Konjiki no Gash!! Chapter 41

**The Devil of the Old Castle** (古城の悪魔, *Kojō no Akuma*) is the 41st chapter of Makoto Raiku's Konjiki no Gash!!. This chapter was originally released in Japan as part of volume 5 on April 18, 2002 .

## Plot

Gash panics at the realization that Seitaro had been recently kidnapped by a demon and Kiyomaro asks Seccoro to take Gash outside to calm down. Kiyomaro himself is still shaken up at this troubling news about his father but he tries to stay calm and focus on finding clues around his office. Near where he had discovered a pair of unusual footprints, Kiyomaro sees flowers on the ground and picks one up. When Seccoro comes back inside, he appears frozen in fear at the sight of the flower and Kiyomaro asks if he had seen it before. Seccoro denies this however but Kiyomaro finds his behavior a little odd. Moving on, Kiyomaro tells Seccoro it will be a while longer before they can take him to get his wounded arm checked out as he wants to do a full investigation of his father’s office first. Just then Seccoro offers for Kiyomaro and Gash to come stay with him at his hiding place for the night and Kiyomaro agrees.

At Seccoro’s home, he offers Kiyomaro and Gash some food and tries to cheer Gash up with a toy he has but it doesn’t seem to stop him from continuing to cry. Just then, Kiyomaro once again asks Seccoro if he knows anything about the flower they discovered earlier. Seccoro pauses for a moment before speaking again to tell the pair that he thinks that they should return home instead before going on to explain that the flower they found belongs to an evil monster that resides in an old castle 50 kilometers away from them. Seccoro tells them that this evil monster had been living in the for the past six months and ever since then, knights in armor had appeared in villages to force the townsfolk to bring money and food to the castle. If these people don’t comply, they are taken away to the castle by these knights and the only thing that is left behind is a flower. Seccoro then reveals that this was the fate his parents had experienced when they refused to give in to these demands and decided to go to the castle themselves. Seccoro had desperately tried to beg them not to go but his parents insisted on doing this as they believed taking action was necessary. Seccoro then ends his story stating that his parents had never come back since then.

Kiyomaro asks why hadn’t the police gotten involved with this but Seccoro answers him saying that at least 10 policemen went there but none of them had come back either. Seccoro also expresses that military force won’t be of use either as there are numerous hostages inside. After thinking about what Seccoro had told him, Kiyomaro asks Seccoro to take him to the castle. Seccoro tries to warn against this but Kiyomaro remains firm in his resolve to save everyone that had been taken there and that he might also know how to defeat the monster in the castle. Seccoro hesitates but finally gives in and tells Kiyomaro that the castle is known as Hobark Castle and shares with him the directions to get there. Kiyomaro and Gash thank Seccoro for his courage to tell them this information and start heading off toward the castle. Just before they leave, Seccoro stops them and tells them his desire to go with them and save his family but can’t because he feels he’s not as brave as them. Kiyomaro tells Seccoro that he doesn’t see himself as brave either and that he just wants to be able to confront his dad for sending Gash into his life like he did. Seccoro asks the pair if he’ll ever see them again and hopes they come back as he considers them his friends. Kiyomaro and Gash promise him that they will return eventually and soon head off to Hobark Castle. Upon entering the castle, an iron gate shuts behind them and armored knights begin descending from above. Kiyomaro takes out his spell book and he and Gash ready themselves for a fight.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Gash Bell
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Seccoro

### Locations

* England
	+ Hobark Castle (Debut)