Whispers of a Scheming Demon - Chapter 108

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 108: Suspicion

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Late at night, screams rang through the dark estate.

“A demon! It’s a demon!”

“Aaargh!”

Two masked men raced down the corridor, howling.

Their eyes were filled with terror.

Mapheltan’s lips stretched into a broad grin.

Human terror and screams gave him pleasure.

Suppressed laughter gradually escaped his lips.

Mapheltan kept snickering.

He wanted to burst into laughter.

If he gave himself over to joy like other demons, he felt he could be happier than ever.

Mapheltan shook his head.

‘...Control yourself. Control yourself.’

He clung to his slipping reason as tightly as he could.

He slapped his own cheek and raked his chest with his claws.

His wildly rolling crimson eyes gradually calmed.

The madness faded, but a faint excitement remained.

There was no way to erase even that slight pleasure.

‘It should be fine to enjoy it a little.’

He had to compromise.

It was difficult to completely defy his instincts.

For a demon to grow, he had to be able to take some pleasure in human fear.

He needed to learn to control that pleasure.

Mapheltan took a deep breath, then flew up.

The black demon began gliding through the darkness.

His crimson eyes left long trails in the air.

A sharp rush of air rang out.

A thief sensed his presence and looked back.

His pupils dilated sharply.

“Aah! Don’t come any closer! Get away from me!”

Mapheltan smirked.

“Not enough. Scream a little louder.”

His chilling voice echoed through the corridor.

It was like an awl drilling into the brain.

It held the power to freeze a human’s limbs.

One of the running thieves collapsed.

“Guh, ngh!”

His arms and legs had stiffened from extreme tension.

He writhed on the floor like an insect.

Mapheltan’s smile split nearly to his ears.

“What an amusing sight.”

Mapheltan folded his wings and descended into the corridor.

Still lying facedown, the thief looked back.

“N-No! Don’t come closer! Get away from me!”

He desperately crawled across the floor.

Mapheltan slowly approached the thief.

The distance between them steadily narrowed.

“Caught you.”

At last, Mapheltan caught up to the thief.

Crimson eyes stared quietly down at him.

The thief trembled as he opened his mouth.

“I-I was wrong. Please spare me.”

Mapheltan crouched and met his eyes.

He savored the man’s fear.

‘...This is more manageable than I thought.’

The pleasure was certainly rising within him, but it was somewhat different from before.

Mapheltan was not consumed by madness.

‘Is this the result of all my training?’

Ever since his Possession, he had constantly fought against himself.

He had worked tirelessly to avoid being consumed by malice.

That process was bearing fruit in its own way.

Now, the fear of one human could barely affect Mapheltan’s mind.

Mapheltan looked pleased.

“If I had my way, I would show you mercy.”

He felt quite good about seeing the results of his efforts.

Hope filled the thief’s eyes.

“Th-Thank you! Thank you so much! I will never forget this kindness!”

Mapheltan smirked.

“Very well. I will kill you without pain.”

At first, he had considered trying a little torture.

It was cruel and disgusting, but to survive in this world, he needed to practice torture.

There would surely come a day when he had to torture someone.

In this barbaric world, surviving while preserving one’s morality alone was far too difficult.

Some degree of compromise was always necessary.

Mapheltan was not ready yet.

He did not have the courage to dismember the man before him.

No, to be precise, he was not confident he could remain sane while listening to the man’s painful groans and screams.

The moment he tortured the thief, Mapheltan would surely revel in extreme pleasure.

He would lose himself.

Until he could control himself with certainty, he needed to put off acts like torture.

Besides, Mapheltan currently had a way to extract information from the thief without torture.

Deep despair settled in the thief’s eyes.

“I-I want to live. Please. Spare me.”

Mapheltan shook his head.

“That is a request I cannot grant.”

At the same time, a strand of black Demonic Energy rose from his body.

The thief screamed and clutched his head.

He thought he was about to die.

The Demonic Energy did not attack him.

Instead, it shot straight toward his companion.

The thief who was still running was seized by the Demonic Energy.

He let out a shriek.

“Aaargh! Let me go! Let go of me!”

His body flew toward Mapheltan in an instant.

Mapheltan snatched his head with one black hand.

“You abandoned your companion and ran quite far.”

Crimson eyes flashed as he stared at the thief.

The man struggled and shouted.

“D-Depart, demon scum! By the Great Saint’s name, I command you!”

Mapheltan smirked.

“Marziel does not hear your prayers.”

With his remaining hand, he seized the head of the thief lying on the floor.

Then he lifted him up.

The two thieves were held in the air.

Pained groans escaped their mouths.

“D-Don’t! Please! I beg you! Spare me!”

The other man drew a dagger from his clothes and slashed wildly at Mapheltan’s arm.

“Let go of me! You filthy demon scum! Now!”

He could not leave even a small scratch.

A grating sound like metal striking metal rang out.

Mapheltan’s carapace was tougher than most armor.

He spoke in a chilling voice.

“Mortals, recite in full detail, without adding or omitting a single thing, your identities and how you came to this place.”

The words that left Mapheltan’s mouth began transforming into the ancient demonic language.

『 Mortals, explain why you dared seek out an Apostle’s sanctuary. (Mortal’ekh daruul, kha’rem Azel’tan nox’ir, sha’gol envek thar’an.) 』

The Word of Authority took hold.

The two were mere common thieves. They could never resist an Apostle’s Word of Authority.

Even without torture, Mapheltan could extract more than enough information from them.

The thieves’ eyes clouded.

One of them opened his mouth.

“...We are low-ranking members of The Keyless. We came to your sanctuary because we dared lay our hands on the property of a Council noble.”

The Keyless was the Kingdom’s largest thieves’ guild.

“You knew my estate was empty at night. Who told you that?”

This time, the other man answered.

“A public notice was posted openly at the guild’s underground counter. It said the Watcher of Narak had come to the Royal Capital, and his estate was empty at night. Most people did not believe it. Only the two of us came here, thinking it might be true.”

Mapheltan mulled over those words.

‘...A public notice about my estate was posted at the thieves’ guild?’

Information posted at a counter where everyone could see it had very little value.

It made no sense.

Information related to a Council family was worth more than gold.

Information on the inner circumstances and layout of their estate would not have seemed out of place as the thieves’ guild’s highest-grade secret.

Yet that information had been posted publicly. Mapheltan was greatly unsettled.

He fell into thought for a moment.

Silence lingered.

‘...But why?’

Someone had deliberately spread details about the estate to the public.

Why? It was probably not for money.

If they needed money, they would have sold information about the estate in secret.

They would never have posted information as valuable as gold on a public notice.

Mapheltan swallowed a groan.

For now, it was difficult to know that rat’s intentions.

He spoke.

“Do you know who posted the notice?”

One thief immediately replied.

“No. No one in the guild knew their identity.”

Mapheltan clicked his tongue.

It was exceedingly frustrating.

One of the estate’s servants was most likely the suspect, but there was no evidence to identify anyone in particular.

‘There is one person I suspect, but...’

It was only intuition, so he could never be certain.

He needed to find clear evidence first.

Mapheltan spoke.

“Do either of you possess information that might help me regarding this matter?”

There was no answer.

Entirely unrelated words came from their mouths.

“...I want to live.”

“Please spare me.”

Mapheltan frowned.

They could no longer help him.

There was no other use for them, either.

For a moment, he considered turning them into thralls and having them monitor the guild, but he dismissed the idea.

The risk was too great.

In the Royal Capital, he needed to be careful with every action.

He could never leave a trail connected to Mapheltan.

“I am sorry, but you must die.”

Mapheltan tightened his grip.

Crack.

The thieves’ neck bones snapped cleanly.

Mapheltan let them go.

Their bodies crumpled like puppets with their strings cut.

They died instantly.

Mapheltan silently stared at the corpses.

He remained there for a long time.

There was too much to think about.

* * *

Morning arrived.

Johan sat blankly at his desk in the study.

His thoughts had continued from the night until now.

Then his long train of thought suddenly broke off.

There was a knock at the door.

“It is Haman. May I come in?”

Johan paused briefly before answering.

“...Come in.”

The door opened.

Haman entered.

With an awkward smile, Haman spoke.

“Did you sleep well? How was your bed?”

Johan’s face remained expressionless.

“Well, it was not too bad.”

Relief crossed Haman’s face.

“That is fortunate. I was worried, since it was your first night in an unfamiliar place. Did anything unusual happen last night?”

Johan quietly studied Haman’s expression.

He could sense nothing suspicious from Haman.

As yesterday, Haman simply gave off a somewhat clumsy air.

Johan answered calmly.

“It was a peaceful night, as usual. More importantly, how was yours? You must have been quite busy.”

With an innocent expression, Haman said,

“If you mean the errand, I did not spend much time on it. House Marcano gave me a warm welcome. It is all thanks to the Baron’s prestige. As I said before, it is an honor to serve you.”

Haman had visited House Marcano yesterday and delivered Johan’s message.

Johan and Horentz had likely arranged a private meeting.

Johan spoke.

“When is the appointment?”

“Viscount Horentz said you may visit whenever it is convenient for you.”

As expected, Horentz was showing Johan considerable favor.

Johan nodded.

“I will go around noon. Make the preparations.”

“Understood. I will take my leave.”

Just as Haman turned to go, Johan spoke.

“Oh, there is something I wish to say. Let us have dinner together tonight and talk.”

Haman looked puzzled.