Chapter 293 – Dumbfounded

“Cough, cough… What was that for?!” Andusia glared at Alice.
Although the spell from the buff-type magician wasn't strong enough to cause her any damage, getting hit by a spell without any preparation still gave her quite the fright.

“I'm trying to see how this fellow's ability works.
She can grant special statuses to her targets,” Alice said, bluntly coming clean about her actions.
She responded so confidently that even Andusia couldn't help but wonder if she was overreacting.
“How do you feel? The special statuses granted are random, so you'll have to feel it yourself.”

“A random status…
Why would that Demon King take such an unreliable person as a Dark Guard?” Andusia wondered.

Andusia wasn't the user of It's So Short.
So, unlike Alice, Andusia didn't get to learn about the busty demoness's background and didn't know that this Dark Guard had pretended to be a diviner to give her unreliable ability a better look.
Andusia only knew that the busty demoness could give random buffs and debuffs to people, so it was natural that she would be confused.

It was also understandable for the Demon King, who had taken in the busty demoness as their subordinate, to be fooled by the latter's bluff.
Alice had learned from God that fate couldn't be controlled, so she naturally knew that diviners were nothing but conmen.
However, others did not know about this, so it wasn't surprising for a Demon King to place heavy importance on a diviner capable of predicting the future and reading people's fate.

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Flaman was also a good example.
He, too, used to have a diviner working under him, though said diviner was now planting potatoes at the border.
Regardless, this showed how much hope and fear the people of this world held toward fate.
So, it was no surprise that a Demon King would seal an unremarkable diviner's mana into their weapon.

Of course, even though the busty demoness was lying about her divination abilities, her ability to give people random buffs and debuffs was still quite interesting.
This was most likely an exclusive type of magic that the busty demoness had developed for herself, and other people might not necessarily be able to learn it.
It was somewhat similar to the Magic Swordsmanship Catherine had developed for herself.
Catherine even became the captain of the Gryffin Kingdom's Royal Guards thanks to this Magic Swordsmanship.

“I don't feel any different.
My strength and speed are the same as before.
The Forest Crystal's mana you left inside me is also intact,” Andusia said after moving her body a little.
Then, with a frown, she asked, “Did she really add a special status to me?”

“It should have taken effect already.
I've never seen this woman's ability failing before.
She can always give her targets a special status.” The person who answered Andusia wasn't Alice but Little Death instead.
“But I always thought that this woman was a diviner.
I didn't think she was only an ordinary magician that can only give random statuses to people.”

“Huh? Do you know her?” Alice was stunned by Little Death's words.
Judging by Little Death's tone, the undead girl seemed to know this “diviner.” “Have you seen her before?”

“I have.
I even worked with her in the past… I didn't know which Demon King made this strange weapon initially, but after seeing these four fellows, I think I know who made it,” Little Death said with a meaningful smile.
Although none of the past Demon Kings had told them about the weapons they made using the Demon King's Power's essence, she recognized the four individuals sealed in the butt plug.
So, she could naturally guess who was the weapon's creator.
“If I'm not mistaken, the creator of this weapon should be the Eighth Demon King, Miriya Hampar.”

It was you?!

The image of the short-sighted Demon King instantly surfaced in Alice's mind.
She would never forget the Demon King who had mistaken the Milu Rabbit's soul for her soul.
Unfortunately, as the blonde Demon King was overly cunning, Alice could not think of any reason to show mercy to the other party.

Alice didn't think that Miriya Hampar would be the creator of this short butt-plug dagger.
Though, after thinking it over, maybe it wasn't surprising that Miriya had created this strange dagger.
After all, only someone with such a severe case of myopia as Miriya could possibly create such a weapon.
Perhaps the heat generated during the smithing process had fogged up her glasses, preventing her from seeing the weapon's appearance.

“As for why you can't feel the effects of the woman's magic, that's not surprising.
Under normal circumstances, the statuses she gives are quite ordinary.
In her words, this means that 'you won't encounter any major events in recent time,'” Little Death said in a mature tone, imitating the way the “diviner” she remembered spoke.
“Although you can't feel the effects of the applied status now, the status's effect might show itself in an inconspicuous way afterward.
Just pay more attention, and you'll notice it.”

After a slight pause, Little Death continued:

“Of course, if she increases her mana output, she can produce statuses that are quite obvious.
Whenever she gives someone a relatively obvious status, I can always feel her using a significantly larger amount of mana.
There should be a connection between these differences.”

“In other words, when this woman is doing divination, she will use a small amount of mana to give her customers inconspicuous statuses.
But she will use a large amount of mana during big battles or major events to give others instant status effects, is that right?” Alice was feeling a little speechless after hearing Little Death's explanation.
“She really is a conman.”

“Ultimately, it is magic that relies heavily on luck.
Honestly, I don't think it's useful.
If not for the psychological comfort her divinations give, nobody will pay attention to her,” Andusia said, quickly piecing the puzzle together after hearing Alice's and Little Death's words.

Even without receiving any information from the “dagger” as Alice did, Andusia concluded that the busty demoness had most likely pretended to be a diviner to add importance to her ability to give random status buffs and debuffs to people.
Moreover, it would seem that the Eighth Demon King had fallen for her bluff.

“But Miriya really is bold to rely on this woman's magic.
Aren't the statuses random? What if she gets a terrible negative status in the midst of battle? Wouldn't she be asking to die?” Andusia added.

“You're absolutely right.
That's exactly how Miriya died,” Little Death said, nodding.
“When she started to get pushed back in her fight with the Hero, she had this woman use her magic on her and the Hero as a last-ditch attempt.
In the end, she received a 'vomit' negative status, while the Hero received a 'double strength' status.”

Andusia was dumbfounded.
She never thought there'd be a Demon King who'd do such a stupid thing.

Alice was also greatly shocked by this revelation.
Up until this moment, Alice's impression of Miriya was that of a crafty Demon King with extraordinary combat instincts.
Hence, the last thing she expected Miriya to do was to make such a stupid decision in her fight against the Hero.