"What? You're actually claiming I'm bad at cold jokes?"
Kanzaki's rebellious streak flared. The more he talked, the more animated he became.
"Why is the Aeon of The Hunt called Lan? Because He's the color of a clear sky and never misses His mark. Hmm? Still not laughing? Fine. Another one."
"The Aeon of Elation never offers drinks to the Aeon of Trailblaze. Know why? Because Akivili is one of The Nameless, and once you've walked the Path of Trailblaze long enough, you stop needing anything that clouds the journey. Still nothing? Your emotional control is impressive. Looks like I'll have to bring out the heavy artillery."
Seeing Herta still unmoved, Kanzaki leaned closer to her ear.
"Do you know who is the fastest among the Five Elements? Answer me."
Herta: "…Water?"
"Wrong!" Kanzaki grinned in triumph. "It's fire. Fire always runs ahead of everyone else."
"…"
Herta closed her eyes and let out a quiet sigh.
"Hoho. Still trying to outlast my joke reserves, kid? You've run straight into a steel wall. There's bound to be one that cracks that poker face."
"Question: Why can't dogs sunbathe? Because they'll turn into hot dogs."
"In the stories of The Blue, there was once a weapon forge. One day the hammer said, 'I'm a blacksmith.' The sword said, 'I'm forged from iron.' Guess what the blacksmith said?"
"'I use the hammer to forge the sword,' right?" Herta answered without much effort.
"Wrong! The blacksmith looked completely shocked and shouted, 'The hammer and the sword are talking!'"
"…"
Herta felt a tightness in her chest. Her breathing grew a little heavier.
Yet this was actually a good thing.
Mr. Magician's endless chatter was ten times, a hundred times more pleasant than the malicious voices surrounding them.
No. That was still an understatement.
It was a thousand times better. Ten thousand times better.
"Herta! How do you still have the face to live in this world? The Blue becoming like this is all because of your great-grandfather!"
"Just go die… hurry down and keep those who already died company…"
"Want to save The Blue? Hahaha. Fine. When you reach the end and discover it's a hopeless dead end, you'll finally understand it was all for nothing!"
"A genius girl famous before the age of ten? What a joke. You were simply born into a good family and inherited whatever scraps of talent your parents left behind. What's so impressive about that?"
"Do you think 'I' am saving you? I'm only giving you hope first so I can crush it without mercy later…"
Originally Kanzaki had been too lazy to pay attention to the heart-stabbing words around them.
But hearing the replica wearing his own face dare to call itself "I" and talk about giving hope only to crush it later… that was pure slander.
He was furious.
"Piss off. I'm a man of my word!"
The ones speaking ill of them were not their own replicas, but replicas of each other.
"Bullshit! I said I'd eat her, so I won't allow her to be talked to death by you abominations."
"Flat-chested? If you're sick, go get treated. Don't go fantasizing about an undeveloped kid. Truly disgusting."
"Huh? You say she's ugly? She's so young, so beautiful, and so cute. Tell me exactly where the ugliness is."
"Stop talking nonsense, or I'll make you fly."
"You abominations over there… it's ridiculous to curse someone by saying they'll never get married. If I'm willing to let this kid live a few more years, the people chasing after her could probably circle a hundred Labyrinth Zones."
Herta listened to Mr. Magician's rough, unrefined cursing.
His voice was mixed among countless malicious ones, yet it grew clearer and clearer.
"Abominations are just abominations. What kind of roadside trash actually questions my taste?"
"If the kid in my arms were ugly, she wouldn't even qualify as emergency rations. I would have burned her to ashes long ago, or frozen her as a negative specimen."
"Listen carefully, all of your mothers are— wait. I forgot. You're motherless abominations."
Finally hearing the crude insults, Herta couldn't help speaking up.
"…I didn't expect you to be such a foul-mouthed Magician. Your creator really… leaves one not knowing what to say."
"Cursing is bad, but sometimes when dealing with things that aren't human, you have to shout it out."
Kanzaki didn't seem bothered at all. Instead he curled his lips with clear pride.
"If I don't curse them today, I'll feel uncomfortable all over later. I might even wake up from sleep in a fright. Wouldn't that just be torturing myself?"
"Aside from the flaw of having an average power setting, I quite admire the person who created me. Whether the story is good or bad, at least the character design is fresh enough."
Herta: "In what way do you mean fresh? A man-eating Magician fluent in profanity?"
"No, no, no."
Kanzaki's right arm held Herta's legs firmly up to her hip area. He wagged his right index finger in front of her eyes.
"Most Magicians in stories, whether good or bad, consider themselves noble and obsess over superficial etiquette. Over time they all become the same, leaving only boredom."
"Who says a Magician can't be a flamer and argue with people? Besides, I'm not even flaming people. I'm flaming the abominations that are cursing you."
Herta looked at his face quietly.
He was saying so much probably to distract her, not wanting her mental state to collapse under those malicious words.
Hmm… his face was unexpectedly easy on the eyes.
For a man-eating Magician, setting the character profile aside for a moment, the modeling seemed a little contrary to common sense.
As the saying goes, appearance is born from the heart. What kind of character should have what kind of temperament.
But as for him… if it weren't for the wizard hat and long robe being so full of mage vibes, his identity would still be open to question.
"Mr. Magician…"
"What?"
"What kind of work did you come from? Can you tell me?"
"Oh, it's just—"
Mid-sentence, Kanzaki suddenly stalled.
While walking forward and holding Herta, he rubbed his chin with two fingers, falling into deep thought.
"Strange. I actually can't remember. Whatever. It's not important what work I came from. You just need to remember that I'm your creditor. So you can also call me Mr. Creditor."
"Alright, Mr. Creditor."
"Anything else you want to ask? Be quick about it while I'm in a good mood."
Kanzaki reached out and pinched her small face.
"The texture is so good. It seems the taste is also guaranteed. Ah~~ I really want to send you back to The Blue quickly…"
Herta didn't dodge, nor did she pull his hand away.
She knew it wasn't necessarily just because he was in a good mood. He was simply willing to accommodate her so her attention wouldn't be dragged away by the ghostly shadows whose cursing was growing more and more foul.
"Those abominations that copied my appearance are also saying very nasty things about you. Aren't you angry?"
"…Nasty?"
Kanzaki looked around at the replicas that wore Herta's appearance yet could do nothing except point fingers and move their little mouths. His tone was full of mockery.
"I can only say they are far from it. Their cursing sounds like they're acting spoiled. If my character had certain fetishes, I might even enjoy it a little."
"By the way, is the cursing level of these abominations linked to the original person?"
Herta thought for a moment and nodded slowly. "It's possible."
"Heh. If you put it that way, wouldn't them cursing you be equivalent to me cursing you? That's a bit annoying."
As the two walked farther and farther, the Herta replicas specifically targeting Kanzaki grew fewer and fewer.
In the end, only those targeting Herta herself remained.
"What's this? You know cursing me is useless, so you're bullying the weak? If you've got the guts, come at me. What kind of skill is it to target a kid?"