—Record.
Suspected great demon-class entity (designation unknown).
300 meters outside the northeastern area of Black Alley.
A being believed to be a demon was visually confirmed by a nearby patrol knight unit.
Five anti-demon specialists, formerly from the Special Knights, were urgently dispatched.
For unknown reasons, the mission could not be carried out.
Since a disaster was anticipated, cooperation was requested from the Magic Tower and private organizations.
During the standoff, the destruction of the demon body was declared by the Mage Tower’s “Heinel Shifter”.
While investigating the location where the great demon appeared, numerous unidentified metal boxes were discovered.
These too were declared by “Heinel Shifter” not to be strong evidence.
…The truth regarding the related matters must be clarified.
– Meow……
Beyond the edge of consciousness.
The sound of a cat’s cry tickles my ears.
***
It feels like I had been asleep for quite a long time.
When I came to my senses, it was dark all around. I blinked blankly for a while.
When I raised my body, I realized I was on top of a large bed. Where was this? Only after muttering quietly did I understand.
“…It was a miracle I survived.”
In the end, I had lost my reason because of the demonic factors.
Considering it had happened while two demons were already fused into my body, I didn’t even need to see it to know what kind of situation must have unfolded.
I must have rampaged wildly. Most likely I had destroyed the entire surrounding area.
Even a simple demon form granted the user power comparable to an academy professor. But if it was a state where one could freely draw upon the power of demons as well…
It would have been nothing short of a disaster.
“…Maybe I made a slight mistake.”
I let out a sigh.
What came to mind was the beginning of when I lost my reason.
The “Demon of Pain and Dreams”.
A being that had originally been meant to be a scenario boss.
She had been a small child.
She had probably managed to stay alive because her body was small enough to fit inside the Innovation Cube.
A child had been far too young to come to know pain.
Her small shoulders had trembled as she cried and begged for forgiveness. That small body had been covered in wounds.
The moment I confirmed that, I finally lost the last thread of sanity I had barely been holding onto.
It had been because of excessive sympathy.
No. Could that really be called excessive?
What would a child even know?
What I felt was righteous anger. It was a justified sympathy toward her, who had been abused into becoming a demon and forced to harm people without even knowing anything.
If someone could remain calm in that situation, that would be far more dangerous.
It would be no different from proof that I had lost the self I once had as a modern human.
So I didn’t regret what had happened.
The abused child would be safe. I had absorbed all of her demonic factors and returned her to being human.
Because of that, I must have completely become a demon myself. A demon formed from three entities fused into one body… I didn’t know how I was still alive without being killed… but if that was the case, then this place was the residence of someone who had saved me.
Most likely those damned demon worshippers. I gave a bitter smile. If someone had kept a demonized being alive, it could only be a group of worshippers.
More than anything, the reason I suspected the owner of this place was one of those worshippers was the interior.
Even the interior felt sinister.
It was a room that practically announced, I am a very bad person.
Perhaps ebony wood. In a bedroom made entirely of black timber, the only thing shining was the eyes of the cat sitting beside me.
…A cat?
– Meow……
When I came to my senses, I noticed a black cat sitting on the bedside table next to the bed.
It looked adorable. Was it a pet raised here? Without thinking much, I reached out and stroked the cat.
Purr—purr—
It didn’t seem to dislike being petted, so I picked it up and placed it on my lap.
The cat flipped over and exposed its belly. It must have been very used to human hands.
I stroked it for quite a while. As I absentmindedly kept doing that, it felt like the hardships of the past few days were fading away.
Seeing how it stayed quietly, it probably didn’t mind. After watching it carefully for a moment, I lifted it up and met its gaze.
“…You. You feel strangely familiar.”
As I looked into its red eyes, that thought suddenly crossed my mind.
…Wasn’t I forgetting something?
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, the cat’s eyes curved like crescent moons. A mysterious light swirled within them.
And then a voice came out from its small mouth.
“Aren’t you going to pet me more?”
“W-Waaah!!!”
Startled, I threw the cat into the air. It landed gracefully on the blanket.
Instead, intense pain struck me so hard that I nearly screamed. The aftereffects of the battle were dominating my limbs.
But that pain wasn’t very important right now. It was because I had realized the identity of the being I had just been petting.
The woman with the wide-brimmed hat…!
The name of a powerful figure who had only been called that in the original story. The one who had been sitting on my lap was one of the terrifyingly strong characters.
“I’m fine, so don’t move. In your current state, even crawling will be difficult.”
“For what reason… no, how are you here?”
“Oh my. That doesn’t sound like something you’d say to the person who saved your life.”
The cat curled up where it was and lifted its head. It was the posture of someone asking if there was any objection.
And then it happened.
As if blending into the scenery, the cat transformed into the shape of a person.
Just like that, she appeared sitting on the bed with her arms crossed, looking down at me.
I froze in place because I felt a familiar sense of déjà vu from the woman before my eyes.
“Hmm. You’re not surprised that I’m alive, are you? Then are you surprised that I’m not just a form made of magical light?”
She immediately voiced my suspicion.
“Hmm…because I have a physical body? Did it surprise you because it brought back something from the past you tried so hard to ignore? Or—”
I didn’t answer. No, I couldn’t answer.
After all, I never expected to meet her at this point in time.
The woman smiled faintly.
“Because you realized that I have the same Shape Transformation constitution as you?”
That was right.
The wide-brimmed woman….just now, the way she returned from a cat to a human.
It showed exactly the same phenomenon as when I transformed into a demon and returned again.
Kindred.
That was the word that had unconsciously surfaced in my mind.
***
I lay back down again. My head felt hazy; it seemed like I was about to come down with a fever this time.
My body hadn’t fully recovered. The strain I hadn’t felt while sleeping came crashing in the moment I regained consciousness.
The wide-brimmed-hat woman continued taking care of me. She pressed her forehead against mine to check my temperature and kept feeding me something like porridge.
Thinking it might be some strange medicine, I spat it out, but she simply made a troubled expression and went to cook more porridge. It tasted a little worse than before, but that was probably just my imagination.
She looked like a witch, yet she didn’t use a single magic potion. I wondered about that, but it seemed my body’s hypersensitivity to drugs meant that magic potions couldn’t be used on me right now.
Well, it made sense. I had been given that much of the extremely dangerous substance, “Mirage Oasis”. The fact that I was still alive was probably remarkable in itself.
“It was a dreadful battle. Six Tower Floor Masters joined in to kill you. And you, standing against them, had swollen into a gigantic incarnation of malice… you truly looked like the great demon from legend.”
“……”
“You even killed the people who handled the dirtiest parts of our Black Alley. They burst like insects.”
“I apologize for intruding into your territory without permission. But those bastards…”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
The wide-brimmed hat woman smiled brightly. Even with a face that looked like it could devour a man whole, she treated me with unusual kindness.
When I tried to recall it, she hadn’t originally been this kind of person.
In the original game, she had been a ruthless character who slaughtered playable characters without a hint of emotion.
“To continue the story, it seems not only the Tower’s Floor Masters but also the White Ship joined in to kill you. The commander personally.”
“…The White Ship?”
“So the White Ship is called that as well. In any case, yes. It seems he happened to be nearby.”
If it was the commander of the “White Ship”, she must be referring to Breward.
“……”
I let out a sigh.
I had finally managed to build a good relationship with the White Ship, yet they ended up witnessing me turning into a demon.
I should probably give up on the idea that our relationship could remain the same as before.
They would likely see me as a potential enemy now. At this rate, I wouldn’t even be able to face Sally.
“…What about the child? There should have been a child inside the facility. What happened to her?”
After keeping silent for a moment, I asked the question that had been bothering me.
The reason I hadn’t asked until now was simple. I myself had been wavering.
No matter what, that small child had clearly appeared as a demon boss in the scenario.
Even if I had turned her back into a human, the fact that she had once become a demon wouldn’t change. This incident had made me realize that.
So deep down, while worrying that she might have died—
I was also afraid that if I heard she had been killed after getting caught up in the battle, I might end up feeling relieved without meaning to.
“She’s probably under protection. Since the Special Knight Order is being dismantled, it seems a newly rising noble house will take responsibility for her.”
“…I see.”
Another sigh escaped me. This time, it was one of relief.
It was a little unsettling how this woman knew such detailed information, but she was someone who oversaw the protection of all Black Alley.
If anything, it might be only natural for her to know about matters this significant.
After all, the incident had taken place near Black Alley.
Of course, there was still the question of why she was telling me all this so readily.
Perhaps sensing that suspicion, her eyes curved into a sly smile.
“You’re not asking about Harunsdel’s situation? That’s unexpected.”
I shrugged. Since she had answered my questions sincerely, it would only be fair for me to respond as well. But not immediately.
Without saying anything, I stared blankly into the air for a moment.
◆Your trait has advanced to the next stage!
◆A trait penalty exists.
It was paradoxical proof that this place where I existed was reality.
The status window was functioning properly.
“…Because I don’t need to ask. It’s obvious.”
“Hmm. And why is that?”
“I pretended to die at Drei’s hands. I promised Drei the title of ‘the aide who defeated the demon’ and received the information in return.”
“Aren’t you curious about what happened after that?”
I said with a smile.
“What do you mean, after that? That title is nothing but an illusion. If anything, the way I went on a rampage afterward would only make people more suspicious. To begin with, no matter how impressive Harunsdel may be, it’s only just become one of the three great merchant guilds. It doesn’t have the power to manipulate an incident of this scale. The aide who defeated the demon? Wasn’t that aide a demon herself, even if only for a moment? With so many eyes present, Drei’s existence would only tarnish Menemen’s honor, not help it.”
The woman with the wide-brimmed hat widened her eyes.
“Oh my. So you did it all knowing that.”
But soon she dropped the act, as if her surprise had been a lie.
Returning to the seductive expression she used to charm men, she asked again.
“But someone like you… isn’t asking about the Magic Tower at all?”
“……”
I fell silent for a moment.
Then I spat out the porridge that had been forced into my mouth.
Despite the rude act, the woman with the wide-brimmed hat didn’t seem to mind. She set down the spoon, raised her pale hand, and lightly tickled my chest. She only smiled as she did so.
“You must be curious, aren’t you? Whether Heinel Shifter is doing well.”
Even I couldn’t help but frown at those words.
Even though my vocal cords had already regenerated, a scratching sound rose from deep within my throat.
“…I hope she’s doing as poorly as possible.”
“Oh my.”
I went over the exchange that surfaced in a corner of my mind once again.
…The conversation I had with Ray, the shadow guard.
– Does the Magic Tower know about the demonization experiments?
– ….
– Answer me.
– They… know.
– …Right. An experiment like that couldn’t be carried out without support. They’re probably getting funding from Harunsdel and materials from the Magic Tower. There might even be advice or direct involvement in the experiment.
– ….
– Answer me, Drei. You’re a first-generation test subject. During the experiment, you must have seen someone from the Magic Tower.
Even as I asked the question, I wasn’t expecting a proper answer. I only wanted some rough information.
But Drei had replied like this.
– …Heinel Shifter, the disciple of the Archmage Maria. The one I saw was her.
Even for someone like me who knew most of the game’s storyline….that was a shocking testimony.
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