Ch 201
-Master!!!
Collusion taking place secretly in a sparsely populated corridor.
A spirit（?） from the Inner World cried out in excitement at the scene.
-To think, the spies the guys were talking about were Master…!!! Was it so, was it like that!!! These obtuse ones, in places they couldn’t see, were plotting a scheme deeper than the abyss! You intended to bring the lowly worms to their knees and ascend to the throne of domination befitting Master!!! I, Dangaleon!!! I will gladly follow Master! I will strangle the necks of all the worms, so that they may not even be permitted a single breath of air before Master!!! I will gladly oppress them and elevate Master to the position of the ruler of all things and the pinnacle of thaumaturgy—the Demon King!!!
Master（?） spoke to the spirit.
‘Calm down, Dangaleon. It seems the spies mistook me for the target of the collusion, so I’m just going to use that.’
-I knew it!!! There’s no way Master, whose very existence illuminates the whole world, would be obsessed with such insignificant power!!!
‘What, a dual personality?’
-I, Dangaleon!!! Even if I were split into a thousand, ten thousand pieces, I would follow Master!
‘Okay, then. This friend. What do you think?’
-This time too, Master’s discernment will be correct!!! In my view, they seem like just the right worm to use and discard! They seem obtuse and incompetent!
‘In your opinion, do they look like a spy for the Demon Worshippers?’
Lisir, seeking an opinion, felt somewhat confused.
Should I say, as the spirit（?） said.
“He, hehe…”
The woman who had approached him seemed too naive to be a spy for the Demon Worshippers.
Her posture, shrunk with all her might, seemed to be wary of everything in the world.
Her timid eyes, visible between her long bangs, could not gaze at the other person for even a moment, constantly looking around nervously.
‘Is this a spy for the Demon Worshippers?’
-As Master said!!! They’re a pathetic woman who seems more likely to serve a strong woman of the same age as her master than a demon!!! It seems more appropriate to use her as a servant slave than a spy!
Lisir considered.
If he were to instruct the woman before him to perform an act befitting a ‘Demon Worshipper’.
How would she react?
Would she suddenly change and willingly harm someone, unlike her appearance?
Or, would she be flustered and at a loss, as she appears?
‘It seems like the latter…’
Various possibilities came to mind.
Lisir decided to put those possibilities aside for now.
Regardless of her true nature, it seemed certain that she possessed a clue to identifying the spy.
The most important thing now was to use her misconception to obtain as much information as possible.
The problem is-
‘Pretending to be the target of the collusion was fine. But, what do I do next?’
All he knew was that she was drawn to his extraordinary abilities.
Under such conditions, how could he maximize her misconception and induce her actions?
“Um… do you have anything else to say to me…”
A prolonged silence.
The woman watched Lisir’s next action, even more nervously.
It was a subtle urging, perhaps.
Lisir felt the pressure and spurred his thinking.
‘I need to do something… but if I act rashly, I might arouse unnecessary suspicion and everything could go wrong. This is maddening.’
-Master! How about giving this woman pain to make her reveal everything she knows!?
‘…’
Lisir pondered the spirit’s suggestion.
And, while pondering the suggestion, he felt a slight headache.
Perhaps.
He thought that interrogating the woman might be the best course of action, as Dangaleon said.
There was nothing else he could do in the current situation.
‘But… interrogation isn’t my specialty? Even if it were my specialty, I don’t particularly want to do it… but what do I do? There’s nothing else I can do-… Wait.’
But.
A sudden flash of inspiration at that moment.
‘How much does this woman know about me? That is, about the target of the collusion?’
She approached him, recognizing his extraordinary abilities.
In other words.
She approached him based solely on his extraordinary abilities.
‘Perhaps, she doesn’t know anything about the target of the collusion.’
In addition to her inherently timid personality, her cautious attitude was particularly noticeable.
‘She’s not on an equal footing with the target of the collusion. The target of the collusion is her superior.’
After compiling the given clues and possibilities, Lisir reached a conclusion.
‘Instead of being nervous here, what if I act confidently?’
As soon as his thoughts were organized, Lisir looked directly into the woman’s eyes.
“H-hiik…!”
The woman flinched.
Lisir had created an appearance befitting the situation and his role.
The gentle young man was gone.
Standing there was someone who possessed the murderous intent and oppressive aura that only someone who understands the murderous sword of a murderer could create.
“…”
Lisir nodded towards the woman.
Similarly, the young man who had been feeling anxious while being urged by the woman was gone.
Lisir urged the woman instead.
In this way, he shifted the responsibility for the silence from himself to the woman.
It was the so-called ‘You must have something to report to me’ strategy.
By creating a situation to test the subordinate’s ability and proactiveness as a superior, he would induce her to dance, sing, and even conduct herself.
‘Will this work?’
It was a highly contrived plan, one that would collapse the moment any incongruity was felt.
Aware of this, Lisir paid even more attention to his breathing.
So that she wouldn’t notice his anxiety-
He exuded an even stronger murderous aura and oppressive presence.
“Ah, ah…”
It worked.
The woman began to fidget, biting her nails.
I have to do something.
But what should I do?
She was caught up in such thoughts.
Lisir did not miss that opening.
“I’ll ask. What are you here for? Why did you come looking for me?”
It was a question.
Lisir truly knew nothing, so he was seeking an answer from her.
However.
To her, the question felt like a test.
Therefore-
The target of the collusion, who should be leading the situation as a superior, feels no incongruity at all in the situation where she is being asked to lead the situation.
“If, if I’m not mistaken… you gave us a hint…?”
In order to wipe out the Demon Worshippers, they had to infiltrate their ranks and wait for the moment when they all gathered in one place.
However, Lisir was wary of infiltrating the enemy ranks through the woman.
He wasn’t sure that they were all in the same state as the woman.
If there was someone there who possessed more information than the subordinate woman-
This act would be immediately exposed.
However.
From the woman’s reaction, Lisir could vaguely feel confident.
‘You gave us a hint… Perhaps, everyone is in a similar state to this woman.’
They hadn’t obtained any information from him yet-
But he was steadily accumulating information about them.
Lisir gained confidence and acted more aggressively.
“Tell me.”
“Yes?”
“What hint did I give you?”
“Th-that…! At the gathering of the Starbirth Festival participants, you said you would prove your existence with an ability that we could absolutely not doubt…!”
“How?”
“Wh-whispers… You whispered to us with an unknown power…! That you would give us power…! I, I clearly saw it━”
The woman’s eyes were now shining with expectation and admiration.
“To do something that even Landeia Ye Reloza couldn’t do… so easily…!!!”
“It’s simple spirit magic.”
“No, no!!! I’m also a wizard, so I know about spirit magic!!! What you, Lisir, did is not that simple! It’s not spirit magic, but something more fundamental…! You captivated the spirit with an unknown power!!! Right!?”
Heh.
Heheh.
Heheheh.
The woman said with a laugh that was too clumsy to be called madness.
“As Lisir said… if I also serve that great being, could I become like Lisir…!?”
Lisir withdrew his murderous aura and oppressive presence.
And, returning to his usual gentle young man’s appearance, he said.
“That’s up to you. However. Remember this one thing. You will surely become a much better person than you are now.”
“Ah…!”
The woman’s expression is filled with emotion.
Soon, pure respect and admiration filled her timid eyes, replacing fear and awe.
“Th-then, what should I do now!?”
“Tell me.”
“…F-first, I’ll guide you to where the others are! Everyone is waiting for you, Lisir!!!”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Lisir followed the woman down the corridor.
✦✦✦
Landeia Ye Reloza,
Usually overshadowed by her name, the Coffee Exchange included children of various noble families besides her.
As someone said, even the person with the lowest standing in the Coffee Exchange would naturally become the center of attention at a regular gathering.
Leon Hordel.
He could be considered a prime example.
Hordel, a high-ranking noble family whose power in the region where their family is located is considered absolute.
Leon, born the second son of Hordel, grew up receiving all the family’s expectations and attention.
-Young Master Leon is so intelligent!
-If you listen to him with your eyes closed, he’s almost indistinguishable from the Head of the Family!?
-And his demeanor is so dignified…
-Head of the Family! Young Master Leon’s talent is heaven-sent! You should immediately send him to the Magic Tower for professional training…
-Young Master Leon is… well, what should I say, it’s a shame. It’s a shame.
-That’s right. If he had been born just a little earlier than Diberon, the eldest son, he would have been considered the best candidate for the Head of the Family.
-There’s nothing lacking in his talent, intelligence, character, and above all, his confidence! Nothing is lacking compared to Young Master Diberon-
-Not only is nothing lacking?
-Shh! Let’s stop there.
It was because of his talent and character, which were overly mature for his age.
Some people even called Leon the ‘reincarnation of the previous Head of the Family’.
-The reincarnation of the previous Head of the Family… Perhaps that might really be the case…
Leon himself sometimes wondered where his extraordinary talents came from.
And.
That question was suddenly answered one day.
-I am…
A voice suddenly heard in his head.
That voice revealed the source of Leon’s extraordinary talents.
-I am the reincarnation of a Demon Worshipper…?
Leon didn’t immediately accept the story that the voice called ‘truth’.
How could he?
His very essence, respected and admired by those around him, was actually the reincarnation of a terrible Demon Worshipper.
However.
In the midst of all this, he could immediately accept one fact.
-The demon’s talent…
-So, this power is…
It was the source of his extraordinary innate abilities.
That’s why he craved even more than what he already possessed.
Leon knew.
-No matter what I do now, I can never replace my brother.
-I can never become the Head of the Family.
-I must never try to become the master of the family.
-I must never try to escape my brother’s shadow for the rest of my life.
-My brother’s shadow, who is inferior to me.
-That is the family’s will…
Even though he was born with extraordinary abilities, if he rested on his laurels, he would eventually live and die trapped in the framework of fate.
However.
If he listened to the voice within.
If he pursued power in a way that broke free from the framework.
Wouldn’t he be able to escape that fate?
Therefore-
Wouldn’t it be possible to become the master, not just a part of the family?
-Young Master Leon seems to have changed a bit lately, doesn’t he?
-I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Thus, Leon Hordel decided to accept his identity as a Demon Worshipper.
✦✦✦
The participants of the Starbirth Festival.
At the friendly gathering where most of them, composed of nobles, gathered, there was a group that particularly caught people’s attention.
The Coffee Exchange.
There, a man was spending time relatively close to Landeia, the center of the group.
It was Leon Hordel, the third most influential member of the Coffee Exchange.
He looked around with a composure befitting his position within the group.
“Leon?”
“Yeah?”
At that moment, a long-haired man spoke to Leon.
Delford.
As the second most influential member of the Coffee Exchange, he possessed influence and skill second only to Landeia.
The general consensus among the Coffee Exchange members was that the winner of this Starbirth Festival would definitely be one of Landeia and Delford.
“Are you looking for someone? You keep looking around.”
“Looking for someone…”
Leon gave a subtle smile at Delford’s words.
Looking for someone.
There was.
To be precise, there were people who should come looking for him.
Leon Hordel.
Born the second son of the family, destined never to become the Head of the Family, he had a grand plan.
That was to gather people in similar situations to himself and build a huge force.
Those who were born as children of power brokers but were not in a position to inherit that power completely.
That was why he joined the Coffee Exchange-
And why he participated in the Starbirth Festival.
Leon had been steadily persuading those in similar situations to himself within the Coffee Exchange.
By using the whispers borrowed from the power of the demon.
And today.
The contact-
And the moment of formation.
Imagining the near future when he would use his followers to actively pursue power, Leon took action.
“Delford?”
“Yeah?”
“Shall we liven up the atmosphere a bit?”
Delford looked at Leon as if he were a strange person.
The Coffee Exchange was essentially a two-person system of Landeia and Delford.
No one would have thought that Leon would become Delford’s rival.
Not even Leon himself.
The subtle hierarchical relationship between Leon and Delford was derived from this.
However.
Leon suddenly tried to overturn that hierarchical relationship.
“What’s suddenly wrong?”
Delford willingly accepted that insubordination.
✦✦✦
A sparring match suddenly began between members of the Coffee Exchange.
The sparring match, which took place in the center of the banquet hall, attracted the attention of everyone present-
And shocked them.
“Leon, you━”
The sparring match ended in an instant.
When Leon revealed a glimpse of the true skill he had been hiding, even Landeia couldn’t hide her astonishment.
Leon left the banquet hall, which had become boisterous because of him, and moved to a sparsely populated corridor.
“Le, Leon!!!”
Then, several members of the Coffee Exchange hastily followed him.
They were the ones Leon had planted the seeds in through the demon’s whispers.
“Co, could you be…!?”
Leon carefully examined their eyes.
Awe. Caution. Expectation. Longing.
Those were the emotions reflected in their eyes.
There was no doubt there.
Leon smiled and said.
“Are you ready to pursue the same power as me?”
“…!”
Leon smiled contentedly at their reaction.
He said.
“Guide me to where the others are.”
✦✦✦
“Oh, Leon!!! You also heard Lisir’s voice!”
“?”
Upon arriving at the location, Leon wondered what was going on.
Those who should have been following him were looking up to another man while listening to the timid woman, Mona.
Seeing this sight, Leon froze in place like a stone.
Someone is impersonating him.
While he understood the situation itself, he couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
In the first place, was this a situation where someone could impersonate him?
“Wh-what are you all doing!?”
His follower, who understood the situation later than Leon but regained his senses first, shouted.
“The master of the voice is Leon here!!!”
The attention of those around them focused on him.
What are you talking about?
The followers, divided into two groups, looked at each other with the same expression.
Soon, Mona, who had been supporting Lisir next to him, shouted.
“That’s impossible!!! The master of the voice is Lisir! Lisir is the one who will lead us!!!”
“That guy!? Don’t be ridiculous! What can that guy do!”
“He can do a lot! Didn’t you see earlier!? Lisir subduing the spirit! Do you think that’s possible for that person!?”
“Nonsense!”
Leon’s followers looked at him.
Their gaze contained strong faith.
The belief that such a thing would naturally be possible for Leon.
“Wait…!”
Leon unconsciously avoided their gaze.
✦✦✦
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