Becoming the Terminally-Ill Villain Who Torments His Disciples - Chapter 74.2
“You’re still in pain? That’s strange. That shouldn’t be happening…”
“Pardon?”
“Like you said, the pain only affects the sacrifice when a monster is summoned. But if it still hurts…”
While Sol was deep in thought, Pielago asked, “Hey, can I come closer for a second?”
When Cielo gave an easy nod, Pielago picked up one of the books scattered on the floor and said,
“Here. I think this part might be related to the pain you’re feeling.”
The book Pielago picked up was a record containing observation notes on people who had become sacrifices.
“Looks like the Doberman family did some research on sacrifices in the past. Well, I guess it makes sense—they’re in charge of protecting the Empire… and it seems they discovered sacrifices during that process.”
And the record of that process was the very book Pielago was holding.
“Did Ryan give this to you?”
At Cielo’s question, Pielago closed his mouth.
When he didn’t answer, Cielo looked up to study him instead of reading the book. Pielago avoided his gaze.
“…Don’t tell me.”
When Cielo turned to Sol, he flinched and quickly looked away before their eyes could meet.
There was no mistaking it—they had snuck the book out and were reading it without permission.
“…What were you planning to do if you got caught?”
“Getting caught isn’t the problem. Breaking the contract with the demons comes first. If we read enough, we might find a clue.”
Cielo let out a dry sigh at Pielago’s words. He already knew these two had no regard for rules… but to think they’d pull this kind of stunt even in someone else’s house.
“…Fine. I’ll go ask Ryan for permission.”
“W-wait. What if he says no? Even if you plan to ask, at least read this part first. Please?”
Pielago spoke in the gentlest voice he could manage. Too afraid to touch Cielo’s wrist, he waved his hand awkwardly in the air, which looked almost comical.
“…”
“Just this part. Only this part. Please?”
“…”
“I stayed up all night just to find this. I haven’t slept a wink.”
He pointed at the dark circles under his eyes. But Cielo, far from moved, gave him a sharp look instead, making Pielago cough and glance away.
“I’m just saying…”
“Well, fine. If you’re going that far.”
Reluctantly giving in, Cielo turned his eyes to the book. He still had to find out what was causing the pain.
When a monster is summoned, the sacrifice experiences severe pain. However, as time passes, the sacrifice begins to feel pain even without summoning.
This is believed to be due to the contract with the demons and may indicate that the day of summoning is approaching.
“The day the demons are summoned…”
“The more important part is what comes next.”
At Sol’s prompting, Cielo read on:
The summoned demons are drawn to the unique scent that emanates from sacrifices. For this reason, all sacrifices must be traitbearers. If a sacrifice hopes to flee from a demon, even briefly, they must mask their scent with that of another traitbearer.
But during this process, a curious phenomenon was observed. The condition of sacrifices who had lain with another traitbearer improved significantly.
Though the exact reason is unclear, this may be a lead toward breaking the contract between sacrifice and demon.
Cielo swallowed dryly and turned the page almost unconsciously. The next section described a case where a sacrifice’s condition had improved to nearly normal.
But the entry did not continue to a conclusion. Most likely, that sacrifice had ultimately failed to escape death.
As Cielo stared at the page without turning it, Pielago started rambling.
“…There were a few other books with the same handwriting. So if we look through them, we might be able to figure out who the author is.”
“Judging by when it was written, it’s not that old. The author could still be alive. So I was thinking… maybe we could try tracking them down.”
Cielo nodded slowly. Right now, finding a solution was what mattered. There was no room to be picky.
As he lowered his gaze again, lost in thought, a voice suddenly spoke behind him.
“So, who wrote it?”
Startled, Cielo turned to find Ryan leaning casually against the doorframe, smiling with his teeth showing.
“C’mon, Cielo. It’s time for breakfast. What are you doing just hanging around here?”
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