Lord Demon is behind you

Sweat trickled down his cheeks and nose.

It's a midsummer afternoon.The sun hangs brightly in mid-air, emitting an incandescent light.In the whole world, it seems that only the cicadas on the trees are extraordinarily energetic, making hoarse calls one after another.

——The blade swung straight down, and stopped abruptly when the tip of the sword was about a foot above the ground.

Then lift it up and swing it down again.

The unsharpened epee pierced through the hot air time and time again, creating even hotter winds.

There is hardly any shade at the door of the dilapidated house.He stood alone in an open place, continuing to swing his sword.

……So hot.

... so tired.

The sweat flowed endlessly like it was endless, and wet the ground around my feet.The breath in the lungs also became hot, and every breath was hot.

The epee was lifted up and swung down.

...seems to be dehydrated.You might faint in the next second.The whole body was sweating profusely, the thin clothes were already soaked, the limbs became soft and weak, and the muscles in the waist clamored for divergence and soreness.

even so……

The movement of swinging the sword is still going on.

...why would you do such a thing?

The mind becomes unclear.His temples were throbbing like the muscles on his arms, and he couldn't even remember his last name in a daze.

I... What the hell is...

"Hey, kid. You're still working so hard in this weather, be careful of heatstroke."

It seemed that there was a sound coming from far, far away.He shook his arms, slowly put the epee on the ground, turned his head and looked over——

Under the shade of the courtyard wall, the old man who lives next door is leaning against there pushing a small cart.Seems to be just passing by.

"It's okay," he heard himself answering, "the prescribed number of times...there's still one third left..."

His own voice was too immature, which made him feel subtly violated.Then he became confused because of this strange feeling.

It was obviously his own voice that he was used to hearing a long time ago.What to say is too immature, I am a child who has not yet reached the voice change period... probably.

"It's impossible to work so hard, young man," the old man wagged his fingers loudly, and then took the water bag hanging from the car and handed it over. "When you're growing up, isn't it worth the loss if you're exhausted?"

Ever since his parents died at sea, the old man and several other neighbors have been helping him, and they are almost the same as family members.

Leaning the epee against the wall, he ran over in small steps, took the water bag and said thank you softly.

"You are as if you were fished out of the water," the old man looked him up and down, "You don't have to work so hard, do you? How long have you been practicing?"

"Not long. It's just that it's too hot, so I sweat a little more."

——According to the teacher's instructions, the actions of stabbing and chopping are repeated thousands of times every day-this level of practice is just the basics of the basics.

"I told you..."

The old man ripped at the corner of his clothes and fanned the wind.

"Young man, it's a good thing to be self-motivated. In a remote place like our village, it's also a good thing to learn some combat skills for self-defense. But, you don't have to obey that foreign mercenary, right? That guy's standards are too high. It’s harsh, it’s only suitable for people like them. You just need to learn a little self-defense, right? It’s enough to slash wild animals. You don’t need to practice so hard from morning to night, right?”

"How can I do that!" He retorted intuitively, "The teacher has already lowered the standard for me. If you can't even do this, how can you..."

"In the future?" The old man waved his hand indifferently, "You are a real kid. In the future, you will go to sea to be a fisherman anyway. How can you use a sword? Can you use a sword for fishing? Compared with this, you should learn the harpoon first. usage."

He quieted down and stopped arguing, but his expression didn't change.

The old man looked at him, frowned and said, "You don't... want to leave the village and become a mercenary like that outsider, do you?"

"The teacher is not a mercenary," he whispered, "The teacher is an adventurer..."

"That's a mercenary. You don't want to learn from that guy, do you?"

He didn't speak for a while, and the old man suddenly became anxious.

"Did that guy tell you something you shouldn't say? Really, casually inciting a child's curiosity that shouldn't be...Listen, Arthur."

The old man became extremely serious.

"This is advice from an old man. Like learning sword skills and then leaving the village to go out on an adventure—it's better to give up this idea as soon as possible."

"But……"

"There's nothing wrong with it. Going out on an adventure is nothing more than fighting monsters all day long. You may die at any time. It's extremely dangerous—you should also think about your parents who passed away early, If you die at a young age, you will have no face to meet them in the kingdom of heaven!"

Why does he still have to consider the mood of the deceased when doing things?Taking a ten thousand step back, do people who have passed away still have a mood to speak of?

Although he thought unconvinced in his heart, on the surface he lowered his head obediently.

"I-I know."

"Hey, children nowadays really don't make people worry..."

I don't know if he saw his duplicity, but the old man sighed for a while.Then, as if he couldn't bear it, he lifted the lid of the car.

"Forget it, forget it. Didn't you have lunch today? Come on, here's this for you, let's pad your stomach first."

The old man took out the grilled squid from the trolley and handed it over, and he obediently took it.After sprinkling seasonings, the fishy smell of seafood is completely removed, but the taste is still chewy. Just take a bite, and the already empty stomach will make a belated sound of hunger.

This generation is a fishing village, and the food of the residents has always been mainly seafood.The old man next door makes a living by making and selling salted fish and other seafood, and he will push a cart to sell grilled fish for two days.Give him a little once in a while, and this is the most delicious food you can eat in your daily life.

At this time, a figure suddenly ran over from the other side of the path in a hurry.

"Dad! Dad, it's not good. That mercenary—"

It was the old man's son who came running, that is, the uncle who lived next door.At this moment, his face was full of horror.

When the villagers mention "mercenary", they usually refer to the foreign adventurer, who is also the swordsmanship teacher who is currently teaching him.

"You are so big, why are you still in a panic!" the old man shouted.But the uncle seemed completely restless.

"Huh, I'm sorry, but..."

"Teacher, what's wrong with him?" He hurried over and asked, suddenly filled with endless worry and panic.

"He... this, this..."

Only then did he notice his existence, and the uncle seemed a little hesitant.

What's up with him?"

He asked repeatedly and couldn't get an answer, so he simply ran in the direction where the uncle came.

This road leads to the end of the village, and from there, turn over a small ramp and you can go to the main road leading to the interior.

Scattered villagers scattered along the road were whispering in twos and threes.

"Is it already...? How pitiful..."

"Ah, it's so pitiful, but...it's also terrible."

"Because of a monster..."

"It must be. There have been more and more monsters recently, which is really annoying."

"The village is becoming more and more dangerous... Didn't the lord say that he wants to send soldiers to station? Regular soldiers should be able to protect everyone's safety, right?"

"But if it is really sent, the tax will be..."

Turning over the low dirt slope, I saw a lot of people gathered at the opposite intersection.Both the village head and the elders with a little status in the village were there.

He rushed all the way, and got into the gap of the crowd when others didn't have time to notice - because he was a short child, he easily squeezed to the front.

……what.

When he saw the object in the middle of the circle of people, he suddenly stopped.The heart hit the chest fiercely, everything around became silent and black and white, only the blood in front of him was still bright red.

——It’s a corpse.body.

That adventurer from other places... Teacher, he...has...

The tragic appearance of human death is reflected in his pupils.There was a big hole in the chest, and the flesh and organs inside were exposed to the air.The limbs are spread out, the head is propped feebly on the ground, and the face is gray - that is the "death look", the appearance of a dead person.

Extremely uncomfortable feeling rising from the stomach.

"Why did you come here!"

Everyone discovered his intrusion.Soon some villagers pushed him out of the crowd and warned severely: "This is not a scene that children should watch—"

"for……?"

"Go back quickly... what did you say?"

"Why, would..."

Finally, he uttered the formed words.

Overcoming the insane nausea and accompanying fear, it was replaced by unspeakable rage.

The corpse now lying there.His body, he was still a living person who told him about his travels with a smile and boldness yesterday... Why did it become like this?Who is it-

"That's... the work of a monster."

Supported by the uncle, the old man who rushed all the way supported his back silently.

"I heard that most of the mercenaries will end like this. It is said that because they have killed too many monsters, they will be targeted and killed by monsters sooner or later... It is a pity, but it is probably doomed. So talk……"

The old man urged heavily, "Don't be a fool to do that."

"..."

A belated sourness welled up in the nasal cavity.It wasn't until now that the real feeling that someone had indeed died slowly surged up, turning into a lot of tears that piled up in his eyes.

Most of the villagers around him knew that he was learning swordsmanship from that man, so they gathered around and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Don't think about going out for adventure. Otherwise, you will be killed by monsters sooner or later—"

Was killed by a monster.

——Is that really the case?

However, for some reason, a strange thought came to my mind.

"no."

It seems that there is another self, who is dissociated from this crying young self, observing all this calmly from a completely different angle.

Was that person really killed by a monster?

stay in the corpse.The body chest is clearly a sword wound.The claws and fangs of monsters can't cause such regular and smooth injuries. Besides, ordinary monsters seldom aim at the chest when they attack, but they will choose the fragile throat or soft abdomen.

"No, it's not a monster—"

What killed him was not a monster, but a human being.

Before the eyes blurred by tears, the old scene appeared vaguely.

"Master, why did you come here?"

He once asked the other party so.This is a remote and backward small fishing village, where even the monsters are too lazy to patronize, no matter how you look at it, it is not a good place to live in seclusion for the elderly.

"Yeah...it's too remote here."

There was a trace of helplessness on the other party's face.

"It's not that I despise you here. How should I put it? After seeing the bustling outside world, it's really hard to have a good impression of this environment. But I have to come, it's better to say that there is no other place to go.

"A friend entrusted me with a certain treasure. It is a very important and valuable treasure. I think... it is so valuable that many powerful people are willing to kill people to get it. Someone hired I found a killer, and searched for my traces all over the city; in order to avoid such things as killing people and stealing treasures, I had no choice but to live in seclusion in this kind of countryside."

...is that the case?

Someone took his life to get a valuable treasure...?

For such a reason, it is a despicable act to kill the same kind.Just for money and profit-

"Just for the money..."

"Huh? What did you say?"

Another voice suddenly slanted in.It was the crisp voice of a girl.

"--what."

He suddenly came back to his senses.

There was no corpse in front of him.body, and there are no villagers around.This is not the intersection outside the small fishing village at all.

This is indoors.He was sitting at a long table that had been wiped clean, half of his cheeks were illuminated by the dim candlelight.

It seems to be the lobby of a certain hotel—but for some reason, the surrounding tables and chairs are extremely sparse, and there are only three or two here and there.There are many broken planks against the wall.

He looked down at his hands.Not the immature palms of a child, but the powerful palms of an adult male.A layer of hard calluses has been worn on it due to holding the sword for a long time.

"Ah, it's not for money..."

A girl's voice sounded from the opposite side.

——It was a little girl in her teens, with a pair of cute cat-like eyes.

Although young, but can become a beauty.The beauty has reached the point where even a stunned young man like himself can intuitively judge it.

She was fiddling with cat-ear-shaped ornaments in her hands, turned her face away in embarrassment, and stared at the base of the candlestick.

"After all, I can't make much money from this store. Even if I sell the whole store, it won't make much money. They are interested in it...it's really hard to say...it's probably me."