LS – Chapter 163: And so, blending in

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“You are asking for quite the hard thing again. Well, I will do it though.” 

I headed to the smithy of Troid-dono with the Purple Demon Lord on the request of Mister Friend. I asked him to help out in the creation of demonic tools and he easily agreed. 

I also order trick knives from him with their own peculiarities, so I trust him wholeheartedly. 

“That’s Troid-dono! You really are reliable!” (Mix)

“The day of delivery and the cost of it won’t get any more lenient even if you flatter me. Anyways, that Nii-chan has really gone up the ranks in the time I wasn’t watching. From bringing Ilias to standing shoulder to shoulder with His Majesty.” (Troid)

I was wondering whether to open up about the truth with Troid-dono, but he easily could tell ‘You are not a human’ just from a look of Dyuvuleori-dono. 

I didn’t feel like I would be able to hide this completely even if I tried, so I honestly explained to him and tried to persuade him. In the end, most of the things I thought of to persuade him were wasted though.

“And so, do you have a blueprint or something?” (Troid)

“Rather than calling it a blueprint, we have something similar to illustrations and mechanics of it though?” (Purple)

“Show it to me… It is similar to enchanting something.” (Troid)

“If it is just imbuing a magic stone, then yeah, I guess? But you have to add a monster on top of that though?” (Purple)

There’s numerous weapons among humans that activate their magic by pouring mana into them. 

The gauntlet Pashuro used on Mister Friend was within that category. 

Enchanted weapons that can activate composite magic by pouring mana into them. It is true that they are strong, but they actually have a lot of downsides. 

First is how much energy they consume. Activating the magic structure someone else prepared requires more than the normal amount of mana. 

In the case of the trick knives I use, the tricks to them are all done by hand, so there’s not much of a burden, but if it a weapon made by someone else, only people with confidence in their mana would be able to use it in actual combat.

Next would be the quality. There’s the need for a decent amount of space in order to engrave complicated magic structures, and also magic stones and circles. 

This leads to the weapon decreasing in strength and sharpness, and the quality as a weapon would lower. 

The weapon Pashuro was using had the threat of the black flames, but the weapon itself was questionable. 

It is a threatening enchanted weapon if the technique of the user is high, but it is most often the case that it would be better to go for the normal route if you want to master something. 

The risk of not being able to substitute it if it were to break is pretty high after all. 

In the case of the demonic tools, those two points are apparently solved to a certain degree. Have the demonic tool remember the quirks of the user’s mana and the mana construction, and it has several times higher strength compared to an enchanted weapon. 

The demonic sword of Girista-dono that could face the mana strengthened Lady Ratzel straight on is testament of its quality. 

“Can you secure monsters?” (Troid)

“No issues. If you need them now, I can leave some here, you know?” (Purple)

The Purple Demon Lord says this and brings out one jewel and points it to the ground. 

When she did, devils began to crawl out from inside of it and laid down on the ground. 

Troid-dono moved his brows faintly, but doesn’t seem to be too flustered by this. That’s impressive. 

“…Isn’t it harsh to ask an elderly to carry this?” (Troid)

“Oh, that’s true, I guess? Want me to bring it inside?” (Purple)

“Processing devils is outside my expertise. It is enough to just get that jewel. It seems like the sizes are varied, but the shapes are based on your liking, right?” (Troid)

“Yeah. The size is normally as you see. The size used in demonic tools is also already set, you know?” (Purple)

“Then, I will prepare the clay for the shape. Wait for a bit.” (Troid)

Troid-dono said this and walked deeper in.

That person treated me properly like an adventurer despite knowing my standing. 

That blunt attitude is instead calming.

“…” 

“…” 

That said, this grouping is pretty awkward. 

My prejudice towards Demon Lords was fixed since the matter of Gahne, but when it comes to scenarios like this…

“…Uhm, how about checking the weapons around here to take as reference for what shape you would like it to be?” (Mix)

“Right. Also, you can call me Purple, you know?” (Purple)

Hngh, she noticed that I was hesitating on whether to call her Purple Demon Lord or just Purple…

“Then, Purple-dono. Looking at the Blue Demon Lord, I thought for sure only close people could be allowed to call you in that fashion.” (Mix)

“I wouldn’t want everyone to call me like that, you know? But you are his colleague, so I think we are close enough though?” (Purple)

“Also, I thought for sure you showed no interest in anyone aside from Mister Friend, Purple-dono.” (Mix)

“I won’t deny that. I don’t have a shred of interest in you personally after all?” (Purple)

Wow, with such brazenness, I can’t even feel slighted here. But maybe I should be happy that she is not taking distance from me? 

“It is pretty sad that I am not in your vision.” (Mix)

“Oh, that’s not true, you know? I am jealous of you after all.” (Purple)

My relationship with Mister Friend is good, but it is hard to say it is the relationship between a man and a woman when compared to Purple-dono. 

I worked my brain at the unexpected words, but it just doesn’t click. 

“Oh, what do you mean by that? It looks to me that your relationship with Mister Friend is more desirable than mine though.” (Mix)

“I am happy to hear that. It makes my hard work worth it, I guess? But I am greedy, you know? I am jealous of all the relationships he has with other women. Because I can see other sides of him that he doesn’t show to me.” (Purple)

“…I see.” (Mix)

The partner relationship with Lady Ratzel, the happy-go-lucky relationship with Rakura-dono, the teacher and student relationship with Wolfe-chan; for Purple-dono, all of those are different appearances of Mister Friend. 

So as someone who wanted all of Mister Friend, she finds any relationship as a target of jealousy… That’s interesting. 

“You must have thought about his relationships with the other girls, right? In your eyes, which relationship is the one you are most jealous of?” (Purple)

“Right… If we are talking as a woman, it would be his relationship with Lady Ratzel, I guess? You need courage to be in a relationship where both sides can speak straight on about the paths they walk on after all.” (Mix)

“That’s certainly worthy of being jealous of, right? But ‘as a woman’ must mean that you consider his relationship with a man the number one?” (Purple)

“Yes, of course. It would be his relationship with Ani-sama!” (Mix)

Ani-sama and Mister Friend are people that I respect greatly. Just watching their relationship that has no barriers of social positions really gets to my heart. 

I would like to switch places with either one, but if I were to take the place of someone, it wouldn’t be the same… Maybe if I switched for both…and well, that’s my comical solo drama. 

“You are breathing heavily there? Is it that good?” (Purple)

“Of course! When Mister Friend talks to Ani-sama, it is like thawing the ice in each other’s hearts -it melts the tenseness of the heart! Just watching that is already a reward in itself!” (Mix)

“I-I see… But it is true that he is closer to men.” (Purple)

Ekdoik-dono, Haakudoku-dono, Lord Domitorkofucon; I think all of those pairings have created a good distance. I have no intention of backing down in my statement that his relationship with Ani-sama is the best one though.

“I am happy that he is treating me as someone of the opposite gender though. It is a first-world problem.” (Mix)

“You are pretty passive in your approach with him despite that though?” (Purple)

“Of course… Mister Friend doesn’t like excessive approaches after all.” (Mix)

“Oh my, are you throwing shade at me there?” (Purple)

“Not at all! If it is just one or two, it is fine-desu zo! But if everyone were to be aggressive on Mister Friend, he might be fed up with it.” (Mix)

“Doesn’t look that way though… Despite everything said, he hasn’t refused anyone, right?” (Purple)

“Even if so, he is still a human. He will at least make choices. I would like to avoid the possibility of him choosing the other world instead of this one.” (Mix)

“His former world…huh. But he must think this world is more comfortable than that one though?” (Purple)

“But Mister Friend would sometimes call this world as: ‘this world here’. Have you not experienced that?” (Mix)

I would sometimes go ‘hm?’ when talking with him, but it seems like that’s a habit of Mister Friend. 

When talking while conscious of it, he would say ‘the other world’, but when speaking casually, he would say ‘my world’.

There’s almost no chance of misunderstanding with context, but I am sure it is not only me who finds it off. 

Purple-dono falls into thought for a while. And then, she nodded as if convinced.

“Yeah, there have certainly been times when he has done that with me too?” (Purple)

“Mister Friend still has lingering attachments to his former world…no, he most likely still doesn’t think himself as a resident of this world even as of present.” (Mix)

“And so, when the time comes when he has to go back…you think he will return to his former world?” (Purple)

“There’s a high chance that’s the case. But as someone who has heard the past of Mister Friend, the choice of remaining here should be plenty alluring in itself. I am someone who would want Mister Friend to stay after all. I want to make this a world he wants to stay in-desu zo.” (Mix)

I have made a decent amount of friends as someone who became an adventurer to escape from Ani-sama. But the only one that Ani-sama can truly call a friend is Mister Friend. 

If Mister Friend were to be gone, just how sad would Ani-sama be? Just thinking about that is enough to squeeze my chest. 

…I myself would surely have a big hole opened in my heart. 

“…Good. I would like to join in on that intention of yours, okay?” (Purple)

“…As in?” (Mix)

“I will provide him with a wonderful life; one that will make him forget his former world. I wanted to provide him what he wished to begin with, so it doesn’t change my plans much though?” (Purple)

“Doesn’t that mean it will be the same as usual?” (Mix)

“Not really? I will at least try to refrain from developments that would displease him or make him sad, you know? It is vexing, but it is better than losing him though?” (Purple)

Purple-dono wanted to see all the sides of Mister Friend. In other words, she also had the intention of making Mister Friend suffer…which she was hiding deep in her heart. 

I see. It looks like I did good work here without knowing. Let’s ready a good reward for myself in the future. 

“Then, let’s say this is a secret alliance…” (Mix)

“Yes, looking forward to working with you, Mix.” (Purple)

I respond to the handshake offered to me. I managed to hold the hand of this person I thought I was distant from. 

“…By the way, the outward appearance of Dyuvuleori-dono is that of a man. How jealous are you of the relationship between him and Dyuvuleori-dono, Purple-dono?” (Mix)

“I am of course pretty jealous of it, you know? But I have bullied him a bit too much and he now doesn’t talk to him in front of me though?” (Purple)

Dyuvuleori-dono has been looking over here with an extremely serious face. If he had the same stomach as a human, I am sure it would be full of holes. 

◇◇

“Hekuchi!” 

“That was a pointlessly cute sneeze.” 

“That ‘pointless’ was unnecessary. Someone must be talking about me. Must be Mix and the others who I am making wait.” 

I left Mix and Purple alone, but it should be okay, right? Dyuvuleori is there too, but he is pretty much background when in the presence of Purple. 

Mix has high social skills. She is a former princess after all. I am sure she will do well. 

Yeah, I want to believe she is better than Rakura. Or more like, there’s no one who gets better after being influenced by Rakura in her slovenly mode. 

“Mix-sama uses the smithy of Troid in Taizu, too. I doubt she will mess up the route.” (Ilias)

“She won’t on that front. If there’s anything to worry about, it would be that things could get complicated if they were to say anything weird while explaining the situation.” 

That person is really good at seeing through things after all. There’s a high chance he will see through the identities of Purple and Dyuvuleori in one go. 

Even so, he is still a craftsman at core. He should accept obediently as long as you are reasonable. I am sure Mix will be able to explain properly, and if it does get complicated…I can just manage somehow, so that’s fine. 

“But to think you would create new demonic tools which have left a mark in history.” (Ilias)

“Even if we are to create new magic tools, I don’t know how useful they will be in our fight against the Scarlet Demon Lord.” 

“I think it would be better to use weapons with higher quality than to increase the tricks you can pull off though.” (Ilias)

“You are pretty straightforward after all. It is better to keep it simple for those types of people. But there’s technique involved when people fight each other, right? The special traits of the demonic tools should be of use when breaking the equilibrium.” 

The level of the mana strengthening of Ilias far surpasses the efficiency of the body strengthening through magic. 

In the first place, pretty much all of the knights in Taizu are monsters. They don’t need magic, and have passive skills that surpass even magic strengthening buffs. They really would leave buffers in tears. 

The mana control of Wolfe has also gone beyond common sense thanks to the teachings of Gradona. If those two were to use demonic tools, they would need to do both controlling of the weapon as well as fighting. It would have to be passive stuff like automatic stamina recovery. 

This time around, Purple will only be readying things that will activate when you use mana on them, so we will have to make demonic tools that are useful for people like those two. 

“It really doesn’t click to me when talking about fighting through the power of the weapon.” (Ilias)

“Don’t say that in front of Mix.” 

“O-Of course not!” (Ilias)

Mix prefers varied battle styles because her strength is how fast her brain spins. 

Even if she doesn’t have talent in physical skills, she has the methods to defeat the strong. This is proof of her determination. 

But even Mix feels somewhat inferior to people like Ilias and Wolfe who have high specs. 

It would be impossible for Mix to enter a fisticuff with Dyuvuleori no matter how hard she works. 

Well, this girl here being able to pull that off just makes her way too much of a gorilla though.

We arrived at the smithy of Troid-san while we were having that talk. The inside is pretty noisy. 

“Excuse the intrusion… Wait, what are you doing?” 

When I entered, I found the 3 at the exhibition shelves where the weapons are lined up at. 

It would have been fine if it were just that, but that sight was a bit weird. 

To be more precise, it is because Mix and Dyuvuleori were holding weapons and posing. 

“Ooh, you are here, Mister Friend! We were deciding on the shape of the demonic tool, and we concluded that the appearance was also important, so we are having Purple-dono confirm how we look while holding a weapon!” (Mix)

“Isn’t it important to draw other’s eyes when facing someone? Dyuvuleori, hold those two with each hand.” (Purple)

“As you will.” (Dyuvuleori)

Dyuvuleori, that’s a 2-handed greatsword. I don’t know what to feel about seeing someone carrying a close to 2 meter slab of metal lightly.

“It gives off good pressure, don’t you think?” (Purple)

“There’s not many humans who can hold both weapons of that size and fight, you know?” (Mix)

“Oh my, is that so? Can you do it, Ilias?” (Purple)

“Of course I can do that much.” (Ilias)

Ilias grabs the same stuff with a smug face as if saying ‘how’s that?’. This woman is seriously a gorilla. Not only in strength but also in the head. 

“Don’t compete. It is still in the prototype stage, so what’s the point of choosing the people to use at this junction?” 

“Kuoooo… This is…pretty tough…!” (Mix)

“Also, Mix, don’t mistake who you should be competing with.” 

Looking at Mix imitating them and staggering, it made me think ‘aah, she really is a girl’, but just the fact that I had to think that was already pretty messed up in itself. I have confidence that a waist or two would be destroyed if I were to hold only one of them. 

“I was stirred up to do it as an adventurer after seeing them carry those weapons so lightly… Uwooah?!” (Mix)

“Watch out!” 

Mix lost balance and she fell my way at full power, so I avoided her. Mix skillfully protected the weapons and crashed onto the floor face first. 

“…Mister Friend, this is the scene where you should catch me-desu zo…” (Mix)

“I would be crushed by the weight of those swords. Do you want to report to Marito: ‘I have crushed Mister Friend’?” 

“…Nice evade. But now that I think about it calmly, Purple-dono is the one who will be doing the last touches, so it would be better for it to be light.” (Mix)

“Now that you mention it, that’s true, I guess? In that case, Mix, can you line up your knife-like weapons? Gather them too, Dyuvuleori, got it?” (Purple)

“As you will.” (Dyuvuleori)

“As you will, as you will!” (Mix)

These two have gotten strangely close. It seems like they have grown closer after finding a common topic. 

Mix had hostility and killing intent when she met a Demon Lord -Gold- for the first time. She has gotten pretty close to her now. 

This also applies to Purple. Purple barely spoke to anyone but me and Dyuvuleori. There’s rarely any time when she has spoken to any other people aside from the Demon Lords. And yet, it feels as if she is having fun here. 

“Oh my, is there anything on my face?” (Purple)

“The same as usual. Well, it seems like you are having a bit of fun though.” 

“Right. I am having a bit of fun, I guess? Jealous?” (Purple)

The smile of Purple right now seems to be relaxed. 

When she was dealing with Gold and Blue, it felt as if she was competing with them in some sort of way, and when she was with me, it felt as if she was a bit nervous. 

But there’s none of that right now. Maybe she has found someone she can speak at ease without worrying about standings just like me and Marito? 

“I don’t have much of a desire to monopolize things, so it actually looks endearing.”

“I see. So that’s how I was being looked at just now? …That’s a fresh experience.” (Purple)

“Yeah, goes both ways.” 

The result is that the prototypes for the demonic tools will be based on knives, and the one who will be experimenting with them will be Mix. 

The demonic tool creation began from a punishment, but it looks like I will be able to get more results than I thought. 

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