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Chapter 06.
The statue raised its voice.
[What manipulation are you saying I did?!]
“Your ability. That’s not luck power—it’s curse power, isn’t it?”
At that, murmurs spread everywhere.
“Is… is that true?”
“The statue was a fraud?”
“?!”
The power used by the Union is called luck power, while the power used by demons is called curse power. Both are based on mana, but the difference is this: the Union imbues luck that strengthens oneself, while the Pride imbues curses that weaken the opponent.
Put simply, the higher your luck power, the more likely you are to survive no matter who your opponent is; the higher your curse power, the more likely you are to kill no matter who your opponent is.
It was a kind of power game—a battle between Luck and Curse.
In short, this gatekeeper had tricked everyone into thinking it was a contest of luck power, while actually running a curse-power game.
Now I get why everyone lost except the Hero.
The Hero’s luck is at the absolute pinnacle of humanity; even doing nothing, he deflects most curses.
Anyway, the same applied to this gatekeeper. Since it kept winning, the Union way of thinking naturally assumed it simply had high luck power, but—
“You don’t have high luck power. You merely cast a curse that bankrupts your opponent.”
[Tsk!]
“What? A curse of bankruptcy?”
“On top of that, it’s curse-power–based.”
“!”
The heroes stared at Ruin and the statue in shock.
No matter how strong they were, without defensive magic they couldn’t block curses. That alone was surprising—but more than that, how had he noticed the nature of the power?
Ruin clicked his tongue. Figuring out the identity of an ability wasn’t that hard.
—House User Manual
When he’d signed the contract for the house, he’d received a thick document titled Hidden Device User Manual, and it was all written there.
Thanks to an occupational habit of carefully reading anything text-heavy, he remembered most of it.
—【No.199 Gatekeeper Summon】
—1. Summons a demon that casts [Curse of Bankruptcy (curse power)] on the opponent.
—2. Can seize the opponent’s possessions and makes them feel a phantom pain, as if vital organs were taken.
But there was no reason to explain that.
“Can’t you tell just by looking? You can practically smell the curse power.”
The applicants stared at Ruin in disbelief.
…You can feel that?
“I didn’t feel anything at all…!”
Ruin continued smoothly, without looking suspicious.
“In the first place, does it make sense to call it an interview if no one but the Hero can pass the gate? That’s practically saying you require the strongest luck power humanity has—meaning you don’t intend to select anyone. But if that’s not the case—”
A strange light rose in Ruin’s eyes.
“This is Haven, a place that hunts demons. The interview’s intent must be to see how well one can respond to well-hidden demonic power. And the fact that they deliberately chose a dice game makes the intent obvious.”
“Wh-why?”
“Because it’s the decisive hint. There aren’t many curses you can use in gambling.”
“Then…!”
“Right. Once you realize the type of curse, you just need to cast the exact defensive magic to counter it. That must be the real reason the chairman placed that gatekeeper here—and the interview topic. Taking organs was probably meant to test courage.”
The people were even more astonished.
“So that’s what the interview was…!”
“To realize all that…”
At their reaction, Ruin fell silent.
…Actually, it was all bullshit.
Defensive magic, my ass. I just chewed it up with my own curse power.
The Curse of Bankruptcy was a weak type of curse that inflicted misfortune on the opponent. It guaranteed the opponent’s bankruptcy while exempting the caster.
And “weak misfortune”?
What meaning did adding a speck more misfortune have for someone who was already misfortune itself? Pouring a paper cup of water into a black sea only gets swallowed by the ocean.
Attacking a walking mass of curses that spreads misfortune just by existing—with a downgraded ability, no less.
Strong enough to be used as a gatekeeper, sure—but you should’ve chosen your opponent better.
That was why Ruin glanced at the statue.
“So, you’re not just all talk, right?”
Overwhelmed by Ruin’s pressure, the statue ground its teeth.
[Fine. I’ll open the gate.]
“Just the gate?”
[Grr!]
At the same time, glittering items poured out before Ruin’s eyes—the gatekeeper’s belongings that had been put up as bets.
“Oh…! Aren’t those high-grade artifacts?!”
Ruin blinked. Since it looked like a goblin, he hadn’t expected much.
Better stuff than I thought?
His eyes gleamed. At the same time, the tightly shut main gate opened with a heavy sound.
Grrrrk!
People gaped.
It opened—the gate no one had ever opened!
The statue respectfully opened the door.
[You who have defeated me are formally acknowledged. From now on, you may continue to enter through this gate. Congratulations on passing.]
At the gatekeeper’s words, Ruin tilted his head.
“What are you talking about?”
The statue looked back at Ruin as if he were the one talking nonsense.
[What do you mean, what?]
Ruin stared shamelessly back, as if to say you’re the one spouting nonsense.
“The game is ten rounds total. There are still six left, aren’t there?”
…What?!
“Oh, but it looks like you’re wearing fewer than six items?”
[Wh-what?!]
“Then I’ll make up the difference with your body. Starting with your eyeballs.”
What?!
“I heard there’s a new professor interview today?”
At the Haven professor’s question, the colleagues snickered.
An interview, huh.
“So you’ll be raking it in again this year.”
“I got shaken down five years ago too, you know.”
“Not just you—everyone here did. First year was unpaid, wasn’t it?”
They clicked their tongues, calling it ruthless, but laughed it off, saying the bonuses made it worth it.
“Still, didn’t the chairman say he’d give half the toll if someone passed the main gate?”
“Come on, that’s blind money. No one’s passing this year either.”
“Right? Sheesh. That chairman…”
Then it happened. The door burst open, and a professor who looked like he’d run all the way there shouted,
“Th-there’s someone who passed the main gate!”
Someone dropped the pen they were holding.
“What did you say?”
“Jackpot.”
Ruin grinned as he looked over the items he’d wrung out of the gatekeeper.
He’d thought they were just everyday belongings, but every single one was a magic-infused artifact—valuable both in price and utility.
That wasn’t all.
“I didn’t expect to get this too.”
Ruin looked at the statue’s eyeballs. The eyeballs he’d forcibly taken were not easy items to obtain.
Lapis lazuli.
A blue gemstone—an ancient mineral capable of absorbing any kind of energy.
He knew the building site was a temple, but he hadn’t expected even the statue’s decorations to be made of something like this.
He’d avoided summoning the door lock—the gatekeeper—because of maintenance costs, but it ended up yielding something like this. In a strange way, he felt grateful to the Hero.
But I’m not grateful at all for the current situation.
That’s right. He was hiding in a bathroom.
Normally, he’d have gone straight to the interview, but he’d run into something unexpected nearby.
[Special crackdown on curse power in effect!]
[We are inspecting demons and items containing curse power!]
[Students and staff, please cooperate!]
In simple terms, it was a patrol unit.
Union cops—no, magic sparrows.
It was like cracking down on flyers; here, they confiscated items demons had sent imbued with curses. Usually, it was to prevent contraband mixed into students’ belongings.
Damn it. They weren’t here during the preliminary check.
They’d tightened security in the meantime.
And of all times, a moth to the flame had to show up during this season.
Hero, you lucky bastard.
He wanted to curse, but there was nothing to be done.
The Hero? Just someone with absurd luck who can swing a book out of boredom and automatically catch golden flies. No wonder the Demon Lord had headaches over him.
Anyway, there was a decisive reason he couldn’t run into those sparrows.
Letting man-eating birds loose in a school… is the Hero insane?
Yes—though they looked like cute sparrows, they had an uncanny sense for demonic scent, could identify demons instantly, and would eat them on the spot.
…He still remembered how those cute birds once suddenly sprouted teeth and blew away an ally’s temple, then crunched down on their head with relish.
…And now that’s my problem.
What a nuisance—keeping him from even attending the interview.
Of course, he’d hidden his curse power to get in, but you never knew. Those sparrows were troublesome.
Since it’s a place where students live, I expected relatively tame measures. Hero, you lunatic.
No matter that demons were their staple diet, releasing man-eating birds dangerous even to humans?
Honestly, if you weren’t swearing, you’d be lying. They weren’t weak creatures either; they swarmed in the hundreds in an instant, so even high-ranking demons avoided them if possible…
Then it happened.
[Special inspection of outsiders in effect. Please cooperate with the demonic identification test.]
“!”
The crunching bastard had come right to the bathroom where Ruin was hiding.
[Special inspection of outsiders in effect. Please come out.]
It perched on the antique stone sink, wiggling its plump rear and chirping a tune—clearly ready to chew off his head if he didn’t comply.
Fortunately, with information and experience on his side, imitating Ruins Wayne wasn’t difficult.
Luckily, the hair color, height, and build are pretty similar.
Voice modulation was easy, and the slight height difference… well, say he’d fixed his hunchback.
But there was always the chance of failure—and then crunch…
Then—
[Detecting demonic aura. Please come out.]
“!”
A voice sounded right in front of Ruin’s stall. The cruncher had already noticed his presence.
[Final warning. Failure to comply will result in forced execution. You have ten seconds. Ten—]
Ruin frowned.
Damn it. Am I really going to throw down with the cops before even seeing the chairman?
[Eight—]
He pulled out a weapon hidden in the belt on his back—a palm-sized knife.
How many meters was it from here to the chairman’s office? If he took out the patrol and cleaned up, would it go unnoticed?
Ruin was a soldier and an intelligence agent. He had high-level combat ability for missions, but strictly speaking, he wasn’t a frontline combatant.
If things get loud, the Heroes will swarm.
[Two—]
[One—]
Ruin’s grip tightened.
