Cannot Escape the Devil - Chapter 18.1

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Support personnel arrived one by one. The work of thoroughly separating the corpses, the wounded, and the civilians began. Since there was a risk of spreading the plague, the wounded were kept in a treatment quarantine. Dead bodies were identified and separated in a crematorium. Strong adult men joined the soldiers who arrived late to help clear the rubble of the broken building.

“Convent’s leader Mirael Salas. Greetings to Your Majesty Grand Duke Kabelheider.”

“This is the monastery’s leader. Greetings to Your Majesty Grand Duke Kabelheider.”

The abbot and convent’s leader of August Abbey arrived in turn. The monasteries and convents, where believers devoted their efforts to mental training, disconnected from the world, were in a remote mountain range far from the private house. Considering the location of the convents and monasteries where they stayed, their arrival was rather quick than late.

“Because it was a matter of concern, I couldn’t help but call you. Thank you for responding right away to my urgent call.”

At Edwin’s words, the convent leader Mirael replied, bowing his head.

“No. An intermediate entity appeared. How could we stay still? When I first heard the news, I was engrossed with concern, but I’m glad that the damage wasn’t as great as I thought.”

Both of them were surprised to see that there were fewer casualties than expected and that there was no damage except some smashed building, contrary to the expectation that the village would be wrecked. It was a situation where there was nothing unusual about the appearance of an intermediate-level entity even if a whole village was demolished. Not only the leader of the monastery and the convent’s leader but others were also baffled.

“Can you start cleaning up right away?”

“Of course. The devil’s body will be handed over to the investigator as soon as the purification is complete. After that, I would like the researcher to keep it as a research material, so please allow it.”

“l shall permit it.”

“Then we will go to prepare for purification.”

“Please, do your utmost.”

Then Abbot and Mirael, took the priests they brought together and set out to purify the bodies which the intermediate devil had previously transferred. The cleanup work would take at least five hours since it was made an intermediate entity.

Edwin went straight to the village’s manager and the chief of staff to talk to them.

“My Lord!”

“How is the investigation going?”

Edwin’s question was answered by the officer.

“There is no sign of outside intrusion. The wall’s protective device is also working properly, and as a result of the priest’s confirmation, the stone of light that made up the wall still remains powerful.

“Hmm.”

“The first place where the devil was discovered was in the village warehouse. And the most casualties were in the warehouse and around it.”

Edwin’s expression distorted. There was a long haul between the walls and Riverarden village, supposing it had flown in from the outside. So, it should be impossible for its enormous body to move around without altering anyone. If the secretary’s statement was valid, it meant that the devil did not invade from the outside, but suddenly appeared from the inside.

“According to the testimony of the injured who recovered their consciousness, they suddenly heard an ear-piercing sound. They were wondering what was going on, so they went to take a look, and there was an intermediate-level entity who had smashed the warehouse devouring people.”

“Is there anything unusual in the warehouse?” Edwin asked.

“It was just an ordinary warehouse for farming tools in the village.”

There is nothing wrong with either one. As it was unprecedented, the incident was falling further into a labyrinth.

“Keep researching then report.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

On the bright side, the initial response was good before things got serious. Had it not been for Asaya and Leah, things would have gotten out of control by now. It was very upsetting and annoying that Asaya was reckless. On the other hand, it was appropriate to express gratitude to her and pay her compensation. Thanks to her, Edwin had less work to do. If that early dawn had been left alone, there would have been several times more casualties than now, and Riverarden would have been wiped out. Another village would have been destroyed.

“Until the cleansing is over, the access to Riverarden is completely blocked. It is essential to conduct a plague test on refugees gathered in the shelters.”

Measures were in full swing around Riverarden. Once the soldiers heard of this, they controlled the crowd among them, reporters. It is a matter of time for the news to spread around not only in August but throughout Murraye.

Edwin’s head was burning as he witnessed people trying to cover the dead bodies with blood on their necks. Not only that, but now, he felt aching pain in his whole body beyond the headache. He became hypersensitive, recalling that he had to return to Asaya in a hurry, but stopped. Unconsciously, he laughed at the ridiculous thoughts.

“I have no conscience.”

He was instinctively looking for a worn-out woman who wouldn’t be awake in the next few days. It was ridiculous that he had endured pain all those years without a priest, yet he needed to rely on Asaya’s power for the a meager amount of pain.

“Bring me a priest to treat the wounded people.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Despite the excruciating pain, the first thing that came to his mind was something else that he had left in the mansion rather than his agony. Amidst all of this, he remembered a woman sullen, who was white as a sheet, lying unconscious, and fretted that if she couldn’t wake up because there was something wrong.

“Am I being serious right now?”

When has he cared so much about others in his life? Has he ever given personal attention to anyone? Edwin thought it didn’t suit him. When he thought about it rationally, it was ridiculous that he was making a fuss about nothing. He closed his eyes for a moment until the priest who he ordered to come.

Despite the pile of things to worry about, he thought it wasn’t normal for his attention to go to her. Out of control, the name Asaya floated around in his mind