Arriving at Count Caligo’s house through the space transfer scroll, I looked around.
“… … Calm down.”
No matter how difficult the Countess Caligo’s family was, it wasn’t this much.
The knights and servants guarding the perimeter of the mansion were nowhere to be seen.
… It’s so quiet that it feels like a difference.
Looking around the garden, I found a body. It must have been torn by something, and the whole body was hacked to pieces.
‘Where is Frey… … ?’
If I were her, I thought the only place I would come to after running away from the Heretic Questioner was this county’s house.
First, I decided to look inside the mansion.
When I opened the door, I couldn’t hide my surprise.
“… … Mr X. what’s this.”
A terrible smell of blood stinging my nose.
The corpses of servants were scattered here and there on the first floor. Was it attacked by someone?
【You can feel demonic spirit from below.】
In the basement of the mansion, though weak, I could feel demonic energy. I went down the stairs and into the basement.
A large door appeared. I looked at the floor and saw that the lock had fallen off. In front of him lay a dead body with eyes closed.
I closed the corpse’s eyes and went inside the door.
Candles lit on both sides.
I continued walking along the road.
And what appeared was the altar.
at that time.
It was the same shape as the altar seen in the basement of the maid’s house.
The corpses of beasts, monsters, and humans were laid there, and a dagger used for ritual and a jar filled with red blood stood out.
I had the illusion that the stone statue behind me was glaring at me.
Why the hell is this here?
no way… … . Could Count Caligo really be a cult of demons?
I immediately shook my head.
It can’t be.
If there had been a place like this when I first visited the mansion, I would have noticed it somehow.
then… … .
It was said that this altar was created after I visited the mansion.
【It looks like you just went through a ceremony. However, it is too crude. It looks like it was intentionally decorated to show someone.]
I also agreed with her words.
I could feel the demonic energy, but the energy was weak.
If the intention was to summon something, at least the remnants should remain.
The person who used black magic was nowhere to be seen, and the surroundings were neatly organized.
As if someone deliberately staged this spectacle.
Among the human corpses piled up on the altar were the corpses of servants inside the mansion. All of them were brutal, but I could feel the malice that couldn’t be hidden.
【Looks like there’s nothing more to see.】
Nodding my head, I went back the way I came and climbed the stairs again.
There were corpses everywhere.
The interior of the mansion was amazingly quiet.
As I walked down the hallway, I felt a strong sense of incongruity.
“… … It’s a sloppy show.”
I continued climbing the stairs. He searched the corridors and the remaining rooms, but still did not see Frey.
Has it not arrived yet?
Did he get caught in the meantime?
Is it right that I should be here right now?
I heard a thousand thoughts.
I wondered if I should go find her right now, not when I was leisurely searching the mansion, maybe even at this moment when I was thinking like this, she was desperately hoping for my help.
【Don’t worry about it. If you have too many distractions, you will lose your way. If you wait, the girl will come on her own.]
… … okay.
It would be better to wait here than to go looking for her and then cross paths.
‘I sent Roman in case you didn’t know, so he’ll get in touch somehow.’
The first priority was to find her whereabouts, so Roman, who was good at searching, was sent.
I shook off the thoughts that were running through my head and moved my feet again.
3rd Floor.
The hallway was neat, unlike the hallways on other floors. That’s why I had a rather ominous feeling.
I looked through each empty room, but I couldn’t find a body or a servant.
All that was left was the housekeeper’s room.
I opened the housekeeper’s door without slowing down.
profit.
“… … .”
I was frozen like a stone statue at the shocking sight that came into view.
what… … ?
Did I get it wrong… ?
I couldn’t get my feet off.
──An old man who hanged himself from the ceiling.
It was Halton Caligo.
He lay limp with his neck hanging.
I forcibly moved my weightless feet and approached him. Then he took him out of the ceiling and put him on the floor.
“… … Sir Halton.”
No answer was heard.
A weak demonic energy emanating from his body.
and the aura of death.
【No matter what you do, it’s useless. That person is already dead.]
The head whirls wildly.
… why?
Did Lord Halton take his own life?
… Was there a reason for that?
Hundreds of question marks popped up in my head, constantly asking questions.
However, nothing came back in response.
The sword placed next to him caught his eye. The blade was stained with blood.
I turned my head and looked around the room.
A white note lay on his bed.
On the outside of the note was written ‘Will’.
I started reading the note.
.
.
.
.
I’m a freak In the meantime, I have committed many sins.
Today, I would like to confess my ugly side through death.
My name is Halton Caligo. He is the head of Count Caligo’s family and a man called the Sword Master.
I’ve wielded a sword my entire life. It was fun to be strong.
I liked the compliments, joy, and envious eyes people gave me every time I reached a new level, climbed over a wall, or gained enlightenment.
That sense of superiority was like a drug, and that euphoria was like the whispers of the devil.
However, as I got older, there was no further growth, and the sword I believed in was rather regressing beyond stagnant.
For me, who had been under the sword for the rest of my life, that was a very harsh treatment. So I… … .
I borrowed the power of the demon god.
He built an altar in the basement of the mansion and prayed there every day.
I sacrificed the servants of the mansion, sacrificed the residents of nearby villages, and sacrificed my bloodline.
It was because I couldn’t give it up because I had already tasted the sweet drug-like sense of superiority.
After becoming a demon worshiper and gaining demonic energy, I was able to grow again.
I am.
Halton Caligo.
Because I had to be a sword master forever.
Regression is unacceptable. I knew.
Intoxicated with power, committing these sins is an act that can never be forgiven. Perhaps the Lord Raphael will not forgive me either.
Even so, I couldn’t stop my sin.
It was because the power that Magi gave was so sweet.
I was already addicted to the power of Magi.
However, power that is easily obtained comes at a price.
My body, which became a sword master through magic, was slowly dying.
It was only when I was near death that I realized that the words of the power I gained by sacrificing those who believed in me and followed me were ultimately fleeting. That is why I confess my sins now.
I’m a demon, a devil, a monster.
It is the devil who ate the people I love.
A false sword master created at the cost of human lives.
I am well aware that this is just a rationalization to alleviate my own guilt.
However, at the end of the day, I wanted to confess my sins even in this way.
I wanted to atone for my sins by letting many people know that I am such a vicious and vile human being.
It was because of what happened today that I decided to take my own life.
Suffering from demonic energy every day, I finally couldn’t stand madness and brutally murdered the servants in the mansion.
Funny enough, I myself was not aware of that fact, and when I woke up late and opened my eyes, only the sword I was holding and those who had become cold corpses were left.
When I saw it, I finally made up my mind.
ah.
I said that the devil should disappear from this world.
sorry. He is a selfish and terrible human being to the end. Looking back, from the moment I was born until now, I think I was the only person I knew.
No, it would be too much to use the expression human.
I guess I was that kind of monster.
nevertheless.
I want to ask forgiveness and forgiveness for all the lives I have taken.
sorry.
Sorry for being born.
——Begging for forgiveness, Halton Caligo.
After reading all of Halton Caligo’s will, I couldn’t hide the anger that boiled from the depths of my heart.
In an instant, I lost my reason and almost tore up all of his will, but I endured it with superhuman patience.
It was only after reading his will that he learned the truth.
──The fact that his death was all fabricated.
cringe
Blood flowed non-stop from his clawed hands.
However, I couldn’t even feel the pain, perhaps because my sense of pain was paralyzed by the anger.
It wasn’t even funny.
Did Halton Caligo commit suicide? Yesterday and today, the old man pulled out his sword and killed all the servants? The reason why he was able to become a sword master is because of the power of a demon god? The one who made the altar in the basement of the mansion was Hilton Caligo?
It was all bullsh*t.
He uttered words that didn’t even sound like words. The more I read, the more my doubt turned to certainty.
It was clear that someone had intentionally killed him, faking it as a suicide.
Everything that happened in the mansion was a show for his death.
I was sure because I had personally diagnosed his body.
The magic he possessed was not created through a contract.
If it was created due to a contract, there is no reason for it to be in the form of eating away mana near the heart.
And it doesn’t even make sense to leave behind such a feeble demon.
Also, no matter how much he is a sword master, it makes no sense to kill all the servants inside the mansion with the same body as he is now.
The demonic energy in his body was rather eating away at his body, and in his current state, he didn’t even have the strength to hold the sword.
In the end, it is said that all of this is an intentional production to drive him into a demon worshiper.
“These dukes of Rundel… … .”
at that time.
There was the sound of footsteps outside the door.
‘no way… … .’
If she saw this scene now, she probably wouldn’t be able to bear it.
‘First of all, somehow… … .’
The door slammed open, and Frey entered the room.
She stands tall.
She was looking at her father, who had become a cold corpse, with a face as if the world had collapsed.
“ah… friend… ji… … ?”