episode_0054

In the dark, endless darkness, a woman is hanging on a cross. The woman with her arms spread out as if her palms were fixed on something had rare white hair and white eyes.

Saint Mary.

It is a lonely soul with about 400 years left until its birth date.

“Start the day with an optimistic spirit…

End your day with a forgiving heart…

The beginning and end of happiness lies only in the heart… .”

Maria was chattering to herself in a quiet voice. For her, who had no one to talk to in the spirit world, every hour was a time of self-reflection, except when she briefly communicated with Oscar Lucifer.

When Maria slowly raised her head, she saw darkness. There is no difference in the view whether you look down or raise your head.

“It is dark… .”

It would be disingenuous to say that I am not afraid. It was an arduous practice to quietly wait alone for a long time in a place where no one was around, where not even an echo came back even if I shouted.

At first, she spent time reminiscing about her past life, but Maria only lived as a human for 28 years. Life in the spirit world, which had already been over a hundred years, was such a long time that Mary grew tired of reflecting on and pondering her life.

Of course, the dark wasn’t the only thing to be afraid of. There was something else that treated Maria’s delicate heart even more harshly.

“What time is it right now? .”

That is, you cannot know the time.

It’s hard enough just waiting all day, but you don’t even know how many hours have passed and how many hours are left. It was like psychological torture, as if my mind was being chipped away.

Having endured such an environment for over a hundred years, I was able to estimate the time to some extent by feeling it, but it was not perfect.

However, the thing that scared me more than anything else and made me shudder just thinking about it existed separately.

“Joker… When will you communicate again?”

It’s worry and worry.

Toward a demon.

There was so much worry and anxiety. As if she had several lives to worry about, she always took risks no matter what she did, so whenever Oscar’s communication was delayed even a little, Maria felt anxious.

also… .

“Love is so scary… I didn’t even know… .”

I wonder if Oscar’s love has cooled.

Maria was madly afraid of it.

More than when I was trapped in Tartarus, waiting for the cruel end that was approaching day by day.

However, there was nothing Maria could do. All I have to do is think about and long for Oscar for 23 hours and 40 minutes, and then do my best to communicate when the 20 minutes of grace arrives.

“Lord… If you gave me just one answer, I, foolish as I am, would be able to wait with faith. What kind of picture are you drawing? .”

Even though I prayed to the Lord out of frustration, the reality of only silence returning did not change. Maria let out a grim sigh.

*****

“Kkkk! wake up! Wow!”

I hear bullshit.

저 망할 개새끼. Should I really have vocal cord augmentation surgery?

“Kkkk! Do it, get high! Wake up quickly!”

… Damn, if that were really the case, my already petty loyalty would be completely erased. I twisted my hand, which was submerged under the blanket, into the shape of a hand blade, and quickly swung it towards the source of the sound.

Hwiik- Ugh!

Oh, the hand blade attack that should have hit Aru’s forehead by now was caught by something. On something very hard and slightly sharp.

The feeling of wetness passing through the back of my hand. What on earth did Aru do? The moment when you try to open your eyes that were closed while wandering in a dream.

“Ododog-.”

“Quaaaagh!”

“Keng, are you awake?”

“This damn wolf bastard… ! What if I bite my finger! Are you going to cure this? Huh?”

“Treatment? Okay, I don’t know about that.”

“Aru, you bastard… ! Your arrogance is sky-high these days… !”

My fingers are throbbing. This is because Aru mercilessly chewed it with his teeth. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be bleeding.

Jureuk-.

Oh, it’s me now. My fingers are sore. Tears are forming.

They say that other wolf beasts pant at their owners, so I wonder why our Aru is such a jerk. There is a limit to what you can tolerate during puberty.

hmm… Was that a dog? anyway.

“Aru, what should I do for you?”

“Kengkeong?”

“How should I raise Aru so that I can be known for raising him well? Just hitting is not the best solution.”

Aru is now a fully grown adult. When I was a child, I had to swallow the heart-breaking pain and force myself to use the cane as a disciplinarian, but I guess it’s a bit weird to whip a grown adult with a cane.

I’m worried. I ran into a problem. Normally, I would have spent days and days trying to overcome the difficulties in front of me, but at this point, I don’t have the luxury of doing that.

Today I am a magician for the first time in a long time. Not an educator.

“Give me food, keungkeong.”

“What? rice? Are you saying that you bite the owner and make him bleed?”

“Keng. I’m hungry. But does the young demon hurt a lot?”

“Wouldn’t it hurt you? Hey, Aru. Give me your hand.”

“Kengkeong?”

“Hand, dude. Don’t you know your hands? Ha, you wolf cub. How on earth did you get home education? Your family doesn’t even teach you these basic things?”

He spoke arrogantly and held out his hand, and Aru’s expression instantly turned grim. Aru makes a menacing scratching sound.

“Grrr… My family is smart… !”

“Hey, you were so smart that you fell into a trap and were killed? What a great family.”

“Kkiiing… .”

As he sarcastically sneered, Aru cringed as if he was thinking of his dead family. Was my words too harsh? No matter how angry you are, I think it’s a bit over the line to mess with your family. I feel sorry for no reason.

“Ah, anyway! Give me your hand! Aru!”

“Keng. But why the hands?”

Aru places his hand on top of my outstretched hand. I brought it to my mouth and bit down hard.

“Kkegaegaggang!”

The reaction was immediate. Aru quickly pulled out the finger that was bitten by me and covered it with his other hand. Aru asked for an explanation with a tearful face.

“Does it hurt? Is this what you did earlier?”

“Grrr… ! The young demon always hit me… !”

“Even if you have wolf ears, you still have to speak clearly. When did I always hit you? These days, I hardly ever hit anyone. Do you listen to my orders when I’m screwed?”

“Kkkk! bad! bad! Kkkk!”

Aru barks loudly. I roughly covered my ears and looked outside through the window.

The sun was high in the sky.

… Is it already mid-heaven?

In an instant, the feeling of sleep disappeared. Perhaps because I drank too much with Beatrice yesterday, I slept for too long. I’m going to be busy all day today.

“Ha… If you’re not careful, you’ll be late. I have to hurry.”

“Keng? What?”

“You happen to be here. Yes, in times like this, I need to be an assistant. Aru like this damn top.”

“Kouong? Aren’t you going to give me food? I’m hungry… .”

“I will give it to you if you do well with what Aru asks from now on. Now, look here.”

After shaking my head to blow away all the remaining sleep, I took out two pieces of paper from Arachne’s bag. Then, Aru bit one of them and put his finger, which was dripping with red blood.

The red paint that has just come off the soft flesh seeps onto the white drawing paper. The way the flowers spread out is quite beautiful. I moved my hands hard.

Circles, triangles, squares. Thick circle. Thin triangle. A crinkled square. Draw increasingly strange shapes on drawing paper. A single shape is unsightly, but when dozens of shapes are gathered together to form a ‘pattern’ with a certain arrangement and regularity, it has its own beauty.

It’s just a shape, in an ‘arrogant’ way.

“What are you doing? Kkong?”

“What it does, it creates jobs. Well, that’s it. Now, Aru, take this.”

Drawing paper with a stylish red pattern engraved on it. I opened it up, looked at it a few times, and handed it to Aru with a grin. This is because I am proud of myself for drawing a summoning circle that looks so bizarre that it gives me goosebumps all over my body just by looking at it. Ah, maybe I wasn’t a painter in my past life.

Aru gives me an incomprehensible look. As if responding to his gaze, I told Aru what to do. Adding an explanation.

“You who wear the sword of hell on your body, you great devil who has all the devils of the world at your feet, I call you, the ruler of the night.”

“Keng? Kkkk?”

“Lucifer, the angel who fell with arrogance, answer the summons.”

“Kengkeong?”

The suspicion in Aru’s blue eyes grows. It must be because of my unintelligible words.

“Memorize roughly. Because it’s okay to be a little wrong with things like summoning spells.”

“Summoning spell? Summon me? What?”

“Didn’t you just hear that? Summoning the devil Lucifer?”

“Keng? devil? Lucifer? Why?”

“There’s no need to know that, just go out to the backyard and memorize it later. Lay it on the floor of this summoning circle. and… .”

Slurring his words, he took out a piece of paper that had not yet been colored. It is a clean, pure white colored paper.

The entity you are trying to summon with this paper is not a demon or anything like that, so you should not use a medium full of sinisterness, such as blood. I thought for a moment. Other than blood, what should I use as ink?

Oh yeah. That will be enough.

I clenched my fists. Next, he quickly waved his arms back and forth and left and right. As fast as I can. The afterimage of the arm leaves a stain in the air. A gust of wind blows through the room. I guess I shook it like that for about three minutes.

Grumble – Grumble.

Sweat was dripping from my arms, like Leonard falling from a cliff.

sweat. A sign of glorious effort. The bread eaten by the greatest human being, the emperor, would not exist if it were not for the dedicated farming of farmers. Sweat is the beautiful drop of penance. All living things live to sweat.

It is a liquid that is perfectly suited to a race such as ‘angels’, standing in the exact opposite position of ‘sloth’, one of the seven deadly sins.

For me, who wants to summon Archangel Uriel, this paint is perfect. Although the color is transparent and the pattern will inevitably be faint, angels who value labor do not mind it.

The hand moves along the surface of the drawing paper, scattering sweat droplets. There is regularity this time too, but it is different from when Lucifer was summoned. Straight line, straight line, straight line. Hard, angled lines embroider the drawing paper.

This is because angels like strict discipline and neat order. Unlike demons who worship free barbarism. Of these, my inclination is clearly towards the latter. It looks like demon blood isn’t going anywhere.

Seuuu-. Pop-.

“Keng… The young demons are strange.”

“Now, Aru. Take it.”

“What is this again?”

“Archangel Uriel summoning circle. This time, listen carefully and memorize it properly. Big!”

After calming my voice for a moment, I spoke as loudly as I could.

“Receiver of the most sacred grace. Noble flame that serves the Lord of all things. To you who believe in goodness and the Lord, I call you here.”

“It’s complicated. difficult. Kkkk.”

“Archangel Uriel, wielding the sword of truth, answer the summons. You have to memorize this well. Angels are sensitive to things like the completeness of rituals such as summoning. Does that show sincerity or something?”

Lucifer is my ancestor and the contractor of Beatrice Constantine. Uriel once had a battle with Lucifer, and to this day, they remain in an enmity relationship. I will use both of them.

“Kkiing… Can I just do these two?”

Aru asks a question while holding the two pieces of paper I made.

“Later, go to the backyard. Before that, get this first.”

I put a bottle from the bag into Aru’s hands. It was a bottle whose mouth was tightly sealed with a stopper.

“Keng? What is this?”

“Black Wyvern’s blood. The bloody smell is very unpleasant.”

“Ker, keung? Why are you giving me this? My nose hurts!”

“Why, from now on, Aru has to go around the surrounding forest and spread the scent. If you think the smell goes away, sprinkle some blood on it.”

“Why should I do that?”

“Hmm… Because it’s an order? Do you miss the taste of the magic wand?”

“Kkiing… okay… .”

No matter how young I am, I can’t beat the magic wand. It should have been like this a long time ago.

The reason why Aru was given the bottle containing Black Wyvern’s blood is simple. From now on, I plan to attract the monsters that live in the southern part of the Demon Forest to this house.

Black Wyvern is a monster in its own right. Normally, he would be an opponent that would not be easy to catch, even if it were a monster from the Demon Forest. To the supreme beings of the Demonic Forest like the Five Kings, they are as insignificant as bugs, but to them, they are really just bugs, so there is no reason to target them.

That black wyvern’s blood is scattered all over the forest? Most monsters that smell that scent will guess. There is a black wyvern hiding around here, wounded. It suffered a very large wound, so much so that the entire forest was filled with a bloody smell.

Naturally, your mouth will water. Just by killing them and absorbing their energy, the strength of most Demon Forest monsters will be doubled. In the demonic forest where the might of the jungle is strong, increasing power means expanding the territory you own.

Monsters who have been faithful to their desires since birth will follow the scent of blood and gather here, at Beatrice’s house, just as I designed.

This is also the first performance of the magic show I will be performing today. Awaken Beatrice’s desire.

“Run as fast as you can and come to this house. Drag the monsters. one… About an hour from now is enough.”

“Kengkeong, is that all you need to do?”

“You should also use the paper I gave you. After returning home, do not come inside the house, but quietly go outside to the storage room. Summon Lucifer and Uriel there. All you have to do is memorize the spell I told you. It takes quite a while to be summoned after memorizing the spell, so Aru just needs to wait quietly. You must summon Lucifer first. Don’t forget that.”

After giving all the instructions, Aru nodded as if he had accepted them. Aru has been active in various ‘hunts’ under my command so far, but this is the first time I am performing a magic show with Aru as my assistant.

To tell him to do well, I reached out and stroked Aru’s forehead. Before I knew it, my long, dark blue hair was covering my head. The pointed wolf ears flutter against my fingertips.

“You can do it well, right? Aru?”

“Keng.”

“Okay, then go out now.”

Aru grabs the two pieces of paper and the bottle I gave him and stands up. Until it bit my hand, all I wanted to do was give it a squeeze, but seeing it faithfully carry out my orders gave me something to be proud of.

After patting Aru’s butt a couple of times and letting him go, I stood up along with him.

Then, after taking only a few items from the bag, I went straight to Beatrice. Beatrice was in the yard. The blade of the great sword, sparkling in the warm sunlight shining on the earth, was placed on my lap and wiped clean with a handkerchief.

I waved my hand and approached Beatrice.

“Hello? Sir Beatrice.”

“You woke up late.”

“Haha, laziness is one of the virtues of demons.”

“… .”

“Kwikkk, I know you hate being lazy, but please at least respond. The atmosphere gets weird! ah! How do I change this mood?”

He said, deliberately raising his tone. Beatrice stared at me with a cold expression.

Can not help it. Because Beatrice has no interest in me to begin with. To the point where he would even without hesitation ask that he be killed if the situation arises.

The reason Beatrice gave me a chance last night was simply because I promised her that I would give her life meaning again. Since this relationship started with a lie, I have to endure this level of coldness.

“That’s right! There it was! Sir Beatrice, do you know how to play chess?”

When the topic of chess was suddenly brought up, Beatrice’s brown eyebrows twitched. I smile happily and whisper happily.

“Playing a few games is the best way to resolve awkward situations! In that sense, why not play chess with me!”

“I know how to do it, but… I can’t put it that well. I’m not the type of person to spend time on games or anything like that. The idea was to practice more during that time.”

“Haha! are you okay! I’ll fix it for you! Actually, I’m not good at chess either! It’s only fun when you put together people who are inherently clumsy!”

As he spoke, he took out the chessboard he was hiding behind his back and the chess pieces he was hiding in his sleeve. Beatrice’s pupils widened slightly at the appearance of things that were clearly not visible at all.

This paladin, magicians are supposed to be good at these things. Would you be a magician if you didn’t know these basic hand techniques?

“Now! Let’s come inside the house first! I’ll lay the board for you!”

The stage curtain goes up.

The show that brings to the surface the desires buried deep within Beatrice’s true heart, begins now.