Chapter 133 – Exodus (1)

During the day, he was taught under a small number of people, and at night, he had a meeting with the imps. The imps’ plan was simpler than I thought. In order to bring a branch leader level demon to this land, a certain amount of magic power, human sacrifices, and a huge magic circle were required.

Therefore, Imps without work were taking turns storing magic in pots, and Imps working outside were drawing magic circles near the imp’s residence little by little, paying attention to the beastmen. It was exquisitely hidden with carts and jars, but if you look closely, you can see that the red liquid forming a magic circle is embroidering the snow field.

My role was to secure human sacrifice. The imps could take out as many human prisoners as they could if they had Baara’s trust. I asked the imps.

“By the way, it takes so much preparation for a branch leader-level demon to come? So, did all the others descend like that?”

The imp answered my question like this.

“It’s because we lack magic skills. Skilled demons can come and go to the demon realm at will. Creek – If only Psy had been alive, there would have been no need to make human sacrifices like this or draw a giant magic circle.”

The imps shed tears as they recalled the miserable death of Creek-Psy. It felt pitiful to see an imp with a hooked nose shedding tears like an orphaned puppy. I patted them on the back and said.

“Don’t be too sad. We will definitely survive here.”

“Cheup…! Incubus. You, you are a good guy… ! I’ve heard that incubuses and succubuses are cruel people who like to stab people in the back, but now it turns out it was just a rumor! Big!”

“Yes. Let’s do well.”

I laughed and comforted them once more.

*****

As the day progressed, my skills only increased. Sosuin was excellent at personal martial arts, but he also had an excellent talent for teaching others. He meticulously pointed out where I was wrong in my movement posture, and he also set up a detailed training schedule for me in which direction I should practice more in the future.

“Evan. You must consistently follow the cultivation method I have taught you. Because I can’t always teach you how to fight beside you.”

Wiping the sweat from my face, I said to the Sosuin.

“Thanks for helping me a lot. Have you ever done some teaching?”

“This is the first time I have taught anyone. It’s because demon beasts have strong pride and don’t want to be taught by others. Even if you make them servants, there are cases where they refuse to learn.”

“Your self-esteem is so filthy. Even if you make me a servant, that’s enough.”

“You, too, will receive the ceremony of servant from Baara sooner or later, but it’s good that you don’t have a bad personality. It’s because all of Baara-sama’s subordinates now have eccentric personalities.”

I couldn’t help but harden my face at the word of a servant’s ceremony. Come to think of it, there weren’t many cases where demons just took them as subordinates. If I said that I would go under Baara, it was clear that he would make me his servant in some way.

“How do the beastmen conduct the ritual of subservience?”

“Simple. Beat them up, brand them on their backs.”

“It’s barbaric.”

When I heard the word beat, I thought of Bara’s heavy fist. If a guy with claws the size of an adult man’s forearm hit me with that fist, it was clear that my body would be crushed like dough. Sosuin laughed and said.

“It is unavoidable. It’s because the process of carving a stigma is very painful. If you don’t knock yourself out beforehand, you won’t be able to get the stigma right. Can you see?”

So Soo-in said so and took off his upper clothes.

“Chew…”

There were traces of deep cuts in the muscles of his back, as if making furrows in a field. When water was poured, it seemed that a river would be created along the scar, and when soil was poured, the soil seemed to fill the scar. The cow-bearer had a nonchalant expression on his face, but he must have screamed like a girl when he engraved that brand.

“Are you going to engrave that on my body? Aren’t you even anesthetized?”

“Didn’t you say that you beat yourself up? That is anesthesia.”

I couldn’t communicate with the beasts. I laughed and nodded my head once. If everything goes according to plan anyway, I won’t receive that anesthesia, and I won’t be stigmatized. There was no need to create an uncomfortable relationship by showing emotions from now on.

“Right. However… Can you postpone the servitude ceremony for a little while?”

“The date hasn’t been set yet, but why are you postponing it? Are you afraid?”

I was very afraid, but I didn’t answer like that. I pointed to my body and said.

“I received the honor of entering as a servant of Beast King Baara, a martial arts demon. Wouldn’t it be right for me to receive it after I developed a little more muscle and strength? If you receive that stigma, you won’t be able to move for a while.”

So Soo-in nodded with a serious face and said.

“Right. Even for the number of people, you need to recuperate for about a month. Weak demons carve that brand and become crippled. Imps die of shock while carving, so they can’t even carve.”

It was said that there were no servants of Baara among the imps, but it was because the method of making servants was too barbaric. I tried to pretend that nothing was wrong as I swept my back once more.

“I seem to have gotten a feel for my training these days, but I think it would be a pity if I was stigmatized like that and the flow was cut off. Could you wait a little longer?”

“Anyway, after I report, I will set the date for the ensign to be engraved. Do not be burdened and practice comfortably.”

“Thank you.”

I thanked the minority and turned around. Looking at the base of the imps on the way out, a part of the magic circle could be glimpsed through their carts and garbage. The imps were trying to hide the magic circle by putting down their brooms or planting grass around them.

****

Several days passed again.

“How is it going?”

Alice and Lorena were preoccupied with tearing out a large keepsake meatball today. After Lorena ripped open the bag and clothes that were stuck together, Alice checked her contents and threw them away. Clothes were already strewn around them as if a bomb had exploded, and their faces were dripping with sweat despite the fact that it was winter.

Alice heard my question and she shook her head without even raising her head in my direction. Lorena, too, sat down on her floor, breathing heavily. It seemed that the heat was a bigger problem than the cold for the two who were accustomed to the cold.

“Is it really right to be here?”

“I don’t think the prisoners would lie to us like that.”

Alice answered Lorena’s question like that. Lorena saw her Alice’s grave expression and nodded her head, then she started ripping off her clothes again. I watched the two of them work and picked up the pearl. Alice opened the bag that didn’t open and saw me clinging to the pile of clothes.

“Can you help me? Aren’t you tired too?”

“These days, it’s spacious, so I have more energy.”

I said that and tore off my clothes. Lorena picked up the pile of clothes that had been ripped off like leather and pulled them apart more closely. As we unwrapped the clothes one by one, Alice did the final inspection, opening the bent, crumpled and frozen clothes one by one.

I thought about the time left as I tore off my clothes in chunks. The magic circle of the imps had reached its end, and the jar containing magic was full, waiting only for the magic circle to be activated. All we have left is a means of escape and secret papers to find in this graveyard of clothes.

Thinking that there was plenty of time left, I relaxed a little, but the time to escape was approaching. The moment the Imp branch leader came to this land, all beasts would flock to the battlefield. In the meantime, we had to pack up as fast as we could and leave across the woods.

I asked Alice.

“Did you think of a way to cross the forest?”

Running with two people on my back was really the last thing I would think about. Said Alice.

“There were several sleds in good condition in the shopping district. By the way, there are no horses and no dogs here.”

“Okay?”

I paused to rip off the pile of clothes. If you don’t have a horse or a dog, isn’t there a certain person to pull? When I hesitated, Alice said.

“If you’re going to have Dad pull it, wouldn’t it be better to just ask him to carry it? It must have been more difficult because of the added weight of the sled.”

“That’s right.”

For a moment, I imagined myself pulling a sled like a dog, but then I erased it from my mind. Seeing that Lorena was laughing, she must have imagined it too. Said Alice scratching her head.

“Dad, what do you do? You can’t do anything with just a sled.”

I raised my head and looked at the sky. Then he ripped off his clothes again and said.

“I don’t know. Then, let’s go and pay a handful. If I threaten you, at least one bastard will listen.”

“…Where did love and justice go?”

“They are all dead.”

Alice nodded her head with a puzzled expression, then went back to work. I stopped tearing off her clothes and looked at Alice and said,

“No, come to think of it, these bastards are a group of homicide robbers who eat people and attack people in the first place. Isn’t it justice to intimidate?”

“Oh, is that so?”

Alice looked at me with an enlightened expression, and Lorena nodded and smiled at her.

Now, the date of the escape was approaching her nose.