Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga - Chapter 271

Chapter 271 - Offers of Temptation

After the Demonic Exorcist left, it was just Tamae no Mae and me.

For a moment, my brain went blank. While I had taken into account and planned what to do in case everything went wrong, I hadn't considered what to do after everything went right.

Should I just leave and wait for her to hold up her end of the deal?

"So, want to go get a drink?" I asked.

"If you're trying to seduce me, then no," she answered straightforwardly.

No thanks, Granny. Even if you look young, you're a thousand times older than me.

Of course, I didn't say those words out loud. "No way, I am happily married. I just thought that we could discuss the terms of our deal and clear the air. Also, we should try to resolve any past grievances."

"Married?" She raised a questioning brow, and then her purple eyes lit up for a split second, showing that she was using her special power to read anything written in the world. "I see, so you plan to protect your fiancée from whatever is about to come. That's quite surprising, I never took you for being a romantic."

I didn't take her words as an offense and chuckled, "Everyone has a side they don't show others. Like you, for example. What kind of man charmed Tamae no Mae for you to bear his child and have a daughter?"

That was something I had been genuinely curious about since it was never addressed in the original story. Who is Agon's mother? Or who did Tamae no Mae have relations with to have her children? Similarly, with the Dragon King, who was the mother of his kids?

These were the gritty details that written content didn't usually delve into, but this was my new real world. There were things I didn't need to know but definitely wanted to.

"I will explain it to you over drinks," she said and offered me her hand.

"If this is a trap, you won't have an easy time killing me," I said, taking her hand. The space around us twisted, and after I could see straight again, we were on top of a roof.

With the sun hitting my face and buildings in the distance, along with numbered doors and people entering through them every minute or so, the rest of the place looked like any other town, and I recognized this place.

It was a place I hadn't been to in a while, "The Black Market?"

"Yes, who do you think made those doors able to lead from normal houses to here," she chuckled, and my heart dropped.

Everyone assumed that the teleporting doors were a trick left by some Exorcist's special ability after their death. But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

"A demon creating a way for Exorcists to obtain goods illegally to aid them in killing more demons?" I raised a questioning brow.

She smiled softly. "It was all part of my seven-step master plan."

"Oh? A master plan? Is that something I should be aware of?"

"Yes, if it was still the kind of thing I could pull off," she stated, her eyes growing cold as she clenched her hand into a fist. "Of course, that bastard, The Magician, had to intervene. I wasn't even harming humans, but he just had to appear out of nowhere and try to seal me."

There were a lot of unresolved issues in her words, and I wasn't eager to get involved in any of that. It sounded like a headache, and I already had my own problems to deal with.

However, seeing her in a different light, away from her anger and murderous intent, painted the demon in a whole new picture.

Still, I knew I had to be cautious. This wasn't just any demon; she had likely deceived thousands of people throughout her long existence, and it would be naive to assume I could outsmart her. The best I could do was show that I had no intention of harming her or interfering with her plans.

As long as she didn't obstruct my goals, there was no reason why we couldn't be friends.

We descended from the balcony and entered an alley, which then revealed itself to be an illusion all along. It led to a charming empty cafe, with a wooden golem tidying up the place.

"Just so you know, this isn't my actual residence. If you decide to betray me, gathering an army and attacking this place would be futile. The only thing you would achieve is annoying me," she explained as we settled at a small table on the corner of the balcony, watching people pass by.

They were all Ord users, each possessing a unique ability.

"How many of them do you think will survive after the barrier is broken?" I inquired.

She shrugged. "Hopefully enough to keep this place running."

As she said that, I narrowed my eyes. Slowly, an idea began forming in my mind. "Can you purchase buildings in this place?"

She smiled. "Of course, you can even live here. Although there are rules and taxes one needs to pay."

Ah, she had already thought of the same idea that had just occurred to me. "Let me guess, the taxes are paid with Ord."

"Bingo," she grinned as two drinks floated toward us.

I brought the glass to my lips and took a whiff. "Do you have anything non-alcoholic?"

Detecting poison in alcoholic drinks is a bit harder, and even though I believed Perfect Me, I didn't want to take any chances. Also, there was no reason she would poison me at this point, but it never hurt to be cautious.

"Right, I forgot that you're underage," she leaned back in her chair, and the glass in my hand went flying as another one replaced it.

Orange juice? Did she think I was a kid? Whatever... I actually liked orange juice. Who wouldn't enjoy freshly squeezed orange juice, with none of that chemical stuff to make it taste like a bastardized version of orange?

Now that I thought about it, I guess everyone seemed like a kid for someone her age.

After taking a sip, I let the drink travel down my throat and used Perfect Me to check it for any poisons. It detected none.

"Let me guess another thing about this place," I smiled, trying to play the mysterious character. "When the barrier breaks and exorcists have nowhere else to go, the Black Market will open its doors, probably with even more buildings where exorcists can live. Which means more Ord overall."

She only gave a short nod in response, not seeming surprised that I had guessed all this. No, perhaps that was what she wanted me to do – find out these things.

Was it some kind of subtle threat? Indicating that despite what was happening, she had other sources of power.

Whatever it was, it didn't matter to me. I had no plans to preemptively attack her, and I also had my own trump cards. "When do you think you can start working on the barrier?"

"It will be done in three days," she stated. "I will give you a small book that you must keep in your possession, and if it's ripped, it will deactivate the barrier."

"Do I have to keep it on me all the time? I fight quite a lot, and the last thing I'd want is for it to get accidentally torn," I explained.

"You could leave it in some secret place too, just don't blame me if the book gets destroyed due to some demon's divination ability," she frowned. "Do you think I would tell you to keep the notebook for no reason? I'm not dumb."

Jeez, I was just asking. No need to take it so personally. Trying to ease the tension, I continued, "So, about those daughters. You said you would tell me who charmed the ultimate class demon, the God of Foxes, Tamae no Mae."

"No one was able to," she smirked, bringing the wineglass close to her lips. "My daughters are literally a part of me. Of course, I used my blood, Ord, and someone's special ability to create them. But they're nothing more than my clones," she declared.

Wait, that meant Tamae no Mae technically was Sei's mother, not his grandmother.

"Nice."

"They're quite troublesome, though, as they always have their own thoughts, and try to escape my control to live their lives freely," she explained as the wine glass in her hand cracked. "They are parts of me... they're supposed to carry out my will."

The air around us grew heavier, and I sighed and leaned back in the chair. "You should control your emotions better."

She was easy to irritate for a demon who had lived thousands of years. The stranger thing was that she was actually quite smart, but her emotions seemed to get the better of her when something went wrong.

"True, I have been getting more irritated recently. Who would have thought that fifteen years stuck in permanent darkness, with nothing to do, would change me so much? Those fifteen years felt like an eternity! It feels like every small thing is so much more annoying nowadays," she complained.

Okay, now she was just ranting about her problems to a stranger/enemy she didn't even know that well.

I drank all the orange juice in one go and got up. Then I stood up and said, "Thanks for the drink, but I have to go."

"So soon? Why don't you stay a bit longer?" She winked, and a burst of charm filled my senses, enough to make me feel dizzy.

My heart started beating faster as I thought of Tamae no Mae's luscious body. If only I can-

{Perfect Me}

But activating my special ability for a couple of seconds took care of that, and my head cleared up.

I knew what she was implying with her words, but I also knew that the chances of her liking me in that way were zero percent. Tamae no Mae wasn't some high school girl who developed a crush; she's a millennia-old monster.

If she showed any interest in me, there was a hundred percent chance she just wanted to manipulate me.

I shook my head. "You might not know, but I am a married man."

She knew I was married but didn't care. Also, she was not interested in me ten minutes ago, and was now acting like this. Did she think I was some hormonal teenager, who would ignore the craziness just to get with a pretty girl?

Despite my rejection, Tamae no Mae's smile didn't waver. "Your wife doesn't have to know."

"Again, my answer is still no," I refused her once more, this time with a little more edge in my voice.

She shrugged and stood up, leaning to show enough cleavage as her red kimono barely hung onto her supernaturally beautiful body. "How about I promise to lend you my powers and, in a way, become your tamed demon? As long as you get rid of Queen Wisteria, of course. Don't worry; no one will even know, as I will transform into her, and we could rule the Sun Kingdom together. Think about it; we wouldn't have problems surviving the troubling times ahead if we worked together as one."