The Adventure of a Boy with the Mind of a Middle-Aged Man
Vol. 2 - Ch. 37 - Unpleasantly Turning the Tables

The central estate was a five-story brick palatial residence.

Trees were spaced out in regular intervals, and it had a well-tended garden of flowers. The building's geometrically pattern must have taken a skilled craftsman.

I opened the door and stepped inside.

"!?"

The unpleasant feeling of being underwater assaulted my skin.

I immediately turned around.

"Guys, watch ou---" I tried to warn but the door that should have been there had vanished. The only ones left were Theo who was in front of me and Lucia who was beside me.

"What happened, Lord-dono?" Theo asked as he looked around in surprise.

"Looks like it's turned into the worst-case scenario."

Yes, my worst fears had come to life.

Lucia clung to me in distress. "Where'd everyone go!?"

"Probably outside of this area. You probably don't have to worry about them; we're the ones in trouble."

I looked around the room.

The estate was wide and darker than I would have imagined. There were several lamps, the stone floor as polished as a shiny mirror, and a red carpet with the kingdom's crest was laid out before us. The various pillars were gorgeously decorated and, combined, led to a deep feeling of unease.

I scanned around with Analyze Environment just to be safe.

"Like I thought."

I can't analyze outside the estate.

Moreover---

"They're coming." Smelling danger, I looked over to the stairs to see several people.

"Eek!"

While Lucia let out a small shriek, Theo silently took his stance.

The man had a muscular build with red skin, bat wings, and two long horns growing atop his head. I couldn't tell as his face was covered with an iron mask, but he probably had the appearance of a traditional ogre or devil.

"Lord-dono, what is that?"

"Probably one of whoever made this stupid barrier's playthings."

I could tell just how much it took to make that. It probably needed a giant factory or some experimental facility.

Theo stepped forward to try to cover us. "Lord-dono, please stand back!"

"I'll deal with everything. Theo, I'll leave Lucia's protection to you."

The enemy had stats averaging D and would probably be impossible for Theo.

Besides, this had been a war between The Amrzs Kingdom and the Radols up until now. That's why I had kept my hand out of it and worked behind the scenes as much as possible.

This monster was a different story, however. I wasn't confident, but these guys probably went against the rules of this world. That meant they were probably the same as me.

The mastermind controlling Fort Arkroy's forces most likely tried to turn the tables the moment they saw our attack and realized they were weaker. There was no point in leaving this all to Theo now.

And since these monsters seem to be made up of something, it'd be a bit harsh to leave it to Theo.

"But---"

I waved Theo's concerns away and looked above the stairs behind the monster.

The dim light of the lamp by the stairs lit up an armored man taking a strange pose atop the red carpet.

"So? Who are you?"

"Hehe! I am General Bull's Adjutant, Zap-chan ya knoooowww!! Just kidding~" The man looked up in ecstasy, craned his neck towards me, and gave a devilish smile.

He had two large horns pointing out of his forehead, sharp fangs that protruded out his mouth which curved up to his ears, and bloodshot eyes. He wasn't a human, no matter how you looked at it.

"General Bull's adjutant......" Theo mumbled as he pondered about something over and over. "I-impossible!!"

Theo stared at the masked monsters as if lightning had struck before his face warped hideously.

Looks like he figured it out. He's got a good intuition. These things don't come easy.

Lucia fearfully called out. "Onii-sama?" Theo didn't respond. His entire body trembled as he tried to hold back an uncontainable rage.

"Let me kill him, Lord-dono! No, I have to!!"

"...... I understand how you feel, but you're not strong enough. Protect Lucia."

I tapped his back and stepped forward.

"Hehe, you look delicious. You and that white-haired girl, especially. Your soft meat pulls at the heartstrings of a gourmet like myself!"

He spread his arms wide and took a strange and unnatural pose. Then, he shouted, "This, too, is just a joke~?"

He unnaturally turned just his face towards me.

If he was trying to be this creepy then it was in bad taste, but if that's how he really was then he's just a plain psycho. There's not much of a difference in the end, though.

In any case, my patience has just about run out. I'll stop this poor puppet with my violent emotions.

"Unpleasant trash."

I activated Explosive Thread while tapping into my uncontrollable rage.

A red line of light swayed back and forth before instantly exploding.

Before they knew it, ten of the masked monsters blew into pieces and scattered over the floor.

"That many......instantly?" Theo wringed out.

"Hmmmm?" Zap murmured in a daze. His head, arms, and feet had been severed by Explosive Thread and were scattered about.

"You piece of shit!"

I spat on the stone floor, drew out a dagger from my waist and slowly ascended the stairs.

Step after step, I saw Zap recovering like a video were being rewound.

---The bones, blood, muscles, and skin of both his arms recovered.

---The bones, blood, muscles, and skin of both his legs recovered.

---Then began his brain, and the muscles and skin of his head.

I arrived next to Zap, who was becoming the picture of health, and stabbed my dagger into his mouth.

"Let's see. I'll admit one thing."

He could only yelp.

"I planned to make this the first modern war and spilled a lot of blood for that," I continued. "Over ten thousand soldiers? If we're counting family, then I've spread misfortune to many more. Who do you think you are---ruining the results I've obtained after spilling so much blood?"

I twisted my dagger. The sound of my physiological repugnance echoed through the room.

He yelped once again.

"Are you listening? You're listening, right? Huh!? You know, I'm actually mad right now."

Zap twitched like a treefrog that had been crushed underfoot. I then casted the middle-rank spell, Lightning, that clad him in lightning.

"Bubebebebebe!"

The lightning crackled through his skin and produced the unpleasant odor of burnt meat.

"Gyoeeeebegugi!"

In the midst of his screams, Zap tried to pierce my heart with his sharp claws, but I easily obstructed him with countless red threads.

I bound his entire body with Explosive Threads and raised him into the air.

"Clean out your ears and listen up. You're about to go to the other side. No matter how you cry or beg for your life, I'll only give you the worst despair imaginable."

Then, I blasted his body to pieces with Explosive Threads.

"Feel......General......Blue......too."

I looked back in surprise, but Zap's upper half had already been turned to dust.

"Shit! How revolting!!"

Zaps peaceful face when he met his demise irritated me to no end.

"Lord-dono, were those masked men one of us?" asked Theo. Lucia gulped. This was an irregularity. To put it differently, it was closer to a scandal that my people had perpetrated. How much should I say?

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

"The tattoo on their right arm was the symbol for Radol soldiers."

Theo rolled up his sleeve and pointed to his tattoo of a swaying flame. I guess there's no reason to cover it up any more.

"You're right. Zap and the other masked men must have been modified by whoever created this domain."

Lucia immediately denied my words. "That's not something a human can do! Something's wrong with you two!"

However, the marked despair in her eyes meant that she knew deep down inside.

"It is."

"How can you say that!?"

"Because the undead attack on the empire was also artificially induced. Any unrealistic deed like that is plenty possible for those people."

"......"

Lucia quickly paled and she staggered until her body couldn't keep up anymore and her knees collapsed to the floor. She quietly trembled.

"I'll fight too!" declared Lucia. She stood up and wiped away her tears after crying her eyes out.

"Everything after this is my job," I replied. "You guys can just watch."

"No!"

"Even if you don't want to, releasing him is impossible for you two."

Theo grimaced. "Release...... so returning him to how he was before is impossible?"

"What do you mean return him back to how he was? He's already dead."

The results of Analyze Environment stated, "A man-demon possessed by a natural demon. His soul and body have been change via an unusual power." The effect had permeated even to his soul. There wasn't any trace of the original person left.

Besides, even without these analysis results, no human, or any living thing for that matter, would return to dust when destroyed. His corpse had simply returned back to the earth.

"Then it's my duty to put my brethren to sleep. I won't budge on this," said Theo.

"I agree. I'll do it too!"

Theo was one thing, but Lucia still hadn't understood what I truly meant. She's just going off her emotions right now.

"Don't be spoiled! Your power isn't enough to even mourn for your comrades. Figure that out already!!" I turned my back towards them after spitting out those cruel words. "That's why you need to witness all that's happened. That's the only way you can help them."

I began to head to the second floor.