"Welcome to the capital city of the Demon Side, the Lord's Haven," I gestured grandly as the city came into full view.
"It's enormous…," Gary practically hung off the cloud. The city had been built shortly after the first Demon Lord was crowned. A haven for all of Demonkind it first began to form within the great crater left behind from the first Demon Lord's battle with the Monster. Thousands of demons had fallen in that battle, till it finally ending with the Monster being sealed away. The land itself had morphed into a permanent reminder. A mountain had been formed on top of the Monster's seal and the Demon Lord's castle stood at the foot of that mountain. The great crater's lip stretched out from there. The hollowed out land had since been filled with a boisterous multi levelled city. Towards the centre the buildings grew taller but the land also became deeper, almost evening out the landscape. Three arching stone pillars rested on the outside of the crater and stretched inwards towards the centre. They were the remains of a Grand magic that had initially restrained the Monster. Now they had buildings attached to them similar to the Dragonkin's city. They served as the major residence for demons that could fly, however floating platforms hovered around them as transport for those less inclined to flight. This was my second home. The city I saw when I looked out the window.
"It's really like I'm in another world…," Alicia continued to gape.
"Well we are in another world, but I get what you mean," Carl said, "I thought Dragon Quay was different but this… this is nothing like the human cities."
"We do cater to a lot of different races here," I said proudly as if the city belonged to me, which it kind of did.
"Where's the Demon Lord's castle?" Sayuri asked getting straight to the point. She was trying to focus on the job at hand, but I saw her eyes glow when she saw the city.
"At the foot of the mountain, you can just see it form here."
Alicia looked at it and frowned, "It's kind of small…."
"Yeah," Gary nodded "Compared to the rest of the city it's… disappointing."
"It's where the Demon Lord lives, so I thought it would be more… flashy?" Even Carl was making fun of it. For some reason Sayuri was struggling not to laugh.
"What did you expect?" I said trying to hide how offended I felt. "It's only for the Demon Lord and his direct subordinates and from here it only just looks small. I think it has a peaceful feel to it. Homey you could say. Besides it's what's inside that counts."
Carl regained his seriousness, "Right, regardless of what it looks like. The Demon Lord is in there. We need to prepare ourselves." He looked at me, "Dave what's the plan?"
"We'll rest and gather information for today. I know an inn that's close to the castle," I steered the cloud towards and around the crater to the opposite end where my adequately sized and perfectly fine castle was.
After landing in the nearby forest we entered the city. Unlike the human cities which had gates for entry and exit, Haven was completely without walls. This was mostly due to the fact that Haven just kept getting bigger, even now the residence had spilled out of the crater. Having walls would cause an unneeded segregation and their defensive properties weren't something that was needed. There was zero risk from an enemy invasion so far into our land and any monsters were hunted long before they became a problem. As for public order, being so close to my castle it came under our direct responsibility and let's just say it was best to not get on our bad side.
The land directly around the mountain and my castle was clear of any public buildings. A single path of red brick led towards it where a large foreboding steel fence blocked any unwanted entrance. This was for the safety of the people and it became common sense to not get too close unless you wanted to be caught up in the random explosions that could potentially occur. Most of these were due to our training sessions but a good few were from Warten's more 'interesting' experiments.
The district we entered was significantly more open compared to the rest of the city and linked the city to my castle. Its main feature was the ridiculously large open space where public announcements from my family would occur. It could harbour several hundreds of thousands of people. During other times, like now, it was used as an open market. Although the Heroes were nervous about tomorrow, they couldn't help but be swept up by the atmosphere. Whereas other cities, towns or villages had a majority race, Haven was incredibly diverse and no one race dominated its streets. The only oddity when it came to race was the fact High Demons were relatively common.
"I think I could live here for years and not see everything," Gary said in awe. "What's that fruit they're selling? Oh! Look! That girl has gills! And over there that guy's a High Demon like Dave. That platform is flying! Do you think we can ride it?"
Alicia grabbed on to him, "Calm down Garr, one step at a time. Remember why we're here."
"Right," he coughed. "Dave how about we duke it out with the Demon Lord next week and just have fun now?"
In odd tension Carl was the one who hit him, "Don't be stupid. The longer we leave it, the more time the Demon Lord has to settle his plans. We need to find out what he's doing first."
"Tch, you guys are no fun."
I led the Heroes to a small inn close to the outskirts of the district. The inn keeper was a High Demon like me and was as in current fashion, showing his blue jagged heart stone from a cut in his clothing. His wife also a High Demon had similar clothes on and Alicia had to pull Gary's ear to stop him staring.
"Two rooms please, one with two beds and the other three," I slid over some coins.
"Meals?" the inn keeper asked indifferent to us.
"Just for tonight, we'll eat elsewhere tomorrow. Also we'd like access to the baths."
The man handed me the change and some keys, "Upstairs first and second door on your right."
"Thank you," I smiled and departed with the Heroes to our rooms.
"That guy sure was all business," Gary lightly complained. "He could at least smile."
"I know what you mean," Carl laughed, "After being with Dave so long I thought High Demons would be livelier."
"Don't stereotype," Sayuri reprimanded them. I stayed silent but Carl was close, High Demons did tend to be quite carefree, the inn keeper however was secretly one of my agents. His job was to notify my father to ready the preparations. Sure he could be quite stoic but get a few drinks in him and he and his wife were the life of the party.
The Heroes and I sat at a corner table downstairs after inspecting the rooms. As it should be other than us the inn had few guests and their appearances were quite shady. This was for setting the mood. In reality they too were my agents….
"What now?" Sayuri asked.
"I'll go and gather some information," I replied. "I know some people who may be able to get us into the Demon Lord's castle."
"Oh can I come?" Gary asked. I was about to reply sure but Sayuri cut in first,
"We should let Dave go alone." I was surprised, usually she'd be the first to try and chase after me.
"Umm it's not like you can't come…," I said awkwardly.
"Don't mind us," Sayuri insisted trying to be helpful, "It'll be easier for you right?" The others nodded, although Gary did so mopingly.
It wasn't a matter of easier or harder. I had actually prepared one of my agents to act like an informant. He had put a lot of effort into it and even practiced his lines. I would feel bad if I met up with him and all his effort would go to waste. There was no point acting in front of just me.
"It's okay we'll just stay here and out of trouble," Alicia said. "We don't want to blow our cover over a stupid brawl and besides we trust you."
"Yeah, we trust you," Sayuri repeated. Her eyes were scarily intense, like they were digging into my soul.
"…." What to do? I smiled to the Heroes, "True I'd rather not have us screw up now but I want us to do this together. I'll have the informant come to us. This place should be safe for the meeting."
"That's a great idea," Gary beamed.
Thus, one hour later I walked back into the inn and soon after a pair of half human demons walked in. They were a beastkin and fay from their mother's side respectively, so their human features didn't really show but it would make their willingness to help more believable.
"My name is Art and this is Nila," Art, the fay, introduced them. "We heard you wanted into the castle, why?"
"Doesn't matter," Carl replied coldly. "Just tell us how."
"Now listen here," Nila drew closer to him to the point Alicia was eyeing her dangerously. "We take quite a bit of risk here. We need some insurance."
I dropped a bag of coins on the table and Art pulled it over and peeked inside. He shook his head, "This isn't enough. We're risking our lives here."
His reply caught me off guard. The cheeky bastard was going of script. My brow twitched, "Then this as well." I took several precious gems from my pocket.
He grinned, "Now we're talking. We'll tell you what you need to know."
"What's the current situation at the castle?" Alicia asked still wary of how much attention Nila was giving to Carl as she purposefully clung to him.
"You're in luck," Nila pulled away from Carl. "Some stuff went down in the Dragonkin territory recently so the guard is seriously low. Though it ain't like the Demon Lord needs it."
"We need numbers and the best way in," I said.
"Numbers? Demon Lord's direct family and servants, probably a few dozen in total. As for the way in," Art grinned evilly and slid a map our way, "same way things come out after a meal, if you know what I mean."
"No," Sayuri shook her head, "Why do we need to go through the sewers?" She eyed me like it was my fault? Well it really was. Aside from the sewers, which were actually monitored, there was no other way in that didn't have a guard.
"Sewers are the safest way," Nila said while playing with the jewels happily. I had the sneaking suspicion I wasn't going to get those back.
Art continued, "It'll take you directly to the main corridor, from there straight path to the Demon Lord and the treasury. Which I take that's where you'll be going?"
"And the corridor?" Gary asked.
"Like Art said before, hardly anyone there," Nila smirked. "A bit of sneaking and luck, no one will notice a thing."
"This seems a bit too convenient," Carl said dubiously. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
"That's the beauty of it," Art stood up. "You just have to trust us. Come Nila, we're done here."
"Hey wait we still have questions," Alicia was about to stop them but Sayuri held her back down.
"It's fine we don't need anything else." Sayuri was being oddly helpful today…. Art and Nila left the inn, money in tow.
"So what do we do?" Carl asked me.
I picked up the map as if deliberating, "We have to try it. At the very least we know that they should be busy with the Dragonkin incident. If we don't act now things will just get harder."
The next morning I was feeling inexplicitly excited though I had to tone it down to nervousness to match the Heroes. Even Sayuri who seemed fine yesterday now looked like she would collapse from anxiety. She kept glancing at me and each time I would smile reassuringly. To be honest I was also nervous. Yes I was treating this as mostly the build up to the joke of a life time but while they faced their biggest enemy, I revealed my biggest lie. The way Sayuri looked at me that night, filled with fear and betrayal. I didn't want to see that again.
The sewer grate was in front of us. Located in a small alley near the inn, it would lead straight to my castle. I could back out here, pretend to be a Hero for a little bit longer. It would be the most merciful act. Never tell them who I am and never let them face the true evils of this world. They were all capable enough to live in this world freely even if they left the continent to places I didn't know.
Gary held my shoulder, "Let's do this."
"That's right, let's just go! No point holding back now!" Alicia pumped herself up.
Carl took a deep breath and released it slowly, "I'm ready."
"And you Sayuri?" I asked her as she stood there silently.
She stared directly into my eyes, "Yes, I'll trust you."
"Then onwards we march," I smiled valiantly. Who was I to stop them now?
Carl moved the grate over and I set up a barrier to ward away the smell and other… things. We dived down as one group and landed into the watery muck with a small splash. Although the liquid didn't really touch us, the girls still scrunched up their noses. From there it was a silent march through the sewer tunnels. They inclined up towards the castle and it wasn't long before we reached the exit marked on the map. Anyone else brave enough to take this path would have been taken out a few hundred metres back but right now all my servants were waiting elsewhere. The exit was a vertical climb up and out of the liquid disposal bin located in the laundry. We all breathed easier as we entered the laundry. This was it.
"Last chance to back out," I looked at the Heroes.
"We've gotten this far, it would be a shame to leave now," Gary laughed nervously. The other's also nodded.
"Well I guess we can take those off now," I poked Gary's ear and pulled it off. The feathers around his head and arms retracted, as did his fluffy tail.
He stared at me blankly, "I thought you said it was hard to take them off…."
"Did I say that?" I looked away.
"You jerk! It was itchy with all those feathers! I even had to buy a spray to keep them clean."
"Shhh!" Alicia pulled his ear, "Quiet, just where do you think we are?"
"Sorry, okay I get it just let go," he squirmed. I took off Alicia and Carl's disguises as well. Carl didn't react.
Alicia looked at Carl and mumbled, "Ha, nope still feel like jumping him."
"What?" Carl turned to her.
"Nothing, maybe after all this is over," she smiled sweetly and Carl nodded a little confused.
I reached over to Sayuri. She really did look kind of cute with the extra feline ears but even without them she was still pretty. However… I gave them a soft rub.
Sayuri's tail shot straight up, "W-what are you doing?" An unexpected reaction… how intriguing.
"Sorry they looked soft, couldn't help it." I pulled them off and she went back to normal. "Okay let's do this."
Gary put his hand in between us all, "Come on, this is like our last chance to do it. Let's just be cliché till the end."
"Fine," Alicia sighed and put her hand on top of his. I joined them as did Carl and Sayuri.
"3 ,2, 1 Let's kick the Demon Lord's arse!" Gary cheered as we raised our arm up. I would have preferred a different chant but it would have to do.
We exited the laundry and entered the corridor. Numerous doors marked the walls and in between them large portraits of Demon's hung.
"Who are all these people?" Carl asked.
"Don't know," I lied. "We need to move. I'm pretty sure it's this way."
The Demon Lord's castle was a special place. Really it incorporated multiple buildings but at the same time they were all connected. The corridor acted as the link between them all and didn't actually exist within the world but in a plane beside it. It turned upon itself like a snake and at the end would be the doors to the throne room. There was also no way to sense where people were in here. The flow of mana moved in ways to obstruct it. Even I needed to ask if I wanted to find anyone in particular. It was also the reason why I was able to hide for so long without my sister finding me when I first joined the Heroes summoning.
I made Carl lead the way as we briskly walked forward, ensuring to try not draw any attention to ourselves. It was going well as I monitored the Heroes from behind. They were determined to see this through. Sayuri did keep looking back at me, probably making sure I didn't run off but that was well within permissible bounds. Everything was going according to plan until….
"Halt there Heroes!" my sister appeared as we turned the corner. "My na-," I threw a bag of candy I had received from Marker down a nearby staircase. The bag caught her eyes. She knew what it was. Her favourite sweets made by Lisanna herself. A rare treat. Immediately she dived for the bag and disappeared down the stairs.
"… What was that?" Carl asked as all the Heroes turned to look at me.
"I'm not sure… let's just keep going…." I gestured for Carl to continue. They were all confused but began moving.
Phew that was close. Leave it to my sister to go and try take on the Heroes outside of the plan. Thankfully I trusted all my other retainers. They were capable people, none of them would make such a careless mistake. The door in front of us opened. You have got to be kidding me!
"Warr," a yawn and large blue ogre in a lab coat stepped out from the door. Carl drew his blade and placed it against his neck. Warten immediately paled in shock.
"Don't say a word," Carl threatened. "Tell us where the Demon Lord's chambers are."
As smart as Warten was he didn't do well under pressure. His eyes began to swim looking between the sword against his neck and Carl, then the Heroes and Carl, then the sword and me. Finally he saw me but he had already flown into a small panic. Here it comes…. Without saying a word his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed. I face palmed but stopped the gesture as the Heroes looked at me.
"… What do we do with him?" Gary asked.
"Just leave him," I sighed. Warten must have been up late doing his experiments and lost track of time, something he had done on multiple occasions. Really should have seen this coming. The Heroes eventually started moving again but now their tension was rising for a different reason.
No more slip ups. Warten was a researcher and was treated more as a companion than a retainer. Everyone else should be waiting for our arrival. No one else would dare screw this up, the only people who held that kind of authority were me, my father and my-. Another door opened. Dark green hair, wearing a night cap and a night gown. A heart stone visible on his chest. My grandfather. Really? You chose today of all days to wake up exactly at this time?
Gary reacted first and cast magic to restrain him. Of course something like that was too light. This is the man who trained me…. In a bit of a surprise my grandfather dispelled the magic in a burst of colour.
"What's this?" he said and scanned the corridor seeing me. The Heroes readied to fight but he slowly took a step back and began to close the door, "Sorry to disturb you…." For a good while they all just stared at the now closed door.
"… Is this really the Demon Lord's castle?" Alicia asked me.
"I'm sure of it…," I said feeling a lack of confidence in myself.
"What's up with this place?"
"Argh, I don't know but the Demon Lord must know some pretty weird people!" I moved in front. This way I could react first if anything else happened. "Let's just go, we're charging straight ahead. Don't let your guard down."
"Right!" Carl psyched himself up again and we somehow were able to regain the lost atmosphere.
I began to move at a brisk pace. Just around this corner and the corridor would open up to the entrance to the throne room. A large ornate double door welcomed us. It was made from solid metal and sculpted by a previous Demon Lord to incite a sense of majesty. The Heroes drew their weapons in anticipation. Now this was better. The entire purpose of this door was to show off the Demon Lord's power, to make those who stood before it tremble to what was behind it.
"This is it," I said to the Heroes as we walked closer. "Behind this door is what we've all been training for. All your efforts since you came to this world will be tested here. Get ready."
I turned to face the Heroes as they began to settle the last of their nerves. Lucky I did as I spotted her just in time. My sister turned the corner and was about to call out to us. She had crumbs on her cheek. She ate them quickly…. My eyes locked on to hers and she froze in place mouth open. With just my gaze I communicated to her,
Go back now!
She looked at me with a huff, No! The Heroes need to get past me first!
If you don't I'm going to get angry.
Her ears began to tear up, B-but.
One… two… three…
She threw her arms down in a fit and left. Sigh, she could be such a pain to handle and now I felt bad for getting angry at her.
"Dave are you alright?" Alicia asked me.
"Sorry I'm just a bit nervous myself." It was now or never. Time to see if they would hate me.
"Don't worry, we got this far together. I'm sure we'll make it," Carl smiled for us all.
"Let's go in before I throw up from being too nervous…." Gary shook his head.
Alicia took Sayuri and Carl's hands, "We can do this." She looked at me, "We can do this can't we Dave?"
"Of course," I nodded determined.
Sayuri took a breath and then looked at me, "Let's do this. I'm tired of being anxious."
As one we opened the door. It creaked as it swung apart and revealed the pitch black room beyond. Stone floors and walls. Fire sprang up in the room, a chandelier lit up, stones against the walls began to shine all to reveal a single throne at the end. A red carpet lined with gold led to it.
The Heroes breathing intensified as the throne came into full light.
I let the Heroes simmer in the atmosphere as the doors behind has closed. A resounding thud echoed across the room as they sealed us in causing the Heroes to jump. For several long seconds nothing happened. The air was still and not a single sound other than the shuffling of the Heroes' feet could be heard.
"It's- it's empty?" Gary looked around confused. Mana circulated through him, ready to cast magic at an instance's notice.
"Of course it's empty," I began to chuckle, feeling the tension ripple out of me as I committed myself.
"I don't understand…." Carl scanned the room. "Where's the Demon Lord? Hey Dave, wait where are you going?" He tried to stop me as I began to walk forward but Sayuri held him back.
"Dave come back it's dangerous," Alicia called but didn't move.
I made my way towards the throne and as I climbed the stairs I drew my mantle. With a flick I wrapped it around myself and turned to face the Heroes as I sat down on top my throne. My hair turned bright red, horns shot out from the sides of my head and black armour grew around my body revealing my gold heart stone.
"Allow me to introduce myself anew. My name is Davarious First Born Light of the Autumn Wind and 26th Demon Lord of the High continent. Welcome Heroes."
"…." Sayuri scowled but the others wore expressions of simple confusion.
"Dave what are you doing? Get down here!" Gary angrily yelled in a hushed manner, "Now's not the time to play pretend. He'll kill you when he shows up." There was an odd emotion hidden beneath his features. Fear that what I was saying was the truth.
"How can I show up on myself Gary?" I laughed.
Alicia frowned, "Dave I'm serious stop playing around!"
"Alicia I'm not playing around."
"Ha I get it," Carl laughed forcibly, "This isn't the Demon Lord's castle is it? This is just a joke right?"
"This isn't a joke Carl."
"He's telling the truth," Sayuri sighed and looked at me with contempt. "Dave lied to us all this entire time."
I should have known, "Sayuri… so you remembered."
"Yes, three days ago actually."
"I see, I'm surprised you didn't try anything."
She turned away from me, "I wanted to believe in you." I smiled, that made things easier.
"No!" Carl shouted. "I don't believe this. Why would you? That time when we first met the Demon Lord-,"
"I kicked a clone of myself. Please, do you really think a simple trick like that is beyond me?" I smirked. "You ask me why would I do this. And I ask you the same question. Why would I do this?"
"I… I don't," Carl stomped his foot and the floor shook. "No, there's no way Dave would do this."
"My name isn't Dave, although I don't mind if you still call me that."
Alicia looked up at me sadly, "Dave are you really the Demon Lord?"
"If I wasn't than could I do this?" I clapped my hands and from the sides of the room demons attired as butlers and maids came through the doors. They formed two lines before me and kneeled,
"We greet the Lord!"
"See? Neat right?"
Gary looked at me and laughed hurtfully, "You know this is so cliché! Our friend and the one who guided us all this time turns out to be the Demon Lord. It's so god damn cliché that I didn't see it coming. Well done Dave, really. But just what do you want from us?"
Sayuri answered before I could, "Because of the resummoning period right? You lured us into a false sense of security, pretended to be our friend all to lead us here. Everything you did and showed us was a lie. All of it was to kill us now at a time when no more Heroes could be summoned after our deaths. I'm right aren't I? Tell me Dave, I'm right aren't I!?" She was crying. Her words shocked me more than the Heroes.
"Dave is this true?" Alicia looked at me with a tremendous anger. "You truly are the Demon Lord."
"Wait hold it!" I finally managed to start thinking straight again and just in time to as it looked like Alicia was about to charge me. I didn't expect such a convoluted story. "Absolutely no! Never ever ever did I think that. The resummoning period ended about the time we reached the Klerical Kingdom. I did all this because I felt like it. Pretty much the only lie I told you was about who I was."
"Huh?" they all just stared at me blankly.
"Come on that hurts, did you really think I was going to kill you?"
"B-but…." Sayuri dried her tears. "Then this all just some prank?"
"Pretty much."
An exhausting silence overcame the room and from it a breath of relief. Everyone began to relax. That was until Sayuri looked at me again with puffy red eyes. She was smiling but it was incredibly scary. I remembered the dream I had that night. Oh god what have I done.
"Come here I'm going to kill you!" she yelled at me in a friendly yet very threatening way. "Do you know just how much I worried these past few days? Damn it Dave I almost killed you!"
"What, really?"
"Yes! While you were sleeping I had a knife against your throat and everything."
"Wow, Sayuri that's really dangerous…." Seriously I couldn't tell at all….
"You don't say! Now get over here so I can punch you in the face."
"Wait hang on a second," I raised my arms.
"No! You come here right now."
Alicia started to laugh and soon Gary and Carl joined her. Even some of my maids and butlers were smiling on the verge of breaking decorum.
"Let's just talk this over a late breakfast. I did tell you not to eat before right?" I gestured and the maids and butlers rose. In a burst of rapid movement an oval table with nine chairs were brought into the room and food was piled on to it.
Sayuri began to calm down as I slowly approached the Heroes.
"Are we okay?" I asked as I neared a reachable range. Slap! My head began to ring. Yeah I guess I deserved that one.
"We are for now," she huffed but sat down next to me at the table. I took off my mantle and placed it behind my chair. Alicia, Carl and Gary also sat down.
"Hang on," I played with my hair and swept mana through it. The brown dye flew away and my hair returned to its original light blue colour. "That's better."
"Who are the other chairs for?" Alicia asked as she pointed to the missing three people. As if on cue they walked in.
"I'd like to introduce my family," I gestured to each one as they sat down. "First, my sister, Terraostra Dark Eyes of the Autumn Wind." She grinned broadly at them.
"Isn't that the girl from earlier?" Gary asked.
"Yep!" Terra cheered, "I wanted to fight you first but Varry wouldn't let me…."
I ignored her and moved on, "Second, this is my father, Alexander Golden Mane of the Autumn Wind." He bowed lightly to the Heroes,
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard many tales of your adventures."
I continued, "Third, this is my grandfather and Master, Quinton Void Bearer of the Autumn Wind."
"My grandson may call me Master but he has surpassed me when it comes to magic," he laughed.
"Finally I'll reintroduce myself again. Davarious First Born Light of the Autumn Wind. Davarious is my real name, First Born Light is my birth title and Autumn Wind is my family name. It is a pleasure to greet you once more Heroes."
"All of you are as strong as Dave?" Carl asked.
"Thereabouts, aside from Terra that is," my father replied.
"… Thank god we didn't have to fight you," Gary said in relief. "We would have been crushed!"
"Trust me when I say you Heroes are harder to get rid of then you think. You have a certain luck that isn't on the normal sense of this world."
I laughed "Well we can talk as we eat. I'm starved."
"Hang on!" the front door flew open and with it a flow of crimson red hair. "Prepare seats for three more."
"The Queen of Rentolt?" Sayuri let out.
"Hello again Heroes," she smiled and walked towards the table. Behind her Gilda and Marker also smiled their greetings.
"Lisanna!" Terra jumped out of her chair towards her. It wasn't a happy hug jump but I'm going to go straight through you tackle. Lisanna ploughed her into the floor and the Heroes gasped but she just got back up with a laugh.
"Here I made you these," she took out a small bag and Terra's eyes lit up. I snatched it away with magic.
"No you just had some," I scolded her before she could grab them.
"Tch, stingy," she went back to her seat as Lisanna, Gilda and Marker sat down.
"So the Queen really is someone you knew since childhood," Alicia said. "Wait, back when we first met you and you said all those things about the Demon Lord…."
Lisanna laughed awkwardly, "Yep, if Varry wasn't with you I would have had you captured and moved away."
"Well that's a scary thought," Gary said while sipping his drink. "So that means the secret powerful figure backing the town was actually Dave the Demon Lord?"
"That's right," Marker replied. "Our town was formed from a pack between Lisanna and Master Alexander back when he was Demon Lord. It came with the promise that one day Lisanna would be Queen of Rentolt."
"But man did that take a long time," Lisanna sighed. "Even now I don't have complete control from my father…."
I looked at Carl, he had a vague smile on his lips, "Is something wrong Carl?"
"No I'm fine," he shook his head. "It's just all this happened so fast. I was preparing myself to fight the Demon Lord and now I'm eating with his family."
"Hmmm," I scratched my chin. "I get it! We still need to fight for it to make sense. But fighting me, my father and grandfather wouldn't be really fair. How about I'll be on the Heroes team then?"
"Oh can I join?" Terra put up her hand.
"Then you'll be on Dad's side."
"Nooo I want to be on the Heroes side."
"But that wouldn't make sense."
"I don't want to fight you… it's scary."
"Excuse me?" I pinched her cheeks.
Carl laughed, "Dave stop, I don't want to fight anyone. I'm just a bit perplexed. So this whole time were you actually trying to prove to us that Humans and Demons could get along? You really were the one who told us to keep an open mind."
"Well… you're half right. For about the second half of the journey, yeah that's what I was doing. The first half I was just messing around. Actually the reason I appeared in the summoning was because I got bored and decided to see if I could hijack my way in."
"You…. You're terrible," Sayuri shook her head at me.
"But I met you all and things turned out pretty well."
"You made us hate the Demon Lord when you attacked us."
"That one I didn't think through, really I just wanted to scare that pig merchant guy into giving the town back its money. And I only attacked myself, you're the ones who attacked me."
"How were we meant to know that back then?" she was getting angry again.
I cleared my throat and avoided her gaze, "Anyway let's just eat. We can discuss the rest of it later."