Chapter 140

"Contemplating a good afterlife as a mere mercenary? How foolish."

Belenka clicked her tongue disapprovingly, startling the mercenaries.

Her words were a blunt, harsh truth.

Mercenaries are those who fight for money.

Even wandering knights like Belenka could be considered mercenaries in a broad sense.

Well-armored men-at-arms are mercenaries, as are rural bumpkins barely equipped with a gambeson.

Since they'd do anything for money, mercenaries were generally of poor quality.

From the moment you kill for pay, isn't heaven out of the question?

Knights created guidelines for killing, calling it "chivalry."

Protect the weak, don't raise weapons against women and children, act honorably on the battlefield, and so on...

Even knights who follow the code of chivalry can't confidently expect to go to heaven.

Let alone these mercenaries, indistinguishable from highway robbers?

It's not strange for Belenka to think, 'Their conscience must have burst' while looking at the mercenaries.

"S-Sir Knight! Our brother is truly a devout believer of Heaven's Faith! Saying such things will shock him..."

Belenka's expression soured, but Ian intervened.

"Alright. Don't be too harsh. They don't know any better."

"Are you claiming they wielded blind swords, Ian? But swords have no eyes to begin with. That's why those with sight must wield them."

Jubal continued sniffling, while the other mercenaries busied themselves comforting their leader.

Ian decided to move things along.

"Guide me to the tent the demon wizard was using."

"Ah! Yes sir!"

At Ian's every word, the mercenaries bowed their heads and trembled.

Ian had already demonstrated his ability to burn people alive.

That alone made him seem superhuman, and no mercenary wanted to provoke someone like that.

'What a headache.'

Ian shook his head at the mercenaries who had lowered their posture so drastically.

In truth, Ian had simply wanted to cross the river.

With no suitable path nearby, he'd chosen this bridge by chance.

Who could have known it was occupied by a f*cking demon wizard?

"..."

A warm presence drew close.

Somehow, Kira had latched onto Ian's arm, almost hugging it.

To the mercenaries, they must look like an affectionate couple.

Ian wondered why she was acting this way, until his gaze stopped on her lips.

Kira's lips had turned pale blue.

"Are you alright?"

"... It's a bit cold."

That made sense.

Though the weather was warm, they'd been caught in a continuous downpour.

But Kira wasn't just shivering from the cold.

She was frightened.

"Ian... was it okay to kill that person?"

A pointless question. The deed was already done.

Ian shrugged.

"That bastard tried to kill me first. He was clearly a demon wizard. No doubt he practiced in wicked ways."

At Ian's explanation, Kira's expression darkened further.

"... If he was such an evil wizard, won't his colleagues come seeking revenge?"

That was a fair point.

Ian had no idea who that demon wizard really was.

He could have belonged to some organization. This incident might prompt them to seek vengeance against Ian.

"Well... if anything happens, I'm sure Gerard will come to warn us."

At Ian's words, Kira's expression brightened a bit.

"Ah! Yes! That space-time wizard!"

Gerard was the one who led Kira to her destiny as a fire wizard.

Since he's so interested in Ian's future, he'd likely give some warning if an attack were to happen.

Space-time wizards are cunning bastards, but convenient at times like these.

Ian could simply scratch the floor rudely and say "Give me a prophecy~".

Apparently, Ian's future is intertwined with the interests of space-time wizards.

"This way, sir wizard."

Ian followed the mercenaries' guidance to inspect demon wizard Walter's tent.

"Oh, sh*t."

The moment he entered, a curse escaped his lips.

A human skull prominently displayed in the center of the room.

An exclamation challenge level MAX.

This was an impossible challenge.

"Wow! Sans!"

"???"

It wasn't some clay ornament, but a real human skull.

Ian easily deduced that it was a kind of terminal used for communicating with demons.

Sure enough.

As he approached the skull, an eerie voice was heard.

[Kill... Kill it and offer me its blood!]

[Kukuku... I can smell your desire... Don't you want to ravish the virgin redhead beside you? Violate her! I'll grant you power if you do!]

[I'll give you power and wealth beyond your wildest dreams! Answer my voice, wizard!]

"...F*cking hell."

True to their demonic nature, just listening made one's ears feel dirty.

Certainly, these were tempting offers for those weak to temptation.

This medieval fantasy world has a passive bias in information.

There are rumors about demons being evil, but people don't know exactly how they're evil.

In modern times, they'd Google the sh*t out of it and dig up all the information.

But in the medieval era with extremely limited information, people frequently fall for such shallow offers and contract with demons.

'Get lost, you demon bastards.'

As Ian's response remained cold, the desperate demon began spouting nonsense.

[Contract now and get a ★national power-level★ magic sword for free!]

[SS Rank minion! In-stant-ly!]

"...?"

Ian was immediately dumbfounded.

What the hell are these bastards doing?

Demons belong to chaos and have the ability to peek at human desires.

Not knowing what a national power-level magic sword even is, they're just babbling random words that popped up in Ian's mind.

Watching the demon's actions, it was clearly on the level of a phishing scam.

Special information just for you! Invest in plague-research lab penny stocks now for 200% guaranteed returns!

Sane people with proper thinking wouldn't give it a second glance, but those lacking information, unfamiliar with the ways of the world, or just plain idiots get hooked by such obvious deceptions and ruin their lives.

"F*cking demon bastards."

Ian scorned the demons without restraint.

Even with such stupid temptations, the desperate ones take the bait.

When offered [I'll give you power if you violate a woman!] to a man who's been a virgin all his life.

How many could flatly ignore that?

In most cases, a Nobelpia erotic novel would be churned out in no time.

Men who've lived as virgins their whole lives are desperate enough to fall for a demon's temptation.

Demons are crazy bastards who enjoy inflicting pain on humans and causing chaos in the world.

Ian unhesitatingly tore his eyes away from the skull ornament.

"...?"

But Kira was different.

She was staring at the skull as if entranced.

'Oh no...!'

Ian had high scam-immunity from experiencing modern society's con artists who'd even swindle elementary schoolers' belongings, but Kira, unlike Ian, was an innocent medieval person!

"Kira!"

Having been in contact with the mysteries multiple times before, Kira easily heard the demon's voice.

Her magical talent became poison.

"Snap out of it! Kira!"

As Kira blankly reached for the skull, Ian panicked.

What the hell kind of temptation is she experiencing to be so completely captivated!

There was no response no matter how he called.

In desperation, Ian pulled Kira into his arms and forcibly turned her body.

"[Let go!]"

Kira snarled viciously.

No, not Kira.

It was the demon's voice, stealing Kira's.

"[Let me keep listening to the demon's story! Ian!]"

"What the f*ck are you babbling with Kira's voice! sh*t!"

Ian laid Kira on the floor and straddled her.

"Look at me! Kira!"

"[The demon's voice...! I want to hear it...!]"

"Don't look at that f*cking skull, look at me!"

Ian brought his face close to Kira's.

Eyes are windows to the soul.

As Ian's gaze, filled with a wizard's will, met Kira's, her expression gradually returned.

From eyes gleaming with desire, back to Kira's usual clear gaze.

"...Ian?"

"Are you back to your senses? Kira?"

Kira stared blankly at Ian's face.

Ian's face wearing a faint smile.

Straddling her body, pressing down on her shoulders with both hands-

"...!"

Kira's face turned bright red with overwhelming embarrassment.

"I-I-I-Ian! I'm fine so could you please get off me?!"

"Are you sure? Really?"

As Ian scrutinized her face closely.

Kira just wanted to faint right then and there.

"I'm really fine!"

Kira hurriedly pushed Ian away and turned her head.

He definitely saw how red my face is...

"A demon's temptation. Incredible..."

"What did you see?"

Ian asked out of genuine curiosity.

I just heard some bullsh*t about giving a national power-level magic sword.

Kira must have experienced a different temptation, right?

"Um. Huh?"

Kira noticeably flinched and avoided Ian's gaze.

Hmm... she's acting extremely awkward...

Anyone watching would think she'd been caught watching p*rn.

"It's, it's a secret. I can't tell you."

"Really?"

Kira pressed her lips together and nodded.

Ian let it be.

If she's so reluctant to talk about it, there was no need to forcibly extract the information.

"In exchange for keeping your secret, promise me one thing."

"..."

"Never, ever listen to a demon's words again."

At Ian's serious expression, Kira answered equally seriously.

"I promise. No matter what happens, I'll never go near a demon again."

"Good."

Ian extended his hand to Kira.

Kira took Ian's hand and stood up, looking around.

"It's full of strange objects."

Walter's tent looked like a typical demon wizard's quarters.

Besides the skull, they found a magic book made of human skin and even a necklace of fingers.

All were wickedly evil items, perfect for hearing a demon's voice if studied.

All decided for disposal.

"Hm?"

Just then, Ian discovered a ring in a chest.

The object itself wasn't an unfamiliar type.

It was a signet ring.

"Kira, take a look at this."

A signet ring is used to leave an authenticating mark in the wax seal of a document.

People in olden times sealed documents with wax, stamping a specific image as a certification mark to show "I sent this!"

The history of signet rings is very deep, even used by ancient Egyptians.

"Have you seen this crest before?"

Signet rings are mainly used to identify the sender.

To reveal who sent the document.

Most signet rings here are made with family or guild crests.

"Hmm...?"

Kira tilted her head.

As a fake wizard, she had memorized noble family crests quite thoroughly.

She might not know some backwater baron's crest, but she knew most noble crests.

"I'm not sure..."

Ian nodded.

For now, it's not a famous noble family's crest.

That narrows down the possibilities.

The likely candidate is that it's the symbol of the group demon wizard Walter belonged to.

Ian had even seen this ring's crest somewhere before.

Of course, in the lesson of Eredith, a walking Namuwiki.

"This is the symbol of the ancient Heaven's Faith."

"Ancient Heaven's Faith...?"

Four equilateral triangles drawn inside a circle.

According to Ian's memory, it symbolizes the [Golden Rule].

"[Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.]"

"W-What?"

"It's ancient language. A teaching of the ancient Heaven's Faith."

Ian frowned as he looked at the signet ring.

Why on earth was a symbol of the ancient Heaven's Faith's Golden Rule found among a demon wizard's possessions?

He couldn't know right now.

'I'll keep this.'

Ian pocketed the signet ring.