Ch.209NPC and Spirit Keeper (6)

The green wall collapsed like rotting wooden flooring being torn away. My actions caused Miho, Chikuyo, and Salt Non to let out thin screams.

The ghoul, though lacking eyeballs, had its mouth hanging open as if it had never seen someone as crazy as me before. Unfortunately, despite my attack, the space still hadn’t collapsed.

“I’m dead serious here. You know there’s less than five minutes left, right? Even if we get thrown out of here, I’m confident I can destroy all the other spaces and find our people. So, last question. Do you know Perna or not?”

Before the ghoul could answer, Miho had already scooped up Salt Non and rushed to my side with Chikuyo, moving much faster than expected. Wait, why suddenly?

“Because you really look like you’re going to destroy this place. It would be a pain if we’re separated and thrown somewhere far away.”

“Just reminding you since Jack seems to have forgotten—Salt Non is injured?”

“He’s holding both my wrists and legs. This guy completely forgot I’m injured.”

“Ah… you’re right? I’m sorry.”

Indeed, I had forgotten that Salt Non was injured. That’s how bad my mood was. I sincerely apologized to Salt Non, and he accepted with a heavy sigh, saying we’d settle this later. …He did accept it, right?

“Well, time’s almost up. I’m not going to wait any long—”

“…I know.”

Finally, instead of the infuriating non-answers, a proper conversation was established. I unconsciously clapped my hands and looked at the three people, who returned my gaze as if asking if this was the right approach.

No. Typically, those who dare you to kill them will beg for their lives when they’re actually dying, but the proper strategy for those who truly accept death is to threaten them with a situation where they absolutely won’t die.

“What do you mean by ‘absolutely’? That we don’t know which space we’ll be thrown into? Is that your non-lethal threat?”

“Yeah. Think about it. If the space breaking and us getting thrown out would accomplish my goal, would that ghoul have tried to stop me?”

“…Ah! Since that ghoul is still a ‘ghoul,’ if we get thrown into another space, there’s a higher chance it would survive unless someone finishes it off!”

Chikuyo questioned whether my actions had any meaning, and after hearing my answer, Miho understood and explained it properly. Yes, that’s it! Even if we get thrown into another space and die, there’s no reason for that creature to save us, right? So Salt Non, please stop giving me that look like I hadn’t thought this through!!

“Alright, ghoul. What’s your relationship with Elder Perna? Parent? Great-grandparent? We’re really running out of time, so just—”

“…There’s plenty of time. That sign was placed by me.”

“Huh? Then why did the other elf elders…”

“They wanted to keep spirit users out, so they tried their hardest to block you. Well, I quickly realized that since you were stronger than them, my attempts to block you wouldn’t work either.”

The King Ghoul squinted its empty eye sockets, and we began to wonder if we should believe what it was saying.

Well, it’s not like we have many options anyway.

“We know Elder Perna. And not just casually—we’ve crossed the line between life and death together. I have no intention of killing someone who’s important to my precious person unless their family has harmed mine.”

“Um, Mr. Ghoul? Sir? Are you perhaps… really Elder Perna’s parent?”

“…Yes.”

“Huh…”

The ghoul answered Miho’s question with obvious reluctance, and Salt Non let out a sound of disbelief.

But I feel like sighing too. What are we supposed to do with this?

“…I may be the parent who gave birth to that child, but I never did anything parental. Just kill me, and the door behind will open immediately.”

“No, that’s not for you to decide.”

“Jack, what should we do? Should we take this ghoul with us… or is it too big to carry?”

“Even if we could carry it, it’s a problem. The rotting corpse smell is too strong. I’d really pass out on the way.”

“It might be better to bring Elder Perna back here. We made it here in just one day, so next time we could be even faster…”

“No, if you leave here now, you’ll receive the penalty created by the spirit user.”

“We’ll get a penalty even though we won?”

“Yes, because this task isn’t about defeating me—it’s about killing me.”

While we were ignoring him and talking amongst ourselves, he started explaining why we needed to kill him.

“And I also wish for death. I am a sinner, the cause of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins of Wrath’ appearing before the spirit user and the grand elder of the elves. So, kill me.”

His words made me genuinely want to kill him on the spot, and I had to grit my teeth to hold myself back.

…Ah, shit. I broke a molar.

*

Since he said we had time, I took about 10 minutes to find some peace of mind. More accurately, it was time for Miho and Chikuyo to hold my hands and shake their heads, helping me restrain myself.

I couldn’t just end this situation with a broken molar without killing the ghoul who kept saying things that made me want to kill him immediately. I lifted his tattered body with one hand and threatened him.

I can drag you out of here by myself. Tell me the whole truth right now.

“Perna is… a child I had with the help of a demon.”

“…What?”

“The… Elder?”

“That’s impossible. The Elder has a connection to demons?”

He shook his head at Chikuyo’s words, indicating that wasn’t quite right, and began to explain.

About 1,000 years ago, he—a descendant of the “giant race” that was believed to have completely disappeared from the continent—was living in hiding in this Siltra Forest. While hiding, he was discovered by a beastkin named Geira.

“…Geira was a good woman, and a strong beastkin warrior. Incomparably better than someone like me…”

During their first meeting, ridiculously, he attacked her without any conversation just because she had discovered him, only to be thoroughly defeated. The giant, like now, had wanted to give up on his life then. After all, he had no attachments left in a world where he was the only one of his kind.

“…However, she didn’t kill me. The reason was…”

He seemed to find the reason difficult to explain and skipped ahead to say they became lovers.

“We had a child together. The one she was pregnant with was Perna.”

“Wait, pause.”

Isn’t the conversation flow strange? I’m extremely curious how a beastkin and a giant managed to do the deed, but where did the demon go? How did we suddenly jump to pregnancy?

My confusion seemed to be shared by the others, as they all nodded and each added…

“Right! How did they go from being lovers to having lovey-dovey married sex! We need a proper explanation of that part…!!”

“W-wouldn’t a giant’s… you know… be bigger than a horse? I mean, looking at Mr. Ghoul’s size now… *gulp*”

“…Though I don’t really want to join this conversation as a man, how was it even possible? I’m a bit curious about that part too…”

“Okay. All three of you, shut up.”

I guess not. I was the only one curious about the missing demon part, while these three were already in radio drama listening mode. Just don’t say anything!

“…Geira was an amazing woman. Even I don’t know how it was possible. I just remember it was a passionate day, until night fell…”

“For fuck’s sake. Not that!! Where’s the demon, the demon!!”

They did it from daytime?! Damn, I’m getting swept up in this too!! Please, the demon! Tell us about the wrath demon first!!!

“…Right, to get back on track. After the pregnancy, Geira was… killed by someone.”

“…Eh?”

“W-wait a minute. After the pregnancy? Before Elder Perna was born?!!”

The King Ghoul paused there for a moment, letting out a sigh, and nodded his head in confirmation. He then provided more details.

The beastkin named Geira often came into the forest to meet the giant even after becoming pregnant, and she repeatedly asked him to come live in the beastkin village. In other words, even after becoming her husband, he continued to hide in the forest.

And on that day too, she entered the forest while pregnant to visit him…

“And on her way to me, she was attacked by someone and was dying.”

At that time, he had no way to save her, so he carried her and ran toward the beastkin village, but a problem arose. He didn’t know where the beastkin village was. So in the end…

“She died in my arms, and I…”

“That’s when you summoned a demon? How?”

“…A follower of Wrath appeared.”

A follower of the Wrath demon appeared before him. They sensed the rage and hatred emanating from the giant and approached him, offering a deal. They claimed their demon lord was the strongest among demons and could grant any wish. But wait.

“…Does anyone else think what I’m thinking?”

“No, I think the same. Um, sorry to say this, but isn’t it highly likely that those who killed the beastkin Geira were those followers?”

“…Yes, thinking about it now, that would make sense.”

He didn’t even deny our words and admitted his foolishness as he continued his story. He clarified that he didn’t “summon” the demon—rather, he “caused it to appear.”

“It was weak. Even I could tell it wasn’t particularly strong at the time.”

“This is maddening. So the Wrath demon was already in Siltra Forest by then?”

“According to them, they were waiting for the right time.”

And that’s where the deal was made. About how to save her, and that was…

“My lifespan, my body, and offering all my emotions of rage and hatred as nourishment to the Wrath demon, plus attacking the elf village just once—those were the conditions. Having lost her, I accepted them as they were.”

“So that’s how you became a ghoul?”

“…Yes, but perhaps due to my race, my size and strength remained the same from when I first became a ghoul.”

Then, he told the Wrath demon to fulfill its promise. But as far as I know, no demon has such abilities. Or at least they didn’t.

Until I heard about what Luxuria did. But the Wrath demon…

“It said it had already given me a way to save the ‘still’ living life inside ‘that corpse.'”

There’s no way to bring back the dead.

I don’t know what Luxuria did in the past, but anyway, Wrath didn’t have the ability to revive people. Rather, it gave the giant a way to save the “life” that hadn’t died yet.

By turning him into a monster. An [Undead].

“…There was no other way. I had already lost her. I couldn’t lose the child she left behind too.”

“How, how exactly did you save Elder Perna?”

As Chikuyo, who had been listening intently, asked with disbelief, the ghoul closed his eyeless sockets and let out a deep sigh of regret before answering.

“Haah… I ate them. Her and her child. Put them in my stomach. Digested her, and… turned the child into an undead, continuing the pregnancy myself.”

And thus, the conclusion of this cursed dark fantasy world’s male pregnancy—male monster pregnancy—spilled from his mouth.