Chapter 15
Just as a fake pill made of sugar can soothe a headache, or a simple saline injection can act as a painkiller, belief itself can sometimes become medicine.
'A medicine known as the placebo.'
However, for this special medicine to have any meaningful effect, one prerequisite must be met.
That is, the Pharmacist prescribing the medicine must have the Patient's complete trust.
Exactly. I had been acting like an absolute lunatic up until just now to build up that trust (fear) in a short amount of time! All to firmly imprint the belief that I am the Demon of Fear.
So, if you ask how it turned out, I could say it was a massive success...! Well, maybe not quite that far, but it isn't half bad.
"Nya...."
Anyone would think so if they saw Shion's round, Cat-like eyes brimming with trust(?) over there. Probably.
Well, anyway, there is only one step left now.
Handing the medicine over to the Patient.
Wrapped up in a very plausible package, of course.
"Shion. As an apology for my past mistakes, I shall give you a gift."
"...A gift? Ah. Wait, hold on. Did you just call me by my name, nya?"
The fact that I called her by her name isn't what's important right now.
What's important is that the finale of the Demon of Fear's signature trauma cleansing—a perfect blend of shock therapy and psychotherapy—is drawing near.
There were far more spectators than I anticipated, making me feel like I was going to dry heave, but I continued my acting, telling myself this was the final act.
-Swoosh!
"Nya?"
I thrust my arm out toward Shion with intensity, striking a pose that made it look like I knew what I was doing.
Tilting my Head about 45 degrees and slightly thrusting out my beak was the key.
Acting originally requires every little movement to be exaggerated for it to be entertaining to watch.
"Stay still, Thief. I am about to devour the fear rooted deep within you...."
"...F-fear?"
It's just a figure of speech. Obviously.
The mood seemed to have been properly set, so now it was time to recite a 'profound-sounding Demon's Spell' to create the illusion that I was actually doing something.
You can think of it as the process of carving Hardtack into the shape of a Pill.
"I command thee in the name of the unknown bloomed from the abyss, the nightmare that revels in eternity."
Echoing through the beak of my Plague Doctor Mask, the Demon's Spell—hastily thrown together in ten seconds—reached out to the world.
-Whoosh.
Right on cue, a well-timed breeze gently rustled Shion's messy hair.
Even though her wind-tousled bangs covered her eyes, those two suns hovering amidst the ash-grey thicket remained fixated entirely on my fingertips, motionless as if nailed in place.
I almost burst into laughter at her utterly serious expression, but I gritted my teeth and somehow managed to hold it in.
If I laughed here, the false belief I had worked so hard to build up might come crashing down.
But you know.
Every word that leaves my mouth might be riddled with lies, but there is no falsehood in the sincerity I want to convey.
I sincerely hope that you can overcome your fear and stand up, that you can take one more step forward, just as you first approached us.
I am just rooting for you from the bottom of my heart.
"Do not be afraid any longer."
Ending the spell with those words, I firmly clenched the hand I had been holding out toward Shion.
As if I were ripping out the fear that had taken root deep within her!
I thought it was an absolutely perfect visual performance.
However. At that moment.
Something unexpected happened.
-Flash!
"Nya-nya-nyang!"
Exactly as I clenched my hand, a holy light suddenly burst forth from Shion's forehead.
It's a universal rule that a Demon is weak to holy light, so I was a little scared, but perhaps because I wasn't a real Demon, nothing happened other than my eyes being slightly dazzled.
"A-ah! That's it! The light of a Blessing that appears when a new Skill is awakened or when a Skill's rank increases! Ohhh. O great Demon of Fear...."
Or so claimed a kindly Adventurer who had been trembling on the floor in terror.
Just what in the world was going on.
The warm light faded away, and Shion froze like a cat-eared mannequin, her gaze fixed entirely on empty space.
That only lasted for a moment before an astonished shout rang out.
"T-this is unbelievable! It doesn't make any sense, nya! Crow! Don't tell me you used a Demon's Authority to enhance my Skill, nya!?"
"Uhm...."
I am merely an Aspiring Actor (troll) with a talent for over-immersion, not a Swindler. Because of that, I had no choice but to awkwardly brush over Shion's question.
Regardless, Shion was completely riled up like a Cat high on catnip as she continued talking.
"The 'Seed of Courage' I gained after barely escaping that crazy Phantom has been enhanced into 'Courage', nya! Ahh! I feel like courage is welling up right in the middle of my chest, nya! Uwaaah! It's burning hot, nya! I feel like I could beat the crap out of that Phantom, that Crow, or anyone else, nya! Bring it all on, nya!"
Why are you beating me up too? You crazy Cat.
The medicine worked a little too well, causing Shion to change her class from a cowering Cat to a full-blown feline delinquent.
Thanks to her enthusiastically shouting that I had enhanced her Skill, the demeanor and expressions of the Adventurers, who had been bawling their eyes out and rolling on the floor like grubs, suddenly became decidedly unusual.
"...That crazy Demon enhanced her Skill?"
"Maybe I could also...."
"Ahh. O great and terrifying Lord of Fear... please bestow the trials of Darkness upon me as well!!!"
"...."
A slightly different sort of emotion swelled like a full moon in the eyes of the Adventurers, which previously held nothing but disgust, fear, and loathing.
I'm not exactly sure what it is. But it's overwhelming, so I wish they would stop staring at me.
"...."
Even as an unknown fervor boiled up in our surroundings and chaos ensued, the Contractor remained silent.
She simply stared at me with a calm, impassive expression.
"Contractor. Are you alright?"
"Yes."
Even when I spoke to her, worried she might have been shocked by the corpse cluster show or the self-luminous Cat.
The Contractor simply gave short, sharp replies while quietly staring at me with those peculiar eyes rippling with purple, as if observing me.
She truly is my Contractor. Her physical strength might be pathetic, but I have to hand it to her for her mental fortitude.
"You have some dust on you."
"...."
-Pat, pat.
As I carefully brushed off the dead tissue resting on the Contractor's Head, Shion approached with a confident smile, standing tall and shrugging her Shoulders.
There was no longer any fear in her golden eyes.
"Thanks, Crow, nya! Thanks to you, I'm not scared of that Phantom at all anymore, nya! It's all thanks to you, Crow, nya!"
"There's no need to thank me. I merely created a small crack in a seed that was ready to sprout. It was entirely your own ability that made it bloom."
"Nya-nyang.... I-is that so, nya?"
I only told the truth, but Shion blushed in embarrassment.
It's fine for you to be a bit more proud of yourself.
Although I guided you, in the end, it was your own willpower that overcame the fear.
"...But I'm still thankful, nya. I'll never forget this favor, nya!"
-Ding!
Hoho. A Magpie number two, is it?
I don't particularly need it, but a use for it just came up.
"Did you say you won't forget this favor?"
"Huh? Yeah, I did, nya."
"Then repay that favor right now, Thief."
"Nya? What are you talking about, nya?"
I silently pointed my index finger toward the space behind the head-tilting Shion.
Shion's head slowly turned backward, following the tip of my finger.
"Nya-nyang!? Guards!?"
"Ah. Yes, thank you for your hard work."
The Guards, wearing light pauldrons and holding spears over two meters long, were lined up at regular intervals.
Among them, the Guard standing at the very front with a serious expression carefully tore his eyes away from me and spoke to Shion.
He was looking at me like I was some kind of Beast. My heart ached so much.
"We received a report about a Demon running amok and came to investigate, and it seems the Sherpa accompanying them is right here. I apologize, but I must ask for your cooperation."
The Guard asked the somewhat socialized Beast (house Cat) for a proxy statement, perhaps thinking that asking a Beast for cooperation was a waste of time.
My image has finally hit rock bottom.
Well, it was to be expected.
"...Nyaa. Understood, nya."
"I'm sorry, Thief. I'll leave the rest to you."
Because I'm busy contemplating my career path right now.
[Countless powerful individuals fear and revere you! This is an astonishing achievement!]
[Your rank has increased!]
[Please choose a Class!]
[1. Plague Doctor]
[2. Plague Doctor]
[3. Plague Doctor]
[4. Plague Doctor]
[5. Plague Doctor]
.
.
.
[100. Plague Doctor]
Not that it seems I actually have a choice.
***
Offering the feline delinquent Shion as a sacrifice to the Guards, I flopped down on the spot, using the nonexistent aftereffects of my Authority as an excuse.
Perhaps my clever Contractor realized her Familiar's desire to be alone, as she joined Shion and began actively defending me, saying something about how I was 'a Demon who hasn't even been Summoned for a full day, so his impulse control is lacking.'
Hang in there, Contractor and Thief. Hurry up and appeal to them about how I'm a pure, innocent Demon who knows nothing of how the world works.
That is, if you don't want to see me dragged off to the Underground Prison.
By the way. Even so, aren't descriptions like 'a Demon lacking common sense' or 'a sexually frustrated Demon' a bit harsh?
It was a feast of such scathing wording that I genuinely suspected it was highly advanced passive-aggression rather than a defense.
Surprisingly, the intensity of their words kept trending upwards as time passed.
I felt like my fragile heart wouldn't survive if I listened to any more, so I shifted my focus to the friendly System UI that I hadn't seen in a long time.
[Countless powerful individuals fear and revere you! This is an astonishing achievement!]
[Your rank has increased!]
[Please choose a Class!]
[1. Plague Doctor]
[2. Plague Doctor]
[3. Plague Doctor]
[4. Plague Doctor]
[5. Plague Doctor]
.
.
.
[999. Plague Doctor]
Since it kept going down even as I scrolled and scrolled, I stubbornly checked the very end, and successfully discovered the completely useless information that the 999th option was the last.
And all the while, every single Class option was fixed as Plague Doctor.
If you're going to do this, then don't give me choices in the first place. Do you not know what a choice is?
'Anyway, why did I Level Up?'
According to Shion, even if I, a Familiar, achieved a great feat, it would be normal for the Contractor to Level Up instead.
'Could it be because I'm not a real Demon, but a Human?'
But to say that, wasn't I brought here through Demon Summoning? How does the System judge this?
A fierce battle between two contradictory, incompatible propositions.
As the clash of this paradoxical spear and shield grew more intense, my few remaining precious brain cells began to die off, like a Shrimp crushed in a whale's fight.
'...Whatever.'
To save my brain cells, which were practically sous-viding from cerebral overheating, I stopped thinking about it.
Either way, I leveled up, didn't I? Cheers to that~
'But is it really right to Level Up from something like this?'
Come to think of it, the reason for the Level Up was quite a spectacle too.
[Countless powerful individuals fear and revere you! This is an astonishing achievement!]
Translation: To think a level 0 Newbie could startle high-level Players! You're pretty good!
'You get to Level Up just by causing a scene?'
If this crazy System had been applied to
Of course, that dead game didn't even have a Leveling System.
'Then, wouldn't I be able to Level Up safely just by running around the whole city causing chaos?'
-I briefly considered that, but realized that if I actually committed such a crazy act, I might get deported back to the World I came from. So, I decided to drop it.
Because I am a Dem?on with common sense.
'Well then. Let's see.'
Shall I become a real Plague Doctor, not just in cosplay?
Seeing the word Doctor, it obviously sounds like a Supporter Class, but that's actually better!
Doesn't that mean I can heal the Contractor if she gets hurt?
Besides, I think I heard somewhere that a Healer is rare in these kinds of RPG games.
Therefore, I had no hesitation in my choice.
'Select.'
-Ding.
After hearing a somewhat familiar notification sound, a wave of text began to crash across my retinas.
[You have survived to the very end in a World that grew sick and ultimately fell into ruin.]
[Furthermore, through a special, unprecedented treatment, you have successfully cured a 'disease' that was eating away at a Patient.]
[Class advancement conditions have been met.]
[Congratulations! You have successfully advanced to the [Plague Doctor] Class!]
[Please, drive away the Plague that has taken root in this World.]
'Hmm?'
I felt a sense of déjà vu for a moment, but it was quickly forgotten, buried beneath the pouring baptism of dopamine.
[Your stats increase!]
[Your Presence increases!]
[The quality of your Magic Power increases!]
[You have acquired a Class-exclusive Skill!]
[You have acquired a Class-exclusive Trait!]
[You have acquired a Class-exclusive Weapon!]
[You have acquired Class-exclusive Magic....]
'Wow. Is this why people play RPGs?'
Because the rewards gained through growth are shown intuitively through text.
Unlike a certain trash game where you have no idea if you've actually grown until you bang your head against the wall yourself, the sense of accomplishment and reward is amazing.
However.
'An increase in the quality of my Magic Power?'
But I don't have any Magic Power?
As if reading my mind, the translucent window kindly provided an answer to that.
In a not-so-welcome direction.
[*Error. Magic Power does not exist in the applicable entity.]
[A new form of energy source confirmed.]
[Substituting 'Bio-Energy' for Magic Power.]
"...?"
It's chilling.
Anxiety crawls up my spine, turning into a cold sweat that drips down.
[*Error. Confirmed 55 Traits not registered in the Archive.]
I clearly felt that something—something very big—was going terribly wrong right now.
And, damn it all, these ominous premonitions are always spot on.
[...Proceeding with an emergency Update for optimization!]
'...Optimization?'
Is this crazy? The Inventory lock alone is enough to make my Head spin. What else is it going to mess with?
[The 'Dungeon Entry' function will be blocked until the Update is completed!]
What? Blocking Dungeon entry? What does that....
[Time remaining until Update completion: 11:59:55]
[We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. As an apology for the 'Emergency Update!', the 'Goddess's Protection (12 Hours)' will be applied until the Update is completed.]
[We sincerely apologize once again. We will strive to provide even better service to you, Adventurer!]
"Ah."
It feels like it hasn't even been a minute since I chose my Class. But in that short amount of time, a whole hell of a lot has happened.
I'm overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and still don't fully understand what's what, but one thing is certain.
[Time remaining until Update completion: 11:59:41]
Because of this emergency Update or whatever, I won't be able to enter the Dungeon today.
"Damn it."
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