Demon Overseer
1077 Words
The phrase "Give me your mana" has meanings beyond its literal translation, and it became popular first in the Empire before spreading across the continent.
In a general sense, it’s believed that the birth of offspring comes from the fusion of the parents' bloodlines and their respective souls (mana), which is why noble children usually marry other nobles with a similar status. This idea of "give me your mana" is akin to saying "give me your DNA."
However, it’s also one of those phrases that is not easily misunderstood... It could be twisted in a certain direction, but usually, the person being addressed wouldn’t think along those lines.
"Is this related to the Overseer?"
Hearing this from Shelinna, Ira nodded and replied, "I’m curious if the mana of someone like Ticcap, who has a special talent, differs from that of a regular succubus."
"Hmm... Can I consider this as a reward related to the 'fertilizer'?"
After a brief hesitation, Shelinna asked. This was a rather bold move, especially since they hadn't thoroughly discussed what kind of reward Ira should receive. But no doubt, it shouldn't be settled this way.
"Sure."
Ira responded without any hesitation. Shelinna, who was surprised by how quickly Ira answered, looked up in confusion just as Ira grabbed her tail.
The moment her warm tail made contact with Ira’s hand, Shelinna’s body trembled.
"Eh!!"
Ignoring her soft gasp and the brief breath she took when Ira was extracting mana, he drew a similar amount of mana as before and quickly released her tail.
"Ha... ha..."
"Ira-sama... suddenly doing that... is a bit much..."
Ira glanced at Shelinna, her cheeks still flushed, and simply replied, "I don’t need any reward. If you want to repay me, just remember this moment when the Demon Lord's territory decides to betray me."
"..."
Her words seemed like a polite refusal to accept his favor, but it also sounded like Ira was truly expressing his thoughts. For a moment, Shelinna snapped out of the peculiar feeling from having her mana drained.
It seemed Ira had been influenced by the Empire's attitude, making him slightly unsettled. What he meant was clear: he wanted everyone in the Demon Lord's territory to remember his deeds, not necessarily in the form of a tangible reward.
Being sincere and expecting sincere repayment wasn’t an outrageous request—if anything, it seemed a bit humble.
"That day will never come."
Shelinna assured him as she respectfully bowed her head. "If ever you wish to leave the Demon Lord’s territory, we will not stop you."
That was the most a head maid could promise. Though, from their interactions, it was clear that Shelinna held more power than the average maid.
At that moment, a voice both familiar and unfamiliar to them echoed from the other side.
"Indeed. After all, trying to stop an Overseer with monsters... that’s not going to work, right?"
Veira walked in from the corridor, playing with her large mage’s hat as she spoke. "If I were to imagine such a scenario, I could only see Ira cutting through the blocking army."
Her words weren’t wrong. In fact... if Ira wanted to leave now, no one would be able to stop him.
Veira seemed to have been eavesdropping on their conversation for some time. She looked curiously at Shelinna’s still-flushed face and said, "So that’s what it feels like to have your mana taken by an Overseer? Wouldn't that be the case on the battlefield too?"
She mused, imagining the monsters on the battlefield having their lives and mana drained... perhaps their deaths weren’t as painful as those killed by professional adventurers? After all, they were dying while being “satisfied” in a way?
Lost in her thoughts, Veira, driven by her insatiable curiosity as a mage, decided she should experience it herself. She extended her pale, almost grayish arm toward Ira and said, "Please take my mana."
There was no doubt she was offering Ira her mana. Interestingly, she had deliberately used the most ambiguous and potentially misunderstood wording, which could also be interpreted as "take my DNA." It was hard to believe this was unintentional.
Ira, though aware that Veira had misunderstood what she was implying, didn’t quite grasp everything she was thinking. He placed his hand on her arm, unsure of her motives, and said, "Then, please don’t resist."
As he extracted the mana from her, feeling it flow through the Wing Pillar, he commented, "But perhaps only succubi have a special reaction when their mana is taken."
Ira had deliberately mentioned this after starting to extract the mana, considering it free for the taking. After all, she had practically offered it to him on a silver platter.
In fact, if this sensation of mana extraction on the battlefield brought the same satisfaction as it did with succubi, then the Overseer’s dignity would seem less intimidating.
Ira was thinking this as he continued drawing mana from Veira. The mana she had as a lich was very high quality, similar to the lich mana he had once used from a half-dragon lich during wartime. He remembered that time well and how it felt extremely satisfying using it from the Third Wing Pillar (ranged attacks).
"Ugh... this feeling..."
Veira, realizing she wouldn't have the same expression as Shelinna, felt somewhat regretful. She struggled to find the right words, but in the end, she could only say, "It’s quite new and strange."
"What’s even stranger is... how do you, the Overseer, distinguish between my mana as a lich and my mana as a human? From my perspective, they’re essentially the same."
Veira, now curious, looked at the grayish-white mana that was accumulating in Ira’s hand and, feeling the discomfort of her magic being used, asked, "Why can’t an Overseer use human mana, only monster mana?"
In her curious inquiry, Ira squinted for a moment but eventually decided to explain.
Ira: "Why do you think it’s impossible?"
Veira: "Huh?"
...
"I can’t use humans as 'ammunition.' It’s a constraint on the Overseer, not a restriction. It’s 'shouldn’t' rather than 'can’t.' I proposed it, and I designed it."
Ira said, looking at Veira, before patting her shoulder. "By removing certain words from the spellbinding sigil around my neck, I could become an unrestrained Overseer."
At that point, Ira would truly become a fearsome and dreaded figure in the profession—an Overseer belonging to the monsters.
"Demon... Overseer, huh?"
Veira murmured to herself.
- Writer
