‘This time was not easy…’
I was exhausted!
I certainly didn’t remember putting in a lot of effort this time.
It didn’t particularly take a long time, either.
But for some reason, as soon as I relaxed, all my strength drained from my body, leaving me completely worn out.
‘Still, somehow I succeeded.’
I would be going into the Other World inside Laura’s mouth.
As soon as I brought this up, the kids and Sylvia protested vehemently, saying it was too dangerous.
However, I was confident it would be fine.
Irene had already dipped several people into the Other World and pulled them back out.
Seeing that those people hadn’t died gave me confidence that I would be fine, too.
As I laid out this reasoning, the kids reluctantly agreed, albeit with discontented glances.
Of course, I didn’t mention that among those who had been to the Inner World, many had ended up as wrecks.
But in the end, we all came back safely, right?
Irene didn’t seem particularly safe, though…
‘Thanks to using Irene’s scheme against her, I obtained valuable information.’
In the end, I couldn’t get the Neomium I aimed for.
However, I discovered that Irene had never had the Neomium from the start, so I might as well consider that an achievement.
The chunk of Neomium had long since been absorbed into Aslan’s body and vanished.
Typically, only a tiny amount of Neomium should be absorbed each time a demon god is summoned.
Yet, it was absorbed all at once.
And the result of absorbing such a large quantity at once was…
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ is urging you to reassure our necromancer and dark knight, who seem to be restless!]
It was Kali.
The Evil God I contracted with was Kali, using all that massive Neomium.
Something seems off about this.
Does that mean Kali has the power of hundreds of evil gods?
Or maybe hundreds of evil gods came to Aslan at once, but after fighting over him, Kali was the only one who survived?
I have no idea.
Maybe the absorption of Neomium happens randomly each time an evil god is summoned, and I just happened to hit the jackpot.
There’s no point in questioning it now. Everything is already over.
‘Anyway, the Neomium is gone now.’
Despite having searched so desperately for it, now that I’ve confirmed it’s gone, I feel a strange sense of relief.
Now neither Irene nor anyone else can misuse the Neomium.
Yes. This is the end. Black magic research stops here.
Just as I was about to savor the feeling of relief, mixed with a bitter aftertaste…
‘…Wait a second. Has it really disappeared?’
A chilling thought hit me, and I opened my eyes wide.
The Neomium chunk had turned into black smoke and been absorbed into Aslan’s body.
At first, I assumed that by becoming part of Aslan’s body, the Neomium had lost its effectiveness.
But now, the possibility occurred to me that this might not be the case.
“What if the Neomium, having been absorbed into my body, is still functioning?”
Aslan was once called a prodigy, showing great aptitude for magic. But at some point, Aslan became completely incapable of handling mana.
It’s not just that he can’t control it—mana seems to avoid Aslan altogether.
Can someone’s constitution suddenly change so drastically?
One of Neomium’s properties is its anti-mana nature.
It repels mana from its surroundings. What if that property is still manifesting within my body…?
“This requires research.”
This isn’t something to overlook.
If my hypothesis is correct, then my body itself could be the Neomium I was searching for.
Black magic research might not have to stop after all.
There’s an academic conference coming up soon.
I don’t want to make a fool of myself there, so I’ll need to prepare something.
For the research, I’ll need Julia’s help. I called for her, confident that she would assist.
“Julia, I’m resuming black magic research, so help me out…”
“No. You went to such a dangerous place and worried everyone sick, but you were off flirting with a girl instead. I have no intention of helping you.”
“Exactly! We were all so worried because you didn’t come out when you were supposed to. We were terrified that something had happened…!”
“…”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ feigns indifference, leaving you to clean up the mess.]
Julia stood with her arms crossed, back turned to me, refusing to even look my way.
Meanwhile, Charlotte couldn’t hide her frustration, glaring at me intensely.
Both of them were clearly upset with me.
“Charlotte, Julia, you both know Irene is my sister. Saying I was flirting is a bit much.”
“Is she really your sister? She was hugging you very sweetly, after all.”
“She was unconscious. When someone’s in a dazed state, they instinctively cling to whatever’s close.”
“Is that so? Since Aslan’s touch is so reassuring, it would make sense to gravitate toward him unconsciously…”
“Yeah, even Julia, who makes a fuss when awake, clings tightly to Aslan’s hand when she’s asleep like it’s precious…”
“Ahh! Quiet, Charlotte!!!”
I’m relieved—it seems like they’ve come around.
I was almost caught in a misunderstanding due to Irene creating all sorts of awkward situations for the children.
But I managed to get through it.
What if I hadn’t cleared up the misunderstanding?
Ah, just thinking about it makes me furious.
I originally planned to forgive Irene neatly and wrap things up on a warm note.
But since I’m feeling quite offended, I’ve decided against that.
No matter how I think about it, it seems right for her to pay a fitting price.
The question is, what should that price be…?
“Sylvia, Charlotte. Move Irene to the carriage.”
“Yes, Lord.” “Okay!”
“And Julia, pretend it’s an accident and instruct the skeleton soldiers to lower their guard. Make it seem like the Emersy can escape easily.”
“Huh? Why would I do that…?”
“I have a plan.”
“…?”
To catch a bigger fish, I decided to release some bait.
I figured Yuri could handle that task.
Since learning all day at work is basically stalking, he should manage just fine.
After tossing Irene into the carriage, I suddenly remembered something and saw Charlotte rushing toward me, as if she had just recalled it.
“Ah! Mister, Mister!”
“What is it?”
“Rewards! I want to get a reward because I worked hard today! I really struggled to break the golems that kept standing up with the knight lady!”
“Charlotte is right, my Lord.”
Sylvia nodded seriously, advocating for Charlotte to receive a reward as well.
Is Sylvia going to defend Charlotte’s case for a reward too?
“We worked really hard! So please give both of us a reward.”
“…”
This girl.
She just wants a reward for herself. How on earth did someone like her become a master to the protagonist and his companions in the original story?
Her mental age seems roughly the same as mine…?
“Sylvia doesn’t need one. Charlotte, what do you want?”
“Why not!? ”
“Um! I have something I’ve thought of!”
Charlotte made a pleased little snort.
Is she going to ask for something big?
I was starting to feel a bit tense.
“Aren’t you out of massage tickets, Mister?”
“I should have exactly two left.”
“Then please make me an additional 10 massage tickets as a special reward!”
“…Is that really a reward?”
“Yes!”
Charlotte nodded vigorously, completely unaware that something seemed off. Is the fact that I’m giving her massage tickets a reward in her eyes?
It’s hard to understand.
If I tried to argue, she might suddenly say, “Oh! Right! This isn’t a reward! Then let’s switch to something else!” So I decided to stay quiet.
“What about you, Julia? You worked hard late into the night. Don’t you want anything?”
“Hmm. That’s a given. I just helped because Aslan was in trouble. If Aslan dies, we lose the person who would liberate us. That’s all…”
“Okay. Thank you. I didn’t know you were so considerate.”
“Huh? Huh…?”
I would’ve expected Julia to ask for money, but she’s surprisingly loyal.
Worried she might change her mind again, I quickly accepted and patted Julia on the head before turning away.
While I had been smiling easily, I noticed Julia’s expression shift to one of surprise as I turned.
She looked as if things hadn’t gone according to plan.
Before long, as I got farther away, Julia clutched Charlotte and began to cry.
“This was supposed to work! If I pretend not to want a reward, Aslan would definitely give a huge reward out of admiration!”
“Hmm? Anyway, he did say it was commendable, so isn’t that good enough? You’ve always wanted to look mature in front of Mister.”
“No, no…!”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ chastises you to immediately pay our Dark Knight and Necromancer the reward they deserve for their efforts!]
Even without such prodding, I had already planned to reward the children with new dog bowls.
The ones we used before were literally for pets, so they were quite inconvenient for human use in many ways.
However, I had ordered custom dog bowls that are easier for people to use with utensils.
Imagining the children’s faces lighting up with joy upon receiving the new dog bowls made me feel warm inside already.
