IDVM 38

Chapter 38

I clenched my fist tightly and jumped up from my seat.

Even if there was nothing I could do, I couldn’t just sit here doing nothing.

And then—

“Uh…?”

Suddenly, a rusted bunch of keys was pushed into my hands.

It was the iron-barred cell key the guard had dropped while leaving a little earlier.

Startled, I looked up, and beyond the bars I saw something like a huge shadow.

It was… taller than my father in height.

Its bulk seemed large enough to almost fill this cavernous room — a transparent something in the form of a black slime.

It was the same “thing” that had knocked the keys from the guard’s waist a moment before.

Though I’d never seen such a creature, I recognized it at a glance.

“…You’re the one who’s been calling me all this time?”

It was the source of that strange energy that had been calling me for some time.

The thing — with no eyes, nose, or mouth — pulsed once as if answering me.

Then it nudged the keys farther toward me.

‘It brought the keys to me.’

Even though it looked frightening, for some reason I didn’t feel threatened.

I picked up the keyring and stared at it. I parted my dry lips with effort.

“Thank you.”

I kept staring at it.

It had no eyes, yet I felt as if it was looking back at me.

Almost as if it were waiting for me to speak.

I asked carefully.

“So… are you a spirit?”

It pulsed once more. The answer I expected.

Now I had to ask the most important question. Just thinking about it made my mouth go dry.

I couldn’t decide what I would do if it gave me the answer I expected.

After a moment of hesitation, bracing myself for the reply, I opened my mouth.

“Do you want… to contract with me?”

From its color and where it had appeared, this child in front of me had to be a “spirit of darkness.”

‘The book said so. Dark spirits respond only to demons or demon hybrids, which is why people look down on dark spirit-users.’

That I was a half-blood didn’t surprise me much.

If even one ancestor among my forebears was a demon, then a trace of demonic blood could run in me.

What scared me was… the cold looks others would cast at me, apart from my own feelings.

That was why I hesitated to form a contract with this spirit — and why I still hesitated now.

But the dark spirit didn’t seem to push me. It stood quietly and waited for my response.

In stark contrast to its huge and terrifying appearance.

The moment I looked at it, I remembered something my father had once said.

[It’s wrong to judge someone good or bad by their species alone. Just like there are thieves and bad people among humans, there are good demons too.]

Only then did I understand.

My father had told me that for moments like this.

‘Don’t be swept away by that prejudice because you’re scared. See, feel, and judge for yourself.’

Trust myself.

Having made that vow, I reached out my hand to the spirit that was waiting patiently.

“Then… let’s make a contract.”

The dark spirit, which had been staring at me for a moment, placed what looked like a hand on top of my palm.

At that moment,

a powerful force exploded from the joining of our hands.

A short while earlier, at the western fringe of the forest.

“Is it really necessary for the whole lot of us to show up just to kill some runt? How embarrassing.”

“Alright then, how about we leave this to our new guy? You can handle it alone, rookie?”

The mercenaries were blocking a path on one side of the forest and snickering when one of them, who had been looking across the trees, tensed and spread his index finger to signal silence to the others.

From the darkened part of the woods, the silhouette of a man who looked to be an adult was approaching.

Since he wore his cloak wrapped around him alone, it didn’t look like he belonged to the Edelvine Knights.

‘Maybe just a passerby who lost his way?’

By the book, anyone who could witness what was about to happen should be taken care of, but it wasn’t full-on yet, so they decided to be merciful for now.

The rookie, whose pride had been wounded by the seniors’ taunts moments before, stepped forward as their representative.

“Hey, you’re clearly lost. Why don’t you turn back that way? We’ll let you go if you leave nicely.”

But the man continued marching toward them despite the warning.

The rookie’s face flushed at being completely ignored.

“Are you deaf? If you don’t want to die, scram now!”

He drew his sword.

Yet the man didn’t flinch; he closed distance with heavy strides and muttered lowly.

“…Here.”

“W-what a fearless bastard, talking without understanding the situation—”

The rookie aimed his sword at the approaching man and spat curses, but he stopped mid-sentence.

‘Huh…?’

In the blink of an eye, blood gushed from his sharply cut neck.

At the same time, the man — who had held nothing in his hands moments before — now had a sword in his grip.

‘When did he draw a sword…?’

When—?

Before the rookie had time to realize his own death, he collapsed and died.

The mercenaries who watched were momentarily struck with terror at the man’s speed, but quickly their fear turned to anger and they charged.

“You bastard! Who are you!”

Nine grown men leapt at him at once.

None of them expected to lose.

And yet, sadly for them, moments later only one man stood in that place.

They were all dead, and the sole surviving last mercenary had his leg cut off and an arm severed.

Silence fell where their laughter had been a moment ago.

The metallic scent of blood vibrated in the air.

The terrible pain that swept through his entire body crushed him under the weight of death’s fear.

He stared at the man in terror.

‘Christ, what the hell is that…?’

The guards the inspector had brought were supposed to be fighters.

How could such men be slaughtered so quickly by a single man?

A monster.

He couldn’t find a better word to describe the man, and then his eyes met the monster approaching him.

Only then could the mercenary properly see the face of the creature that had slaughtered his comrades.

A man with silvery hair like a cut strand and golden eyes that shone like the sun — the kind of face where the word “beautiful” fit perfectly.

But the blood spattered on the angelic face and the predatory light in his gaze gave an even more chilling impression.

Dias looked at the terrified mercenary and drew his sword.

“Aaaaah!”

The mercenary’s scream echoed through the quiet forest.

But fortunately for him, Dias’s sword struck not his neck but the ground beside him.

The cold feel of metal against his skin caused the mercenary’s fear to swell.

“P-please… spare me…”

Facing death at his throat, the mercenary finally heard the words the man had spoken a little earlier.

“Where is my daughter?”

‘This way.’

Rahel followed the footprints in the mud, recalling the earlier events.

The villains who had been targeting her had changed targets, kidnapped Vivian, and slipped away into the crowd.

Rahel had asked nearby passersby and managed to find the kidnappers’ trail.

They had headed to this place — the Forbidden Forest.

‘Good thing the ground’s wet for summer.’

Even as she tracked their footprints, Rahel knew.

There was no way the kidnappers didn’t notice the trail they left.

‘They didn’t erase it even though they knew.’

To lure me.

Knowing it was a trap but unable to wait around for the knights.

‘Those bastards will keep Vivian barely alive.’

A hostage’s value is maintained as long as she breathes; if they were even slightly displeased, they’d snap off a finger or a leg without hesitation.