Chapter 257 : Chapter 257
Side Story 16. Dejan Berger (2)
Leviar and I stood a good distance away, watching the villagers.
There was no need to hide our presence.
Not a single villager had trained mana.
‘It looks like they’ve all gathered…….’
Yet no one had stepped forward.
Even so, they were standing in perfectly ordered ranks as though receiving someone’s commands.
Considering that today was their first gathering, it was even more astonishing.
It did not feel as though they were under anyone’s spell, either.
‘There’s no explaining this.’
How was something like this possible? Even if they had received some sort of instructions or guidance beforehand, it was impossible for them to behave like this.
My certainty that the Demon King was involved in some manner only grew stronger.
I had heard that every Demon King possessed a unique authority.
I did not know which Demon King was connected to them, but I had a feeling it would be a far more troublesome type than the one from seven years ago.
In any case, what mattered now was the purpose of this gathering.
They would not have gathered on a mountaintop in the dead of night without reason.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to blend into the group. You absolutely must not open your mouth.”
A puppy that spoke human language would look suspicious to anyone.
“How about you leave me behind? Could you not tie the dog leash to a tree?”
“If you try to escape again, I feel like I might break something. I’m bringing you along for your own sake, so you won’t get that idea.”
At my words, Leviar tucked his tail down, his eyes dejected.
WHOOSH-
I lit a branch, held it in one hand as a torch, and slipped into the crowd of villagers.
So far, no one had taken an interest in me.
Some were speaking to one another, while others stared silently in different directions.
One thing was certain: none of them were normal.
I tugged the dog leash attached to Leviar, making him lightly bump into the person beside us.
I needed an excuse to naturally start a conversation.
“Excuse me. This fellow has not been properly trained yet.”
She was a woman in her twenties.
She turned her head slightly and looked back and forth between Leviar and me.
Then she spoke in a flat voice.
“You are a person lacking in faith.”
“What makes you say that?”
“And you brought a dog. That is not a serious attitude.”
“But there was no rule saying that dogs could not be brought here, was there?”
That was how I cautiously tested the waters.
No one had identified who was hosting this gathering.
In fact, even Cheonra had not uncovered that much.
The gathering itself was being conducted in utmost secrecy, so the other villagers had no idea about it.
The woman merely gave my question a strange look.
“Either way, you are not serious.”
Then she turned away again.
But I could not let the conversation end like this.
“What about you? Does that mean your faith is deeper than mine?”
“……Of course.”
There was not a shred of hesitation in her answer.
It was not simple confidence.
There was an air of conviction about her.
‘Because I brought a dog?’
That did not seem to be the case.
It might have been one circumstance by which she judged faith, but that alone could not have given her such certainty.
I could not explain it precisely, but it felt as though she could see through the difference in faith between us.
Just as I could judge an opponent’s swordsmanship at a glance.
I needed to confirm it.
“Then what about that man? How is he?”
I pointed to a middle-aged man standing in front of us.
He had been holding a torch with both hands, standing motionless for some time.
The woman looked at his back and spoke calmly.
“Of course, his faith is deeper than either of ours.”
Once again, there was not even the slightest hesitation in her answer.
“Do you know that man?”
“No.”
“Have you seen him in the village?”
“No.”
She answered as though it were nothing.
This was certainly not a normal situation.
I asked once more.
“Then what about that woman in the blue dress over there?”
This time, I pointed to a middle-aged woman standing almost at the very front.
She was so far away that it was difficult to recognize who she was or what she was doing.
“What is your intention in repeatedly asking questions like this?”
Only now did she begin looking at me with suspicious, wary eyes.
To hesitate at a time like this was something only a third-rate would do.
“I wanted to know whether you were answering correctly.”
As I spoke, I lightly imbued my voice with mana.
For someone who had not trained mana, it would have been an oppressive presence that was difficult to endure.
“Are you saying that you are testing me?”
Her reaction was better than I had expected.
Without answering, I merely gave her a faint smile of affirmation.
“……Y-yes, just as I thought.”
“Then answer me.”
She spoke in a trembling voice.
“Although I have never had the honor of seeing her, that lady must be a person of very deep faith. It will not be easy, but I hope that if I work hard, the day will come when I can stand in the front row like her. I think that someday, it will be possible.”
Her manner had become far more serious than before.
But.
‘The front row?’
For the first time, I had received a meaningful answer.
We were standing in the very last row of the gathering.
Based on my earlier questions, I could now understand what that meant.
The people gathered here were arranged according to the depth of their faith.
That explained how the villagers could find their places in such perfect order.
Of course, one important question still remained.
‘Then were their positions decided in advance?’
No.
It was impossible to find one’s position without any confusion if they had never coordinated beforehand.
Then there was only one conclusion.
‘They can tell just by looking.’
They could tell how deep another person’s faith was.
Just as the woman beside me had done the moment she saw me.
“Woof.”
Leviar barked.
He looked as though he had realized something.
There was only one entity capable of making all this order possible.
The Demon King.
An invisible link was now at work among these people.
I did not know exactly how it functioned, but it controlled the villagers’ minds and allowed them to recognize the relative depth of one another’s faith.
In any case, excluding Dejan Berger, I could now identify the person closest to the Demon King.
The very front of the gathering.
The person standing at the far left even there.
They had not taken any action yet and were merely standing amid the crowd, but there was a strong possibility that they were the most special one.
I called to the woman beside me again.
“Then let me ask just one more question.”
“W-why do you keep doing this to me? I am sorry for speaking carelessly about your faith. I only thought you were someone whose faith was lower than mine, so I acted arrogantly without realizing it. I truly did not know that you were the one who gives trials from the very lowest place.”
The fear I felt from her was just right.
I liked it very much.
“Just answer my question.”
“……Yes.”
“What do you think will happen here today? Just say whatever you think.”
“I-I do not know. All the voice conveyed to our hearts was that when the moon rose to its highest point, we would learn who it was that we served!”
“Woof!”
Leviar barked again.
It seemed he had figured something out for certain.
“Tell me. How much do you know?”
“What are you talking about?”
He was still playing dumb.
“I’ll allow you one escape attempt. Even if I catch you, I’ll let it slide.”
“Are you serious?”
“So you do know.”
“N-no, I do not!”
“Just tell me. I know far more than you think.”
The current Kalia was a world in which Demon Kings did not exist.
Naturally, Leviar assumed I did not know of their existence.
“What do you know?”
“A being on a level similar to dragons.”
“Come on, no way!”
“The villagers. Which Demon King stole their souls?”
The moment that word left my mouth, Leviar began coughing and stared at me with shocked eyes.
“What in the world are you, Young Master?!”
“This is what is wrong with dragons. You believe that only you know everything about the world.”
“That makes no sense! How do you know about something that does not even exist?”
“It does exist. The Demon King is working this hard to descend upon Kalia.”
“That is what I am asking! How do you know? If you do not give me a clear answer, I will not say a word either.”
Leviar was firmer than ever.
But I had one trump card for times like this.
“Master.”
“Yes?”
“My master told me. I do not know how he found out, either.”
“Oh, shit! That person you call your master! Is he even human?”
“Now it is your turn. Tell me everything you know.”
I threatened him by pulling on his leash.
“I will tell you, so loosen this. Cough, cough!”
“You would be better off talking instead of trying to think your way out of this.”
“I think it is the Demon King of Silence!”
In the end, Leviar revealed what he thought.
“That is an unusual epithet.”
“The method by which he is trying to descend into this world is exactly that of the Demon King of Silence. He does not reveal his identity from the beginning, and the way he controls the villagers’ minds is the same.”
“Is it among the stronger Demon Kings?”
“That is what I understand.”
“Compared to a Red Dragon?”
“Come on! You need to compare things that can be compared! Our Red Clan is...”
I should not have asked that.
He could not have answered objectively anyway.
“Either way, was Dejan Berger the medium that allowed that Demon King to control the people’s minds?”
“That is certain. Unless one is an Archmage, it is impossible to hear the Demon King’s first voice when there is not even a single connection to this world. That Archmage bastard likely became the Demon King’s subordinate and turned into that connection.”
“Then tell me what you think. What do you think will happen next?”
“As that woman said earlier, the fact that the Demon King of Silence will reveal his identity for the first time tonight means that preparations for his descent are complete to some extent. The most important thing in a descent is the faith of those who worship it, and is the scale of the people gathered here not considerable?”
“So?”
“After today, the Demon King’s control will grow even stronger. He will be able to exercise more of his authority in Kalia as well. But are you trying to prevent the Demon King’s descent, Young Master?”
Even if he successfully descended here, he would ultimately be destroyed by my hand.
But the best course was to prevent its descent before that happened.
“Something like that.”
“Then the method is simple. Kill all the villagers. After that, find the Archmage and finish cutting off the sprout.”
“Is there a way to deal with only the Archmage?”
“They are people whose minds have been corrupted while under the Demon King’s control. Is there any need to keep them alive?”
It was not that there was a need to keep them alive.
It was simply the right thing to do.
If not for Dejan Berger, they would have been living ordinary lives.