Ch.40Request, Demon Hunt (8)

I wonder what will happen to me now? At least they said it was just to silence me, so I probably won’t die.

But that’s just my wishful thinking. Perhaps my life will end right here.

While trembling in fear, I was pulled out of the sack. This is the end.

“Great, I can finally put my plan into action!”

Agath said with a bright smile. It seems like Leo and Agath might be working together.

“W-what… are you… going to do to me…?”

I’m so terrified that I can barely speak properly. Is this really the end for me?

Seeing me trembling, Agath suddenly became lost in thought. Is she contemplating what to do with me?

If I consider Agath’s usual behavior…

Just imagining it makes my body shake uncontrollably and tears well up in my eyes. Maybe dying would actually be the better option.

Then Agath started approaching me.

Step, step, step.

With each step she takes, my growing fear makes it harder to think clearly.

Unable to face reality, I squeezed my eyes shut.

After a moment passed, Agath spoke.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful with my pranks from now on.”

Somehow, I heard a voice that sounded genuinely apologetic.

Wondering what was happening, I forced my eyes open and saw Agath bowing deeply to me.

I wanted to ask what she was doing, but the lingering fear made it impossible to open my mouth.

So I just stood there trembling, and Agath continued in a small voice.

“I’m sorry… I really didn’t think it would turn out like this… I’ll do anything, please forgive me…”

Though still terrified, I forced myself to speak to understand the situation.

“Where… where did Mr. Leo go…?”

“…Alright, I’ll go confess everything to Leo.”

Suddenly Agath stood up and immediately prepared to leave.

It seems Agath has nothing to do with Leo. Realizing this, my fear subsided somewhat.

Thanks to that, I could speak a little more easily than before.

“Why… did you do this…?”

“I just thought you were trying to seduce me…”

…Seduce?

When I looked at her questioningly, Agath avoided my gaze and continued with difficulty.

“You said you’d only stay in crowded places, but then you went somewhere deserted in the middle of the night. I misunderstood it as a signal to… I’m really sorry…”

Suddenly I realized something. Maybe this was just an incredibly unfortunate coincidence?

Anyway, it seems increasingly likely that Agath has nothing to do with Leo. To confirm this possibility, I asked her a question.

“So Mr. Leo doesn’t know about this situation…?”

“No… I just did it on impulse… No one else knows about it except me.”

Agath just admitted she acted alone. That means I’ve luckily escaped from Leo.

“Hic…”

Perhaps from the relief of knowing I was safe, all my pent-up tears burst forth at once. Seeing this, Agath spoke in a panicked voice.

“You’re still upset because of me, right? I’ll call someone right away, just wait a moment…”

“Please… hic… don’t leave me…”

If Agath disappeared now, I felt like Leo would immediately appear. So I desperately grabbed Agath’s arm as she tried to leave.

After a few minutes, my tears finally stopped.

“I’m calm now, and thank you.”

Having cried it all out, my head felt clear again. Thanks to that, I could speak calmly once more.

I may have cried like a girl just now, but I’m not embarrassed at all. Anyone would have reacted the same way in that situation.

“Why are you thanking me? What exactly happened?”

Agath asked with a confused expression. Come to think of it, I haven’t explained the situation yet.

“I almost died just now. If you hadn’t suddenly taken me away… I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened.”

Agath looked even more confused than before. After a moment, she seemed to grasp the situation and said:

“So… you were actually in danger, and I happened to save you by luck?”

“That’s pretty much it.”

“What did you do that almost got you killed?”

Well, what just happened was…

Right after Leo said he’d decided how to deal with me, Agath suddenly appeared and kidnapped me. That’s how we ended up here.

I’d better not say anything. There’s nothing good that would come from explaining.

“I went outside while half-asleep and encountered a demon. I almost died, but can I ask you something?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“How much do you know about Mr. Leo?”

“Are you planning a harem? You’re more lustful than you look. Can I join this harem too?”

I silently glared at Agath with contempt. How can she joke at a time like this?

As I continued glaring, Agath avoided my gaze and awkwardly said:

“I don’t know much. Leo hardly ever talks about himself.”

“Do you know anything about Mr. Leo’s past?”

“His past… He used to have a sharper demeanor than now. But lately, he seems to have developed some peace of mind, and his demeanor has softened a bit. That’s all I know.”

It seems I won’t be able to get much information about Leo from Agath. But there’s one more important clue I need.

“What about the Demon King that Mr. Leo fought against? What kind of being was he?”

“An evil being who started a war to destroy the world.”

“…Was he truly evil?”

“What, do you want the Demon King to have actually been a good guy?”

The plan the Demon King had established was closer to good, I was told. But according to Agath, the Demon King was pure evil.

At least I gained some clues from our conversation. But it’s still far from enough. Should I ask Rebecca too?

“Let’s head back now.”

“Alright, but are you really not upset with me?”

“I don’t hold any grudge at all. In fact, I’m truly grateful for what just happened.”

“Then can I touch your chest?”

“…Should I tell everyone that you tried to kidnap me?”

“…How did our sweet Lite become like this?”

And so we returned to the temporary base, exchanging meaningless banter like usual.

***

I’m screwed. Seriously screwed.

Why am I suddenly like this? Because Leo is standing at the entrance of our temporary base waiting for me!

At least Agath is with me, so I definitely won’t be subjected to anything strange…

“I need to talk to Lite alone. Could you give us some privacy?”

“So you can secretly kidnap Lite and train her?”

“At least I don’t use sacks when I kidnap people.”

“…Did you see?”

“You mean when you put Lite in a sack and kidnapped her?”

Agath broke into a cold sweat and avoided Leo’s gaze. Leo sighed deeply and said:

“I’ll let it slide this time, but please just behave yourself until the mission is over.”

“Looking at the Goddess statue’s panties isn’t misbehaving, right?”

“…If you promise not to do anything else weird, I’ll allow it.”

“Got it! I’ll behave myself for the rest of the time!”

With that, Agath ran off toward the Goddess statue. Now only Leo and I remained.

I’m so screwed.

“We have things to talk about, don’t we?”

Leo spoke in his usual kind-seeming tone. How nice would it have been if I hadn’t known it was a mask?

I squeezed out a response with a trembling voice.

“I… I don’t know anything…”

“Why pretend when you heard everything from the beginning?”

My last hope was completely shattered. There’s no room for excuses now.

“Let’s move somewhere else. There are too many eyes here.”

“Do we… really need to… talk?”

“I can’t just let this go, can I?”

I wanted to run away immediately, but I simply couldn’t. So I was dragged away by Leo without offering any resistance.

***

Leo took me to a cave a little distance from our temporary base. As soon as we arrived, Leo began drawing something on the cave wall.

I wanted to ask what he was doing, but I was too afraid to speak. So I could only look on with a puzzled expression.

Noticing my gaze, Leo explained what he was doing.

“I’m drawing magic circles to prevent sound from leaking out and to hide our presence from others.”

Now I can’t call for help, and I can’t escape from here. That’s how I interpreted Leo’s words.

My body was once again trembling uncontrollably with fear.

“Why are you shaking so much? It’s like you think I’m going to do something weird.”

Leo said with a playful smile. I feel like prey being toyed with by a hunter.

What will happen to me once he finishes drawing that magic circle? Will I be tortured?

I wish time would stop, but mercilessly, it continued to flow.

After the magic circle was completed, Leo sat down facing me.

“Alright, so what do you prefer? Gentle? Or rough?”

Come to think of it, my body is female now. An incredibly delicate yet extremely beautiful body.

My mind went blank. Or rather, I deliberately stopped thinking. It was obvious I couldn’t handle thinking any further.

As I sat there blankly, Leo finally spoke first.

“I’ll go with gentle for now, but you already know what I’m going to say, right?”

Leo continued with a subtle smile.

“Don’t tell anyone else about what you heard today. In return, I’ll answer a few of your questions.”

I couldn’t say anything and just sat still. Not because I was afraid, but because I didn’t understand the situation.

“Don’t you have any questions? I thought you’d have many…”

Leo said with a puzzled expression. Let me try to understand the current situation…

“Were you really just trying to silence me…?”

“Why would I be crazy enough to lay hands on someone sent by the Goddess?”

“Then why did you ask about gentle or rough?”

Leo made a genuinely disgusted expression. I’m certain that wasn’t a mask.

…Mask?

Come to think of it, he did say he was pretending to be kind and friendly.

As soon as I realized this, my face turned bright red at an incredible speed.

“…You seem to be becoming more and more like Agath.”

Thanks to Leo looking at me as if I were truly pathetic, my embarrassment only grew.

Thinking about it, Agath hadn’t saved me earlier—she had actually made the situation worse.

If she had just left things alone, we could have resolved everything through a reasonable conversation. But because of the kidnapping, misunderstandings only grew.

Talk about terrible timing…

Still, I’m glad nothing strange happened. Since Leo said I could ask questions, I should ask what I’ve been curious about.

After I deal with this embarrassment first.