Chapter 86 – Situational Assessment and Strategy Formulation

“Тhе Director-Gеnеral is busy with Grеat Demоn Gеnеrаl соuntermeаsures, so I’ll соntinue tо bе in сhаrgе of Мs. Spiсe. Thе Dirесtоr-Generаl did remеmber, you knоw.”

“Тhat’s great! So thе mеmory-erasing magiс dоesn’t work on streamеrs with а certаin levеl оf skill аftеr all.”

I managed tо contасt Сharawау, Yаtagarаsu, and Serаph Batra tоо.

I’m grateful еvеryоne was wоrried about mе.

And thеn, thе mysterious 140 peоplе whо sоmehоw retainеd thеir mеmories.

Мost оf thеm wеrе thе sensitivе сrоwd cаllеd the Meat Brigade.

※『Don’t underestimate us who can get excited by Little Spice!』『The timing when some pressure attacked happened to coincide with when I was listening to Little Spice’s bratty girl audio』『Me too』『Me too』

So ASMR really is effective against Mental Magic!!

In a meeting using Zakko with the 140 people, I, as Spice, proposed an idea.

“So… I just need to do ASMR where lots of people can hear it! That’s a great hint! I’ll rush to the Great Demon General’s battle and do it there! The only thing left is how to get attention…”

Since many streamers will be gathering, getting attention there will be extremely difficult.

But all of Japan… or rather, the world’s attention will also be focused there.

That’s the only place I should make my appeal.

『If that’s the case, Master, won’t that terrifying girl come too? That girl who’s getting insane attention in that world…』

『Mm, burdock userrr~』

『Ehh~? What can you even do in a Dungeon with burdock? Dungeons aren’t a game, you know?』

※『New voices have increased!』『Did you defeat Witches and increase your Grimoires!?』『Small fry~!!』『Even Zakko is raising flags lol』

『Wha, wha, wha, what’s thiiis!? Are you saying I’m raising a defeat flag!? I’ve specialized in sensors for survival, currying favor with the strong and kicking the weak to survive, and yet… for some reason, all my previous Masters have met miserable ends』

『Isn’t it because Mentaris just fawns over his Master and never discloses his own information?』

『No no no, my magic is my trump card! If I reveal that, I might get thrown away with a “bye bye”!!』

『Mm, that’s one way to look at it, but because you were secretive and didn’t even warn your Master, the Witch of the Mind went crazy and got defeated by Master like that』

『Hah, n-now that you mention it!! My current Master is quite the strategist…』

『『No no no』』

Since Mentaris is an interesting character, everyone on Zakko is really enjoying him.

Yeah yeah, he’s probably a quite dangerous Grimoire at his core, but since he has very strong self-preservation instincts, he doesn’t do anything bad.

He needlessly tries to read the room and doesn’t give warnings or disclose his abilities, so I’ll probably need to draw it out of him.

Grimoires really do have rich personalities.

Anyway, as basic magic, I’ve acquired two spells: Mind Read Touch and Mind Shock.

The Mind Hack and Memory Bash that the Witch of the Mind used are apparently quite Higher-Tier Magic.

But, according to Flota…

『Instead of such inefficient, life-draining direct magic, this guy has loads of more user-friendly Intermediate-level ones! Let’s all beat him up and make him spit them out!』

『Mm, good ideaaa~! I’ll even do it! I could burn him toooo~』

『Gyaaah! H-help meee!!』

“Ah! He spat out new magic! Mind Chill? A magic to calm the target. Ah, I see…”

※『Little Spice is educating a Grimoire in real time』『Such precious audio… lol』『He’s clearly coming back powered up!』『I’m looking forward to his active role too much~!』

『Ah, I caught the Great Demon General’s arrival schedule!』

“Oh, important info incoming! Tell me! Ah, with your Listener name too!”

※『Yes! I am Maruchou! The Great Demon General is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo Bay the day after the comic event. This is predicting the situation where the enemy speeds up and arrives at the worst possible timing, but they’ll probably come around this time. Because the enemy is humanity’s foe, they’ll aim for the timing we’d hate most』

“I see!! Maruchou, excellent!!”

※Maruchou『I am overjoyed to receive your praise!!』

※『Yes!! I am Prime Sirloin!! Um, this is a secret, but my husband is a Labyrinth Ministry employee, so I hear about various schedules! Since Kiraboshi Hazuki-chan is scheduled to come, I think you’ll get attention if you appear on her stream!』

“Good good, excellent~!! Thank you, Prime Sirloin!! But from now on, you don’t need to leak confidential info! Your husband’s head might roll!”

After that, it turned into everyone shouting their Listener names.

There are so many meat names!!

This is truly a Meat Brigade worth a thousand soldiers each.

Thus, Spice obtained clues for the fight!

Meeting via Zakko concluded!!

“Whoo! Let’s do this!”

When I psych myself up while remaining in Spice Mode, Floppy floats around fluffily and makes sound effects 『Dondon dondon pafu pafu pafu』 for me.

I get it!

By the way, the two Grimoires are in a state of mourning.

『Ah, we’re meeting that girl? Master, please introduce us as Grimoires without will, okay?』

『Mm, I’d like to avoid direct contact…』

『What’s wrong with you two!? You’re being quite cowardly! Could this be… my time has come…!?』

『You fool! You’d be annihilated in one hit!!』

『Mm, I dislike you! But if you disappear, Master will power down!!』

『Am I only valued for my abilities!?』

With those voices in the background, I, having returned to my original form, check the calendar.

The day after tomorrow!!

Today and tomorrow, the comic event is in full swing.

After it ends, that Great Demon General thing will arrive.

While I was fighting Witches, the times kept changing rapidly.

“Ms. Spice, is it okay about Ms. Mashiro? Even if you don’t reach out to her?”

“She’s forgotten about me, right? Since my connection with her is currently severed, contact would be difficult. Rather than getting impatient about that, I’ll deliver maximum power ASMR and recover the connection all at once.”

“Haaah, how bold! I’ve seen humans throughout the generations get swept up in such emotions and get destroyed, you know.”

“Yeah, as Shogo I’d feel impatient, but when I become Spice, it just flies away somewhere… And I can calm down. This half-hot, half-cold balance feels just right…”

While making preparations, I wait for the day of destiny.

And finally, the day of the Great Demon General’s arrival came.