Chapter 28 - Responsibility

When all the lights in the banquet hall were turned off due to the cold air, he shot two arrows when he saw two red eyes. When the red eyes disappeared, Ed took out an ice arrow and hung it on the bow. He can’t see his opponent because he’s in the dark, but he could clearly tell which one of them was Philia. Her tail could fit half of the banquet hall. Ed was now in her area, and most were in her area except for a few nobles who fled to the door. Before Ed shot the arrow again, Philia’s tail, which was screaming, swept the banquet hall in a circle. Grant and some nobles were not far from her and were about to get hit by her tail. Ed could not help others because they were far away, but he was able to throw Grant into the air. When Grant’s body floated into the air, Philia’s tail swept the spot where Grant was standing. And Ed was able to avoid the flying tail by laying on the floor.

Crrrkk.

He heard something being cut, but Ed had no time to care about it. His bow had been set up before he laid on the floor. The arrow that flew in the dark was stuck in Philia’s knee. Her knees were smashed because of the cold arrow that penetrated through her knees and recoiled back. Ed rolled back as soon as his back touched the floor. It was a smooth back roll as planned from the time he threw Grant up in the air, and Philia’s tail fell to where Ed was.

Bang!

While the stones on the floor of the banquet hall were smashed and scattered, Ed fired arrows one after another. Philia covered her head with her arms, feeling the seven arrows flying in. When she blocked six arrows with her arms, the last one went over her shoulder and stuck in the cervical spine behind her neck. That was Philia’s weak spot. Ed could’ve caught the demon without aiming for its weak spot, but there was no reason not to aim for its weak spot. The arrow went through the cervical spine and through the neck and popped out of Philia’s mouth. The lights in the hallway turned on when the nobles, who had stepped down to the door while Philia collapsed, opened the door. They looked back at Ed when they saw the demon’s long tail and the arrow stuck behind its neck. Where the light can’t reach. A demon who was shot dead by an arrow was seen. And there was a terrible tragedy that the demon caused. Most of those standing close to the demon, as well as the lord, died. Some ladies were black and some couldn’t resist the nausea.

Ed approached Grant in the meantime. Grant survived but was enraptured. Ed held Grant’s chin, relying on the dim light. Looking at Grant’s empty eyes, Ed recognized that he was not a demon follower, but simply enchanted, and that he had come to his senses when Philia died. Ed stopped paying attention to him because he couldn’t see any red around him. Now, Ed had to take out Philia’s heart. As he was getting up, Ed turned his head to the noise from the back. Arin was coming in, accompanied by a soldier.

“Arin?”

One of the nobles who saw Arin’s uniform stepped forward.

“Are you a holy knight?”

Arin closed her eyes and slowly opened them. Her eyes shone blue and the nobles stepped back. It is hard to find a true holy knight dealing with divine power, even if they are nobles. And such holy knights have a very high position in the Astron Church, which encompasses the continent. Especially in the work related to the demon, they knew that they had special powers, so the nobles tried not to get too close to them. Arin looked at those nobles and opened her mouth.

“As the demon has appeared, there may be some demon followers here. Look all the doors thoroughly so that not a single person can get out of here.”

When the soldier who brought Arin beckoned, the men who entered the banquet hall to subdue Ed surrounded the nobles this time. He did not raise any weapons, but the knights guarding the nobles confronted them with a firm impression. Arin looked at those nobles and said.

“Lower your weapon.” “How dare you? You’re just a holy knight! You’re extremely impolite.”

Arin looked at the noble with her blue eyes and said.

“Do you want to end the investigation right now? Or do you want to be searched by the Knights of the Palace?”

Standing behind the knight, the nobleman put his hand on her shoulder and said,

“May Astron’s glory be with us. We’ll do our best to cooperate during the investigation, so go ahead and do your job.”

Arin nodded slightly and came into the banquet hall with a torch. And despite the terrible horrors, she came to Ed’s side without raising an eyebrow.

“Are you all right?” “I was going to take the demon’s heart out and take it with me. How did you know I was here?” “Thane told me.”

Arin pulled out her sword and stepped forward and said,

“Hold the torch, please.”

When Ed took the torch and stood next to it, Arin cut through Philia’s heart with her holy sword and pulled it out. She held it in her hand and closed her eyes and prayed, and the red light faded and disappeared. Arin slowly opened her eyes after detecting traces of Blood Stone.

“It’s a little far this time.”

It was a relief that she could feel. It was even farther than the distance they rode their horses for 5 days.

“We’ve killed three intermediate demons, and there’s still a connection, so I guess there’s going to be a new one.” “I know. It might have a stronger power than Nefthael.”

Arin’s eyes turned to an ice pillar and a perfume bottle trapped in it.

“Was it really trying to do something with the perfume?” “It tried to do something suspicious, so I froze it. It said it took 10s years to plan. So there must be something. Can the church take a look at it?” “Let’s bring it there.”

Arin swung her sword to cut off the ice column and took out the bottle of perfume. They don’t know what’s in it. But seeing that the demon is Philia, and had worked on it for 10 years, they could tell that it was something dangerous.

“But why did you ask the nobles to stay?” “I have to look into them. I’m just going to make sure that there’s nobody controlled by the demon. And I have to make sure they don’t say anything stupid outside.”

Ed saw nobles, ladies, and knights standing by for the investigation. If any of them were a demon’s follower, it was highly likely that they would have aimed for a gap when Ed attacked Philia. Although the moment of victory was short, no one intervened. Arin first checked Grant with blue eyes and approached the nobles outside the banquet hall and began investigating one by one. Investigations were nothing special. It was done just by making eye contact. Arin could tell if the other person was controlled by a demon. She identified all the nobles and brought them together. Those who faced her blue eyes held their breath.

“Performing exorcism is the Astron Church’s job. If you speak out about this incident for no reason, the judges of heresy will come to you, not the Knights of the castle.”

As the lord died, the investigation team was sent from the kingdom to dispel rumors of Ed. Now they know Ed was part of the Astron Churchman. That was enough. Otherwise, there was no need to keep them waiting. When she first saw them, she already confirmed that there were no demon followers. Watching the nobles leave with the knights, Ed saw a boy running to the banquet hall. The boy’s face, accompanied by a knight, was blue. He was wondering what was going on, and the boy looked inside the banquet hall and shouted.

“Father!”

Ed sighed briefly as he saw the boy screaming and hugging the lord’s body. At the time, it was a situation where Ed could not save him, but when Ed saw the families of those who died at the hands of the demon, he was still confused about whether he was in the game or living in reality. Arin looked back at Ed as well.

“Let’s get out of here. “Okay.”

As they walked out of the Castle, they heard an urgent voice calling them.

“Now, wait a minute! Please wait.”

Ed turned around and Grant was running. He seemed to have recovered his spirit to a certain extent, and his eyes seemed to have returned. Having made eye contact with Ed, he approached and quickly tried to hold hands. It would have been possible if Ed hadn’t taken a step back. Grant smiled awkwardly when he saw Ed step back. Grant quickly looked down.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to survive.”

He was treating his wife as a benefactor, not as a murderer. Fascinated by Philia, she played around with him. But perhaps because she died and her fascination disappeared, he turned back to normal.

“Is there any way I can repay you?” “We’re on our way to the place where the ‘sun never goes down’, would you like to come with us?”

Grant’s face hardened for a moment. No wonder. It was a place that his first wife owned. And his first wife would be upset that he neglected her and was enchanted by the demon. It was embarrassing to have that memory intact.

“Go ahead of me. I’ll prepare a reward and meet you there.”

Ed nodded and left with Arin first. He didn’t mean to refuse if Grant came and rewarded him. Ed has enough money, and he travels with rich people. But the more money he had, the better. Arin walked alone with Ed and asked.

“But why did you save Grant?”

Arin looked inside the banquet hall and had a rough idea of what had happened. Grant was also in the demon’s attack, and Ed simply replied when asked.

“Because he was within reach.”

Ed saved him because he had the opportunity. Ed answered frankly, and Arin smiled pleased with his answer, as she did not seek his reward. As expected, she has a lot to learn from him. They heard footsteps running from behind as they were leaving the permanent residence. They looked back and saw a boy covered in blood all over his chest running. A knight and soldiers were following him behind him. Ed and Arin stopped and waited, and the boy who arrived in front of them gasped and opened his mouth.

“Wait. I want to ask you something.”

He spoke informally at first sight. He was noble.

“I heard you killed the demon in the banquet hall. My father, Lord Amet. Is it true that Mrs. Grant killed him?” “That’s right.”

The kid’s father died, so that boy is the new lord. The boy, who heard Ed’s answer, seemed relieved and ordered the knight standing behind him.

“Go get Grant.”

Oh, what’s about to happen now?