The statue had horns on its forehead and was seated with its legs crossed. its hands clapped together and there was a fire in its grasp, the fire lit the chamber. The statue was dressed in odd armor.
It was coated in armor that appeared exceedingly durable and had a dull black color as if black dragon scales had been recently transplanted on it.
To be honest, it only appeared like the statue's artist was too sluggish to properly polish it. How utterly worthless.
It was the ideal complement to the armor of the statue as if it had been specially crafted with him in mind.
Upon witnessing the armor, Aniki's eyes sparkled.
"Think we can steal it, it must be worth a lot!!!"
"Was one armor sufficient to make you forget that we had just teleported to a weird place?"
Do you have a better suggestion? Aniki Slime shrugged.
"Fair enough."
He approached the armor and made an unsuccessful attempt to move it.
"Please help me out here, Sistah Baal."
I pouted as I recalled what had transpired before our arrival and spoke two wonderful words that may address a myriad of issues.
"I reject,"
Obviously, one's own problems.
"Are you still upset about earlier?"
Aniki made an attempt to employ puppy eyes which utterly disgusted me because his frail body and that look were highly incompatible.
"You seem awful. Please don't try to do it ever again."
"Good, now assist me."
"You are very annoying."
I reached out to help my Sistah~ But as soon as I touched the armor of the statue, fractures dropped off the statue and revealed a person to be inside. I backed away from the statue along with Aniki. The cement skin covering the eyes fell off first, revealing two crimson pupils. Later, the hair covering peeled off, and gradually the person within was able to escape.
"The day is so strange. Even now, I'm not sure if this is real or a dream." blubbered Aniki
"It is obviously a dream. How is a human supposed to thrive under a? whatever that was."
"I suggest that you rephrase such comments. What you see is the reality and I am a demon, not a mere human."
The one speaking was the person who had been released from the covering. He identified himself as a demon.
Aniki questioned, "Is it intended to be a joke?"
"It isn't,"
"So you want us to think that you were simply waiting for someone while sitting out under a stone cover as a "demon"?"
"I was kind of pushed to *sighs*, but your assessment is quite correct,"
"I know who he is, Sistah!"
"You do?" Aniki gave me a glance.
"He must be of one of the strange role player adventures Almia told us about!"
"That's got to be it," Aniki shouted while putting his fist on his hand.
Near the demon's horn, I noticed a vein appear on his forehead.
"I'd want to give you a lesson, but I have more important things to accomplish."
The so-called devil extended his hand as if to make a request.
"I sincerely ask that you give me the candescent-looking orb you discovered."
"Did we really find something like that?" Aniki looked at me.
"Oh, you mean that sweet that was quite awful to taste?"
The monster appeared as if it had been shot with a great number of arrows.
"Did you... possibly eat the orb... I dare ask...?
"You anticipate kids won't consume candy?" I answered.
"But you discovered it on the ground? What happened to your etiquettes?"
Aniki hugged himself while shivering, "We've gone through worse."
"You must be a reasonably suitable vessel if you didn't feel any discomfort when you absorbed the orb."
"What does that imply, exactly?" His conversational style was starting to tire me.
"Why don't you try introducing yourself before you spout nonsense?" This talk also appeared to be wearing on Aniki.
"I wonder where my manners are."
"I am Effrayé, The Cowardly King, from the demonic era in the year 1104."
"Still holding on to the demon crap, eh?"
"Shhh- sis, he was ready to say something stupid again." whispered my beloved "Sistah~"
"These two—forget about it. I'll proceed in the same manner as I previously did."
"Sistah~, do you suppose he'll turn into a stone once more?"
"Well, he did imply that he will."
"I-"
The devil gave up trying to argue with us siblings. He simply stood up and took off.
"Wow, that lunatic is skilled at flying."
"Seems so, reminds me!!! Any brilliant suggestions for how we can get out of this?"
"Perhaps the oddball will reappear and make us some ridiculous deal like the last bunch? Oh right! this place is oddly similar to the first floor of the wrecked labyrinth."
"Although it's less likely, may we wait? I suppose? We really don't have anything better to do or maybe we can search for the marking left behind when we traversed this floor?"
"I would prefer to wait,"
"Äs you wish."
After some time, the self-imposed devil visited the area where we were waiting.
He cried out in an unnatural shriek, "Ekk?"
"Huh? He truly returned, right?" Aniki was being skeptical.
"Oh my Goodness! He couldn't have selected a finer location to turn back into a stone!!"
Maybe he didn't find a better place to turn into a statue? well whatever the case my sarcastic remakes are similar to the process of breathing, both are involuntary.
"How? I was positive I made a different turn! "The demon screamed.
"Oh, it appears that the odd arrived here by mistake."
"You have our permission to continue your voyage." As soon as I assumed the fake role, I used a tone that felt as if I was the master of the idiot. The demon got annoyed and left again.
Aniki questioned, "Think he'll come back again?"
"He'll do it, I'll bet you one of those candy packages!"
"Huh? Why do you believe I own more, exactly?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Okay, I stole more than a few, I admit it."
"I knew it."
After some time had gone, the devil once more came to us."
"HOW!" it yelled.
"Oh, there it is again." Aniki pouted as he reached into his pocket, pulled out a bag of candy, and tossed it at me.
"It's a pleasure working with you."
"Yes, yes,"
The demon didn't bother to try to start a conversation after being ignored and left once more.
"Wanna wager once more?"
"No thanks." Aniki took a package out for himself and began to consume sweets.
For some reason, the monster took the same path once more.
It attempted to get our attention by saying, "Ahem."
"Just what do you want?"
"I think I could be having an issue. I require your help."
"What is your wager?"
"I sincerely ask that you make an introduction first."
"I @#amn $*&li! Me." Aniki attempted to talk while stuffing candy into his mouth.
"Ah, my sister stated that her name is slime."
"I-I see, and what about you?"
"Oh, Baal is my name."
"Baal? Is it a pun with an indent? Are you making fun of the fact that I'm a demon?"
"does it offend your feelings? but frankly, that's my name,"
"I guess the names of previously great emperors are now being tarnished by humans." the demon murmured.
"All right, now state your objective!" Aniki appeared to have finished the entire package of candies.
"I see, I shall continue my offer. It seems as though I can't find my way off of this demolished floor. If you can get me out of here, I'll pay you generously."
"How will you honor us? turning us into sculptures made of stone?"
He phrased "10,000 gold coins."
The siblings didn't respond.
"..."
The devil questioned, "Have I said something inappropriate?"
"I-No, we accept your offer."
Even though there was a chance that the demon was lying, we followed forward with the bargain despite not knowing how to leave the area ourselves, which made me question why Aniki bothered to accept it in the first place.
"But I have a condition." I had a mischievous idea in my head.
The demon groaned, "It appears I have no option but to listen."
"You must serve as our butler and bodyguard for the entire trip."
"I- WHAT? THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT ACCEPTABLE. "The devil screamed.
"then, have it your way. We reject!"
"I can increase the price of gold to $100,000 for removing the restriction."
"If you don't adhere to my sister's requirements, I can't help." Unexpectedly, Aniki didn't protest, but then again ten thousand gold was already enough to give us a good life maybe he didn't give in to the greed.
The demon had no option but to abide by my demands knowing that it was on the losing side. The frustrated demon accepted our conditions.
"I Accept your conditions," he answered.
"Anything else sistah?"
"Change your clothes!!! you don't look like a butler at all!!!"
"Absurd!"
"You know the rules, and so do I." Aniki rolled his eyes.
The sigh of a reluctant demon king resonated as a blinding black light, and the armor the demon was wearing suddenly began to change.
The demon king's black, scale-like armor began to change as a white color appeared on it. The armor's chest plate was forcefully separated into three layers.
The first was a crisp, white blouse that appeared untarnished by the outside world. The shirt was surrounded by a grey waistcoat, which made up the second layer. A black coat with a red inner lining served as the top layer.
The demon's headgear changed as it moved to his face, which took on the appearance of a monocle, and the remainder was a formal tie that was wrapped around his shirt. His sword changed into a gold pocket watch that hung from his waistcoat as he changed shape. His coat and slacks were both completely black, and his waist was neatly belted.
The demon king may have appeared handsome from the outside, but Effrayé didn't consider him to be so. Being a butler to a juvenile, parasite-like, homo sapien with a sharp mouth was the height of humiliation. He was a demon in the end, no matter how cowardly he was in his life.