The defense minister, who likely came to discuss the expeditionary forces expected to emerge in the future, immediately bowed his head upon seeing my face. If he had bowed just a bit more, he would have collapsed forward and banged his head, looking like a complete mess.
And the words that came out of the minister’s mouth in that bizarre posture were, “The demons have escaped.”
….No.
Seriously, don’t pull that nonsense on me, damn it.
I thought we were almost done, and now escaping? What kind of crap is that?
No matter how much power they had lost, they were still ‘demons.’
Because they were demons, the place they were confined must have included not just government forces but also clergy and knights dispatched by the church. For them to escape, it clearly meant there had to be a huge mistake somewhere, whether it was a mistake by the government forces or those sent by the church.
“……Could you explain how the escape happened?”
The person who told me this, who was the ‘defense minister,’ was now completely pale and began to explain urgently.
“I heard on my way here, but the first attempt to escape was made by a demon that took the form of a snake. Do you know of the black mamba?”
“No.”
As soon as I answered, the minister calmly started to explain.
“It seems the demon that first attempted to escape borrowed the body of that black mamba. It has a mouth full of venom. It possesses highly lethal venom that can be fatal to most animals including humans.”
“So, does that mean the demon attacked humans in some way? All demons are supposed to be restrained with limiters, right? If it fought back so violently, it should have burned or exploded, and it would have been normal for the demon to be incinerated as well, right?”
When I asked that after listening, the defense minister wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief and said,
“Well, it is said that a snake can survive for a few minutes even after its head is severed… There have been cases where people were bitten and died while clearing away the severed head of a snake that was hit by a shovel. And—”
“No, no, no. Hold on a second.”
I held up one hand to pause the minister’s speech and placed my hand on my forehead to organize my thoughts. After gathering my thoughts, I brought up another question.
“First, let me ask you something. According to the gnomes’ calculations, the explosive power of those limiters is stronger than a bomb made with the same amount of gunpowder.”
“That… that is…”
The minister gulped nervously before continuing.
“Snakes, unlike other animals, don’t have legs, do they? Of course, their bodies get thicker toward the tail, and if a proper limiter was fitted, it wouldn’t have been able to move. But… there wasn’t a stretchy limiter among them, so…”
“So, you’re saying the limiter went down, and in that state, it exploded, leaving the head intact?”
I asked, and the minister nodded.
“Yes, and all demons can use magic, even if only weakly. This demon probably desperately protected its head with magic when it was about to take off the limiter. Perhaps it used some defensive spell anticipating that it would explode, managing to endure until the limiter went off.”
“Is it because there were no witnesses that this process is speculative?”
“No, it’s not. The first victim was that witness. We made assumptions based on CCTV analysis.”
“If they knew it was a venomous snake, they shouldn’t have gone near it.”
“It seems that during the interrogation, it suddenly had a fit, and that’s when the accident occurred.”
“…”
I rubbed my face with my hand.
“…The interrogation room must have turned into a nightmare.”
“Yes, but the explosion itself wasn’t big enough to affect those nearby, but there was enough confusion to cause panic. The first interrogator was bitten by the snake’s head, and the aide assisting him was bitten right after. Both are currently unconscious and recovering in a military hospital. Fortunately, the clergy dispatched there took immediate action, so neither is in danger of losing their lives.”
I sighed in relief. It was good that no one had died because of those limiters.
“However, even so, I don’t think a snake head alone could escape that easily.”
When I voiced my second doubt, the minister sighed deeply.
“Yes, it wouldn’t be the case under normal circumstances, but… at that time, we were also interrogating another demon… And it seems a demon in the form of a rat was there too.”
“A rat didn’t escape from the snake’s head?”
“…It seems that demon was also limited. If it thought of escaping, the limiter would have activated, so it couldn’t run away.”
In a state of panic, the rat tried to flee, and the snake’s head shot up and bit it. …Could that be done with magic? I couldn’t think that a severed snake head would have the strength to leap up, so it probably wasn’t just simple muscle power propelling it.
“…”
“According to testimonies from other troops nearby right after the incident, a demon with a rat’s body burst out as soon as the door opened. Shortly after, there was a small explosion from where the other demons were. It seems they opened the door to the secure area using the limiters. From there, it absorbed the powers of smaller demons and grew stronger by swallowing up even larger demons.”
“How long did that take?”
“Not even five minutes. Just in case there was a problem, we had set the interrogation room to be as close as possible to where the demons were confined. If we check the camera footage, we can see that the rate of absorption got faster and faster as time went on. Ultimately, most demons died, while some were never found at all. Originally, we were searching for these demons, but now we’re trying to follow the demons themselves as quickly as possible to gather testimonies and evidence.”
“…What does it mean to track down the demons themselves?”
“I’ve been told that demons possess strong magical powers. Just as a physically trained person’s muscles become visible, the stronger the demons’ magic, the easier it is to detect them… That’s what the Crow Demon said.”
But that story wasn’t entirely credible. If we went by the muscle analogy, Jian’s appearance should completely transcend that of a human. The minister himself didn’t seem to fully believe what he was saying, either.
“Is that Crow Demon also involved in the incident?”
“No, fortunately, not all demons were there. Some were collaborating on a few experiments in a different building, so they managed to avoid trouble.”
“I see…”
I pondered for a moment with my hand on my forehead. Then I realized there was something I hadn’t caught in the story. I furrowed my brow and asked.
“How many casualties were there?”
At my question, the minister slightly averted his eyes and answered.
“…Twelve.”
“…Isn’t that the most important part? Can you explain what happened?”
At my remark, the minister wiped the sweat from his forehead again and said,
“First, there are the two that I mentioned earlier. Immediately afterward, one of the other troops who opened the door was bitten again… Since it was also a rat’s body, it seems it could quickly climb up its body. The footage doesn’t capture everything properly, but during the chaos, one person got bitten while another was trying to help, resulting in a repeated cycle of bites.”
The minister’s voice became more difficult to hear the more he explained.
“They were just too small and fast, making it hard to use firearms. In the end, we had to shut down the facility, but the problem was that there were a lot of demons still confined inside the facility with their limiters. There were limiters everywhere. By the time the other troops finished re-equipping themselves and were deployed, the demons had already amassed enough magical power to deflect any firepower directed toward them.”
“…”
Having listened to all this, I was left speechless, staring blankly at the ceiling.
“No fatalities, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The minister, who had finally finished explaining, let out a sigh of relief.
“…Is it possible to visit the hospitals in that area?”
I asked. Because the worst cause of the demons’ escape was the limiters. While they wouldn’t have been able to confine the demons so easily without the limiters, on the other hand, relying too heavily on them may have led to the attempt to compare testimonies with two demons together.
We were too complacent. Both the government that imprisoned the demons and I were. Even if they were beings whose power was mostly diminished, they were still demons. They had lived for hundreds or maybe even thousands of years, accumulating experience. Humanity was only now just confronting them. We definitely should have approached much more cautiously than this.
“I would like you to reconsider that.”
“…Could you tell me why?”
“I understand you’re worried about the clergy there. However, we don’t know where the demons headed. It might be outside Human Society or toward a specific area within Human Society, and we still have no idea about that. But most people speculate that…”
“…”
The minister trailed off, but I felt I understood what he was implying.
Perhaps those demons were heading here, where I was.
I couldn’t tell what their intention was, though.
*
“…So, we put our heads together and devised a few strategies.”
After sharing the story with Linea and Aurora, I said that.
“First, I will go to a location where nothing can harm the civilians, regardless of the situation. Then I will broadcast my presence there loudly. If necessary, I’ll also mention that I’m open for negotiations.”
We have no way of knowing just how much power the demon has regained or how much more it can grow by absorbing other demons. We can only think that ‘at the very least, it could probably kill at least one priest.’ Moreover, there might be demons like that Crow Demon hiding their last bits of power. Its strength could burn down the World Tree, so it couldn’t be said to be weak.
…It must have been the limiters that prevented it from using its power and being able to escape, causing it to be caught off guard like that.
“…I can’t fully agree with that strategy…”
Upon hearing my statement, Linea frowned. She clearly wasn’t pleased with my plan. But then again, it’s a strategy that essentially turns me into bait.
…It felt a bit misplaced to say this right now, but I was somewhat glad for her concern.
“However, there aren’t any other viable options available. Given that every place I go has demons or monsters appearing, the strategy is certainly viable.”
I had been terribly unlucky until now. I don’t believe in fate, but honestly, at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone orchestrated everything this way.
And that person would definitely be Ariel and Baal.
I don’t think they predetermined my fate from start to finish. But both of them would have thought about how I would act and dragged me into this world.
I wrote the story of this world. I just stopped midway.
So then, who better than the one who halted the writing to know how this would unfold?
Although, frankly, they probably didn’t know either. But one thing I could definitely feel was how this story was moving.
Moreover, I had solid grounds. All demons wanted to meet me personally. They must have been deferring the moment they encountered gods after managing to live for so long.
Then, the escaped demons would also want something from me, desperately trying to meet and persuade me.
After hearing my thoughts, both Linea and Aurora ultimately had no choice but to nod.
“I think there’s definitely some validity to that argument.”
“Perhaps it would be certain.”
Seeing them nod, I also nodded and said,
“So, I’ll go there alone.”
“…”
“…”
Clearly, their expressions said they didn’t like this at all.
“B-but you never know! Demons and witches have fundamentally different natures. It’s not like witches can handle demons, who are the very source of magical power. If they regain their strength, they’ll become all the more dangerous.”
“Clara, just in case you’ve forgotten, you almost died when you went to catch the Witch of Lust.”
“…”
Saying that left me speechless.
Honestly, if Jian and the others hadn’t arrived soon, I could have been in huge trouble. If they had wanted to kill me when I fainted, they absolutely could have. The same goes for the offenses. If it weren’t for the Witch of Lust taking an interest in me, I would have died right there. If it were any other witch, the situation would have changed drastically.
“B-but…”
Even if Linea and Aurora were present—
—Thinking that way, I stopped speaking.
In reality, even if Jian or the others were late, the two of them wouldn’t have been able to react in time. The result wouldn’t have changed at all.
How could I ever say that to them? They’re genuinely worried about me.
“…There likely won’t be anyone else there. Even besides Linea and Aurora, the soldiers and knights will only leave the bare minimum behind.”
The high-ranking officials would only choose the strongest knights to be present, as they needed to be able to contend with even the weakened demons. Especially if the higher-ups needed to negotiate with the demons at some point.
If I could at least find out how strong the escaped demons had become, I could anticipate and prepare accordingly, but that wouldn’t be possible in this situation.
“I plan to ask Jian as well. No one else should be there.”
When I said this in a somewhat strict voice, Linea and Aurora both fell silent. Neither looked completely convinced. But simultaneously, they would have been somewhat persuaded. Even if they were there, they wouldn’t be able to change the course of events.
“…But it’s still dangerous…”
Aurora said in a pleading tone, and for a moment, my heart wavered.
“Because it’s dangerous, I want you two to stay here. I don’t want to see you getting hurt because of me.”
“If we follow you and get hurt,”
Linea, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke up.
“Then that would be our choice, not because of you.”
“That’s true. But if we go by that logic, there are plenty of choices in the world that can’t be made. For example, if the Saintess directly ordered the two under her command not to come, would the two have any other choices?”
“…Clara…”
“…”
Both of their faces darkened in an instant.
“…Yes, I know. I was the one who asked to be treated as an equal. It’s wrong for me to say this to both of you. I’m breaking my own word.”
I eased my expression a little and spoke softly, as if to comfort them.
“But as an equal, could you grant my request? Just like I don’t want to see you get hurt, I also don’t want to see you get hurt, as my friends. …And if you do get ‘hurt’ there, it wouldn’t just be a scratch, right?”
If I were by their side, I was confident they would survive unless it was a lethal blow. But if either of them were to get seriously injured and die, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I would just have to watch them die.
And I truly hated the thought of that.
“So not just you two, but I want to minimize as many others as possible. So can you grant my request? I know it’s selfish of me to put you in this position after always wielding power over you.”
I took a slight breath.
“But still, I hope you understand my worries.”
“…”
“…”
Aurora and Linea both lowered their heads slightly and fell silent. I refrained from speaking further and waited for their response. I could feel my heart pounding beneath my ribs.
“…If you get hurt, I won’t forgive you. You have to come back safely.”
Aurora raised her head, tears glistening in her eyes. I smiled at her.
“Yes, I’ll make sure of it.”
“If.”
The next one to speak was Linea.
“If you break your promise, we will surely come for you. No matter where you are.”
The firmness of her expression made it seem like she would do anything to keep that promise. It felt as if it didn’t just signify a location.
Honestly, it scared me a little.
… I absolutely must not get hurt.
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