The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

urned sticky and dark, Zich walked towards the last remaining person.
He took out a potion and lifted the dying person’s body.
The figure was much smaller than an adult.

It was the boy.

“Hey! Wake up!” Zich shook the boy and opened the top of the potion to pour it on the boy, but his hand stopped.

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‘This…’

There was something on the boy’s chest.
A scar was cut on his chest into a specific pattern, and its gruesome existence shook all those who saw it.

“Mr…”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“…Why are you here…?”

“You kept not coming, so I came to you this time.” Zich’s voice was cold and calm. 

If a bystander didn’t know the context of their situation, they would have thought Zich was having a casual conversation.

“I…see…”

As if he was happy that Zich came to find him, a faint smile formed on the boy’s face.
The smile made his pale and lifeless face appear even more washed up.

“Who did this to you?” Zich asked bluntly.

The boy didn’t notice the slight chill in Zich’s voice, and he simply trembled at the memory of the horrific incident.

“I…I don’t know…He was someone…I have never…seen before…he suddenly appeared…at night.” Tears trickled down the boy’s cheeks.
“Ah, he…to my dad…first…then, Mom…!”

He didn’t give specific details, but the corpses of the boy’s parents clearly displayed the terror they had faced right before their deaths.

“H-He told me…that if I didn’t shout…he wouldn’t kill…my mom and dad…but it hurt too much and I couldn’t…I tried to… endure it as much…as I could…” There were knife marks all over the boy’s body.
It seemed as if his offender had played a ‘game’ of torture with a condition that the boy must not make a sound.
“After…he killed… my mom and dad… he did the same thing…to other people…”

Zich didn’t feel any presence in the other houses; it seemed like the neighbors were also all dead.

“He said…it’s…all my…fault.
It’s…all my fault!”

The boy couldn’t cry.
He didn’t even have the energy to talk properly, and his consciousness was almost half gone.
Instead, the soundless tears dripping down his face conveyed his sorrows.

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“…Don’t worry.
It’s not your fault,” Zich responded, but the boy’s heart could not be at ease with just a few words.
“Do you remember anything particular about the guy?”

“…He had no…hair…and a strange…mark covered…half of his face…”

Zich’s eyes sparkled.

“All right.
I understand.
You have done well.”

Zich raised his hands and placed them on the hideous pattern on the boy’s chest.
Mana gathered in his hands.

Pwiish!

His mana-soaked fingernails pierced deeply into the center of the mark.

Shaa.

The dark energy lingering on the boy’s body disappeared, and the boy closed his eyes at the same time.
Then, the boy took his last breath.

“Don’t worry.
I will settle this for you.” Zich stroked the sleeping boy’s head once.

*   *   *

Crackle!

The fire burned aggressively.
Its fiery dance grew stronger from the many firewoods inside it.
And everything within its reach—including the fearless bugs that flew into the fire and the corpses of those who had died a painful death—were engulfed in its flames. 

The people living in the outskirts of the village experienced discrimination from the villagers while they were alive, and they couldn’t receive the villagers’ blessings even in their deaths.
They were all outsiders who had settled into the village from somewhere else, so they had no clear connection with the rest of the community.
In addition, the fact that they had all been brutally murdered scared the villagers from coming out.
Thus, the only ones who bid their farewells were Zich, Hans, and Snoc.

“…They are so pitiful…”

Koo…

Snoc sighed while hugging Nowem.
The villagers were reluctant to hold a funeral for the people who died.
Therefore, Zich volunteered to do the work, and Zich and his companions did everything in preparation from moving the corpses and preparing the funeral.
When Hans and Snoc first saw the corpses, they were shocked.
Every single corpse was corrupt to the point that it no longer resembled the shape of a human.

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The three watched the fire, and Hans stole quick glances at Zich.
Zich’s expression was the same as usual, but that worried Hans even more.

‘There’s no way Sir Zich won’t do anything.’

He didn’t know the details, but Hans was aware that Zich had cared for a boy in this village.
And that boy had died after going through horrible torture.

‘He won’t act upon things like sentimentality or a sense of justice.’

Although Zich vowed to do kind acts, Hans knew common motivators didn’t move or affect Zich.
However, killing someone Zich helped and making his kind act useless or torturing and murdering someone related to him would have definitely made a dent on Zich’s ego.
And Hans’ analysis was on point.
Zich’s heart and mind were like steel.
They were like a frozen piece of land that was frozen for thousands of years. 

Zich waited until the fire dwindled without moving an inch.
It took a long time for the fire to fade out, and Zich collected the bones left between the firewood.
Then, he ground them up into powder and placed them into a vase and made an urn.
Finally, he placed the urn into his magic box.

“Let’s go.” These were Zich’s first words since the firewood was lit up.

Hans asked, “Are you planning revenge, sir?” 

“Of course.”

“Do you know who your target is?”

Zich made a faint smile, but Hans and Snoc couldn’t do the same.
Zich’s smile was terrifying enough for them to break out in cold sweat.

“Hans, you remember Lubella and Weig, right?”

“Ah, yes!”

“Let’s go meet up with them.
It’s been a while.”

“…What?”

Hans’s voice naturally rose as Zich talked about meeting Karuwiman’s Saint Candidate like they were going to meet a friend in the neighborhood.
But Zich ignored him and continued walking.