Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu

Support us on Ko-Fi or Patreon to make this translation and the translators keep alive.

TL Notes:
My family is facing an unexpected financial challenge. If you are in generous mood. Please support us. 
You can commission me (Request Novel) on Ko-Fi or Patreon (I can only translate Japanese, though). 
We would be forever grateful for any contribution, big or small, to help us overcome this difficult time. Thank you

Chapter 343


This time, the story is told from Usato's perspective.

——— read on seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———

　After returning to the city from the training exercise and finishing my report to the Demon King, I was able to return to the barracks without being given any further orders.
　Honestly, I was tired.
　I had used up a great deal of magic power from fighting battle after battle against the Devils, so I wanted to rest, but only after confirming that Keira and Ururu-san had both been safely returned to their respective homes was I finally able to rest at the barracks.

"So, this Vina person is suspicious?"
"That’s right. It seems the Demon King had already noticed, so it’s practically certain that she isn’t an ordinary demon."

　At night, after dinner, the three of us, Nea, Hannah-san, and I, sat around the table and discussed Vina-san.
　We have no conclusive evidence, so we still can’t determine what her true identity is.
　What’s important here is why she came here in the first place.

"Uhm, excuse me."
"Yes? What is it?"
"This is classified information, right?"
"Yes, it is."

　I nodded at Hannah-san’s words as she casually raised her hand.

"Why am I here, too?"
"..."
"..."
"Anyway, Nea, about what we were talking about."
"Hey!!"

　As I thought about it and casually tried to continue the conversation, Hannah-san leaned forward and grabbed me, looking like she was about to cry.

"Why am I getting dragged into another troublesome situation!? If it’s a hassle, just deal with it yourself?!"
"Hannah-san. There hasn’t been a single incident that I’ve been able to resolve on my own. We’ve always solved them with the help of our companions. ———You’re my companion, too."
"Isn’t it more accurate to say I’m getting dragged into your troubles!? Don’t think you can fool me just by making it sound like some touching speech! Take that! Take that!!"

　She kept punching my arm with little thumps, but sadly, her attacks, which were somewhat weak even for a demon, didn’t seem capable of getting past my biceps.

"Hannah-san, you’ll hurt your fist if you keep going."
"Well, now that you’ve gotten involved with this guy, I guess you have to be prepared for things like this."
"Guuuuuh..."

　I do feel sorry about it, but I do want to have someone besides Koga who can help me.
　Could it be that the Demon King assigned her as my assistant with things like this in mind?
　... Nah, no way.

"Vina, huh? She certainly seems to have a similar vibe to me."
"You mean she might have some kind of transformation ability?"

　Nea also had the ability to transform as part of her powers as a vampire.
　If she used it, then even if her true appearance were something far from human, she could take on the form of a demon and sneak in here.

"Or she could have something like Hannah’s illusion magic..."
"That can’t be it."
"...Yeah. It can’t be."

　The two of them looked at me and nodded deeply.
　I’m aware that I’m particularly good at dealing with illusions and things like that, so I think it’s safe to say that illusions aren’t a possibility.
　Even if there were, it would mean we were dealing with the worst kind of opponent, one capable of using magic on the level of the Demon King.
　I sincerely hope that possibility never arises.

"But why go out of her way to come to me? From a Devil’s perspective, wouldn’t she hate me enough to want to kill me?"

　Judging from the words of the Devil named Kaira whom I met the other day, I thought I had earned quite a grudge.
　If Vina-san was the same, she should have had plenty of opportunities to catch me off guard... The fact that she hasn’t done so yet means she might have some other purpose?

"Maybe she came to assassinate you? More importantly, can you actually die, Usato-kun?"
"That’s rude. I don’t like saying this about myself, but over the past year, I’ve come close to dying more times than I can count on both hands."

　If anything, there may be fewer people who have come as close to death as I have.
　That goes for both my fight with the Demon King and what happened during my journey to deliver the letter, but even during my training with Rose, such experiences were an everyday occurrence.
　That human pinball game now seems like a distant memory...

"...Uhm, Nea-san. Why does this person look like he’s reminiscing about the past?"
"That’s just the kind of person he is..."

　As I looked back on things from about a year ago and felt nostalgic, Nea, resting her cheek on her hand at the table, gave me a sullen look.

"I’ve been wondering about this, but you seem surprisingly energetic."
"Hmm, I suppose so."

　By “energetic,” she probably means that I’ve been fighting repeatedly and using a lot of magical power.
　Physical exhaustion can be healed with Healing Magic, but magical power is different.
　I have no choice but to wait for it to recover naturally, so after a battle that uses up most of my magical power, I usually have to get some rest.

"System Degradation allows me to reduce my magical power consumption, after all."
"In your case, though, you seem even more dangerous when the effects of Healing Magic are weakened."
"Healing Magic is necessary, you know? What are you talking about?"
"Could you stop saying that with such clear, innocent eyes? I’m going to scream, you know!"

　Healing Magic is necessary to knock someone unconscious without injuring them.
　In fact, it’s so necessary that I can’t remember a single time when I thought I didn’t need it.

"And simply put, I guess System Degradation for me is naturally the opposite of System Enhancement."
"...What do you mean?"

　This is only a guess, but considering my condition during battle, System Degradation really is the exact opposite.
　I show both of my hands to Nea and Hannah-san so they can see the difference.

"This on my right hand is System Enhancement."
"Yes, that's right."
"And this on my left hand is System Degradation."
"How can you even do that?"

　At Nea’s question, I looked at both of my hands again and deliberately tilted my head, thinking, “Ah, now that I think about it, I really can do it”.

"Hh"
"Nea-san, calm down!! If you’re going to hit him, let’s do it together after we hear him out!!"
"He’s gone completely insane when it comes to manipulating magic power!? If I were a scholar, I’d have him locked away!!"

　Hannah-san desperately tried to stop Nea, who had suddenly risen from her chair while still wearing a smile.
　Honestly, I’m surprised that I can actually do it normally too, so please forgive me.

"You know that System Enhancement of Healing Magic strengthens its healing power toward living beings other than yourself, right?"
"Yes, but in exchange, its effect on yourself becomes weaker."
"Exactly. Hannah-san, try touching my right hand."
"...It’s not going to explode, is it?"
"No, it won’t."

　What kind of suspicion is that?
　Even so, still looking extremely suspicious, she touched the hand I held out, with System Enhancement floating around it.
　Then, a deep green healing magic flows into her and begins to take effect.

"How was it?"
"...This is incredible. I suppose this is what you’d expect from System Enhancement... Could you put this into a bottle or something?"
"Don’t ask for the impossible."

　If I’m encouraged to commercialize Healing Magic this much, I’m starting to feel like developing it... No, no, I’m getting sidetracked again, and this topic is branching off even further, so this time I held out my left hand.

"Yes, now for the System Degradation on my left hand."

　This time, she grabbed my left hand, which contained pale green magical power, without any hesitation.
　Just like with my right hand, light flowed into her and the effects of Healing Magic took place, but she tilted her head in confusion.

"Is this Healing Magic? I can feel it healing me, but it feels extremely weak."
"Healing Magic weakened by System Degradation has reduced effects. Well, I’ve been applying it to Healing Break, so I already knew that... But when it came to me, that wasn’t the case."
"...Ah, I see."

　It seemed Nea understood after I explained all that.
　I paused and looked at Nea, and she let out an exasperated sigh before speaking.

"So System Degradation becomes extremely less effective on third parties other than yourself, but its effect on yourself becomes stronger..."
"Exactly. Since System Degradation optimizes my magic power and strengthens its healing effect on my body... naturally, I somehow, no, probably... understand that it also makes it harder for fatigue to build up...!"
"Why did you suddenly become so vague at the end?"
"What this person is doing is just weird..."

　The conversation had gone off track.
　Before they became even more put off by me, I had to bring the topic back to Vina-san.

"Let’s get back to the subject. About Vina-san..."
"Excuse me~!"
"""!"""

　A voice could be heard from outside the barracks.
　Becoming more alert at the voice of the very person we had just been talking about, I opened the door.
　Beyond the door was———,

"Good evening, everyone."
"...Vina-san. I believe I told you to rest until tomorrow"

　With her brown skin, distinctive horns, and long, slightly unruly light-golden hair.
　Vina-san, who looked like a demon with a somewhat gentle impression about her, smiled pleasantly.

"I figured I was probably about to be found out, so I came here to beg for my life♪"

　I still had no idea what she was thinking.
　However, I did know that she was more troublesome than any Devil I had encountered so far.

●
——— read on seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———

"I suppose I should confess. I’m a Devil."

　Vina-san threw me off by bluntly revealing that the moment she sat down at the table in the barracks.
　I had already suspected it, but I never expected her to reveal it herself...

"To prove it, look, just like this."

　With a snap of her fingers, Vina-san’s figure briefly flashed with light and changed.
　Her horns remained the same, but bat-like wings grew from her back, along with a thin black tail, making her look just like the Devils, Kaira and the others, whom I had encountered the other day.

"Is it magic?"
"Yes, it’s called Transformation Magic. Since magic that affects the mind apparently doesn’t work on you, Usato-san, I was sent because I can alter my own appearance itself."
"You sure talk a lot..."

　Ignoring Nea’s suspicious expression, Vina-san returned to her demon form.

"Why did you come here?"
"Simply to investigate the Demon King and you."
"Me?"
"You’re quite hated, after all."

　I see.
　But judging from the way she speaks, does that mean Vina-san is different?

"I’m not really like that. I have no problem even if my magic power weakens, and in the first place, my values are quite different from those of the other Devils."
"You mean you don’t look down on humans?"
"Well... if I had to put it simply, I suppose so? In the end, I was sealed away by the previous Hero, who was a human, and during that time, I was trapped in a cramped space while remaining conscious the whole time, so, yes... well, I suppose you could say I was made to understand."

　Why is everything this person says so suspicious?
　She has been glancing at me from time to time, too, and it’s making me feel quite uneasy.

"And one more purpose was to investigate Magic Power Circulation and the abilities awakened through that technique."
"He~e, even the Devils are interested in that."
""...""

　When I expressed my admiration without thinking much of it, Nea and Hannah-san, sitting on either side of me, gave me looks as though they were staring at an incredibly stupid person.

"Leaving aside this clueless training idiot, what are you planning to do with that information? Don’t tell me you’re planning to use it for negotiations from here on out?"
"Of course not. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come here. I would have immediately run away."
"Then what is it?"
"That's why I came here to beg for my life."
"...Haa?"

　Nea reacted in disbelief, while Vina-san continued to wear a smile that, as always, did not look at all like the expression of someone begging for her life.
　...To me, it only looked like she was enjoying this situation.

"Devils have almost no sense of kinship with one another."
"...Well, I can understand that after seeing the ones we’ve encountered so far."

　I had encountered three Devils so far.
　Every one of them had treated their comrades as though they were nothing more than nuisances.

"Originally, the race known as Devils is a troublesome one where they consider one another a nuisance, and depending on the circumstances, they are even willing to bring each other down."
"Ehh..."
"I don’t know what the other Devils are thinking or what kind of abilities they have, either. We get along so poorly that I’m always thinking they might as well all die already."

　The Devils’ internal situation is a complete mess.
　They don’t have any coordination at all, do they?

"Being sent here seemed like a good chance to get away from those troublesome guys. And then I heard about your rampage in Mialak... I mean, your accomplishments, Usato-san. I was so curious about you that I simply couldn’t resist... so here I am."

　For some reason, I got a chill when Vina-san put a hand to her cheek bashfully.
　...

"Nea, Hannah-san. I’m tired today, so I’m going to bed first. You two can listen to the rest!"
"Binding Curse!!"
"Phantom Self-Hypnosis!!"

　Just as I was about to get up from my chair, Nea used her Binding Curse to restrain my right hand and the chair, while Hannah-san, after casting Illusion Magic into her own head, grabbed my left arm and became as immovable as a stone.
　Nea was one thing, but what on earth happened to Hannah-san?!

"I am a rock, I am a rock, I am a rock...!!"
"She even hypnotized herself just to stop me...!?"
"She’s the weirdo you attracted!! Take responsibility and deal with her properly!!"
"Kuh..."

　Why do I keep attracting weird people, whether they’re human or not...?
　I guess I have no choice but to accept this as fate, d*mn it!!
　...It can't be helped.

"Haah, even if you say you’re begging for your life, I have no intention of taking your life."
"Then you’ll capture me...!?"
"Can I just leave you alone?"
"No waaay!"

　I honestly don’t understand why she’s disappointed by that.
　Could it be that her masochistic tendencies during training weren't just acting at all?

"...In other words, you were hoping to join the Mobile Rescue Squad?"
"?"

　In that case, I’ll ask her as the vice-captain of the Mobile Rescue Squad.
　She tilted her head with a look that suggested she didn’t seem to understand anything at all, but even so, it didn’t matter...!!

"Vina-san, I want you to tell me what you want to do from here on."
"If you’ll shelter me here, I’ll cooperate with you. I don’t have much information about the Devils, but I should still be able to be of use."
"Fumu..."

　That's not a bad offer.
　If I couldn’t trust her, we could simply have the Demon King use some kind of restraining magic on her.
　If we could make her our ally, we could take effective measures against the Devils’ activities from here on.

"Although I’m the one asking for a favor, I have one condition from my side."
"...And what would that condition be?"

　Hm? Why is she getting up from her chair?
　As I felt an ominous premonition when she sat down on the floor just like that———,

"Please be my master (goshujin-sama)!!"

　Those words, which I had expected in a way, came flying at me with surprising force.
　I don’t know whether she learned it in Hinomoto, but that was a magnificent dogeza.
　Still, becoming a master (goshujin-sama), huh...
　Nea had said the same thing at first, and now, after vampires, it was devils next, hahaha... Haa.

"...Uwaa..."

　This might be the most utterly appalled I had been since coming to this world.
　Eh~, this person is seriously bad news...

"Eh~tto, does that mean you want to become my familiar or something?"
"Depending on the circumstances, I will become your dog."
"Ah... could you just keep your mouth shut for now?"
"Kyaun...!"

　I’m seriously creeped out.
　Senpai can be pretty much a turn-off, but somehow, it’s still endearing, but with this person, it was so awful that I was genuinely repulsed from the bottom of my heart.
　This is seriously intense...

"I guess this is some kind of Devil trying to become another Devil’s servant."
"Usato, I’m enough as your familiar, right?"

　For now, I had no intention of adding any more familiars, so I decided to turn her down. I could also feel some strange pressure coming from Nea.
　More than anything, I absolutely did not want to be called someone’s master.
　I had no choice but to look for some other condition... wait,

"...Hn?"

　I feel like I just saw something by the window.
　Following the shadow I caught at the edge of my vision, I saw El-san and Nono-san peeking in at us from outside the window, their eyes wide with astonishment.
　The two of them looked as though they had just seen something they really shouldn’t have, and as soon as they moved away from the window, they hurried off at full speed.

"Ara, it seems we’ve been seen."
"...Nea, isn’t this bad?"
"Yes, this is not good."

　...

"Oi, Vina."
"! Yes!!"

　I called her name in the same menacing voice Rose used, and she gave me a very enthusiastic response.
　Without making eye contact with her at all, I pointed toward the exit.

"Go clear up the misunderstanding right now. Otherwise, starting next training session, I’m going to———"
"...gulp"
"let you do absolutely nothing."
"...Eh?"

　Next, I put on the most cheerful smile I could manage and turned it toward Vina-san.
　She looked completely dumbfounded, but I figured there was no need to hold back.

"You can spend the rest of your time just watching the training sessions by yourself."
"Ah, eh... what about my condition..."
"I said ‘right now,’ didn’t I? Did you not hear me?"
"~~! I-I’ll go right away!!!"

　Vina-san headed outside with astonishing obedience and speed.
　After seeing her off, I sat back down in my chair, feeling an intense exhaustion that hadn’t been there until just a moment ago.

"...All right, it seems we can treat Vina-san like that. I’ll go report this to the Demon King tomorrow."
"I can already imagine the Demon King having a good laugh over this."
"Maybe you two Devils were surprisingly compatible after all...?"

　Who are you calling a Devil?
　Somehow, I felt more exhausted today than I had all day.
　I’m just going to go to bed early tonight.

——— read on seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———

Author's Notes:
The Demon King Laughing Hysterically Incident, once again.
Usato actually seems to have a pretty good idea of how to handle Vina.

As for System Degradation in Healing Magic, it now reduces magic power consumption and strengthens self-recovery.
Basically, it’s like an already ridiculously tenacious Healing Mage has become even more tenacious. (Stares blankly).