Chapter Three: The Demon Lord Defeats a Monster

After enjoying the wondrous natural hot spring to the fullest, the family quickly went to bed, waking with the first rays of the sun. They ate a small breakfast while admiring the solemn view of the sunrise, then immediately set out to descend the mountain.

It didn’t take long for them to descend the gentle slope. They reached the foot of the mountain by midday, and continued their travels on the crumbling road towards the small settlement, which they reached by sunset. They managed to restock their supplies just before the stores closed for the day, spent the night at a small inn, and left the village in the refreshing, still-cool morning.

Their next stop was the commercial city of Barjyo. To get there, they took a warm, sunny dirt road running through a number of fields, in between which they found deep, dense thickets, indicating a lack of any larger human settlements nearby. Each time they walked into one of the thickets, it was as if they had entered a cool, well-insulated house on a scorching summer day. The leaves blocked out most of the sunlight, making those parts of the trip much more enjoyable. Each gentle breeze rustled all the leaves and plants on the ground, turning nature into a grand orchestra.

They were nice places to spend some time at, but Anima had one worry: No matter how long they walked, the scenery didn’t change at all. Sooner or later, the kids would grow tired of it, which would make them all groggy. Luckily for him, those fears proved completely baseless, as Marie was busy picking up the acorns that littered the side of the road while Myuke rode Anima’s shoulders and picked various wild fruits. They would occasionally find a heart-shaped leaf on the ground, which was a special event in and of itself. Suffice to say, with all the activities available to them, there wasn’t a moment of boredom.

As the night fell, they set up camp next to the road. The following two days passed in a similar fashion, but on the morning of the third day, the group finally came to the end of what seemed to be an endless expanse of trees, bushes, and acorns. Instead of a dense forest, they found themselves on a neverending green plain. The scenery was similar to that of the very first day of their trip, so Anima assumed that the girls wouldn’t be excited about it.

Much to his surprise—and delight—they were ecstatic; they seemed to have remembered the fun they’d had that day. Marie gleefully exclaimed that she loved red upon finding a red flower she hadn’t seen before, and Myuke was left wondering if, somehow, she naturally attracted butterflies when another one landed on her head. As they continued their way through the plain, they came upon a small hill. The road led around it, but…

“I love cimb!”

“The view must be incredible from up there!”

At the girls’ request, they decided to check out the view from the top.

“Wooow!”

“Amazing…”

Their eyes twinkled as they looked far off into the distance. They were completely enamoured with the view of the large city—twice if not three times the size of Garaat—that panned out right in front of them.

“At last. We’ll arrive at Barjyo shortly,” Shaer noted as she slowly descended next to the family while looking at the city with a profound expression.

Barjyo was surrounded by tall, thick-looking walls, presumably to keep the monsters out, but one could enter its premises from a number of different directions. With all the gates dotting the walls and all the roads connecting to it, the city almost looked like a pinwheel from the outside. One of those roads was sure to lead to the bridge occupied by the monster. The fact that they couldn’t see the bridge from their vantage point meant that they must have been rather far from it.

Anima was confident in his strength, but he didn’t have any valuable information on the monster’s strength. He was prepared to fight tooth and nail to protect his peaceful family life… but that could wait one more day. More than anything else, he wanted to enjoy some time in Barjyo with his family.

“Let’s head down.”

They began descending the hill at Anima’s proposal, with Shaer walking at the front while they engaged in a lively chit-chat.

“Have you ever been to Barjyo, Luina?” Anima asked, as she was the only one who wasn’t visibly amazed by the spectacle.

“Once, twelve years ago.”

“With your family?”

“Yes. We started the orphanage three months after that, so our trip to Barjyo was our last trip together.”

“What did you do there?”

“Shopping, mostly. There are so many extraordinary things for sale in this city that simply exploring all the various stores made a full day go by in a flash.” Luina excitedly shared her experience in Barjyo, longingly recollecting her last family trip. “There were so many foods I’d never even seen, let alone eaten before! I actually asked Dad to let me try one. I expected an amazingly sweet candy, but it was sour as a lemon! Oh, but don’t get me wrong, it was really yummy!

“The marketplace is like a festival when it gets busy! The small shops get buried under the sea of people… I remember splitting off from my parents and getting lost there. I had been having such an amazing time, but that suddenly made me feel so small, fragile, and… alone. I broke down in tears. Then, one of the shop owners brought me cookies, and they were sooo delicious! I’ll never forget their taste!”

Anima listened to her stories with a gentle smile.

“Sounds like you had a lot of fun.”

“I did, but not only with the shopping. Fishing was a blast, too!”

“On the lake Shaer told us about?”

An entire district within Barjyo was occupied by a lake that, judging by its sheer size, no doubt had fish in it. Luina was vividly reliving her memory as a child-like smile spread across her face.

“Yes! Dad and I rented rods and went fishing together. He caught so many fish, but I didn’t do very well. Ah, but I did catch the very last fish all by myself! And it was the biggest one! I can still remember how triumphant and excited I felt, and the taste of that fish.”

Her lovely, warm smile didn’t fade in the slightest while she recounted her sweet childhood memory. She seemed to really treasure that trip. Anima’s goal as a father was to bless the girls with similarly unforgettable, fun experiences. His wish was to help them make memories they could tell with a longing smile to their own children once they grew up, got married, and started families of their own.

“All right then, what do you say we go to the market, then try fishing at the lake together?”

The girl’s eyes lit up with excitement. Luina’s stories must have moved them.

“You know, you know, I love fissies!”

“I’m hungry just thinking about it! Can’t wait to check out the market!”

Their excited voices filled the plain. They kept discussing all the things they wanted to do in the city while walking there, and before long, they arrived at the gates of the commercial city of Barjyo.

◆◆◆

The moment they took their first step through the gate and into the city, Myuke and Marie stopped dead in their tracks. They looked around with their breaths held and their eyes twinkling with amazement, stunned by the magnificent cityscape before them. The buildings towering far over them on both sides of the wide road, and the crowd, denser than any they had ever seen, amazed them to their core. Almost every building in Barjyo greatly overshadowed Garaat’s tallest building: its Hunter’s Guild.

“So tawl! Wooooow!”

“Seriously, just wow. Are these all Hunter’s Guilds?”

“No,” Shaer explained. “Most if not all of the buildings here are inns.”

“Inns? All of them?”

“Indeed. The buildings close to the gates are mostly inns used by travelers. In other words, the other gates are similarly surrounded by these sorts of tall buildings.”

“Wow, there are even more?” Myuke let out a deep sigh of admiration. “Well, that makes sense, I guess. This city is big on travelers and merchants, after all. Still, with so many of them, at least one of them’s gotta have a free room.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying that all the rooms get rented sometimes? Like, literally every room in all of these gigantic inns?!”

“Indeed, they do!”

Shaer seemed to have enjoyed Myuke’s awe-filled response, as she was getting excited about their discussion as well.

“Daddy’s pace’s good to seep!” Marie added. She probably meant that if they couldn’t get a room, Anima could just make another house for them to sleep in.

“Thank you, Marie. I’m really glad you like the houses I make.”

“I love them too, but I doubt they’ll just let us make a dirt house in the middle of the city. We’ll probably have to leave if the inns are full and we have to use your magic. Maybe we could walk to the nearest town?”

Myuke worriedly alternated her gaze between Anima and Luina. Given her excitement for the market and the fishing, leaving the city so early would have been devastating news for her.

“W-Worry not!” Feeling sorry for potentially letting Myuke down, the fidgeting Shaer opened her mouth and tried to calm her down in a soothing tone. “Not many people visit here from Garaat, so we shouldn’t have any issues with getting a room!”

Reassured, a huge smile appeared on Myuke’s face, followed by a sigh of relief from Shaer.

“Yaaay! But we can’t risk it! I wanna get a room before we explore!”

“Good idea,” Luina lauded. “We should set our luggage down and take a quick rest before we go to the market.”

The group entered a nearby inn and requested a room. Luckily, there were free ones, so the family rented a corner room on the fourth floor and Shaer got one of her own.

“Lord Anima, do you have a moment?” Shaer asked in a hushed tone. Judging from her expression, she must have wanted to talk about the monster. In response, Anima nodded.

“Go to the room. I’ll join you later.” He gave Luina the key then descended the stairs with Shaer until they found a corner they could talk at. “What did you want to talk about?”

“The monster.” Just as he’d thought. He nodded, urging her to start speaking. “During our short trip together, I had the pleasure of witnessing the harmonious, lovely relationship you’ve built with your family. Henceforth, I don’t believe you should face the monster.”

Her words caught Anima completely off guard.

“Why’s that?”

“I have no doubt in my mind that you defeated Lord Merkalt. However, even if you’re stronger than Lord Merkalt, there’s no guarantee you’ll defeat that monster and come out unscathed. I would never be able to face Lady Luina, Miss Myuke, and Miss Marie again if… anything were to happen to you.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t lose to that monster.” Anima assuaged her worries with a smile. “I’ll make sure to defeat it—not only for my own sake, but for yours as well.”

“F-For my sake?” Shaer’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I’ve taken a liking to you. You genuinely care for my family, and for that, I’ll defeat the monster that’s giving you trouble.”

Even if that weren’t the case, he needed to be deemed a person of high value if he wanted to be pardoned for what happened between him and Malshan. For that, he needed to rid the bridge of the monster terrorizing it. His confident, reassuring words dispelled all the doubt from Shaer’s eyes.

“Then just as we discussed, I’ll trust you with defeating that monstrosity.”

“Right. But, I’m going to spend today with my family. I’ll deal with that monster tomorrow, after sunrise.”

If he ran at full speed, he would reach the bridge in no time, giving him the opportunity to deal with the monster before his family woke up. Then, he could return to the inn and resume their honeymoon as though he’d never left.

“Understood! I’ll accompany you to the bridge. Please come to my room when you’re ready to depart.”

Anima nodded, then they each left for their own room. After a bit of walking down the carpeted hallway, he arrived back at his family.

“Daddy back!”

“Look, Daddy! A bunk bed! Me and Marie can have the top, right?”

His arrival was met with the excited cheers and sweet smiles of his girls.

“Of course you can.”

There was a bunk bed next to the wall, big enough to comfortably house four people. The room wasn’t overly spacious, but they were only planning to use it to sleep, so it didn’t bother them. The majority of their time during the day would be spent in the city.

Myuke and Marie climbed the ladder and, after setting their bags to the side, threw themselves on the bed to try it out. It must have been pretty comfy, as they stopped moving shortly after.

“We should get some rest too.”

“You’re right.”

With a faint blush on her face, Luina laid down, and Anima joined her shortly after. They were both lying on their backs, staring at the bottom of the bunk above them. Just as Anima glanced to his side, Luina did the same. Her cheeks turned an explosive pink color as their eyes met.

“This is the first time we’ve been all alone in the same bed…” she whispered joyfully, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

“It is. Are you nervous?”

“A little bit. But more than anything, I’m happy.” Luina turned toward Anima and snuggled up to him. The tips of their noses almost touched, and her sweet breath gently caressed his cheeks. “I’ve always wanted to fall asleep in your arms.”

“And I’ve always wanted to fall asleep holding you.”

He loved sleeping in the same bed with all three of them, but he’d always wanted to sleep alone with Luina, and that wish had at long last become a reality. Their tiny whispers faded, and they silently gazed into each other’s eyes until Luina slowly closed hers.

During their three months together, Anima had begun to understand women slightly better, and because of that, he knew exactly what Luina wanted from him. After taking a moment to appreciate her beauty, he planted a kiss on her glossy lips. It was their first kiss in a while, and they made sure to enjoy every single sweet moment of it to the fullest. When Anima finally pulled his head back, he was met with Luina’s slightly moist eyes.

“Are we done already?”

Enticed by her sweet voice, Anima planted another kiss on her soft, warm lips. The sweetness of their kiss permeated his mouth, making him long for more and more, but Luina quickly pulled away when she felt a bit of squirming from above. Moments later, Myuke and Marie descended the ladder.

“I wanna go into the city!”

“Sidy!”

“Th-That sounds good. Okay, let’s—Oww!”

As Luina jumped up from her bed, she hit her head on the bottom of the bunk above.

“We can switch beds if you want. You’ll have more privacy up there.”

“That’s okay, don’t worry about it,” she answered bashfully, blushing at Myuke’s snarky remark.