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The 3 day preparation began. 

Is Fokudulkura observing someone right now to switch with them?

I have already explained the situation to Ilias and Lord Ragudo. I don’t think they will accidentally kill him, but it most likely doesn’t feel too good. 

We had a promise that I would meet the Purple Demon Lord at least once in the daytime, so I headed to the residence of Ban-san but…

“Why are you here?” 

“Where this one is is my own business.” 

Aside from the bodyguards Ekdoik and Dyuvuleori, there’s also one more companion, the Gold Demon Lord.

The mood of both of them is extremely dicey. One is the culprit that tried to invade her country, and the other one threatened her to stop this, making the monsters that she prepared for a long period of time become food.

“Right now it is my alone time with him though? Can the unrelated fox back off?” (Purple)

“It is true that this one is completely unrelated. In other words, I don’t care about yer own convenience.” (Gold)

“I see, you want to die?” (Purple)

“Hooh, yer going to kill an unrelated 3rd party? Meaning that yer gonna throw away this competition?” (Gold)

“Okay, okay, leave it at that. If it is just greetings, I will keep silent, but I will step in if you are going to fight. I will die in an instant, so prepare yourselves.” 

“Why did you bring this with you?” (Purple)

“I didn’t bring her with me. Not only is she staying in someone else’s house, she also follows in the outings of someone else.” 

“I have gotten the permission of both the landlord and the owner of the room.” (Gold)

Leaving aside Wolfe, I was actually surprised that Ilias gave the okay. The magic of the tail is truly fearsome. 

“His house, you say…? No way… What a greedy beast.” (Purple)

“It is not only this one, ya know? There’s already 3 women living under the same roof as him.” (Gold)

“One is the landlord, the other one I am the guardian of, and the last one is…the same as this one.” 

“I can prepare you a big place to sleep in, you know?” (Purple)

“I am fine with anywhere as long as it is silent, with a bed, and I can sleep alone.” 

“Since I have the opportunity here, I will be keeping an eye on ya so that ya don’t pull any dirty tricks, Purple.” (Gold)

“You think I would do something like that? You think I will permit earning him in such a manner?” (Purple)

“Who knows. If ya can’t win no matter how much ya try and can’t obtain him, the eyes of the weak hearted can get clouded, ya know? And so, what was the match this time?” (Gold)

Why is this Gold Demon Lord always so confrontational? But a Demon Lord cooperating and keeping an eye is something I am grateful for. 

I explain the details of this time’s match to the Gold Demon Lord.

“Fumu fumu, I see. For now, it seems to be fair. If anything, I would say yer the one that’s on the advantage here.” (Gold)

“Oh my, I wonder about that? Seeing through the transformation of Fokudulkura is not easy, you know? Him not being able to increase his max mana is a downside of his, but I know that he doesn’t have the ability to feel those kinds of things though?” (Purple)

“Not only that, his basic strength is to the degree where even this one as the weakest can kill him. I am impressed ya ended up desiring a twig of a man like this one, Purple.” (Gold)

“Oh my, comparing him to a twig? It seems like it is you who doesn’t understand him, Gold.” (Purple)

“Don’t joke around. This one has already lost to him after having used the power Yugura gave me. He is also the one who saw the warped elements of yer monsters.” (Gold)

“Oh my, so that really was the case? I did think it would be impossible with your brain, you know?” (Purple)

“I am glad that you are praising me, but please don’t lead that to a fight.” 

In the end, every time there was something, it would immediately turn into a dispute and I would have to calm them down. Purple promptly left in a bad mood. 

The Gold Demon Lord looked proud for some reason. What’s with this girl? 

“But Ser, it is not like Purple is fighting for the sake of losing. Sneaking a drop of poison inside an advantageous battle is the nature of Purple. Don’t lower yer guard, okay?” (Gold)

“What, you are worrying about me?” 

“Of course. Just imagine ya becoming hers when yer not becoming mine; this one’s standing would crumble.” (Gold)

“True. I have no intention of losing.” 

“That’s the spirit. And so, guide me around this city. Let’s have a tryst.” (Gold)

“Listen here… What do you plan on doing with your duties in Gahne if you stay here for long?” 

“No issues there. See, I am using this.” (Gold)

She made a small Gold Demon Lord appear in her palm.

The Ruling power of the Gold Demon Lord allows her to run simulations in her simulated worlds. She uses this small one as a navigator and for support.

“I do this.” (Gold)

The small Gold Demon Lord spun on top of her hand and jumped down, and then, the one who landed was a Gold Demon Lord of the same size as the original. 

This woman…she created a copy with her same proportions. 

She must have left a clone of herself like a substitution jutsu. 

“I can contact the other side any time I want and can give orders too. I can govern even while on a trip, ya know?” (Gold)

That’s a Demon Lord who specializes in ruling, I guess. It is a spell that Marito would want. 

I tried touching her tail as a test, but…the sensation is a bit different?

It must be a difference with how little she is reacting. 

“If yer too embarrassed to throw yer animalistic passions on this one, I can lend ya one for the night. I recommend myself the most though.” (Gold)

“Right. I have wanted to tear off all the fur in this tail once. Let’s count the strands tonight.” 

“Stop that!” (Gold)

In the end, the clone became the body pillow of Rakura. 

The next morning, Rakura was speaking of how comfortable of a hug it was with a refreshed face.

And then, 3 days later, due to the interference of the Gold Demon Lord, there wasn’t much progress in my exchanges with the Purple Demon Lord, and we reached the day of the match.

It is just before noon. We have once again borrowed an area outside the ramparts to have our match.

The last time there were fancy kitchens readied, but this time around it is only a single chair. 

There’s only the Gold Demon Lord in the spectator seats this time, each other’s bodyguards, and Fokudulkura.

“I will be blindfolding you now, okay? I will undo your blindfold once it is noon, got it?” (Purple)

“So Fokudulkura will have switched with a friend of mine by that time?” 

“I have made it so that the person is staying at the usual place until you arrive, okay? The match will last until the sun has sunk down. I will allow you to borrow the help of someone else to transport yourself, alright?” (Purple)

“I am grateful for that. Moving around the whole capital alone would exhaust me to an unbelievable degree.” 

And so, I sit on the chair and get blindfolded. 

And then, someone suddenly sat on my lap for some reason.

“What are you doing, Gold Demon Lord?” 

“Wow, ya immediately recognized it was this one. It must be the power of love.” (Gold)

“Tail.” 

“Nfufufufu, it is this one’s show of consideration. It would be the end if Fokudulkura were to switch with ya after all.” (Gold)

“—I don’t think that would be happening though.” 

Right. The way to obtain certain victory here would be to switch with me. 

Run around the capital as a fake participant and declare that I forfeit. 

That said, it wouldn’t be a competition like that. It would be nothing but cheating. 

“We won’t do something like that, you know? That’s why disappear from the top of his lap already?” (Purple)

“Here’s this one’s special seat. It would be boring until noon, so I shall give him the nourishment of this one’s ears and tail. Nfufufufu!” (Gold)

“…Yeah yeah.” 

Even so, it is hard to brush them with a blindfold on. Are her ears around here? Squeeze.

“Nuwah?! M-My eyes!” (Gold)

“Ah, sorry.” 

Looks like, when I tried to grab something, it ended up being close to her eyeballs. 

She smacked her tail against my face as if getting back at me. So fluffy. 

“You can go ahead and gouge them out, you know? Or more like, can you just get through the barrier of Gold?” (Purple)

“…I somehow could.” 

The blindfold was taken off after a while. The one who took it off was the Gold Demon Lord. 

One eye is red for some reason. Let’s not worry about it. 

“Seems like they are done.” (Gold)

I look around, but there’s no change aside from Fokudulkura being gone. 

I thought about the possibility of him having switched with Ekdoik, but the question then would be where did the person himself go.

“By the way, what happened to the switched person?” 

“They are of course safe, you know? However, we have had them hide somewhere outside your vision while this match takes place, okay?” (Purple)

…Now then, how should I do this? 

Let’s test it out just in case.

“Ekdo, what’s your ambition?” 

“To increase the reputation of Rakura Salf.” (Ekdoik)

“What do you think of Rakura?” 

“She is the biggest trial that the world has given me.” (Ekdoik)

“You are the real one.” 

“That’s horrible.” (Gold)

“Gold Demon Lord, if you are the real one, you would be happy about getting the fur of your ears torn off. Let me tear them off.” 

“As if!” (Gold)

“You are the real one.” 

“Everyone would think that!” (Gold)

“Did you see how Fokudulkura disappeared?” 

“He just melted into his shadow without anything off. He disappeared along with his shadow on the ground. It should be safe to assume he is already inside Taizu.” (Gold)

“Now, the match has already begun, you know? Is it okay to not hurry?” (Purple)

…A trap…or not. 

“The trap that Fokudulkura most likely tried to set was the copying of memories. From what I heard of Ekdo about the Great Devils, there’s one Great Devil with the nickname Abdomen of Perplexion. If that guy is helping out in the shadows, he could act in a manner that isn’t much different from the real one with memories of their past. I wouldn’t be able to tell that apart and would be done for.” 

“It is true that it would make for an even more complex disguise. But if that’s true, there would be no means to discover them.” (Gold)

“That’s why I said ‘tried’. The Purple Demon Lord most likely prohibited him from using that method.” 

“—Yeah, that’s right, you know? As expected of you, dear. Fokudulkura made that proposal, but that wasn’t fair, so I prohibited him from using it, you know?” (Purple)

“You didn’t need to prohibit it though. Fokudulkura’s transformation does have a fatal weak point after all.” 

“Oh my, is that so? I think the transformation of Fokudulkura is perfect in my eyes though?” (Purple)

“No, that’s the weak point, Fokudulkura.” 

I say this as I looked at Fokudulkura who is taking the appearance of the Purple Demon Lord.

“—What are you saying?” (Fokudulkura?)

“You are Fokudulkura. You have transformed in the Purple Demon Lord, right?” 

“What? But Fokudulkura didn’t show his back here, ya know?” (Gold)

“It is just as Gold said, you know?” (Fokudulkura?)

“Something like that, they obviously switched from the very beginning. Fokudulkura transformed into the Purple Demon Lord before meeting us, and the Fokudulkura just now was most likely a clone of some sort. Come on, I used my one answer attempt, so give me your wrong or right answer, Fokudulkura.” 

“That’s why I said—” (Fokudulkura?)

“Aah, geez, got it. I will do as the Purple Demon Lord wants. Let’s go, Ekdo.” 

“Where do you plan on going?” (Ekdoik)

“The fastest way to compare answers.” 

I finished the talk there and the place we arrived at was the residence of the Purple Demon Lord. 

The house Tort-san…no, the Purple Demon Lord rented and is using as her base. 

When I entered, the Purple Demon Lord welcomed me. 

“You not only read my plan but also my intention. As expected of you?” (Purple)

“‘Change into me and make him come to my residence to prove it’. Guess you ordered Fokudulkura to not admit it?” 

“…How could you tell? Even though I had managed to become My Lord almost perfectly with mine power!” (Fokudulkura)

Fokudulkura undid his transformation and turned into his devil form.

“It is simple. The emotions that you were putting in your words were mismatched.” 

“Emotions…you say?” (Fokudulkura)

“I am good at gauging the distance between people, you see. The words you were directing at me and the Gold Demon Lord were way too weak. You must have felt apprehensive about speaking amicably towards a human, and direct strong animosity towards another Demon Lord.” 

The first thing that felt off were the first words the Purple Demon Lord directed at me. It gave me a weird impression.

And then, the words directed at the Gold Demon Lord. They were thorny, but there wasn’t much hostility in it. 

From there, I began to wonder if it was possible…and deduced it. 

“While at it, when I questioned the trustworthiness in the evaluation of Fokudulkura and his defect, his response was painted in faint anger. The Purple Demon Lord has not felt anger towards me even once.” 

“Are you telling me you saw through mine power with things that can’t be seen…? There’s no way something like that is—” (Fokudulkura)

“Speaking of which, Comrade saw through Raheight in his first meeting when he had moved into the body of someone else.” (Ekdoik)

That’s right. I could notice someone even when they have been possessed and it is my first time meeting them, so there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to tell when it is someone I have known for a decent degree. 

“Fokudulkura, the weak point of your power is that you can’t transform the inside too. You won’t be able to deceive me, if you don’t become the Purple Demon Lord completely.” 

“D-Don’t joke around. If I did that, my self would be gone!” (Fokudulkura)

“No, there’s a bit of a trick for it, but you can actually return, you know?” 

“—! Those eyes…what’s with those eyes?!” (Fokudulkura)

“Muh, did I switch there? So it shows up even without intending to. Keep it a secret from Ilias and the others, okay?” 

Not good, not good. I saw some B tier acting and my position ended up shaking me. Let’s calm down.

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