Is It Tough Being A Friend? Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part2

TLN: Whoops, made a mistranslation last chapter:
“Right! I'm a boy with lewdness in his eyes when he sees someone that makes his heart pound! YAHOO!”  —-> “Right! I'm a boy with lewdness in his eyes when he even sees Dokin! YAHOO!”
I also added a TLN to that chapter to explain that line.

“Don't speak out of line!”

When returning home, I hit Taotie before even taking off my shoes.

I knew that this guy was a disgrace as a final boss, but I didn't think it'd be this bad. He's eager to have fun with the protagonist, his enemy.

It's bad enough already that I missed my chance to get an apostle, this isn't the time to go to the mountains. It's unlikely that there are apostles in that area. Or rather, I don't want partner up with apostles that are there to go camping.

“What should I do at such a frantic time like this! Also, I don't get lewd eyes when looking at Dokin! Batako is the farthest I'll go!” (TLN: Like Dokin, Batako is a character in the popular children's show Anpanman, but is a human. This is also why it was important to fix my mistranslation last chapter since it gets referenced here)

“Now now, please calm down, Boss. I apologize for speaking out loud back then.”

Appearing out of me, Taotie said “Here you go,” while preparing my slippers.

Looking at his face, it was obvious that he was smirking. He still couldn't conceal his expression of joy.

“I won't make excuses, but this is Ryuuga's swimsuit we're talking about, you know? Furthermore, it's a bold one, you know? That had raised my tension.”

“What am I supposed to do about searching for an apostle!”

“Isn't it fine to let it be?”

“Don't you have any serious intention to destroy this world?!”

“Nope.”

“To think that you're an ‘Evil Spirit!'”

“I am a Ryuuga enthusiast before I am an ‘Evil Spirit!'”

“Stop kidding me, you…”

In the end, I grabbed the defiant Taotie in a fit of anger.

Like that, a struggle between a human and an “Evil Spirit” began in the entrance hallway. They were a relatively equal match for each other.

In the midst of the struggle, a vase on top of the shoe rack broke, and so the two halted their fight to clean up the shards. By the time they finished, their heads cooled down, so they went to the living room to catch their breath.

“Boss, you're seriously strong. I had underestimated you.”

“Well anyways, I'm thirsty. I'd like some barley tea from the refrigerator.”

“Sure thing.”

Nodding his head, Taotie soon headed towards the kitchen… An “Evil Spirit” is being sent to do errands. This is already past the point of comprehension.

Afterwards, I spent some time chatting with Taotie while the bathtub was heating up. This was a nice chance to get some information out of him again.

“Come to think of it, what's going on with the rest of the four fiends?”

If I remember correctly, the four fiends are Hundun, Taotie, Qiongqi, and Taowu.

However, Hundun has already been defeated and vanished. That guy disappeared after receiving a unified attack from Ryuuga and the others, and that's something I had confirmed with my own eyes.

In that case, I have the option of handing over the role of part two's final boss to one of the remaining four fiends, Qiongqi or Taowu. That only postpones the problem, but still, they should be more of an “Evil Spirit” than Taotie is.

However, Taotie shakes his head towards my question while sipping barley tea.

“Unfortunately, I don't know. In the first place, us “Evil Spirits” haven't lived in the same period.”

“Is that so?”

“To tell the truth, us four fiends are on bad terms. If we revive and come across each other, we would start a conflict.”

“An internal strife…that's not good.”

If the opponents reached mutual destruction, Ryuuga probably would be at a loss. The story would also fall apart.

“I believe that it's not just us, but the apostles that would be in trouble as well.”

“What does that mean?”

“If there are multiple rulers, then those guys will form factions. It'll cause a conflict over which ‘Evil Spirit' to serve.”

This is getting worse and worse. It seems that that the “Apostles of h.e.l.l” aren't indivisible.

It seems that no matter the world, it's tough to unify the ma.s.ses. And judging by appearances, I don't think Taotie would be popular. Even I would be reluctant to be this guy's subordinate if I were an apostle.

“Well, it's possible that an opportunity will arise. Hundun's revival and my revival barely missed each other…so it's possible that we might come across the faces of the other two.”

“So what are you going to do if that happens?”

“In that case, I'll kill them. There's only enough room for one ‘Evil Spirit.'”

“You can't cooperate with them on good terms?”

“Not possible. I'll rip them apart and gouge out their guts.”

“It's only at times like this that you actually seem like an ‘Evil Spirit'…”

I took a deep sigh. Suddenly, my cellphone vibrated in my pocket.

Upon checking it, one message had arrived. The sender was──Ryuuga.

“Oh, it's from Ryuga.”

“Eh, Ryuuga?!”

Instantly, there was a sparkle in Taotie's eyes, and he shuffled towards me to peek at my cellphone. It's considered bad manners to peer into someone's messages, but there's no point in preaching morals to an “Evil Spirit.”

‘To Ichirou. Did you hear about us going to the mountains from Rina? We had suddenly decided on it today, and since there would only be girls, I was hesitating on if I should invite you…but there's no problem if Rina already gave the OK!'

“My heart's also pounding, Ryuuga! We're the same! Let's get along!”

As soon as he finished reading the message, Taotie immediately kneeled on the ground. That's an action that the final boss absolutely must not do.

“Boss, I have a request! Please swap places with me for a bit at the mountain! Please let me chat with Ryuuga!”

He held his forehead against the hard floor and frantically made his plea to me. This “Evil Spirit” is the worst.

…However, I already can't refuse going to the mountain. In that case, it wouldn't be bad to make Taotie owe a “favor” for me. I know that this guy has an upright personality, after all.

“If I let you, then will you properly be a final boss?”

“Hmm. If you let me enjoy myself at the river with Ryuuga…”

“Alright, I guess it's fine. I'll switch places with you at the mountain for a bit. Do not ever reveal yourself, though.”

“YAAAAHOOOO!”

Taotie yelled while jumping.

Then, with his body sparkling brightly, his uniform disappeared. Soon, the glimmering settled down──and the “Evil Spirit” wore shorts.

(This guy can freely change his attire? Strange, where do these outfits come from…)

No, that's fine. The problem is the shorts.

These are the so-called swim briefs type, they're Bikini island leopard print shorts. Something's going on at the nether region, causing it to seem like it's going to burst.

I thought we were two peas in a pod, but there seems to be one part that's completely different from me. What a sense of defeat I feel…!

“Hey! Don't go with that swimsuit!”

“Aah, sorry. Yellow-green is in fas.h.i.+on this year, isn't it?”

“That's not it! I'm talking about how you shouldn't go around with that prominent bulge!”

“It'd be nice to call me Jirou.”

“Don't take after Elmira's novel!”

“Her work seemed interesting. I hope she keeps at it with writing.”

“Don't cheer for your enemy!”

…I became very uneasy about having this guy get involved with Ryuuga.