Ch.38Request, Demon Hunt (6)

I couldn’t find Agath until evening time. If I get too late, it could be a real problem…

Let me eat dinner first and then look for her again. I’d feel really miserable if I missed meal time and ended up going hungry.

After getting my dinner, I was looking for a place to eat when I spotted Agath eating with Rebecca in a corner, looking depressed.

I’m a bit nervous about eating with them, but it should be fine since Rebecca is there too.

“Hello…” Agath said weakly. I wonder what absurd thing happened this time?

“You haven’t come up with any strange plans, have you?”

“Nothing particularly strange. I was just trying to gather people to gang rape you, but nobody would join in…”

“Did you really think anyone would participate in such a stupid plan?”

“Until just a moment ago, I had convinced five people…”

Why would anyone agree to participate in such a crime? Do they really have no wrinkles in their brains? At least they seem to have come to their senses now, which is fortunate.

“When you say ‘had convinced,’ that means they’re not on board anymore, right?”

“Yeah… Suddenly some injured people arrived and took those guys somewhere… And when they came back, they suddenly started praising you…”

They say if you live a good life, it eventually comes back to you.

I guess forcing myself to say nice things and maintaining their faith wasn’t completely meaningless after all.

“What on earth did you do to make them start praising you like disciples?”

“Just the benefits of living a good life.”

“Pointing a gun at a hostage is living a good life?”

“…Let’s just move past that. I was mentally unstable at the time.”

That’s not an excuse—I really was mentally unstable then. I couldn’t make normal judgments, so this is something we can just move past.

It’s not like I killed someone while drunk, and nobody got hurt, so is it really such a big problem?

…Though I suppose it would be a serious issue if the hostage developed trauma because of me.

After finishing our meal while chatting, Agath spoke again with renewed energy.

“Alright, I’m going to recruit people to gang rape you!”

“…Why are you doing this to me?”

“If you don’t become a corrupted female within three weeks, you’ll turn back into a man. So I need to make you female by any means necessary.”

They say a single word can pay a debt of a thousand nyang. Then conversely, couldn’t a single word also create a debt of a thousand nyang?

I made a firm decision never to tell Agath any important information again.

“I’ll see you later tonight! I’ll definitely recruit at least ten people by then!”

With that, Agath went off to do something completely pointless. Still, I should go interfere just in case. Better safe than sorry.

***

After monitoring Agath to make sure she wasn’t doing anything strange, I discovered one thing: this whole endeavor was completely futile.

When Agath tries to convince clergy members, they lecture her about doctrine instead.

And what happens when she approaches ordinary people? Several clergy members who were hiding nearby emerge and take that person away for a while.

After a few minutes, when the person returns, they refuse to participate in Agath’s plan and quickly leave the scene.

By the time the sky had completely darkened, Agath had made absolutely no progress.

This world is still worth living in. What a relief.

Anyway, Agath trudged over to me with a gloomy expression.

“It was a perfect plan, so why wouldn’t anyone join?”

“What kind of amazing plan did you come up with?”

“First, kidnap you, then train you to be female. That’s my plan.”

“…You really consider that a plan?”

I wonder who those five people were who initially agreed to participate in such a flawed, idiotic plan.

“Yes, I prepared everything—the kidnapping method, alibis, training techniques, everything.”

“What if I always stay in crowded places to avoid being kidnapped?”

“Then obviously I wouldn’t be able to execute the plan.”

“I guess I’ll need to stay in crowded places from now on.”

With her plan completely ruined, Agath smiled faintly and said:

“Well, this plan is finished. I guess I’ll go back to looking at the Goddess statue’s panties. See you later.”

With that, Agath ran off toward the Goddess statue. Shortly after, I could hear the nuns screaming.

“Lady Agath! Please stop this already!”

“Just one more look! No, twenty more looks!”

“Aaaaaaah!”

The nuns must feel like they’re in hell right now, but leaving her be is less troublesome than her gathering people to commit crimes.

Besides, is it really such a big problem to let her look at a statue? The Goddess is probably too busy working to even know this is happening.

Anyway, Agath is no longer my responsibility. It’s not my problem anymore.

I returned to my quarters, played on my phone for a while, and fell asleep.

***

BOOM!

I woke up to the sound of a massive explosion. Was it a demon launching a surprise attack in the middle of the night?

With that thought, I rushed outside and saw Leo and the dragon person arguing.

“What kind of idiot names a spell ‘Explosion-type Magic’?!”

“Isn’t that a perfectly good name? It’s much better than ‘Ultimate Cosmic Beam Ray That Shoots When You Snap Your Fingers.'”

“At least that name wouldn’t accidentally trigger the spell in everyday conversation, you damn hybrid!”

“Who would be stupid enough to say ‘Explosion-type Magic’ in everyday life…”

“The idiot standing right in front of you, you damn hybrid! Do you know why magic spells are given such ridiculous names?”

“To prevent accidental casting when the spell name is mentioned in everyday conversation?”

“If you know that, why did you name your spell like that?!”

Thankfully, it wasn’t a demon invasion—just someone accidentally saying a spell name. But really, who would say “Explosion-type Magic” in everyday conversation?

Anyway, Leo continued ranting:

“Have you never researched magic with other people? Have you really been researching alone in your room for decades?”

“How did you figure that out?”

“…You really haven’t left your room for decades?”

“This is the first time I’ve left my nest in decades.”

Leo sighed deeply and asked the dragon person a question.

“I know your kind has a long lifespan, but is there really enough to do alone for that long?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why didn’t you go outside?”

“Because people can be met perfectly well through the internet.”

“…I’ve never met a mage with worse social skills than you in my entire life.”

I’ve never seen anyone with worse social skills than this dragon person either.

Why are mages always so abnormal? At this point, I’m starting to wonder if people become mages because they’re abnormal.

“So why did you come outside this time?”

“To show my disciple how to work in the field.”

“How did you get a disciple when you’re always cooped up in your room?”

“The Goddess asked me to take on a reincarnator as my disciple, so I accepted.”

“…Why would the Goddess send a reincarnator to someone like you?”

“That’s exactly what I’d like to ask you all.”

Come to think of it, Ha-eun called this dragon person “Master” before. So Ha-eun is this dragon person’s disciple?

Poor thing. How did she end up with someone like that? If I were Ha-eun…

…I’d probably be much happier than I am now. No matter what, this dragon person seems more normal than the people at this office.

Even with serious social problems, at least he doesn’t engage in completely incomprehensible behavior.

“May I ask one question?” the dragon person suddenly asked Leo with a puzzled expression.

“If you’re asking how to make friends, I can’t help you with that either.”

“Nothing so useless. I wanted to ask about your recently patented spell, ‘Red Beam Attack.'”

“Isn’t it a great spell? It’s increased welding speed by 1.4 times.”

“I agree, but why does a welding spell have ‘attack’ in its name?”

“…Huh?”

Honestly, I think that spell name is pretty stupid too. At least it’s unlikely to be said in everyday life, which is fortunate.

…But wait, do people say “Red Beam Attack” every time they weld something? That’s kind of ridiculous when you think about it.

I couldn’t help but smile imagining a manager saying, “Hey Kim! Come over here and do some Red Beam Attack!”

Anyway, Leo put his hand to his head as if dizzy and continued:

“Damn it… I’ve already patented it, so I can’t change the name…”

“You should have been more careful when naming it.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who named their spell ‘Explosion-type Magic.'”

Since there doesn’t seem to be any danger, I should go back to sleep. I’m exhausted from being woken up.

I returned to my quarters and tried to sleep, but for some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep.

My eyelids were heavy and my body felt weak from fatigue, but my mind was wide awake.

I figured I’d eventually fall asleep if I just lay down.

***

After lying in bed for an hour, I still couldn’t fall asleep. Maybe a walk outside would make me tired enough to sleep quickly.

With that thought, I went outside for a walk. Being early morning, no one was around except for the night guards.

I personally like this quiet atmosphere. It would have been perfect if there was truly no one around. Should I look for an even quieter place?

It’s not a bad idea since I have nothing else to do.

While searching for a quieter place, I heard people talking.

“Despite his terrible personality, at least he has some skill, which is fortunate.”

“Isn’t that true for both of us?”

From the voices, it was clear that Leo and the dragon person were talking. I should quickly find a quieter place.

As I was about to leave,

“May I ask you one question?”

“I don’t mind.”

“How long do you plan to keep wearing that damn mask?”

The conversation suddenly became impossible to ignore.

“…Don’t you think I’m acting pretty well?”

“So when are you going to take off that damn mask?”

Leo sighed heavily and spoke in a much sharper voice than usual.

“Happy now?”

There’s too little information to understand what’s happening. But if I had to guess…

Leo has been pretending to be someone else. That was my conclusion.

I knew I’d be in big trouble if caught eavesdropping, but I felt certain that I needed to hear this.

“Is that your true self—you as the Hero?”

“I’m not a Hero. I’m just a murderer.”

Leo answered in a sharp voice completely devoid of kindness.

The pressure was so intense I could barely breathe, but I knew I had to continue listening.

Even though I wanted to run away immediately, my instinct was screaming that I needed to hear this conversation.

So I held my breath and listened carefully.