“Papa, what’s that?” the little boy asked, his hands pointing at the sea of diamonds in the sky. More precisely, he pointed at the diamond that was falling from the sky. His chubby face was tinted with the all-present confusion that accompanied a question. The short dark hair he had was being blown back by the night gust.

The ‘Papa’ looked at the boy warmly. He lay silent for a moment before finally deciding to open his mouth. “I—” Only a single syllable was pronounced, the ‘Papa’ closing his mouth in the end. The face that the boy looked up to was changed to an emotionless mask, coldness radiating out from it. The apathetic mask changed to a sneer that bore down the boy.

“Papa?” The little boy’s body started to quiver in anxiety and fear. He lost control over his faculties, resulting in his shorts being drenched with an acrid smelling liquid. Unable to figure out what to do, the boy once again repeated his words. “Papa?”

The eyes of ‘Papa’ had its gaze set on the boy. Slowly raising his hand and then clenching it, ‘Papa’ swung his fist towards the boy’s drippy nose.

I remember. I know.

*** *** ***

Entry Made on: First Day of the Third Week, 70th Year of the Ulr Calendar

So far, my ‘research’ the demon has led to pathetic results. I haven’t seen it eat virgins nor have I seen it open a portal to the underworld. Perfect! Just perfect! What am I going to do if this whole thing ends up in a massive failure? I’ve spent countless hours—well no, not really, but that’s beside the point—following the demon. To do this, I’ve even done a huge no-no for my usual self. That was going to the really boring 2-hour mass. I even had to sacrifice all my energy just to keep myself awake. Luckily, the horrible singing of the choir helped me in that regard. I mean, how did they even qualify to be a choir? I still remember the thing like a nightmare as their screechy voices destroyed my mental fortitude. God they were awful.

No, stop! Don’t think about these depressing stuff, Claude, look on the bright side! You’ve found out a peculiarity in the demon’s actions at the mass. Though you’re not sure what that was all about, it was still a discovery! I think. I sometimes feel that I may be going crazy. Evidence is this entry itself. Oh, wait, we’re going off track. Why am I even saying ‘we’? Anyway, the demon was making quite a lot of noise during the mass. What it was trying to do, I have no idea. But! This is a great turning point for my research, hopefully.

Now that I think about it, I should write some sort of chart about the demon. I don’t have much information aside from its physical appearance, but this should help make my research seem credible. On the topic of the credibility of my research, my younger brother now looks at this older brother with disgust because I told him about my plans. Hahaha! Little bro, you won’t be looking at me like that when I show you the fruits of my research in the future. But for now, my little bro, can you please act like you don’t despise me with your very being? Please? Pretty please? I know that I’m a strong man but even strong men get hurt too.

The Demon

Skin Colour: Red

Eye Colour: Black

Height: Kinda tall

Weight: No clue

Tattoo: Slave Branding

*** *** ***

“What am I supposed to do now?” I muttered, looking blankly at the setting sun as I remembered the job I was given to by the scary Russian. Basically, he told me to go to this place called Imyr and said to meet someone there or something. I didn’t really get why he would use me to go meet some random dude. Oh man, I don’t even understand what anyone is saying aside from the goddamned Russian. Boss, what’re you trying to do? Oh, at that time, I already gave up and started to call the Russian the ‘Boss’. Sometimes of course.

At that moment, a hand pulled on the hem of my robe. Yes, I was forced to wear a white robe. It was like the Russian’s but without all the gold and stuff. Honestly, I thought it was unfair but I guessed that the Russian was in a bad mood when he made the decision. “*@[email protected]%!” The person who tugged at my robe spouted random drivel that sounded a bit like what the Russian said when we first met. Guys, can’t you learn English super fast like that scary Russian Mafioso?

Of course, the person didn’t answer my mental question. Sadly, though, I had this inkling of a feeling that I was supposed to reply, otherwise I’d get something unwanted coming way. With the least amount of effort, I gave a smile without saying a word towards the person who tugged at my robe. Oh… I guess it made sense, I mean who’d send an intern alone on some business trip? The person who tugged at my sleeves was another old man. He had some of the features of the Russian so I guessed that they must have been siblings or something. It was then that the old man, wearing a robe just like mine, pointed towards a medieval carriage pulled by two weird-looking… horses?

My head tilted just like those anime characters I saw before that I’d probably never see again in this horrid company. What’s that? In front of me were two majestic not-horses. Sure, maybe in size they were the same but I was pretty sure that horses were not green; nor did they have two horns. Okay, okay… So, not only did I end up in a black company, I ended up in a black company that mutated horses. Great! Now, if I was paranoid, I would presume that the rash that I had and still have now is due to them. Wow! I guess I haven’t mentioned it but my skin was somehow coloured red. At first, I thought it was just a rash. However, it didn’t go away no matter what. Now that I found out about the green, mutated horses… AHHHH!!!!!

My knees gave in, bringing my body a peg lower. In the kneeling position I found myself in, I just stared at the horses with wide eyes and an open mouth. Raucous laughter erupted from my mouth. It seemed that something inside me burst or something as I couldn’t stifle my laughter. In the end, I gave in to my instincts. Of course, a few moments after I gave in, my breath had to run out. Panting, an unrestrained smile was plastered on my face, sweat trickling down by my temple. Somehow, I ended up saying, “Mein gott, mein gott, mein gott!”

By the way, no, I wasn’t German. That, however, didn’t stop me from saying German drivel. “Ach mein gott! Ach mein gott!” Whenever tried to stop saying random German phrases, I would burst out into laughter again. Ach mein gott! Ce’st bien! Ce’st bien! Um… so yeah… Alongside with the German phrases, French phrases popped up too. All I needed then was some Russian to pop up. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. Though it took a long while, my multilingual trance ended.

“*@%&$#” The possible brother of the scary Russian started to talk. Of course, I didn’t understand any of it but I was able to guess at what he wanted to convey. Picking myself up, I headed towards the carriage pulled by the two not-horses. It was only when I sat down inside did I think about what happened. If that happened under normal circumstances, I probably would have been fine. Sadly, I had a rather horrid dream that day.

*** *** ***

“Alexei, I need you to be the representative in the meeting we have with the Church in Imyr,” said the king as he sat down on the chair reserved for my guests. Great, first I had to deal with your son, now I have to deal with you. Showing him my best smile, I gave him the tea I rushed to make when I heard he was coming. It wasn’t the best but I could’ve cared less. Maybe when he properly controlled his son would I show him genuine hospitality.

“I will accomplish your requests, milord,” I replied to his earlier question, my smile unchanging. I already understood what he was getting at. Basically, since I barely qualified to be a noble, I was the perfect representative to spit on the faces of the higher ups of the Church. To the common people, it probably wouldn’t have been anything huge but to the ones involved… Yippee! I’ve become a pawn in this country’s politics. Now, all I need is a note on my doorway declaring me a traitor.

The king looked at the furniture in my room with his irritatingly familiar red eyes. I admit, it wasn’t much but still, it was enough to get by. Keeping his stern face that he equipped earlier, the king whispered in a voice that was barely audible to me, “Must be hard living down in here.” Oh yes please, my king. What was happening was that a bribe was being set up by the king. Just like the others—excluding the prince—who asked me of certain things, he was setting the hook.

“I’d like to help you live better.” That was the bait. The king whispered these sweet nothings, all of them being caught by my ears. But. There was a catch. “However, you’d have to help me too.” The king looked at me with eyes that showed bloodlust. Chills crept up my spine and my smile grew wilder by the minute. The order was simple: humiliate those guys from the Church as best as you possibly can. Of course, I had to be careful with my words when I did though.

“Yes, milord,” I said, my smile never diminishing; only growing. “I understand.”

Looking at me, possibly in satisfaction, the king nodded his head. Oh, my king, I expect a fortune from you. Better not disappoint me like your son, my king. With a quick motion, the king got up from his seat and started to walk towards the door. With a soft click, the door was closed.

When the king had left, I went towards the king’s earlier seat and sat on it. The faint smell of the king’s flower oils still wafted about, causing me to squint my eyes and pinch my nose. With a quick turn of my head, I was able to look at the cup filled with tea that I had given to the king. It was still full. It didn’t seem like it was sipped on by him at all. Though it was a bit rude, it was more of a blessing for me. Grinning, I commented, “At least that’s one less thing to throw away.”