Chapter 112 – Adversary (3)
“It feels like my head is clear after being outside for the first time in a while.”
Around the time the walls surrounding the city of Warmela came into Merlin’s field of vision.
Breaking the familiar contract with a horse that is no longer useful, he was released in a nearby forest, cast polymorph on himself, and passed through the castle gate in the form of a rat without bothering checkpoints.
It has been a long time since I quietly visited a human city. Seeing that there is no shade on the faces of people passing by, I immediately thought that the city is maintaining a fairly decent level of economy and security.
Merlin, who transformed into a young tourist again when no one was looking, inquired lightly about a potion shop in the city, and learned the location and that part of the shop had been damaged in the process of breaking in and kicking out robbers the previous morning. Did.
If it was dawn the previous day, it would exactly coincide with the time when Pinet reported in advance that he would hit the store. It must have happened to them then.
Looking at the appearance known as a simple robbery, it was presumed that the unknown enemy who handled the black hounds completely hid not only their corpses, but also the truth that they were demons.
Is the other person reluctant to attract attention? Anyway, since I came all the way here, I need to check what they look like.
Merlin, who had captured a bird flying in the surrounding air with magic, repeated the series of steps he had just given to the horse, turned it into a familiar horse, and sent it flying in the direction where the potion shop was said to be located.
In the view shared with the bird that became his familiar, the back of a potion shop with a mess in the corner, and a blonde man busy with repair work with repair materials arranged around it, was gradually revealed.
Having his familiar move as naturally as possible and sit on a tree close to the building, Merlin began to quietly watch the man.
*
ㅡTap! Quickly!
Loden, who had nailed the thick planks over the holes in the building, spat out the nails he had been holding in his mouth and loosened his legs, which were about to get cramps from squatting for a long time.
“Whoa! I somehow filled the wind hole with this. What kind of trouble is this from the wind in the morning.”
In the morning, I was busy disposing of the damaged furniture one by one with Loxia, and in the afternoon, I was busy repairing the exterior of the building, so the long-awaited closure did not feel like a closure.
Anyway, first aid was done, so Roden, who made a rough plan to call a carpenter and leave it for professional repairs, sat leaning against the wall and took a break, recalling what had happened the previous morning.
I couldn’t figure out their identity, but since I was attacked by demons who might be behind it, the next attack will follow sooner or later.
Experience has shown that there are two ways to amicably solve this kind of problem.
Quietly leave this city and hide your whereabouts to evade pursuit, or find out who is behind it and eliminate the root cause.
Of course, it is the latter that Roden, who wants to maintain his peaceful daily life, chooses.
Next time I get a chance to capture the idiot alive, I’ll have to pull out all his molars first and then thoroughly interrogate him so he doesn’t bite the poison.
Just when I was thinking of making confessions containing narcotic substances in advance for that moment, Roxia appeared from the wall.
A plate of fruit was held in the hand of the girl who slowly approached, looking at the traces of her owner’s repairs to her house.
“Looks like you’re done already? Master. It would be more comfortable to rest inside…”
“I just finished it a while ago. The wind was cool so I sat down for a while.”
“Then I will excuse myself for a moment.”
The girl, with her ass pressed against her master’s seat, proudly showed off the carefully cut apple slices on her plate.
“Did you shave it into a rabbit shape? Who did you learn from?”
“Not long ago, Marill unnie taught me separately. Isn’t it pretty?”
“It’s almost a waste to just eat it like this.”
“It’s the food I’ve been cutting for you to eat, but if you don’t eat it, I’m in trouble. Now, master. Oh, do it.”
Laughing at her words of praise, Roxia picked up a piece of rabbit apple and brought it to her master’s mouth.
Roden felt quite embarrassed, but when she saw her smile, she couldn’t say no.
ㅡ Crunchy.
The apple that slowly entered her mouth through Roxia’s hand felt exceptionally sweeter than the apples she usually ate.
“It is delicious.”
“Huh, I’m glad you liked it. Eat more here.”
ㅡSuuk! Wormwood! Suwook!
When she came to her senses, she ate four slices in a row. Roden quietly gnawed the apple in her mouth, but this time she did the opposite. I put out a piece.
Roxia, whose eyes lit up as if she had been waiting for this moment while her face was reddened, bit into the apple slice her owner handed her over and mumbled deliciously with an expression of her happiness.
Roden and Roxia, who took turns feeding each other apple slices and clearing the plate, stood up and entered the house holding hands.
Meanwhile, until the moment the two of them completely closed the door, a bird that stayed on top of a tree a little away flew into the sky with a fluttering sound.
*
“Heh, heh, heh… Woo woo… !”
Nestled in a deserted alley, Merlin was breathing uncharacteristically rough.
The joy of finally finding the target he had been longing for and the tension of facing an enemy he would never forget made his heart beat faster than ever.
When I saw Loxia’s figure through the eyes of her familiar, even though she was adorned in human form, I could see the unique demonic spirit that only her demon lord’s vessel could contain.
… It’s very weak, though.
Merlin, who has assisted several demon lords by changing her name and appearance several times since her distant past, can see and feel her magic.
Even if I can’t feel the magic, there’s never been a demon with that kind of power and talent, so I thought Escaros was definitely a vessel until I confirmed it with a crystal… Could it be that such a girl was the vessel of this generation?
Momentarily, Merlin was very coveted for Roxia’s unknown talent, but the frame of her advent was already perfectly framed around Escaros.
In order to realize Advent, we must break her current vessel and make Escaros inherit Magi… Merlin, who took her heart, frowned as he recalled the image of Roden, the man who was with the Demon King’s vessel.
In fact, he was much more concerned about Roden than the Demon King’s vessel.
Compared to the last time I saw him, his appearance and atmosphere have changed somewhat, but I couldn’t have mistaken him. He is a ‘young’ warrior widely known on the continent for being with the demon 15 years ago.
It is said that not a little time has passed, but if the opponent is that monster, the reason why the four best agents of the Black Hound were helplessly beaten was also understandable.
Even when it was announced that a grand funeral was held by the Altma Kingdom, I was dubious. Did you hide in a remote territory like this? Now you’ve grown up using the name Roden.
“Ouch… !”
During the man-horse war, I felt the throbbing feeling in my left arm that I had lost by that guy’s sword.
At that time, Merlin had crossed the threshold of death, and if she had not sacrificed her arm and escaped, it would have been her head that had fallen from her body.
Putting her personal hatred of Roden aside for a moment, Merlin pondered why a hero who had disappeared from the world was living with the vessel of the Demon King.
… There’s no such thing as a mere coincidence. I don’t know if the vessel side is aware or not, but at least the hero must be aware of the fact that the girl is the devil’s vessel.
Come to think of it, I called the hero by an unfunny title like the bowl is the owner… Are you even thinking of controlling the future demon lord? You’re doing something presumptuous.
Merlin, who judged that further inference was meaningless because there was too little information about the guy’s intentions, began slowly reciting an ultra-long-distance teleportation spell while estimating the coordinates to return to the Devil’s Castle.
Originally, I was planning to return after dealing with the guys in the potion shop secretly alone, but it’s a change of plan. It’s dangerous alone.
She found the target to be found and the target of revenge at the same time to proceed with the plan, so she was rewarded enough and overflowing with the effort she took to visit this far.
ㅡuuuuu-!
When Merlin’s spell is completed, a blue magic circle spreads under her feet and her vision is distorted.
Bondi, inside the demon castle, there is a solid barrier ceremony that prevents the designation of coordinates for movement-based magic to prepare for intruders, but there are exceptions for some allowers, including Merlin, who created the barrier ceremony.
At the same time as her return, Merlin, who put herself in a familiar chair, was about to fall into trouble about what kind of demon she should take with her when she left the castle of the demon king.
ㅡTspat!
“Now you’re back. You guys have been away for quite some time today for some reason. Did anything interesting happen?”
He is one of the few wizards allowed to use movement-type magic other than Merlin inside the Devil Castle, and at the same time stands in the position of a swordsman with no opponent in the Kingdom of Darkness. I made a surprise visit.
