Katahane no Riku

Chapter 3.The demon boy

“No, you can′t die yet.”

In an instant, Riku′s hand was caught before falling down.

At this moment, a certain feeling of warm spread from her arm to her whole body. She then came back to her senses. It cleared away the apathy, and bit by bit the pain of her legs was disappearing.

As Riku was staring at the person in wonder, that voice had come from above.

“Wh…Who?”

The one that grabbed her arm was a youth that released a scary aura.

His glaring blue sharp eyes were looking through Riku. It was very far off from a gentle impression. The clothes he was using weren′t gorgeous clothes nobles and merchants would use, but shabby traveling clothes. The sword in the left of his waist didn′t seem to be of a good quality either.

No matter from which perspective one where to see him from, he didn′t look like someone that had the assets to be casually expending money on things. Moreover, in the gap of his clothes, it was possible to notice deeply scales of black color covering his arm, just like the color of his hair.

If he was a normal human, there was no way he would be growing scales in his arm.

Which meant that he was…

“De…mon?”

As her arm was being hold, she vaguely remembered about the demon banning arts textbook.

Demonkind… They looked like humans, but they were something that wasn′t human. Parts of their body would have some kind of bestial feature; they were an wicked existence that are to be destroyed.1*

They would boil humans in cauldrons to eat them, would kill them for pleasure, and even burn forests just to make them a wasteland.

They were dirty and cruel beings that didn′t have even the slightest feeling of sympathy. Their vile existence were the enemy of spiritualists, no, the enemy of the humankind.

This enemy of the humankind was now extending his own hand to Riku. After that, she didn′t have any idea on where all this would end up to.

At the back of Riku′s mind, her father′s words were coming to her.

“You see, demons are a nuisance. Part of their appearance are exactly just like humans, but that human part is just for deceiving and fooling us. They are cowardly and vulgar; they are the worst living beings on the world. If you let them deceive you, it′s the end. May it be just getting killed, being eaten, being burnt to death; the only thing waiting for you is a future worse than slavery. Exterminating the whole demon race is the purpose of us, spiritualists, and protecting the royalty from them is the duty of the Barusak household.”

Although those were many words, after being repeated many times by her father, they got ingrained in her mind.

Without doubt, the demon was doing this for its own sake.

Be it eating, be it killing, be it burning to death.

But she didn′t know.

Riku didn′t know what this demon intended to do with her.

“Leivein, are you sure you want to pick up this human?”

Another youth, who was using monocle, was looking at him from behind.

His ears that were being somewhat hidden by his hair were longer than those of a human. He too was of the demon race. Continuing what he was saying before, this youth spoke to the one he called Leivein.

“I am against it. While I have to recognize that that strength which allowed her to lift up that barrel was incredible, and that once she grows up, she could be of good use, but even so, this one is a human. Besides, doesn′t the brooch pinned to her clothes have the crest of that Barusak family engraved on it? The Barusak is one of that spiritualist families. Bringing her is too risky. Also, she has red hair. Even in the demon race, there are basically nobody with this color of hair, and this is much more for the humans. Isn′t this too suspicious? If you bring her into your battalion, what would happen if she were to betray you?”

“Piguro, are you blind?”

Leivein, in low voice, rebuked Piguro.

After hearing that, Piguro made a sour face as if he had eaten a bug. In one go, Levein lifted her up, getting her to stand up. While she had more or less already recovered from her exhaustion, her legs were still hurting. Because of that, she twisted her face due to the pain. But without caring about it, Leivein kept talking.

“Indeed, this one is a human. And from the Barusak even.”

Leivein flicked the brooch that was pinned to her clothes, making a metallic sound.

No matter how she would be frowning a them, Riku could only hear their terms for now.

Physically, she didn′t have the choice of running away. Even if she shook them off, she would be caught right after. Different from the men from before, she didn′t have the confidence of being able to run away from the two people in front of her.

She could only hear out what was about to happen to her. To what she was going to be used for, or if she was going to be killed.

Only the worst possibilities were rushing through her head. As if it couldn′t get worse, her face was starting to turn pale.

Being indifferent to how Riku was, Leivein kept talking to Piguro.

“I only care about one thing: whether this is going to be of benefit for the Demon Lord army or not. If it is for the Demon Lord army, it doesn′t matter if she is a human.”

“But!”

“See for yourself. Look at her eyes. They are eyes that clearly have the desire to keep living. If it is her, there is no way she is going to betray the Demon Lord army.”

Leivein straightened the collar of the clothes Riku was using at one go.*2

All the garbage that was clinging to her was falling down from her clothes. Some of the garbage dirtied Leivein′s arms a bit, but it didn′t seem he was caring about it.

“Little girl becoming of red, tell us your true name.”

“…”

Riku was hesitating.

Something like saying one′s own name was like offering oneself′s everything to the other party.

The young Riku still didn′t know the exact details, but she remembered she was taught that if a name is taken hold of, it was possible to use it to bind the soul of the person in question.

It wasn′t something that you could reveal to anyone you′ve never seen or known. Now, for the savage demons, it was even more the case. Besides, as a member of one of the spiritualist families, something such as giving a demon your name was like an act of sacrilege.

But if Riku didn′t say it now, she would be killed.

After reaching her limit, she told them her name.

“Riku.”

“What, is that even a name? I won′t say it twice. Tell us what your “true name” is.”

She started to shiver.

She felt a feeling of dread going through her. She was already at death′s doorsteps, but what she felt was something that seemed to drive her further into a even deeper abyss.*3

And the traveling mantle that was covering his upper part of the body rose up with an intense force.*4 From within the gap of the mantle, there was wings hiding, which seemed sharp. If it was something like a body of a little girl like Riku, it looked like they would easily be able to pierce through.

That′s why unconsciously…

“Ri…Rinkus.”

She ended up saying it.

It was the first time since she was born that she said the name only her and her parents knew.

And even so, it was to a demon that she had only met.

“Rinkus, is it? I see, that′s why it is Riku.”

To Leivein′s indifferent words, Riku nodded without saying anything.

To her current state, that was all she was able to do.

Leivein was still making a stern face, but it seems that he loosened up a bit.5*

“And with that, I got hold of your name. By me saying that, you know what it means, right?”

“Ye-yes…”

Whether it is being eaten or being killed. Maybe even being burned to death or something even worse.

Only scary possibilities were going through her head. She was very so weak and didn′t have any talent, so she was thrown away, and now she was picked up by a demon. She could only curse her unhappiness by how very unlucky she was.

“It′s here! That red haired girl!”

The muscles of her back stood up.

Her trembling aggravated.

The owner of that voice was without doubt one of the men that were going after her before. With that, the street was becoming more turbulent.

Until the men showed up, it wouldn′t be too long.

“Hey, brother. Can you hand over the girl there?”

“Why? Is this one your relative?”

“No, it is just a slave that ran away from my place. So, can you hand her over now?”

As he pointed his finger to Riku, he started saying a bunch of things.

Her body was urging her to run away.

But her legs were like two unmovable sticks. Even if they were to move, the strength to shake off Leivein′s grasp and run away was lacking.6*

Riku then timidly glanced at Leivein′s face.

“Hou, then this is a slave?”

As he said that, he showed a smile that was atrocious to no bounds.

Riku, who had seen from very close his smile, had the fear she was feeling regarding the men that were after her blown off. But it didn′t mean that she the fear had disappeared.

With those few words, with that expression… She was made known that that this demon was much scarier than the men. That said, even then, she didn′t feel like running away to those men. Even if she went with them, it didn′t seem like it would lead to a good thing.

Either of the options was hell to Riku.

“But, this is already mine. I don′t intend to give it to you.”

“What did you say?! … Then, properly pay up. Hand over ten gold coins.”

“Ten gold coins? Don′t talk nonsense. It′s only a brat that is about to die. Even if it is female, twenty silver coins should do it, no?

Not caring about how Riku was trembling, Leivein was negotiating with the men nonchalantly.

“Twenty silver? Don′t spout bullshit, you hobo!”

“At least one gold coin.”

“As if I would need a person that is about to die pay me only one gold coin. Ahh, after you die, I can take the money from the insurance of your death instead, right? Though, I won′t be killing you off that easily.”

“What the heck are you saying?!*7(It is most likely Piguro the one that said this)

“If only you would let me finish saying what I was going to…”

The men clenched their firsts, and for those that were carrying it, they readied the blunt weapons.*8

It seem they intended to steal Riku back by force.

“It′s enough. Together with this little girl, we will sell you off as slaves.”

But it was too early to say such things.

The men started attacking, clearly aiming for Leivein. Leivein′s right hand was still grasping Riku. Aiming for both Riku′s and Leivein′s heads, the men were about to swing down their blunt weapons. Riku became scared and tightly closed her eyes.

“Even though you are just small fry.”

Then, Riku heard a sound of air being cut.

And together with that, a lukewarm liquid stuck to Riku′s face. Even with her eyes closed, it was obvious enough to know what it was about. She was able to tell that by this mood that seemed to make the surroundings vibrate.9*

“Ah, Leivein is always too fast when it is about these kind of things. Even though I was looking forward to killing them…”

Piguro′s astonished voice was heard.

Riku reluctantly opened her eyes. Leivein was showing a calm expression.

“It′s Leivein′s bad habit. Picking up abandoned people, you see. Now that he involved himself, he will take responsibility until the end… But, if you try to do anything weird, I will promptly break your neck, alright?”

Piguro was shaking his head while saying “good grief”.

Leivein remained silent.

“Y-YOU! What have you done!?”

One of the men′s trembling voice resounded.

When Riku looked towards the direction of the voice, she screamed.

What was there was a red sea that was spreading through the ground. Amidst this sea was the upper halves and lower halves of two men that were cut in half. One was the one coming with blunt weapon to hit them, while the other was one that intended to use his own fists. Because of the fear, Riku raised her eyes upwards, looking at the sky.

“What have I done, you say?”

Leivein snorted.

Without notice, he lightly shook of the blood of the blade that was on his left hand. At the point of the sword, there was still some of the blood sticking to it.

“The ones that attacked were you, wasn′t it? This is only self-defense, you see? What are you going to do about it?”

“Self-defense!? This is too much!!”

“Too much? These guys were weaker than me, and simply became dead bodies. That′s all there is to it.”

The man that heard Leivein′s response soon after came at him while shouting something. The knife that he was holding gave off a dim light.

“Just a little surprise attack… You, didn′t you see how your friends got killed? For what sake is your head attached to your body?”

Said Leivein with a bored tone.

Without hesitation, he swung down his sword and hit his neck. The body that had lost its head stopped moving and as it sprayed blood, it fell down to that red sea. It was an overwhelming difference in power. In the end, the knife couldn′t even get near Riku and Leivein.

Riku looked at the knife that was lying on the ground in surprise.

“Rinkus Barusak.”

Her name was called.

It felt like her heart was tightly held.

Leivein was still holding his sword with his left hand. That sword, could maybe be used to cut off her neck as well. As she thought of that, she could only become even more scared. Before noticing, Riku was once again trembling.

“If I leave you alone that way, you will end up getting caught by the friends of the fellows lying there. Your body and heart will tattered into pieces and you will end up having a pitiful and insignificant death.”

She was being lifted up by her neck almost as if it was going to be twisted

Resisting her fear, she was able to look ahead somewhat. Leivein′s serious face was there in front of her eyes.

But even so, although the face he was making was supposed to be a serious one, she eventually stopped trembling after looking at him.

“If you are going to die anyway, then come at my place. As long as you have this life that had been saved, use your power for the demon lord army and die for its sake.”

Leivein′s words that seemed like a death sentence was very scary.

But different from the fear Riku had experienced before, maybe it could be said that her fear had actually lessened up a bit.

Riku was perplexed by it as she wondered why.

“If you do that, I can at least guarantee to provide you with life necessities.”

Leivein′s blue eyes then became overlapped with the radiant blue sky.

What was left from the fire called hope was little by little being relighted. Although her heart was supposed to be cold, somewhere in there, it was becoming warm. The moment her trembling completely stopped, she understood…

That for now, she was saved.

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