The old man was now wearing pants and a shirt, donning a black coat on top, appearing like he was some company owner who was here for a board meeting.
"This man..."
If Azekiel had any doubts before about the identity of the old man, they were gone now. The old man was definitely the Soul Demon. There was no way he could've changed his clothes so fast.
'A Soul Demon who fought in the war of gods.' Azekiel observed the old man, who was supposed to be a terrifying demon. Yet he looked no different than any ordinary old man from his world.
'I don't know if I can kill him without taking a risk with the Card of Judgements, but I'll try to avoid them as much as possible. The cards are too risky, even for me. But first...'
Azekiel carried an expression of innocence on his face as he walked to the Soul Demon's House, ready to call forth his Gauntlet of Gluttony in case he needed it.
Fortunately, the old man entered the house, clearing the entrance for him.
Entering the house, Azekiel noticed that the house was actually smaller on the inside than it looked on the outside.
Inside the house, there was only one room, and in that room, there didn't seem to be enough space either. There was no bed here. Only a circular table was lying in the middle of the room. Around the table, there were four wooden chairs.
In the distance, the bag filled with apples was kept with the support of the wall.
What was strange was that there was a board game lying in the middle of the table, being none other than the game of chess. The pieces weren't in their original places though. It was as if it was a game that was left in the middle.
The black side had half their pieces out of the board, apparently being killed, while the white side had all the pieces intact, getting closer to capturing the King.
The old man noticed Azekiel observing the chessboard. "A King can't do anything alone. Without other pieces, a King is worthless."
"A King is still a King. Even without the help of other pieces, a King can survive," Azekiel answered. "It all depends on the King."
"Hoh? You think the King can survive in this game?" The old man smiled. "You are very naive. A King is but a small piece in the grand scheme of things. It might think that it's the ruler of the chessboard, but it forgets; it's always replaceable."
"The game isn't interesting because of the King. Instead, it's interesting because of the pieces the King commands. Without them, the King is but a fragile figure, waiting for its inevitable death. I'm sure you should understand." The old man casually took a seat on one of the chairs.
"You seem to know a lot about the Kings." Azekiel sat right before the old man, facing him. Raphael and Lia stood behind him.
"Maybe, or maybe not." The man cackled. He gazed at the chessboard. "The game of Kings is something more complicated than anyone can realize."
"Raphael, Lia, why don't you two sit down as well?" The old man asked, gesturing to the other two to sit as well.
"We are fine." The two refused straight away.
"What is your name?" Azekiel asked the old man, trying to engage him. He couldn't directly ask the old man to open the book, or that could make him suspicious.
While asking, he also placed the two books on the table, intentionally keeping the cursed book on top of the other.
The old man took a subtle glance at the books. "My name...? It's been so long that I've forgotten even my own name. In any case, a name is insignificant."
"Right, Raphael?" The old man asked, raising his head.
Raphael didn't even bother to ask how this guy knew his name. After so many bizarre things the man did, knowing his name without him telling appeared too mild in comparison.
"How long have you been living here?" Azekiel asked another question.
"I don't know. Maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a year, or maybe more. All I know is that it feels like a lifetime."
'This guy can never answer straight, can he?' Azekiel thought in frustration. The old man hadn't answered anything in precise terms at all. He only gave vague answers for everything.
"Old man, can I ask for a help?"
Since the engagement wasn't working the way Azekiel hoped, he decided to take a more direct approach now.
"Hmm?" The old man tilted his head a bit. "I don't think you even know what help you actually need from me. But I don't blame you. After all, he... Anyway, What help do you think you want?"
The old man appeared to be mumbling some nonsense again, but he stopped in the middle, changing the entire tone as if realizing something.
"I have this book there which is supposed to contain a map. But the map locations are marked in a language that I can't understand. Can you read the man and tell me the direction to where I want to go?"
"A man doesn't go anywhere, Azekiel. It's his destiny which takes him, just like yours." Despite answering vaguely once again, the old man did pick up the book.
Even though the man talked in weird terms, he still did as Azekiel asked, surprising even him.
'Even though this man is supposed to be the Soul Demon, he is acting so nice. Could I really be wrong about him being the Soul Demon? He hasn't displayed even the slightest bit of hostility toward me. He hadn't attacked me, despite having many opportunities. Instead, he has only helped me so far.'
'But so far, he's the only suspicious person I found in this village. If he isn't the Soul Demon, then who is the Soul Demon? And who of this guy then? If he isn't the one who fought gods, how does he seem so knowledgeable about things that he shouldn't know, including the clothing sense of earth?'
All clues and mysterious skills of the man pointed toward him being the Soul Demon, yet his actions pointed to a different picture.
'Is he really acting?' Azekiel wondered.
The old man placed the book before him, yet he didn't open it. Instead, he took a subtle glance at Azekiel. "Are you sure you want me to open the book?"
Azekiel didn't understand why, but he felt that the question of the man had a different meaning than it should've. As for what meaning, that was hard to understand. It was as if the old man was giving him some clue of a kind? Or was it a threat, implying that he knew about the curse and if Azekiel asked him to open it still, he was going to kill him...
The simple line of the man was open to so many interpretations, yet no one knew what the right one was.
