Chapter 13. Genre Change Voucher Trial Version

— I have proclaimed the laws throughout the demon realm. You will be able to witness the results soon.

The Demon King Inferinos reported that, as a loyal servant of chaotic evil, he «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» had fulfilled the command.

With this, the foundation was laid for the plan to prevent the demon clans, obsessed with ranking, from diverting their attention to the human world by fighting over the spoils called Reid.

The effect seems to appear gradually, so it will take some time, but the business in Inferinos’s demon king territory is now complete.

We were finally able to leave the Demon King’s Castle.

“You, something about you has changed.”

At the end of the gracious escort procession, Elantia said to me.

“What’s different?”

“You feel a bit more secretive? But that’s fine. I will always see only the intellectual elegance flowing in your soul. So next time, I will definitely make you my slave, no, my secretary...”

“You still haven’t come to your senses, have you?”

“Hic.”

Elantia shuddered her shoulders.

I wondered why she was so sensitive over a light warning, but sensing the chill behind me, it seemed it was because of Reid.

Anyway, Elantia’s remark that something about me had changed was not something to dismiss as mere teasing.

Although I had completely returned to my original self now, perceptive demons seemed to feel a subtle change in me.

Not only Elantia, but several nightmare demons also showed a quietly cautious attitude toward me.

Reid murmured quietly as if to himself.

“It would have been fun if you had woken up in the dream while still corrupted.”

If that had happened, all the demons in the Demon King’s Castle who detected me, now suddenly rising to 49th in demon realm rankings, would have reacted fiercely. Just imagining it was exhausting.

“I don’t think that would have been very fun.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, maybe it’s better to reveal yourself after you become stronger. For example, after you can even become a demon lord...”

“That’s not it.”

In any case, his greed never ends. I let out a deep sigh.

<What’s up with him? His eyes didn’t look right today. Was that just something he said?>

Was he serious? I immediately turned around to check Reid.

“Hey.”

At that moment, a call like one from a dream deeply resonated in me. His gaze met mine kindly, without madness, overlapping with the 17th regression round.

“Let’s go back.”

Perhaps the change wasn’t happening only to me.

✠

Since returning from Inferinos’s demon king territory, Reid had a gentler and more stable aura.

The world destruction rate remained below 30%, and his habit of associating destruction with stars and twilight, treating peace as the exclusive property of corpses in coffins, seemed to have eased considerably.

In that healthier mental state, Reid busied himself with...

“We’ve handled demon realm issues and established a base in Ragneif, so now it’s time to proceed to the next phase. Prepare to attack the kingdom and the church.”

Naturally, world conquest.

Reid initiated covert operations, including contacting the Dark Information Guild. Meanwhile, I finished interrogating the assailants who tried to kidnap Hilde.

“The situation in the Winchester Kingdom looks serious. Maybe it’s because of us stirring things up in Ragneif.”

“The Elfenheim Church is showing suspicious signs, too. Maybe because the Order of Evil disappeared in the last timeline.”

“This must also be due to the Lingering Language Sect starting public operations.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

We gathered to discuss documents and exchange opinions. The villains’ scheming was no different from an ordinary meeting.

Reid, who had been lost in thought with his hands clasped, soon drew a conclusion.

“Despite various variables, the plan remains on track. As long as you and I are on the same side, everything will go smoothly, so rest assured.”

“Yeah. No worries.”

“Then the remaining issue is...”

Reid’s red eyes turned toward me.

“It’s you.”

“Ugh.”

That’s right. I was currently having some problems. Because of corruption.

Earlier, Reid had once reached out to try corrupting me. His contagious power was so strong that just holding his hand could drag most people down to ruin.

And once is hard, but the second time is easy. Now that I had tasted corruption once, even slightly longer contact with Reid would corrupt me.

[‘Scales Judging the Soul’ recommends building resistance through active contact.]

[‘Scales Judging the Soul’ notes that now, since the divine descent penalty changed to hypothermia, this and that could be adjusted...]

Setting aside his sly intentions, it was meaningful advice. I just needed to be careful during contact, and when alone with him, secretly build up resistance. Just like now.

“Give me your hand for a moment, Reid.”

“Anytime.”

The real problem was different.

[ Warning. You are corrupted.]

It seemed to take about 30 seconds for the reaction. That was much longer now.

Then the system messages I saw the first time I was corrupted began to appear again.

[ Holy Scythe Librille has switched to Demon Scythe Librille.]

[ Hidden ability, ‘Magic Conversion’ has been unlocked.]

No problem so far.

[ Your current demon realm rank: 47 (▲2)]

I had already climbed two places. It seemed two had disappeared from ahead of me after fierce competition among demons. The plan that involved going all the way to Inferinos’s demon king territory to work seemed to be going smoothly.

Still, no particular problem up to here.

The real issue started after this.

[ Due to demonification, the trait statuses ‘Temptation of the Seven Deadly Sins’, ‘Praise of Chaos’, and ‘Sealing of Divine Power’ have been applied.]

‘Yes, this is it! The demonification trait trio!’

Among them, the two traits named ‘Temptation of the Seven Deadly Sins’ and ‘Praise of Chaos’ caused problems.

Let’s look at them one by one.

[ ‘Temptation of the Seven Deadly Sins’

Resistance to the seven deadly sins of pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth is weakened.]

This was a debuff that made one prone to becoming human scum.

At this point, a question arose. Reid, as a senior in corruption, didn’t seem to be affected much?

Pride and wrath seemed somewhat stronger, but envy, greed, and lust were not obvious, and gluttony and sloth were absolutely absent.

Maybe because he didn’t need to eat, he skipped meals unless with me, and explaining sloth was too obvious.

Because being a villain scheming great deeds requires extreme planning and diligence as a profession.

Reid answered my question like this.

“I always say I’m an exception.”

“I see.”

“Or maybe there’s nothing stimulating enough.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

Having lived as a holy knight for a long time, his threshold was probably infinitely high. So even if the ‘Temptation of the Seven Deadly Sins’ made him vulnerable, by ordinary standards he might still be strong.

Back to my story. The other debuff was far worse. So much so that I couldn’t even bring myself to mention it to Reid.

[ ‘Praise of Chaos’

Unable to control feelings of admiration, worship, adoration, obsession, desire, and monopoly toward the Lord of All Beasts and All Evils, Chaos Evil.]

...Isn’t that too much? It was clearly a violation of dignity.

‘Sigh, why did my situation end up like this?’

I glanced at Reid slightly resentfully. The delicate features of the handsome man were right in my field of vision, and somehow time seemed to slow.

When his glossy, raven-feather-like eyelashes fluttered once, revealing his red eyes, the resentment seemed to melt away as if melted by that gaze. Feeling this inner change throughout my body, I thought:

‘Ah, what do I do about my dignity now?’

As I sighed, my state returned to normal. The black water faded from my hair, the trait effects disappeared, and my mind and body became peaceful.

Thankfully, Reid’s forced corruption didn’t last long.

“You’ll get used to it soon. Until then, I’ll have to hold back on escorting you.”

If it had been the usual Reid, he would have teased me to keep the demon state active or at least made some cheeky jokes.

But now, seeing him speak earnestly and kindly was a strange feeling.

<He actually seems to have gotten a bit nicer?>

Even Agnes noticed it, so that said it all.

The reason was probably...

‘Because of the dream?’

It wasn’t an ordinary dream, so it seemed to have a strong effect on reality. I felt glad I had chosen the first method.

If I had chosen the second or third, Reid’s mind might have been shattered beyond repair after waking from the dream. Just thinking about it gave me chills.

At that moment, all the magic lights in the room turned on simultaneously. The lighting activated automatically as the indoor brightness dropped.

“It’s already evening.”

Reid put down the documents, propped his chin on his hand, and looked toward the window.

The sunset visible from the upper floors of the magic tower was as beautiful as if the redness in his eyes had been gently spread across the sky.

He had looked just like this in the cabin, staring at the sunlight by the window.

The pure image of the holy knight in my memory overlapped with the image of the magic tower lord gazing at the twilight in the skyscraper, and I spoke as if spellbound.

“Reid.”

“Yeah, Ai.”

“You remember everything that happened in the dream, right?”

“......”

Reid turned to me with slightly widened eyes. Why was he surprised? His unexpected reaction made me open my eyes wider, too.

He lowered the hand that had been supporting his chin and straightened his posture.