Chapter 85 : Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Western Noble Coalition (3)

The leader of the Western Noble Coalition, Rodos La Roche.

His territory, Salbaron, was located even further west than Manoa, relative to the imperial capital.

If you kept heading west along this path, you’d eventually reach Myeolji.

As soon as the sun rose, I finished my preparations, bid farewell to Duke Renwood with a promise to visit again, and set off for Salbaron.

Entering Salbaron was easy.

The guards didn’t scrutinize newcomers closely.

“Salbaron is a land of opportunity. The Marquis doesn’t stop outsiders from coming here. Humans, elves, fairies, beastmen! It’s a place where everyone can live. If they wanted, even demons could probably live here!”

“Are there demons living here?”

“Haha, just a joke. Truth is, there aren’t even elves or fairies. Even if we say they’re welcome, they don’t want to live alongside humans. But there are a few beastmen living here, you know?”

It was surprising to hear that non-human races, rarely seen in the Empire, lived here.

Judging by the rough-looking guards, it seemed they allowed anyone into the territory but implied that troublemakers would be expelled.

The inside of the city was lively.

I had thought Salbaron, being west of Manoa, might be rural, but I was wrong.

A marquisate was still a marquisate—roads and buildings were well-maintained.

The urban infrastructure, comparable to what you’d find in Adjak Autonomous Region’s single-digit districts, was far better established in this noble territory of the Empire.

Salbaron was filled with endless laughter.

Since it was early, I explored the market instead of the taverns.

“The fish look fresh. You’re quite far from the sea, aren’t you?”

“Oh, absolutely! The Marquis doesn’t impose taxes on outside merchants, so they always stop here first! These fish were caught just yesterday. Looking for anything specific?”

“There seem to be a lot of fruit stalls here. Isn’t the competition tough?”

“Oh, not at all. The Marquis is a vegetarian, so any unsold fruit gets bought up by the marquis’s castle! There’s no shortage of people following his example and going vegetarian either.”

Rodos La Roche’s popularity among market vendors and customers alike was sky-high.

Every conversation seemed to end with praise for the Marquis, almost like brainwashing.

‘It doesn’t feel like mind control, though… Is he just that well-respected?’

The more I gathered information while exploring, the more I heard only stories that dispelled my suspicions about Rodos.

All I heard were praises that a demon would never receive.

So what was that murky energy I saw near his heart through [Ghost Eye]?

It kept nagging at me.

Last night, I had contacted Nofen to ask about Rodos.

- I checked with the agents handling the Empire, and his reputation’s pretty good! They call him the most frugal noble.

Even Nofen’s explanation lacked any negative remarks.

Humble, frugal, not acting high and mighty despite being a marquis, and apparently, he personally went out to listen to his people’s voices at least once every three days.

- Any suspicious rumors? Like someone running a territory for centuries?

- Nope. The Marquis’s upbringing is transparently documented. He’s got a lot of fans, so there are plenty of childhood photos of him too.

Not a single thing matched the doubts I held.

I was starting to think I might have been mistaken when Nofen sent me one cryptic piece of information.

- But… they say he doesn’t keep a single servant in the marquis’s castle?

“What does that mean?”

- The knights and administrators all commute, so there’s not a single servant staying in the castle at night. He’s already known for being frugal, but it’s a bit odd. There’s even some suspicion he’s a pervert because of it, but he hasn’t bothered to explain.

It was definitely strange.

To resolve my doubts, I wanted to find out what this highly respected Marquis was up to at night.

I unpacked the goods I had bought at the market one by one, waiting for the sun to set.

* * *

The sun went down, and darkness fell.

I began climbing the outer wall of the marquis’s castle slowly.

Fortunately, there were no torches or magical devices emitting light on the wall.

But since the city surrounding the castle was bustling with people even late at night, I moved cautiously.

To avoid being detected, I wedged my toes into the gaps between stones and gripped the bricks with my hands as I scaled the castle.

I was careful to make no sound or leave any trace of my intrusion.

I had already activated [Ghost Eye].

With it, I peered through the castle as if it were transparent, scanning for the colors of life inside.

‘Not even a single rat? That’s definitely strange.’

Even though this world had developed magic instead of science, its living standards weren’t the same as Earth’s.

Even well-maintained inns often had rats scurrying about.

Yet in Rodos’s castle, not a single rat was in sight.

The problem was that I still couldn’t pinpoint Rodos’s location.

Was he in the towering spire?

It was too far for [Ghost Eye] to detect clearly.

I steadily climbed the outer wall. Before I knew it, I had reached a balcony.

Looking down, a chill ran through me.

Falling from this height without any precautions would kill even the most well-trained knight.

Tap!

I hooked both hands onto the balcony railing and leaped up.

The feeling of solid ground beneath my feet was surprisingly reassuring.

The inside of the balcony was pitch black, and I had to infiltrate that darkness.

There were no magical devices to detect intruders. I crouched low and opened the window.

Creak.

The hinges groaned unpleasantly.

It wasn’t loud, but in the silence, it made my body tense.

I cautiously entered the room.

If the flow of mana changed, the Marquis might notice, so I didn’t activate [Termination].

But I kept [Ghost Eye] active.

I scanned the surroundings and slowly walked through the castle’s interior.

I spotted the Marquis’s presence on a higher floor, sitting in a chair.

Why didn’t he allow people in his castle? Hoping to find a clue to his secret, I planned to explore the castle’s interior by wandering its halls.

Several rooms lined the corridor ahead.

As I reached for the handle of the largest one to start my search, I saw the Marquis, who had been seated, rise from his chair.

‘Did he notice me…?’

Before I could finish the thought, the Marquis was standing beside me.

Startled, I reached for my sword at my waist, but the Marquis just looked at me impassively.

“Why’s the intruder more surprised?”

I was certain he had been upstairs. How had he moved to my side in the blink of an eye?

I stared at him warily. The blue light and the black, murky energy near his heart were still there.

“Oh, first time seeing it? It’s called a [Power]. It’s understandable to be shocked the first time.”

“….”

My heart sank.

A [Power].

An ability only high-ranking demons could use.

A special ability unique to each demon.

‘His [Power] must be teleportation. He’s definitely a demon.’

I quickly assessed the gap between us.

If it came to a fight, could I win? Or rather, could I avoid a fight?

“You’re awfully quiet. You didn’t seem like that yesterday.”

Even without my response, the Marquis kept talking.

Unlike me, he showed no signs of tension.

“Cautious, perhaps? No, that’s not it. A cautious person wouldn’t sneak into a castle in the dead of night.”

Rodos placed his hand over mine on the door handle and opened the door.

“Curious about what’s inside? Let’s take a look together.”

And with that, Rodos stepped into the room first.

Seizing the moment, I drew my sword and cast a three-dimensional magic circle to activate [Termination].

Through [Ghost Eye], Rodos’s appearance remained unchanged.

Outwardly and in his aura, he was indistinguishable from a human.

I couldn’t understand how this was possible.

Rodos leisurely surveyed the room and said,

“Sorry, there’s nothing special here. It’s an unused room.”

Then he dragged a chair over with a screech and sat down.

Gesturing toward the other chair, he said to me,

“Sit. Let’s have a talk. It’s lonely talking alone.”

“Alright.”

“You finally answered.”

Rodos gave a faint smile, the same one I’d seen at the banquet.

But knowing he was a demon, it no longer seemed kind. Instead, it felt like the smile of a scheming mastermind.

I sat in the empty chair, gripping my sword with both hands, ready to swing at any moment.

“Since you’re answering, I’ll ask. Why did you come to my castle?”

“…I suspected you might be a demon.”

At my words, Rodos’s brow furrowed slightly.

But he quickly relaxed and muttered,

“Surprising. I didn’t expect to be suspected of being a demon now. How did you know?”

“I can’t tell you that. But it seems I was right—you are a demon.”

“Do I really seem like a demon?”

It was baffling that he could ask so confidently after displaying a [Power] only high-ranking demons could use.

But what was even more shocking was that, even now, I couldn’t definitively say he was a demon.

“Shall I tell you an old story? I was once a demon, a rather high-ranking one at that.”

Not anymore?

Curious, I listened silently to his story.

“But I didn’t want to be a demon anymore. I wanted to keep up with the new era, the new flow. So I embraced it—mana, instead of demonic energy.”

“Is that… possible?”

“It wasn’t easy. For centuries, I had to gradually expel the demonic energy and absorb the mana in the air.”

Rodos continued his explanation.

Demons weren’t incapable of absorbing mana from the air.

They simply didn’t need to, so they didn’t.

But to absorb mana, they had to simultaneously expel the demonic energy from their bodies.

By purging demonic energy and slowly absorbing mana through breathing like a human, it was possible.

I thought of Derix.

Derix had his demonic energy forcibly expelled by my mana infusion, while Rodos had achieved it gradually through training.

“When I was expelling demonic energy and taking in new mana, the ones who opposed me the most were demons. As I purged more demonic energy, my strength gradually waned, and demons challenged me several times a day.”

“…Yet you won, I see.”

“That’s why I’m standing here before you, isn’t it? I can say with certainty: no living being in this world has killed more demons than I have.”

Rodos spoke as if recounting a proud achievement. I didn’t think he was lying.

Indeed, he had purged nearly all his demonic energy, retaining only the faintest trace of his original power.

“I no longer have the instinctive urge to kill humans that demons possess. I can still use my [Power] because I retain my core demonic energy, but otherwise, the same mana flows through me as it does through you. Well, maybe not quite the same—you’re not entirely human either.”

With that, Rodos grinned.

“Between you and me, who’s closer to being human?”

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