I Became an Adjutant in Another World Volume 3 Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Chapter 7 – A Demon in Captivity

A Dark Elf… the encounter with someone who is a part of the Demon Race, the enemy of Humans, was shocking, but I can’t remain surprised.

Based on the stories I’ve heard, they are wizard or sorcerer-like entities who can use supernatural powers with just a swing of their arms.

If I let my guard down, I could be killed in an instant.

However, I just couldn’t bear it. The other party was so relaxed that they seemed oblivious to my vigilance.

Was it the confidence of a sorceress, perhaps?

“……”

“Hey, can’t you relax for a bit? Seeing you getting so worked up is making me nervous. And how about lowering that blade, too? I promise I won’t bite you.”

“You think I’m going to trust you that easily?”

Hearing my words, the dark elf – Anastasia – uncrosses her arms and gets on the bed.

“That would be the best behavior if the Demons are still around. But they’re all gone now. Above all, there is also the existence of monsters roaming around the wilderness. Even I, a part of the Demon Race, won’t feel safe.”

Then she waved her hand as if she couldn’t take my act anymore and let out a sigh.

“Wait. Monsters are born from the influence of the Demon God. So why should you Demons be in trouble with it?”

I had thought that the monsters who were under the control of the Demon God would not attack the Demon Race, but I guess this was not the case.

Anastasia slowly begins to answer my question.

“You see, though we have sided with the Demon God in the past, only the Demon Race’s Top executives had the chance to talk to them. I don’t know the circumstances, but later on, the Demon God decided that they had no more use for us and decided to ignore us altogether.”

“The Demon God has ignored you? Their own race? Wait. If so, why was the Demon God interested in you in the first place? What is their goal?”

“The goal of the Demon God is to wipe out the human race from the world, but their power is too strong that if they decided to do it on their own, they would destroy the whole world instead. As for why we had been making small conquests in the past, well, it is so that we, the Demon Race, can do whatever we want to the land we occupy.”

So they were cooperating with each other for their own benefit, regardless of the other’s principles and claims.

“If so, why is the Demon God’s curse on his final breath also targeting your kind? I think it’s not just the matter of “ignoring” your race, in my opinion.”

“We don’t know. Maybe they originally planned to destroy us along with the humans, or maybe they simply didn’t have time to set up a detailed target to attack, or maybe it was just a whim. I’ve never even met the God, you know?”

“…You guys seem pretty calm for a race that has been betrayed.”

“We didn’t trust him that much, to begin with. How can we talk to someone who considers themselves a higher being than the creatures in this world? Imagine that.”

Nevertheless, as had been the case since a few minutes ago, this woman showed no sense of urgency in her situation.

Was she lacking a sense of powerlessness, perhaps?

“Besides, it is futile. Monsters will spring up infinitely as long as there is magic power. Such is the “curse” of the Demon God.”

“But you are magic users, right? I’m pretty sure you guys can at least protect yourself, as you are innately stronger than us.”

As seen from the candlelight earlier, she can indeed use magic.

According to the books, wizards and sorcerers have immense power. If so, they should be able to kick monsters to the curb with ease.

However, Anastasia only made a difficult face to this and shook her head.

“Well, if firepower alone, one uf us can take maybe a hundred or two? But it’s very troublesome. Not to mention living comfortably inside these castle’s walls is a whole lot better.”

I was taken aback by her answer.

After all, she was judging things based on whether they are “easy” or “troublesome” rather than on whether they are “possible” or “impossible”.

“Anastasia, now that I have known you well enough, allow me to cut to the chase…”

“Oh, wait. Before that, can you at least tell me your name? It’s unfair that it is only you who knows me, isn’t it?”

“I am Yuushin Sanada. Will that do?”

After answering at the bare minimum, I moved on to the main topic.

“Then, first of all, why are you here? You also said that fighting monsters is a hassle…”

“But it’s the truth, you know? Because fighting monsters also mean fighting an endless war.”

I can see her point, but that doesn’t explain her sneaking her way to this country, or this city, which is the main base of her enemy.

“Can you at least not look at me with suspicious eyes? You see, before coming here, I have also been through a lot myself.”

Saying this, Anastasia lifts her legs and shows me her ankles – or rather, what was attached to them.

There were iron fetters, and they were huge and sturdy-looking that it was doubtful that Tilda could break it even if she gave it a full-power blow.

Moreover, there was no keyhole, so once attached, the constraints could not be removed unless you break them with a huge tool.

“See this? They put this stuff on me, too. And because I have no power, even though I have magic, I won’t be able to escape at all.”

The sight of her frail-looking ankle was pitiful to look at, but couldn’t she just remove it with her magic?

When I asked her this, she denied it with a troubled look on her face.

“The closest I could use to this is Lockpicking Magic, which is used to move the mechanical parts of locks. However, not to mention the lack of moving parts, this thing isn’t even a lock as it has no keyhole. There is also the Destruction magic which I can use for attacking, but I might as well prepare to blow my entire leg because it is just too powerful. Even if I can use recovery magic, it can’t repair a blown-off limb.”

With a bitter smile, Anastasia lowered her legs. Where on the next, she told me how she ended up here.

“I first set foot in this city about a year ago. Shortly before that, I was captured by that man who sniffed me out of my hideout. Surely, you have met him before? After all, those guys surrounding this building are his men. I was confident in my magic, but you see, I wasn’t very good at fisticuffs.”

By that man, she meant Luke Krall, the current heir to the marquisate.

“After that, he demanded that I use my magic to boost his and his men’s abilities… or else. I don’t have to complete that last part, do I?”

“If you refuse, you will be executed on the spot. No one will complain, and the Count will even take credit for it as he will have just slain a member of the Demon Race.”

“Yes. I have no choice but to cooperate with them if I want to survive.”

In other words, the secret to the unusual strength of that cavalry unit was her magic.

It’s finally making sense. Or not, For me, an earthling, magic doesn’t even make sense in the first place.

“Let me ask you something. What kind of magic did you cast?”

“Oh, you want to know too? You boys are really interested in such things, aren’t ya.”

I was annoyed at how she was making fun of me, but I held my ground.

“Shut it. Besides, I’m no longer young enough to be called a boy.”

I’ve been an adult for several years now. Thus, it is only justified if I get angry after being treated like a naïve child.

Nevertheless, Anastasia’s composure is not affected by my bad mood.

Or rather, she even continued to talk without changing that annoying smile.

“Act like an adult all you want, but to us Demons, you Humans are still children. Dark Elves like us can live up to five hundred years, and there are even some who can even live for eternity, like the vampires.”

She was saying that, but I’m sure I would strike a nerve if I asked her, “Oh? Then how old are you, then?” right in front of her face.

Even in the other world, I am sure asking women of their age is taboo.

If I use her appearance as a basis… then I could say she could easily pass off as a tanned college student, but her being unperturbed when saying, “we can actually be older than you think,” is a sure clue that she should be much older than that.

Ignoring Anastasia, who is looking amused, I began to think about Count Luke.

Currently, he is taking the risk of harboring a member of the Demon Race in exchange for being supported by her magic.

If we feed him information about this area, we would be able to successfully threaten him.

There’s also the safer way, and that is scattering rumors about the existence of this Demon woman. If this was found, he would surely save his hide and cut her off to take advantage of it, but it would also lose the magic support that makes him invincible on the battlefield.

It’s a win-win situation for us either way.

“Well, I guess this is it. I won’t force you if you don’t want to answer. It was nice talking to you, Anastasia. With this, I am now one step closer to my goal.”

Saying this, I left Anastasia’s presence. But for some reason, she started to panic.

“What!? Hey… aren’t you thinking of rescuing me here?”

Apparently, she had assumed that I was going to save her.

Well, I guess that’s what you’d think after such a long talk.

“I’m not here to rescue you. I mean, how would I be able to threaten the Count if you don’t stay here?”

The only way I can do to make the Count bow to us is to reveal to the eyes of many that he is hiding a member of the Demon Race.

But If the Demon disappears here, there will be no way for us to play this card against him.

And even if his troops weaken because of the lack of magic, he is still the heir to a marquisate.

There won’t be anything a barony can do to topple this standing once he becomes the lord.  

Most of all, if I were to bring her back, it would be us who would be accused of harboring a member of the Demon Race instead.

Anastasia’s existence is basically a joker in a card game.

She is more useful if you push it on your opponent than hold it in your hand.

“I’m sorry, but I’m running out of time. I have to be ready to threaten the Count before he realizes what’s happening.”

Perhaps the guards will be on full alert tomorrow morning because of what happened.

I need to act fast and gather all the evidence we can before the Count can get away with anything.

There’s this elf too, who can snitch on me as soon as the guards wake up.

Come to think of it, I shouldn’t have told her my name. Fuck.

“Thanks for the valuable info. I’ll see you when there’s next time.”

I waved to Anastasia and put my hand on the door.

At that moment, I heard something fall from behind me with a thud.

I should have stopped here, but I was curious and turned around.

What I saw there was still Anastasia.

However, this time, she is glaring at me with glowing red eyes – the brightest ones I had ever seen.

Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter