“I can’t believe it. Bell-san was the one behind that barely-not-a-deviant?” DarkMel reacted with surprise.
“Yes,” Bell replied. “It’s truly regrettable, but I am actually the one who hired this almost-pervert. I really do regret it from the bottom of my heart...”
“Hey, is this old man allowed to cry now?” Nito asked. “You’ve already shattered this glass heart to pieces. In fact, were you two in cahoots the whole time? Or is this old man hallucinating?”
The shameful nickname agreed upon by the two had Nito’s heart in tatters.
“Oh no, not at all,” said DarkMel. “I only resorted to these heartless words to strengthen you, since you are in fact barely not a deviant. If I had to say, I’d rather not be letting any of this out of my mouth.”
“I mean look, your true body is the katana, right? I thought you’d grow stronger after a beating. In other words, this is a good-hearted insult. Yes,” said Bell.
With that, Nito was positive they were as one on this nickname. It was a reasonable conclusion. The ominous mood that had been present had dissipated like mist the moment DarkMel and Bell had come face-to-face, and now they had started attacking Nito with perfect coordination. This flow of events was simply too unnatural, even if their sadistic personalities fit well together.
“There’s no need to be so desperate. It’s true that we aren’t ‘in cahoots,’” said DarkMel.
“Yes, I can swear to it. I simply realized it when I arrived. She isn’t an enemy,” Bell replied.
“You...realized? What does that mean?” Nito asked.
“Do I really have to explain every little thing to you?” Bell asked, annoyed.
“I did come here to help you, so this old man has the right to an explanation!”
Unable to argue that point, Bell reluctantly started to explain.
The reason Bell had sicced Nito on DarkMel was because she’d thought DarkMel was suspicious. She hadn’t shown up for the exhibition match, forcing Dorothy to face off against Kelvin instead. Bell had heard the reason for this from Dorothy, so she knew that fallen angels acting in the shadows were at fault and was generally satisfied by that explanation.
However, there was one point that didn’t sit well with her. How had DarkMel been saved? The reasons were as Nito proposed: From what Bell knew of DarkMel and the Rank A adventurers’ skills, there was no way they could beat a fallen angel. Bell had Sera-level detection skills too, so it was strange that she hadn’t felt the battle happening. Even when she questioned the Rank A adventurers, they’d avoided answering while acting shady, so Bell had been sure that something was going on.
“After that, I started to investigate DarkMel, but she never did anything strange herself. I thought my intuition may have been off, but I couldn’t let it go, so I decided to brute force the matter,” Bell concluded.
“This old man objected, just so you know,” said Nito. “How could she do something so terrible to such a young girl? This old man asked her that, but more than that was the fact that your scary papa and his friends would retaliate. Yeah, scary...” He got a far-off look in his eyes, seemingly half resigned to his fate. Rumors of Kelvin’s parenting style had clearly reached even his ears.
“By the way, why did you ask mister Nito to do this?” DarkMel asked.
Nito let out a noise of shock. The way DarkMel had just referred to him made him feel old, but it was a big step up from barely-not-a-deviant, so it did a lot to recover his mood. He was truly a simple person.
“If you wanted to trick me, isn’t there someone more suited?” DarkMel continued.
“Definitely not,” Bell replied. “In my opinion, Nito was the best man for the job. Also, it’s easy to reach him since we’ve worked together in the past.”
Nito let out another noise of shock. Being called by his actual name by Bell raised his morale to the max. Not only that, but she’d expressed faith in him. That alone was enough to restore his shattered pride to its former state.
Also, even if DarkMel were to counterattack, Nito wouldn’t die right away. Actually, she knew about his trick already, so he was in a really dangerous spot, but whatever, Bell thought, though since she would never say all that to Nito, no harm was done. Ignorance truly was bliss.
“Heh heh,” Nito chuckled.
“Would you please refrain from creepy laughter?” Bell asked pointedly.
“Ah, sorry! But thanks to you, this old man has been completely revived! Heh! Heh! Heh!”
Bell responded with a silent look.
“Even your disdainful gaze doesn’t work on this old man now!” Nito exclaimed. He had become invincible.
“Anyway, getting back on track... The result of said brute-force strategy was the appearance of that superstrong DarkMel-chan, right? But how did you know that she wasn’t an enemy, Bell-chan?” Nito asked.
“It’s simple. Her current strength is only temporary—this state isn’t permanent. Her personality changed too, but she’s still a completely different person from the Black Goddess I was afraid of. Basically, she’s harmless,” said Bell.
“Er... Harmless?”
“Yes. Harmless.”
Her natural instincts worked perfectly, and Bell was able to understand the peculiarities of DarkMel’s state. However, Nito wasn’t satisfied.
“Hm... Will it really be all right?” he asked.
“I’m surprised you’re such a worrier.”
“I mean, you were worried because you know the strength of that Black Goddess,” Nito reasoned. “She would definitely make use of the objection system, after all. And wouldn’t she plot to reincarnate the world after that too?”
“Well, I do understand where you’re coming from,” DarkMel admitted. “But don’t worry. I have no intention of showing this to my papa, my mama, or anyone in my family. In fact, it’s impossible due to the way this ability works. I can only become like this when papa or the others can’t see me and when I’m in danger. It would be impossible to use it to object.”
“So when you were attacked by fallen angels, the situation just happened to allow you to clear those conditions,” said Bell. “Kelvin couldn’t detect you since he was inside the barrier of the stage, and Sera and the others were so busy restraining my papa that they couldn’t pay attention. Still, I managed to notice while I was nearby taking a vacation—I mean, spectating.”
“Of course you noticed, Bell-san,” said DarkMel. “And you’re right. So right that there’s nothing for me to add. Ah, and you were worried about me reincarnating the world or something? That’s also impossible. Even though I’ve reached my peak strength like this, I’ve already lost my reincarnating powers. I can do a lot with Black and Blue magic, but I wouldn’t suddenly sprout skills I don’t have. I am simply my papa’s daughter and completely different from the old DarkMel.”
“Uh...huh? Erm...this old man doesn’t understand any of it, but...for now I guess that means DarkMel-chan is safe?” Nito said, confused.
“Yes!” DarkMel replied happily. “As papa and mama’s daughter, I hope they have a wonderful wedding!” She flashed her usual smile—one without any of the previous DarkMel’s malice.
“I... I see! Then that’s a relief,” said Nito. “Oh boy, this old man was so scared! Yeah, what a nice ending. Peace is best!”
“Hee hee, it is, isn’t it?” DarkMel said happily. “But this power is a secret from papa and the others. A secret among secrets. If you accidentally let this secret slip—I’m going to take your katana apart, okay?”
Her smile now looked completely different to Nito. Somehow, DarkMel seemed even more lively than before.
“O-Oh no, never! This old man would never do something like that. Not when it would make you so unhappy, DarkMel-chan! This old man swears!” Nito exclaimed.
“What, really?!” DarkMel said.
Bell sighed. “I have no idea what game you two are playing. But at least the suspicions I had about DarkMel have been cleared up. And there’s no possibility of her objecting either. That reduces the chances of the ceremonies being ruined by a little—or not, actually...”
She wanted Sera’s wedding to be peaceful, at least. Bell wished for it from the bottom of her heart.