Chapter 42: The Story Of The Unfortune
Wurl Mamon is the next in line of the Mamon’s patriarch, even though he is the youngest among his brothers.
The reason is that none of them are alive anymore. Most of them commit suicide for some reason that may be related to Wurl, and the others just straight up get killed by Wurl. And that’s just the start of his notoriety;
When his position was secured, he began to take on multiple tasks of assassination not for money but just for experience, enslaving people with his weird ability and killing those who he didn’t like. That's just how Wurl Mamon was, the monster under the skin of-
“-human. That’s what they all say, but the truth is I have a heart too. I didn’t want to kill my brother, but if I didn’t kill them, they would kill me. The elders and even my own father just keep a blind eye to all of that matter. So to survive, I h-have to kill them.”
A single tear traced down his cheek as the chill of regret seeped into his bones, making Wurl Mamon hug himself and shiver. His teeth chattered until he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
“But the press just loved to tear down a wounded man to shreds, haha. Am I right? I never did any of those. Like, what kind of human could do that and can sleep well?”
“I-I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”
“It’s alright. That’s what friends are for anyway.”
“F-friend”
“Yeah, we are friends, right?”
“Y-yeah, we are friends.”
“Then since I told my sobby story, what about you—you must have suffered even more than I.”
“U-Um”
Should I tell him? I didn’t want anyone to know that I’m from the Rat Dump or about my family’s matters—not even Beelzebub. But he has already opened his heart to me, so I should open mine. That’s only fair.
“I-I’m from the Rat Dump.”
“...Yeah, I can tell due to the faint stench; you should have taken a bath before entering the school.”
Shin's face turned red right instantly, and he began to regret it, but Wurl just laughed.
“Oh, don’t worry; the school is fair and just, and so am I. Continue.”
“You see, a long time ago, about three years ago, I used to have a loving family and two of my older brothers. Even though we lived in the Rat Dump, we were a happy family. My father is a trash collector, while two of my brothers are both E-rank mercenaries. But they are always busy, so I only meet them at night, but still, we get along well because of my mother, who is the link to every member of the family. She is kind, caring, and funny; she is a great person who takes care of us all. We wouldn’t know what would happen if she were gone.
Shin paused for a moment, his breath becoming heavy as he gathered memories he wanted to forget, then slowly resumed his story.
“Until she’s-she’s gone. That’s just a common flu that can be treated with medicines, but she hid it from all of us. I-I was always with her, and yet I failed to notice her condition worsening, and one morning, she never woke up again.”
“From there, everything crumbled. My eldest brother went insane and died from charging directly at a monster. My second brother disappeared to God knows where. Leaving only my father and me. My father left his job and fell into alcoholism. Those days were hell for me, with him beating me up and cursing at me, but I believed I deserved it, for it was I who killed my mother. Then one night, when I was awoken by a loud noise…I wish that night, I didn't wake up and witness it."
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Shin's words slowly turned into gibberish as he lost control to even talk right, but with a pat on the shoulder by Wurl, he managed to speak out about what happened that night.
"My father tried to kill me with a pillow over my head. I screamed in desperation as my thoughts blurred from asphyxiation; maybe this was a bad dream, and all I needed to do was wake up. Maybe that’s the time when my ability was unlocked, for when I woke up the next morning, the entirety of the house was gone, including my father.”
“And now here I am bearing another sin, killing the parents who give life to you. I’m a pathetic little piece of shit."
“That’s why I want to fix it. I know I can’t return to the past, but with this power, I hope that I can stop the misery that my family suffers. To rebuild the world so that no mother would hide her pain and no father would go insane and no son would be forced to kill their parents.”
******
When I think back about that conversation long ago, all I feel now is a deep sense of regret and pain in my heart…although the pain might come from that surgery from before.
Now, what can I do? Should I have met up with Wurl Mamon and yelled at him? Then he would just share the fact that I’m from the Rat Dump to all of the school and turn my past into a laughing stock.
I didn’t want to confront him anymore; the look on his face not only angered me but also scared me. To think that all this time he was planning something so insidious as poisoning me. Is his story true? What or who should I trust anymore…Can even those bastards living rent-free be trusted?
I—I don’t know what to do anymore; maybe I should stay still in this blanket and wait for another semester. Y-Yeah, let’s do that. This time is just bad luck, so let’s try next time… Damn it, this pain—I don’t want to be hurt anymore, so let’s just sleep.
And then a thought occurred to Shin; maybe he should just drop d-
“Oh, myself, look at this piece of shit. WAKE UP, I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR SHENANIGANS FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS. I HAVE WORK TO DO.”
Shin curled himself into his blanket even more, causing Beelzebub to be ready to rip the little guy's neck off his body. But then, he sighs and sits down next to Shin, which is unlike his normal self.
“What’s the point of beating you up anyway? So let me fix that mental state of yours.”
“…T-that’s very unusual. Are you going to brainwash me?”
“I wanted to, but for some reason, I didn't at the same time. Consider yourself spared from my wrath.”
“…”
Beelzebub also wonders what’s happened to him. Maybe the boy’s situation kind of reminds him when he encounters that hero’s descendant. Either way, the best option right now is using words. Let's see if he is still skilled when he tries to influence someone in a different dimension… and influence Shin's emotions a little using the charm.
“What’s your goal? The thing that motivates you increases your morale."
“...Why bother asking?”
“True, there’s no need, but seeing you right now, I guess that wasn’t something special anyway.”
Shin goes silent like he doesn’t want to continue this conversation.
“Well, you are one lucky bastard for being a human. If you were a demon, you would jump into hellfire to end yourself.”
“...Why?”
“Because your race can dream”
Startled by this sudden answer, Shin finally tucked out of his blanket and looked at Beelzebub in confusion.
“A dream is nothing more than a mere imagination of you, little human. For being like us, we can’t dream; it’s either we believe we could or we couldn’t; there is no in-between.”
That’s what sets Beelzebub apart from other high-ranking demons, for he is delusional, a maniac, someone who didn’t know his place. But that was what made him a demon king.
“You humans are weak, easily swayed by inferior emotions, willing to give up everything just because of one accident. Yet you can dream, dream of something higher than you can, an impossible possibility because of dreams; you humans reach higher than most of us.”
“...”
“See, you could have such a grand belief, and yet you didn’t do anything to even try reaching it when things didn’t go the way you wanted; even a dumb demonic beast put more effort than you. So wake the fuck up and confront the thing that has bothered you. And don’t worry; if anything were to happen to you, I would make sure to end it.”
“...Y-yes, mister.”
*****
That demon was right; I shouldn’t let this incident burden me. No, I should step up and continue to walk.
…So I walked…walked a very long way to the training ground, where I met Wurl Mamon face-to-face… Okay, the confrontation is done. What should I do now?
“H-hello Shin, I thought you were sick."
“Y-Yes”
This can’t go on like this. Mustering up every single bit of courage I have, I asked Wurl with a serious face.
“D-did you poison me? From a mosquito?”
Wurl looks surprised at first and then sighs and then...he simply laughed it off like he found this amusing.
“I guess the cat is out of the bag; I shouldn’t have hired that guy. I shall answer your question my dear friend Shin, yes, I did."
Seeing him answer confidently with his twisted smile, I felt my arm being released from the sentiment, awkwardness, and fear. All of them were washed away, replaced by something else entirely.
“OH YOU FUCK”
That is anger. Overwhelming anger. By channel my mana and imbue my gravity ability within, I unleashed the strongest punch I have ever threw right at that irritating face.