Devil and Monster
Eul managed to lift herself up with her trembling arms, and when she saw the thick, lion-like hair that remained on the back of her hands, her face contorted in sadness.
"...Why, Machen and Brelin...!! Why, does this always, happen to me...!!"
In the darkness, Eul looks into a puddle of water that has spattered from the waterway.
What she saw reflected was her own eyes, one of which had a pupil shaped like a snake.
The nails on her hands are still sharp and she has hair growing all over her body.
And then, something's distant voice echoed in her head.
Eul, perhaps realizing that it was too late for her own body, lamented her ugliness reflected in the puddle.
"..."
Tigaro stood there, not knowing what to say.
He's not sure how he should treat her or what he wants to do with her.
Tigaro was conflicted by this vague feeling.
However, considering the possibility of Eul turning into a monster again and the possibility of encountering Machen and the others, waiting like this is the worst course of action.
It shouldn't be too late to kill her after the conversation.
After making that excuse to himself, Tigaro approached Eul and stopped a few steps away.
"...Are you conscious?"
"...Tigarokent...!!"
Eul noticed that Tigaro had approached, and turned her stern gaze towards him.
"Don't come close to me...!!"
Eul said this to Tigaro as she tried to pull herself up with trembling arms.
Her harsh words contained the hatred she couldn't hide.
The hatred seemed to be directed not only at Tigaro, but also at someone who was not present.
Eul fixed her stance and even though Tigaro had a non-hostile expression, she turned her gaze of exclusive rejection, as if everyone other than herself was an enemy.
Tigaro asks a small question at Eul's attitude as if she doesn't need help.
"...Are you sure? At this rate, I think you'll just be captured by Machen-dono and the others and become a monster again."
"Shut up... you're the same...!! You pretended not to cause any harm, approached me, and when you thought you had an advantage, you started doing whatever you wanted...!!"
Even though there were circumstances, Tigaro, who took Eul's virginity and violated her for many days, seemed to have become the object of Eul's hatred.
The humiliation she suffered many times underground seemed to be deeply ingrained in her heart, and even though she felt the shock of being betrayed by Machen and Brelin, she would never forget it, and Eul's eyes were filled with hostility.
"I don't need anyone's help anymore...! I'm on my own...!!"
However, despite her strong words, her body seemed to be weakening, and Eul's slender arms were trembling as she tried to lift herself up.
Although she has almost returned to her human form now, becoming a monster even temporarily has probably consumed a considerable amount of her physical strength and mana.
"It looks like you don't have strength left."
"...! Shut up, shut up, shut up!!"
Eul, who was able to see through her own physical condition, spat and turned her emotions towards Tigaro, who was looking down at her.
"You have no idea how hard it is to go on alone, betrayed by your parents, your friends, the doctors and even your older sister, who has given up on living......!"
The Flame General made cruel and heartless judgments towards his daughters, Machen and Brelin, who accompanied her to the kingdom, were followers of the Five Dragon Gods Sect, and the imperial doctors she had relied on gave reasons for not treating her sister.
Eventually, even her sister gave up on trying to cure her own illness.
Even in the midst of all this, Eul continued to work alone to cure her sister's illness.
――Eul. Enough about me.
Remembering her sister's wry smile as if she was accepting her own death, Eul felt her heart tighten.
At the same time, Eul's emotions were shaken with emotions as she became extremely angry at Tigaro, who looked at her with pity.
Anger, frustration, and bitterness were all mixed together, and just a few tears formed in the corner of Eul's eyes.
"If you want to pity me, stop it...!! If you want to kill me, do it all at once...!!"
Eul told Tigaro that she didn't want to suffer any more humiliation.
Hearing Eul's statement, blood clearly rushing to her head, Tigaro appeared to think for a moment, then let out a sigh.
"I see. If you want to die that much, I'll kill you."
Tigaro said this with his eyes showing no emotion and grabbed Eul's neck.
"...!!"
The body hidden behind the robe didn't look very muscular from the outside, but Tigaro's body seemed to be surprisingly well-trained, and Eul's body was easily lifted up.
Eul instinctively grabbed Tigaro's wrist, but her resistance was futile as Tigaro's palm gripped Eul's neck and tightly constricted her airway.
Eul's face gradually turned pale as she struggled to breathe.
And then, in Eul's eyes, where her vision began to become blurry, a lonely, regrettable color appeared in her eyes...
Tigaro suddenly let go of his hand.
Suddenly, Eul's airway was released and she collapsed to the ground.
"...!? Phaa, haa, haa...!!"
Eul moved her chest up and down violently, taking in air into her lungs, and sent a sharp look at Tigaro.
"Have you calmed down a little?"
Tigaro accepted this with a cold smile plastered on his face.
Eul continued to look at Tigaro with contempt.
However, no matter how strong her gaze was, Eul's sharp gaze weakened as time passed, perhaps because she was pressured by Tigaro's attitude of accepting it head-on.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
After seeing that Eul's breathing had stabilized, Tigaro opened his mouth to her.
"If you stay like this, you'll definitely become a monster again."
"...That much I understand."
In a complete change from her strong tone earlier, Eul's voice had completely lost its power and had become soft and weak.
"Something echoes in my head, as if my thoughts are being hijacked. It's like I'm no longer myself..."
Eul weakly frowned as that something let out loud, incomprehensible screams in her head.
Eul's body was aching all over, showing signs of becoming an ugly monster again.
Eul was made to understand that if she continued like this, she would lose her sense of self again and turn into a monster.
However, even though she felt the fear of turning into something she didn't know, she had no way to stop it.
"I don't know what to do anymore..."
Eul, who was weakly kneeling down, let out a small, hoarse voice.
Her curled up body seemed very small to Tigaro.
However, Tigaro couldn't find the words to say to Eul, who was drowning in despair.
He doesn't know what Eul wants to do or what Tigaro himself should do, so all he can do is stand there.
He feels like he should have killed Eul right here, and that he's not doing the right thing for his purpose right now.
However, an urge that was rising in the corner of his heart that made him think of Eul as someone else's problem suppressed that thought and moved Tigaro's heart.
Tigaro let out a sigh to calm himself down and turned to Eul.
"Let's talk constructively."
The red-haired girl, who had been looking down, raised her head and turned her gaze slightly toward Tigaro.
Her face looked terrible, with tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
Catching the red-haired girl's gaze, Tigaro raised his finger and began speaking.
"There are three options left for you. One is to return to Machen-dono and the others and spend the rest of your life as a monster."
That means that Eul loses consciousness―― in other words, it means the same thing as dying.
If Machen, Brelin, and the others catch her, they will definitely plot to turn Eul into a monster again.
If she becomes a monster again, her ego will be taken away by the echoes in her head, and there is no doubt that she will never be able to regain her sense of self again.
Eul's shoulders trembled as she remembered the fear of not being herself while she was still conscious.
"Second, you will be killed by me before you become a monster."
The option of having your life taken away from you before you experience the fear and pain of becoming a monster.
If this is the case, it is possible to minimize the damage.
However, if that happens, Eul will not be able to cure her sister's illness.
At this, Eul's expression darkened.
"And the third and final one is to become my slave."
Hearing the third option presented by Tigaro, Eul's gaze, which had been thinking, changed to one of doubt.
"...What will it be like if I become your slave...?"
Eul doesn't know the cause of her body's abnormalities or the detailed characteristics of Tigaro's slave magic.
She probably thinks that even if she becomes Tigaro's slave, she will become a monster again.
While sensing this, Tigaro was a little unsure, but confidently explained to Eul.
"With my slave magic, I might be able to eliminate the cause of you becoming a monster."
Eul seemed a little surprised by Tigaro's words, and her eyes, which had been stained with despair, widened a little.
It's unprecedented for a person to turn into a monster, and Eul is unable to fully comprehend what has happened to her.
However, the man in front of her said that he could cut off the cause.
No wonder Eul's understanding can't catch up.
However, even if she could see the hope of healing her body, Eul did not immediately jump to the third option presented by Tigaro.
When he looked into Eul's trembling eyes, Tigaro could see that she was afraid that she would be unable to trust anyone else, fearing that she would be betrayed again.
However, Tigaro did not miss the lonely color that was reflected in Eul's eyes.
"I don't know, but... do you have any regrets?"
"...Even if that were the case... do you want me to team up with a man like you now?"
Although she was wavering in confusion, Tigaro returned his gaze with a faint smile as she regained her hatred.
"Haha, don't get me wrong. What you're doing is not cooperation, but servitude... But I'm sure you understand that this is the only way for you to survive."
"...After this, are you threatening me? ...You devil."
Eul looked at Tigaro with contempt as he was presenting her with conditions she couldn't refuse in order to satisfy his selfish desires.
Tigaro, who was looking at her, accepted her insult as if in response.
"Yeah, that's right. I am a devil. And you, as a slave to me, must live as a puppet who dreams of fulfilling my own will, even though you are used and treated under the devil's control."
Hearing that line from Tigaro, Eul's gaze sharpened.
The way he held her body seemed to be the characteristics of the Noros family, who were faithful to their s*xual desires.
While laughing a little at that, Tigaro spoke again.
"But the devil has no interest in anything other than his own desires."
"...?"
Tigaro, who has spent his time surrounded by blood relatives of the Noros family who can be described as devils, knows this well.
If you make good use of the nature of Noros' blood relatives who have little interest in anything other than their own pleasure and desire, dealing with the devil is surprisingly not difficult.
With the exception of Aifie and his mother Tesia, Tigaro thought to himself that in that respect he was no different from other members of the Noros family.
"Maybe there's an opening for you to take advantage of it."
Seeing Eul staring at him with a look of surprise, Tigaro decided to take off his smiling mask.
"So, become my slave, Eul."
"..."
Eul's eyes, which were confused by Tigaro's words, wavered in confusion.
Although there was still a hint of caution in her eyes, there was a faint glimmer of hope floating in her eyes.
However, it seemed like she still had a lot of wariness about Tigaro.
Eul tightened her mouth and moved her lips slightly towards Tigaro.
"…Why are you so obsessed with me?"
Eul asked Tigaro in a hoarse voice.
"If you're a member of the Noros family as the rumors say, it should be easy for you to abandon me and run away from here...I'm sure there are plenty of slaves to replace me. Besides, even among the strong Kingdom Knights. If you ask for help, you can ensure your own safety... so why do you care about me?"
Tigaro was at a loss as to how to answer that question.
Even Tigaro himself does not fully understand why he is trying to communicate with Eul this much.
Even just a little while ago, he was wondering what to do with her.
However, Tigaro moved his mouth, trying to somehow put that vague feeling inside of him into words.
"...For a little while, I felt like you aren't a stranger."
While saying that, Tigaro finally began to understand his feelings a little bit.
Eul's lonely eyes, muttering about her family, looked exactly like Tigaro when he was young.
"Because you had the same eyes as me before."
Tigaro knows the loneliness of being alone all the time.
Tigaro was moved to save that suffering, which he superimposed on himself.
"..."
Eul, who was silently staring at him, probably didn't even understand half of Tigaro's feelings.
However, as if she was thinking about something, Eul's sharp gaze softened somewhat, with tears still gathering in the corner of her eyes.
After confirming this, Tigaro slowly begins to talk to Eul again.
"I answered. Now it's your turn. Either accept your fate of dying here, or sell your soul to the devil. ――One last time, I'll ask you this one last time."
Hearing Tigaro's words, Eul's gaze wandered as if she were lost.
However, as she looked at her body, which had lion-like fur growing in places, and her snake-like eye reflected in the puddle, she let out a sigh as if she had given up on something.
"... Now that this has happened, I no longer think that I can save myself. ...but, I can't believe everything you say."
Maybe it's because she's been betrayed by people so many times and walked alone too much.
From the bottom of her heart, Eul could no longer trust anyone.
"However, the only person I can entrust my last words to is you, here."
Before Eul's gaze, there was Tigaro, who was looking at her directly.
After checking on Tigaro, Eul put her hand on her chest.
"You can do whatever you want with this dying body. Make it your slave, use it for s*x, do whatever you want... But in return, I have a favor to ask of you. Even if I were to stop being me――"
After saying that, Eul seemed a little hesitant, but as if she had made up her mind, she looked into Tigaro's eyes and continued speaking.
"...At least, I want you to help my sister."
"...I've been curious for a while, but do you have an older sister?"
The existence of Eul's older sister was also written in the materials he received from Lapeia.
It was someone she had been muttering about for a long time, even subconsciously.
Tigaro surmised that she must have had a lot of regrets about her sister.
"...Yeah. However, she was suffering from an illness of unknown cause... Even the doctors in the empire were unable to find a cure, so they gave up on examining her.... The reason I came to the kingdom was to treat my sister's illness. To find the cure.”
Hearing this, Tigaro remembered that when he was shown the materials, Lapeia had said that Eul had requested a meeting.
Eul was probably trying to ask Lapeia, the continent's best healing mage, about her sister's illness.
Tigaro finally understood Eul's actions up until then.
While Tigaro was thinking like this, Eul seemed to have remembered something painful, and a terrible shadow appeared on her face.
"...I don't want to see my sister's face like that, like she's given up on everything. That's why, please..."
Eul's eyes became moist, and tears fell from the corners of her eyes.
"Please help my sister..."
With a trembling voice, Eul looked into Tigaro's eyes and said so.
Eul's expression was so serious that Tigaro naturally sensed that this was probably Eul's true wish.
And he couldn't help but feel that he had to make that dream come true.
――No, no, no...!!
The reason he feels this way is because Tigaro knows how painful it is to do nothing but watch a loved one suffer.
So, he thought.
"Understood"
Tigaro replied like that.
Tigaro currently has no confidence that he can cure Eul's sister's illness.
Even though there may be some help, it is not hard to imagine that the road will be difficult when it comes to an illness of unknown cause that the doctors throughout the empire have given up.
However, Tigaro wanted to somehow fulfill Eul's heartbreaking wish, which she had no choice but to plead with the person who she had been hostile to earlier.
And so, the contract between the two was concluded.
Perhaps she was surprised that the words she had entrusted to him were accepted, and Eul looked a little surprised when Tigaro replied with a serious expression.
Then, perhaps feeling a little relieved as the burden was lifted off her shoulders, she lowered her gaze and her mouth loosened just a little.
However, perhaps remembering that Tigaro was watching her, the red-haired girl immediately started to change her expression.
Eul let out a deliberate sigh and let out a small smile while lowering her eyes.
"...Haha ...In the end, I find it ridiculous that I have to rely on someone ....And what's more, the person I rely on is a devil like you."
"Haha, I can't compete with you who can turn into a real monster."
Lured by Eul's cursing, Tigaro also returns to his usual state.
Even as he stopped his serious expression and put on a fake smile on his face, Tigaro exhaled inwardly.
――Maybe I will be carrying an unnecessary burden.
Now that he had made a promise, he won't be able to turn back from now on.
He can't say for sure that he doesn't regret his choice, but it's difficult to say whether there was another option for Tigaro himself to be able to deal with this situation without any regrets.
There's nothing he can do about what he had already said.
Even though he thought so, Tigaro's feelings were not heavy, and he felt a sense of relief that this was a good thing.
Tigaro's first priority will not change from Aifie and her mother Tesia, but as a lower priority, there will be no problem as long as Eul's sister is added to the list.
In the worst case scenario, it would be possible for him to renege on his promise to Eul, but Tigaro currently has no desire to do so.
Regardless of whether he can fulfill his promise to Eul or not, he intends to do his best as a person who is burdened with a promise.
Tigaro let the quiet determination sink into his heart.
Then, in order to heal Eul's body, he reached out to touch her naked body, which had the remains of her transformation into a monster.
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