Devil Allergy
After a while, the thugs who had been hiding here and there returned.
Ben ordered his mercenaries and menials to dig a deep hole.
At Ben’s command, the mercenaries put down the bloody things hanging from their bodies and dug a hole.
I left that place and went to the back of the village. There, there was a small tree surrounded by other large trees.
[Don’t you feel the same way? Someday, just like the trees next to me, I too will grow tall!]
It was the child’s favorite place.
I dug a hole underneath it. It smelled like wet earth and musty odor.
My hands were so sore that it took quite some time even though it was a small hole.
After digging deep enough to prevent it from being washed away by rain, I took the child’s body and placed it in the hole. I forcibly pushed down the child’s hardened eyelids and took out the book I had kept in my armor pocket. The book had a deep hollow in the center.
He clicked his tongue and took out some silver coins from his pocket. He put the book in the child’s hand and placed a handful of silver coins on it.
“It’s pocket money.”
I knew it was a useless thing to do, but I thought it would make me feel a little better.
He straightened the child’s crooked neck, came up, and covered it with dirt.
After finishing him and returning to the original place, they found a large hole dug, put all the corpses in it, and set it on fire.
The blazing fire and the strong, golden smell made me feel nauseous.
‘Next time I come, there won’t be any trace of the village.’
It was clear that the church would burn the village and its surrounding areas to the ground under the pretext of purification. It was fortunate that they had dug deep enough to bury it.
Ben came over to me after spotting me.
“For now, I plan on going back to Castle Cassidy. Castle Bolt takes more than a day and a half.”
Ben, whose face was pale, perhaps because of the wound on his shoulder, spoke. Since he had nothing else to say, he nodded, and Ben smiled faintly and waved his hand.
“You must be feeling unwell, so let’s ride together in the carriage. There’s plenty of room now.”
“what?”
I couldn’t help but cough at the unexpected suggestion.
“Wouldn’t it be difficult to walk in that condition?”
“That’s true. But···.”
“Oh, don’t worry about Young-ae. Even though Vivian Young-ae is young, she is deep-thinking. She is not the type of person to get angry at her savior riding in a carriage with her. Young-ae is different from other nobles.”
Ben emphasized the ‘different nobles’ in the last part. If it were different, how different would it be? Since my body was heavy, I was attracted to the suggestion.
Considering the route I had taken, I would have to run for almost half a day, but I had absolutely no confidence in my current physical condition.
‘Young-ae might not wake up until we get to the castle… and if something goes wrong, she’ll be the one to blame.’
I didn’t know Ben very well, but he didn’t seem like the type of guy who would back out when trouble arose.
“Then···, well. Let’s do that.”
“Good idea. We’ll be leaving soon. Get on first. I’ll go check.”
Ben pointed to the carriage parked next to him and headed towards the mercenaries, who were trying to calm their startled horses.
Perhaps because the horse was running wild, one of the mercenaries struck the horse’s rump with his spear. The horse kicked back coolly, and the mercenary who was hit straight was sent flying backwards and rolled around. It was fortunate that the mercenary was wearing so many layers of armor that he was covered in them.
The mercenary was very angry and swore, but he must have been in a lot of pain because he didn’t approach the horse.
The other mercenaries pointed at him and laughed.
I looked at him for a moment, then clicked my tongue and headed toward the carriage.
After opening the carriage door, I had to hold my breath for a moment.
Even from afar, Young-ae was exceptionally beautiful, but when you look at her up close, her beauty was breathtaking. Young-ae, sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world, was unrealistically beautiful.
As I watched Young-ae sleeping defenselessly, my hands started to twitch for no reason.
‘Are you still sleeping?’
If it were now, I could hit him with a chestnut and no one would know. I thought about it for a moment, shook my head, and sat down across from him.
It was more satisfying and left a cleaner finish to later vent my anger on a weasel.
It was only after I sat down that I realized that the woman in the light armor was next to Yeong-ae.
The carriage was filled with the fresh scent of fruit and the perfume typical of the nobility. The scent was so strong that it made my head feel slightly dizzy.
I crossed my arms, closed my eyes, and replayed the battle of last night.
Combat was like studying. The actual battle, where one’s life was at stake, was a test to show what one had accumulated.
If you don’t study in advance, it’s hard to get good grades on the test, and after the test, you have to review to pass the next test.
If you neglected either one, you could fail the exam. And if you failed the exam once, that was the end.
‘In retrospect, I was lucky.’
If he had faced the demon alone, he would not have been able to win, but the village was small, so the demon had absorbed less blood, and Ben had drained its strength to its limit.
‘If, next time, I encounter the devil…’
– Ah··· Ahhh!! Aaaahhhhh!!! Can’t you hear me!!
‘What the heck! I’m so shocked! What the heck?!’
I was startled by the voice that suddenly rang in my head, and my body trembled. I wondered if I was mentally ill, so I tapped my head with my fist, but it hurt, so it seemed like I was still okay.
– D··· Finally! Damn it! What the heck is this··· Ah··· No, already?! Okay··· Ah···.
After those last words, the voice disappeared again.
‘···Are you very tired?’
Well, I guess I was hallucinating after doing that shit. I lost so much blood that I was still in a daze.
At that moment, Ben came into the carriage. Ben, who looked obviously tired, sat down next to me and pounded the carriage wall with his fist.
“Let’s go!!”
The weasel’s loud voice was heard, and the carriage began to move slowly. Looking out the window, he saw the weasel riding the horse in an odd posture, shivering.
‘Why is he there?’
The weasel was sitting on his horse in an unsightly manner, his expression serious as if he were some kind of soldier. He was even holding a spear in his hand that clearly belonged to a soldier.
“Oh, we are like blood relatives to each other, right?”
Ben’s words gave me a rough idea of the situation.
Just then my eyes met with a weasel’s through the window, and the creature, barely able to stay on its horse, gave me an imperial salute.
‘···He’s going to be a good guy.’
I knew it from the moment I was lying among the zombies, but he was a guy who would survive even if thrown into the northern part of the empire.
After that, Ben started talking in a small voice, and I spent some time answering him.
The story went surprisingly well.
The guy didn’t even flaunt his knighthood, and he had a lot of interesting stories to tell.
At first, it started with a story related to swords, and then it moved on to various things that happened in each castle. While we were talking like that for a long time.
“Hmm···.”
Youngae tossed and turned as if she was going to wake up at any moment.
I had to have a nobility that I had been in the Middle Ages.
“Haha, don’t worry. Miss Vivian is different from other nobles. If I had to express my gratitude to you, I would have expressed it. Who would have said anything…”
Belle noticed my nervousness and shook her head slightly to try to reassure me.
At that moment, Youngae opened her eyes wide.
Her deep blue eyes, as if they contained the ocean, stared straight ahead at me. Her beautiful eyes grew huge.
“Gyaaaahh …
And then a very long scream burst out from Yeong-ae’s red lips.
“Kkieeeek! Are you the devil?! Please tell me!”
As if in response, the weasel’s scream continued from outside the carriage.
***
“I’m sorry. I woke up to a stranger right away and…”
Yeong-ae, who heard the whole story from Ben, apologized with a face full of regret.
Ben changed the story a bit and told Young-ae that I was a great help in capturing the demon. He explained that I acted as a human shield and that was why he was able to defeat the demon.
‘I have a lot of scars on my face, but even so, screaming at someone’s face…’
I scratched my cheek because I felt uncomfortable for no reason. I was confident about my face, but it didn’t feel good to see someone scream at me after seeing it.
“No, it’s okay.”
Even though she had washed it roughly in the rain, there were still traces of blood all over her face. With her scarred face covered in blood, it was easy to understand how Young-ae felt.
“Ah… no! Aaron is really… um… trustworthy.”
Yeong-ae frowned for a moment, then clapped her hands and smiled awkwardly.
‘Just say he’s handsome.’
When he smiled accordingly, the corners of Youngae’s mouth hardened.
Youngae quickly returned to her smiling face, but I had already seen that her face had hardened.
“Then the villagers···”
“They burned them together with the dead soldiers and mercenaries.”
Ben answered Youngae’s question firmly.
Young-ae put her right hand on her head and bowed her head. It was the prayer method of the Sun Church.
Yeong-ae prayed for a long time after that, and a long silence fell on the carriage.
How much time has passed like that?
“Ugh···Ugh···.”
The woman in light armor groaned.
“Oh, Kayla. Are you okay?”
“miss?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
Yeong-ae grabbed the shoulder of the woman in light armor. The woman in light armor opened her eyes sullenly and looked around.
Then our eyes met.
“Ugh! Ah… Devil!! It’s the devil!! Young lady, please step back!”
Suddenly, he pulled out the sword from his waist and aimed it at me.
I couldn’t help but sigh at the familiar development.
‘That’s because there’s blood on your face.’
I kept muttering to myself. I was objectively handsome. I was sure of it. It was clear that I was reacting like that because I hadn’t properly wiped the blood off my face.
“Kayla! Stop it! He may look scary and evil, but he’s not the devil!”
“Ha···but···how is that···.”
“I know! It’s scary to see it in dreams! But you shouldn’t judge a person by his appearance! Put down your sword!”
Yeong-ae shouted with strength in her eyes.
‘This is too much. These kids.’
I was dumbfounded by the conversation that was clearly meant to feed me.
‘Still, I’m pretty good looking, right?’
Although he had a few scars on his face, they were proof of a proud man. It was like a medal that would be treated with respect wherever he went.
“···A devil?!! Aaaah, devil!! Ah···A devil!”
At that moment, the weasel suddenly let out a strange scream and grabbed the reins hard. The horse turned its head and ran in the opposite direction.
The weasel ran away in an instant, and the area around it was in chaos when the weasel shouted the word devil.
The mercenaries, covering their eyes with their hands, cried out to God, and the porters hid under the carts.
It seemed like the PTSD from the devil was still strong.
And it took quite some time to calm him down.
“I… am sorry.”
The woman in light armor, her face flushed red, bowed her head deeply. The face of Yeong-ae next to her was also just as red.
“No. People can easily be mistaken for demons.”
Even if the woman in the light armor was like that, it was quite awkward when Youngae apologized.
Up until now, there were double-digit numbers of nobles I had been involved with, but this was the first time I had received an apology from a noble. The nobles, who were chosen by God and were of noble blood, never bowed their heads even when they did something wrong.
Of course, no one pointed out the mistake in the first place.
“It’s really okay.”
Originally, if you had strong faith in yourself, you would not be swayed by what others said.
‘I’m sure. I’m handsome.’
As I smiled confidently, my eyes met with Yeong-ae’s, who happened to be looking at me.
Hiccup!
Yeong-ae hiccupped, her shoulders shaking slightly.
***
We were able to arrive at Cassidy Castle without any problems.
As soon as he returned, chaos broke out from the outside. It was only natural that chaos would break out, since the carriage with the Pulpouts family crest on it returned covered in blood.
The carriage entered the inner castle under the escort of the outer castle guards, and I was dragged around and had to report on various things.
Starting with Sheriff William, he went to each of them, including the captain of the guard and the captain of the outer guard, and repeated what he had said. Eventually, he got to the point where he could just open his mouth and the words would just flow out.
And since it happened to be the day my group was on duty, this ignorant captain of the outer wall guard tried to send me towards the castle gate.
At that moment, a guard from the inner city came to visit me and told me that I had been granted four days of leave. In this medieval era, when there were no labor laws, four days of leave was truly an enormous reward.
It was a great reward that would become legendary among the Cassadic Outer Guard.
I quickly headed to the hotel with Berman, who was preparing to go out to work with me. The hard bed felt soft.
I fell asleep as if I had fainted.
Two days have passed since then, and I···.
“What the fuck?”
I was looking into the mirror I borrowed from Kel.
I couldn’t believe what I saw in the mirror, so I rubbed my eyes several times and even hit my head to see if it was a dream, but unfortunately, it was the same.
‘what’s this.’
The skin around my heart was cracked open like a tree, an ominous black in color, and in the center was a yellow eye so small it looked like a jewel.
This hideous thing was clearly the handprint of a devil, given its location.
The first day after arriving, I just slept, the second day I discovered this, and now, on the third day, I’ve been looking in the mirror at the unbelievable truth.
– Huh… Huh… Can you hear me now?
A very small voice whispered to me.
‘···This is fucked up.’
The devil’s handprint and auditory hallucinations heard from somewhere.
Eventually, I had no choice but to admit that there was a demon inside me.
‘When? Is it a problem that I ate it because I was too lazy to spit it out?’
It is not known how the demon was brought in.
All they had was that those who had been possessed by the devil had the devil’s handprint on their chest, so if you met someone with the devil’s handprint, you should not speak to them, but immediately cut off their head and burn them.
In that sense, I was no different from having a death sentence tattooed on my left chest. Even if I took it to the church, I would receive a large reward, so this ugly death sentence also served as a lottery ticket.
‘Can’t this come off?’
I scratched the devil’s handprint with my fingernails, but it didn’t move at all. My fingernails shook as if they would break. I pulled out my sword and scratched it, but the teeth on the sword came off instead.
I went down, soaked myself in hot water, and came back to try again, but nothing happened.
– Oh… It’s refreshing.
The guy’s reaction only made me more excited.
‘What are you?’
– What could it be?
From earlier, that guy had a strangely scratchy tone to his speech.
‘It must be the devil.’
– The ignorant call it that.
‘Isn’t that the devil?’
– Hmm… I don’t think we’re in a position to talk about that yet.
We only exchanged a few words, but the way he spoke, which sounded somewhat hurt, made my head spin.
‘Looking at the yellow eyes, it seems like it’s the one on that skinny guy’s left arm… Those sect kids should at least warn you not to eat the devil. You ignorant kids who only think about killing and not preventing. It’s usually more important to prevent these problems than to deal with them later.’
I tried to stay calm, but I couldn’t calm down. Since coming here, I’ve thought about death in all sorts of situations, but there was no such thing as being burned at the stake with a demon inside.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
– Are you that happy?
‘Shit.’
I couldn’t help but curse at the guy’s words.
– Other guys can’t accept me, so they’re impatient, but your reaction is strange. Complaining even when the treasure is right in front of you. Are you that stupid?
‘Then should we go to those good guys? I’ll pick a few and show them to you. If you go to District 7, the good guys will line up.’
– I’m sorry, but I’ve used up all the strength I’ve gathered to heal you. It’s hard to even talk to you like this. It’ll take some time to get my strength back.
‘Time? How much?’
– It won’t take long. About a hundred years.
I got angry without realizing it, so I punched my chest and let out a silent scream as my hand felt a sting.
‘Can’t you go out a little faster? I’m allergic to demons. Even now, my whole body is ticklish and I feel like crying, I’m going to die.’
– Ah… an allergy? I don’t know what it is, but if you don’t like it, there’s a way. You just have to help.
‘If there’s a way, you should tell me that first. What is it?’
– Just feed me the blood of a thousand humans. Easy and simple.
‘···Are you crazy?’
I couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the sight of the guy speaking so casually as if he were asking me to buy him some stew.
– It’s been called by many names, but there was no name like that.
‘What else besides that?’
– None.
For a moment, I was speechless at the firm answer.
‘···This is fucked up.’
-Why do you hate it so much?
He scratched his head nervously at the questioning voice, as if he was really curious.
‘Why don’t you like having a devil hanging around your heart?’
There are more than a hundred reasons, so I don’t know where to start.
The cult, the knights, the imperial army, the hunters… If they were to be found out to be demons, they would definitely become my ardent fangirls. None of them were easy.
– I can give you strength.
‘What the heck… What strength? I don’t need such terrible strength.’
Considering that the Malakkaengi was able to kill the knight even though it only consumed his left arm, it was a powerful force. However, the form of that force was so unusual that it was clear that his life would end the moment he used it.
– Ah, that was the problem. It was because of the bastard’s vessel that it could only be expressed in that form, and if you want, I can give it to you in another way.
‘I don’t need power or anything. Just get out. I hate demons. I’m a demon-hater who thinks all demons should have their heads ripped off and die.’
I grabbed the sword that I had placed next to me again. I had to somehow scrape it off and make it fall off…
I tried scraping it with my sword and stabbing it with the tip, but it only made the blade crumble and didn’t move at all.
That was when.
– Come to think of it, those who wield iron like this kind of thing.
A voice mixed with laughter was heard.
As the man muttered, blue flames shot out from the sword. The blazing blue flames filled the room with a bright blue light.
The flame was the auror, the noble proof of the knight, the sword of humanity that only destroys evil and enforces justice.
‘The devil is coming…?’
The sudden appearance of the aura made my mind more complicated than before. My thoughts could not keep up with the evidence that contradicted everything I had known.
– Heeeek··· Heeeek··· Okay··· Did you see it! The proof of my power. Heeeek···.
A gasping sound was heard, and the blue flames disappeared in an instant as if it were a lie.
That time was so short, it didn’t even seem like two seconds.
– Heeeek··· hoooo··· heeeeek··· keueuk···.
There was a brief groan mixed with heavy breathing, and then the voice disappeared.
“···Early?”
I looked down at the sword that had turned into nothing but a piece of metal, and muttered to myself.
