The grand mock battle of Atlas that I proposed.
Atlas named it ‘Machia’ and proceeded with it.
Machia. From my perspective, ‘Gigantomachia’ came to mind first, making me think the scale was too large, but it seemed to be a commonly used term on this continent.
And as the preparations for Machia were underway for a few days, I received a report from Arald.
“She thinks I’m in cahoots with Carla?”
“Lady Achaea seemed to think so.”
According to Arald's explanation, my interference with the magic that Pielott had cast on me seemed very suspicious to her.
At those words, I looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking, and then spoke.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Indeed, it doesn’t.”
“The only reason I used demonic energy on her was as a warning. Because she recklessly used magic on a student. Even if it wasn't Pielott, if there was someone acting suspiciously like that in the faculty room, I would have done the same.”
Of course, because it was Pielott who was almost caught, I discovered it quickly, but even if it had been another student, my response wouldn't have been different.
But Lady Achaea, seeing my actions, lumped me together with Carla.
“Could it be that she has some other ulterior motive?”
“That's possible. But one thing's for sure, she's wary of Carla. Otherwise, she wouldn't have needed to show her hand to you guys like that.”
That she has some purpose in lumping me together with Carla. This hypothesis didn’t convince me.
From Lady Achaea’s perspective, I’m a complete unknown, and it wouldn’t do her any good to needlessly make more enemies.
Perhaps Lady Achaea truly believes I’m on Carla’s side. But if so, what's the reason? Not the clumsy excuse that I interfered with her.
I opened my mouth at the thought that suddenly occurred to me.
“It’s possible she’s experienced ‘demonic energy’ before me.”
Arald nodded as if he understood.
The demonic energy I used on Lady Achaea was very faint, but she might have felt some sense of déjà vu from it.
If she had encountered demonic energy before, she might have noticed that my power was of the same kind and judged me to be a ‘devil’.
From her perspective, Carla is definitely a devil, so if I, who suddenly appeared in Atlas, am also a devil, it’s only natural to link us together.
Lily, who had been listening, spoke.
“So, really, is Carla a devil?”
That question was directed at me. Since I’m the only one here who has actually met her.
I recalled Carla’s appearance for a moment.
Putting aside her outstanding beauty and her questionable actions, did I feel anything out of place about her? Was there any discrepancy in her gaze, her Mana, her presence?
“……She felt a bit strange.”
I said after some thought. Lily’s eyes sparkled at that.
“Then is it highly likely that Carla is a devil?”
But I shook my head at those words.
“No, I think it's less likely.”
“Because I don’t feel anything off about Arald or Lily.”
“……Ah, uh? That’s true.”
These two are devils. Arald aside, in Lily’s case, I had interacted with her without feeling anything until I was certain that she was a devil.
Until a devil reveals themselves, humans and devils cannot be distinguished with the naked eye. Even with my senses, I can’t feel it.
“To begin with, it’s strange to think she’s a devil when she’s trying to gather information about devils.”
“Maybe she’s trying to figure out what humans know about devils and exploit the gaps in our knowledge?”
“That’s possible, but if she were a devil, she would usually try to learn about humans. Arald, Lily, have you ever tried to find out what humans know about devils, even though you yourselves are devils?”
They both shook their heads.
But Arald still said,
“Frondier. If Carla is really investigating devils to counter them, there’s no reason for her to make such a strange deal. There’s even less need to hide.”
Right. That’s what’s strange.
The suspicion surrounding Carla stems from the fact that she’s making deals she can’t reveal to others, and that she seems to be in a hurry.
Carla is a suspicious individual. There's no denying that.
But it's also strange to conclude that she's a devil.
Carla was different from a devil.
‘Carla had such a fragile body. It's just data accumulated through experience, but most devils don't show that kind of characteristic. Being able to learn Aura quickly means being close to Mana. In other words, most devils inevitably look almost like well-trained humans.’
If Carla were a devil, even if I couldn't confirm it, my senses would have picked up on some level of Mana. But Carla is physically weak and has very faint Mana. To say she's hiding it, her Mana is fainter than an average person's, which is suspicious in itself.
‘At first, I thought her fragility accentuated her beauty, but thinking about it the other way around, could it be that her beauty masks her fragility?’
A delicate body, weak Mana, living quietly and inconspicuously until there's a reason not to.
I thought Lily and Arald would know a lot about devils, but looking at it this way…
“……She’s similar to me.”
“To be precise, she’s like me when I was under the curse of Sloth.”
Of course, Beelzebub’s curse was so meticulous and powerful that no one would have even realized it was a curse. Naturally, it's unlikely Carla was cursed with Sloth. There seems to be no connection.
But she could be under a ‘curse’.
Investigating devils could also be a way to break the curse.
I lightly tapped my finger on the chair.
“Whether to make her an enemy or not.”
“……Normally, I think you need to figure out if they're an enemy first.”
“Why would we need to know that?”
“Carla herself probably doesn't even know.”