Chapter 91: Counterfeit Demon Lord

「Anyway, can you remember your family?」 「I don’t know my father. My mother… only her face…」

I suppose she was sold to slavery before she could get acquainted with her parents. Otherwise, perhaps her parents were slaves too? Whichever it is, it’s a sad thing. More than it being unforgivable, the fact that people would sell their family for money is ‌sad.

Obviously, I can probably only say this because I’m in a safer position and can earn as much money as I want. Even still, would it be arrogant to wish for a family to be happy with each other?

「Then what about the one that ordered you to attack this place?」 「I-I can’t talk about the master! If I do, I’ll be choked!」

Hm? From the looks of it, she doesn’t seem to have any of that sort of magic on her though… Ah, come to think of it, I undid her contract sigil. So that can be used in that way too, huh? That’s nasty.

「If it’s about the contract sigil, then you need not worry about it. Look, it’s already off, meaning you’re no longer a slave.」 「Eh…? No way…!? They said even court magicians can’t take it off…」

Hm? It’s a lot easier than controlling “Corona Burn” though? Huh? Wait, even court magicians can’t use “Corona Burn”, right? Then does this mean ‌I’m more proficient than court magicians in magic power control?

「Ahh…… I guess it was a third-rate job then? After all, if it was an official sigil ‌by the kingdom, then it probably would’ve been impossible for me.」 「…… That person, doing that sort of blunder……」

Even I don’t think the mastermind would make a mistake as simple as that. They’re the kind of person who planned such a large-scale attack, made that black crystal magical tool, and even used it as a mere disposable. I can’t imagine them being the sort of sorcerer or mage that would use such a sloppy contract sigil.

「Even if you speak about your former master, you won’t be choked or punished anymore.」 「But……」 「If you still feel anxious, then I’ll protect you. Since you were conscious, you know, don’t you? I’m a sorceress and I’m ‌strong. Will you still feel anxious even then?」 「You’ll…… protect me……? I-I’m…… not even worth that-……」

It’s not like this girl has no value on her. Being that her body was a host to that crystal, she herself has a reasonable amount of magic power‌. Whether she can use magic will depend on her talent, but I can see that she could grow into an excellent mage at the very least.

But, well, that’s not the important thing here.

「It’s not about your worth. Since we ended up meeting and knowing that you’ll be dragged into more trouble from now on, I can’t just let that happen, and I don’t plan to. Above all, I can’t stomach the methods of the guy that used you. Since I’m searching for more clues about him, it’ll be troublesome if that guy disposes of you or if you’re taken somewhere out of my reach.」 「Uhh… Umm……」 「If you insist on being loyal to your master, then that’s fine. Still, do you consider your master to be a person worthy of that loyalty?」 「……」

It’s no use, huh? Well, being suddenly asked, this is ‌hard to answer.

「…… I-I’m sorry! I don’t know!」 「Eh?」 「The person who ordered me to do it was… probably the master’s subordinate, and he always had a mask on.」 「A mask?」 「Yes. The mask looked like a face that was… crying and laughing. I’ve seen several other people, but all of them had masks on. Without hearing their voices, I couldn’t tell who was who…」

That’s awfully cautious of them. So the guy is never out in the open, the subordinates have their faces hidden, and the slaves they use are cursed to get choked to death if they speak out. This is definitely more than I can handle, huh. To investigate any further than this, we’ll need enough power to move an organization. This is old man Kent’s stage.

「Would you mind talking to old man Kent, ah, the old man from earlier. Would you mind talking to him about this too?」 「…… If that’s your order.」 「Order?」 「I… don’t know what I should do. But, um, uhh… If Mistress Lily1will protect me, I want to serve you…… That’s all… I can think of doing for you.」

Her answer was‌ ‌convenient. Her being by my side would make protecting and talking to her easier. I’ve considered handing her over to the town guards like the previous intruders, but it seems like that was a mistake. From what I’ve heard, while the said intruders are still alive, they now cannot eat, not to mention speak, on their own.

「I see. Then ‌for my protection, you’ll stay beside me.」 「Work… what should I do?」 「That’ll be something for later‌. There’s one more thing I want to ask about. That power that erased magic, what was that?」

This was one thing that I had to ask her about, that magic erasing ability. If it was ‌an ability unique to her, then it’s not an issue. But if that was something the girl’s trash-of-a-former-master gave her, then this is going to be a big problem.

「Those people told me ‌I was an imitation.」 「Am imitation?」 「They said that it was the power of the Demon Lord from long ago. They researched a part of it and implanted it in me. I was… experimented on a lot. It was… ‌painful.」 「…… I see. It’s alright now. That won’t happen to you here, and I won’t allow it to happen.」

A part of the Demon Lord, she says? This just got bigger than I expected. It seems like my hunch was right in the worst way possible. If that magic erasing power can be freely given to anybody, then it’ll ‌tip the entire world on its head. After all, it can erase even my magic.

If there’s only one with that ability, then it’s still fine. But if there was 10, a 100, or a 1000 of them and are all given military-grade training, what would happen then? If there are sorcerers among them, what would happen then? Our magic won’t work on them, and they would erase any of our anti-magic defenses. It’ll be as if our enemies are using guns and all we have are clubs or maybe, at most, swords. It’s barely even a match.

I don’t understand how far the mastermind is thinking, nor how much he already prepared for. Still, I can imagine the worst ‌scenario. Geez, this is getting ‌problematic now.2