“……?!”
Paimon’s fingers plunged deep into Jeha’s throat, stimulating his uvula. Instantly, a wave of nausea surged through him.
“Uweeegh—!”
As Paimon relentlessly jabbed his fingers into Jeha’s throat, the contents of his stomach violently surged upward. Vomit spilled out, staining Paimon’s hands, yet he paid it no mind, continuing to prod Jeha’s gullet.
“Ugh—! Haaack—! Weegh—!”
Clutching Paimon, Jeha retched repeatedly, expelling everything within him. The bread, fruit, and soup he had just eaten mingled in a disgusting mess, defiling the bed and his clothes. Only when he had heaved several times and nothing more remained did Paimon finally withdraw his hand from Jeha’s throat.
“Ugh… What in the world was that…!”
Jeha snapped, gazing at the vomit that thoroughly soiled his clothes and the bed. His irritation, however, lasted only a moment before he slumped back weakly. A beautiful halo of light still danced before his eyes. Even with his mouth smeared with puke, a faint smile lingered.
“Paimon… Paimoooon?”
Jeha waved a hand, calling out to Paimon. Instead of answering, Paimon began to poke at Jeha’s vomit on the bed with the tip of his finger.
“What are you doing? That’s disgusting…”
Jeha mumbled, a frown creasing his brow even as he chuckled weakly. Paimon, acting as if he hadn’t heard, meticulously sifted through the refuse until he picked up a small lump.
“…What’s that…?”
His questioning voice stretched out, slurred like a worn-out tape.
“It is a mushroom.”
Paimon’s voice was subtly strained as he replied. Jeha forced his swirling eyes to focus, and there, held in Paimon’s hand, was a small mushroom. Covered in vomit, it was clearly one of the mushrooms from the soup he had just consumed.
“You should wash up and rest for now. You would recover quickly if you were to release a fraction of your self-imposed seal, but unleashing your power here would cause utter pandemonium. It would be far better to let this subside naturally if you wish to maintain your identity as Marquis Belgar.”
Even amidst his mental disarray, Jeha could discern that this situation was far from normal. Frowning deeply, he struggled to clear his head and nodded in agreement.
While he took a hot bath and changed his clothes, the dizziness and the dancing lights before his eyes gradually faded. By the time he lay in a clean, white nightshirt on the now-spotless bed, his mind had completely returned to clarity.
Though he yearned to ask what had transpired, Paimon’s gaze was somehow terrifying, making him hesitant to speak freely. Moreover, this was certainly not a topic to discuss in front of the servants who had come to attend to him.
“So, what was that just now?”
Only when he and Paimon were alone in the room did Jeha voice his question. A faint crease appeared between Paimon’s brows. It was exceedingly rare for him, who typically maintained an impassive expression, to show any emotion. This suggested a matter of considerable gravity.
Paimon pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. As he unfolded the several layers of fabric, the small mushroom he had retrieved from the vomit earlier was revealed.
“What is it, some kind of hallucinogenic mushroom?”
Jeha asked Paimon, drawing upon his common knowledge. Even in the dimension where he had lived as the human Min Jeha, he knew of mushrooms that could induce hallucinations or laughter. Given his recent state, it seemed highly probable that this was such a mushroom.
“It is a mushroom used as an ingredient for narcotics or aphrodisiacs.”
“What? That was in my soup?”
Jeha muttered, a frown deepening on his face, before immediately posing another question.
“No, could something like that really put me in such a state earlier? I may have sealed my powers upon crossing into the human realm, but I am still the Demon King, after all.”
“This is not a mushroom from the human realm. It is a plant that grows wild in the Demon World.”
“…What?”
Jeha’s frown deepened. This was Enkarosha, the Holy City. Why on earth would a mushroom from the Demon World appear here, and why would it be brazenly placed in Jeha’s soup?
“Explain in more detail.”
Jeha urged Paimon, who then extended the handkerchief with the mushroom towards him.
“In the Demon World, it is used as an ingredient for narcotics or aphrodisiacs. It has the effect of inducing powerful hallucinations and euphoria. However…”
“However?”
“That is when a demon consumes it. For humans, it is an unparalleled, lethal poison. It stops the heart instantly, and because it does not exist in the human realm, its toxins are undetectable. They would only suspect poisoning, but no matter how much they investigated, the conclusion would always be sudden death from a heart attack. This was an assassination attempt on you, Master. Had you been an ordinary human, you would have died instantly from heart failure instead of experiencing hallucinations.”
“They tried to poison me? But I only just arrived in Enkarosha yesterday!”
Jeha felt more utterly bewildered than angry.
“Had you not sealed your powers, Master, you would have shown no reaction to consuming it. However, in your current state, being so close to a human body, you were susceptible to its effects. I, too, have sealed all my powers, and thus failed to detect it. Please forgive my negligence regarding your safety, Master.”
Paimon knelt, bowing his head as he sought forgiveness.
“…How preposterous.”
Jeha murmured, looking at the mushroom. He then gently patted Paimon’s shoulder, gesturing for him to rise.
“Since this mushroom is only used as a narcotic by demons, they clearly don’t know I’m from the Demon World. This means the culprit intended to assassinate Marquis Belgar without leaving a trace.”
“That is correct.”
Paimon neatly folded the handkerchief with the mushroom and tucked it into his pocket as he replied. His voice took on a slightly hardened edge.
“It has only been two days since you decided to reside in this mansion. For someone to have already extended their reach to the servants and orchestrated such an act, they are clearly no ordinary swift-handed individual. I will track them down and eliminate them all.”
Paimon’s tone was businesslike, yet a profound bloodlust emanated from him. It seemed his shame at such an incident occurring right before his eyes outweighed his anger.
“Wait a moment.”
Jeha stopped Paimon as he turned to leave. After a brief moment of thought, he spoke.
“I am Marquis Belgar now, and I must remain Marquis Belgar for the foreseeable future. If you track them down and kill them, what then? The servants clearly saw me consume the poisoned mushroom. If I’m perfectly fine and the culprit is dead… wouldn’t people start to question my true identity?”
Paimon, who had been radiating such potent bloodlust that it seemed he might rush out and slaughter everyone immediately, fell silent. His murderous intent clearly had not yet dissipated. Jeha gently patted Paimon’s arm, trying to soothe him. ‘It’s just a mushroom, and I didn’t even die from it,’ he thought. ‘What’s the harm?’
“Well, I didn’t die, so that’s what matters. Let’s drop it for now and think about what we should do next.”
Jeha said, pacifying him and diverting Paimon’s attention. Just then, as if on cue, the bedroom door burst open and Zephyr rushed in.
“Master!”
“Zephyr?”
“Master! You vomited everything?! What on earth happened? What occurred while I was gone?! Are you alright?!”
Zephyr fussed, patting Jeha’s body all over, even though Jeha visibly appeared perfectly fine. Through the wide-open door, several servants could be glimpsed peeking in. Paimon walked over, closed the bedroom door, and returned. Then, with considerable force, he smacked the back of Zephyr’s head, who was busy making a commotion by the bed.
SPLAT!
With a tremendous sound, like a watermelon bursting, Zephyr’s face plunged into the bed. For a fleeting moment, Jeha actually worried for Zephyr’s life.
“What were you thinking, abandoning your Master’s side for so long? You useless fool.”
Paimon’s voice was colder than ever before. Zephyr slowly lifted his head from where it was buried in the bed, rubbing the back of his scalp.
“…I didn’t expect anything to happen while I was briefly away. Even if I wasn’t here, Lord Paimon was, wasn’t he? …But what in the world happened?”
“This was mixed into Master’s meal.”
Paimon pulled out the mushroom he had placed in his pocket and showed it. Zephyr recognized it at a glance.
“No, this… Why is this here…?”
Zephyr exclaimed, his face a mask of disbelief. He then looked at Jeha, asking worriedly, “Are you alright, Master?”
“I’m perfectly fine, of course.”
Jeha said, feigning a tough demeanor. He was the Demon King, after all. He felt fortunate that at least fewer people had witnessed him high and dazed from the narcotic mushroom, or being forced to vomit by Paimon’s hand.
“To have acted so quickly, barely a day after our arrival in Enkarosha… they are clearly no ordinary swift schemer.”
Zephyr’s expression became quite serious. Before Zephyr could suggest tracking down and eliminating the culprits, Jeha quickly interjected.
“Don’t even think about causing trouble. For now, since I ate it and immediately threw it up, we can say I narrowly escaped death.”
A blatant look of dissatisfaction appeared on Zephyr’s face. However, as Jeha took his arm and patted it, Zephyr quickly began to grin.
“Well, we can always find out who it was and make them pay for their sins later. What do you intend to do next, Master?”
“To procure a mushroom from the Demon World and use it as poison implies a connection to the Demon World, doesn’t it? That means Hereis might not be the only human in Enkarosha who has made a contract with a demon.”
“Hooo…”
At Jeha’s speculative remark, an expression of immediate curiosity bloomed on Zephyr’s face.