Second Bath – Barbecue in the Underground Kingdom

Second Bath – Barbecue in the Underground Kingdom

The gembolic wagons galloped along the tunnel road, the echoes of their hooves serving as our background music, along with the rattling wagon wheels. I had a late lunch on my shaky seat, stuffing my mouth with onigiri. Soon, the road ahead of us grew brighter. We were almost at the city center.

We exited the tunnel to find... yet another cave. The tunnel opened into a much more spacious area. The ceiling was only slightly higher than the temple city’s, but the road was much wider. I’d compare it to a six-lane road with sidewalks. The biggest contrast to the temple city was how bright it was here. A row of lights on the ceiling lit up this underground area, and the walls were so polished that they reflected that light like mirrors.

“Is the light coming from above ground?”

“Nay, those are rainbow opals. They are coated with a paint made from a certain species of moss, which makes them give off that glow. Though the paint must be reapplied every so often.”

“That’s pretty convenient~” Daisy said from my shoulder.

“Well, ’twould be folly to create an underground city if thou had no way to see,” the Demon Dog quickly countered. He had a point.

The ceiling, floor, and walls were perfectly flat. The material was originally soil, but it had been polished to an almost mirror-like degree. Everything we had seen until now had also been refined with magic, but it was nowhere near this level. I was confident that I had enough MP to create walls harder than these, but I couldn’t make anything this smooth and reflective. They probably used specialized techniques, tricks of the trade.

“W-Wow...” Clena was speechless at the sight.

I could see why. The areas before now still felt like we were in a cave, but this city was completely man-made. It was different from any other place we had visited so far, fit to be called the city center of Ares.

“...” I was also at a loss for words, but for a different reason from Clena’s. I looked over at Haruno, who also seemed to arrive at the same conclusion.

“This is... an underground mall, huh,” Yukina said bluntly.

Indeed; to those of us from modern Japan, this looked just like an underground shopping mall you could find around train stations.

“I’m less surprised at the sight itself and more at the fact that this even exists here in this world...”

“...Same here.”

Since this was a familiar sight to us, we weren’t as surprised or impressed as everyone else was. That felt a tad disappointing, but maybe it was just me.

“Is it okay that nothing here is ‘blessed land,’ even though it’s the city center?”

By “blessed land,” I meant natural cave rock. Natural rock was considered more prestigious than man-made materials in Ares, after all.

“The royal palace in the center was constructed with natural rock.”

“Oh, so the city grew so big that the natural caverns weren’t enough anymore.”

I see, Haruno’s conclusion made sense. They needed to expand, but also wanted to make a city that wouldn’t shame the royal palace. As a result, the city center was built so neatly that it resembled a modern underground shopping mall.

The main difference from the malls I knew was that the shops on the sides of the street didn’t have display windows. Instead, the walls were plastered with big sign boards and posters that showcased the products being sold. I would guess that the posters and sign boards had a major effect on how well each business did.

The gembolic wagons wouldn’t take us any further, so now we could take a closer look at the streets on foot. The Demon Dog said that the White Orchid Corporation was down the main street on the way to the royal palace.

The main street was as busy and crowded as its name suggested. But there were very few humans—almost none. The most populous were the dark elves, just like back in the temple. Lycaons were plentiful too, but there weren’t many gillmen or marsh lizardmen. Maybe we were too far from the port.

I could feel many eyes on us as we walked down the street. The Demon Dog was with us, and cyclopes were likely a rare sight around here... I could think of several reasons why we’d attract attention.

But in fact, Roni attracted most of the stares. She was also a lycaon, but a “light” lycaon, while the ones around here were all “dark” lycaons. Clena noticed that she seemed a bit uncomfortable and positioned herself to shield Roni from view. I did the same.

“It sure is crowded, though...” Rulitora noted from the back of our group. Everywhere I looked, I saw families with children, young couples, and salespeople advertising their products. The children pleaded with their parents to buy things, and the shop employees appealed to them with boisterous calls.

We didn’t have to push through the crowd, but it was still difficult to walk. This must have been especially troublesome for Rulitora and our other larger party members. Daisy clung to my face from my shoulder. Maybe she was bad with crowds. That reminded me to pay attention to the children. I looked behind me and called out to make sure that the cyclops children wouldn’t get separated from us. They were taller than human adults but still children on the inside, so we needed to watch out for them.

That aside, I could smell the sweet scent of southern fruits, freshly baked bread, and juicy meat. A lot of these shops were over-the-counter businesses. There was no way to escape these tempting scents in this underground area. I had just eaten some onigiri but was feeling hungry again already.

“Is there a festival today?” Rium asked.

“Nay, ’tis always like this,” the Demon Dog answered nonchalantly. So today wasn’t a special day—the city center was always this lively.

Soon after I could see the royal palace in the distance, the Demon Dog stopped. To our right was a shop with a big sign board that said “White Orchid Corporation.” The sign was a milky white ceramic, and reliefs of flowers adorned the letters.

“We do not actually sell flowers, mind~”

There were several posters plastered out front like the other shops we had seen so far, but unlike them, none of these posters had any consistency. They felt very disordered.

Rakti and I peered at the posters decorating the outer wall. While they didn’t sell flowers here, they did sell all sorts of other goods, from weapons to food.

“’Twas the demon lord’s way. Find anything that seems to be in demand and claim it,” the Demon Dog said.

“...We’re talking about the demon lord, the King of Hades, right?” Clena retorted with an exasperated tone.

If that was the demon lord’s philosophy, then I could see why the survivors of the demon army switched their focus to commerce after they fled here.

“They received our letter, right?”

“Priority mail should have been delivered by now.”

All right, there was no point in loitering around. I prompted the Demon Dog to lead the way into the store. The door was just barely large enough to fit Rulitora. The cyclopes would have to wait outside, but I didn’t want to risk leaving them alone, so I asked Sandra, Rin, and Lumis to wait with them. The inside of the store was illuminated with rainbow opals, making it brighter than I was expecting. The floor space inside was raised above the ground and lined with product-filled shelves.

“It’s like we’re in a historical movie,” whispered Yukina. This did feel like a traditional kimono store. The raised platform was just tall enough to sit down on, but it would take some effort to climb up. Some customers were, in fact, sitting on the edge and chattering with shop employees. They were all dark elves.

An employee who had just come out from the back of the shop noticed the Demon Dog, then quickly did an about-face and rushed back inside. The other customers and workers started noticing us too, and soon enough the shop was abuzz with whispers.

Suddenly, everything fell quiet. A person walked out from the back of the shop who could only be described as “pure white.” Her skin was whiter and more translucent than Haruno’s, her eyes clearer than Clena’s, and her hair, bright as freshly fallen snow, was gathered up in a short ponytail. Two locks draped down from her temples to her cheeks.

The moment I saw her, my instincts told me that this was one of the Five Great Demon Generals—the White-Faced Ogre. The “face” part didn’t refer to a mask in this case, like it did with Goldfish. She wore an elegant robe tied with a thick sash, which almost looked like a kimono. The likeness may have been on purpose. The socks she wore were tabi, likely made by Ficus Brand. I noticed that all the other employees were wearing the same tabi socks. I guess the store didn’t allow shoes inside.

“That’s a woman, isn’t it...?” Haruno whispered in my ear.

I didn’t know if she had always looked like that, or if she changed after the Hero of Darkness summoning, but the White-Faced Ogre before us was clearly a woman.

All the customers and staff stepped to the side so that there was nothing between us and her. She walked right up to us. Her facial features were refined, but she didn’t come off as cold or stern. She stopped at the edge of the platform, kneeled down, and bowed.

“We humbly welcome you all, Heroes of the Goddess and your parties. We have been informed of your arrival.” A smooth, somewhat high-pitched voice—she really was female. She slowly raised her head, straightened her back, then glanced at Clena. “And you must be...”

Clena looked at me, so I gave her a nod. She took a step forward and handed over the Dark Prince’s sword, which had been affixed to her waist.

The White-Faced Orge pulled the sword slightly from its sheath, just enough to see the Crest of the Five Quinces on the base of the blade. She quickly resheathed the blade then handed it back to Clena in a respectful manner.

“Pardon me. Please come this way.” She stood up and gestured to follow her inside the store.

Two shop employees brought over a bench, which was about half the height of the shop floor platform. They placed it before the platform, making steps just the right height for us to walk up. I see, so this was how you were supposed to go inside the store.

“Oh, just a second. We still have a few of our party members waiting outside—the cyclopes.”

“They indeed would not be able to enter through this door... Let us go out back. I will have one of our workers show them the way.”

“Rulitora, can you go with them?”

“As you wish.”

Rulitora went outside while the rest of us took off our shoes and went up the steps. Seeing this, the White-Faced Ogre murmured, “They are indeed familiar with this...” She then led us to the back of the store. The hallway was much dimmer, but not so much that we couldn’t see where we were going.

After a short walk, we reached an open area. The White-Faced Ogre said that this was a delivery entrance. Gembolic carriages carrying goods apparently made this place a crowded mess in the early mornings. I noticed that there were several more doors on the opposite side. The Demon Dog said that those led to the warehouse. There were no more deliveries today, so the cyclopes could stay here for the time being.

“Demon Dog...”

“Pardon?”

“You should’ve taken us here from the beginning.”

“...Ohh!” The Demon Dog clapped his hands together in realization. So he really didn’t think of that himself.

Hearing our exchange, the White-Faced Ogre stopped walking and turned to face us. She remarked, slightly taken aback, “I heard that Sir Demon Dog had been taken prisoner... But you all seem to be getting along quite well.”

“He was pretty cooperative during our journey to Ares.”

“I see... In that case, may I ask you to release him? We are prepared to offer as much ransom as you want.”

“A ransom...”

It felt a little late for that. I mean, we had intended to release him last night since we’d arrived in Ares, but he was the one who asked to stay in the Unlimited Bath. I looked over at him, and he looked back with the eyes of an abandoned puppy. Don’t try to make me feel guilty like that. Did you like the Unlimited Bath that much? Or the rice and miso, rather? Well, I guess I could lend a hand.

“Please speak with him yourself,” I declared, turning back to look the White-Faced Ogre in the eyes. Unsurprisingly, she seemed a bit bewildered, looking between the Demon Dog and me with a mystified expression.

“...Sir Demon Dog?” A quiet yet intimidating voice. It immediately made the Demon Dog stand up straight, but his ears drew back and his tail tucked in. He wouldn’t look the White-Faced Ogre in the eyes. I couldn’t tell from here, but I bet his eyes were darting back and forth right now.

The White-Faced Ogre sighed, probably inferring a lot of information just from the Demon Dog’s reaction. “You do not wish to come back?”

“N-Nay, that is not...”

“With whom does your loyalty lie?”

We’d heard that the head of the White Orchid Corporation was the White-Faced Ogre, but judging from this conversation, the Demon Dog was her superior. I learned later that while the White-Faced Ogre was indeed the head of this company, that was just for cover and the Demon Dog held a higher rank in the demon army itself.

The other generals were working on reviving the demon lord, so the lowest ranked general, the White-Faced Ogre, was put in charge just as a pretense. The Demon Dog had both the personality and skills fit for business, but his position didn’t allow for it. After the Dark Prince proclaimed that he would become the new demon lord, the Demon Dog had no choice but to become the head of this opposing faction.

All that aside, though, he seemed scared of incurring the wrath of the White-Faced Ogre. He had apparently become weak to a woman’s anger ever since turning into a lycaon. The White-Faced Ogre’s aura gradually grew more intense, her gaze sharpening. Maybe he wasn’t scared of women in general, but just this one and her angry side. But then the Demon Dog, who had been cowering like a frog being targeted by a hungry snake, suddenly perked up his ears and tail and spoke up haughtily.

“Bow down, bow down! Bow down, I say! Dost thou know not in whose presence we stand?! The daughter of the Dark Prince, granddaughter of the demon lord! It is Her Majesty, Clena! Your head is yet too high, bow down!!”

“...Huh?” The White-Faced Ogre was taken aback. The letter had mentioned Clena, but she must not have expected him to suddenly bring her up like this. She glanced at us with an incredibly confused expression, but we couldn’t offer any help either. We were just as confused.

“...Ohh, I think the Demon Dog is saying that he backs Clena,” Haruno said, the first one to make sense out of the situation.

I see, that explained what the Demon Dog was trying to get at. If Clena was their master’s granddaughter, then she was the highest in the chain of command right now. So being on her side meant that he still had his loyalty. Even if he had mostly been lured by rice and miso.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

“Eeek~”

Now that I was caught up, I pressed down on the Demon Dog’s head and stepped between the two of them.

“We came here to find out if Clena is really the Dark Prince’s daughter and the demon lord’s granddaughter. Can we start from there?”

Our relationship might change once we figure that out, so I wanted to get that over with first. And that change would come from both sides. Their side didn’t need explaining, but whether we released the Demon Dog or not would also depend on the results. Specifically, if Clena really was the demon lord’s granddaughter, then we’d release him without ransom. If she wasn’t, then we’d prioritize our safety. I couldn’t tell if the White-Faced Ogre knew what I was thinking, but she agreed with my suggestion.

“However, I cannot bring all of you. Besides Lady Clena, I can only allow the demon and imp to come.”

Yukina the demon and Daisy the imp, huh.

“So basically, only people from a demon race?”

“Indeed.”

“If Touya’s not going, then I’m not either. Not interested.”

“If you do not wish to come, I will not insist.”

I was glad that Daisy said that, but the White-Faced Ogre was justified. The demon lord was likely defenseless while he was sealed, and she didn’t want to bring just anyone near him. I would argue that allowing anyone in as long as they were a demon wasn’t exactly the safest way of doing things either, but that was their reasoning.

I couldn’t let Clena and Yukina go on their own, though. If a situation arose where the Demon Dog had to choose between the demon lord and Clena, I’m sure he would pick the demon lord. Clena might think I was being overprotective since she could fight for herself, but I needed to remember that these were demon generals we were facing. Now then, what to do?

“We also have the Goddess of Darkness with us, can she go too?”

“Wha...”

I gestured for Rakti to walk up to my side, and the White-Faced Ogre’s expression changed.

She must have heard that the Goddess of Water had gotten angry over them abandoning Rakti 500 years ago, so I could understand if she didn’t want Rakti to meet the demon lord right now. The Demon Dog had also acted quite fearful when he apologized to Rakti. She was our trump card against the demon lord’s army—though Rakti herself wasn’t especially angry at anyone.

And if she looked at me with teary eyes, I’d have no choice but to give up everything for her, so she was also a trump card against me, but I kept that part a secret.

Anyway, I had one more ace up my sleeve.

“Also, I received the blessing of darkness from the Masked Cleric...”

“That goldfish...!”

Oh, so the White-Faced Ogre also thought he looked like a goldfish. Haruno said that goldfish were rare back in the day, but considering their social positions, it wouldn’t have been surprising for them to know what goldfish were.

Anyway, this should work. If the requirement for going with them was to be part of the demon race, then I was half-qualified. As one last push, I offered another suggestion.

“Oh, but I can ask Rakti to help out with some other errands.”

“...You may come with us, Sir Touya.” She agreed quickly.

I reassessed our situation. Our attitude with the Demon Dog might make it seem otherwise, but we didn’t trust them enough to leave Clena alone with them yet. Clena looked relieved now that I was given permission to come with them. It was a little forceful on my end, but I think they could tell what I was thinking and still agreed. If I tried to push any more right now, they’d probably pull back too much, so this was a good middle ground.

“To change the subject, is there a Ficus Brand around here?”

“Y-Yes, there is. It is one street over, so it would be faster to leave through the back door.”

“Sorry to be a bother, but can one of your staff lead us there? We have several people who escaped the temple of wind with only the clothes on their backs.”

“That is terrible. In that case, our company can arrange a donation to the Goddess of Darkness.”

The White-Faced Ogre regained her composure with the change of subject and quickly switched to a gentle smile when she brought up the topic of donations. She was eagerly on board with the idea of sending Rakti out shopping.

Rakti was looking at me anxiously, but I gave her a nod and she accepted the offer.

“Okay then. Haruno, can you take Rakti and the others to Ficus Brand?”

“...I will. Please take care.” Haruno looked worried but still assented. She also knew that we shouldn’t push too hard in this situation. And it was a fact that her party needed to stock up on clothing. This was a good opportunity to do so.

Now then, while the White-Faced Ogre and her staff were preparing their donation, I went inside the Unlimited Bath to retrieve some of our own money. We might not need it with the donation, but just in case.

“What should I do, Touya?” Yukina asked. I needed to make sure of something before answering her.

“...White-Faced Ogre, I have a question.”

“What might that be?”

“My sister was summoned as a Hero of Darkness by Phoenix. How would your demon army treat her in that case?”

“Curse that Phoenix... Always doing something unnecessary...!” Her face warped into something vicious. Those Hannya masks must have been inspired by faces like this... But I didn’t point that out. After noticing our stares, she cleared her throat and returned to normal, responding, “There should be no trouble. What is Phoenix doing right now?”

“We fought him when we rescued my sister, but then he ran away, so I’m not sure. One of the Heroes of the Sacred King, someone who calls himself Cosmos, has been chasing after him though.”

“...Has he made an enemy of the heroes?”

“No, Cosmos is just trying to woo one of Phoenix’s underlings, a demon named Balsamina.”

“...Would you please not use this time to jest?”

“I really wish I were joking.”

The White-Faced Ogre changed once again from looking calm to looking confused. She glanced at the Demon Dog inquisitively, but he didn’t know who Cosmos was.

“That hero named Cosmos actually arrived in Ares last night. If you want to learn more about Phoenix, why don’t you try meeting him?”

“Hm? Yes, I will consider that...”

She seemed incredibly unwilling to do that, so I didn’t prod her any further.

“Anyway, I think we’ll be fine. Yukina, do you want to come with us?”

“Of course!”

By the time the staff came back with their donation, we had also finished preparing, and Prae and the other cyclopes had just arrived.

The donation was given to us in a chest reinforced with metal and filled to the brim with gold coins. It was like a historical treasure chest, dense and heavy. Wood was apparently a valuable material in Ares, so the chest itself was made of ceramic. This was a large sum of money, including the chest itself. They really splurged for us. It must have been partially an apology for abandoning Hades and running away back in the day.

Since this was a good opportunity, I asked the group to stock up on not only clothing but also daily necessities. We didn’t have tableware that the cyclopes could use right now. I doubted they sold tableware for imps here, but they might find things that could be used as a substitute.

With that, I asked Daisy to join the shopping group. Clena, Yukina, and I would go underground to see the sealed demon lord. Only the White-Faced Ogre and Demon Dog came with us. They didn’t bring any guards, though I doubt they needed it. Maybe they thought the two of them would be enough if we ended up fighting. Or perhaps only a select few were allowed to see the demon lord. I didn’t know which, but either way, we shouldn’t let our guard down.

After I saw Haruno’s group off, I turned to face the White-Faced Ogre. “Where are we headed?” I asked.

“Directly underground.”

Right under the shop, huh. This was already an underground city, and we were going even further underground.

Clena gripped my hand. She was shivering nervously. I couldn’t blame her. She was about to possibly meet her grandfather for the first time, and he was the demon lord on top of that.

I was summoned here in the first place to do something about the demon lord’s revival. A lot had happened since then, and I didn’t exactly know what I should be doing now. But finding out more about the demon lord would help lead me to that answer.

“Now then, please follow me.” The White-Faced Ogre set off. The three of us looked at each other, nodded, then followed behind her.

She led us to a room behind the shop. The door outside was plain, but the room inside, while small, had barely a speck of dust and felt rather solemn. On the other side of the room was a pair of extravagantly decorated double doors that didn’t match the rest of the room. They opened to a spiral staircase that led underground.

The White-Faced Ogre continued walking at the front of the line with the Demon Dog at the back. The three of us were between them. The spiral staircase was wide and gently sloped. As we walked down, I asked the White-Faced Ogre a few questions that had been on my mind.

“Just to make sure... Does the Dark Prince’s faction also have their base here?”

“...No, they have been avoiding this area ever since they declared that they would appoint a new demon lord.”

“The Dark Giant, too?”

“Yes, he said he would join forces with the young lord... That damned brother.”

So she called the son of the demon lord the “young lord.” I pretended I didn’t hear that last mumble.

So the Dark Giant and White-Faced Ogre were siblings? It didn’t sound like they had a good relationship at the moment. I could only see the back of her head right now, but I didn’t think I wanted to know what expression she was making.

There was one more thing I was curious about.

“So why did a fight break out at the water capital?”

Why did the two factions, who weren’t working together at all, appear at the water capital at the same time?

“They may have obtained knowledge regarding Sir Demon Dog’s visit to the water capital.”

“So someone might be leaking information from within the White Orchid Corporation?”

“...I do not deny the possibility.”

So they weren’t in absolute harmony, either. I didn’t know whether there was a traitor in the White Orchid Corporation, or whether the other faction had snuck in a spy. But the fact that the Dark Prince was able to send out the Dark Giant in time after getting the information meant that they might be unexpectedly close. They might also be seeing the information in real-time by using a spell like the Inept Scout that had been cast on Yukina. In either case, we should remain vigilant.

That was the end of our conversation. We continued down the stairs in silence until we reached the bottom. That was a lot further down than I expected, but that showed just how carefully they were protecting him.

The room had smooth walls and a domed ceiling. There were five statues of knights placed at regular intervals along the wall, each casting a pale glow that lightly illuminated the room. The air in the room wasn’t stale; maybe it was regularly cleaned. But it felt less like a tidy room and more like a hospital.

I noticed that the five knight statues were positioned to form a pentagram. There was an altar at the center of the pentagram and someone lying inside wrapped in a dark blue cloth. A mummy? The wrapped figure was clearly not human. His face looked like a lizardman’s, but the two horns sticking out of his head made him look much more formidable. His arms were crossed over his chest, but there weren’t just two arms. He had three on each side, a total of six arms. Everything below his waist was one solid mass, and I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be from outside the cloth. He was named Amann Naga, so perhaps his lower half was coiling around itself like a serpent.

“...Just to make sure. When we visited the ruins of Hadesopolis, we saw a statue that looked like it was supposed to be the demon lord.”

“So that is still there... That is his normal form, when he took the appearance of a human,” the White-Faced Ogre replied. She took a folding fan from within her sleeve and covered her mouth with it.

Did the demon lord reveal his form after he took damage?

“At first, the lord could not transform into anything other than a balding old man. We had our troubles back in those days...” the Demon Dog reminisced.

“...Ahem. Anyway, what you see here is our demon lord in his true form.”

We never had any particular difficulties with our hair, but I guess the demon lord did. It felt like we just got to hear something confidential, but I’m not sure if that was cause for celebration... Anyway, the White-Faced Ogre explained that the demon lord had fought the first sacred king in this form, but sustained deep injuries and went to sleep. He had stayed asleep to this day.

“So is he going to wake up when he fully heals?” Yukina, clinging onto me from behind, peeked over my shoulder and asked.

That made me curious too. We were summoned because the demon lord’s revival had been prophesied to the sacred family. He could wake up any day now. However, the White-Faced Ogre shook her head, looking down. “He should have recovered long ago, yet he continues to sleep...”

“Is that cloth for helping him recover?”

“Ah, please do not touch it,” she said, closing her folding fan and walking up to the altar. As soon as her fan got near the cloth, I saw crackling sparks and a bright light.

She withdrew the fan, which was now scorched black at the tip. Yeah, that was hardly for recovery. It was the opposite. We wouldn’t be able to get out unscathed if we touched that.

“You did well, bringing him here like that...”

“We used spirit magic to carry him without coming into contact with him.”

It was probably the same spirit magic that Clena used. I wanted to know more about what that cloth was, but the White-Faced Ogre wouldn’t say any more. She put the fan to her mouth again and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to reveal any more information to us, since we were still neither enemies nor allies. Anyway, the important thing was Clena. I looked over at her; she was staring at the demon lord’s mummy with a blank expression.

“Clena?” I called out to her, but she didn’t respond. “Whoa?! Wait, Clena!”

Ignoring me, she approached the altar with unsteady steps. I hurried over and put my arms around her. That was close—we were only a few steps away from the altar now.

“Huh?! Wh-What was I...?” She had been unconscious but suddenly came back to her senses, confused.

I was afraid that she might try the same thing again, so I didn’t release her from my embrace. While I hugged Clena, Yukina was also hugging me from behind. I slowly shuffled our way back, distancing ourselves from the altar. Clena was still dazed and unable to walk by herself.

“Did you feel something?” The White-Faced Ogre drew near us. The burnt scent from her folding fan prickled my nose, but Clena didn’t seem bothered by it. With her eyes still affixed to the demon lord wrapped in cloth, she slowly strung a sentence together.

“I... know this person... even though we’ve... never met...”

The White-Faced Ogre nodded in satisfaction. The Demon Dog also nodded, saying, “Though she knows not his face, she can feel their connection. Just like...”

“Sir Dark Giant and Lady White-Faced Ogre.”

“The demon lord and the young lord.”

They didn’t sync up. The White-Faced Ogre glared at the Demon Dog. I see, so the White-Faced Ogre could also tell they were siblings after they had been transported to this world. Judging by their reactions, it seemed clear that Clena really was the demon lord’s granddaughter. We finally had our answer. We knew now that he wasn’t purely an evil guy, but it was still pretty shocking.

Clena was trembling softly in my arms. She felt the most shocked, of course. I hugged her even more tightly. She noticed my intentions and leaned her weight against me. Yeah, Clena was Clena, serpent grandfather or not. I had to protect her. And now it was time for me to drive the conversation.

“Lady White-Faced Ogre, going back to our discussion about Sir Demon Dog.”

“Oh? Oh, yes. What is it?” She seemed a bit warmer now. Maybe it was just my imagination, but maybe it was also because I called them with titles.

“I’ll let him go without any ransom.”

“Is that all right?”

“If he is a subordinate of Clena’s grandfather, then I see no point in keeping him prisoner.”

The Demon Dog snapped his face in my direction, but I pretended not to notice. It would be a bigger problem to keep him prisoner after this. And I had no intention of handing Clena over to them just because she was the demon lord’s granddaughter. She wasn’t thinking of doing that herself, either. I needed to talk about this with them as well, but that could wait until we returned to the floor above.

Maybe we could ask them to help us buy some ingredients to use in the Unlimited Bath. I’m sure the Demon Dog would be more than eager to do so. Oh, but we couldn’t go back upstairs like this. I was just about to loosen my grip on Clena, but then there was a sudden tremor that shook the room violently.

Since my mind had been somewhere else, I lost my balance, and the three of us fell toward the altar. Oh no, all of us would touch the cloth at this rate...! I acted quickly. To at least prevent the two of them from touching the cloth, I hugged Clena with my left arm and stuck my right arm in front of us.

“...Huh?”

But I didn’t feel any pain. The sparks didn’t appear, either. I couldn’t stop myself from falling at this rate, though. I tried to balance myself with my right arm but failed, and the three of us tumbled onto the floor.

“Are you okay, Touya?!”

“Yeah... What about you, Clena...?”

“I’m fine.”

“T-Touya...”

I had fallen on top of Clena, so I tried to get up, but then heard Yukina’s trembling voice from on top of me. I raised my head to see that the cloth wrapping had vanished, and what lay there was no longer a mummy but the demon lord himself.

“H-Hey, what happened to the cloth?”

“It... vanished as soon as you touched it, Touya...”

“...What?”

I looked at my right hand. I had touched the mummy wrapping when I fell. I looked at the demon lord lying on the altar again, then a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

“Oh! Does this work the same way as Rakti’s seal?!”

Rakti’s seal was a combination of her own powers and the powers of the grave marker. Only I, who possessed both the blessings of light and darkness, could break the seal. The cloth wrapping must have been a mixture of the powers of the first sacred king and the demon lord. That was why nothing had happened when I touched it.

“...Wait a second!”

If that cloth was the seal, then it vanishing was not a good thing. I frantically got to my feet again, but the demon lord had already woken up. His golden eyes, slitted vertically like that of a snake’s, were staring straight at us. I tried to escape the stare by looking around and saw the Demon Dog and White-Faced Ogre kneeling on the ground.

I see, I see. So the demon lord was revived. Or rather, I revived him. I was a hero summoned to defeat the demon lord, or at least prevent his revival. How ironic that I was actually the one to cause it.

“So you are the one who broke my seal...”

His voice was peculiar and cold. It made me feel like I was being pierced by icicles. Yukina cowered behind me, her grip on my arm growing tighter.

“I wish to ask why you broke my seal. But before that, it seems I have something else to take care of.”

The demon lord got out of his bed, not giving us another look, and headed toward the door to the room. I kept my eyes on the demon lord. I positioned myself so that I could open the door to the Unlimited Bath at any moment for us to escape inside.

The sudden sound of tumbling rock echoed in my ears, and something crashed down in front of the door along with a bunch of rubble. Was that rubble the spiral staircase? They just destroyed all of it. Whoever just came down with the rubble must have done it. They must have caused the rumbling earlier, too.

The room was now filled with so much dust that we couldn’t see anything. This was bad. I opened the door to the Unlimited Bath and yelled Clena’s name.

“O, wind spirits!” Clena quickly drew her sword and summoned a gust of wind. Since we had a wind altar inside the Unlimited Bath, she could use the wind spirits whenever she needed. The wind coming out from my door blew the dust away.

“So it was you, damned brother...!” said the White-Faced Ogre, sounding disgusted.

Standing before us were the Dark Giant, gripping a lance with “Human Husk” inscribed on it, and one other person. It was a knight dressed in a full suit of jet-black armor closely resembling my Magic Eater.

“Hmph... So you have come, too,” the demon lord said to the knight, which was a huge hint. The knight didn’t respond, instead standing still while looking straight at us. I could guess what he was thinking. The knight was looking at Clena, or more specifically, the sword she was holding. He must have realized that that sword was once his own.

Yes, the knight in the black armor was the Dark Prince—Clena’s father and the demon lord’s son. The sensation that Clena had felt with the demon lord was most likely occurring within the Dark Knight, too.

“Yukina.”

“Leave it to me.”

Clena might experience something similar again, so I asked Yukina to hold her back. I couldn’t leave myself to do that in this situation.

I had figured that a potential spy in the White Orchid Corporation might be close enough to relay information immediately, but they moved even more quickly than I was expecting. I wondered if the Dark Prince rushed here after hearing that the potential granddaughter of the demon lord had arrived. But what must have come as an even bigger surprise to him was the demon lord’s revival, and now three generations of family were standing here.

Even the Dark Giant, who had made a mess of the water capital, couldn’t initiate an attack right now. He kept glancing at the Dark Prince. This situation was in the demon lord’s and Dark Prince’s hands. We were surrounded by rock, so earth cleric spells would be most effective here. I kept a hand on the ground, waiting for their next move.

A father, the demon lord Amann Naga, and son, the Dark Prince, were facing off in this dimly lit underground room. The demon lord wordlessly folded a pair of his arms and glared at the Dark Prince. I could feel his intimidating aura from here. So this was the demon lord’s power...

On that note, he was only crossing his middle arms; the other four were still free. His upper and lower pairs were ready to strike at any moment. Meanwhile, the Dark Prince was still distracted by us. It was hard to tell through his helmet, but I could feel his gaze on us.

He was full of openings, but the Dark Giant next to him wouldn’t let any of those openings go unguarded. In fact, he looked ready to attack the demon lord at a moment’s notice. However, the White-Faced Ogre and the Demon Dog standing at his left and right wouldn’t let such an attack happen.

This father-and-son tension felt like a ticking time bomb. The granddaughter was standing off to the side, and we siblings were the ones protecting her. The father was protected by a younger sister, and the son by her older brother.

“...Hey, Demon Dog, you’re the only outlier here.”

“Such hurtful words! My time with the demon lord has been the longest out of any of us!” the Demon Dog protested, his eyes remaining focused on the Dark Prince in the meantime. All I said was that he was an outlier, so he must have been thinking the rest too. “In that case, thou art all outliers too, Sir Touya!”

“Are you saying Clena and I have nothing to do with you?”

He let out a dog-like whimper at that. If we were truly unrelated, then we would have treated the Demon Dog much more like a prisoner during our trip here.

Clena was hunched down on the ground now. I couldn’t spare a glance, but I would guess that her face was bright red. Yukina was pinching my side, though it didn’t hurt.

“Hmm...” The demon lord’s slitted golden eyes flicked toward us inquisitively. But I didn’t falter. If I could have, I would have fled long ago. If it came down to it, I could summon earth spirits to buy us some time and escape into the Unlimited Bath.

“What...?” The Dark Prince took the bait, turning to face us with his killing intent laid bare. “What did you do to my daughter?!” He stomped toward us, each step heavy enough to crack the floor beneath him. I prepared myself to perform earth spirit summoning, but then—

“Apologize to Mom first before you start acting like my father!!”

—Clena stood up, livid, and used all the force she could muster to lob her sword at him.

Still sheathed, the sword smacked his helmet, and a shrill metallic sound rang through the room. The Dark Prince stumbled backwards. I guess it was a bullseye, or rather her words had caught him off guard. Not only the Demon Dog and the White-Faced Ogre, but even the Dark Giant was taken aback.

“Heheheh... Wahahahaha! How foolish!”

The demon lord let out a thunderous roar. He slapped his lower pair of hands against his hips, then arched his back and bellowed with laughter, but his upper pair of arms were still at the ready. That’s a little unfair.

“Tch... Retreat!” Maybe because this wasn’t the right mood for a fight anymore, or because he couldn’t stand being in his daughter’s presence, the Dark Prince picked up Clena’s sword and turned back.

“Y-Yes...” A second later, the Dark Giant followed suit.

“I won’t let you go, you fool of a brother!”

“That’s what you think!”

The White-Faced Ogre launched an attack as soon as he faced away from her, but he deflected the attack as if he was waving away a fly, not even raising his lance.

The demon lord didn’t seem like he was planning to do anything more, and the Demon Dog was still standing guard beside him. I wasn’t about to carelessly run after them, either. The Dark Prince and Dark Giant leapt out of the room.

My party and the demon lord’s group were the only ones remaining.

Crap, this turned from a three-way fight into a standoff between the grandfather and granddaughter. Clena was still trembling, and she couldn’t use magic now that her sword had been taken away. I wanted to avoid a fight. I should observe their movement for the time being.

All six of the demon lord’s arms had adopted a fighting stance. He said in a low growl that reached my core, “It seems that you are deep in thought... But there are times when you must act decisively.”

“...?!”

His tone seemed almost playful, but his voice sent a chill down my spine. I immediately used an earth spirit spell to summon a circular wall around us.

The jet-black wall, hardened through my MP, blocked us from sight, and I opened the door to the Unlimited Bath.

“Heheheh... Buying some time?”

I could hear the demon lord’s aloof voice from the other side, then the sound of a punch against the wall. I didn’t think he could break it immediately, but it wouldn’t hold out for long.

Without saying a word, I pointed to the other two to get inside. We all entered the Unlimited Bath and I closed the door behind us.

“Phew...” I felt the tension drain from me as I sat with my back to the door. We were at least safe for now.

I was able to make my move thanks to his warning. Was that his way of showing me his lack of concern against us? I couldn’t tell, but either way, we couldn’t just relax. We may be safe in here, but Haruno and the others were still out in the city.

I looked beside me. Yukina still had some energy left in her, but Clena had sunk down to the ground.

“Clena, can you move?”

“...I can. I’m just a bit drained right now,” she said and smiled at me, but I could tell it was forced. She was acting.

But still, we had to move.

“Hold out for just a bit longer, Clena.”

“I know... What are we going to do?”

We were going to prepare for battle. I needed to get my Gravesword from its storage spot at the front entrance, as well as the Magic Eater.

“...Maybe you shouldn’t have thrown your sword.”

“I-I couldn’t help it! I couldn’t even stand holding it back there...”

What a shame, Dark Prince. But I couldn’t blame her too much.

“Can you still use magic without that sword?”

“There was a magic dagger among the weapons we found in Hades that I can use...”

“All right, let’s bring that and the Magic Eater to the annex.”

“Huh? Are you going to take a bath, Touya?”

The annex was the building with the bath house.

“No no, I’m going to equip myself while taking a look outside.”

“Ohh, I see...”

Of course we needed to equip ourselves, but we also needed more information before making our next move.

First, we found the magic dagger, then we carried the Magic Eater armor to the indoor open-air bath. I immediately turned the screen on and projected the view from outside the bath. Since it was immediately outside, it didn’t use too much of my MP.

The projection showed the demon lord gripping the Demon Dog by his collar with one hand.

“Touya, boots first. Lift up your foot.”

“S-Sure...”

The girls helped me get dressed while I continued to observe our opponents.

The demon lord was pointing in one direction while saying something to the Demon Dog. I couldn’t hear them, but it looked like he was yelling.

He was pointing at the black wall, which was now in shambles. It really didn’t hold out for long. But he must have been caught off guard when he broke down the wall only to find that we had disappeared.

The Demon Dog was waving his arms around, explaining the situation. He was probably telling him about the Unlimited Bath.

The most important piece of information was that, after I closed the door, it could only reopen in the same spot. I hadn’t told this to the Demon Dog before, but maybe he had already figured that out by himself. He was probably also blabbing about the indoor open-air bath. The Demon Dog hadn’t been here himself before, but he’d heard us talking about it.

I finished putting on the Magic Eater and continued observing the demon lord. He gave out some sort of order, and the White-Faced Ogre jumped out of the room alone. After seeing her off, the demon lord turned back to the dirt wall.

“Hey, did he smile just now?”

“Huh? Can snakes smile? Can you tell because you’re related?”

Clena had sensed something, but that made Yukina confused.

“...I thought he did, too.” But Clena wasn’t the only one. I wasn’t an expert at serpent facial expressions, but after spending time with Rulitora’s tribe, I also got the feeling that he grinned just now.

“...How can you tell?”

“Probably because I stayed with the Torano’o tribe for a while.”

“Rulitora’s usually pretty stoic, so he doesn’t make too many expressions. You probably can’t learn from watching him alone.”

“That’s not fair!”

I didn’t think that was important right now... But I could take Yukina to visit the tribe again one day when we had the chance.

Anyway, what was that smile just now? The demon lord learned what the Unlimited Bath was from the Demon Dog, and then he gave an order to the White-Faced Ogre. Where did he send her to? The only possibility I could think of was to Haruno’s group.

And then the demon lord smiled. Following that train of thought, I arrived at one conclusion.

“Let’s go!”

I turned off the screen and ran to the entrance. The demon lord likely knew that we were watching him right now. That smile was a message directed at us. And if he sent the White-Faced Ogre to Haruno’s group, then I could see what he was scheming.

Basically, “if you don’t come out, we’re attacking Haruno. I won’t allow you to stay cooped up in there.”

That smile was a provocation. I didn’t think my guess was too far off the mark.

We arrived at the door while my thoughts raced. I grabbed the Gravesword and asked Yukina to open the door so that I could rush out as fast as I could. As expected, the demon lord was waiting for me with his middle arms folded and his other four in a battle-ready stance. Had he taken a liking to that pose?

“So you’ve finally come out... I assume you’ve deciphered my plans, from that distressed look on your face.”

So he really was provoking us. We had moved almost exactly according to his will. Paying no heed to our distress, the demon lord continued talking.

“That is the black grave marker... To turn it into a sword, have you no fear of divine retribution?”

The demon lord had his eyes on the Gravesword. Despite what he had just said, he seemed to be a little amused. Facing him right now, I felt as if he would tear me to shreds if I moved so much as a finger. But I had the Gravesword on my side. If I could find an opening to strike, this wouldn’t be a hopeless battle. It was too early to give up yet.

I hid the girls behind me and looked for a chance to charge, but then the demon lord suddenly turned his back to me.

“Now then, follow me. Let me hear your story.”

“...Huh?” Couldn’t I stab him in the back right now...? No, I had no chance. The Demon Dog was still looking our way, and the demon lord hadn’t let his guard down yet.

“Worry not. I merely sent the White-Faced Ogre to take care of things above.”

I see, the Demon Prince’s arrival meant that they had invaded through the shop above. They couldn’t leave the place unmanned without a general for long.

“Though had you continued thinking and not made a move then, I would have torn you limb from limb.”

That must have been what he meant by “act decisively” earlier. He had been testing us. His threatening aura dissipated, and I couldn’t feel the chill either. I guess we passed for now. I still couldn’t let my guard down, but the best decision was to follow him for the time being.

The staircase had been destroyed, but the Demon Dog agilely climbed back up by kicking against the walls. The other demon generals must have gone back up in a similar manner. Yukina could fly back up, but not Clena and I. As long as we didn’t know what the situation was like above, I couldn’t send her back out alone. The demon lord also couldn’t exactly jump up with his lower body. He looked up with a “Hmm...” and gripped the rocks with his claws, attempting to climb up.

“Wait a moment. I can assist with my magic.”

“Hmm?”

I summoned earth spirits from below my feet and formed a platform from the ground. I checked that everyone, including the demon lord, was on the platform, then fired up another spell. The platform started to float upward.

“Ho!” the demon lord exclaimed in wonder. This must have been a new sight for someone from 500 years ago.

This may have looked like an elevator at first, but it functioned more like an escalator as we gradually went up the stairs. I continuously modified the shape of the walls as we moved up and fitted the platform across.

When we finally arrived at the top, I didn’t see any sign of the Demon Dog. The demon lord was looking around inquisitively. Oh yeah, he was carried here after being sealed, so he didn’t know where we were right now.

I walked forward, and the demon lord silently followed. We arrived at the delivery area, where the doors to the warehouse were, and felt an odd tension in the air. Haruno and the rest had already come back. They had probably heard about the Dark Prince’s surprise attack. The White-Faced Ogre and Demon Dog were here too, but they were facing Haruno’s group, looking as if they might start a fight at any moment.

“Touya, that person over there...”

“Who?”

I looked where Yukina was pointing to see an extra person in Haruno’s group who had not been with them when they’d left.

“Kopan?!”

“What?! Where?!” Clena raised her voice and looked around, but he was on the short side and hard to spot.

But it really was him there—Kopan, the traveling merchant who had done us many favors. Had he run into their group while they were out shopping? It would have been Haruno’s first time meeting him, but Roni and some others would have recognized him. We had last seen him in Neptune and had no idea he was coming to Ares. Had he arrived here while we were in the water capital?

“...Do you know him?” the demon lord asked from behind us.

“Um, I guess...” I turned back and answered him, but saw the demon lord looking at Kopan with a somewhat stunned expression.

“It seems as if you do not.”

“...Huh?” I was getting confused. Kopan approached us with that familiar smile on his face.

“My oh my, it has been a long time, Sir Touya. And you as well... demon lord.”

Huh? What? The demon lord and Kopan knew each other?

“Rushing here to witness my revival? That is a virtuous act, quite unlike you.”

“Oh no, it was simply a coincidence. I am absolutely astonished by your revival, my lord. That is the truth indeed. But I am very curious as to how your seal was broken and would very much like to hear the story...”

He had the same way of talking as ever. But maybe you should claim you were being virtuous even if it was a lie, Kopan. Though I guess the demon lord would see right through it. Anyway, how did these two know each other? Hades used to trade with every other nation, but that was 500 years ago. Was Kopan a demon who had been alive since then or something? He had white hair right now, but maybe it was silver once upon a time.

He seemed very close with the demon lord, though. Maybe he was a merchant who interacted with the demon lord often? But even then, he was being too casual. So he must have had a high position within Hades. And that would be a demon general. But there were hardly any living demon generals left. The one possibility would be...

“...Wait a second, no way.”

“It seems you have finally noticed.”

“You really are a clever lad.”

“Now then, let me introduce myself once again.”

The demon lord and Kopan looked at me. The two of them seemed like they were sneering, and I’m sure it wasn’t just my imagination. Paying no heed to my confusion, Kopan stood before me and bowed deeply, almost mockingly.

“My name is Kopan... But I once went by a different name. I’m sure you have heard of it, Sir Touya. One of the Five Great Demon Generals... Indeed, I am the Flame Devil.”

The second he said that, I brandished the Gravesword without saying a word.

“Calm down,” the demon lord chided me.

Meanwhile, the Flame Devil was completely unfazed by my threat and continued to approach us, his smile unchanged.

“I watched your ceremony at Hephaestus, though from the shadows.”

“What?”

“...Did you enjoy yourselves?”

The second he said that, I again brandished the Gravesword without saying a word.

“I repeat, calm down,” the demon lord chided again. Though, I could see a hint of exasperation in the demon lord’s face as well. I guess he was trying to tell me that the Flame Devil’s personality had always been like this.

Well, he did help us a lot back in Neptune. And we were the ones who went barging into his hideout unannounced back in Hephaestus. We didn’t need to be hostile right now, I reasoned, calming myself down.

“Don’t tease him too much.”

“I shall act with prudence.”

The two sounded amicable, yet they seemed rather vigilant of each other. In the meantime, the White-Faced Ogre and Demon Dog were trying to gather up all of their employees.

I found a good time to run over to Haruno’s party. The cyclopes were looking at us worriedly. Rulitora and other party members with weapons were forming a protective circle around them. They were on alert, wary of the possibility that we had made enemies of the White Orchid Corporation. Haruno also had her sword unsheathed.

I took off my helmet so that they could see my face and put them at ease. Daisy flew to my shoulder and then clung to my hair. Her hands were shaking; she must have been incredibly scared. I stroked her back, with her scrunched up wings, while walking closer to everyone else, and then Rakti jumped onto me. Roni rushed up to Clena who was standing next to me and asked her a barrage of questions like “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“...What’s going on?” Rium asked, silver spears in her hands. She was in combat mode.

I explained to everyone that the demon lord had been revived, but we had avoided a fight for the time being, and that the source of this commotion was not the demon lord but the Dark Prince. That wasn’t quite enough to calm everyone down, but it was better than believing we might fight the White Orchid Corporation. The way things looked right now, we’d have an easier time talking things through with the demon lord than with the Dark Prince.

“Um... It sounds like you went through a lot,” Haruno sighed and resheathed her sword.

I noticed that Sera looked very fatigued.

“Are you all okay?” I asked.

“Y-Yes... We had just finished shopping when I felt a shock run through me, but I was the only one who felt it... And then Rakti said that the demon lord had awoken, so we ran back here,” Haruno answered in Sera’s place. She further explained that Sera had fainted after hearing Rakti’s words, and that was why she was so pale right now. But Sera was the type to fully recharge if you gave her time to calm down, so I decided to leave her be for now.

Anyway, I was concerned about how only Haruno felt that shock. She told me that it felt like a shiver coursed through her from the base of her feet to the top of her head. The demon lord had been sleeping deep underground, so the direction matched. Did she feel it because she was one of the heroes? That would explain it. We were summoned as heroes of light, while they were summoned as heroes of darkness. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say we could detect things like this.

The exact second the demon lord revived must have been when that cloth vanished. Since Clena, Yukina, and I fell on the floor, we hadn’t been able to see it with our own eyes. But if what Haruno said was true, we had one problem.

“Do you think Cosmos felt that shock too...?”

“...That’s a possibility.”

Not good. Cosmos would without a doubt race here to check things out himself. He wasn’t a bad guy, but I couldn’t predict what he might do to the demon lord. I had to somehow explain the situation to him, but we couldn’t have him barging in before I could do even that. With that in mind, I suggested continuing our conversation with the demon lord in the Unlimited Bath. If we stayed out here, the cyclopes would have to wait around somewhere else, so this would be a good chance to let them rest inside the Unlimited Bath as well.

“The dimension that the Demon Dog mentioned... Very well.”

The demon lord quickly agreed, ordering the Demon Dog and White-Faced Ogre to make some preparations.

“Would you mind if I intrude as well?”

“It would be better than leaving you outside.”

The Flame Devil tried intimidating us with a grin, but I didn’t fall for it. I’d rather keep him within our sights than let him roam around freely, anyway. He said that his bodyguards were still waiting outside, so we sent an employee over to bring them back here.

The doors to this delivery entrance were broken, but the walls survived without a scratch, so I decided to summon the door here. The cyclopes would have no problem getting in from here either. The central room on the second floor of the main building would be a good place for our meeting with the demon lord. I asked Haruno and her group to go in first and tidy up a bit. Daisy said she wanted to rest and flew up to her bed on the third floor.

I asked Rulitora to stand guard outside the door. As soon as I entered, I took off the Magic Eater. Prae helped me. She was doing a great job, but because of our height difference, I felt like I had gone back to being a little kid who couldn’t undress himself. I changed into my “young master of a merchant family” outfit and equipped a tuna knife to my hip. I asked Prae how their shopping had gone, and she described their trip using big, expressive gestures. I enjoyed watching her as we waited, and before long, the Demon Dog, White-Faced Ogre, Flame Devil, and demon lord came in.

The demon lord was still in his Naga form. He was wearing a lustrous red maekake, the bottom half of an apron, along with several ornate accessories. Was he planning to stay in that form? The statue that we saw in Hades showed him in his human form. Maybe it took too much energy to maintain that form, so I decided to not ask about it.

I asked the Flame Devil if he was currently transformed into another form, and he replied that he “wasn’t as fired up as he used to be.” Well, that didn’t answer my question at all.

The Demon Dog carried two bundles. I didn’t want him bringing anything dangerous inside, so I asked him what they were, and the demon lord replied “something nice.” The Demon Dog only added that they were “nothing bad.” I doubted we could get any more out of them right now, so I decided to let them pass.

“Hoh... That bastard had some peculiar powers, but yours are just as bizarre,” the demon lord commented as he came through the door and looked around. The “bastard” likely referred to the first sacred king, while the “peculiar powers” was probably his gift.

I had a feeling he would wander off somewhere if I left him be, so I quickly guided him to the second floor. The demon lord probably couldn’t climb up the stairs in his current form, so I directed him to the ramp outside. The Demon Dog and White-Faced Ogre followed. The demon lord looked around the garden with great interest. He started asking me about anything that caught his eye.

“What is that windmill?”

“That’s the wind altar. It constantly generates wind, so we use that area to dry our clothes.”

“...Hmm. And that red pillar?”

“That’s the fire altar. Our ketolt party members use that as their blacksmith forge.”

“I see. You do not respect the significance of those things one damned bit.”

Yeah, as I described them just now, I thought the same thing.

“What is that large pond?”

“That’s a pool... Er, a coldwater bath.” I wondered if he could make sense of modern vocabulary.

“You need not correct yourself, I can discern the meaning just fine.”

So he did understand modern vocabulary? Or maybe the Goddess of Light’s blessing translated my words into something the demon lord could understand. That or, conversely, the demon lord’s blessing of darkness did something similar to my blessing.

Anyway, at the rate this conversation was going, it looked like we would have to give a tour of the Unlimited Bath after our meeting. It sounded like the Demon Dog had already talked to him about the miso too, so we might as well host the demon lord’s group tonight.

We reached the second floor after we had walked halfway around the main building. The seat at the back of the room was supposed to be the seat of honor, but neither of us bothered with those formalities, each sitting down on the left and right sides of the room.

I sat in the center of the right side of the room. To my left were Clena and Roni, and to my right were Haruno and Rakti. The demon lord sat in the center of the left side. To his right was the Demon Dog, and to his left was the White-Faced Ogre. The demon lord’s bottom half was coiled on the ground.

“Now then, where shall I sit?”

“Wherever you want.”

“In that case...”

The Flame Devil sat himself at the front of the room. He was neither on the demon lord’s side nor on our side. Maybe he was telling us he was neutral. I doubted he would give me a straight answer if I asked, so I let him be.

The demon lord was looking my way intimidatingly. I was trying not to shrink back in the face of his stare when suddenly his oppressive aura vanished and he grinned at me.

“Touya... I thank you for your efforts on this occasion!”

“Oh... Um, yeah, sure,” I reflexively gave a half-witted response since he had caught me off guard, and only after I finished talking did I realize that he was referring to me breaking his seal.

“White-Faced Ogre!”

“Yes.”

The White-Faced Ogre pulled an ornate tube from her bosom and handed it to me. There was a letter inside. The letter described how I had revived the demon lord and then sang me many praises. They had probably written this while waiting outside the Unlimited Bath earlier.

“This looks like a letter of commendation...?” Haruno observed. I see; I had seen these in movies sometimes. The ceremony at Hephaestus didn’t have one, so I was confused for a moment.

“Demon Dog!”

“Yes! Please, Sir Touya.”

The Demon Dog got up and presented the two bundles he had been carrying. Roni accepted them and brought them over to me. Inside the bags were a long sword, a short sword, and a wooden box. The two swords were both single-edged blades forged similarly to Clena’s sword. Everything from the design of the hilt to the decorations on the sheath was extravagant. The long sword was interspersed with gold and silver.

“That is the Kitano Toshiro Yoshimitsu. It is inscribed with Yoshimitsu’s name. And that is... the Hoshi-kiri.”

“Wait, that’s...!” Haruno was the only one who reacted to the names. Apparently they were both famous katana. I asked why these famous katana were here in this world, and the Flame Devil interjected.

“That’s right, I remember how popular it was 500 years ago to name your favorite weapons after the katana you once owned. My, how nostalgic! In fact, I have this one called Honebami...” And then he started rambling about how great his own sword was.

I see, so they used the names of their favorite katana again for their weapons in this world.

“Did your sword have a name too, Clena?”

“Who knows? If it did, I’ve never heard of it.”

“That scoundrel’s sword? It was called Matsu. What an effeminate name.”

The demon lord looked displeased. I figured it would be best to not touch on this further and changed the topic.

“Then the lance called ‘Human Husk’ that the Dark Giant has is also...?”

“Oh, I did hear him call it that. That’s the name of a famous lance, too.”

“Yes, yes, you are very well-informed. That was indeed the name of his favorite lance back in the day!”

Kopan started blabbering again with no signs of stopping, so I decided to go ahead and open the wooden box. Inside it were very fine-looking tea accessories.

“In the past, teaware was often given out as a reward.”

“I see...”

“Yes! I am presenting those to you as your reward!” The demon lord proclaimed in a loud voice. I’m sure it wasn’t only me who thought he was also trying to interrupt Kopan’s rambling.

“I had also considered offering my granddaughter as your wife, but she might throw something at me, so you’ll have to figure out that part on your own.”

“Wha—?!” Clena raised her voice, but the demon lord laughed it off and continued.

“Both of these katana have conductors for using spirit magic. Clena may have whichever one she desires.”

I see, they were giving these to us as a replacement for the sword that the Dark Prince ran off with. I was thankful for that.

“...Clena.”

“What is it? I’m fine with the shorter sword, the Yoshimitsu.”

“No, it’s not that... Should I really be accepting a reward for reviving the demon lord?”

“...Isn’t it a little late for that? It doesn’t change the fact that you broke his seal, either way.”

“Is that how it works...?”

“It is.”

Okay, in that case, I bowed and accepted the gifts.

Now then, I had received a reward from the demon lord, but this wasn’t the end of our discussion. There was one thing that I had to confirm—whether or not the demon lord was planning to bare his fangs at the Olympus Alliance once again.

During our journey, we had learned that the battle between the first sacred king and the demon lord was not purely a battle of good versus evil. He may not have caused it deliberately, but the truth was that the first half of the war 500 years ago was an economic war started by Hades. The second half was retaliation against Hades by an alliance formed with Jupiter at its center. Additionally, while this may not have been intentional on the demon lord’s part either, at that time, the temple of darkness felt disrespected and betrayed the demon lord. Their archcleric, the Masked Cleric, helped the first sacred king infiltrate Hades, where he was able to seal the demon lord and end the war with Hades’ defeat. I wonder if the demon lord was just easily misunderstood...

In the course of ending the war, the Goddess of Darkness, Rakti, was accidentally sealed by the first sacred king. The nation of Hades became the wasteland known as the “void,” and the battle 500 years ago ended to no one’s benefit. Well, I was sure that the actual people involved were the most aware of how pointless of a war it was, so I didn’t say anything out loud.

Now then, how should I bring this topic up? I played through everything the demon lord had done until now in my head. I didn’t have much to ponder, though. What had left the biggest impression was when he said, “there are times when you must act decisively.” He probably meant that I shouldn’t think too hard. Maybe he doesn’t like people who are wishy-washy. All right, in that case, I should just ask him straight.

“I’d like to confirm one thing... Are you planning to fight against Jupiter again?”

“Of course.”

That was a blunt answer. Even more so than my question. Should I seal him again with the Gravesword? Was that even possible? What should I do in this situation? Numerous options spun around in my head. No—it was the demon lord’s advice, but I should still act decisively. I was about to summon spirits of light when the demon lord spoke his next words.

“I’ll need to be smarter about it this time.”

...‘Smarter’? What did he mean?

“Um, what do you mean by that?” Haruno asked in my place, since my brain was still trying to catch up.

The demon lord sneered at us before he answered. Had he been waiting for me to make a move before he interrupted with that remark?

“If there was one mistake I made 500 years ago, it was allowing the neighboring nations to rebel.”

Was that it? He didn’t “make them rebel,” but “allowed them to rebel.” And this time, he wanted to corner them to a point that they couldn’t rebel even if they wanted to.

“I caught up on the current state of affairs before coming here... My subordinates have been holding up well,” the demon lord said, patting the White-Faced Ogre’s head. His movements were rough, so her head was being shaken back and forth. Even so, she looked a little happy. “The White Orchid Corporation, I see... You have developed it quite extensively. Huhuhu,” the demon lord laughed. So this was what he was thinking...?

“So rather than returning to your position as a lord, you want to focus on business?”

“Do you wish to hear how much the Ares royal family is indebted to the White Orchid Corporation...?”

“No, I’m good.”

He really was. In other words...

“Rather than leading from the forefront with your own power, you want to have control over even greater power from the shadows—Is that what you’re saying?”

“Haruno?!” She sure knew how to talk straight, too.

“You understand me well, young lass,” the demon lord laughed. He seemed to be entertained.

So he was changing his plan of attack. The demon lord didn’t seem all too concerned about his position as a lord.

“So the ones who instigated the attack against Hades 500 years ago were... merchants?”

“You understand too, knave.”

So that was it. The demon lord had driven the neighboring nations into an economic corner 500 years ago, but at the time, the relationship between Hades and the other nations were seller and buyer. The other nations should have been getting the goods that they wanted.

The ones who would have noticed that they were in a bad spot were merchants, who could see the money being drained from their country first-hand. If the merchants had noticed a little later, then they would have been driven to the point where they could no longer rebel even if they wanted to. They tried to warn their royal families and instigate a strike back against Hades, and what resulted was the war 500 years ago. The demon lord confirmed all of this.

The demon lord’s objective this time was to be in a position like those merchants. He wanted to hold economic power, enough so that he could move an entire country to his will when the time came. In our world, a company that did business across country borders was known as a multinational corporation. If he could achieve that, then he would indeed hold more power than the king of a single nation.

And right now, the White Orchid Corporation had the demon lord and two demon generals. They could even develop their military power along with their economic power. He could become an existence even greater than a demon lord.

I looked to either side, but only Haruno’s face had become pale. Even Clena hadn’t been able to keep up this far. Rakti and Roni were frozen in place, as they’d been trying to follow along but failed. How was the demon lord able to think up all of this?

“You really are a clever youth,” the demon lord laughed, perhaps reading the shocked look on my face. “You sure know how to choose a man! That’s one thing I won’t have to worry about!”

“Shut up!”

He even teased Clena.

Anyway, the revived demon lord wasn’t intending to start another war, but he was intending to become a greater existence than just a demon lord. What should a hero do in this case? I may be in no position to talk as the one who revived him, but could someone who claimed that he wanted to “take over the economy” really be called a demon lord? Though if we left him be, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had the world’s economy under his thumb before long.

“What do you think, Touya?” Haruno asked me dubiously. “Is defeating a big businessman really the job of a hero?”

Apparently she was wondering the same thing.

“I feel like a thug in a movie who’s been tasked with assassinating some VIP.”

“...I can sort of understand that analogy.”

Whether we’d be the good guys or bad guys depended on that VIP’s background, but either way, we wouldn’t be “heroes.”

We weren’t getting too far thinking about it as two people from another world. Would Clena understand if we explained this to her? I had my doubts, but we would deal with that later. We knew the demon lord’s intentions now, so our meeting reached a stopping point.

The demon lord seemed interested in the miso, baths, and various other things, so we would be accommodating them tonight.

“In that case, I’ll use the bath first!”

“I will join you!”

“I shall lead the way!”

So you two want to join the fun too, White-Faced Ogre and Demon Dog? Well, someone needed to explain how the baths worked, and I could let the Demon Dog handle that.

“I shall also take this opportunity to join you all.” The Flame Devil cheerfully followed them.

Yeah, I’ll leave them alone for now. I doubted they would go so far as to destroy the baths. Probably. On that note, Rulitora had always hated the baths, so would the demon lord be okay? Just in case, I told the Demon Dog that they could use the outdoor pool if the baths didn’t suit the demon lord’s fancy.

In the meantime, the rest of us headed to the Goddess of Fire’s kitchen to prepare dinner. Most of the group wasn’t used to handling miso yet, so Haruno and I would be the main ones cooking today. Rulitora was standing by at the inner door, while Prae was waiting at the back door leading to the garden. Daisy was lured by the smell of food and came flying down, then sprawled herself out on top of my head. Needless to say, our topic of conversation was our meeting with the demon lord. However, only Haruno and I could fully understand what the demon lord’s new objective was.

“T-The demon lord, a merchant...?” Sera tilted her head as she stirred her pot.

Clena at least understood that he was trying something more shrewd this time, but she also wasn’t sure whether his plans were appropriate for a demon lord or not. She seemed flustered, but she had gone through a lot today, so I didn’t want to push her too much.

“I’m wondering about one other thing.”

“What is it?”

“What exactly was prophesied about the demon lord’s revival?”

“That’s...”

The sacred family and temple of light had summoned us heroes because they were given that prophecy. I’d heard that the elves had also received a prophecy and went to alert the sacred family, but judging by their timing, their source was something else. Maybe other parties had received their own prophecies as well. In that case, what exactly was in the prophecy?

“Do you know anything, Sera?”

“The ones who received the prophecy were the temple elder and the sacred king. But I am unsure of the details...”

She didn’t know either, huh. Maybe Princess Franchellis and the elf Foley from Cosmos’ party might know something. I actually wanted to go meet Cosmos now.

“Umm... Why don’t you try asking directly?” Rakti asked matter-of-factly.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but I knew what she meant. Yeah, I guess I did have that option. I could ask the Goddess of Light directly, the one who sent down that prophecy.

“D-Do you mean in the dreams that you’ve mentioned...?” Sera asked, her eyes twitching. I could understand how she felt as a cleric of light, but please don’t make that face at me. I didn’t want to get too hung up on this topic though, so I changed the subject.

“Anyway, regarding what we’ll be doing next... Setting aside whether we’re going to be enemies or allies for now, we’re at least not going to follow him.” Even if we weren’t going to be enemies, that didn’t mean we would become his underlings. Everyone had different reactions, but they at least seemed relieved, especially Sera and Sandra. “We’ll host them for today. We can assist them if it doesn’t cause trouble for others. And we’ll sell them miso if they want it. Is that a good stance to take?”

“Becoming one of the White Orchid Corporation’s business partners? I think that’s fine,” Haruno remarked, being the first to agree with me.

“I’m in favor too. We’ll need to keep an eye on what the demon lord is up to for a while, but I think we can maintain the status quo for now.” Clena also agreed. Everyone else in the room, including Rulitora standing guard by the door, nodded. Sera also didn’t think this plan would be a problem.

“By the way, Clena.”

“What is it?”

“Are you okay with calling him the ‘demon lord’? He is your grandfather and all.”

“...Let me think some more on that.”

She was apparently conflicted about it too. I wasn’t in a position to order her around, but I at least wanted to make one thing clear.

“Clena, if I was put off by you being the demon lord’s granddaughter, then I would have been when you told me about the Dark Prince back in Hades a long time ago. I accept everything about you, don’t forget that, okay?”

Clena was taken aback for a moment, then adopted a solemn expression, then turned away from me with a “Hmph.”

“...Thanks.” And finally, she softly sighed. She was red all the way to her ears.

As we continued cooking, Haruno brought up a question. “Should we really have accepted the Hoshi-kiri?”

“Huh? Is it a special katana or something?”

Haruno explained that the Hoshi-kiri was a katana passed down from the demon lord to the Dark Prince when he inherited their family’s estate.

“...Wait a minute, so is that the mark of his successor?” Clena interjected when she heard the explanation.

“It might have that implication.”

“So instead of his son, the Dark Prince, he named his granddaughter Clena as his successor?”

“No, the one who accepted the reward was Touya...”

“Don’t tell me he named me as the successor...?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I think it’s safe to say that he accepts you as one of his family.”

“I wonder about that...”

“I mean, who would he choose—his son, who neglected his sealed father and went off claiming he would become the new demon lord, or his granddaughter, who brought the one person who could break his seal...?”

“Well, you have a point, but...”

There wasn’t much to argue about. On that note, if the Dark Prince wanted to be the new demon lord that much, he could have at least taken the Hoshi-kiri. Maybe it was his way of saying that he’d forge his own path, separate from his father.

“Oh, and there’s one other thing I want to check... What do you want to do about the Dark Prince, Clena?”

“What do I want to do...?”

“Do you want to reconcile? Or just leave him alone?”

“I won’t consider it unless he makes up with my mother...”

So it depended on whether or not her mother would forgive the Dark Prince. It was a problem between those two in the first place, so that was reasonable. But we didn’t have an answer for the present.

“Then do you want the demon lord and Dark Prince to reconcile?”

“...I’m not sure.”

That’s why she didn’t know what attitude to take against the demon lord yet. His character surprised all of us, so I couldn’t fault her for it. If only he had said something like “Now then, time to take over the world!”, I would have somehow found a way to slam my Gravesword into him and not have to think about all of this. But in reality, this demon lord wanted to take control of the economy. And we were hosting him as a guest tonight.

I wasn’t intending to burden her with all the responsibility, but I couldn’t ignore Clena’s opinion in this situation either. She said she wasn’t sure yet, so for now, the most we could do was to be as hospitable as possible so that we didn’t worsen our relationship with them.

“This isn’t the time for us to act decisively yet... right?” But the demon lord’s words lingered in my mind. Was this something that could wait until later? It wouldn’t hurt, would it? Was I just thinking too much again?

As I mulled over it, Haruno tapped my shoulder. “I’m not saying that the demon lord’s words are wrong, but I don’t think you’re thinking too hard right now. Everyone’s different, and I think there are pros and cons to either approach.”

“Really?”

“Depending on the situation, acting decisively can mean the same as ‘haste makes waste.’”

“I-I see...”

“I think you’ll be fine just keeping his words in mind.”

So basically, adapt yourself to the situation and act decisively when you need to. That was harder than it sounded, but I’d try to keep that in mind.

After the demon lord’s group was done with their bath, Rulitora guided them to the large cabin on the outskirts of the main building—the banquet hall. A sliding door separated the inside room from the garden, and opening it made the room feel much more spacious.

We asked the demon lord if he needed a taste tester for his food, and he unexpectedly answered that “there would be no point.” It was a convincing answer from him, though. At Haruno’s suggestion, we decided to have a barbecue in the garden so that we could cook the food in front of everyone.

I asked the Demon Dog if the demon lord would be offended by our plans, but he said that the demon lord enjoyed off-kilter ideas like this. He suggested flavoring the food strongly, to which Haruno earnestly nodded. Apparently the demon lord had been known for enjoying strong-tasting foods in his past life. Being historically significant must be a pain if even stories this minor were memorialized.

As I carried trays of food into the banquet hall, I saw the demon lord staring intently at the grill in the garden with all three sets of his arms folded. His arms didn’t fit through his yukata sleeves, so he tied it at his waist and wore a hanten on top, with his chest left bare.

“What is that, young lass?”

“Who, me? That’s a ‘barbecue grill’.”

“Hmm... What do you grill on that rack?”

“Um, a lot of things?”

He was asking Yukina, who had brought over tea, a barrage of questions. She answered his questions readily, perhaps because she had decided the demon lord wasn’t dangerous. I didn’t want her to say something out of line and anger him, so I hurried to finish setting the table.

The seat of honor this time was given to the demon lord, while the Demon Dog and White-Faced Ogre sat to his left and right. The Flame Devil sat next to the White-Faced Ogre. They wanted to keep an eye on him, and the White-Faced Ogre’s eyes were sharp.

The cyclops mothers were still a little frightened of the demon lord and stayed out in the garden, but the children didn’t seem to mind and were just excited for the barbecue. The others sitting down at the banquet table were Rium, Prae, and Rin. Though in Rin’s case, she might just not be in the mood to cook.

“You have a curious assortment of party members,” the demon lord remarked, glancing at Prae and the other cyclopes.

“We also have ketolts and glaupis waiting for us back at the port.”

“Hoh, the ketolts of Hephaestus...?” The demon lord perked up at the mention of the ketolts. Hades and Hephaestus had traded back in the day, so he may have met ketolts before.

Moving on, the Demon Dog and White-Faced Ogre were bewildered at the menu for tonight. That was understandable. After all, the only dishes before them were large helpings of white rice and miso soup. The Flame Devil was wearing his usual smile, but he seemed like he was scrutinizing our every move. The demon lord was more interested in the barbecue, not even looking at the dishes in front of him.

Now for the main course. Rulitora carefully rolled the grill toward them so that it didn’t damage the tatami mat flooring.

“We’ll be grilling plenty from here.”

“I see, you will be preparing the food right before us, so that we can eat it freshly made.” The demon lord’s eyes sparkled. He was more keen about unknown cuisines than nostalgic ones. All right, let’s get grilling. I was the head chef tonight.

As for beverages, the White Orchid Corporation brought over their own stock of alcohol since we had run out. Everyone underage got juice. The only ones in our party who drank were Rulitora, Pardoe, and Shakova, so we never carried much alcohol in the first place. In particular, once Pardoe and Shakova started working, they would often forget even to eat, much less drink. But then we picked up the Demon Dog, who very much enjoyed his liquor. Rulitora also started drinking more as a result, and thus we had run out by the time we reached Ares. That was actually half the reason why the Demon Dog had adjusted so well to our party.

Rulitora sat himself next to the Demon Dog after bringing over the grill. They immediately started drinking. On the other side, the demon lord was more interested in the juice than the alcohol. He had glasses of orange juice, apple juice, tomato juice, and a cup of tea on his tray. He seemed especially fond of the apple juice, admiring the sparkling amber color inside the glass as he held it up.

I recalled that Japan started cultivating apples during the Meiji era. Of course, that was after the demon lord’s time. Did this world have any similar fruits, though...? I asked Rium, who was helping me cook.

“Rium, is there anything similar to apple juice in this world?”

“There is, but it’s more cloudy looking.”

I see, so this drink was more clear.

The demon lord then silently picked up the dishes in front of him. He took a sip of the miso soup, flicked his tongue, and then his golden eyes opened wide.

“...Who made this?”

Oh no, was it not to his liking?

“Um, I did.” Clena was grilling in the garden, but stopped to name herself.

“I was the one who taught her how to season it.” I raised my hand as well, showing him that it wasn’t only her responsibility.

“...I see.” But the demon lord said no more and continued eating.

What was that? The Demon Dog... was off in his own world right now, so I beckoned for the White-Faced Ogre and asked her.

“Not to worry. Had it not been to the demon lord’s liking, he would have flipped his tray over by now.”

So he liked it and asked who made it? This was bad for my heart. I really think the demon lord was just easily misunderstood. The Flame Devil was turned away from us, his shoulders quivering. Was he trying not to laugh? I guess he also knew what the demon lord’s reaction meant.

Anyway, he seemed to like the miso, so I kept on grilling. I was making miso-grilled fish, freshly caught from our fishing pond. I finished cooking up four plates worth of fish and Rakti, who was dressed in a maid outfit, carried them over to the demon lord and the generals.

They all knew that she was the Goddess of Darkness already. The Demon Dog and White-Faced Ogre seemed a little tense, but the demon lord and Flame Devil were surprisingly composed. I wasn’t trying to harass them, Roni was just busy in the garden right now.

“Hoh...!” The demon lord’s expression changed again. He chomped down on his food without a word. He seemed to be enjoying it. All right, time to cook for everyone else, too.

The children liked the soy sauce-marinated barbecue more than the miso marinade, so they were grilling that up in the garden. The aroma of the broiling soy sauce tickled my nose. The group here was allured by the scent as well and asked me if I could cook it for them.

I started grilling the soy sauce-marinated meats, and before I knew it, the demon lord had gotten up from his seat and was standing behind me. He was staring inquisitively at the barbecue from above my head.

“Lad, what are those bright red stones under the rack?”

“They’re fire stones. They’re from the fire altar and use my MP to heat up. I just need to tune my MP and we can use them in place of charcoal.”

“Is ‘barbecue’ a type of food from your world?”

“Yes, though rather than food, I would say it’s a cooking method.”

Now I was grilling up miso-marinated poultry. I was saving the miso-grilled onigiri for last.

“Where did you get this fresh fish?”

“They’re from the water altar over there, though we just call it the fishing pond.”

He was asking me so many questions. Was his sense of curiosity that strong?

“...What is this gift of yours? It is supposed to be the power of a hero, is it not?”

“Well, that’s what they were aiming for when they summoned us heroes. But this has been a great help for me since it makes my life a lot easier.”

“Hmm...”

He asked me several more questions after that, mainly about the Unlimited Bath. He had taken a liking to the cedar wood bath and said he said he would try the pool next. Next, he asked me about cooking and what other things we could cook here.

Then he asked about Clena. He really did have his granddaughter on his mind. He also asked about Clena’s mother, but I couldn’t answer since I didn’t know much either. I suggested that he ask Clena directly, but he went to the garden and started asking Haruno questions instead. Avoiding Clena, huh?

He had picked up some vegetables and spices, so from the looks of it, he was asking Haruno about cooking. I kept watching them as I grilled. Then, Clena came into the banquet hall.

“What were you talking about with the demon lord?” she asked timidly. You too? Like grandfather, like granddaughter, as they say.

Finally, we finished our dinner party without a hitch—on my side, at least. After that, Clena had tried talking with the demon lord directly, but there was still some tension between them. She said that their conversation hadn’t been particularly interesting, and he just wanted to ask about Clena’s family.

Her father had gone missing before getting married, and as a result she had been treated as an outcast in her family, which made the demon lord angry. Then, when he heard that she had started traveling to look for her missing father, that anger became focused on the Dark Prince. I see, so that was why they had looked so tense.

Haruno, Clena, and I were supposed to eat dinner after serving everyone, but Clena was exhausted from being on edge all day. The demon lord had already left, saying that he had work to do with the White Orchid Corporation. The door to the Unlimited Bath was now shut, so she could finally rest for tonight.

I was a bit suspicious about how the Flame Devil had been so quiet during dinner, but he was also outside with the demon lord right now, so I decided to think about that later.

“Oh, he was mumbling something about ‘heresy’ while drinking several cups of tea.”

Uh, what? Well, our tea was from a faucet and didn’t even need tea leaves, so maybe that was why. Haruno explained that his idea of green tea was likely matcha, where the leaves were ground and mixed into hot water. However, the green tea from our faucet was sencha, where the leaves were steeped in the water but not mixed in. The color of tea in the past was brown, and it was only after the Edo period that they had learned to cultivate green-colored tea. I see, was that what the Flame Devil had meant by “heresy”?

“The demon lord seemed to like it, though.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, he said it reminded him of jade.”

The color was a big factor for him as well, huh. He liked the apple juice too, so I wondered if he had a preference for transparent things.

We finished our meals and it was time to take a bath, but our timing was later than everyone else’s today. It would be just the three of us in the bath tonight. I’ve said before that it was embarrassing to take baths with a large number of girls, but allow me to amend that. Even with a small number of girls, if they were the type to act bold, then it was embarrassing all the same.

I washed their hair like I always did, and then Clena washed my hair while Haruno washed my back. Clena was in front of me massaging my head and Haruno was behind me scrubbing my back. I was sandwiched between them. And they were super close. Way too close. There was no reason why they had to be this close. Four plump melons were way up in my personal space.

“What are you acting embarrassed about after all this time?”

“Touya, please take responsibility if anything happens ♥”

I now knew how a rabbit being toyed with by a lion felt. I survived that ordeal and went into the bath, but now they were pincering me on both sides, so my trial continued.

I could guess why they were acting so differently today without asking them directly. Clena had become more conscious of me after the demon lord gave me the Hoshi-kiri, which was meant to be given to his successor, and then treated me like Clena’s partner on top of that. Haruno was just being influenced by Clena’s behavior.

But I couldn’t lose to them, and for a good reason.

“...The demon lord is trying to recruit me, isn’t he?”

“Huh? Yeah... I guess so,” Haruno said, glancing at Clena.

Yeah, that was the reason why I couldn’t simply enjoy these melons right now. The demon lord clearly wanted me in his faction, the former demon lord army. Part of it might be him acknowledging me, but surely he also saw value in using me.

I was happy with how the girls were treating me right now. We were in the same party and under the same roof. But I couldn’t predict how the demon lord would react to anything we might do. It was even scarier because I didn’t know if he would stop at simply getting angry. I probably didn’t need to think about it this much, but if I had to take responsibility, then I wanted to do so after things were more stable.

“I see...”

“It’s true, we’re like drifters right now.”

The girls agreed after I explained what I was thinking. But they still didn’t let go of me. They looked at me earnestly, as close as ever. They were point-blank in my face now. I didn’t have a reason to keep holding back, so I put my arms around their shoulders.

“I’ll give you points for thinking about it seriously.”

“But this isn’t something you should be thinking about alone.”

The girls both smiled at me, which made me happy. But enduring this was rough.

“What do you think we should do?”

“We could stop being drifters... Find a place to call home?”

“That goes along with our current goal anyway.”

“Yeah, we need a place for the cyclopes and glaupis to settle down.”

“Maybe we could ask the White Orchid Corporation to help us with that. They can pull strings with the Ares royal family, after all.”

“Oh yeah, they said that they were lending them a lot of money...”

The two started talking with me in between them. They were awfully amicable, or rather, it felt like they were on the same wavelength. The longer their conversation progressed, the more their melons pressed against me. Not wanting to lose, I ran my hands down the sides of their bodies and pulled their hips closer to me.

Yeah, I shouldn’t think too hard right now. Sometimes, it’s better to act decisively than to stop in your tracks. I was sure now was one of those times.

“It’d be nice if we could find a place where Prae and the other cyclopes can live easily.” I joined their conversation, hypothesizing what kind of home I would like. I’d been on pins and needles ever since we arrived at the White Orchid Corporation today, so it was relieving to finally be able to sit back and chat. The three of us continued to soak in a long, leisurely bath and peacefully passed our evening.

I went to bed early, cuddling Rakti as my body pillow to increase the time I could spend talking with the goddesses in my dream tonight. My sense of time with the goddesses was vague, though, so I wasn’t sure if this would have any effect at all.

The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by the goddesses wearing gorgeous kimonos. The Goddesses of Light and Water were wearing properly fitted, traditional kimonos, but the Goddess of Earth’s breasts were practically spilling out of hers. The Goddess of Wind had an adorned one with short frilly sleeves and a miniskirt. For some reason, the Goddess of Fire had her chest bound and only wore one of the sleeves, leaving her other shoulder and arm bare. Rakti, who was still in my arms, was wearing an adorable furisode-style kimono for children. As a bonus, I was wearing a haori and hakama. The goddesses often showed up in various outfits, but this was the first time I also changed outfits to match. I guess this was because I was recognized as their brother.

Rakti and I stood up, and the Goddess of Light positioned herself in front of us.

“It seems you have something to ask me today, so I asked Mother to stay away.”

How considerate of her. If the Goddess of Chaos appeared, I wouldn’t be able to remember this dream.

Rakti guided me somewhere, and suddenly, we were inside a large japanese room. There was a large kotatsu in the center of the room, which we all sat down around. The Goddess of Earth plopped her breasts, which still seemed like they were about to pop out of her kimono at any moment, on top of the kotatsu. Were they that heavy?

The Goddess of Water produced a teapot from somewhere and poured tea into a teacup, which the Goddess of Earth similarly pulled out from somewhere. The amount of tea she poured out seemed much greater than the volume of the teapot, but I decided to pay it no mind. I assumed it worked similarly to the Goddess of Water’s faucets.

I took a sip, and it was a different flavor from the gift tea. A single sip warmed my body and somehow made me feel more calm. The Goddess of Water had the same stoic expression as ever, but maybe she could tell that I was tired and wanted to do something to help. She could read my mind anyway, so I sent her a torrent of gratitude vibes. Oh, her cheeks turned red. And then she swung her face away from me.

The Goddess of Light also drank some tea, cleared her throat, then began speaking.

“Now then, where shall we start?”

“Honestly, so much happened today, I don’t even know where to begin...”

“I see... In that case, let us start with the demon lord.”

This was it. I sat up straight. Reviving the demon lord was my mistake. I was prepared to accept any punishment they threw at me. But the Goddess of Light’s next words were beyond the furthest of my expectations.

“You did well, Brother.”

“Huh? But I, uh, revived the demon lord...?”

“What do you mean? Thanks to your hard work, you prevented the birth of the demon lord.”

“W-Wait a second! What do you mean ‘birth’? Not ‘revival’?”

The Goddess of Light adopted a mysterious expression and continued. “Thanks to you, that girl was able to reach the place of destiny.”

‘That girl’? ‘Place of destiny’? Did she mean how Clena happened to be present when the demon lord revived?

“When that girl threw her sword, fate was altered.”

“Huh? What do you mean...”

“It is true. That man claimed that he would become the new demon lord, did he not?”

The Dark Prince? And Clena altered fate by throwing her sword at him? I had been wondering whether or not “demon lord” was a fitting title since he had proclaimed that he wouldn’t start a war with Jupiter, but to think that the prophecy had been about the Dark Prince...

“That is not correct either.”

“Huh?”

“I... did not make any prophecy related to the demon lord.”

“.........What?”

The Goddess of Light had bluntly refuted my unspoken hypothesis. Her revelation was so unexpected that I needed quite some time to find my voice again.