DSB 84

“…Who did you hear that from?”

Yutis flinched. He’d only told him Norman was under surveillance, not that he was being held captive.

Norman is currently imprisoned in the castle’s basement as a criminal. Despite protests from the delegation, it’s clear he used magic within the castle, so there’s ample justification for keeping him imprisoned.

“I overheard it.”

The knights and other attendants were complaining that the Empire couldn’t be trusted and were shouting that they had to protect Lebel.

Lebel couldn’t understand why they’d decided to protect himself. Rather, he was racking his brains to protect the North from the demon Norman.

As expected, it’d be better if I handled it myself.

If his body had been in perfect condition, he wouldn’t have hesitated to deal with it. No, if the demon had appeared before him, he would’ve already taken care of it in secret.

But he couldn’t. His power was restricted, so neither he nor Karon could handle Norman. While Lebel was thinking of a solution, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The one who entered was Illa. Apparently, today’s visitor wasn’t a demon but an angel.

“It’s been a while, Lord Lebel. I came after hearing what the young master said.”

“Why did you call Illa?”

“Because priests know demons best.”

At that, Illa took Lebel’s hand. Without knowing why, Lebel let him. Illa’s expression was calm, revealing nothing. He just held Lebel’s hand once, then spoke to Yutis in a calm voice.

“There’s no problem at all.”

No problem with what? And why does Yutis look so relieved?

“The young master asked me to check whether Lord Lebel bore any traces of a demon, since he nearly became a vessel for a demon’s summoning. Demons usually leave a mark on their contractors or prey.”

Instead of Yutis, Illa kindly explained the situation.

‘You mean checking me, the demon himself. So he only pretended to examine me. Because I am the demon.’

Lebel suddenly thought of a good idea. As Yutis said, priests knew demons well. And it was the angels’ job to fight them.

‘Maybe I should borrow an angel’s power. That’s what they exist for.’

A demon like Norman would be nothing for Michael to handle.

“Cough.”

Lebel coughed. The two immediately stopped talking. Karon’s ears perked up, and Yutis’s eyes widened. Illa smiled faintly.

Since Lebel was a demon, there couldn’t possibly be any trace left, but Illa had checked his condition just in case. If Lebel had used his power, there might’ve been side effects. Yet there was nothing wrong, though Lebel suddenly kept coughing roughly.

“My wife?”

Yutis hurriedly placed his hand on Lebel’s forehead to check for fever. His temperature was neither hot nor cold, completely normal. But Lebel shamelessly continued coughing.

“Ahem, I suddenly have a persistent cough.”

Yutis’s brow furrowed. He was sure this coughing fit had to be Norman’s fault. It never occurred to him that Lebel was faking it.

“Since Illa’s here, let’s have him take a look.”

Lebel gestured toward Illa. Then, realizing Yutis wouldn’t leave his side, he added,

“Holy power doesn’t work well on me, so you’ll need to get medicine from Mark.”

“All right. I’ll tell one of the knights outside…”

“Could you go yourself? If we send a knight, Norman might take the chance to do something.”

“He’s in prison… no, he’s detained, so that won’t happen.”

“I don’t mean I distrust the knights, but some might still be under Norman’s spell. I’d rather he didn’t find out about my condition.”

But Yutis didn’t yield.

“That’s all the more reason for me to stay by your side. Illa can fetch the medicine.”

That’s no good.

“I might cough on you and give you a cold.”

Lebel lied without a hint of shame.

“So Illa’s fine but I’m not?”

Yutis tried to sound calm, but he was fuming.

When Lebel continued insisting, Yutis realized he was trying to send him away.

Was it to ask Illa about the demon summoning? But if that were the case, they could just talk together, there was no need for the two to be alone.

Yutis felt all his bottled-up frustration and resentment about to explode again. But the next thing Lebel said made it vanish completely.

“Of course you can’t catch a cold.”

“Lord Lebel, are you saying it’s fine if I catch a cold…”

Illa smiled awkwardly.

“Whether you catch one or not has nothing to do with me.”

Besides, since he was the human Michael cherished, he probably wouldn’t get sick.

“Please, just go. You’ll be back before long.”

It’s not like this conversation will take long.

Lebel patted the back of Yutis’s hand. His voice was calm, almost hushed.

Yutis forced himself to calm down. From what Lebel had just said, it was obvious that Illa wasn’t someone important to him. There were still many questions left, but Yutis knew there were many things Lebel wouldn’t tell him, so he couldn’t afford to show his feelings.

“I’ll be back.”

Yutis glared at Illa. Illa already foresaw a future where he’d be interrogated in detail later about exactly what they had talked about.

“Alright, I’ll wait.”

It felt like he’d been forced to drink a bitter medicine, but at least Yutis had left without growing suspicious. As Lebel smiled, satisfied, Illa sighed and asked,

“Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. I’ll come up with an excuse. Did you want to stay alone with me because it’s something you can’t say to the young master?”

“You’re quick-witted. Yutis must’ve told you about the demon summoning. Do you know that Norman is a demon?”

“I do. Lord Michael gave me a hint.”

As expected.

“Have you ever met him?”

“No.”

“Hmm, so he avoided you too.”

Even someone with strong demonic energy like Yutis would be a threat, but for a demon, facing a human blessed by Michael would be unbearable. Just as angels avoided demons, demons avoided angels. After fighting each other for centuries, it was no wonder.

“Why didn’t you do anything? If a demon is running loose, you should’ve stopped him.”

“…I’m ashamed to admit it, but I can’t fight him.”

Lebel’s eyes widened. What? He was a priest. A priest dearly loved by Michael. And yet, he couldn’t?

Reading the thought on Lebel’s face, Illa awkwardly smiled and confessed,

“Lord Lebel… you hold humans to too high a standard. It’d be better to ask the young master instead.”

“No. What if he gets hurt?”

“……”

Illa realized that sounded exactly like what Lebel had said earlier about catching a cold.

[You’re completely insane.]

In Illa’s mind, Michael sighed, seemingly exasperated. It even sounded like he clicked his tongue and shut his ears, unwilling to listen further.

“Even if we borrow Michael’s power?”

“Lord Michael cannot interfere in the human world. That’s why he asked you to deal with the demon in the North.”

“But there must’ve been times when humans fought demons in the past.”

“Yes. There were, but God never intervened directly. He only granted humans power in His name, and they gathered that strength to defeat demons. But the problem is Norman’s power. I can’t handle him. The best I could do is bind his movements.”

“Norman is that strong?”

“For a demon living in the Middle Realm, yes.”

Lebel stood there with his mouth slightly open. He’d thought Illa could handle it easily.

“You’re weak.”

“Haha, I’m human too. My frail body can’t fully withstand Lord Michael’s power. It’s the same as you, Lord Lebel.”

[How dare you compare yourself to Lord Lebel! If he asked you to risk your life, you should be grateful to obey, not give up so easily! I’ve clearly overestimated you!]

“Karon, stop.”

Lebel reined in the furious Karon, and Illa continued with another suggestion.

“If you ask the young master for help, you can take care of it. I’ll restrain the demon’s movements, and the young master can cut off his head.”

“Then we’d have to reveal that the man is a demon.”

Lebel didn’t like that plan.

In the end, it meant pushing the responsibility onto Yutis, and it also required exposing Norman’s true identity.

“Is that a problem?”

“……”

Plenty of them. It would worsen the image of demons. Of course, there wasn’t much of a good image to begin with, but he didn’t want to make it worse.

Yutis already hated Norman. If he found out the truth, he’d loathe him even more. His resentment toward demons as a whole would grow too.

Lebel didn’t intend to spell all that out, so he changed the subject.

It was almost ridiculous that he was hesitating to expose Norman just because he didn’t want demons’s reputation to worsen. Since when had he ever cared about that?

“Karon and I will help instead of Yutis.”

[Excellent idea! What does that pale leech have that I don’t! To think he stood before Lord Lebel and didn’t even recognize him, I’ll make sure he learns his place!]

“Will you be alright? Your vessel might not endure it.”

Illa looked at Lebel carefully. His condition wasn’t bad, but if he used his power, the vessel could strain or break.

“I’ll stop before it goes too far.”

“…Just meeting Norman will be difficult.”

Illa smiled awkwardly and glanced toward where Yutis’s room was. Lebel wasn’t in a position to move secretly.