The Marionette's Puppeteer (Volume 2)

Introduction II

When the sun rises, a house can be seen mixing in the view of an arboretum land.

Only one house, and the rest was either woods, trees, flowers or grasses.

Remarkably unique because the reason why no citizen or country people built a home in this place was because this place was far from the capital, uninhabitable by humans due to monsters and danger zone.

You might ask, who that stupid person could be?

Well, that stupid person was me.

After I woke up, I realized it too late that the reason why no people can be found at this place was because many monsters lurk here.

It was Sebris who told me via 'Puppet Telepathy'. She reported that mass E+ level monsters gather here or got spawned out of nowhere.

I was pretty laxed at first because, E+ sounds very easy to me. Then Sebris said to me that the ranks here starts with A+ the strongest and ends in Q-, which is the weakest.

I was puzzled hearing her explanation. And so, after the house was built, we battled endlessly with a bunch of ferocious animals and monsters.

Mostly were lone wolves, venomus serpent, bat, owl and a scary bear

But in the end, I had a lot of meat here and some fur, for I don't know. Staz told me to separate the skin of monsters we slayed.

While we were fighting, I noticed a mark on Sebris' back hand. The same as Staz's mark on his arm too.

Staring at it continuously, I figured it out that the mark both of them have was similar to the witch who kept attacking me with lightning.

And so I asked him, and bingo! I got my answer.

The mission both Marry and I got into was requested and made by them. No wonder it was quite fishy that no carriage arrived for us and we encountered three bandits while going.

So, Staz, for goodness sake, I don't know what happened, but he explained me all the details.

"The person who commanded us was our master. She was the witch of lightning."

That settles up a bit, but what about the curse shackle?

"That witch of lightning, I killed her."

When I said that sentence, Staz laughed hysterically looking at me. Sebris tried to attack him and so did Haruke but I stopped them.

He then responded, "AHAHA, You killed her? That's impossible. Laym is immortal. Even if you did kill her, her soul will escape and search for a new body."

Is that the reason why I didn't receive her soul? That might be the reason about that thing.....

"Then what about that?" I said as I pointed my finger at his arm. "What is that symbol? I saw that thing on your witch's clothes too."

"This thing? ...... This is the crest of the Demon Lord Of Flashiness, Demon Lord Reo."

..... D-Demon lord? W-what the heck did I just involve myself into??

◇◆◇

In a distant realm, shrouded in eternal darkness, there was no trace of light.

The absence of light had caused all the trees in this realm to wither and die, their lifeless branches reaching out like skeletal fingers.

Crows perched upon these dead trees, their caws blending with the sound of ravens soaring through the air on wide, feathered wings.

In the heart of this desolate world stood a mansion. It appeared uninhabited and unfit for human occupancy.

Despite the eerie ambiance and the constant presence of crows and ravens, a hauntingly beautiful melody resonated from within its walls— a sonata that echoed through the empty halls.

As the ravens gathered outside, a figure emerged from the shadows. A young girl with a cold, lifeless countenance, her eyes resembling the color of peaches.

Her shoulder-length black hair framed her face, and a pair of wide, black raven wings extended from her back.

Clad in an almost entirely black skirt, this young girl embodied death itself.

She was known as the Epitome of Black, the Raven Princess, and the Demon King of Purgatory— Belen.

"... He is not here. Father is not being reincarnated. I hope you're watching," she spoke with a tinge of disappointment, though her face remained devoid of emotion.

"I wish I could see you in Purgatory, father... That way, I could kill you again."

◇◆◇

Three weeks had passed since I was expelled from Cascrod, I was perfectly living with a carefree life in Apollo.

I don't know this place. Maybe this is just the forest part of the county or the side.

Although every night we fought some monsters who just can't let us reside in this place. But thanks to them, I had meat for everyday food.

I made a schedule for all of us, so everyone gets to rest and one to protect us.

Haruke can solo and so does Staz, but Sebris cannot so I teamed her up with my cute huge slime.

I was kind of amazed that Haruke doesn't need to sleep, but he needs to recharge his mana so he needs to rest.

I was solo. All of my puppets refuses and they all wanted to fight with me except for Staz.

They were desperate so I just commanded them and let them rest at the house.

I also got to know that my puppets can only go far with 350 meters. If they pass through the limit, my string will cut and without my support, they will die.

I tested it out a week ago using some monsters we slayed.

And so, the plan to let them look for a passerby or to let them search the capital of this city was a failure.

Even if Staz, he was a whole human, he cannot cross the same limit, or else, he'll die.