Karakul felt awkward and stiff. As he sat down, he couldn't get comfortable, shifting in his seat, a cold sweat gathering on him. He peeked at the person sitting next to him, feeling pressured. By all appearances, he looked way more nervous than Lily Golt just a while ago.
A waitress approached him and Tom. "Commander Karakul?" she said, immediately recognizing him. "Is everything alright? Mmm, managing the Hero's allied forces must already be complicated enough, but I suppose it's even more of a burden now that the Highness Demon King is here."
She was a species of Ain that had a reptilian head and a bulky body. She had webbing that stretched along the crown of her head, between her fingers, and between her toes, as well as scales that extended down to her longtail. She wore a proper leather skirt, placing a plate full of drinks upon the table.
"Here, to relax… you look like you're going to fall over." Her eyes darted towards Tom. She flicked her tongue, sniffing his scent.
"Oh, a guest!" She nodded. "This is the first time I've smelled a scent like yours! Along with such a unique dress…Mister Karakul's guest, I take it? Please take your time…"
She bowed with a flourish before retreating. Tom watched her go as he sipped his drink."Amazing," he said. "Lizardmen selling drinks…"
"This is a popular pub," Karakul said. "They get fish from the swamp to ferment their drinks."
Tom watched his cup with amazement. It was a frothing drink with liquid as clear as water. It was hard to imagine this was a drink made from swamp water or fermented fish.
"Even their drinks use such a unique method. Humans could never replicate this."
"Demons really have their own way of things." Karakul concurred.
"I see."
As Tom brought his cup to his lips, Karakul peered at him. "What happened with Kelvin?"
"Since he loved gold so much, I turned him into a fancy golden cross." Tom snickered. "I even etched something about 30 years ago to tease Salem. Wouldn't he be surprised? He might even be trembling in fear."
At this, Karakul sighed, his tension relieving somewhat. He took a swig of his drink before speaking again."… How was it meeting Ellin again?"
"She's very lively," said Tom.
"Is that so?" Karakul's face cleared.
"… She gambles away her money and fights every human she meets," Tom added. "It's good that she's so lively, but she makes trouble."
Karakul moaned. "I have no words. Due to her being with the Orcs so often…" he trailed off. Orcs were a dynamic and brash bunch. That being said, their ways seemed to suit Ellin.
Tom watched Karakul for a bit before steering the topic to Hell's battlefront region and the battlefield between the City of Twilight and battle formation of the Hero's Allied forces. There were many corpses littered there, and each of them were headless.
"… What was done to the humans' heads?"
Tom had raised the question, but had suspected of the answer. He had also been a former hero. As they fought against the demons, he had encountered human heads being used as warning by the demons countless times. Karakul answered in a way he expected, but with an unexpected twist.
"I felt that even they should have their dead, so we sent it to them. We had even carefully preserved them in salt to prevent decay…"
"… You sent them the decapitated heads? It's quite harsh as a warning. It must be why the Hero's forces aren't retreating, but rather they should be ready to fight to their death."
"Did we do something wrong…? Did you say warning?"
"…?"
"We have only sent them their heads so that the humans can perform their funeral rites."
This was a tradition of the demons. As the soul wasn't contained in the body, but the mind, they believed the head to be the most important part of the soul. This was why they believed that the flesh was nothing more than the physical shell while the head was the all-important dish containing the soul. As such, the demons burned the body during their funerals while the heads were carefully buried into the ground. This was their religion, tradition, and culture. It was from a completely different perspective from humans.
Tom pinched his brow. "…This is enough for humans to misunderstand." The forces that received the heads would likely believe it to be a show of dominance, as Tom once did. For the humans, sending the enemy the heads of their dead was seen as cruel.
This was an example of the chasm that stood between humans and demons. Their appearance, religion, faith, culture, tradition, and perspectives were completely different. Time had expanded the rift behind their differences, and that rift had brought about war. There were now hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years that turned the familiar into the 'natural'. In areas where the two sides never tried to understand each other, these misunderstandings lead to continued conflict.'The humans must be furious.'
Tom looked at Karakul before speaking again."I saw that the Demon King, Lily Golt, had also come. How did that happen?"
Karakul appeared confused. "I'm… not sure about that exactly," he said. Someone like the Demon King personally attending was out of place. "I will need to formally meet her first, then hear her story. From what I've heard so far, it appears that she received some letter, but I have yet to receive a report about the exact reasons."
"Ah… well. It was nice to have seen her after so long, personally," Tom said. "It has been, what, nearly 30 years now?" He watched the streets where Lily had passed through. Since she had disappeared, it was now an ordinary street. Still, Tom couldn't take his eyes away from where she stood, her image seeming to linger.
Karakul watched Tom's expression."…You've changed since your last form."
"Well, I guess you could call it the tendencies from when I was a human… It was a lot different since I had become the vassal of Arrtark. I had noticed many points as well," Tom said. "In truth, I feel the best when I'm in this form."
Karakul and Tom spoke a bit longer before Karakul rose from his seat. He wished to share more stories, but he couldn't leave his position empty for long. As an apostle serving the Demon King, Karakul had to personally greet her. "Well, then… I will report anything regarding Salem if I receive any more information."
"Okay," Tom nodded.
Karakul bowed. He made to leave when he paused and turned back to Tom. "Actually, do you have a place to say?"
"Mm? Ah, Well… it looked like this bar served as an inn as well. I was thinking whether I should just stay here," Tom said." As far as I can tell, the economy might be different, but It looks like they use the same gold, silver, and bronze coins as humans…"
"… Do you perhaps have any thoughts of staying at our camp?"
"Is that so?" Karakul mused. "I understand. I thought you'd like to see the Highness again, even if from a distance…"
Tom instinctively turned to look at Karakul, his eyes betrayed both doubt and desire. Karakul chuckled bitterly to himself. "… Would you like to come?"
***