Chapter 5. Gambler’s Den (4) Part-2

The orcs stealthily left the scene. The Holy Knights were fleeing, their morale apparently broken, but the orcs did not chase after them and instead began to reconstruct their encampment. Karakul let go of his mace planted in the ground and closed the curtain of the tent. He bowed his head toward the black crow.

"Apologies, master. It was noisy for a moment."

The crow opened its mouth to ask, <What is the matter?>

"I took a moment to stop the invading humans."

<You are having a hard time, I see.>

"That does not matter as it is all for you, master."

The crow tilted its head.

<Ellin.>

Karakul reacted with a flinch at the name, and the corner of his fanged mouth went up; he had not expected the name of that child to be uttered from his master's mouth. His master's curiosity about her made Karakul feel joy in a corner of his heart, as he had never inquired after her and the Demon Lord until now. However… his master's next words caused him to break out in a cold sweat.

<She is here.>

Karakul merely kept on blinking. He scratched his head unlike his usual self and struggled to understand what his master had said.

"… What do you mean… if I may ask?"

<She investigated Kelvin, and has come to Fief Golden.>

Karakul clutched at his forehead. He was Ellin's mentor as well as her guardian. Tasked by his master to raise her, he had brought her up wholeheartedly as if she were his own daughter. As such, he was feeling great joy that Artarrk was curious about her. The girl, who was more or less a daughter to him, was growing up well under his master's interest and care.

But the problem was that Artarrk wasn't the only one protecting her; Karakul was looking after her as well, by Artarrk's command. He had tried to prevent her from doing anything dangerous, but every time she slipped away from Karakul's care, journeying over to the country of humans numerous times by herself.

Karakul hung his head before the crow.

"I am deeply ashamed! I will give her a good scolding later when I…!"

<No, it is fine. Since I am enjoying myself plenty, as well. It would be best not to mind it too much. She has grown a lot, too. Though I do not know the standard age of demons.>

"That is true, but…"

Karakul gazed at the crow with surprise.

<There is no need to worry about matters over here.>

"I do not worry. It would be foolish to, what with master being together with that child."

<Well then…>

The crow melted down, turning into black liquid before disappearing into smoke. Karakul clutched at his temples, the muscles of his eyes twitching.

***

The roaring of the battlefield that could be heard from the crow's beak ceased, and Tom took a seat on his bed.

'Has the hero alliance attacked again? Looks like they're working hard.'

"In any case, I feel reluctant to keep her by my side."

He planned on quickly finding Kelvin and parting ways with Ellin. Since her aim was also Kelvin, she was bound to give up and return to the Demon Kingdom if he made a move first. While he did feel concerned about leaving her alone, she was a demon as well as one of the Demon Kingdom's 12 apostles, despite what she looked like.

'Where is this fellow Kelvin? I can't find hide nor hair of him.'

Tom turned his gaze to the side, where the crow with golden eyes was sitting on the window sill, looking at him.

"There is something I'd like for you to do." The crow tilted its head. "Find that blasted old fogey, Kelvin."

***

In a room that would prompt the word high-end to rise in one's mind, containing high quality furniture, an excellently drawn portrait, expensive ornaments and jars, a wide bed with luxurious sheets. There in that room was one old man that looked to be in his late seventies, dripping with cold sweat as he writhed about on the bed, suffering a bad dream.

"I am sorry. Truly I am…"

He was apologizing to a certain man, saying he was truly sorry, but when he saw the gold tossed to him by a Holy Knight that appeared later, he lost those apologetic feelings in an instant.

"Gold! It's gold! So much gold…! I don't need to think about starving alone anymore! No more worries about taxes, or donations! I can live by myself, all by myself! I can enjoy everything to its fullest! Live a merry life till the day I die!"

But when Kelvin took hold of the bag of gold, somebody grabbed his hand, and Kelvin hurriedly lifted up his head, startled. He saw a person donning a pitch black armor and a helmet made of a lion's skull, and the strange, glittering pair of golden eyes shining through them.

Kelvin's hand rotted within an instant. His skin turned black as holes appeared in it, melting down to the extent of revealing bone.

[Kel—vin—!]

He let out a terrified gasp and woke up from the dream, raising himself off the bed. He frantically scanned his surroundings, and felt relief upon realizing he was still in his bedroom. But it was then that his thumping heart seized up.

"Ha… haah!?"

Kelvin clutched at his chest and immediately opened the cabinet next to his bed, taking out a packet of medicine and putting the contents inside his mouth. He forced himself to swallow and amidst the pain that caused fluids to leak from his mouth, nose, and eyes; he barely managed to settle down his heart.

"Ha… haah… haah… heh, heh! Damn, crazy bastard." Kelvin shook his head, and several strands of his hair, receding from old age, fell forward. "Yes, crazy bastard. That priest was a crazy bastard!" Kelvin giggled to himself. "It wasn't my fault. It was yours for getting fooled. Don't resent me. Why are you torturing me in my dreams?!"

He gnawed on his fingers with his toothless gums. But then Kelvin turned to the side, where he could hear a tapping sound from the window.

"What is it?"

Kelvin supported himself with a cane and left the bedside to go to the window. His bedroom was located on the second floor. A crow, perched on the branch of a tree that reached his room, had been pecking at his window with its beak.

"A crow? Damn, how inauspicious…!"

Kelvin was about to ignore the bird when something caught his eye— it's eyes. A peculiar pair that reflected gold in the night.

"Ohhh!"

'I never knew there could be such an unusual crow! Its eyes are golden?!'

He drew near the window.

"It could be a crow of fortune that brings gold, not one of ill-omen…! I have to catch it! And keep it in a cage!"

Kelvin opened the window, but the crow did not flee; it gazed at him with a tilted head.

"Yes, aren't you a good boy? Stay still. Stay…"

Kelvin reached out a hand to the crow, which opened its beak and cawed, staring at him with its golden eyes.

<I—found—you.>

Kelvin suddenly swung his cane, but the crow smartly dodged and flew away. He swayed on the spot before collapsing to the ground, his body shaking as he pointed at the empty space where the crow had been perched a moment ago. It wasn't the crow speaking that had shocked him; it was because its voice had resembled 'his' voice all too much.

"It can't be. No, he's already dead. Haha! I must have imagined it because of the nightmare. Damn! Have I become old enough to die, now?" Kelvin wiped the cold sweat from his face, shaking his head. "Die? Ha! Right! He died! It wasn't my fault! He didn't die from my medicine! It must have been because of his illness! He was fated to die from the start! I eased his pain!"

'Ha! It doesn't matter if he died from the medicine anyway! He's already dead and gone from the world already after all! There's no one to resent me left in this world!'

"Hehehehihihih! What does it matter?! It's all good if I live well… What does it matter how others end up?!"

He laughed to himself.

The casinos would continue to be in business, today and tomorrow, and those who played the games would become slaves to gambling, each and every one of them. They would lose their fortunes, their homes, and even their families. Yet, even so, they would become addicted to the activity, floundering until they lost themselves in the end.

Those who lost everything would become slaves, sacrificial lambs for the next gamble. They would become offerings for the fighting ring where slaves and demons brawled.

"Money, money, money!"

He had nothing but money now! He had lost his family, and even betrayed that precious customer who was like a son to him. All that remained to him now was money. That was the sole meaning to his life.

— Ω —