Chapter 8 (5): How NOT to keep a low profile, part 3
"... care to explain the party name?" (Border Guard)
He put a hand on his spear as his gaze sharpened.
"What's there to explain? It's exactly as it says" (Ryuu)
"If that's the case, I'm sorry, but I cannot let you pass" (Border Guard)
"Hmm... Haru, Char, or Mae... which to choose... Haru? What would your father would think about this?" (Ryuu)
"I mean, without context, it does sound bad, but... ah, I see what you're going for" (Haru)
"If you're going to be talking about this, could you do so on your way back to your homeland?" (Border Guard)
"I would be glad to, if you would let me enter my homeland. More than half of the party was born in the human lands, by the way" (Haru)
"And I'm supposed to bel-" (Border Guard)
"My name is Haruveritat el Isala. In other words, I'm the third princess. My father wished for me to stay with the Demon Lord until I could tell if I would be able to accept a marriage between the two of us. As I've decided I would be happy doing so, I'm wishing to return to tell him in person, as well as to probably get the marriage announced to the public. Regardless, I trust there are no problems with allowing a princess and her party into her own country?" (Haru)
"I... no. So long as you can provide sufficient proof of your identity, the name of your party should be... allowed to pass, I guess?" (Border Guard)
Haru showed her signet ring, and a few minutes later, we were back in the human lands. The first guild we came across didn't have any reaction to the name, but when we took a request to escort a group of merchants to the next town over, we had to work with two other parties due to the fact that there was a large group of bandits in the area we'd pass through. Those bandits were more nasty than normal, in that they killed anyone and everyone that they robbed. Oh, by the way, Ver, Char, and Mae ranked up to A while we were in the demon lands. That means we are now an A ranked party, due to the majority of us being A ranks, and everyone else being B ranks.
"Well, it looks like everyone is here. Why don't we all introduce ourselves now? I'll go first. I'm Ren, a B rank and leader of Juniper, and these two are my party members, Nora and Jaune, both B rank like me" (Ren)
"I'm Shiroe, and one could say I'm the leader of the Debauchery Tea Party. Here we have Akatsuki, Naotsugu, and Nyanta. All of us are B ranks" (Shiroe)
"Also, a warning to the last party... be careful of Naotsugu, he's a pervert. If he starts acting like one too much for your comfort, just give him a solid kick to the face" (Akatsuki)
"Noted" (Ryuu)
"Hey! I'm not much of a perv! Don't worry, I'll protect you girls if anything really nasty comes along" (Naotsugu)
"Anyways, onto my party. I'm Ryuu, an A rank, along with Char, Ver, and Mae. Haru, Elise, and Tuare are B ranks. The name of our party is... do I have to say it?" (Ryuu)
"Hey, if they're fine saying the name 'Debauchery Tea Party', whatever name you've got won't faze us" (Nora)
"Our party is The Demon Lord's Harem" (Ryuu)
That stunned them into silence, including the leader of the merchants we were going to be guarding. I guess he only looked at the ranks, and not the party name?
"Uh... I was wrong, it seems" (Nora)
"So, when do we leave?" (Ryuu)
"After you explain what the relationship between you and the Demon Lord is... wait, no, Demon Lord Diablo is dead. I guess that left people feeling free to make fun of him with that kind of party name" (Merchant)
Oh, right. We'd all forgotten that few people in the human lands know that I exist. Most think that there isn't a Demon Lord anymore, and the rumors saying that there's a new one are probably written off as just that: rumors. Well, that misunderstanding is good for us, I guess?
"We couldn't think of a better name, and so we went with the first decent thing that came to mind" (Ryuu)
"Fair enough. Well, let's get going, shall we?" (Merchant)
We left, riding on the merchant's carriages, and along the way, I found myself sitting next to Naotsugu. After a few minutes of him trying to court me, I got annoyed and pulled out the "Look at the ring on my left hand" card. That didn't work, sadly.
"Oh, come on. Stick with me, I can protect you from just about anything! Well, I mean, if a greater wyvern shows up, I might have a bit of a rough time without backup, but that's what Shiroe and Akatsuki are for, after all. Anything short of that, an-" (Naotsugu)
"I'd like to point out that I have a greater wyvern as a summoned beast, and Ver has gotten a mother wyvern to leave her two children behind, which is how Tuare and Char got wyverns as their summoned beasts. Remember, I'm an A rank... and that only because you have to have been an adventurer for at least a year to become an S rank" (Ryuu)
"Uh... right... mind if I ask something? How'd you get to A rank at this age, and in under a year?" (Naotsugu)
"Basically, my father was a bit paranoid about getting targeted by assassins, so he had me trained from a young age to use all kinds of weapons and magic. Combine that with a lot of natural talent, and you have your answer, I guess... the funny thing is, he did actually die to a sneak attack... well, to the poison on a blade that cut him in a sneak attack. In addition, I've pissed off some powerful people, so I've been targeted by assassins a few times myself" (Ryuu)
"That's... rough, I guess?" (Naotsugu)
"Not really. My teachers were good and quite nice, so the training wasn't all that bad, and the closest an assassin has come to hurting me was when one managed to slice my sleeve, missing my arm. Uh... hmm... that's odd... what's going on?" (Ryuu)
As I was talking, I noticed the aura of several dozen people in the direction we were going.
"What are you talking about? What's odd?" (Naotsugu)
"There's a group of about 100 people in a military formation up ahead... And there aren't any humans in there. 73 demons, 12 elves and high elves, 14 beastkin, and 6 dwarves, I think" (Ryuu)
"Demons?! Is it an invasion?" (Naotsugu)
"Sorry, what was that about demons?" (Jaune)
"There's a large group of non-human races, mostly demons, around the bend. They're waiting in a military formation... however... that shouldn't be..." (Ryuu)
"Ryuu? What should we do?" (Tuare)
"I'll go scout, and if possible, I'll deal with the situation. If they really are soldiers, I should be able to" (Ryuu)
"That's crazy talk! If there are a hundred soldiers, the only ones who could beat them-" (Jaune)
"I never said I'd be fighting them. I have confidence in my ability to escape from them if I'm caught, and I might know the commander, in which case I could try to persuade them to leave" (Ryuu)
I didn't wait for their response, I jumped off of the carriage, then ran through the forest to approach them from the side. I was right, they were soldiers from the demon lands, and I did know the commander. The new general Gremory, who managed to avoid being implicated by the evidence we found in Astaroth's mansion. However... he's here right now. I stepped out to where they could see me, and instantly had a few spears aimed at me.
"On whose orders are you in the human lands?" (Ryuu)
"What does it matter to you? You're about to die, after all" (Lieutenant)
"No, I'm not about to die. I'd like to speak to general Gremory, if you don't mind" (Ryuu)
"I... just kill this foolish human" (Lieutenant)
I pulled off my cloak, showed my horns, spread my wings, and jumped over the soldiers trying to stab me. After that, I evaded everyone else as I quickly made my way to the general, who didn't even notice my movements for the last few meters, only realizing where I'd gone when he felt my dagger at his throat.
"General... I thought you were under orders to stay out of the human lands... In other words... Withdraw. Now... If you wish to keep your head. Alternatively, I could execute you and take command to give the order myself, but I'd rather not do so... the paperwork is a nightmare, I don't want to have to put Bartley through that" (Ryuu)
"Uh... who are you? Who's Bartl- wait... Are you referring to... no..." (General)
"Probably, I am, considering that I'm your boss. Would you like your brother to inherit your title today?" (Ryuu)
He used magic to instantly move five meters, then made a dumb move.
"Kill her!" (General)
Yeah, that's treason. I removed all of my limiters, and a third of the soldiers died instantly, most of the rest either fainting or being paralyzed with fear, and only three were able to run, Gremory being in the paralyzed category.
"The correct order would have been 'bow to the Demon Lord' not 'kill the Demon Lord' so..." (Ryuu)
I sauntered up to the general, and then slid my dagger between his ribs, through his lung, and into his heart. I felt like I'd forgotten something, but... whatever. I wiped my dagger on his cape, pulled the broach marking his title of demon general from his corpse, and put my limiters back on. After that, I ran back the way I'd come, though I only took two steps into the forest before Ren landed in front of me.