This includes a branching to episode 53.5 partway through.
The momentary act of violence was narrowly averted thanks to Swan Hilda’s quick thinking.
It seems Holy Spirit Serena was protecting us.
They are indeed a group of Holy Element Spirits, no doubt about it.
We were also fortunate that our attackers retreated.
Perhaps they realized Swan Hilda’s true identity?
As a result, neither side suffered any losses among their Party Members in this skirmish.
We decided to use an available conference room at the Adventurer Guild to exchange opinions about the recent encounter.
Before that, we searched for any remnants or traces of “Babel’s Gospel,” but they had completely vanished.
While we were doing that, Astarotte and the others, who had almost been killed, calmed down.
However, Eliza was still withdrawn.
“Lara_Berze, you called him Babel Emperor “Barberu” earlier. Are you certain?”
“Yes, Hal. That handsome man was definitely Barberu. High-ranking Demons can change into any Human form they desire, not just their manifested demonic form. The original Barberu is a terrifying being with a goat-like head and black wings, and he’s roughly three times the height of an adult Human male. And the one called Master Zol was the Necromancer Zolgelge.”
“I see… so that’s how it is…”
“W-What the hell! That was the leader of the Demons?! I… I didn’t play my whistle, but… if they found out, will I be punished?! This is bad, this is really bad… I hate punishments and training!”
Lara_Berze confirmed that it was indeed Barberu, the leader of the Demons.
That must be why he couldn’t tolerate the presence of former Demons.
Meanwhile, Swan Hilda, who should have been the greatest hero for saving the Party Members, clutched her head.
She had likely been instructed by the Valkyries to inform them immediately if she discovered any Demons.
“Calm down, Swan Hilda!”
“Elder Sister Edele, this is bad!”
“It’s okay, Swan Hilda. There, there.”
“Elder Sister Edele, Elder Sister Edele…”
It was her cousin, Edele, who soothed Swan Hilda’s distress.
Swan Hilda gradually calmed down as Edele stroked her head.
“Swan Hilda is surprisingly dense. They saw through their true identities as Demons.”
“Then why didn’t they warn us, you wretched spirit!”
*Squeeze*
“Dietlinde, let go. They are the great benefactor who saved the Party Members!”
“As for me, I feel like strangling this wretched spirit who failed to report…”
“This time, we were saved thanks to them. A-And yet… you want to strangle them… Heh, Heh-CHOO!!”
As the comedic banter between Holy Spirit Serena and the High Elf Dietlinde began, Serena let out a huge sneeze. For a moment, Dietlinde and Holy Spirit Serena’s figures seemed to vanish… but upon looking again, there was no anomaly.
What was that just now?!
“Given that the Necromancer Zolgelge was present… were the female adventurer and the two male adventurers who were pretending to be companions ‘corpse dolls’?”
“I wonder, Edele. They seemed to have too much emotion and movement to be just ‘corpse dolls’…”
“Hal, that female adventurer’s face is my Elder Sister’s. Although her hair and iris colors are different, those big breasts are the same as mine. That is the mark of an Imperial Princess of the Wahl Imperial Kingdom. There’s no doubt that female adventurer was the Third Imperial Princess, Francine Egmont Waiyar.”
“If Zolgelge was there, and the Third Imperial Princess who should have been dead was there… then she was indeed a ‘corpse doll’!?”
“Umm… what are ‘Demons’?! Aren’t you mistaken? Shouldn’t it be ‘Demonkin’?”
Eliza, pale-faced from narrowly avoiding having her head severed by Barberu’s strike, interrupted our conversation.
“Demons are—”
I explained to Eliza and briefly touched upon the mission of “Princess Harem.”
“I… I will resign from ‘Princess Harem.’ It’s better to be alive and run!”
“Eliza, if I were to compare your actions, would it be like a stray dog wagging its tail and running away?”
Liliana’s retort followed.
“Even if you provoke me, my decision will not change.”
“I understand. You just joined, but we should respect your wishes. Did you hear Eliza’s words, Tirna?”
“Yes, Liliana.”
Eliza’s impulsive declaration of resignation had instantly become a fait accompli.
However, she will continue to act as a Party Member until an appropriate place or person to take her in is found.
That being the case… I’m concerned about the side effects of ‘Resurrection Magic,’ but it seems that was precisely what Lyushenne and the others were aiming for.
Meanwhile, Eliza, who had been manipulated by Liliana into saying she would resign, didn’t seem to realize it herself.
There’s a proverb, “Silence is golden, eloquence is silver,” but Lyushenne only managed a slight upward curl of her lips.
As for me, I don’t want to see Eliza’s ego collapse from indulging too much in masturbation, so I need to consider some kind of countermeasures.
The best countermeasure would be to get Eliza pregnant…
But that’s not a method I want to employ.
I haven’t even gotten Alicia pregnant yet…
So, what can I do?
According to Holy Spirit Serena’s explanation, there were four Demons radiating miasma at the scene.
Since “Babel’s Gospel” was a five-person party, if Francine Egmont Waiyar, who was called Flandle Lamia, was a ‘corpse doll,’ and the remaining four were Demons, Holy Spirit Serena asserted that only Master Zol, or Zolgelge, was not a Demon.
According to Holy Spirit Serena’s assessment, Flandle Lamia is also a Demon.
However, she also states that Zolgelge himself is not just a Human but an evil being with wicked power.
If that’s the case, do I need to investigate Zolgelge’s true identity as well?
Is Lyushenne’s assessment correct, or is Holy Spirit Serena’s assessment more accurate…
It’s a very troubling dilemma.
“Hal, if you can capture Flandle, could you try to revive her with an Elixir?”
Lyushenne made another request.
“I don’t mind, but don’t get your hopes up too high. It would be great if she could be saved like Yuliana, Liliana’s half-sister…”
As long as the conditions for using Elixir are met, I have no objections.
“I believe Flandle Lamia’s true identity is a Demon.”
Lara_Berze raised her hand and presented her theory.
“Are you saying Flandle Lamia is a Demon, Lara_Berze?”
“Some races of Demons wear a human’s raw skin to impersonate them.”
Following Lara_Berze’s lead, the gazes of the three former Vampire sisters turned to Astarotte.
“Wha—what are you saying!?”
Astarotte’s voice trembled in response.
“If my memory serves me correctly, a certain Succubus was disguised as an old woman fortune teller, wearing her skin.”
“Ugh. D-Don’t say that! I wasn’t disguised because I wanted to. I was forced to disguise myself by Barberu’s orders, and I did it reluctantly.”
“Oh really!?”
“Is that true?”
“I thought you were into older women.”
“I… I have no interest in becoming an old woman!”
Come to think of it… Astarotte had turned into an old woman fortune teller, and she had done the gruesome thing of adhering an old woman’s skin to her face.
Based on everyone’s opinions, it seemed certain that Flandle Lamia’s appearance was that of Francine Egmont Waiyar, the Third Imperial Princess of the Wahl Imperial Kingdom.
The question remained whether she was a ‘corpse doll’ or a Demon wearing her skin, but they couldn’t reach a conclusion.
Ideally, they should have been discussing Barberu, the ringleader of the Demons who invaded the human world, and Zolgelge the Necromancer, but the topic of Flandle had hijacked the discussion.
“This is a farewell gift for Eliza, who is retiring. Zwe, could you come here for a moment?”
After the meeting, as we walked some distance from the Adventurer Guild, Liliana stopped Eliza.
Liliana seemed to have a troubled expression on her face.
“Liliana, what is it!?”
Eliza, who had decided to retire from “Princess Harem,” turned around with a slightly frightened look.
“Zwei! Give her the item.”
“Yes, Mother Liliana. Eliza, please accept this. I’d like you to tell me your impressions after using it. The more feedback for improvement, the better…”
What Zwe handed over was a monstrously shaped dildo, an adult toy.
“W-What is this!?”
“This is a prototype called ‘[Come, Spring!] No. 7,’ modeled after Hal’s penis. It’s still far from a finished product, but you need it. And please report your impressions after using it. I want to finish it as soon as possible. The reason is—”
I slumped my shoulders at Zwe’s explanation.
Apparently, the problem was that with too many Party Members, the night duty rotation was taking too long.
And with Zwe, a production-type member, joining, it was something they had been secretly developing.
Honestly, they didn’t intend to give it to her, but Lyushenne decided that she couldn’t bear to see a friend go mad, so they gave it to her.
Still, what a blatant name.
The shaft of the dildo was studded with vicious nubs, and it was a magic tool that moved with a “squish-squish” thanks to a magic stone, with branching protrusions to stimulate the clitoris.
What in the world had they developed…
Thank you for reading.
Episode 53-11, “The Unrestrained Potbelly and the Buttock Match,” is scheduled for pre-publication on March 30th at 0:00.
