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Chapter 92: A Common Occurrence (4)
The festival, once filled with cheers and laughter, suddenly fell into a cold silence, as if ice water had been poured over it.
"Y-Your Highness, the Hero?"
"What is going on?"
The villagers stepped back in confusion, startled by Professor Elisha's sudden actions.
Without even sparing a glance at the confused villagers, Professor Elisha roughly grabbed the collar of Chief Oliver.
"H-Heek!"
Chief Oliver, trembling in fear, shivered under the murderous aura emitted by the "Spider of Cursed Eyes."
"I-I only did as I was told!"
"...Did as you were told?"
Professor Elisha's expression twisted with fury.
As her violet eyes of malice glimmered and darted around, a sound interrupted the tense atmosphere.
Clap, clap, clap.
In the midst of the silent village square, the sound of clapping echoed.
"As expected from the 'Spider of Cursed Eyes.' I went through great lengths to conceal the traces of mana, but it seems it was all in vain."
"You..."
Professor Elisha's eyes gleamed coldly as she gritted her teeth at the man in front of her.
"Harris."
The very man who had first reported the villagers' abductions.
Unlike the typical rustic folk, he had an unusually clean-cut appearance.
Smiling, Harris nodded his head.
"But even the famed Blessing of Insight doesn't seem to be infallible, does it?"
he added, smirking sarcastically.
"I mean, you've failed to notice a demon standing right in front of you."
With a theatrical bow, Harris continued,
"Allow me to reintroduce myself."
Crack, crunch!
The right side of Harris's face grotesquely swelled, and around his right eye, monstrous tendrils ripped through his skin and burst forth.
"I am Harris, a devoted servant of Lord Jackal, and his faithful bishop."
"...You're Harris?"
"Well, my original name wasn't Harris. But since I'm currently using this human body as my host, feel free to call me Harris. After all, we are now 'one.'"
Laughing gleefully, Harris shrugged his shoulders.
Professor Elisha bit her lip, her expression tense.
This wasn't an ordinary demon but a parasitic one—one that controlled another person's body.
Such demons had no obvious marks, and their magic was so faint that even the "Blessing of Insight" couldn't easily detect their true nature.
"What did you put in the cider?"
"It's Lord Jackal's blessing."
"Stop with the nonsense and answer me properly."
"It’s not nonsense,"
Harris replied, spreading his arms wide, his face alight with madness.
"To shed this frail human flesh and gain the body of a demonic beast! If that's not a blessing, then what is?"
"A demonic beast's body, huh."
I frowned as I looked down at the cider spilled on the ground.
‘A poison that turns humans into demonic beasts.’
I remembered hearing a rumor in my previous life, during the war against the demonic beast Archbishop, that Jackal had turned an entire city's population into demonic beasts to use as his minions.
‘So the plan was to feed us that, huh…’
It was now clear—the whole kidnapping incident in this village had been a trap set by Jackal to capture us.
‘More specifically, it was probably aimed at Professor Elisha.’
Clicking my tongue, I glanced at Bishop Harris, who was still not paying me any attention.
"Don't you agree, Professor Elisha?"
Bishop Harris smiled brightly at Professor Elisha.
"I have no intention of indulging in your twisted ideological games."
"Is that so? What a shame."
Professor Elisha pulled out thin silver threads and spread them across the ground, ready to attack at any moment.
"Where is Jackal now?"
"Ha ha. He is not here."
"Is that so? What a shame."
The numerous silver threads spread across the ground lifted into the air.
"Die."
Just as Professor Elisha’s "web" was about to shoot toward Bishop Harris, he interrupted.
"Ah, don't be so hasty. There's still something I'd like to discuss with you."
"I don’t think there’s anything more to talk about."
"Ha ha. Is that so? I wonder if the villagers feel the same."
With a sinister smile, Harris’s face twitched, tendrils writhing around.
His relaxed posture made Professor Elisha frown.
"...What do you mean?"
"While you so carelessly spit out Lord Jackal’s blessing onto the ground, the other villagers gladly accepted it."
"...!"
Professor Elisha's eyes widened as she quickly turned her head.
Scattered across the tables were empty cider bottles.
"You...!"
Could it be that every drink the villagers consumed had been laced with that poison?
"Ha ha ha. Not just the cider—every food item used in the festival was laced with his blessing. It would be cruel if the children were left out of such a blessing just because they're too young to drink, don't you think?"
"W-Wait! What are you talking about?!"
Chief Oliver shouted in horror, his face pale.
"You promised not to harm the villagers if I did as you asked!"
"Yes, that was the promise. I remember it well."
"Then why... why did you poison the villagers' food?!"
"Hmm?"
Bishop Harris tilted his head, tendrils squirming around his face as he looked at Chief Oliver.
"Are you suggesting that the food containing Lord Jackal's blessing is 'poison'?"
Shrrrkk!
Tendrils wrapped around Chief Oliver’s body.
"Eek!"
In an instant, Chief Oliver was pulled toward Harris, who looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Listen carefully. Accepting Lord Jackal’s blessing is not a curse to the villagers. On the contrary, it's a gift."
"A-Ah..."
"You'll understand once you experience it yourself."
Snap.
With a smile, Harris snapped his fingers.
"Aaaahhh! P-Please, spare me...!"
Crack, crunch!
A sickening sound echoed as Chief Oliver’s entire body grotesquely swelled.
His torn skin sprouted red, sinewy muscle like budding plants, with sharp, fang-like teeth and claws emerging.
"Grrr... Grrrrrr."
In the blink of an eye, Chief Oliver had transformed into a demonic beast, letting out a ferocious growl.
"How does it feel? Isn't it much better than when you were human?"
Harris grinned, looking at the now monstrous Chief Oliver.
"Kyyaaaahhh!"
"T-The chief has turned into a demonic beast!"
"W-what? What’s happening?!"
The villagers were in a panic.
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Harris, watching the scene while chuckling, turned his gaze to Professor Elisha.
"Now you understand what's going on, right?"
"......"
Professor Elisha's eyes grew cold.
"How ridiculous."
"Really? But for something so silly, you seem rather shaken."
A smirk played at the corners of Harris's mouth.
"Doesn’t this remind you of the past?"
"......"
"A small village with fewer than 100 people... demonic beasts running rampant, the air thick with the smell of blood and the sound of screams."
The past.
A horrible hell that a certain girl had once endured.
That hell was about to unfold before her eyes once again.
"So, what will you do now? With just a snap of my fingers, all the villagers will receive the 'blessing' of Lord Jakal."
"......"
Elisha bit her lip as she watched Harris raise his hand in a show of defiance.
Even if she dealt with Harris quickly, there was no way to kill him before he could snap his fingers.
But neither could she simply submit to the demonic beast's demands.
"H-Hero…."
"Sniffle… Mom, am I going to turn into one of those demonic beasts too?"
"Don't worry, dear! The heroes will definitely save us!"
Despite their trembling, the villagers looked at Professor Elisha with eyes filled with a glimmer of hope.
"......"
Elisha turned her head away from them and took a step toward Harris.
"I told you. It’s a cheap trick."
"Oh?"
"A small village disappearing at the hands of a demonic beast is a 'common occurrence.'"
She spoke firmly, as if it were nothing, as if it didn’t matter.
"If you want to turn the villagers into demonic beasts, go ahead. I’ll kill you and everyone else."
"Hmm."
Had he not expected such a response?
Harris let out a low hum, furrowing his brow.
"N-no!"
"Hero! Please don’t abandon us!"
"N-noooo!!!"
The village was filled with screams of terror.
"......"
Without sparing the terrified villagers a glance, Elisha took another step toward Harris.
Her lips were clenched, and her fist tightened until it threatened to break.
"It’s... a common... occurrence."
Yes.
Just like what had happened decades ago to her.
One of countless, unremarkable tragedies.
So, there was no need to be sad.
It was common.
It happened everywhere.
She wasn’t the only one.
So, there was no need to grieve.
It wasn’t like some messiah was dying to save the world.
No one would care if these villagers turned into demonic beasts and met a miserable end today.
If human life had value, these villagers would be ranked last.
So, there was no reason to hesitate.
Killing Jakal’s underling here and now would, in the end, save more lives than desperately trying to save a handful of ignorant villagers.
It was the efficient, rational choice.
So. So. So.
"I…."
Blood seeped from her lips as she bit down harder.
Her clenched fist trembled.
Decades ago.
She remembered the day she had looked on helplessly as her village burned, a girl crying out in despair.
-Someone, please, help us! Our, our village!!!
No hero came to save the girl that day.
Today was no different.
Just as she prepared to charge at Harris, leaving the screaming villagers behind—
"There’s something I’ve never quite understood."
A quiet voice echoed in her ear.
"If it’s so common, does that make it less sad?"
"Candidate Dale…."
"Does getting hit hurt any less because a lot of other people get hit too?"
"Don’t be insolent."
Elisha shot him a sharp glare, but Dale simply smirked.
"The only one being insolent right now is you."
"What?"
"You're just trying to make it sound noble because you’ve given up on the villagers and want to take down one enemy."
"You…!"
Elisha’s face twisted in anger as she took a step forward.
[Listen to me carefully.]
Dale’s voice rang out in her head.
Surprised, she glanced at him.
He raised a finger to his lips and gave her a sly grin.
[Now, let me tell you how to deal with this 'common occurrence.']
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