Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Repay with Your Body
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Unable to hold back any longer, I spat out the classic line I'd heard since childhood.
The pink-haired woman, who had been sprawled on the floor scratching her belly, let out a scream and bolted upright.
"Wh-who, wh-who, wh-who are you?!"
The pink-haired woman growled at me like a cat, wary and on guard, but I was more focused on the area around where she'd risen.
There were several pieces of incredibly ancient furniture, the kind you'd only find in an antique shop, and every single one was in utter disarray. The bed she seemed to be using to sleep on looked like a mystery how anyone could rest there—trash and junk were scattered all over it.
"Ugh. Can't you clean up and live like a normal person..."
"...Wh-who are you, popping up out of nowhere and yelling?!"
As I shook my head at the sight, the woman—presumably a dream demon—snapped back in outrage. But when I met her eyes properly, she suddenly shrank back and averted her gaze.
'This is a dream demon?'
It was nothing like the image I'd imagined...
"Are you the dream demon who was sending that weird mist upstairs?"
A bit thrown off, but refusing to let her appearance fool me, I raised the [High-Pressure Cleaner]. After all, this was the same being who'd turned even Erzsebet into an idiot. She might look pathetic, but she had to be incredibly powerful in reality.
"Wh-what? The hallucination mist is definitely spread out..."
But instead of answering, she just flailed around in panic. Then she squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on something.
-Psssh...
"Phew. Got it. Ow... I'm hungry, and now I've used more energy..."
Suddenly, thicker pink mist billowed from the dream demon's body. She relaxed, her attitude shifting as she stood up confidently.
"Got what?"
"Kyaa?!"
I tossed the question at her in disbelief at the sudden change, and she startled even more violently than before, fleeing to the corner of the room.
"Wh-what?! You definitely inhaled the hallucination dream mist properly..."
-Pshht!
"Kyaaak!"
I had no intention of going easy on her just because she was cowering. Spewing that mist out of nowhere didn't look like anything good, so I fired a shot from the [High-Pressure Cleaner] right away.
The powerful jet didn't pierce her body—maybe she had some defense—but it still hit her arm hard enough to send her tumbling.
"D-did you really see through it? H-how..."
She screamed once, but it didn't seem to hurt much as she sprang back up, staring at me in confusion.
'None of it's working anymore.'
But that confused look was one I wanted to wear. Now even this obviously weak-looking woman was blocking my [High-Pressure Cleaner] bare-handed. It was my only real attack method.
If my attacks didn't work, then even though I'd found the dream demon, I had no way to take her down.
"Uw... N-no... Don't look... or else...!"
-Pwhoosh!
Once more, pink mist similar to before rose around the dream demon. But this time, unlike earlier when it had scattered everywhere to make me inhale it, the mist stayed clustered around her, writhing in place.
-Ssssh...
Then the writhing mist began to change shape. Its color deepened, gradually taking on the hue of human skin. The clump stretched out long, forming limbs.
Just like a transformation sequence from an old magical girl anime.
And when the mist finally cleared, an ideal beauty, nearly naked...
-Pshht!
"Kyaaaah!!"
...Before she could fully appear, I blasted another jet from the [High-Pressure Cleaner], scattering the mist pathetically and revealing her original cowering form again.
Is she insane? Trying to transform right in front of someone watching?
"Nooo... Th-the gaze... Uw..."
As the mist dissipated, she writhed on the floor in pain from the water jet, desperately covering her face.
'Seriously, this is a dream demon?'
The tension I'd felt infiltrating alone when Erzsebet collapsed felt utterly foolish now. That mist had aphrodisiac effects on Erzsebet and all the demons upstairs, making them lose it like they'd been drugged—it was threatening enough. But the person herself? This incompetent?
"No more chit-chat. Retract that mist you spread upstairs right now..."
-Groooowl!!!
"...?"
As I aimed at her rolling head to threaten her, a mighty rumble echoed through the narrow room. The kind of sound you almost never hear in real life, only in fiction.
"...Uw... I'm hungry..."
"........."
And the source of that mighty rumble clutched her stomach, making a pitiful face as she whined.
What do dream demons eat?
According to Erzsebet's explanation, dream demons—also called the race of dreams or the race of desire—primarily seduce humans and feed on their essence. They consume human essence either directly or through their racial specialty, dreams, and grow stronger on it.
"Munch. Munch. Munch... Gulp."
"........."
So what is this woman right in front of me? Is she really not a dream demon?
"They can grow their power through human essence, so they mainly consume that... but dream demons can satisfy hunger with normal food too."
As I watched the dream demon wolf down the rations I'd bought from the [Shop], Erzsebet—who had returned to me as the hallucination wore off—answered during her meal break.
"Hm? What? You told me not to interfere?"
"........."
Of course, I'd boldly told her 'don't interfere' before charging into the hallucination and teased her mercilessly about it. She remembered what she'd said and bowed her head, speechless.
"........."
-Snap!
"Ow! What the...!"
I flicked the forehead of the dream demon, who was eating mindlessly, as if venting frustration.
"Tsk...!"
"...Hehe... N-no, it's nothing."
The dream demon, who had been eating obediently, looked up as if to protest, but shrank back immediately when Erzsebet glared. With a sigh at the sight, Erzsebet turned to me.
"So, what will you do with this dream demon, Master?"
"Hm... You said you don't remember anything either, right?"
"Munch munch... Y-yes. My mind's clear, but I don't know where this is, and outside is full of nothing but undead..."
"So you kept starving until you sensed a living presence that wasn't undead, and to avoid dying of hunger, you sent out the mist to gather essence?"
"S-sorry...!"
Undead don't dream and feel no lust. For dream demons with dream manipulation and seduction abilities, undead are their natural worst enemy.
The dream demon before me was another being like Erzsebet or Desmond—someone who had lost her memories and fallen dormant inside the ruins. She was probably the figure in those ruined murals.
"I-I can manifest furniture or clothes with dream manifestation, but food... even manifested in dreams... doesn't fill the hunger..."
She had no real malice toward us; she was truly on the brink of starvation and spread the mist to collect essence. The dream demon bowed obsequiously as she explained.
'Seriously, this is a dream demon?'
From Erzsebet's stories, normal dream demons seemed similar to the 'succubi' from Earth's fiction I'd known...
But seeing this starved, unwashed, unclean dream demon who hadn't tidied her surroundings at all shattered my fantasies about them.
"Well, spreading the mist to avoid starving makes some sense..."
It wasn't a life-threatening power, so I could let that slide to some extent. But there was one thing I had to ask.
"Why did you deploy the hallucination when me and Erzsebet first entered? If you were really starving to death, wouldn't it have been better to just explain and ask for food?"
It hadn't worked on me, but from the moment Erzsebet and I opened the door and entered, the dream demon had activated her hallucination. According to her, a slender, half-naked dream demon—the complete opposite image of the one before us now—had appeared as an illusion, and she'd fought it...
"Hm. Come to think of it, this dream demon spouted some insolence at me too. Was that your doing?"
"Hiiik...!"
Erzsebet, hearing me, pinned the dream demon's head down with eyes blazing. The dream demon flailed but couldn't escape her grip.
"What did she say?"
"...Don't ask."
Conversation wasn't progressing like this, so I pulled Erzsebet away momentarily, and the dream demon hesitantly answered.
"P-people..."
"People?"
"...I'm scared of people's faces... so I tried to drive you away..."
"........."
This is a dream demon?
"...Never thought to just ask for food?"
"H-how could I ask strangers for that..."
"...But illusions and seduction are fine?"
"Th-that... Hehe..."
"Erzsebet. Dispose of her."
"Understood."
"Hiiik...!!!"
Okay. Even accounting for starvation making the mist excusable, this was definite guilt.
"So, Master. What will you do with this dream demon?"
Erzsebet, having vented what seemed like a lot of pent-up frustration with a thorough punishment, wiped her hands and asked.
I looked down at the dream demon—already filthy, now bruised and teary from pinches and flicks—and answered matter-of-factly.
"Make her work off the food debt."
"...Y-yes? B-but you just gave it to me..."
"What are you saying? You eat, you pay."
I'd given her food because she was about to starve, but once eaten, paying for it is just common sense, right?
"Th-then, with illusion manifestation, I could make gold or..."
"That'd still be fake, wouldn't it?"
"M-mine are super detailed..."
"Doesn't matter. Repay with your body."
"M-my body?"
"Master?"
The dream demon startled at my words, and for some reason, Erzsebet looked displeased too.
"Th-that... Actually, I'm a dream demon, but besides dreams, I've never done it directly..."
"Can you clean?"
"...Pardon?"
"Never mind, stupid question. You clearly can't."
Still, teach her, and she'd be useful enough.