Vol 1 Chapter 13 – The Only Brilliant Solution

The ones who desire that human to live are Chris, El, and Garon.

The ones who desire his death, or at least a result that leads to his death, are Eva and me.

It has turned into a structural conflict. And we are at a disadvantage.

However, I don’t quite understand why Chris and El-chan are so intensely attached to him. Even when I asked them a few times, they just dodged the question and wouldn’t give me a clear answer.

Garon is quite the misanthrope, so I never expected her to develop an emotional attachment. Was she just a little girl after all?

Somehow, everyone is gradually heating up!

“If he was purchased as a slave using our budget, I should have the right to use him as well.”

“No good. That is my property. I cannot give him to you.”

“You’re wrong, Onee-sama. That boy is mine. I won’t give him to you!”

“Hey, hey, what are you all getting so heated up for? I mean, that guy is technically my student. Shouldn’t you run this by me first?”

“The puppy should remain silent. I want that sample left to me. It will undoubtedly aid in my future research.”

“Who are you calling a puppy, huh?! Eva, I’ll fucking kill you!”

It feels like it’s going to devolve into a fistfight at any moment!

“Garon-san, please calm down as well. What good will it do for us to fight over a mere human?”

“You stay out of this, Aroma! I have no intention of letting anyone who treats me like a dog live!”

“Calm down, Garon. And Eva, either way, I have no intention of letting him go. If you want a human sample, I will procure one for you next time.”

“Chris. Can you not listen to what I am saying?”

“Eva-sama, Onee-sama is the highest authority here now, you know? Things are different from the past, so glaring at her is useless.”

“El, are you defying me as well?”

This is bad.

At this rate, it’s going to turn into an irreversible, massive brawl.

It can’t be helped. Ummm, ummm, is there an arbitration plan? I know!

“Everyone, may I have your attention!”

I clapped my hands, drawing everyone’s eyes toward me.

“For now, let us summarize our opinions. Your Majesty, El-sama, and Garon-san—you all need that human to remain alive. Is that correct?”

Seeing each of them nod, I turned my face toward Eva next.

“Eva, you wish to receive that human as a sample. In that case, is it possible to return the sample alive?”

“Impossible. In the experiment I have in mind, he will certainly die.”

“But that research will certainly have merits for the demons, yes?”

“Of course.”

Chris furrowed her brows. She probably understood what I was trying to say.

“The three of you want to keep that human alive. But doing so contributes nothing to the demons. Eva can contribute to the demons by using that human in her experiments.”

At that point, I looked over everyone’s faces once more.

Chris and Eva seemed to understand the direction the conversation was heading and listened calmly. Garon looked like she wanted to say something, but ultimately kept her mouth shut. El-chan tilted her head, seemingly not yet grasping the point of the conversation.

“Then let us do this. We will have that human prove that he is an existence capable of contributing to us—to the demons.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

El-chan asked, tilting her head in the opposite direction from before.

I feel bad for this girl, but I’m going to propose a condition that is disadvantageous to their side.

“For better or worse, he is a slave purchased with our budget. Therefore, if there is no visible profit in keeping him alive, it would be more beneficial to make him Eva’s sample. That is the logic here.”

“And what is the condition?”

Perhaps sensing the wind was blowing in her favor, Eva took the bait.

“We will have him capture one hundred humans. As food, of course. Since he will have to go outside of Agusta, we will attach Puria as an overseer to prevent his escape. The timeframe will be one month. How does that sound?”

“There’s no way he can do that!”

The one who flared up, baring her fangs in objection, was Garon.

Her reaction was to be expected. There was no way such a condition could be achieved.

Even if he used to work for a slave merchant, a mere lackey wouldn’t have the connections to gather that many people. And while the poor might sometimes sell their children, very few would willingly hand them over upon hearing they were being sold to the demon territory.

Above all, he is completely penniless.

“Garon, is this… difficult?”

El-chan, ignorant of the ways of the world, had yet to comprehend the difficulty of this condition, but seeing Garon’s reaction, she wore an anxious expression and tugged on her sleeve.

However, Chris alone was different.

“Interesting.”

Her Majesty the Demon Lord turned toward me, showing a ferocious smile, almost as if she had found prey.

“However, one hundred is not a fitting condition.”

“It certainly is a bit much, but I have no intention of reducing it any further.”

“You have it backward. It is far too few. Make it two hundred.”

Chris boldly brought forth a condition that was clearly disadvantageous to themselves.

“Wh-What are you saying, Ojou!”

“What is the matter, Garon? You have been acting entirely unlike yourself for a while now. You are taking his side quite a bit. Did he put a collar on you or something?”

“J-J-J-Joking around like that isn’t funny! I don’t even want to imagine it!”

It is said that when a werewolf finds a master worthy of devoting their everything to, they allow a collar to be fastened around their neck.

In other words, for a werewolf, it is a vow of absolute subordination that surpasses even marriage.

Garon rubbed both of her arms, her face twitching as if she were genuinely feeling a chill.

Or rather, I think the one acting unlike herself is Chris. Even while shifting the focus to Garon, she herself appears to be the most obsessed with that human.

And yet, she brings up a condition that disadvantages her. Honestly, what is she thinking?

“Either way, Aroma will not be satisfied if things remain as they are. Therefore, if he completes the job under doubled conditions, she will have no choice but to acknowledge him.”

Ugh.

She saw right through me. If it weren’t a time like this, I could have rejoiced at Chris’s growth.

“I wish to confirm one thing regarding the conditions.”

At that point, Eva, who had been silently observing the situation, spoke up. It was likely because she saw the conversation settling into the most convenient outcome for her.

Well, it’s ultimately the direction I desire as well.

“Regarding the humans to be captured, you said ‘as food’, but does it matter whether they are dead or alive?”

“Only the living, of course. I won’t have him grave-robbing and bringing back bones, and there is also the matter of freshness. I will not compromise on this.”

“H-Hey, wait a minute, that makes things overwhelmingly disadvantageous for us.”

“I do not mind. If he cannot accomplish at least that much, he holds no value to me either.”

I don’t know where that confidence came from, but since Chris declared it so proudly with her chest puffed out, Garon ultimately kept her mouth shut despite wanting to argue further.

“Then it is decided. Ah, I know it is highly unlikely, but I will confirm one more thing. When it comes to his capturing of the humans, I ask that no one present in this room lend him a hand.”

“Naturally.”

As if to say that she held the entirety of that livestock’s dignity, Chris spoke haughtily, befitting a Demon Lord. Even though with that single sentence, his death was essentially sealed.

To the very end, the heart of the girl who was both my childhood friend and the Demon Lord remained unfathomable to me.

With the matter settled (though Garon was the only one who wore an unconvinced expression to the very end), as everyone was about to leave the room, El-chan stopped and turned toward me.

“El-sama, what is the matter?”

“I didn’t quite understand how difficult the condition you proposed was, but—”

Well, it will likely be an unfortunate result for her, but this cannot be helped.

Eliminating that human is for this girl’s sake as well.

The truth behind why El-chan collapsed remains unknown, and more importantly, her reason for fixating on that human is unclear. As long as this girl doesn’t want to talk about it, my true intention is to eliminate any factors of anxiety as much as possible.

That human is a cancer to the demons, and not just to El-chan. My woman’s intuition tells me so.

“If that human is truly someone necessary to the demons, I’m sure he will manage to accomplish it.”

When I gave her that ambiguous answer, El-chan murmured a single phrase and left the room.

After everyone had left and silence had finally returned to the office, Alice burst in.

“Aroma-sama! Please say something to Head Librarian Eva!”

My target for venting my frustrations has arrived.

I shall punish her for disturbing the peace of mind I had finally managed to regain. Even if I’m just taking it out on her.

However, the one thing that bothers me is the single phrase El-chan said right as she left.

“That boy is a scary human. Aroma, I don’t think you should mess with him too much.”

Humans are nothing to fear.

El-chan simply got swept up in that madman’s atmosphere.

That is what I think, but for some reason, her words remained in my ears, and the unsettling feeling in my chest refused to fade.