episode_0054

“…”

Even though I was at the end of the line to get in, I couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling as new dolls were added one after another behind me.

No matter how elaborately they were made, they were essentially dolls, not humans. It was unpleasant to see dozens of expressionless faces lined up in a row, not making any expressions without the master’s command.

I don’t know if it was limited to the Demon Race or a common taste among women in this world, but the dolls’ faces all looked similar in some way.

By any chance, were all of these dolls produced in one factory? No, they are all different in size. Oddly enough, none of these dolls were exactly the same. This supports the hypothesis that they were handcrafted rather than manufactured.

I was walking along the shortened line with a stern expression on my face, although I was thinking about various things inside.

As we neared the entrance, voices began to be heard.

“Sniff sniff… Pass! ”

By the time I reached the entrance, I could tell who the voice was. It was a dark-skinned woman with puppy ears on her head, sniffing the doll’s neck with her nose. Although they were puppy ears, they weren’t the floppy kind, but rather the shepherd type, standing up straight.

Puppy… It might sound cute if I called it that, but it was a little different. It was about 1.5 times my height, and it was wearing a black suit, so it would be more appropriate to call it a hunting dog rather than a puppy. It also had dark red claws and nails that looked like those of a wolf, so it was a species made for battle. As if it had just come out of hell, every time its tail on its waist swung, sparks would fly into the air.

“Hmm… I smell metal? Wait inside! ”

“Eh- That smells like jewelry.”

No, it wasn’t just one. I couldn’t see her because her presence was so faint, but next to the large, black woman was a girl with brown fur and puppy ears who looked gentle.

‘Oh my god, you’re smaller than me?’

After falling here, I haven’t seen many creatures smaller than me. It’s a memory I don’t want to recall, but maybe Bartholin before he grew up? That soon grew up and became a thing of the past…

Anyway, the two were a pair of guards. However, if one was a hunting dog, this one was a pet. It had a gentle-looking face and a small body. The ears covered the side of the face, and it reminded me of a dog I used to raise in the countryside, which made me feel at ease.

“Pass!”

However, I was worried that if the two of them were grouped like that, the black hunting dog might devour the girl. Well, since we won’t see each other again after the test, it’s not something I should worry about.

“Raise your head straight, sniff…”

The line moved quickly, and it was soon my turn.

Just like the dolls before, a black woman put her face near my neck. She had ears sprouting from her head, and a wagging tail… She looked like a dog, so she was probably checking for anything that could be a threat by smell, like a drug-sniffing dog. I didn’t bring a knife because it felt a bit creepy, but it was a good thing I did.

“Uhh… hmm…”

Somehow, I feel like I’m the only one who’s been sniffing around for too long. Did you notice? If you do, you might have to punch me and run away right away.

“Wow, that strangely sweet smell… Ouch! ”

Unlike the dolls before, it seemed to sniff closer and for a longer time, then suddenly screamed and collapsed.

Surprisingly, it was a seemingly innocent and docile puppy girl who kicked his calf with her toe.

“You’re trying to pass the work on to me by saying you’re going to get off work soon?”

“Oh, no, Mr. Cobol!”

I was wrong.

A 12 out of 10 joint. It wasn’t the first or second time he had done it that he was able to accurately grind the front of his shin with the tip of his shoe.

“It smells sweet, can I see your bag?”

“Here it is.”

I put my surprise aside for a moment and handed my bag over to the puppy girl – aka Senior Cobol – who was going to inspect the items.

After receiving the bag, she didn’t even look at its contents and just handed it over to the woman next to her.

“Here, look at the stuff in the bag. Okay? Now, if you don’t want to rummage through it, do it quickly.”

“Yes… Just receive the entrance chip and go in.”

…isn’t he a salary thief?

It was obvious that he was getting paid for his work, but it seemed like he was leaving all the work to the woman next to him. When I looked at the red-faced man who had been scared, I saw small tears welling up in his eyes. It seemed like his joints were quite sore.

There’s nothing suspicious in my bag. Just the jewelry I was wearing and the vase that Sister Alaune gave me. Maybe the vase is giving off a sweet smell. I like it, but… Is this okay?

A poor woman who resembled a hellhound ran over in a panic, grabbed a handful of entry chips, handed them to me, and quickly returned to her senior’s side.

I wanted to ask what this entry chip was and where I could go to see Nacha, but…

“Can’t you see the lines piling up? Stop messing around and hurry up.”

The sight of a woman being harassed by being told to hurry up and do it quickly, and the senior man motioning for her to get out quickly without even looking back as if he found it annoying, just went deeper into the building.

Well, if Nacha didn’t say anything, wouldn’t we just be able to meet them if we follow the other dolls?

‘Oh, there it is.’

In the place where it was written, “Doll Waiting Room,” numerous dolls were sitting there waiting for their owners.

I also didn’t want to just stand around, so I sat down on an empty chair and started observing my surroundings.

There are quite a few types of dolls, but the variety is even more severe among the demons. While the dolls are usually categorized as young human males, the demons vary in their arms, legs, and even the number of pupils.

And one more curious fact.

When I first saw the doll in the lab, I thought it was just a simple semen production device for the demons, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.

Some people walked with their arms linked with dolls, or made them crawl on all fours and rode them. On the contrary, they held dolls in their arms and showed themselves caring for children. Looking at them like this, it was hard to believe that they had fought against those demons in the past.

In my opinion, it felt a bit unpleasant because it was different from a real human, but it seems like those demons don’t think that way.

Or maybe they don’t feel that unpleasant because they think of them as mere decorations. There was a man who wore expensive clothes and carried two of them at his side, and there was a woman wearing a hat who dragged four or five of them around at a time. The woman looked around as if she still had to find more dolls, and then… I approached her. Huh?

“Let’s go…”

What is it? No, really, what is it? This is my first time seeing it?

I briefly tried to recall the memory while the woman was pulling my arm, but it was a face I had never seen before.

match!

” Let’s go, huh? ◦ ◦ ◦

“…Invalid user.”

As I continued to sit there, ignoring the pulling force, he now raised his hand and slapped me in the face.

It doesn’t hurt at all. It’s a problem because I feel dirty. By any chance, is this a thief? Now that I look at it, the other dolls that this woman was holding also had red marks on their arms. It seemed like she was forcibly dragging them around.

People’s attention and gaze were drawn to the sight of me slapping his cheek, and he put more strength into the hand that grabbed my arm, but it wasn’t enough to drag me away.

I was planning to wait for the guard, but then someone appeared next to me and joined the conversation.

“Excuse me, what are you doing? Isn’t that your doll? And the other four too.”

A woman who suddenly appeared had bat wings on her back and a large scorpion tail attached to her waist.

Although it looks a little different, I remember seeing it in a book. Manticore – a fighting creature with the body of a lion, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion… It’s probably something to do with it, but it currently resembles a human woman with a slightly ferocious look, perhaps due to the Demon King’s influence.

Just like the hellhound I saw at the entrance earlier, this casino had a demonic creature that looked like it had been recreated based on a succubus, a combat creature from a long time ago.

Anyway, the woman who suddenly appeared started to corner the doll thief wearing a hat.

“Stay still here. I called security.”

◦ Call it, call it, and you don’t care.

“Excuse me. Why do you keep swearing? Huh? The lady stole someone else’s doll.

It wasn’t just his appearance that had changed, he was quite gentle. According to what I had read in the book, he was incapable of conversation and mainly consumed human flesh… but that wasn’t the case.

The two were raising their voices, but no punches were exchanged. He slapped me in the face, but it seemed like he had no intention of swinging his fist when a bigger opponent appeared.

” Huh?

The woman continued to swear like that, and then flew backwards with a “whoosh” sound.

‘Wow, it’s a combat creature.’

Even though its body changed from a lion to a human, its destructive power did not disappear. It was quite exhilarating to see it roll several meters after being struck in the face with its heavy scorpion tail.

“Oh, I did it. By the way, is that Nacha’s father? I saved him.”

“Huh?”

The woman who suddenly appeared and saved me was surprisingly one of Nacha’s friends. She had asked me to make sure no strange people got involved while she was picking up her other friend, Scotty. …It made things a little more complicated, but I was grateful.

“Then what is your name and who is Scotty?”

“Scotty probably saw it, ah- there he comes.”

When I looked where this manticore, Nacha’s friend, was pointing, I saw two women with puppy ears that I had seen at the entrance.

A small girl named Senior Cobol was wearing sunglasses and blowing a whistle, while a large, black woman was running towards them quickly.

“Hehe, hehe… What’s going on?”