The Great Sinner Smooths Things Over

“Now, I'll do a full 【Presence Concealment】. Even if I'm not there, I'm there, so don't worry.”

And with that, by the time Giovanno had blinked once and opened his eyes again, Emi had vanished into thin air.

“Wha!? P, 【Presence Concealment】, you say!?”

Giovanno had heard that term before.

It was supposed to be a high-level stealth technique passed down by hunters or...... people who make their living in shady trades.

“Wh, what......”

But as far as Giovanno knew, that technique was a matter of posture, breathing and the like, for making oneself ‘harder’ for prey to notice.

It was by no means some kind of magic for vanishing!

Yet the reality was that no matter how frantically Giovanno looked around, the girl who had been standing there just a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.

(That girl...... Emi, just what, is she really......?)

Filled with a sense of awe, Giovanno couldn't help but wonder.

The abnormal strength to easily tear through chains, the mysterious special ability to mow down great trees, the far-too-advanced 【Presence Concealment】......

Her specs were simply too high.

He couldn't possibly believe she was a human being like himself.

But Giovanno's musings about who Emi really was were soon cut short.

Because barely a few dozen seconds after she vanished...... the forest started getting noisy!

“Migyaaa! Migyaaa!”

“Gyaooo!”

“Gaa gaga! Gaa gaga!”

“Chiwawawawaaaaa!”

“......Mm, mmm!?”

A jumble of cries, screams, and killing intent!

The presence of the monsters, held down until now by the 【Intimidation】 Emi was constantly giving off, swelled in an instant and came pouring out of the forest like a burst dam!

And then...... the true face of the demon realm forest bared its fangs all at once at Giovanno, who had been left alone at the base!!

“““Migyaaaaaaa!”””

First to leap over the great trunks with that scream and storm the base was a pack of Forest Topopolocks!

Their three red eyes glinting, they all charged at Giovanno at once!

But!

“Gyaooo!”

A black shadow slammed into the pack from the side!

This large wolf with black fur was a Grim Wolf!

“Migyaaaaaaa!?”

“Gyaooo!”

The Grim Wolf casually devoured two Forest Topopolocks, then fixed Giovanno with a glare.

This thing had by no means come to Giovanno's rescue.

The Forest Topopolocks and Giovanno were equally nothing more than prey to the Grim Wolf......!

But Giovanno wasn't even given time to quail under the Grim Wolf's gaze, brimming with killing intent!

“Gaa gaga! Gaa gaga!”

Because something huge had suddenly dropped down behind Giovanno!

Giovanno whirled around in surprise, and what leapt into view was a giant toad.

The toad was a dark green color and boasted a body large enough to easily swallow a human whole!

Its name was the Zamago Toad! A species native only to this forest!

The Zamago Toad started to shoot its long tongue at Giovanno, but noticed something, stopped, and hopped away.

“Chiwawa! Chiwawawaa!”

And on that Zamago Toad pounced a creepy monster whose cry, at least, was a cheerful one!

It was an Assault Chiwanwan, an adorable little face perched atop a bulging, muscle-bound body!

“Chiwawawa! Chiwawawa!”

“Gaa! Gaga!”

The Zamago Toad fought back, spraying toxic fluid at the attacking Assault Chiwanwan!

“Migyaaa!”

“Gyaooo!”

“Migya! Migyaaaa!”

“Gaa gaga!”

“Chiwawawawaaa! Chiwawawa!”

“Gaa gaga! Gaa gaga!”

“Hih...... hiee......”

Giovanno's legs gave out and he collapsed on the spot, unable to do anything but shake violently.

Small wonder.

What stretched out around him was the daily life of a true demon realm, where blood splattered everywhere.

A storm-like world where a mere human like Giovanno would be turned into a lump of meat in an instant if caught up in it.

Yes...... this was the true face of the demon realm.

If Giovanno hadn't been attacked by monsters on his first day of banishment in Zamago Forest, it was only because Emi, who happened to come down the mountain that day, had been on a rampage (hunting) in the forest, sending the monsters fleeing halfway up Mount Nanga for emergency shelter.

But, still.

This uproar died down in no time.

“Ga!?”

The first to go silent was the Zamago Toad fighting the Assault Chiwanwan.

Something that flew in from somewhere had blown the head off this giant toad.

“Chi......”

Next, without even being allowed to let out a cry, the Assault Chiwanwan's head was blown off in the same way.

DODODODODODODODO......!!

And then, with that roar, something came flying in without a break, and the Grim Wolf and the Forest Topopolocks were riddled with holes and died, every last one.

“Huh......?”

As if the chaotic situation from a moment ago had been a lie, the base became deathly silent.

And then, he felt it again—a reassuring sense of intimidation.

He turned around, and there stood Emi, toying with a pebble on her palm.

“Y, you saved me...... thank, you, Emi.”

Giovanno just managed to squeeze the words out of his bone-dry throat.

But, still.

“............”

Emi said nothing.

No expression.

And, clearly in a bad mood.

Irritably, she crushed the pebble she had been toying with in one hand, grinding it to sand.

“E, Emi......?”

“............”

A little spooked by the sight, Giovanno somehow hauled himself to his feet and called out to Emi.

Emi continued to remain silent, but after a while.

“The wall, was useless.”

She murmured softly.

......Having been shown the reality of her failure in wall-building so vividly, she was moping.

(No...... it was an obvious outcome, wasn't it......)

Just look at that wall, all gaps, he wanted to say.

Giovanno badly wanted to point that out, but if he said so honestly and she sulked or flew into a rage, he would be in trouble.

He chose his words carefully.

For now, let's try praising and flattering her.

“No, no no no! But what a marvel! The one who slew every last monster, Emi, that was you, wasn't it? You truly are tremendously strong! Why, I couldn't ask for a more dependable protector! I am most deeply impressed!”

“............”

“I couldn't even grasp what happened! I am truly glad that I could ask one as strong as you to be my bodyguard!”

“But, the wall, was useless.”

““............””

The shallow flattery strategy failed miserably.

(Gunuu! What would you have me do!!)

As both fell silent, Giovanno clutched his head!

He had no wife.

Nor had he ever had children.

He had never once tried to cheer up a sulking girl.

He stole a glance at Emi.

She was staring at the wall she had built.

Her fists clenched tightly.

Her profile was as expressionless as ever.

But still, a vibe was leaking out of her, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

At a glance, she looked nothing like the strong being who had just spread awe and trampled the monsters.

At this moment, Emi was nothing more than an ordinary girl.

(............Oh, blast it!)

And so, one might say.

Not in his position as the weakling being protected.

Nor as a villain.

But simply as an adult, Giovanno's body moved on its own the very next instant.

He approached Emi unhurriedly...... and gave a light rap on the crown of her head—kotsun.

“......What.”

Emi glared at Giovanno in a foul mood.

Instantly, Emi's 【Intimidation】 was directed at Giovanno.

But Giovanno did not look away.

Because Giovanno was an adult.

“You fool.”

He murmured it quietly, then roughly tousled Emi's hair.

“......What?”

Emi was bewildered by Giovanno's unexpected action.

Having her head, patted.

It was a sensation she had rarely experienced in all her life so far, her previous life included.

Bewildered, confused...... and then, for no reason, she felt a little relief, and Emi's 【Intimidation】 vanished.

“Don't mope.”

“............”

“So you failed, so what.”

“............”

“Everyone fails sometimes, you know...... we're, only human.”

“............But.”

“No buts.”

Stopping the hand that was patting her head, Giovanno crouched down and met Emi's eyes.

“Anyway, don't mope. Brooding over it only makes you pathetic.”

“............”

“You remember what I looked like last night, don't you? Eh? Pathetic, wasn't I? Me, last night.”

“............True.”

“Hey!”

With a wry smile, Giovanno stood up.

The air between the two had softened considerably.

It seemed this adult had succeeded in soothing the girl.

“But, what do we do?”

But the root problem still hadn't been solved.

“The wall, didn't work out, that's a fact. Old man, I can't protect you. That's a problem, right?”

In the end, she hadn't managed to build the wall.

Emi had been unable to create a base where Giovanno could live in peace.

But Giovanno laughed off Emi's worry.

“Kukuku, Emi, you're thinking too rigidly.”

“What did you say.”

“I only learned it from the attack just now, but Emi, with you around, perhaps most monsters won't come near us at all?”

“Maybe. If I don't hide my presence on purpose, maybe.”

“Then we don't need any wall at all, do we!”

“............Ah.”

Emi stood there blankly, her mouth open.

Roaring with laughter, Giovanno went on.

“Hahaha! Therefore, Emi, a change of plans. You need not bother with wall-building, which you are no good at! From now on, stick to me day and night, and protect pathetic, feeble me!”

“Don't brag about it.”

“It's my nature!”

“But, what about hunting? Meals, we only eat the grass around here?”

“You fool...... calm down, and look around you.”

Around them lay the carcasses of the monsters Emi had just slaughtered.

Among them were a good many Forest Topopolocks, which were quite tasty.

Also, in truth, as long as the poison is handled correctly, Zamago Toad meat is a delicacy that sells as a luxury item in markets.

“We need only do the same thing as just now. You hide your presence for a while. Then, drawn by my smell, the monsters come. And you hunt them.”

“......I see!”

“With that, our food is taken care of! In other words, it is no exaggeration to say we have conquered the great outdoors of this forest! LET US, RAISE A TOOOAST!!”

“OOOOOH!”

Oddly keyed up after surviving the monster attack, Giovanno shouted whatever came into his head and thrust his right fist high into the air!

Emi imitated him, innocently raising her right fist!

Her momentum was tremendous: all she did was thrust her arm up, and yet it made an incredible ‘Byu!!!’, and Giovanno jumped out of his skin!

Then, chanting ‘A toast, a toast’, Emi eagerly lopped the heads off two of the fallen Forest Topopolocks and brought one over to Giovanno.

All while holding the other head in her mouth and slurping up its blood.

......Naturally, he declined.

For ordinary people, the raw flesh and blood of a monster is, no matter how you look at it, a deadly poison......

Well, with one thing and another.

The demon-realm life of the great sinner and the cursed child had begun.

Incidentally, for a while after this, the monster hunts for their food would be carried out with Giovanno as the bait.

He had made the suggestion carried away by the mood of the moment, but what it meant was being exposed to mortal danger and terror like that, over and over again......

He came to deeply regret his shallow proposal.

And this hunting method was named “Old-Man Hunting” by Emi.

Doesn't that kind of mean something else?

Her memories of a previous life do have some influence, but Emi has never had an adult to scold her and has forced everything down with sheer strength, so she has a rather childish side.