Chapter 482
Chapter 482. New Features
Deep within the Demon Lord Castle—
“That’s how it was,” Enma said, finishing the story about Zilbagias’s rampage and striking a pose of surrender.
“I never imagined he would pull such a stunt while being exiled.”
“Right? It’s reckless or whatever…”
Facing her across the table, Claire, the spirit from Evaroti who had come for the regular report, nodded solemnly.
“It seems he even clashed with the Holy Church, and at the very end, he got poisoned… The Holy Church has been declaring, ‘The Demon Lord’s Prince is gravely injured by poison!'”
“Oh, did the prince get poisoned? I wonder if he let his guard down?”
“Maybe. If so, he might not have long to go…♡”
Enma placed her hand on her cheek, wiggling flirtatiously.
(If he gets poisoned to death, that would be a real laughingstock…)
Claire maintained a solemn expression but felt exasperated inwardly.
—How can someone strong in magic challenge an army all alone in enemy territory?
If Zilbagias were to die like that and join Enma’s army, I promised myself to laugh my heart out.
(Still, even that guy who seems so friendly would act so foolishly…)
Despite appearing intelligent and friendly to his kin, Zilbagias charged into the massive enemy forces like a bloodthirsty beast. Did even he have a side that craved battle?
If Zilbagias went on a killing spree spur of the moment… well, it’s just “scary,” you know? It’s all the more concerning since he’s somewhat relatable.
The most terrifying person is the one whose next move is unpredictable.
(Well, in that case, my boss isn’t any better…)
Claire looked at Enma wiggling in anticipation of Zilbagias’s death with a cold eye.
“Is he still not dead yet?”
“There’s no response from the summoning device… Ah!!”
Enma clung tightly to the nearby Zilbagias.
—Yes, the Deluxe 1/1 Scale Perfect Zilbagias’s body was, of course, sitting right next to her!
“If he dies from pure poison instead of being burned by holy attributes, the damage to his soul should be minimized! Zil-kun! You can come over here anytime! I’m waiting for you!”
With movements reminiscent of a soft-bodied creature, she twined around Zilbagias’s body—
(Wow, they’re straight-up kissing…)
Claire felt a twinge of despair inside her. Back when they first revealed that body, she would say, “I almost kissed!” while still showing some semblance of… embarrassment (?), it seemed.
Apparently, while carrying it with her all day, Enma had crossed some line. The reins had slipped.
“But that explains why the front lines have been so noisy…”
Avoiding her boss’s embarrassing display, Claire decided to steer the conversation back to the retreat support for the Night Elf spy.
“Exactly. We were just a distraction!”
According to Enma, the Undead forces were sending lower Undead sporadically and constructing positions on the front line to draw attention from the Holy Church and the allied forces.
“In the end, we covered the central and southern areas, while the vampires took care of the north.”
“Ah, vampires are good at sneaking around, so that’s probably suited for disruption or diversion.”
“Right.”
Enma snorted.
“Especially in the northern front, there are plenty of abandoned tunnels and fortresses left by the dwarves, so the vampires have plenty of hiding spots. I heard quite a number of vampires were deployed, but since it’s such an easy hunting ground, many of them don’t come back because they’re too busy drinking blood.”
“I see, that makes sense.”
It’s easy to forget while in the Evaroti Autonomous District, but in the many dark and enclosed areas of the battlefield, vampires become terrifying predators…
It’s true, while in the Evaroti Autonomous District, it’s easy to forget…
“Calling it just a diversion, the depletion of our forces is true; however, knowing Zil’s whereabouts made me personally satisfied. We couldn’t get any useful information from the dead Night Elf spies.”
“After all, when the target is ambiguous, the summoning device has its limits. Couldn’t you have had the seniors handle it directly?”
“Everyone is busy with their own affairs. The Night Elf summoning was just because I wanted to learn more about Zil, and it was more of a hobby, so I didn’t want to drag them into it.”
Pouting her lips and fiddling with her fingers, Enma continued.
“Speaking of which, how have things been on your end? Any progress with agriculture?”
Now it was Enma asking.
It’s easy to forget, but one of the reasons Claire was stationed in Evaroti was to absorb agricultural know-how to enable food production by the Undead. The aim was to infiltrate the primary industry of the Demon Lord Kingdom and elevate the Undead’s status.
“It’s slowly progressing. I’ve been talking to the farmers actually working there and making reports.”
On the surface, Claire was set up as “the daughter of a secretary and a low-ranking official employed by the Demon Race,” so those reports were also attributed to being “commanded by the Demon Race.”
“Glad to hear things are going well. Keep it up! By the way, I sent a new body; I wonder if it arrived safely?”
“Ah, I’m sorry for the delayed report, but I just received it. Thank you! …I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s the expression-equipped type, right?”
Claire showed a somewhat expectant demeanor.
“Hehe… You won’t believe it!”
Enma also showed a smug (preset) expression.
“This new body not only has natural expressions but also simulates taste and smell!!”
“D-Does it simulate taste and smell?!”
What a breakthrough!!
“Hehe!”
Enma’s smugness knew no bounds, puffing out her chest.
“How on earth did you manage to add such features?”
“As you know, our body’s tongue has a strong vocal organ role. It was already a delicate part, and adding the ability to taste was quite the challenge. …So! A shift in thinking! What’s important is that ‘the user of the body perceives the food they put in their mouth’, not necessarily ‘tasting it with the tongue’! It doesn’t have to be detected solely by the tongue. While researching various things, I learned something interesting from Naraku.”
“N-Naraku, you say?”
I pictured the face of another lich senior.
“Yes. She’s from the eastern region, and there seems to be a custom there of ‘offering food to the dead and ancestral spirits.'”
There’s a custom to offer favorite foods during their lifetime to the spirits at shrines.
“I succeeded in systematizing that and embedding it into curses! By incorporating the structure of that ‘shrine’ into the palate, performing a prayerful action before eating makes the food in the mouth regarded as an ‘offering’ to spirits, allowing it to be ‘tasted by the soul.'”
Enma demonstrated a prayer gesture—
“Wait, does that mean it only works if you do that gesture?”
“It seems so. By the way, a side effect of this is that you can also perceive scents. Flavor and aroma come as a set.”
“Oh wow! You did great!”
Claire responded excitedly.
“However, this sense of smell isn’t fully developed. Since it’s not detected through the nose, but rather as part of the ‘taste’ in the mouth, it’s much weaker than the sense of smell in life, and sniffing through the mouth feels awkward. …Well, it’s mainly for tasting food, I guess. Actual sense of smell, like those dog beastmen, is still a future challenge.”
“Well, that helps! We can’t understand scents or flavors, right?”
I was speaking as if there had been practical inconveniences.
Claire felt her heart, now without a heartbeat, swelling with anticipation.
“Er… Oh, I apologize, but it’s almost time for today’s meeting…”
She glanced at the wall clock, making a subtle exit gesture.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s a tough job impersonating the living, but good luck with that!”
“See you again~,” Enma passed through the open portal to the spirit realm and drifted back to Evaroti.
—Evaroti Royal Castle, her room.
It was never a particularly large room, but today it felt especially cramped. This was because a coffin was placed smack dab in the middle! Inside was a new body with “natural expressions and taste and smell features,” distinctly different from the one lying on the bed—
“Well then, let’s get started…!”
Possessing the new body, I rose up. …There was no particular discomfort, but when I checked the mirror…
“Wow, it moves so well…!!”
Giggle, grin, pout, strike a pose!
“This is amazing…”
What a smooth transition of expressions! It moved even more faithfully than I had expected! The reflection of myself in the mirror was squishing my cheeks while wearing a naturally surprised expression, and I was astonished further.
“This is… incredible. As expected of my master… Now, about the smell and taste…?!”
I clasped my hands, consciously perceiving the surrounding air as “offerings to myself,” and tried to “taste” the air.
“Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…”
What was it?
It felt like… it had some flavor.
It was a rather strong sense of discomfort since it had been decades…
“This room smells moldy…”
Perhaps it was better not to know this. I wanted to enjoy the flavor of my taste buds after decades, but there wasn’t even a piece of candy, let alone a nut, at hand.
“I’m feeling quite excited about this.”
Tonight, once again, it’s the monthly meeting—more like a drinking party—with the leaders of the Autonomous District!
Enthusiastically preparing to go out, Claire didn’t realize…
Her face was blooming with joy.
