Whispers of a Scheming Demon - Chapter 44

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 44: Awkward Reunion (3)

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The space around Johan shook with a deafening roar. The night sky convulsed as though the sea were spitting out a sunken ship being raised from its depths.

It looked as though it were vomiting up something too much to contain.

Johan stiffened and stared overhead.

Black mist rose from the warped space.

‘No way!’

Demonic Energy darker than pitch. It was so ominous and familiar that Johan had no trouble recognizing it.

It was White Horn’s Demonic Energy.

“Damn it!”

Was this Gawain’s doing? Whatever it was, he had to stop it.

White Horn could not be dragged out by that pulling force.

Johan looked toward Gawain. Just as he was about to rush over, his face twisted in alarm.

“W-what?!”

Blood sprayed from every orifice in Gawain’s body as he convulsed. A horrible scream echoed across the hills. The pain must have been unbearable, because his body slowly collapsed.

Only then did the roaring subside. The warped space returned to normal, and nature became quiet again.

The leaking mist vanished as well.

Even in the urgency of the moment, Johan forced himself to think.

What was the best thing to do now? Should he leave Gawain behind and flee? Or should he support him and move him somewhere safe? No, perhaps he should cut off Gawain’s breath right now.

Gawain might have discovered his identity.

Dozens of thoughts flooded Johan’s mind in an instant. As he searched for the best option, shouts came from behind him.

“Your Highness!”

“Check his condition! Quickly!”

“We need a priest! Request support!”

Several armed figures rushed past Johan and ran to Gawain.

They were all members of Gawain’s royal guard.

The moment he saw them, Johan felt utterly cornered.

How much had they noticed? Right now, he could not even tell.

Johan decided to observe the situation first.

As he stood still and watched, one of the knights examining Gawain looked at him.

A female knight with long black hair. The breastplate of her armor bore the crest of the Artelga royal family.

A lion with black claws glared at Johan alongside the knight.

Her gaze was chillingly cold.

She slowly approached him.

Johan stared back with a blank expression.

He was tense, but he did not show it.

The distance between them soon closed, and the knight stopped before him.

Her lips parted.

* * *

Gawain was puzzled. Whenever he drew close to Johan, Espada’s cries abruptly stopped. The farther he moved from Johan, the louder Espada wailed.

It was as though the spear were sobbing, begging him not to leave.

He could not understand why.

Unless Johan possessed Espada, such a thing should have been impossible.

That was why he had examined Johan’s body several times.

Naturally, Espada was nowhere to be found. It was absurd to begin with that someone could hide such a massive weapon inside their body.

More importantly, Johan did not seem like the sort of person who would hide a Holy Spear.

They had only spoken briefly, but Gawain had formed a favorable impression of him.

A thoughtful and intelligent person despite his young age. That was Gawain’s assessment of Johan.

He felt that a relationship with Johan could one day prove greatly helpful.

If he had had enough time, he would have liked to speak with him longer.

Unfortunately, he had something to do.

He had to find Espada.

Just as he was about to leave, Espada began wailing again.

It was crying far louder than before.

He could not simply ignore it and leave.

On the off chance, Gawain called to the Holy Spear.

“Vanguard that pierces malice and engraves justice, return to the front lines.”

At the same time, the surroundings shattered. The world before his eyes fragmented like a broken glass cup, and the space containing him twisted violently.

He had never experienced anything like it.

He had merely tried to summon the Holy Spear, only to encounter an unknown phenomenon.

His brain throbbed as though it were burning.

A terrible searing pain struck his entire body.

It felt like a silent warning telling him not to approach the unknown any further.

Gawain could not ignore that warning.

He immediately stopped calling to the Holy Spear and endured the remaining punishment.

Fountains of blood burst from his body.

Unable to hold on to consciousness, he collapsed.

* * *

The female knight in armor stopped in front of Johan.

Her sharp eyes and pointed jaw gave her an overall cold impression.

She glared at Johan. More precisely, it felt as though she were glaring at him.

When Johan cleared his throat uncomfortably, the knight spoke.

“Are you injured anywhere?”

It was not what he had expected her to say.

It seemed the royal guard had noticed nothing. They simply believed Gawain had gone berserk again, just as he had yesterday.

A blessing in disguise.

“I’m fine. More importantly, how is His Highness?”

“His Highness’s life is not in danger.”

It was difficult to say whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.

If Gawain had discovered White Horn, it was unfortunate. If he had not, it was fortunate.

Why had Gawain ended up in that state to begin with? Johan could not know for certain, but he could make a guess.

‘Something likely went wrong while he was trying to retrieve the Holy Spear.’

The prayer Gawain had recited clearly included the words “return,” and the anomaly had occurred the instant it ended.

Even if that theory was true, two crucial questions remained.

First, why had Gawain recited a prayer to retrieve the Holy Spear from Johan? Johan could find a rough answer to that one.

‘...He instinctively sensed the Holy Spear’s scent from me.’

It seemed he should avoid meeting Gawain until he resolved the matter of the Holy Spear.

Second, what was the fundamental reason Gawain had collapsed? That sturdy bastard could not have ended up half dead merely from the recoil of failing to retrieve the Holy Spear.

There had to be another cause.

For now, he had no way to find the answer.

Fortunately, one thing had become clear.

‘Get out of here as quickly as possible.’

After moving out of Gawain’s sight, he needed to deal with the Holy Spear embedded in White Horn first.

When they met again in the future, what had just happened could never happen again.

If he somehow removed the Holy Spear, he could play dumb about today.

Johan knew what he had to do.

He said, “I’m relieved that he is safe, but we must not let down our guard. Please take His Highness away quickly. He appears to need treatment urgently.”

“We have already requested support. A priest will arrive soon, so please do not worry too much.”

“I see. Then I’ll be on my way. Please take good care of His Highness.”

As Johan hurriedly tried to leave, the knight stopped him.

“Please wait.”

“Why?”

“I have a few questions. Please cooperate. I am Royal Guard Knight Yuri Jrael.”

Yuri Jrael. She was someone who had appeared several times in the original work.

‘Damn it. Of course they wouldn’t just let this go.’

The prince had collapsed, and Johan was the only one standing there. The royal guard had no choice but to investigate him.

Hiding his urgency, Johan spoke as calmly as possible.

“I am Johan Myatro. I’ll cooperate.”

“Thank you. First, what is your relationship with His Highness?”

It was a formal question. Knight Yuri could not possibly be unaware that Johan and Gawain had never met before.

“Today was our first meeting.”

“I see. What were you discussing?”

“I’m sorry. It was a sensitive matter, so I cannot reveal it without His Highness’s permission.”

Simply bringing up Count Staviana as a topic of conversation could invite all kinds of rumors.

“It is necessary for the investigation.”

“I do not wish to place His Highness in political danger.”

Yuri glanced behind her. She seemed to be checking the reactions of her companions.

She looked back at Johan and spoke quietly.

“...Were you perhaps discussing an eagle?”

The eagle was the symbol of House Staviana.

“His Highness told me to be careful. Of the eagle.”

“That answers my question. I have just one last question. How did His Highness end up like that?”

“It suddenly seemed as though he was seeing things. Like yesterday, he went berserk... No. That would be disrespectful to His Highness.”

Yuri gave no reaction. She remained lost in thought for a long while.

Only after some time did she speak.

“Sir Johan, may I ask you a favor?”

Johan had a rough idea of what she would say.

Still, he pretended not to know.

“I’ll listen first, then decide.”

Yuri nodded.

“Please keep what happened today a secret.”

“What happened today...?”

“His Highness’s berserk episode.”

Just as he had expected.

If word spread that Gawain had gone berserk for two days in a row, he would no longer be able to remain in the kingdom.

He might even be sent to the Empire.

As Gawain’s loyal knight, Yuri had to prevent that at all costs.

“If that is your request, do not worry. I had no intention of speaking of it in the first place.”

She bowed her head slightly.

“I sincerely thank you for your kindness, Sir. This concludes the investigation.”

Yuri seemed to believe the entire situation had been caused by Gawain’s berserk episode. Rather than conducting a thorough investigation, she appeared eager to end things as quickly as possible.

Whatever the reason, it was welcome news for Johan.

He said,

“Then I’ll be leaving now.”

“Travel safely. White Horn has not been captured yet.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

After exchanging brief farewells, Johan headed for the village of itinerant slash-and-burn farmers.

* * *

The demons captured inside the Holy Power Sealing Formation were not executed immediately. They were taken elsewhere and gathered in one place to be investigated for possible connections to White Horn.

Countless convoys transporting demons headed toward the center of the sealing formation.

In one such convoy, a red ball of fur that was an Imp muttered,

“To think I’m being treated the same as nameless Lesser Evil Spirits. Do they even know who I am?”

The demons locked in the same cage snickered.

“Ha ha! A name? You have a name?”

“Let me guess. Rat dick. Yes, that bastard’s name must be Rat Dick.”

“A fitting name for something as small as a rat dick.”

The Imp trembled at their mockery.

“If you knew my true identity, you wouldn’t dare make a sound.”

All kinds of insults poured in.

“I’m telling you, your true identity is Rat Dick! If you want to act tough, come back after you’ve reached adulthood!”

“Even fully grown, it’s just a ball of fur. What use is that thing?”

“It could probably seduce a girl or two. It would be perfect for knitting.”

Unable to endure it any longer, the Imp shouted,

“I was chosen by the great End! Once I pass Their trial, I will become the vanguard of evil deeds!”

A sudden silence fell.

Every gaze in the cage turned to the Imp.

Had it misspoken? Just as regret began to wash over it, laughter erupted from all around.

“An Apostle?! Did They say They would use you for knitting?!”

“Are there even Apostles in this age?”

“There is one! That pathetic fool defeated by a human!”

“Ah! The young one who got stabbed by a spear and fell into a valley?”

As the insults toward the Apostle continued, the Imp sprang to its feet.

“How dare you speak that way before the End’s right hand!”

Its red fur began flickering like candle flames. Demonic Energy leaked out.

A dark green flesh demon facing it curled its lips.

The countless eyes stuck across its body bent into crescent shapes.

It was a sickening, fishy smile.

“The End’s right hand? I’ll break it for you.”

The demon fired a dark green tentacle at the Imp.

Just before it touched the red fur, the world froze.

An intense cold surrounded everything.

As if time and space themselves had frozen, every object around them stood still.

The convoy that had been moving was nailed in place.

Naturally, the tentacle could no longer extend.

Only one thing moved.

Someone was walking along the side of the convoy.

A silver-haired girl in a pure white fur coat. She alone moved freely through the blue frozen world.

Her sweet voice addressed the demons.

“You are having an interesting conversation. Let me join in. What were you saying about the Apostle?”

The girl slowly approached and stopped before the cage.

The flesh demon opened and closed its mouth.

No sound came out. It felt so cold that even its voice had frozen.

“Oh my, it seems difficult for you to answer. It cannot be helped. Just nod with your tentacle. You certainly said the Apostle was a young fool and a pathetic one, didn’t you?”

The dark green tentacle that had been aimed at the Imp shook briefly up and down.

It was an affirmation.

The girl smiled with her eyes.

“I like your honesty. I’ll let you die peacefully.”

Every eye on the flesh demon filled with fear.

At the same time, the girl lightly flicked her index finger.

The frozen cage exploded. The demons inside shattered into pieces. Fragments of ice scattered everywhere.

Only the terrified Imp survived. Its red fur was frozen stiff.

The girl entered the cage and looked at the Imp.

“You received the Apostle’s trial?”

The red fur trembled.

“Do you know Their current location?”