Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: I Am the Real Devil! #2
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“Is this the magic gate that demon left open?”
Hammer couldn't hide his amazement after hearing our story.
It seemed too much had happened at once for him to believe.
Nimble was even in a full panic.
“Valder is no good!”
Nimble seemed to know something about the demon we'd just met.
When we shot him questioning looks, his tail flicked back and forth irritably.
“Get tangled with that guy, and you'll end up as part of his collection!”
“What do you mean, 'collection'?”
Hermit asked, chomping on her hamburger.
I was curious about it too.
Nimble shuddered violently, looking utterly terrified.
“I don't know the details exactly. But what I do know is it'll be a fate worse than death, dragging on forever.”
“Why do you know so much about him?”
Felix paused in sharpening his sword to ask.
Nimble pulled a scroll from his pocket.
“Our clan traded 'soul contracts' with a demon named Valder.”
Nimble was clearly repulsed by the whole affair.
“Hermit, can you close that magic gate? Let's just call this stepping in shit and pretend it never happened!”
“Nimble, after all the blood and guts we spilled catching that vampire, you wanna pretend it didn't happen?”
I showed him my arm, covered in bite marks.
“Can't you see what the ghouls did to my arm?”
I also pointed to Felix's severed arm and face.
“Felix's arm got chopped off, and his face got wrecked too!”
“My arm wasn't cut off by a vampire, and my face has always looked like this, you punk!”
“Heh heh, right. Sorry.”
Anyway, the point was we hadn't gotten paid for capturing the vampire alive.
We'd even gotten an invitation to his place, with promises of money.
“Getting involved with demons never ends well, that's for sure.”
Even Hermit, who rarely agreed with Nimble, voiced a pessimistic outlook.
Wondering what she meant, I looked at her, and she scowled.
“Sigh, you guys don't know the greedy Tom story?”
“Who's that?”
“There was this shepherd named Tom. One day, a demon appeared and offered him a deal: find pretty stones, and he'd get rich.”
From that day on, Tom herded his sheep while hunting for pretty stones.
He offered them to the demon and received gold bars, becoming wealthy.
“Sounds like he did well selling those stones.”
“The problem was, jealous thieves broke into Tom's house, killed him brutally, and when they checked his vault? No gold—just pretty stones.”
“Stones?”
I could imagine the thieves' disappointment.
Any story with thieves in it made me empathize.
Apparently, it was a common tale used to teach that demons bring nothing but harm to humans.
But so what?
“We're talking at least 300 million Ether. You wanna just let it go?”
“It's not letting it go—it's being cautious.”
“Being cautious might cost us 500 million Ether!”
“You said 300 million, now it's suddenly 500?”
Hermit scowled like she couldn't comprehend.
But I couldn't tolerate anyone—demon or not—ripping me off on my Ether.
“Hammer! I'm right, aren't I?”
“Let's think on it a bit more first.”
Hammer, ever the cautious one.
Just as I worried the gate might close if we dragged our feet, Felix chimed in.
“I'm for going to the demon and collecting our pay. I broke three ribs on this job.”
For once, Felix and I were on the same page.
But party leader Hammer remained cautious.
“Then let's table this till tomorrow and get some sleep for tonight!”
「Would you like to level up?」
「14 → 15」
「Ether Cost – 81,920,000」
Late at night.
I approached the campfire and held out my hand.
Roughly 80 million Ether to reach level 15.
Even scraping together everything I had, it was only 50 to 60 million.
“Saving up money is fucking hard.”
Even earning 10 million Ether a day wasn't enough.
‘What's the deal with those congressmen buying apartments worth billions?’
‘How does that even work in a world where monsters don't drop cash?’
They must've made it all through scams.
Suddenly, rage boiled up against my past life's politicians.
‘I wanna live like that too!’
I needed more money.
More Ether.
So I headed to the strategy room.
Whoooosh-.
Inside the strategy room with its round table, the fiery gate glowed brightly.
Just cross that, and I'd be in Valder's house.
“Ha, should I just go collect the money myself?”
I was seriously pondering that when...
Creeeak-.
The strategy room door opened, and someone entered the empty space.
A woman with a heavy bag slung over her back like a snail shell.
Ears perked straight up from her head stood out.
“Nimble, what are you doing here?”
“Waaah! Ack!”
When I spoke, Nimble leaped up like a cat spotting a cucumber.
“You little shit! You nearly scared the soul outta me!”
“Nimble, you have kids?”
“It's just a figure of speech!”
Grrrr—he grumbled.
I asked Nimble.
“What are you doing here? With such a huge bag.”
“......”
Nimble shut his mouth, mid-rant.
I took the chance to inspect his bag.
[Possession Check Success!]
[Red Potion x3]
[Toiletries Bundle]
[Dried Jerky x10]
...
..
.
It was stuffed with all sorts of items.
Like a traveler's pack for a long journey.
I'd gone to middle school, after all.
I could tell what Nimble was up to.
“Nimble, you're planning to go to the demon alone and snag the reward, right?”
“Valder the demon ain't a pushover. If we all go, something weird's bound to happen. So I figured I'd go as rep, since I know the most about demons.”
How much of Nimble's words could I trust?
It felt more plausible he'd take the money and bolt solo.
“I'll go with you.”
“Do whatever.”
Perfect.
I'd gotten permission, so I first tinkered with the Ether table.
Then headed to the Waluwalus' Miscannic University.
In the pitch-black night.
Nimble scowled at the campus grounds covered in bizarre tentacles and organic matter.
“Why here?”
“My mentor's around.”
Fwoosh-.
I lit an Ether torch and took the lead.
I'd visited Miscannic University often enough to know the layout fairly well.
‘Of course, just the two of us.’
‘Run into a nasty Erdarri party, and we're wiped.’
Better use the vents.
We crawled through the vents, heading underground.
A proper lab had been set up in the university basement.
Full of tools like you'd see in elementary school science class.
Nimble pinched his nose in disgust.
“Hermit would love this place.”
“The woman here is a mage like Hermit. But don't piss her off for nothing. Even I'm still scared of her!”
Estelle my mentor had massacred several mages and was a fugitive.
An unpredictable woman.
I didn't want to meet her if possible.
But among the people I knew, Estelle my mentor was probably the smartest.
‘She must know a ton about demons.’
So where was Estelle my mentor?
I scanned the bizarre lab.
Bubble bubble bubble-.
Thump thump thump-.
Human-like lungs, livers, hearts twitched in full water tanks. Creepy as hell.
No clue how it worked, and I didn't wanna know.
Even the bold, fearless Nimble felt the pressure here, tucking his tail between his legs and sticking close behind me.
“What kinda witch is this?”
“Dunno, me neither.”
“Your mentor, right?”
“Yeah, but I really don't know.”
“What don't you knowww-?”
Heh heh hew-.
Estelle my mentor appeared from between the tanks.
I clamped my mouth shut instinctively as she eyed Nimble from head to toe.
“A druid of the black blood clan? Thought they were wiped out. Amazing you're still aliveee~.”
Shhk-!
Nimble hid behind me.
Her eyes turned to me next.
“My disciple, it's been a while.”
“Yessir! Been super busy lately, sorry for not visiting!”
“Oh? This mentor of yours has been so lonely, worrying you'd forgotten meee~.”
Estelle my mentor puffed out her cheeks.
‘Honestly, cute!’
I snapped to attention, shaking off the thought.
The woman before me was a taboo witch so mysterious even Hermit would freak.
One wrong move, and Nimble or I could end up as tank experiments.
“So, why'd my disciple come callinggg~? Must be something you wanna ask this mentor of yours, righttt~. You only show up when you have questions for meee~.”
Sloooowly-.
Estelle my mentor gazed at me with narrowed eyes.
Felt like she was roasting me, jolting me alert.
“Heh heh, when have I ever only come when I have questions? This disciple's so hurt, I might bust a breakdance!”
Gaaah-!
I planted my head on the floor and spun like mad.
My desperate clowning worked—she laughed heh heh hew-.
“My disciple's so funnn~. So, what do you wanna ask meee?”
“Ahem, actually, there's something I've been curious about.”
“What is ittt~?”
“I'm about to meet a demon soon? Everyone's freaking out, saying don't get involved. But I don't wanna lose out on big money.”
“Demons, huh. Nothing more deadly to humans. If my disciple grants one little request, I might recall all sorts of demon loreee...”
“Ooh, what request!”
“I forgot to feed my experiments. Food and bowls are downstairs—mind handling it for meee~?”
Feed them?
Easy!
“Heh heh! Leave it to me!”
I headed down the stairs from the lab.
Ugh, the stench of some beast was brutal.
Gonna puke.
Just feed 'em quick and bounce, I thought.
“Um, excuse me!”
“Who, me?”
“Yes! Please save me!”
Turning, I saw a woman huddled in a cage.
So cramped she had to tuck her head between her legs.
Her gender was barely discernible from her slight bust.
Face smeared black like soot, covered in filth—disgusting.
Nimble pinched his nose.
“Fuck, worse than the orphanage.”
Nimble was right.
Who'd guess Estelle my mentor's experiments were human, not beasts?
The woman pleaded with me.
“...Please. Or that witch'll eat my brain and I'll die. Please.... I have family. My blind sister.... She's waiting for me right now!”
Hah-?
What story was this?
But I didn't want involvement.
Pissing off Estelle my mentor over this would screw me big time.
Pretend I saw and heard nothing.
I was about to just toss food and go when Nimble reacted.
“...Sister?”
“Yes! My sister. She's blind, so I went herb-picking for her... woke up here!”
“Sister....”
Nimble's demeanor grew visibly uneasy.
He had a close sister, right?
Must be empathizing hard.
I cut in before Nimble caused trouble.
“Ehey! Miss. Sorry, can't save you. Don't drag others into your mess!”
“Please! Please... please...!”
“No can do.”
“I, I know about the demon! Mountain demon Valder! I know his weakness. No one else does. Only me!”
What? Knows Valder's weakness?
Two choices popped in my head.
[Hear Valder's weakness and earn Estelle mentor's ire] ☜
[Ignore Valder's weakness and pass by]
‘Fuck! Why another trial for me!’
My brain felt split in two.
But my policy was always clear.
Whichever made more money.
“Miss. Better not be bullshit info.”
Clank-.
I unlocked the cage.