The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 32

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

The Strongest in Our Neighborhood (32)
“Ugh…… this cursed mess…….”
Svalwain, a high-ranking demon in Adrammelech’s service, collapsed the moment he entered the cave where the barrier had been set.
He tried to restore both his arms by channeling Demonic Energy into them, but for some reason they wouldn’t heal easily.
“What? Why isn’t it working?”
When he poured Demonic Energy at full force, the arms did regenerate bit by bit, but at this rate he’d be completely drained by the time they were whole again.
“Now that I think about it, that creature’s attack carried Spirit Power within it!”
It wasn’t quite as antagonistic as Holy Power, but it was still an infuriatingly troublesome force.
Sizzzzzzz.
As he concentrated Demonic Energy and burned away the Spirit Power embedded in the wound, a sound like hot metal plunged into water erupted, and a savage pain flooded through him.
“Ugh…… I’m a complete wreck!”
After pouring out Demonic Energy until he was nearly exhausted, regenerating his arms and healing the wounds completely, dizziness swept over him and the world began to spin.
“Damn it, I thought since there were no dragons in this region but plenty of monsters, I could establish a foothold easily and prepare to welcome my master.”
To fully restore his body, he’d need to recuperate inside a Magic Circle for at least a month.
Clink, clink…….
As Svalwain was heading to the storage to retrieve materials for drawing a Magic Circle, the sudden sound of an alarm startled him awake.
“The alarm enchantment was installed on the outer edges of the barrier…… Could it be that human has been chasing me this whole time?”
The wounds had been severe during his flight through the darkness, and he hadn’t been able to stop the bleeding.
The creature had likely followed his blood trail.
Svalwain stumbled forward faster toward the storage.
His plan was to gather materials for the Magic Circle while the thing worked through the barrier, seal the storage, and hide elsewhere to recover.
“Breaking through the barrier should take at least an hour…….”
CRASH!
A tremendous explosion followed, and the cave shook as though an earthquake had struck.
Svalwain’s eyes went wide in shock.
‘What—what is this? The barrier shattered in one blow! How?’
Svalwain ran quickly to the storage, but he couldn’t gather everything inside—he took only the Magic Circle materials and shut the door behind him.
“The core of the barrier is destroyed! A Grand Mage wouldn’t be able to find the core unless…… Did that creature bring a Grand Mage with it?”
The storage contained not just Magic Circle materials, but also other components he’d collected to summon his master Adrammelech into physical form, but he couldn’t take those.
So he sealed the storage so it couldn’t be opened, and emerged from the cave—only to see that the darkness surrounding it had dispersed, and sunlight now filtered through in patches.
“I’m—I’m losing it!”
He hesitated for a moment, deciding which direction to flee.
His first instinct was to return to the Demon Realm, but the memory of boasting loudly to the other nobles as he left made him reluctant to go back that way.
The second place that came to mind was the hideout of another demon who had lost the war and taken refuge in the human world, establishing a base there.
“Come to think of it, Jakprui was pretending to be a noble in the Smed Kingdom—it’d be better to go to him.”
Svalwain managed a bitter smile as he fled.
His magical power was depleted and his speed through the darkness was shameful, but fortunately his wounds were fully healed, so he wouldn’t bleed like before.
“At least I won’t leave a trail!”
* * *
“A demon, you say?”
Dimitrion’s eyes widened as he heard the words from Eggman, the chieftain.
“Yes, I hear that Cain encountered and fought a demon while pursuing mutation monsters tainted by Demonic Energy.”
“Ah! If Cain fought it, then that demon must be dead.”
“I thought the same, but according to what Elder Malata told me, the demon inflicted a grave wound on Cain’s flank and escaped.”
For a moment, Dimitrion stared in disbelief, tilting his head.
“What? Cain was gravely wounded? Even doing my absolute best, I couldn’t touch a single hair on him…… that makes no sense.”
“I didn’t believe it either, but Elder Malata and Elder Elena have no reason to lie to me, don’t they?”
“True enough, but…… hmm, a demon that wounded Cain and lived to flee. That would be an exceptionally powerful high-ranking demon.”
“Oh, and the demon said its name was Jelato. According to what it claimed, in human terms of nobility it would be Count-rank. Is Jelato truly Count-rank?”
Dimitrion’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Je—Jelato! Among high-ranking demons, we do call the Count-rank ones Jelato. Hmm, if it truly was Jelato, it would be immensely powerful—but Cain defeated such a creature! That’s remarkable.”
In the Demon Realm, nobility was the measure of strength.
“Cain achieved overwhelming victory against me, so is defeating Jelato really such an extraordinary feat?”
“It seems you don’t understand the hierarchy of the Demon Realm, Elder. The strongest in the Demon Realm are the Demon Lords, and directly beneath them are the Theorn—in other words, Duke-rank demons. Duke-rank demons possess power comparable to the dragons of our world. And next in line are the Count-rank Jelato. In our terms, they’d be on par with Master-class swordsmen or Grand Mages and Grand Spirit Masters.”
Hearing Dimitrion’s explanation, Eggman involuntarily gaped.
Having contracted with a mid-tier earth spirit himself, he knew just how extraordinary a Grand Spirit Master was.
“A Grand Spirit Master commands top-tier spirits…… so you’re saying Cain is on that level?”
“That’s what it seems like.”
“But I’ve heard that demons grow weaker when they leave the Demon Realm—wouldn’t that Count-rank demon have weakened too?”
“It certainly would have weakened, but it’s still Count-rank. And since Cain defeated it, he should be considered Master-class.”
“Oh, I see.”
“But you came to tell me this news?”
“Ah, forgive me—I wasn’t thinking. Cain asked me to tell you to be careful, as it seems a Demon has fled toward the Smed Kingdom.”
Dimitrion’s eyes widened sharply in an instant.
“What? A Jelato-class Demon has gone toward our kingdom!”
“Yes.”
“This is, this is madness!”
It was as though a catastrophe had suddenly descended upon the kingdom.
“Chief, this news must be reported to His Majesty so the kingdom can prepare itself at the highest level. I’m sorry, but it seems I won’t be able to continue assisting you.”
“Of course you must. I’m already deeply grateful for everything you’ve done for me thus far.”
“Then.”
As Dimitrion hurried toward his companions, Eggman offered a bitter smile.
Over the past fortnight, with his aid they had defeated countless hunters and mercenaries, and even the great monsters that had threatened the village fell easily.
Once he departed, they would have to face such challenges again with only the strength of their own people.
“Peaceful days are over now. Dimitrion, thank you for everything.”
* * *
“Why don’t we simply burn it?”
Jang Gain spoke his thought aloud as he watched the elders deliberate over the Demon Arm.
“Jang Gain, while a Count-class Demon’s arm may be of little use to us, it would certainly be a precious research material for mages and alchemists.”
“Ah, is that so? But we can’t sell it to mages or alchemists, can we? To sell it, they’d have to come buy it, or someone would have to carry it to them and sell it directly—who would do that?”
As Elena and Malata exchanged a silent look in his direction, Jang Gain averted his gaze and continued.
“And earlier you said the Demonic Energy was so strong that an ordinary person could be corrupted just by holding it.”
On the way back to the village, Jang Gain had absorbed most of the Demonic Energy dwelling in the Demon Arm. Yet even so, faint Demonic Energy still emanated from it.
“So troublesome as it may be, you would need to seek out a mage yourself and sell it directly.”
“Demonic Energy of this magnitude is something you elders can easily suppress. Wouldn’t it be better for one of you to venture outside the forest for a change, to see the human world again, and sell it?”
“One of us could go, but we worry we might encounter mercenaries or bandits on the road and have it stolen.”
“With your strength, ordinary mercenaries or bandits shouldn’t pose much threat.”
“It’s the extraordinary ones that concern us—and more than anything, the mages themselves.”
At Elena’s words, Jang Gain’s expression showed he didn’t quite understand.
“Why would mages be a problem?”
“A High-ranking Demon’s arm would fetch no less than a thousand Gold, and if a mage is poor but greedy, they could harm us and steal the arm.”
Jang Gain’s eyes widened in an instant.
“Over a thousand Gold, you say?”
“At the very least a thousand Gold, possibly more.”
“But how could a High-ranking Demon’s arm possibly be worth that much?”
The gleam in Jang Gain’s eyes as he gazed upon the Demon Arm had shifted entirely from moments before.
“Because a High-ranking Demon’s arm is that rare.”
“What can be done with it that makes it so precious?”
“We ourselves don’t know exactly. But we’ve heard that Demons hiding in the human world are occasionally captured, and while they used to be burned at the stake, nowadays their bodies are dismembered and used in mages’ experiments. Since even parts of Mid-rank Demons are said to trade for several hundred Gold, we imagine High-ranking Demon bodies would fetch far greater sums.”
“Mid-rank Demon bodies for several hundred Gold? What sort of experiments are they conducting?”
“That, we don’t know either.”
“Are they crafting Magical Tools from Demon bodies?”
“Look at the cut surface here—it’s sealed itself without bleeding. Isn’t that remarkable in itself?”
“It certainly is remarkable.”
“So the mages must conduct all manner of experiments with it.”
“Oh, wait a moment!”
Just then, Jang Gain suddenly rose and left Elena’s house, returning moments later with a large sack.
“What is that?”
“Ah! When I found the Cave where that Demon was hiding, I discovered a storehouse concealed beneath some illusory Barrier. I broke through and took everything inside.”
Jang Gain opened the sack and began removing its contents.
“Most of these things are brimming with Demonic Energy—do you think they might be worth something too?”
The two elders’ eyes widened as they beheld what Jang Gain withdrew.
“These are Demon Spirit Stones, and this is a Blood Stone, and the marking on this parchment appears to be a Magic Circle, though we’re not certain what kind. And these bundles of parchment… goodness! These are Magic Scrolls. They all bear the same symbol, so they seem to contain a single spell, but since we’re unfamiliar with magic, we can’t say what it is. And finally, this appears to be a Demon Beast Horn.”
“Would mages pay money for these too?”
“They would likely fetch enormous sums. Just these Magic Scrolls alone—made by a High-ranking Demon—contain magic incomparable to scrolls crafted by ordinary mages. Naturally they’d command far higher prices.”
“Ah, these are Magic Scrolls! I was fascinated by how much Demonic Energy is condensed into the parchment. But how does one use these Magic Scrolls?”
“Do you see the shallow groove here?”
“Yes.”
“You grasp both ends of the scroll, point the groove in the direction you wish the magic to manifest, and tear it.”
“Ah, so if I grip it like this, point it, and tear it….”
“Wait! Hold on a moment, please! Cain, what are you doing?”
The moment Jang Gain seized the Magic Scroll in both hands and aimed it toward the window, the two elders gasped and grabbed his arms.
“I’ve heard from Eldom before that Magic Scrolls existed, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen one. I was curious to know if the magic would truly manifest.”

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