‘So, we’re taking a test.’
Then why are we in a courtroom?
Is it one of those things where if you’re competent, you’re innocent, and if you’re incompetent, you’re guilty?
Seated in the circular jury box along with the twins, I cautiously raised my head and looked toward the center of the courtroom.
There was a spot that seemed to be the defendant’s seat, and it looked like people were called up one by one to be tested.
What if someone had stage fright?
As I took in the sight of the nearly fifty occupied jury seats, a thought crossed my mind.
‘So, all of these people are demons, huh?’
I scanned each face carefully, and some of them looked familiar. Faces that had been quite well-known in my past life.
‘And not for good reasons.’
They were infamous for their terrible temperaments. Their reputations were tied to words like ‘cruel’ and ‘ruthless.’
‘Back then, I used to curse them, calling them inhuman bastards… but turns out, they really aren’t human.’
Right. It makes sense—they’re demons, after all.
In any case, it was best to avoid drawing attention. I couldn’t let them find out I was human.
The twins were still young, so it might be easy to deceive them, but fully grown demons wouldn’t be fooled so easily. I had to stay under the radar until I was completely settled here.
“Shekina, are you nervous?”
At that moment, Pardes spoke to me.
I wasn’t nervous at all, so why was he asking? Curious, I turned to look at him—and ah, I see. He was the one who was nervous.
Shaking like a leaf. He looked like he was about to collapse.
“Everyone’s nervous. It’s okay. It’d be weirder if you weren’t.”
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Looking around, I noticed that not only Pardes but also Merdes was trembling. So were the other children nearby.
Well, of course. It made sense to be scared. A single mistake here could mean death.
‘If I hadn’t received the quest, I’d probably be shaking just as much.’
But there was no need for such thoughts. I had the strongest card in my hand!
“Myaaah! (You’re all doomed, you bastards!)”
I chuckled to myself as I shouted.
Then—
Boom! Thud!
The ground and the seats we were sitting in began to shake.
What was that? A monster attack? Even in a place filled with demons like this?
I widened my eyes and looked around, but no one else seemed surprised.
Except for Pardes, who suddenly jumped up with shining eyes and let out an excited gasp.
“Lord Lyat!!”
Pardes hopped excitedly toward the open door, making me instinctively turn to look as well.
There, standing in the entrance, was an enormous man.
So huge and menacing that it was hard to tell if he was a demon or a monster.
‘One punch from him and I’d be dead.’
A chill ran down my spine as I narrowed my eyes. Something was perched on the giant’s shoulder.
And then, that ‘something’ lightly jumped down.
A man with neatly tied white hair, wearing a monocle and a tailcoat. His expression was cold and stern, but he was so small that it wasn’t particularly intimidating.
“Lord Lyat! When did you arrive? If I knew, I would have come to greet you!”
Pardes reached out with both hands and shouted excitedly at the small demon.
Based on what Pardes said last night, that must be ‘Lord Lyat.’
– With the Demon King’s immense magical power and the genius knowledge of Lord Lyat, whom I respect the most in this world, we were created!
A demon who created homunculi (artificial humans).
That man was the one I had to be most cautious of. Since he created artificial humans, he would have the highest chance of realizing that I was actually human.
‘And…’
That big guy.
I’ve seen him somewhere before.
I tried to recall where, but I couldn’t.
Because at that moment, Lyat, holding Pardes’ hand, suddenly approached me.
“Is this the strange defective product Young Master Pardes mentioned?”
“Ugh! (Damn, that scared me.)”
Lyat’s sharp gray eyes glinted as he looked down at me.
Defective product? Strange? I stared up at him with my mouth half open.
“Yes, that’s right. But I don’t know if it’s defective. I don’t think so. It looks like no data was inputted, but it’s already handling mana. It even took down our ‘Mungmung’.”
For some reason, Pardes was slightly defending me while also looking smug.
I had no idea why he was acting so proud about me beating up their dog.
“Maintaining a proper sense of self and even using power without any pre-programmed data…?”
Lyat’s lips curled into a smirk.
“Interesting.”
He took off his monocle, put it in his pocket, and withdrew his gaze from me.
“I look forward to seeing what you’ll show us in the trial.”
A bad feeling. A really bad feeling.
If I mess up here, I’ll be discarded as a ‘defective product with no input data.’ But if I do well, I’ll become a ‘fascinating research subject’ and be dragged around by that guy.
‘Hmm…’
Since failure isn’t an option for me, the latter is the more likely outcome.
I glanced toward the massive man sitting by the door.
And suddenly, I had a great idea.
‘There’s always a veteran who outsmarts the rookies.’
Praising my own brilliance, I mentally reviewed my upcoming moves.
“Big brother seems to be doing well in front of Lord Lyat… I’d be too scared to say anything.”
“That’s because Lord Lyat is the person I respect the most in the world! When I grow up, I’ll become a terrifying demon just like him!”
The twins giggled amongst themselves, then turned to me and gave me a thumbs-up.
“Shekina, do well.”
“Yeah! Shekina, do great!”
Oh, don’t worry. Even if you didn’t say it, I was going to.
***
“Discard it.”
“Throw it away.”
“Dispose of it all. It’s useless, completely useless.”
Seated at the judge’s bench, Lyat furrowed his brows and ruffled his hair in frustration.
So far, eight homunculi had stood at the defendant’s stand.
None of them had passed the test. Every single one had been discarded.
‘Damn it. What exactly is the problem?’
From the beginning, Yurian had shown exceptional abilities, and Nisha, though weak at first, had grown remarkably over time.
Then there were the twins, Pardes and Merdes.
Other than them, there weren’t many promising ones. Some were still alive, but none were particularly noteworthy.
And yet, despite inputting the correct data and following the right creation process, they kept failing.
‘I need to understand the cause to fix it, but I can’t figure it out…’
The reason Lyat created homunculi was simple.
With the Demon King’s power sealed in the human world, fifty of the Demon Realm’s most elite warriors had descended upon the human world.
However, demons needed the energy of the Demon Realm to survive. Staying in the human world for long periods was not an option.
They needed humans who could move freely in the human world.
Yet, the great demons could not bring themselves to mix with lowly humans. Their very instincts recoiled at the thought.
Thus, Lyat had taken the audacious step of borrowing the Demon King’s power to create artificial humans.
Beings that shared the same structure as humans, allowing them to endure in the human world—while still possessing the power of demons.
Of course, to prevent any potential rebellion, loyalty to the Demon King and fundamental knowledge had been ‘programmed’ into them.
As a result, from the moment homunculi opened their eyes, they acted far more intelligently than ordinary human infants.
‘I had expected them to be a formidable force.’
But many turned out to be failures—some with weak magical abilities, others lacking intelligence, and some completely unable to control their own human-like bodies.
For every ten created, nine were discarded.
‘Tsk.’
Lyat clicked his tongue and rubbed the back of his neck.
Still, there was a glimmer of hope—Nisha, the second-most promising candidate, was next.
“Oh! Ooooh!”
“That’s a mid-tier spirit!”
The moment Nisha stepped into the defendant’s seat, she used her own blood to form a spirit circle.
Immediately, a mid-tier spirit—Salamander—was summoned.
“A demon controlling a spirit, its natural enemy? That’s impressive, isn’t it?”
“Since it’s not a pure demon, I suppose that’s why it’s possible. If raised properly, it could overturn the human world.”
Lyat agreed with the other demons’ assessments.
Nisha, who was only six years old, had already surpassed the peak-level human spirit summoners in skill.
“Pass. Well done.”
“Thank you.”
Nisha gave Lyat a short bow before leaving the courtroom.
Next up were the twins.
Pardes demonstrated alchemy, while Merdes showcased swordsmanship.
The alchemy was decent, and his sword technique had traces of sword energy—enough that there was no reason to fail them.
“Thank you, Lord Lyat! I’ll work even harder to be of use to you!”
“Thank you.”
Both bowed deeply in gratitude.
It was a rather heartwarming sight, but Lyat turned away with a bitter expression.
‘Once we recover the Demon King’s power, they’ll all be discarded anyway.’
How could they allow half-blood demons to enter the Demon Realm?
Lyat only acknowledged the usefulness of the homunculi, never their right to exist.
‘Well, at least while they’re alive, they’re treated as the Demon King’s children.’
Being called the children of the great Demon King—that alone should be reason enough for them to live.
‘After all, that’s exactly why they were created.’
Suppressing the odd emotions stirring within him, Lyat turned his gaze to the last remaining figure.
The infant he had seen earlier.
The peculiar homunculus that had taken down Cerberus.
Possibly defective—Shekina Daimon.
“Myaaaak!”
Shekina crawled clumsily toward the defendant’s stand.
‘Even though the data wasn’t properly input, it still has a certain level of awareness.’
But that was all.
No matter how unique, if it couldn’t demonstrate ability, it would be discarded.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
Lyat adjusted his monocle and focused his gaze on Shekina.
Upon reaching the defendant’s seat, Shekina wiggled its bottom a few times before sitting properly.
Then, from its tiny arms, it pulled something out.
“Myak! Myak! (Look, you bastards!)”
“W-wait! Why does it have that?”
“What is it trying to do?”
The small object in Shekina’s hands—
Lyat’s eyes widened in shock.
