The Demon King Who Draws

Chapter 17

Until yesterday, I expected to have trouble collecting information, but there were signs that things were going easier than I thought.

Last night, I heard a rumor that a body was found in Techen, a nearby village of Riudira, presumably killed by Cal Curso.

The owner of the body was the daughter of the village lord. Because of this, the fear and hatred of Cal Curso among the nearby residents rose at the same time.

“So… where are you?”

Cal Curso is the boss of the first act of Lemegeton.

The user meets Cal Curso after defending the dungeon from a party of ten adventurers.

At that time, Lemegeton was quite popular, so the user base was diverse.

But, the impressions of the many people who enjoyed one content after that were usually diverse, but the first act was an exception.

The users who reached the final stage of the first act where Cal Curso was, all said this.

‘Free-to-play cutter…’

The boss of the first act, Cal Curso.

He was a free-to-play cutter.

Cal Curso’s release difficulty was too high. Dungeons that were not properly completed, dungeons that did not properly enhance the dungeon boss, were all torn apart.

In this process, the users’ absurdity and anger towards the developers reached the extreme, and it was enough to strongly protest that the payment was too forced because of the spicy draw rate… Well, the backlash was extreme, so the developers had to answer.

But, the aftermath was quite interesting. The users were all angry with one notice that came up as an answer or explanation from the developers.

‘The notice at that time was probably…’

[Notice: Regarding the bug report of the Cal Curso party in the final stage of episode 1…]

The developer’s answer was simple itself.

The point was probably…

‘The difficulty of the Cal Curso party was intended, and it was designed so that all users could face it.’

If you use what you are given well, you will be able to face it enough.

‘In the end, it wasn’t a wrong answer.’

At that time, the information was so scarce. Rather, the evaluation of the difficulty was reversed by the information revealed later.

‘Cal Curso’s difficulty was poorly designed’ to ‘Cal Curso’s difficulty is quite appropriate’.

However, the premise is that the user must use what is given well.

Then, what is the point that the developer said was given to the user? Fortunately…

‘I know it all. …But the problem is that I can’t use some of them right away.’

The reason why I stayed in Riudira for a day was also to prepare for Cal Curso, who would come someday.

Information gathering through espionage activities.

One of the representative methods given to the user.

Although he still had a long time to appear, it was not bad to prepare in advance.

“Well… So, Cal Curso…”

Where are you?

Squeak…

I roughly organized my thoughts and opened the door and went out.

I went down to the tavern attached to the inn and ordered breakfast from the owner.

“I ran out of eggs just now, is that okay?”

“That’s fine. Please give me what you can.”

…Anyway, I eat to live.

Squeak…

A group came down from upstairs.

‘…Are they adventurers?’

Yawn…

“Really, last night I snored so much?”

“Your uncle?”

“No? Your uncle? That kid over there.”

“What? I snored?”

The adventurers were colorful.

‘Three men, two women. Five in total… Right.’

The adventurers who flowed into Riudira, where the juice was all gone, were usually not very skilled, but one of them caught my eye.

‘That middle-aged man.’

Even as I glanced sideways, the conversation continued.

“…Marus, I’m sorry if I was noisy at night because of my sleeping habits.”

“I understand. The journey must have been tiring.”

“It’s a relief that my uncle is kind! Anyway, you pay for breakfast today.”

“You bastard… Was that your goal? Okay. I’ll do it.”

The party sat down at a moderate distance and chatted with each other.

“Did you hear? The day we left, Cal Curso appeared in Techen.”

“Oh, I heard that yesterday. It was noisy, right?”

“I get goosebumps just imagining it, really. How come such a monster hasn’t been caught yet?”

“Do you want to hear a scary story?”

“What is it again…”

The man who looked like the nephew of the middle-aged man led the story.

“Actually, maybe we met Cal Curso while we were staying in Techen.”

“Hiik… Really! Stop it!”

“Hahaha, it’s true? It’s true that the body was found after we left, but we don’t know when the murder happened. Maybe…”

Swoosh…

The man leaned his face toward the frightened woman.

“We might have been the victims, you know.”

“Kyaaah!”

“Hahaha! It’s fun to tease you.”

“Mawen. Don’t go too far.”

“Ah… Uncle, did I go too far?”

“You did! You absolutely did!”

The man named Mawen scratched his head.

He awkwardly picked up some food from his plate with a fork and nibbled on it.

Chew… Chew…

“Hmm… The food came out fast, huh? Wait, why is mine the only one? No, wait, I haven’t even ordered yet?”

…Huh?

‘Is that mine…?’

He looked at the boy who was serving instead of the innkeeper, and the boy let out a gasp and looked restless.

‘I came here first… The food came out wrong.’

Judging by the boy’s anxious eyes, he probably expected to get scolded by the innkeeper or yelled at by the customer.

“…Hey.”

But then, the man named Mawen came up to him and spoke.

“It seems like I accidentally ate your food first.”

“It seems so.”

“As an apology, I’ll pay for your breakfast. Can you forgive me for that?”

…This guy.

“That’s enough.”

“Thank you!”

Thump… Thump…

The guy went back to his seat and patted the waiter’s shoulder.

Contrary to his first impression, he might be a decent guy after all?

After that, they ate their breakfast quietly without any further conversation.

Creak… Creak…

Until a suspicious person opened the door of the inn and appeared.

‘…Hmm?’

A large scar across his face.

A few missing teeth.

A very sinister face and a huge body.

The guy approached the innkeeper and pressured him.

“Hey, boss. Have you seen any suspicious people around here lately?”

“…Suspicious people?”

“Think hard. It’s important.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It might be important to you, but it’s not important to me…”

Thud…

“Ugh…”

“Stop it!”

As he sensed the impure intent, the waiter from before blocked the innkeeper’s front.

“Hmm…?”

The unwelcome guest didn’t stop there.

He turned his eyes to the guests who were eating in the inn.

‘…Is he looking at me now?’

Thud…

Thud…

His bad feeling was right.

“Hey, you.”

“…?”

“When did you come to this village?”

“…Yesterday?”

“Ho… Is that so?”

This guy seemed to doubt him.

‘Who is he looking for…?’

A person who crossed his mind.

‘…Aha.’

He was probably hired because of the recent murder case in the vicinity.

He wasn’t happy to meet him either. Every little piece of information was part of his spy work.

“The rich lady of Techen was killed, you see. Thanks to that, I got some money to catch the guy who did it. You got that?”

He got it, but he didn’t feel like cooperating.

“You, you don’t seem to be from around here. What are you doing here? You don’t have any companions either…?”

“I’m an adventurer.”

“Sure you are. Can I see your pass?”

Swish…

The guy reached for his pocket.

A tense atmosphere that could lead to bloodshed at any moment.

‘…I got the wrong one? He’s too tough.’

At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to start his spy work and he would be on alert in Riudira.

‘If this goes on…’

He was prepared for the worst case scenario, when it happened.

“Eh, hey! What’s going on, everyone? So early in the morning.”

“…Who are you?”

“Me? Mawen. As you can see, I was eating breakfast. I almost choked because of someone.”

“…Are you his companion?”

“No.”

“Then why are you covering for him?”

“Covering for him! You’re looking for Cal Curso, right?”

“…”

“The Techen incident was unfortunate. We came from there too. Oh, what I wanted to say was. It seems like there’s no Cal Curso in Riudira.”

The man tilted his head at Mawen’s words.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“My uncle is an amazing person. He used to be the vice-captain of the Lion Horn Knight Order.”

“Li-Lion Horn…?”

“If Cal Curso was in Riudira, my uncle would have noticed him first and…”

“Mawen. Stop talking.”

“Ugh…”

The middle-aged man was a member of the Lion Horn Knight Order?

‘No wonder… He had an imposing aura.’

Faust’s body was good at sensing, or he could easily recognize the strong. His instinct told him to be careful of the middle-aged man.

“Hmm… Why is such a person in this remote place…?”

“He’s my uncle.”

“Kuh… So, this guy has nothing to do with Cal Curso?”

“That’s right. Right, uncle?”

Swish…

He met eyes with the man called uncle.

‘Like a mouse in front of a cat.’

Nod…

“See?”

“…Fine. I’ll look elsewhere.”

“Don’t try too hard! If Cal Curso comes to this village, my uncle and I will be the first to notice and punish him.”

“Hmph.”

Creak… Creak…

The guy left the inn with relief.

He and the writer named Mawen were left awkwardly facing each other.

“So, you don’t have to pay for my breakfast, right?”

* * *

They were strange people.

He couldn’t help but think that.

‘I was just trying to have breakfast and I got into all kinds of trouble.’

Not that it was a bad thing.

Mawen and his uncle, and their companions were kind and they helped him get out of the quarrel he got involved in.

‘But what is this feeling? Hmm…’

He should feel good when he meets kind neighbors, but why did he feel uneasy first?

‘I don’t know why.’

The mercenary he met at the inn in the morning left the inn and went around the village looking for traces of Cal Curso.

Now, in the middle of the afternoon, rumors about the guy were reaching his ears from everywhere.

“Thanks to him, it’s hard to move around here.”

It was troublesome.

Finding clues about Cal Curso was more important to him than to the guy.

Still, the guy was so diligent, but he couldn’t find any traces of Cal Curso in Riudira, so maybe Cal Curso hadn’t visited here yet.

‘It makes sense. To appear, Cal Curso would need at least… a few months? No, maybe half a year.’

He stayed here for another day because of the possible anxiety, but it seemed like leaving yesterday was the right choice.

“Something to eat…”

“…”

“Please, something to eat…”

Where his eyes landed, there was a carriage.

A box with a visible interior surrounded by iron bars.

‘A slave trader.’

An object with an unpleasant design that remained in his memory. Slave traders who sold young slaves in such boxes were everywhere in the empire.

Among them, demon slaves were well sold even in remote places like this.

Or, was it because of Riudira’s uniqueness?

‘It’s near the Great Forest… They must be used for dungeon exploration.’

What are the chances of the demon slaves sold here returning after the exploration?

‘…At best, it wouldn’t exceed 30 percent.’

The eyes of the demon were gray, not even gunmetal.

The eyes of a person who gave up on life, but could they regain their color if they had a little hope?

Rustle…

He took out a piece of bread from his belongings and handed it to the demon behind the iron bars. It was a meaningless act.

Neither salvation nor mockery.

Gulp… Gulp…

The young demon ate it hastily.

He filled his stomach in an instant and reached out his hand again outside the iron bars.

He didn’t show his palm, as if he wanted to say thank you.

He was looking at his hand quietly, when someone shouted.

“Get your dirty hand away, you demon bastard.”

“…”

Mawen, the young man he saw in the daytime, was looking at him with his uncle nearby.

“You too, back off, the demon is…”

He knew.

Why, when he met them, he felt uneasy rather than happy.

“It’s dangerous.”

Here, he was a demon and they were humans.

They were different.

“Hurry up and put your hand back in!”

Startled by the noise, the slave trader ran out and hit the iron bars with a sturdy wooden stick.

Clang!

“This damn demon bastard! Do you want to scare away all the customers?”

The frightened demon put his hand back in the iron bars.

Yes, they were not the same.

Mawen’s group and he were talking with invisible iron bars between them.

He knew that now.

These guys were humans.

‘I am…’

A demon.