke?!”

“Explain why my manor is in this state.”

“Th-That is…”

“Provide an explanation I can understand, right now.”

His expression, beyond blank, was

chillingly frozen.

How many people would

remain standing, unflinching,

before such a face?

The servant standing

before him was no different.

Just look at that burly frame.

Clearly, he was a man who could hold his own among common folk.

Possessing a certain audacity, too.

A man, perhaps, untouched by fear.

But, at this moment,

it availed him nothing.

“I said, speak the truth.”

“Th-th-that is…”

“…Do you hold your life so cheap?”

“N-no! I will speak!!”

For the Duke’s icy blade,

seemed poised to

sever his neck this very instant.

And besides, though

unspoken, it was plain to see:

the Duke was in a foul mood.

The son, discarded

long ago like refuse,

had suddenly returned, a hero

of the Empire, to receive a title.

And the daughter, coddled

since the rogue abandoned the family,

now entertained thoughts of plunging a knife into its back.

Then, barely returned from

salvaging a ruined banquet, his

mansion lay half in ruins.

Could anyone, save a saint,

bear such trials?

To worsen matters, the daughter,

imprisoned to prevent further chaos,

had vanished without a trace.

For him, at this point,

anything might occur,

and it would seem perfectly normal.

‘Whatever else happens, Aria… I must find her first…!’

“Do you intend to remain silent?”

“N-no, it’s just…”

“….”

“It’s a rather…

delicate matter to convey with words… *hic*!!”

“So then, that useless

tongue of yours is forfeit, wouldn’t you agree?”

“N-No, wait! I’ll tell the truth, I swear it!”

The servant’s face

was already a mask

of tears and snot,

and seeing this, the Duke

clicked his tongue once in annoyance,

leaving the word “last”

hanging in the air as he sheathed his blade again.

Past this, and he truly

intended to rip that tongue

from its roots.

“Confess without a single lie.”

“Y-Yes! Yes!”

“Why is my manor half-destroyed?”

And the servant,

wiping away a stray tear,

recounted everything

he had witnessed moments before.

How the young master

had tried to spirit away

the young lady somewhere,

and how the elder master had intervened personally.

And that in this account,

no falsehoods existed,

“..Say it again.”

“Y-Yes?”

“..Allen… became a demon?”

“Yes? Yes…th-that’s righ-aaaGH!”

“..I warned you, I don’t tolerate lies.”

The Duke denied the fact

with roughly spattering

drops of blood,

“Ho ho…”

And someone watching

this entire spectacle

found the truth rather…intriguing.