Chapter 11: Journeying. (Part 1)
The question now was what was I doing? The Klerical Kingdom is back in the hands of the right people, which is all well and good but… I'm the Demon Lord…. I won't lie and say that the demon side is all fun and peace, we have our own problems as well. Between the numerous tribes of demons, some who don't really get along very well and among them some being quite elitist and not accepting of cross species demons. Just thinking about it annoyed me. Peace between the humans and demons would be nice of course as my father and grandfather both believed before me, however both sides had factions that hated each other. Now however I was sitting with the King of the Klerical Kingdom and the other Heroes listening to politics.
"Your highness, what are your plans to handle the increase in monster activity. Although no action has come so far it won't be long till the Demons take this advantage to attack us." It was one of the men who had been in the group that had taken advantage of the King. It had been a week since then and positions had been shifted but I still wouldn't trust them entirely. The King however was going with the 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer idea.'
The King sighed and shot a glance at me, "For now till the Demons make a move we will not attack. Have our troops assist in monster subjugations as much as possible."
"But our defences along the border will decrease. In the case of an attack it will take far too long for us to rally the troops."
The King again glanced at me. I avoided his gaze as it would make people suspicious.
The King seeing my reaction turned back to the man, "If it makes you feel better position scouts at the edge of the border. Have them set up an advanced relay."
"Will that be enough?"
"I have it on good authority that the Demons will not be attacking anytime soon."
"Understood, I will pass on your commands," he bowed and left the throne room.
"Commander Montegra is there anyone else?"
The Commander pulled a list from beside her, "Lord Calcifer would like your opinion on this year's harvest spoils. Lady Alana wishes to discuss how to handle the lower aristocracy. Several High Priests would like you to perform a sermon for the people and the list goes on."
"Ugh," The King rolled in his throne, "It was easier when I just let them do as they pleased…."
There was a swift slap as the Commander hit the King with her rolled up list, "I remind you it was because of that thinking which led to our earlier problems. If you wish to retire at least find a suitable replacement."
"Hmmm," the King scratched his chin, "How about you Ruby?"
The Commander was horrified, "Your highness I do not have any royal blood, how could you suggest such a thing."
"Well not really. As you know I never had any children but I did have a few younger siblings. Trace them forward and you'd be surprised where you'd end up," he looked at her suggestively.
"I do not appreciate your jokes. My father was a simple farmer."
"But your mother wasn't," he winked. "If you don't believe me, we can have Davios here ascertain our relation." I was finally called upon but honestly I'd have preferred to observe. The Knight Commander's reactions were fun to watch, I understood why the King liked her. She was capable and fun to mess with.
"That's impossible, mother was… mother was…."
"A mystery," the King finished for her. He took a knife from his pocket and spilt a small dot of his blood onto some paper. "Would you like to check?" he handed her the paper.
Tentatively she took the paper and dripped her own blood on it. With that done it was handed to me. The Heroes edged closer to see what I was going to do with it.
"A DNA test?" Carl muttered. Although the terminology was new the Heroes seemed to know what I was up to.
"The properties of mana can be linked to people in the same family," I began to explain, "Blood is rich in mana and from it we can see if two people are related."
The Knight Commander was watching with serious eyes as I began my test. The two samples of blood began to shine as I inspected them. Hmmm…,
"They're…," I paused for dramatic effect, "different."
"Ah really?" The King laughed easily, "Whoops looks like I was wrong."
"You old coot!" the Knight Commander grabbed the King, "Your highness please don't play with people like that!"
"Now, it was an honest mistake," he held up his hands as if he could do nothing about it. "But I was serious about you taking the throne."
She dropped him and her tone grew dangerous, "I refuse. Until the day you die I'll make sure to work you to the bone."
"My, my, how scary."
Aside: Bathing with the Demon Lord:
Carl:
"Dave come take a bath with us," I called to him as we left our rooms in the Palace.
"Baths? Don't we have a private one in our rooms?" he looked at me with raised eyebrows.
Gary threw his arm around my shoulders, "Yeah but it's fun to bathe with a buddy."
"Personally I've never done it but the King suggested it," I said trying to coax him to join us.
Dave rubbed his chin in thought, "Hmm I'm suspicious because it was the King who suggested it but I'll come."
"Alright!" Gary pulled the two of us closer.
We took our stuff and headed to the baths. The bathhouse was a large building not far from the Cathedral. This one in particular was reserved for nobles and special guests, common folk had to go to their own. While I didn't particularly like the segregation between classes, I couldn't let it get to me. It was because of my sense of justice that I had got into a fight with Alicia. Like Dave told me before, I needed to be more flexible and mindful of others.
In front of the bathhouse some familiar faces waved to us.
"What are you guys doing here?" Alicia asked cheerily.
"Just taking a bath. You?" Gary replied.
"Same, same," she nodded her head happily. Sayuri and the Klerical Kingdom's Knight Commander smiled behind her. Sayuri looked particularly excited.
As a group we began to enter but Dave paused outside the entrance.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"This building… it has some magic casted around it," he was looking at it suspiciously.
Commander Montegra nodded, "Very astute of you, as expected of the Hero who specialises in magic. Do you know what it is?"
"It's a dispelling field."
"Correct. We had some problems with people sneaking in pretending to be other people using illusions, this field is prevents that."
Dave's expression twisted awkwardly, "I think I'm starting to feel a little sick…."
"What no way!" Gary grabbed his hand. "You can't just back out now."
"Gary, if Dave's not feeling well let him go," I said. He looked at me thankfully however I added, "Although it would be more fun if you came."
He scratched his head and sighed, "It's fine I'll come." And with that we entered.
A receptionist like lady greeted us at the front counter,
"Good evening, male baths are to the left and female to the right. If you need anything please feel free to call the staff. There is a room just before the baths where you can place your belongings and receive towels."
"Thank you," I handed over some money to the lady and she smiled to us kindly. With a wave we turned away from the girls, "See you after."
"Ah, if I'm not done go on ahead," Sayuri said and quickly ran off with a smile. She looked like she was enjoying herself.
Inside the changing rooms Gary and I quickly undressed and wrapped ourselves in a towel. All three of us had bathed together before on our journey, though at the time it wasn't much more than hot water and soap, so we were used to each other's company to an extent. Dave however hadn't even started to take off his clothes. At our gazes he quickly shook his head,
"Go on ahead I'm just thinking about things."
"Don't take too long," Gary and I headed to the water.
It was huge. The bath at my house in our world was considerably large but this was on an entirely different level. Being inside, the steam had nowhere to escape aside from a small window and it gathered thickly making it hard to see. After cleaning ourselves up, Gary and I relaxed into the hot water with happy sighs. There didn't seem to be anyone else here at the moment. It was kind of nice having the whole place to ourselves.
"I never thought I'd enjoy a bath like this," Gary smiled and spread himself out while leaning against the wall.
"Yeah, I didn't think this world would have something like this," I sat not too far away from him.
"This world?" Gary laughed, "I meant in both worlds."
"Really? You've never taken a bath like this before?"
"Well nothing like this specifically. Our house back home only had a shower but I've used a small tub before."
"Hmmm, come to think of it, Gary what was your life like before?" I looked at him curiously. While we had talked about this and that in regards to our world, none of us so far had actually gone into much detail of our lives. It was like a silent agreement between us but now that I'd known them for this long and considering what happened with Alicia, it was better to know more about them.
Gary looked at me with a melancholic smirk, "My life…. It was nothing special."
There was a splash next to us and suddenly Dave appeared from the water. Only his head and shoulders were visible and he sat a distance away from us.
"I'd like to hear as well if you don't mind," his voice reached us but because of the steam it was kind of hard to see him. He was also sitting a fair distance away.
"Ah well… let's see where do I begin," Gary wasn't fazed by Dave's entrance or distance at all. "Alicia and I grew up in the suburbs of Australia, Australia is just one on of the many countries in our world by the way. We had a pretty normal life as children and being twins we were really close. But then one day our Dad was killed in a car accident."
"Car accident?" Dave said confused.
"Like a carriage accident I guess. Anyway, from there we weren't left with much and our mother tried her best to raise the two of us but… in the end she couldn't cope and vanished when we were twelve."
"She just left you?" I couldn't tell whether I was shocked or angry.
"Yep, just up and left. We were eventually picked up by our aunt who we'd never met before and after a while we quickly realised why. She wasn't the best person… actually if anything she was downright scum. She abused us, yelled at us and treated us like her slaves. Then one day she just disappeared as well and in her place we were left with one giant debt. We did a lot of things to try get rid of it, things I'm not proud of."
"…." I stayed silent as Gary looked at me.
"It was about that time when suddenly we were whisked away and appeared inside the King of Elsbeth's throne room."
"Wow," Dave said as he ended his tale, "I didn't think you had it that bad."
Gary smiled, "We had some nice moments as well." He looked at me, "I told you mine, so?"
I shifted uncomfortably, "Well, compared to that story…."
"Aww come on don't skimp out."
"I agree," Dave said as well, "It's your turn now."
"Fine," I sighed, "But my upbringing wasn't anything like yours Gary. In fact if you hear mine…."
"No problems," Gary waved it off, "Everyone has their situations good or bad."
"If you say so," I took a deep breath, "Well, I've never had trouble with anything growing up. Food, toys, friends, education, family, I really had it all."
Gary scoffed, "What you a millionaire or something?"
"My mother is as least." I heard Gary splutter, Dave looked at me confused.
"No way, really?" Gary said eventually.
"What's a millionaire?" Dave asked.
"Someone very, very rich," Gary replied, "But really Carl?"
"Yep," I smiled uneasily "We lived in a mansion and even had servants. I've never had to suffer like you did. My parents weren't neglectful either, they taught me a lot and probably are the reason for my sense of justice."
"…." Gary stared at me with strong eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"Ah, don't be," he laughed. "I was just thinking if we ever make it back home, I need your number."
"As for how I was summoned here, I was walking in the garden when poof, I was somewhere different. It was a pretty big shock at the time but my parents had taught me how to handle myself if I was ever kidnapped."
"What kind of parent teaches that…?"
I cleared my throat, "Anyway that's it for me, what about you Dave? I'm more interested about how you grew up. You were born in this world after all."
He was silent.
"Dave?"
"Instead of Dave how about me?" the new voice surprised us all. Gary and I turned to our left and submerged in the water was the Klerical King. "Howdy."
"Your Highness what are you doing here?" I asked in a panic.
"Taking a bath of course," he cackled.
"But you're the King."
"And you're the Heroes."
"…." I could never get a grasp on this old man.
"I'm just here to relax and have fun," he gave us a thumbs up.
"Is that really the only reason you're here?" Dave asked in monotone.
"Of course! However you need to do more than just sit in hot water to have fun!" he dramatically pointed at the wall behind him. "What do you boys think is behind this wall?"
"An alley?" I shrugged.
"Naïve!" he yelled at me and I flinched, "behind this wall is the glory of youth. In other words the female side."
"You can't be thinking of-," I began but was cut off.
"Yes. It is the duty of the King to know each and every aspect of his Kingdom." For some reason he looked quite gallant.
"My sister is in there…." Gary shuddered.
"It's also rude isn't it," I said.
"I'm out," Dave stood up and as he did so the steam around him thickened.
"Tch, and you call yourself the ***** ****."
What was that? I couldn't quite hear what the King just said and looking at Gary neither did he.
"Excuse me?" Dave turned back to the King with a glare.
"If you were truly him, you'd not be afraid to take a peek."
"It's precisely because I'm him that I know it's a lost cause."
"I see, so you are not daunted by the figures of humans."
Dave's glare grew in intensity, "Daunted or not, it is not like I don't appreciate them."
"Then prove it!" The King rose from the water.
"You're the reason this place has a dispelling field aren't you?"
"Possibly…, but that doesn't matter!"
"It matters for me. It's a pain taking a bath here."
"I actually hoped you would have got rid of it for me."
"I'm not helping you."
He turned to us with dramatic intensity "Then Gary, Carl, will you be my Heroes?"
We both shook our heads.
"Tch, you're all weaklings," the King went back into the water. "Well no matter, I made these baths after all." He leaned against the wall and a suspicious block jutted out. He pressed it and there was an oddly satisfying click. Then all at once the wall separating the baths came rushing into the floor as a strong gust blew away most the steam. Dave who was out of the water was left in the open, the steam that had hidden him began to disperse. Something gold was attached to his chest and for a brief moment I caught its edge. Was it a necklace? Then he clicked his fingers, there was the sound of something shattering and suddenly he vanished. Carl next to me started to chant and then he too vanished leaving me with the King.
The steam cleared and in front of us was the female side. Sayuri was obliviously happy almost completely submerged but the Commander and Alicia were outside the water. They were wearing towels but it only made my imagination flare to more embarrassing levels.
"I-I-I'm sorry!" I yelled as Alicia and I met eyes.
"Oh Carl, hey nice body," she said unfazed. For some reason although the water covered most of me I felt bare under her gaze. I turned my back on her.
From behind me I heard something fall to the ground and the King let out a smug laugh.
"Your highness!" the Commander said in a painfully slow anger. Then there was a large splash. "Damn it you old coot!" The King sailed past me.
I escaped from the bathhouse.
Aside End:
Davarious First Born Light of the Autumn Wind:
It's been three days since that incident at the bathhouse. Not only did I have to control the steam to keep my heart stone hidden but for that idiot of a King to blurt out I was the Demon Lord. If he didn't use magic to mask the sound from them I would have gutted him then and there. Finally however we were preparing to leave. I'd seen enough of the Capital and the country's government was stable enough for us not to worry about it. Though I think we had nothing to worry about anyway. That King was devious, crazy, but devious.
"Are you sure you want to leave so soon?" he smiled to us at the edge of the city as we packed our bags on to the cloud. It was only him and Commander Montegra. We weren't close to the main road so our departure wouldn't garner attention from the public. Being here for as long as we had caused our faces to become more known.
Carl bowed, "We thank you for your hospitality but there are still a lot of places that we need to visit."
The King laughed, "Then where are you heading next? East is the demon side, North is Rentolt and back West is Elsbeth."
"What about South?" Gary asked innocently.
"The Country of Iron," Commander Montegra answered with a small amount of disdain. "You shouldn't head there. They are not part of the human alliance, they do not recognise the Heroes."
"It's a small country in comparison to us or Elsbeth anyway," the King waved them off.
The Country of Iron bordered the Demon Side, the Klerical Kingdom and even a small amount of Elsbeth. Being on the coast their main form of trade was by sea. Other than that I didn't know much about them. They rarely traded with the Demon Side and since its creation they hadn't been particularly aggressive to us Demons.
"We'll head to Rentolt next," I said on behalf of the Heroes. "We still haven't greeted all the leaders of the major countries. Once that's done we'll probably give them a visit."
"You're not going for the Demon Lord's head?" the King smirked at me especially.
"No way!" Alicia yapped. "We ran into him before and got crushed."
"Yes, I heard the story," the King stretched grandly, "The difference between you is still large but soon it will not. You should be careful." It was brief but a serious gaze met mine. He was warning me not to play around too much.
The Heroes boarded the cloud after saying their goodbyes. I leant out my hand towards the King and he grasped it firmly in a shake,
"Goodbye Davios."
"Goodbye your Highness."
"Thank you for helping my Kingdom."
I let out a short huff, "You would have been fine even if I hadn't come."
"Maybe, but you saved me a lot of bloodshed. Having the Heroes on my side made more difference than you might think." He leaned in closer and whispered, "And having the Demon Lord was all the better." I began to pull back but he held me close being surprisingly strong. "However this is not an alliance between us. There is much hate between our people and know this, if you attack us, we will crush you."
A fire lit inside me, "Right back at you, you old fart." We distanced ourselves and smiled peacefully at each other.
"Till next time Heroes," he waved goodbye and with that I hopped onto the cloud and we set off.