The Demon Lord's Subjects

“The worst feeling is when you know you messed up, and you’re waiting for the day someone finally figures out your mistake. You can’t own up to it, and keep building lies in hopes they won’t push blame on you. Most times, this never actually works.”

This was a “philosophy” that Kitezh thought to herself. Today was not her lucky day.

“Kitezh!”

Captain Grigori is once again crossed with Kitezh’s work. He slapped a stack of papers against her chest.

“It’s sloppy work with you once again!”

“AGAIN?! That wasn’t even a real quest, that was a trap specifically made for me!”

“And yet you ended up creating a whole new dilemma to be solved ASAP! There’s a large block of ice slowly leaking out toxins right now. We just sent up a clean-up crew right now before the water is re-contaminated!”

“Do these towns seriously rely on the guilds for this kind of help all the time?”

“We’re a hub full of top talent, and you’re not acting like it. There are plenty of people doing much better than you.”

“Which includes a maniac who tried to kill his entire party and do perverted stuff with me.”

“I’ve heard the report about it. As much as that was our negligence on security, we’re also not responsible of who brings who to the guild. As long as we don’t see anyone killing each other, we don’t care who takes these quests, as long as we actually see something come out of them.”

SLAP!

“Otherwise, I’m stuck filling out more paperwork when someone fails a quest!” yelled Grigori at Kitezh’s face.

“Well at least we’re not honoring his death. That would’ve made me sick,” said Kitezh.

Grigori looked at Kitezh, Frigyes, and Marigold.

“Speaking of which, I’m going to need those brass knuckles.”

“Ah man, can’t even keep one as a souvenir?” asked Frigyes.

“We read the report. These were used to give the Shatter Phenomenon powers.”

Frigyes handed the brass knuckles to Grigori.

“We’re taking care of Lev’s corpse. We are conducting a study on these things. Based on events that transpired in the report, it can be assumed that Lev was working for the Demon Lord. Meaning, these brass Knuckles are imbued with his power. We have never seen anything like this before,” explained Grigori.

“The brass knuckles are work of the Demon Lord?” questioned Marigold.

Marigold pointed at Kitezh’s helmet.

“What about Kitezh? Her helmet has the phenomenon powers too. Are you saying that thing is the work of the Demon Lord too?” Marigold continues to ask.

“We actually never looked into Kitezh’s helmet. In fact, none of us really studied how Kitzh’s powers work. She is helping us, and has full control of her powers, so we’re not going to lock her up and dissect her. Like I said, I only care about the results of these quests.”

Grigori looked at the brass knuckles in his hand.

“Lev is a subject we can actually work with. He was working for the Demon Lord, so no one would cry when we cut him open.”

Kitezh thought about what was said. Are these phenomenon items from the Demon Lord? She was transported to this world, and had the helmet from the start. She started in the city of Kitezh. Nowhere in that timeline did she meet the Demon Lord.

Unless…

“You’ll be a fascinating phenomenon.”

“Ah!” yelled Kitezh instinctively.

“Kitezh, something wrong?” asked Marigold.

Kitezh remembered hearing the old raspy voice say those words. Could that have been who she thought it was?

“It’s nothing. Just remembered my near-death experience at the bastion,” said Kitezh.

“Aww, poor Kitezh. I’ll be here for you!”

Marigold snuggled against Kitezh’s arm.

“If it’s that troubling for you, we’ll make sure that any quests concerning suspicious individuals, or ones with your name written on it, go to the higher-ranked people to take care of it,” said Grigori.

“In fact, it’s better that you lay low for now. I encourage it even. I don’t want you causing more trouble, and having me write up more apology letters due to your chaos,” continued Grigori.

Kitezh rolled her eyes at that last part, but agreed with Grigori. There are people actively trying to attack or kidnap her.

“I’ll leave it to you to decide what you want to do next. There are plenty of smaller quests you can do.”

Grigori neatly held his papers, and walked away.

“Sorry for getting you into this mess!” cried Marigold, and she bowed to Kitezh.

“It’s alright, but…”

Kitezh felt her helmet again. She thought about what Grigori said about the Demon Lord. She thought about that voice she heard.

“I don’t mind doing smaller things. It might clear my head.”

TEAR!

“Oh! This looks like a fun task for you!” said Frigyes, as he shoved the quest into her hands.

Kitezh read over the quest details, and prepared for it.

It was now nighttime in the city of Kitezh. Off in the outskirts of the city, there was a wide graveyard. It was covered with several mausoleums, with headstones scattered about. The night sky created a dark blue hue over the grass, and the mausoleums created ominous shadows.

There was a large building next to it. It was the city’s funeral home. Inside was the mortician, doing more unusual business than before. He was dealing with a task ordered by Captain Grigori.

“I’m not someone who specializes in this artistic crap, you know!” yelled the mortician.

He picked up a large long fleshy object. There was a mutilated bone at the end of it. It looked like a crude, rounded tree branch.

“Does it fit?” Asked Captain Grigori in a stern way.

The mortician then picks up another object. It was one of Lev’s brass knuckles.

Grigori grabbed the fleshy object, and shoved the brass knuckle on the bone end.

CLICK!

The brass knuckle seemingly secured to the bone.

“Uh, sir, what exactly are you going to do with that?”

Grigori looked at the wheelbarrow used to carry corpses on the floor.

“So, how did Lev do this?” asked Grigori.

He patted down the metal wheelbarrow.

“Yah!”

BANG!

“AAAAAH! KHA! KHA! UGH!”

The mortician slumped dead on the ground. The was blood pouring out from all over his body. Metal shrapnel had pierced his body.

All that was left was the wheel of the wheelbarrow on the ground. The entire vehicle had been shattered into sharp metal projectiles.

Grigori looked down at the mutilated flesh again.

“This was a successful result. Though…”

Grigori looked at the blood-splattered walls of the room.

“I guess this mess can be blamed on me this time.”