WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 141: Determination
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『 Do not peek into my mind, lowly creature! (Vel drash’tar, nosh val’een!)』
No sooner had Gawain finished roaring than Serena coughed up blood and collapsed.
The power contained in his voice was overwhelming.
Johan wanted to cover his ears as well.
‘Damn it!’
In his human form, it was difficult to withstand Gawain’s presence.
Johan forcibly held on to his senses.
He ran to Serena and supported her.
“Are you all right?”
Serena’s gaze was so dim that it seemed ready to fade away at any moment.
“...No.”
Johan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Never let that demon loose...”
She could not finish her sentence.
Her eyes slowly closed.
Gawain shouted in a sharp voice.
“Kill yourself! Tear apart that filthy body and die by your own hand!”
His words transformed into ancient demonic language.
『 Tear your own body to pieces. (Rash’ta vel’kar, dra’mir ven!)』
At the same time, blue Mana spread from Ilea’s body.
A faint curtain of light wrapped around Serena.
Thanks to it, Gawain’s curse could not reach her.
Ilea spoke.
“Johan, let’s move somewhere else first.”
If they continued facing Gawain, Serena might truly lose her life.
“Is Serena all right?”
“For now.”
Johan let out a sigh of relief.
He looked at Gawain coldly.
“Gawain, that was reckless. You will regret this.”
Gawain chuckled.
“It is only regrettable that I had to let that bitch live.”
Johan clicked his tongue and lifted Serena into his arms.
“I’ll decide how to deal with you after I hear what Serena has to say.”
Serena must have seen Gawain’s true thoughts through the Mind-Piercing Eye.
Johan needed that information first.
Some of the amusement faded from Gawain’s face.
“...That worthless bitch. So she really did get inside my head.”
Gawain was quick to catch on.
Or perhaps he possessed extraordinarily keen sensory perception and had instinctively felt the Mind-Piercing Eye’s intrusion.
Either way, Gawain was a far more dangerous demon than Johan had expected.
He already knew how to use a Word of Authority.
‘I need to be more careful.’
Until he placed firm shackles on Gawain, he could not let down his guard.
With that resolve, Johan left the Forbidden Archive.
He headed straight for a guest chamber and laid Serena down.
For now, Serena needed rest.
* * *
Serena did not wake until afternoon.
She groaned and pushed herself upright.
A half-destroyed, ruined interior came into view.
“W-where am I...?”
An unfamiliar voice cut her off.
“This is a guest chamber in the lord’s castle. It’s quite a mess, isn’t it?”
Serena turned her head.
A boy was sitting beside the bed.
He was a beautiful youth with golden hair and amber eyes. Johan’s younger brother, Raguel.
Serena spoke with caution.
“Who are you?”
Raguel gave an awkward smile.
“I am Raguel Myatro, the Myatro lord’s agent. I can only apologize for receiving you in such an unworthy place, my lady.”
As soon as he finished introducing himself, some of the caution left Serena’s face.
The name Raguel was familiar to her.
When Serena had used the Mind-Piercing Eye on Johan before, she had certainly learned a few things about Raguel as well.
Raguel was someone Johan truly cherished.
Serena lowered her head slightly.
“No, I should be the one apologizing. I made a spectacle of myself when we first met. I am Serena von Marcano. It is a pleasure to meet you, Myatro’s agent.”
She had met her fiancé’s younger brother for the first time while lying in bed.
The circumstances were rather improper.
Raguel immediately waved his hands.
“I heard you went through something terrible. There’s no need to stand on ceremony with me, so please make yourself comfortable.”
In truth, Serena still did not feel well.
Her dizziness kept her from getting out of bed.
Her expression darkened.
“I appreciate that, but I don’t think I can simply rest. What on earth has happened?”
Serena looked around.
The guest chamber was not in normal condition.
The walls were dented in places, and cracks ran across the ceiling.
There were obvious signs of battle everywhere.
Raguel scratched his head.
“Ha ha, how should I put this... It was already like this.”
Serena looked puzzled.
“The demon has not been released?”
She had thought Gawain had reduced the castle to rubble.
That was not entirely wrong.
The lord’s castle had been half destroyed in the past battle between Gawain and Ilea.
The remnants of that damage still remained.
There had been no time to repair it.
Raguel nodded.
“His Highness the Third Prince is still imprisoned in the Forbidden Archive. The reason the castle is in this state does have to do with His Highness, but it has nothing to do with today’s events. Please do not worry too much, my lady.”
Serena swallowed.
“...So that demon truly is His Highness the Third Prince.”
A prince of a nation, and a promising Holy Knight at that, had fallen into demonhood.
There could be no worse disaster.
Raguel spoke bitterly.
“That’s right. Johan must be terribly worried too.”
The moment Serena heard Johan’s name, she climbed out of bed.
Dizziness washed over her, but she had no time to care for herself.
There was something she had to tell him.
She spoke urgently.
“Where is Sir Johan right now? There is something he needs to know.”
Raguel looked slightly flustered.
“Ah, you need to rest. I will call Johan, so please...”
His words cut off.
The half-ruined door to the guest chamber opened with an old scraping sound.
Johan stepped inside.
“My lady, you are awake.”
Serena hurried toward Johan.
“Sir Johan, I have something to tell you.”
She stumbled and fell toward him.
Her body would not obey her.
Johan immediately caught her.
“Slowly. Let us return to the bed first.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Serena’s face reddened slightly in embarrassment.
Johan sat her back down on the bed.
“What did you hear that has made you so urgent?”
Countless emotions rose across Serena’s face.
Fear, confusion, anxiety. They were all negative.
The psychological effects of Gawain still lingered.
His malice was like a bottomless abyss, so deep that she could not fathom it.
Serena had never felt such blind evil before.
After taking a deep breath, she spoke.
“...His Highness hates you beyond all description, Sir Johan. There was nothing in his mind except the desire to take revenge on you.”
Gawain had originally held favorable feelings toward Johan.
He had considered Johan a political companion and a good friend.
But he had been betrayed.
Johan had joined hands with the enemy who had killed Gawain’s mother.
Moreover, he was a Half-Demon and the very person responsible for Gawain’s fall into demonhood.
For Gawain, it was despairing.
A betrayal by someone you trusted hurt all the more.
That wound had deepened his hatred.
Gawain was a being who lived only to take revenge on Johan.
Johan’s expression settled into calmness.
“As expected. Unless I place him in shackles, I will never be able to control Gawain.”
Serena shook her head.
“No method will be able to bind His Highness.”
Johan was skeptical of her opinion.
No matter how great the hatred, it was ultimately only an emotion.
If someone were bound by an immutable law such as a Thrall Contract, personal feelings would easily fade.
Once the contract was concluded, Gawain would have no choice but to obey Johan.
Johan spoke.
“You said something similar earlier. You warned me never to let Gawain loose. Why is that?”
Serena swallowed dryly.
“The ‘contract’ you spoke of will not work on His Highness.”
Johan frowned.
“I need a more detailed explanation.”
“He possesses an Authority that can break all kinds of contracts.”
“...Is that true?”
Serena nodded.
“I confirmed it clearly through the Mind-Piercing Eye.”
Only now did the pieces roughly fit together.
Gawain had accepted Johan’s proposal to become a Thrall far too easily.
A man who lived only for revenge had chosen to join his enemy.
Now Johan saw there had been a reason.
Gawain had planned to break the contract the moment he was released from his restraints.
Then he would have attacked Johan immediately.
Johan gave a hollow laugh.
‘It was a good thing I brought Serena.’
Without her, a troublesome situation would surely have arisen.
Johan spoke.
“Thank you, my lady. Thanks to you, I avoided misfortune.”
Serena answered stiffly.
“I did not do it for you, Sir Johan. If His Highness is released, many people will be harmed. I merely fulfilled my duty as a noble of the Kingdom.”
Johan nodded.
“That is a good attitude. Continue to act as you have. Your choices in pursuit of good will largely align with my interests.”
Serena quietly studied Johan’s eyes, then murmured.
“...I see.”
Johan’s calm words did not seem like a lie.
He turned away.
“Rest a while longer. I will be going now.”
Tension appeared on Serena’s face.
“Are you going to see His Highness?”
Johan answered calmly.
“Yes. I need to bring this to an end.”
He left the guest chamber.
He headed straight for the Forbidden Archive.
* * *
The sun had set.
Mapheltan descended into the Forbidden Archive, lost in thought.
‘An Authority that breaks contracts.’
Gawain currently possessed the Authority of Apostle Beris.
How?
Mapheltan could not understand it.
Other than Beris, there was no being who could interfere with the immutable law known as contracts.
‘...Hmm.’
Had Gawain taken Beris’s place?
‘That cannot be.’
Beris was still alive.
Though one tenth of Beris’s soul had been destroyed, Beris was still an Apostle.
There could not be two Apostles who governed contracts.
No, to begin with, a being that had not been an Ancient God could not become an Apostle.
Until recently, Gawain had been human.
He did not possess the qualifications to become an Apostle.
When his thoughts reached that point, an idea suddenly occurred to him.
‘Then what about me?’
There were always exceptions.
Mapheltan was one such exception.
He had become an Apostle through special circumstances.
That exception might apply to Gawain as well.
Mapheltan stopped abruptly.
He spoke before Gawain.
“Let me confirm one thing.”
Gawain grinned.
“What happened to that girl of lowly Marcano blood?”
Ignoring Gawain’s question, Mapheltan took out the Ominous Book.
A huge full-length mirror stood before Gawain.
“Touch the mirror.”
The Ominous Book was an Abomination that reacted only to Apostles.
If Gawain was an Apostle, a certain phenomenon would occur.
Gawain spoke with a shameless expression.
“As you can see, I cannot.”
He looked down at his hands.
They were completely bound, leaving him unable to move even a fingertip.
Mapheltan clicked his tongue and brought the Ominous Book to Gawain’s hand.
Disappointment rose within him.
The Ominous Book showed no reaction.
If Gawain truly were an Apostle, Mapheltan would have found some way to keep him beneath his heel.
But that was no longer the case.
Mapheltan summoned the Dread Spear Turabak.
“Gawain, I don’t think I can keep you around.”
He raised the Evil Spear.
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