Playing the Perfect Fox-Eyed Villain Chapter 112

Episode 112. Underground Waterway (1)

“Are you sure you can release the author?”

As we left the cabin, Pintel, who had followed us, began to ask questions.

I turned my head slightly and looked at his face, and there was a look of worry on his face.

“It’s okay. I’ve already surrendered mentally.”

“……Is that so?”

"yes."

I nodded.

Because Korund's face, seen through the "color of negation," was filled with the color of "fear."

“But I’m worried.”

“What do you mean?”

“It remains to be seen whether Korund will truly heed Sir Yurian’s words.”

Before I let Korund go, I asked him a favor, which wasn't really a favor.

Meet Aiden again and bring up the topic of cooperation.

“Aiden may not show up at the meeting place.”

That's a valid idea.

Already, Korund has a history of rejecting Aiden's offers.

“It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to accept it.”

“……Didn’t Lord Yurian intend to use Korund as bait to lure Aiden out?”

Pintel, despite his appearance, was a deep thinker and had already figured out my intentions to some extent.

But it seems that he was unable to read the thoughts hidden within it.

'It feels like I'm continuing to mess with something that was already over.'

I don't know about anything else, but it wasn't planned that Pintel would move for me.

'I didn't know you could beat up and subdue the same bishop.'

I really never imagined that.

“Couldn’t he have lied just to avoid the threat right now?”

“Isn’t that what you’re here for, Sir Pintel?”

I looked at Pintel's face for a long time.

The 'squint' reflected in his eyes made it seem as if he was 'moving behind the scenes', but in reality, it was not like that.

'You stay still!'

That's simply to prevent Pintel from acting like an unbridled calf.

“I will leave it to you to watch over Korund. If he does anything strange……”

“Understood, Sir Yurian.”

Pintel nodded with a solemn expression, not even listening to the end of what I said.

It was a positive affirmation that felt like a strong will to make a decision, but it is expected that nothing bad will happen.

Now that Korund's will has been clearly broken, there is no way Pintel will move.

maybe.

***

“Eileen’s thesis has been rejected.”

"also!?"

At the servant's words, Eileen found herself shouting without realizing it.

When the servant who was reporting flinched slightly, Eileen cleared her throat and sent her away.

“Haa……. Really.”

Irene sighed as she was left alone in the room. She had even lost count of how many times she had been rejected.

“Aiden de Donatien.”

A quiet room. Eileen muttered to herself as she looked at the 'Donatien Family' emblem hanging on the wall.

“I understand that the previous paper was rejected, but not this time!”

It is a well-known fact that the head of the Donatien family was antipathetic to the research on 'spiritual stones' and played a major role in the rejection of his own thesis.

“If you let a specific mana pattern penetrate the stone, a ‘mana trace’ will remain on the fiber! Isn’t this a pretty good achievement!?”

Looking at the family crest, Eileen muttered.

“Or are you saying that a half-baked person like me shouldn’t even do proper research!?”

She felt the intensity of her complaints growing, so she took a deep breath to control herself.

"huh?"

What caught her eye was one of the documents scattered around in a mess.

“Order to subdue the slum demon?”

Come to think of it, I've heard of it before.

Rumors spread that a demon was appearing in the slums, and the imperial family dispatched someone.

At that time, the person who received the imperial order and handled the matter was someone Irene knew well.

“Yurien Cryphat Prasson.”

His signature, stamped with the royal seal, was enough to attract Eileen's attention.

Moreover, the scribble was so neat and tidy, unlike his usual behavior, that it made me laugh out loud.

“By the way, in the slums, there’s a demon…….”

Compared to the system, the slums were relatively unsafe, but if you asked if they were so bad that demons would appear, you couldn't help but tilt your head.

“No matter what, it’s near the system.”

As the thought crossed her mind, Eileen frowned slightly.

“Could it be that it was artificially created?”

Irene was able to approach this hypothesis because she had recently done research on mixed stones.

The energy source contained in the soul stone is 'magic', and if you use it to parasitize a living thing, doesn't that mean it becomes a 'demon'?

“It’s possible. However, that would mean that someone other than the royal family has the soul stone.”

Going further.

“Human experiments too…….”

Upon closer inspection, it clearly said 'Humanoid Demon'.

It's not certain, but someone has been experimenting with 'demonization' on humans.

“It’s not good to get caught up in hypotheses.”

Of course, this is simply an 'assumption'.

This may be a dangerous statement.

'Knowing' something is a process of increasing one's knowledge, but it can also create some enemies.

'If they really did conduct human experiments, then there must be a wizard who conducted the experiments.'

“So, I have no choice but to check with my own eyes so that I don’t get buried.”

Eileen immediately got up from her seat and put her coat over her.

“Where are you going, Eileen?”

“Wait a minute, something came up. I think I’ll be home late today, so you guys should leave work first.”

After giving instructions to the servants, she took a step forward.

To the slums where demons are said to have appeared.

***

The place Eileen arrived was the area of the slums where the 'demon infestation incident' was said to have occurred.

Even though the location was clearly marked, she had gotten a little lost, so sweat was dripping down her forehead.

“Haa……. Why did you make such a mess of the expansion!”

After muttering in a slightly annoyed tone, she looked up and scanned the messy house.

The location where the 'demon appearance incident' written in the documents occurred.

If it had happened in the system, it would have been dealt with, but this place is still in the same state as where the incident occurred.

"……excuse me."

After knocking on the door a couple of times, Eileen stepped inside.

A musty smell stung her nostrils and made her feel uncomfortable, but she went inside without hesitation.

“It’s a total mess…….”

The inside of the building was a mess.

The creaking wooden floor greeted her, and then the walls were littered with grotesquely large claw marks, as if decorating the surrounding area.

“Is this the demon’s trace? And then…….”

The sharp blade of the sword caught her attention, so sharp that she could tell at a glance whether someone had done it or not.

It seems to be a sword strike swung by Yurian.

“Of course, there is no demon’s corpse.”

Eileen ran her hand over the dark ground and vaguely realized that the demon had died here.

“Well, it’s over, so there’s no point in coming here now…….”

As she continued speaking, Eileen felt an eerie aura spreading around the dark ground.

'This is… … .'

It's definitely a mixed bag.

Because she had conducted research on several occasions, she was able to clearly perceive the energy that Honseok held.

She got up from her seat and quickly began to chase after the sound of the 'confusion'.

The existence of 'Honseok' meant that in the worst case scenario, one could encounter a triangle demon, but Eileen was confident now.

'I brought all the battle memorabilia and jewels.'

You will be able to prepare for the worst case scenario.

“This is…….”

The place she arrived at after chasing the sound of 'Honseok' was a hole connected to the slum's underground sewer.

In the past, it was one of the infrastructures built by order of the imperial family to accommodate the slums, but due to Emperor Adratan's change of heart, it seems to have been neglected now.

“Considering all those years of neglect, it would be normal for it to be dirty.”

Surprisingly, the entrance to the underground waterway was not dirty.

Of course, compared to the scenery of the system, it is on the dirty side.

“Above all……”

The musty smell that permeates the slums is absent here.

It seems that people who don't fit in with the place called 'slum' often come and go.

Irene, who had made up her mind about something, slowly entered through the entrance to the culvert.

The first thing that greeted her was the imperial seal, barely legible and damaged.

Complex emotions were blooming inside her, but she ignored them and began to move forward.

'… Ugh.'

Soon, when she felt the presence of the spirit growing stronger, three paths appeared before her eyes.

The surrounding atmosphere was so thick that it blocked her ability to detect the presence of the spirit.

There's nothing we can do about it now that it's come to this.

“There’s no choice… I have to find a way using magic.”

She muttered to herself and took out a jeweled wand from her bosom.

The jewel with a soft green tint began to absorb Eileen's mana, and slowly began to glow.

After that, she cast her spell and extended her wand down the path extending to the left.

“Come out, okay?”

Irene opened her mouth with a cold, settled voice.

She had been chasing the signs of the 'honseok' until now, and suddenly she was able to notice it.

Someone with the energy of a 'spiritual stone' is watching him from the left side of the three-way intersection.

“If you don’t come out, you’ll regret it. It’s hard to control the power of magic used in such a narrow space.”

Eileen's words were laced with both strong confidence and hostility.

That was because he thought that the presence he was feeling right before his eyes was the true meaning of the 'demon appearance incident' that had occurred in the slums.

“I’ll count to exactly three.”

As she spoke, a strong mana began to swirl around Eileen's wand.

If you are an opponent whose skills cannot be judged by this, you can catch them in an instant even if they run away.

“One……. Huh?”

As the ambush revealed its face, Eileen's emotions wavered.

This is because the one who revealed himself is a legendary being known as the 'Black Knight' who had previously visited his mansion.

“If you don’t want to die, collect mana.”

As if looking into a bottomless well, a dark voice rang out majestically.

As if possessed by something, Eileen began to slowly release the mana bound to her wand as she listened to the words of the 'Black Knight'.

Pot──!

At that moment, the 'Black Knight' kicked the ground and jumped at him.

'Oh, that's so fast!'

With a deep admiration, Eileen once again unleashed the magic within her wand.

As the purified mana flows out of the wand, it begins to form a wall of metal.

But just before it could be completed, something sharp flew in and interrupted Eileen's magic from being completed.

'What, what!? You slashed with your sword!?'

I've heard of knights using auras as magic, but I've never heard of a knight using 'sword strikes' themselves to carry out mana.

While she was flustered, the distance between them narrowed.

The metal wall had collapsed, and the black knight was already close enough to swing his sword at him.

'Ugh… … !'

If the distance has become this close, there is no chance for the wizard to win.

Still, she began to charge mana into her wand for the next spell.

Wheeee …

“Ke, kek!”

The black knight struck down Eileen's wand and grabbed her by the neck.

A tremendous force came over her, and Eileen, unable to maintain her balance, fell to the ground.

'this…….'

Eileen felt a chill run down her spine as she felt the blade of the sword touch her neck.

The fear of death enveloped her whole body, but her eyes still held strength.

“For a wizard, that’s a pretty aggressive fighting style.”

The black knight took a look at Eileen, then lowered his head and looked at his stomach.

Before she knew it, the jewel imbued with mana and Eileen's hand holding it were pointed at the black knight's abdomen.

It was indeed the righteous and noble action of a wizard.