Chapter 111: The Scene of a Massacre (2)
“What do you think? Oh, right. You too… Ugh…”
Jorgal sighed and crumpled the papers I’d brought with without even looking at them.
‘I’ve been doing so research…’
My heart sank, but I swallowed hard. There was nothing I, a red-horn, could do.
After tossing the crumpled papers into the trash, Jorgal looked at and spoke up.
“Hey, did you hear that the new recruits assigned to the Southern Division went to the desert and ca back with a handful of sand?”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it, but…”
I scratched my neck and replied, having been punched in the back of the head by Jorgal for disrespect.
“It’s their first ti in the desert…assholes. If they’re going to the desert to bring back pieces of ‘otherworldly’ corpses, among many other things they should’ve done it properly instead of bringing sand everywhere.”
When I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say, it was best to smile. It was one of the survival tricks I’d learned.
“Hahaha, those are so funny guys.”
Overhearing my stuttering laughter, Jorgal hit over the head with a nearby stack of papers.
“Hey, asshole, you’re doing the sa thing. What, the hero reincarnated? You think you found him this ti? And all you got for your information was a piece of stone? And the three humans you took for travel expenses are already well on their way to your horns?”
He slaps on the head and throws a rock from his desk at .
It hits in the chest and ricochets off, and I catch it before it hits the floor.
“No… I was definitely sensing the hero aura……this is…”
I looked at the stone in my hand and tears welled up in my eyes.
I had definitely felt the aura of a warrior.
“Well… It’s my fault for listening to you so straightforwardly.
Jorgal sneered at enthusiastically. He was the one who asked to go on a business trip while I was quietly gathering information about the hero.
“Well, I’m afraid things are going to go a little wrong this ti… I need you to take over.”
“What? What do you an…?”
“What the hell, do you think I should be demoted because of your bullshit?”
He waved his hand in front of his face like he was telling to get lost.
‘Demoted…?’
I staggered back to my seat, my legs giving out with every step.
There was only one place I could get demoted to, the western branch, the branch near the Holy Land.
‘I heard they cut your head off for going to work there…’
I didn’t want to be decapitated at such a young age without ever blossoming.
I had a dream. The sa dream that all these assholes in this shithole have: black horns.
I’ve had people ask what kind of black horns I have in this shithole, where I’m not a demon, where I’m not fighting for my life with honor, where I’m treated like a piece of paper.
There was a legendary demon at the bottom of this pit. A legendary demon who grew black horns with just a stack of papers.
It was said that the number of humans he received as a reward was in the thousands.
They call him a legend because of his accomplishnts, but he is real. I believe he is currently serving on the staff of the Legionnaire.
He’s also the head of this organization, by the way.
I wonder if I’ll ever get to et him.
“Whoa…”
I sighed and organized the papers on my desk.
I had to save my life first and if I didn’t want to be demoted, I had to find out what I could.
I needed sothing much more tangible than ancient texts so I stared at the stone in my hand.
It seed to sense the faintest trace of the hero aura. More precisely, I suspected it was the energy of a holy sword.
In ancient texts, holy swords were said to have the power of the stars.
I placed the stone in the corner of my desk and pulled out a map, then I began to mark the map village by village.
Areas rumored to have seen teors falling out of nowhere. Since they were rumors, I had to filter them out a bit.
The teor was supposed to be a summoned holy sword and the stone fragnts were probably debris from the summoning.
Again, it was just a guess.
“At a rough guess…”
I circled a spot on the map where the markings I had made based on rumors were particularly clustered.
‘…around here.’
The ancient texts of the humans said that it was very difficult for the hero and the demon king to escape their ‘bonds’.
The demon king’s resurrection was decades away at best, so the hero hadn’t been reincarnated, or rather born, for that matter…
Perhaps he was still a child and in that state, he would be very easy to kill… and what better news for the soon-to-be resurrected Demon King.
Becoming a Black Horn wasn’t out of the question, if I could find him.
‘…Do I have to go through all the villages around here?’
As I was thinking about it soone walks by my desk and taps uncomfortably on the shoulder.
I frowned and turned to see Jorgal standing there with a sinister grin on his face.
“Hey…You’re working hard, aren’t you? I’m going ho first, because a pretty young lady who lives nearby is looking for …kihihihi…The one with the black horns…She must be in so kind of prestigious unit. She complinted on my intelligence, saying I’m not like her. I guess she liked . Ha-ha-ha!”
Jorgal laughs, then pats on the shoulder and walks away.
‘Assholes…How dare they mate in no man’s land.’
Bastards can do what they want, I guess.
Dozens of minutes have passed since Jorgal left.
I tried to concentrate, but it wasn’t that easy.
“Aah…That was…”
I couldn’t help but think about what Jorgal would do next since it had been a while since I held a woman.
“Ugh…”
I leaned back in my chair and looked up. On the other side of the room, there was another flurry of papers.
No matter what I do, I’m going to lose my mind in this place.
‘Let’s go outside and get so air.’
That sounded like a good idea, so I pushed myself to my feet. It was getting late, and unless I had the misfortune to run into so knights, nothing would happen.
I scrambled out of my chair, grabbed my coat, and headed for the building’s entrance.
As I step to the door, I hear a commotion from the doorway.
“Hey, asshole, identify yourself properly.”
“Oh, we’re related…”
The first voice was clearly that of the demon standing guard. I had seen his horns once before, and they were a dark red color, but he was a demon that could be said to be much stronger than .
‘Well, I wonder how many demons in this building are weaker than …’
He was a good-natured guy, so how could he be so angry?
‘I was a little… Stupid.’
I peeked around the corner and saw a dark-haired man was being held back by the guard.
“So don’t show that weird black thing, show your horns or sothing!”
“No, don’t you think I don’t know the rules of this floor? From the mont I set foot in this building, I’m not allowed to show my horns.”
The man being held up was right but I didn’t recognize him either.
Most of all, I noticed the white bandages around his eyes so he might be blind.
As far as I could rember, there were no bandaged…blind demons. It was a completely unfamiliar face.
At least he knows the rules…maybe he’s new.
“Hey, is there a problem?”
I asked politely as I approached them before the commotion grew any louder.
The guard gestures with his free hand at the man clutching his fist.
“I’ve never seen him before…He showed this weird black liquid and asked if he could pass, and then I asked him to show his horns, and he didn’t, isn’t he human?!”
“Of course you’ve never seen before…I’m new here…”
The man struggled to breathe as the guard lifted his arm in excitent.
“Now, now… Just calm down for a second…”
I say, holding up my palm, and the grumpy security guard thankfully relents.
“C’mon… Phew… Whoa… Thank you.”
The man smiles at as he catches his breath. But it wasn’t over yet.
Even though there were countless demons here whose nas even I couldn’t recognize, his features were all too recognizable.
‘He knew the rules…It ans he’s new…’
I opened my mouth as I approached the man who claid to be a newcor.
“That…You said you’re new, but what’s the black liquid?”
“Oh, that’s…”
Soon, sothing like a slimy black droplet erupted from the bandaged man’s finger and moved around.
I wonder what this is.
The darkness of the energy was similar to that of a demon, but sothing was different.
As I stare at it wide-eyed and silent, the bandage man explains.
“…It’s because I have a bit of experience with spirits.”
“Spirits… You an dark spirits…?! No, I an, why did you co here instead of going to the combat unit…?”
Elentalists were rare among demons and one was supposed to be on the elite course to beco one, but why did he co to this pit?
“Well… there was sothing that happened. It’s a family matter…”
“Ahhh… I see.”
From the look on his face, it was clear that he was demoted.
He was entrusted with the task of gathering information when he couldn’t even look at the docunts. Still, it didn’t hurt to make a connection with an elentalist.
The guard still seems to be a little out of the loop, so maybe I should help him out here.
“By any chance, when you were assigned this ti, you were given a card or sothing…? Do you have the card you got when you ca in, the thin one?”
I stumbled over my words unintentionally, but I was quick to catch myself.
“Uh, card… I do.”
The bandaged man quickly pulls a card from his arm and hands it to .
The security guard looks at it in wonder, as if he’s never seen one before but it was a device for identification on this floor.
‘Wait a minute, is this the first ti the guard has seen this?’
…I figured he must have been stupid and forgotten.
“Here, if I infuse magick into this…”
I showed the guard the card and inserted magick on it. I didn’t need to show the man in the bandages, as he was blind.
The guard, who had read the card, let out an “Oooh!” and clapped his hands. Then releases the man’s grip and pats him on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, Jorgal.”
“Haha, no problem.”
The man in the bandages smirked as he straightened his own collar.
Overhearing their conversation, I quickly flipped the card over to see what it said.
Jorgal, that’s what it said.
It was a very familiar na.
‘Didn’t Jorgal just… go outside…?’
At least this smiling man in front of was definitely not Jorgal. But why, and for what purpose, is this man pretending to be him?
And where is the real Jorgal?
I felt goosebumps all over my body as I realized the uncomfortable truth.
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