Volume 10, Chapter 12 – A Suspect Inheritance

“Huuu.” Letting out a long breath, Yisi held the finished pencil up to the morning sunlight. “Alright, let’s test its effectiveness.”

“What is Yisi doing?”

When Yisi, sitting in the co-driver’s seat, took out a wooden board and papyrus, Tina, who was peeking out from the carriage, asked curiously. Due to her line of sight and height, Tina had to lean on Yisi’s shoulder to see what Yisi was doing.

“I’m trying out a new tool. This thing is called a pencil.”

Although she knew the general process for making a pencil, theory and practice were two different things. In the span of one night, most of the pencil leads she made were either too brittle or too soft because she hadn’t mixed the ratio of clay and graphite correctly, making them unsuitable for further processing. Furthermore, dissecting the Graphite Bees, which were only the size of a finger, was a delicate and time-consuming job. Thus, it wasn’t until the sun had risen over the mountaintops that she finally managed to make a few batches of leads that could be called a finished product.

As for the pencil’s outer casing, in order to hurry on with their journey, Yisi simply sat in the co-driver’s seat next to Refina and carved the wood. Compared to making the leads, this process was quite simple. She just had to cut a groove in the middle of a wooden stick, just big enough to fit the lead, then fit the two halves of the stick together and clamp them tight, applying something sticky in the seam to fix it in place, and a pencil was complete. To save trouble, Yisi didn’t use glue or anything similar, but directly used [Solidify] magic as a substitute. Although [Solidify] magic had a time limit, and the pencil would split in two once the time was up, the pencil was only in the experimental stage for now. To truly put it into use, she would have to wait until they reached Wilfred City and she found something in the alchemy market with a function similar to an adhesive.

“Pencil?”

Just like Laxy last night, Tina’s orange-red eyes widened in confusion. Just looking at this curious expression, no one would ever connect Tina with the terrifying existence of a Demon Lord.

“Ah, yes. Can Tina write?”

“Of course. Otherwise, who does Yisi think wrote that letter for Yisi in the Marquisate of Taris, the one about searching for the Mana Source? This one, as the Demon Lord, comprehends all languages on the continent.”

“Don’t get so conceited over that… I still haven’t settled the score with Tina over the Mana Source.” Yisi held the pencil and the wooden board, which had white paper attached, over her head and handed them both to Tina. “Here. Tina, try writing on the paper with this pen.”

On instinct, Tina took the wooden board, then placed it on Yisi’s back, intending to write while leaning on her. But after picking up the pencil Yisi had sharpened, she quickly noticed something was wrong, her brow furrowing slightly.

“Where’s the ink? How can I write without ink?”

“This is the type that doesn’t use ink. Tina can just imagine it’s a piece of charcoal, and she’s writing with charcoal.”

Considering that the pencils would be used by her companions, and that when they used a pencil for the first time, they would likely use the same force they used with a quill pen, which would cause the lead to snap the instant it touched the paper, Yisi had specially added more clay when making the leads to increase their hardness. She also hadn’t sharpened the pencil tip to be too pointed.

“I see.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Tina held the pencil in the correct posture, squeezed in between Refina and Yisi, and placed the wooden board on her knees to write. For people used to quill pens, using a pencil wouldn’t present the problem of needing to relearn the grip. But for those accustomed to brush pens, switching to a pencil would feel very inconvenient. Fortunately, Camilla and the others all used quill pens, so Yisi didn’t need to correct her companions’ grip.

First, she wrote her own name in the Hels Kingdom language, then followed up with the Blood Clan’s Hyurent language, the Elven language, and the Dragon language. Finally, it was the Norta Empire’s language. During this process, Tina habitually made a motion to dip for ink, but after remembering that this magical pen in her hand didn’t require ink, she retracted her hand, pretending nothing had happened, so as not to appear ignorant.

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“How is it? The user experience.”

“…This one is seeing this ‘pencil’ thing for the first time. From the perspective of not needing to dip for ink, it is indeed very convenient.”

“It’s not just that it doesn’t need ink, the writing can also be erased at any time.”

Taking out a piece of black rubber, Yisi easily erased the marks Tina had written on the white paper. Although the rubber produced by the Rubber Slime was currently only used by her to make the soles of her boots, it could, in fact, also be used as an eraser. Of course, the rubber from a Rubber Slime was vastly different from a real eraser. A real eraser, after wiping away writing, should have the part that absorbed the black marks crumble and fall off. But the rubber from a Rubber Slime merely absorbed the writing onto the rubber. After being used for a long time, it would lose its effectiveness at adsorbing graphite and would have to be partially cut away to be used again.

“Eh? It’s really gone?”

As if witnessing some kind of miracle, Tina’s eyes widened. As if trying to find any trace, her face drew close to the paper, carefully observing the spot where her name had been written. In the end, she found nothing.

“See, it’s amazing, right?”

“Mmm… no trace of magic. Was that not magic just now? No, without magic, how could the writing disappear from the paper? Could it be that this one’s perception of magic is too weak now, and Yisi secretly erased the writing in a way this one couldn’t detect?”

Tina’s muttering made Yisi smile wryly. She handed the thumb-sized piece of rubber to Tina.

“Like I said, it’s not magic. If Tina doesn’t believe me, she can try it herself.”

“No! Yisi must turn around. You can’t watch this one’s movements, otherwise it’s cheating.”

“Yes, yes.”

Something that seems perfectly natural to me is like magic to someone seeing it for the first time?

While thinking this, Yisi turned to Refina sitting beside her, only to find the latter also had her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide, an expression of shock on her face.

Don’t look at me like that…

She couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. She had just copied the knowledge of her predecessors.

“Miss Yisi, you’re always able to make such incredible things… Not just the Margaret wine and those comfortable boots, and now this tool called a pencil. If it doesn’t need ink, I feel it will quickly become an invention that sweeps the continent.”

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“Ahaha… I don’t think it can sweep the continent.”

After all, the raw material she used for the pencil lead wasn’t a real graphite mine, but came from the Graphite Bee, which belonged to the demon species. Counting the Graphite Bees she consumed while making the leads, even if she used all the Graphite Bees in her storage, she could only make a dozen or so pencils at most. The quantity was too small, it couldn’t become a product to be sold to the masses like the Margaret wine and the rubber.

Of course, if she could find the Demon Lord Styx’s lair, that would be another matter.

She had a feeling that the Ocean Demon Lord Styx was a walking treasure trove.

At the thought of being able to build breeding farms for land-based pufferfish and Graphite Bees, Yisi couldn’t help but rub her hands in anticipation. Demons weren’t such evil things after all.

After using the eraser and confirming that Yisi hadn’t secretly used magic, Tina finally began to believe that a pencil was something that didn’t need ink and whose writing could be erased with an eraser. She admitted it, looking unconvinced.

“Indeed… there is no aura of magic. If the pen’s surface were smoother, and then lacquered in the color of silverware, it would quickly become a tool sought after by human nobles. Not needing to dip for ink and being able to use it instantly means it can be used to record text even in urgent situations with poor conditions.”

“Well, it’s not as amazing as Tina imagines.”

Watching Tina, who was like a child with a new toy, writing and erasing, erasing and writing on the paper, Yisi couldn’t help but smile.

Tina was only exaggerating the pencil’s usefulness because she had just started using it and found it novel. The fact that pencil writing could be erased meant that people would not use it to record extremely important matters, and letters would never be written with it. This limited the pencil’s field of application. What Tina should really be marveling at was the fountain pen, which had an ink sac. Although Yisi knew the basic principle, the number of trials required to make the fountain pen shine in this different world was just too complex, to the point of being overwhelming. Otherwise, Yisi would have already replicated the fountain pen.

Attracted by the sound of Yisi and Tina’s conversation, Camilla also peeked her head out of the carriage, her curious gaze landing on Tina.

“What is Onee-sama talking about?”

“Ah, Camilla, you’re here just in time. I found a very convenient tool. Wait a moment, I’ll give it to Camilla right away.”

“Okay, Onee-sama.”

After that, Yisi once again carved a pencil casing with a magic blade, filled it with the remaining leads, and handed it to her companions. Just like Tina and Refina, everyone was astonished by this novel existence. Although in the middle of it all, due to the different production batches of the leads, the pencils distributed to everyone had different shades of darkness. Mary’s pencil was quite dark, while Camilla’s was very light, which led to a bit of a scramble—everyone preferred the darker pencils. But since Yisi later promised to make a very dark pencil for everyone, the dispute quickly died down.

Taking over for Refina, Yisi, who was now driving the carriage, looked at Tina, who was drawing something on the paper board. Due to her level of control over her body, which was far beyond that of ordinary people, Tina’s lines were basically never crooked from a shaky hand.

“What is Tina doing?”

“Drawing a map of the Demon Lord’s Castle. After dispelling the ‘Eternal Freeze Barrier’, we need to first deal with the Fallen Angels who forced their way into the castle’s core, and then go deal with that goat-headed demon—no, I think we can split into two groups. I, who am familiar with the castle’s structure, will go inside the castle to stop those Fallen Angels, and Yisi, you go deal with the goat-headed demon. In any case, I’m worried if I don’t have Yisi memorize the Demon Lord’s Castle’s structure beforehand.”

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So she forgot to use the deliberately old-sounding “this one” to refer to herself because she was so focused? Yisi couldn’t help but recall what Tina had said on the road, about how back in the Marquisate of Taris, the reason Tina had issued a challenge to Yisi wasn’t to duel her, but to trap Yisi in the Marquisate. There was no Mana Source in the Marquisate, so Yisi, who was burdened with freeing Evelyn, would have stayed in the Marquisate indefinitely. In that way, Tina would have one less threat. Just from this point, Tina’s mind was not as childish as her appearance. In fact, this girl was quite cunning.

Yisi deliberately didn’t point out Tina’s slip of the tongue and instead waved her hand relaxedly.

“Tina, it’s okay if you don’t draw it. My exploration magic is like a map. As long as I’m above the Demon Lord’s Castle, I can grasp its internal structure.”

“Understanding beforehand and exploring on the spot are two different things in terms of familiarity. Who knows if an accident will happen that day. If Styx sends more demons from other entrances while I’m dispelling the ‘Eternal Freeze Barrier’, we’ll be in a bad spot.”

I, on the other hand, wish Styx would send more demons like the Graphite Bee and the land-based pufferfish. Of course, if there were extra-large Graphite Bees and super-giant land-based pufferfish, that would be even better.

Grumbling inwardly, Yisi changed the subject.

“How much of Tina’s strength has recovered?”

Before, when Tina and Pepe competed in strength, the reason Tina lost was because her actual level had dropped to only level 20, which in turn limited the strength she could use to that of level 20. Although Tina could still crush Laxy’s ‘Single Line’ with her bare hands, that was because the Demon Lord’s body had high physical resistance, not because Tina’s strength was overwhelming.

Right now, the [Omniscient Map] showed that Tina’s level was still 107.

“Right now, it’s about the same as a level 40 human.”

“Level 20 recovery in half a month…”

At this rate, she would have to wait nearly two more months for Tina to recover to her full strength.

“Mhm, but I can feel, I—”

Halfway through her sentence, Tina, who was biting her pen, seemed to suddenly remember something. The word ‘oops’ was written all over her face. As her cheeks flushed slightly, she cleared her throat self-importantly.

“Ahem. This one can feel that as this one’s strength grows stronger, the recovery speed of this one’s strength is also accelerating. It won’t even be a month before this one is fully recovered—no, to be precise, it’s the speed of digesting the Demon Lord’s inheritance.”

It’s too late to remember your self-address now.

Without teasing Tina about it, Yisi continued to ask.

“Speaking of which, Tina still hasn’t told me why she didn’t completely digest the Demon Lord’s inheritance before? Something that can strengthen your abilities, shouldn’t it be absorbed as quickly as possible?”

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Tina wasn’t stupid, and she was also very responsible. It was unlikely that she hadn’t fully absorbed the Demon Lord’s inheritance due to laziness.

“Mmm… It’s fine to tell Yisi. This one said before that the Demon Lord’s inheritance refers to the magic, levels, and memories left by previous generations of Demon Lords, right?”

“Mhm.”

“If a person suddenly accepts all of another person’s memories, can the original person still be called themself? This one was operating on this consideration, which is why this one did not completely digest the Demon Lord’s inheritance. There is no bond of kinship between a Demon Lord and their successor. Before this one broke level 100, this one didn’t feel any discomfort. But after level 100, every bit of inheritance absorbed brings an uncomfortable feeling, as if something redundant and filthy is clinging to the soul. So at that time, this one suspected that the Demon Lord might be able to achieve eternal life through the inheritance of memories. This is the reason why this one has not been absorbing the Demon Lord’s inheritance.”

At first, it sounded like a philosophical problem, but thinking about it carefully, the way Tina received memories was perhaps not the same as how Yisi had received Pepe’s memories. When she took over Pepe’s body, Pepe’s memories were like a library to her; the memories would only surface when she needed them. What Tina was referring to was probably being force-fed memories.

Becoming alert, Yisi immediately asked.

“So how does Tina feel now?”

“Perhaps it’s because this one is far from the Demon Lord’s Castle, the sense of disgust isn’t as strong as before. Of course, it’s also possible that this one just hasn’t noticed it, and only those around this one might be able to see the changes in this one. After all, once the Demon Lord’s inheritance is accepted, it is branded onto the soul. The same behavior might seem no different from before in this one’s eyes, but to those around, it might look like this one did something out of character.”

“…Tina, why didn’t you say this sooner?”

“This is this one’s own problem. The only person in the world who could give this one advice is probably Styx, the second ‘original inhabitant.’ Well, what this one said is merely a guess. Maybe this one is just too suspicious, and the truth isn’t as I imagine.” Reaching this point, Tina held up the map of the Demon Lord’s Castle she had finished drawing. “Alright, it’s all done. The rest is just for Yisi to memorize.”

Handing the paper board to Yisi, as if she had accomplished something great, Tina stood up, placed her hands on her hips, and looked smug.

“It’s dangerous to stand in the driver’s seat. Be careful not to fall if the carriage jolts.”

“This one is the Demon Lord, how could—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the carriage wheels ran over a stone, causing the carriage to jolt violently up and down. Tina, who didn’t react in time, bit her tongue with her supposedly unbreakable teeth. Her face, which had been triumphant just a second ago, was now filled with tears.

“Uu—”

I’ll just let this girl learn her lesson this one time.

Facing Tina’s pained expression as she clutched her mouth, Yisi chose to snicker inwardly while pretending not to notice, and continued to drive the carriage.