The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time

l then, I must hole myself up in the Great Library tonight and investigate things until morning.”

“Let us say that I drank some alcohol, which I do not habitually do, and slept in my chambers until sunrise, shall we?”

“Wait, you can’t drink alcohol, can you? Are you alright?”

“I cannot, and that is why the bottle will be filled with fruit juice, not wine.
Please consider this to be highly classified information.”

“Good grief… Well then, I suppose we’ll say that I stayed up three nights in a row, so I was sleeping very soundly.”

“That is the truth, is it not? You are not young, so do not stay up all night too often.”

Having come up with excuses to not notice anything that night no matter what, the high-ranking clergymen of the Church disbanded, and they spent the time until the next morning uneventfully, just as they had decided to.

The next morning, it was established that the fragment of the Demon King sealed by Randolf ‘the True’ – the Demon King’s oviduct – as well as one other unknown sealed fragment, had been replaced by fakes.

The high-ranking clergymen of the Church stopped that information from spreading in order to prevent panic among the public and reported to Duke Tackard Alcrem that they had been stolen by an unknown culprit.

And then they told the truth only to Randolf ‘the True.’

Under instructions from Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic, they had allowed an intruder to sneak in in the middle of the night and steal the fragments of the Demon King that had been entrusted to the Church.

However, neither the high-ranking clergymen of the Great Church of Ricklent nor Randolf had a good awareness of the current situation, so the news of the truth was delivered to Randolf’s main hideout – the one in the royal capital, at the heart of the Orbaume Kingdom.

Thus, Randolf, who was currently undercover in the city of Morksi… the bard named Rudolf, remained unaware of it.

 

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A pompous atmosphere enveloped the meeting room inside Alcrem Castle, which had been built back when the Alcrem Duchy was still known as the Alcrem Kingdom.

“Just what is the meaning of this… I heard that Randolf made the decision to leave Juliana and another captured female adventurer alive and leave them in the care of an adventurer in the city of Morksi, but… just what events took place to lead to this situation?” muttered Duke Tackard Alcrem, sitting at the round table in the room.

His face had aged; he looked like a completely different person from when he met with Bachem here not long ago.

“I did not plan the willful murder of Juliana,” he whispered.
“I had no idea that it was Minotaurs, not bandits, that were hiding in that village… and I certainly had no idea that it was a horde led by a Minotaur King that had absorbed a fragment of the Demon King.”

The duke’s retainer, who filled a prime-minister-like role and managed the internal affairs of the duke’s house, nodded.

“I know, Your Excellency.
I am also aware that you sent the group of knights led by Juliana-sama because you took into account the tiny possibility that it would be monsters, not bandits, that awaited them.
Everyone present here is aware that you had no intention of murdering Juliana-sama,” he said.

“That’s right.
After that, when it became clear that Juliana and the others had been captured by monsters, there was no ulterior motive in my request to Randolf that he behead her rather than rescue her.
Time had passed since her capture.
I only gave that order because I thought that it would be too cruel to allow her to keep living after that,” said the duke.

“Of course, Your Excellency.
I am sure that your father, the previous duke, would have taken pity on Juliana-sama and made the same decision if he were still alive,” said the retainer.

In this world, being defiled by monsters inflicted deep harm upon women.
That was especially true for the daughter of a noble family.
Favorable talks of marriage would be impossible afterwards, and they would either have to spend their lives away from their mansions or join a Church in a remote location.

If the daughter’s house was incredibly powerful, they would be able to conceal the fact that she had been defiled by monsters, and it would be possible to have her marry into the house of lower-class nobles such as barons or knights.
However, that would only be possible if her body… and more importantly, her mind, remained intact.

It would have been very much impossible for Juliana, whose limbs had been cut off at the elbows and knees, had Minotaur young implanted inside of her, and lost her mind completely.

“If you saw Randolf’s eyes when I made that request of him, it would be clear that he thought that the power of the house of the duke… its money and political influence, would be able to save Juliana in some way as long as she was still alive,” the duke continued.
“Indeed, it would have been possible to keep her alive.
It would have been possible to discard the monster young in her womb and use expensive Potions to regrow her limbs.
However, I would have been forced to have tight-lipped servants continue to take care of her needs, hoping that her sanity would return, not having any idea how many years it would take.
And that would have continued for years, until she either woke up or until she died… But in this case, would you have been able to say that she had been saved?”

Randolf might have insisted that there was still a chance.
Indeed, he had partially helped Juliana and the female adventurer who was with her.
But even with that result, it was clear that Duke Alcrem did not think well of it.

But Bravatiyu, the ‘Knight of Roaring Flames’ – one of the Five Knights of Alcrem – wished to put aside the events that had led to this situation, and whether decisions made in the past had been correct or not.

“Your Excellency, this is not the time to be talking about events of the past.
We must come up with a method to dispose of the Dhampir and the Minotaur child that is a living replica of Juliana-dono,” he said.

“W-wait, Bravatiyu! Would it not be too hasty to dispose of them? I did not gather you here with such intentions in mind!” said the duke.

“But Your Excellency! Their ulterior motives are clear as day!” said Bravatiyu, paying no heed to the duke’s words of caution.

Another knight gave a small laugh.
“Roaring-Flames-dono, what may these ‘ulterior motives’ you speak of be? There is no information to suggest that they have any such motives, from what we have heard from our spies.”

“‘Knight of Distant Thunder’ Serjio, you are too young to understand.
Very well, I shall say it clearly,” Bravatiyu said.
“There are various things about that Dhampir that are simply too unnatural! He may be a subordinate of one of the other duchies… no, of the Amid Empire!”

“W-where is the evidence of this?!” said the duke.

“There is none! But think about it – a young child who has barely passed the age of ten is taming monsters, and even increasing their Ranks and producing species that have never been seen before, one after another! Not only that, but he has invented Magic Items known as transformation equipment that even the alchemists employed by the Alcrem house cannot explain the functions of, and he is openly ruling over the slums and red-light district of Morksi!” Bravatiyu argued.
“If it were just one of these things, then I too would think that he is simply a boy who is blessed with talent.
But all three? It smells like nothing other than a conspiracy!”

“Th-then what are his ulterior motives?”

“He plans to wound the influence of the Alcrem Duchy and plunge the Orbaume Kingdom into chaos, of course! There is no doubt that he gave the name ‘Juliana’ to the Minotaur child who was presumably given birth to by Juliana-dono for this purpose, and he wishes to spread news that she died in a power struggle over the position of head of the house in order to create a scandal!”

As Bravatiyu pointed out, putting Vandalieu’s achievements into words made it clear just how difficult it was to believe that they were the accomplishments of a single young boy.

Thus, the rest of his arguments did sound convincing to some extent as well.

Serjio was willing to admit this, but he was still skeptical.

“I see.
Indeed, he has accomplished too much.
I am sure the fact that he is a Dhampir, the fact that one of his eyes is artificial and the claws on his hands are all because of some trick or disguise, aren’t they? I’m sure there is someone else who provided the powerful Ghouls of new races and the transformation equipment.
Oh my, how terrifying,” he said sarcastically towards the older knight who treated him like an inexperienced rookie.

“… You bastard, what is it that you want to say?!” Bravatiyu demanded.

“Bravatiyu-dono, perhaps this is the point that Serjio-dono is trying to make? He is indeed suspicious, but if it really is a conspiracy, a disproportionate amount of work and cost has gone into it,” said Baldiria, the ‘Knight of a Thousand Blades.’

She was the sole woman among the Five Knights of Alcrem, but… because she was a Dwarf, she looked like a little girl at first glance.

Hearing her summary of Serjio’s argument, Bravatiyu sat back down in his seat, grumbling under his breath.

“And it is the ‘Face-tearing Demon’ that is causing a stir in Alcrem, not the Dhampir boy and the Juliana-dono lookalike, isn’t it? The ones who have been killed so far are all villains and villains who pretend to be virtuous, and proof of their evil deeds have been left behind alongside the skins of their faces, so it has not caused a panic among the citizens.
However… at this rate, the authority of the guards and us knights will be undermined, and the people’s trust in us will plummet to the ground,” said Serjio.

“Indeed… I have heard that these days, the people praise the ‘Face-tearing Demon’ as some kind of virtuous criminal, and look at us with cold gazes.
The Dhampir and his companions have not taken any particular actions, so I suppose we should simply keep an eye on them or maybe just investigate them a little further, and focus our attention on the ‘Face-tearing Demon’ as planned,” said the duke.

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The reason he had gathered the Five Knights of Alcrem here in the first place was to apprehend the ‘Face-tearing Demon,’ the virtuoso assassin whose trail the ordinary guards and knights had been unable to find.

 

Of course, the duke was still worried about Vandalieu and Juliana, but the ‘Face-tearing Demon’ was the bigger problem.

“So, you understand… It’s true that we can’t ignore the Dhampir Vandalieu and Juliana.
But we still don’t know what objectives he has, or whether he is simply an extraordinary boy who will be spoken of in legends in the future,” said the duke.
“Considering the current situation, it will likely be us who will be showered in criticism if we make any hasty moves on him.”

Officially, Juliana had died, and that ‘Juliana’ was a familiar who had been born as a result of a woman named Julia having been attacked by Minotaurs.
The Tamers’ Guild would likely criticize the duke heavily if he killed her just because she resembled his younger sister.

As the duke’s house had many Dragon Knights in its employment and was thus dependent on the Tamers’ Guild, a crack in that relationship would be a painful one.

Considering the power of the duke’s house, it was likely possible to keep the truth concealed, but… the presence of her master Vandalieu and his mother Darcia was too influential.

According to the knights the duke had posted at the city’s gates, Vandalieu was accompanied by new races of Ghouls, an Arachne, a Scylla and a mysterious demi-human-type monster who possessed the characteristics of praying mantises.
Vandalieu claimed that the Ghouls were just ordinary Rank 3 and 4 Ghouls and that the Arachne was an ordinary large-type Arachne, but it was unclear as to whether this was true.

More investigation was needed to determine how to proceed.

“I am thinking of having the ‘Knight of Keen Insight’ Ralmeya be in charge investigating Vandalieu and the others,” said the duke.

The man named by the duke, who wore a robe instead of armor and carried only a single small knife, nodded.
“Very well.
Using the ‘Demon Eye of Surveying,’ I shall survey the Attribute Values, Skills and Levels of the Dhampir and his companions and present them to you.”

Strictly speaking, Ralmeya was not a knight, but something of a technical spy.
The Unique Skill he possessed, the ‘Demon Eye of Surveying,’ surveyed objects that he looked at and displayed information as numbers.

It displayed their size, weight and momentum, but it could also give a rough measurement of Attribute Value and the Levels of targets’ Skills if he observed them in battle or using the Skills.

It took longer to work than ‘Demon Eyes of Appraisal,’ which could read information with a single glance, but it was still effective for gathering information.

“Yes, I am counting on you,” said the duke.
“I will have the rest of you focus on the ‘Face-tearing Demon.’ And listen to me, ‘Knight of the Collapsed Mountain’ Goldie.
I will be having you leave your task of watching over the sealed evil god, but…”

“I have no objections,” said the ‘Knight of the Collapsed Mountain’ Goldie, who had been silent up until now, with a very serious nod.
“The seal on Forzajival, who was sealed by the heroic god Farmaun under a collapsed mountain during the age of the gods, will not be shaken so easily.
My duty is to merely obey the will of the one to whom I have pledged my sword as a knight.”

“I see.
I am relying on you all.
The peace of Alcrem rests on your shoulders,” the duke said to the Five Knights of Alcrem.

And so, the Five Knights of Alcrem began to take action, the duke’s stress was released, and his retainer breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the report from the Great Church of Ricklent the next day caused a sharp increase in the duke’s stress once more.
He gathered Knights once more, with the exception of Ralmeya, and divided them into two teams – one to hunt the ‘Face-tearing Demon’ and the other to chase down the fragments of the Demon King.

 

 

 

Late at night, in a dilapidated house that nobody lived in, a man was begging for his life.

“W-wait, p-please, spare me! You’re the ‘Face-tearing Demon,’ aren’t you?! You’re wrong about me, I’m different!” the man pleaded desperately, his face stained with tears and mucus.

Standing before him was a person holding a liquid-filled bottle in one hand and a knife in the other.

“I did commit crimes, I’m a villain! But I’m not the kind of evil person who deserves to have his face torn off by you!” the man cried.

The ‘Face-tearing Demon’ only targeted villains.
And even among villains, they were atrocious fiends, the kind that would receive no sympathy from the people even if they died horrible, gruesome deaths.

The ‘Face-tearing Demon’ didn’t pay any attention to criminals like petty swindlers and thieves that swiped goods from benches at markets.
Most victims were people like those running drug trade rings, other similar high-ranking members of criminal organizations, capable assassins, black-market slave traders that dealt in illegal slaves, and the nobles who benefited from dealing with such criminals.

But this man didn’t fit into the latter category.

“It’s true that I sold drugs, but I’m one of the lower-ranking dealers! I haven’t killed anyone! I mean, it’s true that the store I worked as a bodyguard for was apparently involved in illegal slavery under the table, but I didn’t know anything! You’ve already torn off the face of that store’s owner and the leader of that slavery ring, haven’t you?! So why are you coming after me at this point –”

The ‘Face-tearing Demon’ poured the water in the bottle over the man, causing him to sputter.

“This is holy water.
It is an instruction from me for the gods to accept even a criminal like you into heaven without hesitation, so be grateful… and become a foundation.
You will not be killed because you are a criminal, but you will become a foundation for the extermination of the Demon King,” the ‘Face-tearing Demon’ said.
“Until then, the evidence I fabricate will portray you to be an accomplice in human trafficking, but I promise you that the dishonor on your name will be erased once things are settled.”

“W-what are you saying?!” screamed the man, who had been tied up.
“I don’t understand anything –”

The ‘Face-tearing Demon’ poured more holy water over him, then began peeling off his face.

The next morning, the skin of the man’s face was discovered alongside money supposedly accepted from a black-market slave trader and a note that incriminated him.