Dark gray. In modern terms, it would probably be called ash gray.
I’ve never measured my height exactly, but judging by eye level, I’m likely over 180 cm.
I’ve put on a fair amount of muscle, giving me a solidly masculine build. Even my facial features have become much more defined.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it’s practically impossible to associate the current me with the original “Adel Bliss”.
My height is different, my facial structure is different, and even the color of my eyes has changed.
And yet, for some reason, the moment I mentioned the name “Adel Bliss” Irina, who had looked startled, began carefully examining me.
“…What’s your connection to Adel, that you’re bringing up his name?”
There’s no way she could have figured anything out. My appearance is far too different.
It’s probably just suspicion, wondering what kind of guy would casually bring up Adel’s name.
If that’s the case, it’s not difficult. I just need to spin a plausible story.
“What kind of relationship would two guys have? He and I were friends.”
“Friends…”
“Yeah. We’d been friends since we were kids. Once we got older, we couldn’t meet often because of various circumstances, but…”
“…I see.”
After replying, Irina quietly stared into her teacup.
“While we were both busy, Adel suddenly ended up going to Tane. I don’t know what his reasons were… Anyway, I have no idea how he lived there.”
“Adel’s… friend.”
“If you don’t mind, could you tell me? From what I can see, you seemed pretty close to him.”
The guarded look she had maintained the entire time gave way to a sorrowful expression.
Moisture shimmered in her light brown eyes.
…She’s more upset than I expected.
“He was kind of an idiot, you know.”
“…Uh, oh.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
From her perspective, it hasn’t been long since her friend’s funeral ended.
***
Still, the moment she heard the name Adel, Irina slipped back into the way she used to speak at Tane.
That means it’s fine. It’s proof she’s lowering her guard.
“…You can speak casually.”
“…Right. No, you’re right. You’re a friend of a friend, after all.”
I quietly listened to Irina speak.
It was a strange experience. Hearing someone else recount “their memories of me” because of my fake death.
If it hadn’t been directed at someone who was supposedly dead, I never would have heard the feelings she was now laying bare.
“To be honest, I didn’t like him at first.”
“…I see.”
“A magic major saying he’d train with the knight department? There’s a limit to being reckless. But even after I hinted at it over and over, he kept showing up anyway.”
“……”
Did that happen?
I’m not sure.
Back then, I spent every single day consumed by the anxiety that I would be killed by Camilla.
I didn’t have the capacity to care about how others looked at me.
“…That’s why I ended up liking him.”
“W-Wait? Huh? Oh. As a friend?”
The words came out of nowhere…I almost spat out my tea. Feeling lightheaded, I stared at Irina.
She continued without even acknowledging my question.
“If he was sick, he should’ve told me. He was coughing up blood like that, pretending everything was fine…!”
“Blood? Oh…”
“And he even sold the gift I sent him at an auction house…”
W-Wait, stop!
I pressed a hand to my forehead at the sudden flood of information.
If it was something I sold at auction, there’s only one possibility: the mana-wave stabilization potion.
Was that something Irina had sent me?
“And then, after treating me like that… he died trying to save another woman.”
“..…”
“Isn’t that too much? You were Adel’s friend too. Say something.”
“W-Well, I’m sure Adel had his reasons…”
Irina wiped at her eyes.
I could only sit there, dumbfounded. What is this? Didn’t she have a boyfriend to begin with?
If I remember right, he was a student at Damagen Academy.
“Reasons? What reasons? He saw me going to meet my real older brother and just decided on his own that it was my boyfriend. And then he died without even giving me a chance to explain. Seriously, so self-righteous!”
Her emotions poured out.
Without holding anything back, Irina vented her anger. Something close to resentment surfaced on her face again and again before fading.
“…So that’s what happened.”
“He was such a selfish guy. Not even a speck of awareness that someone else might cherish him. Acting like he was the only one capable of caring about others…”
“Is that so?”
“…Jerk. Idiot.”
Irina kept muttering surprisingly cute curses under her breath.
“……”
She must have had a hard time lately.
Originally, she never would have thrown herself into the hellscape of Harunsdel’s succession struggle.
From the look of it, my death had changed something inside her.
“…Honestly, I wish he’d come back and tell me he was alive… I’d even forgive him for lying, if it were now…”
Even so, it’s dangerous for her to reveal feelings like this to someone she’s only just met.
It also means she has no one else to confide in. But at this rate, she’s no different from an ordinary high school girl, not the daughter of House Harunsdel.
Beneath her, the shadows flickered. They were likely uneasy about their master exposing too much emotion.
I glanced at the shadow and jerked my chin toward Irina.
Do something about her.
– …My lady.”
The voice rang low, slightly distorted.
That single word seemed to pull Irina back to reality.
“…Sorry. That was quite rude of me, especially to someone I’ve just met.”
“It’s fine. You must have been very close.”
But it was unfortunate. Despite Irina’s emotions, not a single ripple stirred in my heart.
There was no flutter, no racing pulse.
Still, I did feel something like guilt. Because of me, she must have accepted being a Harunsdel.
And that means she’ll have to witness horrors that could never suit her gentle nature.
What I’m about to say is an extension of that very thought.
“…It seems you weren’t involved after all.”
“……?”
“Listen carefully, Irina Harunsdel. Your House Harunsdel was involved in Adel Bliss’s death.”
I declared it.
That her family was the true force that had driven Adel Bliss to his death.
“…What did you just say?”
“Harunsdel has been conducting experiments to turn humans into demons.”
“……”
“Adel was digging into Harunsdel’s affairs. He was killed by your head research mage.”
It wasn’t entirely wrong.
Quinoron had been serving as the chief researcher for the Harunsdel Guild.
If Heinel hadn’t been summoned there in advance, I would have died at Quinoron’s hands.
“Th-That’s…”
Irina seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
Ignoring that, I continued.
“It’s late to say this, but I owe you an apology. I lied when I said I’d cooperate with you.”
I’m sorry, Irina. I’ll apologize properly someday.
“Instead, you’re going to cooperate with me, Irina Harunsdel.”
***
Emotions are not clear. They shimmer faintly on the surface of consciousness, then mostly fade away.
At best, emotions merely pile up without one’s awareness and bring about an inexplicable sense of depression or lethargy.
That was how I had always thought of them.
It wasn’t like that from the beginning.
When I was young, I’m sure I used to feel far more intense emotions.
But not anymore. I must have grown dull.
If you call it the end of a long life in society, this is what it amounts to.
That same numbness followed me even into this world. Just because I came to another world didn’t mean there was some dramatic “woo-hoo” kind of change as one might expect.
At first, when my life was on the line and I got entangled with Camilla, I did feel a few things. But most of the time, it was nothing more than the sense that I simply did what had to be done.
I changed the way I spoke when necessary, and I played a character when necessary.
Of course, I remember Awen crying for me. I’m fully aware that Aaron tried to help me over just a few words.
I understand what Sally said, and what Sasha said as well. I know what those words meant.
But I figured all of it stemmed from gratitude for having saved them. That’s how I saw it.
I assumed it was nothing more than the kind of fiery romantic feelings girls that age experience. Feelings that flare up and then quickly fade away.
“……”
After all, people rarely marry the person they date at that age.
Back when I was a soldier in the modern world, I saw countless couples break up. I’d had quite a few girlfriends myself, and every one of them ended the same way.
Indifference.
So I assumed everyone else was the same.
But when you start to notice affection directed at you even from someone you only spent a brief part of a single day with, someone you never even saved… the story changes.
It was through the feelings Irina held for me that I finally realized it.
This place is unmistakably real.
The faint sense that I might still be inside a game vanished without a trace.
Phew.
In other words, that’s why I’m nervous.
And for good reason. What I’m about to do is—
Something along the lines of a terrorist bombing combined with the assassination of a key figure.
◆ [Total Magical Structure Analysis] activated.
◆ [Shape Transformation] activated.
[Adel Bliss] → [Adel Bliss (Demon of Execution)]
◆ Available Mana: [25,590 (+40,000)]
I pulled out the Snowfield Subjugation Log from my coat.
…It clearly says the effective range is about 3,000 meters. Even accounting for exaggeration, it should be at least 2,000. Then it’ll reach without a problem.
Slowly, I raised my hand.
What I needed was a huge spear that could be launched over a great distance.
“Thorn Hail.”
A long, jagged magical spike took shape.
In the form of the Demon of Execution, my Agility stat had risen to an extreme degree, drastically reducing mana consumption.
“Extreme Rotation.”
And a demon’s horns serve as organs that store mana.
They don’t carry blood, so they can’t create resonance….but there are still advantages to having them.
The horns act as a second heart, amplifying the magic.
“Object Manipulation Enhancement.”
Wiiiiiiing—!
The magical spike trembled violently, emitting a high-pitched ultrasonic whine.
Solidified mana pushed the air aside.
I waited silently for the signal.
In the distance, enhanced vision let me see a carriage come to a stop in front of headquarters.
Stepping out was a girl with light brown hair. It was Irina.
And following behind her, the eldest son of House Harunsdel, Menemen Harunsdel.
The target was in sight.
And then it happened.
Whoooooosh—
Boooom—!!
A little farther off, in the opposite direction,
Fireworks burst across the sky.
Sound and light. A combination guaranteed to draw human attention. The moment most people turned their heads that way—
“—Hyper Shot.”
I unleashed the fiercely spinning spike-spear.
Shwaaaaaaak—!!!!
◆ Available Mana: [0]
A spell recorded in the Snowfield Subjugation Log.
Developed for use against great magical beasts.
A spell powerful enough to tear a human apart without effort was fired, aimed at a single person.
And in the very next instant….
The darkness at Menemen’s feet suddenly surged upward.
The spike-spear, which had been crushing everything in a straight line, was swallowed by the darkness and lost its force.
Crackle-crackle—!!
Within the surging darkness, multiple crimson eyes snapped open and particles radiating a sinister aura burst outward into the air.
The power of a demon.
“…Just as I expected.”
The red eyes embedded in the materialized darkness swept across the surroundings.
But there was no way it could pinpoint this location at once. Watching the scene unfold, I withdrew from my position.
“So that’s the shadow guardian, huh.”
It had blocked an attack into which I had poured every ounce of my strength.
Its true identity was a human who had undergone demonization.
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