“Who are you planning to eat?”
I asked the confidently standing figure once again, who had a bold expression.
He glanced at me with the corner of his eye, then lifted the corners of his mouth as he opened his mouth even more assertively.
“It’s the Aizen party that’s been making a splash everywhere recently.”
Hearing his reply without a hint of hesitation made a hollow laugh escape from my lips. He didn’t notice my silent laugh, but I couldn’t manage my expression at all.
What kind of confidence allows him to nonchalantly blurt out such ridiculous statements?
It was quite a bewildering moment, to the point my neatly clasped hands were trembling.
“Do you not know whose care those kids have grown up under?”
I asked cautiously, with a sense of hope.
However, his confident expression remained unshaken. If anything, his gaze seemed to shine even brighter.
“Are you still testing me?”
“Yes. I’m really curious about what answer you’ll give…”
“Of course, I know.”
He nodded vigorously in response as expected, but the words that followed made me let out another bewildered chuckle.
“Those are the experimental subjects raised by that vampire, aren’t they? I hear he cherishes them quite a bit.”
“…Experimental subjects?”
“Yes. I don’t know what for, but I hear he took a considerable amount of time to raise them with care.”
I felt like I had heard something similar before.
Back then, I was certain that I had said the children were not experimental subjects.
Why the demon tribe seems to collectively distort such facts is beyond my comprehension.
“Heh, I already look forward to it. When that vampire finds out that the human children he cherished have become prey, I wonder what expression he will make—.”
“He’ll look very troubled. And he’ll get angry.”
“Hehehe… That’s right. But by then, it’ll already be too late. There’s nothing he can do.”
I was already furious, but aside from that, I began to wonder how far this guy would continue to chatter.
Who does he think I am to answer so readily?
I couldn’t help but be curious about the ‘that guy’ he had been referring to since earlier.
“Seeing your confidence, it seems you have quite a bit of pride regarding that guy you’ve been talking about, huh?”
“Please don’t say such things. I am not worthy of that. How could I dare take pride in a creation made by the Demon King?”
I frowned for a moment.
I initially thought this was this guy’s foolish solitary act.
But it turned out that the mastermind of this plan was the Demon King, which I realized quite belatedly.
“……”
Unexpected information acquired from an unlikely source.
To casually spill such colossal information to someone you just met today without any suspicion is truly remarkable—a perfect group that could be called a rabble.
These guys haven’t changed one bit, neither then nor now.
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it really fine to casually reveal such important confidential matters to anyone?”
“Haha, why are you acting like this? You’re going too far with your jokes.”
“Jokes?”
“I may not look it, but I’m a mid-tier demon. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize a high-ranking demon lord who travels with a dragon.”
I briefly fell silent at his rather confident answer.
Then, as if he gained momentum, he started spilling words unrequested as he continued.
“Most of the dragons must have already become his prey.”
“……”
It seems the biggest reason he dropped his guard against me was because of Binya.
With my race being of the demon tribe and a dragon currently playing around naturally at my side under the influence of the demons,
there likely was no room for suspicion.
Moreover, no one but the demon tribe knew about the situation with dragons.
But that was not what mattered right now.
“The Demon King suddenly attacking the dragons… wasn’t just about expanding influence; it was because he needed food for ‘that guy,’ wasn’t it?”
“…?! Ah, even if you’re a high-rank, you shouldn’t speak so carelessly about the Demon King…”
“Then ‘that guy’ must be over in that place that used to be the dragons’ land, right?”
“Yes? Ah, yes, that’s correct… But why are you asking this suddenly…”
My heart quickly turned cold.
The heat that had risen to the top of my head had cooled down by now and gently settled.
Honestly, upon hearing the news about an ambush by the Demon King, I hadn’t held much hope for the dragons’ chances of survival.
I never thought they would have become prey in such a manner.
Not to mention, now there was the thought of targeting my children to make them ‘that guy’s’ food—
“Oh, it seems the conversation has gotten a bit serious… It would be better to continue the rest tonight…”
“Why tonight?”
“I have quite a few things I’m curious about regarding your status. But if we start discussing that now, it will take too much time.”
“…I see.”
“For now, take these candies as extra. The more you give them to human children, the better.”
With that one line, he handed me a handful of the same candies from earlier.
I received the candies with a blank expression, then looked at him indifferently and asked calmly.
“Why is it better to give them in larger quantities?”
With a smile, he replied, “Well, because it’s an awakening drug.”
Having already been somewhat suspicious of the candies, I was able to maintain my calm expression without surprise.
This guy must have forcibly awakened the unsuspecting children through these candies, throwing them as food for ‘that guy’ every time.
And ‘that guy’ would have been steadily growing his power based on such food, gradually solidifying the Demon King’s plans.
“How cute…”
I quietly muttered that one line and dropped all the candies I was holding onto the floor.
In an instant, the figure watching was filled with shock and furrowed his brows in confusion.
“Wha, what are you doing…?”
“Do you think a vampire would be startled by this?”
At my soft-spoken word, he adopted an even more bewildered expression.
“Why are you suddenly acting like this? Did I do something wrong…?”
– Swish
Ignoring his words, I gently lifted the veil.
As the cloth covering my face slowly lifted, our gazes finally met properly.
In that moment, the surrounding air became heavy, and an awkward silence began to flow.
“What to do? It seems like you prepared quite ambitiously, but I’ve heard everything.”
He had turned into a startled deer, and began to step back awkwardly with trembling legs.
“Wha, what?!”
“Seeing you retreat as soon as you see my face, it seems you don’t completely recognize me.”
“Ah… How did I—”
“Well, I don’t think that’s what’s important right now.”
As soon as I finished my sentence, he straightened up and quickly brushed his face.
In the blink of an eye, his face changed as if by magic.
Contrary to how wrinkled it looked moments ago, it transformed into a youthful appearance almost instantaneously.
“Did you create some kind of shadow to get this far…?!”
Seeing his reaction, I returned the veil to its original position.
It seemed he had the ability to perfectly mimic others’ appearances.
Regardless of what his ability was, my focus was solely on one thing.
“Even if you didn’t know, casually speaking such spine-chilling words in front of you is really tragic.”
“…?”
With that one line, I lightly made the sign of the cross over my chest.
As the Abbess said,
Nuns must maintain their composure and show a calm demeanor, no matter what they are doing, anywhere, and at any time.
No matter how unbearable anger rises to the tip of one’s head,
one must not let such emotions out.
– Drop
As I calmed myself, a drop of bl**d fell onto the floor.
The bl**d that trickled beneath the wooden floor disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
“Today, because of you, all the demons around here will lose their lives.”
“What…?”
.
.
.
─────────────
【Skill: Holy bl**d: Bell of Doom】
─────────────
“I’m not sure how many are hiding nearby.”
It was already nighttime outside.
And as the gigantic bell chimed majestically from the sky, echoing throughout the grounds,
the people’s screams from outside became louder with each tolling of that bell.
“Wha, what is this…? What on earth are you doing…?”
I might have used a bit too much of an excessive skill against a guy like this.
But it’s fine.
I can use it without concern.
This skill no longer causes the same anemia it used to.
“Thank you for telling me so much. Thanks to that, I have one more reason to head over there.”
“What is this bell sound—!! What the hell is happening?!!”
As he frantically questioned with a pale face, I smiled softly at him from behind the veiled cover.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be sure to take care of ‘that guy’ you mentioned as well.”
With a calm tone, I whispered that line.
At that very moment, as if announcing the end of everything, the magnificent bell tolled loudly three times from outside.
– Ding, ding, ding
Why does the Demon King keep such foolish subordinates?
I can’t help but wonder if the Demon King is as foolish as these guys.
