Chapter 328

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How utterly pathetic.

Eugene found the current situation to be utterly pathetic.

Yui, who he thought was dead, had returned as a monster.

He had encountered her several times, yet never noticed.

Why hadn’t he suspected anything?

Knowing that a devil god could inhabit a human body, he should have at least considered it once.

No, perhaps suspecting it would have been even stranger. His sister, who had died five years ago, had returned as a slaughterer? The monster wearing the red fox mask was Yui, who was so kind and gentle? How could he have predicted that? How could he even establish such a “hypothesis”? Even if there were some suspicious aspects, he would naturally deny them. Anyone would, and Eugene was no different.

‘But… I should have known…’

Still, he alone should have noticed.

He shouldn’t have ignored the minor clues.

Even if they seemed like conjecture.

Even if they were considered futile fantasies.

If there was even a sliver of possibility.

As Yui’s only family, he should have been the one to realize.

He alone.

He alone…

Even if no one else did.

As Yui’s brother…

If he was Eugene, he shouldn’t have been ignorant.

‘How utterly pathetic…’

His body was stolen by the devil god who was his sister.

Forcibly trapped in his sister’s body.

He was being held in the arms of the girl he liked, tears welling up in his eyes.

Why wouldn’t the crying stop? He wanted to stop sniffling. He rubbed his eyes repeatedly with his stiff, unresponsive hand. He wiped away tears, rubbing his soft, plump cheeks. He was embarrassed. Ashamed. He wanted to die. He didn’t want Lucia to see him in such a pathetic state. But it wouldn’t stop. No matter how hard he tried, his vision quickly blurred.

“Hing. Hic. Sniffle. Sniff…”

It was like torture. The current situation was hell for Eugene. He wished it was all a dream. He prayed it was a bad nightmare.

But it was reality. Denying the situation wouldn’t change anything. It certainly wouldn’t solve anything.

Ultimately, to change the situation, he had to do something himself. Eugene decided to try and stop crying first. Crying in the arms of the girl he liked? His pride as a man wouldn’t allow it. Eugene bit his lip and steeled his resolve.

‘Either way, this is also Yui’s body. As her brother, I can’t show such an ugly sight in Yui’s body.’

He chewed on his lip gently, careful not to cause any damage. If it were his original body, he wouldn’t care if his lip tore, but this was Yui’s body. He couldn’t carelessly harm it. Eugene took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. His full chest rose and fell repeatedly. His whole body was hot. His heart pounded violently. His shoulders twitched slightly. Eugene continued to take deep breaths. Good. It’s working. The tears were gradually stopping. Eugene blinked his rabbit-red eyes and wiped away the tear stains. After a desperate effort, he managed to stop crying.

Until Frey pulled on his cheek.

“Ouch… Why, why are you pulling it… Ouch, ouch… Waaaaah!”

“Frey! Why are you making Eugene cry?!”

“Ah, no… I was just wondering if that face was real… I mean, it’s too similar, right? I was wondering if it might be fake…”

“It is my face! No, it’s not my face! But it’s my face now… Hic, sob, waaaaah!”

“There, there. It’s okay. I’ll give Frey a good scolding, so calm down.”

He felt wronged.

He was already having a hard time, why were they bothering him?

Eugene hiccupped and gasped for breath.

‘…No matter how I look at it, that’s not the reaction Eugene would show, is it?’

Frey frowned.

The body swap was one thing.

A devil god with all sorts of bizarre abilities might be able to do that.

But that Eugene would burst into tears just because she pinched his cheek?

It was unimaginable. Eugene was the kind of guy who wouldn’t shed a single tear even after being beaten to a pulp by the God of War. Even Frey was amazed and speechless. But that Eugene was throwing a tantrum like a lost child who had let go of his mother’s hand? Really?

“Maybe he’s a mentally ill person who thinks he’s Eugene… Ahem, maybe there’s some kind of mental misunderstanding?”

It seemed that Frey wasn’t the only one who thought so, as Leo muttered with a serious expression. Naturally, Eugene shouted back, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I am Eugene! Why don’t you believe me?!”

“It doesn’t look like it…”

“I am, I am… I am…”

Eugene’s voice gradually lost strength. Hearing it, even he thought it was a bit strange. No, it was very strange. Was he always this tearful? It wasn’t like him. It wasn’t like Eugene. Even if he was having a hard time and wanted to cry, he wouldn’t cry in front of others. He always endured unbearable pain alone. That was Eugene’s way of doing things. He wouldn’t cry whether others were around or not, even if he was having a hard time and felt wronged.

Wait, maybe I’m not Eugene? B-But I am Eugene… I was just possessed by Astaroth… Or was I really possessed? What if I’m just imagining that I was possessed? Then what am I? What proof do I have that I’m Eugene? In the end, all I have are my memories and claims… O-Oh…? E-Eeeh…?

“Don’t be too hard on him. Eugene’s the one having the hardest time right now.”

Lucia wiped Eugene’s tears with her sleeve and sighed deeply.

“There’s no way there wouldn’t be side effects from a body swap, right?”

The disconnect between the soul and the body.

Eugene’s soul was refusing to adapt to Yui’s (Astaroth’s incarnation) body.

Because he was reluctant to settle in the body, his soul couldn’t anchor itself and was rebelling.

The sudden change in personality was also due to that.

It was only a temporary phenomenon, and it would be resolved with time.

Even if the soul rejected it, it would eventually have to settle into the body over time.

‘I was originally a soul similar to Lucille, so I adapted to the body right away and was fine, but…’

It seemed that wasn’t the case for Eugene.

Well, it was his sister’s body, no less.

Moreover, that sister had stolen his body.

It was only natural that he would mentally rebel against the current situation.

“L-Lucia believes me, right? That I’m E-Eugene… You believe me, right? Right?”

“Yes, I believe you.”

“If Lucia believes me… Ehehe, then I must be Eugene. I’m glad. I was starting to lose confidence myself…”

Eugene smiled, his moist eyes curving beautifully. He had started to doubt himself because of Frey and Leo’s reactions, but if Lucia believed him, he could regain his confidence. He believed in her, so he also believed in her judgment. He was still Eugene after all. His memories weren’t products of fiction.

“…”

[Frey. I recommend not saying what you just thought out loud.]

‘W-what did I think?’

[‘Cute… what is this, it’s cheating… should I take him home and raise two Alices? Euhehe…’¹」

‘I didn’t go that far?! Don’t exaggerate so much?!’

[You did have similar thoughts.]

‘I just thought he was cute?! I didn’t say anything particularly wrong, did I? Whatever that guy’s identity is, he looks just like Alice…’

[Frey. You and I have the same face. It just sounds like self-praise.]

Even if we have the same face, Alice is much cuter than me…

Frey pursed her lips and looked at Eugene again.

She awakened her senses. Not just the five senses, but even the sixth sense.

As she reached the captain level, Frey’s intuition became sharper and clearer.

Even if it wasn’t as good as a sensory type, she could see through and grasp almost anything at a glance.

‘The aura, the feeling he gives off, even the lingering afterimage of supernatural abilities… There are definitely aspects that resemble Eugene.’

Different.

He was different from Eugene.

But it was certain that they resembled each other.

If he was a completely different person, they wouldn’t resemble each other this much.

Could it really be Eugene, this guy?

What the hell. Don’t be cute, Eugene.

But he’s much better than that lanky man’s appearance.

Why don’t you just keep living in this form?

For some reason, I feel like I could tolerate you being by Lucia’s side if you were like this.

“Hey, Eugene.”

Frey forcibly stopped her thoughts from going in the wrong direction and brought up a question that she had been wondering about.

“Okay, I’ll believe everything for now. That you’re Eugene, and that you were possessed by Astaroth.”

“Y-You believe me?”

Eugene, who had been sniffling his red nose, brightened up.

Frey was silent for a moment, then cleared her throat and said.

“But there’s something I don’t understand. Why do you look like Alice? Who was the original owner of the body that Astaroth used, that you look like Alice? Do you happen to know who it is?”

“Th-That’s…”

“That reaction, you seem to know.”

“U-Uh-huh…”

How could he not know?

He almost wished he didn’t.

He wanted to go back to when he believed Yui was dead.

Kill his sister. Return her to the earth.

He wouldn’t go to such an extreme level, but his mind was so confused that he couldn’t even guess his own psychology. He was happy that Yui was alive, but he was disgusted by Astaroth’s evil deeds. It felt like he was wandering in a murky sea, unable to find his way.

“So, who is it?”

“Yu…”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“…Yui.”

Frey tilted her head. The sound of an ant crawling would be louder than that. Did he not want to say it? If he didn’t want to, there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t force him to tell her if he didn’t want to. She would find out little by little next time when she had the chance. It was a shame. She was very curious about who looked like Alice.

“…Yui.”

“Huh? Yui?”

“My sister… My sister who I thought was dead…”

“???”

“It was Yui…”

What was that supposed to mean? Frey frowned at Eugene’s bizarre confession. Yui? Who’s that? What? His dead sister? That sister who died five years ago? Now that she thought about it, he did say that she looked a lot like Alice. But why was he suddenly talking about his dead sister… Ah, wait a minute.

Frey’s brilliant mind spun at an unprecedented speed. The front and back were pieced together, and all sorts of inferences rained down. The truth was revealed. An eternity-like moment passed, and Frey shouted without hesitation.

“What the fuck?”

Why was something like this reality?

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Author’s note: End of Service.

I’m sleepy… I want to go to bed…

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
A TS person has no human rights.

If you see a TS person, feel free to do whatever you want!