The Real Demon
The real demon. After successfully clearing up the emotional misunderstanding through a truthful and concrete exchange of facts, Regina Gura and I shared a light handshake in a warm, friendly atmosphere.
"Already feeling reassured, Senior."
"Tell me about it, nyang."
There was nothing particularly special about how I ended up calling Regina Gura my senior. It was simply because she was older than me and had spent far more time in the Middle Realm—in other words, this world. Hadn't she mentioned working as a receptionist in Bastion for over two hundred years? When someone who looked no older than a fifth or sixth grader introduced herself as the most senior staff member across all departments in the Adventurer's Guild, I nearly suffered cognitive dissonance.
Regina Gura seemed genuinely delighted that I'd called her senior. She hopped around like a child who'd just received a birthday present.
"Whoa! You're going to fall!"
"Senior! What are you doing? That's dangerous!"
She nearly tumbled off the platform, but fortunately one of her fellow receptionists caught her in time and nothing serious happened. As she clutched her startled chest and muttered, "For a moment, I saw the Demon Realm...," Sion approached with her usual cat-like meowing and asked her to purchase the maseok.
"You've already obtained maseok?" Regina Gura let out a short, impressed sigh before nodding in understanding. She gestured toward the tray on the counter and said,
"Ahem. Is that so?"
My contractor's shoulders puffed up again at Regina Gura's praise. I lightly tapped her shoulder to bring her back down to earth, then took the maseok extracted from the Rabbit Spider she'd defeated and gently placed it on the tray.
It was a charmingly small maseok that fit in one hand. The receptionists' eyes filled with the warm, almost parental affection one might show toward a promising newbie.
"Ooh... Really?"
I'd heard that common maseok usually traded for around 500 dallants. To think this one was worth at least a thousand... My contractor had done a truly impressive job. I felt proud.
"A thousand!"
At Regina Gura's words, my contractor's tension shot up like a child with candy in her mouth. She turned to me with a joyful expression, her eyes pure and clear like a kid eager to show off her achievement to her parents. There was a faint glimmer of expectation in them.
Well done. You did great.
I nodded silently and gave her back a light pat. Then, with my other hand, I lifted the sack I'd been holding and slammed it down.
Thud!
The moment the sack—about the size of a small watermelon—landed heavily on the wide metal tray, a dull impact echoed through the hall, followed by the clear, refreshing sound of maseok fragments clattering against one another.
"What the...?"
"Huh?"
The receptionists, who had been watching us with fond amusement, suddenly widened their eyes in shock at the appearance of the large sack of maseok.
"You gathered this much in just two days?"
"Looks like you wiped out an entire nest of Entities."
Regina Gura opened the leather sack with an incredulous expression. When she saw the shattered fragments of maseok—smashed to pieces like glass struck by a hammer—she let out a low gasp of amazement.
The instant she finished speaking, both Sion and my contractor turned to stare at me.
"...."
Unable to withstand the violent pressure of their gazes drilling into my black lenses, I silently turned my beak in the opposite direction.
Regina Gura blinked a few times at the sight, then continued with an understanding expression.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Regina Gura nodded in satisfaction at my reply, then shouted, "Please wait just a moment!" before slinging the sack of maseok over her shoulder and staggering off behind the counter.
"Hmm?"
I was watching the other receptionists follow after her like baby chicks when I suddenly sensed a presence beside me and turned my head.
A beautiful woman with deep green hair—the kind that made one think of seaweed—was staring intently at me. Or was she glaring?
With her slender, model-like limbs and pointed ears, she appeared to be an elf. She observed me quietly with sharp eyes that looked like they might demand you buy two hundred won worth of bread for a thousand won, then finally spoke.
What kind of speech pattern is that?
It was the first time in my life I'd heard such a bizarre half-honorific. It wasn't exactly mixing casual and polite speech evenly—it felt more like she'd sliced the honorific speech clean in half.
But anyway. What exactly are you so curious about, you brazen seaweed-haired elf who doesn't even bother introducing herself before asking questions?
When I nodded to indicate she should continue, the elf—with an utterly serious expression—spoke again.
Uh....... No?
"...."
"...!?"
"!!!"
The moment the elf finished speaking, all sound vanished from the surroundings. A silence so complete that even breathing couldn't be heard fell over the hall.
And then—
"Pffft!!?"
"Huuuuh!!!"
"Ah!!?"
"You crazy bitch!!?"
"Someone grab that elf right now!"
Everywhere, the sound of air escaping and shrill screams burst out.
"Aegis!!!"
"What on earth are you saying right now!"
"...?"
The receptionists on either side of the elf—who stood there with a perfectly confident expression as if asking what she'd done wrong—began shaking her back and forth.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Hm? You still haven't answered my ques—mmph...!"
Soon, an intellectual-looking receptionist wearing glasses appeared, covered the green-haired elf's mouth, and dragged her away somewhere.
"Huh."
What the hell was that just now?
Asking if I was a woman... Did she have bad eyesight? Sure, I technically had a child I gave birth to with my chest, but I was unmistakably a man who liked women and was crazy about insane stunts. A true man among men who loved tactical gameplay and waiting strategies. And she asked me if I was a woman?
Man, my head's spinning.
Compared to "Excuse me sir, are you perhaps an Entity?" this question was easily two hundred times more shocking. My neurons and synapses overloaded, and my forehead began to throb. As I pressed a hand to my beak in place of my aching brow, a loud crash suddenly came from beside me.
"Nyahahaha!!! A crow is a woman!!? A crow is a woman!!? Puhahaha!!! If a crow is a woman then this body is a Canis nyang!!! Bark bark nyang!!! Woof woof nyang!!!"
"...."
It seemed the seaweed elf's words had perfectly struck Sion's comedy trigger. The cat-girl rolled across the floor like she'd chewed on catnip, barking like a dog.
Whether she was doing it on purpose or not, she kept rolling around and brushing her tail against my legs, so I lightly stepped on it. A sweet scream mixed with delightful terror poured out.
"Nya-nya-nyang!!! Crow, I'm sorry nyang!!! I'll shut up so please lift your foot nyang!!! Aaaah!!! It's getting crushed! It's getting crushed nyang!!! I'm going to become a Manx nyang!!!"
"Looks like you're finally coming to your senses."
I wanted to keep my foot there a little longer, but the hissing was threatening to burst my eardrums, so I lifted it slightly. Sion immediately scampered away, hugged her tail, blew on it, and glared at me with teary eyes.
"I'll get my revenge, nyang."
With her sharp fangs bared and a low growl radiating killing intent, I once again found myself contemplating the futility of mercy and the importance of finishing what you start.
While I was quietly engaged in a staring contest with the now bristling, thoroughly pissed-off Sion, a dazed voice rose from below.
Hm?
I looked away from Sion, who was still throwing punches at the air, and followed the voice.
"Raven... is a woman?"
There stood a medieval little brat with an expression like she'd just been told the Earth was round. My contractor was staring at me as if suffering from Gestalt collapse.
Contractor... Why are you looking at me with those eyes?
There's no way I—of all people—could be a woman. I don't even have breasts!
To calm my contractor, whose eyes were trembling as she stared at me, I placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke seriously.
"Contractor, calm down. I am—"
I was going to say it. I really was.
...Senior? What kind of bullshit are you spouting?
Regina Gura, who had somehow returned without me noticing, suddenly cut in and began whispering the devil's temptations.
My contractor, now afflicted with the Confusion status effect, asked Regina Gura with an incredulous face.
"Ah."
Thud.
At Regina Gura's confident declaration—so certain it would confuse even the God of Truth—my contractor's body collapsed.
"Woman... woman...."
I tried to reach out to my contractor, whose eyes were losing their light, but I could only lower my hand again. There was no strength in my arm. My head was pounding thanks to this absurd nonsense.
I slowly turned my head to look at Regina Gura, who was tilting her head with an innocent, pure expression.
A being that tests humans with words, tempts them, and leads them to corruption.
In the world, such beings are called...
'Demons.'
...Demon.
Today, I had seen the real demon.