It had been a while since I visited the Demon God, and the Garden of Armonia was so peaceful that it was hard to believe Colette Bloodberry had once caused such chaos on the surface.
“…Why are there so many of you?”
─Squish squish!
If anything, I was a bit flustered because the number of slimes had increased. Why did these guys multiply? Is there even anything here for them to eat? They swarmed me the moment I appeared in the garden, clinging to me from all directions.
“Welcome, descendant of nectar. Are you enjoying your interesting life at the Academy?”
The Demon God, who appeared in the air with a flutter of black cloth, gently picked me up with both hands and sat me on her lap. Surrounded by slimes, I couldn’t help but think—this position feels oddly like feeding a baby.
“Yes, I’m doing well. And I have a request for you, Demon God.”
“How bold of you to think of making a request to a god.”
“Can you read ancient Demon Language, Demon God?”
“To a god, the concept of ‘ancient’ doesn’t exist, so of course, I can.”
As expected.
The Demon God indeed had the ability to decipher ancient magic books.
“I want to read this magic book.”
I pulled out the magic book I had hidden in my clothes and showed it to the Demon God, Armonia.
“Oh? You want to read this magic book?”
“Yes, Demon God. Murmur wants to read this book.”
“What reason do you have for wanting to read it?”
Huh? The game didn’t have this kind of question.
“It’s a precious magic book left by Esme’s mother. She wished for her friend to read it together, and I want to fulfill that wish.”
The Demon God looked at me quietly, then softly closed her eyes and touched the corner of her eye with her left hand.
“Sniff… Just hearing that makes me emotional. Descendant of nectar! How can you say such cute and lovely things?”
I just answered normally, though? What’s with this reaction?
“Ah… Such a commendable answer. Very well, even if the knowledge within is dangerous, I will specially grant it to you since you’ve spoken so sincerely.”
“Dangerous?”
The Demon God nodded and created another magic book in front of me.
“The knowledge contained in this book is extremely dangerous. However, if what you said is true, then it might not matter.”
“…Demon God, you’re being irresponsible.”
You just said it’s dangerous knowledge for a 5th grader, and now you’re saying it’s fine? What’s going on?
“Don’t say that and just read it.”
The Demon God pinched my cheek softly and patted my back. I hid Esme’s magic book back in my clothes…
『You have acquired a new trait!』
【Dual Casting】:『The number of spells you can cast in one turn increases to two.』
[Trait Points: 0]
『Advantages』
[Saved Child, Path of ■■, Dual Casting]
『Disadvantages』
[Overly Emotional, Genetic Defect, Frequent Hunger, Torn Pockets]
So far, everything was as expected.
The contents of the magic book were surprisingly easy to read, and I learned the traits just as I had imagined.
The problem was, considering the contents of Esme’s mother’s will, there must be more hidden secrets in this book…
『You have acquired a new skill!』
“Ah…!”
There it is! Whether it’s a DLC-added feature or a backstory that players were never meant to know, like Esme’s mother’s story, this magic book still held more secrets.
『You have acquired a new skill!』
【Gentle Release】
“May this knowledge be something my precious follower can understand and handle.”
Armonia, not knowing my thoughts, stroked my head and whispered.
Wait, no. Demon God, this is a ‘forbidden magic,’ isn’t it? This isn’t something you should learn at this stage, right?
‘Dual Casting’ was something I could justify as a quick compensation for Colette’s situation, but this is a magic you learn in the high school chapter of the Demon King route, isn’t it?
“Ugh…”
Gentle Release is a surprisingly gentle magic, as its name suggests. It gives a ‘Demon’ using ‘Transformation Magic’ the opportunity to release the transformation themselves.
Surprisingly, that’s all it does.
It doesn’t detect whether the opponent is a Demon hiding their identity, nor does it forcibly dispel Transformation Magic. It simply gives them the chance to release it themselves, and if they do, a pure white mark will appear on the back of their hand.
And that mark becomes proof.
It becomes gentle evidence that the ‘Transformation Magic’ they’re using, which is absolutely unacceptable in society, isn’t for evil purposes. Even the terrifying inquisitors of the Holy Nation will listen to their story if they see this mark.
Why is that? The reason is simple. ‘Gentle Release’ is a magic that only the highest-ranking figures in the Holy Nation can learn.
Like the Saintess, the Pope, or the High Inquisitor…
“Why would you give me this magic…?”
“Isn’t it a magic for your friend?”
“My friend? Ah… I see.”
This magic isn’t something you can learn just for fun in the Demon King route. Honestly, that event was so ‘Demon King-like’ that I couldn’t help but admire it.
Why can only the highest-ranking figures in the Holy Nation learn this magic? What does the mark signify?
Why would the Demon King bother learning this magic?
There’s only one reason.
“It’s a magic to protect your friend.”
“Uh… Huh? Protect?”
That can’t be right.
“Think carefully, descendant of nectar, my beloved follower. With this magic, you can give a mark to a friend in a difficult situation.”
“Yeah, Murmur thinks so too.”
“It’s a magic that gives a chance to a ‘friend’ who can’t be understood by humanity’s narrow standards.”
There was definitely an episode like that.
It was a story that showed just how strict and cruel the Inquisition could be.
Wasn’t the quest name ‘The Tragedy of the New Bride’? It was about a Demon who had lived as an ordinary girl using Transformation Magic since childhood, but her identity was revealed just before her wedding, and she asked the player for help.
She was a Demon who had never committed any crime, but she had been too afraid of people’s condemnation to reveal her true identity, even though she had many opportunities to do so.
The Inquisitor claimed that such a Demon was guilty. The logic was that since she had the chance to reveal herself but didn’t, there must have been malicious intent.
In the Demon King route, you could send the Inquisitor packing, and in the Hero route, you could persuade them.
The fact that ‘persuasion’ was possible showed that the ‘crime’ of using Transformation Magic wasn’t absolute and could be viewed flexibly.
“…Now I understand why the Demon God said it was dangerous.”
“It’s a precious and valuable magic, so use it carefully, my beloved follower.”
I could naturally imagine it, even though I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.
A Demon, entrusting this magic to a truly trustworthy friend and asking for a chance.
A girl, willingly using this dangerous magic to protect her friendship.
* * *
Next time I visit the Demon God’s garden, I should definitely bring a paper bag.
Who would think of carrying a magic book in a paper bag?
Anyway, walking around with two magic books hidden in my uniform was tougher than I thought. Holding my stomach with both hands and walking around like this—is this really okay?
“Miss Murmur, could you spare a moment to talk?”
“Eek!”
I was so startled!!
The little girl who appeared behind me and started talking was none other than Citrine.
Her shiny red hair was tied up in a cute bun, and she was hard to miss, especially with the presence of her ‘butler’ by her side.
“Murmur is busy right now.”
I get that you want to talk to me, and I do plan to talk to you someday, but right now, I have two dangerous magic books hidden in my stomach, okay?
No. We absolutely cannot talk like this.
“Miss Murmur? Have you heard the rumor that Professor Marea will soon assign a joint project?”
I already know that. Nicasia didn’t tell me, and Esme didn’t either, but it’s about that time.
I felt bad for Citrine, who was following me so diligently, but I kept walking quickly.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Hehe, as expected, Miss Murmur is smart and wise. Anyway, I was thinking we could help each other out during that joint project.”
Is this really the time for this? I’m trying to escape to the dorm!
Anyway, I get the reason. Even in the main story, she approached the player around this time to show off her skills and asked to team up.
Ah, but we can’t get too close.
“Murmur is busy right now.”
“You don’t need to decide right now how to solve the joint project or what you need to do. Just let me know if you’re willing to be in the same group as me.”
“Murmur wants to think about it a bit more.”
I have Nicasia and Esme on my side. Nicasia is the ‘Princess,’ so she might suddenly be called away by adults, so I need to think carefully.
Since Esme and I are both mages, if I just randomly form a group, we might fail. Especially since Professor Marea is the one evaluating this project.
“Do you really need to think about it? Citrine, the adopted daughter of the Duchess of Colonia, is offering you this chance to be in the same group.”
“I know, but Murmur is… busy right now.”
I barely managed to catch the magic book that was about to slip out and pushed it back into my clothes.
Ah! I’m really busy right now! Do you have to talk about this now?
“As expected… I anticipated this. Here! Miss Murmur, take this.”
Citrine suddenly grabbed my right hand and forced a heavy pouch into it.
I didn’t even need to open it. This isn’t an amount of money a 5th grader should be carrying around.
“I don’t need it. Citrine, you keep it. Buy something nice to eat.”
“Huh? What?”
I pushed the pouch of gold coins back into Citrine’s chest and quickly grabbed the magic book again.
Phew! That was close.
“You… don’t need it right now?”
“Yeah, see you later, Citrine. Good luck with the joint project.”
I quickly walked away, leaving Citrine staring at me in confusion.
Accepting that money would make life much easier, but I couldn’t do it.
Accepting that money would trigger Citrine’s affection, and that’s something I absolutely couldn’t allow. Countless aspiring heroes fell for that money and ended up crying, pressing the ‘Call Over’ button or restarting the game.
Citrine was the heroine of the ‘Demon King Route,’ so if you were planning to take the Hero Route, you absolutely couldn’t mess with her.
The condition for entering the Demon King Route was having Citrine’s affection at level 1. It was only natural.