He dragged away the young lady who was begging to be forgiven without the slightest hesitation.
Estelle stared blankly at the pitiable sight.
The person she had been speaking with only moments ago had disappeared.
And before long, she would hear that the young lady had been executed.
A traitor who had joined hands with demons. Someone who had succumbed to their whispers.
She knew. Even if it couldn’t be helped, in the end, she had committed a sin.
She shouldn’t have given in. She should have endured with dignity.
‘But… it’s just too sad.’
The young lady being dragged away cried out, begging them to show mercy.
Her fiancé, with whom she had promised a future, had gone missing during the war.
The person she loved. The other half of her soul. The one with whom she shared her heart.
If someone like that disappeared, could anyone endure it without going mad?
They said the demons had approached that young lady and whispered to her.
If you listen to us, we may be able to return your fiancé to you.
Clutching at even a straw, she had ended up making a contract.
They make us hate, despise, and suspect one another.
Isn’t this the future the demons truly desire?
Like winning the battle but losing the war.
Aren’t we the ones causing the seeds of evil to bloom on our own?
“Very well. Lady Estelle. If you say so, then allow me to ask you one thing.”
Before her, the man who bore the myth of being undefeated spoke coldly.
If another contractor who had joined hands with demons appeared—
Lady Estelle. What would you do here and now?
What if there truly was someone beside you who had succumbed to evil whispers?
Then. First, she would try talking to them. See if they could be saved—
“You’re too late.”
Demon Slayer. Cain’s verdict was as cold as ice.
“Because you’ve already been killed by that contractor.”
Prinz and Evan snapped something at Cain.
But Cain paid them not the slightest mind and turned away.
At that moment, Estelle felt a chill crawl over her skin.
He was human. Clearly the same human as them. And yet, something was different.
She could feel it. He was the worst possible opposing force, one she must never approach.
The moment she drew close to his side, she would surely be twisted.
‘What a pitiful person.’
A negative example. A lesson from another’s failure. The tragedy of ending up in the wrong place.
I won’t become like that. I won’t lose my humanity.
Let him be a lesson. Let him be a signpost of a path gone astray.
Watching Cain grow distant, Estelle made her resolve.
“…”
Prinz and Evan watched that gaze with caution.
It seemed some grave misunderstanding was piling up.
***
Little sister. These days, pushover protagonists like that aren’t popular.
People want catharsis—characters who say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done.
If you think about it, isn’t the female lead fighting for survival too?
She’s going to die at this rate. I’m telling you, just being kind isn’t enough.
‘And then she said there were too many protagonists like that these days, so she was going for a classic feel again, didn’t she?’
To put it in comparison, it was like a traditional hero story without the regret, obsession, or ruin tags.
A true growth story where one slowly matured after overcoming countless trials and hardships.
There were definitely points to be gained from that classic flavor.
Male leads whose hearts were moved by the kind female protagonist.
Even looking at it coldly, he could understand it, and there was plenty of potential too.
If he had to point out one very minor problem—
“Why did it have to be here?”
Why did the protagonist of the novel I possessed have to be a kind female lead?
Why did it have to be a magician of plotlines where you can’t help but choke down sweet potatoes?
Cain sighed at the sensation of his head splitting open.
Contractors. Traitors who had joined hands with demons. Didn’t they have their own circumstances too?
The moment he heard Estelle’s words, frustration flooded in like a tide.
Fine. Maybe they did. Maybe not all of them were evil.
So what did she want to do about it? Forgive them? Tell them to repent?
Did she not know why those who surrendered were never treated particularly well?
Betrayal may be hard the first time, but it’s not hard the second.
Forgiveness. Understanding. Those came only after punishment was carried out first.
What about the people who died because contractors handed information to demons?
What about the people assassinated by contractors?
‘So this is how the side effects show up.’
To survive. To get involved in this strange story.
He had killed demons, killed them, and killed them again to make it this far.
The problem was that Cain had killed too many. And had killed them too well.
Originally, with the demons’ advantage, the situation should have been bad.
People would suspect each other even more and become extremely wary.
And there, with her good heart, Estelle would become a single light.
But now? What was the situation now?
The demons had been defeated and had returned to their own strongholds.
What had been meant as a place to boost morale had now become a victory party.
Good intentions, dangerous even in the original, were becoming even worse than before.
‘Should I have killed a little less?’
For a moment, that thought crossed his mind. But soon Cain shook his head.
He had no regrets. Honestly, how was he supposed to hold back with demons in front of him?
He had to kill them all. If they ran, he had to chase them to the ends of the earth and kill them all.
If there were none, he had to search for them and kill them, and if there still were none, he had to invade and kill them!
That was right. If a problem arose, the answer was to remove the cause.
Demons were the problem? Then demon extermination it was. End of story.
“Ah. Aah. Aaaaaah!!—”
I want to kill demons. I want to kill them. I fucking want to kill them!
Swords were fine, spears were fine. Axes or maces. All of them were fine.
Others said long-range weapons or magic were safest.
But how could those ever quench this endless thirst?
Any weapon was fine. Fists were fine, and kicks were fine too.
The screams of those demon bastards begging to be spared were sweet.
When they acted arrogant, thinking themselves predators, only to panic once they became prey.
The expressions they made were always so thrilling.
‘I have to kill them all.’
Only then would my friends who went ahead first feel a little less wronged, wouldn’t they?
If he wanted to let them grab those bastards one by one and fight them in the afterlife—
He still had to kill many more demons. Far more.
“Lord Cain.”
“You’re here, Yuri.”
Unlike earlier, Yuris approached his side, tense all over.
Since a contractor had appeared in front of him, that was understandable enough.
“According to the investigation, she is believed to have contracted with a demon on her way to the party hall.”
“So that created a gap in the investigation.”
“Yes. As an additional detail, she said the demon had instructed her to cause a small disturbance at the party, saying anything would do. That was why she delivered false information to the margrave.”
“And thanks to that, a prince of a neighboring kingdom and a margrave ended up clashing?”
“Her statement says she never imagined it would go that far.”
Right. She wouldn’t have. From the contractor’s perspective, all she’d done was spout whatever came to mind.
The problem was that Estelle was in the middle. The female lead of a romance fantasy.
It made two male leads clearly recognize each other as romantic rivals.
Something neither the demon nor the contractor had ever intended. But the butterfly effect had come crashing in.
“Good.”
“Lord Cain?”
“It served as a fine warning to the humans who were rejoicing that the demons had fled, didn’t it? The fighting with demons has merely subsided; they’re still continuing to operate in the shadows. There’s nothing more exhilarating than that.”
“I’m not sure whether that should truly be called exhilarating…”
Yuris cautiously looked at Cain, who was smiling in front of him.
Sometimes, when he looked at his former superior, he seemed broken somewhere.
But. Even so, it was fine. Because he was Demon Slayer Cain.
The sight of him cutting down every last demon was unmistakable joy.
The sight of those bastards begging to be spared was pleasure one felt as a human.
If they followed him, they could surely win. A mad dog, they called him? How dare they.
“Yuri.”
“Yes, Lord Cain. Shall I go at once and drag in the bastards who called you that?”
“What are you suddenly talking about? That man from earlier. Was his name Evan?”
Calling an imperial margrave “that man”—it would cause an uproar.
But Yuris was someone who felt absolutely nothing about that.
“That is correct. Margrave Evan.”
“If you know anything about that man, tell me in detail.”
Because he had rolled around for ten whole years, the details were hazy.
Even what he did remember had changed a great deal by now.
Because of Cain himself, who had fought like mad in order to survive.
For starters, today’s party hadn’t originally been this grand.
“The person currently in charge of the Margraviate of Valencia, located on the southeastern border of the Empire, is the Margrave Evan you saw a moment ago. It hasn’t been many years since he became margrave, but his abilities as a lord are excellent, so he has tremendous support. In addition, they say his martial prowess is outstanding, to the point that he defeated a demon even in his boyhood. Of course, he doesn’t even reach the tips of Lord Cain’s toes.”
“Thanks. So. Next.”
“Even though the demons launched powerful attacks in order to infiltrate the Empire, he was never breached even once, instead repelling them and achieving victory. Of course, it remains true that he does not reach the tips of Lord Cain’s toes.”
“That part’s enough. Next.”
“Although he is a margrave, his martial prowess, authority, and reputation are so great that within the Empire, he possesses influence beyond that of a duke. They say many people support Margrave Evan. And I understand that he is extremely popular with young ladies as well. Of course, he absolutely does not reach the tips of Lord Cain’s toes.”
“As if.”
To summarize, it meant Evan was someone they would miss if he were gone.
As Cain remembered it, one male lead from the Empire would betray them.
He had been tempted by the promise that he could have Estelle’s love all to himself.
Cain didn’t remember exactly, but wouldn’t that probably be Evan?
According to Yuris, his abilities were exceptionally good.
He would have to be at that level if he were to cause a significant portion of the Empire’s forces to defect.
‘His eyes were a little strange earlier, too. Should I take this chance to thoroughly reprogram his mind?’
He was conflicted. Even for Cain, this matter was quite burdensome.
In any case, he was a margrave. An imperial noble who had committed no crime.
The situation was different from the traitorous bastards he had executed so far.
No matter how much of a mad dog he was, he didn’t bite just anyone.
A truly mad dog was one that bit the one it had to bite to the very end.
Cain was that kind of mad dog. Once he bit, he never let go.
He had even considered excluding him from the story altogether.
But right now, the margrave was doing his job well.
Rather, without him, there was a high chance even greater chaos would come.
Should I beat him just a little? Or leave him exactly half dead?
“Hey.”
As he agonized and agonized, someone called out to Cain.
He turned his head. It was Evan. That very margrave male lead.
“I’d like you to be a little more careful next time.”
“…?”
“It’s fine to catch a contractor, but there are too many eyes watching. You need to think about people being shocked. This isn’t a battlefield, Cain.”
Has this guy lost his mind? Then Cain suddenly realized the reason.
Even as Evan spoke, his gaze kept flicking somewhere.
Estelle was visible over there. He was chasing her with his eyes.
He wanted to show that he was such an impressive person—
Someone capable of giving even Cain a sharp word of advice.
“Try to be mindful of the occasion from now on.”
Then he patted Cain on the shoulder as if to say, “Still, good work.”
Wow. I don’t even know where to start breaking him.
Killing him already would be a bit much. Right. Let’s half-kill him.
If I leave him only half dead, there won’t be any problem.
“I’ll take that as agreement, then I’ll be—”
Splash!!—
“Urgh?!”
A translucent, dark red liquid was poured over Evan.
A sharp scent of alcohol. A faint aroma of grapes. It was wine.
What should have been in a glass was now running down Evan’s face.
What is this? Beside him, Yuris only blinked.
It wasn’t me. If it had been me, it would have been blood, not wine.
Cain quietly hid his fist behind his waist.
“Ah. I’m sorry.”
A woman’s voice, richly laced with laughter, rang out.
“I stepped on my dress and almost fell, you see?”
Jet-black hair. Vivid red eyes.
‘This woman. Don’t tell me.’
It was the villainess’s entrance.