Chapter 13 - The Butcher
"How was it, Clay?"
Beatrice asked Clay.
"Did you talk well with the tailor?"
"Yeah. He has excellent skill."
Beatrice chuckled at Clay's reply.
"Really? I thought you'd be surprised to see it was a slime."
"I was surprised."
Slimes were among the lowest species of monsters.
Though variations occasionally appeared, they were generally not very strong.
"It seemed quite clever. Is it a variant?"
"No, dear."
Beatrice shook her head.
"It's a slime that the previous Demon King caught and trained."
"The previous Demon King..."
Beatrice shrugged, seeing Clay trail off.
"You don't have to worry about that. The previous Demon King didn't end up that way because of you."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, he chose that path himself."
Then Beatrice looked directly at Clay.
"And so did you."
Becoming the Demon King meant becoming the enemy of the world.
Clay knew that.
'The previous Demon King must have been the same.'
He couldn't have become the Demon King without knowing that fact.
Clay let out a wry chuckle.
"You're right, Beatrice. We all just take responsibility for the path we choose."
"I like how readily you accept it. Now, shall we figure out how to erase the sealing circles embedded in your body?"
"My sealing circles? Wasn't Rin Ciart going to neutralize them?"
"Rin is there to let you manifest your abilities even with the sealing circles present. I'm looking into ways to erase the sealing circles entirely."
"Hmm."
Clay turned his gaze, letting out a slight groan.
The sealing circles engraved by the Holy State Alliance's priests were based on powerful sorcery using holy power.
It was fundamentally different from ordinary magic.
Naturally, to erase them, the priests who were involved in engraving the sealing circles were needed again.
"It's so hard to erase that I wouldn't be surprised if it couldn't be removed."
"It does take time. But now that you've decided to become the Demon King, those sealing circles shouldn't remain in your body, should they?"
Beatrice clapped her hands and exclaimed.
"Kardine!"
Then, a green gleam appeared in the darkness, and soon a man dressed in black, like an assassin, revealed himself.
"You called?"
"From now on, you'll be Clay's escort. I'll be going to see the 'Biotechnician' for a bit."
"Biotechnician...?"
Clay let out a gasp at the somewhat chilling sound of the word, and Beatrice explained in a gentle tone.
"Don't worry, Clay. I wouldn't do anything to harm your body, would I?"
"Well... I'd like to believe that."
"Believe it."
Beatrice placed a hand on Clay's shoulder.
Clay just awkwardly opened and closed his mouth.
Seeing this, Beatrice began to walk away.
"Ask Kardine if you have any questions. He acts as the Demon King's Guardian Knight in Barungenia, so he's seen and heard a lot."
"Beatrice-nim,"
Kardine hastily turned to the departing Beatrice and asked.
"He is not yet crowned. Is it alright to share all information?"
"It's an emergency. He'll be officially crowned as the Demon King soon anyway, so share everything. I'll vouch for it in the name of Pitch-Black One's proxy."
"Understood."
Kardine bowed his head.
Beatrice waved to him and then went on her way.
Now, only the two men, who had just met, remained.
"...What should I call you?"
A moment later, Kardine cautiously spoke.
Clay looked at him and said softly.
"Clay. Address me by my name."
Until the coronation.
♧
Boom boom boom boom!
Emeron, a small domain in Marpein not far from the southern border. It was now in chaos, experiencing repeated ground tremors akin to an earthquake.
"Wh-what on earth is that?"
"W-what's happening?"
"It doesn't seem like an earthquake..."
While people flailed about, the situation atop the domain's city wall was even more frantic.
"Oh, damn it."
A soldier dropped the binoculars he was holding, trying to survey the border.
"Im-impossible."
KABOOOOM!
The border wall collapsed.
An enormous roar was heard, and a dust cloud erupted, spreading wide.
"Th-the border has collapsed!"
Still looking dazed, but as if determined to do his duty, the soldier rang the bell and shouted.
However, no one was unaware that there was a problem at the border already.
Not far from the shouting soldier, Emeron's Defense Captain stood atop the city wall, swallowing dryly.
'It's a Grand Magic.'
The Defense Captain's hand trembled on his sword.
'Not many people can use something like that. And if it's coming from the south...'
He recalled a recent rumor: that after the Hero died, everyone in his party was living dissolutely.
But few who heard the rumor actually believed they were living dissolutely.
Everyone knew.
That they wouldn't be able to live sane lives.
'Surely not, right?'
It was an unimaginable scenario.
If the elite personnel assembled to face the Demon King became enemies, the damage would be unfathomable.
'It won't be that bad.'
But the Defense Captain struggled to calm his heart, which was pounding with tension.
The Hero's party was a group that had done nothing even when the Hero died.
Although at that time, all sorts of precautions had been in place to prevent them from rampaging, it was unlikely they would act now.
Probably.
The Defense Captain assumed they hadn't gone that mad and looked up again.
And he saw.
A streak of ice blade flying towards them.
"Gasp?!"
An ice blade pierced his chest.
His heart beat grotesquely, spewing blood.
"C-Captain!"
"It's an attack!"
"Enemy attack is..."
The soldiers couldn't finish their words. Dozens of ice blades appeared in mid-air, sweeping through the soldiers.
"Gah?!"
"Aargh!"
Screams rang out.
From within them emerged none other than Yuru, the Tower Master of the Blue Magic Tower.
"Move."
Ascending the city wall with magic that allowed her to tread on air, she extended her hand towards the soldiers.
Finger Snap Explosion.
She snapped her fingers, and the soldiers were hit by exploding air, falling in various directions.
Yuru quickly leaped down into the city wall, avoiding the soldiers.
Landing, she saw the gazes of many people staring at her in shock.
"It's the mage."
"From the Hero's party..."
"Why would she do this?"
Their eyes were filled with confusion.
But Yuru couldn't explain the situation to them. No, she didn't want to.
'Damn it.'
Annoyance filled Yuru's eyes.
'I need to move faster.'
Erasing all witnesses failed.
It was never going to be that simple.
The nation's defense system wouldn't be that lax.
Someone in another region, or even within this domain, must have witnessed what happened from afar and would be relaying the information.
Now, only one method remained.
A battle of speed.
This banquet, attended by Kratia's imperial family, was to be held not in Kratia's central hub, but near its sister nation, Marpein.
It was meant to foster goodwill by inviting Marpein's royal family as well.
This was one of the rare opportunities for Kratia's young Crown Prince to come to an outer region, as he wouldn't usually leave the central area for trivial matters.
Even though she hadn't prepared the ritual to save Clay, she had to secure the materials.
'Even if some Guardian Knights accompanied them before the banquet, I have a chance.'
She was the pinnacle of magic.
If other Tower Masters didn't appear, stopping her wouldn't be easy.
Of course, the holy nations had priests.
But priests largely devoted their abilities to torture, sealing, healing, and rituals rather than combat.
That was the difference from a hero who channeled holy power into offense.
'And I only need to take the Crown Prince.'
If her objective wasn't exposed to Holy Kratia first, there was indeed a possibility of simply taking the Crown Prince and escaping.
At least in her view.
"Ev-everyone, get out of the way."
But the people facing her had already sensed that she was not normal.
Whatever her plan, people only saw the pure explosion of madness itself.
"Run!"
KABOOOOM!
As soon as people felt the ominous aura and began to run, Yuru kicked off the ground and leaped high.
The spot where she had been standing collapsed, swallowing the fleeing people into a dark chasm.
"I'm going faster. Even if it means using more magic."
Dozens of magic circles lined up in a row behind Yuru in mid-air.
"Magnum Transcursus."
As soon as she chanted the spell, light shot out from the center of the magic circles, propelling her forward explosively.
Bang!
In the suddenly desolated space, all people saw was a fleeting afterimage streaking through the air.
♧
"...The Biotechnician, unlike Rin, might find answers in Clay's physical body. After all, the priests' sealing techniques are fundamentally different from ordinary magic. The Pitch-Black One's proxy probably acted because she thought various methods should be considered."
When Clay asked about the Biotechnician, Kardine seemed to think he was worried and began to explain at length.
"I just asked because I was curious who they were."
Clay added, feeling a bit awkward, and Kardine cleared his throat.
"I misunderstood. The Biotechnician refers to Butcher Golche. Clay-nim might have encountered him as well, back in your hero days."
"Golche?"
Butcher Golche.
A hulking monster, covered in stitches as if multiple bodies had been sewn together, a lunatic who carried a bone-cutting saw.
"...Is he the same butcher I know? The one with the stitches?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Unfortunately, Kardine affirmed Clay's question.
Clay sighed.
"Sorry, but he didn't give off the impression of someone who'd research anything. Though he looked like he'd be good at capturing and torturing people, I guess."
"I completely understand your point, Clay-nim. Honestly, with that appearance, it's hard not to think that."
But Kardine spoke in a tone that suggested he hoped there wouldn't be a misunderstanding.
"You may have a prejudice, but he has a considerable understanding of the human body."
"Understanding, huh."
"Of course, most of that knowledge was gained through torturing humans, but..."
"..."
"He only used subjects who deserved it, so please be at ease."
It was unsettling, but Clay was now someone walking the path of the Demon King.
Clay closed his eyes once, then slowly reopened them and spoke again.
"Still, I think I'll consider if I want to see him directly."
The fact that Beatrice made that decision meaningless was a story for not long after.