To You, Who Will Die Alone in Paradise Chapter 37

Now I seemed to understand the reason he had gone so far as to use a cunning trick to meet Dandeleon. From the beginning, he had planted someone in the Benoit Royal Palace and was monitoring Kellewen’s every move. And if you were to pick the person Kellewen had the most contact with during his stay in Benoit, it was undoubtedly Dandeleon.

The problem was how much Herma knew. On the day he was hit by Pierre, everyone in the palace had witnessed Kellewen carrying him all the way to Ardenberg. He would, of course, also know that Dandeleon had eaten at Ardenberg every day since then.

What about a relationship beyond that? For instance, could he know that Dandeleon had taken Kellewen’s virginity?

“…What if the Elves’ forest files a claim for damages?”

The thought was a little frightening, so Dandeleon threw a joke at himself. Now that he said it, it was not a very funny joke. Dandeleon scowled and checked Kellewen’s room. The room was empty. Dandeleon’s face contorted even more.

In the end, he headed for the third floor alone. The box decorated with gold and jewels was heavy, and there were so many stairs it made him want to curse. With the heart of a pilgrim, Dandeleon slowly ascended the long staircase.

Ardenberg, which he had returned to after four days, was as beautiful and quiet as ever. Since it was no longer a place where Kellewen lived alone, he had expected a slightly more lively atmosphere, but contrary to his expectations, silence prevailed.

While climbing the stairs, the only thing that reached Dandeleon’s ears was the song of a lark drifting in from the garden. More than ten Elves were supposed to be staying there, but aside from the two guarding the main gate, not a single hair of the others could be seen.

“Pant… No, wait, the third floor… pant, where did he say it was?”

By the time he reached the third floor carrying the box of stones, Dandeleon’s stamina was almost completely depleted. He wiped the sweat trickling down his cheek and looked around the hallway.

The long hallways stretching out on either side of the staircase were decorated in blue, unlike the first floor, giving off a fresh and cool atmosphere. However, there was no way that sight would register in the eyes of the already exhausted Dandeleon.

“How am I supposed to know if you just say the third floor.”

It was just as Dandeleon was grumbling again.

“Kieeeek!”

A very strange sound captured Dandeleon’s ear. It was a scream that sounded like a beast howling. Dandeleon was startled by the bizarre sound, something one would never expect to hear in the royal palace.

“…What was that?”

The sound came from the left. As Dandeleon scanned the left hallway, he saw that only one of the several rooms had its door open. Dandeleon hesitated for a moment, then cautiously walked toward it.

The early morning sunlight brightly illuminated the hallway. Even so, he could not tell if the atmosphere felt eerie because of the third floor’s blue color scheme or because he was terrified. His heart pounded faster and faster as he approached the open door. The bizarre sound was not heard again, but that only heightened the tension.

When he got near the door, Dandeleon’s sense of smell detected a peculiar odor. It was a strange smell, a mixture of a sweet fragrance and a nauseating stench like something rotting. Dandeleon fought back a wave of nausea and took another step toward the other side of the door.

The moment he stood before the door, which was wide open as if in welcome, the strength drained from Dandeleon’s hands holding the box. The box, decorated with gold and jewels, fell to the hallway floor with a bang.

“Gasp…!”

Dandeleon clamped his now-free hands over his mouth.

The scene before his eyes was horrific. A large wooden plank was set up in the spacious room, and a human corpse was hanging on it. The corpse, with long purple hair hanging down, had its arms and neck bound in shackles. It had no lower body. A dark purple liquid dripped from below its waist.

And yet… even in that state, it was struggling.

“Kieeeek!”

The corpse flinched, then threw its head back and howled again. Rage and hatred could be felt in that scream. Seized by terror, Dandeleon stumbled backward without realizing it.

“Oh my, Your Highness.”

Just then, a gentle voice unsuited to the situation rang in his ear. Thud, thud, thud. Footsteps echoed in the hallway and stopped right in front of the door. Dandeleon trembled as he lifted his head.

A tall height, broad shoulders, and long, wavy gray hair came into view one by one. A man wearing a rough apron, the kind a butcher might wear, looked at him. Dark purple stains were vivid. On the apron, and on his handsome face.

Herma smiled at Dandeleon and spoke.

“I have shown you an unsightly scene. I apologize. I did not know you would be here so early.”

“You, right now….”

Dandeleon’s gaze darted back and forth between Herma and the corpse hanging behind him. His teeth chattered, making it difficult to utter a proper word.

“A person….”

“Pardon? Ah, that is a misunderstanding.”

Herma glanced back inside the room, then shook his head at Dandeleon again. Even amidst his terror, Dandeleon noticed. Herma was enjoying this situation. He spoke in a relaxed voice.

“That is a demonic beast.”

“A demonic beast, you say?”

What jolted Dandeleon to his senses was not Herma’s words, but his emotion. Herma’s blue eyes scanned Dandeleon, showing a look of satisfaction. In that instant, Dandeleon’s mind went cold. Anger suppressed his fear, and a little of his reason returned.

“Take a closer look.”

Herma said, turning his body. It was a gesture as if inviting Dandeleon into the room.

Dandeleon hesitated, but only for a moment. He defiantly lifted his chin and walked into the room. Then he went right up to the corpse hanging on the plank and observed it closely.

Things he had not seen before came into view. Purple scales were sprouting all over its body, and a thin membrane was faintly visible between its fingers.

It was certainly strange, but it was not enough to be certain it was not human. Every other part was the same as an ordinary human. The proportions of its face and body, the length of its arms, its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears… a chill ran down Dandeleon’s spine as he checked its detailed features.

The ears visible through the purple hair were long. Much longer than Dandeleon’s.

“…It’s not human.”

“That is correct.”

“That’s….”

Dandeleon swallowed dryly and asked.

“Isn’t that an Elf?”

Herma shrugged.

“To be precise, it was an Elf. Having been contaminated by demonic energy and mutated, it is now nothing more than a demonic beast.”

Herma led Dandeleon to a room on the opposite side of the hallway and then disappeared, saying he would be back after changing his clothes. In the meantime, Dandeleon was left alone and looked around the room.

The third floor of Ardenberg had a completely different atmosphere from the first floor. Unlike the first floor, where green was the predominant color, the third floor was a blend of white marble and blue gemstones, exuding a cool feeling. The sofa Dandeleon sat on was a deep blue, and the table in front of it had a glass top. It was the kind of table made so that you could decorate it with flowers or jewels underneath and view them from above.

Dandeleon idly kicked the flower basket placed under the table with his foot. The bouquet of lilies mixed with baby’s breath swayed as it was kicked by Dandeleon’s foot. The way the white petals trembled was unrealistically beautiful.

Different images crossed Dandeleon’s mind in a jumble. The delicate white flower petals that looked like they would crumble if touched, the purple blood that dripped onto the marble floor, the straight, blue lily stems and the coolly stretching green leaves, the body writhing in pain and the long ears, the scream, the terrible scream….

Dandeleon’s foot pushed the flower basket harder. The lilies tilted and leaned to one side. Dandeleon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His fingertips were so cold they tingled.

“Have you been waiting long? My apologies.”

A short while later, Herma returned. He had taken off the blood-stained apron and changed into a typical Elven outfit. The purple stain on his cheek was already gone without a trace. Herma smiled with a clean face.

“Would you care for a cup of tea?”

Though he desperately wanted to refuse, Dandeleon forced himself to give an affirmative answer. Herma walked over to one side of the room and placed a kettle on the fire.

For a while, only the sound of water boiling and the clinking of teacups could be heard.

It was a strangely peaceful scene. Herma’s appearance as he prepared the tea himself without calling a servant was unpretentious. He was neither rude nor arrogant like the Elves who had been guarding the main gate. He maintained a consistently kind and polite demeanor.

That made it all the more incongruous. Who would believe that the man preparing tea for Dandeleon had been torturing his own kind just a moment ago? If one were to point that out to Herma, he would probably reply nonchalantly. That it was no longer his kind but a demonic beast, and that it was not torture but research.

“…Was that really an Elf earlier?”

In the end, Dandeleon found himself asking the same question he had asked before. The clattering of the teacup paused for a moment.

“It was an Elf. Now it is a demonic beast.”

“How can a creature of the continent become a demonic beast?”

Demonic beasts were alien beings from outside the continent. Most of them had monstrous forms resembling fish or reptiles, and they possessed strength several times greater than the beasts of the continent.

However, the truly terrifying thing about demonic beasts was not their strength, but the demonic energy they emanated. When contaminated by demonic energy, be it land, water, or human skin, it would lose its life force and rot away.

This was about all that Dandeleon knew about demonic beasts. Although Benoit was some distance from the Elves’ forest, it had fewer problems with demonic beasts thanks to the Lighthouse of Jellokal, so this was the first time Dandeleon had actually seen one. On the other hand, he had heard that other coastal regions of the continent were already so heavily contaminated that they were difficult to even approach, and that demonic beasts that periodically crossed the sea were discovered there.

So, it was possible that there were things he did not know about demonic beasts. But if a horrifying phenomenon like mutation actually existed, Dandeleon would have heard of it at least once, yet the stories that circulated among people were completely different. People feared the land touched by demonic energy losing its life force and melting people alive. But no one feared becoming a demonic beast themselves.

“It is not a story humans would be familiar with. After all, few humans are born with magical power….”

At Herma’s words, Dandeleon frowned.

“What does magical power have to do with it?”

“Because mutation is a phenomenon that only occurs in beings born with magical power.”

Dandeleon’s eyes widened in surprise.

The reason Elves were called the race of magic was that most individuals of the race were born with magical power in their bodies. It was said that there were those among other races, including humans, who were born with magical power, but it was extremely rare.

In other words, saying that only beings born with magical power undergo mutation was almost the same as saying that only Elves undergo mutation when contaminated by demonic energy. That might be fortunate for humans, but from the Elves’ perspective, it was surely a horror they would not even want to imagine.

Apart from his feelings for Herma, he felt a sense of pity. Dandeleon lowered his head.

“Is there no way to reverse it?”

Even as he asked, he already knew the answer. If there were a way, Herma would have already taken measures. As expected, the anticipated answer returned.