Chapter 1

Now that matters with Dragg, the town on the other side of Tsia’s Tunnel, were settled, I could finally get some sleep. But it was the exact moment I relaxed and let my guard down that an agent of evil came for me. My brief moment of peace came to a swift close.

“Rokuko, sweetie, I came to see you.”

“Sister! Hi!”

Indeed. Our inn’s sponsor, Haku, gave us a surprise visit. She was boldly entering from the front door with her retainer Chloe at her side.

Haku was so divine that she was worshiped throughout the empire as the Ivory Goddess, and here she was visiting us. Has it really been that long since we fought the Dungeon Battle with the rabbits? Or what, is she here to threaten me about something?

Either way, it had been a long time since Haku last visited us. The grand suite was open, and we were always ready to serve her. We guided her to my parlor in the chief residence, ignoring the adventurers who had clasped their hands and begun praying at the sight of her. I mean, I would like to take her straight to the grand suite, but I’m pretty sure she has some reason for coming here.

We sat down in the parlor’s sofas, with Rokuko sitting next to Haku (of course) while I sat facing them. The moment we were all seated, our head maid Kinue came in and silently set down cups of tea. Naturally, it was our highest quality tea made from dungeon-produced leaves, though most tea tasted the same to me.

“So, sister, what brings you here?” Rokuko asked after Haku had a sip of tea.

“My my. Well, Rokuko, I wish I could say I was just here to see you. But sadly, I am here to fulfill my promise from earlier. Chloe, please present the letter.”

“Yes, milady. Please take this, Keima.”

Despite not knowing what promise Haku was referring to, I accepted the wax-sealed letter and paper knife from Chloe. Open it right now? Alright, alright. I sure am excited to see what’s in here. Cut, cut, cut with the knife... Okay. Let’s see here.

“...Invitation to the Demon Realm’s Hell Tournament?” I said aloud. That was what the letter was titled. If all she had for me was a letter, why couldn’t she just send it through the [Ivory Beach]? No, way. She mentioned a promise. Could it be...?

“The grand prize for this tournament are the Divine Pajamas.”

“Ah, that explains that.”

Haku had promised to give me information on some of the Divine Bedding if I won the Dungeon Battle. That was no doubt the promise she was referring to.

“It was quite the struggle to get this information, I’ll have you know. The Demon Realm and I are enemies, after all.”

“...Will I need a permit to go to the Demon Realm?” I asked. If it was an enemy to the empire, I could imagine all sorts of tedious paperwork being needed at border stops between the two countries. It might even be the case that I wasn’t even allowed to leave the country at all without Haku’s permission.

But Haku shot that idea down with a smile. “No, everyone can go. One’s safety is not guaranteed without permission, however.”

“Isn’t that same thing as needing permission...?”

“Not quite. Think of it like... It will be less likely for them to make trouble for those on official empire business.”

If they did, the Demon Realm would be in trouble rather than the empire. According to Haku, the Demon Realm was almost entirely populated by hotblooded warriors like Aidy and Core 564. Anyone not sent on government business would get wrapped up in fights, and it was the kind of government where you could be enslaved by anyone you lost a fight to. But even those on business got wrapped up in fights too, apparently. Geez, that’s terrifying. Being sent by a government only put a little political pressure on them.

“And so, Baron Goren, I will send you to the Demon Realm as an envoy of the empire to attend their Hell Tournament. Is that all well and good with you?” Haku asked, using the noble title that I had honestly forgotten I even had. In other words, I was a mere baron in her empire, and she would chop my head right off if I refused. Literally.

“Hm? Wait, sister. He’s going to attend the tournament, not fight in it?”

“Oh my. You noticed? Goodness, Rokuko, you are such a clever girl.” Haku patted Rokuko’s head.

The Hell Tournament consisted largely of monstrously strong Dungeon Cores of the Demon King faction, and rather than being Dungeon Battles, it consisted of duels of individual strength. Haku apparently didn’t think I had a chance in hell of winning after I revealed my tricks early on.

“As a legendary warrior that conquered a Dragon, you would surely go far, but the victory itself would be beyond your reach. You need only to observe the fighting,” she said. Naturally, that wasn’t just her taunting me by forcing me to watch someone else get the Divine Pajamas while I twiddled my thumbs. Rather, by attending the tournament as an envoy from the empire, I would be able to negotiate politically with whoever did win the Divine Pajamas.

In other words, out of pure good will, Haku was affording me an opportunity to acquire the Divine Pajamas. Though I couldn’t deny the possibility that if not for Rokuko noticing her sleight of hand, I might have been forced to participate, and then killed, in the fighting.

“I see. Thanks, Haku. I’ll take you up on this offer.”

“You are very welcome. Politically speaking, you will be attending to learn more about their culture. Take care not to scorn the honor of the Demon Realm, and to always keep a close eye on Rokuko.”

“Of course, of c—Wait, Rokuko’s coming with me?” I had thought for sure that I would be going alone. And look, even Rokuko was surprised.

“I get to go too?”

“It seems that Core 666 wishes to see you. Ahhh, believe me, if I had my way I would never let Rokuko go to such a violent, boorish country. It’s just that Core 6 gave me no opportunity to refuse in our negotiations.”

“Oh, Aidy? That explains that.”

Core 666, also known as Aidy, was Rokuko’s friend. She was doted upon by the Great Demon King Core 6, just like Rokuko was doted on by Haku. I had no idea what being doted on by that stern old man might entail, but apparently she was well-trained in Demon King style warfare. You can bet she was happy about that.

Y’know, maybe the empire and Demon Realm could end up as allies if Rokuko and Aidy formed their own alliance. Okay... That’s probably unrealistic.

“Rokuko, you, too, will be sent on cultural grounds. You may engage in as much cultural exchanging with Core 666 as you wish.”

“Yay! Thank you, Haku!”

Cultural exchange, huh? I guess drinking tea together could be considered a cultural exchange of sorts.

“Incidentally, I will send Misha to guard your dungeon while you are gone. Work her to the bone as you wish.”

“You don’t mind, Haku? She is the imperial capital’s guildmaster, despite everything.”

“It’s quite alright, Rokuko. All she does is take naps anyway.”

“That kind of reminds me of Keima, which makes me like her more.”

Funny, I was thinking the same thing. She and I get along just fine.

“Still, just what kind of place is the Demon Realm? Aidy’s only told me a little about it, but she said they have dance parties every single day,” Rokuko said.

“Dance parties? Ahhh, if Core 666 said that, she was referring to duels and brawls. That is why, if you were to sum up the Demon Realm in a single word, it would be the country of barbarians.”

Yeah, “barbaric” is a good word for them, I agreed silently.

“...Keima, I will be sending an agent of mine to protect Rokuko. I do hope you understand.”

“Er. Of course.”

And so, it was decided that Rokuko and I would be going to the Demon Realm.

“So, Haku. When will this field trip begin?”

“Two weeks from now. It will last for one month.”

Oh? A whole month starting two weeks from now, huh.

“To that end, I ask that you come to the imperial capital by the end of next week.”

“Alright,” I replied. We had plenty of time with half a month on our hands, but travel in this world was so slow that in normal terms she would have been informing us at the very last minute here. Not everyone can use {Teleport} or dungeon functions to travel quickly. But well, Haku contacted us now knowing all that. We definitely have plenty of time here, since we can just go to the [Ivory Beach] then go to the capital from there.

“Now, with official business settled... Ahem. Mmm?” Haku coughed and glanced Rokuko’s way.

“...Rokuko. You know what to do,” I said.

“Mhm. Come on, Sister. I’ll give you lots of hospitality!”

“Ahaha, I’m looking forward to it.”

Haku took Rokuko’s hand and let herself be guided away, a bright smile on her face. In the end, her stay was once again first-class, and the next morning she left an enormous tip before leaving sadly, saying she would be waiting for us the week after the next.

＊ ＊ ＊

So yeah, we started to prepare for our little field trip. That said, we didn’t need to rush that much, even though we would be staying for an entire month.

“’Cause I mean, DP can do pretty much everything.”

“Uh-huh. I guess that really just leaves Kinue’s cooking?”

We thought back to the journey to the imperial capital we had gone on with Wataru’s party. All we had to do were the same things we did then. After all, we had the DP catalog, and as long as we had DP we could basically cheat and get anything we wanted. We could prepare the same things we had for the imperial capital trip, then buy anything we forgot with DP. It was pretty stress-free.

Incidentally, we could each bring one partner with us to the Demon Realm, for a total of two companions. Personally I would be bringing our strongest fighter, Niku, since she was an absolutely essential bodyguard. As for the other one, however...

“Masteeer, I wanna go to the Demon Realm toooo,” Neruneh said, surprising everybody. “You haven’t settled on all the members yet, riiight?”

“Well. I was thinking of taking Ichika along since she went with us to the imperial capital, but... What do you think, Keima?” Rokuko asked.

“Can’t say I expected you to want to come, Neruneh. Is there some reason for that?” I asked, already knowing that Ichika would want to go to eat Demon Realm food.

“You seee, the Demon Realm is a hotspot for magic tool reseaaarch.”

The Demon Realm. The country of barbarians. Put simply, it was a country filled with year-round warfare. And what did warfare engender without fail? Indeed, the development of new technology. The fundamental connection between war and progress led to the Demon Realm having cutting edge technology for magic tools that could be used as instruments of death, and as a result even common citizens made frequent use of magic tools.

“The top magic tools of the empire are very incredible toooo, but that’s mostly thanks to the Hero Workshop and alchemists, who keep their technology secreeet. They’re on average a lot worse throughout the whole empiiire,” she explained. There was a big gap between the best and the worst magic tools in the empire, which the Demon Realm was filling in with readily available high-quality tools.

“In other words, you want to take this field trip seriously and learn from it.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huuuh! If you take meee, the results will show in all the magic tools I make from now ooon.”

Considering our party composition, Ichika would be the safest choice. Her sociable personality would prove invaluable when we needed to follow our cover story of being there for a cultural exchange. No doubt she’d find all the best food in the whole Demon Realm too. She made our last trip a lot easier and filled with good food, so yeah.

“Keima, I think we should pick Neruneh this time.”

“You think so?”

“Ichika’s useful, but... This is a field trip for learning, isn’t it?” Rokuko said, and that settled things on the spot. It was just a fact that Neruneh stood to gain a lot more from the Demon Realm than Ichika did. I also appreciated that she was motivated to pay us back by making better magic tools using what she learned. Not to mention, if Haku asked us to show we made use of our time abroad, we could just have Neruneh make a magic tool for us. And I can pretty much guarantee Haku will try to give me hell for not learning anything on the trip, so yeah. Neruneh it is!

“Good point. Magic tool technology will help the dungeon too.”

“Okay. You’re in, Neruneh, so get ready for the trip. Have you learned {Storage} yet? If not, I can give you a scroll for it.”

“Yaaaay! Thank you, Rokuko! Master!”

And so, we decided on Neruneh being our final companion. Ichika would have to settle for whatever souvenirs we brought back. She seemed pretty sad about it, but since the food would be kept completely fresh in {Storage}, we could buy all sorts of food from stands for her. Just look forward to our return. Yeah.

“By the way, Rokuko. Are the shifts in the dungeon and inn going to be okay?” I asked when the thought struck me.

“Hm? Oh, I guess I will need to modify the schedule a bit. Let’s see... Maybe now would be a good time to summon more administrative monsters? I think it would definitely be a good idea to summon at least one more monster to watch over the dungeon.”

She had a point. As it stood, the dungeon was being run by Elulu the Elf Ghost, since she didn’t need to rest or sleep, but at times she played with Igni from next door. Undead monsters may not need rest, but Elulu used to be a normal, living person. Speaking as a Beddhist, it’s important to respect her individuality and give her some time to rest.

And also, now that I think about everyone running the dungeon, isn’t the current situation pretty bad? Rei is the High Priestess of Beddhism, Kinue is running the inn with the Silkies, and Neruneh is focusing on her research. Not to mention she’s about to leave with us on this trip. There’s Kosaki the ring Succubus, but I’m bringing her with me for protection against dream invasions, and then there’s Siesta the Magic Blade, Rokuko’s pets, the rats... Uh. Is there not a single proper Named monster in our entire dungeon? Should we bring Mr. Tent over here? No, wait, he’s the boss of the [Ivory Beach].

...I feel that as the pope of Beddhism, it’s my duty to let everyone get some more rest. Which means, yeah, we do want one more monster dedicated to running the dungeon.

“Rokuko, want to try rolling the gacha? Maybe we can just use whatever we get.”

“Oh, good idea! Let’s do it! But, um, which level of gacha should I pick?”

“Uhhh, the 10,000 DP one, I guess?”

“Well, fair enough. I wanted to try the 100,000 DP gacha again, but if we’re spending that much we might as well buy another like Rei and the others. Let’s just try it once and see what happens.”

And so, we moved to the Master Room just to be safe. Any monster could be safely summoned here. Rokuko quickly opened the menu and reached for the 10,000 DP gacha.

Woosh! A magic circle spread out. No lightning this time; it was just a standard roll. We watched on, wondering if it would be the monster we wanted... and out came a panda.

“A black and white bear...?” Rokuko said.

“Yep... It’s a panda.” A one meter tall panda. Welp... Guess this goes into the crowd of Rokuko’s pets. And I guess as a bear it’ll be good in a fight...? But why is it a panda?

“Oh, Keima, this isn’t just any bear.”

“Hm? I mean, yeah, it’s a panda, but what about it?”

Rokuko pointed, and I finally noticed that there was a ten centimeter wide treasure chest on the end of its tail.

“It’s a mimic!”

“Hold on a second.” Mimics are those monsters that pose as a chest and eat adventurers, right? So why is it a panda? And why is the treasure chest so ridiculously small? What is going on? What is even happening...?

“Ah, Keima, look!”

“...Seriously?”

The panda entered the treasure chest before our eyes. Right into... the ten centimeter wide box. It just got sucked in like it was a whirlpool, and then the chest dropped to the floor.

That must be some Spacetime magic at work, I thought before picking it up. It fit in my palm, and didn’t feel heavy. But that was it. What’s the point in this thing? This... Mimic Panda?

“This is a bit too weird to use in the dungeon... Guess you’ve got yourself a new pet, Rokuko.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice. Ahaha, from today forth, you are... Puck!”

Ah, a combination of “panda” and “box” (bocks) I see. Pretty similar to “pack” as well, very clever. Definitely not pure coincidence.

And so, we failed to get a dungeon manager, but we did get a new pet for Rokuko. Which means we need to get more manual with this.

We opened the DP catalog to look for a dungeon monitoring monster. I looked through our options as Rokuko clicked the tiny chest with a monster inside open and closed. Er... Can you stop that, Rokuko? You’re probably annoying the panda. Though I know it’s funny to see it swoosh in and out of the box.

“...I feel like I kind of want a monster that just dryly manages the dungeon without kicking up much of a fuss about it.”

“An intelligent monster, but one without strong feelings... Hmm, maybe a Ghost like Elulu?”

“I get the feeling that a lot of Ghost monsters just aren’t good at all.” Getting Elulu herself was like a jackpot, but the Ghost in Core 564’s dungeon was stupid enough to leave its own Boss Room.

“Anyway, since it will be managing the dungeon, the monster will be serving beneath Rei just like Elulu,” Rokuko observed, closing the Mimic Panda and shoving it into her pocket before sitting next to me to peer at the catalog.

“So you think we should get something that would work well with a Vampire?” Her sudden approach hit me with a wave of her sweet scent.

“Uuuh, if we look through other blood-sucking monsters we’ve got... an Ogre? Maybe one with intelligence?”

“I’m not so sure about that. I think a plain Oni would be better.”

“This Demon seems solid too. And of course they’re going to be intelligent. We would be in trouble if they weren’t.”

“It would be more trouble if they were ‘intelligent’ like Core 564, no? Oh, but there are a lot of customization options. I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from Demons?” Rokuko said.

“This Rabbit Sage here’s definitely in our catalog thanks to Mikan. I wonder just how smart it really is,” I said.

“It’s possible it’s just smart for a rabbit. Let’s do something else.”

And so, after much discussion...

“Let’s just settle with a Fairy,” I said, feeling a bit defeated.

“Agreed...”

Size didn’t matter when it came to running the dungeon. Really, having a weaker monster that couldn’t serve as a Boss Monster would discourage them from throwing themselves at adventurers and potentially dying. As long as they had the intelligence to not go outside, they were fine. And the monster with the highest ratio of “cheap cost” to “intelligence” ended up being Fairies.

How are they connected to Vampires? Uhhh, well, the wings? Meh, who cares. It doesn’t matter.

All that said, we weren’t summoning them just yet.

“They’re gonna serve Rei, so let’s give Rei the DP and have her summon them.”

“Agreed,” Rokuko said. “I think they’ll listen to Rei more that way. I’m not sure why I think that, but it feels true. Though we’ll have to tell her not to just use this DP on strengthening herself again.”

Might as well use this opportunity to give her enough DP to summon three whole monsters, then leave all the summoning and training to her. Yeah. I mean, it’s just that Fairies have even more customization options than Vampires, so it’ll probably be best to just let her do what feels right.

There were options for gender, height, existence of wings, and even expansion rate, whatever that meant. There were even elemental options on top of all that. The only thing I know for sure is I want them to have ‘Magic Talent,’ since I want them to use {Create Golem} and stuff.

“It’s possible she gets so overwhelmed by the options that she doesn’t summon anything before we leave for the trip,” Rokuko observed.

“We can just set a deadline. Not to mention naming them. We’ll have to give the monsters menu access, after all.”

“Oh, right. That’s important. They will be managing the dungeon, so.”

We couldn’t grant someone the right to grant others menu access (at the moment, anyway). In other words, granting menu access was the only thing that only Rokuko or I could do. The monster had to be Named for it to work as well. We couldn’t give admin access to a nameless mob monster.

We summoned Rei over to the Master Room and went over the situation with her.

“Direct subordinates, just for me?!” she exclaimed.

“Yep. We want them helping out with running the dungeon. Pick any Fairy you like and summon them. Try to get it done before we leave for our trip.”

“Yes, Master! As you wish!” Rei shouted, giving a sharp salute. Rokuko gave her a handshake to give her the DP. Each fairy was about 15,000 DP, so we gave her 45,000 DP in total.

“I’ll go ahead and give you enough for three. Fairies have a lot of customization options, so just do what you can to make them fit for running the dungeon. Make sure they can be on good terms with Elulu.”

“Understood! This responsibility is heavy, but you may count on me!” Rei exclaimed. She seemed to be bubbling with joy.

Sure, consider yourself counted on. We’ve gotta focus on our upcoming trip anyway.

＊ ＊ ＊

The next day, there were a ton of Fairies flying around in the Master Room. Some were red, some were blue, some were green, some were yellow... and one was bigger than the rest. Obviously, there were a lot more than three. Isn’t this like, ten? Seriously?

“...Uhhh. Seems like there’s a lot of these things.”

“There definitely is a lot,” Rokuko agreed.

“Master! Rokuko! I have long awaited your return!” Rei said, welcoming us with a smile.

“Care to explain yourself, Rei? Pretty sure I said to get three.”

“Oh, right. This big Fairy functions as a control tower for all the smaller, subservient Fairies!”

“So what, the big Fairy cost 15,000 DP and the rest cost 30,000? Did you buy a three-for-10,000-DP set?”

“No, in fact! Believe it or not, this is in truth all just one singular Fairy!”

“Oh?”

Apparently, the Fairies had a ‘Body Split’ option, and that allowed one base Fairy to split into ten different Fairies.

“If you use a skill scroll on the singular Fairy, all the Fairies it splits into can use the skill, so in my opinion it is very cost effective!”

“I see. Not a bad idea. Good thinking, Rei.”

“Yes, sir! Your praise is my greatest joy!” Rei said, her eyes shining with happiness over being praised. If she had a tail like Niku, no doubt it would be wagging incredibly hard right now.

“So, it all totaled up to 45,000 DP, huh?”

“Er, actually, it cost 50,000 DP... But it’s fine! I used my own savings to cover the difference!” Rei reported with a smile. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

“But that was your pay. This is for the dungeon. Here, let me pay for it.”

“No, no, no, no, I just did this on my own! Don’t worry about it!”

“I’d feel bad if I didn’t set this straight. Plus, you saved us DP long-term with the scroll costs, so yeah. Go ahead, Rokuko.”

“Okaaaay,” Rokuko replied, pinning Rei’s arms behind her so she couldn’t escape. Dungeon monsters couldn’t defy the Dungeon Core, but Rei had zero attack power so she was even more helpless than usual. And since both of Rokuko’s hands were filled, she couldn’t exchange the DP with a handshake like yesterday, so... she bit Rei’s earlobe to force the DP into her.

“Eep!”

“This happened because you didn’t just accept the DP, okay? Nom nom nom.”

“Ah, eep, R-Rokukooo!” Rei squeaked out, shutting her eyes tight and blushing red while trembling. Getting DP involves, like, a low-frequency massage, so it feels kind of like being jolted with electricity... though it’s not really a big deal when you get used to it. And normally it’s on your hands, not your ears. Also, is it just me, or does Rokuko really like biting ears for some reason? Maybe I should lend her some goblin ears in the future...

“Okay, there’s your 5,000 DP.”

“Nmm... Thank you very much! I overspent without permission, and yet you would still go so far for me...”

“Like I said, we’re actually saving money thanks to the scroll stuff. Heck, I’m even willing to give you a bonus. Is there anything you want? If it’s not something too expensive, I’ll get what I can for you.”

“Ah! Y-You don’t mind?!” Rei said with a beaming smile.

Yeah, I think I’ll go up to like, 10,000 DP for her.

“I-In that case... I request the honor of being your dakimakura as well, Master! Ah... Forgive me, it is not my place to even suggest that! Ahem, may I instead ask for an old, used jersey of yours...?!”

“Uh, what?!” Rei asked for something so totally outside of my expectations that I just froze in place.

“Oh, I have some of those on hand. You can have one.”

“Again, what?!” I exclaimed. Rokuko’s reply was also outside of my expectations.

“Yes, ma’am! I am grateful beyond words!”

“Ahaha. Keep up the good work.”

“Sorry, you two, but could you hold on for a second? Pause, please?” I stepped forward to stop Rei and Rokuko. What’s all this about it being honorable to be my dakimakura? Has Niku been bragging about it...? Explanation, please.

“Hm? Master, to be your dakimakura is to serve you in your most defenseless state. It is a position that demands your utmost faith and trust,” Rei explained.

Ah. Okay. That’s how they’re seeing it. A job that’s basically the pinnacle of being trusted. Right. Now that she mentions it, dakimakura work really is the best representation of faith that one could ask for.

“Okay, next. Why my jersey?”

“So I can make a life-size doll of you to use as a makeshift dakimakura, what else? I need practice for the future.”

...Ah. Why are you looking at me like that should be obvious? It really, really isn’t.

“Okay, next. Rokuko, why do you have a stash of my old jerseys? You stole the ones I threw away, didn’t you?”

“...I have the right to remain silent.”

...Ah. Okay. That sure is some interesting phrasing you’ve learned, Rokuko. I won’t think too hard about it.

“Alrighty then. Anyway, we need to give the Fairy administrative authority. Rei, teach it what it needs to know and give it a name. It’s your subordinate.”

“Y-Yes sir! You may count on me!”

Alright. I’m tired of thinking, so I’ll just let Rei handle the naming and everything.

“Um, actually, regarding the name, I thought of one ahead of time! May I go ahead and use it?”

“Hm? Wow, you work fast. What’s the name?”

“Yes, sir! It’s Echo Re Alpha Phantom Queen of Fairies Crystia Famrade Troll Killer Hob Gob Mezzaluna Quintet Cell Division Netero Bazalzus Driano Dreano Polka!”

“...Is that a list of names for all the split Fairies?”

“No, it’s one name for the big Fairy.”

“Heck no! It’s too long!” What kind of name fills out an entire sentence by itself? I’d never remember that, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t even fit on the Named monster display list. Though now I want to see what happens there...

“Ngh... I see, it’s too long. I-I certainly felt that it might be a little excessive.”

“And you just went with it anyway...?”

“Well, yes... Ahaha.”

It was then that we noticed Rokuko staring intently at Rei.

“Wh-What is it, Rokuko?”

“...Rei, did you stay up all night doing this?”

“Ngh! F-Forgive me! I did what no High Priestess of Beddhism should ever do...!”

...Ahhh, I see. This kinda thing definitely happens when you stay up all night. I can hardly blame her.

“Good grief, you going bonkers when you don’t sleep is just like Keima.”

“...And her wanting my old clothes is just like you, huh?”

“Okay, enough! We’re done talking about this!”

Hey, you brought it up. But alright.

“Rei, we can’t give it administrative powers if it doesn’t have a name, so hurry and give it one. But uh, tell us what it is before you do. Okay?”

“Y-Yes, Master.”

That should do for now. Once the Fairy has a name, the dungeon should be all set.

＊ ＊ ＊

By the next day we had settled on a name, and a quick check on the menu confirmed we had successfully given her several administrative powers. Naturally, we didn’t just give her everything. She was a newbie, after all. She would have to work hard under Rei and Elulu to build up trust. Pretty sure Rei would do just fine with that. Given how the Fairy sweetened up to her in no time, having Rei summon her had been the right idea. Yeah.

“Speaking of which, Misha’s being sent over here tomorrow, right? We’re gonna need to prepare for that... Oh, maybe she can just stay in the grand suite?”

We would be leaving the dungeon and beginning our trip once Misha arrived to see us off. Incidentally, as far as the public was concerned, Rokuko, Niku, Neruneh, and I had already left town for the imperial capital. On the surface this was supposed to be a normal cultural exchange, but really, it didn’t make sense for the town chief of a newly-founded border town to be sent on a diplomatic cultural exchange. Not that anyone in town found it suspicious at all. In fact...

“Heya, town chief! Finished plans for your honeymoon trip?”

“Oh, Your Holiness. Going on a trip with the wife? Have a good time, my man!”

“Here you are, Keima. You may not need this, but here is a charm to increase the likelihood of successful conception.”

Yeah. For some reason, everyone in town treated it like we were newlyweds going off on a honeymoon. But why? They hadn’t acted that way when we left for the imperial capital before.

In any case, we had publicly left town, so I was staying shut inside. No need to hear all the teasing of the town citizens.

“Yo, Master! The wifey’s calling!”

“You too, Ichika?! Are you behind all this?!”

“Nah, I’m just messing around. Everyone’s been teasing the heck out of you and I wanted in on the fun.”

Apparently our “honeymoon” was still the talk of the town. Why was that even happening? If Misha hears this, Haku’s gonna hear it too... Gah, seriously, why is this happening? I’m not going with just Rokuko! Niku and Neruneh are coming too!

“I mean, Niku and Neruneh are totally like maids, right? You two are the big shots here, of course people are gonna look at it like this. Don’t worry, I’m sure Haku’s just gonna shrug it off. Might be a little annoyed, though.”

“But this didn’t happen when we went to the imperial capital.”

“That’s ’cause you had Wataru’s Team Bacchus and the imperial princess with you.”

Ah. This time, Rokuko and I are the only big players going on the trip. I didn’t notice at all... Y’know, it feels like I’ve kinda been off my game lately. I think I need to be more careful and keep a sharp eye out for this kinda thing. I mean, sheesh, if I let my guard down here, I might just die. What am I even doing? {Ultra Transformation} giving me extra lives has seriously not had a good impact on my self-preservation instincts. Alright. Starting now, I’m gonna be a lot more careful.

I reached Rokuko’s room right as I came to that conclusion. Uhhh, so yeah, Ichika was saying something about me not needing to knock before going in. That’s pretty obviously a trap.

“...Heeey, Rokuko, I’m coming in.”

“Ah, h-hey, wait a second!”

I opened the door slightly, then shut it as soon as I heard Rokuko cry out. Heh. That would have been bad if I wasn’t paying attention.

“...Um, hello? Why didn’t you come inside?”

“You said to wait, and so I did. What, did you want me to go inside?”

“I mean... No! No, but yes!”

“Now you’re just talking nonsense. Having some head problems, Rokuko?”

In any case, I waited a bit, then went inside. Rokuko was sitting in a chair that was turned to face the door.

“What’re you planning?”

“Ummm, w-well, it doesn’t have anything to do with you, so just don’t worry about it.”

Seriously, what’s she planning? I thought, at which point I noticed a manga volume lying on the floor. Wait... I’m pretty sure this is an ecchi series where the dude walks in on girls changing all the time. Alright, I get it. That’s the trap she was aiming for... Wait. Don’t tell me. Is Rokuko the one spreading the rumors of us being a married couple going on a honeymoon? Let me try to trick her into spilling the beans.

“Rokuko.”

“Uh-huh?”

“My head will roll if Haku hears these rumors about us being a couple. The heck are you thinking?”

“...Keima, Haku’s a good person. She wouldn’t do anything that serious.”

“She may be nice to you, but she’s not nice to me at all!”

Rokuko puffed out her cheeks in a pout. I poked them, causing her to blow out air. Okay, she’s not denying spreading the rumors. That basically confirms she’s behind them.

“So, why are you passing this off as us going on a honeymoon?”

“Well... I read a manga called Sweet Honeymoon!”

Pretty sure there aren’t any H-manga in the catalog, so it was probably an actual story about a couple going on a honeymoon.

“You don’t want to go on a honeymoon?”

“That’s something you do after getting married.”

“Marry me then, Keima.”

“I’m a bit too terrified of Haku for that.”

“Geez! And that’s why I have to come up with all these plots, okay? Do you get why I have to fill your moat myself? Do you feel my struggle here?!” Rokuko demanded while gently hitting my chest.

“Look, we’ve been through this! You’re digging out the moat here, not filling it in! If you want me to go through with it, get Haku’s permission first! Do that and I’ll do whatever you want, even get married!”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear that, Keima! If I get Haku’s permission we’re getting married on the spot now, okay?!”

Huh?! Wait, how’d the conversation go in that direction?

“You heard that, right, Misha?!”

“Yuppers! I heard every word, Rokuko,” Misha said, popping her head out from behind the door with her ears waggling. Wait, when did she get there? Er, also, uh, wait. She heard? She was listening? Why? What?

Despite my panic, I managed to stay cool. “H-Heya, Misha. Already here, huh?”

“Been a while, buddy! Ahaha, I just thought I’d pop in a little early,” she replied with a grin and a wave. I waved back with a cold sweat running down my back. “By the way, Rokuko. What was all that about digging moats and stuff?”

“It’s Japanese slang, by which I mean, language from Keima’s world. It’s kinda hard to explain, but like... Imagine a moat. Filling the moat leaves them vulnerable, and digging it makes them stronger. I’m trying to fill his moat to make him mine.”

“Oooh, so it’s like breaking the castle walls. Good to know, Rokuko!”

I mean, does that really matter here? Misha hearing us means Haku’s gonna know that I’m willing to marry Rokuko... Oh, but maybe I’m safe since Rokuko was actively proposing to me?

“Anyway, that was one big leap for me! Mwahaha, now all I need is Haku’s permission and I can marry Keima. What do you think, Misha? Was my brilliant plan not perfect in every way?”

“Umm, sure! Very good plan. Good luck, Rokuko. I can’t help you, so all I can say is... Keima? It was nice knowing you.”

...Ah. I’m going to get assassinated during this trip, aren’t I?

“Just saying, I have a really weird purr-oblem, where I forget stuff when I eat something really tasty,” Misha said with a grin.

“Ngh... Fine. Have some hamburgers.”

“That’s what I like to hear!”

After bribing Misha with one hundred hamburgers, it was time to leave for the Demon Realm. We would be leaving through the Master Room and taking Niku and Neruneh with us to the [Ivory Beach], where a carriage prepared by Haku would take us to the imperial capital.

“It’s nice that Niku can travel using dungeon functions too,” Rokuko observed.

“Yup. Slaves are items, after all.”

“Uh-huh!”

Don’t ask, it’s a long story. The fact that Haku didn’t say anything about us traveling with Niku probably means it’s a normal thing to do.

Ichika and Rei were seeing us off. The Fairies that had already been given work by Rei and Elulu were fluttering around the Master Room as well.

“I trust the dungeon to you, Ichika,” Niku said.

“You got it, Niku. Bring back some tasty grub for me,” Ichika replied with a casual wave.

“Okaaaay, I’ll be off noooow.”

“Serve Master well, Neruneh! And Master, Rokuko, please enjoy your time together!” Rei said with a sharp salute.

“Alright, Rokuko. Let’s go,” I said.

“Okaaay,” Rokuko replied, and with a flick of the menu we were instantly transported to the beach. It was the surface level of our sub-dungeon, the [Ivory Beach]. We appeared out of thin air, but we were greeted by a slimy sea anemone-looking thing... Mr. Tent.

He welcomed us with some wiggles of his tentacles. “Sorry, but we’re going right to the imperial capital,” I replied, but Mr. Tent wrapped his tentacles around my torso and lifted me up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, quit it, hah! Rokuko and the others are watching!”

“(Wiggle Wiggle!)”

I patted Mr. Tent like I would a happy dog. Eventually, he regretfully let go of me. After cleaning myself with {Purification}, I returned to the others.

“Hm? What’s up, Rokuko? You’re blushing.”

“You sure are close with Mr. Tent, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I sometimes drop by to hang out,” I replied. To be precise, I dropped by when I wanted to nap on the beach while listening to the sounds of the waves. Sometimes I would sleep on Mr. Tent like a big waterbed, and sometimes we’d play volleyball together.

...And now that I say that, I see Niku wagging her tail jealously while looking at me. I should play with her next time I come here. Yeah.

“Anyway, we’ve gotta get going to the capital. See you next time,” I said, and Mr. Tent wiggled his tentacles a bit sadly. He also gave me some of the handmade salt he had created from the ocean. The Succubi had mentioned wanting more of this pink salt, so they would probably be happy to get it when we returned home.

“What a cutie. Hahaha.”

“...Masteeer, I’m impressed you know what Mr. Tent is sayiiing.”

“Hm?” I replied, and a quick look revealed that nobody else understood him at all. Igni had said the same thing. Was he really that hard to get?

“C’mon, it’s not that hard. It’s just like if Niku had a bunch of different tails.”

“They kind of just look like they’re randomly wiggling aroooound.”

“I don’t get it either,” Rokuko said.

“Me neither,” Niku agreed.

Both Rokuko and Niku looked just as confused as Neruneh did. Oh, and by that I mean Niku’s tail is kind of swirling. She’s still expressionless. I dunno, it just seems obvious to me.

After saying goodbye to Mr. Tent, we dropped by the [Ivory Secret Spot] next door. It was a small dungeon built directly on top of the beach, and basically was just a vacation villa for Haku.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” a Silky said with a bow of her head. She was the dungeon’s administrator, and we would be getting the carriage from her. I could just {Teleport}, but the mana drain when there’s four people is pretty intense. Haku could have welcomed us at the beach herself, but maybe she’s so busy setting up the trip that she couldn’t spare the time.

“I think it’s safe to say that Haku already knows we’re here?” I asked.

“Yes. Sadly, she is too busy with work to see you herself right now. Will you be departing at once?”

“Yeah, I think so. The sooner we get there the better.”

And so, we got into the box carriage for nobles and headed to the imperial capital. Or, actually... Is this one for the royal family? It’s crazy comfortable. I could actually just lay down and sleep in it. There’s the Silky driving it, after all. Should she even be leaving the dungeon when she’s supposedly the dungeon boss? Meh, I guess it won’t be a problem since Haku can just place her back there once we get back to the dungeon. Yeah.

“Keima, want me to give you a lap pillow?” Rokuko said out of nowhere, with she and I sitting next to each other while Neruneh and Niku sat on the other seat across from us. Oh?

“You don’t mind? Then allow me to... refuse, because this is Haku’s carriage.”

“Why worry so much? Lap pillows are basically like hugs. Actually, it’s even more casual than a hug.”

“There is nothing less true than what you just said. Neruneh, back me up.”

“Hmmm? I think it’s fiiine. What about you, Nikuuu?”

“I believe me serving as a dakimakura will solve everything.”

...These carriage benches are a bit too lacking in space for that.

“Okay, I’ll compromise and say Neruneh can give you a lap pillow. I’ll look at your sleeping face from the other side of the carriage. Come here, Niku.”

“Okaaaay. Master, here you gooo,” Neruneh said.

“As you wish,” Niku replied.

“Hold it, hold it. That’s not a compromise at all, and I’m not gonna be able to sleep with you staring at my face anyway. Why are you all moving around like I agreed to this? I didn’t agree,” I protested, but nevertheless we swapped places in the carriages and my head ended up on Neruneh’s lap. Oh, this is pretty good. Neruneh’s lap pillow feels a lot more comfy than I expected.

“...Feels good, doesn’t it?” Rokuko said.

“Er, well, how should I put this... Yes,” I replied. Her soft yet springy thighs had the perfect height and warmth for me. She smelled nice too, somehow. It was a kind of earthy smell, maybe because she had been kneading clay recently to make magic tools.

“Niku, give me a lap pillow too!”

“As you wish,” Niku replied, and suddenly Rokuko was resting her head on Niku’s pillow on the opposing bench. The result was us both lying down and making eye contact... At which point she grinned.

“Ahhh... This feels nice. She smells nice, too. Niku, I think Keima’s scent has rubbed onto you since he’s always using you as a dakimakura.”

“Wait, my scent? But I’m going into the onsen every day and using {Purification}.”

“It’s seeped into your futon, so it’s probably seeped into your dakimakura too.”

“...I guess that’s pretty airtight logic. Uh, sorry, Niku?”

“Master, you marking me with your smell is a source of pride.”

Ah. I can tell she genuinely means that. Her tail is trembling with emotion beneath her.

“Ahhh, I just realized somethiiing. May I say iiit?” Neruneh asked while absentmindedly stroking my head.

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Is this technically considered you and Rokuko sleeping togeeether? Slaves and servants don’t count as people for nobleees, soooo, right nooow, you’re resting on lap pillows and facing each other while having pillow taaaalk.”

I didn’t think of it like that!

“Nah, I mean, there’s the whole middle part of the carriage between us!”

“Aaaah, don’t sit up so suddenlyyy. The carriage will roooock.”

Gah, she’s holding my head down so I can’t sit up...! And oh man, Rokuko is grinning like crazy on the other side.

“Ahaha, pillow talk with Keima! Neruneeeh, keep holding him down.”

“As you wish, Rokukooo,” Neruneh replied, and suddenly something soft was resting on top of my ear.

“Uh, Neruneh?”

“Ahaha. You can order me to stop if you don’t like thiiis, Masteeer. But I know you doooo. I knoooow. It’s fiiine, you can just say Rokuko and I forced yooou. You’re so kind you couldn’t force yourself to order me arooound. I understaaand,” Neruneh whispered in a quiet voice only I could hear, tickling my ears.

“Ngh...!”

“Do you know what people like you are called, Masteeer? Indecisiiive, virgiiins. Ahahahaaa.”

N-Neruneh, what the hell?! Are you leveling up in sadism from bullying Wataru all the time?!

“Hm? Did you say something, Neruneh?” Rokuko asked.

“Nothing importaaant. I was just telling Master he gets embarrassed eaaaasily.”

“Oh, okay. Ahaha. Me and Keima, having pillow taaalk.”

“Like I said, this isn’t pillow talk.”

And so, I was stuck laying down in the carriage with Rokuko grinning at me until we reached the capital. At least I got to sit up before we actually got there.

＊ ＊ ＊

We moved fast once we got to the capital.

First we went to the castle and had an audience with the emperor. We were allowed in on sight without being made to wait at all. As I pondered whether that was Rokuko’s influence, we quickly finished our greetings and audience. All I had to do was bow my head as Emperor Lionel wished me well in learning much of Demon Realm culture. And where was Rokuko? Off having tea with Haku. Funny, considering how important this is. Or maybe she was talking directly to Haku precisely because this is so important.

Anyway, by the end of the day we would be going to the Demon Realm in a train of carriages alongside other delegates. It was a very speedy departure indeed.

“Oh, so it’s not just us going on the trip, sister?” Rokuko asked.

“Quite. Naturally that would be far too suspicious. Not to mention, there’s already a group I’ve sent to the Demon Realm.”

“Wow. Won’t this be fun, Keima?”

“Y-Yeah, sure.”

Haku was riding our carriage. Or rather, we were riding Haku’s carriage. And by “we” I mean Rokuko, Haku, and I. Niku and Neruneh were in another carriage.

...Yeah, I’m not gonna get any lap pillows here. Also, Rokuko and I sitting next to each other with Haku facing us is probably a bad idea. She’s basically radiating pressure. Ah, but since this carriage has fine chairs, we’re an entire forty centimeters apart! Our hands don’t even graze each other when the carriage bounces a little! It’s fine. And also, this carriage doesn’t bump at all.

“By the way,” Rokuko said, “Aidy told me that the Demon Realm has a Hunter’s Guild.”

“Indeed. It’s an organization in the Demon Realm modeled after my Adventurer’s Guild. I taught them how to build and run it just fine.”

The Hunter’s Guild was the equivalent of the Adventurer’s Guild in the Demon Realm. We would have some degree of status within it thanks to being B-Rank adventurers. Though naturally, the Hunter’s Guild demanded so much more combat prowess that we’d be more prone to getting into fights. All Haku had to say about that was: Good luck. And that it would be especially bad since Rokuko and I looked weak on the outside.

“Wow, so the Demon Realm and the empire have been diplomatically involved for a while, huh?” Rokuko observed.

“We’ve existed next to each other for a long time, though most of our diplomatic exchanges have been in the form of warfare. I send delegates like this over there once every few years as a form of cultural exchange.”

“Wow, that’s kind of amazing! Right, Keima?”

“Y-Yup.”

Incidentally, the demonic capital was surprisingly close to the imperial capital—both were reasonably close to the border. But that was just because they had been stuck in the same place ever since being built five hundred years ago.

Historically speaking, Corky, Donsama, Tsia, and Pavella were all duchies or undeveloped territory of other kingdoms. They became duchies of the empire through war, pillaging, and conquest followed by development. The fact the historical events could be summarized as “war and conquest” was a reminder that this was an empire we were talking about. But anyway, their territory grew in opposite directions, and the end result was their capitals being right next to each other.

We knew the behind-the-scenes circumstances, they couldn’t move the capitals due to their dungeons being there, but outsiders probably wondered why they had their capitals within glaring distance of each other. Or maybe it seemed like they were acting tough, refusing to move capitals if the other side wasn’t going to move theirs.

“Sister, do other countries have Adventurer’s Guilds?”

“Daide, the Holy Kingdom, and Wakoku all have Adventurer’s Guilds, though the one in the Holy Kingdom is more of a guild for dungeon conquering specialists.”

“Ah. That reminds me, Alca the High Priestess came by recently. Is she a member of the Holy Kingdom’s guild?”

“That’s right, Rokuko. She’s the highest rank in the dungeon conquering guild—the equivalent to our S-Rank. Though I had intended for her to never enter my empire again...”

Apparently Haku had remade the agreement such that the High Priestess couldn’t enter even if she died, changed her name, and became an entirely new person. Yeah, to be fair, she really had illegally entered the empire.

“With that in mind, you may kill her on sight if you see her in the empire. That includes her servant.”

“Okay, sister. If we can kill her we will. Right, Keima?”

“R-Right.” This time for sure, I’m done with that insane High Priestess for good... Hopefully. Though it wouldn’t be odd at all for her to barge into the empire, prepared to die. That’s terrifying.

“So, Rokuko. It’s a bit late for this, but are you truly ready to go to the Demon Realm? This is your last chance to turn back.”

“I’m going, sister. My friend Aidy wants to see me, after all.”

“Oh my, you look happy. Ahaha, my sweet little Rokuko, finally making her first friend... But don’t get too close to her, understand? The Demon Realm and the Laverio Empire are often at war with each other, remember.”

“Okaaay. You be careful too, Keima.”

“R-Right.”

...Are we going to be stuck like this until we reach the Demon Realm? I feel a bit out of place and would like to go to a different carriage. Oh, I can’t? Oh...

“Errr, by the way, Haku. Is it possible to sleep in this carriage?”

“You’ll have to lean back and sleep against the chair. Would you like a blanket? Or rather, I suppose you don’t need one when you have the Divine Bedding.”

“Actually, both the Divine Comforter and the Divine Quilt are Rokuko’s, so I’m kind of stuck. I’ll borrow a normal one if you don’t mind.”

“Oh my, I see. I suppose the only one you own yourself is the Divine Alarm Clock indeed,” Haku replied before snapping her fingers. Chloe appeared out of nowhere with a blanket in hand, which I took while wondering where she had come from. A second later, she had vanished again. Is there just a hidden magic room for servants in the carriage? I guess that’s Haku’s carriage for you.

“So yeah, I’m gonna sleep. Have fun talking with Haku, Rokuko. This’ll probably be the last time you two get to see each other for a while,” I said before leaning back against the chair and covering myself with the blanket.

“That’s true. Sister, do you mind if I sit with you?”

“Hm? Oh, but this chair only seats one... Unfortunately,” Haku said, seeming as if she truly did regret that from the bottom of her heart. Rokuko, however, kept up the attack.

“Can I sit on your lap, then?”

“Ah?! Y-You don’t mind? F-Feel free!”

“Okay. Here I go.”

Whoa. Is it just me, or has Rokuko been way more aggressive lately? Either way, I decided to go to sleep while watching Rokuko sit on Haku’s lap. My plan had been to just fake sleeping since I was terrified of being so defenseless in Haku’s presence, but with Chloe the Succubus around I would be found out instantly. I had no choice but to steel my resolve and just do it. I guess I can relax a little since Rokuko would stake her life on protecting me from Haku. Alright. I’m counting on you, Rokuko.

...Now that I think about it, does Chloe protect Haku at night too? Kind of like me keeping my ring Succubus around at all times. I’m kinda curious now, but I’m just gonna sleep until we reach a place to set up camp. Then I will continue to sleep. Oyasuminasai.

＊ ＊ ＊

For one week I lived in a cycle of napping in carriages during the day and sleeping in tents at night, until eventually we reached a Demon Realm city.

“Whew. Finally, I can sleep in an actual bed again,” I said.

“Good work, Keima. But you could have slept inside the carriage with us at night, you know,” Rokuko said.

“Sorry, but I don’t have the courage to full-on sleep while you and Haku are talking.”

Incidentally, there were no inn towns along the road to the Demon Realm, since everyone who tried making one got wrapped up in their wars and died. But while Haku’s carriage had bedding built into it, that was where Haku and Rokuko slept. Men like me were just naturally forced outside.

Oh, and some bandits attacked us on the road, but we were fine. The delegates Haku provided were all warriors as well. Apparently you had to be pretty strong to be sent to the Demon Realm at all, since weak people would just be attacked and killed on the spot. Which brings me to the fact that Demon Realm bandits are pretty insane. They attacked a carriage train obviously sent by a high-ranking Laverio Empire figure... Hard to say whether they had big balls or small brains.

By the way, it seemed to me that Niku was the most effective fighter out of all of them. It only took a few days for everyone to start calling her the Decapitation Puppy. Can you figure out why? I think you can.

“Sigh. There is nothing more depressing than the knowledge that my sweet little Rokuko will soon be in the care of that miserable old man,” Haku murmured as we reached the city. And by city, I meant the demonic capital itself. It was very lively, maybe due to the Hell Tournament that was being held. The buildings really resembled the imperial capital, though that was partially thanks to similar material being used for both. The big difference was the population’s appearance. Demon Realm citizens had much more of a monster streak to them—Lizardmen wearing armor, Harpies carrying letters, and a bunch of beastmen that had very thick fur over their whole bodies.

Seems like there’s a lot more variety with skin color too, compared to the empire. Plus, I’m noticing a lot of hot-blooded looks through the glass—though it might just be people wanting to pick a fight with this carriage in particular.

“So this is the Demon Realm, huh?” I muttered.

“Indeed. The one and only,” Haku replied in a somewhat tired tone. I didn’t have anything to say to that, so I just nodded.

The carriage kept going, and eventually we reached a sizable mansion, which seemed to be our destination. We went through the gate, our carriage train coming to a stop in the garden within the center of the C-shape formed by the mansion. Within moments we were surrounded by soldiers in full armor (which left only their tails, wings, and furry hands in view). Apparently this was the welcoming party. To the surprise of no one, Aidy and Core 6, the Great Demon King, were right there.

It only made sense that the leaders of the country would come to welcome an envoy containing the leader of another country, but personally speaking, it was pretty funny to meet the Great Demon King right after arriving at the Demon Realm. It was like leaving the starting village and immediately getting the last boss in a random encounter.

“We meet again at last, Rokuko. I’ve been waiting for you,” Aidy said.

“Aidy! Uh-huh, I came here as soon as I could,” Rokuko replied. They then smiled and hugged. That was fine with me, but it was a little problematic that they ignored formal greetings and immediately engaged in a flagrant friendship hug. The delegates with us were glaring daggers at them.

“Hmph. I shall allow your dogs to study our culture here,” Core 6 said.

“Tch. Just don’t try to keep them here forever,” Haku replied. The actual heads of the country ignored Rokuko and Aidy’s greeting and just exchanged handshakes while grimacing and clicking their tongues in disgust.

Look, you two gotta hide your feelings a bit better too. It’s just disgraceful... Or, well, I guess it’s fine, since nobody is going to criticize the head of their countries.

It was then that Core 6 ended the handshake and looked at the delegate party.

“Now then. Welcome to my country, servants of the Laverio Empire. Study the Demon Realm’s way of life well,” Core 6 said with his head held high and his eyes looking down at them. Given that he was the Great Demon King, he held just as much power and authority as Haku. It only made sense that he would view himself as superior to Haku’s servants. The delegates bowed their heads respectfully and followed their guides inside the mansion.

...Which leaves us, the dungeon crew, all alone. What now?

“Rokuko. There’s something I would like to give you,” Aidy said.

“Huh?” I said, looking over to see Aidy holding out a hand for a handshake. Rokuko just instinctively reached out and clasped her hand. It looked a lot like a DP exchange. I heard a spark like electricity, then Rokuko twitched.

“Wh-What was that? It didn’t feel like DP,” Rokuko stammered.

“I just exchanged a copy of the communication function, as well as our access codes. Now we can contact each other whenever we want, wherever we want.”

“Oh, the communication function? Right, right. That was what you asked Father for at the last Dungeon Battle, right? Neat, neat. Can I just open it from the menu?”

“Certainly. It should already be there.”

Rokuko opened up her menu. I looked at my own menu and saw that it had a new message function. Neat that mine gets it too. Or, rather, it is a dungeon function in the first place, so, uh, yeah.

“He said it isn’t an official implementation yet, so I have to meet people in person and copy it to give it to them,” Aidy said.

“Hm, that’s kinda annoying.”

“Apparently he will be distributing it to everyone once he is finished, but that would be by the next Core gathering at the very earliest. I must say, it feels special that only my version of it allows me to copy it.”

So it’s like an open beta kind of thing. With copy protection, too. Kind of.

“But why the access code? Shouldn’t our Core number be enough?” Rokuko asked.

“You could imagine someone contacting a Core without permission just by knowing their number. He is considering giving different addresses to each monster with menu access... Or something of the sort. I confess that his explanation was a bit difficult to follow,” Aidy said before showing us her menu. On it was a screen resembling an email inbox. The only message inside was one from Father, describing potential future features like a block function and emoji. It’s pretty much like email.

“Neat,” Rokuko said.

“Incidentally, he mentioned that he would like to discuss this function with your Master, so I imagine you will be getting a message from him soon. Perhaps it’s already there.”

“Oooh... Wow, that’s incredible. I wonder how it works?”

“I have no idea. It seems that each message costs 50 DP, however.”

“Oh, it costs DP. That’s sixty entire melon rolls. Or ten high-class rolls... That’s expensive. Though I guess it’s cheap compared to sending letters?”

“It ignores distance, arrives instantly, and cannot be interrupted—more than worth the price, if you ask me. It seems he’s also thinking about allowing DP to be sent over it as well.”

...Is there any point in sending DP over messages? I guess it’s nice if you want to ask other Cores to do stuff for you? Y’know, now that I think about it, I feel like a whole culture of using DP to give tasks to other Cores all over the place is gonna develop now. Maybe I’m just imagining it.

“Incidentally, I vowed to give you the program first, so I have given it to neither Haku nor Grandfather yet,” Aidy said proudly, at which point the Grandfather in question tapped her shoulder.

“And now it is done, Aidy. You will be giving it to me next, correct?”

“Indeed. At the moment you will only be able to contact Rokuko and I, but... I shall give it to Haku as well, which may be more useful. Here you are, Grandfather.” Aidy gave Core 6 a handshake, which was clearly something they had done many times before. He gave an impressed murmur, then let go of Aidy’s hand.

“Would you like it as well, Haku?”

“Absolutely. Rokuko, contact me the instant anything happens. I will rush over at once.”

Aidy gave Haku the message function as well. I get the feeling she’s going to send Rokuko messages every single day. Well, it’s less a feeling and more a prophetic vision. And Haku will definitely run over the second Rokuko asks, using {Teleportation} and stuff.

“Come with me, Rokuko. I will give you and your Master a tour of my demonic capital mansion.”

“Okay. Bye bye, Haku. See you later.”

“Promise me you’ll send messages every day, Rokuko. I look forward to hearing from you,” she said, casually asking for regularly scheduled reports. As expected. I can already tell she’ll run over the moment Rokuko goes a day without sending a message. I’ll be sure to tell Rokuko not to skip out on her messages. Yeah.

...That said. The three of us going elsewhere would leave Haku and the Great Demon King alone. Is that really a good idea? Like, will they be safe, politically and physically?

“Fear not, Rokuko’s Master. The two of them are quite close friends. Have you noticed that this garden doubles as an arena?”

“.........”

I glanced back and saw that Haku was pulling out a white spear while the Great Demon King was unsheathing a black sword. Yeah, okay, this is definitely out of our league. This is going to be, uh, a meeting with the language of combat between the top dogs of both countries.

Here in the Demon Realm, mansions had fighting arenas like empire mansions had swimming pools. Every city in the realm had a coliseum without fail. In a country where one-on-one combat was so commonplace, a dream team of Haku and the Great Demon King fighting wasn’t out of the ordinary... Okay, it actually was, but everyone else was gone, so they just kinda started anyway?

Oh shit, someone tried to watch and got blown away by the aftershock. I physically turned my head and avoided looking in their direction as I followed Aidy.

“By the way, will we be studying your culture in this city?” Rokuko asked.

“Not quite. My duchy is to the south, though it will be a bit before we go through.”

“Wow, you have a duchy? That’s, like, a really mature thing to have.”

“You have an entire town yourself, don’t you? My duchy is on the rather small side.”

Meanwhile, Rokuko and Aidy were chatting as if nothing was happening at all. I figured that Niku, Neruneh, and I would end up just not saying anything the entire time, but Aidy turned to look at me.

“There is a sizable tournament being held here. I lost a round halfway through, but the grand finals will be held tomorrow. You wish to see them, correct?”

“Oh, right, the Hell Tournament. Am I allowed to watch that?”

“Do remember that you have Haku and Grandfather’s word here. I will take you to the VIP seating.”

I mainly just want a way to contact the finalist who wins the Divine Pajamas, but asking for that might put me in their debt. Or maybe I’ll just meet them in the VIP room?

“If only you had arrived a bit sooner, you could have seen my Master and I fighting.”

“That’s too bad. I wanted to see you being cool and stuff,” Rokuko replied.

“We can engage in some light dancing while you’re here.”

“That sounds like fun! But I’ll warn you now, I can’t fight at all.”

“That’s a shame. I always forget that the sword on your hip is just for show.”

Anyway, I think I’ll just rest in one of the mansion’s guest rooms for now... Or so I thought, but Aidy took us to a line of carriages instead. They were attached to horses with six legs. I think those are called Sleipnirs?

“Are we heading to your mansion in this?” I asked.

“Indeed. Younger Sleipnirs are ideal for pulling carriages,” Aidy replied. Apparently these were young six-legged horses... or rather, they were young Sleipnirs, which were horse-type monsters that grew an extra set of legs and got a lot bigger when they matured. They were fine for pulling wagons filled with goods between cities, but they were a bit too big to be used within the cities themselves. That was a bit weird to me, but on second thought they were monsters. Of course they wouldn’t function just like domesticated animals. Not that I had ever heard of Sleipnirs in this world before.

Butlers opened the doors to the carriages and we climbed in. Once everyone was inside, the carriages went off to Aidy’s mansion. Oh man, this one’s pretty bumpy... Or maybe it just feels like that since I’ve gotten used to Haku’s now. Hers is just abnormally smooth.

“Ohhh? Is this carriage a magic tooool?”

“Oh my. You can identify magic tools, servant of Rokuko?” Aidy asked, her head held high with a smug grin on her face.

“I caaaan. I see, it doesn’t do much at a low speeeed, but once it goes faster it decreases the shakiiiing.”

“Correct. It’s far superior to empire carriages,” Aidy said. Apparently, it was set up so that while it shook a little at low speeds, it wouldn’t shake much at all once the carriage reached top speed. She called it “fire arrow” technology or something. “The only carriage that could match this in the empire would be one made for the royal family. Which is to say, the one you rode on the way here.”

“Oh, so that carriage was specially made? I figured, but I wasn’t sure how,” Rokuko replied.

“They are made with the most advanced technology and the rarest of materials, throwing aside cost concerns to reach peaks no other carriage can. What makes ours stand out despite that is their lower price and wider field of use. Even archdukes use them. I suppose their primary weaknesses are that their wheels break easily and the horses are a bit more difficult to raise.”

The wheels used special material such that there were multiple stages to their breaking: in the first stage the shaking would just get worse, and in the second stage the carriage would fall to the ground. If the wheels broke apart during the high speed movement, the carriage would inevitably fall to the side of the road and flip over. The two-stage destruction was insurance to stop that from happening. There was also some kind of gimmick to speed over crappy roads, but it was expensive to install.

“This is incredible technologyyy! Demon Realm science certainly has advanced in a different direction from the empiiire’s!” Neruneh explained. Here in the Demon Realm, they overcame their unkempt roads with incredible carriages and strong horses. It was like prioritizing the power of the carriage above all else, which was very in line with their culture. In a way, really, it encapsulated everything they were about.

“Hmm. I see you have brought a wise and knowledgeable servant with you, Rokuko.”

“Uh-huh. Neruneh is in charge of making magic tools in our dungeon, and we brought her to learn how Demon Realm magic tools work. We’re here to learn about your culture, after all.”

“That is perfectly fine. Learn well, servant of Rokuko.”

“Thank you very muuuch!” Neruneh exclaimed, happy to have received Aidy’s encouragement.

“The truth is, Grandfather is paying for your visitation here, since I cannot yet move that much money myself. The Sleipnirs are such big eaters they are quite expensive to maintain. Though in return they can run at full speed for over half a day.”

“Well, that’s fine. We rode Haku’s carriage to get here, after all. We’re all in the same boat here,” Rokuko said, smiling smugly for some reason. Aidy was giving an invincible grin of her own.

...They’re crossing channels in a weird way. Well, I’m just glad they’re on good terms with each other. I’d rather not see them duke it out like Haku and the Great Demon King.

The carriage rode through the demonic capital for a bit, then arrived at Aidy’s mansion. We got out of the carriage and saw that the building was made of stone. It was sturdily built, no doubt to be a fortress in the event of an invasion. We left our minimal luggage with the servants, then followed Aidy inside.

“I suppose an early dinner should be in order. Or would you rather rest first? I imagine you would certainly like to sleep as soon as possible, Rokuko’s Master.”

“Yeah, I’m tired enough that I’d like to eat right away and then head to bed. It’s still pretty early, but I can do dinner.”

“Geez, Keima, don’t think I forgot that you were sleeping the entire trip... Though, to be fair, Niku looks sleepy too,” Rokuko said.

Traveling takes a lot of stamina, y’know, even when you’re napping. God, I’m sleepy.

“Then I shall order it served at once. The same food will be available in my city, but I shall treat you to Demon Realm staples. Everything should already be prepared, and will only take a few minutes to be served.”

“I can’t wait to try Demon Realm food. Too bad that Ichika is missing this,” Rokuko said.

“Actuallly, Ichika asked me to bring back Demon Realm recipes as a souveniiir.”

“Oh my. I can only do so much since she isn’t here, but I can teach you all the recipes you wish to know.”

“Thank you very much, Aidyyy!” Neruneh exclaimed with a smile.

But hold on a second. We’re talking about food staples of the bloodthirsty Demon Realm here. I feel like they’re gonna serve, like, dried meat and hard biscuits or some other kind of long-lasting war rations...

＊ ＊ ＊

...Or so I thought, but my expectations were betrayed in a good way.

“This is kneaded dough cut into thin strips, then cooked in broth prepared with dried mushrooms and the like,” Aidy explained.

“Pretty sure this is the same thing as udon,” I observed.

“Add as many chopped onions to it as you like.”

“Pretty sure this is the same thing as udon,” I observed again.

Indeed, it was udon. I asked what it was called, and she said as such.

“Onions, hm...? Not bad,” I said after taking a bite.

“Oh wow, this is pretty good. Sluuuurp,” Rokuko said with a slurp.

Whoa, Niku, don’t put too many onions on it. You’ll get sick. Because you’re a dog girl. Yes. Also, Rokuko sure is slurping up a lot of noodles.

“It’s so similar to pasta, but it’s in soup instead of covered in sauce. Neat,” Rokuko said.

“Ahahaha. It tastes just as good if you put thick sauce on top just like you would with pasta.”

There are some packaged noodles you eat like that, yeah.

“...So, Aidy. How’d this recipe come to be?”

“Mixing water with wheat results in a substance perfect for kneading, no?”

“That’s true for bread too.”

“Of course, we have bread as well. It’s just good sword practice to cut them into slices.”

“Spaghetti noodles are thinner and would be better for practice.”

“We have soumen as well.”

“You have soumen too...?” The difference between udon and soumen was how thick their noodles were, but I feel like in Japan we hand-pulled the noodles... but anyway. Udon, huh? I wonder if they have soy sauce and stuff in the Demon Realm. I’ve already been told there’s no rice in the Demon Realm, but I heard about fish sauce being in Pavella, so it would make sense for there to be soy sauce here.

“Oh, yes. Udon is a recipe spread by Ishidaka the God of Food.”

Thus all the mysteries were solved. Ishidaka the Hero went all the way to the Demon Realm, huh? Nice networking.

“Now that I think about it, Keima’s served food like this before,” Rokuko said thoughtfully.

“Oh? This food was in the world you’re from as well, Rokuko’s Master?”

“Yep. Sounds like Ishidaka was a Japanese Hero for sure.”

“Incidentally, does that mean anything significant?”

“...Nah, not really.” All I know now is that the Demon Realm has udon and soumen. I guess it’s good to know about some Demon Realm history?

“I think knowing the history and culture of a regiooon, is important for understanding iiiit,” Neruneh said while slurping udon. It certainly did seem like learning about the Demon Realm’s violent culture would lead to understanding the development of their magic tool technology. Obviously, everything came back to their love of warfare. Allow me to list some examples.

They wanted to fight foes located far away, so they developed magic tools for carriages to ride into battle.

They developed magic tools for light so that they could fight in the darkness.

They developed water-producing magic tools so that they could have water to drink on the battlefield.

They developed magic tools related to poison and charms to kill enemies and protect themselves from similar attacks.

In short, they were all developed because they were useful in warfare, practical in warfare, and paths to succeeding in warfare. They made such a difference that their development was literally a matter of life or death. Their mages threw their all at developing them. The only problem with it all was that at times they considered the death of the user acceptable, or even good if it happened at the end of a battle.

The result was blacksmiths and alchemists competing among themselves, joining hands at times, and striving to create useful tools for warfare. Such was the history and culture of the Demon Realm.

Now that I think about it, high-speed carriages that can travel on poor roads are basically chariots... Of course the Demon Realm would make them. Should be easier to shoot arrows and spells without much shaking, too. War is always the mother of invention, no matter where you go.

Yeah, that was what I thought about while eating the udon. Good use of brain power.

＊ ＊ ＊

After eating udon, a staple of Demon Realm cuisine, we were guided to our rooms. They were made of stone, but had carpets spread across the ground. Oh, nice, and they’ve got real-deal beds. Two per room. Let’s see how they feel... Ah, it’s hard. Yet another board with blankets and a sheet spread over it.

“Guess the bedding’s not too advanced here... I should spread a futon on top of the board, I guess.”

“Oh? You intend to bring your bedding to the battlefield, Rokuko’s Master?” Aidy asked. Apparently the Demon Realm believed in being wary at all times, which meant sleeping in the same conditions on both the battlefield and at home. If you could rest on hard beds in peace, you could rest on hard beds at war. That’s the Demon Realm for you.

“Keima always prioritizes bedding over food and equipment,” Rokuko chimed in.

“Strange tastes, hm? Bedding hardly ever makes a difference in the end... Perhaps he just needs to train more?”

“Actually, Aidy, soft bedding really does help you recover faster,” Rokuko said, which made Aidy fall into thought. Apparently framing in the context of recovering from wounds and battles exhausted was more likely to convince Aidy than just saying it felt better.

“Soft bedding, then. I suppose I will need to provide some to be a proper host. Though the only soft bedding in the Demon Realm are meat blankets.”

“Meat blankets? Oh, are those like our Niku?”

...Look. We all know ‘niku’ means meat slave, and we all know those meat blankets are exactly like Niku. I think I’m just gonna firmly decline here. Rokuko would kill me if I tried using a meat blanket like that.

“Oh no, it is the practice of returning to Magic Blade form and sliding yourself into a prisoner or prey to sleep. There are many weapon-type Cores in the Demon Realm.”

They aren’t exactly like Niku?! Holy shit, that’s gory!

“Interesting. I guess that’s not an option for me, then.”

“Oh, you don’t have to be a weapon-type. You can just slice their stomach open and make a hole large enough to nestle into. You can string their arms and feet up to create a floating bed in the air; using their intestines as ropes will save you some time.”

What kind of violent hammock is that?! Rokuko’s not even blinking, but holy shit this is seriously gory! Actually, why are Neruneh and Niku listening so calmly?! What?! Am I the weird one here? Is everyone a serial killer in this world?!

“One of the books in the church said that people in cold regions kept warm by entering the bellies of the prey they hunted,” Niku explained.

“I wouldn’t be the one dying myseeeeelf, sooo. I think Rei would love to be covered in blood like thaaaat.”

Hunters (Niku) and monsters (Neruneh) have minds of steel...!

“I can make arrangements for them, if you wish. A human female slave with a bit of Giant blood will do just fine, since monsters have a beastly smell to them. I’ll need to select a slave lively enough to survive until morning and maintain their warmth.”

“Mmm, thanks, but I think I’ll pass tonight,” Rokuko replied.

“Not sure I’m a fan either,” I said, echoing her declining to make it easier. No chance in hell I’m sleeping on one of those. Also, talk about some crappy efficiency—having to kill one person per night is just a poor return on investment, on top of being too gory to actually sleep on.

“You know you don’t need to hold back, right? We were going to kill the slaves for DP soon either way.”

“It’ll stink and get my clothes dirty, so no.”

“Really? I’m quite fond of it myself... I suppose this is what it means to have different tastes.”

I think the scale of the problem is a bit bigger than that. This really makes me feel the difference between human and Dungeon Core mindsets. Oh, and yeah, all of us will be using normal beds. Niku and Neruneh don’t need meat blankets either. Neruneh, stop looking disappointed.

“Mmm, in that case... I might not have any bedding that will satisfy you at all. There is no time to prepare anything new, after. Oh dear,” Aidy murmured with a hand on her cheek.

“It’s fine. After all, Keima always keeps his futon on him,” Rokuko replied.

“Oh, truly?”

Yup. I always keep my futon in {Storage} for times exactly like this. Rokuko does too. The nice thing about magic is that it takes the classic idea of only being able to sleep on your favorite pillow, and just allows you to take your favorite bed anyway. I don’t have one for Niku and Neruneh, though.

“Assuming that Niku sleeps with Masteeer, I suppose I won’t have a futooon?”

“You have DP, don’t you? Buy one yourself,” Rokuko replied.

“Ngggh...!” Neruneh groaned. I didn’t fully understand the hesitation, since we did pay her DP as wages. We also paid her research funds for her magic tools. Oh, wait, is she so dedicated to her research she’s struggling to decide between saving DP for it or sleeping better? I wouldn’t have to think about that for a second... But, well, I wouldn’t mind paying for Neruneh to have one.

But before I could say anything, Aidy struck first. “Rokuko, would you allow me to buy one of those futons for her? She need only use that.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t mind?”

“Not in the least. I am an excellent host. It is my duty to cater to the needs of my guests, and this is an expense that by all means I should be paying. If it is reusable, I can treat future guests to it as well.”

“Aaah! Aidyyy! Thank you so muuuch!” Neruneh exclaimed, overjoyed by Aidy’s suggestion. It was sound logic, and it would be good marketing for the futons, so I decided to allow it.

“...Will the puppy need one as well?” Aidy asked.

“Oh, definitely not. The three of us will be sleeping together,” Rokuko replied while locking her arm around mine and leaning against me. Wait, the three of us?

“Hold it, Rokuko. Won’t we be in separate rooms?”

“Hm? Why would we be? We’re both visitors, so we’ll be given the same room. Neruneh will be given a servant’s room. Right, Aidy?”

What... the...? I glanced at Aidy, who smiled.

“Oh yes, Rokuko, you have my full support. I will even swear that whatever happens behind closed doors will forever remain a secret between the four of us.”

“...Aaah! Now that I think about iiit, Niku’s a servant toooo, isn’t sheee? That means she should sleep in the same room as meee,” Neruneh said out of nowhere. She then turned to Niku and gave very blatant winks that literally everyone could see.

“...Ah! That’s right. My dakimakura services are unnecessary with Rokuko here.”

“I suppose I’ll leave Niku with Neruneh then,” Rokuko said. By the time I recovered from my sheer disbelief of them thinking I didn’t realize they were colluding, Niku had stepped over to stand beside Neruneh.

“Huh? Wait, Neruneh. If you take Niku away, I’ll end up alone with Rokuko.”

“I will go ahead and push the beds together,” Aidy said, kicking one of the beds so that it slid over and stuck to the other bed.

Wait a second. I feel like all of my moats have been filled in, leaving me completely defenseless.

“Thanks, Aidy, the extra room means a lot. Oh, don’t worry about comforters. I brought my own.”

“Wait!”

And so, Neruneh left with Niku, telling us to enjoy our night together. It might have been my imagination, but I felt laughter in her eyes, as if she was saying “Let’s see if you really are an indecisive virgiiiin. Ahahahahaaaa.”

＊ ＊ ＊

And so, I ended up sleeping in bed with Rokuko. I fell asleep fast without laying a single hand on her, of course, but she seemed pretty pleased in the morning.

“Eheheh.”

Just to be clear here, I fell asleep on the spot, and all Rokuko did was sleep beside me. I wasn’t naked when I woke up, and Rokuko hadn’t slid next to me to press herself against me. After all, we’re all tired from traveling here. I was sore all over. Of course I fell asleep on the spot. I slept so soundly I didn’t even dream. The only weird thing was waking up to see Rokuko staring at my face and grinning.

Anyway, we had udon again for breakfast. I took the opportunity to set things straight with Aidy and Neruneh, the latter of whom was grinning.

“We didn’t do anything.”

“Ahahaaaa. Is that sooo?”

“Of course, of course. I would never claim otherwise.”

I seriously didn’t do anything. As proof, my exhausted body is once again full of energy. Almost feels like I slept beneath the Divine Comforter itself. My skin’s smooth and I’m feeling great. Time to head right back to sleep!

“.........”

Don’t tell me this is going to last for the whole trip. Hopefully Aidy will give me a different room in her duchy’s mansion... Men have limits, y’know, even me.

“...And yeah, I want to use Niku. I think I’ll just go back to sleep and stock up on rest.”

“That’s fine. Niku’s a slave and doesn’t count, so it’ll still be just us two alone together,” Rokuko said, using the logic Neruneh had described yesterday. Gah! How does she learn so fast?!

“Rokuko’s Master. Were you not going to view the Hell Tournament’s grand final today?”

“Oh. Right, guess I don’t have the time to go back to sleep,” I replied. Aidy reminded me of why I had come to the Demon Realm in the first place. Get a grip, me. Don’t forget that I’m here to get the Divine Pajamas.

“By the way, Aidy. You and your Master fought in the Hell Tournament, right?” Rokuko asked.

“Yes. Unfortunately, we lost to Core 50, one of the two grand final participants we will be watching. We couldn’t even win when attacking him two-on-one. He landed a blow on us.”

The grand finals would be fought between Core 50 and Core 42. Both were favored to win by many and had dominated their march toward the top. Despite it being possible for Cores to participate alongside their Dungeon Masters as a pair, the Hell Tournament was a collection of the most monstrous warriors in the world. Naturally, some of those warriors were strong enough to beat even Aidy.

“Um, was your Master okay?” Rokuko asked.

“Oh my. You met my Master yesterday. In fact, he’s right here,” Aidy said before pointing to the butler behind her. “Hm? Did I not introduce you?”

It was the younger guy that had driven our carriage. He had dark red, almost black hair—the color of dried blood that had darkened with time—and he was looking at us with a blank expression, not even attempting to smile. On closer inspection, he seemed a little familiar.

“But why is he dressed like a butler...?”

“Because he is my slave, of course. He is to me as your puppy is to you.”

Now that she mentioned it, he certainly did have a collar on. Apparently a slave that had been raised in a human farm ended up as her Dungeon Master. His training had been completed and now he was a slave that obeyed any order.

...That must have been some training. Otherwise he wouldn’t have used the Absolute Authority to make Aidy not need to breathe, and they would have no way to stop him from getting revenge by using Absolute Authority to assume dominance.

“Master, I will be inviting Rokuko and her Dungeon Master to the VIP seating to today’s dance party. Please make the necessary arrangements.”

“As you wish, milady,” the butler replied with a swift bow.

...The last time I had seen him, I was fighting Aidy in my third Dungeon Battle. I got the feeling he had more of a fiery, uncontrolled personality at the time.

“Er, so, what’s your name?” I asked, not wanting to keep calling him ‘Aidy’s Master.’

“...Who can say. I was born in a random village and given a random number, not a name. The closest thing to a name I have is Human Farm 5 Number 52.”

That’s pretty much an ID number, isn’t it? Dang. The Demon Realm is hardcore.

“That’s kinda hard to say, and I feel like that’ll overlap with Dungeon Cores,” I replied.

“Seems like we human farm slaves are fucking lucky enough to sometimes get the shitastic honor of sharing a name with one of our Dungeon Core masters.”

Dang, this butler has a nasty mouth. Is that his real personality slipping through? I dunno if that training’s finished after all.

“Still, I get it being hard for a guest from another world to pronounce... Alright. I’m a butler, so call me Sebas or whatever.”

“Wait, did I mention I was from another world?”

“Milady told me. Also, you were fucking wearing clothes from your world the last time I saw you.”

Oh yeah, I was wearing a jersey the first time we saw each other. I thought he just telepathically understood I was from Earth, but I guess not. Also, apparently Sebastian is a name for butlers here too.

“Perfect. Master, I shall grant you the name Sebas,” Aidy said.

“As you wish, Milady.”

Apparently they had been doing just fine with him not having a name. If you asked me if I thought Aidy would actually call him Sebas a single time, the answer would be no. She only ever called me ‘Rokuko’s Master,’ after all. All I can say is, I’m glad I don’t have to call him some roundabout thing like Number 52 of 5 or Aidy’s Master every time.

“...By the way, Sebas, is it just me or are you rapidly swapping between being polite and rude?”

“That would be the training, or should I say, the fucking mind-bending torture. It has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Keima.”

You know, I think I’m pretty glad I didn’t get summoned to the Demon Realm. Yeah.

＊ ＊ ＊

As we got closer to the coliseum, the air got hotter. Apparently so many people were visiting that their heat was literally raising the temperature. I had thought we would go all the way to the coliseum by carriage, but the path was blocked along the way and we started walking about halfway there because Aidy said it would be faster. That was when it happened.

“What?! Keima?! Is that you, Keima?!” came a voice.

“Hm?” I said, turning around, and there was a Hero I distinctly remembered—Wataru. He had a hat on, which was probably intended to be a disguise, but it really wasn’t working.

“What brings you all the way here with Rokuko and the others? I mean, this is the Demon Realm, you know,” Wataru said.

“Sorry, I think you have the wrong person.”

“Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. I know it’s you,” Wataru said, lifting up his hat to show me his face.

I mean, okay, I knew I couldn’t hide from him. I’m here with Rokuko, Niku, and Neruneh. Of course I couldn’t pretend to be someone else. But still, I’m impressed he found us in this huge crowd... Oh, right. He has {Ultra Good Fortune}.

“Yeah, I’m just kidding. ’Sup, Wataru. What brings you here?”

“What do you think? I came here at Haku’s request to participate in the Hell Tournament. I got through the qualifier rounds and preserved the empire’s honor, though I didn’t manage to win the main tournament itself.”

“Ahhh...” I said. The group Haku had sent on ahead included Wataru.

“By the way, try not to say my name too much if you can help it. I’ve fought in wars with this country before, so... People don’t really recognize me if I wear a hat since humans mostly look the same to them, but still,” he said with a sad look in his eyes.

“Er, right,” I replied. It had slipped my mind that the Demon Realm and the Laverio Empire were at war with each other, but now that he mentioned it he probably felt pretty uneasy about being here.

“Oh, so you’re friends with Wataru, Rokuko? Fascinating,” Aidy said with a happy... or rather, a bloodthirsty look on her face as she butted into the conversation.

“Oh? You’re... one of the people who fought in the main tournament, I see.”

“My name is Aidy. I was looking forward to crossing blades with a Hero, but I unfortunately lost a round too soon,” Aidy said while gathering her skirt up slightly in a curtsy. It turned out that while all Wataru had said was that he didn’t manage to win, he had actually won quite a few rounds before losing to the same person Aidy did, Core 50. In fact, he had won in the round right after Aidy and her Master lost. “If I had only won against Lord 50, we could have had a duel.”

“Don’t sweat it, Lord 50 was crazy strong... Oh, and Keima. That is his actual name, and believe it or not, he’s a noble. Though nobles here are just called demons—monsters and demons are easy to mix up, but they’re pretty different. A ton of demons here have numbers as names. The Demon Realm sure has some strange culture.”

“Guess it just goes to show how much they prioritize practicality over everything. The names might sound strange to an imperial, but that’s just how it works here. There’s not much more depth to it than that,” I said.

“Whoa, Keima! You sure are open-minded!”

Nah, I just know the truth. Plus, humans from human farms like Sebas having names like ‘Number 52 of 5’ might be camouflage for the Cores to just say their names outright.

“I would like to have a dance with you, Wataru. Are you free at the moment?” Aidy asked.

“Sorry, today’s my day off. I feel like I’d miss the grand finals if we fought right now.”

“I suppose I’m interested enough in the grand finals to agree. We can do it some other time, then.”

“Yep, if the opportunity arises,” Wataru said. Aidy held out a hand, and he gave her a firm handshake.

“Oh, want something to eat, Keima? I got some Demon Realm snacks at a stand earlier,” Wataru said, handing out a cup to me. Inside was an orange-colored paste of some kind. Why the hell is it such a bright orange? It’s kind of grainy too, and sticky. I can feel the heat through the cup. Seriously, what is this?

“...Er, what? Is this food? Does it taste good?”

“It’s super sweet and good. Oh, Neruneh, you have some too,” Wataru said.

It was impossible to judge how it would taste from appearance alone. As for the smell... Uh? It’s kind of sweet, but it’s hard to say...

“Ooooh. Is that ground carrots mixed with wheat that’s been boileeed?” Neruneh asked.

“Wow! You sure know a lot, Neruneh!”

“It was one of the recipes they gave meee,” Neruneh replied.

...Oh. Now that she mentions it, carrots are orange too. And it smells like carrot cake. Hm. Man, my impression of food sure changes a lot when I know what it’s made of. Guess you can’t be too careful when it comes to fantasy world food.

“Wow, it’s all sticky,” Rokuko said.

“It’s known as halva. I believe it was one recipe introduced by Ishidaka,” Aidy replied as both she and Rokuko took cups of halva from Wataru as well.

...Wait, this is from a Hero? People ate this on Earth? Wow.

“Carrots... Ngh. I will leave this for Ichika,” Niku said, putting her cup into {Storage} without taking a bite.

You’ve gotta learn to eat your vegetables, Niku. You don’t seem too happy about the fact you’re not getting any taller, but a lack of nutrients is probably to blame for that.

“So, just sticking around now that you’ve lost your match, Wataru?” I asked.

“Yep. I’m just here for tourism now. What brings you here, though, Keima?”

“We’re here on a cultural exchange. At Haku’s request, of course.”

“A cultural exchange, huh? I thought for sure you were here on a honeymoon,” Wataru said, glancing at Rokuko. Rokuko gave him a meaningful smile and nod.

Uh, no. Don’t even say that. Haku’s still in this city and she’ll come for my head.

“Oh, if you’re here to learn about the culture, that explains why Neruneh’s with you instead of Ichika,” Wataru observed.

“Pretty much. The Demon Realm has some pretty advanced magic tool technology, after all.”

“I guess I wasted my money buying all these magic tool textbooks I was going to give to her...”

“I’ll take them nooow,” Neruneh said with a smile as she held out her hands. Wataru instantly handed the books right to her.

“Yaaay! Thank you, Wataruuu.”

“Any time. Say, Neruneh, would you mind going on a date with me after all this? We can watch the grand finals in the participants gallery together.”

“Neruneh’s working as our servant right now. If you really want to spend some time with her, I’m gonna charge you five golds per hour.”

“Oof, that’s expensive. Well, I don’t want to get in the way of her work anyway,” Wataru said as he gave up without much fuss.

“By the way, we already have plans to watch the grand finals in the VIP seats.”

“Oh, really? The VIP seats? Consider me jealous... or on second thought, I guess I’m not jealous at all.”

Wataru’s statement there kind of threw me off, but we had somewhere to be so I shoved it into the corner of my mind and walked to the coliseum with Wataru. As soon as we got there we parted ways. It seemed that the VIP seats Aidy reserved for us were in an entirely different location from the participant seats.

And so, it took approximately no time at all to realize why Wataru had said he wasn’t jealous.

＊ ＊ ＊

The coliseum was packed, and everyone—including those watching while standing without seats—were enthused with fervor. It was about what you would expect from the grand finals of the Hell Tournament. And yet, despite all the heated passion, there was one place where one would feel a chill that felt close to absolute zero.

That place being the VIP seating where we were. It was in a box located so close to the arena the blood might splatter onto our faces, and the view was good enough that there was no doubting the seats were the best in house. The problem was the people there.

“Tch.”

“Hmph.”

Indeed. It was Haku and the Great Demon King. In a sense the VIP seating was the most heated in the coliseum, while simultaneously being chilly enough to feel like it was the middle of winter.

Who the hell gave these two seats in the same box? Father did the same thing earlier, but that was only fine because it was him hosting, alright?

“Sister, isn’t this exciting?!”

“Grandfather, who do you expect to win, I wonder?”

Sitting there completely unfazed between them were Rokuko and Aidy, and I was stuck sitting beside Rokuko. Do you understand what that means? Rokuko and Aidy were sitting between Haku and Core 6, and I was sitting between Rokuko and Aidy. Indeed. By some twist of fate, I was sitting in the middle seat of the whole box. Was this an attempt to assassinate me through stress?

Niku, Neruneh, and Sebas were standing behind our seats as servants. That’s where I wanted to be. But before I could slide back there, both Haku and Core 6 had directed me to sit with them. How could I refuse either of them?!

“Rokuko, I am hoping that Lord 50 wins, since he was the one to defeat me,” Aidy said.

“Oh, I think I’ll cheer for him, then.”

“My my, Rokuko, how sweet. Ahaha.”

The two of them were like a spring breeze flowing through an icebox. It was so surreal I almost wanted to question whether they truly were invincible.

“H-Hey, Aidy. Mind if I ask why these two are in the box?”

“Haku is a country leader, you know. Is it not obvious that she would sit with Grandfather, a leader of equal status?”

“That’s right, Keima. Use some common sense here. Why wouldn’t the leader of a country host another leader?”

Common sense tells me that if you put two rabid dogs like them in the same room they might end up starting a war. Gah, this sucks. They’re both radiating a murderous aura so intense I can’t stop sweating. I’m kind of curious about who won their duel yesterday, but now doesn’t seem like a great time to ask.

In any case, the grand finals began before long.

Three people stepped into the arena. First was Core 50, a black knight in full plate armor. His opponents were Core 42 and their Master, neither of which were humans. The Master was a triple-headed Cerberus, and Core 42 was a reaper with a scythe. Both teams were more than favored to win, and their arrival at the grand finals surprised nobody.

The battle itself was intense as could be. Core 50 slammed his sword into the ground to send a wave of broken earth toward Core 42, whose Master leapt into the air and roared with each of its three heads, each spitting out fire, water, and electricity respectively into a maelstrom of destruction. Every time I thought one of them landed a blow it was actually an afterimage, and at some point Core 50 just flat-out split into two, which led to Core 42 lifting up their scythe and bringing down a rain of icy blades. The once-flat field of the arena ended up a broken mess covered in obstacles in the blink of an eye, which led to a high-level battle in which anything went as they both exploited the obstacles to add dimensions to their attacks.

...All that said, I was so focused on the intense pressure of the two people around me that I could hardly focus on the fight.

In the end, it was Core 50 who won. He and his clone had their swords pointed at the throats of Core 42 and their Master, respectively.

“Now that the battle is over, it is fairly clear that Core 50 was in control from beginning to end,” Aidy observed.

“I couldn’t really tell since everything was going so fast. Was he really?” Rokuko asked.

“His victory was so assured he had the leeway to give Core 42 an opportunity to show off his strength and appear to be an equal fighter,” Aidy explained. I didn’t actually understand how she came to that conclusion, but I did understand that Core 50 was overwhelmingly stronger than Core 42.

Suddenly, Core 6 stood up and leaned out of the box. “I shall prepare the field. Move,” he said, and the three fighters retreated to the coliseum’s entrance.

“{Grand Pike}, {Grand Hammer},” he said before swinging his pitch-black greatsword down. That was all he did. But the single swing was enough for giant spikes to shoot out of the ground, then be crushed flat by an enormous, invisible hammer.

He had launched two area of effect attacks that covered the arena’s entire field. The fact he didn’t chant told me that they were sword skills rather than spells. The result was a flat field in the arena, as if a roller had smoothed it all out.

“So this is the Great Demon King’s power... He can flatten the arena as many times as he wants!” Rokuko explained. While that was a weird way to put it, she wasn’t wrong.

“Splendid. Your power never fails to impress, Grandfather,” Aidy said, a student attempting to learn from the skills of her master.

“As skilled at precise control as always, I see. It brings me endless amusement that you are so delicate and sensitive in these matters despite your brutish appearance,” Haku said spitefully.

“I am equally amused by the fact you are so clumsy and careless that you could never perform such a feat, but mocking your jealousy can wait,” Core 6 said before grabbing the back of my neck and lifting me into the air like a cat.

Uh? What?

“We shall now begin a special exhibition match. Lord 50, this is your opponent,” he continued.

“Huh?! Wait, what?! I didn’t hear anything about thi—gah!” I choked as I was thrown straight onto the field, earning a stir from the crowd as I failed to catch myself and instead rolled across the ground. Who could blame them? I could understand them wanting to know who the hell I was and why I was coming out of nowhere. Well, this is still better than the icy murderous hell that was the VIP box.

I glanced back at the box seating where I was a second ago. Inside was Core 6 looking down at me calmly, Haku smiling in amusement, Rokuko giving me a thumbs up to cheer me on, and Aidy grinning. Oh no... I have no allies.

The sound of clanking metal footsteps came this way. I turned and saw Core 50, the black knight approaching. “You are my opponent? I admit to having been curious about you when I saw you in the VIP seating, but... you do not appear to be strong whatsoever,” he said, slightly muffled by the helmet. It was so dark inside his armor I couldn’t see his face. I could guess that rather than him being in human form and wearing armor, he probably was just flat-out a Living Armor or something like that.

“Er, heya. Congrats on the big win. I’m not actually sure what’s going on here... Are you?” I asked.

“Hm... Ah, wait just a moment. It seems the king has words for us,” Core 50 said, so I looked back at the box.

“Lord 50. Before you is Keima Goren, a Dragon Buster of the Laverio Empire. It seems that he desires the Divine Pajamas that you have won in this tournament. Will you accept his duel?”

“Oh? A Dragon Buster you say... Your words are unquestionable, and so I believe this in full. But my king, he appears to be naught but a normal human. I do not think he would survive the fight,” Core 50 said, and he was entirely correct. Thinking about it now, Dungeon Cores were made in lots of one hundred, which made every Core up to 99 members of the same generation. Core 50 was as old as Core 6 and Haku. I had beaten Ittetsu before, but he was Core 112—one slot younger. No way would Core 50 be weaker.

“A fair point. In that case, I forbid you from attacking him. And furthermore, if he lands a single blow, you will lose. The round will last for ten minutes.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Wait, so he can’t attack me? And I win if I land a single blow? I might actually have a chance at winning, then. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Er, so you’ll give me the Divine Pajamas if I land a blow on you?”

“Of course, as the king has ordered such. Come at me with all you have.”

“Er, well, okay. Here’s to a good fight,” I said, holding out my right hand for a handshake.

“Indeed,” Core 50 replied, reaching out as well. We clasped hands, and... done.

“{Fireball}.”

“Ho there!”

I launched a fireball in a surprise attack, but Core 50 released my hand and evaded it in the blink of an eye.

“Gah!”

“Bwahaha! What an excellent fighting spirit you have! I see you truly wish to win!”

He had dodged my initial surprise attack. Core 50 told me to come at him, and I said “here’s to a good fight,” which more or less signaled the start of it. My plan was to use that logic to call my surprise attack fair, but he had predicted that entirely. Guess it goes to show he’s not the top dog of all the battle-crazed Demon Realm warriors for nothing!

“How about this, then... Gate, open. I summon thee, magic-wielding monster of stone. Serve me—{Summon Gargoyle}, {Summon Gargoyle}, {Summon Gargoyle}, {Summon Gargoyle}... Go!”

“Ah, ah, ah! These are small fries, but there are certainly a lot of them!” Core 50 exclaimed. Wataru was watching, but I had summoned about twenty in front of him before. I would try to attack with numbers but with a max limit of twenty Gargoyles. Cheers filled the arena. Whether they were cheering at me for summoning so many Gargoyles at once, or cheering at Core 50 for dodging twenty magic attacks at once with ease, it was impossible to say.

“Bwahahaha! Not bad, not bad at all!” Core 50 said, lightly sidestepping all the attacks so nimbly it was hard to believe he was in a full set of armor. He was so nimble it really was like he was dancing; it just went to show that his true body was the suit of armor after all.

“—{Fireball}! —{Ice Bolt}!” I chanted, throwing out curving fireballs and straight-shot ice arrows. But Core 50 easily dodged and blocked those as well, not letting a single hit land on him.

Rapid-fire attacks weren’t accomplishing anything. At this rate he would just block everything. I let the Gargoyles do their own thing and focused on my own magic. Ideally I could use an invisible area of effect attack that covered the whole field like what the Great Demon King just did. Something like that should be impossible to dodge.

“O balls of fire, form a wall! Fireball Wall!” I chanted, hashing together a fake spell by lining up a bunch of {Fireballs} in the air to create a wall made of balls of fire. I could have just not chanted at all, but I was trying to camouflage what I was doing. It was a bit imperfect compared to the Great Demon King’s {Grand Hammer}, but it might just work while he was being held down by the Gargoyles!

“A good idea, but poor execution,” Core 50 said, and in the blink of an eye he was standing right behind me. The wall of fireballs ended up exploding and taking out only the Gargoyles.

“...Strange. Weren’t you just beneath the fire wall?”

“I ran for a moment. Those small fries pose no more threat than pillars with magic traps within them. They won’t give me even a moment’s pause.”

“I see,” I replied. So this was the leeway that Aidy had spoken of. At last, I truly see.

“Your accomplishment here is something to be proud of. Not many could force me of all people to run for safety. Truly you are one strong enough to have defeated a dragon.”

“Er... Your praise honors me,” I said, holding out a hand again.

“...Hm. I suppose I don’t need to show you that much consideration, but I am willing to make an exception. Show me your ace in the hole,” Core 50 said, grabbing my hand.

Ngh. Grabbing my hand so hard it hurts should count as an attack, if you ask me. But anyway... Let’s go.

“O balls of fire, surround us... Fireball Dome,” I chanted, creating a dome of fireballs to surround both Core 50 and I. Our hands were locked together. Knocking me aside would count as an attack. The dome of fireballs had no openings.

“Oh? This certainly is a dangerous situation.”

“Alright, let’s see if you can escape this... Crush!” I said, bringing the dome of fireballs inwards, wrapping up both me and Core 50 in an explosion. However... only I fell.

“Bwahaha! Unfortunately for you, that was but a clone!” Core 50 roared. Apparently he had swapped places the moment he clasped my hand. On second thought, it only made sense he wouldn’t shake my hand so easily after what I did at the start. Guh.

＊ ＊ ＊

And so, the special exhibition match ended in Core 50’s victory. I had put up a fairly impressive fight against the champion, so the crowd had gotten reasonably pumped up. My suicidal attack at the end didn’t work, but the strength of my resolve earned a lot of respect.

“An excellent fight. You both fought well,” Core 6 announced.

“Yes, my lord! Your praise honors me beyond words!”

“Yeaaah. Thank you,” I said. Crap, I can’t believe I lost with all those rules in my favor... This is awful.

“Now, as agreed upon, I will take him as my slave,” Core 50 said.

“Indeed,” Core 6 nodded while I was blinking in shock.

“W-Wait just a second. When did we agree on that?!”

“Hm? Are you unaware of Demon Realm culture? Those who lose in duels become the slaves of the winner.”

“But, uh, I’m an official envoy of the empire.”

“What of it? You challenged him to a duel yourself, backing out of it now would be unthinkable,” Core 6 said with a dismissive snort.

Er, well. I guess that’s true. And I guess I did hear about losers being turned into slaves.

I glanced at the box seats and saw the Haku was smiling brightly. AAAAH! She tricked me! She plotted this! Save me, Rokuko! Say something to Haku! Oh, I see her protesting! Yes! Do it, Rokuko!

“Baron Goren is a valuable member of our empire. I cannot permit him to be enslaved permanently, but I will allow for him to become a temporary contract slave for the duration of this cultural exchange,” Haku announced.

“That is fine with me! Bwahaha!” Core 50 laughed.

“Seriously, Haku...?” I began before trailing off. Well, better a temporary slave than a permanent one, I guess. Yeah.

Suddenly, I heard someone whispering in my ear. It was Haku. Is this {Air Voice}? That’s a low-rank spell that carries voices far. Anyway, she asked “Can you hear me?” so I’m just gonna nod.

Haku smiled. “I heard that you slept in bed with Rokuko.”

Ohhhh shit. Er, well... I tried to stop it. I’ve been keeping my distance from her this whole time. We slept in the same room, but I didn’t touch her once!

“Well, regardless. I shall let it be for now, Keima. If you spend time with Lord 50 as his slave, you will have that many more opportunities to acquire the Divine Pajamas, no?”

Oh. Good point. Now that she mentions it... This might actually be a good thing?

As I pondered how I could exploit this opportunity, a collar clicked as it was locked around my neck.