In the trap room containing the aphrodisiac hot spring, I place a chair at the very center of the spot farthest from the entrance.
I take off my robe.
Rather than simply sitting on the wooden chair, I remove my robe, drape it over the seat like a cushion, and sit on top of it.
Since I have taken off my robe, I am naked.
But even though I am naked, I do not cross my legs or do anything to cover my cock.
However, I will cover it.
Not because I am ashamed of showing my cock, but because it is a strategic choice.
Swish.
I place the towel I brought from the assistant teacher’s room over my lower body.
As men do in saunas when they cover their lower halves out of courtesy, I roughly arrange the towel across both sides of my thighs and steady my breathing.
“Ha.”
My cock is hard and fully erect.
It stands so prominently that its presence can be felt even through the towel, showing no sign of going down.
‘This is practically my last chance to deal with things calmly.’
I have already ejaculated inside Eris three times.
Once in the bathtub, once while fucking her like a dog on the bed, and once more while kissing Eris in the face-to-face seated position.
And immediately after I came, Silvelit invaded the dungeon.
From now on, if I die, I will have to fuck her again at the point when Silvelit invaded in order to update the save point.
What if I die without being able to update it?
—Actually, save points don’t disappear~
As though everything I had done up to now had been meaningless, I might be able to return to the last point at which I fucked her and say, “You’re an idiot,” again.
‘That’s optimistic.’
Lives are finite.
Fucking-reincarnation is not invincible, and I have no choice but to make judgments based only on the information I have uncovered.
—Oh dear, what a shame~ That’s why you should have fucked a virgin pussy before you died~
What if I die without updating the point?
What if that is the end of my life?
‘That’s the more likely outcome.’
My instincts are warning me.
Don’t be optimistic.
Whenever I get the feeling that “this is going to go completely to shit,” it has always been the moment when things went to shit.
It is a matter belonging to the realm of premonitions and instincts, but although I have suffered for ignoring such premonitions, the premonitions themselves have never once been wrong.
‘I’m going all the way.’
Right here, in this trap room where the aphrodisiac hot spring has been installed.
“Haaah….”
I calm my breathing.
The only thing around me is the “boiling” aphrodisiac hot spring on the floor.
‘This will do.’
After leaving Eris in Lilith’s care and ordering her to wait quietly, I asked her to cast exactly one spell on me, then sent her back to the assistant teacher’s room.
Bubble, bubble.
Steam rises.
Heat like that of a sauna pours out from below.
As though I had entered the heated stone sauna set up beside a hot spring, my body grows hot and flushed of its own accord.
Do I really intend to have one last sauna before I die?
‘Of course not.’
This is my trump card.
The optimal strategy, based on the conversations and information gathered previously, as well as everything I have figured out.
Both as an assistant teacher and as a human being.
“Eris Albathea.”
I speak quietly.
“Eris, Albathea.”
I raise my voice slightly compared to before, deliberately pausing between the words so that I speak clearly.
“The one you’re looking for is Eris Albathea, right?”
Creak.
The door opens.
Holding a sword of aura without a single drop of blood on it, the high elf Silvelit opens the door and looks at me.
“Ugh…!”
Silvelit’s face twists sharply.
The steam filling the room escapes through the open doorway.
“It’s cold, so close the door and come in. I was just enjoying a leisurely sweat for once.”
“……What are you?”
“A demon, Azazel Dandelion.”
I straighten my back and gesture leisurely for her to come inside.
“I’m in charge of the prisoner Eris Albathea.”
“……”
“Be careful. The moment I die, the woman you’re looking for will die as well.”
I point to my neck.
“When I die, the explosive magic embedded in this necklace will activate. Eris has the same necklace around her neck.”
“……”
“So close the door quietly and come in. Maiden of the forest.”
“……”
Silvelit still does not relax her wary expression.
“Where is Eris?”
But she closes the door and enters.
While looking at me, she scans the room to either side, checking for traps.
“……”
“Curious what this room is? It’s nothing special. It’s merely a hot spring.”
“…Are you planning to enjoy a hot spring bath before you die?”
“It is a hot spring, but it is also the battlefield where I can fight best.”
A battlefield.
Yes, this is a fight.
I am simply fighting in my own way—as the assistant teacher Azazel.
“Silvelit. Orc Slayer. High elf. S-rank adventurer.”
“That’s right. You know me well. A traitor who bears the mark of the demon race despite being human.”
“Betrayed, betrayed, you say… Heh heh.”
The condition for victory is to stall for time.
“Who do you think was betrayed?”
“What?”
To buy time, I need to guide the situation so that doubts arise in Silvelit’s mind.
“Count Albathea asked you to save Eris, didn’t she?”
“……”
An obvious deduction.
But when you state the obvious too obviously, it inevitably seems as though there is something behind it.
“You came to save ‘Erisi’ as the teacher who once taught Eris. Am I right?”
“……!!”
But the moment certain information is added, the situation changes.
“……”
“You called Eris Erisi. You would call her that even if you met her now.”
“…What are you?”
Silvelit was Eris’s teacher.
That was information the demons could uncover through espionage.
But he even knows her nickname?
“Demon Azazel Dandelion. The negotiator in charge of freeing human prisoners for the Vampire Legion—the Bloodthirsters.”
“……”
It was an answer unrelated to her question, but I revealed my position in this legion and made my standing clear.
In reality, no such position existed.
“Rest assured. Eris is alive. For now, at least.”
“You bastard, what did you do to that child?”
“What do you think I did?”
“You son of a…!”
The atmosphere was far more hostile than during our previous two conversations, but I could be certain.
“Calm down, Lady. It’s not something worth getting so angry over. I was merely curious about what prejudices you held toward our Demon King’s army.”
“What?”
“When I asked you, what did you think?”
Now.
“It’s sad, really. To lump the entire Demon King’s army together and judge it that way. That’s prejudice. Pure prejudice.”
“Ha. Did you just call it prejudice?”
“Yes.”
Compared to our previous two encounters, the conversation was going much more smoothly this time.
“Because it’s the Vampire Legion, we supposedly tear out our prisoners’ hearts. Because it’s the Beast Legion, we supposedly eat our prisoners. Because it’s the Undead Legion, we supposedly turn prisoners into undead and use them as soldiers. And because it’s the Demon Legion, we supposedly turn humans into slaves and play with them like toys.”
Even now, all of that was not prejudice, but fact.
“Still, I’d like you to look at our Vampire Legion from a slightly different perspective.”
“…After killing all those adventurers?”
“They were prepared to die from the moment they entered this place. We showed them a way to survive. They simply failed to meet our demands.”
“A way to survive?”
“Yes.”
So that even an elf could understand, I formed a ring with my fingers.
“Money.”
“……”
“We demanded a million gold from Jake Gilbert, the bastard son of House Gilbert.”
That was probably an open secret that had spread throughout the territory.
“Unfortunately, Baron Gilbert’s family refused the deal. Instead, they wanted to confront us.”
I cautiously probed her.
Though I had decided to stake everything on this attempt, I wanted to gather information in preparation for a possible “next time.”
“…If they had dealt with demons, I would have taken care of them myself.”
Fortunately.
Baron Gilbert had been a shrewd enough man not to get caught by an S-rank adventurer.
“Yes. That’s why Jake Gilbert was killed. Since negotiations had broken down, we had no choice but to kill the hostage.”
“……”
Silvelit furrowed her brow.
As though she were thinking of something, or had just remembered something.
“…No way.”
“Eris Albathea is alive.”
“Wait.”
Silvelit raised a hand, cutting me off.
“Don’t tell me she negotiated with you?”
“……”
She.
Negotiated.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb! Eris… I’m talking about her mother, Count Albathea!”
I had not said it.
Silvelit herself had said it.
“…Heh heh heh.”
Clap, clap.
I laugh softly and give a light round of applause.
“Correct, maiden of the forest.”
We had negotiated with Count Albathea.
“There’s no parent who can overcome their own child. Elves are probably no different, but parents are the kind of people who lose half their grip on reason when it comes to their children.”
Correction.
Or rather, they would be.
“Nothing has yet been decided as to the price of Eris’s life.”
Because negotiations had not taken place.
“And yet you pretended to negotiate while sending a rescue party like this. Tsk.”
If you asked the person involved, she would feel wronged and say, “Negotiations? What are you talking about?”
“Eris Albathea is alive. At least, she is for now.”
I raise one hand and toy with the red jewel set in the center of my necklace.
“To be honest, I don’t know what judgment I’m supposed to make right now. Whether Count Albathea broke off the negotiations and betrayed us, or whether you came here first before she even had the chance to contact you.”
“……”
“Am I being too paranoid?”
It could be called rubbing salt in the wound, but in situations like this, you have to use the words your opponent themselves might use. That is how you make the thought lodge firmly in their mind.
“Did you come to save Eris, or did you come to kill her?”
“……”
She had no choice but to remain silent.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
“What?”
While buying more time and gathering information as well—
“Negotiations don’t necessarily have to be with Count Albathea.”
“……”
“Maiden of the forest, Lady Silvelit. What good fortune. I had been wanting to speak with a high elf, and now I get to converse with such a beautiful woman.”
Easing the tense atmosphere, I exhaled deeply.
“Shall we have a cup of tea while we talk? Or perhaps… shall we relax in the hot spring and have a bath?”
“……”
“Is that too much to ask? Then, well, just stand over there, breathe, and listen.”
Breathe.
The moment you become conscious of breathing, you will eventually do it even if you try not to.
“Perhaps…”
This was the room of the aphrodisiac hot spring.
“Would the elves be interested in joining hands with the Vampire Legion?”
Because of the heat magic placed over the hot spring, steam continued to waft up from below, filling the room like a sauna.
“A mutual nonaggression pact. We make a secret agreement so that neither side has to shed blood.”
“……”
“To be honest, we’re not in a situation where we can afford to make more enemies.”
Silvelit—
“What does that mean?”
She pricked up her ears and swallowed.
Waft, waft.
The steam continued to rise.