Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 20

Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 20

The monster gestured to the beasts huddled together under the stairs. It seemed the monster was controlling the beasts as the beasts hung on the pulley next to the door and opened the door with unfamiliar movements. 

“Th, the door is opening……?!” 

A panicked voice was heard as the door opened on its own. A few people who had been muttering finally gathered their courage and stepped into the castle. 

“Uh, uh……!” 

Miela was standing in the shadows. Their eyes could not reach her face. All they could see was her neck, wearing a gorgeous dress. 

“This place is not allowed for humans. Get out.” 

Miela warned them in place of the monster. 

The expressions of the people who heard her bright voice twisted ambiguously. They ran here, imagining a monster with five arms and legs and covered in hair all over its body. They thought of its forearm-sized teeth rushing at them as soon as they opened the door. But what was this? 

They felt a sense of intimidation, but they could not find any trace of the monster’s cruelty. And she was a woman? 

“Look, look here. Is this the monster’s castle?” 

“If it’s the monster you’re talking about, then maybe it is.” 

“Where is that monster?” 

“What are you going to do if you know?” 

“I’ll kill it! The cruel and ruthless monster that invaded our village and killed the village youth!” 

It seemed the story transformed such that the monster was the one that invaded the village. Who was the cruel and ruthless one? 

The more she listened, the more it became a quite a sight. 

“You can’t kill it. You people are weak.” 

“If we can’t kill the monster, we won’t go back!” 

Miela shrugged her shoulders. 

“Then you won’t be able to go back.” 

The monster took a step down the stairs. 

Each step he took felt heavy. 

There were far more villagers, but the presence of one monster weighed them down. It felt like their body was being crushed with each step. 

“If you come after what’s mine, I’ll kill you.” 

The monster stopped three steps away from the group and gave them one last warning. With those words, the group realized the identity of the man who looked like a nobleman to everyone.

That was the monster. 

It was completely different from what they had imagined, but there was an inhuman air flowing around him. It was definitely not human. And it had killed their family. 

“Receive, receive revenge for my son, monster!” 

A man aimed his hunting bow at the monster’s forehead and shot an arrow. It was in the blink of an eye. However, the monster leisurely turned its head and caught the arrow with one hand. 

“Huk!” 

The monster snapped the arrow with one hand. Before the broken arrow could even touch the ground, the body of the man who shot the arrow was torn apart. 

The arrow had already flown, and the people who had come in were already blinded by violence and anger. The people whose reason had been paralyzed charged at the monster rather than running away in terror. 

“Ahhh!” 

It took only a short moment for it to be taken care of. It was a one-sided massacre. Blood spurted everywhere, and flesh that had become pieces of meat hung loose. It was the price for targeting the monster. 

Miela calmly watched the series of events from the top of the stairs and then came down quickly. 

“Oh my, you dressed up so well, but we are going to have to throw away the clothes. What a shame.” 

Miela approached the monster and brushed away the blood from his hair and shoulders. That wasn’t enough, but she wanted to relieve him a little, so she reached out to help. 

Miela’s fingertips quickly turned red. The smell of blood once spilled would not go away easily. It would probably linger for a long time. Miela put her red fingertips to her nose and sniffed. It still wasn’t foul or disgusting. 

Miela smiled and faced the monster. 

“I think deer will be good today. Let’s wash and eat together.” 

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com) 

Autumn was passing. 

Miela leaned against the window and looked down at the people coming in. They were people who had come to pay tribute to the duke’s castle. It wasn’t the first time, so they weren’t flustered or wary. 

Instead of the castle’s owner, two bears greeted the people at the door. Even though it wasn’t the first time, the people gasped in surprise and trembled. 

The eyes of the people that looked around the whole time while putting down the cart full of offerings were filled with awe. They probably didn’t even know who they were offering the offerings for. 

“We must have gotten a lot of scented mushrooms this time, right?” 

The monster asked, hugging Miela’s waist from behind. Miela burst into laughter. 

It was the mushroom that Jack had used to trick the monster into separating from the castle. She thought she wouldn’t even want to look at mushrooms after that, but after some time, she remembered it again. Now, she enjoyed human food as a special treat, but she couldn’t help but think of scented mushrooms. 

“It was the Duke’s order, so I guess they must have.” 

After that day, a tectonic shift occurred in the village and the monster forest. It could have been simply passed off as the work of wild animals, but the monster didn’t do that. 

He left a note in blood on the stomach of the only corpse what was still recognizable.

‘Do not invade the forest.’ 

The beasts carried it to the entrance of the village. The villagers saw and figured out the situation. 

A real monster lived in the Monster Forest. The monster was greedy and cruel, and was merciless to those who intruded into its forest without permission. 

The elders and the others went in to kill the monster, so it was natural that they would be retaliated against. It was like crawling under a tree on a thunder storming day and being struck by lightning and dying. Now no one blamed the monster. They blamed the ignorant acts of those who entered the Monster Forest without permission. 

After some time had passed, the villagers thought that they had to appease the monster. They offered a sacrifice again. Naturally, this time it was Rumi. 

The sacrifice was returned alive. Instead, she held in her hands a letter from the monster who revealed himself as the ‘Duke.’ He informed them that this was the Duke’s forest, and as before, there would be no forgiveness for those who intruded without permission. He also informed them that he had been lenient up until now, but that they had to offer tribute at regular intervals since they were living on the Duke’s land. 

In this way, the monster became the Duke and began to rule them.

Those who had tasted violence voluntarily obeyed. 

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com) 

“Reading a book again?” 

“There’s still a lot to learn.” 

“Me too.” 

These days, Miela had also begun to learn to read. She would dig into the monster’s side and read books with large letters and pictures. The letters that she was reading were different from the monster’s tiny letters, but it was fun to read books together. 

While the village prepared and offered sacrifices, the monster took an earnest interest in the library. If Miela’s pregnancy was true, a countermeasure was needed. He also knew that if he wanted to know something, he had to go through books. 

As a result of studying letters and furiously immersing himself in the library, he had an unexpected gain. 

The library was full of explanations from his predecessors for future generations. 

『 I was a friend of the first king who created the kingdom. I helped him establish the kingdom with the power I had. He gave me the title of duke as a founding contributor and wanted me to stay by his side, but I refused. Being different sometimes clashes with everything. I wanted peace without clashing. So I requested the land farthest from the kingdom, but a fertile forest that didn’t have to be cultivated. The Duke Forest will be an inviolable territory that no one can invade. 』

『 The land near the forest is also fertile, so humans sometimes come in and make their own villages. However, if they prosper too much, they can invade the forest and attack us. If we were too friendly and open, that’s what eventually will happen. Be wary of differences. Do not overlook the greed of the limited. 』

This was the real Duke’s land, and the monster was the Duke’s only descendant. Miela stammeringly followed the writing that continued.

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