At Haimon

Lavna.

Io’s nanny.

Scarl shuddered at the fact that the demon had already returned from the moat and possessed the body of Io’s nanny, who was by her side.

‘Tch—should I start by figuring out Io’s relationships?’

Although he hadn’t even seen her for half a day, Io spoke to Scarl as comfortably as if they had known each other for months, showing him so many different sides of herself.

“Don’t act like that in front of my father. You. My father hates people who don’t know etiquette and manners the most. Just act like you do now.”

Surprisingly, it was a sincere request to Scarl?

He would have been annoyed, but Scarl was surprised by her gentle scolding of his rude behavior, as if she were inherently kind.

“Why? Do you think I’m like you?”

Was this a stereotype?

‘She looks like she relies on her looks and treats men badly, making them do this and that. A typical pushover…’

He hesitated for a moment at the unexpected aspect, then grinned grotesquely.

In the frivolous and light manner that she had just told him not to do.

“Are you already taking care of your husband?”

“Who’s your husband!”

Perhaps it was because he heard Io’s angry voice.

A middle-aged maid with a plump body entered, wearing a mask and calling for Io.

“My lady!”

Although her voice was hoarse, Io stood up with a delighted expression and hugged the maid.

“Lavna!”

At those words, Scarl’s eyes narrowed.

It was a rare sight to see the hunter and the prey, the hunting target, all in one place, but I and Samigina, except for Io, had to pretend not to know each other.

‘That’s the one.’

A brief confrontation.

The middle-aged woman looked like anyone you could see anywhere.

Except for her voice that sounded like it was about to crack, her mask, and the white-gloved hands.

“Are you alright?”

At the question directed at Io, Scarl counted the demon’s questions in his head.

‘One.’

“Of course. This! This… person is going to be my fiancé.”

The demon knew that I was the one who killed him.

‘How will he act?’

There was no need to show Samigina the same attitude he had shown Io and Krintos.

All the demon knew was that I was close to being a madman.

So, he put on his usual face when dealing with Luna, acting serious.

“Nice to meet you, Lavna. Thank you for raising our Io so well.”

Io seemed disgusted by my changed appearance once again, and looked angry as if she wanted to show her teeth.

However, she couldn’t express it in words because Lavna was next to her. Lavna, who was watching them alternately, noticed that there was something between me and Io.

‘She must want to resolve this curiosity first, right?’

“My lady…? Is this person really—”

Two.

To prevent any further questions, Scarl stood up and intervened between the two people who were chatting amiably.

“That’s right. My soon-to-be?! You!!”

Scarl grabbed Io’s wrist and hugged her without warning.

With his other hand, he wrapped around her waist, raised his eyebrows, and rested his chin on the crown of Io’s head, staring at Lavna. Scarl naturally planted a yellow piece of paper he had brought with him on Io’s neck.

“As you can see.”

Io, who was hugged by Scarl, froze at the sudden skinship and then waved her hands at Lavna with a surprised expression.

“No! No! Nanny! It’s not like that at all!”

“Oh my- oh my- what should I do! My lady is already… cough cough—”

Fearing that Io would be contaminated by her long cough, she spread her hand and covered her face.

Io, as if she couldn’t stand it anymore, shook off the hand protecting her.

“Let go of me! Baron Scarl Bernatore!”

Scarl released her at Io’s fierce resistance.

Lavna’s eyes were on me, but her hands were reaching for Io’s shoulder, no, her neck.

“My lady. Are you alright? Oh my. What is this.”

Lavna’s hand naturally picked up the piece of paper I had put there and stuffed it into her pocket.

‘That’s it.’

“Io.”

When Scarl called, Io couldn’t answer and her attention was turned back to him.

“Why! Why!”

“Let’s go out for a bit.”

“Again?!”

He was conscious of Lavna’s narrowing eyes.

“If not, I’ll hug you like this in front of Count Krintos.”

“Ugh! I really hate it! Don’t do that! That!”

It seemed to work well to go out like this subtly.

‘Luna seemed to be like that too.’

Unlike Io, who was full of annoyance, Lavna’s hands were neatly gathered. Scarl, who stared at Lavna indifferently, forcibly grabbed Io’s hand and went outside.

“Oh my- oh my-”

Lavna covered her mouth and murmured in surprise, but beneath it, there was a deep sense of regret.

It was faster than he thought.

He thought it was only the second time, but the demon was already targeting Io.

Even in front of my eyes.

‘The announced date is 5 days away…’

The demon must be in a hurry too.

‘He’s a guy who gets more secretive and stronger the more you kill him.’

He didn’t know how many times this was.

One thing was certain: Samigina was wearing Lavna’s mask.

“Where are you calling me to go again? You’ve already looked around the outer castle enough! And why do you keep looking over there?!”

Scarl was so focused on his thoughts that he answered absentmindedly and realized that he had been staring intently at Io’s chest.

‘The instincts of a man again.’

It was a common occurrence when he was with Luna, so he stared even more openly at Io’s chest.

“Ugh! Wh-where! Are you looking!”

There’s no use in covering it up like that.

If he acted shamelessly like this, the other side would be flustered instead.

“What on earth are you talking about? I was looking at your face because you kept talking to me.”

Like Luna, Io was also the owner of a considerable bust.

In fact, the distance was such that the gaze was the same whether it was on her chest or her face.

Of course, the person receiving the gaze would inevitably notice to some extent… but he wasn’t staring lecherously. Io herself was exaggerating.

“Lead the way.”

“I, I don’t want to.”

“Ha. Does she already like being next to her husband?”

“What did you say?! You!”

It was fun to tease her.

Io, who was pointing her finger and stuttering, muttered to herself that this was the first time she had ever met a man like this.

“Grandfather too. Why did you bring such a man…!”

‘Who do you think I’m doing this for…’

Io, who had been muttering to herself for a while, pointed her index finger straight out and declared to Scarl.

“…Since it’s come to this! I’ll reform all those behaviors for you!”

“What?”

“Y-you! Anyway! If you’re the only person in my life! Then spending the remaining time in a valuable way would be something a member of the Haimon family would do.”

The atmosphere was more serious than he thought.

That’s why he was putting the weight back into balance.

“Okay. Do as you please.”

Either way, Lavna would be dead by my hand before tonight.

Let’s see if you can still say that even after hearing that. Io.

After parting ways with Io, as soon as I entered the assigned room, I located the piece of paper that Lavna had taken.

‘The demon won’t notice, right?’

From the beginning, it was the formula for the game of killing the demon.

“If you’re upset, you should have been a gamer too.”

Killing Samigina’s nine lives was annoying and frustrating.

So, it was one of the few things added for the convenience of the gamer in the Luna DLC.

‘Amulet to ward off evil.’

It used to have such a name, but now it was something that had turned into a yellowed piece of paper with all the vermilion ink gone.

Rather, thanks to the weakened magical power, the function of tracking the demon remained, but there was no magical effect, so it was impossible to notice. It had become a truly versatile tracking device only for the demon Samigina.

Just thinking of Samigina made me feel the demon’s location.

It seemed that he hadn’t thrown it away, as he was constantly moving.

‘About 400m northwest?’

Since he wouldn’t be able to stop coughing by using perfume, he would slowly target the next one.

I had to cut him down first before that happened.

‘Sorry, Io. No one should be around you except me.’

The location of the demon was the laundry building of the castle where the maids did their laundry.

The sound of a cold cough in room 3 confirmed that Lavna was there.

He was greeted by some maids as he entered, but luckily, there was no one in the hallway in front of laundry room 3.

‘I’m lucky.’

Knock knock

“Who is it? Cough cough-”

“…”

Since there was no answer, he forced his hand through the slightly opened door.

“Kya-ugh!!”

He quickly pulled the mask up with his right hand to cover her eyes and blocked her mouth with his other hand. Then, he pulled out the magic sword he had taken out in his right hand and dug straight into the demon’s heart.

Stab!

Lavna died instantly.

With this, the question stack about Io was also reset.

‘Hoo.’

Ignoring the blood gushing out, he casually threw away the demon’s corpse.

The blood-stained mask covered her eyes, so the demon wouldn’t know who had done this to her.

The blood on Scarl’s special clothes had all disappeared before he knew it, and soon after, the maids of the castle confirmed that the door of the laundry room had been opened and Lavna’s body was discovered.

Io was shocked by the news of Lavna’s sudden death.

Scarl, who was making an alibi by drinking tea with Io in the meantime, put on a surprised expression as if he was hearing it for the first time.

“Lavna, you mean the one from earlier…?”

“Y-yes. What should I do… my nanny. Sob. Sob. Another bad demon!”

Scarl approached Io, who was crying with her hands covering her face, and patted her on the shoulder.

“I really don’t know what to say. Who on earth…”

“Please find the culprit. You can do it, right?”

Io looked up at Scarl with tears in her eyes.

Scarl gave Io a kind smile that she had never seen before.

Count Krintos agonized over the news of the death of another servant.

The crime scene was the laundry room of the castle.

He called all the servants who were in the building at the time and repeatedly investigated, but they were all veterans who had been working for Haimon for many years. And some of the maids testified that they had greeted the guest, Baron Scarl Bernatore, just before the incident occurred.

“Scarl, Scarl…”

A successful Hero in the capital.

A human who came here to free Haimon from the clutches of the demon that had attacked him was acting crazy here and cutting down anyone?

“It doesn’t make sense.”

Coachman Shen. Io’s nanny, Lavna.

Shen was missing, Lavna was stabbed in the heart and died.

The common point between the two was that they were servants who usually served Io. And they were related to Scarl just before they died.

“Father told me to trust Scarl.”

He didn’t know why Scarl killed the nanny, but the date the demon had announced was still 4 days away.

“How far should I let this go, Baron?”

Was it a cruel hobby?

Or was it something necessary for his daughter?

The Count’s worries deepened.