Gluttony Demon King with the Swampman ~A Man with No Magic Power Who Dreamed of Magic, Wielding Knowledge from His Past Life Through Steady Research and Hard Work to Become the Most Vicious Final Boss~ - Chapter 38: Sweetly Falling into Depravity

Chapter 38: Sweetly Falling into Depravity

Early in the morning, when I woke up in bed, soft flesh was wrapping around me from both sides.

“…I still can’t get used to this.”

As a distance between a man and women who aren’t even dating, this is absolutely impossible—no, this is a closeness I absolutely must not get used to.

That said, it was better than usual.

In the bedroom, Zaria and Noiche usually refuse to wear even underwear, let alone clothes, but just for today they were wearing negligees.

They’re sheer in places and so thin that I honestly feel it makes no difference whether they’re wearing them or not, yet the two of them started using them because “Haro picked them out.”

“Fuaa… morning, Haro.”

“…Good morning, Haro.”

Hearing my muttering, the sisters woke up.

They each planted a small kiss on my cheek as they spoke, and feeling awkward, I returned the “good morning.”

They hugged me tightly and tangled their legs with mine.

My thin, undernourished legs were completely captured by their plump thighs.

Eventually I couldn’t even shift my body, and just when falling back asleep seemed like the only option left, the bedroom door opened like a rescue boat.

“G-good morning~! I made some tea, is everyone awake…?”

It was Egiy.

Her internal clock is frighteningly accurate; she usually wakes up a little earlier than us and brings towels or tea at exactly the right moment.

Of course, Egiy herself was also dressed in a negligee so revealing it could hardly be called clothing.

“I-I haven’t changed yet… sorry for coming in like this.”

I truly feel bad for her.

It must have been incredibly hard to refuse when the master of the house bought something like that for her.

“It’s not rude at all, Egiy. They’re clothes Haro picked out, remember~?”

“Y-you’re right. Then I was the rude one…!”

“What about the tea, Haro? Can you sit up?”

Noiche and Zaria lifted me upright from both sides.

Egiy sat on the edge of the bed and poured tea into cups for everyone from the side table.

Please stop saying I picked them out.

Noiche chose those on her own.

“Haro-kun also bought some candied fruit.”

“Oh nice, perfect morning energy. Come on, Haro, open wide—Egiy’s gonna feed you.”

“…You look cool again today, Haro.”

The conversation was chaotic from the very start of the day.

Zaria ruffled my hair wildly while Noiche, eyes still sleepy, kept giving me little kisses on the cheek over and over. Egiy’s slender, white fingers popped pieces of candied fruit into my mouth.

“This is bad… I’m going to fall into depravity…”

If I keep staying in a place this sweet, I’ll be ruined—trying to drown that sense of crisis, the sisters gently blew into my ears.

“…!”

“Come on, fall together with us.”

“You don’t have to do anything anymore, Haro. We’ll do everything for you.”

I looked desperately at Egiy for help.

She watched us, gave a troubled smile, and said—

“I-I hope there’s still something left for me to do…”

—no good. She’s totally ready to spoil me too.

And so we spent a thoroughly decadent morning, but things finally changed around noon.

A messenger from the guild arrived.

This wasn’t unexpected; it had been arranged yesterday. I had asked the guild if I could examine the magical dolls that had already been recovered.

I received the bundled luggage from the guild staff member who carried the dolls to the mansion.

“These have already been investigated by the guild. They’re being formally transferred to Haro-san, so there’s no need to return them.”

“Is it okay if I disassemble them until they can’t be restored?”

“That’s fine.”

Great, now I can examine them as much as I want.

“I-is that really okay? They don’t move anymore, right…?”

“Haro, don’t do anything dangerous.”

“You said disassembly first, right? Want us to do it?”

Brushing aside the women whose overprotectiveness had only gotten worse, I lined the dolls up in the laboratory.

Now, I already have the surface observation reports.

From the quick checks I did myself, there didn’t seem to be any promising clues, so the only thing left is to take them apart.

“It’s kinda creepy that they’re fully dressed…”

I cut the cloth, undressed the doll, and laid it down.

Thanks to the guild’s investigation, some joint parts had already been removed, but nothing beyond that had been disassembled.

Apparently most guild staff right now are completely occupied with investigating the “Sword Demon King.”

“All right, let’s begin. Chain of the Crown of Thorns Chainsaw.”

At my fingertip, ink turned into a spinning disk.

This thing is a far better disassembly tool than any saw.

Egiy, watching from a distance, flinched and her shoulders shook.

“I-I still can’t believe that magic no matter how many times I see it…”

“Yeah, pretty creepy idea.”

“I heard he spins jewel powder inside a water current. I still don’t really get how that cuts anything!”

Calling it “creepy” feels a little like an insult.

While thinking that, I continued disassembling the doll.

I split the limbs and torso lengthwise and observed the insides.

The doll was made of all sorts of parts—wood, stone, iron, thread, all kinds of things. But the cost of materials was lower than I expected… in other words, no special materials were used.

Since it was such an elaborate magical doll, I thought at least one or two kinds of magic metal would be included—

“No, more than that, there’s something strange.”

“Hm? What’s strange?”

“It reproduces the human body too perfectly. With this kingdom’s level of anatomy, this wouldn’t be possible.”

More accurately—

With this world’s level of anatomy, this wouldn’t be possible.

The internal structure of the doll replicated a human body.

Not just the outside—even the insides were exactly like a human body.

Skeleton, organ placement, how blood vessels connected, how muscles attached—

Every tiny detail of human anatomy was recreated using precise combinations of threads and thin wires.

Because I know correct human anatomy, I can tell.

This doll is too elaborate. In a world where surgical procedures and anatomy remain underdeveloped thanks to medical magic, there aren’t many people who could create a human body model this accurate.

“N-now that you mention it, that does feel creepy…”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess so.”

“…Haro-kun, you don’t really think it’s that creepy, do you?”

I wonder.

Right now, “fascinating” might be winning.

“So? Any clues that could lead to the dollmaker?”

“Yeah, I found something that could be a lead.”

“For real!? You’re fast as always!”

Zaria leaned in to look, so I pointed it out to her.

It was a small crest carved into the doll’s shoulder.

From a distance it looked like a lizard.

The two tilted their heads.

“…What is this, a magic formula? A magic circle?”

“I’ve never seen it. Like the octopus tattoo Haro has on his back?”

No, that’s not it.

I shook my head at the two who were overthinking it.

“Most likely, this is just a tattoo.”

It has no magical meaning at all—

Just decoration completely unrelated to the design of this magical doll.

As proof, the same pattern doesn’t appear anywhere on the other dolls. Only this one has it on its shoulder.

Interesting, isn’t it—a doll with ink on its shoulder.

As if it’s trying to say, “I’m human.”