kscans

Chapter 247 - The Praiseworthy Idiot

He presented this to me with a completely serious face. How was I supposed to react? As I held my head in my hands, Honda casually let another remark slip.

"It’s for kids, after all."

"The design is from the first generation."

That’s for old guys and gals.

"Because this is the image I have in my head."

Well, me too, but still. Ah, this brings back so many memories. My mom bought me the toy. I remember my dad saying he wanted one too and getting smacked by my mom.

"...Whatever. I’m getting changed, at least."

"Getting changed?"

I snapped my fingers and transformed the clothes I was wearing. A black inner shirt, a red jacket, jeans. And finally, I put on a red and white cap. Perfect.

"Satou-shi, you’re really getting into it, aren’t you?"

"Shut up. You show me this and expect me not to get excited? Give me a break!!"

I picked up the dex and put it in my pocket. Now, before I set off to become an Iromon Master... one more thing.

"Honda, what’s the security like on this thing?"

"Hm? It has a soul-based authentication function so only members can use it. And a self-destruct function."

Apparently, if someone tries to force their way into it, it will shatter into pieces on the spot. He said it was a precaution, though it’s unlikely an ordinary organization could reproduce it even if they did analyze it.

"I also plan to install an offensive barrier, but I haven’t gotten to that part yet. It’s still a prototype."

"I see. In that case, here’s a freebie. I’ll install an offensive barrier for you."

"Oh, from Satou-shi himself? What do you plan to install?"

"I’ll force anyone who uses it improperly to wear this."

I pointed to the clothes I was wearing with my thumb.

"For women, it’s a belly-baring sleeveless top with suspenders and denim shorts."

No matter what they wear, their clothes will transform into one of those two outfits unless a certain condition is met. It’s a different version of the curse I put on Thanatos and the others.

"Wow, how nostalgic. I had a crush on her too. And what is this condition?"

"Registering 151 new villains. The analysis function will be temporarily unlocked, but viewing will be disabled, so misuse is impossible."

"That’s rather cruel."

It would be easy if it included the Surface World, but this is only for people from the Supernatural World. Over 100 would be tough. But it’s the fault of whoever uses it improperly, so it can’t be helped.

"But it’s a good idea. It means the database will get richer."

"Right? Oh, but maybe having only one way to break the curse is a bit too much."

I’ll add an option to have it removed by paying a nuisance fee (in the tens of millions) to the Mutual Aid Society. Should I add a feature where the amount decreases depending on the number of registered people?

"...Perhaps letting a few prototypes get stolen to enrich the database is an option?"

"Not a bad idea. Well, that’s the Mutual Aid Society’s domain, so I’ll leave it to you."

I created a package containing the spell and handed it to Honda.

"Much appreciated."

"By the way, how does this thing handle malicious non-humans?"

Non-humans themselves aren’t connected to the collective unconscious, but if there’s a human who knows about that non-human, it’s a different story. It should be possible to extract information through that person.

"It’s installed on the prototype, but it’s undecided whether it will be in the final version. There’s the issue of resources, but also reliability."

"...Ah, I see."

There’s a possibility that the information from the human who knows them is incorrect. But since it’s apparently installed on the prototype I was given, I should probably test it.

Now then.

"See you later, Professor. I’m off on a journey."

"Indeed. I pray that you will become a splendid Iromon Master."

I said goodbye to Honda and left the lab.

First, I’ll try it out on the people I know who could be a threat.

I’ll use that to check its functionality. Now, who should I... ah, right, I’ll go with him. He’s a big name, and I know him well. I searched for his whereabouts, and it seems he’s in his office, so I teleported there directly.

"Whoa, if it isn’t Satou-kyun. What’s up?"

Lucifer, who was eating ice cream on the sofa in the Devipro office, looked at me with wide eyes. I apologized for the sudden visit, pointed the lens at him, and snapped a picture.

«Legendary Iromon, Lucifer (Idol Form)»

"Huh? What’s this?"

So it has a voice function too... oh, I can turn this off. Makes sense given its purpose. I thought for a second they shouldn’t have included it in the first place, but it’s probably Honda’s hobby.

«The former chief of angels and king of the demon world, who also holds the title of morning star.»

The text and voice are playing at the same time, but the text on screen is mostly hiragana and katakana. Is this a recreation of the original? As a fan, I appreciate it, but it’s hard to re… oh, I can turn this function off too. It’s nice how it has these little quality-of-life features.

«Currently obsessed with his idol activities and is basically harmless, but one must not forget he is the lord of demons.»

"Hmm, hmm."

"It’s not ‘hmm, hmm.’ What? What is this? Seriously, what is this? The other day you just showed up and ripped out my heart."

He was almost like a random attacker, Lucifer said with a shrug. Well, it’s true that I suddenly teleported in, ripped out his heart, and left. I guess I can’t complain if he calls me a random attacker. But.

"The heart was a nuisance fee. For scheming something strange with a person’s genes."

I’ll skip the details, but it turned out that this guy had secretly stolen my blood that was collected when I went to give blood. It was obvious it wouldn’t be used for anything good, so I settled it with his heart.

"Isn’t the exchange rate for a heart and blood a little off?"

"A demon of your level isn’t going to be bothered by having a heart or two ripped out."

Considering the intended use, it was practically like a blood donation. A fair trade.

"And in the end, Satou-kyun’s blood was unusable anyway..."

"Oh, as I thought?"

There have been idiots who tried to make a clone of me before. Well, it didn’t go well for them. They were completely annihilated along with their research facility. I swear I didn’t do anything. My blood seems to have gone berserk on its own. I’m not consciously aware of it, but it seems that if someone tries to misuse my genetic information, something bad happens.

Lucifer might have thought he could handle it, but it seems he failed.

"By the way, what happened?"

"A third of the demon world was obliterated... and that was with me doing my best to contain the damage. What is with your blood, Satou-kyun..."

They’re currently in the middle of reconstruction. Ah, so his recent intense focus on his idol activities is partly to earn money for the reconstruction budget.

Well, Lucifer doesn’t matter. What’s more important is the Iromon Dex.

"...It’s a good sign that it can extract information without any problems, even if it’s just the surface level, from someone of his level."

Lucifer’s disguise is perfect. The information obtained from the camera’s analysis must be full of fakes. But it seems that if you query it and there’s a human who knows the truth, it can extract the information without any issues.

"Anyway. What is that thing, really? I mean, I can guess."

"The Iromon Dex. It’s a gadget the Mutual Aid Society made for kids. Its purpose is just as you imagine."

"...Um, could you let me try it for a bit?"

"What? Are you interested?"

"I’ve played every game in the series from the first generation to the current one."

No way. We should battle sometime. Seeing this has reignited my passion, so I was thinking of buying the first generation again on my way home.

"But you get a penalty if someone who doesn’t belong to the Mutual Aid Society uses this."

"The fact that it affects even someone at my level means it was your doing, Satou-kyun."

Lucifer made a disgruntled face. I could remove the restriction for him, but I have no obligation to go that far. He seems to understand that, as he didn’t ask me to remove the security.

"...Since I can’t cause trouble in Japan anyway, maybe joining the Mutual Aid Society isn’t such a bad idea at this point?"

"It’s not my place to say this, but you’re an idiot."

But that’s what makes him a demon king. That rash act is praiseworthy.