The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time

Chapter 371: Aradia who has a self-proclaimed human for a father, a glutton for a brother, and a duke’s daughter for a sister

During his time in Orbaume, Vandalieu had made constant efforts to appear human… at least while he was not in Silkie or Knochen, and when he was in the presence of those who were not his friends or family.

When he moved, he made sure to do so without using physical strength that was much above the norm, and when he reached for things in high places, he did not extend his tongue or tentacles to do so. When running, he did so using only his two legs rather than running on all fours, and when someone started talking to him from behind him, he did not produce eyes on the back of his head to look at them. He also refrained from making excessive use of ‘Out-of-body Experience’ to create split entities of himself.

As a Dhampir, he had been born with claws, so he used them without hesitation, but other than that, he had restrained himself even at the Hero Preparatory School. In recent practical training sessions that required him to find materials such as medicinal herbs and mushrooms, he hadn’t done anything more than producing antennae on his forehead to help him search for them.

But in the end, despite all of his best efforts, he had received the unceremonious Title of ‘Self-proclaimed Human.’

One could infer that this Title implied that its owner proclaimed themselves to be human while they were not a human in reality, could they not?

This was a little too much, wasn’t it? Not that he had intended to make everyone feel indebted to him, but Vandalieu had saved the city and the country from destruction, and he had saved the world by defeating a partially-resurrected Guduranis. And yet, he had been branded as a non-human.

“So, I think that this should be protested against, don’t I?” said Vandalieu, having recovered from the shock caused by his acquisition of the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title.

He was already planning to make a protest in order to change the world’s view of him and rid himself of this undesirable Title.

Behind him were a row of Demon King Familiars holding placards.

“I do think so, don’t I?” one of them said, agreeing with the main Vandalieu.

“Yes, no matter how powerless one individual is against the–” a second began, but was eaten by Bakunawa before it could finish its sentence.

“Against the might of the world,” said a third Demon King Familiar, finishing the sentence. “Bakunawa, you mustn’t eat Papa while he’s talking.”

“Elder brother, I’m afraid I do not quite understand what Father is saying,” said Aradia, who looked just like a five or six-year-old girl other than the fact that she was dozens of meters tall.

Puzzled by her father’s strange behavior, she stared at him with her three eyes – one on either side of her face, with the third on her forehead.

She was adorable and intelligent-looking, with silver hair and white skin that were as if she had been dyed by the moonlight, and golden pupils. She was the Colossus that had been born between Vandalieu and the Moon Giant Deeana, which was why she was already more than fifty meters tall.

She had been born earlier than Deeana had expected, and she had grown at a pace that was abnormal even for a Colossus. But because not much time had passed since she was born, it seemed that she couldn’t imagine why Vandalieu was so fixated on being human.

“Hmm, I don’t know what Papa’s saying, either. I’m sure it’s some adult thing,” said Bakunawa, the Elder Dragon born between Vandalieu and Tiamat, the Mountain Queen Elder Dragon God.

He didn’t understand, either; he hadn’t seen many humans in his life at all… even if one included his father, the one whose Demon King Familiar he was currently munching on.

“Do you know, Onee-chan?” Bakunawa asked Elizabeth.

“Well, kind of,” Elizabeth replied, trying not to look at Bakunawa’s torso, which was noisily chewing the Demon King Familiar.

“Wow, you’re amazing, Onee-chan.”

Bakunawa’s voice sounded perfectly normal; it was difficult to imagine that he was speaking while munching on a Demon King Familiar whose sturdiness rivaled that of Orichalcum. It was likely that he was using some kind of special trick to talk and eat at the same time.

But Elizabeth felt like she could get along better with this grotesque stepbrother of hers than her blood-related half-brothers.

“You are indeed amazing, Elder Sister,” said Aradia.

She was Elizabeth’s newest stepsister, and she earnestly adored Elizabeth as an older sister – despite Elizabeth being of a different race and small enough to pick up with her fingers.

Elizabeth had complicated feelings on the matter – on one hand, she was happy that she now had an innocent, adorable younger sister, no matter her size. On the other hand, she felt like her life had once again progressed in a direction that was difficult to describe.

“I-I suppose,” Elizabeth stammered. “More importantly, Vandalieu. You say you’re going to protest, but what exactly do you plan to do? Don’t tell me you’re going to parade through Orbaume?”

“Elizabeth-sama, why are you talking as if that’s something that I shouldn’t do?” asked one of the Demon King Familiars.

“Because I don’t want you to do something that you shouldn’t!”

Even if Vandalieu were to make a protest, Elizabeth could imagine that it would be an orderly, well-mannered affair. It wouldn’t devolve into a riot, and there would be no littering – in fact, the Demon King Familiars would clean up their surroundings while they were at it. To begin with, it was even possible that he would be conscious about the place and time of day so that he didn’t obstruct anyone, leading him to carry the protest out secretly in the middle of the night, which would defeat the purpose.

However, a parade of Demon King Familiars that resembled enormous crustaceans, insects, cephalopods, and reptiles would be a scene straight out of a nightmare. And the Demon King Familiars only vaguely resembled such animals – the number of their eyeballs and where they were placed, their tentacles, their antennae, and the number of limbs they possessed were features that no ordinary animal or monster could possibly possess. The sight of such Demon King Familiars would have a great impact even on the people of Orbaume, who were currently in the process of getting accustomed to Demons and Undead… or perhaps not.

A thought crossed Elizabeth’s mind for a moment – perhaps the people had already become accustomed to the presence of Demons and Undead, and nobody batted an eye at them anymore. But she quickly changed her mind – there was no way that things that progressed quite that far yet.

Anyway, this guy has lost his mind from the shock, hasn’t he?! Elizabeth thought.

She had recently come to realize that Vandalieu did not have a cool and collected personality. He was expressionless and almost entirely incapable of expressing emotion through his voice, and he constantly had multiple thought processes running at the same time.

“To begin with, what would be the point of doing something like that? Even if you show off your Demon King Familiars to the people and claim that you’re a human, that statement would have no credibility whatsoever! In fact, it would only strengthen people’s impression of you that you’re proclaiming yourself to be a human!” Elizabeth pointed out.

This very sensible point brought Vandalieu back to his senses. “Now that you mention it, you’re completely right. I was wrong,” he said, his face falling in disappointment.

“Bakunawa, you can eat these mes that I made,” said one of the Demon King Familiars as it and the others, still holding their placards, offered themselves to Bakunawa to be eaten.

It seemed that the placards were made of Demon King fragments as well.

“Yay, thanks, Papa!” Bakunawa said happily.

“Elder Brother, I, too, would like to eat Father,” said Aradia.

“Hmm, this Papa’s shell is hard, so I’ll crack it open for you,” said Bakunawa.

Without any hesitation, Aradia joined Bakunawa and began eating the Demon King Familiar Bakunawa offered her, the split entity of Vandalieu… her own father. Pressing her lips around the crack that Bakunawa had made in the shell for her with his finger, she slurped up its contents.

“It’s delicious!” she said with a smile.

Bakunawa smiled at his younger sister, and although Vandalieu was expressionless, he seemed delighted as well.

Elizabeth stared, looking like she was about to start questioning her current views on what it meant to be a family.

“Ah… Elder Sister, here,” Aradia said, misunderstanding the situation and timidly offering her a second Demon King Familiar.

The trilobite-like Demon King Familiar was several times the size of the Elizabeth, who had frozen still. Its shell had already been broken, exposing its flesh and bones in what could only be described as a grotesque sight.

Even Demon King Familiars that resembled crustaceans and insects had bones inside in order to allow them to continue moving even if their exoskeletons and carapaces were greatly damaged. After all, they were only just artificial life-forms that resembled crustaceans and insects.

“Wait! It’s not like I want to eat any!” Elizabeth protested hastily.

“Yes, this me has bones. I made them soft so that Aradia can chew them, but I’m sure it would still be rather tough for you, Elizabeth-sama,” said the split-open Demon King Familiar that Elizabeth had assumed was already dead.

“This me is much easier to eat. There’s not a single fragment of bone in it,” said another Demon King Familiar, which resembled an octopus, as it moved closer to offer itself instead.

Naturally, this was an entirely unwelcome offer to Elizabeth. This situation might seem like heaven to those suffering from the phenomenon of Vandalieu addiction in the Demon Empire of Vidal, but Elizabeth was not an addict.

“Can you not make offers like this?! And more importantly, shouldn’t you be thinking about why you’ve got this ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title?!” said Elizabeth.

Fortunately, Vandalieu easily fell for her attempt to change the subject.

“You’re right about that,” said Vandalieu.

“It might even be possible to remove the Title,” said a Demon King Familiar.

“Though it’s just as likely as someone successfully grasping a mirage,” added another.

It was possible that Vandalieu had been joking about her eating the Demon King Familiar, but… she was too scared to learn whether or not that was the case, so she decided not to ask.

“But I can’t think of any particular event that could have caused it,” Vandalieu said. “I don’t think anyone has ever called me that in Orbaume, Alcrem, or Jahan.”

Given the total number of all of his Familiars and the fact that he shared memories with the split entities that were sent to those who used the ‘Familiar Spirit Demonfall’ Skill, Vandalieu was a living information network.

On top of that, due to the ‘Perfect Record Technique’ Skill, Vandalieu never forgot a single piece of information that he perceived through any of his five senses. Although information might lurk in a corner of his memory where he gave it no conscious thought, he could recall it at any time if he wanted to.

He used these assets to gather information about how he was perceived in human society, but there was no information related to ‘Self-proclaimed Human.’

“Well, they do frequently say things like ‘he goes beyond being a human,’ ‘he’s becoming more like a god,’ and ‘he’s kind of a monstrosity,’” Vandalieu added.

“Well, that’s because you defeated the Demon King, and you’ve done all sorts of other things, too. It’s no wonder you’ve got that kind of reputation. But I’m sure most of them mean it in a good way,” Elizabeth said.

At the age of thirteen, Vandalieu had defeated the Demon King Guduranis, ruled an empire vaster than the Orbaume Kingdom, and commanded familiars who rivaled the gods… some of whom were actual genuine demigods.

Given that, there was nothing strange about the things people said about him, and they seemed unrelated to the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title.

“Then maybe it’s a reputation you’ve gained somewhere where you don’t have a lot of Demon King Familiars,” Elizabeth suggested. “Come to think about it, what about in the Demon Empire of Vidal? Are you sure people don’t think of you like that there?”

“Of course I am,” Vandalieu said with a confident nod. “In the nations belonging to the Demon Empire of Vidal, people befriend me and I have a reputation as the emperor that anyone can talk to freely. People say that if you see a Demon King Familiar on the street, there’s probably thirty nearby.”

“That sounds delicious, Papa,” said Bakunawa.

“… Are you sure that counts as being befriended?” Elizabeth questioned.

In places like the Demon Continent and the region inside the Boundary Mountain Range, which was the first region to come under Vandalieu’s influence, Demon King Familiars had already become viewed as common, everyday things to see. They served as fighting manpower when there wasn’t enough for monster extermination or Dungeon clearing; they served as surveillance cameras, security, and lighting systems; they even served as sources of special labor such as being a replacement for heavy machinery or generating Mana.

And most importantly, they were split entities of the being that was worshiped by the people, so people befriended them and talked to them about their problems and such.

“They do befriend me,” Vandalieu said. “But nobody seems to understand that I’m human. That trend has grown stronger since enormous statues of me were built in the Demon Continent and cities elsewhere, so I’m making sure to tell them over and over.”

“Hmm, I see… Wait, did you say ‘over and over?’” asked Elizabeth.

“Yes. I tell them, ‘I’m not a god but a person just like you, so that statue isn’t a statue of a god,’” Vandalieu said.

“Father, does that not mean that you are proclaiming yourself to be human?” asked Aradia.

“That’s the reason!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “If you’re doing something like that all over your own nation, it’s no wonder you’ve got the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title!”

Vandalieu froze in place with his eyes wide open. For the first time, he had realized that he himself had caused his acquisition of the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title.

There was no doubt that an emergency meeting attended by a countless number of Vandalieus was currently taking place in his brain, but… at this rate, it seemed that it would take some time for them to reach a conclusion.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Eleanora and Bellmond’s attempt to become Queens had reached its own conclusion.

“Now that I have had some time to calm down and think about it properly… Let us give up on it,” said Bellmond, in a light tone that sounded as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Now then, if we do not disassemble the corpses of the monsters that we have defeated, the preparation of the afternoon tea will be delayed,” she said, turning her mind back to her daily duties. “I would feel terrible leaving it all to Mahelia and Zona. First of all–”

“W-wait a minute! You’re just going to happily give up so easily?!” Eleanora exclaimed hastily to stop Bellmond.

Bellmond suddenly stopped with an expression of realization on her face. “Ah. I have forgotten something very important.” She turned around and gave a polite, tidy bow – towards Basdia. “Thank you very much for your instruction.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” Basdia said.

“Not at all. I apologize for causing you trouble with my selfishness,” said Bellmond.

The two of them exchanged wide smiles and a handshake, and then Bellmond silently began to walk away once more so that she could help the Demon King Familiars disassemble the monster corpses.

“That’s not what I mean! I’m asking you if you’re fine with Isla being ahead of us!” said Eleanora, stopping her again.

“It is true that I felt that I have been left behind by Isla, and you and I asked Basdia for help so that we could try and increase our own Ranks,” Bellmond said. “However… When I think about it, even if she is a Lifeless Queen and I am not, this does not cause any problems. And to begin with, I have realized that it is impossible for me to gain a race Title containing ‘Queen.’”

“W-what makes you say that?!” asked Eleanora, bewildered and dismayed.

“Eleanora, I am butler,” Bellmond explained. “No matter who becomes a queen or doesn’t, it is my duty to serve Danna-sama. And besides… even if I remain a butler, there is no difference to the fact that I will offer Danna-sama my blood and have him brush my tail,” she said, her cheeks reddening and her tail curling up in embarrassment.

Bellmond’s allure as she said this was almost enough to make even Eleanora and Basdia swoon.

“You’re right about that,” Eleanora agreed. “But what did you mean when you said that it’s impossible?”

“As I just stated, I am a butler; a servant. I am not in a position to gather people and give them orders,” Bellmond said simply.

“Ah, I see,” Eleanora and Basdia said in unison, both convinced.

One might wonder whether that fact alone was enough to rule out the possibility of becoming a queen. But in many cases, one’s position was a big factor in determining their race title after a Rank increase.

Using Goblins as an example, if a Goblin displayed more leadership qualities than other Goblins and often took command in battles, and its Rank increased from 3 to 4, it would often become a Goblin Commander or a Goblin Leader.

A regular Goblin didn’t become a Goblin Leader out of nowhere and suddenly gain leadership abilities or acquire the ‘Commanding’ Skill the same instant.

One’s original qualities, their prior experience and actions, and the Skills they possessed determined what races they became after their Rank increased.

The Lifeless Queen Isla served as the leader of the Dark Night Knights’ Brigade, which consisted of Vampire Zombies like her.

Basdia had been born to Zadiris, the Ghoul elder, and Vigaro, the Ghouls’ young chieftain. And as a Ghoul, she had displayed remarkable capabilities at an unusually young age. Before she met Vandalieu, she did not hold a high societal position due to the structure of the Ghouls’ society, but as she served as a leader for the younger generation of Ghouls, she had become a Ghoul Amazoness Queen and was continuing to increase her Rank even now.

… With that being the case, the three of them wondered why Zadiris, who was not present here, had become a Princess. But that question only crossed their minds for a moment, and they decided not to ponder it too deeply.

“So, what will you do, Eleanora? If you want to continue, I’ll accompany you,” said Basdia.

“Hmm… I’ll stop the special training for now. Increasing my Rank any further here would take a long time… I’ll find some people to join me and try Van-sama’s S-rank Dungeon sometime,” Eleanora said.

Rank 13 was considered the threshold of being considered a god, and Eleanora had surpassed it to reach Rank 14. The vast majority of monsters were nothing but small fry to her. There were monsters of Rank 13 and higher on the Dark Continent that even she could not defeat so easily, but these monsters were highly intelligent, so they fled when they noticed Bakunawa’s presence.

Thus, continuing to aim to reach Rank 15 at this rate would require her to abandon her original plans of making a day trip to visit Vandalieu’s children and do some special training while she was at it.

“And besides, despite my Rank increase, I’m currently still a Princess… I should have learned how to treat my subordinates better when Isla was still my subordinate,” Eleanora said regretfully.

“Looking back on it, I think that was a misallocation,” said a nearby Demon King Familiar, which had finally become able to speak once more. “There isn’t a person who wouldn’t be troubled by being given a subordinate who is far older and more experienced than them and was an enemy before they were killed.”

“Van-sama! It seems like you were talking about other matters over there. Have they been resolved?” Eleanora asked.

“Yes, more or less,” the Demon King Familiar replied. “Even though I’ve gained the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title, the meeting including all of the mes resulted in the conclusion that the Title simply means that I’m frequently stating the obvious fact that I’m a human.”

“… Van, I have to question whether you can call that a meeting,” said Basdia.

It was a meeting that took place inside Vandalieu’s brain, where a countless number of Vandalieu’s thought processes exchanged opinions. If used correctly, this would allow him to process enormous quantities of information and make appropriate decisions very quickly, but… in the end, all of its participants were Vandalieu. Although there were differences between the thought processes, they all belonged to the same person, so their direction was already decided from the very beginning.

Basdia questioned the effectiveness of such a meeting, but meanwhile, Eleanora and Bellmond had a distant look in their eyes, and a moment later, their breathing became short and heated, as if they were intoxicated – likely having imagined a space filled with a countless number of Vandalieus.

Basdia wondered if she should be more forceful and press Vandalieu to realize that he was a being who had surpassed being human. If she was to become his wife one day, she needed to say stern things from time to time. But a moment later–

“That’s right! Even if you seem like a god and do things that no human can do, there’s no changing the fact that you’re human! Be more confident in yourself! You agree with me, don’t you, Aradia?!” said Elizabeth’s voice some distance away, audibly desperate.

“Huh, err, yes. I believe that you are human, Father, just as Elder Sister suggests,” said Aradia, agreeing with her sister’s statement.

“Yeah, you’re delicious, so it’s fine, Papa,” said Bakunawa.

If Elizabeth is going as far as to say that, I’m sure there’s some circumstances that I’m not aware of. I’ll ask her later, Basdia thought, opting to stay silent for now.

The reason Elizabeth agreed with Vandalieu’s insistence that he was human and encouraged him to have confidence in himself was because she had imagined and was terrified by the outcome of him throwing his obsession with being human away and accepting that he wasn’t human.

After having some rest with tea prepared by Bellmond and Mahelia, Vandalieu and his companions returned to the ‘city’ on the Demon Continent. There, Vandalieu changed Jobs to ‘Spirit Guider.’

《You have acquired the ‘Spirit Path Enticement’ and ‘Guidance: Spirit Path’ Skills!》

《‘Spirit Path Enticement’ has merged with ‘Alaya-vijnana Enticement’ and ‘Guidance: Spirit Path’ has merged with ‘Guidance: Alaya-vijnana!’》

《The Levels of the ‘Constant Super Mana Recovery,’ ‘Extreme Strengthen Subordinates,’ ‘Demon Thread Refining,’ ‘Enlarged Vitality,’ ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Worshiped,’ ‘Strengthened Attribute Values: Demon Empire of Vidal,’ ‘Self-Regeneration: Cannibalism,’ ‘Augmented Attribute Values: Cannibalism,’ ‘Augmented Magical Power while equipped with a Staff,’ ‘Golem Genesis,’ ‘Aberrant Technique,’ ‘Spirit Therapy,’ and ‘Dancing’ Skills have increased!》

Meanwhile, large changes were occurring in the Amid Empire as well.

In the Amid Empire’s capital, there was a balcony upon which the emperor appeared a few times a year to address the citizens. Today, it was the current emperor of the Amid Empire who stood on it – Emperor Salazar Iristel – as well as Pope Eileek Marme, the current pope of the Great Church of Alda.

And there was a third person – Heinz, the ‘Blue-flamed Sword’ and ‘Bellwood’s Successor.’

The citizens’ faces wore expressions of bewilderment and unease. The current emperor did not have a very positive reputation yet, and it had been just this morning that messengers from the castle had gone around the capital, spreading the news that he had a sudden important announcement to make. The people had gathered to learn what was happening, only to see that on this balcony, where only the emperor and his closest aides were allowed to stand, he was joined by the new pope who was still just a young man and another young man whose face they did not recognize.

Although the people of the Amid Empire knew Heinz’s name and that he was the man who had crossed over to the enemy nation of Orbaume and become an S-class adventurer there, few knew what his face looked like.

Salazar opened his mouth and began speaking in a solemn tone. “My beloved citizens. As emperor of the Amid Empire, I hereby declare that I shall relinquish the imperial throne to honorable Alda, the God of Law and Fate. You will henceforth be ruled by his holy words.”

His forehead was covered in greasy sweat, and his eyes were filled with fear and impatience, but… the people took no notice of that.

And so, on this day, the days of the Amid Empire being ruled by mortals came to an end.

Title explanation (Written by Luciliano):

Self-proclaimed Human

A Title gained by a non-human being who proclaims that they are human, or a being who is perceived as such a being.

There are many tales of monsters, as well as Vampires and Majin who worship evil gods, who masquerade as humans and conceal their true identity. However, none of them have been recorded as having acquired this Title.

The reason for that is that in order to acquire this Title, the fact that they proclaim themselves to be human must be widely known.

In many cases, beings whose masquerading as a human becomes publicly known are exterminated on the spot or shortly thereafter. And even if they do acquire a Title, they are likely to gain one that contains more of the fear and hatred of those who call them by it.

Thus, it can be presumed that the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title has just been acquired for the first time due to the existence of someone like Master and an environment like the Demon Empire of Vidal.

Of course, it seems dubious as to whether it will provide any beneficial effects. Even if it does have any effects while he disguises himself as human, it is already commonly known that he is a ‘Self-proclaimed Human.’

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