CHAPTER 12
[Scylla, Lowly Peasant Half-breed, Maid]
[Demon Territory, De Gracia—Guest Mansion]
I pulled the rope on my hand, and the guard in front of me choked. His body lazily flailed as he tried to grab the rope wrapped around his neck. It was no use—the poison that I’d struck him with earlier was already taking effect. A horrid choking came when he finally succumbed to his death.
Other than the muted sound of the guard falling, the hallways and other rooms were silent. Knowing that no one was going to walk here, it was the perfect time to execute the plan.
I tidied up the guard’s corpse and walked toward the room.
The light under the door flickered. It was thin lines of shadows that cut through the light emanating from the bottom of a door, the shadow of people on the other side.
“How was he?”
The voice of a man came from inside.
“Oh, the great sir? He’s as lovely as ever~”
“Cut the bull, Yullia. In addition to your poor acting skills, that face of yours will always be as ugly no matter how much make-up you put on it.”
“Oho~”
“Tsk. Let’s go back to the topic. How was that unpleasant child that suddenly appeared?”
“He’s gullible. Rather an easy one to be used or so, whatever whatnot you like to degrade them with.”
“Ha. Just like his father, that unsightly noble child is no other than those who grovel before you when presented with any amount of money. He’ll most likely drool the moment I give him some.”
“Shh~ someone might hear you, and you’ll be nothing other than a hung head. He’s a son of a Demon Lord, you know. Sir Jassen.”
“And that specific Demon Lord is none other than the 71st, that lowly Dantalion. Nobody’s here other than us, so why bother? Besides, it’s not like there’s anything a little money can’t fix.”
“Hah~ demon nobles and their obsession with money. This is as old as the fables.”
“Woman, you dare speak to your lord in that manner?”
“Ehe~ this lowly one was only joking.”
“You’re as sly-tongued as always. Well, how about the others? There’s also one missing, right? Like the 65th, 51st, and 44th? Don’t they also have representatives? Though the representative of the 71st did come later than usual.”
“Isn’t Sir Jassen also a representative?”
“That’s what I’m worried about. Shit. I knew working with humans wouldn’t be any good. I also haven’t heard a whisper from Demon Lord Seere or even Demon Lord Sitri. Maybe they’ve betrayed us, those sons of bitches.”
“There’s nothing on those so far. But I’ve heard that even the 8th Demon Lord isn’t coming.”
“Demon Lord Paimon? Why wouldn’t she come? She’s the leader of the Western faction. If she were missing, then there would be discourse regarding her absence.”
“It’s said she’s busy dealing with the current rebellions.”
“Rebellions...... hmm. Huh? What’s this smell all of a sudden?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Do you smell something odd?”
“No? It’s nothing—”
Thud.
“What? Oi—uck! What the fuck is this!?”
I slowly opened the door. The demon noble Jassen cried as his mouth drooled while sitting on his bed. Yullia, on the other hand, completely fainted.
Mice.
“A maid? Shit.”
Jassen tried to move, but his body limped.
“GUARDS! WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE GUARDS!?”
“There is no schedule for the guards to make a routine here in the next 2 hours. We have plenty of time to spend.”
He stared at me intensely and snickered.
“Who the fuck are you? What did you do? Do you not know who I am? If you’re going to lay hands on me, then you’re dead by morning. Drop the act, and I’ll forgive you—!”
I plunged a knife into his hand.
“The toxins are already going throughout your body. There’s no point in resisting.”
“Heuk!”
I twisted the knife.
“You bitch. What the fuck do you want?”
“I am here to give a message.”
“A message?”
Jassen looked at me, confused.
“It is from the House of Serra that she intended to cut off the connections from the five Demon Lords that had helped with the rebellion.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Hah!? Don’t you mean, what about the others!? Does that—kuh!”
The knife went deeper.
“Yes, I’ve come to dispose of you.”
“Huh?”
“Please have a good look.”
I dragged Yullia’s sleeping body by her hair and put it close to Jassen’s face, then snapped her neck. Her body dropped to the ground instantly as I unenthusiastically kicked it.
A wide frown formed on Jassen’s mouth, and his eyes twitched ever so slightly. His face went from an arrogant grit to something a prey would look like when cornered by a predator. The feeling of someone in the face of something they couldn’t overcome, not by any means, not by their power, nothing.
It was despair.
“This shall be your fate.”
I removed the knife from his hand and plunged it into his chest. He tried to escape, but there was no escape. He shouted to stop, but I didn’t. He tried to kick, but it was no use. His breath became ragged as more blood arose from his mouth. His eyes were fixed on me as his mouth formed a red foam dripping onto his clothes.
He made a last attempt to strike me, but his arm was weak and couldn’t even muster the strength to lift it a few inches.
On one last sweep of my knife cutting his throat, he fell on his back and lay lifeless on the bed.
I wiped the blood off my hand on the bedsheets. My eyes stared thoughtlessly at the bloodied corpses before me.
“Hahhh...... this is rather exhausting.”
That’s one job done.
“......”
Now, time to take care of the goose.
. . .
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[Deilos, Son of the Demon Lord Dantalion, Young Lord]
[Demon Territory, De Gracia—Guest Mansion]
I’m stumped.
It’s been quite long since I’ve worked this hard. In my past life, even though I was constantly working, it wasn’t a problem. That work for me was something as natural as breathing. You don’t think about breathing and only do it automatically with utmost efficiency like your body was made for it. Gathering information and memorizing names, terminology, history, and the mechanics of this world is quite the slog to go through. Doing all this while maintaining vigilance, keeping up a face, and observing my surroundings took it all to extremes.
I’ve slept no less than 2-3 hours these few days, around 6 am to 9, hoping to keep my eyes open when someone tries to enter the room without permission.
Though this might be a normal thing for me back in my old world, this time it isn’t so easy. Having the burden of having a target behind your back really does make you exert all of what you have in trying to stay alive.
“Hup.”
I stretched, and my back cracked in a satisfying way. The dog that I bought was sleeping on my lap. I moved in a way that wouldn’t disturb it as I took the note from the desk and examined it.
Demon Lord Barbatos’ letter roughly translated to these simple assumptions.
‘The papa dog is leashed.’
Someone is behind Dantalion’s moves.
‘Not by the rescuer.’
Presumably, she’s temporarily siding with me, but not with Dantalion.
‘The pup might not live much longer.’
There are people trying to silence me.
‘Find the spiteful one.’
Though this part might be the hardest to know or confirm, it essentially takes two possible guesses. Either I’m the bait for that ‘spiteful one’ or the literal meaning that I’ll have to find them. From my observations, it seems like it’s both. The eyes of some servants and nobles in the guest mansion all told me that.
For now, my current goal is to get as much information as I can before the Eve of Walpurgis comes up.
“Walpurgis...... a familiar name.”
A knock came on the door.
“Young lord, it is me.”
“Come in.”
Scylla entered the room, holding a cup of tea.
“Is Seekth still outside?”
“Yes, young lord. He also advised this one to tell the young lord to sleep.”
“Let him be. He’s like a doting parent, or someone looking out for their pet, perhaps?”
“The young lord’s jokes are as derogatory to himself as usual.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?”
I looked at Scylla. She stood the same way as usual.
“Your clothes look a bit cleaner. Did you change your clothes? Why? Did something happen?”
Scylla stared at me blankly.
“I....... this one was poured hot water earlier as she brewed the tea she wanted to give the young lord.”
“Hahhh...... I’ve told you that I don’t need such things. You bring me this tea every night in hopes that I sleep earlier so you can get away from me, correct?”
She didn’t say anything and only kept her head low. It seems like she doesn’t want to answer.
“You’re quite meek today. Was the water that hot?”
I placed the dog on the floor. It slowly woke up from slumber and looked at us with drowsy eyes. I stood by Scylla’s side and checked her hands. They were soft and smaller compared to mine, with some scars here and there.
“Tell me where it hurts.”
“This one......”
She pulled her hands away from me.
“This one shouldn’t be touching the young lord. If she was seen doing so, then this one’s hands would likely be chopped off just by the notion of her touching the skin of not just a noble, but a Demon Lord’s son’s hand at that. She'll be hanged in the capitol if this was public knowledge.”
“There’s only us here. As I’ve always said, there isn’t a single thing you should be worrying about.”
“This one also worries about the young lord’s public image of him being in contact with such a lowly one like her.”
“As I’ve said—hah, never mind.”
I took a seat.
Despite spending days with her, trying to know what she likes, her daily life, and even things like personal stuff like her family, she doesn’t say much to me.
Well, I might be inconsiderate considering that we’ve only been acquaintances for 4 days—it’s still a big problem when I don’t even know her favorite color.
“Here, young lord.”
Scylla placed the tea on my desk.
“This one shall be taking her leave.”
It was the same tea she’d been giving me. It had a smooth brown and a soft fragrance on it. But this time it wasn’t that upon closer inspection. There were some inconsistencies with this tea. Although tea cannot be brewed in the same perfect copy as the previous, these were glaring.
The brown color was darker. The soft, fragrant smell on it was tinged with slight hints of sourness. While it was hard to see because the only light source was a candle, as I stirred the tea, the topmost layer of it was bubbling.
“......”
Her changing clothes, her behavior, and now the tea.
This isn’t normal.
My mind came up with multiple interpretations of these tiny bits of information and came to a single conclusion.
Scylla poisoned the tea.
“Wait.”
Scylla froze at the door with her hand on the handle.
“There's something I'd like to talk about.”
. . .
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