Interlude
The Voracious Noble and the Broken Demon
I could hear an occasional asthmatic wheezing in the musty basement. An unsettling sound, every time.
“Max? Get up, Max!”
I gave the wheezing form a swift kick, and he sat up as if nothing had happened.
“Wheeze…wheeze… O-oh, it’s you, Alderp. Need something from me? Ahh, you’re letting off a lovely aura today, as always, Alderp.”
He was mocking me—it was obvious. Almost without thinking, I kicked the demon again.
A demon: Yes, that’s what this disgusting thing was.
At first glance, he appeared to be a young man, his features almost intimidatingly shapely, but his expressionless face, as if drained of all emotion, never failed to send nameless shivers running down my spine.
“Why would I ever come down here if I didn’t need something from you? I have a job for you. Some thief stole my Sacred Treasure and sealed it up, to boot. I want you to get it back and break the seal. Understand?”
“Wheeze…wheeze… Alderp, Alderp! That’s impossible, Alderp! I don’t even know where it is, and normally it’s impossible to seal a Sacred Treasure. If it was really sealed, then I have no chance of— Hrk?!”
As he blathered excuses at me, I kicked him again.
“Are you saying you can’t even do this, you worthless lout?! When exactly will you be able to grant my wish? Lalatina! Hurry up and bring me Lalatina! Why is that so hard?!”
“Wheeze…wheeze…wheeze…wheeze…”
Again and again I kicked him; he covered his disgusting face and curled into a ball.
This fool of a demon. This absolute fool.
He had no ability to remember, so he forgot my orders the moment I gave them.
Argh… That Sacred Treasure, at least, I had to get back. Everything had been going so well for so long that I got lax, let my guard down.
I pushed too hard. I should never have tried to go straight for the prince’s body.
That was my chance: switch bodies with a prince who was engaged to marry Lalatina, and I would obtain everything I had always wanted. I leaped at the chance, at the opportunity to get all of it at once, and as a result, some thief stole my Sacred Treasure and now here I was.
If I’d given it directly to the prince, I would only have had to recite the incantation and then destroy this body for all of it to be mine. I couldn’t stop cursing myself, but now the first thing was to find out where the item went.
Sigh… If I’d known things were going to turn out this way, I wouldn’t have waited around. I would have just switched bodies with my son, Balter, and been done with it…
If I don’t get that item back, there will have been no point to my bothering to take him in. I worked hard to find an intelligent child with a bright future. If only he could have successfully concluded the betrothal to Lalatina, I wouldn’t have had to go to such dangerous lengths…
“Lalatina! Lalatina! You are mine, Lalatina! Do you know how long I’ve watched you?!” I shouted into the dim basement, letting my anger at having lost the item carry me away.
The disturbing demon began to get excited. “Wheeze! Wheeze! You’re wonderful, Alderp! Ever loyal to your appetites, twisted and cruel—I like you very much, Alderp! I want to grant your wish quickly, Alderp; I want to receive my reward! Now set me to work, Alderp! Tell me what you wish, Alderp! Alderp!”
Truly worthless. Even if he granted my wish, he’d immediately forget he did so. If it weren’t so easy to bilk him on his reward, I would summon some other monster.
I held a round stone in my hand. A Sacred Treasure that allowed me to summon and control a random monster. I caressed the stone.
“I have only one wish! Bring me Lalatina! She belongs to me!”
How many times had I told him what my wish was? I had lost track. But now, I told him once again.
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