Chapter 1: Trying Out Talking with Demonic Beings – Part 3

 

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Part 3

──A Demonic Being!?
This was no longer the time to be embarrassed.
While turning towards the river and putting himself on guard, Diablo extended his hand to the pouch on his waist. The 《Staff of Tenma》 was needed.
In the middle of the river, there was Rem and Shera.
There wasn’t only them, there was one more.
It was a Demonic Being that he recognized.
Her silver hair extended gently down to the waist.
Her skin was brown, and if one looked closely, the surface seemed like scales.
Because of her figure that was short and that had no chest and her large eyes, she had the impression of being very young. However, she was unmistakably a Demonic Being. In those golden eyes of hers, there were pupils that were vertically slit pupils like that of reptiles.
It was the commander that led the 100 Demonic Beings that had attacked Fort Bridge Ulg before──Her name was Edelgart, wasn’t it?
She was grabbing Rem’s arm and lifting her up.
In her other hand, she grasped something that looked like a large horseback lance.
A cold sweat went down Diablo’s spine.
The soul of Demon King Krebskrem was sealed within Rem. And then, the way of unleashing it was said to be to kill her.
If that secret were to be exposed, she would be killed. She was going to be killed.
Diablo felt his internal organs becoming hot.

「You, what did you come here for?」
It was a firm voice that surprised even himself.
No matter what magic he would try to use, with her being at such point-blank range, it was difficult to have the attack hit only Edelgart.
He did have high precision magic, but the power was weak. They wouldn’t be able to drive away the Demonic Being.
Shera was frightened and trembling.
She probably remembered that it was a Demonic Being that I had fought at Fort Bridge Ulg. She started spilling a large amount of tears from Rem’s desperate situation.
「R, Rem……no……」
「Kuh……L, let me go! To think that, there would be a Demonic Being in a place like this……Uugh……Diablo, please use magic! Don’t worry about me!」
Don’t say something stupid like that.
Abandoning Rem, that was something he absolutely wouldn’t do. He had no choice, he had to use a high power magic that could blow away the Demonic Being in one attack……
──I need to hit only the Demonic Being with my technique!
Having the invocation location be off, he had Edelgart barely in the effect range.
Diablo was about to utter the spell.
Just before that, Edelgart thrust the horseback lance that she had in her hand down into the water. She then separated her hand from the lance that was thrust into the riverbed.
「Have no intentions～, to fight. To fight against you, unable to do it alone.」
「What was that?」
「Talk? Won’t talk?」
「Release Rem. Otherwise, I will annihilate you without leaving a single trace.」
「Under, stood.」
Surprisingly, Edelgart quite readily separated her hand from Rem.
Rem hastily ran away.

Shera, who was crying, rushed over to her. *Gyu* she hugged her close.
「Waan! Rem!」
「Ba, baka Shera」
「I thought that it was already hopeless! That you would die!」
「……Even I had resolved my……Uuu」
Maybe because she recalled her fear of death, Rem’s small shoulders quivered.
Edelgart opened up both of her hands.
「Today～, won’t fight. Edelgart, came to talk?」
Rem and Shera looked over at Diablo looking uneasy.
Could they believe her?
Could a conversation with a Demonic Being even happen?
However, there was no mistake that she released Rem.
Diablo lowered his staff.
「Hnn……It would appear that you are no fool……You seem to understand what would happen if you had bought my wrath.」「Edelgart, is～, smart?」
「So you said that you have something to talk about? However, if that’s the case, why did you lay a hand on Rem?」
「……Also have something like, own circumstances?」
「Hou?」
「Felt, Demon King-sama’s soul? Touched and was convinced. Certainly, is there.」
Edelgart fixed her golden eyes on Rem.
「Hii!?」
Rem shrunk back, and Shera embraced her as if to protect her.
Diablo clicked his tongue.
「Tsk……Did you say that you could tell just by touching……?」
Not too long ago, Diablo had practiced how to feel the flow of magical power. Thanks to that, he became able to obtain a great amount of information from someone if he touched them.
What Edelgart had said was probably not a lie.
Not to mention, as she was a Demonic Being, it was no mystery that she would be able to feel 《Demon King Krebskrem》’s existence better than the Races.
──Though there is an even bigger question. Why, did she set her sights on Rem?
The other day, it seemed like the Demonic Being that appeared in the town, Gregor, didn’t pay attention to her but……
Right now, rather than inquiring about that, he needed to think about how to deal with the situation.
「Even if the soul of the Demon King is within Rem, what do you plan to do? Will you kill Rem? Do you plan on fighting me?」
「Like I～ said～, today～, won’t fight. Won’t～ kill～, that Pantherian.」
With the lance still thrust into the riverbed, she didn’t show any sign of picking it up.
Edelgart is a Demonic Being.
However, her way of talking was only a peculiarity and she was no idiot. Since she was a commander that led 100 Demonic Beings, that was probably only natural.
Above all, if they simply wanted to revive it by simply killing──they should have just killed every and all people of the Races that had the possibility of having it. There was no reason to expressly ascertain the soul’s existence.
「Fumu……It would seem that the story you wish for me to hear is some different information.」
Shera blinked her eyes in surprise.
「What, what? What kind of story is it? Explain it to me so that I can understand it too!」
Rem breathed a small sigh.
「……Looks like there’s no helping it. I understand. I’ll talk about everything without leaving anything out. About my secret.」