68 In the moonlight (1/2)

Dark Knight Kroki

I see what you mean: ......

'Yes, sir. ...... Lord Dihardt. It was never my intention to betray you. ......

In the form of a dark knight, I received a report from Zeal. I've never met him, but I knew who he was. Apparently, I'm quite famous.

The Zeal is kneeling to him.

Zeal is a black-furred satyr. He is also known as a dark satyr.

Dark satyrs are dark-haired, more like goats than other satyrs.

They are satyrs living in Nargol, and are the relatives of Lugus, the confidant of the Demon King Modes.

Lugus usually takes the form of an old man with horns, but his true identity is that of a winged goat.

Dark satyrs have stronger strength and magic than white and brown satyrs, and are second only to the upper-tier demon race, the Damon race.

For this reason, they are sometimes called Lesser Demons, along with the equally strong Kale and High Lizardmen.

Most of them are often under the control of Lugus and his apprentice Ulvald, and are sometimes sent outside Nargol to investigate.

Zeal was originally sent here to watch over the evil god Ravrus, under Ulvald's command.

I had heard a bit of Zeal's existence from Ulvald when he came to this land.

And at one point, Zeal, who was sent to this place, lost contact with you and disappeared.

The reason was because he was embraced by Atranaqua, a fellow member of the evil god Lavrus.

Zeal was quite strong among Urbalt's subordinates, but his incubation ability was low, and he was discovered by Atranaqua.

When Atranakua noticed his presence, he approached Zeal.

It seems that Zeal didn't realize that Atranakua was one of Ravrus's friends and had passed on information about Nargol to her.

Thanks to this, Lavrus had succeeded in creating his own puppet state on earth, escaping the scrutiny of the Modes.

Afterwards, Zeal found out that Atranaqua was connected to Lavrus, and he was afraid of what would happen if Ullbaldo found out about it, so he disappeared.

Then, having escaped, Zeal huddled with Atranaqua.

Of course, Modes sent out a search party, but they were unable to find him.

Nargol was also unable to continue the search, as the conflict with Raina was becoming more intense at the time. As it was, Zeal's whereabouts were unknown.

And now that they had captured Atranaqua, they knew where Zeal was.

By now, Urbald would be angry to learn of Zeal's betrayal.

Sooner or later, Ulvald's men would surely come to capture Zeal.

However, such things do not matter to me.

I am a member of Nargol in a manner of speaking, but to be honest, I am not angry.

Perhaps it's because I didn't know about Zeal until I came here.

The problem is that this Zeal was behind the Kalkinos fiasco this time.

Zeal, as an associate of Atranaqua, was complicit in the escape of the demons in the arena.

That's when he apparently learned how to control Kalkinos.

Nevertheless, I'm glad he's still here.

He had heard about this place from Atranaqua, but he could have abandoned this base once Atranaqua was captured.

And he had come here without Kuna.

The reason I left Kuna here was because the shop above this basement was a rather dodgy one.

It's a place you don't want the lovely Coona to get anywhere near.

It was hard to get to the basement.

Atranaqua had told me where the store was, but I hadn't heard of its inner workings.

I had no choice but to infiltrate with hidden magic, but that was a mistake.

When I explored the depths of the store, I found multiple men and women merged together.

It is good if you are a beautiful woman, but when I saw a shaggy old man being stretched from behind by a male prostitute, I felt like throwing up as expected.

I went out of the shop to calm myself down, and was wondering whether or not I should go back in when I was approached by a man named Marcias.

I've come this far.

I must thank this man Marcias for his help.

I'd like to thank you, my lord ....... Could you please intercede with Master Urvald?

Zeal bows the goat's head and asks for a favor.

It seems that Zeal had no intention of betraying them in the first place.

However, it can't be helped even if it's seen as a betrayal as long as he dazzled them without excuse.

Modes may forgive me, but Ulvaldo will not.

''I'm sorry, but that's impossible. But I'll let you off the hook.'

It's the only thing I can do.

Besides, I don't think Urbald would forgive me if I told him.

'I see. ......

Zeal says sadly.

'You don't have a choice, ....... I think it's better to get out of here than that. Even though you didn't mean to, you've turned against a brave man.'

I say this and look at Ainoe, the witches and Marcias, who are standing behind Zeal.

They have their heads down, shaking.

It seems that the influence of the fear magic I used earlier is still present.

This one was caused by Ainoe's jealousy of Shenna.

Rage and the others were not the target.

Ainoe is Zeal's mistress.

Even though he has black hair, he's still a satyr, so he's a womanizer as well.

Many of the dark satyrs sent outside of Nargol seem to secretly take human women as their mistresses.

In return, the woman who becomes their mistress receives power to become a witch.

This act of giving power is similar to the blessings that gods and angels give to humans.

The gods of Elyos want to increase the number of human beings who are their dependents.

In addition, angels are few in number and are often too busy with protecting Elyos, managing the sky and other miscellaneous tasks to reach the earth.

Therefore, the humans must do their best by themselves.

However, humans are weak. So they try to make them stronger by leveraging them in various ways.

A typical example is turning them into demons, in other words, turning them into apostles. Turning them into apostles takes a lot of time and effort, and also causes problems such as the fact that they don't want to breed anymore.

So, they try to find a less laborious and more effective way to strengthen humans.

The act of strengthening is called ”blessing”.

The content of this blessing depends on the god each angel serves.

For example, the maidens of war who serve Raina will use special magic to improve their fighting ability against a select congregation.

This magic seems to have been developed for humans, and although it doesn't improve their abilities as much as the magic angels usually use, the effects last longer.

However, it's still powerful from a human's point of view because it's magic used by angels. It may not be enough to use it on the same angel, but it is a great boon to humans.

Also, some of the blessings have nothing to do with battle. Angels who serve Feria, the goddess of marriage and childbirth, give humans blessings that make it easier to have children.

Sometimes it is magic and other times it is another way.

And Zeal seems to have given Ainoe the same power as the angels.

Ainoe, who was nothing more than a dancer at the end of the day, gained power by becoming Zeal's mistress.

We don't know what kind of blessing Zeal gave her. Well, perhaps he cast a spell to raise his charm and sharpen his sensitivity.

And Ainoe, who received Zeal's blessing, is now the best actress in the Republic of Ariadia.

Many men approached Ainoe, who became the best actress, and gifts were piled up. She was invited to the banquets of the upper classes day after day. She was the talk of the ladies and gentlemen.

Ainoe seemed to be at the peak of her powers. After all, she was just a common dancer at the end of the day, but now she was a great actress who could not be pushed around.

However, someone appeared to threaten Ainoe. That person is Sienna.

Ainoe was kind to her at first, but as Shenna came to prominence, she became more and more hateful.

He tried to get rid of her with that and that, but Shenna ducked all of them.

Finally, she even used Marcias to lash out at Kalkinos.

This is the real story of this incident.

The flute was apparently given to him by Zeal. Zeal also seems to have given it to Ainoe because she asked him to be pretty.

It makes my head hurt. I don't know what he's doing. ......

''My lord, I have a favor to ask.

As I hold my temples, Tarabos, who was standing behind me, suddenly speaks to me.

I look at Talabos.

Tarabos is a middle-aged, slightly overweight human male.

Although he looks good-looking, I sense something dangerous in this man.

'What is it ......?'

Would you give me that girl over there, please?　Since that girl has broken one of my lovely draugr's because of her.

Talabos says as he looks at Shenna, who is sleeping beside him.

The Draugr as Talavos calls them are the ones behind him who wear black robes with white masks.

Draugr are undead, a type of zombie.

However, unlike zombies, Draugr have more superhuman strength than when they were alive. They have a small amount of intelligence, can judge situations, and can move faster than when they were alive.

Because of their strength, they are often created as soldiers, and are commonly referred to as wights.

I remember that General Geoude used it as a soldier in Nargol.

However, they are more difficult to create than zombies because they are so powerful.

Of course, you need to have a high level of necromantic ability to make them, but the materials are hard to come by.

To make a zombie, you need 'zombie powder', but Draugr needs a material called 'meteor shards'.

That seems to be hard to come by.

It's easier to get it in Nargol than in other areas, but apparently it's harder to get it in other areas.

In fact, Tarabos is also collecting meteor fragments from Draugr with great care.

The reason why he retrieved the meteor fragments is probably to reuse them.

''What do you intend to do with this girl?''

I knew what I was doing, but I couldn't help but ask.

'Of course I will make you a Draugr. He was an excellent warrior during his life, and he is skilled enough to survive against the Draugurs. I'm sure he will be a strong Draugr.

Talabos says with a laugh.

As I thought, this man seems to be a necromancer (necromancer).

I've heard that there are few humans who can use necromancy, because you can't just be born with a magical power and use it; you have to be born with a different kind of magic.

This is because you can't use it just by being born with magical powers, you need other innate qualities.

For example, it is said that men born from Striges who are good at necromancy are born with the qualities to use necromancy.

But still, no one wants to be undead as they please.

I don't think the draugr behind Tarabos have become draugr because they wanted to.

This man says he will kill this girl and make her a draugr.

Apparently, this guy is a demon in human skin.

However, while not a Tarabos, this girl named Shenna's skills were brilliant.

She didn't take a step back against the powerful Draugr. However, it was the wrong opponent.

Her sword looked like a sword for dealing with the living, and also with humans.

It was a so-called sword of murder. It's not good enough against the undead who are already dead.

I don't think she could have gotten away with it like that.

If I hadn't caught her, she would have been killed.

I can't give this girl to you. I'll have to take you to her.

He says coldly to Talavos.

'His Excellency is right!　Foolish man!　　He has such beautiful feet!　You're supposed to be perched all over your body while you're still alive!　Yes, you do! Sir!

Zeal, who had been listening to himself and Talavos talk, suddenly says with an effort.

'Oh, oh.'

The momentum of the momentum pushed me to unintentionally agree with it.

I didn't think that I would agree with the devil rather than the human.

Rather, this guy is more like an erotic old man in a devil's skin.

'Is that so, my lord. I'm sorry, sir.

Talabos pulls back in disappointment.

I think you misunderstood something.

I don't mean to do that. It's a little complicated.

But it's not Zeal, but this girl's beautiful.

I was certain that I couldn't let a girl like that become undead. I should tell a lie here, even if it's a lie.

'Tarabos, Zeal is right: ....... That girl is going to go home and pervert. Therefore, I will bring her back.

I'm going to carry Shenna.

It's time to get back.

Regina reports that Syllone is about to wake up.

The drunken Cyrone is taking her back to the other house where they are currently staying.

If Silone wakes up, he might get into a fight with Cuna.

'That's my lord!　You know what to do!　Please, my lord, take this home with you!

Zeal holds out a box with something in it.

'What's this?'

I look at the contents of the box.

There are cloth scraps and what seem to be tools in it.

It is a garment that makes a woman's body look more beautiful and an instrument that gives women s*xual pleasure. I had planned to use them eventually, but I will give them to you, my lord.

Zeal holds out the box.

Perhaps he wants to get in on himself and somehow be forgiven for his betrayal.

But as I said before, there's nothing I can do.

Then he looks at the box and lets out a sigh.

It contains skeletal, thin clothing, clothes that look like strings, and even armor that looks like underwear.

It makes my head hurt. What is he doing making these dodgy things?

Zeal, like the other black satyrs, must have been having an orgy (sabbat) with the witches at this underground altar, even though he was being pursued.

He was being pursued. You should be scolding me.

So I say, ”Thanks, I'll take that.

”Thank you, I'll take that.

He received the box and hurried back.

Silone, the Maiden of Swords

I have an old dream.

It was when my family and Kroki's family traveled together.

The trip was to a place with abundant nature.

I invited Kuroki to join me and we ran around the mountains and fields away from my parents.

I was climbing a tall tree when I didn't listen to Kroki's attempts to stop me from climbing it.

A branch snapped and I fell.

I sprained my foot from the impact of the fall. I couldn't get back to my parents.

Kuroki tried to get my parents to come over, but I didn't want to be alone, so I kept them back.

I had no choice, so Kuroki decided to carry me on his back and return to my parents.

I'm sure it was heavy. But Kroki carried me without complaining about anything.

”No. ......

I wake up.

Why do I dream about such things from the past?

It must be because I dreamed I was being carried by Kuroki.

I dreamed that I was carried to bed in a princess carrier. I'm too embarrassed to tell anyone about this.

Even in my dream, Kuroki is kind to me.

Yes, Kroki has always been kind to me in the past.

But I don't think I was ever kind to him.

I always treated him as my retainer. He was weak-minded, but he always obeyed me.

Eventually, when I met Reiji and his friends, I began to avoid Kuroki.

I think it was a very cold way to treat him.

I'm sure it must have been a snag somewhere.

When I came to this world, I was reminded of that snag. So I wanted to go back to my world and see him again.

And I was able to reunite with Kuroki in this world.

But Kroki had become an agent of the Demon King.

It's very funny. Kroki is very kind. He's not the kind of person to become a pawn of the Demon King.

When we hid together in the labyrinth, Kroki was very kind to me. But why doesn't he come to us?

Probably because of her.

Kuna, the Silver Witch.

That girl must have used her magic to turn Kuroki into her retainer. That's why Kroki can't get away from Nargol.

It's very uninteresting. I'm the only one who has the right to have Kroki on retainer. So I have to get him back.

I'm going to sit up.

My head is buzzing. It's like I'm under the influence of alcohol.

But still, how long have I been sleeping? It's already night.

I look around.

There is no light in the room and it's a little dark, but the moonlight from the window allows me to see into the room.