Reminiscence: Malice, Unawareness, and Sleeping Proclivities

Translated by AmaLynne
Edited by AmaLynne

 

After walking for a while, I soon found the person I was looking for.

 

“Oh, there you are. Phoenix, I have a favor to ask you.”

 

“Hmm? Oh, Ares? Aren’t you supposed to be torturing Titan?”

 

“We’ll get to that. And, please, don’t use the word “torment”, it’s not very polite.”

 

I’m indeed going to have Titan hurt from now on, but that doesn’t change the meaning.

 

It’s just that there are a few more ways to say it.

 

“So, what?”

 

“Oh. Actually, I made a whip for Titan, but I wanted to see how powerful it was.”

 

“Eh? You’re not going to test it on me, are you…?”

 

“No, no, no. I want you to wave the whip and put it on my arm.”

 

No matter how much I want to, I’m not going to test the power of the whip on someone else’s skin.

 

“…I’m not sure about that either, but oh well. Give me the whip.”

 

I handed the newly made―――and (supposedly) less powerful―――whip to Phoenix.

 

Then I thrust my arm out in front of me and asked Phoenix to swing it as hard as she could.

 

Then…

 

*Hyun!* *Bashin!*

 

A high-pitched sound echoed in the air.

 

I mean… 

 

“～～～～!”

 

It was rather painful.

 

However, if you look at my arm, the skin is only slightly red.

 

It’s a little tingly, but there’s no need to worry about serious injury with this level of power.

 

Well, what hurts still hurts, but… 

 

“That sounded pretty good, didn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, it hurts a lot, to be honest.”

 

The only thing that’s really flashy is the sound. The power of the shot is pretty low, so even if it hurts a little, the wound won’t be that bad.

 

However, Phoenix has a very strong hostility towards Titan.

 

If she finds out that this whip is a very tame version that barely hurts her, I don’t know what she’ll do.

 

At worst, she might try to torture Titan with her own hands.

 

I want to avoid that if possible.

 

No matter what the relationship is now, it’s not a good feeling to watch your fellow brethren hurt each other.

 

“This is going to cause a lot of pain for Titan. That should remind her of what she’s done.”

 

“Fu~n… well, good luck with that.”

 

Phoenix replies to my explanation in an absent-minded manner.

 

I mean, she just used the whip rather seriously, without even thinking about how much she should take.

 

I knew this guy hated me.

 

However, thanks to this, it was proven that even if the whip was applied with the power of the Phoenix, it was not very powerful.

 

This way, I’ll have no problem using it to punish Titan.

 

As you can imagine, I’m hesitant to use a whip that can rip the skin.

 

Demiurgos probably doesn’t want me to hurt her that badly either.

 

―――In this way, the day ended with the preparation for the punishment of Titan.

 

The real punishment will start tomorrow.

 

It will probably take a lot of patience.

 

I don’t know how much I can encourage Titan to reflect on her actions, but I will do my best.

 

I put all my energy into the hand that held the whip.

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

Late at night.

 

When Demiurge-sama and Ares had fallen asleep, I, Phoenix, was acting under my breath.

 

“That Ares guy… beating Titan with such a『 soft whip 』doesn’t make any sense.”

 

I didn’t like the whip Ares had prepared, so I sneaked it out of his possession.

 

I had noticed that this whip could hardly cause pain to the opponent.

 

First of all, I had beaten Ares mercilessly when I tried the whip.

 

If the power of the whip was normal, it would have severed the skin and even the muscles underneath.

 

And yet.

 

“I expected it, but what the hell, this whip…”

 

The damage done to the opponent is considerably reduced by covering it with a special mana membrane.

 

This is no different than hitting someone with a water-absorbent garment.

 

It’s a sweet little thing that doesn’t hurt at all.

 

“There’s no way Titan is going to be remorseful if we do something half-hearted. If we’re going to do this, we have to be thorough.”

 

I transformed and hardened the mana used as a cushion.

 

In doing so, be careful not to lose the flexibility inherent in the whip.

 

The image is that of a leather whip used by humans.

 

Demiurge-sama has not given me permission to touch Titan.

 

She knows that if I punish Titan, I will go too far.

 

In fact, if she hadn’t said anything, I would have burned Titan at the stake by now.

 

To be honest, I don’t care if the World Tree was damaged or not.

 

But the fact that he tried to fight against Demiurgos is a barbaric act that I can never forgive.

 

Even now, my gut is churning and I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.

 

But I have no intention of disagreeing with the words of my beloved Demiurge-sama.

 

Demiurge-sama is a very kind person.

 

I’m sure she has mercy on Titan as well.

 

That is why she did not order me to punish Titan.

 

But I can’t forgive Titan.

 

So,

 

“Well, that’s about it.”

 

I checked the coating of mana on the whip’s surface.

 

I swung the whip at a handy tree to test it out.

 

Then, *Screech!*. With a sharp sound, the bark of the tree was damaged.

 

“Well, this is about right.”

 

If I increase the power of the whip too much, it might be obvious that the whip has been tampered with.

 

It would be a hassle if I had to recreate the whip again.

 

“Titan. I will never forgive you for what you’ve done.”

 

Thus, the whip that Ares had prepared was strengthened by my hands and transformed into a punishing tool for torture.

 

“…Fufu, I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Prepare yourself, Titan.”

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

The next morning.

 

Punishment, day two.

 

In the forest, there was the sound of a whip blowing in the wind, the sharp sound of a whip beating painfully against the skin… and the muffled scream of a woman.

 

“Guh…!”

 

“Well… Titan, have you come to reflect on yourself?”

 

Titan’s hands were tied with wooden vines and she was hung up.

 

Her brown skin was etched with countless painful red marks.

  

 

“I’m sorry to say… I’m not soft-hearted enough to raise my voice over something like that… More importantly, if you think I’m going to bow down to you for doing such a lazy thing, you must be pretty flowery inside your head, human…!”

 

Titan’s expression contorts, but she swears and spits in my face.

 

It’s a little too easy… A whip that kills the power doesn’t hurt as much, after all.

 

I have been wielding the whip all morning, but it has not yet prompted me to reflect.

 

But even a small pain can be quite painful if it continues for a long time.

 

For now, I’m waving the whip, believing that she will eventually raise her voice.

 

“Well… then, I’ll keep going a little longer. This act is not over until you bow down to Demiurge.”

 

“Heck… your little whip won’t hurt a bit. Come on. I’ll deal with you.”

 

“Oh… you don’t have to tell me… I’m gonna do it!”

 

*Bashin!* The vine whip leaves a red trail on Titan’s skin.

 

I wielded the whip on Titan until the sun went down.

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

*Bashin!*

 

―――Hurts! It hurtssssssssssssss!!

 

Every time the human man swung the whip, my body would be in extreme pain.

 

But I’m a Titan.

 

I can withstand a human attack.

 

In fact, it’s humiliating to be tormented by a human being, but it’s outrageous to make them happy by screaming in pain!

 

I’m the strongest demon there is.

 

I will not give in to the whip of a human being… 

 

*Bashin!*

 

―――UUGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

F-Fuck! That hurts!

 

I bit my lip and tried to hold back the tears that were starting to form in my eyes.

 

As I endured the pain that covered my entire body, I forced myself to keep smiling fearlessly.

 

Inwardly, I’m writhing in pain… 

 

Kuh! Human… I’m gonna kill you for messing with me!

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

*Bashin!*

 

“Phew… that’s enough for today. It’s getting late.”

 

I wielded my last whip of the day and stopped.

 

The sky was already turning red and the forest was about to welcome the night.

 

“Hah, I-It’s over, huh? This isn’t even close to being enough, human…”

 

“I see. Then I’ll hit you tomorrow as hard as I can.”

 

There are numerous red marks on Titan’s skin, but I guess this reduced power of the whip can still withstand it.

 

I may have gone too easy on her, as expected.

 

However, there is still time.

 

Tomorrow, I’ll wield the whip even more vigorously than I did today, and try to inflict even more pain and humiliation.

 

In the first place, the fact that I’m enforcing the punishment itself must be quite humiliating for her.

 

If it gets more extreme, it will put a lot of stress on her mind.

 

If it goes on for a few days, maybe it will encourage her to reflect a little.

 

I was about to turn on my heel, hoping that Titan would reflect on this tomorrow, then I stopped.

 

“Oh, I almost forgot.”

 

“―――?! Wh-What’s that… you still haven’t done enough? F-Fine. Come on…”

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

 

For a moment, it looked like Titan was shaking like she was scared, but I guess I was imagining it.

 

After all, she’s been smiling in a relaxed manner all day.

 

It was a less powerful whip. I’m sure there’s plenty of room for more, but unfortunately, I’ve got a lot on my plate, including reporting to Demiurge on today’s accomplishments and consoling my wife for being unavailable all day.

 

I can’t spend all my time on her.

 

What I was going to do now was not to resume my punishment with the whip.

 

“ ―――『 Heal 』.”

 

“―――?!”

 

A magic circle appeared in my outstretched hand, and the light that flooded out of it enveloped Titan.

 

Then, the red scars on her skin disappeared, and she was restored to her original beautiful state.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing…?”

 

“Who knows? Why don’t you think about that for yourself?”

 

What a thing to say, but the truth is I just can’t stand to look at the red scars on my titans.

 

Besides, these things don’t just need to hurt, they also need to be candy in moderation. ‡

 

The whipping is followed by wound healing.

 

By doing this, I’m showing that I don’t just want to torment Titan, but that I want her to reflect on her actions.

 

Well, I’m not going to say it out loud.

 

If she’s not too stupid, she’ll be aware of my intentions.

 

“…Kuu, so that’s what it is. You have good taste, don’t you? Human… you piece of shit.”

 

Apparently, she realized my intentions right away.

 

But why she was calling me a bum made no sense.

 

“I don’t want to be called a piece of shit by you. I’ll see you later.”

 

Well, now I knew that this person was just going to make fun of my behavior.

 

That’s why I will patiently deal with her.

 

There are only five days… and by then, I must do whatever I can to make Titan reflect on her actions.

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

I felt a sense of astonishment at the human’s use of recovery magic.

 

But I soon realized their intentions.

 

『 I’m going to beat you to death again tomorrow. It would be boring to die of shock from the pain then. So I’ll heal your wounds today. 』

 

He must be thinking something like this.

 

Heck, you’re just as much of a lowlife as I am.

 

But I’m not going to give in.

 

I don’t care how much I’m tormented by humans, I’m not going to shed any tears.

 

I have no intention of apologizing to my sister.

 

I stared deep into the forest where the humans had disappeared and lifted the corners of my mouth.

 

“Don’t underestimate me, human… because I will never be what you want me to be.”

 

I muttered to myself and relaxed my body.

 

But at that moment, I remembered that I had felt a strange sensation in my body earlier.

 

“Come to think of it, when I was recovering from my wounds… something gave me a strange chill…”

 

What the hell was that?

 

At the moment the intense pain that was tormenting my whole body disappeared like a wave receding at once, I felt a tingling sensation in my body that I couldn’t remember.

 

In addition, the shivers in my body made a certain point in my body shudder.

 

It was my lower abdomen――― ‡