EDPEN 08

Chapter 08.

Ruin pointed at an item.

【Contaminated—Veil Totem (Special Grade)】 1,500 pt

At that moment, the 1,500 pt turned into 50 pt, and something astonishing happened.
The voodoo-doll-like totem began to glow and shattered, and a special-grade artifact appeared before his eyes.
Yes, as the light gradually faded, a special-grade item—a special-grade artifact—revealed itself……

“…?”

What appeared before Ruin’s eyes was a potted plant.

“??”

A plant?
That was strange. The Veil Totem should have been a wearable type, shouldn’t it?
It was a bit confusing, but… artifacts were originally random in both category and form.

‘What matters isn’t the appearance, but the effect.’

And for something with the odd modifier “Contaminated,” the power it gave off was quite strong.

‘It’s definitely special-grade.’

Yes, it seemed to be… but……

「What is this thing?」

That’s what I want to ask.
Why do I feel the aura of the Shadow God from that totem? No, setting aside feeling it—

「What is this!」

Why is the plant talking?

「I’m a seedling!」

And why does it sound exactly like that old codger we know?

‘…Don’t tell me the Shadow God turned into a totem……?’

So Ruin asked,

“Why does it look like this?”
「Wouldn’t something small be easier for you to manage?」

…That’s not what I was asking.
Soon, the plant toddled out of the flowerpot on stubby little legs.

「The moment you picked the item, I felt like I got sucked somewhere… and what’s with this naked appearance? I’ve never seen myself like this before. Magnificent. A plant-type monster?」

…No. Uh, this is ginseng (人蔘).

「Oh. Are you some kind of god of humans who gets worshipped?」

No. Usually, people boil it and eat it……

Ruin pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling dizzy. He seriously considered the situation.
So, his superior… the Shadow God, seemed to have become an artifact.
At the same time, a thought struck him.

‘Don’t tell me “Contaminated” means…….’

“Does it mean… defective?”
「What the hell, you brat?! Who are you calling defective!」

He didn’t know why things had turned out this way, but there was a clue—right on the flowerpot. A price tag… no, a note.

—Effect guaranteed!

…Who wrote this?
He didn’t know who stuck it there, but if it guaranteed the effect, it was worth checking.
Ruin grabbed the toddling plant—no, the ginseng—by the root and lifted it upside down.

「What are you doing—ack!」
“Please release some power.”
「You little punk! How dare you talk down to me!」

Despite the words, the ginseng released its power.

Flash!

Ruin quickly examined the curse-powered artifact taken from the dead man. Astonishingly, all demonic energy had vanished.

‘Oh. The gamble paid off.’

So it really was a special-grade totem—sure enough, it had a demonic-energy blocking effect. Of course, the effect weakened beyond a certain distance.
After moving the cursed artifact around to roughly gauge the range, Ruin nodded.

‘Hmm. I’ll have to keep this close.’

Having to carry it around was a drawback, but the blocking effect was reliable. With just this, he could safely use a bit of his real power.
It seemed cheap not because of its ability, but because of limitations in how it could be used.

But still—why ginseng?

‘…Don’t tell me it’s because it swallowed Ruins Wayne, a major in therapeutics?’

Am I supposed to brew and drink it?
Well, that wasn’t the important part.

“Have you experienced any difficulty using your power?”
「Doesn’t seem like it.」

Hmm. Then is this like a god being possessed into a totem?
Thinking about it that way was absurd.

‘An artifact possessed by a god… honestly, judging by rank alone, shouldn’t this be above special-grade?’

In fact, he was receiving racial buffs from having a god summoned.

• Increased success rate for shadow-type abilities

• Shadow attribute enhancement: 【Conceal Presence (Stealth)】 strengthened

Normally, even maintaining a summoned god consumed pt, but this didn’t consume any at all. It was practically like having a god permanently summoned.

‘Wait—if that’s the case…….’

“Please give me some skills.”
「You keep ordering me around!」

Despite the protest, the Shadow God—no, the ginseng—released its power.
Ruin felt a heavy strength settle into his body and looked at his hands. The skills that had disappeared returned. What was strange was that they weren’t the same as before.

【Citizen’s Vision】 became 【Vision of the Shadow King】—
【One-Time Copy】 became 【Three-Minute Copy】.

He’d need to verify them properly, but at a glance, they felt evolved compared to before.
Wondering why this had happened, Ruin soon realized something and looked up at the ceiling.

‘Hero. Did you perhaps cast some kind of buff spell over this entire place?’

After all, it was a school—a place of learning.

‘Like a buff that lets students develop abilities more powerfully.’

If so, that was sweet.
That idiot hero—helping his natural enemy.

But—

「No! The offerings are insufficient! You can’t just give it out like this!」

At those words, a sharp gleam lit Ruin’s serious eyes. Holding the ginseng by the root, he shook it down.

“Now then, revered chief god. How about handing over some items?”
「No! Hey! That tone is not respectful at all—agh!」

The president’s office at Haven.
A butler reported the news to his master.

“Professor Ruins Wayne has arrived.”

The master showed no reaction to the report. But—

“Remarkably, Professor Wayne passed through the ‘Main Gate.’”

The president paused.

“He passed through the ‘Main Gate’?”
“Yes.”

Haven’s main gate was special—so much so that none of the professors had ever entered through it.
Well, among current professors, that was.
The Hero, the president, and the board of directors had passed through it, since they possessed extraordinary luck.

That was why the president was curious.

“Really, that gate?”
“Yes. It even opened very politely for him.”
“Ha.”

The president sighed in disbelief. Even she, as president, hadn’t been treated that courteously. She had won a wager once, only to be dismissed as a greenhorn.

“Interesting. At the very least, it means this one is ‘the real deal.’”
“Yes. Whether enemy or ally.”
“If an enemy, that means a moth-to-the-flame level threat.”
“…Pardon?”

Or perhaps he was the culprit himself.
The president’s eyes narrowed warily.

That butterfly.
The “Moth to the Flame” was exceptional—and dangerously enchanting. In some ways, a phantom butterfly that required more caution than even the strongest demon lord.

“But the Moth to the Flame was said to be dead…….”

Instead of replying, the president rose from her seat.

“We should see what kind of person this newcomer is.”
“You mean… you’ll go personally, Madam President? For a newcomer?”
“Oh my. If it’s true he passed through, he might be the first in history from whom we can collect a toll. Of course we must check.”

At the same time, the president glanced at the photo of the Hero hanging on the wall—the chairman who had, for some reason, built Haven here.

“The chairman said it clearly. You must recruit the Moth to the Flame. If you fail—”

The president burned the letter she was holding.

“Kill him.”

Haven was in an uproar.
All because of a single man walking from the main gate into the campus.

“Who is he?”
“I’ve never seen him before.”
“A new professor?”
“What? At this time of year?”
“Well, some people got expelled recently.”
“Oh.”

From second-floor terraces to classroom corridors, students’ attention focused on the “gentleman.”

“He’s tall. A model?”
“If he’s a professor, he must be the chairman’s man, right?”

Even his walk was model-like, but the man himself was quietly seething with anger.

‘That bastard chairman—I’ll slit his throat.’

Ruin nearly forgot his role as a spy and let his true feelings slip. All because of the Hero.

‘What the hell did that son of a bitch do to someone else’s home!’

When he’d come as a deliveryman, he’d entered through the back door, and near the main gate he hadn’t noticed—but once inside, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
The dignified, old-fashioned—no, solemn, monastery-like castle he’d personally decorated to his taste had been turned into something needlessly bright and flashy.

‘My refined estate—reduced to this gaudy mess!’

But what angered him even more—

—Mobilize all citizens and soldiers to eradicate the Moth to the Flame!
—Tear the filthy Moth to the Flame limb from limb!
—Comrades who will rip apart the Moth to the Flame’s wings, welcome!

At least put up demon lord propaganda posters! Why plaster posters of some unrelated person?!

‘At this point, he should pay a deposit and rent.’

That damn squatter.
And that wasn’t all. He’d stripped Ruin’s beloved mountains bare, erected hundreds of statues of himself in a lake once known for the beauty of emptiness, and even smashed Ruin’s carefully crafted art statues to build a Hero memorial on top.

Even the infamous Moth to the Flame grabbed the back of his neck at that.

‘I’m not letting this one slide.’

How should he deal with that narcissist?
Still, one thing puzzled him.

‘Why are they so obsessed with the “Moth to the Flame”?’

At that moment, the ginseng pot in his hand sighed.

「You really don’t know? How many times do you think Pride survived by the skin of its teeth because of you?」
‘Stop reading my thoughts.’
「You took my elixir, so that’s the price. Anyway, there’s a reason the demon lord dotes on you, you know?」
‘Dotes on me? He turns me into a pinned butterfly.’

Sure, he was angry—but if he were truly insignificant, the Union wouldn’t be acting like this.
And Pride had many notorious enemies besides the Moth to the Flame.

‘There are far more dangerous ones.’

Why all this fuss over me? Especially when everyone in Haven holds considerable power within the Union.

‘Don’t waste your attention on a mere underling.’
「Underling? With your skills? Don’t make me laugh. What underling toys with the Union for decades?」

Well, what mattered right now wasn’t the Union, but the interviewer—the president.

‘The president of Haven.’

The head of the Union and a witch feared by all Pride forces. Merciless to demons, she was the grim reaper of the demon race.
Fortunately, the ginseng seemed to be doing its job well—the sparrows didn’t recognize Ruin as a demon.
No, more than that, they didn’t seem to recognize his very existence.

‘When it’s time for the interview, I’ll just hide it in my bag.’
「What? Why hide me? Are you ashamed of me? Want me to show my power?」
‘This is exactly why.’

Ruin shoved the struggling ginseng back into the pot. If it wandered around freely, a professor of herbal medicine might snatch it up as a test subject.
Anyway, having passed the biggest obstacle—the patrols—the interview would be no problem.

After all—

‘The interview room, the president’s office, used to be my space.’

He knew every mechanism inside. His steps toward the interview room were light.
Sure, he was carrying a suspicious-looking flowerpot, but he wouldn’t meet the president on the way, and as long as that room was the interview site, victory was his—

And then, at that very moment:

“Excuse me—are you the Moth to the Flame?”