Atelier Tanaka

Book 5: Chapter 3 (9)

Dark Continent (3rd)

The masochist demon emerged from the crowd of gathered party members. 

He must have had to do some fighting as streaks of blood ran across parts of his body. There was a look of impatience on his face as he entered the cave. Thanks to his hurried mindset, he had only injured the party members enough to quickly get by.

Still, an attack from this guy could obliterate an average human. None of the blood on him appeared to be his own and the fighting appeared to be all one-sided. I noticed one of the adventurers collapsed on the ground in the doorway, holding two stumps against his chest where his hands used to be.

This is serious.

What the hell are you doing here?

Thats my line.

Id like to pretend that I have no idea who he is, but thats just not possible.

I cant act like I dont know him when hes made it clear we do.

How are you here? I left you in the Penny Empire not long ago and you were speaking with my master about building a city. How could you travel here in only a few days?

He glanced over at the magic circle.

He may have come up with the correct answer on his own.

About that, well.

I think the best strategy here is to be honest. 

I dont want to reveal any of this information to the others, but it looks like hes already guessed and I dont know what will happen if I lie.

As you can probably tell, I used the service here.

Ku, I knew it.

Did you already know about this circle?

Youre asking if I knew? Im insulted. This place was created by the Demon race; of course I would know about it. More importantly, what were you hoping to accomplish defiling this place in such a manner?

My eyes flicked over toward the blood splattered circle with a pile of bloody sylph wings in the centre. Im actually not the culprit, but if I point that out I may just cause more problems. I dont want him directing his anger at her.

First of all.

If things dont go well with the masochist demon, Im going to want the coalition party on my side.

I hoped that no one had died yet as I activated an area wide recovery magic wide enough to cover the cave and everything outside and up the steps. I hope everyones inside but I cant get a good look outside to tell.

W-What are you planning!?

The Kimoronge quickly prepared his magic. [TN: Kimoronge is Tanakas nickname for the masochist demon. Ive been translating it as long haired man, but a more accurate, albeit long-winded, translation would be creepy long haired man (think Takehito from Prison School). Im going to go with this going forward because it sounds better and Tanaka has nicknames for everyone.]

I dont want to deal with his counterattack so I need to quickly explain myself.

Its only recovery magic. Please, dont worry about me and continue.

as usual, your magic is beyond reason.

Please, go on.

This situation cant get much worse.

I dont want to give the coalition party any thoughts of me being close with the masochist demon. However, at the same time, I dont want to do anything to ruin my relationship with the Kimoronge. Its not that I care about him, its more to do with the big breasted blonde virgin that he calls master. My virgin mind holds friendship with her above all else.

Are you the only person that knows about the ruins on the other side?

The other side hes referring to must be in the Penny Empire.

Just me and Christina-san.

Wha. U-Umm, that wouldnt happen to be the ancient dragon, would it?

This time its not the name of the noble mage that will come in handy. No, I needed something more intimidating. This masochist has a certain level of fear for her that I can use as an effective deterrent.

Thats right. Is there a problem?

I dont recall there being an entrance to that site.

I didnt set out to find one. I was inspecting the mine when the floor suddenly collapsed. The hole that was created led directly into the demons ruins as you called them. It was sheer coincidence.

Tch, if thats true. I shouldve taken down the entire mountain.

The entire mountain? But theres a human mine there.

Thats of no matter. We cant allow the humans any opportunity to raid our ruins.

I see.

There may be more to Mount Doltz than just the abandoned mine and the teleporter. Maybe I should look into it more the next time I get a chance. 

Youre becoming a greater nuisance with each day that passes. How is it that youre always the source of my problems?

I could say the same to you.

If he isnt aware of the hole in the teleporter chamber, that must mean he teleported here before I ever discovered it. However, its strange that hes acting like hes never met Goggoru-chan before.

If I had to guess the order of everyones arrival here would be: the Kimoronge teleported here from the Penny Empire, Goggoru-chan then discovered the cave and made it her home, and not long after I travelled using the teleporter for the first time. After that, I was reunited with Christina and the noble mage before we returned back to the Penny Empire on Christinas back. Somehow, we all ended up back here at the same time.

Its a pretty interesting case of happenstance.

Did you create this circle?

Someone else created it. Im in charge of maintaining it.

I see.

I recall hearing Christina and the noble mage talking about the magic circle having demonic inscriptions. Ive also witnessed the masochist demon using teleportation magic several times. This must be the same spatial magic that everyones been talking about.

Considering that the teleporter in Mount Doltz is in a room with no entry, the only person that comes to mind that can easily enter is the Kimoronge. Actually, his teleportation magic might be why the big breasted drill-chan made him her slave.

The one person Id never want to discover it.

The masochist demon spoke with a frown as his downcast eyes looked toward me.

Looking at him like this, I couldnt help but want to know the answer.

When did the relationship between this powerful demon and Drill-chan begin?

Is this teleporter the reason youve chosen to stay by her side in the Pussy Republic? Ive always been curious about your relationship.

Isnt my reasoning obvious? My Master is both beautiful and charming, but it would still be impossible for a human to control a demon.

.

My Master understands this. Weve come to an unspoken agreement and Im perfectly content being subjected to her sadistic machinations. Our relationship will remain as such until she grows too old to continue it.

I see.

Hes living his best life.

He wasnt enslaved by Drill-chan. The few times Ive seen them interact with one another, it always seemed like he wanted even more. At least now I have an understanding of the dynamic between them.

Basically, the masochist demons job is managing the two teleporter rooms. He just happened to find a cute girl near his workplace that was capable of offering him three hot meals a day, a soft bed, and the ability to satisfy all of his masochistic desires. I can see why hed be content with his situation.

Back to the matter at hand. Someone did a hell of a job redecorating this place. Which one of them caused this mess? I wish theyd think about the person that has to clean it up.

The masochist demon turned a cold gaze on to everyone gathered in the cave.

The Dark Elf immediately spoke up.

I-It was that man!

She really has no restraint.

Shes doing whatever she can to make my situation worse.

Gu, it was you?

Sure, lets go with that.

I cant tell him Goggoru-chan is responsible. It would end in a battle that Im not sure who would win. It would undoubtedly be close, but I dont want to put her in such a dangerous situation.

Personally, I think it would be easiest for me if I just took out the Kimoronge here. However, that would also put an end to my relationship with Drill-chan. Human relationships are difficult. I was wondering how Id resolve this situation when the Kimoronge offered me a solution.

He had an intimidating look on his face and a mixture of anger and fear was evident in his voice.

clean it. Youre going to help clean everything.

Clean it?

Thats right. Ill even help. If you try to run, Ill kill your master.

My master? Why not me?

He must be referring to Ester-chan.

Our relationship must have given him that impression.

As expected from a masochist slave.

Understand? Youre going to help me and dont even think about running away, okay?

Thats fine. I was planning on doing that anyway.

It seems my Fireball left a lasting impression on him. It may be more accurate to call it a trauma. I should use that knowledge to my advantage. I cant show any signs of weakness to him or to the gathered party of notable world figures.

I need to show that Im strong whilst simultaneously not giving them anymore reasons to be suspicious of me. I also need to show to them that Im not friends with the Kimoronge and maybe even take it a step further and display open hostility towards him. If I cant do this, theyll likely think Im an ally of the Demon race or maybe even the Demon King himself.

All of humanity will hate me.

My only issue is my lack of knowledge of this world. How powerful is the demon race? It would be easier for me to judge if he was a part of the nekomimi race, but based off the reaction of the coalition party, hes part of a powerful race.

I was planning on bringing some tools to help clean this up.

Ha~, thats a good idea. While youre feeling helpful, kill that High Goggoru over there. Their kind causes problems.

You can tell shes a High Goggoru from a glance.

Ive met several before and any encounter with one has never ended well.

I see.

The High Goggorus have an interesting history.

Even demons cant withstand their mind reading ability. Given that fact, I think shes more powerful than her level and stats may suggest. My desire to be reverse raped by her continues to increase.

Goggoru-chans level should be higher.

Take care of it.

Thats not going to happen.

Why not? Shes reading your thoughts too. Or dont you know about that?

I know about her ability and I still wont kill her.

Gu.

The Kimoronge glanced back and forth between Goggoru-chan and myself. For a busamen like me, its quite enjoyable to witness this ikemen generate such an awkward atmosphere.

Its refreshing.

Kill it.

I told you I wont do it.

then Ill kill it.

If you do that, Ill kill your master and destroy the magic circle.

What did you say!?

Its your decision.

Y-You wouldnt do something like that.

I would. Id do whatever I have to in order to protect whats important to me.

Ester-chan and Drill-chan are both beautiful blonde lolis. Still, if I had to choose one, I wouldnt hesitate to choose the former. I feel indebted to Ester-chan. She was the first woman to ever treat me with any form of kindness.

Even so, I dont want to hurt Drill-chan. She is a rare species of big breasted loli. They should be treated as a national treasure. I dont want to do anything to harm her. The one I want to hurt is standing in front of me.

The decision is up to you. What is more important, your master or this magic circle?

Youre nothing but talk.

How about we get this cleaned up first and then we can do some more talking.

I spoke with a confident tone and tried to make myself look big.

The Kimoronge hesitated for a few moments before clicking his tongue and relenting.

Tchfine.

It looks like were clear of the danger for now. 

Good.

I wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but I thought better of it.

***