"-I ask you"

From the thick fog came a soft, uncanny sound, and the wind stopped imperceptibly. The magic circle that had been glowing just now had dimmed, and the blood on the bed had turned black and dried up as if it had been burned. Then, in the thin mist, the man who had just spoken suddenly appeared in front of Ryunosuke.

A smooth, youthful-looking face, with large eyes and smooth cheeks that rotated flexibly, and a brown face that matched him, reminded Ryunosuke of Munch's paintings.

His costume is also peculiar. Dressed in a wide robe and adorned with a large amount of extravagant precious metal jewelry, the slender body is dressed like the "Dark Magician" that appeared in the comics.

"Plead me, call me, summoner who makes me appear in this world as a caster...... I'm here to ask your name. Who is there? ”

“……”

Ryunosuke was a little unsure of how to answer. From the lightning and smoke of a summoning array made of blood—it was an ordinary person unexpectedly. I don't know what to expect, but at least it's a very exaggerated monster.

Now this ordinary human appearance makes Ryunosuke feel very frustrated. Although it is really very bizarre and strange from the point of view of clothing. But can this alone tell that this man is a demon?

Scratching his head slightly, Ryunosuke replied mentally ready.

"Well, my name is Ryunosuke Yusui. Freelancer. Interest is killing. Loves small kids and young girls. ”

The man in the robe nodded. It was as if he had heard everything except the name.

"Good. The contract was formed. The Holy Grail you desire, I have a long-cherished desire to get it.

The key to Paradise will surely fall into our hands, right? ”

"H-what?"

It seems that he can't figure out what is going on right away, and Ryunosuke feels a little confused. In this way, the old book found in the warehouse did have such a record on it, but because it was very boring, the rules and the like were just skimmed and skimmed.

“…… Yes. Put these troublesome topics aside, and—"

Ryunosuke waved his hand slightly, then pointed his chin at the child in the corner of the room.

"Anyway, as a greeting gift, how about the one over there? Are you going to eat him? ”

The strange man looked at the kid tied up over there with a blank expression, and then at Ryunosuke. Whether he understood the meaning of Ryunosuke's words, there was no clue on his face at all, and in this deathly silence, Ryunosuke suddenly felt an inexplicable uneasiness. Isn't my behavior rude to him? But the devil eats children, and anyone would think like that.

The strange man was silent and took a book from the bosom of his robe. The book looked heavy and beautifully bound, and at first glance it was a very valuable antique. It's exactly the kind of prop that demons often use.

The material used to bind the cover of that book, Ryunosuke could see it at a glance.

"Ah, that's amazing! It's made of human skin, right? ”

Because Ryunosuke once skinned the victim alive and used it as a lampshade. But he was very clumsy in hand-making, and he suffered too many setbacks and finally gave up. Now that he saw a master with the same intention of making and making a perfect finished product, he simply respected this man very much.

For Ryunosuke's praise, the man just glanced at him and didn't make any statement, and then slowly opened the book in his hand and quickly turned the pages with his hand, and words of unknown meaning popped out of his mouth from time to time, and then closed the book again as if everything was done, and put the book in his arms again.

“……？”

The strange man put aside Ryunosuke, who couldn't understand his behavior at all, and could only watch from the side, and walked towards the little boy curled up beside the bed. The boy, who had been frightened by the strange things that had been happening all the time, struggled and desperately avoided the man who was slowly walking towards him.

Seeing the man who behaved like this, for some reason, his eyes suddenly became gentle and full of love, and Ryunosuke became more and more confused when he saw this. What the hell is going on.

- Don't be afraid. Kids"

The strange-looking strange man said to the boy with a soft expression and a soft voice that did not match his face. The bound boy finally noticed that someone was talking to him with a warm expression, so he stopped struggling and looked at the man's face with a pleading gaze.

As if in response to the boy, the man smiled and nodded, reaching out to the boy curled up on the ground—gently untying the ropes and gagged muzzles.

"Can you stand up?"

The man lifted the half-hunched boy to his feet and stroked his back as if encouraging.

Ryunosuke didn't have any doubts about whether the man was a demon or not, but he still couldn't understand the way he treated the boy. Was he really going to save the boy's life?

But this man looked very strange no matter how he looked at it. When he is silent, he has an extremely terrifying face, but once he laughs, he is full of innocent and pure expressions, like a saint.

"All right, boy, get out of the house through the door over there. Keep moving forward, don't look around, and walk out with your own feet. -- Alone, go out. ”

“…… Hmmm......"

The boy nodded firmly, and the man patted the boy on the back with a smile on his face.

The boy trotted all the way as the man had said, not even daring to glance at the corpses of his parents and sister, and walked across the blood-soaked floor. A hallway outside the door leads to a staircase and entrance on the second floor. As long as he could get there, he could escape from the murderer's clutches. He'll just go on living.

"Hey. etc......"

Ryunosuke, who couldn't stand it anymore, just spoke. was quickly stopped by the man.

Ryunosuke, who was talking to him, was very worried that the boy would escape, but he had no choice but to watch the boy's back go farther and farther.

The boy opened the door and walked through the hallway. In front of him was the door of the entrance, and the boy's eyes that were full of fear just now finally gave off the light of peace of mind and hope again.

In the next moment, the story developed to **.

The boy facing the entrance has his back facing the stairs. Above the staircase, from the top of the jogging platform that was blocked by the stairs from the living room, suddenly it struck the boy below like an avalanche. A very thick girdle of robes—nay, like a swarm of countless snakes—was an indescribable creature, no, perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that it was a creature's organs, and it entangled the boy from behind, and then very quickly and with great force pulled the boy up to the second floor.

And then there was a heart-rending scream. It was as if the sound of countless creatures licking their tongues together and the sound of tiny bones breaking and shattering sounded. Although I didn't see what was happening, the imagination triggered by hearing this disgusting sound was even more stimulating.

The strange man closed his eyes and tilted his head, listening to the nightmarish sound as if he were very intoxicated. The hand he placed on his chest was constantly shaking, and he looked as if he was very excited.

On the other hand. Ryunosuke also reveled in the same emotion...... No, he hadn't expected anything from that, but the sight of the scene brought him a strong spiritual baptism.

"There's something fresh about horror......

Still basking in the aftermath of the tragedy he had caused, the demon - no doubt at all now - began to speak in a tone full of intoxication.

"Human beings are in constant fear, and their feelings will gradually die. Terror in the true sense of the word does not refer to the static that does not change, but the dynamic that changes—the kind of transition from hope to despair, the horror of that moment. What do you think? This fresh taste of horror and death. ”

Ryunosuke was speechless in surprise.

The "thing" on the stairs that is still devouring the boy's corpse is probably prepared by this man. It's as if he had emerged from a magic circle made of blood. When he first opened the leather-bound ancient book, he must have had these things ready.

Although he was surprised by the man's methods, what made him admire the man's philosophy even more was his admiration. This kind of creative work that even Ryunosuke can't praise himself and [***] extreme evil. The "aesthetics of death" that can bring such a strong and vivid impression is not too much to give him all the praise in the world.

“cool！ That's great! It's so cool for you! ”

With great excitement, Ryunosuke shook the man's hand vigorously and shook it up and down. In that case, even if you see relatives, friends or lovers, you may not be so excited. Murderer. Ryunosuke Yusheng, today finally met a character in this boring world that he can respect from the bottom of his heart.

“ok～！ I don't know the Holy Grail or anything, but I'm going to follow you! I can help you. Come on, let's kill as much as we want. You can make as many live sacrifices as you want. As long as you continue to let me enjoy this very cool way of killing! ”。

"You're so happy."

Maybe he felt Ryunosuke's grateful, excitement. The man responded to Ryunosuke with a gentle smile with a straightforward and innocent expression.

"Your name is Ryunosuke. To be able to get the understanding of a master like you. It's really my pleasure. In this way, I was finally able to achieve my long-cherished wish. ”

- Similar to this kind of successful summoning without a relic, it requires the master and the Heroic Spirit to be summoned to have the same spiritual surname. And as a murderous maniac like Ryunosuke, he summoned a true heroic spirit who left a name for himself in the future for his cruelty and thirst for killing. No, from the nature of his surname, it would be more appropriate to call him a fierce spirit than a heroic spirit.

"Ah, then, I don't know your name yet."

Ryunosuke, who finally found the crux of the problem, asked deliberately flatteringly.

"Name. Well...... If you want a good name that fits the times......"

The man put his finger to his lips and thought about it for a moment.

“…… So, call me first. Bluebeard, how's that. Today we know each other. ”

The man replied kindly with an angelic smile

(To be continued.) )