Chapter 147
“Of course, obviously. The Blood Demon guarding the ruins of the fallen kingdom right now is the guardian spirit protecting that scepter.”
“Guardian spirit?”
I already knew about the Blood Demon because I had heard about it from the lich, but the term guardian spirit was unfamiliar to me. Perhaps frustrated by the way I stupidly asked back, Sal crossed his arms.
“The Kingdom of Adrianna was originally a country of necromancers who used a lot of spirit-summoning magic, you know.”
When I still looked as if I didn’t understand anything, Sal shook his head. Sensing that the explanation would grow long, he corrected his posture and sat up.
“That Blood Demon is a guy who gets stronger the more it absorbs the blood of sacrifices, so how strong do you think it became when all the people of that kingdom were massacred? Even you found Adrianna’s Scepter troublesome. That’s why you were trying to deal with it last.”
In other words, that meant there was a monster in that land that even the Black Flame Dragon had feared. A chilling feeling came over me, and cold sweat ran down my back.
“Is it my turn to ask questions now?”
Sal uncrossed his arms and leaned his upper body forward. Since I thought I should answer him as much as I had asked him, I nodded.
“When exactly did you lose your memories?”
I knew he would ask that. I had no intention of lying to him.
“It hasn’t even been a month. I woke up in the lair with no memories, and I met the hero’s party near there. While trying to find my memories, I found out that the Dark God and I were connected. I followed that trail and ended up here.”
I summarized that long journey into a few sentences. Sal listened attentively to my words without doubting or questioning them in the slightest.
“So have you found out anything so far?”
It was a question that caught me off guard. Even after going through such a long journey, I still hadn’t discovered anything I could really point to.
Even the fact that the stigma was an obedience spell was information I had gotten from Sal just now.
“…It seems I made some kind of deal with the Dark God. According to that deal, I have to gather the five sacred relics and go find the Dark God.”
Sal nodded, but I was a little confused as to what that reaction meant. Was he simply saying he understood, or did the movement have some other meaning?
“But is there a reason you’re taking the hero’s party around with you? You can just do it with me.”
Of course, if I had known the Black Flame Dragon had a friend, I would have gone to find him first. But how could I ask for help when I didn’t even know he existed?
“They were the ones I met first. If it hadn’t been for the party’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to make it this far.”
“Then how about you come with me even now? Let’s just send the hero’s party away. I’ll undo the spell, so just let them go.”
Sal eagerly leaned toward me and took both my hands. I did need his help, but I didn’t want to abandon Kyle and the hero’s party and go with him.
“I don’t think that will work.”
When I spoke while subtly pulling my hands out of his grip, Sal openly showed his disappointment.
“Then at least let me go with you. You’re going to face the Blood Demon, aren’t you? It’ll be hard without me.”
It was a proposal I hadn’t expected. And it was welcome too. He was offering to help me face the Blood Demon that even the Black Flame Dragon of the past had feared, so there was no reason to refuse.
That was true, but my opinion wasn’t very important in this hero’s party. Everything depended on Kyle’s decision.
“That’s not a matter for me to decide, but for Kyle.”
“Who’s Kyle?”
Sal asked petulantly, not bothering to hide his upset expression.
“He’s the guy in charge of being the hero in the hero’s party. Everyone in the party follows his decision unconditionally.”
Sal nodded once more. I wondered what he had understood for him to be nodding like that.
“I’ll try persuading that guy. I’m confident in things like that.”
If Sal was going to take care of such a troublesome matter for me, I welcomed it too. As long as he paid attention to just one thing.
“But the hero’s party doesn’t know I’m the Black Flame Dragon. Promise me you absolutely won’t say it.”
“They don’t know you’re the Black Flame Dragon? Then what do those guys think you are?”
What did the hero’s party think I was? The woodcutter excuse had already failed, and I had become too incompetent to be called the Great Sage.
“Who knows, probably the weakest member?”
“What, you? Where else would there be a being as strong as you?”
“Ah, that’s… Right now, I’m completely hiding the fact that I have power.”
Sal let out a short breath as if he found it absurd, then burst into loud laughter. Somehow, it didn’t feel like a pleasant reaction.
“Ahem, anyway, they know me as a very ordinary person, so if you want to come along with the party, you’ll have to get your story straight with mine.”
If the party found out that Sal remembered my past, it was obvious things would become tiring in all kinds of ways. Sal would need to be good at lying.
