220 – Promise (1)
#1
Puuu…… Pew-!
Fireworks that were launched exploded at the apex.
As the crowd erupted in admiration and cheers, bright yellow sparks burst into hundreds of meteors.
Then, in an instant, the utterly dark sky shone in an instant. On top of the star that had already risen, another cluster of stars was engraved.
The fireworks that raced through the night sky like a meteor shower in the middle of the night soon fell slowly, drawing a flexible curve. The flames permeated under the pitch-black curtain and turned into a gray haze, and people felt sorry for them.
Puuu……
But then a new firecracker was set off.
Puuong—!
In the place where the meteor shower faded away, colorful sparks rose again and exploded unexpectedly with a clicking sound.
Puong, pung……
“Pretty… ….”
Ruvia’s pale green eyes shone blue.
Fireworks.
We were watching the fantastic scenery that marked the end of the festival from the top of a high hill.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get a closer look… ….”
“Because firecrackers are limited. If you go to a fireworks display, you won’t be able to see it properly because you’re in the crowd.”
“… That’s just how it is.”
Rubia pouted her lips at my words that broke the mood.
The ridge of the hill Stella and I climbed together that day. We finally arrived at this place, tired from walking around all day, and watched the brightly shining sky in the distance.
Today has been quite a long day.
Buying cool desserts on the street, looking at paintings at exhibitions, intuitionally watching martial arts contests in which various talented players participated, winning prizes by participating in mini-games, and experiencing all the things that usually come to mind when you think of a festival.
Half a day to do that.
“It’s really over…… Festival.”
Good times end early.
With the splendid fireworks display at the end, the first day of the Taeshin Festival ended in great success.
“Exactly, the first day is over.”
“Really, a little. Ezio.”
“Ahahahaha.”
Rubia sat with her hips on her clothes I spread over her weeds, her knees hugged.
Yuri had been silent for a while, with her head leaning on her Rubia’s shoulder, and Stella, like me, stood upright, clasped her hands together, and looked at the night sky.
Looking at Hongjo’s youthful face, he didn’t seem to notice at all even if he talked to him from the side. It would be better to leave it so that you can fully capture the scenery.
“Mu.”
“… Yes?”
Mu was next to me.
She turned her head as soon as I called her name. The profile of her face was stained with a pale yellow light.
“Isn’t it pretty?”
“… It’s peaceful. There is also romance.”
“Isn’t it?”
“On the one hand, it’s also regrettable.”
“What?”
At my question, Mew just shrugged her shoulders.
“It is a worthwhile scenery, but… ….”
And then he smiled lightly.
“It would have been better if there were two. Regret?”
I’m used to this now.
Still, I replied in a low voice, wondering if anyone would hear it.
“You can come again next time.”
“Two of you?”
“If the opportunity arises.”
“…… hehehehe. I’m surprised Of course I knew you wouldn’t do that.”
Myu opened her eyes slightly wide, and before long she suffocated.
Kook, kook.
There was something grabbing the hem of my pants and pulling it tight.
“… ….”
It was Rubia.
She was still just looking at the sky, but for some reason, Rubia’s lips were sticking out more than before.
I didn’t know the cause of the bruising. You must have overheard my conversation with Mew. It was clear that she wanted to go with her too.
“My pants are down. In words. Words.”
“… ….”
There was never a way to speak. Rubia remained silent until the end, and she only tugged at the crotch of my pants.
“Okay, okay.”
I lowered my posture and crouched down.
“Let’s buy firecrackers when we go back to our hometown during vacation.”
“…… !”
As if it were real.
Ruvia glanced in my direction.
Then, as our eyes met closely, she turned her head away again.
After a while, a small murmur was heard.
“…… Didn’t you forget?”
I had an appointment with Rubia.
A promise to go back to my hometown together on vacation.
“Of course not.”
I remembered that promise.
“So let’s all enjoy this festival together.”
“…… Yes.”
Rubia timidly nodded her head.
Even when her head is lowered, you can see the corners of her mouth twitching.
‘Hmm.’
Okay, let’s all enjoy this time together.
I said so…….
‘I won’t be able to play comfortably starting tomorrow.’
I got up again and looked at the sky.
The fireworks shone beautifully.
The light colored the beautiful city brightly.
We were also in the city. I didn’t want to leave this city where I and my friends live and breathe.
The moment this city fell into danger would be the moment that was directly related to my own danger.
However, the opposite also worked. I had the power to summon demons. This city and my friends could be in danger because of me. Then I had to leave this city before anyone else.
Because I didn’t want to, before that.
I do everything I can.
‘Come.’
No matter who you are.
Another demon must be lurking inside.
‘Come find me.’
I now move behind the scenes of the festival.
Call in and deal with threats to me and my friends. I won’t let anyone get hurt. Decided.
If that’s my mission, if that’s what I have to do. Even if I have to die once again, I will achieve it, and in the end I will kill everyone, even the devil. Only then will you be freed from bondage.
‘The devil.’
I clenched my fist.
A faint light leaked out.
‘I will definitely kill them all.’
With the twinkling flame engraved in his eyes, he made a promise once again.
#2
The excited city has calmed down.
As the sun, which had risen as if to bless us, disappeared, everyone went back to their places. Thus, a cold wind suddenly blew into the empty seat, and cooled the heat of the festival, which only remnants remained.
All that remains are trash thrown away by people who have been passing through, crumpled pamphlets, and scraps of props used in mini-game booths.
There were a few students walking around the vacant lot as if they hadn’t forgotten the heat of the moment, but even that soon disappeared. Now is the time to go to bed and promise tomorrow.
So the festival ended.
…… No, it’s not over yet.
“Deep baam~ eueunhasoo~ Grandma~ told me…… What?”
The drunkard sang.
I hiccupped as I passed the quiet street. Stumbled. A few people saw the drunkard and passed by, ignoring him. The drunkard didn’t care. With the scorching heat burning from the nape of her neck to her face, she walked excitedly, singing loudly again.
“What is this…….”
But the drunk soon had to stop. He slanted his posture in a crooked shape, narrowed his eyes and glared at the front.
“Huh… black… Whoa…….”
Someone was crying.
She squatted with her back against the outer wall of the building and wept incessantly. Slender and small body. She was a woman
Drunkard was a teacher of some class, and she therefore lived in District 1. Most of District 1’s population, she said, were Frontier faculty or staff. Students barely lived.
“Huh… black… hehehe…….”
But that woman looked like a student. Because she was wearing a uniform.
The drunkard just didn’t have time to care, and she moved her feet slowly, scratching the back of her neck at the fact that the woman was crying.
“There! What’s up? Why are you crying……. Mr. A.”
The drunkard glanced around her. She must have seen people sparsely a moment ago, but now there were none. The only people left in the quiet street were the drunkard and the crying woman.
‘Sup… how about this…….’
Feeling her strange mood, the drunkard didn’t stop her.
Anyway, if a student is crying here, it means that something is wrong, and when a problem occurs, it is always the adults of the Frontier who are to be held responsible.
At this time when even a security engineer was nowhere to be seen, the only person who could help that student was himself. The drunkard let out a sigh of relief from the alcohol.
“Unfortunately…… Hey, student!”
“Huh… black… Heh heh heh…….”
“Student!”
No matter how much I shouted, the student did not respond.
The drunkard moved a little closer.
“Student! Listen to the face! What’s going on?”
“Huh… black…….”
A little closer.
“Student?”
“Black….”
A little more.
“Hey, student!”
“… ….”
The moment finally reached her nose.
“Ahahahaha.”
“Huh?”
I heard laughter.
The student was laughing.
No,
No.
“Uh, uh uh uh? Uh uh uh… ?”
The drunk tapped her student on the shoulder, and her student tumbled to the side of her. She thumped and fell to the floor.
“What, what…… ?”
The drunkard hesitated in surprise.
Putting her hand on her conscience, I swear to her that she herself has never harmed this student by the hair of her hair.
But the circumstances were too perfect. The drunkard hurriedly looked around her, but she, too, was nowhere to be found.
At that time, the drunkard discovered something.
“…… Whoops! What is this!”
The color of the seat where the student was squatting was wet and dark. The same goes for student uniforms. It was all wet with tears. Like taking a shower with your clothes on.
It wasn’t that I didn’t cry from the beginning.
She cried so much that the tears poured out of her body as much as possible, so she was dehydrated and passed out.
There was no way the drunkard knew about it.
That’s just what I thought.
“… ….”
If it had been like this from the beginning.
The thing I just cried about.
The last thing I laughed at was.
Who was that?
“Ahahahaha.”
Again.
It was the moment when someone let out a laugh.
“—Get away!”
Something flew through the air.
“Wow wow—!?”
The drunkard’s spirits ran away. The wind of her blades raked and tore at her skin. As he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and stepped back from her, she saw something dark and dingy linger in her blurred vision.
‘What is that…… !’
“I’ve found you, you teen!”
It was something he had just expected to be behind him, if he was right. There must have been a weakening of his senses due to the alcohol, but it was surely holding his back without a rumor.
‘Monster, monster… ?’
The drunkard’s talk suddenly became chilly.
What the hell is that?
— … !
“Where are you going to hide!”
And what else is that?
Pain—!
Irregular hair fluttered like a mane. The fist flew at an invisible speed and cut through the air. It was the spot where the dark figure was standing.
“There you are!”
Golden eyes flashed.
The hunter who never misses his prey rotated his body.
Gwangryongak (狂龍脚).
I stomped my feet and stretched my legs at the speed of light.
Shoot— Boom—!
For an instant, the space seemed to be distorted. I just kicked the air, but a terrifying sound of destruction exploded.
“Huh, uhhh, uhhhhh!”
The drunkard stomped his ass with a scream, then jerked around him and then, without looking back, hit him on the run.
— … !
What had been procrastinating melted down.
It stumbled and ran outside.
“Sneaky bastard…… !”
Touching the bandage wrapped around her wrist, Elena, biting her teeth, raised her voice to the other side of her.
“I went that way!”
“Um.”
I knew you would run away.
At the place where Elena’s voice reached, Gil Leon, who had been waiting for the right moment, grabbed her sword hilt.
Surereung─
The empire’s number one paladin drew his sword.
And then he muttered.
“The light will be with you.”
The moment the eyes inside the helmet shone blue.
Uh uh uh uh-!
Gileon’s broadsword emanated a muffled echo.
The sword body stained with dazzling light rang.
As if to cut down the evil right in front of you.
So the sword embraced perfect light.
Divine enchantment.
The paladin endowed the sword with divinity.
“Something like a hideous demon.”
The light drove away all the darkness around it.
Elena squinted at the light.
Gileon gripped the sword. The whole area became bright as if the sun had risen. Where there is light, there is also shadow, but where there is light, there cannot be shadow.
“Where do you dare to set foot?”
A sword that pierces evil.
The holy sword descended towards evil.
Evil.
Evil.
Once vertically, once horizontally.
— … ! !! …… !!!!
The sword sword drawn in the shape of a cross cut the evil in front of its eyes. Tore to shreds to never get stuck again. So that not even a circle remains.
The darkness that was torn horizontally and vertically let out a soundless scream and tried to make a final counterattack, but even that was blocked by Gileon.
Evil!
Gileon’s sword was swung again. The darkness shot out like thorns split like pieces and split in half. It was a really stupid blow.
— … Ah.
The darkness that had been crumbled by the dazzling light despaired.
But he smiled ominously.
─The darkness will consume you.
Like a curse.
As the darkness dissipated, the last word was left.
“… ….”
Gileon has withdrawn his light.
The bright area was once again swallowed up in darkness.
“Tsk.”
Elena clicked her tongue.
“You missed it.”
Yes.
The evil had not yet been eliminated.
“The night is long. You have to follow it to the end.”
“I know.”
What I caught now is not the main body.
A shadow could hide anywhere.
“If we don’t increase surveillance or cancel the festival, there could be more damage. It’s a miracle that there hasn’t been a lot of noise so far. It’s good that he’s not a random guy who goes wild…….”
There must be a main body somewhere.
A deadly demon that preys on people’s desires, inflates them, and leads them to ruin.
“You managed to figure out his identity.”
“Ah~ What… If you pretend, you pretend. With the fact that I was originally that kind of guy. All I can see is this You are no exception. Know?”
“…… It must not be an ability to abuse.”
“Why, are you ashamed? I’m afraid you’ll find out about me.”
“There is no time for small talk. Dingo.”
As Gil Leon hardened her face, Elena shrugged and giggled.
“Okay, let’s go. To do something.”
“Wait.”
“Huh?”
Gileon summoned Elena and stopped her.
“The festival must not be canceled. If possible, you should catch it tonight. If that doesn’t work, until tomorrow night is over. No matter what.”
“That’s it, what… I know.”
It was quite disappointing to stop the Taesin Festival because we couldn’t catch a demon hiding like a rat. In other words, it was the same as meaning that the imperial guards dispatched in the name of defending the frontier had no power at all.
Gileon could not accept that fact. Didn’t he clearly show his power in the Human Demon War? He was no different now.
The evil in front of my eyes must be punished.
That was Gileon’s mission.
“Then, let’s increase surveillance? How many people can you say that you know the internal affairs here? Most of the time, it won’t help much anyway…….”
About that.
Elena suddenly stopped her words.
“No, wait… ….”
“…… ?”
Gilleon expressed his doubts.
In a short time, Elena, who had finished her thoughts, snapped her fingers.
“Yes.”
Looking back at Gil Leon, she grinned.
“There was. One person.”
#3
“Hey, junior.”
Early dawn.
Senior Elena came to visit me.
“Did you sleep well?”
“… ….”
When asked if I slept well, I couldn’t readily answer.
Aside from staying up all night worrying about it, after waking up shortly after taking a nap, he was still bending and straightening his arms on the floor.
— … ?
I heard a strange noise coming from the window, so I pulled back the curtains, and there was someone who shouldn’t be here, clinging to the window.
─Open this right now. Give me ten seconds ten… ….
— ….
It was Elena senior.
‘Damn it.’
So Elena broke into my room without permission. Surprisingly, no one had seen it. Does that mean she even mastered her stealth technique with the same taijutsu ability as mine? He was someone I really didn’t know.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hey, is the room nice? In my time.”
“What are you doing here?”
When I cut her off with a single stroke before the conversation flow became strange, Elena shook her head with a mischievous laugh.
“Have our juniors grown up a lot? Stop talking about her senior.”
“Why is this…….”
“Okay! Can’t you tell Not cute.”
After shouting, Elena sat cross-legged on my bed. With her elbows on her thighs and her chin resting, she glared at me.
“Do you remember what I said last time?”
“… That there might be a traitor?”
“Yes, that. I remember it well.”
Elena nodded in satisfaction.
She continues her words, changing her complexion all of a sudden.
“Forget about that now. We will do more important things.”
“…… Are we, Rani?”
“We are right.”
As if in surprise, Elena blinked her eyes.
She spoke out as naturally as a request for a meal.
“You, I need to work with you.”
“…… Yes?”
“I have no veto. As you know.”
Elena is trying to recruit.
“It was regrettable that I couldn’t enjoy the festival. But what can I do? If we don’t take care of this, the festival may be stopped.”
“…… Whoa.”
I sighed reluctantly.
Seeing that, Elena giggled.
“Why, don’t you want to do it? But how about this I am a senior like the sky, and you are a junior who will roll under me for the rest of your life…….”
“Okay.”
“…… Ok?”
It wasn’t because I didn’t want to, it was just a sigh that I didn’t like someone entering my room without permission.
“Let’s go now. Aren’t you going to be a demon again anyway?”
“… ….”
“I also tried to move separately. But if someone like Elena-senpai helps me, well, I should be thankful.”
I touched the bracelet. I had to go out soon anyway, so I took a shower and changed my clothes. I didn’t know it would be this soon.
“…… Her!”
Elena became mute after eating honey for a while.
She bared her teeth and she grinned.
“This is my junior. Ok, let’s go now kid.”