Chapter 71 - Dark Seed

The first person to speak up was the man in the suit. "I'm sorry to treat you like this when you are the hero here, young boy. I am the mayor here, and my name is Kie Forrest. It's great to finally meet you, and I have a few things for you."

Reaching in his pocket, he pulls out a black storage cube, which is a stark contrast to the usual light silver. He walks over, setting it on the bedside next to me, before sitting tentatively on the edge of my bed. I feel the thin mattress squeal slightly from the added weight, but it's not like I can do anything about it, can I?

"What did I do to incur the wrath of the mayor?" I ask, only partially sarcastic. Kie chuckles, patting my shoulder.

"Actually, I'm here to thank you for saving my town. That cube right there is all the salvageable parts of the demon, anything you can make a profit out of. There is also an incredibly valuable demon core that the demon had. It was only a Lower Demon, but that will still fetch you quite a price."

"Oh yeah, only. Too bad it wasn't a High Demon, shucks," I reply without a trace of enthusiasm in my voice.

Kie only laughs again, banging my shoulder with a hardened palm. 'Ow, ow, ow.'

"I like your spirit, boy. Other than this, we plan to have a statue built of your party in your honor, and you may have whatever supplies you need, free of charge."

I wave my restricted wrist minimally. "Oh nah, no extremely attractive statues, please. I will take the other stuff, but that's a bit embarrassing."

Eniyala, who is still being death-gripped by her father in case I turn into a murderous killer, scoffs. "I knew you thought I was attractive, but extremely attractive? I'm flattered, honestly."

I pause for a second, until my brain finally reboots. "That's not—"

Before I can speak, the male healer steps forward. "Your recovery time is astounding. You weren't expected to even make it, but at your rate, you should be up and out of bed by tomorrow. You are exactly what we would call extraordinary. Would you mind if we had some of your blood for testing purposes? If all goes well, we'll just need three or four samples."

"JUST three or four? What if things don't go well?"

"Well, we'll need closer to ten-twelve samples then. But I assure you, that probably — maybe won't happen. We're professionals."

"To be professionals, you don't seem very confident."

The first lady from before snorts, pulling a short strand of blond hair out of her face. "Hard to be confident when you're a walking anomaly."

"Hey genius, I can't even sit up, much less walk."

We exchange glares before another voice cuts in.

"You all are missing the main point here. What I saw out there was two demons fighting each other. There was no minotaur versus human. That was raw Instinct against Instinct, and both were incredibly dark. That THING needs to be put down." Gaslion speaks up again, jabbing his finger at me. Everyone turns to inspect me, and the room goes quiet for a second.

"Are you really a demon?" The blue Mana healer asks, adjusting the wide spectacles on her face.

I sigh, exasperated and already exhausted. "Like I told Ms. Nurse before, I'm still human as far as I know and unfortunately still feel like one. So, can you all piss off so I can rest and untie me while you're at it?"

Everyone stares at me again, before bursting into chatter. The whole room is filled with the overlapping voices of everyone talking over everyone.

The noise was enough to wake the dead — or a kid in a coma. I watch him carefully, secretly wishing he would suddenly open his eyes, sit up and ask, "What's with all the come ocean?"

But, the moment never comes. 'Maybe, if I had just moved my feet a little sooner…'

The thought makes me instantly bitter, and I feel the veins bulge in my neck as I yank on the ropes. The ones upon my legs snap, allowing me to at least scoot up and readjust myself on the bed. The abrupt move sends screaming pain throughout my body, but I grit my teeth as I glare at everyone. "Out."

A flash of a dark, overbearing feeling momentarily crushes everyone's souls, and the healers immediately begin exiting. Gaslion begins to walk out as well, trying to drag Eniyala along, but she yanks her hand away, stepping over between me and Raeki protectively. They stare at each other, arguing with just their eyes. After a long moment, Gaslion breaks the staring contest with a heavy blink and groan, storming out of the room.

Once the only people left are the mayor, Lynsel, Eniyala, and the clearly fearless healer lady, Eni turns and begins untying my arms. "You dumbass. I bet you regret trying to rip out of these, don't you?"

I lay my head back, rubbing my wrists tentatively. "It got them to leave, so, nah."

The mayor steps closer, his small steel color eyes giving me a piercing look. "I will allow you to rest boy, but I have one final question for you before I go. Would you happen to be a Reincarnate?"

I look up at him sharply. "What?"

He chuckles lightly, stroking the thick hair above his lip. "It seems like I was right. I have a good intuition for that type of thing, you see."

He strolls around, inspecting me. "It also makes some sense for you to be able to hold your own against not only an opponent, but a demon much stronger than you. Of course, there's also the matter of you being the second Sword Saint, but also—"

I choke on my saliva, falling into a painful coughing fit. Once I finally regain my breath, the mayor continues as if nothing happened.

"— also, how would you have a Dark Seed within you?"

"Dark Seed?" I ask. The words were familiar, but I couldn't place where.

Kie nods, gesturing at my bandages. No, at the scar underneath. "It's what consumed you, and the only thing capable of corrupting an avatar of a Divine Weapon. I've never seen someone recover this easily from one, though. Not to mention, your Seed has blossomed, yet you retain your sanity."

I feel my head begin to spin, and I hold my hand up to it to support it. "Listen, Mr. Kie, you're gonna have to sit down and explain all this. I barely know anything about this world."

For once, the older man looks surprised, but it doesn't take long for a warm smile to spread across his face.

"Very well," he says, taking a seat in the simple chair across from my bed. "Listen closely. It's a lot of information at once."


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<The author has insisted on showing accurate depictions of the healers. Be warned, representation readers may see is not suitable for faint heart.>

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