I Am Not a Robot. Beep-bop

Chapter 73: Let’s Go Find a New Friend 6

It had already been four days since we entered the Demon Realm.

At first, we planned to establish ourselves in the Demon Realm and eliminate Mega Corp employees who tried to infiltrate.

Since the Demon Realm was surrounded by a barrier, no one outside would notice even if someone died here.

However, Earnest Rail showed no reaction.

Of course, Earnest Rail had suffered a power loss with 50 of his puppets being lost.

Yet, if the puppets had disappeared, Mega Corp should have dispatched patrols or combat units even more aggressively.

Thanks to Theresa, I had acquired the authority of an executive director, allowing me to extract various information from the puppets.

I learned that the puppets were essentially masterpieces by Earnest Rail, expensive equipment that shouldn’t be lost.

Losing 50 of these without leaving a trace would surely have reached the headquarters by now.

If luck was not on our side, it wouldn’t be strange if high-ranking employees or special forces dispatched directly from the headquarters appeared.

However, the lack of news for three days made it all the more puzzling.

Even if I questioned it, there was nothing to solve or change, so inadvertently, the puppets, the undead girls, and I found ourselves with nothing to do but idly pass the time.

“In this situation, I’ll guide you to a place to rest for now.”

Hamar guided me, the undead girls, and the puppets to an uninhabited baron’s annex.

The annex was quite spacious.

It was big enough for me, the puppets, and the undead girls to stay with plenty of room to spare.

Originally, this annex symbolized the wealth of the baron’s domain, but before our arrival, it seemed no one had managed it. The smell of dust and mold was everywhere.

The city within Sabrina’s barony was large enough to be considered a metropolis, with many buildings, but due to conflicts with Mega Corp, many casualties had left numerous vacant houses scattered throughout.

The annex was one of those abandoned properties.

“Everyone, let’s clean up first.”

“Uwaaah…”

“Hing…”

“Cleaning!”

“Squishy!”

In truth, cleaning wasn’t much of a task.

We flung open the windows and doors, and 20 undead girls lined up in a single file to simultaneously cast wind magic.

Though they looked young, these girls had infinite regenerative power and were the little guild leaders of Saya.

Perhaps due to their long-standing mastery of mana cultivation techniques, their magic was of considerable skill.

The result was a massive whirlwind that swept away the dust and mold from the house in one go.

Perhaps because of the mana-rich atmosphere of the Demon Realm, the girls’ magic felt stronger than when we were in Saya’s guild.

‘At this rate, even I could manage some simple magic.’

Clenching my fist, I felt the mana in the air respond to my will and gather.

It had been a long time since I felt this sensation.

For a fleeting moment, a fragment of omnipotent perception pierced my consciousness.

A feeling of buoyancy, as mana seeped into the cracks of my metallic body.

Though my body was now entirely different from when I was the Demon King, this brief contact with mana seemed to reveal traces of my former self.

If I gathered more magical power, I could probably perform magic through multi-casting with ease, but mana exceeding my internal energy capacity couldn’t be retained.

If I carelessly cast too much magic, I might end up disgracefully discharged like when I first awakened.

‘Still, compared to back then, my mana circulation capacity and internal energy terminals have definitely improved.’

While quad-casting might be out of reach, it seemed possible to focus and use one or two simple spells in urgent situations.

With a fully charged auxiliary battery in my inventory, I could recharge energy like using a potion if necessary.

“The high ruins!”

“This is my castle now!”

“Kyahaha!”

“Grr! Crumble, ruinous castle!”

“Kyahhh! My castle!”

The undead girls, perched atop the remnants of the high castle, seemed to be having fun.

It wasn’t strange that they found the old castle ruins, which they had only seen in fairy tales or books, fascinating.

The puppets either waited in the rooms for my orders or trailed behind me, three of them sticking close.

Watching the children play, I carelessly perched on the rooftop of the annex.

The place was truly desolate.

There was a familiar, almost homecoming-like feeling to it.

Yet it wasn’t the flourishing Demon Realm of the past but a place on the brink of ruin.

“When did the Demon Realm end up like this?”

The demons of my era as the Demon King weren’t like this.

Even an ordinary civilian demon, not a combatant, was feared and revered by humans.

In the human world, there were even religions that worshipped demons and the Demon King as gods.

Of course, they were shunned as heretical or cultist, though.

The Barony of Sabrina.

According to Theresa, this place was once an expansive granary region for demons.

I barely remembered it, but listening to Theresa’s words, I could recall the past demon granary.

Demons primarily sustained themselves through mana and demonic energy, but they could also replenish themselves through food, much like humans.

Having human memories and habits, my tendencies became even stronger after becoming the Demon King.

Everywhere, life bathed in the light of the sun and moon grew, and the fertile land, full of vitality and pure mana, formed what was once the Barony of Sabrina.

But now, compared to before, it was practically in ruins.

The fertile lands and civilization, once on the level of a metropolis, had collapsed and vanished.

Now, it was at a stage where the process of a crumbling civilization could be seen.

【Humans have achieved endless progress, but with your disappearance, demons stagnated. Though calamities and Gates took countless lives, for humans, they became opportunities for development and awakening.】

“So now Mega Corp is trying to drive out the demons and claim the land?”

【The Demon Realm doesn’t have ‘calamities’ and is one of the few lands outside the Ark where humans can live.】

【Moreover, it’s rich in mana and vitality.】

【It’s not unthinkable that Mega Corp might aim to build a kingdom here, avoiding the Ark’s leadership.】

“Back in my time as the Demon King, such a thing would have been unimaginable….”

The feeling is truly strange.

While demons once invaded human lands, now the opposite is happening, with humans invading demon lands.

And not even the full force of the Ark—just one among many Mega Corps.

It’s undeniable that demons of the past were arrogant and overbearing, but does that mean we must decline as a race to atone for our karma?

How strange.

Was it a decision I made during my time as the Demon King?

Did I set things up so that demons would decline and be devoured by humans if I disappeared?

That doesn’t make sense… does it?

Fundamentally, that’s not my style.

Whatever I’ve done, in this life or the previous, I’ve always pursued romance and ideals…

And I led the entire race to destruction? Me?

【It’s absolutely not your fault.】

Theresa whispered to me as if answering my doubts.

“Theresa, you talk as though you know me well from my time as the Demon King.”

【I can’t help but know.】

“If I asked why, would you tell me?”

【I’m sorry, not yet.】

Although Theresa is my auxiliary personality, there are times when she doesn’t feel like a mere auxiliary.

Well, it’s fine.

Judging by her saying “not yet,” she’ll tell me someday.

“Alice, are you there?”

At that moment, Hamar knocked on the annex door.

I, who was perched on the rooftop, leaned forward and fell right next to Hamar.

-Thud!

The weight of a tin-can android wasn’t light, so landing softly wasn’t an option.

“Hello.”

-Thud! Thud! Thud!

The puppets trailing behind me also leaped from the rooftop, landing in a manner resembling a hero landing.

Wow, somehow, the visual turned out epic.

The sight of multiple girls with considerable mass doing hero landings was something. Surely, Hamar would be impressed.

“…….”

However, Hamar’s expression wasn’t great, likely recalling how the puppets had slaughtered demons.

“Ahem, what’s the matter?”

“I found out where Sabrina is.”

“Really?”

Sabrina.

The owner of this barony.

In the era when the Demon King ruled this land, the concept of nobility held a meaning entirely different from human standards.

They governed the lands and worlds inhabited by demons, purifying raw vitality and tainted mana to create an ideal environment for demons to live.

Demons transforming the world into their domain for survival might seem like an invasion to humans.

However, with the calamities and Gates, demons declined to the point of walking the path of extinction.

The death of the Demon King, who purified vitality and mana, and the dwindling number of nobles naturally led to the reduction of demon territory.

Mana lost its purity, and vitality became tainted and polluted with distortions and impurities from the Gates.

Some call it retribution.

Demons were beings fundamentally reliant on taking and exploiting human lands and lives for survival.

Their existence was flawed from the start, and now the day of their erasure draws near.

Yet even flawed and twisted beings naturally desire to live.

Despite their decline,

despite losing the glory and power of the past, no demon wished to die.

“As expected, Sabrina is in Earnest Rail’s domain.”

“What’s her exact location? If she’s inside the satellite city of Zain, I can’t intervene.”

Outside the city, it didn’t matter if we killed Mega Corp employees, but it was a different story inside Zain.

Especially since we absolutely couldn’t let it be known that the Saya Guild was causing disruptions.

“Don’t worry. Sabrina is not in Zain but at a rear supply base housing demons.”

“Rear?”

I hadn’t heard anything about that.

I thought Zain supplied the northern front line directly via a straight route.

In reality, Earnest Rail transported materials directly to the northern front through underground roads without intermediate supply bases.

Though, of course, we intercepted—or rather, engaged in marine-style civilian support in the middle.

“It’s called a rear supply base, but it’s really a demon detention center. From a human perspective, they don’t have to fight us there, and the center isn’t officially an important base, so it’s gone unnoticed until now.”

“Detention center?”

A question arose in my mind.

‘Why would a corporation bother to set up something like a detention center and keep demons alive?’

From Earnest Rail’s perspective, demons could simply be killed or driven out.

The existence of a detention center itself seemed puzzling.

“To be honest, it’s a suspicious situation. Why would a human corporation bother taking prisoners? Don’t you think so too, Alice?”

It seemed Hamar had similar thoughts.

“I think Sabrina might have defected.”

“What?”

Defection?

I’d seen plenty of cases where humans defected to demons, but never the reverse.

Though demons and humans were intelligent beings of similar form, demons were far less inclined to betray their species or speak falsehoods.

“How would you know that?”

“I used to be one of the demons managing this land alongside Sabrina. I was something like a chief steward and secretary. I’ve supported her since she couldn’t sleep alone.”

Hamar turned his head and silently looked at the main house of the barony estate.

“We managed, governed, and administered this land from there. But she often expressed very skeptical opinions about this land and the demons.”

“Skeptical how?”

“She asked me whether there was a need to protect this land.”

That was unexpected.

The nobles of the demons were born with the duty of managing their territories and ensuring the survival of their people.

Rejecting that duty meant Sabrina’s sense of self was unusually strong, and she had grown and decided on her own.

“Born a baroness, yet she viewed this land, imbued with the souls and lives of her ancestors and kin, with skepticism. I couldn’t understand it. Then, in the heat of battle with Mega Corp, Sabrina suddenly disappeared.”

The timing was certainly suspicious.

If Sabrina had been present, Mega Corp wouldn’t have been able to advance so easily into demon territory.

Even with the puppets, the presence of a noble determined the fate of demon lands.

A noble’s presence enabled demons to unleash mid-to-high-level magic recklessly and restored distorted mana and vitality.

But with Sabrina missing at such a crucial time, it was no wonder the demons were forced into a defensive stance.

“Now that I think about it, it’s clear. Sabrina betrayed her kin and this land.”

“For what reason?”

“She must have been promised a good position in Mega Corp.”

It was truly strange.

A demon committing betrayal.

‘No, considering the times, it’s possible Sabrina aligned herself with humans over a dying race like ours.’

Though I was the Demon King, I couldn’t discern the individual tendencies of every demon.

And Sabrina’s defection wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

Of course, whether or not I could understand it, if she truly betrayed and defected from her race, she would have to be prepared to face judgment.

“Alice, when you meet Sabrina, kill her without fail.”

“What about you?”

“We’ll draw Mega Corp’s attention. By crossing the forest and the front line while engaging in guerrilla warfare, they won’t have the resources to worry about the rear detention center.”

It was a plausible plan.

A basic feint operation. Mega Corp greatly underestimated demons, and this was the weakest point in their defenses after I had plundered—or rather, engaged in marine-style civilian support—using the puppets and their supplies.

At this timing, if the demons advanced, Mega Corp’s front line would be thrown into chaos, while I, with the goal of causing disruption, would lead the girls and puppets to attack the detention center.

“And never believe a word Sabrina says. She’ll use every deceitful tongue to manipulate and tempt you.”

“Got it, don’t worry.”

Now I could clearly see who the enemy was.