Ch.105105. Master

The demon standing before me. Her name is Belle.

For some reason, she’s interested in humans and shows her face often, making her the most familiar among the demons.

But… maybe it’s because she’s a demon. Her name just doesn’t roll off the tongue.

She’s familiar but not exactly close, if that makes sense.

In the game, she played the role of the final gatekeeper who blocks the protagonist’s party at the very end.

Usually, such positions are filled by strong characters, and this game followed that convention.

In fact, her power was so great that even if the protagonist’s party attacked together at the final stage, they would suffer significant losses.

Of course, I cleared it without taking any damage. That’s what happened in the story cutscene, anyway.

Anyway. She was already that strong, and now she’s even stronger thanks to the difficulty inflation. It’s almost concerning.

And her expression right now is unsettling.

It’s… well, I’m not sure if I should put it this way, but it’s similar to how Celia has been looking at me lately.

In other words… the expression of a girl in love.

‘Wait, why?’

This development makes me want to curse. Wasn’t she just looking down on me and threatening to kill me a moment ago?

But after I landed a couple of attacks and dodged a few times, she suddenly turned into this. I couldn’t understand it.

It’s truly maddening, but given who I’m dealing with, I couldn’t move carelessly. I just stood still and waited.

After a moment, she finally spoke.

“I’ve finally found you… my master!”

What is this now?

Maybe I should have just rushed in and attacked instead of waiting.

Bewildered at suddenly becoming a demon’s master, I glanced over at Alkine Debaran, who was facing off against Poppy.

Somehow she must have heard everything being said here, because she was looking this way with a shocked expression.

I… this really isn’t what it looks like. I don’t know what’s going on either.

More importantly, it’s dangerous, so please don’t get distracted and focus on your fight.

I shook my head to convey that meaning.

I’m not sure if she understood correctly, but Alkine at least took her eyes off me and focused back on her battle.

Meanwhile, Belle was slowly approaching me. I backed away to maintain distance, which made her look disappointed.

“Master… do you know how hard I’ve been trying to find you?”

“I’m not your master.”

“Sniff… I knew you wouldn’t remember, but it still hurts to hear it directly.”

…I really don’t get it.

What kind of misunderstanding would make her think I’m her master?

I don’t think this was part of the setting.

At most, she was just loyal to the Demon King and showed some interest in the protagonist, right?

Even her trait of amplified affection only appeared briefly in certain routes, far from having a “master.”

Was her interest in humans all along because she was looking for her master?

All sorts of questions came to mind, but they weren’t the kind that could be resolved by just thinking about them.

So I decided to try using the current situation to my advantage.

“So you’re saying I’m your master? Then you should follow my orders, right?”

“Of course, Master.”

“Then first, kill Poppy over there.”

From her perspective, Poppy is like a cherished doll.

I was curious how she would react if I told her to kill something she cared about, and I was also concerned about Alkine still facing off against Poppy… but as soon as I finished speaking, demonic energy erupted from Belle’s hand.

It surrounded Poppy, who was fighting Alkine, and then evaporated into black mist.

Naturally, Poppy was nowhere to be found anymore.

…She actually did it?

“Uh… good job. Yeah.”

“Master may not remember, but to me, everything except Master is just trash.”

When I awkwardly praised her, she proudly said so.

You’re lying. With your amplified affection, you get heart-eyes for anything you fixate on.

“Ludion!”

After confirming Poppy’s disappearance, Alkine immediately ran to my side.

I was wary of Belle just in case, but surprisingly, she didn’t make any moves.

As soon as Alkine approached, she immediately started questioning.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know either.”

“She’s calling you master?”

“I really don’t know.”

Alkine glared at me for a while, then sighed and turned her gaze to Belle.

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t team up with demons.”

She seemed very cautious and tense in front of Belle earlier, but now she seems much more relaxed. Did something change in her mindset?

“Well… she seems to be following you. Weren’t you winning anyway?”

Ah, she must have heard Belle screaming from my attacks.

She probably thinks I can handle this no matter what happens, so she’s a bit more at ease.

But come to think of it, it is strange.

When I landed hits before, I could only see her gradually struggling, but now she’s screaming loudly.

“Hey.”

“Master? Even if you’ve lost your memories, I’d prefer if you called me by my name.”

“…Belle.”

“Yes, did you call for me?”

…This obsession with being called by name feels very familiar, reminding me of someone.

Thinking that, I glanced at Alkine, who awkwardly avoided my gaze.

“So this is how it looks to others. It’s a bit… embarrassing.”

It’s too late to realize after I’ve already done it… but better late than never.

That’s not important right now though, so moving on.

“Did my attack hurt that much?”

“Ah… thinking about it now, that was truly magnificent… directly cutting off the mana body, which is a demon’s lifeline. Even the Demon King… I mean, the current Demon King couldn’t do that.”

For some reason, it seems to target a weak spot specifically for demons.

That’s good for me. High-spec demons are hard to take down with chip damage, but if I can cause pain, I can deal mental damage too.

She called me “Demon King” before quickly correcting herself to “current Demon King.” Maybe that slip-up is bothering her.

She closed her mouth while nervously watching my reaction, so I decided to ask what I was curious about.

As I mentioned, she has an explanation-addict tendency, so she’ll probably spill everything if I just ask.

Honestly, I was curious about many things. Why am I her master, and what makes her follow me so devotedly?

When I asked these questions, she provided answers easily as expected.

“Master is… the reincarnation of my master. You seem to have lost your memories, but I recognized you at a glance. That you are my master.”

“Weren’t you looking down on me and trying to kill me?”

“…Only Master can ignore my destruction! And I’m merely Master’s slave, so of course I should follow you!”

Ignoring my words and saying only what she wants doesn’t seem very slave-like.

“Then if I told you to die, would you?”

“Huh? Who should I kill?”

I tested her just in case, and as expected.

She listens, but only hears what she wants to hear.

I thought I might be able to use her, but I decided to give up since I don’t know what a demon who doesn’t really listen might do.

So the only request I can make now seems to be this:

“From now on, don’t interfere with humans.”

“Yes, I have no interest in humans now that I’ve found Master. The Demon King’s Army… I don’t need to care about them either. As soon as I return, I’ll kill all the demons under my command.”

Oh, that would be great for me.

Her subordinates must include at least five or six main story boss-level demons. There must be many other formidable enemies too.

With the difficulty increase, who knows how much stronger they’ve become, but being able to eliminate them all without lifting a finger is fantastic.

While I was feeling satisfied with that thought, she cautiously added:

“However… there’s someone preparing an invasion recently.”

“Arpatustu?”

“Yes, that idiot suddenly got fixated on something… Wait? Master, how do you know that name?”

So that part is the same as the game. Finally, something I recognize.

“Never mind that. I’ll handle him myself, so don’t worry about it.”

“…Yes!”

I can’t ask her to interfere with other factions anyway.

It’s physically impossible as long as she’s under the Demon King’s command.

At that moment, Alkine, who was beside me, tapped my shoulder.

“Are you in your right mind?”

I said it casually, but thinking about it, saying I’ll handle a demon invasion myself doesn’t make much sense.

How could I, an academy student, deal with something when I don’t even know where it’s coming from?

But this was really nothing to worry about.

Because…

“He’s coming to invade our academy.”

“What?”

Arpatustu. He’s just a real idiot.

He’s been holding a grudge against the Principal for something that happened in the past and now wants revenge.

Why seek revenge now after being defeated in the past? Well, he recently got something like a promotion by demon standards, so he has more demon followers now. He’s feeling pretty confident.

Just from the vibe, it seems amateurish, but I guess they adjusted the difficulty since it’s the first demon event in the regular route. In fact, only the lowest-spec demons are gathering to attack.

Still, demons are dangerous regardless, and considering how Belle has gotten stronger, they might have gotten stronger too… but honestly, I think Celia alone could handle it.

So I can confidently say:

“Celia and Senior Alkine can handle it easily. Simple, right?”

“It’s easy to say, but do you know what kind of chaos could break out…!”

That’s my specialty, so don’t worry.

If things get complicated, that’s different, but if we follow the predetermined route, it’s all under control.

“…Alright. If you say so, then I’ll believe you.”

Somehow I gained her trust and acceptance, and now all that’s left is to escape this rift.

For this too, I had a very good method.

“Belle. Find a rift stone.”

“Yes, sir!”

Delegating the work.

A demon who comes and goes through rifts like her own home should be able to find a rift stone quickly.

So I just need to wait here chatting with Alkine…

“Why did you ask her to bring it? Couldn’t you just tell her to go break it?”

“Ah.”

That’s right. That would work.

But by the time I realized this, Belle had already disappeared from sight.

Now I’ll have to say goodbye properly.