I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12

 

Past the area where the Guard Barracks were gathered, in an even deeper location.

 

Several guards stood watch over the large building that had been glimpsed from the Training Ground.

 

There was no problem.

 

“Deception.”

 

My mana had already fully recovered during the journey here. Though I couldn’t maintain it for long due to my low absolute mana capacity, there was no strain in using it briefly and frequently.

 

“…When did they say they were coming again?”

“I don’t know. Did they say next week?”

“Then this city will grow quite a bit starting then.”

“To think Belive would become a tourist city. I just hope those travelers don’t cause any trouble.”

 

Passing by the yawning, chattering guards and entering inside, I was suffocated by the humid and unpleasant air.

 

-Not a single window, quite an unpleasant space indeed.

 

I walked forward without hesitation.

 

Thanks to the path not being too complicated. The guards outside as well – it seemed they hadn’t considered the possibility of someone’s intrusion from the start.

 

‘Well, there wouldn’t be any need for that.’

 

What was imprisoned here weren’t nobles or knights, but simple…

 

Following the torches as I walked, I gradually began to sense human presence.

 

The sound of snoring, shivering from cold, sobbing.

 

With my face covered, I slowly examined the people imprisoned in the cells, muffling my footsteps.

 

More than half of the dozens of cells were empty.

 

But even in a single small cell, there were over ten people each. Old people, men, women, children – all imprisoned without distinction. Thanks to this, the number of people confined in this not-so-large building easily exceeded a hundred.

 

Their appearance looked similar to slaves waiting to be sold.

 

Their appearance looked like the old days. Like myself before meeting Master…

 

-What’s wrong? Your feet have stopped.

“…No.”

 

I forcibly suppressed the disgust boiling up from within.

 

Now in a state where even my purpose for coming here was unclear, I walked through the prison as if drawn by something.

 

And finally arriving at the end of the prison. Among the empty cells placed in the deepest location, I discovered a room that wasn’t empty.

 

Something with such a deep hue it was close to black – a dark gray color.

 

-Ho… You’ve discovered something rare.

“Something rare?”

 

A form crouched and sitting.

 

It had the shape of a human but wasn’t human. It wore no clothes, had no hair, and not a single facial feature was properly attached.

 

-It’s a soul.

“A soul?”

 

Originally, the form of a soul was close to a sphere emitting light. The fragments I’d discovered recently were like black filth. However, that thing belonged to neither category.

 

-To be precise, it’s a collection of souls. A soul cluster. Even if one tried to create it artificially, it wouldn’t be easy, yet to see such a thing in a place like this.

“Soul cluster…”

-I see. Was the location of the Execution Ground near here? Though unintended, it seems to have become a ritual in itself.

 

The Demon Lord muttered as if pleased, then warned me.

 

-It would be best not to think of absorbing it. Judging by its size, it’s a cluster of at least hundreds of souls. It’s incomparable to absorbing a few scraps.

 

Even without the Demon Lord’s warning, I had no intention of absorbing that thing. Just looking at it gave off an ominous aura, and I felt that absorbing it would lead to no good outcome.

 

However.

 

“Will this fit in here?”

-Temporary storage should be possible.

 

Taking out the Soul Vial from my chest and opening the lid, I held it toward the soul cluster. The cluster, which had been twitching slightly, was quickly drawn into the Soul Vial.

 

I quickly closed the lid, but the Soul Vial vibrated as if it might burst. Upon inspection, I could see cracks had formed.

 

Just then, a familiar voice reached my ears.

 

“Yawn… Do we really have to patrol?”

“If you’ve switched shifts, you have to make rounds, man. Still, it’s better than standing guard at the city gate during the day, right? We can rest after one round.”

“That’s true.”

 

Why was I hearing that voice now?

 

The suspicion I had kept trying to deny was gradually becoming certainty, and I gritted my teeth.

 

Listening to the approaching footsteps, I tucked the Soul Vial into my chest. What I took out instead was an Old Scythe.

 

Gritting my teeth, I stared in the direction the sound had come from.

 

“There’s no one here, so why… Huh?”

“Who’s there!”

 

And I confirmed it.

 

The faces I had been seeing continuously for the past few days. It was Johnny and the youngest soldier.

 

* * *

 

I quickly escaped the area using Deception, but in that brief moment, the city had fallen into chaos.

 

An intruder discovered in the prison. This was an incident of completely different importance from a thief infiltrating the Guard Captain’s wife’s store.

 

Naturally, an investigation team was quickly dispatched, and it seemed they had discovered traces of mana that I hadn’t been able to erase in time.

 

“It’s a Dark Mage! A Dark Mage has approached the demon minions!”

“Guard the city gate! Don’t let anyone escape!”

 

As I fled looking for a place with few people, I naturally arrived at the slums.

 

I sat down in front of a collapsed building and looked at the soul contained in the Soul Vial.

 

-It’s a bit early, but it’s time to teach you new magic.

“….”

-An advanced course in Soul Magic. Spirit manipulation magic. You can think of it as similar to elemental magic, controlling and manipulating souls.

 

I sat silently and let the Demon Lord’s explanation flow past me.

 

-It won’t take as long as last time. This is just an advanced course. You’ll be applying and modifying what you’ve already learned.

 

My head was complicated.

 

If it hadn’t been for Johnny’s face that I saw at the end, could I have passed it off as mere suspicion?

 

Even if it felt a bit unsettling, could I have ended it thinking that since he was a soldier, it couldn’t be helped?

 

Was it wrong to sneak into the prison, to go to Amy’s store?

 

-Don’t think about it so complicatedly. All the clues have been given.

 

The Demon Lord said.

 

-Since the Demon Realm subjugation has ended, it’s obvious that people would flock to this place, the nearest city. They must have found the vast land occupied by the poor people quite valuable.

 

The words of the guards who were watching the prison came to mind. Their voices mixed with pride while complaining about the headaches from the increasing number of travelers.

 

-However, even if they’re poor people, they’re still territory residents. If you execute a large number without any justification, there will be backlash. But there happened to be a perfect name to exploit. Who wouldn’t believe if a priest from the Religious Order vouched for it?

 

The image of the priest conducting the execution ceremony while crying out the Goddess’s name came to mind.

 

-Moreover, the work efficiency of the territory residents enjoying the festival would increase as well… This city’s lord seems quite clever.

 

The faces of people who enjoyed the executions daily and greeted each other with smiles the next day came to mind.

 

But.

 

“That’s not what I wanted to know. The people being executed were completely innocent. I wanted to know if the guards, if Mike knew about it… and if so, why they did such things!”

 

The fact that they were involved in some way was clear.

 

The Soul Fragments that filled the barracks and the general store were probably because they had touched the belongings of the slum people in that process.

 

But I wanted to know what kind of heart they had when they did it. If they were just punishing evildoers and taking their belongings, it would be the same as adventurers exploring dungeons…

 

“Since you weren’t in your room, I had a suspicion. Were you also the one who broke into my wife’s store?”

 

A voice was heard from not too far away.

 

“The reason is simple. Because I received orders.”

 

Because I was distracted while talking with the Demon Lord, I hadn’t noticed at all.

 

“Whether those people actually worshipped demons or not isn’t important. If the lord said so, we simply believe and follow.”

 

Mike appeared, already armed and equipped. The same expression as usual. But colder eyes than usual.

 

I had hoped it wasn’t true.

 

At the very least, I had hoped they believed those people really were demon worshippers.

 

But was that completely unimportant to Mike?

 

“Then why did you… to me…”

“…Because you weren’t a target of the orders.”

 

Over the barely audible small voice, the Demon Lord added as if explaining.

 

-If you had been an ordinary person, you would have infiltrated the slums after entering the city, unable to find work.

 

Then before long, I would have been imprisoned and put on the execution platform. Does this mean he extended a helping hand anticipating that?

 

“You contributed to the deaths of hundreds of completely innocent people, and what’s the point of that…!”

“Well. What’s important about that now.”

-Humans are originally complex creatures.

 

Mike’s answer and the Demon Lord’s muttering were heard alternately.

 

“What’s important now is just the fact that the person I was keeping is a Dark Mage who terrorized the city.”

-Just because someone harms others without hesitation doesn’t mean you can’t feel pity for them, and conversely, even a hero who saved hundreds can be consumed by selfishness and jealousy at times.

 

An endlessly heavy voice and a voice humming like singing.

 

“Surrender, Jude. I’ll send you off without pain, without having to climb the execution platform.”

-What will you do? Will you run away?

 

I wanted to run away. But how could I escape?

 

Using Deception Magic to hide my appearance would last at most ten or so seconds. It was nowhere near enough time to shake off Mike and escape the castle.

 

-He’s a Guard Captain of a city. Though he can’t compare to a Knight, he’s surely much stronger than the Farmers you’ve faced so far. If you drag this out, other Soldiers might swarm in. It’s an unfavorable fight.

 

Even if I barely managed to escape, what came after was obvious. I’d become prey, hunted by the city’s Soldiers and the Religious Order’s Inquisitors.

 

How did it come to this? Where did it all go wrong?

 

I had only wanted to live peacefully, without my life being threatened. Ever since the Hero appeared, everything had been a mess.

 

I let out a sigh and raised my head to meet Mike’s face.

 

Perhaps because my thoughts had organized themselves, I could feel complex emotions dwelling in those eyes that had seemed nothing but cold.

 

Whether it was pity for me, regret about the choice to help me, worry about the responsibility he’d have to bear going forward, or perhaps even a sense of betrayal.

 

“I won’t surrender. I don’t want to die.”

 

It wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

 

-Then are you thinking of running away?

 

I had no such intention either. With the Demon Lord’s help, I might somehow survive, but I didn’t want to spend my whole life being pursued.

 

“I have no intention of running away either.”

 

A beat later, Mike adjusted his grip on the spear he was holding and took his stance.

 

A stance that hadn’t been easy even after practicing it several times. It even looked several times more solid than Johnny’s stance.

 

Facing him, I drew the scythe from my chest.

 

-Let’s see, good. The ritual is responding properly.

 

The Demon Lord burst into laughter as he spoke. As if he had been waiting for this moment, his voice was more delighted than any I’d heard before.

 

-Now then, destroy the sinner.

 

Only then did I realize. This entire situation had been decided from the first day I entered the city. From the moment I witnessed the execution.

 

-Face the great evil and prove your courage.

 

I put strength into my hand and shattered the Soul Vial.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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