My Childhood Friend the Demon Knight Hates Me - Episode 23: Elucidation
23 Elucidation
Translator: Lioness
Editor: Arya
“Bringing a dead person back to life? It’s never going to work.”
“But it might be successful, right?… it’s worth trying for me.”
The man ruffled and scraped his hair like his movements displayed he wanted to see and meet Li again. The behaviour just now was strangely seductive and felt a bit similar.
I wonder if Li was his … deceased lover, then after asking myself, I couldn’t help but to glance at Marina.
As if he was able to hear what I was thinking, the man laughed and said, “Li is my sister.”
“Do you listen to her? I’m feeling really good today. It’s been a long time since I’ve talked to someone like this, without pretending to be something I’m not. I’m really enjoying this.”
Apparently, demons were intoxicated by the moonlight.
The man seemed to be filled with elation, almost unbounded, perhaps due to the moonlight above.
However, between his devilish, cruel and malevolence expression, he still displayed his human intelligence, which made him a fugitive.
I was strangely attracted by his imbalanced personality, but then I found myself listening to the low and pleasant voice of this man who seemed to penetrate my mind easily.
“My parents died early, and we were the only siblings. You know, Li was an apostle of the church. She longed to be a Spirit Princess. She wanted to be chosen one day and meet the Queen of Spirits. Unlike her brother, who had no spiritual power, she was an excellent spirit user and got along well with the spirits of light. She used to show me around.”
“I can’t see them anymore. They were beautiful, with colours on their wings,” he said, reminiscing the past with his invisible eyes.
Then I was convinced, “Oh.”
The spirits of light, in the form of small birds. When was the last time you saw them dance a mourning dance for the dead, was it for … this man’s sister, Li?
The words by the Spirits of Light, “He is trying to do something that’s bad for him.” That means ‘he’ referred to the man in front of me, and ‘that child’ was surely Li-san.
The spirits of light must have been able to figure out what this man was trying to do, since they knew him from the very beginning. And that was the reason why they came to rely on me, the spirit princess.
Also, it seemed that the man still had his vision when Ms. Li was still alive.
The spirits also said earlier, “Save him.” … I’m not in the position to save him, by any means of my imagination.
“But my sister’s dream did not come true. My sister is already dead. She was killed.”
“Murdered…?”
“Murdered by those bunch of crazies who had misplaced their grudge against the church. Even with the help of the spirits, I couldn’t save her. Li was attacked and killed without my knowledge, just for the reason of being an apostle of the church.”
I had never heard of such a bloody incident before, while living in a country estate which was far from the royal capital. I wondered if Roa-kun knew about what this man said. Even if he did, it was not something he would want to talk about. Or maybe the church didn’t want him to talk about it.
And … I don’t think such incidents were rare.
I’m doubtless there must be plenty of disasters that caused those unreasonable grudges. Even without the involvement of demons, humans were capable of being more cruel than things demons had done.
“The people who killed her were caught and punished as they should have been in the first place. She was the only victim. The incident ended with her sacrifice. If this country had the blessings of the Queen of Spirits, why didn’t the Queen plan to abolish those kinds of people before they even have time to commit their crimes? How could such a tragedy happen? She worshipped the Queen so much! Why won’t she save her?!”
Suddenly, the man became furious.
This was not the wailing of a demon, but of a person – of a man who lost his precious sister due to injustice.
The man’s voice echoed like a thunder inside the warehouse.
The Spirit Queen may be revered like a god in this country, but she was not a god. Even if you were a god, you can’t save a person from death.
I’m certain the man knows about that.
Even though he knows that, he couldn’t help but shout…
You would find lots of people who were also looking for the particular way to achieve perfect results. The man’s face, which was white due to the moonlight, looked very painful. But in the blink of an eye, his painful face quickly turned into a taut smile.
“After losing Lily, I left this country while spending my days feeling numb all over. But then someone who claimed to be a demon hunter reached out to me. He told me he had a way to bring back the dead back to life. He said he could do it if I paid him a reasonable price, so I made a contract with him, and obtained the demon’s power.”
“The price…”
“The price I paid for my contract with the demon was my eyesight ‘up front’ and my soul after death. It’s not that big of a price. If I can put my faith in the possibility of seeing Li again…”
Was the man’s reason for not seeing the world again was the price of his contract with the devil?
I shook my head filled with confusion.
I wonder —- why.
Why did I think of the … Wraith here?
“I’m grateful to the Wraith. He taught me everything, even how to perform the ritual. I’ve heard that some people are possessed by a demon that they don’t want to be possessed by, but … I chose to be possessed by a demon. The demon gave me hope to live. It’s so much more wonderful and precious to me than the Spirit Queen.”
It is true that if a faint light was dropped on a lonely wandering sea of night, no matter how unstable the light was, people would have no choice but to rely on it.
He was grieving in despair over the loss of his only sister, and the only light he could grasp was the hand of the demon hunter.
A corner of my mind creaked slightly at the thought.
It was not a good idea to take pity on those people who were not…even worth it.
Whatever the reason or situation, what he was trying to do was unacceptable and would cost the lives of people who were not even involved in the matter.
“The full moon is tomorrow night. There’s one more night before the ritual. I just came here to check the sacrifices I had, but I’m glad I could talk to you. Maybe I’ve always been a person who wanted someone to hear everything from me …. Oh, but.” Once again, the man’s demeanour fluctuated between demonic and the human aura.
The man squatted down to face me.
“Ten people are needed for the sacrifice. Not too many, but exactly the right number. Either you or Marina will be needed for tomorrow’s ritual. Which one shall I pick?”
“You do want to settle this peacefully… right?”
“That’s a difficult question. Well, no matter. We’ll just have to decide tomorrow…for now, go to sleep.”
He opened his palm and a black butterfly appeared out of nowhere whilst fluttering its venomous wings in front of me.
I wanted to look away from it, but I couldn’t.
Even though the Queen’s blessings made it difficult for me to fall for being a prey to the demon’s magic, this black butterfly was enough to knock me unconscious again. The thought of no help arriving and waking up in the middle of a ritual … sent shivers down my spine.
I don’t want to do this. I’m scared. I don’t want to go to sleep.
However, my consciousness was slowly fading away.
It’s really been a mess since I was chosen to be a Spirit Princess.
It was great that I got to know Roa-kun and Marina-san, but I got caught up in an incident like this. It’s no wonder I’m such a nuisance.
… I haven’t seen my childhood friend in a long time, and I don’t really know him now.
What would he be thinking about? I was kidnapped and so he might be a little impatient? Not just because he is my knight … are you perhaps worried about me, who is a spirit princess?
I don’t know.
I’m afraid of what I don’t know.
In the end, I can’t step into his shoes because I’m afraid to face the frustratingly unclear part.
I don’t know why I thought of him, all I know is, right now, I only want to hear his voice calling my name, just like the old days.
My brain was hazy, and I couldn’t think clearly.
Lots of random things swept up in my mind and disappeared.
—- And then, just as I was about to lose my consciousness.
With the sound of the door opening vigorously, he desperately called “Suria!” The moment I heard his …voice calling my name desperately, tears unknowingly flowed out right from my eyes.