CH 146

“Hey Master”

“………………….”

“Hey, Master”

“………………….”

“Heeey~, Master”

“Going hey, hey, Berunal, you, just where are you sitting right now?”

“On top of Master’s lap obviously.”

Berunal replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And it made the Demon Lord sigh deeply.

After the last event in Warren, the Demon Lord took Berunal into his custody when she had become so drunk she had become blue in the face. But before leaving, Margherita had put him completely on edge, so when the two of them had made it back to the castle, he immediately took Berunal to bed.

Drunk and clad in black lingerie, Berunal was beautiful, cute, charming, and lacking any form of judgement. Sadism sprouted in the Demon Lord’s heart.

The Demon Lord was caught in sweet and gritty desire, thinking once again about what it would be like to trample over Berunal. And so whispering, “I’ll kill you,” into her ear, the Demon Lord ripped off her underwear. Berunal fell into an abyss of pleasure, the night echoing with her moans.

And then starting the following morning, she had become even more strange.

Her new favorite phrase had become, “Let’s play,” “Let’s go play somewhere”.

As you’d expect, the Demon Lord was starting to get a little worried.

“So Berunal, you, you’re properly managing the army right?”

“I commanded all the demons to keep searching for your claws and plunder more ril. So, I want to go to Warren. Master, please put in a reservation with Margherita as soon as possible. If you aren’t going to make a reservation, then hurry up and embrace me. Afterwards, please buy me some new clothes.”

And, this was how she always sounded. It seems like she was still doing her work, but she had grown strangely attached to the Demon Lord. Yes, entirely like a sweetheart. However she didn’t care in the slightest that the Demon Lord was still going over to Margherita’s place. Just the opposite, she was rushing him to make reservations as quickly and often as possible.

“Yes, I’ll go to make a reservation soon.”

“Master, please take me along as well.”

“Ah, fine. We’ll go there to buy replacement clothes for the ones I ruined the other day at that time.”

“I’m so happy. I love you Master”

With all that said, the two of them used the magic spell {Skyliner} to head towards Warren.

“Gray, breakfast is ready,” a sweet voice whispered into the Hero’s ear.

This was the outskirts of Warren. A recently emerging residential area lined with remodeled apartments. The Hero welcomed a new morning inside a tiny room.

Somehow the three idiots had been appointed to new roles inside Skycastle’s royal palace. This meant the Brave Party could dissolve without any type of penalty fee having to be paid and allowed the three remaining members–the Hero Gray, the thief Gise, and the magician Marionetta–to continue their activities.

By royal decree they were to annihilate the Demon Lord’s army. In preparation for that, the party was travelling to all of the upper-level labyrinths in search for the ‘Decisive Anti-Demon Lord Item’ that had been revealed to them through a revelation from God. With the three idiots in tow, clearing one of these labyrinths took several days, but now that it was just the three of them, they could run through one in just a day. The thief cancels out the traps, the Hero mows down the monsters, and the magician restores the thief’s stamina. The magician then appraises any tools obtained after returning from the labyrinth. Any necessary equipment is kept, rare items are sent back to the Royal Palace, and all the rest are sold off for extra operating funds. This was how the thief and magician became properly equipped. However the decisive item never appeared.

But the three of them were fulfilled.

When their explorations were finished, they would use the Hero’s magic {Leap City} to return to Skycastle. Once there, they would report the day’s activities to a clerk and hand over the rare items. After that it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to Warren. The group of three would break in two. The Hero and the magician would head to the magician’s small apartment, and the thief would rent out a room from a hotel he had come to favor in the city’s downtown area. It had been decided that this particular day would be a holiday.

“Marionetta, morning.”

The Hero Gray felt blessed. Waking up and seeing the smiling face of a beautiful women who had breakfast already prepared for him. He had never believed such a day would come for him. And so the Hero easily forgot his purpose and the very meaning of his existence.

“Gray, what shall we do today?”

Gray thought about it for a moment. And in that moment he realized, for all of his love for Warren, he knew almost nothing about it.

“If everyone already knows I’m the Hero anyway, how about we just enjoy the city’s sights?”

Marionetta gave Gray something of a shy smile before answering.

“All right, I would like to say hello to everyone in the Jewelry Box again. And then……Gray was also indebted………to Miss Marilyn…….”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Marionetta was unsure if it was the unease in her heart that made her purposely use the past tense when talking about Marilyn, but Gray’s simple nod brought her relief all the same. Afterwards the two of them enjoyed a pleasant meal together. Gazing into each other’s eyes, the two took a moment to get over their own bashfulness before the Hero took the magician’s hand, and directing her over to the bed, the day’s first battle began.

Now, this was Ellis and the other girls. Since yesterday’s Land Dragon bus had been such a great success, today the girls gathered cooks from around the city for a ‘Meat Inspection Tour’ to the western fishing village. Ra-chin would carry them the whole way there.

The Land Dragon’s back was filled with faces Ellis recognized. From the Merchant Guild there was the gachihomo Goro and the fashionable gay Simon who were the respective cooks for Revitalizing Home and Mercury Bar, Mati from the Steamed Kitchen and Kaoru from the Pot and Kettle, and Shin from the Warren Specialty Steamed Bread Store. Frau was riding on the Land Dragon’s back at the moment as well with a charming sized Phoenix Dragon in tow.

“The sample of meat you gave us was of shockingly fine quality. I’m looking forward to what’s to come.”

“Yes, the variety of meat should also be substantial. This will take some skill.”

Goro and Simon were naturally in conflict as gachihomo and fashionable gays, but still they were able to recognize each other’s cooking ability. They were spending the time sincerely exchanging information about cooking.

Meanwhile Mati, Kaoru, and Shin were amazed at the Land Dragon’s speed and were busy enjoying the trip itself.

After an hour, Ellis’s group safely arrived at the western fishing village. Then suddenly, Ah-nyan rose up from inside the sea.

The unexpected appearance of the Frost Dragon took everyone off guard. However completely unmindful of the effect he had, Ah-nyan continued his way back onto dry land. His arms were each holding lines of thick rope tied off to boats dragging along their own fishing lines. The seal beastmen ran forward to meet the Frost Dragon, and as if all of this were the most natural thing in the world, tied off the boats to some stakes they had dug in the ground beforehand.

“Ellis, you sure took her time getting here nya.”

Katie was there straddling Ah-nyan’s head. Also, even though she had just emerged from the open sea, there wasn’t any sign of her being wet at all.

“Katie, what’s the meaning of this!?”

“We’re helping the seals move nya.”

“Not that, how aren’t you soaked!?”

“Ah, that’s because of Ah-nyan’s barrier nya.”

“Why are you asking such an obvious thing President Ellis? It should be clear that I created a barrier using a water-resistant coating. Now, let’s go again.”

As he gave a passing explanation, Ah-nyan brought Katie back out to the sea to pull along some more boats.

“No one ever told me…..”

To think there was such a convenient thing. Ellis started to feel a little tired. But what else was to be expected from the air-headed duo? They were the type to take everything at their own pace, and fighting them on it was a waste of effort. And so Ellis quickly switched her way of thinking, instead making the hard decision on Ah-nyan’s behalf to allow them all to enjoy a comfortable stroll on the ocean floor.

The cooks were all guided over to the freezer, and being allowed to look over the various types of meat stored inside, they each started going over their own menus with each other so that there was no overlap in their dishes. Frau, Goro, and Simon took the lead in these efforts.

“Ellis, everything’s been sorted out. We’ll have to make some preparations tonight, so we should head back soon. Ra-chin, if you’d please.”

When Frau left the cold storage she immediately headed towards Ellis was waiting.

Ellis, eagerly awaiting Ah-nyan’s return, felt like cold water had been thrown on her when she realized she was out of time.

“Tch! This isn’t over. My underwater stroll is just being put on hold for now,” she muttered to herself. But still she nodded her head, helping all the cooks get back on board, and obediently headed back towards town.

This was the Jewelry Box Tea Room, and the Hero Gray and magician Marionetta were currently troubled in the stores interior. Marionetta was pondering on what pair of tea cups to buy while Gray was suffering after the cups he had chosen were rejected in an instant by Marionetta before his very eyes.

By the way, the pair Gray had chosen were an auspicious red and white design meant for special occasions. ‘Special occasions’ here holding several different meanings.

From the side the shop owner’s daughter Credia came walking out, calling over to Marionetta.

“Marionetta, are you looking for something to use regularly?”

“Yes, Credia. But I can’t decide on which one I like.”

Credia left for the back of the store with a nod before returning with a pair of teacups and a teapot in hand. They were a pair of extremely thick, white mugs. A silhouette design was baked onto the side of them both. One held a man’s figure, and the other a woman’s. And then on the pot was the beautiful black print of a woman being held closely by a man.

“Marionetta, we recommend this to all our lovey-dovey couples.”

Credia’s slight tease went over Marionetta’s head, too focused on the cup she had already taken in hand. There were subtle differences in the men’s cup and the women’s cup as well. The men’s design was more crude and rustic while the women’s was more delicate and detailed. Marionetta took a great liking to the set.

“Hey Gray, how about we use these cups to enjoy our tea when we have a day off?”

Being suddenly talked to while still glaring at the red and white cup set for making him feel like a fool, he reflexively turned around and nodded his head.

“As long as you’re happy!”

Credia packed away their tea set while continuing to happily carry a conversation with the couple. A very awkward Hero and a joyful magician, after this Credia would take the time to teach them both the proper way to brew some tea.

On the other side of the store though, Aiful was providing some tea for a more unusual pair of customers. This was for the man they call Straw Hat, a regular over at Dandee’s Shangri-La and a companion of his.

“Master, this is the tea house that everyone recommends to me.”

“Hoh, to think there was such a nice store here.”

The pair were relaxing at a table, enjoying some tea and sweets together. And, as the Hero and magician were busy having fun enjoying their tea together, the came into the Demon Lord’s line of sight.

“Yo Mother-con, the other day was chaos,” the Demon Lord greeted the Hero.

“Oh Straw Hat, it sure was fun though,” the Hero similarly greeted the Demon Lord with his nickname.

These two truly had no idea that the other was their true born enemy while talking about the event they had both participated in together at the Freedom Promenade grand opening.

“What the heck, so you ended up together with that girl after all?”

“Yes, so I’m afraid you won’t see me around the bathhouse anymore.”

“I see. Well, to each their own. I just made a reservation myself.”

“You’re saying such a thing, with such a beautiful woman accompanying you?”

“Stop, this one’s something of a little sister to me.”

Seeing her up close, the Demon Lord felt there was something familiar about the red-headed girl enjoying some tea next to the Hero. But he soon banished the thought from his mind. Ever since he was summoned to this world, he had never once seen a woman with such a happy smile on her face. So immediately writing it off as just a misunderstanding, he sat back and enjoyed some delicious tea with Berunal.

Taking a glance at the sexy woman sitting next to the Demon Lord, the Hero started to think she really didn’t suit him after she started cutely trying cool off the hot tea cupped in both her hands by blowing on it like a small child. Even though she wasn’t Margherita, surely she wasn’t stepping on him as well? But after all this was another person’s business, so he decided to drop the issue and ask Marionetta to pour him another cup.

Marionetta and Berunal exchanged greetings with each other as well. Though the both of them were able to sense a strange magical energy given off by the other, Marionetta didn’t show any concern since her lover and Berunal’s companion were friends, and Berunal just didn’t care. Thus the group of four were able to enjoy a leisurely tea party with one another.

Meanwhile at the next table over, having been released from his busing duties, Ra-chin was spending his time as usual, frozen on top of a table enjoying the smell of his tea. Of course the Land Dragon had already noticed the Hero nearby, and obviously he was aware that the Demon Lord was sitting right next to him. However, for the Land Dragon, enjoying the smell of this tea was far more important than something so trivial, so he paid them no mind. By the way, Ellis was currently absent at the moment, currently spending time at the Merchant Guild to help plan Warren’s next event.

On this day, only the Land Dragon knew that the three powers which held the fate of the entire continent had gathered together.

Oh, it should also be noticed that at this time Gise was also at the Merchant Guild, discussing with their renters department about getting an apartment as close to the Jewelry Box Teahouse as he could.

Another peaceful day in Warren.