Translator: Nox

45 - Marquis Maron

Episode 45

The original work only stated, 'A Demon emerged from the Contaminated Zone,' without explaining how or why it happened.

I gathered Magical Energy at my fingertip.

Creating a small vortex like the ones that rushed toward me, I condensed it smaller and smaller. Like a Magical Energy bullet made as a joke, saying that if there's a gun, there must be bullets.

I kept rotating it slowly. When it grew in size, I condensed it smaller, and then wrapped it with Magical Energy again.

At first, I had to create and rotate the Magical Energy vortex one by one, but soon the bullet gained centripetal force and began to absorb Magical Energy on its own, spinning around.

Smaller, even smaller.

More, stronger.

Cold sweat poured down like rain. That was the limit of what I could control. If I indulged in Magical Energy any more, I felt like I would lose consciousness while standing, so I stopped condensing Magical Energy.

The Magical Energy that had been spinning slowly stopped. The vortex of Magical Energy that had been gathering around also lost direction and scattered like mist.

Still, a small lump of Magical Energy remained at my fingertip.

It was much smaller than the bullet I had made at first, but it contained a much stronger power. The amount of Magical Energy that collided and gathered inside was equal to the amount flowing in a radius of 100 meters.

Ah, enlightenment came.

"A Magic Core."

I had created a Magic Core.

The Magic Core that had turned Selbon's Holy Knight into a monster.

It was also the seed of the Demon that would massacre hundreds of people while roaming the rural villages of Kasnatura across the Floodwood at the beginning of autumn.

In the afternoon, I returned to Maron Keep and went into my office. Then, like a lord, I ordered Fatima to bring Doraji, saying I had something to say.

Fatima chuckled and brought Doraji.

"Why did you call me? Do you know how busy I am these days? Farming isn't as simple as you think. Hayley, who spends every day playing and eating in the keep, wouldn't know..."

"Doraji."

"What?"

"How were you alive?"

"What are you talking about again?"

Doraji frowned and came inside. As if planning to hear only the business and leave, the little hands were wearing gardening gloves.

I grabbed the small hand, regardless of whether it dropped dirt in my room, and pulled it toward me.

"Tell me. All the other Dryads are dead. Do you remember how much we wandered around this forest because we thought your companions might be alive?"

"Yes, I remember."

Doraji's face darkened instantly.

Doraji said that it was a baby Spirit, not long after being born, when this land was stained with Contamination. So Doraji believed that the great tree Spirits who had lived much longer than Doraji would all be alive somewhere.

Of course, we couldn't find any.

"They're all dead, so how were you alive? For a hundred years. In that water."

What flowed in the canyon was the water of the Dark Lake. The place where we first met was a river of Magical Energy that had turned black due to Contamination.

My Doraji, being a newborn baby Spirit, had endured for a hundred years in it.

"How would I know that? What's certain is that if it weren't for Hayley, I would still be a tree root stuck in that Contaminated water, living while being swept away by the whirlpool."

"...Whirlpool?"

"Yes?"

"Whirlpool? Ah, was that it? Could it be?"

"Yes?"

"Aha, I guess that's it."

"What, what's wrong with you? You sound like a crazy person, so stop talking to yourself and explain properly."

"That water where we first met. There was a whirlpool in it, right?"

"Of course. Do you know how rough the canyon riverbed is? The flow is fast, but the bottom is uneven..."

"Doraji."

I took out the Magic Core I had made earlier and showed it to Doraji in front of the eyes. The bead-like black Magic Core floated in the air.

Doraji asked.

"What's this ominous thing?"

"A Magic Core."

"Now you're really doing all sorts of things... What are you going to be when you grow up?"

"I can make a Demon with this?"

"You son of a bitch!"

My Doraji slapped my hand as if catching a cockroach. Thanks to that, the Magic Core I had floated in the air flew away and crashed into a flowerpot. It was a rosemary flowerpot that I had found in the Purified garden a while ago and happily dug up.

My rosemary.

"......"

The Magic Core instantly went inside and disappeared.

Doraji asked in horror.

"Oh shit, what do we do? So, is it going to become a Demon now? What happens when rosemary becomes a Demon? Do carnivorous plants or witches' vines grow?"

"How would I know that! Then why did you throw it!"

"Why is it my fault! Why did you make such a hideous thing! Why did you put it in front of my face!"

"To show you! It's amazing! I did it because it was amazing! I wondered if you had gone through a similar process in the water before you met me!"

"...Yes?"

Doraji suddenly stopped shouting as if having a great realization and looked at me.

"Hayley."

"Uh-huh."

"Am I a Demon?"

I couldn't answer the question with a definite 'yes' or 'no'. Still, I could be sure of one thing. That Doraji wouldn't be an ordinary Dryad.

So I hesitated. I wondered if I should lie.

If my Doraji said that living without knowing anything was happiness, I could have lived my whole life lying to Doraji that it was an ordinary Dryad.

"Please tell me. I really want to know what kind of being I am."

But my Doraji was much stronger, more sensible, and an awesome Spirit than I thought.

"Okay."

I told Doraji the results of my speculation.

"You're probably a Spirit who almost became a Demon."

"What is that?"

"Maybe half Spirit, half Demon."

Just like Reikart did in the original work.

"Let's assume that the Magic Core that occurred naturally in that whirlpool was very slowly Demonizing you for a hundred years. That's why you might not have died. Fortunately, I found you before it was too late, and saved you before you became a complete Demon."

"That's ridiculous."

Doraji took off the gloves. Then, Doraji put a hand on the forehead and muttered.

"I thought I was the only normal one in this Demon Keep..."

There's no way. I said that with a grin, and Doraji pinched my side.

On the day of the Demon Bridge completion ceremony, Maron Keep was in a festive mood.

Although the population was only about twenty people, we, who liked to have all the trimmings, each packed food and went to the canyon. Then, we watched the last rope knot being tied on site.

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

"Civilization! Let's go to the city!"

How long have you been living here to become primitive people as a group?

I carefully planted the rosemary I had picked from the flowerpot in my room in front of the Demon Bridge.

"Oh my, Lord. Why are you planting herbs here? If you put them in the courtyard, I can grow them and use them for cooking."

"This is not for eating."

"Why? Did you raise it too preciously?"

"No, I feel like I'll die if I eat it."

Fatima tilted her head. Still, I didn't explain why.

Goodbye, rosemary.

I've only spent a few nights with you after swallowing the Magic Core, but I don't want to dream about a man-eating plant growing like a building by my bedside and eating me anymore.

Eat any intruders who might appear here and live.

Reikart appeared, pulling a wagon. He sat in the driver's seat, held out his hand to me, and asked.

"Shall we start now?"

"Okay."

The way to check if the Demon Bridge was strong was simple.

"Giddy up!"

It was to cross it directly by wagon.

Reikart and I laughed like villains and crossed the Demon Bridge. Then, we headed to Enif, the trading city of Kasnatura.