Baron Kelven stared vacantly at the shard of a top-grade magic stone.
Then he snapped his head up and shouted.
“W-We can start over!”
“…”
“Pjol! With this, we can begin again! No more fighting pointless territorial wars, no more groveling for help like beggars!”
Baron Kelven’s eyes brimmed with hope.
But Pjol’s gaze held the opposite.
“Didn’t you sign a contract with a demon? What about the sacrifices you’re supposed to offer at regular intervals?”
“T-That is…”
Just because the demon who arranged the deal was dead didn’t mean the contract disappeared.
The one receiving the sacrifices wasn’t that demon, but the Demon God himself.
In other words, the demon who brokered the pact had never been the true party to it.
“Demons only grow by consuming fragments of souls bestowed by the Demon God.”
“Once you start, you can never walk away. That’s the real horror of making a contract with a demon.”
“Unless there was a separate clause for ‘termination’ written in… but you must have been desperate, since no such clause was included.”
A life in which, once the contract begins, you must offer other humans as sacrifices until the day you die.
That was why demons were taboo across the continent.
‘Well, there is one way to survive without fulfilling the contract.’
But that truth hadn’t reached the world yet, and the item required to do it was nearly impossible to obtain.
“Pjol! You survived, didn’t you!”
“Because I never offered anyone as a sacrifice. And because of that… my body ended up like this.”
Pjol tugged his upper garment aside, exposing skin stained an unnatural black.
Baron Kelven had never trusted the demon fully, so he’d ordered Pjol to contract with it first.
It was a ridiculous command, but Pjol obeyed.
He believed a true knight followed his lord’s orders without hesitation.
“Even I, who never sacrificed anyone, had to pay this price. So if you, Baron—who has been offering sacrifices all this time—suddenly stop…”
It would mean only death. And Baron Kelven knew that better than anyone.
After Dolores, meant to be the next sacrifice, escaped, he’d offered up a knight just a few days ago because he couldn’t endure the agony.
“Eeeek! I’ll take care of the sacrifices myself! Just do your job! Kill them all, every last one!”
“…”
“Pjol, you are my knight! Your existence is for my sake—your life is bound to mine!”
“…I understand. I have no choice.”
Pjol drew his sword. In an instant, a blue aura wrapped around the blade.
Rodelin’s face tightened.
“Everyone, get ready. Looks like we’re fighting.”
“He didn’t look in good shape… but that aura is no joke.”
“Keke. Still, he’s clearly suffering from something. If his mana control is fine… then it’s probably his stamina that’s failing.”
“I get it. So instead of rushing him, we drag it out?”
“Just a guess. But based on experience… I’m about 99.9% sure.”
“That’s what people call being sure.”
It wasn’t 100%, so technically she wasn’t completely sure, right?
Either way, in this case, stalling was the correct call.
‘Pjol can only fight for three turns.’
After that, his strength and stamina stats drop to 1.
A pitiful state—he’d lose even an arm-wrestling match to Rezé.
But Baron Kelven, totally ignorant of that, could barely contain his excitement.
“Yes, Pjol! That’s my knight! Crush them! My noble, loyal knight!”
Pjol lifted his sword high. Brilliant blue flames streaked through the sky along the arc of the blade.
“Keke, compared to that, Senior’s aura looks like a candle… no, a matchstick.”
“Mockery earns penalty points. If we survive, I’ll reward you with a generous serving of them.”
Penalty points as a reward. That was new.
“Keke, your sense of humor has improved. I’m moved.”
“Enough chatter. Focus. I’ll block the first strike no matter what—!”
But in the next moment, everyone froze in disbelief.
Thwack!!
“Urk…?”
Baron Kelven’s head shot into the air.
A heartbeat later gravity reclaimed it, and it hit the ground with a heavy, dull thud.
As if trying to understand what had happened, his eyes rolled wildly before stopping on Pjol, sword in hand.
Blood dripped from Pjol’s blade. There was no doubt who had severed the baron’s neck.
It was his most loyal vassal, Pjol.
The baron’s mouth hung open in shock. Soon even that twitching stopped.
Thus ended Baron Kelven, once hailed as the ruler of the central-northern region.
“Cutting down his own master… that’s unexpected.”
“Incredible. He truly is a knight.”
Rodelin and Alex couldn’t hide their astonishment.
I was just as stunned.
‘In the game, Lowell beheads Baron Kelven…’
Normally, Kelven charges at Rodelin, unable to accept reality.
Then Lowell takes his head and finishes the fight.
But for Pjol—whose loyalty surpassed everyone’s—to strike first with his own hands…
Even I couldn’t help being shocked.
[You have cleared the Sub Quest, ‘Defeat the 6th Grade Demon Orobos’.]
[200exp and 10 Gold are given as a reward.]
[Rodelin’s favorability towards you increases slightly.]
[Lowell’s favorability towards you increases significantly.]
“It looks like it’s over. You all did well. Take a moment and catch your breath.”
Baron Kelven was dealt with, and the quest rewards rolled in.
But I still couldn’t rest. There was one more thing I had to do.
‘What skill will I get this time?’
[Predation] lets me take one skill from a named or boss monster.
I was creeping toward the corpse to use it when—
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you go alone.”
Pjol gripped his sword with both hands and pressed it to his own throat.
‘Suicide!?’
I lunged forward and swung the sword at my waist. I was so frantic I didn’t even draw it—just slammed him with the sheathed blade.
Clang! Thud!
Pjol’s sword flew away and stabbed into the ground.
“Zero!”
“Oh my…!”
Alex and Rodelin rushed over.
If I hadn’t been approaching to use [Predation], I wouldn’t have stopped Pjol in time.
The problem was—
‘I don’t know if stopping him was the right move.’
In the game, Pjol and everyone tied to this incident receive the death penalty.
If I wanted to preserve my advantage of knowing the future, maybe it would’ve been better to let him die here.
‘The more the future shifts, the less reliable my information becomes.’
And yet I saved him with my own hands—when he was supposed to die.
There wasn’t a dumber move than that.
‘Ugh… I just reacted on instinct.’
Unaware of my turmoil, Rodelin was already praising me.
“Zero, you did something wonderful. I’ll report this for sure. I’ll even give you one merit point—no, two points!”
“Do you really need to report it?”
“Of course! A good deed like this has to be recorded. You saved someone’s life!”
Rodelin’s eyes sparkled.
When it comes to doing good, she’s the kind of kid who can’t hold back.
While I tried to dodge her overwhelming, glittering stare, I asked Pjol.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Taking responsibility. For betraying both the people of the territory and my lord.”
“This isn’t responsibility. It’s running away.”
“I see… so I don’t even have the right to die by my own hand. Then what should I do?”
“…Face judgment. Accept punishment for your crimes.”
“That’s why I tried to kill myself. I didn’t want to waste the court’s time—or burden an executioner.”
He wasn’t wrong. Pjol’s crimes were heavy.
A demon contract, kidnapping, confinement, collusion, and even the murder of his lord.
Death seemed unavoidable—until Rodelin spoke up.
“Didn’t you behead him yourself? That will count as a mitigating factor.”
“Even though I severed the head of the lord I served?”
“Imperial law isn’t so cowardly that it protects nobles who harm the Empire. And he was a noble who contracted with a demon. Honestly, they might reward you before they punish you. However…”
Rodelin paused, then continued.
“Your cooperation before that doesn’t vanish. Kidnapping residents and offering them as sacrifices… you’ll still have to pay for that complicity.”
Meaning he could escape execution, but prison was certain.
And without connections, Pjol might rot there for more than twenty years.
The other knights wouldn’t fare much better.
“I understand. If that’s the responsibility I must bear… then I’ll accept it gladly.”
“You’ve chosen well. I’ll testify too—that Sir Pjol fulfilled his duty as a knight in the end.”
“Thank you. I’ll spend the time in prison thinking slowly… about how I can lessen the weight of my sins.”
“In that case, why not come to my hometown after you’re released?”
“Hometown?”
“Yeah. It’s quiet, but it’s a good place to live. A little bigger than this village, and the population’s slowly growing. We’ll need someone experienced like you.”
Alex invited him to his hometown.
This kind of storyline showed up a lot in the game—useful people eventually getting sent to that village.
That episode doesn’t unlock until the second half, so I’ll set it aside for now.
“Well… by then I’ll be an old man. I’m not sure what use I’d be…”
Still, he didn’t seem to hate the idea. Pjol began talking with Alex more easily.
Naturally, attention drifted away from Baron Kelven’s body.
For now, two problems were solved. Next—
“Ouch… that really stings. When is that old man Caron getting here?”
“Should I go call him?”
“Stay here. We’ve already done more than enough running around.”
“Then I’ll stand guard!”
“No… you don’t need to—”
“Vigilance is a soldier’s foundation!”
Rodelin climbed onto a tall rock without listening to Lowell at all.
She shaded her eyes with a hand and struck a dramatic lookout pose.
Watching her, Lowell let out a long, exhausted sigh.
“She’s seriously going to drive me insane…”
Lowell looked like things weren’t playing out the way she wanted.
Same for me. If I used [Predation] right in front of Lowell, there was a good chance she’d misunderstand.
So I needed to send her away too—and fast.
“Keke, why don’t you go praise her yourself?”
“Why would I?”
Lowell puffed out her cheeks.
I could tell her attitude had softened compared to before. Normally she would’ve smacked me for talking nonsense.
‘A gap has opened in her heart.’
A crack had formed in her determination to push Rodelin away.
“Seriously, who did she take after to turn out like that…? Stubborn as a mule.”
Lowell’s hostility toward Rodelin had also eased, little by little.
I could feel it.
‘This is a turning point.’
On a small scale, it would change their relationship.
On a large scale, it could overturn the game’s ending entirely.
I had a strong hunch this moment would matter later.
–TL Notes–
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Wow! Just Wow!
What an exciting chapter!
First we have new information that the biggest in the Demon Hierarchy isn’t the First Legion commander but the Demon God and about the contract too
I did not expect Pjol to demonstrate his loyalty like this…I thought there would be more persuasion but I guess the baron is too far gone. How will Daike take this? Can he stop Teron before reaching the same point? And I guess Daike will not personally witnessing it after all…
And well done to both Zero and Alex. Zero gotta admit already that he like saving people even if his in game knowledge told otherwise and Alex is gathering useful NPC and turn his hometown into Majula…
I think there gotta be Alex ennoblement as Lord of his own territory hidden piece out there somewhere,Or his hometown become empire last stronghold or something