Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Maou-mama taught me many
things about the Dominion, the nation of demonkind that spans the entire
continent of Ceogath, which the humans simply refer to as the Demon
Continent. The most important thing she hammered into my mind is the fact
that to be a good ruler one needs a heart that can hold love for more souls
than one can count. She cherishes every single one of her citizens, and she
tried to teach me to do the same.
I didn't really understand what she meant until she took me on a walk
through the streets of Arkaim, the capital of the Dominion, while in disguise.
The bustling life of the city, despite the dark architecture and tinted windows,
showed me that there were many different kinds of demons. Some possess an
otherworldly beauty and grace, while others appear malformed and hideous.
And I could see that Maou-mama didn't discriminate when speaking to any of
them.
Maybe I won't be able to gain the same kind of open-heartedness so
quickly, but seeing her overflowing kindness as she watched her citizens, I
felt inspired to at least try to do so. I must have been seeing the signs of a
good ruler in her at the time.
It's clear that she intends for me to become her successor, as all rulers do
for their children. Leaving aside the matter of older siblings, who don't seem
to be living in the castle, I feel like our kind is exceptionally long-lived or
even outright immortal. I have no metabolism, after all.
I don't tire, sweat, or produce any waste even when I eat a lot. When I
morph into any of the templates from humans and animals consumed, I can
allow myself to copy their body plan to perfection. At the same time, I can
also make partial transformations on the inside, which enables me to change
only my outward appearance while keeping my interior that of a Crawling
Chaos.
Therefore, I believe that we should be virtually immortal, as long as we
have access to food. According to Maou-mama, that also appears to be our
kind's only weakness, since overwhelming hunger can come to control our actions. It depends on the mass we have in us, with less causing a more
intense craving when hungry, but with more requiring much more to sustain
the mass.
Sometimes I wonder how much mass Maou-mama has since she seems to
eat about the same amount as I do.
There is another thing I learned about myself, not in the physiological but
psychological sense. Even though I had already started to become aware of it
in my previous life, it took my death and this new beginning to realize one
fact about my psyche. And it took this new body and the altered perspective
on life that comes with it to completely embrace it.
I'm not interested in the other sex. And I have never been.
The Maid Corps in the castle are all incredible beauties - or cuties - without
exception. Maou-mama told me they were chosen for various qualities, but
the one all of them had to have in common was having uniquely good looks.
I think she saw through my preferences and is hinting at the fact that as her
successor, I will be able to create my very own Maid Corps just like that. It
makes sense that a person in the position of the demon queen should be able
to choose the most beautiful subjects in the nation for herself.
Though I have to wonder, does that mean Maou-mama also swings that
way?
"Good morning, Chaos-chan." When I enter the dining hall in the morning,
Maou-mama sits at the end of the table and greets me with a smile unlike any
I've seen before.
For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this.
Well, that 'some reason' also derives from the fact that Mithra is standing
next to the demon queen in his usual mummy-like appearance. He has been
the one to transport us from place to place so that a repetition of my trip to
Yagrath wouldn't happen again. So whenever I see him, I have to look
forward to going somewhere.
But the atmosphere in the hall seems different from usual. Many members
of the Maid Corps are gathered, and Rewera appears to be carrying
something in her hands. It looks like a crude leather backpack.
"Today is the day for you to go on your journey." Maou-mama speaks in a
happy voice as she stands up from her chair.
My journey? It sounds like I'll be alone on this one, and it makes it seem like something more long-term than everything we've done so far. I haven't
even had breakfast, and you're telling me to leave?
"It is a pilgrimage to prove your worth." Her gentle gaze seems to suggest
that she expects me to pass with flying colors, just like I have in almost every
test I've been subjected to so far.
"Where will I be going to?" That wording makes me think of a journey
with religious undertones, and my destination will be a temple or ancestral
catacombs, where I have to overcome some kind of trial that will feel like a
dream sequence.
"Not to, but from." She corrects me. When she sees my confusion, she
stands up from her chair and walks over to me, while gesturing for Rewera
and Mithra to come forward. "You will be sent to a location chosen at
random, and your goal is to return to this palace within three years."
"... three years?" I ask cautiously. Is she expecting me to travel across the
world and perform some specific feat during that time? I mean, I don't know
how big this planet is, but I've heard of a story in which people traveled
around the world in eighty days. Then again, apparently they used trains and
cars. Those most definitely don't exist in this world. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you do. All who aspire to sit on the Dominion's throne are required to
undergo this final test." Maou-mama puts her arms on my shoulders and
looks me deep in the eyes, the piercing yellow irises on her black sclera fixed
onto me in a warm expression.
It would require for the current demon queen to abdicate from old age or
die, before I could ascend to the throne, though. The former feels highly
unlikely if my theory about our kind's potentially infinite lifespan is right; the
latter is something I don't ever want to happen. While being able to create my
own harem is tempting, I don't want that in exchange for my new mother's
death.
"I don't want-" Before I can finish, Maou-mama puts her index finger to
my lips and shakes her head with her eyes closed. It seems she knows what
I'm thinking.
"Do not worry. You should be able to return much faster than that, but this
gives you time to see more of the world." Chuckling to herself, Maou-mama
separates from me and speaks with a hint of mischief. I understand what she
wants me to do with all that time I've been given. It's what she has been
teaching me for the past three weeks. "I am sure nothing will be able to bring you down along the way. After all, you are my child."
Her confidence in me is astonishing, but at the same time, I can feel pride
well up inside me. It makes me want to affirm her trust in my abilities.
Rewera hands me the backpack and lists the things contained in it. My
breakfast has been packed, as well as some dried meat for along the way.
There are some basic tools and a magic map which automatically shows the
position I'm in. That last one should come in really handy.
Alright, I guess I'm ready to depart... not really, but there are no two ways
around this. As long as I get sent to a place that isn't as dangerous as Yagrath,
and have a map to orientate myself with, I should be fine getting back here.
I'll just treat this as an adventure trip.
"See you soon, Chaos-chan." Waving to me just as Mithra steps forward
and tips his gnarled staff in my direction, Maou-mama gives me a reassuring
smile.
"See you, mama..." I'm not entirely confident in myself, but I'll just have to
grit my teeth and get this over with.
Oh wait, in all this time it came so naturally to me that I completely forgot.
The use of Japanese honorifics despite the fact that the language we speak
isn't actually Japanese. What's up with that? Does this mean Maou-mama was
reincarnated into that body, too?
Before I can ask her about it, the familiar stream of light envelops me and
cuts off my vision of her.
When my surroundings return to those of the normal world, the first thing I
notice is that the temperature dropped by quite a bit. Looking around, I find
greenery all around me. Lush grassy plains with rolling hills extend into the
distance before me, just past some mossy trees at the edge of a forest.
Well, my question in regards to whether Maou-mama is a reincarnated
person just like me, or picked up Japanese from someone else in this world,
will have to wait until I get back to her side then.
In either case, a choice is presented to me right away: Forest or plains?
I've been in a forest before, so no thank you. It's easy to get lost, and the
atmosphere can become quite oppressive when you know that behind each
tree could be monster that might attack you on sight. I have a better view of
my surroundings on the plains and will be able to see if something dangerous
approaches. Also, I will be able to spot settlements from afar.
Ah, now that I see the towering clouds in the distance, I remember
something else I seem to have banished from my thoughts for a long time. I
forgot to ask Maou-mama about the giant cloud monster in Yagrath.
There are several things I wanted to talk to her about that slipped my mind
so inconveniently, it seems...
Well, it's not like it'll affect me for the time being, since I'm surely not in
Yagrath again this time. Considering this is my world now, I'll eventually
learn a lot of its mysteries sooner or later anyway. And I intend to live for a
long time, so either is fine for me.
For now, let's start with getting my bearings by looking at the map. I could
just walk in the rough direction of Arkaim, which is undoubtedly marked as
my destination on the map if I really only wanted to get back right away. But
as Maou-mama said, I should take this opportunity to see more of this world.
I look through my backpack and check the items Rewera listed one by one.
When I think about it, a lot of these are things you would find in a disaster
survival kit in Japan. Obviously, the pieces of technology they don't have
here aren't included, such as a flashlight.
When I take note of the inventory, I find that there are things I don't really
need. For example, there's a knife and a small saw, which I can recreate using
my body; I already managed to create sharp blades out of bone on my very
first day of being in this new body.
Bandages are also pointless since this body can fill out any wounds with
matter from the inside. In other words, as long as I don't get scattered into
many tiny pieces or ground to dust completely, I can regenerate fully.
There's also a rope, which I should be able to create from my matter as
well. Though I don't know whether my body or this material here is stronger
or this material here is. I'll still go with what I'm more familiar with, which is
my body at this point.
There is one sizeable sheet of white cloth, most likely for making a tent
from, and a piece of tanned leather about the size of a small poster.
But there's no map.
I go through everything again, then empty the contents of the bag on the
ground and search the insides for hidden compartments, before putting things
back inside one by one to make sure I didn't miss anything.
But there's still no map.
Maou-mama?
No map means that I have no idea where I am. While I've been to various
places in the Dominion with Maou-mama, when she showed me the kingdom
I might someday rule, no place looked like the scenery before me. In other
words, I don't think this is even the Dominion anymore...
While Maou-mama didn't specify where I'd start my journey from, I
expected it to be somewhere on the Ceogath continent. Considering Mithra
was the one to teleport me, I couldn't have taken a wrong turn somewhere. So
this is really my intended start line, then?
If this isn't the Demon Continent, then the only possible explanation is that
this is the human continent - if there even is something like that. It would put
me smack in the middle of enemy territory.
Appearance-wise, I should be able to pass as a normal human being, as
long as I don't absorb things through my skin for all to see. I can eat
normally, but after using the very convenient Crawling Chaos way for the
past weeks, I don't feel like chewing and swallowing anymore. I'll only do it
if I really have to.
I don't have any clothes on me right now since Maou-mama has embraced
my body paint-like solution and even started trying it out for herself. When it
comes to it, and I have to enter a human town, I can wrap myself in the tent
sheet as a stopgap solution. I'll have to come up with a reason for that, or
people will think I'm a pervert.
But I have to say, starting out in such an idyllic looking place is more like
it for the beginning of an adventure. This looks like a starting area in a
fantasy role-playing game now. Then again, I think I'm strong enough to
challenge harder content, although I'd rather not do something like Yagrath
again for the time being.
I guess this is a good way for a ruler to test their children to see whether
they are worthy to be a ruler or not. Being thrown into an unknown place and
having to find their way back while overcoming all kinds of trials will
strengthen a person's character. After all, power breeds complacency, and a
king who doesn't know the hardships of life will drive his kingdom into ruin.
For the first time since returning from the Dark Continent, I'm completely
alone again. There are no maids a call away, or Maou-mama whom I could
talk to here. While I walk across the plains, I have plenty of time to think
about all the things I've experienced so far.
The sun is slowly approaching the horizon, and I'll have to find a place to
sleep soon. Even if my body never tires, my mind is still that of a human's -
which means that I need sleep to process all the experiences I make
throughout a day.
Wait, the sun is going down already? It was morning in the demon palace,
and within a short teleportation journey, it's become late afternoon already? I
didn't arrive here so long ago, it's maybe only been an hour or two, so I
haven't been absentmindedly walking for a whole day either.
In other words, this place is in a different time zone from Arkaim, and most
likely ahead by half a day. Does that mean I'm on the other side of the planet
right now? I guess my idea of a world trip is actually becoming a reality.
So on top of being all alone in a foreign place, I'll have to deal with jetlag,
too?
And it is now I realize my tactical blunder. These plains have no trees, and
it's quite windy. In other words, where do I pitch my tent and seek shelter
from the elements when I go to sleep? While it doesn't look like it'll rain, I
feel like I'll catch a cold if I sleep out in the open - even though my
constitution doesn't really allow me to get sick, I think. In either case, I'll
have to find a solution to this problem sometime soon.
Ah, I know what to do.
I transform into a vularen. The fur covering my body retains body heat
well, and I can feel myself warming up already. I didn't pay attention to it
before when I took this shape to run from the quakemaws, but these wolf-like
monsters have pretty soft fur. This is quite comfortable, and I should be able
to get through the night without a problem. And if I'm to believe Maoumama's words in regards to vularen being considerably dangerous beasts,
then other wild animals should keep away from me.
With this issue out of the way, I continue on my trek across the plains until
it becomes too dark to proceed. I have a highly efficient version of night
vision, but it feels quite alien to me. It's somewhat stressful when I'm in
almost complete darkness but can still see as if it was a very cloudy day, so I
prefer not to use it. Must be human nature to dislike the dark, or maybe it's
just me.
In either case, I should be able to sleep rather well and safely while in this
form.
I wake up to the sound of thunder.
Why am I not surprised? Of course, when I sleep out in the open, there will
be a lightning storm.
Ah, I just felt a drop.
It's starting to rain.
And within seconds, it intensifies into a full-blown downpour.
Luckily, I stored the backpack inside my body. I tested the theory during
my training with Maou-mama and found that I can consciously will a part
inside me to not dissolve its contents. Doesn't mean it will keep things alive,
though.
Thinking back to the vularen that I experimented on by testing how long it
could stay alive inside me, I feel like apologizing.
While thinking such idle thoughts, I'm becoming more and more soaked.
I'm feeling heavier by the second because my fur isn't the water-repellant
type and is soaking in the rain.
When I look around, I don't see anything I could use as shelter. I'm
thoroughly awake now, so I might as well start moving again. Having no
clock is quite inconvenient since I can't tell how long I've slept, or how long
it'll be until sunrise. The clouds and rain make it impossible to tell whether a
moon is out or not, too.
Then again, I don't really need to know, I guess. I have nothing planned for
the next day, after all. No school, no club activities...
Damn, I'm starting to think about my previous life again. It's still hard to
come to terms with the fact that my life as a high school student, and the
track and field ace, is over. And without being able to recall how it happened,
too. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to all the people I cared
about.
The rain is only weighing me down with such depressing thoughts, so I
shake my head to get rid of them. In the same move, I also shake my body of
the water clinging to my fur.
I transform back into my human form and remain naked without bringing
out the sheets to cover myself with. They would become thoroughly soaked
anyway since I'm already wet. Furthermore, there's no point in practicing
modesty out here in the wilderness where nobody can see me.
Turning my hair into something like a single skin flap in the form of a
makeshift hood, I let it hang over my shoulders and cover them from the rain.
This is something else I learned from that certain alien parasite that takes
over a human's head. This way I don't have to deal with wet hair falling over
my eyes.
I see a gigantic lone tree on a hill, reminiscent of some famous oil painting.
I'm sure I can find shelter from the rain there, so I quicken my pace and run
towards it. I guess it's a lucky break.
When I arrive, I find that someone is already here. Not just someone, but a
lot of living beings surround the trunk of the tree, huddled together against
the winds. They look and sound like sheep, but one detail sets them apart
from those I know from my previous life. Their fur grows in various colors,
including rather unnatural ones, such as pink and dark blue. There is even a
rainbow-colored one among them.
In the center of them is a boy, sitting with his back against the tree and
looking asleep. He's wearing a wide-brimmed leather hat and a cloak most
likely made from sheep wool. Unlike me, he's well-dressed for the cold
weather.
Some of the sheep-like creatures bleat at me when I approach, and it wakes
up the boy who is most likely their shepherd. He looks around cautiously,
before spotting me in all of my barely covered and wet glory. I've already
gotten used to being seen naked in the demon castle, and if I can get some
shelter here, I don't care if he sees me like this.
The boy looks at me with round eyes, as if he saw a ghost. Never seen a
naked girl before, huh? I'm mostly in my appearance from before my death,
be it due to nostalgia or a lingering regret, but the important bits have been
erased since they only get in the way. And I have a flesh-colored sheet
covering my shoulders, in place of hair.
I walk towards him, and he tries to back away fearfully, but since he's
already leaning against the tree, he can't get any distance. I go straight past
him and sit down on the other side of the tree.
Just when I prepare to change into a vularen again to regain some body
heat, I stop to reconsider my position; I'm surrounded by these sheep and
their shepherd, so if I turn into something that very clearly looks like their
predator, it will cause them to panic. At least I assume that there's such a
relation between wolves and sheep in this world. Guess I'll have to wrap
myself in a blanket and spend the night like this. It's not like I feel especially
cold or something, but it's for my peace of mind.
I just hope the boy will leave me alone... but obviously, he doesn't leave me
alone as I hoped he would.
"Are you... a fairy?" He asks me in a shaking voice. I can understand his
language, but he has a distinct accent. Some words and intonations are
different from the language I've been speaking in the Dominion so far. While
this world does seem to have something like a universal language, it's not to
the degree where completely different cultures speak the same dialect. I
assume it's a dialect.
What part of me looks like a fairy? I'm naked and hugging my knees, wet
from head to toe. My hair could be seen as wings, so maybe that's what he's
referring to? Do fairies have head-wings in this world?
"You must be cold. Here, take this." I look up to see that the boy is holding
out his coat towards me. Oh, what a nice kid.
I'm not really cold though, so I shake my head.
"But you're... n-naked." Now he's bothering me. I just want to sleep.
I look at him in silence. He's blond and has blue eyes. Everything about
him seems human, even though I can't tell with absolute certainty due to his
thick clothes. Still, a demon wouldn't ask what I am, since there are all kinds
of appearances. It practically confirms my suspicion that this isn't the
Dominion anymore.
He seems entranced by my appearance, and I hear him swallow as his eyes
swim all across my body, not knowing where to look. If only you knew my
real appearance, you'd run away screaming, kiddo.
Putting my head on my knees, I ignore him. I'm too tired to start a
conversation now. He continues to stand around, unsure of what to do, but
soon I hear his footsteps as he rounds the tree and sits down on the other side
again. Good, I'll have my peace now.
I wake up to the sound of birds. The first thing I notice is that a small coat
is covering my shoulders. Somehow, I didn't notice that the boy apparently
gathered his courage again sometime later and snuck over to place it on me
while I was asleep.
When I look around, the sheep are still there. It seems I didn't sleep for
very long, as the sun still hasn't risen over the horizon, yet. I get up and walk
around the tree, to find that the shepherd boy is asleep in the spot I first
encountered him in, his hat pulled deeply into his face. His undercoat is most likely too thin for this weather, but he still chose to be a gentleman.
That's quite commendable.
I cover him with his coat and quickly take my leave, hoping that I didn't
wake him up. Hopefully, it'll somehow make him think I was literally just a
wet dream.
Choosing to walk in the direction of the sun, where its first rays are
peeking over the horizon, I pass over the ridge of a hill and change my shape
into that of a vularen.
I would only learn much later that the shepherd boy must have been awake
and seen my transformation, as a legend formed around this encounter. A
beautiful naked woman visits a lonely shepherd and spends the night with
him, then runs away just before dawn and transforms into a wolf in the
sunlight.
Nothing of the sort of 'spending a night together' - in the sexual meaning
it's most likely intended to sound like - happened, though!
I messed up!
I should have asked the shepherd boy for directions to the nearest town or
something. He couldn't have been that far away from a human habitat in the
first place, even if it's only a farm. But I already walked quite a bit and was
swept away by a river for a pretty long distance. I'm not a bad swimmer, but I
underestimated how strong the current was.
Thus, I don't even know the way back to that tree under which I met him.
Also, he most likely already left, now that the sun is on the rise.
Well, I'll just enjoy the adventure into the unknown then. It's not like this
could turn out badly or anything, right?
No, wait! I take it back! Everything can turn worse, and when you're too
optimistic, that's when fate strikes you even harder. I can only hope that I'm
not going deeper into untouched nature and the wilderness where I'll get lost
for the next decade.
And it seems that I'm getting a lucky break. When I get to the top of a hill,
I spot a village in the distance. No walls, only one street, a collection of a few
houses. People are working in the golden wheat fields, harvesting the
bountiful crops. They look like regular humans, all with hair in shades of
blond and light brown.
I color my hair blond and grow it out to around shoulder-length. Then I turn my irises blue - or at least I will them to become blue, even though I'm
not sure whether it actually happens or not, since I have no mirror. This way I
should look more like a human from this country.
As for clothing, I can only wrap myself into the tent sheets from inside my
backpack. There's a sewing kit in the backpack, but I can't sew at all, so it's
not really useful.
I think about it for a moment, before deciding to give it a try. It should be
better than going in basically naked.
"Look at that girl; she's in rags."
"Did something happen to her? Those clothes look like she was attacked..."
I can hear you, you know. Your pitiful gazes and words of suspicion hurt
my heart. Even though it looks like this, I tried my best!
"Hey, are you alright?" A handsome young man with light brown hair and
blue eyes approaches me with a concerned expression. I almost do a doubletake when I find that he looks just like the stereotypical protagonist of a
fantasy anime.
"I'm... fine..." I can't even bring myself to talk straight since I have to
suppress the urge to laugh about his appearance.
Wait, this is my chance to get information about this place. In fact, if I play
on my vulnerability and female charm, I should be able to get men to do all
kinds of things for me.
Ah, this thought wouldn't even have crossed my mind before, but it came to
me so naturally just now. Is this the effect of this body on my mind? It
certainly wasn't Maou-mama's training, that's for sure.
"You don't look fine to me. Your clothes are completely ragged, and you're
barefoot. Were you robbed?" He looks me up and down.
Leave me alone about my outfit already! And I've been barefoot for a
pretty long time now. There's nothing wrong with that.
But he just gave me a story that I can run with. Alright, I'll play the damsel
in distress and act like I've been robbed of everything, including the clothes
on my body.
"I... was attacked by bandits... I managed to escape my captors... during the
night." I try to put some despair in my voice, though I don't think I'm a good
actress.
"I see, you poor thing... My name is Rolan Helt. Come with me. I'll give you a warm meal and some clothes at least." Showing a thoughtful
expression, he extends his hand towards me and smiles in a naturally
charming and reassuring manner.
Success!