Chapter 24: Plans for a Duel
"Alright Eve, we need to come up with a plan!" I say to Eve after having spent two hours just hugging her. She’s so good at hugging and comforting that I couldn’t separate myself from her.
Besides... her breasts were so soft and pleasant that after a while, I simply stayed there just for the comfort, like the most comfortable natural pillow I’ve ever seen. Anyway, it’s time to act.
I’ve already been happy, I’ve cried, I’ve been comforted, and now it’s time to act again. From this point on, very clear rules need to be defined for my team. First, I don’t want anyone who has severely despised Evelyn in the past.
In other words, I’ll accept almost no servants in my team. If necessary, I’ll create servant puppets just to avoid having to depend on the meager help of common servants.
I refuse to have someone who hated and despised the original Evelyn preparing my food, taking care of my clothes, and cleaning my room.
If I’m going to accept a servant, it will be those who have never done anything against "me" or who have, but it was very little, like in the case of Clarissa. She’s still acceptable, and I think she deserves a second chance at redemption.
But others, like the head of the servants, don’t deserve it. She deserves to get screwed, who in their right mind does that to a child? She’s just lucky that I’m a coward and don’t want Eve to hurt her!
"What do you need, Evelyn-sama?" She asks me as I think for a moment. To start, I need to increase my influence, I need to remove this image of a failure and project the image that messing with me is a problem.
And the best way to do this would be to show that I’m now very strong, so the servants would stop interfering with me, and I might even be able to get some money, after all, I’m still in the same room since childhood.
And this room has never been renovated, so besides being small by standards compared to the other candidates, it’s also no longer as suitable for someone as magnificent as me.
"Eve, I think we need a more brutal approach! We need to show a strength that the servants will immediately notice is dangerous to mess with us...but..." I look at Eve.
"I understand, Evelyn-sama, you’re afraid I might fail, right? After all, if I lose, it will stain your image, but don’t worry, Evelyn-sama, I’ll do whatever I can for you, anything at all," she speaks with confidence.
"That’s good..." My puppets don’t have my memory or knowledge, in short, they don’t know as much about me beyond a small standard that comes with them.
In short, my puppets already come with memories, but these teach a general basic about everything and nothing too grandiose.
However, even though they don’t know, I prefer to talk as if they did, and that way I can plan better being more comfortable, and I don’t intend to reveal my past life to anyone, I want to erase that past failure.
"Eve, I think the best option might be...to challenge one of my brothers to a friendly duel by proxy, meaning it won’t be directly one of them fighting, but someone they choose from among their servants or guards," I say as Eve thinks.
"It sounds good, but from what I understand, all the other candidates for the throne are dangerous. Isn’t this plan risky?" She speaks while I agree. I don’t want them to think I’m trying to impose myself against them, I just want the servants to leave me alone.
The hatred, disdain, and mockery they constantly make only diminishes my image. If the servants don’t respect me, then the nobles won’t respect me either.
That’s why the first step should be to gain the respect of the servants, and as demons, the easiest way is to demonstrate strength. At this point, I would have preferred to be born as an Angel, who has a more peaceful culture, but no laments now.
’I think...I can challenge Augustus for this.’ He’s the most "peaceful" in this sense, and I already have some degree of positive favorability with him. I can say that I want to train and show the results of my magic training.
Augustus has the blessing of the Fifth Layer Troop Generation, and I know he doesn’t care much for servants, so he’ll choose a random strong servant who won’t care if that servant loses.
Blessing = Fifth Layer Troop Generation (Description = Allows the user to temporarily control defeated enemies, or form pacts to permanently control beings they have defeated)
Thanks to the fact that he has a "control" type ability, I also have a skill that suits this, so I become an opponent with a certain degree of fairness.
After all, I doubt Eve could defeat any of my brothers at the moment. They would all beat Eve soundly, not belittling Eve, but I know how strong and terrifying they can be.
"So it’s decided, I’ll first go to Augustus, and then I’ll formally challenge him, and even better, I’ll ask to use the colosseum, where anyone can watch the fight and see," I say with a smile.
"Hmm, Evelyn-sama, are you sure you’re going to do this? What if Augustus sees me as an enemy if I win?" She speaks while I think. Although the fact that she so easily considers the victory is comforting.
"Eve, do you want to know the truth? What I think of my brothers is that they are sad beings, but they are also horrible beings who still don’t care about me...I want to try to be friends with them and improve the situation for everyone."
"But...I won’t throw my life away trying to be friends with beings who only hate me. If they decide to hate me, then I won’t kneel begging for a false friendship," I say as Eve gives me a huge smile.
"I like the way you think, so be it, Evelyn-sama. As your current sword, I will show these arrogant ones that they should never underestimate you again," she speaks with conviction, giving me confidence in her.
"Yes...and this duel will also solve the sword problem, since the colosseum offers weapons for use, and if we win, we can take the weapon with us," I say as Eve seems to be thinking of something.
"Evelyn-sama, do you want me to fight, or do you want to control?" She touches on a point that makes me freeze. I can possess my puppets and fight with their skills and experience.
In short, when I possess a puppet, it’s as if I’m picking up a leveled-up game account with all the power it had, but if I do that, I’ll have to fight myself.
Also, I can fight by controlling Eve’s movements without possessing her, like a puppet moved by strings, but I don’t want to do either of those options.
I still have this cowardice that I’m trying to overcome. For now, if I get into a fight like this, I’ll cowardly freeze in place and lose the fight, so it’s better for me not to interfere with Eve.
I don’t want to be an unnecessary burden on her victory, so it’s better to let her fight alone with her swordswoman mentality.
"No, you’ll fight alone as you wish..." I say as her gaze hardens into a serious look.
"Evelyn-sama, if the opponent attacks me to kill, I will also attack to kill," she speaks, making it clear. She’s basically saying that unlike me, she doesn’t mind killing.
And that if I don’t give permission, she may end up suffering unnecessarily, and here comes this difficult dilemma. If I deny it, wouldn’t I be a terrible master?
After all, she’s already going to fight for me, trying to limit her would only make everything even more difficult, which wouldn’t be fair to her.
"I-I..." However, it’s obvious. Approving this will be the same as indirectly participating in a murder if she kills someone in the fight. I let out a sigh while deciding that I need to be a little selfish.
I don’t want Eve to get hurt because of my cowardice. It’s better to just approve it and hope no one dies, and if someone does die, as selfish as it may seem, it has nothing to do with me.
"Do what you have to do," I approve. I can’t be a hypocrite and tell her not to kill anyone when she’s already going to fight for my sake. It’s like throwing someone in a cage with a lion and a weapon and telling them they can’t use that weapon if they can’t end up killing the lion.
"...I understand that you don’t like killing. I’ll try not to cause any deaths, but if the situation arises, I’m sorry, but I won’t hold back at all. Your life, honor, and dignity are worth more than other lives," she speaks like an ancient general advising a king.
"...Of course..." I say a not-so-confident "of course." In the end, either I learn to be selfish to protect what I care about, or I’ll let random people trample on what I love. Eve may have been created just a few hours ago.
But she was my creation, created with my effort, my magic, and who has shown only loyalty, devotion, and understanding since she appeared. It’s only natural that I try to make things easier for her.
Since I’m not the one who’s going to fight, I’m not the one who should dictate what will be done. It would be pure hypocrisy to try to limit her, and with luck, maybe...just maybe, no one will need to be hurt too much in this duel.
Although this is a vain hope of mine, since I know that demons are violent beings who live on the basis of strength and would hardly make a friendly duel without lives being lost.
After all, "friendly" is only in the sense that it won’t be me and Augustus fighting, but two beings who serve us.
"Okay...let’s put this heavy mood aside and prepare. I think lunchtime is the best time to call Augustus for a duel," I say to her, and she agrees.