Opposition and Harmony (2)

‘A demonic human who bewitched the commander of the Heavenly Sword Knights…’

Just what kind of demonic human could it be?

What sort of demonic human could make Preben take on such a risk?

An affair with a demonic spy. The moment it’s discovered, Preben would be subjected to all sorts of criticism and would lose all social standing.

On top of that, she even sacrificed her favorite sword, the Thunder Emperor Sword, for this demonic human.

“……”

Is this demonic human impossibly beautiful?

Or perhaps possesses an enchanting technique powerful enough to sway even a late-stage Grandmaster’s very mind?

If that’s not it… did they perhaps target one of Preben’s unusual proclivities?

‘I can’t even begin to guess.’

The truth would only become clear by seeing for himself.

― Clip-clop… clip-clop…

― Rattle-rattle-rattle…

Inside the carriage headed for Preben’s villa.

The only sounds resonating in the quiet were the horse’s hooves and the turning of wheels.

“By any chance, you.”

Preben, seated opposite Ian, tapped her fingers on the armrest and asked.

“Do you already know the reason why I’m hiding that child?”

Ian shook his head.

“No. I do not know that. I only know that you are having an affair with a demonic human.”

“… I see.”

Preben sank deeper into the backrest.

“Then I’ll explain, so listen. I’d like you not to view her as just another demonic human.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Ian was curious anyway, so he was pleased by the opportunity.

“The child’s name is Reni—Reni Popov. The surname is unusual, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“She’s a beastkin. Rabbit beastkin. Though she’s become a demonic human now, she originally was just an ordinary village girl from a cold northern region.”

Preben continued and explained step by step.

“Reni lost her home and family when she was just eight.”

It was an attack by the Demon Cult.

The village was burned down, and her family was left as pitiful corpses.

“Then she was kidnapped by the Demon Cult and raised by them.”

Reni became a slave to the Demon Cult and was forcibly trained to be a spy.

“Reni did not become a demonic human by her own will. She had no choice but to become one if she wanted to survive in the Demon Cult.”

“……”

The Demon Cult implanted a parasite in young Reni’s stomach, set to eat her organs if she disobeyed their orders.

She literally underwent training that shaved years off her lifespan to survive there.

Many children kidnapped alongside her died, unable to endure the training, and sometimes the only way to survive was to kill dear companions.

If she barely survived the training, the Demon Cult would reward her with demonic energy.

While the demonic energy greatly helped her survive the next round of training, it also amplified wicked emotions and gradually corroded her nature.

By the time Reni infiltrated the Heavenly Sword Knights, she was on the verge of losing all human sentiment.

“In fact, I knew from the start. That Reni was a demonic human.”

“……”

From the very moment he first saw her, Preben had known Reni was a demonic human spy.

She hid her demonic energy reasonably well, but it was a meaningless disguise before the sharp senses of a seasoned Hisperion.

“So I deliberately kept her close by. Tested her harshly. I wanted to see how long she could endure.”

He took her everywhere, assigning her only difficult tasks that would make anyone grumble.

He told her to steal wyvern eggs from a ferocious beast’s nest, to find an ancient shipwreck from the deep sea, to disarm traps in dungeons all on her own.

“But she stubbornly followed through.”

Preben thought, though Reni was a demonic human, her grit was commendable.

“I started to get curious. Why would a child with such good grit become a demonic human? She didn’t seem the type to choose the easy path.”

But he couldn’t ask so brazenly at that time.

If Reni realized her identity was already exposed, she would run away immediately.

Maybe, from then on, she’d already begun to feel some attachment.

“Then one day.”

Reni revealed her demonic energy first.

The reason was none other than… to save her fellow Heavenly Sword Knights from a powerful monster.

It wasn’t just Preben who had begun to care.

Reni, too, had been forming bonds while overcoming countless ordeals together with the Heavenly Sword Knights.

Through all kinds of hardships and growth, Reni was gradually regaining her lost humanity.

“Most of my subordinates liked Reni, but of course, there were some who didn’t. Thanks to their reports, Reni was put on trial.”

Then the Heavenly Sword Lord household sentenced Reni to death.

Reni had infiltrated Hisperion and was leaking inside information as a demonic human.

In fact, there was evidence she had delivered the membership list of the Heavenly Sword Knights and the map of Heavenly Sword Palace to the Demon Cult.

To have endangered the supreme Heavenly Sword household—her punishment could not be light.

As a warning to others, the harshest sentence had to be imposed.

“That night, I went to see Reni.”

She visited Reni in solitary confinement, awaiting execution, and asked.

Surely she knew that exposing her demonic energy would get her killed—why did she use it?

To that question, Reni answered, ‘I’m just tired now.’

She said she was done deceiving others and did not want to survive by abandoning her comrades any longer.

Even if it was just a small bit of humanity she had barely regained, she didn’t want to lose it again by returning to the Demon Cult.

Instead, she relayed a request to Preben.

To take revenge for her.

For burning her village, for using her friends as disposable tools and killing them…

She asked him to avenge her on the head of the slave training facility.

“At that moment, I finally understood. Why Reni had so desperately followed me.”

It was because she wanted revenge.

On the demon that had destroyed her life.

But, in order to gain enough power for that revenge, she had to hurt many people and repeatedly betray them.

So she was exhausted by it. She had become disillusioned.

Rabbit beastkin, by nature, love peace, are timid, and once they become fond of someone, are instinctively drawn to them.

For one like Reni, it must have been all the more difficult.

Though becoming a demonic human had abraded most of her human feelings, it didn’t completely erase the temperament innate to rabbit beastkin.

“I wanted to help that child. She was so pitiful and wretched. I just couldn’t leave her. So I helped her escape.”

Coincidentally, the Heavenly Sword Lord household entrusted Preben with carrying out the execution.

It might have been that the final decision had been left to Preben.

So it was easy to let Reni escape.

She falsified the execution as carried out and secretly brought Reni to hide in her villa.

“After that, we lived together for quite some time. Before I realized it… I found myself enjoying taking care of her. Each time she regained some lost emotion, I felt a kind of thrill I’d never known. And Reni also… gradually came to trust and rely on me. Then one day, I realized. We both understood how we felt about each other. Each other’s hearts.”

Preben turned to the window, his cheeks a little flushed.

“You said you already knew, didn’t you? About me and Reni.”

Ian nodded.

Preben ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

“There are only a few of my subordinates who know this… Just where did the rumors leak from…?”

“……”

“Ian Greysel. There’s something I must state clearly here.”

Preben’s expression turned solemn.

Sensing something important was coming, Ian straightened up as well.

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

“Reni is… now a child I can’t live without. To be honest, when you said you could heal her, I was half in doubt but honestly relieved. As you know… This isn’t something you can just ask for help with, and only someone with the holy power of a high priest from the Selveris Holy Kingdom could even attempt to heal the curse afflicting her.”

“……”

“But… we’re almost there, so I want to ask before we arrive. As her guardian, I’d like to hear exactly how you plan to treat Reni.”

“It’s simple. You know that I possess the Holy Sword, right?”

“… I do. I’ve heard more than enough about how the Holy Kingdom left the Holy Sword with you years ago… I half-wondered, but—are you really planning to use it?”

“Well… I understand your concerns. But there will be no problem.”

The holy power of the Holy Sword Heliodin is overwhelmingly powerful.

If you bring Heliodin too close to a demonic human, they would burn up like a bug to a flame.

Preben is worried.

Afraid that Ian might end up incinerating Reni with Heliodin.

“How can you be so sure there won’t be a problem? Just to clarify in case you misunderstand—Reni’s physical condition is very poor right now. She’s far from healthy. She’s very weak. Even a small dose of holy power could be fatal. But you’re saying there won’t be any issue even when using Heliodin?”

“Naturally, I won’t use it directly. I’ll only extract the holy power.”

“Extract just the holy power? Is that even possible? How?”

Holy power isn’t like natural mana, which can be stored in the dantian or wielded freely.

“The exact method… I’m afraid I can’t share. It’s a personal secret technique.”

Ian was planning to alternate between using the Authority of Projection to manipulate holy power and demonic energy.

So he couldn’t explain the details.

“But, Reni… she will be safe.”

“I don’t know how you can be so confident…”

Preben fretfully touched her lips.

“But… tch. It’s not like we have any other options now. Whether I trust you or not, if we do nothing, Reni will die either way.”

Reni’s condition had recently worsened drastically.

At this rate, it seemed she wouldn’t survive another quarter, let alone half a year.

Truthfully, they’d been driven to the very edge, and Ian had appeared like a miracle.

“There’s no choice. I’ll have to trust you this once.”

Preben made a bold decision.

“My elder brother wouldn’t favor you for nothing. There must be something about you. And I promise.”

Preben leaned forward, getting closer to Ian.

“If you save Reni… My compensation won’t end at the Thunder Emperor Sword. Reni’s debt of life is as good as my debt of life. I’ll treat you as my benefactor for the rest of my life.”

“……”

Ian’s eyes widened at those words.

For someone of the Heavenly Sword Knights captain’s rank to call him benefactor wasn’t just a token of thanks.

It meant staking her position and honor to repay the favor.

It meant she would reward him with something comparable to her own life as leader of the Heavenly Sword Knights.

He came for the Thunder Emperor Sword, but unexpectedly, he would also gain the great favor of the Heavenly Sword Knights’ captain.

A truly staggering profit beyond expectation.

Moreover, after hearing Preben’s story, it seemed that this demonic human Reni wasn’t a particularly evil person.

Ian was now eager to see the patient.

* * *

Ian arrived at Preben’s villa by carriage.

A cute two-story house built in a forest, quite far from the main city.

There was a small garden and a vegetable patch in the yard.

“I’ll go inform Reni that you’ve arrived.”

Preben went in first to let Reni know a guest had come.

About three minutes passed.

Preben returned.

“We’re done talking. Come in.”

Ian nodded and entered the house.

The inside was also cozily decorated.

“This way.”

Preben led Ian to the master bedroom.

“……”

Upon entering the master bedroom, the first thing he saw was the bed.

And atop that bed—a mysterious woman sitting against a pillow, gazing over this way.

Her long hair reached down to her waist, with large drooping rabbit ears.

And her whole body was covered with bandages.

Undoubtedly, her skin had split due to the curse.

‘They said her condition was serious…’

Ian already knew what kind of curse it was from Vivian.

A parasitic worm implanted by the Demon Cult was necrotizing her entire body.

‘The smell of pus pervades the room. The bandages are stained yellow as well.’

If her outer condition was this bad, her insides were surely even worse.

Preben looked at Ian with worried eyes.

“… Well? Can you do it?”

“It’s more serious than expected.”

With her body this ravaged, not even a high priest from the Holy Kingdom could heal her.

If they tried to remove the cursed parasite, Reni would die in the process.

To properly cure her, they would need to bring a high-rank demonic human as well, but to bring both a high priest and a high-rank demonic human together—

It was unthinkable.

However—

Ian rolled up his sleeves and approached Reni.

“There’s absolutely no problem.”

For Ian, healing a curse of this level would only take a few days.

After all, he possessed both the holy power of a Saintess and the demonic energy of a demonic human.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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