chapter 23
“How do you feel? Are there any parts of memory, personality, and ego where there is confusion?”
“It’s okay. It feels like nothing happened in the first place.”
I’m not lying.
As the concept of lying to the owner of Aigo, who became a member of my family through the master-slave contract, has disappeared, Aigo’s evaluation must literally be based on what she felt.
It’s my first brainwashing, and I’m glad that it seems to have worked well.
‘Oh, I don’t want to do it again.’
It’s not a guilt issue, it’s a fatigue issue.
No matter how much the target is a demon, if you make even the slightest mistake while brainwashing, won’t it turn into ‘something that used to be a demon’ instead of a demon?
If there is a mismatch between memory and personality, the probability of the ego will collapse is very high.
Of course, if you’re brainwashing to use it as a simple meat shield or just labour, you can brainwash only the parts you want to work well, but I’m not brainwashing Aigo for that purpose, right?
It would be difficult if Aigo, who had to take care of Lucia, just turned into an emotionless robot.
The brainwashing seems to have gone well… Next, I’ll have to check the curse.
“Aigokeros, attack me.”
“Yes?”
“Come on. Attack with the conviction that you will surely attack.”
Up until now, Igo has been carrying out my orders immediately without any objection, but this time, as orders are orders, even that Aigo asks me again.
“Okay, Master. Right now—…!?”
pass-
The hints and curses placed on Aigo certainly seem to have worked well.
Aigo’s body, which had been fine until recently, turned to salt in an instant and collapsed, and the mana that had been condensed to attack me was also scattered in the air.
The figure of Aegoceros disappeared from place to place and is nowhere to be found. There is literally just a mountain of salt.
Okay, the Curse, the safeguard, works just fine.
**********
Obviously I had died once.
The body made of mana materialized into salt and disappeared in an instant, and the source of the devil, Magi, was scattered and assimilated with nature.
But… what the heck, this.
It’s okay, as if it was just a dream.
‘You did a good job offering your allegiance.’
Aegoceros clenched his fists, reflecting on what he had just experienced.
Resurrection magic is very rare, but surprisingly common. It is full of revival magic that has been witnessed for thousands of years.
But… I’ve never seen anything like this. I didn’t even know it existed at all.
Going back in time, was this really possible?
‘No, technically speaking, it’s not something that was saved.’
If you turn back time and make death a non-existent thing, how can this be called resurrection? It’s just reality manipulation.
At first, he only swore allegiance to save his life, but not anymore.
As long as I follow this person, if I obey this person, just being by my side can make me stronger.
Not only that.
I can know all the knowledge I do not know, even the magic that I do not know.
“Aigokeros, look. This is your second master, Lucia.”
Five…
Is this person, Lucia-sama, the senior the flower spoke of?
In terms of looks, it’s very insignificant. Isn’t he just a child of the human race?
However, unlike its appearance, its magical power is so great that it can be called the family of its master. In terms of quality, he is far superior to me.
The magic emanating from Lucia-sama’s body is so profound and sharp, it even resembles the master’s in many parts.
There is no way that a child could be emitting such a powerful and similar magical power, so this person is probably an alter ego of the master, that is, Faust-sama, or something similar thereto. You should never react prematurely by looking at your appearance.
“👌👌”
When their eyes met, Lucia-sama shrugged slightly and took a vigilant posture.
If you look at this, you are a human child worthy of your age… but there is nothing more foolish than judging by appearance alone.
Wasn’t a lot of magic flowing out of his eyes in the first place? Perhaps, if the body grows into an adult like this, you will become a full-fledged devil.
“Master… There are two masters to say. Faust, what can I do for Lucia?”
“Protect Lucia while I’m away.”
“Yes, Faust.”
This is a very reasonable command.
In general, there would be no weakness for beings with such magical powers, but Lucia-sama is an exception as she currently has a child’s body.
The body can’t keep up with its latent magic, which shows enough possibility that if things go wrong, the magic will run wild and Lucia-sama will lose her current body.
If it was a normal clan, they wouldn’t care whether or not the magic power ran out, but Lucia-sama is not a simple clan, but a clan equivalent to an alter ego, which means that the possibility of Lucia-sama running out of magic would have led to a very annoying result for Faust.
And the person responsible for resolving the nuisance is… Narani.
‘This is a chance.’
Although it is said to be a family, you cannot become strong without receiving any price.
Of course, as Faust-sama spews magical energy everywhere, just sticking around will make you stronger to a certain extent, but such a thing is completely different from the power you can receive in return for obedience.
If I use this great opportunity to help Lucia-sama as a stepping stone and build a major and appeal my competence, I can become stronger here. It means that you can easily jump over Arcdaemons.
“Thank you, Lucia-sama.”
“Hey…”
You must have heard Faust give me orders, but you’re still on my guard.
Hmm… do you have any complaints?
For example, you might prefer to be alone—
“Aigokeros. When protecting Lucia, polymorph into a human form and do not release any magic.”
“Yes, Faust.”
…Lucia-sama seems to be strongly influenced by the body.
Instead of maintaining dignity as the first member of the family and an alter ego of Faust-sama, instead of being afraid of me, it should not be like this. Isn’t Faust-sama’s prestige tarnished?
I need to educate myself so that I can have the dignity that is worthy of Faust-sama’s alter ego, beyond the level of just being a babysitter.
“How about this look?”
“excellent.”
I copied the image of an old male butler of the royal family I saw a long time ago, and it seems to work quite well.
Unlike a while ago, Lucia-sama is not afraid of me either. A lot of the hostility is gone.
Okay, let’s just do it like this.
By taking care of him, educating him, and making him a full-fledged member of Faust-sama and an alter ego. I’m sure Faust will be happy too.
**********
Whoa, what’s the polymorph doing?
I can only think from a distance that I am a human being, and when I look at it up close, the level of Polymorph is so bad that I can see it straight away.
Even it’s so cool
It is the appearance of an elderly butler in a suit that is often seen in movies and cartoons. I feel like I’m on a mission with a nice British English pronunciation.
If this is the case, then Lucia must have liked it too. It’s time for all of my magic to be neutralized, so shall I go back?
“Lucia, how are you?”
“…huh.”
But when Lucia saw me, as usual, she did not welcome me and turned her head away.
…what?
This is the first time…
Until now, when I came, Lucia stopped what she was doing and ran straight away… uh…
“…”
I wondered if Aigo did something wrong, so I turned my head to look at him, but it seems that Aigoo was also perplexed.
With your eyes wide open, you don’t even understand how things are going.
“Lucia.”
“…”
Even if I talk to her, Lucia just turns her back and keeps her mouth shut. Even though you are clearly paying attention to what I have to say when you see my ears are pricked up.
Uh… um…
I’m sure you’re angry, but why the hell… Why didn’t I just stick with Aigo and go out?
Yep, that’s probably the only possibility.
“…I’m sorry, I can’t stay with Lucia for long.”
“Lie, there’s nothing wrong with the same demon, Ice Croquette.”
Apart from the sudden transformation of Aegokeros into a strange word… From Lucia’s point of view, Lucia’s words are extremely correct.
I can’t completely suppress Magi because I’m too strong, but unlike me, Aigo can almost completely suppress and block Magi?
Seeing Aigo like that, Lucia must have felt betrayed by me.
“I mean… I want to be with you.”
“…Lucia.”
The emotions that Lucia is emanating are felt very acutely through her demonic instincts.
From the fear of being abandoned, to the feeling of betrayal that you lied to, and the feeling of alienation, it’s literally everything.
“Come here.”
“Yes…?”
“The time we can be together is short, so shouldn’t we play as much as possible in the meantime?”
To be honest, I cannot fundamentally solve Lucia’s dissatisfaction.
You can fundamentally solve Lucia’s dissatisfaction only if I stay by your side, but if you do that, magic stones will not flow out of Lucia’s skin again.
However, not being able to fundamentally resolve complaints and being able to resolve complaints to some extent are two different things.
Even while we’re together, we have to play as much fun as possible so that we can have a good time. A child must grow up like a child.