Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 15
>Chapter Title: How to Win Without Lifting a Finger
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Doban’s gaze took in the deep golden eyes that shone captivatingly from behind lush, pure white eyelashes, the cool set of the mouth below smooth, soft cheeks, the straight bridge of the nose, and the sharp jawline. A chilling smile spread across his face as he thought.
‘Ah…! The Demon God blesses me! To think I’d find a specimen that so perfectly resembles that useless test subject!’
Rian had yet to see a mirror, so he was unaware of what his own face looked like, but his features were handsome enough to pass as Iris’s older brother in the original story, and he shared her coloring.
‘Looks like I have one more thing to collect before I leave!’
Forgetting what had just happened, he let out a small, sinister laugh and took a step forward to grab Rian.
*Squish.*
Where he stepped, the parasite was crawling along the floor, making its way toward him. Doban stepped on the squishy parasite, and his foot shot forward.
‘Ah, wha…?’
He felt as if time were slowing to a crawl. His vision was forcibly shaken, then pointed at the ceiling. An intense pain spread from the back of his head.
*Thud!*
“Urk…!”
He had slammed the back of his head and collapsed.
“Huh?! Wh-what was that sound just now?”
Rian looked around in confusion. No matter how hard he scanned the area the sound had come from, there was nothing that could have made it.
Even the pitch-black parasite had become transparent as it clung to Doban’s shoe, rendering it invisible.
“Did the sound come from somewhere else? I hope nothing bad happened… Hey kids, I’m gonna go check it out!”
Worried that something serious might have occurred, Rian said goodbye to the children and ran off. The two kids, frightened by the loud noise, also fled the scene.
“Ughhh…”
Doban pressed a hand to the back of his head, groaning, and finally managed to get up. A fist-sized lump was already swelling on his head.
“Damn brats!”
He seemed to forget that he was supposed to be hiding his presence, fuming as he swore under his breath. The entire reason he fell was the parasite he had thrown away, but the truth didn't matter to Doban.
‘I’ll just grab that ingredient and kill all the rest.’
He felt like his anger wouldn’t subside otherwise. As he thought this, his tongue darted out to lick his lips. Just then, he saw a black light twinkling at the edge of his vision. The black magic that pointed to the location of the poison herb was still active.
‘Hoo… First, find the herb, then get that ingredient. After that, I’ll turn this place into a wasteland and escape.’
He cackled inwardly and began to follow the black light. The path led him to a spacious kitchen.
The black light spun round and round above a glass jar sitting on one side of the kitchen.
***
“Hmm, did I mishear it?”
I had checked every nook and cranny of the house, but I couldn’t find anything that could have made such a loud noise. I wracked my brain for a moment before a simple thought came to me.
‘Did Mia make a loud noise during an experiment?’
Mia had said she needed to prepare for a new experiment and that there wouldn't be any today.
I figured a loud noise must have occurred while she was experimenting. I couldn’t come up with any other explanation.
‘I’ll have to ask her later.’
With that thought, I headed to the kitchen. It was time to prepare a meal.
“What should I make today?”
Mia had bought some good-quality meat and vegetables on her way back, so I could have prepared a lavish meal. But I had no intention of doing so.
‘I can’t just use up the ingredients when I don’t know when they’ll run out!’
Mia always bought enough so we wouldn’t run short, and I was supplementing our supply with a few ingredients using the Gag Filter, but with so many mouths to feed, there was no telling when we’d run out.
‘Meat spoils quickly, so I should use a generous amount.’
I decided to grill some meat for the first time in a while and entered the kitchen.
*Clatter.*
“Hm?”
Just then, I heard something roll. I turned my head and saw that the glass jar of tea leaves I had placed on the side was tipped over.
“Why is that knocked over?”
Did the kids knock it over while playing?
I approached the fallen jar to set it upright. As I reached for it, I accidentally nudged it.
The jar rolled and was about to fall off the edge. I quickly bent down to catch it.
*Grab!*
“Phew, that was close.”
I smiled in relief and stood up, placing the tea jar back where it belonged.
‘Ah, the kids might touch it again, so I should put it away.’
I picked up the jar I had just set down and took two steps back. I needed to think about where to put it.
‘A high place would be best, right?’
Putting it on the top shelf seemed like a good idea.
***
While Rian was contemplating where to put the tea jar, Doban was a mess, panting for breath.
“Hah, hah… That damn brat…”
There’s a common scene in gag anime.
When someone approaches with ill intent, ready to pounce, a flyer will, by a twist of fate, fly into their face, blinding them and causing them to stumble. Or, just as they’re about to strike the back of their target’s head, their foot will slip, and they’ll end up punching themselves with their own fist.
No matter how pathetically the ill-intentioned person rolls around on the floor, the target remains completely oblivious and calmly continues with their own business.
When the ill-intentioned person lies on the floor in a complete mess, the person who was almost their victim will walk by, see them, and stare with a shocked expression. It was one of the most commonly used tropes.
This was the very trope now being applied to Doban. No matter how he writhed and rolled across the floor, fuming, his voice couldn't reach Rian.
‘This time, I’ll catch him for sure!’
Doban gritted his teeth, his shoulders heaving raggedly. His neatly styled hair was a disheveled mess, and his body was covered in red and blue bruises from bumping into things.
The reason he was in such a state, seething with anger, was due to what had just happened.
The moment Rian entered the kitchen, Doban was startled by the sudden presence and dropped the tea jar. Realizing a moment later that it was Rian, he thought things were going his way.
“Why is that knocked over?”
When he saw Rian approaching to set the jar upright, he thought it was all over. Visions of his magnificent masterpiece already danced before his eyes.
The moment Rian was close enough to touch, he formed a subjugation spell in his hand and reached out. Just as Doban’s hand was about to grab him!
*Clatter.*
“Whoa!”
Rian suddenly ducked to catch the falling jar.
*Whoosh!*
“Huh…?”
As a result, Doban’s arm swung wildly through the empty air. The arm, filled with as much force as his savage desire to possess Rian, couldn’t handle the recoil and slammed back into Doban’s own body.
*Clank!*
Black chains materialized and began to wrap around him. The chains coiled tightly around his entire body, even gagging his mouth.
“Mmph…!”
He fell over like a bowling pin and began to squirm. The unexpected situation caused Doban’s face to twist into a hideous grimace.
His eyes bulged so wide that blood vessels burst.
‘Dispel!’
He dispelled the magic as quickly as he could and finally managed to get up. Rian was in the middle of returning the tea jar to its original spot.
‘Hah, hah… This time for sure!’
Eyes glinting with excitement, he lunged at Rian. At that exact moment, Rian took two steps back, causing his arm to swing through empty air once more.
“...!”
His body pitched forward. With a weak lower body and a heavy upper body, his momentum caused him not just to fall, but to start rolling.
“Gak!”
His body tumbled over and over until he came to a stop by smashing his face into a wall. He twitched for a moment before managing to stand up again, which brought him to his current state.
‘This time, I absolutely… absolutely will not fail!’
In his excitement, he had foolishly flailed about trying to grab Rian, but he was a black mage. He was used to casting spells from a distance.
He pointed the tip of his staff at Rian and conjured a torture spell in the air.
‘You’ll pay the price… for humiliating me like this.’
Once the boy was foaming at the mouth and unconscious from the pain, he could just pick him up and carry him away. Doban smiled wickedly as he completed the black magic. The moment he swung his staff to cast the spell…
“Yo!”
The guest Mia had mentioned walked into the kitchen.
“Huh? Rania-nim?”
Rian looked toward the source of the voice with a surprised expression. Rania had approached without a sound and was now sniffing the air next to him.
‘N-noooooo…!’
For Doban, every second began to feel like decades. He desperately wanted to stop the spell, but his swinging arm could not be stopped, and there was no way to dispel a spell that had already been cast.
*Shwooooo…*
“Stooooop…!”
Doban’s voice echoed in slow motion as the spell shot toward Rian—or more accurately, toward Rania, who was standing right beside him.
Doban’s face was a mask of horror, snot already running from his nose. His magic was just about to hit Rania.
“...”
“Gahk…!”
In the slowed-down time, Rania glanced over at Doban. Her movement was natural, as if she were completely unaffected by the flow of time.
*Swish!*
Rania waved her hand lightly, as if shooing away a buzzing insect.
*Flick!*
The spell flying toward Rania and Rian was deflected.
“Guargh…!”
The deflected magic flew right back and embedded itself squarely in Doban’s solar plexus.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Doban let out a piercing scream, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed.