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※Warning: Slightly nasty actions.

—

I have checked the Earthling enough. 

What he did after being told about it by the king was to investigate the research lab. 

And then, he asked that brat about the situation in detail. 

I should think he has noticed my setup, but that was my aim to begin with anyways. 

His actions until then were pretty nice to watch, but his actions afterwards were a bit baffling. He began cooking after parting from that brat. 

From what I can see, he is making pastries. Cooking in order to console a brat. Are you a housewife or something? 

After that, he stored a number of the pastries he baked in oil on separate baskets, and headed to the place of the king again. 

“What’s that?” 

“It seems like Nora hasn’t eaten at all. I brought something that might open her appetite. I have made your share too, Marito, so eat them as a light meal.” 

“They do smell nice, but…I feel like the smell would stay in the office.” (Marito)

“Aah, I wasn’t considerate enough there. Sorry.” 

Now then, it is about time. 

The ones inside the room are the Earthling, the king, the bodyguard female knight and the descendant of Yugura. 

The descendant of Yugura won’t put a hand on me if I don’t do anything to the king, and would instead make it so the king doesn’t put a hand on me. 

There’s no real issue with the female knight. She may be outstanding as a human, but that’s it. 

I teleport to the open sofa in the room. I won’t show myself yet.

I grab one of the baskets nearby and check the inside.

Baked pastries that give off a nice scent. Maybe because it was baked with oil, the strong scent alone is enough to make my stomach rumble. 

Let’s check it thoroughly with magic… No poison or anything of the sort. 

Since the opportunity has been presented, let’s partake. I plunge my hand inside the basket, grab a baked pastry and eat it. 

At the same time as I did, I make it so that they can notice my presence.

“Oh, this is tasty!” 

“—?!” 

The one who reacted on the moment was the female knight. The two men were making expressions as if saying ‘so he really did come’. 

But this really is tasty. I could go for the whole basket. 

“I don’t remember making your share.” 

“Don’t be so stiff, Earthling. Entertaining a guest is correct etiquette, right?” 

“How dare you brazenly—” (Ilias)

“Ilias, I don’t mind you getting angry, but I told you I would be the one dealing with this matter.” 

The female knight tried to draw her sword, but the Earthling stopped her. 

Hmm, I, huh.

This man sometimes switches his first-person pronouns when he acts. 

The result after checking the man’s past is that he normally doesn’t use first-person pronouns, and when he gets emotional, he uses me.

And when he uses me, it is when he is dealing with dangerous individuals. 

He is not swayed by emotions and coldly progresses things -his darkest side.

Nice, nice, that’s how it should be.

Looks like he is going to be facing me seriously here. 

It would be boring otherwise. There would be no point in coming out as a villain. 

I take out the next baked pastry from the basket, eat it, and begin the talk. 

“Hn, you say deal with me, but do you have some business?” (Colorless)

“Of course I do. It is about the matter of Ruko.” 

“Any issues with that? She touched on the forbidden, so I tried to kill her. The young lady tried to get in the way of that, so I did that. I remember doing something worthy of being thanked for, not hated though?” (Colorless)

“If Nora had touched upon the forbidden on her own, that is. But that was something you set up yourself.” 

There it is. This guy really is perceptive. 

“Hm, what may you be talking about? Are you implying I did something?” (Colorless)

“Yeah, I confirmed with Nora and she said that she thought of how to make the formula for the forbidden after seeing the document I made. I have confirmed the pertaining documents.” 

“Right. Even though the documents of an Earthling were the trigger, that’s some fearsome talent there, don’t you think?” (Colorless)

“But those documents were originally to be read by Nora in the future. They were documents I didn’t plan on showing Nora yet after all.” 

“She simply saw them on her own out of interest then.” (Colorless)

“No, what Nora does in the research lab is always set. She would open the drawer, grab the research documents placed at the front which are the ones to be used at present, and would begin her work. When she is done, she will return it to the drawer. It is simple work like that. That girl wouldn’t put her hands on other documents when her attention is directed in the immediate research she has -unless there’s no documents in sight coincidentally piquing her interest that is.” 

“Then that’s what happened.” (Colorless)

“It was made to catch her eye -you did. You learned about how Nora was doing personal research, pulled out documents that could trigger the forbidden, and switched the spots in a way so that it would enter the vision of Nora -in a way that when Nora is taking out the documents and fixing them up, she would notice.” 

Correct. This is a small trap. 

That brat had gotten a path to the forbidden after obtaining the knowledge of the Earthling. 

And so, I set it up so that she would be given even more triggers. 

I was watching patiently since she would notice sooner or later, but she managed to do so faster than I thought. 

But I am not so kind as to admit it here, you know? 

“Are you saying I did that?” (Colorless)

“In theory, you can only enter the research lab freely with the key Ruko has. Nora was an exception in that she slipped through the wall, but she would have noticed any abnormalities if others did the same. If you have an idea of someone who would be able to sneak into that place without anyone noticing, moreover, pull out the documents in Japanese that were related to the forbidden, I would like to know.” 

“I can’t think of anyone with those conditions -leaving aside Yugura who is still waiting to resurrect. But there’s also the possibility of that young lady coincidentally switching the—” (Colorless)

“It can only be a crime from an outsider. Ruko is extremely methodical, you see. She would always fix up the documents. On the other hand, Nora is short, so fixing up the documents from the high spots ends up getting messy.” 

“Properly fixing them up and messily fixing them; they are total opposites. Then there’s a possibility, right?” (Colorless)

“When I say fixing them up properly, it is exactly as I say. Ruko would always fix the documents that are not used in order.” 

“In order?” (Colorless)

“There’s numbers at the back of the documents I made. From what I have confirmed, a number of documents have been placed at the front, ignoring the order of the documents. You prepared way too much in order to make her touch upon the forbidden.” 

Uwa, seriously? I tried to return them to how they were as much as possible, but that would indeed be unnatural. 

The triggers for the forbidden written in Japanese were placed at the front. Of course it would be bad. 

There’s no plausible culprit aside from me. I would just slip if I were to make up some random person. 

“…Man, you got me there! You are one sharp guy, Earthling.” (Colorless)

“You may have confessed, but I would like you to speak up about the reason.” 

That’s right. 

If this guy learns that I did it, he will definitely ask me the reason. That’s what I have been waiting for. 

“I was testing out whether the humans of this world can reach the forbidden with just triggers. Man, to think even people aside from Yugura can reach for the forbidden as long as they have the knowledge. That was an interesting result.” (Colorless)

“You tried to kill Nora despite being the one who set it so?” 

“If a forbidden spell is about to be born, I gotta be the one doing the cleaning, right? That’s all the reason there is. Problem?” (Colorless)

“You bastard…” (Ilias)

The female knight at the back growled. 

The king is also acting as if he were calm, but anger and bloodlust is leaking out. 

These guys are clean freaks, so they hate having their comrades hurt to the very core. This feeling grows more intense the more selfish the reason is. 

Of course they would be boiling if someone important to them were to be put at risk for a stupid reason.

Now, Earthling, get angry too. Crumble that calm and composed face. 

I know that you were stealthily readying a method to get back at me.

I empty the basket of pastries while showing composure. 

Should I go for the next basket? No, I am already pretty full. 

Let’s take one as a souvenir. Thanks for the meal. 

“As I said in the beginning, I have a problem with the matter of Ruko.” 

The Earthling didn’t change his mild expression and entrusted the wooden sword to the female knight before walking towards me. 

That’s right. If you want to win in an argument against me, say more. 

I am fine with just fanning the flames even more and creating hostility. 

“Hmm, so you don’t care about the brat?” (Colorless)

“You acted within the scope of your guardian of the forbidden. Regardless of background, from what I was told by Nora, you can still wriggle yourself out of that one with your duty. I am fine with giving you that one.” 

“Oh, how generous.” (Colorless)

“But getting Ruko caught in this and threatening her was out of bounds.” 

“I told you it is because she got in the way, right?” (Colorless)

“What point is there in Ruko getting in the way? No matter what Ruko tried to do, you have the power to swiftly kill only Nora. You were in a position that allowed you to do so as the guardian of the forbidden. But you purposely got Ruko caught up in this.” 

Fumu, that’s true. 

It would have been easy to ignore that young lady and kill the brat. 

My job is to murder the ones that have touched on the forbidden. I just have to swiftly do that. 

I could have done that, but I was instead roundabout. 

I see, it doesn’t make sense in terms of my job either. Good work.

Well then, let’s provoke him.

“That’s my hobby. It is fun to scare women and children.” (Colorless)

“That’s not such a praiseworthy hobby to have.” 

He walked one step and then another, and the Earthling arrived right in front of me. 

Within arm’s reach, but it of course isn’t scary.

“It wasn’t bad. That brat peeing herself was pretty amusing.” (Colorless)

“I repeat myself: I have no intention of saying anything about the matter of Nora. What I am displeased about is you have dragged Ruko into this -the fact that you put your hands on a friend of ours that you had no business putting your hands on.” 

“Hmm, and what are you gonna do about it?” (Colorless)

“Appropriate retaliation.” 

Here it comes. The Earthling brought out what he was hiding with short motions and pushed it onto me. 

A knife. I clearly saw how he hid one knife from the room of the king’s little sister where the brat was in. 

A normal person might have been caught off-guard by this, but a surprise attack by a weakling like you is nothing. 

The type of knife is…from what I can see at a glance, it is a normal knife. 

No signs of being laced by poison. No mana reaction either. 

His aim was my mouth? Did he want to shut my annoying mouth?

I understand that it is hard for you to do mana strengthening, but isn’t this a bit too plain? 

He would have had a chance with the wooden sword that he entrusted to the female knight, but with a knife that hasn’t been strengthened with mana, even if he were to stab my throat, it wouldn’t hurt a single piece of flesh in me.

But that would be plain. Evasion is out of the question since it would look like I felt a threat from it. In that case, I will just do this…

I caught the blade of the knife that was heading straight onto my mouth in between my teeth. 

“Shoo fad (too bad), shomfing fie fis (something like this)—” (Colorless)

Wait, oi oi, even though I caught it, he is trying to push it in. 

His body can’t move with just the strength of my neck and the blade doesn’t slip with the strength of my jaw. 

Even so, this guy doesn’t change his expression at all as he…argh, so annoying! 

I put strength in my jaw and bite it to pieces. He moved away from me, most likely after seeing that. 

A cheap knife like that doesn’t hurt or itch—

“Uogh?!” (Colorless)

An unpleasant feeling spread inside my mouth and my whole body trembled. 

I reflexively spit out the fragments of the knife that were in my mouth. 

I saw what looked like a blue liquid mixed within the knife fragments I spit out. 

Just how did he…no, more importantly, what in the world is this?! 

The sensation wrapping around my tongue isn’t disappearing. My esophagus and stomach are pulsing erratically.

Poison? No, poison shouldn’t work on me! 

…Ah, no good.

“Goeeeeh!” (Colorless)

I vomit the baked pastries I ate before. Even with that, the desire to vomit didn’t stop, and I vomited over and over…until the insides of my stomach were empty…

This is plain bad. 

Bitter, sour, and on the level of bad where shivers ran down my back. 

Even drinking mud with dog piss mixed in would be better than this. That’s how much of a bad liquid was put inside my mouth. 

“I went through hard work making that food. I would appreciate not returning it like that.” 

“Y-You bastard… What did you…” (Colorless)

“The knife you bit to pieces was a booby-trapped knife that I brought out from the room of Mix just as you saw. The inside is hollow and you can set a variety of things. Mix would put magic seal stones inside, make them explode, and would nullify the magic of the opponent with them. But what I set this time was this.” 

Saying this, the Earthling put a hand in his pocket and brought that out. 

The corpse of an insect…a type of hornworm that is more ominous than its vivid color.

“This is a larva of an Itoela Butterfly. The Itoela Butterfly is not a species that stands out by any means, but its larval state has a pretty peculiar appearance, right? The trait of such flashy color insects is that they are either poisonous or bitter. They purposely stand out like this so that once they eat them one time, they won’t ever want to eat them again.” 

“Why did something like that…” (Colorless)

“This larva is used for medicines, you see. Dry them, grind them into fine powder, and by mixing a tiny bit of it in other medicines, it will make the effect of other medicines travel faster in your body. It has the downside of making the medicine itself extremely bitter. I set these larvaes inside the knife. Retrieving them in the middle of my medicinal plant gathering was useful.” 

He set it in the knife… When? No, he had opportunities to. 

At the time when he was cooking. It wouldn’t have been strange for him to be slicing things at a chopping board. 

No, no, even if that’s so, you can’t just aim for it! 

“Aah, I know that you are normally keeping an eye on my actions. No, I comprehended that you must be doing so. But with your personality, it is not like you are endlessly watching monotone tasks, right? That’s why I made an awfully large batch of baked pastries. Also, I already took into account that, if I were to try and stab your mouth with my knife, you would stop it with your teeth. And if I were to push it even further, you would bite it to pieces. Coupled with the fact that you would vomit over and over the baked pastries you put in your stomach with glee.” 

This guy did such a roundabout thing just for that? Just to make me bite down on bitter bugs and vomit?! 

What a nasty natured guy. There should be a limit to being meticulous! 

…No, but I have achieved my objective with this. 

He interacted with me in a hostile manner. He has judged me as an enemy. 

I was made to taste a more bitter experience than expected, but this is my win! 

With this, I can move as an enemy of the 3rd Faction! 

“Haaah… Haaah… You think you can get off scot free after doing something like this?! Hah?!” (Colorless)

“Colorless Demon Lord, let me teach you one thing for educational purposes.” 

“Hah?! What’s this educational—” (Colorless)

He threw the insect he was holding right into his mouth. 

And then his jaw moved once, twice, and chewed on. 

Over and over, over and over, as if degustating it. 

His calm expression didn’t crumble; in front of the person that swallowed the same thing and vomited.

The Earthling eventually spit out what was in his mouth. 

It landed on what I vomited.

There’s no doubt it is the same larva that I chewed before. 

Just looking at that made me want to vomit all over again. 

He wiped his mouth lightly, matched my gaze, and laughed. 

“It seems like you think being a villain suits you, but true villains are stubborn guys that hide their own emotions. To the point that, even if they were to swallow a bitter pill, they have to laugh boldly or they would just be 3rd rate scoundrels.” 

“…” 

Impossible. Putting something like that in your mouth and not changing your expression one bit is just…

Even though I am on the verge of unloading again despite my stomach being empty already! 

“Colorless Demon Lord, it seems like you want me to become hostile to you.” 

“?!” 

“See, that’s no good. You shouldn’t show it in your face. The reason why you are normally taking a provocative attitude is not only because of your personality, but because you are actively trying to make enemies, right? Why are you going through so much trouble? It is because you have been ordered by the White Demon Lord, right? It must be something along the lines of: ‘I will have you become the guardian that protects the balance of this world -the one that stands in a fair position. I forbid you to become the enemy of someone’, right?” 

“Wa?!” (Colorless)

How long has it been since I have gotten goosebumps, oi?

Why is this guy saying the exact same thing as him?! 

It is not only me… Could it be that he even knows about Yugura…?

“It is showing in your face again. That’s not good. The first time I met you, you used overwhelming power to easily kill the Great Devil. But even though it looked like you wanted to stir things up, you barely did any actions that stood out. That’s because you can’t take auctions that turn you into the enemy of someone, right? What you can do is within the realms of a neutral party and provide fair information. You are trying to take provoking actions to manipulate the perception. You are purposely choosing your words so that you get hated. Aah, but you had a dirty mouth to begin with. Sorry, sorry. I was too cruel in denying one of your defining traits.”  

…I understand now. This guy is bad news.

He is the same as Yugura. No, that’s not a good comparison. 

That guy was bad news in that he stirred up the world out of self-interest, but this guy is abnormal in a different meaning.

I thought he was similar to Black Sis. That was right and wrong at the same time. 

When he referred to himself with me, I could feel that he was similar to Black Sis. 

He was oozing with the strength to turn emotions into power. 

But right now I don’t feel even a portion of Black Sis in him. 

Even though he has thrown this much retribution towards someone, he is not showing even an ounce of emotions. 

“If you are going to become my enemy, I will happily accept that. However, if you are going to become what I judge as evil…can you please thicken the skin on your face to a degree where I can give you a passing grade?” 

He is a completely different type of monster. Yeah, he is an anomaly. 

He is not switching his personality and character; he has become someone completely different. 

…You monster.

◇◇

The Colorless Demon Lord left without even saying a throwaway statement. 

I watched over this and faced Ilias again to get Kutou back. 

“Kutou, canteen.” 

“Yes, here!” (Kutou)

I pour the contents of the canteen made from leather inside my mouth and spit it out onto the vomit of the Colorless Demon Lord. 

It may be bad manners to do this in a room, but we are going to be cleaning up anyways, so do forgive me. 

“What’s that?” (Marito)

“It is the alcohol that has the most alcohol percentage within the ones in our house. It is the type that would make your mouth numb if you keep it in for too long.” 

“…Could it be that you took that beforehand?” (Marito)

“I would reek of alcohol, so I had a cloth seeped in it beforehand and wrapped it around my tongue. Even so, I will still reek a bit of alcohol, so I covered the room in the scent of the baked pastries.” 

“I see. Even so, it wasn’t one bit bitter?” (Marito)

“It was still pretty bitter. I might have vomited if I hadn’t skipped my meal.” 

“The Colorless Demon Lord ate a belly-full after all. What a terrible guy, doing something like that in someone else’s room.” (Marito)

“But it was a good sight, right?” 

“If I were to admit that, my pride as a king… But it was refreshing, personally speaking.” (Marito)

I once again pour the booze in my mouth and wash the inside of my mouth.

The senses in my mouth are already gone, but the displeasing sensation still remains. 

The aim of the Colorless Demon Lord is to become the ally of the Scarlet Demon Lord. He wanted me and the 3rd Faction to recognize him as an enemy. 

If he wants to be treated as an enemy, he doesn’t need to act all roundabout and could just kill all the humans in sight. 

The fact that he can’t do this already made it clear that he had some sort of restriction placed on him. 

The only one who can do that is Yugura.

I used words with the Colorless Demon Lord in mind according to the information that I got from the chaotic action patterns of the person himself and what I heard from Gold and the others. It seems like it matched a decent degree. 

“And so, what will be the standing of the Colorless Demon Lord from here on?” (Marito)

“He is someone that can’t become our enemy as long as we don’t touch the forbidden. There’s the possibility he will leak information to the Scarlet Demon Lord, but he has no choice but to provide us with information of equal value to counterbalance it. Moreover, to a degree where it isn’t antagonizing.” 

“In other words…” (Marito)

“We can just ignore him without thinking of him as either an enemy or ally. As for the forbidden, it should be enough to just explain the details to Ruko and Nora.” 

The Colorless Demon Lord can barely act as long as we don’t approach the forbidden. 

He can draw information from us, but if he does so, he will have to provide information of equal value to the humans who are enemies of the Scarlet Demon Lord. 

As long as we see through that moderately, it is a system that won’t pose any issues. 

Let’s do a follow-up for Nora and the others afterwards. 

“Marito, leave Nora to me…No, to me. Can I leave Ruko to you?” 

“Yeah, got it.” (Marito)

“Now then, Ilias, can you lend me your face for a bit?” 

“If we take those words at face value—mgh.” (Ilias)

I grab the head of Ilias with both hands and stare at her eyes. 

…Nice straight eyes no matter how many times I see them. I’m so jealous. 

I envy people who have things I can’t have. 

I feel jealous towards the pure way of living of the people in this world, but at the same time, there must be people who are pulled by my way of living. 

As someone who can understand both, this standing is just an extension of escapism though. 

“…Let me ask this one thing. What’s the reason why you would fondle and pull my face?” (Ilias)

“It is easier for my seriousness to be extracted with weird faces.” 

“Alright, you better remember this later.” (Ilias)

“Crap, my tongue slipped… Well, please be lenient with me.” 

My mind is back to normal now, but the inside of my mouth is in a truly disgusting state. 

It would be better to not eat dinner today. Also, let’s brush my teeth thoroughly. 

“So you are back. With such a drastic change, it makes me feel like there’s different people in one body.” (Ilias)

“I also think so. What’s the truth about it?” (Marito)

“Me and me are the same individual. My cognition is shaken a bit when switching though.” 

The me that moves by emotion and the me that doesn’t; I honestly don’t know which one’s opinion is correct. 

No, they are most likely both correct. 

There’s not just one answer. There’s no need to force myself to get concerned by this. 

Right now I think the me and the me are the same, and that’s fine. 

◇◇

“Gugh… Ah!” 

The displeasing sensation doesn’t go away no matter how much I wash the inside of my mouth. I couldn’t endure it and jam my hand into my mouth and burn the inside. 

If half-baked measures don’t solve it, I just have to be extreme. 

I am fine with pain. I have been trained in that front. 

After burning the inside of my mouth to the point of losing the sensations in it, I healed it with magic. 

I have been training only my sense of pain until now, but to think I would be attacked on my sense of taste. To think he would injure me even if I did so myself for the sake of treatment, that’s impressive. 

The regeneration is over, but the sensation etched in my mind was getting in the way, so the displeasure still remains faintly. 

This wasn’t just a bitter experience. Even the goosebumps that I felt when I saw his eyes remain. 

That shithead. Are there only troublemakers within the earthlings? 

Now that he knows I can’t become his enemy, I can’t help out Scarlet Beast. 

There might be a possibility if I increase the amount of contact, but they might end up sucking out the other information I am hiding. 

Can’t be helped. I will have Scarlet Beast do his best as he is right now. 

“What should I do? That’s a pretty tough issue.” (Colorless)

I make the mirror appear and confirm, and it seems like my standing is still that of being neutral. 

In order to make him the substitute of Black Sis, I need him to get him angry in his me state. 

But there’s a different monster inside of him.

When you try to shake his emotional side, his me state will show up. He would obstruct my actions with monstrous perceptiveness. 

To think there would be a person who has a different personality to protect their core personality. Earth is most likely not a decent place. My condolences to earthlings.

What should I do from here on…? Aggravating things using the ‘Illegitimate’ would be bad. 

There won’t be anyone who will try to touch upon the forbidden in Taizu either. 

I can’t make any decent moves in a neutral position. The vexation of wanting to get in the way of the Earthling but can’t is pretty painful. 

I have no choice but to aim for my opportunity while doing my best to not be caught in the other things I am plotting.

“If I etched an instinctive feeling that there’s a gap, I don’t have a chance of winning. That’s why I will have you lose to someone else, Earthling.” 

If I can’t become his enemy, I just have to prepare someone else. 

Scarlet Beast would be the one for the job at present, but I would like to prepare one or two more enemies. 

Aaah, damn it. Guess I should burn my mouth one more time. 

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