The Devil Who Grants Wishes - Chapter 197



197 – Cause and Effect (1)

“Ahh… Today was also difficult.”

“It feels like the fight is not progressing at all these days. Just a few months ago, I really felt like I was getting stronger day by day.”

Today again, the defeated warrior party, unable to defeat Faust, rests exhausted.

If they had relied on magic and drugs to recover after training a year ago, the entire warrior party would have lost their natural healing ability by now and would have been in a very difficult situation, but thanks to Faust’s order not to rely on recovery magic and drugs. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Rather, thanks to Faust’s order, everyone in the warrior party was able to develop their natural healing ability to a considerable extent.

In human terms, you need to sleep for 8 hours to relieve fatigue, but you can recover from fatigue with just 4 hours of sleep, which is half of that. It may seem like it is not very useful at the time of battle, but it is not.

As such, we have become more sensitive to recovery magic and drugs, so if we use recovery magic and drugs in practice, they will show tremendous efficacy.

“This time, let’s try healing with recovery magic and medicine.”

“Huh? Really? Why all of a sudden?”

From Noble mtl dot com

“They say that sometimes you have to use recovery magic and potions like this so you can use them without panicking in real combat. And since there’s going to be a big fight, you need to fully recover.”

Today, Iris, who was trying to focus on recovery while hanging out like laundry, opens her eyes and smiles happily upon hearing Faust’s words from Celestine.

Not because I was embarrassed, but because I was happy. By gaining unexpected benefits.

Of course, everyone here would like to recover quickly through magic and drugs rather than natural recovery and begin training again, so they will certainly be happy to hear Faust’s decision.

However, no matter how much she said, Iris’ joy went beyond that point.

There’s no way I could be that happy just because I’m recovering quickly.

“Iris, what’s wrong?”

“Well, you have some extra time. Do you guys have any hobbies?”

“…Ah, a hobby.”

And Iris’ answer was enough to confuse the warrior party as a group and silence her.

What is a hobby?

Obviously, it is impossible for girls of Iris’s age to not have hobbies, but in the hero party’s eyes, Iris is very far from her hobbies.

When she was young, she received the goddess’s protection and trained only to destroy evil, and now, with the blessing of that evil, she is constantly training for the final battle. Like a crazy b*tch.

But what kind of iris is your hobby? Iris’s words are so shocking that you can pass them off as a joke, but Iris’ expression and tone of voice are so serious that you can’t pass them off as a joke, and she’s so happy.

Of course, that was not the only reason why everyone was so embarrassed that they fell silent.

“…”

“…Is it really not there?”

Because the hero party had no hobbies.

Lucia, Celestine, Lena, Irene, literally everyone in the hero party has no hobbies.

There are reasons why life in this world is so hard, unlike on Earth, that it is impossible to have hobbies, but for the people involved, that doesn’t really matter.

They just have serious doubts about their lives, which do not even have hobbies.

“Then I guess I have some free time, so why not pick up a hobby? Yes, it would be perfect if it was a hobby I enjoy.”

“…But time is running out now. There is only one year until the final battle.”

“What’s wrong? If I keep focusing too tightly on work, I won’t be able to relieve my stress, so I won’t be able to focus on training?”

Iris smiles and answers Lena’s hesitant response.

Iris, who recommends her hobby to others, is completely similar to the girl who spreads her hobby to her close friend without hesitation.

If the world Iris lived in was Earth, Iris would definitely have taken on the role of a prophet who spreads trends among her friends.

“Is that so…?”

“…Well, I’ve lived my life looking too far ahead.”

“Well… I’ll give it a listen if it helps my training, yes. So what is that hobby?”

And Iris’s persuasion moved the hearts of the hero party.

Lucia, Celestine, and Lena look at Iris with curious eyes and open her mouth, and Irene, who keeps her mouth tightly shut, does not feel the need for hobbies much due to her age, but she is still interested. I look at Iris with sparkling eyes.

“This is it.”

“…?”

However, Iris’s actions after that were enough to make everyone embarrassed.

As if she was proud, what Iris took out of her bag was just a small, transparent envelope. An envelope with something white inside.

“What is that?”

“What on earth- wait a minute, there’s something thread-like…”

Lucia frowns at Iris’ strange behavior, but Lena instantly recognizes what is inside that envelope due to her elf-specific eyesight.

I can see it in Lena’s eyes.

Something like white thread is bundled up in that transparent bag. At first glance, it looks like just a ball or a block, but Lena’s eyesight is so good that she can tell that it’s not just a ball, but a bundle of thread.

“As expected, Lena has a good sense of vision. Look, it’s Master Faust’s hair.”

“…Yes?”

But no matter how good Lena’s eyes are, she has reached a point where she cannot fully believe what she sees with her own eyes.

Iris is so natural and as if it were so natural, she carefully opened the small envelope and immediately smelled the scent of herself trapped inside the envelope.

“Seup… Haaa…”

“That’s… A hobby?”

“Whoa… Look, there are more. These are the fragments of Master Faust that I have collected while training so far. After training is over, she can go to the training ground to get a lot?”

Iris ignores everyone’s astonishment and opens her bag to reveal her ‘collections’ and how to enjoy them.

Collecting things is the most basic human hobby, and the desire to show off the collection is something that all humans naturally have, so Iris does not have any strange feelings about her actions. There is.

Of course, those who see it cannot help but feel a completely different emotion from Iris.

“Iris… Are you crazy? Take them away right now!!”

Irene, who was looking at Iris with her interesting eyes, screams in shock.

Oh my God, she looks normal on the outside, but she does such strange and terrible things with that face. For Irene, Iris’ actions cannot be simply described with the word terrible.

If Iris had been just one of the countless girls she saw on her street, Irene would have quietly ignored her and walked away, trying as hard as she could to get involved with such a girl.

But unfortunately, since Iris has become an important relationship for Irene, Irene is acting desperately to bring Iris back to her senses.

“Wait a minute… Do you want to give me that?”

“I won’t give it to you.”

“No, I’m not asking for ownership, just give it to me for a moment and let me take over it myself.”

“Ah… If that’s the case, then come on.”

“Give me some too.”

“Me too.”

“Kids…?”

However, unfortunately, Irene’s efforts quickly go to waste.

When Irene saw the hero party taking a serious interest in Iris’s hobby, she kept her mouth shut and just stood there dumbfounded, as if her previous momentum had been a lie.

“Okay, inhale like that… Exhale… You’re good at it.”

“Huh…”

“Ah, ahhh… Haaa… This is good…”

‘Everyone is crazy.’

Irene lets out a quiet scream as she sees the warrior party acting as if she is enjoying a forbidden drug, as if she is having a forbidden feast.

At first glance, the hero’s party, which appears to be a ritual performed by evil cultists, reminds Irene of the time when Seraphia ruled the Great Forest.

As her thoughts and desires are distorted by Faust, who keeps distancing himself from her warrior party, Irene resolves to speak firmly to Faust.

Before something more terrible happens, we must quickly accept their hearts and interact physically.

**********

‘What is it?’

“Why are you doing this?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Belial looks at me, momentarily cowering with a strange chill, and asks a question.

Belial’s expression, suddenly filled with emotion as if he was doing something stupid, is enough to make me feel embarrassed even though I haven’t done anything wrong.

“…Hmm, anyway, can you please review it positively?”

“Yes, well… That’s as simple as that. You’re just asking us to verify how much those fledglings have grown, right?”

Seeing me desperately changing the topic of conversation, Belial chuckled slightly, but she soon followed the topic with an expression as if she was being deceived.

“Really, since I’m used to the hero party’s attacks, it’s hard to objectively judge whether they’ve become stronger or not… Why on earth do you only come here when you have something to ask for?”

“The only strong devil I could think of was you-“

“I’m not saying that right now.”

Belial approaches me little by little, but soon her body is completely touching, and she narrows her eyes and looks up at me.

She was smiling with her narrowed eyes, but the emotion in her eyes was something that could not be associated with laughter.

“…Well, it’s okay. This time, I’ll pay the price with a bill.”

“…Thank you.”

“Thank you, but it’s not free.”

However, Belial soon accepted my request. Unlike the cold and creepy smile from before, she actually had a smile on her face.

…As each day passes, I become more and more indebted to Belial. I don’t think I should do this… Uh…

Well, my future self will solve it. First, let’s first verify how strong everyone has become.