Chapter 91
#91: Librarian Ernst (12) - Your Friendly Demon
Defeat is a bitter thing.
And yet, not every loser is necessarily miserable.
If the loser had usually treated those around him with sincerity and courtesy, people would comfort him with things like, ‘You can lose once in a while,’ or ‘There’s no need to worry too much.’
If the loser had maintained a fair and honorable attitude during the fight, people would encourage him with things like, ‘He lost, but he fought well,’ or ‘It was a splendid match, win or lose.’
In other words.
Since none of those conditions applied to Marik, the result of his defeat was nothing short of catastrophic.
“What the hell is this disgrace!! How dare you dirty our family name!?”
Count Grimrun exploded in fury.
It had not been some secret one-on-one duel, but a match watched with keen interest by many of the kingdom’s major figures, some of whom had even come in person to watch.
No, it was worse than simply losing; all his disgusting behavior had been laid bare in the middle of the match.
Not only had he openly gone for the kill in what was nothing more than a practice match, he had also spewed a string of remarks so vile they made people wince just hearing them.
Count Grimrun, who had even invited acquaintances he’d met at the exchange event to witness the proud victory of his newly adopted son, felt as though he finally understood what it meant for shame to kill a person.
“Was it Eris? The representative student from the Aldridge training school was truly impressive.”
“Compared to that, our representative was... sigh. Even the professors kept letting out long sighs, one after another, weren’t they?”
“I was embarrassed just as a student, so imagine how the professors must have felt. If someone else had gone instead, they might have simply lost cleanly and that would have been that.”
The academy’s reputation was ruined as well.
From the outset, Marik’s personality had made him unpopular even within his own training school.
Still, because his practical skills were overwhelming, he had been treated as ‘a jerk with a rotten personality but real skill.’ But with this incident, that shield had been stripped away.
Even if Marik’s actual skill itself had not changed, the authority and pressure that came with it had plummeted to the bottom.
It was the same principle as a school bully who had been beaten down in front of everyone trying to strut around before other students; even if everyone pretended to bow and scrape in front of him, they would only laugh behind his back.
“Fuck, fuck! You goddamn bastards! What the hell did I do wrong!!”
If he had had the common sense and morality to reflect on his usual conduct here, the future of the boy named Marik Grimrun might have seen a sliver of light, but unfortunately, such a chance never came.
He did as he always did, and instead of admitting his own fault, blamed those around him.
The count who had rebuked him, the professors who looked at him with contempt, the students who laughed at him.
And his teacher, Delphinaris.
「I’m sorry, Marik. Even though I knew you were walking the wrong path, I looked away out of an old fool’s stubbornness and fixation. It is not only the role of a teacher to teach magic and knowledge, but also to guide one onto the proper path as a person.」
Delphinaris had opened her eyes thanks to Eris, but even so, she had not intended to cast Marik aside.
That was because, once she had taken him in as a disciple, she believed she had to take responsibility to the very end, even if he was a disappointing one.
This was Delphinaris’s own atonement and apology, but Marik would not accept it.
To him, who only wanted Delphinaris’s powerful magic and the prestige of being the disciple of a great mage, talk of correcting his mistakes and making him a proper person was nothing but a nuisance and an irritation.
He was angry.
Irritation welled up.
Marik vented the surging rage as curses again and again, then soon turned that anger elsewhere.
“Come to think of it, this is all because the ability you gave me is trash!! You said it was a power that could beat anyone except that old hag Delphinaris!!”
At Marik’s shout, the demon Balzares, who had been hiding in the shadows in a corner, revealed himself.
Even after being insulted as ‘trash’ for the power he had given him, the flippant smile never left Balzares’s lips.
“Oh, friend. That’s a little wrong. I clearly said it was ‘a power that can beat anyone who is an ordinary Fifth-tier or below.’”
“Then what is that bitch Eris supposed to be!!”
“Well then, I guess she wasn’t ordinary?”
“You think I’m here to listen to stupid wordplay like that!?”
Seeing Marik throw a tantrum like a child, Balzares wrapped an arm around his shoulder in a friendly manner and said,
“Now, now, calm down. Don’t pay attention to the things people around you are saying, friend. Most of the people insulting you now will bow their heads and flatter you again as if nothing ever happened once you rise back up with overwhelming power.”
“...In this situation, getting back on top is the hard part, isn’t it? Do you think just saying it makes it happen?”
“Exactly, friend! Words alone won’t do. That’s why you have to act.”
Always in a friendly, playful manner, with a smiling face.
The demon Balzares said,
“So first, let’s kill that girl Eris.”
Blink.
Marik squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again and again.
That was because Balzares’s tone and attitude were exactly as they always were, making it impossible for him to correctly understand the meaning of what he had just said.
“That girl’s skill is admittedly worth watching. Even if you hurl attacks with power 10, I’d wager that girl could block them with power 1. But listen: in that case, you just crush her with power 100. If possible, I wanted to use the spells I learned from Delphinaris, but there’s nothing for it, so I’ll teach you one myself.”
He was not like Marik, who, overflowing with rage, declared, ‘I’ll kill her.’
He was not like someone who got hot-headed, lost all sense of before and after, and ended up accidentally killing her in a rampage.
With a clear intent, without a shred of excitement or agitation, as casually as asking, ‘Shall we have a cup of coffee?’, Balzares discussed a way to kill Eris.
At that indescribable chill, Marik reflexively blurted out words of denial.
“J-just a second. But if something happens to that bitch at this point, everyone will suspect me, won’t they?”
“Good point! Now your head’s finally working! Kekehe!”
Balzares, who had been cackling, soon curled the corners of his lips and replied.
“Still, rest easy! I am a demon of the 『Deception』 lineage. Fooling humans is far too easy a thing. I can make all the alibis you need when you do something! Keep your illusion up somewhere plenty of people can see it, and if you manipulate the memories of a few suitable humans so they say they talked with you, that’ll be easy enough.”
“Still, they’ll probably suspect me....”
“Yes, humans aren’t beings who believe only in proper evidence. There will surely be some who suspect you just from the circumstances. But then, what of it?”
Balzares’s eyes curved like a crescent moon.
“Among the training school students in Rabelosia, the only ones with enough skill to get into the Sky Academy are you and that girl Eris. If we just kill that girl, then it won’t matter how disastrous our friend’s grades are; you’ll be able to enter there. And that’s the end of it. Even an archmage can’t enter that place casually.”
“And after that?”
“There’s no need to worry about what comes after! Once you find the thing I need there, the power you have now—no, even greater power than that—will be yours! You’ll be able to look down on everyone who makes life difficult for you, your teacher, the count, and every other bastard!”
Balzares’s manner was friendly.
His tone was so familiar, and he knew exactly how to shake the desires and cravings hidden in Marik’s heart without mercy.
But Marik could not easily nod.
It was not that his conscience was suddenly pricking him.
Just.
“Huh? Friend. What’s wrong? I said I’d take care of everything for you, didn’t I? You just have to go with your eyes closed and slam your strongest spell into the back of her head. No, wait—if that’s troublesome, then stabbing her with a knife is also an option. It’s fine, no one will notice you. A delightfully joyful time for revenge!”
Just.
“I said to kill her, didn’t I? Actually killing her would help your life too, wouldn’t it? Then do it! ...Huh? Hey, friend. I’m talking to you.”
Just, just, just.
“—Could it be that you’re scared?”
Marik’s whole body jolted violently.
At that reaction, Balzares’s eyes narrowed.
The demon who had never changed his playful manner no matter how much Marik threw tantrums, cursed, or acted stubborn was now colored by disappointment and dismay.
“Haah, so it is true after all. You’ve completely shrunk back.”
“W-what nonsense are you spouting! I’m just looking for a more perfect plan!”
“Tell me, friend, do you know why I chose you?”
Why Balzares had chosen him?
At the sudden question, Marik was too stunned to answer.
It was because it was a problem he had never really thought about.
“If we’re talking purely in terms of ability, there were plenty of people better than you. To put it bluntly, if I had picked anyone in the training school and lent them my power, they would have used it far better than you.”
“And what about personality? There were plenty of people who would have been far more obedient to me, who wouldn’t bark and make a racket, who wouldn’t recklessly create trouble by acting out, and who would have stayed quietly docile.”
“And yet I chose you. Do you know why?”
Thud.
Balzares brought his face right up to Marik’s nose.
His face, which was usually smiling like a clown’s, glared at Marik with a completely serious expression.
“Because you’re junk food.”
Marik slowly, very slowly, repeated Balzares’s words in his head.
Even after repeating them, he still didn’t understand, so he voiced the question.
“Junk food?”
“Noble souls, strong-willed souls, pure souls. For demons, those are the precious things. You could call them expensive full-course meals. That girl who defeated you, for example, is exactly that sort. But you know, when you live in the world, sometimes you feel like eating some junk food too, don’t you?”
In that sense, Marik was truly ideal.
Ugly, lazy, selfish, and stupid.
His vessel was small, yet his desires were huge, and despite hating effort, he wanted everyone around him to praise and prop him up.
He didn’t even think to doubt the demon who appeared and lured him on with sweet words.
“I chose you because you were like that, and I cheered you on because you were like that. If I just egged you on a little, you’d leap without suspicion into a choice that would destroy you.”
Just as people laugh when they see a cat chasing its tail and spinning in place, some kinds of foolishness entertain an audience just by being watched.
That was why Balzares did not care no matter how much Marik ranted or insulted him.
Even that was nothing more than a farce.
And yet.
“Know fear and hold yourself back? Act cautiously because your opponent is scary? Oh, friend. Don’t disappoint me now. Since when did you become so wise? Your role is to charge in like some ruffian who gets shoved from behind and can’t tell front from back!”
Even while calling him friend, there was neither respect nor friendship in Balzares’s words.
Only then did Marik realize that the demon had never once called him by name.
As if he weren’t even worth remembering in the first place.
“Y-you bastard!! How dare you toy with me!?”
Marik shoved Balzares back, then impulsively drew his staff and aimed it at him.
The flame sword formed at its tip shot toward Balzares, and
Thunk!
It curved right back around and plunged into Marik’s own head.
Sizzle, sizzle—the blood, flesh, and brain matter hissed as they burned and boiled.
His tongue drooped out and his eyes spun grotesquely out of control.
Without batting an eye at the horrifying sight, Balzares casually snapped his fingers.
With that alone, the flame sword vanished, and the wound that had been pierced disappeared just as quickly.
However, because the tongue and eyeballs were still the same, the grotesquerie stood out even more.
“Good. Then let’s do it like this, friend. Since you don’t seem to want to kill her, from now on you’ll drive that girl Eris into a corner. So thoroughly that she feels as though she’s at death’s door. Then I’ll approach Eris and whisper, ‘If you don’t want to die, make a contract with me.’ Then she lives, I get a new contractor and can go to the Sky Academy. As a bonus, you get your revenge too. Pretty great, isn’t it? A scheme where everyone wins!”
As if to say there was no need for thanks between friends, Balzares giggled.
Marik remained silent, his face still grotesquely twisted.
Only then, as if finally noticing Marik’s condition, Balzares let out an “Oh.”
Then he extended a finger and shoved it into Marik’s eye.
With an unpleasant squelch, Marik’s eye returned to its proper place.
He also neatly cut away the protruding part of the tongue, and at last his mouth closed properly.
Looking with satisfaction at the eyeball punched through in the middle and the tongue shortened to the point of uselessness, Balzares snapped his fingers once more.
Then, this time, Marik’s face returned perfectly to normal.
“Sometimes taking unnecessary detours is also what enriches life.”
Having said that, as if satisfied with his own words, Balzares burst out laughing.
It was a demon’s laughter.