“You demon! Demon Lord! You’re not even human!”

“Everything you said is correct.”

*Slap!*

“Words that deserve a beating.”

“Ouch! It hurts! It hurts! How can you hit a patient?!”

“If a patient does something wrong, they deserve to be hit.”

*Slap!*

Michaela seemed fine, aside from a nosebleed and a mild concussion. After some basic first aid, she was lying face down on my lap, getting her butt spanked.

It was her punishment for trying to use the gate without permission. Even though it was an attempt, she still needed to be disciplined.

“Ouch! Stop hitting me! How can a man like you hit a lady’s butt?! You pervert!”

“If you don’t like being hit by a man, I can have a woman do it.”

I gestured toward Helga, who was sitting with her legs crossed. When Michaela made eye contact with her, Helga waved and smiled sweetly.

“Oh? Is it my turn already?”

“Ahhh! Fine! Hit me! Just not that ridiculously strong woman, you do it!”

“That’s exactly what I was planning.”

While I was sternly punishing Michaela on the outside, my mind was elsewhere.

[System: An error has occurred!]

When Michaela collided with the gate, I saw a mysterious message appear in the air. If I wasn’t mistaken, it was a system notification.

I checked the gate, and it was functioning normally. But since Michaela couldn’t pass through, it seemed the system had blocked her escape. It must have been something Mr. Park did.

‘So she’s not just a character playing the role of a god…’

My guess was somewhat correct. Mr. Park had a reason for putting her in this world. The problem was, I didn’t know what that reason was.

I thought about interrogating Michaela, but it seemed pointless. She didn’t even know about Mr. Park’s existence, let alone why she was placed here. If she had known, she wouldn’t have tried to escape through the gate.

‘Hmm… This is troubling.’

If I could have approached Mr. Park to find out, I would have, but that would have been too risky. I needed to avoid exposing myself to him as much as possible.

But I could feel someone staring at me.

When I looked up, I met Wendy’s eyes.

“…Do you have something to say?”

“U-um… Please punish me too…”

“What?”

“I made a mistake and caused trouble for the Count. So… I think I should be punished too…!”

Wendy was looking up at me with her lips tightly pressed together. I could understand the meaning behind her gaze. She was feeling a sense of responsibility.

I had ordered Wendy to teach Michaela and assist her, which naturally included keeping an eye on her to prevent her from causing trouble in the mansion. Wendy understood my intentions.

But she was tricked by Michaela and exposed the gate. That’s why she wanted to take responsibility for this incident.

I stopped spanking Michaela and looked at Wendy.

“Will you feel better if you’re punished?”

“Y-yes…”

“Hmm…”

I had always thought of her as immature and young, but her attitude surpassed that of most veteran maids. She was truly worthy of being my exclusive maid. Though I didn’t show it, I was quite satisfied.

At the same time, I felt a bit awkward about having to punish her as she wished.

“Alright. If that’s what you want, I’ll punish you.”

“Y-yes! P-please do!”

Wendy, bracing herself for the punishment, closed her eyes tightly and trembled. Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

What a cute kid.

I lightly flicked her forehead with my index finger.

“Eek?!”

“Your courage is admirable.”

I roughly ruffled her hair, and her big, round eyes looked up at me in confusion.

“U-um… Count… What about the punishment…?”

“That was it. That’s the punishment I’m giving you.”

“You’re kidding! Why are you favoring her like that?!”

“Did you hurt your arm?”

“Huh?”

“Hey! Loristan! Are you listening to me?!”

Ignoring Michaela, I checked the scratch on Wendy’s elbow. It wasn’t a big wound, but it bothered me.

“I-it’s okay…! It’s just a scratch… Eek?!”

“Stay still. Helga, do we have any ointment left?”

“Yes.”

Wendy’s arm was covered in small wounds, with band-aids everywhere. It must have been too bothersome to heal them all with magic, so they just stuck band-aids on them.

It was all because of her ‘Misfortune’ trait. Seeing that, I felt a pang of sadness. Just because of my death flag, she ended up with one of the worst traits, equivalent to the seven deadly sins.

I sighed and applied the ointment Helga handed me to Wendy’s elbow. She winced occasionally, probably because it stung, and looked up at me with teary eyes.

“Sniff… I-it’s really okay…”

“It’s not very convincing when you say that while crying.”

“I-I’m not crying…! It’s just that my tear ducts are weak…”

“That’s the same thing. Helga.”

“Yes.”

“Take Wendy back to the mansion. I’ll stay here and give Michaela a bit more punishment.”

“W-what?!”

Helga looked back and forth between me and Michaela, then gave a sinister smile. Of course, it was Michaela who felt the chill from that smile.

“W-wait! Don’t leave me! I don’t want to be alone with this lolicon!”

“Hehe… Have a good time, you two.”

“W-Wendy! Say something!”

“Count… Goodnight…”

“No!! Don’t leave me behind!”

Ignoring Michaela’s near-scream, Helga and Wendy left the room.

Now, it was just me and her in the underground workshop.

“……”

“……”

Silence filled the room. Michaela, rubbing her sore butt, kept her distance from me, like a stray cat.

“Michaela.”

“W-what…? Suddenly…”

As I approached, Michaela, now on high alert, quickly backed into a corner.

“Are you mad because I called you Loristan? It was obviously a joke…!”

“I don’t care about that, so stop talking and sit down. I have something to discuss with you.”

I casually placed a chair in front of Michaela, and after glancing at me, she finally sat down.

After getting her butt spanked, Michaela had become quite docile. This should make the conversation easier.

“W-what do you want to talk about…?”

“Do you really want to go?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you want to go to the place where my sister lived.”

“W-why are you asking? Of course I want to go.”

“Why? Because it’s your creator’s hometown? I’m asking because I’m curious why you’re so desperate to leave.”

I was curious about why Michaela was so obsessed with my sister. She even praised her as ‘that person.’ Sora wouldn’t have made her call her that, so it was even more puzzling. Of course, part of the question was to understand Michaela’s character.

“…I had a dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yeah. It was a dream about the world where that person lived. A forest of huge buildings, beautiful and bright lights. Everything was full of things I’d never seen in this world.”

Michaela muttered as if lost in thought.

Could it be…?

“…Did you peek into Sora’s memories?”

“Maybe? Like you said, it could have been her dream or memory. Because you were in that dream.”

“Me?”

“Thinking about it now, it’s annoying. It was such a good dream, but you kept waking me up. You were always acting all friendly with her like you were something special.”

“She’s my sister, so isn’t that natural?”

“Did you ever think about how I felt having that dream?”

“Do you think I’d care about your feelings? Even if I knew, I wouldn’t have cared.”

“I knew it. Anyway, compared to the world I saw in that dream, this world is too boring. I need some excitement.”

“You won’t be able to say that once the players start pouring in.”

“Hmph… I don’t care. I don’t care what happens to this boring world.”

Michaela shrugged as if it were someone else’s problem. Her indifferent attitude irritated me.

“You don’t care?”

“Yeah.”

“Even though you saw Bella, whom you care about, die right in front of you?”

“That’s sad, but there was nothing I could do.”

“How ridiculous.”

Without realizing it, my voice carried ‘wrath.’ If Michaela didn’t have the appearance of a young girl, I might have slapped her face. But even if I had, I didn’t think it would lead to a good outcome. Still, pure anger was boiling inside me.

“I tried countless times to stop the players, even dying in the process. What did you do? Did you just sit back and say you didn’t care? You, a god?”

“If I could have done something, I would have. But you know that too. You tried so many times and failed. What could I have done? I’m just an ordinary girl once I leave Paradise. How could I have done anything?”

Right. I actually know that too. Being a god is just an honorary title with no real power. Michaela was just a bystander who couldn’t do anything.

“Then you didn’t have to say you don’t care. This world was created by my sister, whom you love so much, wasn’t it?”

“Haha… But ‘that person’ didn’t save us.”

I looked at Michaela. She muttered in a self-deprecating tone, unlike her usual self.

“Everyone knows that ‘that person’ created this world. But ‘that person’ didn’t care what happened to it. While you were struggling, ‘that person’ did nothing. ‘That person’ didn’t save us.”

“That’s…”

I was about to explain Sora’s situation but stopped.

Michaela didn’t know what state Sora was in.

Even I thought Sora was the mastermind when I lost my memories, so it was natural for Michaela to resent her.

“Even if this world is destroyed, ‘that person’ won’t save us. Even if we all die, ‘that person’ won’t appear. No matter how much we beg for help, ‘that person’ won’t even respond.”

“……”

Hearing Michaela’s true feelings for the first time left me speechless. I thought she worshipped Sora, but it was the opposite.

Michaela resented Sora. When the other world was burned by the players, she must have believed that Sora, the creator, would save them. But Sora didn’t save them. She couldn’t.

So Michaela, feeling like a child abandoned by her parents, watched as this world was destroyed. I could understand the despair she must have felt then.

Michaela looked at me with a hollow smile.

“In the end, both you and I were abandoned by ‘that person.’ Do you understand now? Why I want to leave this world?”

“…Sora didn’t abandon us. I can’t explain in detail, but… she’s been asleep all this time, so she couldn’t help us.”

“Asleep…?”

“Yes. She didn’t fall asleep by choice. She was forced to sleep. She would never have ignored us.”

Michaela still looked skeptical.

But I couldn’t tell her the truth. Especially not that Michaela was created by Mr. Park, not Sora, and that she’s an AI program.

But I felt I had to tell her as much as I could.

“How can I believe that?”

“I met Sora in the Trial of Despair.”

“What?!”

“The reason I survived that trial was because of Wendy and… Sora. Even though it wasn’t her physical form, just her consciousness, she helped me survive and return.”

“Really…? Really?”

“Yes. I have no reason to lie.”

“Was it really her? You didn’t mistake someone else for her?”

“I’m her brother. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize her.”

Surprise filled Michaela’s eyes. But she didn’t seem to fully believe me. After all, if I said I met Sora, who had been silent all this time despite Michaela’s calls, it would be hard to believe. Plus, she still seemed full of resentment.

“Why… Why does ‘that person’ only favor you…! Why won’t she appear before me…!”

“I plan to wake Sora up.”

“What?”

“So cooperate with me. Michaela.”

I finally got to the main point with Michaela. The reason I stayed behind with her was to bring this up.

“Now? After spanking my butt like this, you want my help?”

“That’s one thing, and this is another. And I’ll use every means necessary.”

“So you’re just shamelessly going to use me, huh?”

“Yes. But it’s not a bad deal for you either.”

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs.

“Don’t you want to meet Sora in person? If you have so many complaints, if you want to resent her, wouldn’t it be better to meet her directly and confront her?”

“Hmph… You talk a good game.”

“It’s my specialty.”

“…But what exactly do you want from me? Do you want me to take you to Paradise?”

“That too, but there’s one more thing I want to ask.”

“Ask?”

“Yes…”

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

I didn’t really want to, but…

“Can you give Wendy a trial, like you did to me?”