Demon Beast (1)
Karios looked at him quietly.
The tough-looking muscle masses surrounding him.
“·······”
A sharp ax eye. A strong hostility swaying in it. Forearms that are about to explode. The smell of men passing by the tip of my nose.
I don’t know why, but he seemed very angry. He seemed to have a deep grudge.
Could it be that they are wizards who are enraged by the Annals of Gates?
Just by looking at it, it’s an attack class.
Even in the midst of such speculation, the men’s intimidation continued.
“Look at this kid? It’s open to the end.”
“Ugh, what are you looking at? sudden! I’ll rip out your eyes.”
“If I met you out of town, you’d be folded in half, man.”
The first threat in my life.
But I wasn’t angry. On the contrary, it was strange and new. Because no one had ever behaved like this before.
Besides, even if they were offended, they could not use force against them.
The Empire’s public opinion did not cover itself any longer, and it even had a history of prison raids.
Now was the time to be quiet.
Carios reacted unresponsively. Soon the men’s threats ceased.
“·······”
In front of the mansion, which was quiet again. The silence settled down as cold as the weather in the empire.
Soon, a chilly wind blew.
Wheein—-
Neatly piled leaves and garbage scattered across the ground. It passed quickly between the men and Karios, and a discarded newspaper became tangled in one of the men’s legs.
“Hey, what is this again?”
At the same time, Leonard’s voice rang out.
– What are you doing there?
Karios turned his head and looked inside the gate. I said to Leonard, who was standing in front of the entrance of the mansion.
“Someone came to see me, Leonard.”
“who? why?”
“I do not know. I don’t know who he is, and I don’t know why he came to see me.”
“·····What are you talking about?”
Leonard’s expression crumpled.
Leonard, who was about to enter the mansion, moved to the gate.
“What is your name?”
“I don’t know that either, Leonard. They come to me without a clear name, insisting that I am not Karios. I want you to come and fix it, Leonard.”
Karios mentioned Leonard at the end of his words. It was a kind of warning.
His reputation has been tarnished, but he has fallen into the position of being pointed at by everyone, but Leonard is still the best wizard in the empire.
He is a great man who is respected and trusted by all people.
Since such a person has come, and even I am a close friend, you are now in trouble! warning message.
“Who is this for you…”
stride, stride.
Leonard approached quickly.
When Karios, who had been boosted by his joining, turned his head again.
“…?”
The men were gone.
Did it fall to the ground or rise to the sky?
The front door was empty, and only the cold wind blew desolately. There was not even a trace left in their vacancy. It was truly a matter for a ghost to sing.
Leonard, who was looking at the empty alley and Karios, spoke cautiously.
“······Are you having a hard time these days?”
Then, Tuk-tuk-patted Karios on the shoulder. It was a carefree hand.
“cheer up. If you can’t stand it, talk.”
“no. It wasn’t until just now-“
“Okay. Even if you don’t say anything, I understand your feelings.”
tsk-
Crumpling his lips in pity, Leonard soon entered the mansion.
······
A park near the mansion.
All the members of the Self-Defense Forces are sitting on a bench with distraught faces. The shock that hit the back of the head didn’t come out easily, and only Mikhail stood up with blood in his neck and trembled.
“What did I say? Because that person is not Karios!”
He pointed the newspaper he had picked up earlier to Derek, who served only Karios, no, the one who claimed to be Karios.
Pointing to the photo of Karios written at the bottom of the recruitment notice.
“Did I say black hair? but what? did you dye it? Tell me where your mouth is! Talk again!”
“·······”
Derek averted his gaze. I couldn’t bear to see Mikhail.
He took the lead in ignoring Mikhail’s argument, and even beat him up when he suspected ‘fake Karios’.
“What about you? If you have something to say to me or the other guys, say it!”
“·······”
Adhering to silence was the same for the other crew members. They just stared at the poor floor. Then Spanner murmured quietly.
“But you were Leonard-sama. If it’s the same archmage candidate, it’s all there… don’t you draw it?”
“okay. There must have been an unavoidable situation…”
Hemmer followed suit. The other crew members also nodded slightly.
Mikhail pounded his chest as if his stomach was about to explode.
“Ah, stupid people… have they been brainwashed as a group?”
It’s not the archmage candidates that matter, the point is that they impersonated themselves.
The problem is that I was privileged because of it.
These naive bastards couldn’t communicate at all.
“done. what am i talking to you Hey boss. What do you think?”
Mikhail’s gaze turned to Zenon. Zenon, who was silently staring into space, spoke in a low voice.
“Why are we here?”
“What bullshit? Don’t grab Gao, just say it straight.”
“We are not here to reveal the identity of Karios. I’m here to repay his favor.”
Karios stayed in Henes for 2 nights and 3 days.
no Leonard.
Although he faked his identity, he benefited greatly from his visit. It eliminated an ogre that had been in trouble for a while, saved the lives of the members of the Self-Defense Forces, and revitalized the village.
Furthermore, he even treated Zenon’s elderly mother. No matter who he was, it was a grace he could not bear to betray.
“Mikhail. Even if it’s not you, the rest of the crew owes a debt to Leonard.”
Zenon looked directly at Mikhail.
It was an honest and unwavering gaze.
“No matter how much they deceived us, it is the right thing to pay for their lives. At least that’s how I learned.”
My father’s voice has faded now.
That was your last will.
“You can go back to Catalonia right now. So are the other crew members. But I’ll stay here As planned, I will help Karios-sama, no, Leonar-sama.”
The phrase written at the end of the recruitment notice.
[The recruited manpower is put into operation by Adonis for the winter magic camp. ]
In other words, Karios was recruiting manpower to support Leonard. Helping Karios was helping Leonar.
“My answer ends here.”
After saying that, Zenon rose from his seat. Then the rest of the crew stood up one by one.
“Right.”
“I’ve come this far, but I can’t just go back.”
“okay. How about Leonar, and how about Karios?”
Suddenly, all 9 people woke up. Everyone agreed with Zenon’s will.
Mikhail sighed in frustration.
“Ha… yes. Let’s assume that you help Leonar-sama as you wish. So what about support? I’ve already been cursing at Karios-sama.”
“·······”
For a moment, the park became quiet. The members’ expressions hardened all at once, and Zenon’s shoulders trembled as if he was sorry.
wheeess
The winter wind blows through the park.
It was at that time that the burning will gradually cooled.
Derek said in a stern voice.
“I’ll solve that… I just came up with a good method.”
＊＊＊
a few hours after that.
basement of the mansion.
The control tower was empty due to Yerina’s business trip (?), with no outside personnel and attendants.
“Hey, that was before.”
As I was preparing for the Northern Guardian Meeting, Karios carefully floated my luck.
I said as I pulled out the location map.
“What?”
“The men who came to see me. I didn’t see anything wrong. Came back to me a little while ago. It turned out that he came to apply for recruitment.”
Carios put out an application. I don’t believe it easily, so he seemed to want to confirm it himself.
I answered without even paying attention.
“Good. But, they said they didn’t believe you were Karios.”
“It did. There were some minor misunderstandings.”
“misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”
“That’s why he couldn’t recognize it because the real thing was uglier than the picture.”
Big hum.
Karios cleared his throat in displeasure.
A laugh broke out at the same time.
“Big…”
I quickly covered my mouth. After a laugh, he asked calmly.
“Which picture did you use?”
“This is it. Do you think the real thing looks uglier than the picture?”
Carios, who took out a newspaper from his pocket, pointed to the section of the recruitment notice.
At the bottom was a picture of the guy. And beside it…
“Something similar- what is it?”
My picture was written all over the place.
It’s also twice the size of Karios’ picture.
I looked at the newspaper, then moved my gaze to Karios.
“Why are my pictures here?”
“Yeah, because you have a much better image. Thanks to that, we also have quite a few female applicants.”
Karios laughed innocently. It was a brightness that could not be criticized.
“······okay. Okay, so let’s start the meeting.”
I spread out the location map on my desk.
A total of 15000 wizards.
In order to maximize their efficiency, and to prevent demonic beasts from descending south without sacrifice, it was necessary to properly arrange them according to their ranks and careers. Power should not be directed to one side.
Fortunately, the ratio between the series is not bad.
Attack—5, Defense—3, Heal—1.5, Pharmacy—0.5.
It was the perfect ratio to form an elite team.
“First of all, I finished the team composition myself. All you have to do is deploy it, but I’m going to divide it into northwest and northeast areas.”
“I think that would look good too. Maybe it would be better for the two of us to take one area each?”
Karios said while looking at the location map. Somehow I said the right thing.
I pointed northwest on the map.
“You are in charge of the Northwest. I’ll be in charge of the northeast.”
It was the black magician’s doing this time.
It was a trick using the Black Magicians’ “Magic Beast Summoning” and Luinel’s “Hilling-Mind Manipulation”.
The commander of that large-scale operation is the warlock Cadein.
He is the right-hand man of Luca Delos and a healer who was supposed to resurrect the Great Demon. He is stationed in the northwest of Erythia. At first, he only watched, but during the last wave, he directly attacked from the northwest, and at this time, he died at the hands of Karios.
As long as it’s original.
So, if you want to eliminate Cadein this time, it is correct to place Karios in the northwest.
Of course, because of that, Narsha will be marked as the successor to Cadein, but even if that is the case, it is right that Cadein dies in this episode.
Cadein’s healing techniques are developing day by day, and soon he will implement a technique that strengthens Luca Delos’ demonic energy.
“i get it. Then let me be in charge of the northwest.”
Carios agreed without question. After that, I was immersed in team placement.
“I think it would be better to place the A-4 team in the northwest.”
“Then the power will be biased to the northwest? It is more strategic to deploy the A-4 to the northeast and station the B-5 and B-6 to the northwest.”
As meticulously as counting the number of cases in Go or moving pieces in chess.
Don’t lean to one side, and make the best combination of both camps.
Even so, don’t miss what I intended.
“I’ll arrange for Yerina-sama to be placed in the same area as me.”
I placed Yerina’s team in the northeast.
There isn’t a big difference, but the first place where the witches descend south is the northeast and the most eastern side.
If the Ministry of Magic agents want to request assistance as soon as possible, it is right to place Yerina here.
“i get it. Then E-64 should be transferred to the Northwest.”
The meeting lasted about 4 hours.
It must have started in the early afternoon, but before I knew it, the hands of the clock pointed to 7 o’clock. When the meeting was over, Karios stretched out his arms.
“Ugh… it’s finally over. You both went through a lot, how about a glass of comforting beer? Or a strong drink would be fine.”
“I’m done. I have a place to stop by.”
I got up right away.
Just one drink! I went up the stairs, ignoring Karios’ cry.
＊＊＊
same time.
A city covered with white snow.
The atmosphere of the end of the year and the great holiday of winter, which is getting closer and closer, make people flutter.
Every year passed without anything special, but it is a season that is always repeated, but a strange sense of anticipation is planted in the pure white landscape presented by winter.
As if a miracle is about to happen. It seems that all wishes will come true.
It’s like someone sneaking in and giving you a present.
Is it because of the innocence of childhood that is not forgotten even after the passage of time?
As the weather gets colder, the world gets warmer. Beautiful donations and good deeds continued everywhere, and gentle smiles appeared on the faces of passers-by.
The city center has become warm as if God has blessed it. A street where you can feel the warmth.
In the midst of that, Narsha sighed lightly.
“Ehh…”
Narsha wandered around the city aimlessly.
I couldn’t concentrate too much, so I kept getting lost in my thoughts, and taking short walks was what continued until now.
Sabujak- Sabujak-
Snow crooked on the soles of shoes.
A sigh flows again.
“under······”
Unlike the people around her who couldn’t stop laughing, Narsha’s heart was depressed. It felt empty as if there was a hole in my chest.
The reason was simple.
You know, but you’re just pretending you don’t know.
“It’s not long now…”
With less than four days left, Adonis goes to the winter magic camp.
The moment I heard the news, I felt bad. It wasn’t just that I hated camp.
However, I was worried that I could not participate because of the research schedule.
Also, to add a very small factor, the fact that I won’t be able to meet Leonard for the next week, that 90% of the camp participants are women, and that there are a lot of Mage Tower researchers who participated on vacation.
That was it.
It’s absolutely not like jealousy, I don’t want to see Leonard already, I don’t want the camp to be canceled…
I just don’t know…
Why is my heart so restless?
Sabujak- Sabujak-
Narsha’s steps stopped in front of a clothing store. I looked at myself in the huge glass.
“·······”
protruding mouth. furrowed eyebrows.
Pouting like a grumpy child.
Suddenly, I felt that it was not desirable.
Narsha shook her head. Chop-chop- he repeated as he slapped his face.
“stop·····”
To be honest, I hope Leonard doesn’t go to camp. I want you to be by my side as usual.
However, this was a childish greed. It was a very selfish and narrow-minded idea.
It would be better for each other to buy a gift to say goodbye to each other rather than suffering from heartache alone like this.
Having made that decision, Narsha entered the clothing store. I picked out a woolen robe that I could wear in the North.
“Will the guest wear it?”
A female employee came up and asked. Narsha said while skimming through the products on display.
“no. A boyfriend.”
“Oh, my boyfriend must be really nice. May I make a recommendation?”
I was lost because I had never gifted men’s clothes, but it turned out well.
I nodded my head slightly, and the staff smiled happily.
“What kind of style is your boyfriend? A dignified style? cute style? Or a sharp style?”
“Um… he’s just handsome. very.”
Narsha said in a low voice. You might think it’s a joke, but it’s true.
He was good looking both objectively and subjectively.
“Oh, how handsome are you? Then how about this one?”
An employee recommended Wen Loeb.
A pure white fleece robe with a gray exterior.
The design was not excessive, and the fabric was luxurious. It seemed like a good fit for Leonard.
“Yes, I will do that.”
“All right. What is your boyfriend’s upper body size?”
“Yes······?”
Narsha asked in a puzzled tone. Come to think of it, I still didn’t know Leonard’s size.
Still, he’s a famous girlfriend, but he’s dated not once, but twice.
“Uh… I don’t know.”
Narsha scratched her head as if in trouble.
Then the staff kindly said.
“it’s okay. Maybe. Just give me an approximate size.”
“Approximately?”
“yes. For example, when we hugged, was it like this? You can say it with words, or you can measure it with your arms.”
A skillful response given that they are a couple.
But Narsha didn’t help much. Because he had never hugged Leonard before.
I’ve been there a few times before, but it was so long ago that I can’t remember.
“that is······”
Narsha lengthened her horsetail. Looking back at the distant past, I looked at myself in the mirror.
It was funny when I thought about it.
I even kissed while drunk, but I can’t say I’ve never had a proper hug.
Even if you want to gift clothes, you can’t buy them because you don’t know the size.
Didn’t even have time to ask about that.
“under······”
A bitter smile that flows reflexively.
I regretted not being indifferent again, no, pretending to be indifferent.
Along with a deep sense of skepticism, I was overwhelmed with regret for no reason.
······If you were next to me right now, I would hug you warmly.
I wouldn’t hide it any longer.
The time when such passion was scattered in my heart.
belt ring-
The door to the clothing store opened.
and he came in As if a wish had come true.
“·······”
A look without a single flaw.
Perfect proportions like a model.
Always neatly dressed and the dignity that permeates the body.
A man who shines only by his existence, Leonard Adonis.
His appearance came to me slowly, like slow motion. It was like a scene from a movie.
“…?”
head turning slowly.
Leonard, who was looking through the shelves, found Narsha belatedly. before he said anything.
“you······”
Narsha hugged Leonar as if possessed. It was a surprise hug that I couldn’t react to.
Even Narsha herself was surprised.
pounding- pounding-
A heartbeat ringing in your ears.
The collection of Leonard hovering at the tip of his nose.
It felt nice and cozy, but at the same time uncomfortable.
The trauma of opening the door of the heart, which always outpaced the original mind, caused the problem. It was instinctively pushing others away.
That’s why I couldn’t express my inner feelings like an illness every time.
But Narsha decided not to hide it any longer.
I decided to live without fear of people and without hesitation about love.
I decided to take that first step with Leonard.
“why?”
Narsha gently raised her head.
He hugged Leonardo’s body tighter and smiled brightly.
“Can’t you just hug me? I am your girlfriend .”