CHAPTER 6 - A brutal new world (5)

[Unknown—Deilos?]

[Forest]

My body hurts like hell.

The night had already passed, and it was early in the morning. My head was lying on a soft pile of leaves I had gathered on the side of a gigantic tree before sleeping. Each fiber of my muscles felt like it was contracting, like when a person was working out. My whole upper body shook as I tried to sit.

As I was able to force a sitting posture, my insides started to feel miserable—it growled like a small creature trying to eat its way through. My stomach felt like it was stabbed several times while also being beaten by a baseball bat. I can't say my condition as of now is getting any better than it was from the jail. Maybe it got worse now that I'm exposed to the cold breeze of the night. I can't ignore my conditions now that they're this awful.

"Shit."

After hearing me groan, Seekth came around the other side of the tree I rested my head on. His face was concerned. I need to calm myself down. Losing my composure now would only get me discarded, or worse, killed.

"Young lord, what's the matter?"

"Don't mind me."

I fixed my posture. A sharp pain went through my ribs.

"Kuh—"

Seekth approached me and took a quick look at my body. He then poured some more potions on my injuries and patched them up.

"I know that the young lord is in great peril due to his injuries. Unfortunately, we don't have the pleasure of sticking around for too long. The humans may catch up if we stay any longer. We better move now, young lord. Do you think you can walk?"

My legs were trembling. I couldn't stand up. I've been trying to move my feet even last night—I can kick faintly or curl them, but it wouldn't move properly.

"Seems like I can't move my body as I want to."

"I can carry you in the meantime. If the young lord were to allow it."

Humiliating. I sighed internally.

"I'll take the offer."

Seekth shouldered me and then slung me to his back like a backpack. His body tipped slightly to compensate for my weight. We were moving slowly in that green-filled place.

I rode on his back for a long while—four, no, more than five hours. The feeling of the breeze hitting my face gave me a sense of happiness by the mere fact of doing anything at all. The sensation that tingled my face made me want to cry with joy. It was as blissful as getting a judgment of divinity. Is this what it feels like to be gazed upon by the heavens? Have I always been this religious?

We walked through small foreign shrubs and wild animals. Giant boars, with tusks half their body size, ravaged a small deer and skewered it. Nearby, a beautiful flower glowed among the tall grass—its petals with many glistening tints of blue and pink, telling of its poisonous nature. The trees swoon, their leaves chattering to the breeze of gentle wind.

As we moved deeper into the unknown landscape, I couldn't help but wonder who and why he was helping me.

Barbatos...

The name went into my head again.

Demon Lords...

Though I'm aware that I'm in a different world, my knowledge about it is limited. My memories are notably more clear now that I'm not being constantly beaten half-dead. Despite this, it seems like I need more time to process all of it.

For now, I need to know my current position. Being caught off guard is one dissatisfactory conclusion.

"Where are we going?"

I asked Seekth. His head slightly moved.

"A village nearby, young lord. There might be carriages that we could ride towards De Gracia."

De Gracia...

Ah, I remember now. That's the name of the place where 'I' was supposed to go. Recalling this, I could also remember 'my' name.

Deilos, the son of the Demon Lord Dantalion. A noble brat.

Other than that, I don't necessarily remember anything noteworthy about this person other than being the son of a Demon Lord. He's greedy, selfish, and perverse, typical of what you'll see when regarding someone of this privilege in life.

Why? Why is the Demon Lord Barbatos interested in me?

Despite my efforts to recover my memories, I still couldn't answer that question.

First of all, I'm just one shitty brat from a lesser Demon Lord. A lesser Demon Lord—someone that's not tied to much power within the Demon territory but is still considered a noble just because of their titles. Meaning my name or title is significant to none.

Secondly, the Demon Lord Barbatos seems to be much more important than my father, Demon Lord Dantalion, and the fact that I'm being transported to Barbatos instead of my father Dantalian means that there's an enormous gap in their influence. Picture this—your son was kidnapped and tortured for days on end. Then they would suddenly get found. Yet, despite this, instead of the father, they gave the child to the CIA first for investigation. This could also be the neglect of Dantalion as a father, but based on my memories, that doesn't seem to be the case.

I still can't piece things together because of my blurred-out memories of this world. Well, 'I' was just a little dipshit, so it may have something to do with that.

"Young lord, we're already near the village."

In front of me was a small, shabby village—where the outer fences and walls were made of crooked wood. The villagers were wearing the clothes of peasants. Their skirts' bottoms are ripped and dirty—almost primitive. Seekth talked to the villagers. They had features like horns and overgrown teeth, to name a few.

We walked through the village. Kids were running about. The smell of wet mud and the steady sucking sound that came with it were all around me. I could hear some faint whispers on my back and a point here and there.

Looking at the villagers, a part of me was disgusted, but not directly at them, but rather at their living conditions. Some villagers had thick bandages wrapped around them, others limping with sticks supporting them. There were also the ones that were slathered with so much filth that you couldn't recognize them from a pile of trash.

We walked on until he saw something in the distance.

"Here, young lord, there seems to be a nice stall here."

He walked towards a stand with hanging, darkened meat. After giving the owner a few brown-colored coins, he gave me a handful of the meat.

"What's this?"

"Jerky, it appears like."

They were sticks, literal meat sticks...

"Is peasant food not to your liking?"

"I can manage."

They were quite shit, both in taste and texture. It was too salty, and the meat was too hard and chewy to be even called meat. I wanted to spit it out, but my body didn't let me—hunger does wonders for a person.

"You said De Gracia earlier. Is it the lady's interests?"

Seekth swallowed and wiped his mouth.

"Yes, she would like a quick word with you, if I remember."

"In what manner?"

"That is not mine to say. But before that, I'll be finding us a place to sleep in. We'll be hitching a ride the next morning."

He pointed to the carriages.

"We better rest up before then."

. . .

The moon shone upon the cup of water from the open window. Seekth sat in the corner—his eyes were closed and he was holding a sword against his chest. Shades enveloped the places where the moonlight could not illuminate.

I stared at the wooden frame of the bed I was resting on—the crooked, uneven craftsmanship of an amateur. The planks are jagged, grainy, and cut unproportioned to the frame—a mark discerning one's lack of ability.

Despite all of this, it was comfortable—splendid, actually. Not the cold floor, not a patch of grass and leaves, but an actual bed. What a time to be alive! This is it—I'll merge with this bed until I die.

Yet, despite this, my mind is still fully awake. I can't sleep properly because of this, not in the cell, and not in my previous life. It seems like my mind is in a constant mode of analyzing things—no wonder I'm more aloof than I'd imagined.

I looked outside. Nothing moved other than the falling leaves.

There were no running dogs, cats, or any other animal, and they seemed to not be common in this world. The concept of having domesticated animals as pets may be present but not practiced, not in remote areas at the very least, only to nobles who want to show off their wealth.

Nobles, huh?

Come to think of it. I'm a noble now...

Noble...

Although title-wise, my current position as a noble and my previous life may not have a direct parallel, I did use to run the company of my father, though I quickly sold it off after his death. I didn't care how much the company was low-balled—I couldn't care less about it, anyway. All I wanted to do was to live a life without the influence of that senile prick.

I don't know why I came back to work for another company despite hating working like a lapdog for someone. Maybe it's familiarity? That I've been so entrenched by my father's influence that I'm constantly seeking any semblance of him? That's... scary. Undeniably scary. I'm afraid of that.

Even now, my actions are still influenced by my father... hahhh... when will he ever get out of my head?

Hmm... let me rest this out. I'd rather not want to think about it.

. . .

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