Otherworld Company Chapter 147: Thoughts Mix To Create Something New

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Another Side

~3^rd Person Perspective~

　There is a being watching Jiro and the other testers, as well as the Demon King Army running around frantically preparing for the photo shoot.

　This is a virtual training facility, and two shadows are looking down at them in the room that controls the space.

　The surrounding Demon King Army members kept a certain distance from the two and are engaged in work.

　Needless to say, it is the Demon King and his close aide Evia.

　The scene of the film shoot beyond their gazes was a lively scene, but the two did not show any particular emotion toward it.

　They were not dissatisfied or satisfied, but simply watched the scene without any positive or negative thoughts.

“Are you sure everything is going as planned?” (Demon King)

“Yes, we have sent scouts to collect testers not only in Japan, but also outside Japan and overseas by giving them magical tools, and we have succeeded in securing a large number of human resources with magic aptitude exceeding 6.” (Evia)

“Yeah, as expected of the world of heroes. There are many excellent human resources. Thanks to the progress of civilization, this world has more solid borders than our world. Thanks to that, there are various procedures to send scouts. However, there is no magic power in this world. There are plenty of ways to overcome that. So, I guess we can expect better results next year than we did this year, right?” (Demon King)

　The two of them were talking about something that had nothing to do with the current shooting site, not the present as seen from the field of vision, but the future with this present as a foothold.

　The Demon King’s ears are fully informed of the current situation of the testers.

　Naturally, he is also aware of the low efficiency of the testers, with the exception of a few, in their dungeon tests.

　The strong eat the weak.

　The Demon King, who believes in this, rewards those who produce results with rewards, but for the rest of them, he only thinks about taking advantage of them.

　Testers who could be candidates for heroes are no exception.

　And those who are being used are unaware of it.

　The Demon King’s favored are those who are useful.

　And it is not only dungeon testers who fall within that value system.

　The demon king’s eyes, decorated with a faint smile, and even Evia, who is supposed to be looking ahead with him, is nothing more than a cog in the wheel to accomplish one thing for him.

　The only difference is whether it is big or small, whether it turns well or not.

　Even so, he is recognized by others as a top performer because he has continued to demonstrate his talent and results.

　People are fascinated by his strength, admire him, and follow him.

　This trend has been established in the current Demon King’s Army.

　There are certainly those who are aware of this.

“It will definitely be an improvement over the current situation.” (Evia)

“I see. Well, if you can make up for the delay, that’s fine.” (Demon King)

　Without changing her expression, Evia spun the words she had prepared with an attitude that was used to the Demon King’s questions.

　From her point of view, the Demon King is like the sun that attracts people.

　It is strange to compare the Demon King, the head of the Demon King Army whose main deity is the Moon God, to the sun, but there is no other suitable analogy.

　His bright charisma illuminates and warms everyone.

　And it can also wither and blind everyone.

　Just as there is darkness when there is light, there is harm when there is good.

　Even the sun is not all-powerful.

　Just because there are many benefits does not mean there are no disadvantages.

　The Demon King brings together and leads more beings than anyone else, but he cannot lead them all.

　Just because he has larger hands to reach does not mean he does not miss anything.

　However, even if he is aware of this, he does not speak of it because he feels that it is okay to do so.

　Even if the Demon King’s methods seem cold-hearted, there are those who have been saved by them.

　There are those who saw hope.

　There are those who admire him.

　What overflows in the hands of such a Demon King, we can scoop up.

　Those who have looked into the depths of the Demon King’s hands say, “We can support him.”

“Fufu, I wish someone like him would come along.” (Evia)

“Someone like him would be rare.” (Demon King)

　It is rare for such a being to be interested in one person, even from Evia’s point of view.

　In a sense, it is an exception.

　The tester wields a huge sword and somehow makes one see a demon.

　Even though he is clad in heavy armor, his body flies in the air like a feather, and he uses rocky terrain and monster heads as footholds to deliver a swing that is sharper and heavier than it looks, but then he begins to stand around flamboyantly, drawing the attention of the enemy to himself.

　He is the only one among the testers who are capable of such a maneuver, and he is able to behave in such a way because he is the most adapted to this environment among the testers.

　The demon king nodded his head in satisfaction.

“I know, but let’s hope for the best. After all, this world is the birthplace of the hero. I’m counting on you to keep up the good work.” (Demon King)

“As you wish.” (Evia)

　He slowly turned his gaze away from the scene and vanished like a flash of fire, as if to show that he had seen what he needed to see.

　Even Evia, who was good at magic, could not give anything other than words of admiration.

　Evia silently saw him off.

　The Demon King is the hope of the Demon King Army.

　He is the king who will unify the continent and unite the world, which has been the long-cherished dream of the Demon King Army since the time the continent was divided long ago.

　In order to see the spectacle spread out below him, in order to proceed with the work that he thought was necessary.

“…can he understand the scenery he’s looking at?” (Evia)

　And even while peering into the depths of the Demon King, everyone has the same worries because they can’t see the same point of view.

　Precisely because she has such worries, Evia speaks out to the people who are favored by the Demon King.

　The words are tinged with melancholy, which is unusual for Evia.

　The man to whom these words are directed is unheard by anyone and blended into the air.

　A human wielding a huge black iron sword that slaughters the summoned soul-type monsters.

　A man who has shown eye-opening growth in less than a year since joining the company.

　He is the only exception who leads his colleagues and is showing results.

　He is also making friends within the Demon King Army.

　Evia dreams that such a man could close the back of the pack, far behind her gaze.

　Unlike her, who is only following from behind.

“…don’t think of anything strange.” (Evia)

　The thought crossed her mind, but it was quickly dispelled with a wry smile, and the thought disappeared in an instant.

　The sun is lonely because of its existence, and she denies the emotional words that come out, saying that there is no way a human being can stand in line with such an existence.

　Even mighty ogres with great power fell under him.

　Even the undying who surpassed the limits of life fell under him.

　Even forest people, who have received the blessings of the earth, fell under him.

　Even the giants who can make all things have fallen under him.

　Insects that create life and manipulate that life at will fell under him.

　Even machine men, the embodiment of ancient power, fell under him.

　Even the dragon, the supreme ruler of the heavens, standing at the summit of life, fell under him.

　Isn’t it foolish to think that an existence that lacks the brilliance, grandeur, or anything else compared to the talents of such beings could even remotely compare to the Demon King?

　In fact, it would be a question of whether there is any need for an existence that can compare to the Demon King.

“Nonsense.” (Evia)

　She tries to dismiss that even thinking about it as a waste of time, but she can’t seem to shake off the thoughts in the corner of her head asking if that’s really the case.

　The words she uttered were almost self-suggestive, but she could not get the piece of dreaming away from her thoughts.

　The image of Jiro cutting off the head of the giant snake, a basilisk, and carrying its huge sword on his shoulder, comes into Evia’s unusually troubled gaze.

　His human companions gather with him in the wake of his defeat of the basilisk, followed slowly by a dark elf woman and the fallen angel, a recent newcomer to the scene, approached.

　The scene, for a moment, overlaps with her past memory.

　The comrades who gathered there when the Demon King was not yet the Demon King.

　Among them, he was the only one who lined up with the man who was not the Demon King.

“Hmm.” (Evia)

　Without trying to remember the end of the memory.

　She cuts off her thoughts.

　Evia returns to her work, leaving behind the shadows of the “two” that remained in the scene.

　Another Side End

T/N: Jiro is from the line of heroes. So, of course, he has the potential to stand side by side with the Demon King.

~Jiro’s Perspective~

“…” (Jiro)

　I had a feeling that someone was watching me.

　The feeling that had been ignored for a long time because there was no malicious intent ended, and a sigh of relief escaped me.

　Thanks to his discerning gaze, Kaidou walked up to me as I turned my shoulders to loosen my nervous body.

“Senior! What’s the matter with you if you fight like you normally do? I was almost petrified! If it weren’t for Minami’s support, I wonder what would have happened by now!” (Kaido)

“There would have been one stone statue.” (Jiro)

“You even say that so casually!” (Kaido)

“That’s all right. I was confident we could handle it.” (Jiro)

　Kaido’s words were the first thing that came to my ears, and I simply brushed it off and recalled the shooting situation.

　The shooting went smoothly.

　First, we kicked out the small fry, and then we took down the big one, the basilisk.

　Since the images were mainly taken of the vanguard, the power of the battle would have been enough to rival anything in Hollywood.

　In the midst of such a battle, Kaido, who tried to stand out in vain, went into the field of view of the opponent who we had told him to be careful of, so he ended up receiving the effect.

“Senior Kaido, I told you, didn’t I? Thanks to that, I had to run 50 meters, that I did.” (Minami)

　Thanks to that, Minami was in a bad mood because he wasted her effort at the last minute, and he was not happy because I arrived on time on the spur of the moment.

　If push comes to shove, let’s not talk about what I could have done by kicking the basilisk in the face.

　It’s good medicine for Kaido who’s been getting a little too much lately.

　Kaido is at a loss for words at Minami’s sermon.

“As expected, you made a scene from the blooper reel.” (Karen)

“That’s right, but Ms. Karen also made a few mistakes.” (Amelia)

　Kitamiya looked at Kaidou with a surprised expression after being scolded by a younger woman, Amelia agrees, but then, perhaps with a hint of mischievousness, she grins a little and covers her crescent-shaped mouth with one hand as she talks about what happened during the photo shoot earlier.

“!? Oh, that’s not my mistake!” (Karen)

(Really? No matter, even if it was caused by the monster’s surprise attack, the failed magic due to a mistake in chanting, but still Jiro comes in to support you.) (Mike)

“Ah! I was annoyed! Amy, you were shot too, are you alright?” (Karen)

　Taking advantage of that, Mike, who became Amelia’s guardian spirit, talked to Kitamiya in a teasing manner, and she forcefully changed the topic when she felt that the flow of the story was not going to be in her favor.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ll have it checked later.” (Amy)

“I’m a girl, I’m not going to put it off! Come over here and treat Amy for me.” (Karen)

“Okay. Ms. Amelia, please let me have a look.” (Masaru)

“Okay.” (Amy)

　The conversation gradually became more and more noisy around me.

　One word of conversation would trigger the conversation and it would spread.

　That’s our party.

“Thank you for your hard work, Jiro.” (Suela)

“Master, thank you for your hard work. There are wet towels here. You can use them.” (Himiku)

“Thank you. *Sigh* That feels so good.” (Jiro)

“Master, you sound like an old man.” (Himiku)

“Ugh, I’m aware.” (Jiro)

　The two who had been observing until the end of the day also came closer.

　Matching Suela’s walking speed, Himiku also floats closer and holds out a wet towel in her hand to me.

　I take it, wipe my face, and a feeling of freshness covers my entire face.

　I guess that means I have sweated a lot.

　Although I felt I still had enough energy to move physically, I still felt discomfort.

　I was honestly grateful for this kind of attention to detail.

“Is this the end of your filming?” (Suela)

“We’ll have a meeting later to discuss editing the video, so there’s still some work to be done, but this is the end of the shooting itself. Is there anything else?” (Jiro)

“Yes, I received a letter from my grandfather, and I originally came here to deliver it, but I thought it might bother you if I gave it to you before the shoot, so I waited.” (Suela)

“When you say grandfather, you mean Mr. Muir? A letter from him?” (Jiro)

“Yeah, it’s probably the contract with a spirit.” (Suela)

　Suela presents the letter while saying this.

　I took off my gauntlets and entrusted them to Himiku, and I quickly received them and checked their contents.

“…” (Jiro)

“What did my grandfather say?” (Suela)

“He says that the preparations for the contract are not going as well as he had hoped. Even if it fails, there are still many people who are against me, a human being, performing the ritual of contracting a high-rank spirit, he said.” (Jiro)

　The contents of the letter, which began with an apology, were written in such a way that one could sense Mr. Muir’s anger, and it talked about postponing the contract with the spirits.

　In the closing paragraph of the letter, he says that he would have liked to apologize in person, but he decided to use the letter to lay the groundwork for proceeding with the conversation as much as possible.

“The race barrier is so big, isn’t it.” (Jiro)

“When Jiro says it, it sounds ironic.”  (Suela)

“Really?” (Jiro)

“Yes, dark elf, vampire, and a fallen angel, with so many different races around you, it’s a bit strange for Jiro to be concerned about the race barrier.” (Suela)

“It’s true when you say that.” (Jiro)

“My master is a great man!” (Himiku)

“Why are you so confident?” (Jiro)

　It is the time of year when things are packed at the end of the year, and although it is helpful in terms of schedule to have one less event, I can’t help but complain that it has taken a form that leaves me slightly worried about whether or not it will affect me later on.

　I have a feeling that something is going to happen as we get closer to the end of the year.

“I hope it doesn’t affect me later.” (Jiro)

　I let the words spill out of my mouth in a way no one would hear them, while I was acting as if nothing was wrong.

Note for the Day

Sometimes the calm before the storm and the workload coincide.