Chapter 284: Chapter 248: Nicholas (1)

[ Fallen’s Seal: Transformation ]n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

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Currently stored Devil’s Aura

Purple Devil ( 95% )

Brown Devil ( 5% )

Blue Devil ( 100% )

Red Devil ( 5% )

White Devil ( 0% )

C̵̡̹̖̙̭͖̈́͐¾̸̧̥̬͈͇̹̘͕̠̮̩̙̎ð̸̞͖̋¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̵̨̛̠̟̲͔̟̔̍͛̈́°̶̨̙̠͆͋̔͛̒̀̾̆̉̏̕³̶̟̝̙͔̥̖̯̠̒̈̋̃̇̾̃̽̆̅͊͆̋̋ ( 0% )

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“...Hm.”

Nice.

At the very least, I got Blue Devil’s Demonic Aura full thanks to the spar with Riru.

This basically meant I got what I wanted, pretty much.

My goal was to at least fill up four Demonic Auras since that should be the minimum condition for me to be able to deal with any situation rather safely.

[You’re halfway there then? You should get enough from those Cardinal Humans sisters, no?]

“...It’s a little bit different with them…”

I replied while looking at the 95% number attached to Purple Devil’s Demonic Aura’s gauge.

You see, I could only use the Devil’s Demonic Aura if that number reached 100%. That had always been the case, or at least, I had never experienced otherwise ever since the explanation about the Seal was partially disclosed to me.

Though, I didn’t know why this one stopped at 5%...

[ The higher the Devil’s Vessel's favorability level towards you, the easier it is to collect Demonic Aura! ]

[ Low favorability level will spawn some difficulties in the collection process! ]

As I was questioning that, such a window popped up, making me narrow my eyes.

Was this why it only capped at 95%?

…Which means, the problem isn’t with Seras.

It was because Victoria’s favorability level towards me was low…

[So, have you found the problem?]

“...I think it’s because Victoria doesn’t like me very much.”

[Seduce her, then.]

“...”

[She’s a woman and she’s a Devil’s Vessel. All you need to do is just to go for it.]

This guy talked about getting someone to deeply love me was something as easy as breathing…

[So, can you do it or not?]

“...Of course…”

[...]

“I mean, it isn’t difficult, it’s just… She doesn’t even want to show up in my presence lately, you know…?”

Ever since the time when she ended up sucking my finger, she always ran away every time it seemed like she’d run into me.

If I wanted to get along with her, I had to meet her first, of course, but…

“Ah.”

As I was deep in thoughts like that, suddenly…

A very unpleasant voice entered my ears.

“Found you.”

An innocent sounding voice.

I’d believe it if someone who didn’t know him would perceive him as someone naive.

However, someone with a better perception would definitely feel an ominous feeling creeping up their skin at the unknown ‘twistedness’ beneath his voice.

When I turned my head around,someone with droopy eyes—which made him look as if he was a little sleepy, was approaching me with slow steps, befitting his voice.

His hair was black, his eyes red, add those to his pretty face, anyone would mistake him for a young noble.

“I'm Count Nicholas. Nice to meet you.”

“...”

This wasn’t the first time someone approached me in this way.

Marquis Riverback back in Chapter 1 had done the same. He tried to trap me by acting like he coincidentally ran into me.

This fucker was similar to him. He didn’t lose out to him when it came to the danger level he brought.

They both also threw themselves at me even though I didn’t want to meet them at all.

“I’ve been looking for you. The Academy has been hindering me, so I’ve had quite a hard time.”

But, the difference here was…

Compared to Marquis Riverback who was hiding his insidious intentions, this fucker wasn’t the type to do so. Instead, he’d shamelessly show it around like this.

“Let's talk, Dowd Campbell.”

Seeing how he said that while yawning, he didn’t seem to expect me to say no at all.

To be exact, rather than not expecting me to say no, he was prepared to drag me by ‘force’.

“I have a tempting offer for you.”

“...”

This part wasn’t a trap, I could tell this much. He wasn’t the type to be up to something like that in the first place.

However…

If I were to follow this punk, I’d be forcing myself to go through an unpleasant experience.

…Haa.

But still…

I replied to him coolly with a smile plastered on my face.

“...Color me interested, then.”

Since he came to me without any hesitation like this, I couldn’t help but respond to him.

●

[...So, this is the guy who has killed the most people in the Empire?]

Yeah. Seriously though, how could such a high-ranking noble could live with a terrible nickname like Slaughterer?

Normally, having such a terrible nickname would bring a huge disgrace to one’s family, so any sane noble would deny that nickname using whatever it cost.

However, this person ain’t sane. He wouldn’t give a shit even if that was his official nickname.

Calling him a freak wouldn’t cut it anymore, he was just straight up a crazy bastard.

[...He looks barely over twenty. Also, he looks like a slightly depressed handsome guy instead of a lunatic…]

That’s why everyone falls for it.

This bastard…

Was a scum. The only person who could be compared to him in terms of being a trashy person was the Holy Land’s Pope.

As I mulled over such information, we walked inside Elfante under the setting sun.

Our walk was quiet, the cool breeze that tickled my ears felt pleasant.

If only this fucker beside me wouldn’t say something so unpleasant the very next moment…

“First, I want to apologize.”

“Sorry?”

“I wanted to be courteous, but I don’t have much patience, so I’ll be getting right to the point.”

…As expected from the bastard who suddenly came to me without hesitation, his pretentious act was something else.

While I was sighing inwardly, Count Nicholas continued.

“There’s something I’m looking for and I think you’re keeping it around you.”

He said so before holding out a paper filled with facial composites of people and written rewards.

It was a wanted poster issued by his household. As for the people he was looking for—

[...Hey, aren’t they—]

…Yeah. There's no way I’d mistake their faces for anyone else’s.

The facial composites were drawn roughly, but I could clearly tell who they were.

Seras and Victoria in their Beastkins shape.

“Uh, it’s a little hard to explain, but… If you take off their tails and ears, are there people who look like this around you…?”

There are.

Both of them, in fact.

“Who knows, I can’t be sure just by looking at this.”

“Is that so? I clearly heard from the rumors that there are people who look exactly like this loitering around you.”

“...With all due respect, Count, may I know why you're looking for them?”

Count Nicholas tilted his head.

His expression suggested that he was wondering why I was asking the obvious.

“Slaughterer… That’s the name that people call me.”

He replied in a blank voice.

“I didn't get that nickname for no reason. Isn't it obvious what I'm going to do once I find them?”

“...”

I could feel rage bubbling up from the bottom of my stomach.

Even though he was talking about killing those two, he didn’t even blink an eye.

“...I want to hear your reason.”

At the very least…

I wanted to know what his motive was exactly. The reason why he came to me at this time and asked me directly to give them to him.

“Are Cardinal Humans not similar to humans? Save for their race that—”

“...Pardon me?”

He suddenly interjected in a slightly stunned voice.

His face still looked blank. With the same sleepy expression, he—

“...Do we have to consider those things humans?”

—Uttered such nonsense.

At that moment, I could feel chill running throughout my body.

“While there are a lot of humans who got deceived by their looks and are holding such a wrong perception about these things, it doesn’t change the fact that they’re merely pests. They’re unqualified to live in the same space as the Imperial citizens who naturally possess the perfect genes.”

This wasn’t the first time I’ve heard of this sort of thing.

That was exactly the ideology of the bastards who had put the world into the pit of war back in my previous world.

Eugenics, racism, the Holocaust, genocide.

Those lunatics supported such an insane ideology.

Count Nicholas wasn’t any different. Even though he was spewing out such crazy delusions, his eyes were very clear.

Only people who were completely sure that they had been doing the right thing throughout their life could have eyes like that.

Eyes that were filled with so much positivity towards oneself.

In other words…

…He’s a fucking lunatic.

It was the sign of a sickening and deeply diffused fanaticism.

This fucker believed that ‘exterminating’ countless Cardinal Humans was the right thing to do.

No, to him, it was more than that.

Because his expression suggested that it was a ‘natural thing to do’.

It was obvious that he had never even thought of whether this was good or bad.

‘The Cardinal Humans are not humans’. ‘They're almost like pests, like cockroaches or mosquitos’.

‘So, ‘exterminating’ them is a natural thing to do’.

That was his logic.

[...This bastard, what the fuck is he on about?]

Caliban said so in a dark voice from inside the Soul Linker.

This was the first time I’ve ever heard him talking in this kind of tone.

‘Killing intent’ that could make my spine tense up was condensed in his voice.

Back when he met the Red Devil, he hadn’t even exuded such a terrifying vibe.

[That's the reason he killed them all? For that absurd reason?]

Of course, this fucker in front of me couldn’t feel what I felt.

So, he went on and said something that made me blind with rage just from hearing it.

“It's my mission to exterminate all of those pests so that they won't end up harming the Empire. The reason why I came to you and asked you is because I believe you’d understand how honorable this work is.”

“...”

If I were to think cool-headedly,

The best course of action for me was to control my temper here.

“You don't have to worry. If they're not Cardinal Humans, I’ll send them back to you immediately.”

“...And what if they are?”

“Of course, I’m going to execute them after torturing them in all possible ways. I’ll make them suffer the most pain a being could suffer from as a payback for them daring to deceive you, an honorable Imperial citizen. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“...”

Controlling my temper here as the best course of action…

“Especially these… Two things...”

As I thought so while looking at Nicholas, he swept his forehead with an expression as if thinking about them had irritated him enough.

I knew I shouldn’t cause trouble here, but…

“During the extermination, their parents were the strongest Cardinal Humans I had ever met. When I asked them where they hid their children—while mashing each of their limbs, of course, they refused to answer me until the end.”

“...”

“I had set the whole village on fire and killed every single one of these pests regardless of gender and age, but I missed these two things. Guess that wasn’t my lucky day, huh?”

The way he said those words was as if he was complaining about having a breakfast that he disliked.

“Since they were both children at the time, I figured using the dead bodies of their parents as bait would work, so I hung up their heads in the square, but those things weren’t fooled by that.”

“...”

“Usually, young Cardinal Humans would run out crying, crying out mom, dad, and whatever, you know? I’ve caught and killed plenty of them by doing that.”

“...”

“But I guess children of the strong ones are different. Their survival skill is rather tenacious. Crazy, isn’t it?”

This fucker was the person with the highest authority in the Upper Nobles Association, just below Marquis Bogut and his secretary, Count Ravel.

Since I was related to both the Empress and the Chancellor, the moment I messed with him, it would turn into a huge incident that would lead straight to a civil war.

There was also a high chance that the main villain in the next main scenario was this punk. Coming at him right now would only raise the probability of everything going in a bad direction, unlike when it was with the Pope.

The best thing for me to do was to wait for a bit and make sure that I was prepared enough to mash this punk. That time would surely come.

“...”

That would be the best thing for me to do…

I fucking knew that, but…

Caliban.

[... Yeah.]

Caliban replied in a voice that sounded as if he was laughing.

Right…

I guess since he had known me for so long, we were on the same wavelength.

[We’ll be calling them then?]

Yes, please.

As we were having such a conversation, Count Nicholas rolled the facial composites he was holding out to me and put it back into his inner chest pocket.

Even after that, he still spewed out his insane ramblings.

“Too bad that you don’t know them. Those things are so persistent, I need to catch them as soon as—”

“Count Nicholas, I'm sorry to interrupt you.”

I said while grinning.

“But would you shut up?”

“...”

Hearing that, he instantly shut his mouth.

It felt as if his blank expression had turned even more blank.

“...What?”

“Nothing, it’s just...”

I replied, throwing an even wider grin at him.

And then…

The Seal on my chest shone in deep blue.

[ Using ‘Blue Devil's Demonic Aura! ]

[ Copying Target’s Authority, ‘Pulverization’! ]

“I don’t even want to hear your last words.”

The next moment…

My fist, wrapped in Blue Demonic Aura, hit Count Nicholas straight in his face.