Chapter 73
“The Great Humanization Operation”
After completing the humanization ritual, the nineteen members of the escort squad and Lyrisia stood in the plaza set at the outer edge of the Demon King’s castle.
The large magic circle that had spread across the obsidian floor had already disappeared, leaving behind—demons in human form.
They were all nervously touching their bodies or peering into mirrors.
“Oh! My claws are so round! Now I won’t struggle when grabbing things!”
“No, you weren’t really struggling before, though!”
Lyrisia interrupted them mercilessly.
“I have hair!”
Meril twirled around, letting her golden hair sway.
“It’s long! It flows! Even if I taste-test poison, it’ll look amazing!”
“Tasting poison is a matter of life and death. It’s not something you let your hair flow for!”
The twin-swords, Kil and Kal, faced each other and shouted in unison.
“Brother! My eyebrows move!”
“Brother! My mouth corners move too!”
The two of them immediately began making exaggerated faces.
“Stop it! If you make those faces in the human world, you’ll be immediately suspicious!”
And then—Golem.
He opened his large gray eyes wide and blinked repeatedly.
“Blinking! Amazing! My eyelids go up and down, adjusting the amount of light! Amazing! Amazing! —Ah, I can make a voice! I have a voice! I’m speaking! I can speak! Wow! This is fun! I want to speak more! I can’t stop!”
“Stop, stop!”
Lyrisia waved her hands in panic.
“You promised to keep it under three sentences!”
“Three sentences!? Impossible! I’ve been standing silently as a stone until now! But now I have a mouth! A tongue! Teeth! My lips move! My throat vibrates! The air vibrates! —Ah, I spoke too much again!”
Laughter spread around.
“So cute…”
Someone whispered softly, and Golem got even more excited, flailing his arms.
“Cute!? Me!? A talking golem!? Yay!”
“Haah…”
The Demon King pressed his forehead and sighed wearily.
“…If they go to the human world like this, they’ll stand out within ten steps.”
Lyrisia puffed up her chest and replied.
“It’s fine, Papa. I’ll manage them properly!”
“Manage, huh.”
The Demon King gave her a skeptical look.
“Whenever you say you’ll ‘manage’ something, it usually ends up ‘unmanageable.’”
“This time it’ll be fine!”
Lyrisia said firmly.
◆◇◆
Afterward, the escort squad moved on to “walking training as humans.”
“This is how you walk in a human city.”
Lyrisia demonstrated.
Straighten your back, walk at a moderate pace, swing your arms naturally.
“I see!”
Zeil immediately started running and went around the plaza three times.
“No! That’s too fast!”
“I see!”
Meril walked while swaying her hips from side to side.
“No! You’re not a stage actress!”
Kil and Kal stepped forward with the same foot simultaneously.
“No! Don’t mirror each other!”
And then Golem.
He walked while narrating every step: “Right foot forward! Left foot forward!”
“You don’t have to talk!”
◆◇◆
Evening.
After finishing the walking training, the escort squad gathered in the castle’s dining hall.
It was for practicing eating in their human forms.
Their eyes sparkled when the food was set out.
“So this is a fork!”
“The spoon curves! Amazing!”
“The bread is so fluffy!”
“Human food is delicious!”
Meril looked at the food on her plate with shining eyes and said,
“Then I’ll taste everything!”
“I told you, don’t taste everything!”
Golem, munching on bread, continued narrating.
“Chewing! Chewing with my teeth! The bread is soft! Saliva comes out! Swallow! My throat moves! It falls into my stomach! Ah! Amazing!”
“Stop narrating!”
Every time Lyrisia interjected, the hall was filled with laughter.
That night, Lyrisia stood by her window and gazed at the night sky.
She imagined the blue sky of the academy in a distant world.
“Papa… I will definitely go there. And I will learn the principles.”
Behind her, Golem excitedly exclaimed, “I said goodnight! I said goodnight! I can say goodnight!”
Lyrisia smiled wryly but felt a little reassured by his voice.
And so, preparations for going to the academy proceeded steadily—or rather, chaotically.
