Chapter 186 – Devil

The sky was high and the clouds were light, the fertile land stretched for miles, in an obscure, barely noticeable place on the world map. Nagumo found it hard to believe that such backward places still existed in modern society.

But what could he do? He could only endure the humiliation and disgust, wielding a pitchfork with both hands, his face filled with disdain as he forked up sheep manure and tossed it into a small cart.

At this moment, there was no trace of the once-proud top student of Advanced Nurturing High School, the former vice president of the student council. There was no sign of the youthful spirit he once possessed.

All that remained was a wretched servant in a sheep pen. His stylish school uniform? Nonexistent. He now wore a dirty, foul-smelling work uniform full of pockets, with many of them torn.

His handsome face? It had been tanned to a dark hue by the relentless sun, and his features were roughened by the long exposure to the wind, which carried an unidentified stench.

"Damn it!" Whenever he thought of his carefree days at Advanced Nurturing, compared to his current hardships, Nagumo couldn't help but feel a deep, overwhelming sense of pain.

Looking back, after voluntarily applying to leave school, the moment he left the campus, he still thought that his future wouldn't be too bad. As long as he could save his family from Yukio, it would all be worth it.

But later, he found out that while his parents were safe, he himself had been put on a car and plane arranged by Yukio, taking him to this almost untraceable remote place.

On his first day here, he was assigned to fork sheep manure and spread it as fertilizer on the crops. For someone as proud and ambitious as Nagumo, who believed he was destined for greatness, this was the most excruciating torment.

This purely physical labor offered no sense of achievement and had no meaning, leaving him with no glimpse of a future.

The worst part was that after a whole day of hard work, he could only eat coarse bran and vegetables. Forget about delicious food, even getting enough to eat was a luxury. The portions were pathetically small, leaving him perpetually hungry, forcing him to gulp down water to fill the emptiness in his stomach.

Living like this, the first week was almost unbearably miserable for Nagumo. Every night, he felt an overwhelming sense of grievance. Several times he thought about ending it all, but he never had the courage to take his own life.

To cope, Nagumo could only repeatedly tell himself that all this was for his family, that it was all to atone for the sin of harming Ichinose.

However, this self-soothing was disrupted by a sudden change after a week of steady work. Nagumo, already exhausted from laboriously hauling manure during the day, found it impossible to get a good rest at night.

The owner of the sheep pen, a burly man with arms as thick as tree trunks, walked in with a sly grin. When he said he liked delicate boys like Nagumo, Nagumo finally understood the true meaning of cruelty and terror.

"What do you want?!" Nagumo shouted at the top of his lungs, assuming his best karate stance, hoping to intimidate the owner.

But the owner wasn't scared at all; instead, his eyes lit up. "Hey, hey! This time the goods are really great, both handsome and quite resilient!"

"Do you know? The more you resist, the more it gives people a sense of accomplishment! Also, do you know why I always eat my fill but never let you eat enough?"

"It's to prevent you from regaining your strength. The person who sent you specifically warned me to be careful of your combat skills."

'Devil! He was a devil!'

Nagumo finally understood that all the remote areas and manure hauling were just ordinary torments. The true revenge carefully prepared by Yukio was just beginning!

Compared to being tormented by this sheep pen owner, Nagumo would rather haul manure a thousand more times!

"Don't come any closer, stay away!" Nagumo screamed, his face twisted in horror as he tried to resist the foul-smelling owner. The result was obvious; undernourished and weak, he was no match for the burly owner despite his karate training.

He was easily overpowered, his hands twisted behind his back, and he was pinned down firmly. At that moment, Nagumo's heart was filled with a fear worse than despair.

The sheep pen owner seemed to relish Nagumo's expression, as if he was telling a bedtime story to a child, "Haha, do you know why Western devils are always depicted with goat horns?"

"Who cares about your devils! Let me go!" Nagumo had no interest in stories; he struggled desperately but couldn't dislodge the massive weight on his back.

The owner wasn't bothered, enjoying Nagumo's struggle even more. "I can tell you, in ancient times, shepherds were very lonely and couldn't bear it, so they would find sheep."

"But as more and more shepherds did this, they would eventually be discovered. And being discovered would be social suicide, wouldn't it? So they needed a devil as an excuse."

"As long as they told people that they were bewitched and controlled by a demon, they could explain away such disgraceful acts. Then, by seeking redemption at the church afterward, they could avoid social disgrace..."

"Hahaha! From then on, whenever people talked about demons, they would automatically say that demons have goat horns! Don't you think that's interesting? Isn't that interesting?"

"..." Interesting my ass! Nagumo only felt disgusted!

However, the next moment, Nagumo's heart was filled with nothing but terror. Why was this man telling him such a story?

If it was because shepherds and sheep led to the image of demons having goat horns... then the fact that this man operated a sheep pen in such a remote place must mean...

Nagumo's stomach churned, filled with nausea and revulsion. Even thinking about it made him want to vomit!

Perhaps noticing Nagumo's reaction, the man tightened his grip and laughed even more wildly: "Don't rush, beautiful boy."

"I have another even more interesting story to tell you. This one is more interesting than the last."

Nagumo shook his head frantically, indicating he didn't want to hear any more!

But the man didn't care whether Nagumo wanted to listen. He continued, "What's even more interesting is that in the pitch darkness of the Middle Ages, it was easy for shepherds to mistake whether they had grabbed a male or female goat."

It was as if a nightmare had become reality, shattering all of Nagumo's hopes and sanity, making him completely lose any desire for the future.

After finishing his recollection, Nagumo looked at the cart of manure with eyes that had turned dull and hopeless. He mechanically cursed, "Damn it."

Suppressing his revulsion, he finished spreading the manure as fertilizer and then found the man, asking for the phone. Once a month, he was allowed to call home to assure his family he was safe.

It was the only thing that made Nagumo feel even a tiny bit alive.

Upon receiving the report, Yukio felt nauseated and threw the report into the trash: "Damn, this is getting more and more disgusting."

***

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