“I don’t see anything off with Mister Friend. Same with Ekdoik.”
Marito sighed for now at the report of Anbu-kun who I can’t see. The others also sighed in relief.
Ekdoik is here instead of Lord Ragudo today. And then there’s the two who were tailing me.
“In the end, she simply asked for the name of Comrade, but didn’t say his name once. I will write down what Comrade and the Purple Demon Lord talked about. Wait for a bit.” (Ekdoik)
Saying this, Ekdoik controlled the chains and made them hold several pens.
And then, they began to write on several papers at the same time. Are you a typewriter?
No, what’s outstanding here is that he memorized all the conversations until now, and is able to output them all at the same time.
I read what was written down just in case. There’s not a single mistake in any word.
On top of that, there’s annotations pointing out what kind of movements were there at that time. The results of the observations from Ilias and Mix were also included in this. Scary.
“Hey, Ekdoik, how about aspiring to be an Anbu of Taizu?”
“It is true that I might want someone as skilled as him.” (Marito)
“I have my ambition of increasing the reputation of Rakura Salf. I have no intention of being under someone until I achieve this.” (Ekdoik)
“Hmm, there’s no choice but to have my friend work hard on that front.” (Marito)
Dear Rakura Salf, there’s a talented man who is wasting his techniques and potential for your sake.
I won’t ask you to become someone else, but can’t you become a bit more decent for his sake?
By the way, what Rakura is doing today is making her own fruit wine at home. What is she doing?
But well, a certain someone was the one who gave her the knowledge, so I can’t really scold her too strongly.
Her bills in the eateries are always over the realm of reasonable, so I proposed to her ‘if you want to drink booze that much, how about making it yourself at home?’.
She is quite the self-interested girl, immediately moving to action the moment I gave her an instruction manual.
“Fumu, she has taken more of a liking to you than I thought. It is as if Yugura has instilled in the Demon Lords to take a liking to Earthlings.” (Marito)
“I thought that, but the Gold Demon Lord hates Yugura, so I don’t think that’s the case.”
“Please tell me your blunt opinion about this.” (Marito)
I tell him a variety of things I realized when interacting with the Purple Demon Lord.
The point of notice should be the fact that she is bad at forming human relationships.
Because of how big the power Yugura gave her, there’s barely any effort and experience in that front.
It is the same as how the Gold Demon Lord can do high efficiency planning by using the simulated worlds, but her perception towards the events of reality are diluted.
And what the person herself wants is a variety of sensations. She is doing many things for the sake of this, but because she relied on the big power that is Enticement, a tragedy must have happened to her in the past. This is my deduction.
“You have diagnosed her pretty in-depth…” (Ilias)
“Don’t worry, Ilias. I have not used the usual yet. This much is simply a deduction from the information in front of me. On the contrary, if I had used the usual, I could have spoken with almost absolute certainty, but this time around it doesn’t leave the realm of speculation.”
“I see, that’s fine then… So your brain can turn even without having to use it.” (Ilias)
“Obviously. It is just a difference of completely absorbing myself into overlapping with their emotions and standing, but my information analysis is still the same. Even if a powerful knight using outside measures were to fight in a proper manner instead, it is not like they would suddenly get drastically weak.”
Without the action of overlapping with the other party to understand them, there’s the possibility that this deduction is wrong.
The more the other side excels in wits, the higher the chance of this being taken advantage of instead.
Right now the actions of the Purple Demon Lord have consistency. It doesn’t feel like she has several cards.
“But this is pretty demotivating. With how things are going, it should be easy to have the Purple Demon Lord accompany you to the black wolfkin village. What remains is how to settle this.” (Marito)
“I will leave that to the members that can do battle. That’s out of my expertise.”
The messenger sent to the black wolfkin village will be returning tonight. An official appointment was made, but this will most likely fall through afterwards.
If Tort-san returns to normal, we could have him continue the trade as it is, but it is most likely gonna be difficult.
Should I say out loud what I am thinking? But…
“Not looking too into it. Did she hit you in the feelings?” (Marito)
“A bit… If it were to the degree of the Gold Demon Lord, I would even go as far as asking whether we can let her go, but…considering the damage in the past, it is a bit…”
It seems like Marito has seen through my thoughts. Of course he would.
He read our exchanges of the day. Marito would be able to notice the changes in my emotions.
The offense of the Gold Demon Lord was simply making a small Nether. She was murdered by Yugura afterwards.
Compared to that, the Purple Demon Lord stole more human territory than any Demon Lord, and has given birth to a Nether that still brings about harm to many.
She enticed the brave warriors that the people resisting were relying on, and made them betray them.
Even if Yugura brought retribution to her and lost her life once, there’s barely any who would forgive those sins of hers.
“Your prejudice towards the Purple Demon Lord must be low since you weren’t born in this world. In that case, it can’t be helped that you would get attached to her by imagining her empty life.” (Marito)
When I am doing excessive overlapping comprehension, I try to make a clear separation. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to return once I am dyed by the thoughts of a villain or a lunatic.
But I have sealed that this time around. I am feeling her environment with my pure state.
Because of how rich my imagination is in my natural state, her lonely life showed up in my eyes and it was painful.
I don’t know if I could have held out if I didn’t have the previous experience with Wolfe.
If it is someone who we can reach an understanding with, I would like to, but she has already infiltrated Taizu, so we have to solve this with the most effective method.
“As long as it is going well, we have no choice but to go with this. There’s no assurance I haven’t fallen under the power of Enticement even if I am not aware of it. Please use me and Ekdoik as pawns since we have made contact with her.”
“Got it. Please concentrate on your role as a pawn. I will direct the killing intent.” (Marito)
I shouldn’t get too deeply involved in this. I thought that, but the situation developed in an unexpected manner.
The messenger didn’t return from the black wolfkin village even after the next day.
You need to go through a cave in a mountain in order to reach the forest where the black wolfkins live.
I heard the trees in the forest that were on the way there were lumbered by the knights after it was discovered, and a road has been made, wide enough for a small wagon to cross.
If it were a pack horse, it could take time, but a warhorse should be able to come and go in one day.
The messenger traveled by warhorse. Marito swiftly ordered 5 knights to head to the black wolfkin village.
But they were not returning even past noon.
“I can only think something has happened here.”
It is about time I have to meet Tort-san. We have already told them that we will be bringing the documents that have the signature of Grandma from the black wolfkins, but at this rate, that won’t be possible.
“I am back.”
Ekdoik showed up. I had him follow the 5 knights after they were sent off just in case.
“Ekdoik, what happened to the messenger and the investigation team?”
“They are okay. However, there’s a bit of trouble.” (Ekdoik)
“Trouble?”
“Devils.” (Ekdoik)
According to Ekdoik, several devils have been confirmed in a cave of a certain mountain in Taizu.
The 5 managed to head to the village without issues. When they did, they found the messenger staying at the village.
When the 5 and the messenger headed back to the cave, a dizzying amount of devils blocked the path out of the darkness, and attacked them.
They were pushed back by the way too abnormal numbers, and when they retreated to the village of the black wolfkins, the devils didn’t pursue.
The knights are apparently still in the village.
“How did you get back, Ekdoik?”
“I flew.” (Ekdoik)
“Right, you can do that.”
After Ekdoik grasped the situation, he soared into the sky, went up the mountain, and returned to Taizu.
He really is beyond human.
“I could have brought a few people back with me, but I was simply tasked with secretly tailing them, so I returned alone.” (Ekdoik)
“That’s fine. But devils, huh… How were their numbers and the quality?”
“They were all lesser devils that aren’t worth attention. But their numbers were abnormal. There were more than 1,000 with just a cursory check of the presences.” (Ekdoik)
“How do you hide so many in a narrow cave like that…?”
“Devils can normally melt their form into the darkness. That must be why they didn’t notice on their way in.” (Ekdoik)
“I am impressed you could follow them without the devils noticing you.”
“The quality of our blending in magic is just different. They can only hide in the shadows, but I can hide even in the shadows of other people.” (Ekdoik)
There’s no devil types within the monsters that show up in Taizu. There’s no doubt this is the handiwork of the Purple Demon Lord.
What’s the reason? Did she notice our intention? But her actions are weird for that to be the case.
Let’s think of the reason for this action and predict what will happen.
…Oh, so that’s how it is.
“The Purple Demon Lord wants to buy time, huh. If the messenger doesn’t come back, I can’t bring Tort-san with me to the black wolfkin village.”
“That’s the natural conclusion, but she has gone for quite the bold method. As for the reason to delay it… Aah, could it be that she wants to prolong the time she can be with you?” (Marito)
If Tort-san were to go to the village, have a business discussion with them, and make a store, he would end up having to return to Kuama.
The Purple Demon Lord would naturally have to go back with him. If she wants to be together with me, there’s plenty of methods like becoming the shop manager though…
No, she most likely wants me to be the one coming to meet her.
“To think I would be this liked.”
“But this is a grave situation. The cave leading to the village of the black wolfkins has been occupied. We will need to organize a knight expedition at once.” (Marito)
“If it is devil subjugation, it is the time for Maya-san to shine as a cleric -and also Rakura.”
Ekdoik’s expression turned brighter when he heard it is the turn of Rakura. Even with this, he hates Rakura, you know? Can you believe that?
“Ooh, a precious opportunity for Rakura Salf then!” (Ekdoik)
“But won’t she run away if she hears it is against more than a thousand devils?”
“She won’t. The devil den of mine father Beglagud had over 10,000 devils. There were mid rank and high rank, and even the Great Devil that was mine father.” (Ekdoik)
“Rakura is impressive for being able to wipe that out.”
The Leano Division was called at once and the cleric unit with Maya-san as the lead was formed.
Rakura was complaining about how she hadn’t finished pickling her fruit wine, but she was dragged by Maya-san forcefully.
After that, I had a talk with Tort-san again at the residence of Ban-san. Of course, together with the Purple Demon Lord.
There’s no change in the state of the two.
“Actually, the messenger that headed to the black wolfkins’ village is taking a while to return. It seems like it will take a bit of time before we can head to the village.”
“Well, well, did an issue happen over there?” (Tort)
“They might be having issues with the negotiations. My deepest apologies for making you wait.”
“You don’t really mind, right, Tort? We would like to negotiate with the black wolfkins, but there’s the advantage that we can make your branch store here.” (Yukari)
“Right. Even without the special products, this can serve as a bridge for trades between Taizu and Kuama. Of course, I would like to continue trying to negotiate with them though.” (Tort)
“But we would like constant reports about the progress, right? Can we request this of you, Dear?” (Yukari)
“I am fine with that. There’s also the making of the branch store, so I will most likely be associating with you two for a good while, but please take care of me.”
So there’s no mistake she did that for the sake of maintaining her connection with me.
After the consultation of the documents Tort-san prepared, he retreated quickly, and I once again ended up alone with the Purple Demon Lord.
It is actually 3 people, but Ekdoik is incredible at melting into the background.
He is within my peripheral, but his presence must be erased. When my eyes move away from him, I don’t feel as if he is there.
He has completely moved to the backstage, and it seems like the Purple Demon Lord likes that. It might simply be that she doesn’t have any interest in Ekdoik though.
We walked around the city again. We went to the places that we didn’t manage to go to the other day.
I also brought out topics related to the messenger, but she switched the topic, not showing much interest in it. I didn’t see any unrest at all on those occasions.
I don’t know if she is just careful or bold, or both. Her actions towards me are also graceful and aggressive.
I can tell that she purely wants to enjoy her time with me.
Her actions in order to achieve her objectives may look like they are inconsistent, but she must be earnest here.
Whenever I see that smile of hers, my guilt of interacting with her just to set her up was burning me.
“Now, where next…? How about there?” (Yukari)
“That’s a library. How about borrowing a number of books to stave off boredom?”
“Right. It is not like you will be by my side the whole time after all?” (Yukari)
It is the library I normally use. I haven’t entered this place with someone before.
There’s no one in the house that doesn’t read, but there’s only one person who buys books. Wolfe’s are mostly all borrowed books.
“There’s a variety of books here… Do you have a recommendation?” (Yukari)
“If you want to do something, I recommend you buy that manual there. You will be able to grasp a clear image of what you want to do.”
“I don’t really have any noteworthy hobbies. Can you help me find one too?” (Yukari)
“Then, let’s get a look around. Please check freely as well and see if there’s any book that catches your attention, Yukari-san.”
“Yeah, I will do that, okay?” (Yukari)
As someone whose hobby was Air Charm** on Earth, I can be satisfied with just a guide for hobbies. <TLN: Air Charm refers to a mail-order site for pet supplies for aquarists nationwide. It is a game where you put all the items you want in the cart and get satisfaction from the total amount without actually buying.>
It was difficult to make Wolfe understand the greatness of this, so I am having her raise vegetables though.
But a hobby the Purple Demon Lord would like, huh. Honestly speaking, if I were to recommend her romance novels in a bookshop in Japan, I feel like she would get hooked by them.
Gardening doesn’t really suit her that much. Even if pretty flowers would look good on her, she doesn’t feel like the type who would raise them.
She gives off the vibe of a princess that would show up in stories. A hobby that would make her sweat too much would be a bit…
I observe the titles and imagine the Purple Demon Lord getting engrossed in that hobby, and then search for the next book.
After repeating that process, I found a single book that might fit the bill. I also found a book of trivia that might serve to kill time.
I searched for Yukari-san for a bit, and found her observing a book at the corner.
Looks like she grabbed a book and is observing it. What book…? Uwa, a book about the history of Mejis.
I have read that book before. It is a decently popular one, and it was used when teaching Wolfe too.
The damage caused by the Mejis Nether was written there. Obviously, also about the Purple Demon Lord.
Is she reading for the first time about how humans treat her in history?
I can’t read what she is feeling with just her expression alone though…
“Sorry for the wait. A history book of Mejis?”
“Yes. I was living around Mejis a long time ago, so I just got curious, you see?” (Yukari)
“Want to buy it?”
“—Right, can I ask this of you?” (Yukari)
We finished our shopping and relax at the plaza again. Today she isn’t leaning her body onto me, but reading the books she bought.
The history book of Mejis is obviously not something you get excited about like a novel.
It is a learning process of simply reading about the history that’s written there. A person with rich imagination would be able to imagine that scenery, but I wonder how it would be for Yukari-san.
“Hey, do you know about the history of Mejis?” (Yukari)
“Yes, to a certain extent. I have Yugura Church clerics among my acquaintances.”
“I see… Do you know about the Purple Demon Lord too? What do you think about that Demon Lord?” (Yukari)
“The Demon Lord that created the biggest Nether in the world, the Mejis Nether, huh. I am not from Mejis, so I have not really thought about it too much. My family has not suffered from harm by monsters, so I have no hate towards monsters, Nethers, and Demon Lords. But…”
“But…?” (Yukari)
“What kind of reason did the Demon Lords have to invade the human realm? It is a question I’ve had.”
“Oh, are Demon Lords not all beings that bring harm to humans?” (Yukari)
“The Demon Lords that are said to have been defeated by Hero Yugura, they all created Nethers at varying locations. There were Demon Lords who invaded the territory where humans lived, but there were others that simply took their spot in a remote place. The Purple Demon Lord is said to have prioritized increasing her camp, but the Black Demon Lord was constantly murdering people. Seeing those individual differences, I end up thinking that maybe the Demon Lords had their respective objectives.”
Hatred, strife, peace; objectives are varied.
The Gold Demon Lord’s reason was something stupid like ‘everyone else was doing it’.
She told me that the objective of Yukari-san was a desire for absolute control, but was it really the case?
It is true that the expansion of the Purple Demon Lord’s camp was abnormal compared to the other Demon Lords. This is natural since she didn’t fight and was dropping her Enticement at each location.
It wouldn’t be strange to assume she wanted a larger camp and to control many people.
“What do you think was the reason why the Purple Demon Lord tried to destroy the world?” (Yukari)
“At the very least, I don’t feel like she hated people. No, rather than saying she hated them or not, it is more like she didn’t have much interest in them.”
“Oh, why is that?” (Yukari)
“The same as how humans live. There are people who would try to have vast but shallow relationships, and those who try to have deep but compact relationships. Having vast and deep relationships is pretty difficult, so that all depends on the skills of the person themselves. The Purple Demon Lord concentrated on increasing her territory, but I have also learned that the casualties to humans were low on those occasions compared to other Demon Lords. I think she didn’t have much interest in humans.”
“—That might be the case?” (Yukari)
“Back to the objective… She most likely didn’t have one, I guess.”
“Are you saying she left a big scar on the world without a reason?” (Yukari)
“Yes, I think she just did so because she could. She could control many monsters and even people; that’s why she controlled. It is not that she sought something, but moved because she thought she might be able to gain something from this.”
That’s my current analysis. Will she react?
Yukari-san flipped the pages as she silently nodded.
“Yeah, I am sure that’s the case. But what did the Purple Demon Lord gain?” (Yukari)
“I feel like she gained a whole lot of pent-up resentment, but…I don’t think she herself gained anything. The power of the Demon Lord was massive and could easily do many things. Because she gained them, she couldn’t find worth in them. Even so, she thought she might be able to gain something from it.”
Judging from her reaction, I must be mostly right here. Yukari-san is silently listening to me.
“The Purple Demon Lord you speak of sounds just like me?” (Yukari)
“The scale is different though. But with your hair and eyes, I might be able to believe it if you were to tell me that.”
Purple hair and eyes that remind me of amethyst. Purple hair is not that rare in this world.
Even Ekdoik has dark purple hair.
However, Yukari-san is the only one I know who has purple that shines endlessly bright.
With how bewitching she is, if she had introduced herself as the Purple Demon Lord, I would have believed it even if it had been on our first meeting.
She must have been satisfied with this conversation somehow, Yukari-san returned to her lodging.
I was once again inspected and was deemed safe.
This is just a possibility, but Yukari-san is purposely trying to not rely on the power of Enticement.
Maybe she wants to enjoy her relationship with me without relying on that.
If she turns me into a puppet, I would just be the same as a doll that responds just as she wants.
“So, Marito, what was the state of the cave?”
“Can’t say much good about it. A call came from Maya through the communication crystal. The devils reacted to the purification magic and began fighting back. They judged it would be impossible to have a drawn out battle inside the cave and retreated. They continue to battle even now, to a degree where the devils won’t overflow excessively. There’s no deaths thanks to Lord Leano’s abilities as a commander, but they are decently exhausted.” (Marito)
They really can’t bring out proper strength in such a cramped cave. Who knows how even Rakura is managing there.
But for the Leano Division to be getting exhausted despite them not falling behind even against undead… Their numbers really must be abnormal.
“How’s the state of Rakura?”
“She is so good the mouth of Lord Leano has been constantly wide open. Most of the devils that entered his vision would be defeated by the time the knights raised and swung down their weapons.” (Marito)
“Wow.”
Lesser devils are just a bit above wild animals. In that case, the strength of a cleric who can deal with many of them at the same time would be more pronounced than the knights who can overwhelm them one by one.
Also, battling is the only technique that Rakura seriously polished in her life. That quality doesn’t fall behind that of Ilias.
“This might be solved quickly if we leave it to Rakura.”
“No, that Rakura apparently retreated soon after and went to Maya. She said that the total number of devils in that cave is not just a thousand.” (Marito)
According to Ekdoik’s estimation, there were more than 1,000, but it seems like Rakura can tell their total numbers as a specialist.
“How many are there?”
“—There’s 10,000 with just the ones Rakura has confirmed. They have already made several cracks inside the cave and their numbers apparently continue increasing.” (Marito)