Chapter 55: The normal one

-Nera-

I didn't think that Irvan would lose. I guess that there were just way too many enemies. But taking a look around I can see that most of them have already been defeated, now that Luna is here, there's no way they can win.

"Who are you!?"

'Shadow bind'

As expected, she just restrained over a dozen demons in an instant. Her lack of common sense can be a bit frustrating sometimes, but she's very dependable when things start to get dangerous. As long as she's here, I know that we'll be safe.

"Nera, where's the demon lord you were talking about?"

"I don't know, he should be somewhere around here..."

Before I can start looking for him, the demon lord steps forward himself.

"Bwahaha! Come out you stupid fairies! I don't know how you got such a strong dragon to help you, but now it's time for your punishment."

Hehehe, I checked his level earlier, it's only 148, Luna could probably beat him just by glaring at him.

How can he even be a demon lord with such a low level? Kalroth has probably been trying to give the demon lord title to as many of his underlings as possible in order to become a demon king. There's no way that this guy could have done it without help.

Even his appearance is ridiculous. He's wearing a tacky colorful outfit that looks even worse on top of his fat belly. His face is very pale, almost white, contrasting with his large reddish nose. And his unnatural blue hair is all messy.

"Alright, Luna. Just beat that guy and let's not waste any more time."

"..."

"Luna? Is something wrong?"

"S-stay away! Don't come any closer!"

"Eh? What are you...?"

"Eeeeeek!"

"Luna!? Where are you going!?"

She ran away! Why is she running away!?

"Oh, I forgot about that. Luna is afraid of clowns."

Arana is standing right next to me all of a sudden. I didn't see her approach, was she here the whole time?

"What do you mean 'afraid of clowns'?"

"You just saw it, just seeing a clown makes her go into a panic."

"You cannot be serious."

"It was long before I met her, but apparently, she read some horror story about an evil clown when she was little and it left her traumatized. There are some things that you should not give to a child you know."

"Then why didn't you say anything earlier!? You saw the clown when he introduced himself!"

"I told you I forgot! This is not something that comes up very often."

"Hey! You two! Who are you calling a clown!?"

Ah! He heard us and got angry. Wait, does that mean that his appearance is not intentional!?

"Obviously you. The fact that Luna was afraid definitively proves that you are a clown."

"Arana..."

"I once tried to dress myself as a clown to pull a prank on Luna, but it didn't work. You need to be a true clown both outside and inside to make her run away like that."

"Uh... are you sure that you should be antagonizing him right now?"

"Are you making fun of me!?"

"Yes."

"You... you really must have a death wish."

He's getting really pissed... Irvan and the fairies are in no condition to fight, and Luna is not here. Isn't this situation really dangerous?

"So, are you going to kill me, mister clown?"

"Stop calling me that! I am a demon lord! My name is Bonzo!"

"Even his name is a clown name..."

"Nera, you said that out loud."

"Oops."

The clown lord takes out a gigantic hammer from I don't know where and he charges straight... AT ME!?

Why!? Arana insulted him a lot more!

"Princes Neraaa!"

Fortunately, his attack is intercepted just in time by...

"Mari!? How!?"

She just jumped in and blocked the attack with something that resembles a giant kitchen knife, since when is she able to do something like that?

"Hehehe, Nera, did you not check your maid's level? It's 122."

"What!? How did you become so strong!? And when!?"

That level is almost high enough to be an elite knight, but Mari is supposed to be just a maid. I don't think I've ever heard of her training or fighting anything.

"It was because of you, princess Nera."

"Because of me?"

"Yes! You always seem to keep getting into danger and I wanted to be able to protect you. So my loyalty made me stronger!"

"That's not an explanation!"

"Hey! don't ignore me!"

Bonzo the clown continues to attack with his hammer, but Mari is able to keep up with him. Still, it looks like she'll end up losing in the long run.

"Well then allow me to explain, you might not be aware of this, but that maid of yours is more than just a regular maid."

"Arana? What are you trying to say?"

Could it be that Mari has been keeping some secret from me all this time?

"She's not just a maid, she is... a battle maid!"

"That's not an explanation either! And what is a battle maid anyway!?"

"Still, it looks like she might need some help. I think that I'll boost her speed stat."

'Speed surge'

After being hit with Arana's spell, Mari's body becomes wrapped in red light and her movements become faster.

"Ah! I feel great! Hahaha! Bring it on you ugly clown!"

Now Mari is going on the offensive while laughing like a maniac. I had never seen that side of her before... am I the only normal person in this group?

"Well, if you excuse me, I need to take care of the rest of the enemies."

It seems like the other demons are being kept at bay by a small army of giant spiders.

But really, I am a princess you know, you'd think that if anything I would be the one lacking in common sense. After all, I have been treated as someone special ever since I was born, my life and the education I've received have been different from most people, and I've never had much contact with the common folk.

So why am I the most down to earth person in this group!?

Huh... there's nothing I can do to contribute to the fight... Mari and Arana seem to have the advantage right now, but there's still a chance that they might lose. But I cannot think of anything I can do to help, everyone is so strong except me, I guess being 'the normal one' also means being 'the useless one'...

No, it's not just their strength. Luna also has her healing and a lot of useful spells like her storage, Arana and Ranna have a lot of knowledge and can use some really unique magic, Irvan is a great means of transport and Mari is the best maid I've ever seen. I really am the useless one...

"Roll... roll... roll..."

There's a strange white ball rolling towards me. Oh, wait, that's Ranna. For some reason, she's saying 'roll' while rolling.

"Excuse me. I know what you are thinking, just so you know, there is a way that you can help them win the fight."

"Really!? What way!?"

"You can release me so that I can fight as well. I would really appreciate that."

"Oh, that's what you meant..."

"I'm sure that if I join them we'll be able to win quite easily."

"That's not the problem. Weren't you on the side of those guys until just recently? How do I know that you won't help them instead?"

"I'm sorry about that. But I had a talk with my sister and I'm on your side now, just ask her."

I guess I can give her a shout...

"Hey! Arana! Is it ok if I free your sister!?"

"Eh? Oh! Sure! That will probably be fine!"

What does she mean 'probably'...

"See?"

"Wait, I just remembered that I don't completely trust Arana either."

"That's a bit sad. You need to learn how to trust people."

"I don't have any problems trusting people! I have problems trusting you!"

I just noticed that she's actually upside down inside the ball... I think I'll just ignore that.

"I'm a lot more trustworthy than you think, betraying the group I'm currently with is something that goes against my nature."

"You nature?"

"Yeah, I'm the witch of water, which means that my personality is the correct one for the water element. Water mana is influenced the most by the will to 'go with the flow and not fight back against the current', that's why the world relic of water has the power of making unavoidable prophecies. And it's also the reason why I didn't go against my sisters before and why I won't go against Arana or you now."

Well, that does seem to fit with that I've seen of her...

"To sum up, I'm basically a doormat."

"Don't say that as if it's something to be proud of!"

Whatever, it's not like she's in a position to betray me, after all, Luna is looking at us from behind a tree not too far away, I wonder if she thinks that I didn't see her. But I know that I can trust her, even if she's afraid of the clown there's no way she won't come if it looks like I'm in danger.

Those strings were apparently able to seal Ranna's magic, but they're rather easy to cut with my knife. And now Ranna is free once again.

"I'm back."

"Why are you sitting on the ground?"

"Give me a moment please, I need to remember how to walk..."

forli

As I mentioned in the description of this story, English is not my first language, so now that I've written quite a bit, I want to ask you about how good you think my English is. Just ignore the content of the story and choose an option based on grammar and style.