“That’s right. That pig might have sent you as a spy, or perhaps to set a trap for me. Why should I trust you?”
I silently waited for Aurora to finish her words. After all, my job here is just to wait quietly until she asks me to prove myself later.
Because deep down, she wants to believe in me. She wants to trust me to escape this hellish life.
That’s why she hopes more than anyone that the player’s words are true.
In the game, there was no depiction of what the lord’s daughter had gone through until now, so I had taken it for granted. But hearing it from Aurora now, her desperate heart hit me hard.
That was Aurora’s own plea. Since she can’t bring herself to believe me right now, she’s desperately asking me to prove myself so that she can trust me.
It is an undeniable truth, as she said it herself. Although it’s the original NPC saying it, not the current Aurora.
“So, prove it. How can I trust you?”
Aurora stepped right in front of me.
Her long black hair contrasted beautifully with her glowing white skin, and the golden eyes shone firmly.
But I couldn’t help but notice that those seemingly strong golden eyes were slightly trembling.
“Right. How can I prove it to you? Would you trust me if I laid out the entire plan on how to kill the lord?”
In the game, this option was the most stable. Sharing how to kill the lord.
There were choices that appealed to emotions too, but that required a lot of preparatory steps, so I couldn’t use that right now.
“…Let’s hear it. If it’s a plausible plan, I’ll accept it.”
Naturally, Aurora’s gaze met mine as I looked up from below, and she from above.
At that moment, it seemed she realized she was wearing quite revealing attire; she flinched, flushed her cheeks, and sat down next to me with her knees modestly together.
But considering the attire, that only helped a little.
“When we first met earlier, that guy took something with him as he left the reception room. Do you remember?”
“I do. He probably bargained to swap it for my body.”
“Any ideas on what the item could be?”
“Not a clue. It must be worth a lot if he was willing to switch it for my body, but beyond that, I can’t speculate. So what is it?”
“It’s a book inhabited by a demon.”
“…What?”
“I said it’s a book inhabited by a demon.”
“I didn’t ask you to repeat it, so can you keep your mouth shut?”
As soon as she heard that, Aurora went serious. Then she fidgeted, glancing around, and leaned in to whisper with a lowered voice.
“Are you crazy? According to imperial law, just being involved with a demon—”
“Yes, it’s an automatic death penalty.”
A very painful and cruel one at that.
The real reason I had absolute leverage in my deal with the lord was right here.
If I were reported, I would surely be caught and executed. But on the flip side, the lord himself wouldn’t be able to retrieve the book. The empress would swing the holy sword and purify it.
The moment he had the desire to possess it, his mind would be consumed, and with thoughts of abusing a woman instigated by the demon’s power, that was something that should never happen.
“Then why—”
“Don’t worry. Only that guy is involved with the demon. No human here will die, and none of the mansion’s properties will be damaged, nor will any location in the city be destroyed. We are safe.”
“Are you sure? The empress will never let a human connected with a demon live. If things go south, we’re both finished. Are you telling me to gamble with our lives?”
“No need to risk our lives. You just need to sit back and prepare for the succession of the household title.”
I answered confidently.
“…Seeing how confident you are, it seems you must have some thoughts laid out, right?”
Aurora’s voice wavered slightly in disbelief.
“Of course. I simply ‘happened upon’ the book and delivered it to the lord.”
“You just happened to find it…? ”
“Yes. I was doing subjugation of monsters and found that book. It looked ominous, so to prevent confusion, I discreetly discussed measures only with the lord, but he took it upon himself, saying he would handle it, and tried to make a deal with the demon out of greed.”
In this scenario, I wouldn’t have done anything wrong.
I had subjugated the monsters, then the ominous book came out, and I aimed to discuss its handling with the lord, but he sent me away and tried to deal with the demon himself, which resulted in him getting devoured.
If anyone claimed that was a lie, that individual would be purified as a demon, leaving only me and Aurora to collude and cover the truth.
We could forcibly tie him to the accusations if we wanted, but I knew the empress wouldn’t be that kind of person. She would simply regard the lord as an incompetent idiot and finish it there.
In fact, that’s how the incident concludes in the game.
“…It’s not entirely absurd of a plan. I’m a bit concerned about deceiving the empress, but she probably won’t bother to investigate a guy who tried to summon a demon that ended up dead, so there’s little chance of getting caught.”
“If Aurora wishes to smoothly inherit the household title, this is the only way. The die has already been cast. Tonight we will surely set things in motion.”
After hearing my explanation, Aurora let out a laugh as if she couldn’t believe it.
“I’ve thought about selling my soul to the demon just to kill that pig, but I didn’t imagine I would actually get tied to a demon. Is this what they mean when they say life is unpredictable?”
“Aren’t you too young to be saying you don’t understand life?”
“Thanks to stress, my mind has aged far quicker than my body, so I’m fine with that.”
She threw out a line that sounded like a joke but felt all too serious as her golden eyes gazed blankly at the ceiling. How much time had passed? Those eyes turned back toward me.
“Just thought of something. No matter how prepared we are, summoning a demon in the middle of the city is a bit—”
“It’s fine.”
“…?”
I cut off Aurora’s words. A question mark floated above her head.
“I told you, no one will get hurt, nothing will break, and no place will be destroyed. The only one who will die is that guy.”
Actually, he wouldn’t be a human anymore by the time he died.
Late at night.
The lord gathered the book and carefully exited the room. He had specifically told the guards that there was no need for patrol tonight, and just in case, he instructed a maid to add sleeping pills to the food of the servants and attendants.
That maid completed her task and then ‘took care of’ the situation, and this scene must not be seen by anyone.
As for the other two, that idiot rookie knight and Aurora, they would likely be entangled in each other in the mansion annex right about now. Or perhaps they had already had their fun and passed out.
With extremely careful footsteps, the lord headed toward the mansion basement. It sounded as if he was running, perhaps due to the weight of what he was carrying.
“Guhuhuh.”
While on the way to the basement, an uncontrollable laugh escaped my lips.
An insatiable lust demon that grants unlimited energy to men while driving women to ecstasy just by touching them. Truly a demon tailored just for me.
Of course, I was well aware of the risks involved. Just the thought of attempting to make a deal with a demon reaching the empress’s ears could lead to the total destruction of my family line.
But the excuses were sufficient. This was the furthest fringe of the empire. As long as I stayed holed up here, everything would be fine, and given her personality, she wouldn’t be calling me to the imperial palace anytime soon.
If I could have those arrogant knight commanders under my control, that would be more than enough to occupy my remaining days. Just the thought of it caused my lower body to swell.
Hurrying into the basement, the lord locked the door with multiple bolts. The basement was filled with all sorts of sexual torture devices.
In this room, many women had suffered beneath the lord’s fat and greasy body, crying out in pain before meeting their doom, and soon this list was about to be endlessly updated.
Drool dripped from my lips. As I pulled out the book I had carefully tucked away, a burning desire to read it surged within me. The lord’s eyes widened, and he began untying the cords that bound the book.
In his haste, his body wasn’t cooperating, and his fingers kept getting in the way. Especially that damn pinky finger.
“Ugh! How annoying!”
Crack! The lord grabbed his left pinky and snapped it right off. He felt no pain at all. He was just happy he could see the book more quickly.
As he gazed at the cover now stripped of its bindings, ecstasy surged over him. Drool dripped down, and a disgusting laugh like, kuhuhuhuh, slipped between his lips.
With trembling hands, he opened the book, eagerly anticipating what lay inside.
And as he opened it, a black aura burst forth, enveloping the lord’s body.
“Wha—”
The lord didn’t return to his senses until after that.
“Ugh, aaaaah!”
The first feeling that struck him was pain. A piercing agony surged through his left pinky that he had just nonchalantly snapped off.
Why did I do that? What on earth was I thinking?
Even as he pondered this, the black aura continued to wrap around him. The darkness seeped into his eyes, filled his ears, crept into his nose, and clogged his mouth. The horrific sensation made the lord gag.
“Nggh?! Gah!?”
His body began to transform.
Horns sprouted from his head, and a pair of demon wings wrapped in a membrane grew from his back. Horrifying scales started to cover his entire body, and his fingernails elongated.
“No, no, no!”
The lord waved his arms and flailed wildly. As his body toppled backward, torture devices crashed down and shattered, but there was no time to care about that.
“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!”
Bones twisted, forms warped, arms and legs contorted as his entire being transformed into something other than human. The lord let out an agony-filled scream. It was unbearably painful.
It hurt. It hurt so much he felt like he might die. This pain, how could it even exist? In that moment, he wanted to curse the god he didn’t even believe in.
But, with a single-minded will to live, he gritted his teeth and endured.
He didn’t want to die. He desperately wanted to live, holding onto that bare desire to survive while tears streamed from his eyes.
His body no longer belonged to him. Awful appendages sprouted from his back, horns bloomed from his head, and even the sensations in his arms and legs felt strange. His skin was terrifyingly scaly.
His skin itched like crazy. As he scratched at it, he could feel the sharp nails beneath the rough, scaly surface. The itchiness never subsided.
“Ugh… Ughhh… Huh?”
Creeeak.
Just then, amidst his frantic struggle, the sound of the basement door creaking open reached the lord’s ears.
He was sure he had locked the door tightly, but how could anyone enter? It didn’t matter how they got in; what mattered was that he now had someone to ask for help.
“Help! Help! P-LEAAAASE—!!!!!!”
Blood spewed from his mouth in an explosive gush. It was blood closer to black than red. Even as he vomited blood and felt his limbs contorting, he crawled toward the voice in desperation.
“Ugh, I never imagined it would be this grotesque. This is why I said to prepare yourself mentally, huh?”
“Ha-ha, it’s a bit ugly, isn’t it?”
“Bit ugly? You have no conscience at all?”
Two voices, devoid of any trace of tension, exchanged words in the lord’s ear.
