Part 3 of 8
The spider skitters into the open mouth and disappears.
Her mouth closes, her throat moves as if swallowing, and her head slowly turns at an angle no human could ever re-create.
It’s just a doll. It’s just a doll!
I must keep reminding myself of that, as the sight is simply too horrifying to bear.
Even though I know it is a doll, instinctive fear grips me all the same.
Studying me with a sidelong glance, Lady Riel turns her head again, this time returning to a normal position…except that her head is facing backward.
Her head still turned around, Lady Riel scuttles along the ceiling, then the wall until she reaches the floor.
Then, with her head staying in the same position, she twists the rest of her body around.
Only then does her head finally return to a normal angle.
With that, Lady Riel opens the guest-room door and goes inside, as if nothing strange had just transpired.
I watch her go, somehow resisting the desire to collapse on the floor, and instead walk forward.
I have no idea what Lady Riel was trying to do.
But every night, whenever I pass by this place, Lady Riel always appears.
And always with some unfathomable action, like what she did just now.
It was these very actions that allowed me to determine that Lady Riel is a puppet taratect. So are Lady Sael and Lady Fiel, but it is bad for my heart to be frightened thus each night.
Especially as she always manages to get close to me without my sensing her at all.
Is this meant as a warning?
Her behavior is so bizarre that I cannot begin to guess her intentions.
And so every night, at this hour, I feel as if my very life is at risk.
For all I know, she might someday kill me on a whim.
Sigh.
Well, it appears that I have survived this night.
I suppose I shall go and make my report to Master Balto about tonight’s events.
“Hey, old-timer.”
“What is it, Master Balto?”
“These reports of yours read like genuine horror stories…”
“What a coincidence. I was thinking the very same thing as I wrote them.”
“…I see.”
“At any rate, I must advise that it would be prudent to avoid turning against the Demon Lord, in my humble opinion.”
“…I see.”
Upon receiving my honest report, Master Balto heaves an exhausted sigh.
Personally, I felt as though my very life was at risk whilst gathering this information, so I must say I would have appreciated a slightly more favorable reaction.
ARRIVAL OF THE HOOLIGAN
We’ve been living in the duke’s mansion for a few days now.
How is it so far? Freakin’ awesome!
I mean, I guess that’s no surprise. I’ve been living on the road for an eternity, only staying in camps or inns for a day or two at a time.
Obviously that’s not gonna compare to living in a fancy mansion.
So allow me to describe my elegant lifestyle in the duke’s mansion.
First, I wake up.
When? Well, that varies.
I can sleep in a comfy bed for as long as I want, and I can also stay up all night if I feel like it, so obviously my sleep schedule is all over the place.
You can’t blame me for that!
Next, once I wake up, Riel and Fiel play dress up with me for a while.
Kind of ironic that a couple of dolls are using me as their plaything, isn’t it?
Not that I mind.
Once they mess around with my clothes and hair and even put makeup on me and all that junk, it’s time for breakfast.
The staff makes breakfast for me while Riel and Fiel have their fun with my look for the day.
My wake-up time is pretty random, so of course they have to remake breakfast for me most days.
Sure, it’s probably inconvenient to the cooks, but just consider it a necessary sacrifice for the luxurious lifestyle I so deserve.
I eat breakfast in my room with Riel and Fiel.
Being the mansion of a duke and all, the food is of course delicious. A little bit mass-produced-ish, maybe, but that’s all right.
You can’t expect the chefs to make their absolute finest dishes every day around the clock, right?
Let’s just go with that.
I’m sure it’s not that the chefs resent me or anything of the sort.
After breakfast, it’s time for work. By which I just mean producing thread.
This is the one thing I actually take seriously.
To be honest, producing thread is easy in itself. It comes so naturally that I kinda have to wonder why I wasn’t able to do it before that incident in the Mystic Mountains at this point.
On top of that, it doesn’t take a lot of effort. I don’t get tired no matter how much I produce, and it doesn’t feel like the energy inside me has decreased.
So just producing thread on its own is easy, and I can make as much of it as I need.
But if I just sit around randomly making thread, I’m not gonna get anywhere.
My goal is to regain at least as much strength as I used to have, maybe even more.
When I had skills, just using them frequently would make my skill level go up, but it doesn’t work like that anymore.
Practice makes perfect, so there’s certainly no harm in doing just that, but if I want to master the use of my power, simply producing thread isn’t enough.
The hope is that I might be able to use that sensation as a starting point for figuring out how to use my other powers, so I try to concentrate on that while I work.
…But so far, that hasn’t produced any results.
The fact that I can produce thread so naturally actually makes it harder to pinpoint the feeling. Since I can produce it whenever I want, it means I can actually do it without thinking.
It’s hard to be aware of what it feels like to not be aware of doing something, y’know?
Maybe it’s like when a natural genius is trying to tutor someone else and can’t understand why their pupil doesn’t understand something.
So I’m trying different things while I produce thread, but the only result is…more thread.
Looks like it might be a while before I can reproduce any of my other skills.
But anyway, Riel and Fiel gather up the thread I make and turn it into clothes, make balls of yarn, send everything to the Demon Lord, and so on, so at least it’s not a total waste of time.
Once I get hungry, I stop work for a bit and have some lunch.
Still seems kinda mass-produced, but yeah, that’s no big deal!
On the rare occasion that I actually manage to eat lunch at the proper time, the difference in extravagance is obvious.
They’re not cutting corners!
It’s just that I’m a little too careless with my schedule, that’s all!
The chefs are doing me a kindness by feeding me anyway!
Yeah, let’s go with that.
Once I’m done eating lunch, I have free time, which I spend differently depending on the day.
In other words, I just do whatever I feel like.
Like reading books in the mansion library, or knitting with the thread I made that morning, or striking cool poses while trying to practice magic.
Hmm? What was that last one?
Beats me. Don’t even worry about it.
I definitely don’t remember Riel and Fiel staring at me like they’d just witnessed something truly pathetic.
Okay? Okay.
Anyway, the rest of the day is free time until dinner.
The one thing I have to be careful about is that if I request dinner at weird times, like in the middle of the night, the quality of the food takes a huge dip.
Makes sense. Even the chefs at a duke’s mansion probably check out for the day once they’ve made dinner at the regular time.
If you ask for food after that, it makes sense that you’d just have to help yourself.
Well, we’re not actually allowed in the kitchen, so a maid has to do it instead, but the maid can’t cook, either, so it’s always just bread or jerky or whatever.
In other words, food that doesn’t take any actual prep.
I mean, it is tasty, y’know?
It’s a duke’s mansion, so everything they’ve got is the good stuff.
But if you just throw that on a plate and call it a day… Know what I mean?
Unreal.
Which is why I always try to eat dinner around the normal time.
In a way, that’s an even more important mission than producing thread.
Anyway, after dinner, I relax for a while and then sleep.
That’s how most of my days go.
Hmm? All I do is laze around, eat, and sleep, you say?
Well, I suppose you could put it that way.
My only real duty is to make thread like the Demon Lord asked, and that isn’t even difficult.
I get to live a lazy life every single day.
Is this place heaven or what?!
“What the hell?!”
Just like that, my blissfully lazy lifestyle is rudely interrupted by a loud yell.
Riel and Fiel, who are playing hot potato with balls of thread or something, immediately assume combat stances.
I can’t see the source of the voice I heard.
Probably because the door to my room is blocked by a wall of thread.
Yeaaah, I kinda covered the entire room they gave me in thread.
Look, I just wouldn’t feel comfortable otherwise! It’s, like, my spider instincts! And I have to block the sun from coming in through the window ’cause it’s bad for my skin!
So you can understand why I had to make my room into a mess of spiderwebs.
That also means that no one can come into my room except Riel and Fiel. They can easily move the thread aside and enter, probably ’cause they’re spiders like me. By that logic, I’m guessing Ael, Sael, and the Demon Lord could get inside, too.
But the maid obviously can’t, so I have her leave my food and stuff outside the door.
So anyway, my room is off-limits to any non-spider visitors, and some intruder’s trying to get in right now. A man, judging by the voice.
Why call him an intruder? Because he opened a maiden’s bedroom door without so much as a knock, so he obviously has no manners.
“Hey, you! What the hell is this stuff?”
“Erm, I believe it was put there by the guest currently using this room, sir. I’m afraid we don’t know the details, either.”
I can hear the intruder talking to what sounds like a maid as he tugs at the thread wall.
Judging by the maid’s polite tone, it sounds like this guy must be someone important.
I guess if he really was an intruder, he wouldn’t have gotten in past the mansion security. Someone must have let him in and probably even guided him here.
So maybe the Demon Lord sent him to fetch us or something?
“My dear boy, these rooms are currently occupied by the honored guests of your esteemed elder brother. Even as the younger brother of the master of the house, I am afraid you must not simply barge in on them without prior permission.”
Oh-ho? Sounds like Mr. Head Butler has arrived.
And from what I can hear, he’s telling off the intruder.
“Like I said before, stop calling me dear boy, dammit!”
“And as I believe I have stated, I shall be happy to stop just as soon as you have become an adult, my dear boy.”
“Ugh!”
Sounds like the intruder is no match for the head butler.
Also, it sounds like he must be the younger brother of Balto, the head of the house.
So if he’s connected to this place, the Demon Lord probably didn’t send him here. Actually, I guess I should have known that the Demon Lord wouldn’t entrust anything to someone so rough-and-tumble in the first place.
“Forget it! Just tell me what this stuff is, then!”
Oof. Sounds like the intruder realized the dear boy thing isn’t going to end anytime soon, so he’s going back to the original subject.
This is just a hunch, but I can kinda picture him pointing at the wall of thread from outside the room.
Y’know, for someone from a noble family like the duke’s, he sounds an awful lot like a hooligan trying his best to look tough.
Instead of “intruder,” let’s call him “hooligan” from here on out.
“It is a material provided by our esteemed guest, as I believe this good woman has just explained to you.”
“I got that part, dammit! I’m asking you why the hell you’re letting them do whatever they want with a room in our house!”
Ahhh. I guess I’m the reason Hooligan is so mad.
“And from what I hear, they’re just holing up in there doing some kinda fishy business! Why the hell would my brother let a buncha sketchy weirdos stay here?! Dammit!”
“I assure you, the master of the house has granted permission for all this. It is not for you to complain about, dear boy.”
“And I’m telling ya that ain’t a good enough reason!”
Maybe he and his brother don’t get along?
Based on what he just said, it sounds like the staff of the mansion doesn’t think super-highly of my activities, but what really seems to bother Hooligan here is that his brother has given us permission to do whatever we want.
“Listen up! This is my family’s mansion! You can’t just go around filling our rooms with whatever this crap is! Hey! You in there! I know you can hear me!”
“Please stop, my dear boy!”
“Shut up, old-timer!”
Pffft! Old-timer ! Hooligan just called the head butler old-timer !
It’s pretty hilarious to hear a phrase like that mixed in with all his cursing.
“Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke!”
Suddenly, I hear a weird noise coming from beside me.
Turning to investigate, I see Riel’s shoulders shaking up and down as she emits the sound.
Um, what are you doing exactly?
Is that supposed to be laughter? What, did that hit your funny bone or something?
I gave the puppet spiders prototype voice mechanisms a while back, but since I never got to develop them past the testing stage, they can’t really talk very well. Usually they don’t bother trying.
So if Riel is going out of her way to produce some kind of laughter, she must’ve found something seriously funny. It’s kinda creepy, though, to be honest. Cut it out, will ya?
“What the hell are you laughing at?!”
See?! You made Hooligan even madder!
What’s up with this chaotic situation?
“Please stop this at once!”
“No one’s gonna make a fool outta me!”
The wall of thread shakes violently.
Hooligan must’ve flipped out and tried to punch it.
“What the hell?! I’m stuck?!”
Well, yeah. It’s spider thread.
If you touch it, obviously you’re gonna get stuck.
“Dammit!”
Cursing wildly, Hooligan moves on to his next course of action, which is……FIRE?!
The wall of thread’s on fire!
What kind of moron sets a fire in his own house?!
Even after my deification, my thread has retained the same basic properties.
In other words, it’s still weak to fire.
It can withstand a certain amount, but this dumbass hooligan must’ve really blown up big-time, because the flames are burning right through my thread’s resistance.
He probably used some kind of fire skill, but I guess the skill level was pretty high. Ha-ha-ha.
Wait, there’s nothing funny about this!
Quick! We have to put out this fire or I’m gonna be burned alive!
All four walls of the room are covered in thread, so if they all catch fire, I’ll have nowhere to run!
It’s only the area near the door that’s burning right now, but if I don’t act fast, it’s gonna spread to the rest of the room for sure.
While I’m panicking on the inside, three other figures make their move.
Two of them are Riel and Fiel, so I immediately grab them by the scruffs of their necks to stop them.
Don’t you dare!
I don’t know what you were planning on doing exactly, but knowing you two, I’m sure it was nothing good!
Riel looked like she was about to use some kind of magic, and Fiel seemed like she was going to try to physically ram her way through.
Not only would that not put out the fire, you’d probably destroy this whole damn mansion!
And even if not, I’m sure Hooligan, the head butler, and the maid standing nearby would all be killed by the shock waves.
I don’t really care about Hooligan, since this is his fault in the first place, but the other two would be innocent victims, so I’m gonna have to stop you right there.
Meanwhile, as I’m stopping these two idiots from destroying everything in sight, the head butler uses water magic to safely put out the fire.
Figures. That guy is one hell of a butler.
“My dear boy…”
But now, he’s glaring at Hooligan with a vein popping on his forehead.
How do I know that, you ask?
’Cause the wall of thread in front of the doorway burned away, so there’s nothing blocking my view anymore.
Hooligan, perhaps detecting that he’s gotten himself in over his head, looks away from the head butler’s glare…
…and meets my eyes.
“Huh?!”
Hooligan catches his breath and freezes.
Um, excuse me, do you mind? Shut-ins don’t like making direct eye contact, you know.
Also, my eyes are freakishly full of pupils right now, so I’d rather not have people see them.
Not because it’s embarrassing—it’s just more trouble than it’s worth.
I immediately shut my eyes and turn my face away.
Maybe that’s rude behavior toward the master of the house’s brother, but I’m pretty sure the guy who tried to bust into a maiden’s room and then set it on fire is in the wrong here.
Besides, I don’t really care if I offend someone who dredges up my traumatic memories of having my home burned to the ground!
Oh boy, just thinking about it pisses me off.
Could you please just leave me alone already?
With my grip still on their collars, Riel and Fiel both take a step forward, as if picking up on my emotions.
At the same time, their tiny bodies start producing a ridiculously powerful aura.
“…! Please, young master! I must insist that you withdraw before things get any more out of hand!”
The head butler hurriedly grasps Hooligan’s shoulder and drags him forcibly out of the room.
Should you really be doing that to a member of the family that employs you?
Then again, if he hadn’t done something, Riel and Fiel might have slashed that hooligan to ribbons, so that was probably the right call.
“Um…right.”
Hooligan nods dumbly, his violent energy drained away.
I can’t tell for sure, since my eyes are closed, but…is it just me, or is Hooligan totally glaring at me?
“Show the young master away, please.”
“O-of course. Right this way, please, Master Blow.”
At the head butler’s command, the maid leads Hooligan away.
Now I finally know Hooligan’s name.
Apparently, it’s Blow.
Not that I care. “Hooligan” is good enough for that jerk.
You’ll never catch me calling that guy by his real name; I can promise you that for sure.
“Please accept my deepest apologies in my master’s place for the young lord’s terrible rudeness.”
The head butler’s talking to me now.
Opening my eyes a crack, I see that he’s bowing deeply.
In his master’s place, huh? Do nobles really apologize that easily? Like, should you be throwing his name around like that?
Maybe Balto just trusts this butler that much, or maybe it’s the influence of the Demon Lord that’s making him apologize to me like this. Otherwise, the butler’s just doing this of his own accord.
If that’s the case, couldn’t that get him in trouble?
Hmm. Well, I guess that’s not for me to worry about.
It was obviously Hooligan’s fault.
“I have no doubt that the master of the house will wish to apologize to you personally quite soon. I shall do everything in my power to keep the young master from approaching you and yours. I beg you to spare us of your fury if at all possible.”
The head butler speaks quickly, his head still lowered.
I know he’s just covering for his employer, so I feel bad having him apologize so much.
Letting go of Riel and Fiel, I pat them gently on the shoulders.
Picking up on my meaning, they relax and stop radiating all that violent energy.
“Again, I deeply apologize for the intrusion. Please return to your relaxation at your leisure.”
With that, the butler carefully pulls the door shut.
Well, that was a disaster, but supposedly I’ll never have to see that hooligan’s ugly mug again, so whatever.
Or so I thought. But wouldn’t you know it, Hooligan keeps coming to see us again and again after that.
It may have crossed my mind that we should just kill him, but let’s keep that our little secret.
THE DEMON DUKE’S DISTRESS
“Brother. Who is that woman?”
Those are the first words out of my younger brother’s mouth when I see him again.
“Hello, Blow. No greeting for your older brother?”
At that, he grumbles a quick “I’m home,” so I respond with a “welcome back.”
Blow has been stationed up north for some time now, so it’s been a long time since we last met in person. We’ve exchanged letters and such, but even that has fallen off in recent times, since Blow was traveling back home.
And yet, this is how he greets me.
“Now, who do you mean by that woman, exactly?”
Close though we may be, even I don’t understand who he’s referring to without context in this case.
Blow rarely brings up the subject of women, so the only possibilities who come to mind are our comrade Sanatoria or perhaps the Demon Lord…but Blow knows both their faces, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to ask who they are.
A woman I know and Blow doesn’t?
Then, at last, one person comes to mind.
“Blow, don’t tell me you went to the mansion before coming here?”
“Yeah. I’m talking about the woman staying there.”
I resist the urge to bring my palm to my face. “Why in the world didn’t you come straight here?”
“Hunh? Can’t a guy stop by his own damn house first?”
I suppose he’s right. And yet, his timing couldn’t be worse!
Now that the Demon Lord has returned, the situation has changed in all manner of ways.
Blow’s timing is so poor that one might suspect divine intervention.
When the Demon Lord returned, he happened to be traveling, making him out of contact.
Since her return was so sudden, I’ve been rushing around at my wits’ end dealing with it, so I wasn’t able to send out an emergency messenger.
Thus, Blow does not know that the Demon Lord has returned.
Normally, it would be no issue for him to stop off at our home before coming to meet with me, but in this case, since I needed to tell him of the Demon Lord’s return as soon as possible, I wish he had come straight here instead.
Especially because, on top of all that, there are several of the Demon Lord’s travel companions staying in our mansion right now. If he ran into them by chance without knowing who they are, it could easily cause unnecessary trouble.
And judging by his current line of questioning, it seems things have played out exactly as I feared.
“But you always come here first, don’t you?”
“Yeah, well, I just felt like doing things differently today.”
His unrepentant tone is starting to give me a headache.
Blow always comes here to the Demon Lord’s castle to give his report as soon as he returns, then goes to our mansion after that.
So I suppose I let my guard down. But why would he choose this of all times to go there first?
His timing is truly unbelievable.
“Fine, then. What’s done is done. So are you referring to the woman with the white hair?”
Most of the companions the Demon Lord brought are female, but there’s only one who Blow would be likely to describe as a “woman.”
“Yeah, her! Who is she?”
Blow leans forward intently.
This is unusual.
When has he ever taken such interest in any woman, except perhaps the Demon Lord? And of course, his interest in the Demon Lord is of a decidedly negative kind.
But judging by his expression, that isn’t the case this time.
Though I must say, I don’t have a very good feeling about this, either…
“Why are you so interested, exactly?”
“I-I’m not interested! It’s just, y’know, if some chick starts living in our house all of a sudden while I’m away, it’s totally normal to be curious. Right?”
His voice sped up a bit.
Very suspicious.
All the more so because of the faint redness in his cheeks.
“Have you fallen for her or something?”
“Y-y-y-y-yeah right! Don’t say such weird things, dammit!”
Now his face is entirely bright red.
This is not good.
Why would this happen, of all things?
This time, I really do bring my palm to my face and sigh deeply.
Blow has fallen in love with a woman.
Perhaps I should be happy about that in itself.
He has never before shown interest in romance, always declaring that he wouldn’t get involved with anyone until I got married. He never fraternized with women at all, even in passing.
Blow is actually quite diligent, even if his ordinary behavior makes people think otherwise.
Both in his professional duties and personal life, he’s so upright and honest that it’s almost old-fashioned.
But now a woman has caught his eye for the first time.
Yes, that would certainly be reason to celebrate…were it not a companion of the Demon Lord.
“Listen to me, Blow. She is connected to the Demon Lord.”
Just like that, Blow stops blushing and freezes in place.
“The Demon Lord? That damn witch is back?”
Tension rises in his body, as if the last few moments of eagerness never happened.
I cannot help but sigh again.
Clearly, his hostility toward the Demon Lord has not faded in the slightest.
“That’s right. You probably don’t know this, since you were traveling, but the great Demon Lord has returned.”
At that, Blow clicks his tongue in vexation, looking at me in anticipation of the rest.
“Now that she is back, the authority to make all final decisions regarding demonkind has of course returned to her, as I was only serving in her stead.”
For some time now, I have been working here in the Demon Lord’s castle to govern all demons myself. But in the end, that was only a stopgap until the real Demon Lord returned.
Now that she is back, she will naturally take over all decision-making.
Though of course, I cannot simply dump all of it on her at once.
There is much work to be done in the process of handing over control.
“And you’re okay with that, brother?” Blow looks dissatisfied.
“That is irrelevant. This is the Demon Lord’s decision, and I simply abide by her wishes.”
All demons must obey the demon lord.
That has always been the nature of our relationship.
But with this particular Demon Lord, that isn’t the only reason I obey.
“No matter how unreasonable her demands, I cannot defy the Demon Lord. She is simply on a different plane of power.”
That is all there is to it.
Unreasonable as she might be, defying her would promise a terrible fate.
“Yeah, but still! Us demons don’t have the resources to start a war right now!”
“And yet, we must. If that is what she commands, then we must abide by her ruling.”
One of the Demon Lord’s policies involves a massive war against the humans.
In fact, that is essentially her only policy.
And it is also the reason why so many demons cannot accept her.
The demon race is currently suffering great poverty and strife due to the harmful aftereffects of a lengthy war with the humans.
Blow’s statement that we lack the resources to start another war is entirely correct.
That the Demon Lord is disregarding this and trying to force a war anyway will inevitably cause many to resent her.
But we must obey her nonetheless, because the Demon Lord’s power is absolute.
“Blow. Even if all demonkind was to band together and revolt against the Demon Lord, all that would await is certain destruction. With the Demon Lord’s power, she could single-handedly destroy our entire race with ease. But that is not so with war against the humans. We will undoubtedly incur great losses, but there is still a chance for survival. Either we rebel against the Demon Lord and face certain doom or fight against the humans and thus hang on to hope. I have chosen the only path that leaves some hope, nothing more or less. I will not ask you to accept it, but I at least want you to understand.”
In the face of my earnest plea, Blow snorts and turns the other way with a scowl.
He does understand, I am sure.
But his emotions cannot be swayed by logic.
I must admit that my own emotions are not entirely content, either.
I sigh and mutter half to myself. “Still, to think that you would fall in love with a woman who is connected to the Demon Lord, of all people…”
“Huh?! L-love?! That ain’t it, dammit!”
With that, the heavy mood of our conversation disperses all at once.
Blow’s flustered response is easy to read. Does he really think he’s fooling me with that attitude?
But the person he’s fallen for is quite dangerous even in her own right.
“Just to warn you, I believe it would be best if you gave up on her, you know.”
“I dunno what the hell you’re talking about!”
My brother’s loud response makes me only more concerned for his future.
Lady White, the woman who has caught Blow’s eye, is a friend of the Demon Lord’s.
That in itself is enough to make my head ache, but she herself is still a mystery to me in many ways, so I cannot say she is the ideal romantic prospect for my brother.
All the companions the Demon Lord brought with her are outside the realm of normal comprehension.
And among them, Lady White is by far the most enigmatic.
Though the others may be beyond normal comprehension, they are not beyond all understanding.
But Lady White alone is one I cannot understand.
At a glance, she looks like an ordinary human.
Although I suppose her looks are extraordinary enough that I can understand why Blow might fall in love with her at first sight.
But the old-timer has told me that from what he’s seen of her day-to-day conduct, she does not seem like she would be especially powerful.
I met her in person only once, on the day of their arrival.
She was the only member of the Demon Lord’s traveling party who didn’t give off a powerful aura of strength.
I meet all kinds of people due to my position, so I can generally sense these things without using Appraisal.
In that respect, Lady White seemed no different from a normal human.
But my other senses told me otherwise.
That it is strange that she wouldn’t be powerful.
My instincts judge that she is not, yet they also tell me that something about this conclusion is horribly wrong.
I have never experienced this before, which was enough to make me conclude that Lady White is the most unusual of all of them.
Perhaps even more so than the Demon Lord herself…
“Well, I did try to warn you. If you insist on pursuing her anyway, that is your decision.”
“I’m telling ya, you got it all wrong!”
Blow’s blusteringly obvious response elicits another long sigh from me.
I felt I should warn him, but it would be strange as his older brother to press the subject of his first love any further.
Besides, there is still the question of whether he’ll be able to catch Lady White’s eye at all.
There would be no point in trying to dissuade him further at this stage.
“Well, for now, just try not to do anything to make her hate you.”
“R-right.”
For some reason, my half-hearted advice makes Blow’s eyes turn shifty.
Later on, I learned that my brother’s first love was likely doomed when the old-timer told me what had happened at the mansion.
They say first impressions are everything, and I cannot imagine that anyone would think highly of a man who set fire to their room.
Why would he do such a thing?!
Sigh.
I am busy enough dealing with the Demon Lord’s endless demands.
My younger brother’s foolish first love will have to wait.
ADMINISTRATOR GÜLIEDISTODIEZ
Has any human ever lived a life truly free of regrets?
To us gods, a human life passes in the blink of an eye.
But within that tiny instant, humans always end up regretting some of their choices, big or small.
If only I had done this; if only I had chosen that instead.
In these hypothetical scenarios, they imagine that they might have reached a better future if they had made different choices.
But these are all purely hypothetical.
One cannot change the past, no matter how much one thinks about it.
Yet, still, one cannot help wondering: Did I make the right choices?
Even in the short life span of a human.
And since I have lived far longer than any human, surely it would come as no surprise if I, too, was to agonize over my past choices.
Even if I know that no amount of worrying can change the past, even if I know that it’s too late, I cannot help thinking about it.
I know that if I have time to waste fretting over the past, I should spend it doing everything I can in the present instead.
And yet, sometimes it all seems in vain.
Did I make the right choices?
I have no answer.
It is never possible to tell whether you’re making the right choice in the moment.
That realization comes only much later, when you look back on the past.
That is why we look back so often.
To question whether our past choices were correct.
Because while we are living in the present, we have no way of knowing whether our immediate choices are right or not.
If anyone out there knows, I wish they would tell me.
Even if I know that no one will respond, I cannot help but wish for an answer all the more.
Am I making the right choices?
“Are you certain that was for the best?”
Ice Dragon Nia asks me now.
I do not have the answer, of course. I never know whether I am making the right choices or not.
“If I had interfered, it would have only tarnished Reigar’s pride.”
Instead, I give a vague but plausible-sounding response.
“That’s true. It was a splendid death, fitting for the man known as the world’s strongest swordsman.”
It appears that my words were not off the mark.
In front of us lies the former sword-king Reigar.
A man who will never rise again.
I am the one who brought him to this place after he chose to abdicate the throne of sword-king.
I wanted to see what he would think of this place, after fighting on the front lines against the demons for so long.
I do not regret that now.
But I do wonder about letting him die in battle after he so longed to be away from the battlefield.
Should I really have invited Reigar to this place?
Of course, I had no idea at the time that this would be the end result, so there is no point in wondering now.
I may be a god, but that doesn’t mean I can see the future.
Perhaps a powerful one like D would be able to do so, but I certainly cannot.
If I could, I might not have to agonize so over my past choices.
Although I might instead have to worry all the more about which future would be best.
If I had been able to see this future when I spoke to Reigar back then, what would I have done?
…I do not know.
In the end, whether one can see the future or not, I suppose the only option is to make your choice as best you can.
And this time, my choice has killed Reigar.
Reigar himself is the one who chose to challenge that reincarnation, and Reigar chose to keep fighting him until his death.
Those choices have nothing to do with me.
But still, I find myself thinking that if I had not brought him here, then this wouldn’t have happened.
How prideful of me.
To assume that my choices determine the outcome of everything is to discard Reigar’s own will and the decisions he made.
Prideful is the only way to describe this kind of thinking.
The more I contemplate that, the harder it becomes to make a decision.
More and more, I am becoming a mere bystander, going along with the situation while refusing to make any choices.
Until recently, that was acceptable.
But now that D has begun to act, no doubt I, too, will have to make some kind of choice.
Even if D is limiting my options.
“Ah, he moves.”
Following Nia’s gaze, I see the reincarnation.
The oni reincarnation who defeated Reigar is starting to walk toward the village.
Thanks to the special skill that D gave the reincarnations, he has already recovered all the strength he exhausted in his long fight with Reigar.
That skill, “n% I = W,” has several peculiar effects.
All of them are measures to help the reincarnations survive in this world, but the mechanism that supplies them with energy stored by the system when they level up in order to recover their health, MP, and SP is particular proof of how much D favors the reincarnations.
Extracting energy from the system, which exists purely to store up energy… It’s an effect that goes against the very purpose of the system.
It may be only a small amount, but as one who has worked endlessly to save up more energy, I still find it shameful.
And even without that skill, the reincarnations are an anomaly in this world.
All their actions have a massive effect on this world, for better or worse.
A single one of those reincarnations has already succeeded in stirring up chaos among many of us who know this world’s secrets, including Ariel, Dustin, and myself.
Aside from that culprit White, the other reincarnations are still too young to cause major incidents, and many have already fallen into Potimas’s hands, so their effect is small as of now.
But slowly, some of the others besides White are starting to expand their influence.
And the prime example is none other than the oni reincarnation currently standing close by.
“Now, what should I do…?”
The oni reincarnation’s gait is steady.
But whether his mind is clear is another question entirely.
He has the Wrath skill and has already gone mad because of it.
The Wrath skill: one of the Ruler skills that serves as a key to limited access to the system.
In the end, it is only a key, and so it can be used only by those who know the location of the keyhole and how to open the door in order to access the system.
But it is the only means by which a non-administrator resident of this world can make contact with the system, even if that is limited.
I cannot fathom why D created such skills, but I have no doubt that it was with some predicted outcome in mind.
But the Wrath skill in particular seems all but meaningless as a key.
Activating the Wrath skill greatly increases the user’s stats, but it also causes rage to overpower their rational mind.
In the end, it can turn the user into a mindless being that kills anything it comes across, as is currently happening to this oni reincarnation.
Once that happens, the user certainly cannot open the door.
A beast that lacks intelligence does not know how to use a key, after all.
But from what I’ve seen thus far, that oni seems to be slightly different from the previous Wrath users I have seen.
Throughout history, every holder of the Wrath skill, save for the first, has been reduced to a beast.
They could no longer even use weapons, simply rampaging with brute strength.
With the stat increase granted by Wrath, that alone is enough to be a serious threat.
But once reduced to this berserk state, they could no longer take full advantage of the skill’s power.
In some cases, those who did not use Wrath could be even more dangerous.
By comparison, that oni reincarnation uses swords and was even flexible enough to adopt some of Reigar’s techniques in the midst of battle.
He seems to have lost all power of reasoning, but he retains his own mind in some form.
Still, that doesn’t necessarily change anything.
If I leave him alone, he will likely venture deeper into this territory in search of new prey.
Which is why I had Nia and the other ice dragons of the Mystic Mountains attempt to lead him away so that he would not reach this place, but…
“I suppose trying to obstruct him did not go well.”
“I’m terribly sorry.”
Nia apologizes, but this is not her fault.
“No need to apologize. That creature was clearly aiming straight for this area. I do not know whether he was simply fleeing from you or whether he came here because he sensed the presence of humans, but attempting to block his path without killing him was a fool’s errand. In fact, I should apologize to you for giving such an impossible order. Especially considering the sacrifices that arose as a result.”
Turning around, I look upon the corpses of many dragons and wyrms, all Nia’s subordinates.
This happened because Nia alerted me of the situation, and I instructed her to stop his advance without killing him.
If they had simply killed the oni, the losses would have been far fewer.
Even some dragons were killed because of my warning not to kill the creature.
“No, you mustn’t trouble yourself over that, my lord. We exist to serve you. I would not mind if every last one of us perished so long as you willed it.”
Nia responds quite evenly.
The first dragons are very loyal.
Even the likes of Nia and Hyuvan, who might normally seem unreliable, carry out any task I give them with the utmost devotion.
Will I be able to live up to that loyalty?
Are they not loyal to me simply because I am the first and truest dragon?
I know that having such doubts is an insult to the loyalty with which they have served me for so many years, yet I still lack sufficient self-confidence.
I do not know if I am worthy of the faith they put in me even at the cost of their own lives.
Perhaps the earth dragon Gakia, who was once my most loyal servant even of all the dragons, challenged Ariel without my permission because he sensed that cowardly side of me.
Ariel placed her faith in White but was fighting against her at that time, all in an effort to break open the clogged-up floodgates of change.
And Gakia attempted to stop her, even abandoning his all-important duty as guardian of the Great Elroe Labyrinth Bottom Stratum in order to do so.
While I am impressed by his independence, I have complicated feelings about the fact that he did so knowing he would die.
Everyone is leaving me behind.
Soon enough, I fear that even Sariel will, too…
That thought alone causes an indescribable pain in my heart.
If that happens, then what have I been living for all this time?
I truly have no idea anymore.
But no. Now is not the time to be thinking of the future.
For now, I must decide how to deal with the oni reincarnation.
“It would be a simple matter to dispose of him. But I’m sure you do not want me to lay a hand on him directly, do you?”
“Of course not.”
I was mostly thinking out loud, and yet, a voice answers me.
A small, flat device has appeared before my eyes.
I am told it is a communication device from their world known as a “smartphone.”
However, the identity of this device is not what’s important right now.
What really matters is the person on the other end of the line.
“D.”
“Yes, hello, it’s me. The evil god D.”
Part of me did speak out loud, thinking there might be a response, but I didn’t expect D to actually contact me like this.
D is the creator of this world’s system and the only individual ranked above me.
It’s because of D that this world continues to exist.
And it’s also because of D that I can’t make any careless moves.
Which includes indiscriminately laying a hand on any reincarnation in any way.
That is why I ordered Nia and the other dragons only to slow the oni down and not to kill him.
Otherwise, I would have promptly disposed of him myself without taking any of these roundabout approaches.
“It seems like you’ve finally figured out my tastes. Excellent.”
D’s tastes? That is one way to put it.
D restricts my actions because it would not be amusing if I solve everything myself.
As she herself just said, it’s a simple matter of taste, with no deeper meaning.
Because it is more amusing this way, because it suits D’s tastes—that is why I am forced to watch what happens in this world without acting upon it.
I have the power to solve things, yet I have no choice but to sit by and watch without helping.
These are the games gods play.
While I worry over whether my actions are prideful, D couldn’t care less and simply uses whatever means available to satisfy her own desires.
She puts herself first, no matter how many casualties might arise in the process.
In any other case, I could never allow such a person to exist.
But D has the power to get away with such actions, and on top of that, she is the one who found a path toward salvation for this world and extended its life when it was on the brink of destruction.
In thanks for her reaching out a hand to this world when it was fit to be discarded, I cannot starkly oppose her, even disregarding our respective positions as gods.
Besides, the outcomes of D’s actions are not necessarily all negative.
She brought the anomalies known as reincarnations into our world and has frequently interfered with them since, but most of that is trivial on a global scale.
Even last time, when a weapon from a bygone era ran wild, things ultimately ended without any major harm being caused, even if it was a very close call.
In fact, I suspect that D may have even forbidden me from acting in order to force White to undergo deification.
White has certainly wrought a lot of chaos, but none of it has actually hindered the operation of the system.
In fact, the appearance of the reincarnations has brought about major waves of change in the world, including motivating Potimas to take action after withdrawing for so long.
I do not yet know whether these waves will inspire positive change or become the prelude to destruction, but the developments have not been entirely negative.
Which is exactly why I cannot defy D’s will, even in the face of danger.
And yet, in this particular case, I feel that I must take some kind of action.
“I know that I cannot directly interfere. But what about Nia here?”
“Hmm.”
D pauses for effect, as if considering my proposal.
In truth, knowing D, I’m sure she reached her conclusion instantly.
Perhaps this, too, is a performance for D’s own enjoyment?
“I’ll allow it, under one condition.”
To my surprise, D actually consents.
I had assumed that she would undoubtedly reject any idea of mine out of hand.
“Subdue him without killing him. As long as you can do that, you don’t need to hold back.”
This condition seems simple enough but is actually quite difficult indeed.
Knocking him out without killing him will not be easy.
Killing him would be easy—she would simply need to strike him down with all her power.
But if she has to defeat him without killing him, she will have to hold back to ensure that he survives.
Especially when the opponent in question has the Wrath skill, which makes it all the more difficult to knock him out, as the user will generally fight to the death.
She cannot fight him half-heartedly, but she must be careful not to take his life.
It calls for a delicate balance, requiring the perfect amount of restraint, in spite of D’s claim that she doesn’t need to hold back.
But we have no choice but to accept these terms.
Limited though it may be, I have received permission to interfere.
“Nia.”
“Yes?”
“If you could.”
“Leave it to me.”
With a dependable response, Nia languidly takes to the air and flies toward the oni reincarnation.
The oni is scouring the village, but the inhabitants have all long since evacuated under Reigar’s orders.
Their dwellings and belongings still remain, but since the “n% I = W” skill has already restored his SP, he likely has no need for food.
By killing some of Nia’s dragons and wyrms, as well as Reigar, the oni has leveled up.
With each level gained, the “n% I = W” skill restored him, or else he might otherwise have run out of strength and collapsed by now.
Which means that attempting to buy time by sending those forces after him only resulted in making him stronger.
In that case, perhaps I should have had Nia slow him down from the beginning, but I doubt D would have allowed that.
It’s safe to assume that she’s given her permission now only because the oni has raised his level enough that he might just barely stand a chance of surviving Nia.
If he had gotten strong enough to actually fight on her level, then maybe D would have given permission for Nia to go all-out.
D seems to enjoy unpredictable battles between evenly matched forces much more than an overwhelming victory for one side.
Which means that even with this condition, Nia stands a good chance of winning.
“I’m counting on you, Nia.”
“And I’m looking forward to a good fight.”
In contrast to my serious thoughts, D sounds quite carefree.
I turn to look at the communication device, trying not to reveal my displeasure by glaring at it, but the object is no longer there.
Just as when it appeared, I did not sense its movement or presence in the slightest.
That alone is enough to plainly remind me of the difference in our ranks as gods.
It is because she is so much more powerful that I have no choice but to obey.
And even though the device has disappeared, if I was to attempt anything now, my life would still be forfeit in an instant.
Unreasonable though it may be, that is the reality of the situation.
All I can do is watch and trust in Nia.
We cannot allow the oni reincarnation to rampage across this land any further.
There are two reasons for this, both connected to the uniqueness of this particular land.
Or rather, I suppose, the uniqueness of its residents.
This region is known as the Valley of Convenience.
Part 3 of 8