Episode 144
Several tens of minutes before Frey arrived at the burning café.
"Hmm-hmm."
Ruby, who had entered the restroom, cleared her throat briefly before beginning to speak in an icy voice.
"What is going on?"
- I apologize, Demon King. Just a little more time...
Then, from the communication crystal held in her hand, the Secret Party Leader's voice began to leak out.
"Surely you haven't still failed to subdue that girl?"
When Ruby asked as if dumbfounded, the Secret Party Leader answered with a trembling voice.
- I, I apologize. I don't know where she appeared from, but she keeps using strange scrolls, so subduing her is...
"Sigh."
Ruby made an expression that said it was pathetic and cut off the crystal's connection, then began stroking the crystal while murmuring.
"Rather than trusting such a useless fellow, it would be a hundred times better for me to resolve it directly."
In Ruby's assessment, the current situation was extremely advantageous for her.
At first, she had been worried that Serena might have noticed her true identity.
But after conversing with Serena, she had merely thought of herself as a slave who had escaped from the slave market.
Of course, some suspicious remarks and actions shown in between were caught.
But Ruby, who had seen all sorts of human impressions, knew well that those were merely the excessive paranoia that geniuses often displayed.
Moreover, Serena had clearly started to be shaken from the moment she made remarks about 'Frey'.
That point, Ruby herself who had watched her right before her eyes could certainly guarantee.
- Zzt...
"Good."
Therefore, Ruby decided to set a trap.
So that Serena in her current state would have no choice but to attack her, and thus invalidate the attack-prohibition constraint placed on her.
- Ah, Big Sis! Greetings!
As Ruby, who had been fiddling with the crystal for a while with such thoughts, removed her hand, a vile voice began to come from the crystal.
"Hmm... the voice is slightly awkward."
Ruby, who frowned at that voice, began to fiddle with the crystal again.
- Yo, Big Sis. How are you doing?
Her lip movements were moving exactly according to the pronunciation of the words flowing from the crystal.
"Good."
After a brief moment, Ruby made a satisfied expression and tapped the restroom wall with her finger.
- Shuuu...
Then, the soundproofing magic circle she had set up in advance began to slowly disappear.
'She must be attempting to eavesdrop secretly by now, right?'
Ruby, who looked at that magic circle with a triumphant smile, began to throw the final move to end her mental battle with Serena in earnest.
- Leader Big Sis! Are you there?
"Why is that? I told you to refrain from contacting me when I'm outside."
- W, well...
When she spoke, she wore a cold and haughty expression, and when the voice flowed from the crystal, she wore a servile expression.
Ruby was putting her heart and soul into playing two roles by herself.
"Right now I'm busy deliberately leaking information to nobles on the street. If it's not truly urgent, then later..."
- A, a disturbance has occurred!
"What?"
- The hostage we captured is causing a disturbance!
"That feeble fellow is causing what disturbance?"
Saying so, Ruby listened to the restroom door for a moment, then soon smiled triumphantly and opened her mouth again.
- It seems the staff he had was a magic tool! He was toying with us with strange functions and trying to escape, and we barely caught him!
"Hmm..."
- Even though we tied him up tightly, he keeps struggling, so it's truly unmanageable! What would be the best thing to do?
At that point, Ruby, who had briefly turned off the crystal, approached the sink and turned the faucet.
"What should I do... do I have no choice but to kill him?"
Feeling quite shaken emotions transmitted from outside the door.
"If he escapes on his own like that, our location will surely be exposed."
She began to make a vicious expression.
"I was going to just take the ransom and leave this country... Ugh..."
- Click.
Ruby, who had been muttering meaningful words for a while, naturally activated the communication crystal as she felt killing intent beginning to be felt from behind the door.
- Big Sis, have you decided?
"Y, yes. I've decided."
Soon Ruby, who was clenching and unclenching her right hand.
"He was only useful when escaping, but now he's rather a hindrance to us. And, he's also the one who bought us in bulk and planned to violate us."
She stared quietly at the restroom door, murmuring inwardly.
"Therefore..."
'Come, Serena.'
With an expression more joyful than any other time.
"Even if it's to realize justice, just kill..."
And, the next moment.
- Kwa-gwang!
The firmly locked restroom door fell off with a roar.
"...Hup."
Soon Serena, who appeared in the place where the door had been, took a deep breath and began to run a simulation in her head.
- Shushuk!!
In a fleeting moment less than a second, Serena, who had found the optimal path and conclusion with determined eyes, began to thrust her fan at Ruby.
"......!!!"
But soon, she stopped her fan with an expression of astonishment.
"You are too late."
But Ruby just looked at such Serena with a ridiculous expression.
"Didn't you already attack me with intent to kill?"
As she said, the tip of Serena's fan was slightly touching Ruby's cheek, creating a reddish wound.
"From that point on, the game was already as good as over."
Ruby's words were true.
The moment Serena's fan grazed her cheek, she had already lost consciousness by Ruby whose constraint had been lifted.
"Now, all that remains is follow-up processing."
With an expression saying it was so much fun, she began to reach her hand toward her.
"Such a precious jewel rolled in whole... just killing her would be too foolish an act."
And after a while, purple light filled the restroom.
.
"Ugh..."
Serena, who had been unconscious for a while, quietly opened her eyes.
"Greetings."
".....!"
Then, in her vision, Ruby entered, sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, revealing her full true form.
"Y, you are...?"
"Shh."
Ruby, holding a wine glass and emitting plenty of demonic energy while spreading both her wings wide, put her finger to her lips, and Serena swallowed dry saliva.
"Since you've seen my appearance anyway, you must have also noticed my true identity. Therefore..."
"Earlier, where did that girl go...?"
Ruby, who was continuing to speak in a gentle voice, tilted her head when Serena suddenly made an absurd statement.
"W, wait, please give me some time. There's someone I need to save. If I can just contact her through that girl..."
'...This is going to be easy.'
Then, hearing Serena's voice filled with panic, Ruby answered with a soft smile.
"That girl was merely bait to lure you in. She was just a good child who deceived you according to the script I gave her to protect the orphanage children."
The Demon King, who revealed her original form, was taking on an appearance so mature that it couldn't compare to her human girl Ruby form.
Standing right in front of the Demon King who was emitting such powerful aura that an ordinary person would have trouble keeping their sanity, Serena seemed unable to distinguish that appearance due to falling into panic.
"W, what did you do to me?"
Serena, who had maintained silence for a while, carefully asked a question.
"I took your soul."
"...What?"
"While you were asleep, I forcibly proceeded with a soul contract."
At those words, Serena's eyes began to shake severely.
"Originally, I was going to use 'Absolute Obedience Magic'... but it was already cast! Did you already prepare for that?"
"Ah..."
"So I had to bother with a soul contract. I wanted to just kill you several times in the middle, but I couldn't miss a talent like you, so I endured and endured."
It was an incredibly bored voice, but thanks to the content, Ruby's words approached even more chillingly and began to corner Serena more and more.
"You now have no choice but to follow my commands. The soul contract is complicated, but it absolutely binds the other party."
"Th, that's..."
"Bow your head."
Serena, who was trying to deny her situation, bowed her head to the floor as soon as the Demon King commanded.
"Good, now it looks a bit better."
"...Ugh."
"Say 'Thank you.'"
"Thank... you..."
At the following command as well, although it was difficult, when Serena followed the command, Ruby, who was crossing her arms and watching her, whispered in a low voice.
"What do you cherish the most?"
"...Frey Laon Starlight."
"Can you stake your life for his sake?"
"Yes."
When Serena answered with vacant eyes, Ruby made a mischievous expression and asked again.
"Then, can you kill him for me?"
"...Yes."
At those words, when Serena answered with a pained expression, Ruby made a satisfied smile.
"It seems it's properly caught. If you answered immediately, I would have judged it as acting and killed you."
Soon Ruby, who answered the trembling Serena like that, sighed and murmured.
"It's a shame I can't cast Absolute Obedience Magic. With that, penalty avoidance would have been possible. Just contracting the soul isn't enough for that."
"E, excuse me..."
To her, Serena threw a question.
"What is it... that you want...?"
"...What I want?"
Then Ruby, who was flapping her wings for a moment, raised the corner of her mouth and answered.
"Become a spy."
"What?"
"Become a spy and pass the hero's information to me."
Finishing those words, Serena's expression began to rot.
"Indirect killing is also blocked by the constraint... it can't be helped."
"...Grit."
"Then, do your best. I must be going now."
Soon Ruby, who was looking at Serena who started grinding her teeth with a ridiculous gaze, frowned as she felt star mana from far away and stood up.
- I, I apologize! Demon King! For not making it in time, really...!
"Retreat."
- Y, yes? But...
"If you don't want to be torn limb from limb to death, retreat now."
- Ah, I understand!
After giving orders to the Secret Party Leader and opening a portal by drawing with her finger in the air to disappear, Ruby said.
"Oh right, come to think of it. This café has a lot of happy memories for you and Frey, doesn't it?"
"Ugh."
"And, the chef, the head chef, and even the waiters are all assassins. Probably all your loyal subordinates, I assume."
She said with a cold smile.
"And, almost all of them had lower goodness scores than you."
"W, wait..."
"In 30 seconds, this place will completely explode."
To Serena, who made a pale expression at those words, Ruby added in a low voice.
"Letting go of attachments is an initiation rite that those who offer their souls to me always go through."
.
The café, which had burned cleanly and left only ruins, where Frey and Serena's memories were embedded.
"............."
Frey, who had quickly joined forces with Irina to extinguish the fire, was blankly staring at the ruined place.
"Irina, what happened here?"
"I don't know either. I was fighting the Secret Party Leader and chasing him... and then this place appeared."
"S, Serena?"
"Serena was here?"
At Irina's words, Frey, who was chewing his lips, suddenly began to open his eyes wide.
"...I can feel it."
"What?"
"A familiar... a very familiar energy."
Soon saying so, he began to walk into the ruins as if possessed by a ghost.
"W, wait! Frey, wait!"
Irina, who was trying to stop him, saw people approaching from afar and hurriedly tore a restricted entry magic scroll and began to follow him.
"Th, this is..."
The place where Frey, who was walking with blank eyes, stopped.
"...It's the gift I gave to Serena."
The bead compressed with star mana that Frey had given to Serena as a gift when he visited her house was sitting there all alone.
"Why is this here?"
"Fr, Frey..."
Irina, who was kneeling in the middle of the ruins wrapped in her restricted entry magic scroll, quietly staring at the bead.
[Sudden Mission Generated!]
Attack unspecified multiple people among the passing citizens to relieve stress!
[Total: 0 people]
[Will you accept? Y/N]
Seeing the sudden quest appear before his eyes with Hwaryongjeongjeom, Frey lowered his head deeply and fell into silence.
"Fr, Frey..."
Irina, who grabbed his shoulder, tried to comfort him without even thinking of tending to her body injured from fighting the Secret Party Leader.
"There you are."
"Huh?"
At that moment, Frey smirked.
- Dig, dig!
He began to dig through the ruins debris with his hands.
"Found it."
Frey, who had been digging through the ruins debris for a while, discovered an underground bunker with a magic circle drawn on it and breathed a sigh of relief.
- Creak...
Thus, when Frey, who had been sitting blankly in that spot for a while, carefully opened the door.
"...Hello?"
Serena poked her head out.
"Serena, I'm so glad...!"
"Shh, there are staff below."
When Frey tried to shout with a bright smile at her, Serena raised her finger to her lips and admonished.
"...By the way, our staff can't see well."
"Ah-ha."
Right after hearing those words, Frey tried to kiss Serena.
"...So, what is going on here? Serena?"
"Right, now isn't the time for this."
When Irina urgently asked a question, she asked with a serious expression as well.
"Did you indeed sense the bead you gave me and come here? A powerful protection magic was cast that couldn't be opened from inside so I was nervous, but I guess it was needless worry."
"...Huh?"
But Serena suddenly started making nonsensical statements.
"Well, since it's a bead made of your star mana, it's natural you'd find it quickly."
"Serena, right now..."
"Are you keeping the bead I gave you safe too?"
"...Yeah."
Serena, who interrupted Frey's words and asked a question, said with a satisfied expression.
"Good. That's important, so make sure to keep it."
"I understand, but what on earth is this..."
"It went according to plan."
"What?"
Looking at Frey who made a dumbfounded expression at the nonsensical words that popped out for the third time today.
"As you can tell from those two beads..."
Serena said.
"I am yours alone. Not god, not my parents, not the empire... but Frey, yours alone."
".....?"
She said with a triumphant smile.
'Of course, my soul too.'
Inwardly, murmuring a fact she still couldn't tell him.
'Since I already offered my soul to you with a blood oath when I was young, no one can take my soul.'
"Frena?"
'Even if it's the Demon King who enjoyed collecting souls since the previous cycle.'
Above their heads, the moon and stars were shining.
"Frey, can you give me one command? Like I said last time, my mental control alone is reaching its limit."
"What is that sound again?"
'I was suppressing guesses as much as possible... but suddenly the identity was revealed.'
Especially brightly.
"I'm trying to draw a big picture."