The Devil's Evolution Catalog

Chapter 112: A Righteous Argument

The sudden tummy ache left me befuddled for a moment before Ancarin chimed in with the answer: Ever since Ive known you, Ive never seen you use the bathroom

So my tummy ache was because of that

Ill give her thatI havent actually gone to the toilet since returning to the Western Human Realms. To be exact, Ive only done a number one

How should I say this, I had gotten used to the simple lifestyle of consuming souls as a devilthese souls decomposed into a variety of nutrients when they entered my stomach and since they werent corporeal, there was no waste product left behind. Thus, I never had to worry about performing a number two for the longest of time.

Since Ive returned to the human realm, Ive eaten quite a lot of human foodwhile I did pee from time to time, the matter of a number two had slipped my mind completely (Author: As his pee pee is still missing, taking a piss while standing causes the pee to spill all overso whenever he peesyou get the idea)

Sh*t, I just got screwed over by my own diet

With an anxious look on my face, I hastily asked Ancarin to lead me to the nearest toilet. As he watched us scurry off, George almost mistook that as us trying to escape. However, he quickly changed his mind when he noticed the direction we were rushing off to.

Excrement had an important function in rural villages like this; they functioned as nutrients for their crops and thus the villagers had an idea to create a public collection point, otherwise known as an outhouse. Thus, with no mental preparation whatsoever, I entered this facility and thenI felt something within me die

With that bit of personal matter settled, Ancarin informed me that the old village chief was going to hold a banquet in his home to welcome us.

During our battle with the Third Chief, this old man was noticeably absent even though he knew about the ongoing battle. To put it simply, he was afraid of dying so all he could do was welcome us with food and wine after the battle. Rather than welcome, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he was doing whatever he could to keep us in the village.

The village chief had a pretty decent house made of wood; two stories high and it even came with a courtyard of its own. It was in this courtyard that the banquet was held. By the time we arrived, the banquet table already had several people seated around it. The old chief, George, Dioh and a blue, long-haired youth with average looks. Atop the table were over ten dishes, the majority of which were meat with a couple of vegetable and fruit dishes at the side.

Despite the slight impoverishment of the village, the banquet was surprisingly satisfying. This was after all, a hunting village. Thus other than farming, the village relied heavily on the mountain game for sustenance as well. Given the wide variety of meats available, our meal was pretty delicious in spite of the cooks average skills.

During our meal, the village chief would bring up the matter of the Wolfs Fang from time to time which was understandable given their current circumstance. In truth, the Third Chief came here looking for us and yet the bandits ended up leaving with a vendetta against themshouldnt we be the main characters here? I think there is something wrong with this plot..

As for Dioh, the main contributor behind this blood feud, he was currently sitting around the banquet table enjoying his food without a care in the world. Beside him was a stone-faced George who didnt show much expression even when offered a drink by the village chief. All he did was down the wine before he returned back to his sulking.

Sigh, if those bandits attack us in force, our village is doomed Having taken a swig from his mug, the village chief let out a helpless sigh. Diohyouve really stirred up a hornets nest this time.

What are you afraid of! If they dare to come, Ill make sure they never go back alive! exclaimed the teen in question without any remorse on his face. As he took a massive bite out of a steak, he gave his chest a slap in a manly fashion and said: Even if I cant do that, theres still my big brother over here!

Well, werent you the considerate one, dragging your brother down with you the moment you realized you were not up to the task. No wonder hes so sullen, I would be too if someone dug a hole for me to jump into and bragged about it.

All you know how to do is cause trouble! George yelled at the teen, however upon seeing the kid turn his nose up at him defiantly, he lost the mood to scold him and instead gave a dejected sigh: Our parents died while we were still young so cant you just behave yourself.

Whats wrong with killing bandits? he rebutted in the typical rebellious teen fashion. When I was young, you taught me not to fear the strong and to uphold justice. Do you know how much I idolized you back then!

A constipated look crossed his face for a long while before he finally forced out a reply: Upholding justice requires strength. Only a fool would stick himself out for justice without any strength.

So youre saying thats why you stood by idly as they got bullied! Somehow the flames of war ended up spreading to our side of the table as well as the kid pointed a finger at me while yelling at George. Unfortunately for him, his glare had no effect on George.

George glanced at the three of us before he promptly turned to his foolish brother and argued with him: Between the village and a bunch of strangers, who is more important?!

There is only justice in my eyes, theres no difference between a stranger and a friend!

So youre saying that as long as youre satisfied, it doesnt matter if the village gets massacred because of your actions!?

I didnt say that, Im just telling you that justice is impartial. It doesnt discriminate!

Then do you understand that your justice might just get our village massacred a few days later! Massacred, you hear me?! Without waiting for his infuriating response, George tugged at the teens collar and continued with his tirade: If Dawson were to attack us, exactly what do you expect us to do!

Dont we have you to defend us! Not caring about his older brothers action, he maintained his sitting posture as he stared at the angry hunter right in the eyes and said unwaveringly: Arent you really strong? That Dawson isnt even a match for you!

hmph He released the kids collar and slumped back into his seat, downing his mug as he did so. The pint of alcohol slid down his throat with several noisy glugs after which he slammed the mug back onto the table and crassly wiped his mouth with his sleeves.

He wasnt fighting at his full strength then, said George in a bitter tone.

Dioh fell silent upon hearing that.

From the looks on their faces and their conversation, George mustve fought with Dawson previously. Furthermore, it mustve been a pretty fair fight which ended in Georges victory. According to George, he only won because his opponent went easy on him. However, putting that aside for now, it least meant that he won the fight.

Was that why he was able to finish off the Third Chief with a simple sneak attack?

Honestly, Dawson isnt the main problem here, our biggest problems are his minions which number over 500 and his two to three hundred trained wolves. Theyre simply too much for our village to bear. He continued having calmed himself down slightly.

George closed his eyes for a second before pouring himself a cup of wine, but instead of drinking it, he merely held it up and continued talking: Even if I do my best to stall Dawson, how are you going to handle the near thousand strong bandit troupe?

By now, Dioh had calmed down as well. He lowered his head and gave this matter some thought before answering: We can set some traps to stall them while everyone else whittles them down with their bows. Theres no way well lose to those curs in an archery battle.

Those bandits arent fools either. They know how to create traps as well and wont fall for ours so easily. Plus, you seemed to have pegged their intelligence at the level of a mere beast.

That is nothing short of foolish. They have long range weapons as well and in an archery battle, their 500 strong army is more than enough to overwhelm our skillafter the battle today, the amount of able bodied hunters in our village is less than 80 if you dont count the wounded and the dead.

I understand He said in an attempt at admitting his error. However, his face clearly said otherwise. Although the mention of casualties dampened his mood slightly, this show of sadness was quickly replaced by his bull-headed need to maintain his front.

Dont be fooled by the kids show of strength, deep down, he was just as saddened by this sordid affair as everyone else.

I think we can try to rope in the nearby security forces, interjected the Village Chief in the midst of this sudden silence. If we give them enough benefits, they should be willing to aid us. Plus, this plan wouldnt require much time either. A trip back and forth would only take a total of two days.

How ironic, the forces charged with protecting this regions security ended up turning into an extortion gig. What was to be their duty was now a chance for them extort money from the villagers; if you didnt pay the protection fee, they would not deal with the banditsI swear this situation was so common nowadays.

Before proceeding forward, its worthwhile to elaborate on matters regarding the security forces in the Western Human Realm.

Nobility could be divided into a number of ranks that started from, knight, baron, viscount, count, marquis, duke and finally ended in king. In theory, all kings were of the same level, but in reality there existed differences in each nations strength which resulted in them having different standings.

The lowest denomination within the security forces were villages. The security of a village was handled by the lowest grade of nobility, the knight. However, that didnt mean that every village had a knight that looked after it. Only villages located in strategic locations or those that were rich in resources could enjoy the protection of a knight.

In short, only villages who could bring those noble masters some form of benefit were worthy of protection. This meant that Plateau Village didnt possess an officially sanctioned security force. For the most part, security was handled by the villagers themselves as no knight would want to waste their time in a poor village like this.

This was why they ended up being bullied by the Wolfs Fang.

The security forces areuseless. Dawson has men stationed out there as well. Even if we pay them, those knights will merely take our money and not show up. Georges mood could only be described as despondent right now. While it hadnt reached the point of giving up, he showed an unprecedented level of dejectedness.

What about mercenaries? said Ancarin after hearing out their opinions. As long as were willing to pay, mercenaries will take on any job we give them. We should hire them to fight the bandits.

Agreeing with this point, Dioh gave the table an excited slap as he said: Thats right, as long as we manage to hire mercenaries, we dont have to be afraid of those bad guys! Although hiring them would take a lot of money.

With the bandits nearly being a thousand strong, the amount of mercenaries we would have to hire is slightly troublesome, but given our wealth wiping out an entire bandit troupe shouldnt be a problem as long as we fork out whatever we have.

I thoroughly approved of this suggestion seeing as it only required money. With over 10,000 gold coins left in our coffers, it should be more than enough to hire the needed amount of mercenaries. Plus, killing these bandits should net us some loot as well. For all we know, raiding their nest might bring us enough loot to recoup our losses and more.