Chapter 23
I'm Not a Bad Demon
Translator : PolterGlast
Search Skill Lv.1
【Maybe you'll find what you're looking for... Feels
like it.】
The skill description
was as vague as ever, but having it was definitely better than not. Combined
with my Detection skill, which was already at Lv. 2, I quietly ran through the
night streets with a blanket wrapped around my neck. Ichi and the others were already
helping me without me having to use the Tamer skill. They surrounded the three
sides of me, swaying the liquid inside their bodies, and searched the
surroundings as well.
Ichi and the others
had been able to follow me quietly after I disappeared into Harapeko-tei. They
could use a more detailed search skill than me by utilizing the water inside
their bodies. That was one of the unique skills of a cleaning slime has.
――――El, over there!
I ran in the direction
all three of them pointed. The sound of the Search skill leveling up pikoned.
The hazy sensation I had felt became slightly clearer.
The blanket I was
wearing was for warmth. I psyched myself up. Above my head, the clouds were
being blown slowly by a strong wind. A large moon was visible for a moment. My
hair grew longer and longer. My long legs stretched out as my golden hair,
which had reached my waist, swayed. High heels were hard to run in. On top of
that, my exposed cleavage and thighs were terribly defenseless, making me want
to sneeze. But I endured it.
The roadside trees
rustled. Lotus was leaning against a tree trunk, letting out a long sigh. I hid
behind him.
"Um, excuse me,
do you have my necklace?"
It was a quiet night
in the deserted city. Under the rustling trees, my murmured voice was slightly
different from my child's. Lotus seemed surprised and immediately tried to turn
around. "Don't look this way!" But he quickly reacted to my words and
faced forward with his arms crossed. I couldn't see Lotus's face. But Ichi and
the others were making sure no one else passed by besides Lotus, so I could
escape at any time.
"You... are you
the demon from back then...?"
Lotus, still listening
to my claim, quietly lowered his voice without turning around. I knew it.
Lotus had no intention
of capturing me from the very beginning.
Otherwise, there was
no way he would have let me escape in the first place. He had no surname, and
his low birth held him back, so he was still just a low-ranking soldier, but
his swordsmanship was better than anyone else's. He even counterattacked while
sleeping. When I had struck his wrist with a full knife-hand strike, there was
no way he would have actually released his grip, and if he had wanted to chase
me, he could have caught me as many times as he wanted.
I didn't know why he
had let me escape. When we first met in the forest, he had talked about the
fleeing monster. But the situation was different between a young monster
quietly living in the forest and a demon lurking in the city.
――――But, because he thinks
I'm a demon, he's worried that something bad might happen if he overlooked me.
He feels responsible, so he's been patrolling the city, sacrificing his sleep.
It was all just my own
speculation. The branches of the trees swayed quietly, and the leaves fluttered
as if swimming. Just my imagination. But it was a fact that he wasn't trying to
catch me. In that case.
"I, I..."
I didn't know what
meaning there was in saying this, but.
"I'm not a bad
demon, you see!"
Lotus's knees seemed
to buckle for a moment. I unintentionally thought of a famous line, but I
didn't mean to. Of course, Lotus wouldn't understand. Ichi and the others
around me looked like they were proudly puffing out their chests, making me
feel even more guilty, but it was just different.
"Wha... what? A
bad demon?"
Even he was perplexed.
If Lotus was worried
that I might do something, I thought I should eliminate that worry. I knew that
just saying it wouldn't make him go, "Oh, I see," but seeing him only
take short naps leaning against the city wall made me restless. And because I
also wanted him to return my necklace, I made excuses to myself and came all
the way here.
"I just wish
you'd let me live quietly! I have no intention of doing anything bad, and all I
think about is how happy I am when the food is delicious, that kind of
thing."
The more I talked, the
more foolish I felt. He had told me before not to use formal speech, but that
was as El, and this form was different. So I felt strange using my usual tone.
"Um, well, um, and then there's the necklace!" That was the main
point. After just saying that, my head felt like it was going to burst.
"If you happen to have it, I would be grateful if you could return
it!!" My language was already becoming strange.
Lotus, who had been
told not to turn around, finally couldn't resist and peeked at me from behind
the tree trunk.
"Necklace... you
mean that thing? I have it, but not right now."
"Y-you do? I knew
it!"
So he had picked it up
after all, but there was no way he would be carrying a woman's accessory on his
person at all times. I was already in a position where Lotus was looking down
at me, and he could catch me with just a slight reach. Ugh, I fidgeted my
thighs, using the short blanket as a makeshift cape. It was the perfect length
for my child form, but as an adult, it wasn't covering many places.
I'm not a slut... I'm
not a slut... I swallowed my tears along with those words. The truth wouldn't
change no matter how I insisted, so all I could do was shrink to hide as much
skin as possible.
Thankfully, Lotus
didn't comment on my appearance, just looked down at me with a troubled
expression. Perhaps the very existence of me was already bizarre. He probably
didn't have the time to comment on my clothes.
Little by little, the
moon above us was covered by clouds and began to dim.
"Hey, you're
definitely a demon, right?"
I nodded silently at
his question. I wondered if I would be taken to the church after all, but
having come this far, there was no turning back. As I looked at my feet, I
heard Lotus quietly murmur above me, "I see."
"If you're not
going to do anything, then that's fine. I don't particularly... want to catch
someone who hasn't done anything."
I wasn't foolish
enough to be overjoyed by those words.
When I looked up, he
was avoiding my gaze, looking terribly awkward, as if he had some bitter
memories.
After all, a demon was
a threat just by being a demon. Everyone believed that. In the game, there was
an episode where it was revealed that demons and humans were the same, but
everyone else didn't know that. Demons weren't human. People thought they were
more powerful than monsters and something to be feared.
So, it wasn't as
simple as Lotus being a good person or not. His words were "strange."
They were too convenient for me. I should have been wary. Even so, seeing his
jet-black hair messed up like a small child's and his clenched fist, the
tension in my body suddenly softened.
Lotus was human. He
was trying to have a proper conversation with me, a demon who shouldn't have
been human to him. Just that made me think, "Well, maybe it's okay."
"Um... well then,
I guess that's that."
If he didn't have the
necklace, there was nothing I could do. At least I was able to convey what I needed
to. Thinking that I would be able to sleep soundly now was just my own
self-satisfaction.
Just as I was about to
disappear into the night streets along with the sound of my heels,
"Wait!" Lotus grabbed my arm and pulled me back sharply.
"I want to know
more about demons. Even if just a little, that's fine. Really, even if it's
just occasionally.
――――Would you mind meeting me and talk?"
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