Alice’s eyes darted around quickly as the carriage rattled by her. The two Kenta-Uros muttered, “This doesn’t mean we will ever yield to humans, we just understand what is truly valuable, okay? Humans are…” as they passed.
“I thought my eyes would rot. Well? Still want to ride one?”
Alice silently shook her head without changing her expression.
“Ara? If it isn’t Kagami-chan. You’ve finally woken up.”
As the Kenta-Uros passed by, they saw a pig-like Uncle with a towel around his neck, which was as thick as a log. He seemed to be helping to rebuild the town and was working up a sweat by carrying a large tree in one arm.
Seeing that, Alice was convinced that there were only amazing people in this town.
“Geez, even though it would be faster if we just rode those Kenta-Uros. What’s there to be stubborn about?”
Before the sun reached its zenith, Kagami’s group left the town and headed towards the promised meeting place with Menou.
Kagami and Takako were carrying a large rucksack containing several days worth of food and equipment.
“For them to hate being whipped…I even slapped them with a bashibashi.”
When Takako said that regretfully, Kagami looked at Alice with an astonished look that seemed to want to say ‘huh’. Alice returned a nod, wearing the same questioning look.
“I also have my pride. I hate riding them and I hate seeing their gross reactions everyday.”
“So selfish. At least put up with it, since it’s more difficult to walk there after…all? Ara, isn’t that him?”
Takako pointed her finger at a man with long, silver hair. He was heavily dressed, as if he was meeting the kingdom’s soldiers in full uniform. The man wasn’t wearing the cloak that Kagami had seen yesterday, but a surcoat-like cloak.
The man appeared to be silently waiting for something. Although it was possible to mistake him for someone else for an instant, there were two horns protruding near his ears, which was the mark of a Demon, so Kagami confirmed that he was the Demon he had met during the attack yesterday.
“Menou!”
The one who reacted first after seeing the Demon was Alice.
When she saw Menou, she merrily ran over to him.
“A-Alice-sama! You really are safe…this Menou was worried sick.”
When Alice approached Menou, he immediately knelt down, putting one knee onto the ground, and bowed.
“Well, I’m glad that Menou is safe and sound.”
Alice said with a smile. Menou seemed slightly relieved and his expression softened. He stood up and looked towards Kagami.
“It seems…that your story wasn’t a lie.”
“There isn’t any merit to lying about such a thing. If there was, you would have already been incapacitated a long time ago.”
After Kagami said that, Menou muttered ‘Indeed, that must be why’ with a sarcastic smile.
“Ara? Ara-n? He’s not that bad of a guy…! His appearance is also quite lovely…!”
As if following up on Kagami’s statement, Takako’s figure appeared in front of Menou as the sound of heavy steps resounded.
Although he had caught a glimpse of her appearance earlier, Menou instinctively jumped backwards when he heard her queer tone.
“You…who the hell are you?!”
Menou took a stance and flames created from his magic enveloped both of his hands.
When she saw this, Alice hastily instructed Menou to calm down.
“Takako-san is on our side! Together with Kagami-san! They are protecting me!”
“On our side…you say? However, well…muu…is that so?”
Although he was self-centered, he understood that Takako was an ally and immediately suppressed his magic.
“Well, it can’t be helped, since you’re a Demon. You don’t need to worry about it, ok?”
“Muu…I’m sorry. You might already know, but my name is Menou. I thank you for protecting Alice-sama. If it is fine, will you give me your name?” (TN: he addresses Takako as a male equal here)
“You? Ah, Takako-san is a woman, you know.”
When Alice quickly mentioned that, Menou was stunned, saying “Ehh!?”
Menou looked at Takako multiple times, as if he refused to believe her.
He looked at Alice’s appearance and then compared it with Takako’s. He couldn’t believe that they were the same gender.
He then looked at Kagami before looking back at Takako. He still thought that she looked more similar to Kagami.
“I am Takako Vildar. Take care of me?”
He did not know whether she was offended at being called a male, but Takako was emitting a difficult aura, close to that of a queer, as she smiled. Takako’s voice was low, to the extent that he thought he was hallucinating.
“Ah…Uh, p-please excuse me. Takako-dono, is it? I am counting on you.”
Menou shook hands with Takako. No matter how he looked at it, he could only see a mass of muscles. However, she was still a benefactor who had protected Alice, so he held back his emotions.
“Let me give my thanks to ‘you’…no, Kagami-dono, and to ‘you’ once more. Allow me to express my gratitude for protecting Alice-sama.”
(TN: The first ‘you’ = Kisama, refers to Kagami. The second ‘you’ = Kiden, refers to Takako)
Menou exchanged another handshake with Takako and Kagami.
“Well then, for now, I want to talk about the journey’s plan…Is that fine?”
He nodded to Kagami, who was waving a map in one of his hands. Kagami spread the map on the ground and the four of them sat down around it.
“Normally it would be fine to go there directly, but since Menou’s magic leaks out, we will need to head towards the Demon King’s Castle while taking detours to keep him hidden…In that case, it will take 14 days, even if we hurry.”
“Wait, come to think of it, I don’t feel any magic power coming from Alice-sama. How is that possible?”
Kagami instructed Alice to turn her back to him, showing Menou the cloth ribbon that was wrapped around her horn.
“I do say, what is that cloth…?”
“It’s a cloth that was made by Kagami-san to suppress a Demon’s magic power. Thanks to this, I was able to enter a human town for the first time. It was really lively, you know? Balman town!”
Menou gazed at the cloth wrapped around Alice’s horn with a stunned look. He could sense a faint emission of magic power, but it was only for a moment. The magic power was immediately changed into something else and absorbed into the cloth.
“This is something that Kagami-dono made?”
“I just had a chance to do it. The materials are too rare though, so it could only be made once.”
“…You really don’t hate Demons, huh. That’s better…”
Before Menou could continue talking, Takako suddenly grabbed Alice and jumped backwards. Kagami and Menou jumped back in the same manner.
Immediately afterwards, a raging flame flew in at high speed and the map that they had been looking at instantly turned into ashes.
“Just as I thought. I knew that it was a bit strange.”
As if she was saying that it was useless to just hide themselves, one of the Hero’s party members, Palna, appeared from behind one of the surrounding trees.
“I thought it was strange, since there were two shadows that fell from the Hell Crows last night.”
The next person to appear was Krul.
“To be together with Demons…I can’t believe such a thing! You said that this child was your little sister but…as I thought, it was a Demon, wasn’t it!”
The third one was Tina.
“You can’t…talk your way out of this.”
The last person to come out of the cover of the surrounding trees was Rex.
“Don’t wait for your turn to come out, you guys.”
Kagami replied, stunned, while muttering ‘come out immediately’ inside his heart.
Alice’s eyes darted around quickly as the carriage rattled by her. The two Kenta-Uros muttered, “This doesn’t mean we will ever yield to humans, we just understand what is truly valuable, okay? Humans are…” as they passed.
“I thought my eyes would rot. Well? Still want to ride one?”
Alice silently shook her head without changing her expression.
“Ara? If it isn’t Kagami-chan. You’ve finally woken up.”
As the Kenta-Uros passed by, they saw a pig-like Uncle with a towel around his neck, which was as thick as a log. He seemed to be helping to rebuild the town and was working up a sweat by carrying a large tree in one arm.
Seeing that, Alice was convinced that there were only amazing people in this town.
“Geez, even though it would be faster if we just rode those Kenta-Uros. What’s there to be stubborn about?”
Before the sun reached its zenith, Kagami’s group left the town and headed towards the promised meeting place with Menou.
Kagami and Takako were carrying a large rucksack containing several days worth of food and equipment.
“For them to hate being whipped…I even slapped them with a bashibashi.”
When Takako said that regretfully, Kagami looked at Alice with an astonished look that seemed to want to say ‘huh’. Alice returned a nod, wearing the same questioning look.
“I also have my pride. I hate riding them and I hate seeing their gross reactions everyday.”
“So selfish. At least put up with it, since it’s more difficult to walk there after…all? Ara, isn’t that him?”
Takako pointed her finger at a man with long, silver hair. He was heavily dressed, as if he was meeting the kingdom’s soldiers in full uniform. The man wasn’t wearing the cloak that Kagami had seen yesterday, but a surcoat-like cloak.
The man appeared to be silently waiting for something. Although it was possible to mistake him for someone else for an instant, there were two horns protruding near his ears, which was the mark of a Demon, so Kagami confirmed that he was the Demon he had met during the attack yesterday.
“Menou!”
The one who reacted first after seeing the Demon was Alice.
When she saw Menou, she merrily ran over to him.
“A-Alice-sama! You really are safe…this Menou was worried sick.”
When Alice approached Menou, he immediately knelt down, putting one knee onto the ground, and bowed.
“Well, I’m glad that Menou is safe and sound.”
Alice said with a smile. Menou seemed slightly relieved and his expression softened. He stood up and looked towards Kagami.
“It seems…that your story wasn’t a lie.”
“There isn’t any merit to lying about such a thing. If there was, you would have already been incapacitated a long time ago.”
After Kagami said that, Menou muttered ‘Indeed, that must be why’ with a sarcastic smile.
“Ara? Ara-n? He’s not that bad of a guy…! His appearance is also quite lovely…!”
As if following up on Kagami’s statement, Takako’s figure appeared in front of Menou as the sound of heavy steps resounded.
Although he had caught a glimpse of her appearance earlier, Menou instinctively jumped backwards when he heard her queer tone.
“You…who the hell are you?!”
Menou took a stance and flames created from his magic enveloped both of his hands.
When she saw this, Alice hastily instructed Menou to calm down.
“Takako-san is on our side! Together with Kagami-san! They are protecting me!”
“On our side…you say? However, well…muu…is that so?”
Although he was self-centered, he understood that Takako was an ally and immediately suppressed his magic.
“Well, it can’t be helped, since you’re a Demon. You don’t need to worry about it, ok?”
“Muu…I’m sorry. You might already know, but my name is Menou. I thank you for protecting Alice-sama. If it is fine, will you give me your name?” (TN: he addresses Takako as a male equal here)
“You? Ah, Takako-san is a woman, you know.”
When Alice quickly mentioned that, Menou was stunned, saying “Ehh!?”
Menou looked at Takako multiple times, as if he refused to believe her.
He looked at Alice’s appearance and then compared it with Takako’s. He couldn’t believe that they were the same gender.
He then looked at Kagami before looking back at Takako. He still thought that she looked more similar to Kagami.
“I am Takako Vildar. Take care of me?”
He did not know whether she was offended at being called a male, but Takako was emitting a difficult aura, close to that of a queer, as she smiled. Takako’s voice was low, to the extent that he thought he was hallucinating.
“Ah…Uh, p-please excuse me. Takako-dono, is it? I am counting on you.”
Menou shook hands with Takako. No matter how he looked at it, he could only see a mass of muscles. However, she was still a benefactor who had protected Alice, so he held back his emotions.
“Let me give my thanks to ‘you’…no, Kagami-dono, and to ‘you’ once more. Allow me to express my gratitude for protecting Alice-sama.”
(TN: The first ‘you’ = Kisama, refers to Kagami. The second ‘you’ = Kiden, refers to Takako)
Menou exchanged another handshake with Takako and Kagami.
“Well then, for now, I want to talk about the journey’s plan…Is that fine?”
He nodded to Kagami, who was waving a map in one of his hands. Kagami spread the map on the ground and the four of them sat down around it.
“Normally it would be fine to go there directly, but since Menou’s magic leaks out, we will need to head towards the Demon King’s Castle while taking detours to keep him hidden…In that case, it will take 14 days, even if we hurry.”
“Wait, come to think of it, I don’t feel any magic power coming from Alice-sama. How is that possible?”
Kagami instructed Alice to turn her back to him, showing Menou the cloth ribbon that was wrapped around her horn.
“I do say, what is that cloth…?”
“It’s a cloth that was made by Kagami-san to suppress a Demon’s magic power. Thanks to this, I was able to enter a human town for the first time. It was really lively, you know? Balman town!”
Menou gazed at the cloth wrapped around Alice’s horn with a stunned look. He could sense a faint emission of magic power, but it was only for a moment. The magic power was immediately changed into something else and absorbed into the cloth.
“This is something that Kagami-dono made?”
“I just had a chance to do it. The materials are too rare though, so it could only be made once.”
“…You really don’t hate Demons, huh. That’s better…”
Before Menou could continue talking, Takako suddenly grabbed Alice and jumped backwards. Kagami and Menou jumped back in the same manner.
Immediately afterwards, a raging flame flew in at high speed and the map that they had been looking at instantly turned into ashes.
“Just as I thought. I knew that it was a bit strange.”
As if she was saying that it was useless to just hide themselves, one of the Hero’s party members, Palna, appeared from behind one of the surrounding trees.
“I thought it was strange, since there were two shadows that fell from the Hell Crows last night.”
The next person to appear was Krul.
“To be together with Demons…I can’t believe such a thing! You said that this child was your little sister but…as I thought, it was a Demon, wasn’t it!”
The third one was Tina.
“You can’t…talk your way out of this.”
The last person to come out of the cover of the surrounding trees was Rex.
“Don’t wait for your turn to come out, you guys.”
Kagami replied, stunned, while muttering ‘come out immediately’ inside his heart.
