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Volume 11 Chapter 314

The Shikigami’s Mistake

　

「Jashin-sama, did you call？」

「Yes. Bring me some curses from the bookshelf」

「Curses？　Umm, why might you need those？」

「Because I’m concerned about it」

　The evil god was gazing at a glowing magic circle that a shikigami had brought over to the temple the other day.

「Oh, you weren’t able to erase it after all」

　That magic circle written in divine writing couldn’t be dissolved, even with the evil god’s power.

「Honestly……What in the world have you brought here, you bastard」

「A souvenir！」

「I don’t need a troublesome souvenir like that!!　And to have it set here of all places……」

　Normally, the evil god was sitting in the chair at the back of the temple, absorbing the negative energy streaming in from the human world.

　In the center of the room where that chair was, there was now a magic circle that had been set, so every time the evil god sat down, he would see the magic circle.

　It was such an eyesore.

「What would you have done if that was a magic circle made to let the hero in？　I’d get attacked, obviously！　So in case anything like that happens, we need to cast a curse!!」

「B-But there isn’t even a hero now, right？」

「If there is no hero, then would there be such a magic that I cannot dissolve？　Even if it’s not the hero, this is clearly the work of someone from another world」

　The gods in this world would never attack the evil god.

　That was because those were the rules set by the creator god.

　The only people who could possibly have power to beat the evil god would be those who get transported or reincarnated from another world.

「Incidentally, what is happening with demon king Shitori？」

　Before sleeping, the evil god had told Shitori『Wait a bit longer before rampaging as demon lord』.

　By casting a curse on an otherworlder and having them reincarnate, the energy in the divine realm had been greatly lost, and even if Shitori rampaged, the creator god shouldn’t be able to summon an otherworlder as a hero.

　There’s no need to panic.

　The evil god wanted to see the world be painted in fear with his own eyes.

　That’s why he was stopping Shitori.

　Also, if Shitori doesn’t rampage in the human world, the creator god won’t try to summon a hero, and they won’t notice that the energy needed to summon heroes is nearly depleted.

「Demon lord, huh？　U-Umm, well……」

　For some reason, the shikigami faltered.

「You’re not going to tell me they were defeated, right？」

　Shitori was a higher-ranking lord among all the demons under the evil god’s rule. The evil god had given her protection and made her demon lord.

　Without the hero here, there was no one who could defeat her.

「Well, we……lost sight of her」

「──Hah？」

　The evil god was taken aback at the shikigami’s words.

「We don’t actually know where demon lord Shitori is at the moment」

「W-What is the meaning of this!?」

「There are no demons in the demon world or the human world who possess your protection」

「W-What？」

「There is another thing I need to tell you」

「……What now？」

「This isn’t just in regards to demon lord Shitori; many demons in the top hierarchy under your command, starting with Bael, cannot be contacted」

「Hah？」

「Yes, after all there weren’t any proper demons who bothered to make regular contact. In fact, the majority of demons wouldn’t even combine forces with one another unless you give the order. It’s difficult to tell when any of them might suddenly be purified」

「H-Hold up. Then how many demons are under my command now？」

「From what I checked earlier, there were only fifteen of them that we were able to reach」

「Fifteen!?　72 demons in all, and now only fifteen remain!?」　

　While the evil god was sleeping, a certain household had hunted demons all over the place, which was why the number of demons under the evil god’s control had drastically diminished.

「Why!?　How could this happen!?!?」

「I am not sure why」

「Y-You say you aren’t sure？　W-W, W, What in the world were you doing while I was sleeping!?」

「I was traveling around the human world. Please have a look at this！」

　The shikigami showed her memo pad to the evil god.

「……Well, well. This is quite detailed」

　In the shikigami’s memo pad was written what kinds of developments the human countries were going through, what kinds of foods there were, were these foods tasty or not. Essentially, all the information pertinent to choosing which country to destroy next was recorded.

「I see. So the reason for you not checking on the demon lord and the other demons’ whereabouts is because you were working on this memo？」

「Yes！」

「And once you left me as I slept, you went on a trip, so my temple is currently in a state of ruin, yes？」

「That’s right！」

　There was dust that had stacked up near the evil god’s chair, and there were nests built by death spiders all around the temple.

「……」

「……Teehee」

「Yoooooouuuuuu IDIOOOOOOOOT！！」

　The evil god let out enough anger to rustle the dirt around the perimeters of the temple.

　The shikigami, receiving the full brunt of the god’s wrath──

　Made a poof sound as she turned into a scrap of paper.

「Wha-!?」

　The shikigami’s main body was not here.

「D-Don’t tell me……she ran away!?」

　Indeed, she had.

　Not knowing where the demon lord was.

　Not noticing the disappearance of many demons.

　Bringing back the strange magic circle.

　Not cleaning the temple in the slightest.

　The shikigami knew that the evil god would get angry.

　So she had run away.

　As to where she had run off to──

　──＊＊＊──

「Hey, Haruto. We only had five slime girls here, right？」

　Ryushin, who had been looking at the slime girls practicing dance in the mansion’s courtyard, called out to Haruto as he passed by.

「Yeah. Or at least that’s how it was until recently, so now there’s an extra one」

　There was a girl with bangs reaching down under her eyes, and she was taking instruction from the five slime girls on how to dance.

　In running from the evil god, she had chosen the safest refuge possible.