Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? Volume Chapter 26

After I defeated the Parallel Minds, I teleported back to where I’d come from, but Güli-güli was still there.

“Is it done?”

I nod in response.

But he continues to sit there wordlessly, and I certainly can’t start up a conversation, so the silence stretches on for ages.

The puppet spiders are totally frozen, presumably due to nervousness, which means the awkwardness only keeps deepening.

Right when so much time has passed that I’m starting to think I might die from the stress, the Demon Lord and the rest of our crew return from town.

You’re late!

You only ever stay one night; why did you choose now of all times to stay two?!

How do you think I felt keeping silent for two whole nights?!

“Whoops, that was longer than planned. Sorry, sorry.”

Sorry ain’t good enough!

The Demon Lord smoothly ignores Güli-güli without missing a beat.

Mera and Vampy are staring at him like crazy, but since the Demon Lord is ignoring him, it looks like they don’t want to be the ones to say anything, either.

The Demon Lord continues ignoring Güli-güli as she places a barrel firmly on the ground.

Ooh, a barrel.

You know what that means.

It’s gotta be booze!

Without further ado, drinking time begins.

As usual, the Demon Lord is knocking ’em back like water, and Güli-güli is keeping pace, too.

Hey, wait a sec! Why’s he drinking with us?!

Mera drinks a little bit, but mostly he just sits there looking pleased.

Over and over, his gaze keeps drifting toward Vampy, who’s once again snuck a sip of alcohol and passed out immediately.

Uhhh, what? Is this that lolicon thing I’ve heard people talk about?

Nah, I’m sure this is just a parental figure gazing fondly at his ward.

“So, what’re you doing here, Gülie?”

Aha, the Demon Lord finally brought it up!

“I had business with that thing,” Güli-güli responds coolly. “And since I was here, I thought I might pay you a visit as well.”

Wait, was he talking about me just now?

“That thing? What am I, chopped liver?”

Güli-güli looks at me, startled.

What are you so surprised about, pal?

“Ah, apparently White here starts talking when she’s drunk.”

“Is that so?”

Trying to cover his surprise, Güli-güli delicately takes another sip.

For some reason, that strikes me as so funny that I bust out laughing.

“Also, she starts laughing real easily.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

Everything’s suddenly so hilarious that I start pounding Mera on the back as he’s sitting next to me.

Somehow, that sends him flying into the air.

Hrm.

I thought I hit him pretty lightly, but it still sent him flying, huh?

The sight of him launching into the air like that sends me rolling around in an even bigger fit of laughter.

“Is he dead?”

“No, he appears to simply be unconscious.”

The Demon Lord and Güli-güli examine Mera seriously.

C’mon, don’t worry! The laws of comedy state that nobody dies from stuff like this!

“Well, I’ll heal him just in case. Anyway, what’d you need with White?”

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“Its copies were running wild, so I had it stop them.”

As soon as she hears the word copies, the Demon Lord sits up with a jolt.

“So she really did have copies, huh?”

“You knew about this?”

“More or less.”

Ooh.

“Wait, for reals? How’d you know that? What are you, an ESPer? Huh? Are you?”

“An ESPer? More like an ace detective! I figured it out through pure reasoning! Bow before my powers of deduction!”

“Ooooh! Clap, clap, clap.”

“Bwa-ha-ha! That’s right—applaud me!”

For some reason, we’re kinda hitting it off right now.

“…I had wondered why your personality transformed into this, but now I think I might understand.”

“I know, right? White might seem super-cool and quiet, but this craziness is what she’s like on the inside!”

“Craziness?! Whaddaya mean, ‘craziness’?!”

Just like that, we start arguing uproariously over pretty much nothing.

After we go on yelling like that for a while, things eventually quiet down.

“Ariel. Evidently, this creature’s copies intended to destroy all humanity.”

“Oh yeah?”

“And the reason they went on that rampage is most likely that they absorbed the queen taratect’s soul.”

“Huh! How ’bout that.”

“Ariel. Do you hate humans so much that you wish to destroy them?”

The Demon Lord takes another drink before she responds.

“Sure I do.” Finishing her glass, she launches into a rant. “Yeah, I hate them. I hate ’em so much, it drives me crazy! I hate those assholes who let Lady Sariel be their sacrifice so they can go on living their stupid lives, I hate this world that runs on Lady Sariel’s constant suffering, I hate every last bit of it!”

The glass in the Demon Lord’s hand cracks and breaks into pieces.

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Ahhh.

So the Demon Lord is the reason my Parallel Minds went rogue.

I guess if the parent carries this much buried fury, it’s no wonder that would have an effect on her child, my mother.

And by absorbing Mother, my Parallel Minds inherited that, too.

Although I still think it’s pretty weak that beings who’re supposed to be copies of me would let themselves be influenced by something like that so easily.

“But that’s not what Lady Sariel wants. Which is why I’ve been holding back all this time. You feel the same way, don’t you, Gülie?”

“Indeed. I suppose I do.”

“Wow, that’s dumb.”

The Demon Lord and Güli-güli turn toward me in unison at my absentminded comment.

“Sorry, what was that?”

“That’s dumb, I said. I mean, am I wrong? It’s stupid to not do something you really wanna do just for someone else’s sake. I mean, what’s the point in not doing what you want? That kinda life’s no fun. Whatever other people might say or do, what matters most is what you yourself wanna do! Right?”

It doesn’t make sense to hold back for someone else’s sake.

I’ll happily trample all over someone else if it means I get to do what I want.

“Ha-ha.” The Demon Lord chuckles wearily. “If we could be as egotistical as White, our lives would probably be a lot easier.”

Güli-güli, on the other hand, looks thoughtful.

“I see. They are similar.”

“Huh? Who?”

“I always thought it was strange that D had taken such a liking to this creature. But after this conversation, it all makes sense. This creature’s arrogance and selfishness are just like D.”

“Objection!”

Your Honor! How can this man slander my good name by comparing me to D?!

“Which is exactly what makes it so dangerous.”

Güli-güli puts down his glass.

But before he can do anything else, a smartphone suddenly materializes before his eyes.

“You know what I’m going to say, right?”

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“…Very well.”

“Good.”

After that brief exchange, the smartphone disappears.

“The hell was that?”

“Beats me.”

The Demon Lord and I look at each other and shrug.

I kinda feel like I might’ve just narrowly escaped an extremely precarious situation, but we’ll just assume that was my imagination.

“Hmph. No matter the world, no matter the era, it seems that major events are always set into motion by the selfishness of one individual.”

Güli-güli looks at me steadily.

“What do you intend to do from this point on?”

“I dunno.”

I won’t know what I’m going to do next until it happens.

“All I know is, I’m gonna do what I want. I’m not gonna let anyone else influence me into changing my goals or something stupid like that. I’ll just act based on my own pride. You can count on that much.”

I’m not like my idiot Parallel Minds, who let Mother influence them into trying to wipe out humanity.

I’m going to follow my own will and do exactly what I want to do.

There is one little problem with that, however.

What exactly is my “pride”?

I can’t go around living for no reason.

I gotta live with pride, right?

I swore that to myself after my home got burned down back in the Great Elroe Labyrinth.

But since then, I’ve been so preoccupied with simply staying alive that I haven’t had a chance to decide what exactly my pride is based on.

Now, though, I don’t have to be worried about mere survival.

I’ve gotten strong enough that I can live more or less problem-free.

It’s about time I start really living with pride.

Pride, huh…

I look at the two people in front of me.

The Demon Lord and Güli-güli.

These two have lived longer than you would believe, but they’ve frittered it all away on someone else.

Namely, to protect the pride of the Goddess Sariel.

My gaze keeps moving.

Next, I see Mera and Vampy, sound asleep together.

Mera, too, is the type to devote his life to someone else.

Doing something for someone else’s sake…

It’s a motivation I can’t understand.

But it does seem to be a motivation you can be proud of.

There’s no point in going on living without any pride.

But is there any point having nothing but pride and living in solitude?

The earth dragon Araba comes to mind.

Araba was incredibly strong and dignified, but its final moments were so…lonely.

Am I going to die like that someday, too?

Dying in obscurity, mourned by nobody.

…Yeah, I don’t want that.

Pride for someone else’s sake, huh…?

Well, I’ve got a couple of experts in that path right in front of me, so I’ll go ahead and learn from their example.

“Please teach me well, senpai!”

“…What is it talking about?”

“I dunno. I never know what White is thinking.”

Their reactions are so funny, I can’t help laughing again.

I’m still not sure what exactly my pride is about, but if I keep watching these two, I feel like I might just figure it out.

Incidentally, I woke up the next morning not remembering any of this.

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Sometimes you take a drink, and sometimes the drink takes you.

Hey, that’s a pretty good saying.