On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

It has been two days since we started our journey to Amizanima Forest. I think we are running quick enough to match a Lambo, but it is still going to take us more than two days to arrive there.

The journey to Amizanima Forest is quite uneventful to be honest. Other than knowing so many things about Forest Spirits through my conversation with Luxia, there is nothing worth noting.

We encountered some groups of humans on our way, but none of them was strong enough to pose a challenge to us. As Valeria has said, other than the Heroes, every human is suck.

Oh, they have a quite unique reaction though. I often find myself laughing at the way the react or what they say.

For example, the group of wandering merchants we just encountered.

"N-No, please don't kill me! I-I haven't married yet—AAAHHH!"

Cutting the wandering human merchant in front of me in two, I quirk my eyebrow in wonder. Considering how encouraged having as many kids as possible is in this world, being an unmarried man seems really weird to me.

Every existing human Kingdom in this world even gives a couple who have more than two kids a subsidy. The more kids you have in this world, the easier the Kingdom makes your life become.

Of course, there is a catch to it: those who have more than two kids are obligated to enroll at least two of their kids to the military. In other words, they have to be willing for their kids to be a fodder in the war against us.

For that reason, no one is so eager to have more than two kids. The point still stands though, it is hard to be an <anno data-annotation-id="7ee3c687-8ae6-9835-00bb-0471e6bae933">incel</anno> in this world since every woman in this world is willing to breed.

"Dude doesn't even look ugly, but his luck with women is shit," I mutter with a chuckle.

Turning my gaze to my troop mates, I find all of them busy looking for something that picks their interest up in the merchant's carts. None of them is interested in gold or jewelry, because, quite frankly, we can easily obtain them in Ilschevar Kingdom.

All they have their eyes on is anything Magic related—things that produce Mana. I am like them too, but since I am a former human, I still have that greediness toward, you know, "worldly possessions."

My greediness, of course, is not the only reason why I pick them up. It is also my preparation for the just in case situation where I have to mingle with humans.

"You love gold that much?" Eliseus asks. "We have many gold back in our Kingdom, but none of us is really interested in it. We even use it as a currency merely to prevent a chaos from happening."

"... This is not what you think it is, Eliseus. You just don't know how humans think—there might be something unexpected we can get by exchanging all of this gold with them."

"In a war between humans and Demons, gold holds no—"

"Shush!" I put my finger in front of Eliseus' lips. "I know humans better than you do. I was a human before, so I know well how greedy they are."

Blinking her eyes, Eliseus says, "I mean, you can just rob them off their possession instead of being a pathetic horder."

"... You just don't get it." I shake my head in disappointment.

Eliseus looks at me weirdly for what I have said, but instead of minding her, I turn my head away from her, and keep storing all of the gold and jewelry.

When the cart is emptied of them, I move to another cart. Many of my troop mates are looking at me in astonishment, but I don't even bat a single one of my eyelashes.

Upon looking into the second cart, I am immediately disappointed. There is no gold or jewelry I can collect inside it.

"I don't need these grasses. I don't even bother to learn Alchemy since my Demon King's Mark does a better job at healing me."

"Hmm... There is an Earth Essence though, Layland," Luxia comments. "It is not that high of a quality nor is it beneficial for you, but it is something considered precious."

Earth Essence is a crystal that is formed by the accumulation of Nature Energy in the ground. This Nature Energy is the byproduct of Forest Spirits' power, so, in a sense, it is the Forest Spirits' shit.

"I can sell it for money?"

"... Why do you have to word it as if it is something disgusting that shouldn't be sold in the beginning?"

"You are overthinking, my one and only trusty partner, Luxia." I shake my head faintly. "Girls these days—they are overly sensitive."

I can't see Luxia—she is on my head—but I can tell she is currently looking at me judgementally. She stops doing it after a few seconds, then speaks as if she has completely forgotten about the matter.

"Anyway, I am not telling you to sell it—I am telling you to give it to me."

"Is it beneficial to you?"

"Yes. It is going to help me regain my original power." Luxia pauses for a few seconds. "I will be able to forever stay in my original, sexy form, and I believe you will be excited about it."

"Hold your horses, Forest Spirit." I slightly frown. "Had I ever looked at you with lust when we spent our time together in the Earth Eater?"

"No, but you were constantly exuding pheromone at that time, which suggested you indeed had an eye on me."

"What the heck? I can't even control that pheromone thing—it's one of my perks as a Demon." I scratch my head before realizing something. "Wait... Did my pheromone accidentally turn you on? Pfft! I turned on a Forest Spirit!"

"S-Shut it, you damned Demon! W-What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!"

I merely chuckle and ignore Luxia afterwards. Teasing Luxia whose IQ has decreased along with her size is as fun as usual.

I always talk with her quietly when I am alone but not sure if someone can hear me. In result though, many of my troop mates have labelled me the diligent practitioner of the Ancient Demonic Curse.

This is a Magic world, and Demons do a lot of things, so instead of thinking that I am insane for my mutterings, they think I am trying to figure out how to Curse someone.

Shrugging at my thought, I take the Earth Essence that Luxia wants. It is a bronze colored, spherical crystal the size of a golf ball that is exuding a strong aura of Earth Magic.

"Is this what you want?"

"...you know that I have never once lusted for you, but since you—ah... Yes that is."

I don't want to provoke Luxia to speak anymore, so Instead of asking what she has been on about, I give her the Earth Essence she wants so badly. It immediately disappears as soon as I raise it up to my head.

Luxia has taken the Earth Essence, so I wonder how she is going to process it. Although she is bigger than it, she is, after all, still too small to devour it whole.

"Are you going to gobble—"

"I am going to absorb it slowly," Luxia says spitefully. "You can stop your dirty fantasy, you vile Demon."

"Right... This is a Magic world—you can do such a thing." I nod my head before quirking my eyebrow. "Where is the perversion from looking at a Forest Spirit gobbling down an Earth Essence that is too big for her to gobble down?"

"... H-How should I know?!"

The Forest Spirit is going places, and it makes me wonder if it's true that Demons are the most lustful creatures in this world. Shaking my head to clear the thought off my head, I turn to my gaze to the other carts I can ransack.

... There is none.

There are actually still another two carts I haven't checked yet, but all of them have been set on fire by my bored troop mates. I am sure they have also taken all of the good things, so I don't even bother to ask if there is still some gold remaining.

Putting my hand on the cart that is in front of me, I quick cast a Fire Spell that I have only used to set up bonfires.

"[Incendia]!"

My hand doesn't even produce an extreme heat or fire, but the cart is immediately set on fire. The grasses and herbs inside the cart are quickly burned, releasing a unique smelling smoke to the air.

I sniff it once, and immediately frown. I sense a reaction down there, and it is not a good news.

Something is wrong with the herbs I have just burned—my face darkens as I turn my gaze to my troop mates. Many of them look intoxicated—even Eliseus, the most self-controlled Demon, is having a weird expression.

"Oh, pup... What have you done?" Velucan, who has suddenly appeared, mutters beside me. "You have accidentally turned them on. Now we have to take a visit to a nearby human village to let them satisfy their urge, damn it!"

Really, there is definitely something wrong with the herbs I have just  burned.

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="7ee3c687-8ae6-9835-00bb-0471e6bae933">Involuntarily celibate—guys who repel girls naturally.</li></ol></annotations>",