Ch.276Chapter 276 – Serious (2)

Sirius, who had been smiling, quietly raised his hand.

I tensed my muscles, ready to respond to whatever might happen.

Meanwhile, Sirius slowly folded his hands.

-Clap clap clap

Soon, applause began to echo through the streets where the vampires had turned to ash and disappeared.

“…Applause?”

Serra frowned at the sudden development and looked at Sirius.

Not just her, but everyone was slightly bewildered and tense at the opponent’s unexpected behavior.

However, Sirius continued clapping, unconcerned by their stares.

The sound of applause, devoid of enthusiasm and merely showing courtesy, continued to echo through the streets.

And when a sufficient number of claps had been completed, Sirius stopped and raised a fan to cover his mouth.

“Impressive, human.”

Sirius’s eyes glowed red.

He was smiling as if he had found something amusing.

“Even so, I didn’t expect you to dispatch my elite troops as if they were children playing.”

“Your troops are just weak.”

I didn’t know how elite they were, but they weren’t difficult to deal with.

Besides, we had Chris, who was especially strong against demon-kind.

As long as we didn’t let our guard down or fall into some trap, we wouldn’t have been in danger.

However, there was something else that bothered me more.

“More importantly, what are you exactly?”

“What do you mean?”

Sirius asked softly, as if not understanding my question.

But his expression gave away the answer.

He clearly understood what I was asking.

I pressed harder with my question once more.

“Did you deliberately send your comrades charging at us?”

At first, it seemed like he had deliberately encouraged his troops.

Then he purged his frightened allies with his own hands, ultimately letting his subordinates die at our hands.

Yet despite this, he showed no sign of tension while his allies were being defeated.

He was just calmly applauding us.

It could simply be confidence born from superior skill, but he seemed far too unconcerned for that to be the case.

“Did you intend for your subordinates to die by our hands?”

When I questioned him again, he finally dropped his pretense.

Soon, Sirius lowered his fan.

And began to laugh fiercely.

“You noticed.”

It was a savage laugh, not like the noble lady he had appeared to be earlier, but like a beast wearing a human disguise.

As I was about to enter a combat stance in response to his threatening smile, she raised her fan to cover her mouth.

“How rude of me. I inadvertently showed an unseemly face.”

Sirius, returning to a calm expression, opened his mouth.

“That’s right. I deliberately let them die.”

The vampire admitted it readily.

And in response, Sia narrowed her eyes and asked.

“Why?”

“Thinning out the herd.”

The vampire slightly lifted the hem of her skirt as if observing etiquette and replied to Sia.

“Humans farm crops, don’t they? I hear they deliberately select and remove plants with poor growth to help the others thrive.”

“I didn’t ask for the meaning of the phrase.”

Sia’s cold voice spread.

And the vampire bowed her head once as if apologizing and said.

“Pardon me. To continue, I meant that for the vampire race to survive, we have no need for those with weak hearts. It lacks dignity.”

Sirius said with a smile.

“There’s no reason for me to keep and bring along those who have forgotten their place above others and lost their dignity due to their weak hearts.”

“…You.”

“If I’ve offended you, I apologize.”

Sirius spoke respectfully to Sia.

“But someone had to do it. For the future of demonkind.”

Sirius spoke resolutely.

And pointing my weapon at such a Sirius, I said.

“Now step forward.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot comply with that request.”

Sirius said with a smile.

“If I fight you without any preparation, I will surely die.”

Sirius stepped back while speaking.

“…I’d rather not deliberately step onto a battlefield with a human mage who reportedly fought Duke Rage as an equal, two Legion Commanders who, though injured, are among the few in the demon realm comparable in military might, and you as well.”

Sirius slightly bowed her head and said.

“I have too much to do and cannot die yet, White Dragon.”

“White Dragon?”

“That’s what I’m calling you. You didn’t know?”

Sirius looked at me and said.

“Well, titles aren’t important here. More importantly, time’s up. It seems uninvited guests are arriving.”

Saying this, Sirius attempted to retreat.

Immediately, Sia frowned and said.

“Won’t you stop?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible this time.”

Sirius showed courtesy once more.

And soon, as if remembering something, she looked at Sia and said.

“Oh right, I almost forgot. Something interesting will happen in Florence or the royal castle.”

“What?”

“If you’re interested in watching, please do come.”

With those final words, the opponent’s appearance began to change.

A blood-red mist enveloped her body, and Sirius began to dissolve into it.

“Well then. I look forward to seeing you all again. Everyone.”

With those last words, she disappeared into the blood mist.

“Who goes there!”

“We received reports of an assault taking place here!”

And as soon as the blood mist vanished, guards in somewhat meager attire were rushing into the alley.

+

The guards were easily subdued.

Of course, we didn’t lay a hand on them.

After seeing the guards surrounding us, I approached their captain and said a magic word, which immediately changed their attitude.

“Are you acquaintances of Lady Domestica?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t expect to be using Domestica’s name so soon after parting ways, but she had willingly lent her name for situations like this.

And true to her boast, when the opponent heard Domestica’s name, he lowered his weapon and said.

“I’ll report to my superiors that after responding to the scene, we found it was just a misunderstanding between people who accidentally got tangled up. But please be more careful next time.”

“Thank you.”

Eve said to the guard captain with a smile.

Soon the guards turned and left the alley, and Eve looked at them and said.

“Lady Domestica’s name carries more weight than I expected.”

“Yeah, it does.”

I lightly agreed with Eve.

And the next moment, without anyone taking the lead, we all turned around.

“So, what should we do with those two?”

The dark elf and the boy behind Sia flinched.

They were wearing hooded robes pulled down low, which they had donned at some point.

Moreover, the dark elf’s skin color had changed.

Soon she shouted in protest.

“Wait, are you going to attack us?”

“Just now, I refrained from touching you only because of Miss Sia’s request.”

Eve said quietly.

“We originally met as enemies.”

“And we don’t have particularly good memories of demonkind.”

When Serra quietly joined the conversation, the dark elf slightly shrank back and frowned as if something was wrong.

‘She must be seriously injured.’

From earlier, both the dark elf and the boy behind her had unstable breathing.

Looking closely, the boy was sweating profusely.

Upon careful observation, their bodies occasionally lost balance, and they looked like they might collapse at any moment.

It seemed they had used all their strength to escape from their pursuers until now.

In other words, now would be the easiest time to deal with them.

‘What should I do?’

While I was contemplating how to handle them, Sia suddenly stepped forward.

“Wait. If you’re thinking of executing them, would you mind holding off for a moment?”

“Lady Sia.”

Chris looked at Sia with a somewhat serious expression.

And Sia looked at Chris and said.

“They currently show no hostility. They’ve been branded as traitors by demonkind, so they have nowhere to go. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Remember what that vampire said earlier.”

Sia looked at everyone, starting with Chris, and said.

“She said something would happen in Florence or the royal castle, didn’t she?”

“…And?”

Chris quietly asked.

Soon Sia looked at Chris and answered.

“If they are plotting something, these two might be the key to solving that problem. And right now, they are enemies to those demons, aren’t they?”

“But we don’t necessarily have to solve that problem, do we?”

“But for the people here, it would be a problem that needs solving. And these two might be necessary for that.”

Sia looked at Chris pleadingly and said.

“I understand there’s bad blood between you and them. But for the sake of the future, please show mercy just this once, Little Goddess.”

“……”

Chris’s expression darkened slightly.

Though she was a priestess and now a goddess, she seemed to have softened a bit at her comrade’s plea for mercy.

Soon Chris looked at the demons with conflict, then closed her eyes and seemed to be deep in thought.

And after making her decision, she put her hands together in prayer and stepped back.

It seemed she had decided to show mercy to the demons as Sia suggested.

“…Thank you, Goddess.”

“This is just my opinion alone.”

Chris told Sia with slightly apologetic eyes that she wouldn’t try to persuade the others.

And taking my eyes off those two, I looked at my companions.

Serra was lost in thought with slightly wavering eyes, while Beatrice was quietly smoking a cigarette while sending distrustful glances at the demons.

Eve was quietly lost in thought.

And she slightly shook her head.

No one voiced their opinion out loud.

But perhaps because we had spent so much time together, everyone seemed to realize that opinions were split down the middle.

“Kay.”

“…Kay, what should we do?”

I looked at Serra and Eve who were asking what to do.

With opinions nearly evenly split, the decision now fell to me.

‘I need to decide carefully.’

After thinking quietly, I soon looked at the dark elf.

“Hey, dark elf.”

“I have a name too. Call me Vanilla.”

Her skin was chocolate-colored yet her name was Vanilla.

“…Anyway, why were you two branded as traitors?”

“That’s because we don’t recognize the Demon Lord who’s impersonating the true Demon King, White Dragon.”

Vanilla answered as if it were obvious.

“So you’re calling me White Dragon too.”

“That’s what you’re called among us. The one who opposed our true Demon King, the White Dragon.”

It’s certainly an appropriate nickname considering my armor color and dragon powers, but it’s somewhat embarrassing.

Ignoring my reaction, Vanilla continued.

“White Dragon. The only Demon King we serve is the one who fought you with an injured body to save us in Alfheim. We have no intention of recognizing anyone else as Demon King.”

“Even at the cost of being branded traitors.”

The sweating boy quietly said.

“He was different from other demons. He brought mercy and harmony to the demon realm, which was full of violence and rejection.”

“Even to abandoned slaves like me,” the boy added.

“This Gigas will not help that impostor who claims to be Demon King like Sirius does, no matter whose name I swear by. Even if it means death.”

“Me neither.”

Vanilla quietly expressed her opinion.

Though her eyes were starting to droop from exhaustion, there was a clear resolve in her pupils.

“I’d rather die for the one I’ve pledged loyalty to than do anything for that gorilla just to save myself.”

“Gorilla?”

“The Demon Lord. Honestly, just looking at his appearance, he’s like a gorilla with demon tail and wings.”

That does sound like an apt nickname.

Anyway, it’s clear these two are unwelcome among demonkind now.

But it wasn’t enough to trust them yet.

‘Should I dispose of them?’

Just as I was about to reach for my weapon, I felt a gaze that seemed to be pleading with me and turned my head.

“Please. Give them one last chance.”

“You’ve been strangely taking their side from the beginning. Why?”

I quietly asked Sia.

Soon Sia looked at Gigas and Vanilla once and quietly answered.

“I owe them a great debt from the past. So I know. They are not evil people.”

Sia soon looked at me again.

“Please show mercy and let me repay my debt to my benefactors by saving their lives.”

Sia was asking me for mercy, just as she had done with Chris earlier.

I pondered for a moment.

Should I cut them down for safety, or show one final act of mercy?

I quietly raised my gaze to look at my companions.

And finally, I met Chris’s eyes and saw her slightly nod.

‘I guess I have no choice.’

I quietly said to them.

“Make one wrong move and I’ll cut you down.”

I couldn’t fully trust them, but I decided to compromise this much.

Part of me was also hoping I wouldn’t regret this decision later.

Not knowing my thoughts, Sia bowed her head and said.

“Thank you.”

I wanted to complain, but when someone responds like that, it’s hard to voice any grievances.

I quietly composed myself and looked at Sia.

“The condition is that you personally keep watch over them. Make sure you do.”

“I will strive to live up to your trust.”

Sia answered with a bright smile.