Demon Hunter (Teramachi Akeho) Chapter 52

Chapter 52
. THE MAIN CHARACTER

“You´ve come… To grant my wishes?”
Rook´s body trembled by those alluring words .
It wasn´t fear; his body was trembling with the joy that was welling up deep inside .
At the moment the person in front of his eyes named himself as a [shinigami], Rook misunderstood, thinking he had come to take his life . However, it seems he was overthinking . Something like granting wishes was exactly what Rook would have wanted .
Rook´s hand calmly moved away from the handle of his sword . With his eyes shining, he looked at the shinigami .
“Is this true?”
“Yes, it´s the truth . ”
The shinigami made a gentle smile . Looking at the smile, Rook swallowed the saliva in his mouth .
The things he wished for were many that it wouldn´t be enough to count with his fingers . First of all, he wanted to redo the actions he had made before . The reality had already started to deviate from the plot of the game . He wanted to correct the mistakes . Besides that, he wanted power . He wanted the power of a main character who wouldn´t know defeat . He also wanted the people that had died to come back to life . The more he thought, the more desires showed up in his mind .
“I…”
Rook was about to say his wishes, but he suddenly gave up on the idea .
He remembered the anime and manga he used to see a long time ago in his previous word . The characters in the stories that would be saying things like “Shall I grant your desires?” or something like that were all villains for the most part . Even if it wasn´t a villain, it wouldn´t be a good person . They would whisper words one would want to hear and then take one´s most precious things as the compensation . Sometimes it would be your soul, and sometimes it would be someone important to you . Even if they don´t steal anything from you in the surface, it was possible to think that they would distort the meaning of the wish in a bad way .
Thinking about that, his feeling of wariness that was dispersing once again started to grow .
“What´s the matter? Say your wishes . ”
The shinigami seemed to be a good person from the expression she was showing . However, it was impossible to see it as anything other than a false smile .
In order to take distance from the shinigami, he gave on step back . Grasping the handle of his sword once again, he readied himself to unsheathe it anytime .
“Before telling you my wishes, there are many things I would like to ask you . ”
“Hou, what would they be?”
“This… What is the compensation for the wishes?”
Rook timidly asked .
Doing that, the shinigami´s wings trembled in happiness . He was showing a face full of ecstasy that was as the shinigami had been waiting for his question . The shinigami pressed at him an old sheet of paper .
“Of course, it is your soul . ”
Rook glanced at the paper . With the tiny letters written there, there were many important detail concerning the contract . As the shinigami had said, the written content was talking about it being one soul per wish . With doubting eyes, he looked from one corner to another to confirm there were no loopholes . After reading many times from the first letter to the last one, he started to think if he didn´t have anything else to ask .
“Is what it is written here all the truth?”
“Yes, it´s the truth . In exchange for your soul, I may grant you your wishes . However…”
Full of maliciousness, he continued his words .
“Do not forget you are getting it in exchange for soul . Think thoroughly so that you can wish something worth exchanging your soul . ”
“It´s obvious I will . Is it something you need to go your way to tell me?”
With Rook saying that in an untrusting manner, the shinigami licked his lips . The gross tongue looked like a cunning snake . It looked that if Rook was to lower his guard, he would be eaten . While raising his guard, he took the paper .
“Of course . Whether it is a human, whether it is a demon, each fundamentally have only one soul . Therefore, they can only ask for a single wish . Whether they desire for riches that wouldn´t be used up even in a lifetime or desire a woman more beautiful than the princess of the Shiidoru kingdom as a wife . However, the world is wide . There are a few existences that can be considered exceptions . ”
As if Rook´s wariness didn´t matter, the shinigami kept speaking . It was like he was an actor that had been given a role to act . Rook narrowed his eyes .
“Exceptions?”
Rook became unease with the word “exception” . It´s not like he had already decided to go with the shinigami´s deal yet, but it was necessary to get a grasp of everything related to the contract, and that even more if considering he would be trading a wish for his soul . If something unexpected was to happen later, it would have already been too late .
“What do you mean by saying exception? Are you saying that I am a exception or something?”
“Exception… Is what I was going to say, but you have only one soul . Do you know about the caterpillar fungus? It is a mushroom that parasites the insect, and once it becomes spring, it spouts from its body . Its roots stretch through the body of the insect, taking control over it . The parasitized insect has everything stolen from it and dies, while on the other hand, the mushroom would have its life connected to the body . It´s very interesting, isn´t it? …Hm? You are making a face that is asking what this has to do with the contract, aren´t you? Well, well, since I am in good spirits, I will tell you . …Well then, let me tell you a story… It is a story of fifteen years ago . Fifteen years ago, a little boy has been born at the Barusak family . ”
Rook became perplexed at the shinigami´s explanation .
He couldn´t understand what his wishes, the things about that mushroom, and his own birth had to do with each other . However, suddenly, a dreadful feeling went through him at the nape of his neck . It felt as if he shouldn´t ask the shinigami any more than that . He had the feeling that, in order for him to keep being himself, he mustn´t ask about it .
However, on the other hand… the thought of wanting to have the compensation become as much viable as possible so that he could have his wish granted was also strong . Without interrupting the shinigami´s words, Rook decided to hear it out .
“It was a boy of good appearances; he had taken all the good parts of his father and mother . However, there was a problem with his soul . When he had just been born, he had been parasitized… by another soul . With the many years passing, bit by bit, his own soul was overwritten, with the other soul successfully taking the control . This is what it would be the you of now… Rook Barusak . ”
The shinigami calmly declared . His white and thin finger that was just like a woman´s was pointed to Rook . Because of the surprise, Rook wasn´t able to say anything .
In other words, Rook wasn´t truly the main character . All he did was nothing more than killing the main character he yearned for and standing in his place . An eerie aftertaste that couldn´t be described started to fill his heart . But without caring about how Rook was, the shinigami gave the final blow .
“At any rate, you have been impersonating your “original” soul . You would make decisions that seemed to be what it would choose, and saying charming words, you´ve been winning over many beautiful girls . Ah, please, don´t misunderstand . I am praising you . The you that was desperately acting while adding in some improvisation of your own was the best . You´ve made me have enough of fun . …However, you know, the soul that is tasty looking is yours, and not the one you are parasitizing . That soul had become completely dried up and is not edible anymore . ”
The shinigami kept speaking in his tone of voice that looked as if he was performing in a drama .
“…And because of that, I can only grant you one wish . That´s why it is better if you carefully think it through . What does your real self truly desires? Please, think until your brain juice seeps out . The more your suffer, the more the soul becomes tasty . ”
Each of the words spoken by the shinigami heavily weighted onto him .
It was just as the shinigami had said . He was Rook Barusak, but he wasn´t Rook Barusak .
The Rook of his previous world yearned for the Rook of the game . Without any flaws in his appearance, using his strong spiritualist powers, he quickly rose in the world; he had cute girls falling in love for him and was liked by everyone . The Rook of his previous life couldn´t get away his mediocre limits . No, it was a bit worse than mediocre . He wanted to become like Rook . Maybe that´s why he became absorbed in the game, and after he reincarnated in this world, he started to act like Rook .
…However, he was only acting like the main character .
Even if the himself of now was Rook Barusak, he wasn´t the main character .
“I…I…”
Rook became agitated . If he wasn´t the main character, then what was all he had been doing until now? Wasn´t he only a farce pretending to be the main character? What in the world his true self wished for?
“Your own decisions also caused interesting results . …You might know about it already . ”
Despite all that happened, Rook wanted to think the ones at his surroundings to be the ones in the wrong .
He did nothing bad . He caused the death of many heroines and subordinates, and moreover, of the real Rook, but it wasn´t his own fault . It was all bad luck and because they had been too weak .
“It seems you will take a long time . When you decide on your wish, call me in a loud voice . ”
Saying that, he came closer to Rook´s face . And then, before he left, he whispered next to his ears . From this whisper, Rook felt a feeling of fear; it was as if someone touched the back of his neck with a wet hand .
“Think well… What the real you longs for . ”
Those words greatly affected him .
While laughing in a irritant way, he vanished from Rook´s eyes . It was as if his figure had dissolved into the air . However, there were many black feathers scattered in the floor . This meant that all this conversation until now wasn´t a dream . Bending down, Rook took one of these feathers . The feeling the it gave and its weight were just like of the feathers in a wing of a bird .
“The real me… What do I want to do?”
He wanted to have the bearing of pride just like a main character, he wanted to be surrounded by heroines just like a main character, and he wanted a talent acknowledged by everyone just like a main character .
However, he felt the true himself also desired many other things .
Maybe he had wanted to become a true resident of this world . No, it wasn´t that . Rook pushed aside . Starting to think that he must also have desire for other things, he looked deep into himself . And at that moment, he trembled .
Deep inside himself, there was nothing . It was only a empty dark hole . Rook was being pulled to hole that its bottom couldn´t be seen . He became scared . Bringing himself out of that hole, he hurriedly put its lid on . Rook turned his eye away from . However, he would not forget that scene he had seen .
That was the himself when he wasn´t acting as the main character, the true Rook Barusak .
In the dark room, Rook kept looking at the feathers left by the shinigami with empty eyes .