The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 79: Even in this world, we suffer from censorship

Chapter 79: Even in this world, we suffer from censorship

While waiting for Natha to finish work, I took a look at those failures again; fascinating devices that probably would rake in money if properly made.

I mean; who wouldn’t want to have shooting abilities like elves without the need for blessing or natural talent? Who wouldn’t want to be able to communicate long distance with something that could be put in someone’s pocket—imagine how much money those noble gossipers would throw for a phone?

But of course, it was easier said than done.

We used to think having magic in life would make things more convenient. Turned out, that wasn’t the case. Sometimes, it just made things complicated.

Like these guns; I could see that they were meant to shoot magic bullets. The bullet’s casing was made of magic conductor material and carved with spells that functioned to contain the mana, locked it, and detonate it once it hit the target. The problem was, unlike the black powder that needed a spark trigger for activation, mana was already a source of energy in the first place. If the user wasn’t proficient in control, they could accidentally trigger the detonation while pouring the mana inside the bullet casing.

I kind of thought that maybe the elf was banned because he caused so many explosive incidents while making this stuff—aside from the original blasphemy.

But...rather than making it into a magic gun, wouldn’t it be more effective to just create a kinetic one with black powder bullets? In the first place, using all of those complicated spells for one single bullet casing wasn’t very cost-effective. If it was made into a regular gun, all that needed to be done was carve a rune formation to ignite the system and force the bullet out. A simple, small mana core was all that was needed as fuel for the spell, and it would be usable even without the user knowing how to use magic.

But I get why the elf wanted to make a magic gun; because this is a fantasy world. If the elf was really a transmigrator, he was probably obsessed with making a cool-looking magic gun that spelled fantasy setting.

Perhaps he used to be an avid gamer or something?

I would like to tinker more with the guns, but there was someone who felt threatened and buzzing nonstop inside me, even demanding to be taken out, so I stopped the research on the gun.

Because having the Spear of Judgment out in the middle of a Demon Castle was never a good idea.

What I actually really want was the phone, however. I had always been, ever since Natha was gone without any words for weeks to take care of the Wrath’s successorship. The communication orb was nice and all, but I couldn’t bring myself to use it anytime, since I would basically speak through a loudspeaker with it.

But if the phone worked, with texting function and all...I wouldn’t feel so apprehensive about reaching out to Natha through text in the middle of the day. And if we could have a call without anyone else in the room could hear, that would be perfect.

Oh, oh—and if it could also store still images and moving videos...

"You’re having fun with those?"

Suddenly, I heard Natha’s voice, and before I knew it, he was already beside me—arm on my waist and leaning close. I didn’t even realize he was back already, too absorbed in the ’failures’ strewn around me on the couch.

"A little bit," I answered with a grin. It was indeed quite refreshing, to look at these pseudo-Earthen tools.

Natha smiled and kissed my cheek lightly, before moving away to shed his coat and changed his clothes. "It’s good if you liked them, so they aren’t that useless after all," he chuckled. "But..." his voice changed then, deeper and rather sharp, making me look up at him in reflex, back straightened like a naughty child getting scolded.

But...? But what? I waited for him to continue, but the only thing I got was a strip show, as Natha took off his clothes one by one—right there, in the bedroom instead of the dressing room.

What could I do when his top slid off to reveal the ripple muscles of his solid upper body, aside from staring unblinking and gulping?

My Lord, why the hell were you seducing people as soon as you were home?!

"But," just then, the continuation that I was waiting for finally arrive, along with the view of his bare upper torso getting closer to me.

I pulled my legs up and folded my body on the couch, sinking into the soft fabric as his arms came to cage me there. With silver eyes staring straight at me, he spoke in a sharp tone. "I would be very disappointed if you put your attention more to those things while I’m here."

Umm...yeah, I didn’t think I could think about anything other than those pecs in front of me right now. Point taken, my Lord—I nodded fast in reply to his statement.

Only then that the sharpness was gone from his eyes and voice, as the silver eyes curled softly, and he smiled gently again, just like the Natha I knew. He kissed me, on my lips this time, long and slow, until I almost ran out of breath.

When he parted his lips, I finally manage to speak with bated breath. "Welcome back,"

"Mm, I’m home."

Home. I had thought that the Lair was my new home in this world, since that was where I felt comfortable for the first time. Felt like I belonged. But while that place still felt like home, I realized there was nothing jarring about calling this place home too.

Not the Lord Castle, not even the private quarters. Just here, the place where Natha was.

Ah...I didn’t think I could bear to bid farewell to these homes someday...

If someday things turned south and I had to perish, would it be possible to be turned into a tool so he could put me in his collection? Or artworks? Or...I don’t know...a fossil? An egg?

Egg...

"Egg?" amidst my sudden dark thought, I suddenly remembered something I wanted to ask Natha since earlier. But I was getting distracted by the tools so I only remembered about it now.

"What egg?" Natha asked, emerging from the dressing room with his nightrobe. I pointed in the direction of the collection room, and he let out a soft exclaim. "Ah, the one in the tube?"

I nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, that spherical thing...umm, is that actually not an egg?"

Looking at Natha’s reaction, he didn’t seem to consider it as an egg. And honestly, I was just making an assumption because the tube felt like an incubator with life support spells. I remembered the surface was smooth and sleek, iridescent like a pearl.

"Well, you can call it that," Natha answered with a smile, taking an empty seat beside me, which I already cleaned up from the tools. "I call it a seed, but egg works too."

Huh? That made it even more confusing.

"What kind of...seed...is that?"

"Hmm..." he tapped on the arm with a slight frown, as if trying to find a way to easily explain it to me in a way that I could understand. "It’s something that the Demon God told me to keep."

The...God? The Demon God? Didn’t that make the egg...seed...whatever a sacred thing? But why would he display it along with other things instead of keeping it in a safer place?

As if reading my thought, he said with a simple smile. "I want it to be seen, and for whoever saw it to ask me about it."

Huh...what kind of reasoning was that? The more I asked about it, the more confused I became. "Does it have a name, then?"

Natha paused for a bit, eyes looking up as if contemplating something. He looked at me seriously for a while after that, making me even more confused, before opening his mouth hesitatingly.

"It’s a—"

Suddenly, my ears were ringing heavily, like there was a speaker being cranked up to a maximum volume and letting out absurd noises that drowned everything else. "Ugh—" I clasped my ears shut and closed my eyes, yelling inwardly for the noise to disappear, even though I knew it was stu—wait, it was really gone.

I blinked in surprise, and lift my hands off my ears. The ringing noise was gone, not even leaving a leftover sensation, as if it was just a fragment of my imagination.

But from Natha’s wry smile, it seemed to be real.

"W-what was..."

"It seems like you also haven’t been allowed to hear it," Natha said, caressing my temple and reddened earlobe. "Did it hurt?"

"No," I shook my head. It didn’t hurt, just shocking. I was also expecting my eardrum to bleed or something, but the noise seemed to invade my astral body rather than the physical one. "But what was that?"

"It’s God’s way of telling you that you can’t know about it yet," Natha said, looking a little bit disappointed.

What the hell? There was censorship in this world? Running by a God’s committee no less...

"Umm...is that...bad?" I asked carefully. Was there some qualification I needed to achieve beforehand? Like I needed to max my stat or something? Or a handsome face and solid figure carved with alpha seed?

"No," Natha said with a chuckle. "No one can hear it, anyway."

"No one? So others who heard you mention it also experience this...ringing?"

"Not really," Natha rubbed his chin in contemplation, seemingly trying to recall the past occurrence. "It’s different with every people. Some just suddenly blank out, and came back as if they forgot ever asking about it in the first place. Some even collapsed, also remembered nothing..."

My brows raised in reflex. That was quite heavy censorship, if it even tinkered with their memories. But why? What kind of seed was triggering that kind of protection from God?

But...hmm? I still remembered about the egg or seed or whatever it was even after the censorship. "Then why am I not..."

"I don’t know," Natha smiled, silver eyes looking as confused as I was. For the first time, I saw the great Demon Lord looking lost. "So you’re not allowed to know what it is yet, but you’re allowed to remember its existence,"

Hmm...

"Does it mean I might be able to hear it someday?"

Natha smiled wryly, stroking my cheek with a tender touch. "I sure hope so..."

Wow...what kind of thing it was that made Natha let out that kind of vulnerable expression?