- Okay, now for the record. What happened here? - A man asked.
- An unknown male came in, wanted to register with the guild, but ended up killing an employee. - Sophia said.
- Yeah, okay. Did you see his face? Or were you able to at least see distinguishing features? - The man asked.
- When I ran out, I could see him walking away with a somewhat well-fed man. He had black hair, but some strands were dyed red, perhaps I saw then the blood of Catherine, the murdered employee. He had a rather aristocratic outfit and was holding a bloody sword. - Fiona testified.
- Yeah, okay. We'll be able to pick up that form he left behind, won't we? - the man asked.
- Yes, of course! - Sofia replied.
- Okay, thank you. - said the man tiredly.
The Adventurer's Guild called law enforcement to catch their friend's killer.
- Uh-huh... Goodbye. - The tall man in light armor said and left.
The girlfriends stood there with droopy faces, their friend had been killed today.
The girls sighed and left for the staff room.
***
Arthur fell asleep and woke up a few hours later. There was a sleeping girl sitting on a chair beside him, she looked very much like a human, but she had elongated ears.
- Wait... An elf! - Arthur shrieked, causing the girl to wake up.
Realizing that she had fallen asleep, she was a little embarrassed and got up from her chair:
- You're finally awake, Mr. Hero! - she exclaimed.
You could feel the fake intonation in her voice.
- An elf...? - Arthur asked perplexed.
- Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I am Syl Batray, as you said elf. - said the girl and smiled.
- Uh... I'm Arthur Pyro... Arthur Fresco, yes. - he said.
- Nice to meet you, Arthur Fresco. Then let me bring you up to speed. You have been summoned to help-- - before she could finish, Arthur interrupted her.
- Yes, yes, I know everything, I need to defeat the evil Demon King! - he said and stood in a proud stance.
Hearing this, Syl started to freak out, but tried not to show it:
- What are you talking about, Mr. Arthur Fresco. I don't know what you're thinking, but humans in our world are evil beings who exterminate everything living in their path, which is why we, all non-human races had to unite into one. So it's a bit common for me, because if it wasn't for the Great Demon King, all the elves were exterminated or taken into slavery.... - she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Arthur, hearing this, was a little embarrassed:
- Are the people here so bad? Why touch such pretty elves? - he thought. But said: - What?
Syl almost burst into tears. Arthur ran up to her and apologized.
- Syl, I'm sorry, I didn't realize.
- Mr. Arthur Fresco, it's okay, I understand. - she said and wiped away her tears.
- So, since I've been summoned by what I understand to be demons, then... what should I do? I can only imagine everything from the side of humans, but not demons.
- And that's something I'd have to take to our Great Demon King. To be honest, I've only seen him a couple of times, and that's just a glimpse, even though I'm a servant in the castle, so it's a great honor!
- Alright, alright. Then can you take me to him? - Arthur asked.
- Yes, of course. - Syl replied.
The elf took the hero by the hand and they walked towards the throne room where the Demon King was.
They walked by different forks of the road. The castle was incredibly huge. Finally, they reached the central staircase, from which it was easy to reach anywhere in the castle. It took them 30 minutes to walk from the room to the central staircase, and only five minutes from the central staircase to the throne room, though the distance was about the same. When they got to the huge door, Arthur tried to open it, but couldn't, it was very heavy.
- What are you doing? First you have to knock! - she said and knocked on the door.
- Come in. - said from inside.
Arthur and Syl's heartbeat increased. Syl opened the door with ease and whispered in Arthur's ear:
- "Good luck, Mr. Arthur. - She said, nudged the boy and closed the door.
The Demon King looked up at Arthur and said:
- Who are you? I don't remember you in the castle. - His voice was majestic and loud.
- I-I-I-excuse me... I-I-I-I-I-I'm Arthur Fresco, I've been summoned as a hero to help the demons.
Hearing that, the Demon King calmed down:
- Ahh, so it's you. Good, then let me tell you a story that has been going on for thousands of years.
*
About 2500 years ago, an ancestor of the current Demon King came to these lands and began to settle them, and so the Principality of Brule appeared. Around him, other principalities began to appear, but with other races: elves, humans, dwarves, mermaids, goblins, orcs and ogres, vampires.
Relations between humans and demons have always been tense, as the Church of the Goddess of Men considered humans to be the dominant race. Humans were known for their insolence, and this was disliked by the other races. They often provoked conflicts, but once invaded the territory of the goblins. As a result, the entire race was wiped out in just a few decades. The humans demonstrated their strength, and this led to mutual defense agreements.
In 1345 on the demonic calendar, the ancestor of the current Demon King, whose name was Akrath, died. His three sons could not agree, causing a civil war to break out, which was won by Orbo. His reign was a bloodbath, for at his hands died about 450 thousand inhabitants of the principality of Brule. Orbo was suspicious and trusted no one, fearing that he would be overthrown.
In the meantime, the principality of people was fragmented into 10 parts because of internecine wars. And also at about the same time magic began to emerge. First it was awakened by demons, some people, wanting to get magic, came to the demons and begged them to grant them a drop of magic power. But when they returned home to the principality of people, they were not considered useful to society, they were labeled witches and hunted. Because of this, there are very few witches now, and they hide in the forests.
In the year 3000 on the demonic calendar, all the fertile lands were taken by humans, and all other races huddled on the peninsula. And only 87 years later, humans attacked them all, and in order to survive, all non-human races had to unite into one huge state, which although weaker than human empires, could fight at least a few of them, because now people are not united and are in a fragmented state.
*
- And thus the story comes to our time. We are the non-human, demonic races just want peace for ourselves, will you, hero, help us?
The Demon King told the story of peace for a couple hours. Arthur cried like a girl and replied:
- Of course I will help!
A faint smile appeared on the Demon King's face.
- Thank you, Arthur Fresco. - Demon King said.
The man went to the door and opened it, he still had a lot of work to do, and Arthur needs to start practicing, because now he is very weak that you can not even open his door.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Syl ran up to it and seeing Arthur who had reddened eyes, she realized that he had been crying recently.
Arthur walked out of the throne room, approached Syl and stated:
- I will help you, for I am the hero of the non-human races!