DKVM Ch 38

Chapter 38

I clenched my fists and scrambled back to my feet.

Even if I couldn’t do anything about it, I couldn’t sit idly by.

And then it happened.

“Huh…?”

A bundle of rusty keys was dangling in front of me.

They were the keys to the cage that the guard had dropped on his way out earlier.

I looked up, startled, and saw a giant shadowy figure beyond the bars.

It was as tall…no taller than Dad.

Before me was a transparent form like a black slime that almost seemed to fill the cave.

It was the ‘it’ that had knocked the key from the guard’s waistband a moment ago.

I recognized it at a glance, even though I had never seen it before.

“…Is it you who’s been calling me all this time?”

This was the being that had called me with the unknown energy from the forest before.

The eyeless, noseless, mouthless thing hummed once, as if to answer me.

It pushed the bundle of keys further toward me.

‘It brought the keys for me.’

It certainly looked scary, but strangely enough, it didn’t feel dangerous.

I picked up the bundle of keys, looked at it, and forced my lips together.

“Thanks.”

I stared at it, and though it had no eyes, I felt like it was looking at me, too.

As if it was waiting for me to speak.

I asked it cautiously.

“Are you a spirit, then?”

And then it hummed again. It was the answer I expected.

Now I had to ask the most important question, and my mouth was dry just thinking about it.

I couldn’t decide how to respond, even though I had expected this response.

After a moment’s hesitation, I parted my lips, ready to answer.

“Do you….want to form a contract with me?”

Judging by its coloring and the place where it appeared in front of me, this was a dark spirit.

‘The book said that dark spirits only respond to demons and half-demons, which is why dark spirits are not viewed positively.’

The fact that I was mixed-race was not surprising.

Even if I had only one demon in my ancestry, I would have a small amount of demon blood running through my veins.

What I was afraid of was…

People around me may start to look at me coldly if they know about this.

That’s the reason I hesitated, no, why I continued to hold back, in forming a contract with this spirit.

The dark spirit stood still, waiting for my response, as if it had no intention of rushing me, despite its huge and frightening appearance.

As I realized this, I remembered something my dad once told me.

“It’s bad to judge someone by their race, because just like there are thieves and bad people among humans, there are good ones among demons.”

It was then that I understood.

I realize that my dad told me that for this very moment.

‘I’m afraid of that prejudice, and I’m not going to be one of those people who gets swept up in it.’

I will use my own eyes and feelings to make my own judgments.

I’ll trust in myself.

Resolved, I held out my hand to the spirit, who waited patiently for me.

“Then form a contract with me.”

The dark spirit stared at me for a moment, then placed a hand-or what seemed to be a hand-on top of mine.

In that moment.

A powerful force burst forth from our clasped hands.

* * *

A little while ago, on the outskirts of the western forest.

“Why go all out like this to kill a little kid? It’s a mess.”

“So, how about we let our new guy take over here? You can handle this on your own, right, rookie?”

The mercenaries were blocking a path on one side of the forest, snickering.

One of the men, who had been gazing out into the forest, frowned and silenced his companions with a gesture of silence with his index finger.

From the darkness of the forest, a figure approached, an adult male.

The lone, cloaked figure did not appear to be a Knight of Edelwein.

‘Is he a passerby gone astray?’

Normally, they would have killed anyone who might have been a witness, but the situation hadn’t yet gotten out of hand.

The rookie who had been teased by his superiors earlier spoke up.

“Hey, I think you’ve taken a wrong turn. Why don’t you go back that way, while I’m asking you nicely?”

But the man didn’t listen to him and continued to walk toward them.

The rookie’s face reddened at the utter dismissiveness.

“Is there something wrong with your ears? Get the h*ll out of here!”

The rookie even drew his sword.

But the man continued steadily closing the distance and spoke.

“…where?”

“You, you cowardly b*$t*rd, you don’t know what’s going on, and you’re talking-”

The rookie stopped, pointing his sword at the approaching man and cursing.

‘Oh…?’

In the blink of an eye, blood was flowing from the rookie’s freshly cut throat.

At that same moment, the rookie saw a sword in the arms of the man who held nothing moments before.

‘When did he pull out a sword…?’

What the h*ll…?

The rookie didn’t even have time to realize he was finished before he collapsed and died.

The mercenaries watching were momentarily frightened by the man’s speed, but then they charged in anger.

“Who are you, you b*$t*rd!”

The nine men ran at him all at once.

None of the mercenaries thought they would lose.

Nevertheless.

Sadly, the prediction was false, and a moment later, only one man stood there: the last of the mercenaries, the only survivor, with his legs slashed and his arm severed.

He who had been laughing a moment ago with his colleagues was silent.

The stench of blood was there.

A terrible pain shot through his entire body.

Everything about this situation became a deathly nightmare, weighing heavily on him.

He looked at the man standing there with horrified eyes.

‘F*ck, who is this guy…’

The men the inspector brought with him were all brawlers.

For one man to have slaughtered them so quickly, he was a monster.

As he struggled to find another suitable word to describe the man, his eyes locked with the monster as it approached him.

For the first time, the mercenary could see the face of the man who had slaughtered his companions.

With dazzling silver hair that looked like it had been cut from silver, and golden eyes that shone like the sun, the man could be described as beautiful.

But the blood splatters on his angelic face and youthful skin gave him an eerie atmosphere.

Dias looked at the terrified mercenary and raised his sword.

“A, aaack!”

The terrified mercenary’s scream echoed through the silent forest.

Fortunately, Dias’s sword didn’t find his throat, but the ground beside him.

The feel of the cool metal against his skin filled him with dread.

“Sp, spare me…”

As the mercenary pleaded in the face of impending death, he could finally hear the man’s words from a moment ago.

“Where is my daughter?”

* * *

‘This way.’

Rahel followed the footprints in the mud and thought back to what had happened earlier.

The men who had been targeting me had changed targets, snatched Vivian, and disappeared into the crowd.

Rachel could barely locate the kidnappers by asking passers-by around.

It was this place, a forbidden forest, that they headed for.

‘It’s a good thing it’s summer and the ground is wet.’

But even as she followed the footprints, Rahel knew.

There was no way Rahel’s opponent hadn’t seen the footprints.

‘They must have realized that and purposefully not erased them.’

It was to lure me in.

I couldn’t wait for the knights when it was so obviously a trap.

‘They are keeping Vivian breathing.’

A hostage is only as valuable while breathing, but if they get the wrong idea, they’ll just as easily break a finger or a leg.