Thanks to my experience playing the game in my previous life, I knew exactly where the weapon I needed was located. I kicked off the floor, leaped into the air, and snatched my target. A sleek longsword settled into my hand. The golden crescent moon engraved into its silver blade was dazzlingly beautiful.
The treasured sword Lapiere.
In the original game, it was the sword Rihen had given Theo as a gift.
But now, the one holding this sword was not the Saint, but a Legion Commander of the Demon King’s army. I, possessing Shane’s body, was now going to give this sword to Theo.
There was no reason to remain any longer. I had already achieved my objective. I immediately activated Stealth. My presence vanished as though dissolving into the air. The next moment, I had already concealed myself in the safety of the shadows.
With the fiercely burning armories in the distance behind me, a new notification window appeared.
<Quest Complete>
Infamy Points +1000p
I opened the status window and checked Theo’s level-up progress.
500p + Complete 1 Quest
: Destroy the Sacred Statue (Cleared)
→ Level Up to Age 15 (Complete)
1000p + Complete 2 Quests
: Set Fire to the Temple (Cleared)
: Soul Offering (Cleared)
→ Requirements for Leveling Up to Age 18 Met
1500p + Complete 3 Quests
: Destroy the Holy Knights’ Armories (Cleared)
: ??
: ??
→ Requirements for Leveling Up to Age 20 Not Met
→ Age 20 Stage Can Only Be Unlocked After Reaching Age 18
“Good! I’ll spend 1000p to level Theo up.”
I would have to raise Disguise to LV. 2 and alter the treasured sword’s appearance before giving it to him.
Now, the hero’s return was not far away.
***
When I returned home, a much taller Theo was waiting for me. Apparently, he had nothing that fit him, so he had taken out some of my clothes and put them on. Even so, I was still slightly taller than him, so they hung loosely on his body.
The moment Theo saw me, he threw himself into my arms and rubbed his cheek against me. Even at eighteen, he still acted like a child. Ah, could he be acting cute? What an adorable little thing.
“You won’t be able to carry me like you used to anymore.”
There was a trace of disappointment in his voice. Instead of answering, I showed him through my actions. I scooped him up and carried him all the way to the bed. Theo looked startled for a moment, then burst into bright laughter. He immediately sprang back to his feet and spread both arms wide.
“Me too. I want to carry you too, Rihen.”
“I’ll be heavy….”
“What do you mean, heavy? When we bathed together last time, you didn’t have an ounce of extra fat on you.”
“No, but I’m still taller than you.”
I soon realized that this was a pointless argument and entrusted my body to him. Right. He was going to become the Empire’s hero, after all. Surely he could lift one person like me.
Just as expected, Theo lifted me effortlessly. He even carried me around the bedroom in a full circle, smiling the entire time.
“It’s nice being eighteen. I’m stronger, and I’m taller too.”
He lowered me onto the bed, then collapsed on top of me. He was fairly heavy now. Looking at his beaming smile, I felt that all my effort gathering points had been worthwhile. Right. As long as you’re happy, that’s enough.
Smiling along with him, I said,
“Then I suppose we’ll have to buy you more clothes.”
Theo shook his head.
“No. You’re unemployed, Rihen. We need to save money. I can just wear your clothes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. They smell nice too…. It’s fine.”
Being treated like an unemployed bum by someone so young made me feel strangely wounded. I wondered whether I should find some kind of job as part of my disguise. But between serving as a Legion Commander and raising Theo, there already were not enough hours in the day.
Theo sat leaning against the headboard and patted his own shoulder.
“I’ve grown up enough now. So I’m thinking of earning some money. I heard Madam Cecil’s tavern is hiring, and I’m considering working there.”
I could not answer him easily. Until Theo was fifteen, we could have insisted that he was merely someone who happened to resemble the hero Theo. But now that he was eighteen, things were different. The lines of his face and his physique made it fairly obvious that they were the same person.
If his identity were exposed before his abilities had fully returned, there was no way the demons who regarded Theo as a thorn in their side would leave him alone. They would try to kill him again.
And it was not only the demons we had to be wary of. There were also factions among the human nobility that sought to undermine Theo. The reason Theo had collapsed after being attacked by demons was because that faction had drugged him with a paralytic and rendered him incapable of fighting properly. Theo’s body had been so extraordinarily strong that he somehow managed to remain standing and continue fighting even in that condition. Had he been only slightly weaker, he would have died without being able to put up any meaningful resistance.
If those people learned about Theo’s current condition, there was no chance they would let such a perfect opportunity pass. They would undoubtedly try to dispose of the younger Theo somehow. Personally, I wanted to deal with them first, but they were all renowned experts, so it was beyond my current abilities.
Things had been different in the original sequence of events, where ‘Rihen’ raised Theo. Rihen had been a Saint officially recognized by the temple, and Theo had grown up under the temple’s protection. Everyone knew that Theo was the regressed hero, but there had been no problem protecting him.
But that was not the case now. The current Theo was simply living alone with me in an isolated log cabin. At the very least, I had to conceal his identity until he could manifest sword aura. In the original game, Theo had awakened his sword aura and become a Sword Master at the age of twenty-two. Until then, I could not share the joyful news that the hero was alive with anyone.
'I should have raised Disguise as well.'
At Disguise LV. 3, I would be able to alter a person’s appearance. Completely changing someone’s face would be impossible, but I could slightly alter the shape of their eyes or the bridge of their nose, or add a few freckles. That would be enough to keep anyone from identifying Theo as the hero. Even Luna, who knew about Theo’s curse, would probably assume that his features had changed after puberty and leave it at that.
'Should I offer a few more souls?'
As I was considering it, the communication orb rang. I took a breath and said,
“Let’s think a little more about you working at the tavern. I need to go consider something for a moment.”
Then I entered the bedroom and locked the door. Kairos’s image appeared above the orb.
“Come to the Demon Realm immediately. I have something for you to do.”
Now there was not even a quest explanation. Judging by the fact that I did not remember this event, it seemed to be another Unexpected Quest. Well, if he told me to jump, I had to jump. Was that not the fate of every subordinate?
I told Theo that something urgent had come up and left him at home. After checking that there was no one outside, I opened a gate leading to the Demon Realm.
Kairos was waiting for me alongside dozens of corpses. More precisely, they were an undead legion infused with sinister magic that allowed them to move according to his will. Crude organic matter that moved in a manner entirely different from anything alive. It would be easiest to think of them as zombies being controlled like puppets.
“I’ve continued researching necromancy, but it’s proving more difficult than expected. I need you to help me.”
Kairos spoke with his chin resting on one hand. Beyond his monocle, blood-red eyes identical to mine gleamed.
“What would you have me do?”
“Fight those corpses. I need to test their performance.”
<Unexpected Quest>
Assist Kairos’s Necromancy Research
Defeat the corpses in a sparring match.
Upon Success: Infamy Points +700p, 5 Gold Coins
Upon Failure: Death
Wait. What was with that penalty?
Death upon failure? He was openly declaring that he would release the corpses and simply watch until they killed me. My terrifying older brother never failed to impress.
I drew my sword,
and in the next instant, the horde of zombies charged all at once.
There was not a trace of reason left in any of them. They clawed at me, bit me, and clung to my body. I was overwhelmed in an instant and sent sprawling across the floor. Someone’s hand seized my collar, and I heard fabric tearing. A sharp pain flashed through my shoulder. Teeth sank into my flesh.
They kept swarming toward the left side of my chest, where my heart was located. It was as though they instinctively knew my weakness. My breath caught in my throat. Cold breath brushing against my skin, damp exhalations, the pressure of teeth digging into me… Every part of it was unbearably revolting. When one of them happened to scrape my nipple, an unpleasant sting shot through me.
One of them even kept trying to tear into my neck. Human teeth dug into my throat. I bit down hard on my lip to keep an undignified groan from escaping. Whimpering in pain was not something ‘Shane’ would do. I bit down so fiercely that my lips were soon smeared with blood. When I licked them with my tongue, the rich taste of blood filled my mouth.
“Ugh, get off—fuck off…!”
When I tried to kick away the one clinging to my leg, it bared its teeth and painfully bit into the tender flesh of my inner thigh. Several crescent-shaped bite marks appeared across it.
Swinging my sword was useless. There were too many of them. No matter how many I cut down or shoved away, there was no end. Even as they fell, they reached out again and seized me.
There was only one way. I had to fight with magic rather than my sword. I steadied my breathing and barely managed to raise one hand. Heat gathered at my fingertips.
My beloved skill, Flame.
I still was not skilled enough to control the spreading fire, but my brother, the cause of this whole situation, could deal with that himself.
Black flames erupted like an explosion. The undead legion was engulfed before they could even scream. One by one, the corpses turned to ash and scattered across the floor.
“…Not bad.”
Kairos waved his hand, and the flames subsided. He slowly looked me up and down, taking in my ruined appearance, then clicked his tongue as though deeply disappointed.
“Tch. You survived.”
Then he casually tossed five gold coins in my direction.
“That’s your compensation.”
It was obvious that the reward was meant to be an insult as much as payment, but I was more than willing to set aside my pride in the face of practical gain. I bowed politely. Had I possessed a tail, it would have been wagging cheerfully.
“Thank you.”
I even gave him a bright smile. Kairos frowned at the sight, looking utterly dumbfounded.
“Brother, could I borrow some clothes?”
I asked while clutching the scraps of fabric that had almost entirely ceased to function as clothing. My shirt had been torn apart, leaving my chest fully exposed, and my trousers hung in tatters here and there. Clear bite marks remained on the thighs visible through the shredded cloth.
Kairos openly displayed his displeasure, but eventually threw me an outfit. The problem was that it was incomparably more luxurious than anything I normally wore in the Human Realm.
As I accepted the clothes, I made a firm resolution. The moment I returned home, I would take them off, wash them thoroughly, and give them back. Otherwise, he would undoubtedly find some excuse to pick a fight with me again.
***
“Rihen!”
Theo was waiting for me in the bedroom. His gaze slowly swept over the new clothes I was wearing. His eyes seemed unusually sharp, but… Hmm. It was probably my imagination.
“I’ve never seen those clothes before. They look expensive. Did you buy them?”
“No, I only borrowed them for a little while.”
I answered casually and began undoing the buttons of my shirt. I did not want to wear Kairos’s clothes for long. He would undoubtedly complain that they had absorbed the stench of a half-blood mongrel. If I irritated him, I was certain to suffer for it.
For a moment, I wondered whether it was all right to undress in front of Theo, but then I realized it was a pointless concern. There was nothing problematic about exposing my bare body. Who would look at the bite marks covering me and think of Shane, the Legion Commander? Besides, Theo and I often bathed together. Given our relationship, asking him to leave merely because I needed to change would have been far stranger. Most importantly, getting out of Kairos’s clothes came first.
My body, mottled with bite marks, was fully revealed. My neck, chest, waist, and thighs. A demon’s body certainly recovered faster than a human’s. The bite marks that had been deep enough to leave scars had already faded considerably. At this point, it looked less as though they had bitten me with all their strength and more as though they had given me playful little nips.
“R-Rihen…. What is all this…?”
Theo sucked in a breath. He strode toward me. His now-mature hand reached toward my body without hesitation. His fingertips persistently traced over the wounds. He slowly followed the outline of the bite mark left on my chest. The warmth touching my skin felt hot enough to burn.
“Ah, it hurts. Don’t touch….”
A low groan slipped out on its own.
“Ah, s-sorry!”
Theo hurriedly withdrew his hand, but his eyes remained fixed on the wounds.
“How did this happen…?”
“Ah, a drunk man bit me. You know how they say people turn into dogs when they drink.”
I made up the first excuse that came to mind. Fortunately, our innocent Theo seemed to believe me completely. A dark shadow fell across his face.
“…Drunk ‘men,’ you mean.”
All the bite marks on my body were different, so it must have been easy to tell that they had not been left by a single person.
“That is how harmful alcohol can be. It robs people of their reason and turns them into beasts. Theo, even after you become an adult, you must never drink excessively.”
“Into beasts….”
For the sake of Theo’s proper future, I offered him some fairly fatherly advice. Theo nodded with a grave expression.
I quickly removed my shirt, then pulled down my trousers. The moment the fabric slipped below my knees, the five gold coins I had placed in my pocket spilled across the floor. They struck the ground with a loud clatter. Theo picked up the coins and examined them carefully.
“You… have a lot of money now.”
“Yes. Like you said, I’m planning to end my unemployed life and start working.”
I spoke proudly, squaring my shoulders, but contrary to my expectations, Theo’s expression did not brighten. Instead, it grew even more rigid.
“Rihen, I know this is a rude question, but that ‘work’ wouldn’t happen to be….”
After hesitating for a long time, he carefully began to speak.
“Yes?”
“…Never mind.”
Theo quickly shook his head and swallowed the rest of his words. What on earth had he been about to ask me?
I was curious, but I did not press him.