The Sword Demon Tears People Apart

“────! ────No…!”
A blurry voice.
A hazy vision.
Someone is sobbing.
“Don’t worry…───, ──────.”
My lips move on their own, spitting out words.
It’s cold. Excruciating pain spreads throughout my body.
My heart beats roughly, circulating blood, but my perforated body can’t contain it and spills it onto the floor.
“You…, live…”
Blackout.
The flickering black and white vision shatters.
A floating sensation, as if falling into a bottomless abyss.
And then, soon after,
*
“…What a crappy dream.”
Zeron sat up.
It’s dark around him.
But seeing light seeping through the curtains, it wasn’t night.
“Phew…”
He lay back down on the sofa.
Then he reached out and picked up one of the liquor bottles scattered around.
Putting it to his mouth and shaking it, a couple of drops fall from the bottom.
Oak, vanilla. Followed by sweet sherry. A faint alcohol scent at the end, and he smacked his dry mouth.
“Ugh.”
Zeron threw the empty bottle without mercy.
Thunk-, the bottle bounced perfectly off the window frame, pulling back the curtain and safely landing in a corner of the floor.
“Much better.”
The midday sun brightly illuminates the room.
The unpleasant feeling from the nightmare seemed to dissipate a little.
“…Why don’t you just get up and walk?”
A man who had just entered the room saw this and twisted his expression strangely.
“It’s bothersome.”
“Wouldn’t it be more bothersome to calculate and throw it?”
“What calculation? I just throw it casually.”
Zeron lazily turned his head to look at the man.
Blonde hair and blue eyes.
He’s somewhat handsomely attractive, but…
“Hey, David.”
“What?”
“Can I give you just one knock on the head?”
“…No, you can’t.”
“I think it’s about time you resigned yourself to it.”
“Why do you keep wanting to hit me on the head!?”
“Looking at your face makes me want to pee.”
Zeron chuckled and waved his hand toward the floor.
A bottle got caught.
He picked it up casually and read the label: ‘Laphroaig 40’.
“Peat…, not bad.”
This time, rummaging around the floor again, he grabbed a nosing glass.
He removed the packaging from the bottle, uncorked it, and poured it into the glass.
The whisky shimmers golden in the sunlight coming through the window.
“So, what’s up? Bringing the little one too.”
As he buried his nose in the glass, savoring the peat aroma, a sharp voice shattered the mood.
“I told you I’m not little!”
A red-haired kid peeked out from behind David.
If you don’t want to be called little, maybe you should untie those twin tails like that kid.

Zeron casually brushed it off and tilted the glass to wet his tongue.
Hmm, not bad. Though I wonder what kind of person makes 40-year-old peat whisky.
“Now, now, our princess. Calm down…”
“Dad! But…!”
“What can I do about that guy? Daddy can’t even touch him.”
“Tch…”
The kid turned her head away, seemingly upset.
David smiled awkwardly and opened his mouth.
“Anyway… It’s nothing big, but you know my daughter is entering the academy this time, right?”
“Yeah, I know. How could I not know with that grand celebration party?”
“So… I’m really uneasy about sending Medea to the academy alone. I thought about attaching some guards, but I can’t really trust them.”
“Well, the kids did seem quite weak.”
“Right?”
David brightened up.
I could roughly guess what was coming next.
This is going to be such a bother…
As Zeron was contemplating,
“Boss!”
Bang-! Someone burst in, roughly opening the door.
It was a somewhat familiar face.
I don’t remember the name, but… I think he was one of David’s subordinates.
“What’s the matter? How rude.”
David’s demeanor, which had been quite foolish until just now, calmly settles.
The subordinate, met with that gaze, shuddered and shouted urgently.
“We, we’re under attack! The Scavengers…!”
“Those bastards? Huh… which son of a bitch is it this time?”
David frowned deeply and turned his back.
His pitch-black coat fluttering looked quite stylish.
Showing off in front of your daughter, you bastard.
David stroked his daughter’s head once and then moved his feet.
“We’ll continue the rest of the talk when I get back.”
“Hm? No. Let me earn my keep for once in a while.”

Zeron got up.
He downed the remaining alcohol in the glass in one go, and casually picked up a sword that was rolling under the sofa, looking no different from a good-for-nothing.
“Phew… that’s strong.”
“You don’t need to come along…”
“Who do you think I’m living off of? It’s making me feel a bit guilty.”
Zeron grinned and flicked Medea’s forehead.
Thwack-! A clear sound.
“Eek!?”
Medea, startled, blushed and shouted loudly.
“Wh-what are you doing, you pervert old man!”

“Calling me an old man when I’m in my vibrant twenties.”
“You’ll be in your thirties next year!”
“I’m still in my twenties, you know?”
Zeron chuckled and nodded to the subordinate who was standing there, not knowing what to do.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-yes, bro!”
*
In a dark alley where even sunlight doesn’t reach.
Blades gleam blue in fragments of light, and hot blood soaks the ground thoroughly.
Amidst all kinds of shouting, a figure walking leisurely and carefreely was clearly out of place.
“Tsk, so weak. Any of you who got even a scratch from guys like these should quit this life and go farm.”
At the sound of the voice, everyone’s attention suddenly focused.
Taking your eyes off a life-or-death battle is insane, but they couldn’t help but turn their gaze to the approaching heavy presence.
“B-bro!”
“Who’s your bro?”
I’m not, you know. Zeron grinned and put a cigarette in his mouth.
The fidgeting subordinate next to him hurriedly took out a lighter and lit it.
Phew-, smoke rose in the alley that had suddenly gone quiet.
Zeron walked across the battlefield as casually as if he was out for a stroll.
“…Are you the Sword Demon?”
Hearing a voice suddenly, he turned his head.
There stood a giant man with a face full of scars.
“My, what a scary-looking fellow.”
“I asked if you’re the Sword Demon.”
“Why are you speaking so rudely?”
Whoosh-, something flashed.
And then, thud, roll……
The giant’s head rolls on the ground, meaninglessly adding blood to the earth.
“Oops, my mistake. This will be annoying to clean up later.”
Tsk, Zeron clicked his tongue and shook the sword he had drawn.
“Well, shall we take care of this properly then.”
What followed was a massacre.
*
“So.”
Zeron sat crookedly on a pile of corpses, tilting his head.
“You want me to guard that little one?”
“Yeah, well, it’s a bit different to be exact.”
David stood in front of him, putting a cigarette in his mouth.
Glancing sideways, his vision was filled with bizarrely uninjured corpses.
They’ve been friends since childhood, but… this scene was somewhat eerie every time he saw it.
“Hmm…”
Zeron, seemingly indifferent to David’s reaction, threw away his burnt-out cigarette.
The butt falls on the blood, making a sizzling sound as it goes out.
“Sure, why not.”
“If you really don’t want to… well…?”

David’s eyes widened, as if hearing unexpected words.
It’s understandable.
Usually, he would have refused a few times, saying it was bothersome.
Zeron tilted his head back.
The blue sky could be seen between the tall buildings.
No matter how many people died, the sky was always blue.
“I had a crappy dream. Somehow, it seems better to go this time.”
“I’d be grateful if you did.”
“What’s there to be grateful for between us.”
Zeron grinned and stood up.

“I was a bit worried about that little one anyway. You’ve raised her so preciously. She’s quite rude, but somehow it seems like she couldn’t even kill a rabbit.”
“Rude? No way. Our Medea is such a kind and pretty girl.”
“Oh please, not this again. She’s seventeen this year, right? She’s older now than you were when you got pregnant with her. No, wait. You weren’t the one who got pregnant, were you?”
Zeron chuckles.
One of the subordinates cleaning up corpses nearby snickered and quickly covered his mouth.
“S-sorry, bro!”
“Just laugh, you idiot. Why are you so scared?”
He casually slapped the man’s back, and the guy started awkwardly laughing while continuing to clean up the corpses.
“Anyway, yeah. So when do we leave?”
“Medea leaves in about a month.”
“Medea? Then what about me?”
“You leave in two days.”
“What?”
Zeron’s head tilted crookedly.
David smirked and pulled out a gun from his waist.
Bang-!
With the sound of gunfire, the head of a Scavenger who was staggering to get up flies off.
“If she’s leaving in a month, why am I leaving in two days?”
Zeron asked, dumbfounded.
David blew on the gun barrel and tucked it back into his waist.
“Why? Because Medea is a student and you’re a lecturer.”
“No, if I’m her guard, shouldn’t I go with… What? Lecturer?”
Zeron’s eyes widened, and David grinned mischievously.
David chuckled and pulled out a document from his chest.
“That’s right, lecturer. Congratulations, you good-for-nothing. You’ve finally gotten a job.”
“What are you…”
Snatching the document to check, it was clear.
Name, Zeron. Age, 29. Affiliation, David Trading Company.
And there was a photo prominently displayed.
The man in the photo with a sullen expression, looking annoyed with the world… was definitely himself.
“No, really?”
“Yes, really.”
“This is bullshit.”
“Right? You as a teacher.”
“Stop joking around.”
“But it’s true.”
“Fuck… Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“Damn it…”
…Somehow, it seemed he had gotten a job at the academy.