Chapter 12

“You asked me something earlier, right? Then I’ll ask you just one thing, Sophia.”

Feeling Benedict’s sword fully absorbing my mana, I casually asked Sophia in a relaxed tone.

“What were you planning to do after putting Benedict to sleep?”

“I don’t know, you insignificant human!”

“Oh, is that so? Seems like you still haven’t grasped the situation.”

I could feel my body, now armed with a good weapon, getting excited too.

“First, I’ll make sure you can’t move.”

I dashed towards Sophia as if dancing.

Dodging Sophia’s swinging arm, I lightly swung my sword twice, and Sophia’s legs were cleanly cut off, leaving her helplessly sprawled on the floor.

“Kuh, kuaaah…!”

“Ugh, be quiet. How could someone with such a horrifying voice have such a pretty voice when in human form? Demons are really something…”

Although I was clearly in control now, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant situation.

With demons like Rajeing and Sophia hiding among us in human form, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were many more.

“Kuh, kuh…”

Sophia’s severed legs bubbled and melted into a yellow liquid, and new legs began to grow from the stumps.

But due to the mana-infused weapon, the regeneration was painfully slow.

And the fact that the wounds could infinitely regenerate meant that as long as Sophia wasn’t completely killed, she could endure endless pain.

I cut off the slowly regenerating legs again.

“Keeeek…!!”

“I said be quiet. Of course, it’s satisfying every time you scream, but that’s not what I want to hear.”

“Ugh, kuh…”

“Speak!”

I plunged my sword into Sophia’s back as she desperately tried to crawl away.

“Kyaaah!!”

“Where do you think you’re going? Feeling the pain seems to have made you understand the situation, but I have no intention of letting you go. So, it’d be better for you to confess.”

“I said I don’t know, you insignificant… Kyah!”

I cut off one of Sophia’s arms as she kept defying me.

I didn’t forget to cut off the legs that had started to grow back.

“I promise. If you tell me what you were planning to do, I’ll kill you cleanly. But if you keep your mouth shut, let’s see who lasts longer.”

“You think you’ll get away with this! The gods are watching!”

“Those so-called gods… What, the Purple Crow and the Plague Toad? Those things are gods?”

“How dare you call them ‘those things’… You should immediately offer a prayer of apology to the gods… Kuhk!”

Although my goal was to make her talk, I cut off her mouth as she kept spouting nonsense.

It’ll regenerate soon anyway, so no need to worry.

Sure enough, a yellow spore wriggled and a tattered mouth reformed, from which Sophia screamed.

“Just kill me. Just kill me, Kairon!”

“You think I would? Depriving the other of hope through cruel and endless torture is the basics of interrogation. You, a demon, should know this basic principle better than me, a human.”

I deliberately brought my face close to Sophia, who was sprawled on the floor, and mocked her.

“Of course, it’s inhumane, but since you’re not human, I feel no guilt. I could do this all day, or even longer.”

“…I was trying to plant a seed.”

Finally, Sophia began to confess in a resigned voice.

“Plant a seed?”

“Yes. Benedict is a skilled individual with abundant mana. So, I planned to plant a plague seed in him to spread a deadly plague just by breathing!”

To turn him into a plague host…

It was a far more horrifying scheme than I had imagined.

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? For his amusement! He enjoys watching you humans suffer and struggle! Kihihi… Kek!”

I plunged my sword into Sophia’s head as she tried to laugh creepily.

With her head pierced, Sophia slumped, but soon even the wound on her head began to slowly heal.

“…Horrible creatures.”

I completely severed Sophia’s head from her body, and her body finally stopped regenerating.

The severed body parts and the body itself melted into a pool of yellow liquid, which then evaporated, leaving no trace in the air.

With the demon defeated, it was time to clean up.

Benedict, who had been sleeping soundly due to the strong sedative, didn’t wake up despite the commotion right in front of him.

Since I couldn’t let him sleep in the house that was destroyed in the battle, I brought him to the knight’s fortress.

“Good work.”

“Yes, Sir Kairon, you’ve worked hard too. But, who is that person you’re carrying on your shoulder…?”

“Your guess is correct. He’s your captain.”

“Please, give him to us.”

I carefully handed Benedict over to his subordinates.

“Thank you for bringing our captain back safely. We’ll take care of him from now on.”

“But it’s strange. He was so excited to go on a date with Sophia, so why did Sir Kairon…?”

Explaining would take too long, and it wasn’t a story for this moment.

“Tsk… There were some circumstances. Just let him sleep deeply for now.”

“Yes, understood. Good work, Sir Kairon!”

It must be very confusing.

Even if it wasn’t a long relationship, finding out that the woman you loved was a demon…

What will Benedict do…?

And back at the Vanguard’s accommodation, Plymus was waiting for me.

“Welcome back, Captain.”

“Plymus? You’re still awake?”

“When the Captain is away, I must stay awake in case of emergencies. Even if it’s just a nominal position, I am the vice-captain after all.”

Plymus smiled softly with a slightly tired face, not asking me anything more.

“By the way, Captain, there’s a guest waiting for you.”

“What, a guest at this hour? Who is it? There’s no one who would come looking for me at this time…”

“I’ve let them inside. You’ll see who it is as soon as you go in.”

I opened the door and entered, only to find someone I never expected lying on my bed.

I immediately closed the door and came out, giving Plymus an order.

“…Get rid of them, Plymus. That’s an order from your captain.”

“Oh dear, but I’m just a regular Vanguard member in terms of rank. I can’t just casually deal with someone who’s a captain.”

“What does that matter? Do you know what time it is? Captain or not, they’re trespassing and sleeping in my bed! That’s not a guest, that’s an intruder. Why did you even let them in?”

“I don’t know. I was already quite tired, but now that the Captain is back, I can finally get some sleep. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Hey, Plymus! How dare you ignore your captain’s orders…!”

Plymus didn’t even pretend to listen and went off to his room to sleep.

I had no choice but to go back into my room.

Due to the brief commotion Plymus and I caused, the intruder had shifted positions but was still asleep.

“Why are you here at this hour, seriously!”

It was hard to believe, but it was reality.

…Abelin was sleeping on my bed.

It was a truly desperate situation.

I had come back with the sole intention of throwing my tired and exhausted body onto the bed, only to find it taken over by an intruder.

I gritted my teeth and gently shook Abelin.

“Hey, Abelin. Wake up.”

“Hmm…”

“Wake up already! If you want to sleep, go to your own accommodation, why are you here…?”

“Hmm…!”

“Whoa!”

My head went blank.

Abelin, in her sleep, reached out and pulled me into her embrace.

It wasn’t just my head that was spinning.

The places we touched were strangely soft…

“Ahhh!”

Before any more strange thoughts could arise, I quickly extricated myself from Abelin’s embrace.

Abelin, having lost her hold on me, unconsciously flailed her arms, then curled up with a sulky expression, still not waking up.

“Damn it. This is my bed, and I can’t even use it as I please…”

Suddenly finding myself in an awkward situation, my already tired body felt even heavier.

Abelin or not, I just wanted to sleep.

That’s when my eyes fell on the sofa I had brought in for conversations with guests.

I trudged over and lay down on it.

Just as hunger is the best seasoning, fatigue is the best sleeping pill.

‘By the way, there’s been a strangely sweet scent in the air for a while now.’

As I breathed in the faint but sweet aroma filling the room, I quickly fell asleep.