Butcher Demon

“as an exchange for protection and for information of you.”

“She pushed you to sleep with her if you want protection? that one? Disgusting. What a horny bastard…….”

“Didn’t Gevaudan taught her to do just that?”

Grrr. Abigail’s disapproving eyes pierce me.

…… The possibility is high.

“That’s awesome, Jebotan.”

Natsuki grabs my son under the table, out of Abigail’s sight.

“Hey match girl …….”

Abigail interrupted when she saw Natsuki leaning close to me.

“bought Natsuki? Rescuing them from slums? Contract? Destroy the gang’s office? …… Gevaudan, I think there’re other things you’re hiding.”

“No.”

“there is.”

“No.”

“there-is.”

“There’s none.”

Tonk, Abigail tapped the table with her index finger.

“You haven’t lived in this place from the start since you came to the 88. Your story earlier starts in the middle, something is missing! I can tell!”

A Convincing argument, Jackpot.

“I’m not hiding …… I just skip it …….”

“See!?” Abigail raises her eyebrows.

With a sigh, I confess the vague part I left out.

“I’ve killed and eaten soldiers from other forts, as well as a fair number of peoples.”

In addition, I detailed the case of Natsuki’s former boss, Hustler, and the gang.

-I’ll keep out of the transport truck attack unless she asked about it.

“Soldiers, you mean, in the ammo depot?”

“Yes. I think the guy’s name was Sean or something. I don’t know the woman name.”

“That’s …… then …….”

Abigail gasped.

Suddenly she fell silent, pondering something.

“I’ll tell you this, Abigail-san.”

Natsuki interrupted.

“Jebotan only kills bad people.”

………… Eh? What’s that?

“The reason he bought me and the reason he took over this place is that he wants to avoid killing more people. Shigeaki was the worst kind of scum. And for whoever Jebotan is going to kill in the future, if it’s someone he wants to avenge, then why not? There are plenty of people here in 88 that deserve to die.”

Are those just some kind of guesses? or do you really believe that?

I wouldn’t expect even Natsuki has developed a false impression of me…..

“Revenge, ally…….”

Abigail looked up.

“Gevaudan. If I leave with you now, will you give up that revenge?”

“Nope. I’m going to kill all of them that in this Fort.”

The answer is obvious.

“Then who betrayed you?”

“……”

It’s hard for me to answer that.

“You don’t remember, do you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes, I don’t know. You’re right, I don’t remember.”

“Then how are you going to get revenge?”

“—- don’t know! But I was definitely betrayed!”

“……”

“So now I’m going to kill every last one of them and turn them into a bloody paste! If it weren’t for Abigail, I would have started long ago! If you interfere now, I’ll tie you up in Diamond’s web and take you home!”

“……”

“I’m currently playing safe for you, but I have the power to do it! All these crazy powers that I have discovered and sharpened during those humiliating days!”

I stood up and slammed the table with both hands. The dishes rattled on the table, the liquid inside splattering.

“I want offering!! Offerings to burn with this rage!!”

–I was — little excited.

Natsuki was frightened by the butcher’s killing intent.

Abigail slumped down quietly.

She closed her eyes, and after many minutes of silence, she looked up with a determined look on her face.

“–Alright. If you insist that much, you can have your revenge. I won’t stop you.”

She stood up.

She walked around the table and stood in front of me.

“–But I have one question.”

Abigail then nuzzled the tip of my nose.

“Gevaudan, at that time when Nigel was fighting in the 89. I heard someone saw Nigel’s body.”

“That must be true. My memory ends with the Battle of 89 too.”

“But then, how do you know so clearly that you’ve been betrayed?”

“……?”

“It’s hard to imagine a situation when you are under fierce combat on the front lines where you know so clearly about a betrayal from the rear. Indeed, in an operation like this, there might be some stray shots or friendly fire when some soldiers are left on the front line and the others withdraw, But it’s an accident that can happen and you were a genuine soldier, so you understood that such a situation was possible.”

“Well …… that’s …….”

“Nevertheless, the fact that you have such a strong hatred for them means there must be a reason for it.”

“Reasons ……”

“Can’t you remember?”

I am beginning to feel frustrated and even angry with myself for not being able to answer Abigail’s question with anything other than “I can’t remember.”

“Clearly, you must either have seen or heard evidence of betrayal.”

So I told her the very end of my memory, namely the story of rescuing the citizens and my encounter with the armored knight.

The guy was substandardly strong. He was bulletproof, and one swing of his greatsword tore through concrete like tofu. Looking back on it now, I wonder how I managed to kill him.

“I think we probably traded a killing blow, but I don’t remember the details.”

“Was there anyone else there at the time?”

“Hmmm …….”

I cross my arms and let my mind wander.

“— come to think of it.”

Something comes to mind.

“I must have stayed back in the 89 for some reason.”

“Reason.”

“If I fought the armored knight in the first place, then maybe I was helping someone else to escape.”

“Someone.”

“Yes. If I had worked alone, I would have run away without fighting. Fox doesn’t use their lives for things that aren’t part of the mission. If for some reason I dared to fight in spite of that, there must be a reason why I had to be there. Maybe I had someone with me, probably a non-combatant because I was on a mission to withdraw civilians from the area. But I don’t remember that at all.”

“Maybe that someone saw your …… last moment.”

“I don’t know. But if I were to think about it as if I were her back then, I would have made them wait for me. I don’t think I would not let a non-combatant act alone on a battlefield where I don’t know where the aliens might be.”

“…… got it. That’s a great clue, thanks. That’s what I’m going to look into. Maybe if I ask the civilians who were evacuated at the time or the soldiers who were on the battlefield during that time, they might be able to tell me something.”

“……”

“You don’t trust me?”

“…..Not that…but…”

“I can’t just sweep it under the rug. The problems that are so intricately entangled in your mind are like a tangled yarn ball, you still have to untangle them one by one or nothing will be resolved. Meaningless killing will solve nothing.”

“Meaningless killing solves nothing……”

“Killing indiscriminately won’t clear that haze in your mind.”

Dantalion and you say the same thing.

Use your brains.

“But ……”

I interjected.

“I still think it’s not safe for Abigail to be here any longer. If they poison you, even the most astute Fox team member won’t be able to prevent it.”

“We’re partners.”

Then Abigail inserted her white, slender fingers between my stubby ones and interlocked our hands.

“We are destined. Your problems are my problems too.”

“……”

” If you want to kill them, fine. Let’s do it together. We’ll both deal with the bad guys.”

“The two of us?”

“But not indiscriminately. There are bad people in this world who need to die, but there are also good people we can entrust our future with. And you know it. Because Nigel fights with her life to protect it.”

Abigail pointed to Natsuki and Yakumo.

“Natsuki and the others are proof. They are alive and they adore you. because there is still some noble and mercy left in you. If you were a real monster, you wouldn’t have opened up so much.”

She tightened her grip on my hand.

“I swear I will help you to the end. So please hold it for now.”

“Abigail is going to help me?”

“I’ll investigate and pick the target. You’re the one who needs revenge. So you can just go kill that guy.

“Pick the target….”

“Yes. So can you leave it to me?”

-that’s not what I would have wanted.

The only way to kill them all is to make a big move and do it in one swoop. because if I do it slowly, they’ll escape, but that’s no fun. It would be more enjoyable if I could take my time and narrow it down.

–The question is, can I let her do that?

This is my personal problem.

It feels wrong to involve Abigail in this and leave her in this dangerous place for that. Besides, if she is on my side, she is a traitor to humanity.

Then, as if she had read my thoughts, she continued.

“I have no lingering attachment to them. I’m also betrayed by my allies. Remember? What I said to you in the burning forest. What I said to you in the cave. What I said to you in your arms when we decided on our escape plan. Even now, those feelings have not changed.”

I was curious.

Why are you willing to do so much for me?

I was tempted to ask her that, but the unwavering glimmer of trust that flashed in her hazel eyes made it seem like a foolish question.

“If —- you die, I won’t be able to hold it back.—- You must never die. If you are in danger, will you promise to run away immediately?”

“Yes, of course.”

Abigail nodded.

“I’ll never leave Gevaudan alone again.”

I myself have not the slightest bit of doubt about her, perhaps because she is a comrade-in-arms who got through those days in prison together.

“—-I understand. I’ll leave the helm to you.”

Abigail was relieved to hear my words, and at the same time, she gave me a caring look.