Chapter 488 – The Demon and the Curse
000
Inside the old castle with a hole in the ceiling where the moonlight poured in, Illenu wiped the sweat off her cheeks with a tired expression on her face.
There was quite a bit of blood on his hands hers, but most of it was not his own hers, but the other person’s his, so there was no problem.
And in front of her, a woman in black clothes was wriggling while lying on the ground.
She had silver hair like Illenu, and was wearing a glamorous dress that exposed her breasts wide, but there were several silver spikes stuck in her chest where her heart her should be.
Cuckoo, her canine teeth spewing blood out of her mouth she were greatly developed, and she was a non-human-
In other words, even non-experts could tell that she was a vampire.
“Okay! Neutralized this guy too! Well done Emma!”
Illenu raised her thumb while saying that to her colleague Emma, who played an especially active role in this subjugation.
“Phew! I’m glad…!”
And Emma, too, was wiping the sweat from her brow—a rather peculiar weapon was in her hand.
Should I call it a small firearm using gunpowder?
It was smaller than a cannon, and somewhat similar to a crossbow.
There was a handle on the bottom of the cylindrical body, and when the trigger was pulled, an orb containing magic power flew from the tip with a strong explosion sound.
While the ball is flying, the spell engraved inside is activated, transforming into a “Silver wedge” Just before it lands, and locks itself in the target.
The size is slightly larger than Emma’s one hand.
Its black-green body with gold flame decorations intertwined splendidly was truly a ‘magic tool specialized for hunting vampires’.
This time, Illenu was able to subdue the vampires more easily than usual because of the things he had found in the house of an alchemist without an owner in the realm ruled by the vampires he hunted.
“Are you alright Emma? No injuries? She was easily knocked down thanks to that strange weapon… After all, isn’t that a dangerous thing?”
Then, Illenu approached Emma with the neutralized vampire behind her and checked her condition.
During this three-and-a-half-year trip, the relationship between Illenu and Emma grew closer, and during that time, they continued to hunt vampires and crossed the line of death.
The number of party members still hasn’t increased, only two people.
Now, you can think of the relationship as a ‘partner’ where the two cannot exist without each other.
However, Emma is a being with low magical aptitude, possessing almost no magical powers of her own. In this world where the amount of her magical power is the only way she can become stronger, she is unable to participate in battle.
That’s why her Emma’s role is always to disguise herself as an ordinary person using her magical powers her to collect information where vampires are hiding, or to interact with people through her unique affinity her.
As for the appearance of Illenu, a Dhampir, if he is noticed by the vampires who may be hiding somewhere, the information will be immediately conveyed to the owner, so Illenu lives in a carriage near the outskirts of the village.
In the meantime, based on the information she received from Emma, she prepares weapons to hunt vampires, and takes on the role of procuring supplies from other villages that do not have the influence of vampires.
Equipped with such a division of roles, she entered the realm to subdue her vampire, and while investigating separately, she saved Emma from being attacked by the vampire’s family, and the magic tool she was holding in her hand her.
The place I accidentally entered while running away was actually the alchemist’s workshop.
The alchemist noticed the existence of the vampire and prepared to resist it, but lost his life without fulfilling his will.
According to the record he left behind, the magic tool was ‘Zamiel, a magic bullet launcher’ that was reconstructed from relics of the primordial world, but the theory and academic aspects were not something that both of them could understand even after reading his books .
It does not require magic power to fire the bullet, but magic power and silver are needed to create it, so she had a weakness that Emma could not use alone.
Even so, there was no doubt that the power of the two people who had been traveling so far would greatly increase in that it was a weapon that was accurate from a distance, fast, and even Emma, who had not received much training , could easily handle it.
However-it was clear that it was still an unknown magic tool, so Illennu could n’t help but worry about her Emma’s physical condition.
“It’s okay…! There doesn’t seem to be anything in this magic tool itself that requires my magic…”
However, Emma nodded her head as if nothing was wrong and stroked the magic tool she was holding in her hand her.
It’s as if she didn’t have a part that felt like a living creature somewhere, so Emma said that she got into the habit of stroking her pet as if she were unknowingly petting it, but Illenu’s doubts about that magic tool didn’t go away after seeing it.
“…Anyway, I think I’d better ask someone who seems to know a lot about it. Why don’t we go to the academy and ask?”
“I see… Maybe, there might be more hidden features!”
“No, I was trying to ask if it’s dangerous or not… Isn’t Emma obsessed with the magic tool’s performance?”
Illenu raised her hand to her forehead, worried that Emma might become a rampaging maniac.
But then-
“Turn off… Uh…”
A vampire’s voice came from behind Illenu.
A vampire by the name of ‘Agate’, who had been hiding in this village and vampirized people, continued to vampirize her husband and her villagers recklessly with the aim of providing ‘immortality by fire’.
However, only low-quality family members were created that way.
She was a vampire who did not know how to make her own kind.
Like other vampires, her physical abilities are not that high, and her specialties are curses for non-lethal purposes.
In addition to her Emma’s new weapon her, her vampire characteristics her also had that part, so she was able to subdue her a little more easily this time, but as her Illenu her, she also needed to finish her off.
A vampire can only die if she is vampirized by a vampire and her soul her is absorbed.
At this rate, she would simply remain as a piece of flesh, unable to regenerate herself, caught in a wedge, forever fixed and consumed by the power of silver.
“…Well. It’s not that I don’t understand the part of you that wants to free people from the pain of death. But, the method is wrong. You made people you don’t want into your followers. After being taken away, you become a doll that just walks around alive.”
Saying so, Illenu takes her own silver sword and walks towards her lying on the ground with her godson.
In this unique vampire realm, there were few murders Agathe committed before her eyes her, except for the alchemist.
If there is a problem, the residents who have become her followers her voluntarily catch those who pose a threat to the owner or those who approach the owner’s true identity in order to protect the owner.
It’s just that they burned dozens of people to death by setting them on a witch hunt.
Of course, that was also the cause of Agathe’s indiscreet subordination of her, so it was also her job of her.
That’s why it was impossible to keep her alive.
Illenu raised her own silver rapier and rammed it down into her, attempting to completely incapacitate her for a moment.
“Max… Where are you… I’m cold… Scared…”
“…”
At the sound of her human voice dripping from her mouth, Illenu showed hesitation in stopping her hand for the moment and taking her down.
Is Max the name of her husband her?
All of her followers her, who tried to protect her while coming this far, fainted after Ilenu purified Agathe’s power her.
Maybe there’s a man named Max mixed in with it.
But then.
That moment when Ilenu touched the human part of her for a moment and her movements her slowed down.
Agathe raised her hand, as if it were the moment, and formed her black, opaque curse in her hand her.
“…Kuh!”
Even so, Illenu’s side her was faster.
It was because her Illennu’s arm took her down faster than Agathe’s already weakened arm her moved.
As the sound of deflation echoes, her body immediately sags.
She must have completely lost her mind and become unable to resist.
As it is, she just needs to suck her blood her to absorb her soul her and slowly dissolve it.
“I was a fool to think that vampires were human, even for a second.”
After Illenu said so regretfully, she tried to take her own mouth her by the scruff of her neck her.
“Kyaaah…!?”
Until I was startedled by Emma’s voice coming from the back of her.
“Emma!?”
When Ilenu hurriedly turned her head towards her, she saw Emma surrounded by her black mist.
Looking around, thinking the same thing, I could see that the mist clinging to her body had just stretched out of Agathe’s hand and flowed down the floor hiding in the shadows.
“No way, the curse I used earlier…!? Does it continue even if the user loses consciousness…!?”
In a hurry to save her Emma her from her curse her, Ile Lu swung her silver sword and severed her Agathe’s hand her.
Only then did the curse succeed in stopping, but Emma was completely enveloped in her black mist and could not be seen.
Hearing her her clatter her, her clatter her, and the magic ball she was holding in her hand her fell, and her her Emma her ran toward her.
“Kuh… How do I-“
Illenu quickly turned his head at the thought of having to remove the clinging curse – and picked up the magic tool that had fallen to the ground.
“…Silver is also effective against the vampire’s curse… Then-“
As it was, I opened the part corresponding to the magazine, took out the few remaining silver marbles, and placed them on my hand.
“Keugh…!”
However, the silver bullet contained in the magic tool must have been stronger than the others, and even Illenu’s hand her, which was only a Dhampir, reacted enthusiastically with a thud.
“Emma… Wait! I’ll save you!”
Illenu clenched it in his fist and threw his fist at the mist that enveloped Illenu, not even paying attention to the burning of his palm her.
Then, Eun responds to the fog and begins to remove Illenu’s fog.
“—Aaaaa!!”
Illenu is also caught up in the power of silver that violently emits the power of purification, but if you endure the pain and hold on to the curse of the black mist along with silver and remove it-
“Emma!”
In that place, Emma was no more.
No, there was no Emma that Illenu knew. Is it accurate to say
If the maid outfit Emma was wearing spilled on the ground and was left as if it had lost its contents—
There was a dark-haired girl blinking her eyes, wearing a headband that didn’t fit her own head.
I wonder if she is about 5 or 6 years old.
“…Em… Ma?”
Looking at the girl who shared her characteristics her with her her Emma her, her black hair and golden eyes, Illenu tried to call her her name her.
The girl then blinks her eyes, then looks up at Illenu and talks.
“Ahhh…? Here, where…? Unni, who are you?”
“Emma!?”
001
“…That’s how it happened.”
Illenu explains her circumstances to Cleon, taking her Emma into the store.
Emma, who had become a child, was laughing and enjoying the juice and sweets Lionel gave her without even knowing that she was talking about herself.
“He’s carefree… I don’t even know if he’s worried.”
Illenu looked at Emma like that, as if she did n’t know what expression to put on, revealing her complex state of mind her.
“I see. Emma became a child because of that vampire’s curse…”
Cleon nodded his head as if he understood her situation and shut his mouth for a moment.
A curse is a force that responds to ‘a resentful heart’.
If it is a curse that was cast just before death, it is not strange that it becomes more powerful and remains in effect even after the caster dies.
In a way, it’s similar to her mother’s protective spell that remains in Ruba.
Although the direction is opposite.
And it is not easy to solve the magic formula created with the magic that was squeezed right before death.
Several years – no, if it takes decades to finally solve it.
There are people who have to live with that magic even after a lifetime.
“I’ve been to many places over the past few months to try to break the curse on Emma. Even to the royal capital and a village in the mountains that are not well known to people. But no one can solve it. I think the curse is so strong.”
“Have you been to the academy?”
At Lionel’s question, Illennu nodded.
“Yes. This is the first time that Emma has become like this. It was necessary to investigate the magic tools. The one who arrived last after being guided by the guide was this Touhou country.”
“The vampire’s curse is scary. Then, what you’re aiming for is to receive treatment at the Great War.”
At Illenu’s words, Lionel understood the girls’ purpose her and nodded while stroking her beard.
“Yes. Instead, the shamans from before were introduced to Haeju as their specialty. However, there are many people waiting for treatment, and they spent all their expenses while going around to treat Emma… So they don’t need to earn money for treatment. There was.”
After hearing all of her words of her, Cleon and Lionel-and the guests who were quietly listening to her from a little distance nodded to her.
“No, what are you eavesdropping on, you guys?”
Lionel couldn’t stand it when he saw it and took a stand, but the customers at the bar were talking with their arms crossed.
“No. I’m curious. What the hell is going on with such a beautiful lady, why do these guys work part-time at the house they come to?”
“Vampire hunting… As expected, there are many dangerous things outside the East. The young lady is also having a lot of trouble.”
“I don’t need sympathy. It’s what I have to do.”
Perhaps because of Illenu’s pride in her, Illenu speaks a little coldly, but even such an attitude makes the diners laugh as if they find it cute.
“Emma then…Was she alone in the inn?”
“Yeah… It would be nice to have someone to take care of it, but I don’t have any acquaintances like that. I don’t have the money to hire someone.”
Hearing Illenu’s words, Cleon talked to her.
“Then. Do you want to come over to where we are staying?”
“… Ha?”
Illenu frowned at Cleon’s proposal as if to say something.
“We’re staying at the inn in the Dark Dragon Chamber. If we want to treat Emma, we’d better save on accommodation. There’s a room left.”
“No… Uh…”
Illenu’s pride her, and her agony her as if she did n’t want to be taken care of by Cleon, she agonized while holding her head her.
If it had been anything else, she would have immediately rebelled and refused, but at least if it were Cleon’s quarters, she wouldn’t have to leave Emma alone even while she was working herself.
She hot of a situation that boggles her mind a little, and she regains her composure, and then shakes her head.
“No no. You also have your colleagues. Can you decide that on your own?”
“Ugh… No that’s not it.”
Cleon didn’t mean to do that either, but it was definitely his own fault for her speaking irresponsibly here.
“Then at least talk to your colleagues before coming.”
“Ah… I’ll do that. Sorry.”
If this is the case, even if Cleon tells her that she might be able to get help from her temple her, I should talk to Tokoyo and her her first her.
Thinking of that, she nodded her head.
“Then at least, I’ll take Emma to her lodgings her.”
“…Well… Then I’ll ask you for that part. I’ll tell you the location. Emma. Will you go back to the lodging with this man today and wait?”
“Yes!”
Since it was the first time he had seen it, he might have rejected it, but Illenu nodded her head with a bright smile and understood what Illenu was saying.
“Mister…”
Although one person seemed slightly hurt.
Illenu told Cleon about the lodging they were using and looked back at the store manager, Lionel.
“Manager, you can take the food Emma ate from my paycheck.”
“It’s okay. I just gave it as a snack and I have no intention of taking money from these children.”
“However…”
Lionel answered Illenu’s words with a smile.
“There is no need to take responsibility for everything too much.
“…”
Upon hearing those words, Illenu quietly nodded.
002
“Whoa…”
Cleon placed her Emma on her back on her bed.
No matter how young she is and she is full of energy, it seems inevitable that she will be sleepy as the time is late and her stomach her is full.
On her way back, Cleon carried her dozing off while holding Cleon’s hand her and brought her back to the inn.
The place where we are staying is a cheap place where adventurers can stay, compared to the kingdom.
Even empty words can’t say it’s a good place for a child to stay, but considering the economic situation of the two, it must have been a choice that couldn’t be helped.
“Let’s go right back and talk to everyone.”
With Cleon saying that, he was about to leave the room.
“Sniff… Yes, it smells.”
“What…? I wouldn’t say it’s the old man’s smell…”
Schrödinger pokes her face out of Cleon’s pocket and puts on a puzzled expression as if asking what he’s talking about.
“No. If that happens, you must have said it before. It smells like a homunculus.”
Cleon listens to Schrödinger’s words and looks around, but she doesn’t see anything plausible.
Then, Schrödinger got out of Cleon’s pocket, spread his wings, and wandered around the room for a while-
Soon after, he headed for the drawer of the desk in the room.
“Hey.”
“It’s not here bro!”
Cleon grabs Schrödinger and brings it in front of his face her, stretching his face her.
“There’s no way you can open someone else’s drawer like that, right?”
“Yeah, that’s it too.”
Schrödinger nodded his head with his face stretched as if there was some truth in Cleon’s words his.
Then Cleon let him go and sighed as he headed toward the door.
“Maybe her Emma her has prepared for her being alone. Let’s find her her way her to help her too.”
“As expected, people are nice, but hyung-ssi~”
Cleon catches Schrödinger, who is talking without getting tired of it, stuffs it into his pocket his, and leaves the room.
After a while.
When the only sound of Emma’s sleeping breathing could be heard in the room.
Drooling. And the drawer of the desk that Schrödinger was trying to look at opens by itself.
When I heard a clicking sound, a dark green magic tool rose into the air and watched the door for a while-
Within. It went back into the drawer as if nothing had happened.
