“Ah, yes. Now that brings back some memories.” Wawok’s face brightened like I was offering him a dear old toy.
“It broke recently, and we’d like you to fix it, if possible.”
“I sold it when I left Hell long ago. It fetched a good price, too. I made it as an exercise.”
“It suppresses its wearer’s mana, right?”
“Yes, it does. I’m surprised you know.”
Wawok chatted with us gladly. First impression suggested he wasn’t a villain. He was more the type to pursue his interests and do whatever he wanted in pursuit of those interests.
He picked up the collar. “If the owner imbues it with mana, it can be used to transform the wearer into a cat or back to their original form. Yes, those were the days when I enjoyed such frivolous things. There was nothing special about it being a cat. It could’ve been anything, as far as I was concerned. I’ve since cut down on gimmicks. My current collars are purely for control. They can’t be removed by the wearers, but I’ve designed them to break when the wearer dies to keep my work from being stolen and abused.”
From the sound of things, we had a test model, while the monsters’ collars were the finished products.
“Can this be fixed?” I asked.
“Who was wearing this collar, just out of curiosity?”
“The demon lord.”
Wawok did a double take, all but asking me What?!
“By the ‘demon lord,’ do you mean the Rileyla Diakitep?”
“That’s right,” Roje answered. Her mouth twisted as she spoke. She was still unhappy about the collar.
“Then were you the one, by any chance, who defeated the demon lord?”
“I think it’d be more accurate to say I collared the demon lord.”
“Wow…,” Wawok said, clearly impressed. Then he clenched his left hand into a fist. “I’m amazed…especially considering the demon lord’s strength. And I suppose you lost your arm in that fight as well?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“I see… Still, I’m sure it was a hard-fought battle…”
The battle against the demon lord was actually very easy. Apparently, Wawok was the type who wouldn’t listen once he made an assumption.
He regarded my missing right arm with a pained look. Based on how grateful he was that I defeated the demon lord, he definitely had to be part of the anti-pure-demon faction.
“Hell believes that the demon lord died. There was a rumor for a time she’d been resurrected, but thanks to you, she’s gone.”
“I sealed away her powers using this collar. So I’d like to be able to use this again.”
“If you have the collar…then where is the demon lord now?”
“Lord Rileyla’s hanging out nearby in a house, just outside of town,” Dey answered.
“The demon lord is what…?”
Wawok’s description of Rila painted a clear image of how Hell viewed her.
“I have spare collars like the ones on my little pets. They’re designed to break when the wearer dies as well. And they lack the gimmicky feature of turning the bearer into a cat.”
I shot a look at the shadow, silently asking what Rila thought.
“Hmm…”
“Well, that sure won’t work,” Dey said. “I mean, Lord Rileyla wants the collar so she can turn into a kitty cat, not because she wants to stay with Master Roland.”
“Ah, y-yes, indeed… That is correct!”
The demon lord’s voice was a little too high. Dey smirked at Rila’s response. She was teasing her.
“H-however…i-if the spare collars are all you have, then so be it! I would not mind wearing one!”
Well, that was a reassuring response.
“Do I hear the voice of the demon lord…?”
Roje was the one to answer Wawok’s question. “This is Lord Rileyla’s Shadow magic. She is projecting her voice from a house some distance away.”
“I see… And if she remains in her original form, there will be trouble if Hell learns of her survival.”
Well, that technically already happened once. I looked to Roje.
“I cannot speak for the military, but she is still very popular on the streets, and her supporters are gaining some momentum.”
“I-is that so?”
“Why, of course, Lord Rileyla.” Roje never missed an opportunity to flatter her master.
Thankfully, Dey brought us back to our objective. “Anyway, the point is, can you fix it or not?”
Wawok checked on the collar again. “I think it will be faster to make a new one than to repair this one. However, the inclusion of the feline transformation will lengthen the process.”
Rila’s shadow sighed with relief. “That is acceptable. How long will it take?”
“Three months.”
That was a good chunk of time.
“More importantly…” Wawok tossed the collar aside and felt my right shoulder. He was checking on the remaining muscle. “I think you could become more powerful.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Don’t you want a right arm?”
I couldn’t reply immediately. I didn’t care about being strong anymore. At least, I wanted to not care…
“You sealed away the demon lord’s powers while she was still alive. It’d be a waste to leave you without a right arm.”
My mind worked to come up with reasons to refuse.
“In my current line of work, I only need one arm. I’m grateful for the offer, though.”
“Is that right?”
“I’ll keep an eye on Master Roland for eternity, so he doesn’t need a right arm anymore. In fact…he doesn’t need a left one, either…” Dey grinned, but that only made her remark more frightening. Having no arms would definitely hinder my work…
“We have preserved his limb to keep it from rotting. Do you mean to say you can reattach it?”
“I don’t have any interest in anything so boring.”
Apparently, something beyond Rila’s capabilities was “boring” to Wawok. He was certainly an interesting man.
“I simply meant that I’d be able to prepare a superior replacement for you.”
Wawok explained he was in this cavern to immerse himself in his research and experiments to develop new technology.
“Monster tamers are extremely happy with my work. The collars sell for a high price.”
That made sense.
On top of being able to keep the monsters in check, the collars allowed them to transform in battle, as the Spiny Lizard had. When the larger size wasn’t necessary, the monster could remain in its smaller form.
Wawok told us that the income from his developments went to excavating this cave. He struck me as generally good-natured and was willing to answer any questions I had.
“I saw the lizard suddenly turn into a dragon. What was that?” I inquired.