Epilogue

The last strike had landed. Let me go through the strat I executed after landing the second blow.

First, and most importantly, it was urgent that we leave immediately. Core 50 would take things seriously as soon as we landed the second blow, so leaving and giving him some time to cool his head would make things easier for us. Hence me acting all pumped after bringing Core 564 back.

“Alriiight! At this rate, the third blow’s gonna be cake! Bring some meat, some meat! I wanna celebrate!” I declared.

“I knew this would happen, Keima, so I already bought some!”

And so, with some clutch support from Rokuko, I got my poisoned meat skewers. By clutch support I meant that I had asked her to preemptively buy Basilisk skewers, since Basilisk meat had a poison that hurt the stomachs of those who weren’t used to eating it.

I then ate them in front of everyone, hurting my stomach and rushing to the toilet. It was actually worse than I expected, so I used {Healing} to get well enough to move before crawling out in front of everyone.

“A-Are you okay, Keima?”

“This is actually bad... (As in, worse than I thought...)”

As far as I could tell, I had broadcasted my ill health without being suspicious in the least. It helped that Core 564 was there to loudly say “Ah, on closer inspection, this is Basilisk meat! It gives you food poisoning if you aren’t used to eating it!”

“...Can I ask you guys to wait until the poison blows over?”

“I guess we have to.”

And so, I restrained Wataru and the others who were pumped to go try and land the final hit as promised, while gambling on the remaining Demon Realm residents managing to land a hit. Niku was really concerned for me. Aidy and Core 564 just laughed at me for having a weak stomach. In the Demon Realm, it was your fault if you didn’t have poison resistance built up.

In any case, I left the desks to Niku and the others as I retreated into an inn room. Rokuko was coming along to look after me. Though in reality, she had a method by which to heal me.

“Now, shall we begin?” Rokuko said smugly.

“...Yep.”

The key player here was the Divine Comforter. Just being covered with it would recover me back to full health in only a single hour. The Divine Quilt could actually achieve a similar result, but anyway. Once I was fully covered, I had Rokuko tell the others she was still worried about my stomach, planning to keep them in place until Core 50 had calmed down. That wasn’t a lie, by the way—she never said that I was better yet.

We kept an eye on Core 50 with Rokuko’s rats while killing time. Aidy and the others were starting to lose patience. But if you thought about it, Aidy’s reward for joining us was a duel with Wataru, unlike the other Demon Realm residents. In other words, it would be no sweat off my back if they didn’t get to end up fighting Core 50. I mercilessly had them continue waiting.

“Mm.”

But the sun began to set without Core 50’s intensity cooling down for a second. Thus, having no other choice, I decided to let the two Cores and the Hero go fight before they just left and went for it on their own. Given how they were already colluding to leave, I couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

The plan was for them to attack him head-on, using Demon King style and Neruneh’s hypnosis (i.e. Charms performed through Succubus possession) to stop his mind reading, but either way it would be an impossible battle if Core 50 started attacking midway through. Thus I had a plan for just that.

I knew from the memo that Core 50 would select a specific target before reading their mind in particular. In which case, it would be unlikely for him to notice if I used {Ultra Transform} to transform into something with no mind, like a Golem or some such. He wouldn’t be used to attempting to read the minds of things without minds at all.

Thus, I transformed into the orichalcum blade that was being offered as his reward. That was the most likely form to trick Core 50 into lowering his guard.

By the way, I had already confirmed that I could use spells like {Pitfall} and {Stone Pyre} while in sword form. That was probably something only I could do, as someone capable of casting spells without chants based purely on thoughts and imagination. The orichalcum blade itself would naturally work as a spawn point for {Stone Pyre} since it’s made of metal. Though the stake would just fall off afterwards.

Naturally, there were a lot of conditions for me getting close to Core 50 as the orichalcum sword. First and foremost, I couldn’t move by myself. Trying to use momentum from magic to move would reveal myself in an instant. With that in mind, my sword surprise attack would be a last resort to execute if Aidy, Wataru, and the others failed to land a hit.

This was where the cover story of me getting sick and bedridden would be useful. After all, me transforming into an orichalcum sword meant that I would be noticeably absent from the fight itself. Missing the fight due to being sick would be all the cover story I needed. This was all planned out from the start. It’s true! I spent all week polishing this plan to perfection.

So, the most natural way for me to be handed to Core 50 in my transformed state would be as his reward for winning. I asked Rokuko to have Neruneh hold sword-me during the fight.

“Neruneh. I have a message from Keima: Give this sword to Core 50 without any fight if everyone else loses. And tell Core 50 that Keima said that the sword belongs to him.”

“Okaaay, as you wiiish.”

There were no lies in that. I couldn’t move while I was a sword, and I was still Core 50’s slave (although the collar went away when I transformed), so I technically did belong to him. Using deceptive language to trick people without lying sure is fun and morally acceptable!

Incidentally, Rokuko would be waiting in the room, with a Goblin under the covers instead of me. That was for fooling the map. We also closed the desks by the dungeon, that way we could build up one final rush if necessary.

So yeah, with Neruneh holding me in clear sight, I stealthily snuck up on Core 50. He was shocked by my absence, and immediately fell into deep paranoia toward basically everything. He was exactly right when he concluded I was there and planning something. But that was where I had Neruneh hold out Core 50’s prize (me).

“Lord 50, siiir. If you beat all of us heeere, this is yoooours,” Neruneh said with a smile.

Core 50’s attitude visibly changed. As expected, his warrior heart was weak to the beauty of a perfect orichalcum blade crafted by Father.

So, we launched a full-frontal attack on Core 50 using Demon King-style and hypnosis (Charms), but he was as strong as expected. He was too strong. He did end up realizing he could attack midway through, and that removed any chance we had of victory. Like, goddamn. We even broke Wataru’s mind and turned him into a murderbot that could only say “die,” and that still wasn’t even close to enough. The only chance we had was surprise attacks. Surprise attacks are justice! History is written by the winners, and surprise attacks led to winning.

Once Core 50 dominated our attack party, he first had his duplicate give the sword a light investigation, then took it himself. He was suspicious of it, but not enough.

“Oooh! What a splendid gleam!”

By the time he was groaning with joy, I had already stabbed Core 50’s palm with a {Pitfall} mana stake. Or, rather, it stabbed through him when he extended his palm, so I didn’t have to really put any effort into it.

“I have protected Father’s blade! I won! I have succeeded!”

One is most vulnerable the moment they conclude they have won. I read that in a book.

So yeah, I opened the {Pitfall} hole in the palm of Core 50’s hand (which was completely out of his view), then hit his head with {Stone Pyre}. It went off without a hitch. I decided to launch it to hit his head so he couldn’t try to say that he had just blocked the stake with his hand.

Whew, what a relief. If this didn’t work, the only plan I had left was using {Pitfall} to dig tunnels beneath the dungeon and launch an enormous {Stone Pyre} from beneath the ground in a surprise attack while the crowd waiting at the top all rushed him at once! Oh, though there was the ultimate scumlord strat where I exploited the fact that no end time for the duel was established, then ran away and kept the festival going until enough top-tier Hell Tournament fighters gathered to collectively overwhelm him. Hahahaha. Whew.

And so, we landed three hits on Core 50 as planned, ending the festival with our victory. Good work, everyone!

＊ ＊ ＊

Core 50 removed the collar from my neck, now treating me as a visitor instead of a slave. I mean, I had been taking it off all the time with {Ultra Transformation}, but it turned out that Core 50 had always been planning on freeing me early if I landed a hit. Demon Realm people were honestly a lot more considerate and nice than you would think.

So, moving on to the day after the festival. We were having lunch in Core 50’s mansion, having something of a... group discussion on what had happened? An after party? Something like that. Neruneh and Sebas were standing beside the table as servers, but everyone else had a healthy bowl of steak udon in front of them—even Core 564. We could even have as many extra servings of steak and udon as we wanted.

...It turns out, steak udon was a sign of praise in the Demon Realm, and him serving it so often had been him showing his respect for the high quality of my work here. That sure was something I did not notice.

“It is my utter defeat,” Core 50 said, and with that I got the Divine Pajamas from him. I didn’t know how to feel about him sorta casually tossing them at me at the dinner table. I feel this kind of thing usually has an award ceremony, or like, something more... eh... whatever.

“Never did I expect to be so psychologically driven into a corner during this fight. You have my thanks for exposing yet more of my inexperience.”

“I aim to please,” I said, and Core 50 nodded before removing his helmet. He had a human head due to being in human form, and after stabbing a slice of steak with a knife he took a huge bite out of it.

“Uncle, might I ask you to eat with more grace? The sauce is flying everywhere,” Aidy chided.

“Hrm... But the food tastes best when I do this.”

It definitely does feel good to really bite into huge chunks of meat, but if you’re not careful about chewing it’ll probably get stuck in your throat. Risky business.

“So, Keima. How did you land that final blow, anyway? We were all unconscious and didn’t see,” Wataru said.

“It’s a secret. I might need to pull the same trick in a fight with you someday.”

“I dunno, we probably won’t... actually, okay, let’s go fight right now.”

Nope. No reason to.

“I shall not give specific details, but know that he landed a solid blow to my head.”

“To your head! Goodness, how impressive. Sebas, what technique do you think he used?” Aidy asked.

“No clue. Probably wasn’t Demon King style, though. I’m guessing that maid over there saw, but like hell she’ll tell us.”

“Wataruuu, would you like some breaaad? I’ll sell it for cheaaap,” Neruneh said, blatantly changing the subject and taking some bread from {Storage}.

“Thanks, Neruneh. I was just thinking this steak could use a side of bread... Mmm, yep, tastes good.” Wataru took the bread from Neruneh and ate it with his steak. You’re really okay with her just casually charging you like that? I mean, I guess it’s Wataru we’re talking about, but...

“Keima, say aaaah.” Rokuko came over, sticking a forkful of steak into my face.

“I can eat on my own.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Say aaah.”

“Could you at least cut the steak into smaller bites?”

Niku was chomping down on a mountain of meat while watching Rokuko and me. Her tail was wagging happily.

Incidentally, just as I was thinking that Core 564 was being oddly quiet, I noticed that he had vanished out of nowhere. But I soon got a mail that read: “Mikan summoned me, even though I was in the middle of a meal with Core 50!” I was impressed that he had mastered texting so quickly. Anyway, he had been summoned to prepare for some idol-guarding event.

Right after we finished eating, Core 50 offered to have a post-meal duel for exercise. I politely refused and left to go shopping with Rokuko. Aidy and Sebas would be cashing in their reward duel with Wataru, so we went our separate ways.

“I’m kinda surprised Neruneh went with their group,” I commented.

“What’s the problem? It may not look like it, but those two are pretty close.”

With Niku as our guard, we went to buy the souvenirs that we had completely forgotten about until now.

“Oooh! If it isn’t the special-rank! Yesterday was great, lemme give you this as thanks!”

“I can’t believe you landed a hit on Lord 50, man! Let’s duel!”

“Yo, Keima. Is that babe beside you that girl you were talking about being the only one for you?”

We wandered through Core 50’s city, getting a lot of gifts, getting called over by a lot of passersby, and being teased a lot. If you excluded the fact that most of the citizens were basically monsters and that they all loved to fight, well, it wasn’t that different from the empire.

...Though empire cities have a surprisingly large number of monsters hiding as demihumans. It’s ruled by a Dungeon Core, after all. Her subordinates are all the ones in power.

Then came night. It was time to sleep.

My room had been moved to the guest hall now that I was a guest. It felt a bit fancier, but it wasn’t that much different. I was using my own futon either way.

More importantly, my plan was to go ahead and sleep in the Divine Pajamas right off the bat. I eagerly took them out and got changed.

Whoa. This feels... It fits so perfectly, and I can move so freely, it almost feels like I’m not wearing anything at all. They’re not impacting the movement of my joints at all. These might just be the best possible pajamas that can exist. Hm? Oh, wow, they look just like my normal jersey. I guess they morph to look like the wearer’s favorite pajamas? I would expect nothing less from the Divine Pajamas.

“I’m coming in, Keima.” Rokuko entered with the Divine Quilt.

There she is. I’m pretty sure it’ll be safe for me to wear the Divine Pajamas since Core 50 personally bequeathed them to me, but my safety will be guaranteed if I sleep under the Divine Quilt too. Definitely. Probably. Maybe? If anything can block divine punishment, it would be a divine shield. But either way, I put on the Divine Pajamas early so I wouldn’t have to change in front of her.

“Keima, are those the Divine Pajamas? They just look like the jersey you always wear.”

“Yup. Seems like they transform into whatever pajamas the wearer likes most.”

“Wow! That sounds fun. Keima, I want to try them on!”

“Hold it, Rokuko. Are you telling me to change in front of you? Are you planning to change in front of me?”

“Yes. Well, I guess even married couples need to be careful about that. Am I right?”

How many times will I have to say we’re not married...?

Still, I knew Rokuko was just joking. She giggled, then looked a little sad.

“You know, Keima... I had really been looking forward to this. To spending the whole month in the Demon Realm with you. But this whole, whooooole time, you’ve just been doing work for Core 50! You didn’t spend any time with me.”

“...Uhhh. Well. Sorry?”

I dunno about that. Putting aside the first week, we met up pretty much every day at noon. In fact, while practicing magic I even napped (passed out from mana exhaustion) with you every day...

“I thought that we would be spending this whole honeymoon together... but we would have had more time together if we stayed at home. I guess it’s okay since you wanted the Divine Pajamas, but still.”

“I mean, uh. My bad? Wait, this isn’t a honeymoon!”

“It basically is.” Rokuko puffed out her cheeks in a pout. “I really was looking forward to this, okay...? I mean, I know how scared you are of my sister. I thought we could do all sorts of things here where her eyes don’t reach.”

You were thinking that, Rokuko? Well then. I guess that would make me a good-for-nothing.

“So, can’t we at least be a married couple right now...? Just for now. Please, Keima? At the very least, I’ve been trying to be the best wife I can be during this trip. Was that wrong of me?” Rokuko asked, pursing her lips. But her cheeks were bright red.

“It wasn’t wrong. I, uh... Well. I would, uh, I would definitely be happy if you were my wife, Rokuko.”

“I know.”

“Oh. You knew, huh?”

Rokuko laughed. I continued.

“I guess since we’re in dungeon territory, Haku won’t find out...?”

“...Is that a yes? If you say it like that, I’ll want us to act like a married couple when we get home, too.”

“Er, well. As long as we don’t go so far that she finds out,” I said while averting my eyes out of embarrassment. Rokuko responded by burying her face in my chest.

“Aaah...! Geeeez...”

“Rokuko?”

“You just alwaaays have to say things like that... Geez,” Rokuko said while pulling out the Divine Comforter for some reason.

“Huh? Weren’t we using the Divine Quilt tonight...?”

“Well... Won’t it be extra safe to use them both?”

“Good point. Even if the pajamas don’t work, the comforter and quilt should cancel it out.”

“Uh-huh. This way, we can rest easy. Anyway, hurry. Go go go go.”

I headed to the futon with Rokuko pushing me from behind. I got on my back with her hurrying me, and she climbed in next to me like it was the most natural thing in the world. I-I mean, I guess she is my wife right now? I can hardly complain.

“Want me to sing a lullaby? I learned one of the Demon Realm’s lullabies.”

“Er, I mean... Sure? Go ahead?”

“Okay... Mmm mmm mmm.”

Rokuko began to piece together a melody with airy whispers. Maybe due to the auto-translator not working, I didn’t understand exactly what the lyrics were. But there was a gentle wave-like tempo, and the melody invited sleepiness.

I fell asleep, guided by Rokuko’s cute singing voice.

When I woke up, it was already morning, and I was hugging Rokuko like a dakimakura.

“I sure slept soundly...”

“Mm... Morning, Keima.” Rokuko wiggled in my arms a bit, grinning with sleepy eyes. “...I guess we’re leaving the Demon Realm soon. You finished what you were doing here and we learned a lot, so.”

“Yep.”

There was some time I lost from being in {Storage} too. Now that it was over, it felt like a long, yet short month here.

“But y’know, I never did learn what power the Divine Pajamas have... Ah.”

It suddenly hit me that I could just ask Father directly if I wanted to know. I went ahead and opened the menu. It was the mail function’s time to shine. Ah... there was already a mail from Father. When did that get there? It had to have been after lunch yesterday, but that’s all I know.

Anyway, let’s read this... “Keima, I see you’ve gotten the pajamas! And your relationship with Rokuko’s making big strides. To celebrate that, I’ll tell you what effect the pajamas have!” Wait... he was watching? Uh.

But in any case, getting to the point. In addition to the regenerative properties and incredible comfort that the other pieces of the Divine Bedding had, the Divine Pajamas would automatically counter any attacks made on the wearer while they’re sleeping. I felt kind of moved by that, since I had given a similar effect to a set of Wearable Golems before.

But from Father’s perspective, it was apparently a bit of a failure. If one were to sleep with the Divine Pajamas and Divine Quilt at the same time, the quilt’s power to nullify external attacks would take priority, so in practice the Divine Pajamas just never activated. Though they technically would work if you were attacked from within the quilt.

“...Aaah. That explains why I pretty much can’t move at all.”

“Wait, what? Did you attack me while I was sleeping or something?”

“I poked your cheek, and you grabbed me in this hug. I couldn’t move, so I just went back to sleep.”

What a counterattack. Guess that’s how the Divine Pajamas work. But wait. Does that mean these pajamas are basically designed to deal with the person you’re sleeping with attacking you? And Father made the Divine Bedding for the creator god to use. In other words, the creator god was afraid of people he brought to his futon attacking him?!

“Was he cheating...? Or no, was he sleeping with assassins or something?”

“What are you talking about, Keima?”

“Nothing, nothing.” This line of thinking is really going nowhere.

And so, it was finally time to head back to the Laverio Empire.

“It was a weird time, but thanks for everything, Core 50.”

“Indeed. Come again whenever you like. Will you hold a festival next time as well? If so, I will need to begin training in preparation as soon as I can,” Core 50 said before heading immediately to one of his training grounds.

Pretty sure that’s where the high-rank slaves train. Do I feel sympathy for them? No, because sympathy is not appreciated in the Demon Realm. Why? Because it’s the Demon Realm. Like, it’s the Demon Realm. They would love Core 50 just dropping by to say hello, so this will be like a dream come true.

Anyway, the elf maid at least stuck around and saw us off, bowing her head as we got into the carriages and left. She was the only one, but that was fine.

On the road to the Demon Realm capital, Wataru suddenly looked up in realization. “It just hit me that when we get back to the empire, I’ll finally be a normal Hero again.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true. Nice. Congrats, Wataru.”

“Ahaha. Thanks, Keima.”

Indeed. At the moment he was still a slave since we were in the Demon Realm, but he no longer had any debt. He wouldn’t be a Slave Hero, nor would he be the Hero of Debt. At last he was free... and that was when Neruneh slapped him on the back.

“Congratulatiooons, Wataruuu.”

“Yup. Thanks, Neruneh.”

Neruneh gave him a bright smile. Wataru had basically stuck around as an excuse to be with her, but well, hopefully this wouldn’t be his last opportunity like this.

“Alsooo, you were with me the whole time, soooo... you have to pay for thaaat. I believe it was five golds per hooour?”

“Huh?”

“You will pay, riiiight?”

Oh man. Now that she mentions it, I did mention something like that when we first met Wataru at the Demon Realm. Did you really remember that and count every single hour, Neruneh...?

“Wha?! Er, ah, w-was Keima being serious about that?!”

“We spent sixteen hours a day togeeether, for twenty-five daaays. That’s four hundred hooours.”

Four hundred hours times five golds equaled two thousand gold coins. Oh man, that’s convenient. Doesn’t that mean they spent basically all of their waking hours together for a whole month? Holy shit, Neruneh.

“What. Whaaat?!” Even Wataru had to give Neruneh a double-take.

“I stayed with you the whole tiiiiime. Even during the duel with Core 50, riiiight?”

“...Y-You did, but...”

“You’re going to pay, riiight?”

I mean, we’re talking about a charge of two thousand gold coins here (i.e. roughly two billion yen). Wataru may have a crush on Neruneh, but that’s just going too far. It’d be going too far for anyone. I mean, seriously?

“You’ll keep visiting me every month to bring the hundred golds, riiight...? Just like alwaaays?” Neruneh looked up at Wataru, leaning toward him. Her cheeks looked a little red, and... “I’ll give you another lap pilloooow.”

That single whisper sealed the deal.

“A-Alright! You got it, absolutely! I am a Hero, after all! I’ll pay it! I will! I’ll get it done!”

“U-Uh, Wataru? Even I think this is kind of fucked up.”

“It’s fine, Keima. Really, it’s not that much different from how things were before this trip anyway... though the total shot back up. Aaah, the Demon Realm sure was a good vacation! I got to spend the whole time with a cute girl, so yeah!” Wataru grinned.

“Well saaaid. Sooo, here’s your rewaaard.”

“Huh?”

In the midst of the bouncing carriage, Neruneh grabbed Wataru’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Whoa, Wataru. You sure are looking red now.

Rokuko’s eyes were shining. “Not bad, Neruneh...! You go girl!”

“Er, uh...”

“Is something wrooong?” Neruneh asked, smiling her usual smile.

“...I’ll work hard to earn all the money!”

“Okaaay. I’ll be looking forward to all your souveniiirs.”

Uh. Well, I guess it’s good that he’s motivated and feels good about this? That said, uh, Wataru’s taste in women is kind of... Not that I’m gonna diss good ol’ Neruneh here, but man. Like, I’m actually starting to doubt whether Wataru actually has {Ultra Good Fortune}... Or wait, maybe spending a whole month with the girl he likes cancels out all the bad...?

Either way, Wataru would be going from a Slave Hero back to a Hero of Debt. It would take twenty more months before he could be a normal Hero again. That’ll make it about three years in total spent grinding gold for us. Have fun?

And so, with that last twist out of the way, Aidy took us all the way to the Demonic Capital, where we met up with Haku. We ended up returning to the empire in an even greater rush than we had left it. There was just one problem.

“Why are you coming with us, Aidy?”

“Oh? Were you not aware? This cultural exchange goes both ways.”

Indeed. Aidy was following us to the empire. Her plan was to just learn about the empire’s culture like we had learned about hers.

The carriage we were riding had four chairs with Rokuko, Haku, Aidy, and I sitting in a square shape. Between us was a circular table. The carriage was so needlessly big and shook so little that we could even have a tea party inside if we wanted. And it seemed we did want to, because there definitely was tea on the table.

“So, how was the Demon Realm, sweet little Rokuko? Did you enjoy yourself?” Haku asked, sipping tea from a mithril tea set that wouldn’t break even if one were to accidentally drop it.

“Mm. It wasn’t very fun.”

“Oh, is that so? Perhaps I was an insufficient host. I should have been more firm about the meat blankets...”

“No no, Aidy. It’s not your fault. I’m just sad I didn’t get to spend much time with Keima.”

“Ah, of course,” Aidy replied with a nod. Haku, meanwhile, glared at me while simultaneously smirking at my misfortune. “And you, Keima? How did you find the Demon Realm?”

“It was surprising in more ways than one. In particular, the fact that battles to the death are a sign of two people being close, and wars are seen as a diplomatic expression of friendship, shows just how fundamentally different they are from the empire. I’m one to talk, but it felt like visiting another world.”

“...Excuse me?” Haku widened her eyes in surprise. “Core 666. Is that true? Do you see war as a... diplomatic expression of friendship?”

“Hm? I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re asking,” Aidy replied, tilting her head.

“Of course, it was a foolish question. Don’t surprise me with jokes like that, Keima.”

“Indeed. Even children know that, after all. What would war even be if not an expression of friendship?”

Haku did a double take.

“...What kind of logic is that? War is, I mean, it’s so violent. It’s an attack.”

“Hm? Yes, it certainly is an attack. Much like a duel between countries, isn’t it?”

“Ah. Aaah...” Rokuko trailed off, the look on her face making it clear she understood what was going on here, but wasn’t sure if she should say anything.

“Haku. The words are the same, but they mean different things. In Demon Realm culture, dueling is a sign of being close friends. You fight people because you like them, and if you dislike them you just ignore them entirely.”

“...In other words, that is why the Demon Realm so frequently instigates wars with my empire? Don’t tell me they think they’re being friendly. That’s why they antagonize the messengers I send, even?”

“Almost definitely. In fact, the more you send strong fighters as mercenaries, the more they’ll pick fights with them.”

Haku looked at Aidy again. Aidy returned her look with a broad smile.

“...Keima, please write and deliver a report on Demon Realm culture to me. I’ve been stricken with a sudden headache, and I will be moving to another carriage to rest.”

“Er. Right.”

It was only then that I remembered writing a report like that was the official reason for our trip in the first place. I’m surprised Haku didn’t know that about Demon Realm culture after spending five hundred years right next to them, but well, if I weren’t used to adapting to the culture of other worlds the same thing would have happened to me. It’s hard enough to understand people from the same culture, much less people of an entirely different one. Language sure is scary.

“Hm? Did Haku not realize just how fond Grandfather is of her?” Aidy asked with a tilt of her head.

As an aside, I later sent a mail to Core 564 asking if Core 6 and Haku were actually close friends, and he replied that only Core 666 would ever make such a grave misunderstanding. He was very insistent that these were two entirely separate things, which confirmed that they were in fact not friends at all.

In any case, we safely returned alive from our cultural exchange in the Demon Realm.