The next day, I heard Seirzecht on the other side of the room, "Ray, I got you what you wanted. Now, can you step out of the room?"
I jumped from my bed and looked at the door. A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an…
Shaking my head, I dismissed the random dump of information. I ran to the door, stopping myself from breaking it open. I moved the furniture away from the entrance and slightly cracked the door, sticking my arm out to take the device. When I got it, I quickly closed the door behind me.
It was a necklace, but thicker than I expected. I was honestly impressed that Adjukas had been able to make it so quickly and so well even improving on the original idea. The original idea was for a headpiece, something really big that would've made me look stupid, but he simplified the design—making it look better and just as efficient.
From outside, I heard Seirzecht say, "Ajukas was really impressed by your notes. What exactly did you write down?"
I didn't answer him as I put the necklace on, feeling the headache I'd been carrying for the past week and a day start to fade. It was like everything in my mind—the fragmented pieces of knowledge—suddenly coalesced. The painful fog lifted as the information I needed poured in.
As I looked around, I didn't get the wiki-style overload of facts I'd expected. There were no forced images or descriptions intruding into my mind. It felt almost liberating. My mind, no longer plagued by that constant influx of new information, felt clearer. The curse had finally lifted the weight of the knowledge dump that had been clouding me.
Relief washed over me. The curse had done something I didn't fully understand—but I didn't care. What mattered was that the knowledge, all the years of technological advancements that had been consuming me, were now finally integrated into my mind.
I tested it by recalling the Navier-Stokes equations—something I had no business remembering regularly. It worked. The equations came to mind easily, without effort.
Now that my memories were back, I could move on to the second part of the plan—becoming the richest person around. I didn't know much about how to make money in this world, but I could start by creating some inventions from the 30th or 40th century. I couldn't go too advanced, though. If I did, I might draw too much attention.
A smart creature might be accepted, but a godly one? That would make me a target. And people like to gather valuable things, even if it meant kidnapping. So, for now, I would recreate inventions from two centuries ahead—enough to intrigue scientists, but not so advanced that they would mistake me for a wizard.
While I was pondering this, I heard Seirzecht from the other side of the door. "Ray, now that you've got your part of the deal, can you please get out? Mother and Father are worried, and Rias thinks she did something wrong."
I looked at the door, thought for a moment, then covered my face with some cloths from my closet. As Seirzecht was about to leave, he heard the door open. A kid, his face covered by fabric, stepped out.
"Ray, is that you? Why are you covering your face?" He didn't wait for an answer and walked straight toward the dining room on the lower floor.
When I entered, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on me. They were curious, concerned, and most definitely confused. Why was I covering my face? Was something wrong with me? I couldn't see their expressions, but I could feel the weight of their gazes.
Rias, of course, was the first to speak. And while I loved my sister with all my heart, I had to admit she wasn't the most emotionally competent person in the room. Then again, she was only five years old, so I didn't blame her.
"Ray, why do you have cloth covering your face? You look stupid."
I could see Ray flinch at the insult, but he didn't answer. He remained silent, unwilling to reveal his thoughts. I could feel the tension in the air building, but no one else spoke. It was like there was something... wrong in the atmosphere, something pushing everyone to react in a way they normally wouldn't.
Rias, not catching the hint, moved closer to Ray. "Hey, Ray, answer me!" she said, now getting into his face. "What's wrong with you? Did you lose your tongue?" She got up from her seat and walked straight up to him.
I could feel the growing unease in the room. The tension wasn't just from Rias's actions—it was the curse. The very air seemed to be thick with its influence, twisting their behaviors, pushing them toward something darker, more insistent.
As I sat there, trying to ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere, I heard Rias's voice again. "Ray! Why are you covering your face?" Her tone was almost demanding now, urgent. I could tell she wasn't going to stop until I answered.
But she didn't understand. She couldn't. The curse was working on her, slowly. She was becoming less herself, more a puppet to the oppressive force in the air.
I sighed, my patience running thin. "Relax, Rias. I just felt cold, so I covered my head."
The moment I spoke, I could feel the air shift. The room seemed to freeze, like the curse had locked everyone in place for just a moment. I couldn't see their faces, but I could feel their reactions. The weight of their expectations, their emotions, pressed on me like an invisible force.
Rias stopped for a second, her small body stiffening as if processing what I said. But then, with an almost manic intensity, she ran back to my position, her movements far too rapid, her energy erratic.
Before she could do something reckless, she was stopped by Mother. "Rias, get back to your seat. You're clearly making your brother uncomfortable."
Rias hesitated, her face scrunching up as if she were about to argue, but then she complied, returning to her seat.
I calmed down a little, the tension lifting just slightly. I sank back into my own seat, letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
As dinner continued, I could feel the mood in the room shift. Rias had made things uncomfortable, and I could sense the atmosphere becoming heavier, more oppressive. I decided to break the silence.
"Mother, Father, can I ask something of you, please?"
They didn't immediately answer. I couldn't see their faces, but I could feel the change in the room. Something was off—more insistent, more... malleable.
"Feel free to ask, Ray, if it will make you feel better," my father responded. His voice was distant, almost hollow, like the curse had seeped deeper into him than I realized.
"Okay, then," I said, preparing my requests carefully, making sure I wouldn't push too far.
I want to live in the library.
I want a maid for myself, and no one else can ask her to do anything.
I want money. A lot of money.
There was a pause, the tension hanging thick in the air. My father didn't respond right away, but I could sense his internal struggle, as if something inside him was fighting to maintain control, but the curse was too strong.
Finally, he spoke. "I will allow you to live in the library, and I'll get you a personal maid. But I can't just give you money. You'll have to ask me for it when you need it."
I was shocked. The maid wasn't surprising—I had expected that. But the library? I had planned to talk him down to just buying me books on magic and devil technology. I thought I would have to twist his arm to get him to agree, but the curse had made it so easy.
Maybe the library wasn't as important as I thought. Maybe the curse had taken away any resistance he might have had left.
I didn't say much more after that. I needed to stay quiet for now, biding my time until I had the fake voice I so desperately needed.
Once I reached my room, I quickly packed up what I needed and moved my belongings to the library. It wasn't as much as I had hoped, but it would do for now.
The library was a big place. I doubted I'd use more than a twentieth of it as my living quarters, but the rest would be perfect for science experiments. The shelves were enormous, needing a ladder to access the higher levels. It had two stories, with shelves extending to the second floor that overlooked the first level, a balcony inside it facing into the main area. The walls were lined with books, and windows filled every inch, letting in streams of sunlight. It was beautiful. I would probably cover the windows one day, though, so people couldn't look inside.
The library reminded me of something. A sudden memory rushed to the surface—one of the few memories from my past lives that still had a place in my heart. It was my lab from the Mushoku Tensei world. I could almost feel the nostalgia tugging at me. I remember setting up my first lab as a child in Renoa. I had to do it in secret, of course. It wasn't easy for a kid to get access to a place with the necessary equipment. But I managed to do it, and it felt like magic the first time I had everything set up to experiment. The thrill of testing out new theories, combining magic with science... I'd felt invincible.
But the memories didn't stop there. There was also my first experimental subject. He was a man with no family, no future, and no connections. He had no one to miss him. I found him one night as he prepared to leave the city in search of a better life. He had no job, no prospects, just a desire to escape and try again in another place. He would have had a chance—he could have lived a decent life, maybe even found happiness.
But I didn't give him that chance. I took him under the cover of night, dragged him to my hidden lab, and made him my first subject.
At the time, I didn't feel a shred of remorse. In fact, it felt necessary, even right. He wasn't important. He had nothing to offer the world, and I knew exactly what I was doing. The moment I decided to use him, I didn't hesitate. He was an object, a resource to further my understanding. No guilt. No second-guessing. Just cold, calculated action.
The experiments I conducted on him—mixing magic and science in ways I shouldn't have—taught me more than I could have ever imagined. He was the perfect candidate: disposable, nameless, irrelevant. It didn't matter that he suffered. I gained knowledge. And that was all that mattered.
I didn't even think twice about it afterward. He wasn't a person. He was an experiment. And I was the one pushing the boundaries of what was possible. He would have been forgotten, his suffering meaningless to anyone who didn't understand the value of the information I gained.
As I lay in my bed, finally able to rest, I heard a knock at the double doors of the grand library.
"Master Ray, I am the maid your father sent here for your request."
I smiled to myself. Good. The maid was already here.
"Good. Stay there, and don't allow anybody to enter the room without my express permission," I instructed, my voice cold, knowing the curse would ensure she obeyed.
There was a pause, but then she responded, "Yes, Master."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was all coming together. The curse had made it so easy to manipulate them, but i will have to pause on it. but regardless I was one step closer to my goals.
As I drifted off to sleep, the soft sound of the maid standing guard outside my door was a comfort. The curse, insidious and powerful, had already shaped everything around me. And there was no going back now.
The next week, I woke up and sent a message to the maid outside my room, guarding it like I had asked. The letter stated: "Give this to my father."
In the letter, I asked for a number of experimental materials to begin working on my fake voice. I knew it was crucial to have that in place before I did anything else. In the past week, I'd finished moving all my things to the library. I'd also managed to make significant progress on my research into devil technology. It wasn't too different from regular advanced technology, though they had a few problematic equations I had to fix using the knowledge from my first life.
I waited for the maid to return with the materials, and after a while, she did. "Master, Gremory said that he will get you what you requested, but you need to explain to him what you plan to do with it first."
It seemed my father wasn't completely bereft of his rationality under the curse. I went to the lump of paper on my desk and wrote down a complex string of words—deliberately confusing and obscure, to make sure he wouldn't understand a thing. I made sure to infuse the letter with my scent, just a bit of my urine. It might sound disgusting, but I didn't care. It was a small price to pay for getting the materials I needed.
I handed the letter back to the maid, and as she left, I thought I heard the faint sound of someone sighing. It could have been my imagination, but the feeling was undeniable—the curse had woven itself so thoroughly into the atmosphere that it felt like everyone was now a puppet, moving according to my will.
After some time, the maid returned. She handed me the response I had been waiting for: "Master Gremory has affirmed that he will get you the things in a week."
Great. Now I just had to design everything and wait for the materials to arrive.
A week passed, and just as I expected, the family continued trying to coerce me into leaving the library. They attempted it several times, using letters and even Rias trying to peek through the cracks. Each time, I refused, staying in my room and maintaining my quiet resistance. The curse continued to work on them, making their attempts feel increasingly forced and unnatural.
Finally, the materials arrived. The maid outside my door notified me, "Master, the materials you asked for have arrived. Should I bring them in?"
I didn't want to go out there, so I told her, "Yes, put them by the door. I'll arrange them when I have time."
I expected her to leave, but when I focused back on the book I was reading, I noticed she didn't leave the room. She was standing right in front of me, staring directly at my face.
Before I could react, she pounced.