Ch.6868. Are You Mad?

As I followed the direction Grain had shown me, a structure I hadn’t seen before appeared.

Too large to be called a house, yet too small to be a castle—a stone building.

It wasn’t particularly refined, with a rugged appearance that would have suited moss growing here and there.

However, it currently looked clean, as if it had been built recently.

But… its shape seemed quite familiar.

‘What is this? Was this some kind of demon race traditional architecture?’

In areas filled with demons, buildings with this theme are everywhere.

I thought they were just designed that way for the map’s atmosphere, and that demons had simply occupied existing buildings… but now I’m wondering if this is actually the demons’ preferred style.

There was nothing strange about such a building being here. According to Grain, the person here would be Diggers, and she said he had become a demon.

What does it matter what kind of houses demons live in? With that thought, I resumed my momentarily halted steps.

“Let’s go straight in.”

“…Wait a moment. You’re going in like this? You could just put me down…”

“We don’t know what might happen. You should prepare defensive magic.”

I continued carrying Celia.

Her stats were heavily focused on mana, so her physical abilities weren’t particularly good.

Seeing how she was fine after moving for hours without rest, she seemed to be using mana to compensate for her stamina, but her movements still felt awkward.

I decided it would be more efficient to carry Celia and let her concentrate on defensive magic, even if it meant sacrificing evasion.

There might be better methods.

But with the urgency to move forward, my mind was too anxious to think of alternatives.

As soon as we entered the building, what appeared before our eyes were red areas blinking everywhere… traps.

The problem was that many of them seemed to activate even without being touched.

Simply avoiding them wouldn’t be easy.

“Ludion.”

Celia must have sensed the energy too, as she called my name to warn me.

I nodded lightly to show I understood and continued forward.

Soon, a red area momentarily swept across where I was standing.

“Kyaah!”

I quickly jumped sideways to avoid it, but in the process, I must have tightened my grip because Celia’s body tilted almost to the point of being thrown.

To be honest, I was a bit flustered. When I carried Alkine before, it didn’t feel like this.

Was it because of Alkine’s excellent stats? She maintained an unnaturally stable balance even while being carried.

So I could move freely without any problems…

“Lu-Ludion. Um… please don’t hold me so tightly.”

Celia seemed different. They both seemed similarly light, but could there be such a difference?

…Is it normal to be making such comparisons in this situation?

It didn’t seem right, so I decided to stop thinking about it.

“Sorry. Please bear with it a little longer.”

“…Okay.”

For now, I just need to move forward.

I continued breaking through the barrage of traps.

Because I was carrying Celia, I had to honestly dismantle the traps without evasion, which wasn’t easy.

Avoiding them wasn’t actually a problem since I could see the areas, but… Celia was the issue.

“Ow! Ugh, aaah! Ludion! Please slow down a bit… and stop forcibly bending my body!”

“Hey, there are multiple traps—how am I supposed to account for each one individually! Just bear with it a little, I said!”

Well… despite her constant complaints, she was diligently using defensive magic, so she must have some leeway?

Of course, that doesn’t mean I was carrying her stably… I still heard all sorts of strange screams like “oof,” “kyah,” “ungh,” and “hek,” but I was doing my best, and she was doing her best, so we both pretended everything was fine.

Since it wasn’t a large building, we were able to quickly overcome all the traps and reach the door.

“I think they’re in here. I can feel the ominous energy right in front.”

According to Celia, both Alkine and Diggers seemed to be inside.

There was no reason to hesitate, so I kicked the door open and entered at once.

KWANG!

“Kyaak! Ludion! I told you to stop pulling me toward your body!”

But in the process of rushing forward, I ended up pulling Celia close to my chest again.

Celia hurriedly turned her head away from my body… looking like a cat startled by a terrible smell.

…Wait. Do I smell bad right now?

Seeing Celia’s reaction, I thought that might be the case.

“I’m not doing it on purpose. It just happens when we move. Do I smell that bad? I don’t think I’ve sweated much.”

“That’s not the… haa, never mind.”

Celia would understand in this situation. Right now, Alkine’s safety is more important.

I look around the room we’ve entered.

It was a very spacious area with nothing in it. There were only a few pillars supporting the building.

And in the middle of this empty room, a large cage stood alone.

“Inside that cage… is that Ms. Alkine?”

“That’s right.”

Alkine was looking at us from inside, and somehow her face seemed quite gaunt.

Well, she was tired and drowsy before, and then suddenly got kidnapped, so it would be stranger if she were fine.

Seeing that she hasn’t escaped and is just staying there, I suspect her power might be sealed or something.

I know she’s not okay, but I should ask out of courtesy, right?

“President! Are you alright?”

In response to my question, Alkine nodded slightly.

Phew. That’s a relief. She looks a bit tired, but seems fine otherwise.

‘Then…’

I turn my gaze to the man I’ve been ignoring.

Diggers Zivchak. That crazy bastard. How did he think of kidnapping someone after becoming a demon?

‘Their way of thinking is completely different from ours.’

His behavior was so nonsensical it reminded me of that famous meme.

Even so, there are things you should and shouldn’t do.

It was truly pathetic that he became a demon because he couldn’t kidnap her with his own power.

And yet, he still seemed to think I was the cause of all problems, as his gaze had been unsettling for a while.

A murderous look, as if he would stab me with a knife if I were right in front of him.

Finally, I put Celia down and approached Diggers.

Behind me, Celia’s magic circle unfolds magnificently.

‘She’s truly reliable rear support.’

With that idle thought, I drew the sword from my waist… and said something cutting.

“The president doesn’t like you. Give up.”

The most hurtful thing I could say to Diggers specifically.

The effect was tremendous—Diggers opened his mouth to say something but then immediately charged at me.

Normally, I might have heard all sorts of stories about what happened, why he likes the president, and how he became a demon.

“If it weren’t for you!! The president wouldn’t have changed, and I wouldn’t have become like this!”

But perhaps because I’d provoked him so severely, he couldn’t control his emotions and only continued to spout statements filled with primal rage.

That was perfect. I didn’t want to understand the stories of guys like him anyway.

I continue to dodge Diggers’ attacks as he charges at me, again and again.

The sword he usually used must have been sold off when he became a demon, as he was now swinging his bare hands filled with dark energy, but it didn’t matter since I was going to dodge everything anyway.

Unfortunately, unless it’s a pattern I can parry, there’s not much else I can do.

“That’s absolutely not true, right? The president never liked you, right?”

So I just ran my mouth to launch some mental attacks.

This seemed to deal quite a bit of damage, as Diggers’ already red face became even more flushed.

Wow, at this rate he’s not a demon but a goblin.

His movements were extremely fast, but perhaps because he was becoming increasingly emotional, his attacks weren’t very sharp, making them easy to avoid.

The hardest part was listening to his meaningless verbal abuse.

“You insolent piece of trash…! I’ll tear you to pieces!! And then I’ll make the president mine!!”

Hey, Mr. Crazy. Tearing me to pieces won’t make the president yours.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t say that out loud. Right at that moment, he swung an attack that could be parried.

KANG!

Immediate parry. Diggers’ rage-filled strike was deflected helplessly.

Perhaps his stance was quite unstable, as he even floated backward.

And struck the cage that had been sitting there!

Something must have activated when he hit it, because the cage door opened.

I don’t know exactly what happened, but Alkine isn’t one to stay still in this situation.

Alkine immediately jumped out of the cage, and Diggers reached out to grab her.

But his hand didn’t reach Alkine.

The magic that Celia, who had been watching from behind, shot out knocked his hand away.

“…You’re tough. I was planning to cut it off.”

I brought Alkine, who had hastily escaped, over to where Celia was standing, casually making such a brutal statement.

Had he given up after seeing Alkine escape? Diggers sat down in front of the cage, blankly staring at us… oh, he’s crying.

“Ludion. That person is crying?”

“He’s not a person. He’s a demon.”

“Ah, that’s right. Wow… even demons cry…”

It is kind of strange that a demon is crying.

I’d like to mock him more, but I’ll put that aside for now and check on Alkine’s condition first.

Alkine, who had looked weak inside the cage, became quite energetic once outside.

The fact that she immediately created a mana sword confirmed that her power had indeed been sealed while she was in the cage.

Having regained her strength, she looked up at me carefully and gave a light thank you.

“If you had been a little later, it could have been really bad. Um… thank you.”

“…You?”

“Ah, no… thank you! I said thank you!”

She must have been very nervous. She even dropped her concept unconsciously.

I guess that’s understandable. She was suddenly kidnapped and had her power sealed, unable to do anything.

“…”

Seeing this, the life momentarily disappeared from Celia’s eyes before returning… but perhaps because it happened so quickly, no one noticed.