Published

　　 at 17th of June 2019 10:59:13 PM

　　 Chapter 20

　　 17-20 . Demon G.o.d Satou here . Though it's not limited to Tokusatsu genre, I think face offs with Four Guardians, generals and the likes before the main villain and the fierce battle that follows are just obligatory . ◇『This is yummy . 』The pink-haired little girl bit into the strawberry shortcake with beaming eyes . "Yies~?"

　　"This Mont Blanc here is delish too nodesu . ""Young organism, I recommend the pudding over here as well so I inform . "Tama, Pochi, and Nana are entertaining the little girl with sweets .

　　Since the little girl is speaking in Age of G.o.ds language, I'm supporting their conversation with force magic, [Translate: Age of G.o.ds Language] . We're in a newly created sub-s.p.a.ce on top of the great desert .

　　I took her here instead of Solitary Island Palace because it'd be bad if the little girl's guardian, Demon G.o.d, were to raid the place . The sweets are lubricant to make the little girl more p.r.o.ne to spill things out . Besides sweets towers on top of many tables, this area is filled with Arisdirected [Houses of Sweets], sweet aroma lingers in the air . "And here comes Chocolate Fondue~"

　　"Wa~i, choco~?"

　　"Gureato nanodesu!"When a maid robot--I mean a cooking-support living doll modeled after Lulu brought a magic tool that regulates the right temperature for chocolate with her, Tama and Pochi jumped out in joy . Only me, and the aforementioned people above are here .

　　All other members are standing by in Solitary Island Palace for safety . 『Choco? It kinda looks like mud though . . . 』

　　"Young organism, chocolate is justice so I tell . "Nana lectured the hesitant little girl how to chocolate fondue . 『It's so tasty!』

　　"Offu~ course~?"The little girl who timidly bit chocolate-laden biscuit beamed, Tama who was sitting next to her nodded as-matter-of-factly . "Dipping with fruits here is yummy too nodesuyo . "'Chocolate banana is the strongest nanodesu', Pochi added . --I think it's about time?I talk to the little girl right as she's getting relaxed . 『Was it good?』

　　『Un!』The little girl with sticky chocolate all over her mouth replied back .

　　The closer I see her, the more similar she looks to the picture of little girl at Rumooku Kingdom's Shadow Castle and the body that was inside the Cultivation Tube I found there .

　　Unfortunately, appraisal and AR readings of her only show UNKNOWN, and nothing more . 『Don't you get sweets at your place?』

　　『Nnn . We do get some, but only after meal and during afternoon snack time . 』The little girl answered while holding a spoonful of ice cream . 『Who's making the sweets for you?』

　　『Mother!』An image of a s.e.xy pink-haired beauty came up in my mind . "What kind of person (human)~?"

　　『She's not a human! She's a demon with a ruby-like horn on her!』The image on my mind transfigured at once . Tama and Pochi were surprised when they heard the word demon, but since it would have complicated things, I swiftly went around, blocked their mouths and made a hand signal telling them to keep silent . 『Is mother-san the wife of your master?』

　　『Nope, she's Lord-sama's servant . She's like the strongest demon ever, that's what she said!』The girl is talkative . I pretend to be impressed, 『Hee, that's amazing』, and poured more sugared blue tea for her . 『Were you instructed by your lord to do the things you did in the towers?』

　　『Un--wrong! Forget I said that! It's a secret!』The little girl who reflexively nodded to my question denied in panic . 『I see, can't be helped if it's a secret . 』

　　『Yep yep, can't be helped . 』The little girl who kept nodding reached out a parfait with a long spoon as if she was trying to brush it over . 『So what's Demon G.o.d-sama trying to do anyway?』

　　『No clue . It's like something really amazing!』I guess the vague stuff don't have to be kept a secret?I purposely replaced [Lord-sama] to [Demon G.o.d-sama] in the question just now, and the little girl replied back without hesitation .

　　As expected, apparently these little girls were acting on behalf of Demon G.o.d . "Nyu!"Tama's ears stood up . At the same time, a voice resounded in the sub-s.p.a.ce . 『Let me give you the answer you want . 』◇Purple cracks ran on the sub-s.p.a.ce boundaries, then a night-like deep dark purple silhouette showed up . 『Lord-sama!』The pink-haired little girl said that cheerfully . "Tama . "

　　"Aye . "Tama took Pochi and Nana into the shadow .

　　Evacuation complete . 『This would be our first time meeting in this world, wouldn't it, Demon G.o.d-sama . 』I talked to demon G.o.d who had a.s.sumed the form of a literal shadow .

　　Perhaps his 2-dimension-like solid-less figure comes from something similar to my masquerade mask . Of course, appraisal results and AR readings show UNKNOWN . 『How carefree of you, unbefitting of a Sinner . 』

　　『Sinner?』

　　『Hmph, you abducted a familiar of G.o.d . Of course you are prepared to receive a fitting punishment, are you not?』

　　『Please don't say abduction, it's just a misunderstanding . 』 . . . What's this I wonder?Something is bugging me as I talk to Demon G.o.d though I'm not sure what .

　　Is it because the way he talks is completely different than when I saw him in Realm of G.o.ds, could that be the reason?『We received reports about someone instigating monsters toward explorers in the towers, hence we launched a capture operation but the moment we realized that we had captured someone from the managerial side, we served as much delicious food as she wanted as an apology . 』I told demon G.o.d the excuse I had prepared beforehand with the help of Deception skill . 『Hmph, what a worthless excuse . 』I can't tell his expression behind the shadow, but his aura is like he laughed scornfully . Demon G.o.d raised one hand, then the purple crack behind him split apart, countless little girls jumped out of empty air .

　　Every single one of these little girls looks exactly the same as the first one . 『Aah! She's eating cake by herself!』

　　『So nice . Gimme some too!』

　　『Delish~』All the little girls were armed with giant scythes and great swords, but the moment they saw cakes, they threw away their weapons and rushed toward the sweets on tables . 『Hey, ah, but that's mine!』

　　『Eeh, isn't it fine . 』

　　『Right right, monopoly is bad . 』

　　『Aah! All these small houses are made of sweets!』

　　『Eeh, that's so cool~!』

　　『Biscuit roofs . And jelly windows!』

　　『Delish~』They look like normal children when I see them enjoying sweets fervently like this .

　　 『--And?』Demon G.o.d who was gazing at how the little girls were doing turned his line of sight at me and raised his chin . 『Don't you have something to ask?』Looks like question time is still in effect . Now then, from whence should I ask-- .

　　◇『What are you trying to do with the towers?』Might as well go with a straight one . 『An update to the world . 』I'm glad that he's responding, but I still don't get what he means by 'update' here . 『What kind?』

　　『Exactly what it says . 』Looks like he'll keep being evasive . I guess I have to ask in more details . . . 『Is pitting explorers against stronger monsters a part of this update as well?』I speak while looking at the little girls who are absorbed with eating sweets . 『Exactly . A certain level of tension is required for [Towers of Trials] . Those are no places for mindless fools to indulge in easy experience points . 』His method is a bit too extreme even if that's the goal though . 『You think it's too extreme?』Since he asked as if he had read my expression, I gave my affirmation . 『Monsters taken by those girls from other floors are bound by [Purple-Blue Chains], which limit their activity range . One can easily run away from them so long one throws everything away . You merely need to keep an eye on the surroundings and be ready to throw away everything before fleeing . 』Which means explorers who are h.o.a.rding loots on easy floors for them will end up dead as long as they won't give up their greed huh . . . 『That dragon broke through that though . 』

　　『I mean, that thing bites, hmph . 』

　　『Those fangs are unfair . 』My Attentive Ears skill picked up some of the little girls' conversation .

　　Looks like even this [Purple-Blue Chains] Demon G.o.d mentioned isn't perfect . 『Then what about the instability of priests' holy magic inside towers?』

　　『It's a bug . 』--Bug?『Even G.o.ds are not absolutely perfect . You can tell after seeing G.o.ds in their realm, can't you? There are flaws in the system that adjusts difficulty of faith in towers . Which in turn manifests into instability of holy magic . I will have it corrected soon, forgive me . 』Demon G.o.d said so shamelessly . I can't read his expressions under the shadow, so I can't tell whether he's just making excuses or it's the truth .

　　I'll risk incurring his wrath and push a bit further here . 『So it's not like it's making use of tower system to s.n.a.t.c.h the faith directed to G.o.d . 』Demon G.o.d smiled profoundly when he heard me .

　　A red-purplish crescent-shaped smile formed on the purple-blue shadow . 『--That's some amusing thing you uttered . 』A cold voice that gave off an illusion of rapidly lowering temperature in this sub-s.p.a.ce . 『Are you saying that I'm mimicking the Thief G.o.d whom G.o.ds despised?』Oh right, one of the G.o.ds did say something like that . 『No, that's not what I mean . 』

　　『Then pray tell what you mean . 』

　　『After listening to testimonies of priests who had explored towers, I'm making a conjecture that perhaps someone is trying to steal faith in the towers . 』The pressure coming off Demon G.o.d got even stronger .

　　I guess saying [s.n.a.t.c.hing faith away] again was a bad move . Demon G.o.d swung his hand then a slate appeared in front of him .

　　I can't see it from here, but that slate seems to contain some sort of information, Demon G.o.d is operating the slate as if a tablet with one hand . Looks like he's looking for something . 『d.a.m.n you Zaikuon . . . 』Demon G.o.d muttered . That G.o.d caused another trouble again huh . 『I give you my thanks for this bug report . 』After saying that Demon G.o.d told the little girls, 『We're going back』 . 『Eeh, but we're still eating . 』

　　『Why not have some too Lord-sama?』

　　『It's good you know?』The little girls raised an objection . I could somehow tell an aura of being stumped coming from Demon G.o.d . 『Please feel free to take everything with you as a present . 』

　　『Oh really . 』Demon G.o.d swung his arm, then shadow stretched out of him to form a web, swallowing sweets houses and sweets on top of tables whole . 『I shall overlook your sin this time as thanks for this hospitality and the report earlier . 』After saying that, Demon G.o.d stepped toward the other side of the sub-s.p.a.ce along with the little girls . Guess he's saying that he won't show any mercy the next time we make a move on those little girls . 『O Lesser Goods (Irregular) . I will give you one warning . 』--Lesser Goods?『G.o.ds who have excess faith on their hands shall do wrongs . Take heed of their movement . 』

　　『I'm ever so grateful for your advices . 』I bowed to thank demon G.o.d for his advices .

　　By the time I raised my head, both demon G.o.d and the cracks on sub-s.p.a.ce had vanished . ◇After shutting the sub-s.p.a.ce which had outlived its usefulness down, I came to the mansion in Blue Territory as a precaution against Demon G.o.d's tailing .

　　A gate Arisa created with s.p.a.ce magic opened right in front of me . "Master, are you safe?"Arisa crossed the gate along with other girls . "Yea, of course I am . "I conveyed my conversation with Demon G.o.d to the girls . "Hmm [Update to the World] is it . . . That's deep . "

　　"Yeah . "In the end, he was gone before I could ask what it meant . "Then does it mean the one who has been stealing divinity in the towers is G.o.d Zaikuon, not Demon G.o.d?"

　　"That's if Demon G.o.d wasn't acting . "We can't exclude the possibility that it was all an act to make me exterminate Zaikuon . "Can't we put that on hold for now? More importantly, we should go inform all tower administrators about how the out-of-floor monsters being [Tower Specs] along with Demon G.o.d's advice . "It's very like Hikaru to prioritize life-saving . "You're right . Can I count on you to contact the king and Echigoya Firm?"

　　"Yes, just count on me . "After saying that, Hikaru got into the gate that Arisa opened .

　　Looks like the other side of this gate is capital's mansion . "It's safe to a.s.sume that there's a G.o.d who's trying to steal divinity then?"

　　"Most likely . "We can't conclude whether it's really Zaikuon as Demon G.o.d said, or it's Demon G.o.d himself . "Master, was Demon G.o.d really that strong?"I'm not sure how to answer Liza here . "At the very least, I couldn't fully grasp his real strength I think?"

　　"Eh really? Since 『Demon G.o.d Offshots』 were like that, I imagined he'd be even more fearsome--"

　　"--That's it!"I realized what had been bugging me while I was meeting Demon G.o.d . The three black thin stripes that were once summoned in the capital's sky--[Demon G.o.d Offshots], the soul-freezing dread I felt from it,

　　I could feel nothing like that from the Demon G.o.d himself I met today . "What's the matter Master?"I explained my suspicion to the girls who were surprised at me suddenly raising my voice . "Which means, the demon G.o.d you met earlier wasn't the real body then?"

　　"Seems likely . Might be something similar to Dragon Blood Avatars Heavenly Dragon and Black Dragon used . "I open the Map to check out Markers . --Geh . The marker that should have been on Demon G.o.d has disappeared .

　　Same with the little girls . I really can't let my guard down against Demon G.o.d . "Still, for him to go as far as to give warning, I really don't get what Demon G.o.d is trying to do . "

　　"He must be plotting something evil for sure . "At the princess's remark, Sera said something a Tenion Miko would say . "Master, is Demon G.o.d a bad person, or just, so I ask . "

　　"I can't say for sure at this point . "Regrettably enough . "Bad people should do what bad people do nodesu . "

　　"Uy uy~?"Pochi and Tama spoke out in place of my inner thought . "If he's going to harm people, then we just need to crush him with all our might desuwa . "

　　"That's a bit too violent though . "

　　"Nn, agreed . "Zensan and Mia denied Lady Karina's aggresive remark . "Master, I would like to take Pochi and the girls along in my training, would you allow us to?"

　　"Yeah, of course . "Liza who had been keeping silent spoke .

　　Liza going on a drill is not unusual, but there's something a bit different about her just now . Looks like our discussion just now had an effect on her . I sent Liza and the girls away with Unit Arrangement . "Now then, guess I'll get back to the capital's mansion for now--"I mean there's no sign of Demon G.o.d nor pink-haired little girls, should be fine if I go back for now . "--Satou . "Mia called me .

　　The surrounding trees are rustling noisily even though there's no wind . 『--h--lp--』I could hear someone's voice from the rustling trees . I strain my ears『Satou, help . Aze, bad . 』--Aze-san?!Blue Territory trees repeatedly tells of the crisis that befalls Aze-san . "Arisa, I'll leave the rest to you . "Feeling impatient from even telling those brief words, I moved to Boruenan Forest with Unit Arrangement . I'm coming for you, Aze-san!