The Demon’s Menu

Gerard Hans.

Hans Port.

Jason took a breath, and in an instant, he understood why the chief of public security at Hans Port was so respectfully deferential to him, his cousin.

Because…

All of Hans Port should belong to his cousin.

Or rather, his cousin owned a significant part of Hans Port.

Looking again at those followers, Jason’s perception, more than triple that of an ordinary person, told him that these attendants were just as formidable as the ‘Dark Guardians’ he had seen in Taor.

Whereas Dennise seemed completely oblivious to these details.

She was merely responding to Gerard.

“I’m very pleased to be attending your wedding.”

“Just calling me Dennise is fine.”

After speaking, she flashed a vibrant smile.

Not a hint of stage fright, nor any embarrassment.

What fear or stranger anxiety could there be in a girl as daft as Dennise, akin to a Siberian Husky?

She was only worried about Jason leaving her alone to attend the wedding, but now, having received an invitation from the wedding host herself, she had no more concerns.

With this thought, Dennise couldn’t help but triumphantly turn her head and stick her tongue out at Jason.

To this, Jason chose to ignore.

Gerard, however, looked on enviously.

“You and Dennise seem to get along really well.”

While saying this, Gerard gestured to his attendants behind him.

“Go and find a carriage for Dennise,” Gerard instructed.

A moment later, a large, spacious black carriage drawn by four white horses appeared, the horses were impeccable, without a single stray hair.

“Dennise, go ride in the carriage,”

“I’ll ride ahead with Jason on horseback,” said Gerard before he could finish, Dennise, carrying her box, excitedly ran towards the carriage.

Facing Gerard’s invitation, Jason, however, shook his head in refusal.

“I don’t know how to ride a horse,” Jason stated frankly.

In his opinion, such things did not need to be hidden.

Better to come clean now rather than be found out later.

Gerard was taken aback momentarily before he remembered his cousin’s unfortunate ordeals and again patted Jason’s shoulder, this time gently.

Just a light pat.

“Don’t worry,”

“Riding a horse is something you can learn quickly!”

“I’ll teach you sometime.”

With these words, Gerard accompanied Jason towards the carriage.

The carriage, guarded by attendants, slowly started moving.

Sitting inside the carriage, Dennise curiously looked around, undisturbed by Gerard’s presence, behaving as she always did; only when Jason’s gaze fell on her would she sit obediently, and as soon as he looked away, her curiosity would once again take over.

“How… have you been?” Gerard began hesitantly, sitting opposite Jason.

“Me?”

“I’ve been alright.”

“Though, I don’t remember much of anything,” Jason replied ambiguously, not wanting Gerard to pry into his past, he quickly added another sentence.

As he had hoped, Gerard ceased his questioning.

In his gaze towards Jason, there was a deeper sense of guilt.

“I’m sorry, I lied in the letters.”

“My mother and I always knew where you were, but we couldn’t bring you back.”

“Hans Port was not a peaceful place before,” Gerard continued speaking.

His words were vague, but the undertone was heavy with remorse.

Jason couldn’t discern the truth.

He could only nod in response.

“It’s okay,” he replied.

“You forgive me?” cousin Gerard asked with joy.

How could Jason forgive what he hadn’t experienced?

Thinking this to himself, Jason nodded again.

“That’s great!”

“Jason, do you know what I was most worried about?”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t forgive me; now I can finally relax!”

Gerard burst into laughter, and then, suddenly, shook his head.

“No, no, I would be truly insincere if I acted like this. What do you want?”

“As long as it’s within my capability, I will satisfy your request.”

Gerard made the promise.

Jason instinctively wanted to refuse.

But as the words of refusal reached his lips, they transformed into:

“Is it true that there are sea monsters at Hans Port, as the rumours say?”

Dennise, who had previously shown no interest in the conversation, immediately had her attention captured.

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“Sea monsters!”

Dennise’s eyes almost lit up.

While looking forward to Gerard’s response, she muttered to herself, “It’s because of the sea monster that I left home… No, I left a letter explaining in detail why I came to find Jason.”

Jason glanced at Dennise, then averted his gaze from her guilt-stricken eyes.

Compared to Dennise, he was more concerned about the truth of the sea monsters.

Is there a more convenient and quicker way to inquire about local rumors than to ask the local authority?

Naturally…

The local authority is also interested in those rumors!

“Jason, you truly haven’t changed,”

“Just like when you were a child, you’re still so interested in monsters,”

“I, too, have not changed!”

Gerard, looking at Jason, whose eyes held anticipation, couldn’t help but smile.

Perhaps memories were lost,

But some things never change!

A feeling of joy rose from the bottom of Gerard’s heart; he hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

However, when the topic switched to monsters, Gerard’s smiled faded, and he said with a serious demeanor:

“It’s true!”

Then, sitting up straight, he began speaking slowly:

“I’ve researched the archives and sent people to investigate. Records of the Hans sea monster go back more than two hundred years.”

“And in the past ten years alone, at least 16 people have clearly seen the creature.”

“From my summary, the sea monster is most likely to appear during the summer storms!”

“Summer?”

Dennise looked disappointed.

So did Jason.

There might be ways to extend the time spent in the instance world, but they were not easy.

As far as he knew, the only possibility was to alter the main mission.

And the risk of changing the main mission?

Jason had already experienced it in ‘Lorde’.

A narrow escape from death!

Without sufficient Fullness, he wouldn’t attempt it.

So…

“Are there any other monsters near Hans Port?”

Jason asked.

“There used to be quite a few,”

“But most of them have been hunted by me!”

“After processing their corpses, I displayed them as trophies in my manor’s collection room.”

“Jason, would you like to see them?”

“I can take you on a tour of my collection room.”

Gerard invited.

“Of course.”

Jason did not refuse.

On the journey that followed, the two of them discussed monsters, and Dennise, listening with great interest, was far from bored and occasionally joined in the conversation.

Dennise knew a great deal about monsters.

It wasn’t for nothing that she spent her pocket money on novels.

This caused Gerard to feel a twinge of envy.

“Dennise, after dinner, you can join Jason and visit my collection room,”

Gerard extended the invitation.

“Yes! Yes!”

Dennise nodded excitedly.

Just as Gerard was about to resume his monster discussion with Jason, the carriage was knocked upon—

Thump, thump thump.

“My lord, something has happened,”

“Your presence is required to handle it personally.”

Gerard frowned.

Jason turned his head and looked through the carriage window towards the direction behind them.

There…

A troop of cavalry dressed in Federation uniforms was swiftly approaching.