8. Digging graves

"We have gone to the Dungeon in the forest, Auntie Abby."

Knowing that Jack has advised her to be completely honest, no matter the consequences, Kate responds to her aunt.

Of course, these words cause panic in the heart of every woman in the room. Even the young priestess is surprised to know that these children have chosen such a destination. Any responsible adult would consider this kind of decision unwise.

"What?! Why did you go there?! Nothing happened to you, right?"

Looking back, Kate knows that she took a reckless risk, and that her little brother could have ended up dead.

"W-we had no idea where else to go."

However, she is still only a ten-year-old girl. She clung to the most spontaneous information that came to her. She then hears her little brother supporting her, by revealing without restraint facts that she herself wanted to address as late as possible, due to their complexity.

"But, it's okay, because Jack-sama saved us."

"Jul!"

"Ah! S-sorry, big sister."

Their aunt does not give them time to dwell on Jul's blunder, greatly intrigued by this name, and the honorific attached to it.

"Jack-sama? Who is this?"

A woman then speculates.

"Could he be an adventurer camping in the forest, come because of the recently appeared Dungeon?"

"No, that can't be the case. We haven't even sent anyone from the village to report the news to the nearest Guild branch yet."

"Th-this is…"

Kate hesitates to answer, because the way she answers could make the rest of the events chaotic, and seeing the inner conflict facing her niece, Abby asks her the question, while reassuring her.

"...Kate, who is this Jack? Tell us what happened. You can tell me, I won't get angry."

Looking briefly towards the door before facing her aunt again, Kate begins to tell her what happened after Kate and Jul arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon.

*****

While the two children report the news of last night, Jack and Dan work to bring the corpses of the various victims of the village to the cemetery. Jack by telekinesis, Dan by carrying them on his back. A punishment suggested by Jack.

~~"If you are truly sorry for what happened here, carry as many bodies as you can take, on your own. Feel the weight of their lives taken from them, weighing now on your shoulders. Print that in your memories of today, all what your senses can discern about this place. This will be your burden, and your first step towards possible redemption."~~

During the first two trips, Dan threw up what was left of his meal. Once because of the smell, and another because of the condition of some of the corpses.

After three more trips, Dan could no longer smell any odors other than those of early decomposition, burning flesh and smoke.

In the last trips, Jack purposely leaves him with the lightest bodies to carry. But these corpses are mainly those of elderly people, women,... and children. At this point, Dan is overwhelmed by his sense of guilt, and copious tears flow down his cheeks, as he non-stop murmurs words of apology.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Jack not only transported some the bodies that the surviving women had begun to collect, but also retrieved those buried under the rubble of homes, without exception. Watching Dan bring in tears, clothes covered in blood, the last body of a child less than three years old, Jack senses the deep disgust that the young Adventurer feels towards himself, as well as other emotions that were being held back, so far.

"Good job, Dan. How are you feeling?"

"Hic...Like shit...Hic..."

"...Go sit by that wall for a while, I have a few details to take care of, before we dig the graves."

Nodding, Dan drags his feet to the piece of wall at the edge of the cemetery, under Jack's gaze.

("It's better if he lets his emotions overwhelm him now. His mind was on the verge of collapse, and he might do something stupid. Sigh, I told him to try to sleep, but there is hardly any improvement for his dark circles.")

Jack then turns to the many corpses neatly lined up in several columns and rows. He had no trouble grouping together the pieces of some of the victims, and although the sight would be disturbing to many, he has seen worse, on a larger scale. Stretching his arms out to face the lifeless bodies in front of him, with his eyes closed, he concentrates his Mana for a moment, also gathering a considerable amount of surrounding Mana.

("~~[Restoration]~~.")

A sphere of white light with sun-yellow edges then forms in front of him, before dispersing into thin streams, each connecting to the bodies of the deceased villagers, before infiltrating them. Then, the wounds of the different bodies regenerate, the severed limbs and parts are reattached in layers, starting with the bones, then ending with the skin. The crushed parts are the slowest to repair, building up like an empty balloon of crumpled aluminum, filling itself with air. A fine steam of water escapes from the bodies during the process, which lasts about three full minutes.

Dan, who has moved closer to the vision of these bodies being repaired, waits for Jack to open his eyes again while relaxing his arms alongside the body.

"J-Jack-sama, what was that, just now?"

"[Restoration]. An intermediate White Magic spell."

"Huh?! White Magic?!"

"That's right... Why are you so surprised?"

"Um,...that...I thought...that.."

"What? That because I'm a demon, I wouldn't know about casting White Magic?"

"Um... yes."

"Ha ha ha. Magic as you know it, is a typical Demon discipline. My kind was the first to ever practice it, so it would be ridiculous not to be able to know all the facets of it. I think you're getting weird ideas about the true nature of Magic. Like thinking an Element is good or bad."

"..."

Before Jack can pursue the topic, he sensed presences closing in.

"... Looks like it didn't go well."

"Huh?"

Following Jack's gaze as he stares a few dozen meters beyond the cemetery, Dan sees a group of women, armed with farm tools, following Kate and Jul's aunt, the latter trying to make themselves heard by Abby.

Stopping about ten meters from the young Demon with sparkling eyes, Abby doesn't need to wonder who reduced her niece and nephew to the state of slaves.

Initially, she could have tried to silently gather the other surviving members, and try to escape. But she doesn't believe they can outrun a demon, and when she learned that her sister's children bear a "Mark", she understood that she couldn't take them with her.

Abandoning them to their fate would make her unable to look at her own children Luc and Adelle, without thinking of such a shameful act towards these poor orphans.

Before she can engage in conversation, one of the women in the group drops the pitchfork she was holding in her already trembling hands.

"E-Eric... Eric!"

"Laura?"

Forgetting her surroundings, young Laura moves away from the group, passing not so far from Jack who only gives her a brief sideways glance. She stops next to the corpse of a young man whose face was fairly damaged before being reconstructed by the Restoration Spell. Falling to her knees, she takes the cold and lifeless body of the one she had been married to since only the summer.

"You're just in time. We were about to start digging the graves."

Jack's words bring everyone's attention back to him. Words that make Abby question his behavior.

"I'm Abby, the aunt of these two children."

"I'm Jack. Their... teacher."

"... Why do you want to bury our dead?"

"Isn't that what you were trying to do?"

"Even so, why did you choose to do it for us?"

"Just a whim on my part."

"...How did you manage to heal their bodies?"

"It's not a Healing Spell, but a Restoration Spell. It's more based on Temporal Magic than Healing Magic. Besides, a Restoration Spell doesn't work on living beings, just like a Healing Spell doesn't work on non-living targets. Except Undead."

"...Why restore their bodies?"

Jack chose to respond with a smile, nodding slightly to the side.

"...Another whim?"

"That's right. After all, I'm sure you want to remember these people in a less... gory guise."

"...Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me."

"I still want to thank you, Mister Jack."

Raising his hand, Jack generates a vortex large enough for him to dip his hand into, before pulling out a shovel that is vastly different in design from any Abby or the other villagers have ever known in their lives. He then sends it to the young adventurer, by making it glide in air.

"Here, Dan. You know what to do. I'll do most of the work, but I'm sure you're not going to back out."

"Yes, Jack-sama."

Not wanting to stay near the group of women who lost their families and homes,+0 partly because of him, Dan opts to dig the grave of the body furthest away. Once he's far enough away, Abby asks quietly.

"Isn't he one of the bandits who attacked us?"

"Yeah, but he survived the Dark Flame of Purgatory. Which means he doesn't exactly deserve to die. Doesn't mean he is not burdened with guilt."

Hearing the confirmation of the young Demon, who is using his magic to dig individual graves for each body, the women murmur among themselves.

"Dark Flame?"

After a brief moment of thought, Abby realizes what his answer implies.

"...You... You're the one I saw last night, wrapped in those dark flames?!"

"Indeed."

The murmurs are heard from the group again. Some of the women alternate between fear and respect, including the ex-priestess, who is surprised herself by how grateful she is for Jack's actions the night before.

Abby then briefly looks at Kate and Jul, before gathering her courage and bringing up another subject.

"...I know that these two children have signed a Pact with you, but-"

"Sorry, but I do not intend to cancel the Contract they have made with me."

Jack has anticipated Jul ant Kate's aunt willing to foster them. But it's not so easy to break a Pact. Especially when it takes power from him and Venus to do so.

"! They are only two poor children! Please, you cannot reduce them to a life of slavery!"

"They are not my slaves, they are my "Servants"."

"Is there a difference?! I-"

Abby wanted to continue, but Jack's gaze disconcerted her. It wasn't a look that imposed submission or fear. But rather a look that recognized the intentions of this aunt as noble, but no less misplaced.

"Mrs. Abby, look at Kate and Jul for a moment. Look at them well. Now, remember the life that you and every person in this village that you have known, has lived up until now. Then, visualize the dream life that your village could have known, if the World was less cruel, or if your village had been stronger."

"The life that you remember, is a life of a Slave. The vision that you could have lived, is nothing compared to a life that can be obtained after becoming a Servant through a Contract with me. No matter what you have planned for these two children, I doubt that they will have as much opportunities to prosper as they have with me."

Abby wishes she could retort, but being a mother, a good mother, she knows that Jack is probably not exaggerating his words. She can tell that her niece and nephew have been well treated. Soft clothes, comfortable shoes, good energy meaning a decent meal this morning. Is there really any need to worry about them?

But Abby has yet to confirm for herself that Kate and Jul are safe with this young Demon, who doesn't seem very Demon. Except for the eyes.

Digging the graves skillfully, Jack clarifies the circumstances of Abby's late sister's children.

"In order to survive, Kate and Jul became my Servants, and, on a whim of mine, I granted each of them a favor. Kate asked that I make sure your lives were no longer threatened by your latest abusers; and Jul, ... let's more or less say that he wished that those who deserved to die among those same people die."

Kate and Jul nod under their aunt's questioning gaze. The latter and the other women present then grasp the full scope of the reason why their situation has not continued as many of them feared, except for one very small detail. A detail so ironic that Jack reveals it just to be entertained by their reaction.

"By the way, if young Dan had not chosen to allow these two children to flee, they would never have reached my home, and we would never have had this conversation."

This revelation causes an emotional dilemma for the few women who still had some remnants of hostility towards Dan. On the one hand, he remains an accomplice in the misfortune that has struck them. But on the other hand, he is certainly one of the earliest reasons for their salvation. Although forgiving him right away is not yet possible, it is now a possibility in the future.

"The Contract that all three of them signed with me, is that they serve me for the next eight years, ten years for Dan, while I teach them enough so that they can live decently, and with dignity, after those eight years of servitude."

As Abby ponders Jack's words, another woman retorts.

"Will you truly set them free? The Demons have proven themselves to have tricked countless people into signing a Pact."

The woman who spoke is the nun. While she may be grateful for being spared a cruel fate, she remains wary and skeptical of the favorable terms that this Demon's Contract

"Deceiving Demons are like merchants convincing you to buy their defective products. They just don't tell you the downsides of the Pact. Especially if you don't ask about those downsides. These Demons purposely target the ignorant and the desperate."

"Don't you think you fit in that description?"

"Ha ha ha ha. Yeah, you're not wrong. So let me tell you this."

"There are seven things I'm obligated by the Pact to do. I can't order them to kill for me, I can"t order them to lie for me, I can't force them to do some too dangerous tasks for me. I can't keep them as Servants by force, after the end of the Contract period. I have to keep them healthy during all the Contract period. If I can't guarantee their safety, I have to free and pay them early from the Pact. And I have make sure they won't end up as bad than those who raped your body, or worse."

"What are their obligations, then?"

"Well, they have seven obligations too. They can't steal from me. They can't lie to me. They can't do anything which might endanger my dungeon's safety or mine. If they want to eat, they have to work for it They must learn to write, read, and use Basic Magic spells. They have to get permission about borrowing a book from my Library. And finally, they can't hurt any guest or Servant of the dungeon."

After listing the obligations of both parties to the ex-priestess, Jack turns his attention back to the graves he is digging, letting the ex-priestess digest the information given by him. One thing that Abby finally notices, after a long time of consulting with the other villagers, is that the dead bodies have been grouped by family. Each one is lying not far from the graves of their relatives already buried in the cemetery. It was as if the young Demon knew about each one's relationships.

"How did you know where each one should be buried?"

The question surprises the other women, who realize in turn, this strange detail.

But the young Demon does not respond favorably to their expectations.

"Sorry, but I can't answer that question."

"Eh? Why is that?"

"Because the answer could potentially threaten the safety of the Dungeon, mine, and even the safety of these children."

His explanation lets the villagers understand that even he won't go so far as to reveal too sensitive information about the Dungeon and himself. Jack nevertheless takes the opportunity to not leave them completely in the dark.

"There is a way for you to have your answer; however, it implies a lot of things."

"L-like what?"

"Like, first of all, the need for you to become Servants too, of course."

"..."

Perceiving the hesitation of these recent widows, he hastens to add, with a laugh.

"Ha ha ha, no need to answer right away. Take the time to think about it."

Having finished digging almost all of the graves, the young Demon walks towards Dan who has just finished digging the grave of a person. Even if the idea of ​​letting him dig the last missing grave, Jack is not the cruel type, except in certain conditions.

"Dan, I'll finish this. Get some rest."

Covered in dirt, sweat, and bloody mud, Dan nods, staring at the dozens of graves Jack has already dug.

"Yes, Jack-sama."

Not daring to stay too close to the villagers, Dan stayed close to his young "master."

Digging the last grave in a few dozen seconds, Jack returns to the villagers, followed by the young adventurer Dan. Once close enough, he asks Abby.

"So, how do you want to proceed? Do you want to go get the other survivors to attend the burial? Or maybe you want to eat first? Although I don't recommend it."

"Th-that's..."

"Well, whatever you decide, I'll sit over there. I'll stay in the village until dusk, anyway. You'll have plenty of time to decide everything you need to decide."

With that, Jack moves to a spot near the fence separating the cemetery from the village. Generating a small mound with a top shaped to promote a sitting meditation position, Jack settles down on it. Before closing his eyes he raises his hand towards Dan, casting a Cleaning spell, ridding him of all the dirt accumulated during his labor.

"Also take the day to decide what you plan to do in the future, Dan. I suggest you explore the surrounding area at the same time."

Hearing those words, Dan hesitates for a moment, but eventually resigns himself.

"...Yes."

As the rest of the people also leave the cemetery, Jack slowly closes his eyes. If the people around were sensitive enough to Maryoku, they would have been able to see a strange flow going through Jack, entering through the middle of his chest, and exiting through his upper back."

*****

In the Northeast region of the Demonic Empire, stands a fortress with walls of ice, surrounded by a city with roofs that are always covered in snow. One of the most imposing and frequented buildings in the city of ice and snow, called Fradd, lets in Mamonos of different builds. Some are "Hornless", others "Horned". Some are covered in fur, others are dressed in coats, and some even walk around without warm clothing, due to their affinity with the region's climate.

At the entrance of the building is decorated a circular shield, composed of nine daggers arranged in a star shape, each with an element engraved on the handle, representing the six Primary Elements of Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light and Darkness, and three Intermediate Elements of Lightning, Ice, and Metal.

The shield is the only way to find an entry point to the Lair of the Ghost Blades. The crest on the outside can disappear at any time, as the building is only there to house the Ghost-Carriers, members of the Lair responsible for transporting customers.