15 – The Devil Dreams of Cecil.(2)
If you were to choose the characters that represent Kente Village, the first thing people would think of is Battle Priest Brukin.
The name of the protagonist of the Holy Demon War that took place more than 20 years ago is certainly famous. However, if you ask villagers in Kente about this, most people will think of Renelle’s name first, not Brookin’s.
Renel Maritechcal.
A swordsman with skills that will dominate the times, recognized even by the knights of the kingdom.
She is an unlucky woman whose comment that she would marry the person who beat her was misinterpreted as a joke, and rumors spread that she was an old maid who was crazy about marriage.
Her unique fashion sense that was ahead of her time became toxic and she was eventually treated as a crazy pervert by the village, but her skills in teaching basic swordsmanship and martial arts to Julius, the best heretic inquisitor in the kingdom, and Kryle and Thalia, who would be second best, were genuine. .
Renelle, such a great prosecutor, was in a very bad mood today.
Although she recovered to some extent from her wounds from Thalia treating her as a mentally unstable pervert,
It has upset me that unfortunate things have been happening since last time.
After being nagged by Finn all morning, I dropped the bread I barely bought before I could take a bite, or the shorts I had hung up to dry were all blown away by the wind, and the black bird flying overhead barely managed to cover the bird poop. Misfortunes that were avoided or that occurred to a strange degree made Renelle’s mind increasingly exhausted.
I didn’t commit anything particularly blasphemous, so why on earth does this happen?
If you asked Rosa, the owner of her clothing store, about this, she would slap you on the back and tell you to change your clothes, but unfortunately, her older sister, Rosa, was not with Renelle right now.
“… Wait, a life full of tension like this… Might help me in my practice?”
She was falsely accused, but Renel was a prosecutor of Jinseong who married a sword.
As she was seriously considering whether she could use her bad luck for spiritual practice, her steps stopped in front of a small path.
Ten years ago, she herself was sent to the capital to teach with Brookine, Emily, and a cute pupil. The mansion where Julius lives.
It’s been a while since he returned to his hometown, but due to various events, he came to say hello properly.
If Julius had seen this scene, he would have foamed at the mouth and run away, but since she really came purely to see the face of her student, she would only feel aggrieved.
We arrived at the mansion by dodging a suddenly falling tree branch and twisting the neck of a poisonous snake flying in the wind.
When she came here, she remembered her drinking friend, Grandpa Mila, who often drank with her, and she swallowed her snot.
“hehehehe, hehehehe.” Julius, the teacher is here, so please open the door for a moment.”
Clearing her throat and adjusting her clothes, she knocked politely on the door twice.
But at this time, Julius was at a restaurant in the commercial city of Lenti with his wife, and Renel had to trudge back the way she came without even seeing the face of her cute student.
In the end, Renelle, who had spent the whole day talking nonsense, ended up inadvertently complaining to the people in the market, and that night, the rumor grew in Kente that the inquisitor had run away in the night because of the old maid prosecutor.
“… Really! “Stop teasing me, you rotten bastards!!”
The sound of laughter spreads loudly.
It looks like she still has a long time to live as a subject of ridicule.
***
Late morning when the sun gently raises its head again and slowly walks up into the sky.
The strongest Heretic Questioner, with his long blond hair tied back neatly, blinked his sleepy eyes and slowly stood up.
After sleeping comfortably without even dreaming of Cecile, whom he had dreamed of almost every day, he slowly turned his head and gently touched the face of the woman lying next to him.
She is the emperor’s nightmare and at the same time Cecil Lioneltine.
His worries, which had continued since yesterday, did not seem to stop until now.
The first time I accepted the devil’s wager was to get my wife’s body back.
But seeing her alive and moving figure, he fell into the devil’s temptation in the blink of an eye, and if he didn’t come to his senses, he would even forget that his wife was dead.
Julius took out the shining silver locket hanging around her neck and gently touched it, asking her in a low voice.
“… I just don’t know what the truth is and if I’m on the right path, honey. Are you really in front of me right now? Or am I betraying you?”
I want to hug the woman in front of me right now and whisper my love to her.
The woman who gave everything lives here, and she wants to shout out to the world.
But the devil is very cunning, so if all this is just a mirage, the void that will come at the end will go beyond simple death and tear Julius’ heart to pieces.
He was just a coward at this moment.
That’s why he needed someone to show him the way.
But neither God nor his treasured silver necklace can give him the answer.
“Haam, are you awake honey? I’m tired, so let’s sleep a little more. “I’ll hug you, hehehehe.”
The only thing that resonates here is a whisper like sweet honey.
He slowly lay down next to Cecil again, closed his eyes, and prayed.
I hope this isn’t a trap… I just prayed.
.
.
.
.
“You want to learn how to cook?”
“Yes! Cooking! Cooking! “I want to cook like a witch in a fairy tale!”
…Did witches cook in fairy tales?
He tilted his head once and spoke softly as he looked at the brown-haired woman in front of him with shining eyes.
“When the Lord created humans, He created harmony in the world by giving each person different talents.”
“He was a fun guy who liked guessing things like that!”
She speaks calmly and raises her voice, saying that if anyone hears it, it is blasphemy.
He glared at her for a moment and then continued.
“So, everyone has their own role. “This is it.”
“Um, so a wife’s role is to cook, right?”
“… No, I was told to give up because I don’t have any talent for cooking.”
His cold voice flies to you and pierces your heart.
Cecil was furious at him, who usually couldn’t even touch his hand properly out of fear of getting hurt, but only became needlessly bitter at times like this.
“Giving up without even trying is a bad habit! “When on earth did you become such a world-weary adult?”
“It’s not the world, but your failed cooking.”
The cursed cooking skills that even love couldn’t make delicious were at a level that even Julius, who lived with eternal love in his mouth, instinctively rejected it.
Cecil, unable to think of anything to retort, waved his arms a few times in exasperation to express his dissatisfaction, and then continued speaking, snickering at his mouth.
“… Then you made the lunch box.”
“… What do you mean by lunch box?”
“This! We decided to try them one by one! “They’re really doing this on purpose!”
She patted the thin book in which she had written down her past and Cecil’s wishes.
When I turned my head and looked at it, it looked as clean as new.
With the help of the devil’s power, the couple’s hope of being reborn as new from cover to inside page created the illusion of going back to the old days.
“… So is it a lunch box this time?”
“Yes! Let’s go flower viewing and have a packed lunch together. “It’ll be fun!”
“… Do whatever you want.”
Is there something else I am dissatisfied with?
Cecile, puffing out her cheeks like her daughter Leila, furrowed her brow and pointed at him with her finger.
“And! Fix that ridiculous way of speaking! “How long are you going to speak in such a harsh tone?”
Put a little more love into it.
He just smiled bitterly at her words.
“Let’s try.”
***
To gather his thoughts and clear his head for a moment, Julius took a walk in the forest behind his mansion.
Cecil is now filling the bathtub with water and washing his body.
The sight of water filling up on its own with a single clap of your hands and releasing steam on its own was a mystery like the magic of a wizard in a fairy tale.
Obviously, as an Inquisitor, you should feel repulsed by the evil power of the devil, but is it because she used it? It just felt like something magical.
Julius, who was walking through the forest feeling the wind, stopped his steps and looked up at the cloudless sky.
24 High-ranking demons.
I asked Cecil a question, and she surprisingly willingly told me.
Beings on a different level from the demons that often make contracts with heretics.
I heard that, except for a few banned books, including the first Bible in the church’s banned library, not even a record has been left anywhere.
“… If I had known this would happen, I would have read harder.”
Whenever Emily opened her mouth, he laughed helplessly, remembering how she always told him to read a book.
According to Cecil, most high-ranking demons are currently transformed into humans, just like her.
It was a huge situation where all the beings sealed in ancient times were released in an instant, but the world was quiet, and as he tried to clear his head, his worries only increased and he turned to the mansion.
.
.
.
“… You want to know where the other kids are?”
“Yes, you can tell, right?”
“It’s great to have a positive evaluation of my abilities, but unfortunately, I don’t know much about it.”
Don’t know? Is it because I feel like I can do anything when I first say it, but it seems like more and more people are saying I can’t do it?
“Why are your eyes so impure? Anyway, except for the few in the capital and the stupid big guy who died in the big forest, I’d have to go through a lot of trouble to find out their location.”
Because other people have become almost completely human like me.
As Cecile said that, she smiled a charming smile that could easily be called a devil, just like she did when she first arrived.
“…? “Wait a minute, one of them is already dead?”
“Yes, I think Priest Brookin, whom I briefly saw at the market, killed him.”
As expected, Priest Brukin also knew about the high-ranking devil and began to take action.
Julius touched her chin for a moment and then made a suggestion to Cecile.
“… With your power, you can go anywhere. “Then can you take me to the capital?”
“… I’m sorry, but I can’t even do that.”
What on earth can you do?
As she furrowed her brow and glared at her, Cecil started waving her hands and making excuses in her haste.
“Oh, I can’t help it! The price for releasing the seal was not to bring Julius back to the capital! “And I’m having a bit of trouble with my dad right now because it’s a bit awkward.”
After saying that, she started twisting her hair with her fingers.
The devilishness from before is no longer visible.
Julius swallowed his sleep, stroked his hair once, and continued speaking.
“… Then, can you find the high-ranking demons who have taken on human bodies?”
“Well, if I try, maybe one person a week?”
“Then please do me a favor. As an Inquisitor, this is not a situation where I can just sit back and watch.”
“… Is there really a need to harass people who are living well?”
She tilts her head and looks like she doesn’t know why she has to do such a thing.
Julius answered Cecil’s question simply and clearly.
“Because I am the Heretic Questioner.”
And because I need confidence in you.
I just kept the words in my mouth and did not say them out.
Seeing her husband with a serious expression, Cecil covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
She then bent her waist slightly, looked up at Julius, reflected that image in her murky eyes, and spoke.
“It’s hard to be bare-mouthed. If you want to borrow her wife’s power, you have to pay the price.”
“… What do you want in return?”
“One person for each wish we made long ago. “Every time you go on a date with me, I’ll find you another high-ranking demon of your choice.”
How can you do this much?
The slender fingers danced gracefully, caressing Julius’ cheek,
Feeling the pleasant touch, he nodded his head slightly.
“Okay then! Let’s put that aside for now and go make a packed lunch. We definitely have to go see the flowers.”
“… But don’t you usually go to see the autumn leaves in the fall?”
“Huh? Well, don’t go into details. “I’m going because I want to see flowers.”
She bobbed her head from side to side, saying she wouldn’t think about anything complicated, then left her mansion and walked away without even looking back. The man who watched her for a moment slowly walked away. I started walking in my wife’s footsteps.
***
“Ha, isn’t life really difficult? Oh God.”
Breathing in the acrid air mixed with ash and smoke blowing in from somewhere, the gray-haired man began to complain about his life.
“On the day the war broke out, my parents, whom I no longer remember, handed me over to the devil as prey to the devil and ran away to save their own lives.”
“If you look at it emotionally, they would be evil people who deserve to be punished. But rationally speaking, they made a wise choice, right?”
If I sacrificed my short life to survive that miserable life, it would certainly have been a wise choice.
“Ironically, it is said that they soon ended their lives caught up in a fight between the cult’s combat priests and heretics. “I found out later that he died after being struck in the head by a blinding piece of shrapnel.”
The gray hair, neatly pulled back, is dyed bright red.
Krail continued his words while wiping the blood-red liquid flowing from his head.
“So, from the beginning, I decided not to have any love or devotion to people. “I just hate sacrificing for my children.”
Now that he had stopped using polite language, he started wiping his head nervously.
A girl begins to appear from afar when her navy blue handkerchief made of luxurious silk gets wet.
The stupid child, who didn’t even know she had been taken hostage, was smiling brightly at Krail.
“So, damn Rom, please grant the protection of the wind as I walk to Kente Village.”
Although he grumbled, Cryle didn’t show any signs of distress and stood up slowly but dignifiedly.
Under a sky full of dark clouds, in the middle of a gloomy city where it is unclear whether it is day or night.
Now, Kryle has fallen into the crisis of his life.