We soon return to the tavern and prepare to have a lavish dinner in
celebration of the successful raid and the two dark elves' reunion. Gram
instantly orders massive jugs of ale for to start the evening off.
During dinner, Rolan chats me up in regards to the room distribution of our
party. After all, since it's clear that Lady Nightwane - as he still calls her -
and Kamii are both staying together no matter what, and the latter is never
leaving my side, it'll be difficult. Apparently, there are no rooms with three
beds in this inn.
"Don't worry about it. Kamii will sleep in bed with me." The girl in
question is leaning against me, while I pet her head. Daica is sitting next to
her and has been unexpectedly quiet after everything that happened. One
would think that the two sisters should have a lot to talk about, but the
younger one is brooding over something, while the older one seems to be
content with leaning on me silently.
It's not like she lost her apprehension before strangers and her cursed arm
hasn't miraculously reverted to a normal one. People still give her looks of
fear and sometimes even hostility, so she prefers to remain close to me.
During the meal, I help Kamii with cutting things up so that she can eat
with just a fork. From her initial response of resorting to using her still dirty
hands, I can imagine that while they kept her in that cage, she was made to
eat like an animal. I'll make sure to give her ample time to return to a human -
or dark elf - life.
I should have given her a bath before dinner, though. Nobody mentioned it
since people in this world don't seem to be as conscious about cleanliness as
I'm used to in modern society. I'll make sure to give her a good scrubbing
before we head to bed.
Since everybody is exhausted after this long day, we don't linger after
dinner and retreat to our rooms. Even Rolan and Luna don't seem like they
would go at it tonight, but you never know.
Daica has always been quite shy, and I think she's simply embarrassed over
her earlier breakdown in front of everyone. She has her gaze lowered as we walk up the stairs and enter our room, and even when inside, she still doesn't
say a word. Maybe she's in shock over the fact that her long search has come
to a close so quickly.
When we get back to the room, I place Senka on her usual chair, before
heading into the bathroom with Kamii. Maybe Daica and the doll girl will
hold a conversation, but I'll focus on the little dark elf.
Once again, I'm reminded of the fact that this city seems to have a much
higher technological standard than the surrounding villages. There's running
hot water, which may come from some kind of magical technology. While
the comfort is nowhere near the same level as that of the demon castle, it's
still good enough for me, who grew up in a modern world.
Taking off the little dark elf's clothes, I look her up and down once more.
Her proportions are those of a girl still in the process of maturing, with a
small but noticeable chest, a narrowing waist, and shapely buttocks that can't
be found in children. According to Luna, what I see before me is a fully
grown member of her race.
Of course, she can still fill out a bit when she gets to eat properly from now
on, but there won't be many more changes to her physique. Basically, she
won't grow up to become like Daica, who only turned out that way because of
her curse. Not like I have anything to complain about her body, though.
Variety is the spice of life, after all.
I open the faucet and let in hot water, so that I can give her the bath she so
needs. It's not that she smells, but I feel my skin crawling when I see the dirt
on her body. I'm not a clean-freak, or I wouldn't have been able to do outdoor
sports, but this is beyond my tolerance level.
Starting on Kamii's hair, which the slavers have been keeping short, I pour
warm water over her head and use a wooden brush to straighten the strands.
As the dirt is washed away, the color of the starry night sky is revealed
underneath, just like Daica's hair.
Then I move on to Kamii's body, which I scrub with a wet towel. The cuts
and bruises from the slavers' lashings have already been healed, so when the
grime disappears, mauve purple skin surfaces. If she were a human, I would
think that she looks like a younger Daica - even if the latter is the younger
sister.
Once she's mostly cleaned up, I let her settle down in the bathtub first,
before washing down myself and joining her. The tub that's barely big enough to hold us both, but I want to share this moment with her.
Soaking in the water, I feel the warmth seep into my limbs. Even though
this body never tires, I guess I was quite stressed over everything that
happened today. Hugging the little dark elf from behind, I sigh in satisfaction
and recharge my mental energy.
After our bath, Daica takes hers, before we all directly go to sleep. Kamii
and I share my bed together, while Daica is lying in hers from last night. It's
quite cramped, even with the two of us spooning; her cursed arm is really big,
and she has to place it away from us because of the spikes.
"Good night, Kamii." I whisper into her long ear and squeeze her a little.
She makes a content sound at the sensation and nuzzles into me with her
back.
I look across the room and find that Daica is staring at us with a strange
expression. It's a mix of envy and restlessness. I'm sure she wanted to be in
my position after being reunited with her older sister after such a long time.
But at the same time, I can feel that she wouldn't mind being in Kamii's
position, either.
Maybe she's thinking about the fact that she has to fulfill her part of the
contract now since I fulfilled mine. I helped her find her important person
again, even though it happened without me even trying. In reality, it was a
chance meeting, but more than one good thing came out of it.
Hmm, I don't feel sleepy at all. Daica's rhythmic breathing and her large
heaving chest tell me that she has fallen asleep soon after I put out the candle.
She must have been really exhausted from worrying all day long and crying
after the heartfelt reunion.
Suddenly, I hear a slight creaking noise inside the room, and my eyes are
wide open. I turn my head to look in the direction where it came from and
almost scream at the sight.
Senka is sitting on her chair like a puppet with its strings cut, eyes wide
open, staring right at me.
Stop it, that's not creepy-cute, but just creepy! Is that resentment in your
gaze? Do you hold a grudge against me for not letting you sleep on the bed as
well? But it's already quite cramped with the two of us. I'm sorry, please don't
curse me!
"Senka, can't you at least close your eyes?" I hiss in her direction. She
doesn't react. Damn you, you're actually mad about me leaving you out in the
cold, aren't you? "Please, I can't sleep, if you stare like that..."
I'm sure she's laughing at me on the inside, about how I'm scared of her,
while my real appearance can literally cause people to die from fear. But I'm
still not good with her kind of horror, especially under these lighting
conditions.
Kamii stirs, and I look down to find that she has turned her head to stare at
me questioningly. Her mesmerizing amethyst eyes glow even more in the
dark and give her an otherworldly appearance. I hug her and kiss her hair,
smelling the scented soap we used in the bath earlier. It has a calming effect,
and I feel myself growing sleepy from the tranquility of this situation.
I'll have to teach her about Senka sometime, soon. She doesn't feel any
aversion in regards to her appearance, but it may still come as a shock to
learn that she's able to move and speak.
"It's nothing. Sleep, my dear." I pet her hair and give her another kiss, this
time on the forehead, upon which she closes her eyes in enjoyment. It's really
strange, but I feel myself hoping for her happiness from the depths of my
heart.
Soon, her features relax and I can hear her breathing slow down. It means
that she's feeling safe enough in my embrace to fall asleep like this. I must
have been able to transmit my emotions to her well enough that she would
begin to trust me completely almost right away. I had expected that she
would never trust anyone ever again, but she seems to have quite the
childlike personality, so maybe it's easier for her to see through someone's
motivations instinctively.
Well, I believe my motivations are pure, so everything is alright.
I must have fallen asleep while in thought. When I wake up, I find that the
room is basked in the twilight of dawn. Must be my usual sleeping rhythm
that caused me to wake up at such an hour. I turn my head to look around the
room.
Damn it, Senka! You're still staring at me like that!
Raising myself up a little, I notice that Kamii has turned over in her sleep
and is holding her right arm behind her in an awkward position. It doesn't
look very comfortable, but she did it so it wouldn't bother me. What a sweet girl. I lightly touch her hair, and she stirs a bit but doesn't wake up. This is
giving me a fuzzy feeling.
Sitting up fully, I begin to recall everything I experienced in my short new
life in this world so far.
I apparently died in my previous life and was reincarnated into this fantasy
world. Not as a human, but as a so-called 'Cosmic Horror', according to
Senka. I'm the daughter of the demon queen, who has quite the
straightforward personality and sometimes shows a ditzy side unbefitting of a
monarch.
The day I woke up, that demon queen, whom I call 'Maou-mama' now,
gave me a human's variously prepared body parts for breakfast. When I ate it,
I actually enjoyed the taste.
Maou-mama accidentally sent me to a dangerous place called Yagrath, the
Dark Continent, where monsters are incredibly deadly even by demon
standards. She came a while later to save me and brought me back to the
demon castle.
We then went to meet a humanoid crocodile by the name of Nilotec, who
runs the Blood Pits of Rodens, a collection of arenas where humans are made
to fight demons for sport and training. There, my resolve to kill humans was
tested, and I learned just how heartless they can be.
In the following weeks of training, I lost any signs of hesitation when
slaughtering those who try to attack me. I haven't become entirely heartless
though, and would still try to talk things over first, if possible. Only that it
wasn't possible in all those cases I experienced, where the humans came at
me with pure hatred and killing intent.
Three weeks later, and just seven days ago, I was sent to some random
place in the world, and ended up in this human nation called the Kingdom of
Lares. The first night it rained, and I took shelter under a tree, sleeping there
while naked and surrounded by colorful sheep.
The morning after, I met Rolan and his party, among a collection of houses
called the village of Birkas. I went along with his party on an extermination
quest to see how strong human adventurers are, as opposed to drafted peasant
soldiers. They're all quite weak, except for Luna's magic.
Five days ago, I left the village with them, and after traveling for two days,
we reached this city called Hovsgaerden. After we had a great meal at a
tavern called the Dancing Dragon that night - the one we stay in even now the bard acted like an actual bard and related a story about the city's
legendary lord from a long time ago.
The day before, I went shopping with Gram and learned that he's quite the
gentleman. He bought me a delicious puff pastry called Rjoma. In the
afternoon, I joined Luna on her shopping trip, and we visited a strange store
owned by a dark elf called Lady Nightwane. That trip was cut short when
three kidnappers attacked us there, and I learned about the fact that illegal
slavery exists in this nation.
Luna was put to sleep in a single punch, and in the ensuing one-sided
slaughter I found out that my appearance alone can give weak-willed humans
heart attacks.
In that store, I also met a cursed doll-like girl who seems to have come
from a different world just like I have. She even has a Japanese name:
Ootsuki Senka. I bought her from the store owner with the money swiped
from the three kidnappers I ate.
Said store owner, Lady Nightwane, has a bombshell figure, which turned
out to fall within my - admittedly quite broad - strike range. And that same
evening, I made a promise with her to find the person she was desperately
looking for, in exchange for her becoming mine unconditionally, without
specifying what exactly that means.
Just yesterday, I helped in a raid on an underground slave trade ring and
freed a cursed dark elf child called Kamii. She has a huge crab pincer in place
of her right forearm, and cuteness that equally falls into my strike range.
And she also happened to be Lady Nightwane's older sister, who had been
trying to find the former for the past eleven years. They met in a tearful
reunion that affected even me, despite my current mentally quite cold and
calculating condition.
So many things happened within just one month since my reincarnation
into this world.
That was a more eventful month than I can say about the last year in my
previous life. Honestly speaking, I'm not necessarily as grateful for this
experience as it may sound, but if I had to choose between nothingness after
death and this... then yeah, I'm grateful for this experience.
I had to fear for my life, and I'm still not completely out of the woods as
long as I don't have a full picture of the strength of humans, but this new life
is fascinating. I'm meeting interesting people and all kinds of fantasy beings, and I'm living an adventure - although it's different from how I would have
liked it to be since I'm not a human.
"Creepy smile." I hear Senka whisper. Am I smiling? And damn you for
pointing it out like that!
"I really don't know where all this will lead me to, but I think I like it here."
I say to nobody in particular. Yes, even while surrounded by people who
would turn hostile against me, if they knew what I really am, I'm feeling quite
content with life.
"You're quite lucky with what you ended up as. Imagine if you had been a
completely powerless human. Or if you only had the power to return to a
seemingly arbitrarily set save point whenever you died. As a simple high
school girl, you would have faced despair a lot." Senka rains on my parade.
I'm fully aware of how lucky I am. While the second scenario is weirdly
specific and I don't know what she's referencing with it, I've already imagined
the first scenario. If I had been reincarnated as a powerless and talentless
human in a world filled with magic and monsters, I don't know what would
have happened. I might even have died as a baby, because in a world without
medical technology, infant mortality is very high.
And I most definitely wouldn't have been able to meet this creepy-cute
doll, or Daica and Kamii.
"But that's not what happened." Ifs, would haves, none of those matter.
Only the present is of importance. I'm a powerful being, I have incredible
talent in magic, and I seem to be quite lucky most of the time.
"Yes, it's not what happened... Just don't become too optimistic. Reality
likes to slap overly optimistic people in the face when they least expect it."
With a creaking shrug, Senka brings me back down to earth. It sounds like
she's speaking from experience.
I understand. I understood ever since I was sent to Yagrath that one time.
Something wholly unknown and far beyond my abilities could spell my end
anywhere, anytime. That's why I'm remaining quite careful while among the
humans so that I can live a modestly exciting but long life. That way, I may
even be able to do something to change this world for the better.
Who knows, maybe there's a way to reconcile humans and demons? Well,
if push comes to shove, I'll unhesitatingly side with the demons, that's for
sure. After all, I'm one myself.
"I know. I'll just give it my all and live in this world the way I want to." Shrugging, I state the obvious.
"Mahkotoh?" Kamii seems to have been woken up by our conversation.
When she opens her eyes and doesn't see me right in front of her, she quickly
leaps up in a panic. Realizing that I'm sitting on the bed beside her, the
tension leaves her body, and she throws her arms around me in a tight hug.
I almost dodged when I saw that she was using her giant crab arm without
thinking, but that would have broken her heart. The inside of the pincer is
smooth, so I won't get skewered - not like it would hurt me if I did.
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." I pet her hair. I don't mind Kamii
finding out about Senka since I can ask her to keep it a secret. Though I guess
I should do it when she's not still half-asleep. Her eyes are falling shut as she
nuzzles into my chest, and she begins to slip away into slumber again.
Well, no harm in staying in bed some more. I'll let her rest for as long as
she wants to. We don't have anything planned for today, and I feel like lazing
about for a while longer, now that I reviewed everything I've gone through in
the past month.
The second time, I'm roused by Luna.
"Please wake up, Miss Marcott." She's leaning over me and shaking my
shoulder softly. Apparently, there was something planned after all -
something I wasn't told about, even though I'm an official member of their
party now.
"Just five more minutes..." I mumble on purpose and keep my eyes closed.
I've had a good night's sleep, so this is just messing around with her.
"Come on, wake up. We are having a meeting. Now that you are part of our
group, you should attend." Luna shakes me again, a little more forcefully this
time. I turn to look at the window and see that the shadows are quite short.
It's almost noon already, huh?
Kamii wakes up from me stirring and rubs her eyes with her one good
hand. When I think about it, that must be quite inconvenient. She must have
led a harsh life even outside of being treated as an outcast and a slave. Big sis
is here for you from now on, so you don't have to worry anymore~
Daica is up already and sits on her bed quietly. She's been like this since
last evening when she reunited with Kamii. I'll ask her what's on her mind
later after Luna leaves us so that we can do our morning wash first.
In the end, the big dark elf somehow evaded me, and I didn't find time to
speak to her. I don't even know how she managed to do that, considering it
was just us three - four when including Senka - in the room, for what must
have been at least ten minutes. That would be some serious avoidance skill if
it was intentional.
She doesn't have the most outgoing personality anyway, but her behavior
has taken on a whole new level of depressed. I can't tell what's on her mind,
but I'd prefer to know rather than watch her trying to sort it out on her own.
Though I assume, it has something to do with the fact that Kamii seems to
prefer being with me rather than her sister, whom she hasn't seen in such a
long time.
But I can't ask her now, in case it's something personal and requires time to
talk about. Thus, we make our way downstairs, out the tavern and across the
city square towards the guild hall, in complete silence. I'm feeling a little
awkward, but for now, I'll have to bear it.
When I look at the statue of Gulbrand glistening in the sunlight, my
worries feel like they've been blown away. I'm inspired to do something
adventurer-like today. Let's take a quest for some herbs-gathering or
something like that!
Ugh, I'd rather sit around and do nothing, than take such a cliché beginner
quest.
The party meeting is taking place over brunch. Kamii is on my right side so
that she doesn't bother me with the spikes on her cursed arm, and Senka sits
in my lap like a child - though she's obviously not moving and acting like a
doll. Daica is on my left, picking at her food while deep in thought.
A flower in each hand! All the adventurers' eyes are on the four of us.
Especially the dark elf's huge pincer is the center of attention, with the creepy
doll coming in second, before they finally notice Daica's beauty.
"The request from Sveinn has been voided, so we'll have to look for
something new." Rolan brings up the first point of the party meeting.
"So he was involved with smuggling the slaves after all, huh?" I mutter, but
apparently loud enough for the leader to hear me.
"Yeah, Vigi caught him trying to escape out of the city on his own. He
even went so far as to leave behind his prepared carriages." He explains the
circumstances. In the end, I never even got to see that guy, although I would
assume he looks similar to that Mogens bastard.
"What do you have in mind?" I ask, seeing as I'm sure he already looked at
the request board before we arrived.
"Before that, there's actually something important I want to run by you all."
Rolan looks serious as he addresses the whole party. "I'm thinking of
relocating to the capital soon."
Oh? Now that's what I would call plot development.
"Huh?" Luna blinks in surprise and turns to her sweetheart. "Is this because
of the recommendation to the Royal Academy?"
"That, too. But I'm sure we'll find a lot more work in the capital than we
will here. Then you and Miss Chloe can enroll at the academy." The leader
states with a confident smile. I think that's a pretty good suggestion; I really
want to go to the magic academy and learn how to counter magic. "However,
our funds are quite low right now, and the journey will require plenty of
supplies."
I'm sorry I'm a glutton. Now that Kamii and Daica have joined the party,
there are three freeloaders. I'm going to be doing work with my magic
though, so I shouldn't count myself as a freeloader here.
"Well, Lady Marcott can find employment as a healer at the church." The
bard interjects. I don't know about that, considering I'm a demon and
supposedly spread corruption. Although a saint was unable to notice mine, so
I question the veracity of that claim. "But since Miss Kamii will be hardpressed to find any work, you will have to work for her part, too."
Why does he make it sound like it's something I don't intend on doing
already? As the big sis, I have to carry the weight of the family - even though
both she and her little sister are most likely older than me. It doesn't change
the fact that I feel more mature than either of them.
One question I have in my mind is what Daica can bring to the party.
Considering she's a full-fledged member and not my protégée, I need to
expect something from her. If she can't fight, do healing, or at least collect
information like the bard, she won't be very useful.
Well, I could take care of her expenses, but she would have to pay it off
with her body~
In regards to Kamii, I doubt she has any fighting capabilities despite that
powerful looking cursed arm. Her physical strength is as one would expect
from someone of her petite stature. When she slapped me that time we first
met, it was a pretty weak impact. I found out that it's incredibly light, weighing about the same as her normal arm.
I won't make her pay with her body - I promised that I would take care of
her after all.
"Yes, I intend to see this matter through to the end." I respond to the bard's
quip with a determined expression, as I pet Kamii's hair. Don't feel neglected,
Senka; I'll keep carrying and hugging you, too.
I turn to look at Daica, but she quickly averts her gaze.
"Is it really alright?" Luna sounds concerned. What, you don't believe I can
earn money to support my little sister? "Leaving Hovsgaerden for who knows
how long... are you fine with that?"
Oh, that's what she meant.
"Think of it as the first big step towards our goal of defeating the demon
queen." Rolan pumps his fist. I suppress the urge to punch him on the spot for
talking about killing my mother. "We would have eventually moved to the
capital anyway. We're just going ahead with it a little earlier than planned.
Don't you want to improve your magic as quickly as possible?"
"But what about going on requests?" Luna brings up a legitimate concern.
If we're enrolled at the academy, I doubt we'll have time to leave for days on
end. The subjugation of the wulfar took at least seven days, considering the
journey from the village to Hovsgaerden alone already took three days. I
don't know how the academy functions, but I'm sure they wouldn't allow their
students to miss classes for that long.
"I don't think the capital will have many subjugation quests in the
surrounding areas. We'll mostly explore the Lost Tombs, so that should be
alright." Trying to relieve her concerns, the leader mentions something
interesting in passing. Those 'Lost Tombs' sound a lot like a dungeon. I'd love
to take a look inside a fantasy dungeon. "Don't worry, Runa. We'll be even
stronger after your graduation, and taking down the demon queen should be a
piece of cake."
Oi, I'll seriously kill you, if you don't stop!
"I understand..." Luna finally admits that her sweetheart has been selling
his case really well. So, this means we're going to the capital.
"Big man, Sigurd, you're fine with this, right?" Rolan turns around to the
men of the party. I would have thought that he already asked them, but
apparently, he didn't.
"Of course, I'll follow you wherever it takes you." Gram replies with a grin that lifts his mustache on both sides. That would have sounded quite romantic
if it hadn't been Rolan he was talking to.
"I bet the girls in the capital are really beautiful." The bard smiles while
playing a note on his lute. Die, you enemy of all women!
"What about you, Miss Chloe?" The leader finally turns to me.
"I'm going to follow you, no matter where you go." I recycle the big man's
words and use a tone to make it sound misleading on purpose. Luna stares at
me with big eyes, her mouth flapping open and closed without a tone coming
out. It's always fun watching her acting that way.
"And you, Lady Nightwane?" Turning to Daica, he finally addresses her.
Nobody has noticed that something seems to be on her mind, but now that the
attention is on her, they finally do. "... are you alright, Lady Nightwane?"
"H-huh?" She looks up from picking at her food and blinks. "Ah. I-I'm fine.
Thank you." She doesn't say anything more after that, and everybody
exchanges worried expressions. It seems that right now isn't an opportune
time to ask her.
"Well, it's still a while before we can depart, since we need to stock up on
funds first." Shrugging, Rolan postpones the final decision for another day.