CH 145

[The Idiot’s Field of Expertise]

I explain to Ayako what happened after she collapsed, and then ask her how she feels about her body as it has been modified by the daemon.

The changes that have been made to her body are out of my field of expertise, so I leave the explanation to the daemon. The main points of his explanation are: ‘she is now free from Joseph’, ‘her body is powered by magical power which is automatically absorbed from the air’, and lastly ‘she can’t fight for long as it consumes a lot of magical power’.

Also, the daemon has also added some security measures to prevent Joseph from retaking control of her, her magical power is currently full… so on and so forth.

It said it wouldn’t do a sloppy job, but I’m honestly kind of surprised as I didn’t think it would be so meticulous.

“Impressive. This is far beyond what I expected,” I remark.

“It is simply to make sure you don’t come back and bother me again, that’s all,” the daemon says.

“Did I ever do something that would make you hate me that much…?”

“You did, and you know that,” Ethel retorts.

In any case, once the explanation is over, Ayako bows deeply again as a way to thank us for freeing her.

Ayako can’t speak nor shed tears. However, the way her body trembles ever so slightly as she bows well conveys her feelings.

As such, I decide to ask her to help us in subjugating Joseph.

“Well, now you’re free and all, but if you feel indebted to us and want to repay us, you can do so by cooperating with us to do a little something.”

“?”

“We want to kill Joseph. Cooperate with us.”

“!”

At those words, Ayako is first startled, then she directs a serious look at me.

The longer you bottle up your anger, the greater it will be when it erupts.

My proposal will allow her to repay us and take her revenge on Joseph at the same time, it is unlikely she will refuse.

Also, by making her cooperate not out of her own initiative but out of gratitude, I may make her promise to not get in my way of taking my experience points—or in other words, finishing off Joseph.

(In a sense, this is the most important part of my original plan! Alright, here I go! I’ll show you the negotiating skills that I have used to contend with that great genius Joseph Asanaga!!)

Despite the twists and turns, I have plenty of cards to play, so I’m sure she will agree in the end.

Filled with such conviction, I begin to explain to her my plan to kill Joseph.



When she woke up, Ayako had been swallowed by a whirlpool of intense emotions that had suddenly welled up within her.

It included the joy of being released from Joseph’s curse, the anger that she no longer had to bottle up, the gratitude to Sakurai and the rest, and the doubt about why they helped her.

That was exactly why, when she was told that they wanted to kill Joseph, she was able to instantly calm the whirlpool.

She focused all her emotions on one objective: ‘kill Joseph’.

“I had been planning to free you since our negotiation. Why? Because I wanted to pin the blame of everything, from the attack on the saintess to the monster outbreak, on Joseph,” Sakurai began to talk about the scenario he had come up with to settle the situation down.

Sakurai wanted the information regarding the dungeon, and Ayako wanted the staff to free herself from Joseph.

Once they got what they wanted, there would be no reason for them to fight each other, but… the church must capture and punish the culprit who attacked the saintess and turned the members of the church into puppets to do so.

If the church wasn’t given enough reason to compromise, it would continue pursuing Ayako and Joseph, and might hold Sakurai—who wanted to go back to the academy as soon as possible—in detention for investigation purposes.

Sakurai told Ayako that this was why Joseph’s sacrifice was necessary.

He said that they should make the attack on the saintess something ordered by the ‘Black Sword’ to Joseph Asanaga, and by killing Joseph and pinning all the blames on him, the incidents would be solved, at least officially.

With this, Sakurai, Ayako, and the church would be able to create an ending that they all could accept, at the expense of Joseph.

I see,thought Ayako.

But at the same time, she noticed that the beneficiary of the plan actually didn’t include the person who was most affected by these incidents, and so she couldn’t help but turn her gaze toward the elf girl standing beside Sakurai.

Then, Ethel, noticing Ayako’s concern, stepped in front of Sakurai and she crossed her arms. She looked back at Ayako with a sharp gaze and spoke, “Tōru told me about your situation, and I sympathize with you, if I’m being honest. But I can’t forgive you for hurting my mother.”

“…”

“But Tōru saved us, in consideration of him, I’ll bear with you if you agree to cooperate with us. However, you have to promise me that you will apologize to my mother and receive whatever punishment she will give you when this is all over!”

“…?”

“Just because I’ll hold back my anger, it doesn’t mean my mother will. She is the real victim here, I’m not going to defend you no matter what punishment she decides for you, and if you try to escape, I’ll catch you no matter what! I’ll set Tōru after you! The Tōru! You’d better keep that in mind!”

Ayako had no intention to refuse the proposal, in the first place. If it meant she could kill Joseph who had been tormenting her, she would gladly do anything asked of her.

But she had been sure that she would be forced to act as a vanguard or a decoy, or any other dangerous role because of the fact that she had personally attacked Ethel Tyner’s mother, who was standing by Sakurai’s side.

“——”

That was why Ayako was honestly surprised at Ethel’s show of, to say the least, leniency.

Ayako’s sole wish was to be freed from Joseph, and to achieve her selfish desire, she had sacrificed many people. She knew that that was a grave sin.

As such, once her wish was fulfilled, no matter what happened after that, she would accept as long as she could live and die as ‘plain old Ayako’.

She wouldn’t mind being killed by the bereaved families of those whom she had killed, as that would be a fitting end for a scum like her who sacrificed others for her own greed… so Ayako believed.

It was exactly because she had such thoughts that Ethel’s ‘forgiveness’ took Ayako by surprise, so much, in fact, that she resolved herself not to break her promise.

Yes, Asanaga Ayako may be a criminal.

But when it came to humanity, Ayako was much better than a certain idiot who just realized that he forgot to take into account the feelings of Ethel and her mother in his plan.

(Looks like they’ve come to an agreement.)

And when the idiot in question sensed that their talk was coming to an end, he began to wonder if he should take out his card (fuel) to inflame Ayako’s hatred toward Joseph.

‘Joseph had Asanaga Ayako’s backup, and as long as he was still alive, he could create as many Ayako as he wanted’… that information was the card Sakurai had up his sleeve in case Ayako refused to join them to kill Joseph and tried to run away in pursuit of freedom.

Even if Ayako were to run away, Joseph would just create a new Ayako and do evil deeds with her, the blame of which may be pinned on her.

By revealing his card and explaining that, Sakurai was hoping that he could inflame Ayako’s already strong hatred toward Joseph and make her realize the practical demerit of Joseph’s being alive for her. ‘As long as he’s still alive, you’ll never be truly free from his curse’—by steering the story in that direction, he’d most certainly get her cooperation… at least that was what Sakurai had been planning.

But before he could take out this card of his, she already seemed to lean toward agreeing, as a result, Sakurai was at a loss as to what to do with it.

(Hmm)

If it was a normal person, they would likely keep their mouth shut at this point, as further angering the other person was unnecessary—but the man named Sakurai was far from the norm.

As a result of often being scolded by Iris, he had come to believe that he was too lacking when it came to sociability and respect for others.

(Even though it hasn’t been confirmed, this information involves her life… since she’s going to cooperate with me, I should show some sincerity by informing her, right?)

The conclusion that he had arrived was, unfortunately, to inform her of the shocking information, albeit out of good intentions.

Sakurai thought absentmindedly while doing practice swings.

Although the information was just speculation on his part, it was concerning ‘Joseph’s curse’ that had always been in control of Ayako’s life.

For him, it may be nothing more than a card to inflame Ayako’s hatred towards Joseph, but for Ayako, wouldn’t it be extremely valuable information?

He had no idea in what way the information would be of any use to her. But wasn’t knowing always better than not?

By the way, he still had 47 swings left to do, so informing her would also serve to buy time until he was done with his practice swings… with such thoughts in mind, the idiot spoke, “Oh yeah. Apparently, ‘puppeteers’ cut a part of their souls and put them in their puppets when making them. Meaning, you, Ayako, were born from a part of Joseph’s soul, so in a sense, you really are Joseph’s daughter.”

“?!”

“Also, you know that he’s keeping a copy of your memory and personality, right? With that, he’ll likely be able to create a new ‘Asanaga Ayako’ even when you’re gone. As long as he’s alive, there will surely be ‘Asanaga Ayako’ that is not you. So, I think if we don’t finish off Joseph here, your life in the future would be quite difficult.”

“—!! —?! —!!”

“H-hey, are you… okay?” Ethel asked seeing Ayako hug her body, trembling.

Ayako was being attacked by fear that surged up within her, and a tsunami of disgust so immense that it overwhelmed even her fear.

She had no idea how Sakura knew about all that information.

But because of everything she had gone through, she took Sakurai’s information as a fact, and accurately predict the possible bad futures it would lead to.

She couldn’t care less about the fact that she originated from Joseph’s soul. She took it as she was simply unlucky to be born to such a father, that was all.

The problem was this meant that in her new-but-may-be-short-life that would begin from now on, she would have to be in constant fear of the invisible shadow of Joseph, and at times she may be accused of crimes that she didn’t commit and be forced to take responsibility.

To prevent this problem, she had to go to Joseph by herself to lure him into an ambush, an act which was equivalent to jumping into a dragon’s mouth for her as she had the body of a puppet.

Even though the daemon had put security measures on her body, Joseph was a master—no, a demon, in the art of puppetry.

Just how reliable the security measures could be when they were put up against that demon?

Not to mention, what if the ambush failed and Joseph escaped? Could she kill him by herself?

Between her getting controlled by Joseph again, or Joseph managing to escape after they attacked him, the result was the same. She would end up being tormented again by him, which was not much different from the life she had led until now.

The more she thought, the more the possible bad futures filled Ayako’s mind.

“~~~~!”

He controlled her life under the pretext of doting on her, and he forced his one-sided love on her under the pretext of parental love.

What Joseph loved was the puppet with the setting of ‘Asanaga Ayako’. Drunk on his fantasy, he controlled every aspect of Ayako’s life and raised her to be the perfect ‘Asanaga Ayako’.

It was a one-sided, selfish love with no consideration for the one on the receiving end because she was a puppet—because he treated her as a puppet.

Yes, things would have been nice if Ayako was just a puppet. But she had a human heart.

Joseph, as a father, wanted his daughter Ayako to grow up to be sound of mind, so the madman raised her like a normal father would their daughters.

That was why she clearly understood how abnormal, insane, and disgusting the affection she received from the one who claimed to be her father was.

Ayako could vividly recall everything she had gone through.

She could re-experience the pain, the repugnance, the anger, nausea—all the emotions she’d felt from his ‘affection’.

Because everything was imprinted on her soul, she couldn’t forget them.

Joseph, too, was also doing everything he could to keep the copy of his dear daughter’s memories intact. All while unaware that he was tormenting Ayako.

“…399…400, phew. But anyway, let’s leave it aside for now. What’s more important now is to figure out how to beat Joseph… What’s wrong Ayako? You’re looking down.”

As Ayako looked down, feeling anguished, Sakurai, who had been silently continuing his practice swings without a care in the world, asked after completing his training goal.

Hearing his words, Ayako nodded her head ever so slightly… again and again, without stopping, as she raised her face.

“————”

The calmness that her eyes had always had was now nowhere to be found.

What had previously been filled with gratitude and friendliness toward Sakurai and Ethel was now full of murderous intent towards Joseph. Ethel couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of her jet-black eyes that had lost their light.

Sakurai—the one who had roused Ayako’s hatred, making her overflowing with motivation(murderous intent)—gave her a smile.

Why? Because he smelled a determination from her… a determination to go to any lengths to achieve one’s goals, a determination to never stop no matter what anyone said.

So, Sakurai laughed.

He was certain that Ayako would become a reliable collaborator in killing Joseph.

“Now then, let’s go kill, shall we?”

“—!!” Ayako strongly nodded with the oh-so-casually spoken dangerous words.

Seeing the two of them, Ethel—who had been instilled with the belief that all lives were precious as a kid—furrowed her brows, her feelings complicated.



From Ayako’s collapse to her resurrection as a girl overflowing with murderous intent towards Joseph, not much time had passed, but it wasn’t little, either.

Having set out the moment Ayako collapsed, Joseph, in the meantime, had gathered a huge force and invaded the barrier.

As a matter of course, Sakurai and the rest had no way of knowing that.

The basic plan Sakurai had in mind was for Ayako to find Joseph’s real body, lure him out, and then gang up on him.

He had never even considered the possibility that Joseph would be leading his forces into the barrier.

Joseph, too, had something that he had never considered.

The only information he had about the monsters from the forbidden book section was what he had confirmed through the five senses of the small bird.

Sakurai had withheld information about the monsters because ‘he had wanted to hog all the experience points for himself’, this led Joseph to be unaware of the Book of Daemon’s vast amount of knowledge and skills in magic.

As such, Joseph—who had a strong sense of pride in his ‘Puppetry’ skill—could have never imagined that there would be someone who could tinker with Ayako’s body, even if their connection had been cut off.

Therefore, the fact that the daemon had freed Ayako from his bind, and worse that Sakurai’s casual words had caused her to fall into darkness, turning her into a girl who was overflowing with the intent to kill her own father, was completely outside of his expectation.

“Oh?”

“Huh?”

Joseph wouldn’t come here, anyway, Ayako wouldn’t go anywhere, anyway.

As a result of acting under the assumption that ‘their target wouldn’t move’, Sakurai and Joseph had an unexpected encounter right outside the great library.

A moment of stunned silence.

Joseph turned his gaze to Ayako—who, for some reason, was naturally moving. Just a glance was enough for him to know that she had escaped his grasp.

However, the one who actually took the initiative was Sakurai.

“—!”

Sakurai was good at making split-second decisions.

The moment Joseph’s expression warped in rage seeing Ayako, he immediately derived the best course of action from speedy thinking that could be mistaken for spinal cord reflexes, and succeeded in taking action faster than anyone else.

“Ayako!”

“—!”

Without even trying to convey his intent, Sakurai pounced on Ayako standing next to him.

Then he wrapped his hands around her waist, pulled her into a tight embrace, and—put his lips on top of hers.

“?! –?!?!?!?”

“Haa?!?!”

The time he required to execute those actions was less than 0.5 seconds.

As everyone else was stunned, he indulged himself in the confused Ayako’s lips. For more than ten seconds, no less, as though he wanted to show off.

After releasing his lips as if he ran out of breath, Sakurai, hugging the still stunned Ayako, looked at Joseph and in a mocking tone, said, “I’m taking her.”

It was too proud of a declaration coming from a guy who had just stolen a maiden’s kiss, even if she was a puppet.

“What do you think you have done to my Ayako, you scumbag!!!” Even Joseph became enraged and threw his reason to the wind.

Provoke to prevent escape.

For Sakurai, who had an outstanding ability to infuriate others, inciting Joseph’s wrath was easier than taking candy from a baby.
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