The Devil leader of the gang yesterday—whose name I just remembered after looking above his head with my [Size Up], Klash—was in about as much of a pissed off mood as he was yesterday. It didn't look like he got into another fight with Kisaki based on the lack of bruises on his body. With that same Champion not here, there wasn't anything keeping this guy from picking a fight with me right away.

"I thought I told you that you don't belong in this territory! Why are you still here?!" Klash yelled.

I shrugged, "I'm an adventurer who's here for an important quest. Being an adventurer yourself, surely you could understand that much?" 

Klash jolted in surprise, "H-How did you?!"

When I checked more of his status, I saw that he has an [Adventurer, Red] title, meaning he's the same rank as Ume. That's what's on the record, anway, it doesn't accurately display how strong they really are. Going by stats alone, Ume could take this guy down with little issues. Incidentally, the other Devil named Zat is the only other red-ranked adventurer with slightly less stats than Klash. The Arch Imps were either blue or green-ranked.

"W-Whatever!" Klash rebutted, "Adventurer or not, this is no place for Humans like you to be in! If those Demons are with you, they're no better, either!"

Something about the last thing he said ticked me off, but I kept my cool, "And what makes Demons who associate with Humans so bad?"

"They're weak!" Klash exclaimed, "Any Demons who'd rather get along with Humans are no better than them in strength! The weak are weak because they have to join together to make up for their lack of power! Only the strong who can look after themselves are worthy to walk in this territory!"

"You say that while you have a bunch of other Demons backing you up, yet couldn't take out Kisaki while she was on her own?" I asked with a raised brow.

"We follow the strong for our own reasons," Zat answered, "But when it comes down to it, if we don't want to get beaten up or killed, it's better we do whatever the strong says."

"Is that how it is?" I asked before turning to Ren, "Ren, you're not with me out of fear of me possibly beating you up, are you? Then again, considering what you've seen of me so far, I guess it'd be expected that you'd be intimidated by me."

"Of course not!" Ren refuted strongly while shaking her head, then stepped up front to stare down at the gang with determined eyes, "My master's intimidating, yes, but he's also kind! This man who killed off at least a hundred Human raiders who attacked Dondegarm, as well as subjugating countless strong monsters, had done it to save many Demons in that city, even though he's of a different kin! I was also saved as well as gotten stronger by this Human's kindness, both of which I sometimes feel I don't deserve!"

Ren looked down to her clenched fists, "When I see the scars on his body, I can see that he has had a history of countless hardships, some of them likely out of betrayal by those he thought he could trust! I can't imagine what scars he may have in his heart from those types of hardships! Despite that, he still goes out of his way to help others, and even forgives those who've realized the mistakes they've made towards him! These by themselves are constantly putting him in danger in multiple ways, yet he still takes them on his own! 

"It's because of people like my master that I, who is also weak, can still live another day! It's the people like my master who we should follow and have faith in, not those who use their power to oppress the weak! It's people like my master who embody what true strength is! If that doesn't count as strength, then we all might as well be dead!" Ren exclaimed boldly.

I was in shock. I initially brought up the question so casually so Ren could put down Zat's statement in the same manner. She instead took it three times further and made a speech out of it. What's more, none of what she said was a lie, according to my [Intuition]. I was getting used to her admiration and loyalty, but I didn't think she saw that much from me through the short time we spent together. Not only that, but she feels she doesn't deserve my kindness? I wondered what was making her think like that. 

Also, I didn't really see myself as much of a 'forgiving' person as Ren was making me out to be. What could even give her that idea? Was it how I brushed off the flower pot incident earlier? No, that's too mundane. I'll have to ask her about it later.

"It's because of my master's kindness that I swore my life to him!" Ren continued her speech while unsheathing her daggers and getting into a fighting stance, "He's too good to be killed off from narrow-minded brutes like yourselves! All it takes is one finger on my master's body, and I swear I will end your life in a flash!"

"Is that a challenge for a fight, little puppy?" Klash asked as he and his gang got into battle formation, taking out various weapons of knives, clubs, and a few wands to up the power of spells.

"I think that's enough, Ren," I said while coming up to her side and patted her head, "There are some things about what you said that I want to ask, but that can come later. Thanks for speaking up for me like that."

"Of course!" Ren exclaimed while her tail wagged in excitement.

I looked back to the gang, "Look, guys, it's been a hectic day for us and we still have much to do to prepare for our upcoming quest. I'd rather not waste time on meaningless fights. If you leave us alone and not bother us while we do our adventuring business, we won't bother you guys and whatever business you're doing. Doesn't that sound good to you guys?"

"Hell no!" Klash exclaimed while pointing at me with his knife, "You don't seem to know your place in our territory and that leather-covered bitch isn't here to stop us, so we're not gonna let you go until we beat that fact into you to the point of near death!"

I sighed in defeat, Guess there's no getting out of this one, either, not like that's anything new.

This procedure was something ingrained into me through my mom's and aunts' training way back in the day. If someone’s picking me for a fight, no matter how I was feeling, I'd first ask if we could drop it. If they don't let up, then it's time to put up the dukes. Of course, the circumstances change if they suddenly attack without warning. Then I'd fight back out of self-defense. Now that I know these fights are due to my curse, should I even bother with that process if I'm going to get dragged into it either way?

"Ren, you step back and let me take this one," I said to her.

"What?! But Master!" Ren balked.

I stopped her and moved into her ear to whisper, "We can't risk you revealing your upgraded strength just yet. Someone could be watching. I need you to save it until we get to the dungeon, where you'll play as a wild card for anyone who's coming after us."

Ren growled in frustration, "I understand, but still …"

"I swear it won't take long, and when we get back, I can give you many head pats and other pets in other places. Okay?"

"... Yes, Master," Ren answered hesitantly before sheathing her daggers.

"You're a good girl, Ren, thanks," I said while rustling her hair before stepping towards the gang, unsheathing my tanto.

<How are we doing this, Jinma?> Nyra asked in my mind. It looked like she put away her illusion to get ready for a fight.

<I'm not feeling good taking a life today,> I said, <I'm thinking we incapacitate them, cut their legs and arms off, then cauterize the wounds with [Fire Magic] before lots of blood is spilled. Oh, I shouldn't forget the wings, too. We'll then take their weapons to sell later before we bounce back to the inn with [Portal].>

<I feel like that is worse than death, but I love the cruelty factor!>

<They just picked a bad day to mess with me. I'm actually holding myself back from going overboard, or they'd be much worse off,> I said.

<After what you've been through today, I don't blame you!> Nyra exclaimed.

"Thanks for waiting, gentlemen," I said to the gang before getting into a fighting stance with the tanto.

Klash scoffed, "What, you gonna take us all on your own?"

"I don't know what Kisaki has done to you guys, but don't worry. With me as your opponent, you're not gonna walk out of here after this," I assured.

<Ha! Good one!> Nyra exclaimed.

"If this is where I think is going, it's not looking good for those guys right now," Ume said, "Though, I probably wouldn't be as merciful if I was fighting in his place."

"Master gave them a chance to back down despite their harsh words. A shame that his kindness is wasted on scum like these," Ren added.

"They should have been dead three minutes ago by my hands," Sue growled.

<DAMN! Everyone's bloodthirsty today!> Nyra exclaimed.

"Cocky, are ya?" Klash asked, "Well, you better get—"

"Klash, there you are," a low, masculine voice interrupted.

We looked towards the source and I widened my eyes. Coming out from an alleyway was a large individual covered in emerald green scales, walking on two legs with reptilian limbs similar to Ume's, and a matching head in place of a human-like one that my wife has. A large battle axe was strapped to his back and he only has a pair of worn-out trousers for clothing. His frame was large and very muscular with his exposed upper body showing the six pack on his light-yellow underbelly. To top it off, a large, reptilian tail extended from his lower back. Using my [Magic Sense] skill, he has a considerable amount of mana for one having such a physique. Unlike Ume, whose manic aura was blue, though, this guy's aura has a maroon color, signifying his origin as one of the Demon-Kin.

Is this guy … a legit Lizardman?

"K-Krigeran?! What are you doing here?!" Klash exclaimed in surprise. It seems they're acquainted. I felt as if I heard that name before.

"Your brother asked me to come find you. He has some business that needs to be discussed with you. Refusing is not an option," the Lizardman said.

"Grk! Damn you, Brother …" Klash growled.

When the Lizardman named Krigeran turned to us, his eyes widened as they were immediately set on Ume. When he shifted glances between the rest of us before locking back onto Ume, pointy teeth appeared in his big smile.

"My, what a coincidence to see a female Lizardman around these parts? The most beautiful I've seen, even," he said.

Ume hardened her gaze, "Your flattery is wasted. I am already married to Jin here." She then came up to my side and hugged my arm, trapping it in her generous bosom.

Krigeran looked at me again and his smile disappeared, replaced with a frown of disapproval before turning back to Ume, "My dear, whatever you see in that weakling, it is wasted in an ethereal beauty like you, who should be on the side of one who's truly worthy of your affections, just as my mates have toward me."

Oh hell no, he did not just flirt at my wife in front of me, but also showing off his harem?! Wait, that bulge, is he popping a boner, too?!

<Oof, I can already see the girth is hard to compete,> Nyra informed.

"I'm on a tight schedule, so I must leave for now," Krigeran continued with a look of sympathy, "We will continue this discussion at a later time. I believe it is not too late to change your mind and change sides, to the male who will truly provide the love, affection, and assets a woman needs. I promise you, after spending a night with me, this weakling will be but a distant memory."

Somewhere, I heard a snap, and my entire body tensed up.

"Until next time, my dear," Krigeran said before turning to Klash, "Let's go, your brother's waiting. The rest of you are coming with us."

The grip on my tanto tightened as my fist trembled. My vision narrowed in on the Lizardman.

"This isn't over, human scum! I'll have your head soon!" 

It sounded familiar, but I barely registered who made that threat before I watched Krigeran turn and lead the gang from behind.

That bastard … making a move on Ume? My wife? My woman?

<Are you angry?> a familiar voice that wasn't Nyra's asked in my mind.

<Is it not obvious?>

<He wants to take your precious away. Do you want him dead?> he asked.

<... Yes, I think I do.>

<It's not too late, you know? Their backs are turned and unguarded. Take that tanto and kill them before they know what hit them. Or better yet, leave the lizard for last and prolong his death. Show him who the weak one really is,> he urged, each word spoken sounding more pleasing than the last.

His suggestion sounded promising to me, <... Yes, I should make him suffer. Maybe cut off the 'assets' he's so proud of first and shove them down his throat. If I act now, I'll—>

"Jinma, look at me. No matter what, keep your eyes on me, hone your ears to my voice, and listen to me until I say otherwise."

My internal conversation was interrupted and my sight on the Lizardman was replaced with a pair of amber eyes while a pair of soft hands held my face. Add in the familiar voice with an oddly calm and authoritative tone, my thoughts were at a halt.

"... S-Sue?" I stuttered.

"Stay calm and answer the questions I'll ask you," Sue instructed, "What's the square root of 64?"

"... 8?"

"What is Noire's full name?"

"Noire … Scarletine … Krauss," I drawled.

Sue asked more questions, and with each of them asked, I was only focused on thinking of their correct answers. Slowly, my peripheral vision returned to normal, giving me a full view of Sue's face up close. My hearing also became clearer, as if I was tuning a lot of things out moments ago. I noticed the sounds of wings flapping, and if Sue was this close to me, she was likely hovering over the ground right now.

A sense of nostalgia slowly washed over me, This process … is familiar. If this is going where I think is going, what Sue will say next is ...

"... Okay, now close your eyes, take a deeeeep breath, and tighten every muscle in your body, from your feet to your head, clench your teeth, if you must,” Sue instructed, of which I followed through, “Then, slowly relax, uncurl your toes, open your hands, loosen your shoulders, and shake off the nerves in the rest of your body.”

Yes, I’m sure of it now. This is the same anger-management technique Mom taught me when she trained me. I could practically hear her voice with how close the instructions are … ah, could it be that back then, she was ...

“Take one last deep breath. Now, slowly open your eyes, and look at me once more,” Sue instructed.

I did as she said and saw her eyes that were tense before had softened as she watched me closely. There was a great level of concern and caring in both cases, though.

“Jinma, how do you feel now?” Sue asked.

“A little … exhausted, maybe? My head’s throbbing a bit, too,” I answered while rubbing my head.

“But you can think clearly, right? Not hearing anything strange anymore?” she asked as she set herself down on the ground.

“I did … hear a voice moments ago, but he’s gone quiet now ...” Wait, could that have been Creep back then?

<Can you hear me now, then?! Pick me up from the floor, already!> Nyra exclaimed, making me flinch.

“Yep, I can hear you, Nyra, but I could make do without the screaming,” I said vocally as I picked up the tanto and sheathed it. My head’s out of whack to respond to her telepathically. When I was trying to relax earlier, I must have dropped my weapon in the process. That might have been for the better.

“I assume Nyra did something unreasonable in your head, but from your response, does that mean you can hear me, too, Jin?” Ume asked as she squeezed my arm that was still in her bosom, “You didn’t register anything I said while your whole body tensed up.”

<Yeah! Same here! I sensed something was wrong and tried to warn you, but you didn’t hear anything that I said, either!> Nyra said.

“R-Right, yeah, I can hear both of you now,” I answered before turning to Sue in front of me, “Sue, just moments ago, was I …?”

Sue nodded solemnly, “You were getting close to being controlled by the [Devil Eyes], yes. What I did to you back there was a trick Devils in training use when they’re having difficulty maintaining focus with a clear mind while using the skill.”

"Um, Sue, if I may ask, is it really bad if Master used [Devil Eyes] here?" Ren asked, "He wasn't even aware of its existence back in Dondegarm, yet when it came out, he seemed okay. He even saved me. The only worrying part was when he collapsed at the end of the raid."

"I have no idea what happened back then for such a miracle to happen, but that's not usually the case, and I cannot take the chance that it will happen again," Sue said, "What's troubling with [Devil Eyes] is if it's unleashed without properly mastering it, once he kills his first victim with it activated, the bloodshed won't stop until after all his opponents are dead. No, everyone that's in his sight, bad or good, old or young, male or female, would get killed indiscriminately until there’s either no one left or he expends all his energy into FAINTED status, whichever comes first."

Thinking back, when I made my very first kill on one of White Rapture's cultists during the raid, I also had [Devil Eyes] on at that time. I could still remember the unsettling rush of elation that came from cleanly decapitating his head with Nyra's blade. Hearing her moans of ecstasy throughout that time didn’t really dampen my excitement, either. By the next day when I faced White Rapture spies in a mob, I had almost no remorse for killing them and was even getting a thrill from it, even though I didn’t have my [Devil Eyes] on. I wondered if the idea of killing people was slowly becoming more appealing to me as I took more lives.

I get it. So, Mom taught this anger-management trick knowing my [Devil Eyes] will cause me problems. Of course, there had to be something like that existing, or our family and all D-Humans would have been hunted down to extinction for how dangerous of a threat we may pose. 

"That's why, Jinma, until you have your [Devil Eyes] properly trained, you must keep your mind calm and stable, but I see that’s starting to be more difficult for you lately," Sue said to me, continuing her explanation on the [Devil Eyes]’s dangers, “It may be a good thing for me to stick by your side at all times like we arranged, then, because I might be the only one in the group who can help you calm down if you can’t do it yourself.”

“Why does it have to be you?” Ume asked with a raised brow in suspicion.

“There are times this trick won’t always work,” Sue answered, “In which case, the person helping Jinma must be strong enough to keep up with him should he go berserk, or they’ll seriously put themselves in the face of death. You may be qualified of course, Umeiyon, but what do you think would happen if Jinma takes your life and realizes what he’s done once he comes to his senses? There’s a high chance that things will turn out far worse … and he may never come back as the person we know now.”

Everyone in the group fell into dreadful silence.

“If it’s me who’s giving Jinma treatment, even if something were to happen, I can guarantee that he won’t fall through the point of no return, because our bond right now is weak and flimsy compared to you and everyone else in his harem,” Sue continued, “Killing off someone like me, a stranger, won’t be as big of a deal to him as it would if his wife or cherished lover was in my place.”

“I suppose, when you put it like that, you have a point …” Ume trailed off.

You can only say that because you’re not really here right now, though? I asked internally, knowing her [Clone] Null Spell and its effects, And, after seeing Sue’s emotional side in the video and coming up with my theories … can I really say she’s not as big of a deal to me as she claims to be? What about her own feelings if she was really putting her life on the line? Is there another way for me to calm down if that didn’t work?

I thought back on my training under Mom’s tutelage, trying to see if there were alternatives should her trick not work, and there was one thing she added that Sue didn’t ask me to do earlier.

… Can’t say how effective that will be with my body as it is right now, but I suppose I could come up with other methods to make that alternative work. Let’s just try to keep that in the forefront of my mind and save it for when I really need it. 

“Well, I appreciate you helping me calm down back there, Sue,” I said before furrowing my brow in annoyance, “However, I don’t like people thoughtlessly throwing their lives for someone else’s sake, that ‘noble sacrifice’ thing is bullcrap to me. And do you really think I’ll be okay with you getting killed in my [Devil Eyes]’s rampage when there are still lots of things between us unresolved?”

Sue only blinked her eyes in surprise.

“Until you reveal everything to us, there’s no way I’m letting you use death as a means of escape,” I continued, “I don’t care who or what you’ll turn out to be, because before anyone dies under my watch, I’ll enact fitting punishment on you for giving us all a hard time.”

“... W-What kind of punishments do you have in mind?” Sue asked with reddened cheeks.

I didn’t expect her to ask that question when I didn’t have anything in mind yet, so I scrounged up a guess, “Uh … I don’t know, something humiliating, to start, probably on the scale of Gabriella almost being subjected to the tentacle play earlier? Maybe more than that?”

“M-More than the tentacle play …” Sue muttered as she looked down and squirmed in place, rubbing her legs together and trembling with flushed cheeks.

<Uh, Jinma, I should probably mention this, but when Sue was trying to ‘treat’ you earlier, she was getting unusually aroused,> Nyra pointed out.

<You mean like what we saw from the recording of this morning?> I asked.

<Yep, and even after you calmed down, she was trying to keep that arousal restrained. Now, though, it sounded like the thought of being punished had turned her back on, somehow,> Nyra explained.

<Seriously …>

Something Sue remembered seemed to have snapped her out of her aroused state as she cleared her throat, “P-Punishments aside, there’s something you need to know about that Lizardman, Krigeran. He’s … one of the Duke of Demon’s Disciples, and from the sound of Klash’s brother being mentioned, that would mean the Devil, Blaine, could also be in Palocaesy.”

Now I remember, Yukino mentioned Krigeran during our talk earlier.

“Wait, but Gabriella is also a member of that party, right?” Ume asked, “And Tyvera was a part of it until yesterday.”

“A-Also … before Krigeran left, he told me he knew someone from the White Wolf Tribe was looking for someone and said I should be on the lookout. That would mean …” Ren trailed off. I probably didn’t hear that part because I was near under my [Devil Eyes]’s control.

“So, excluding Tyvera, three members of the Duke of Demon’s Disciples and Ren’s older brother are here, and it’s highly likely they aren’t alone,” Sue said with seriousness before looking up to me, “Jinma … I believe something big is building up and it involves our escort quest with Noire. You think this is also the work of your bad luck?”

I exasperated a sigh and rubbed my eyes, “Yeah … that sounds about right.”