CH 151

Demons across the continent were suddenly bound by a compelling force.

“Uwaa!”

“Seriously!?”

“Aren’t we in danger of being a bunch of losers like this?”

“Damn! If I’d known it would be like this, I would have followed the Skycastle team!”

“Impossible impossible, it’s unreasonable to think that us in the muscle head Hyaaha group wouldn’t die of boredom being forced to help the Skycastle team!”

“No way. Are we supposed to divert the monsters we trained too?”

“So at this point they want us bullying goblins!?”

“No, but I could attack some adventurers while they’re exploring instead.”

“Uwa, now that’s a good idea!”

These were just some of the responses that the demons raised.

Berunal had demonstrated her ability as the lieutenant of the Demon Lord’s army for the first time in a long while. It was a ceremonial order that would compel every demon across the continent to follow her will. The contents of her order were as follows:

“All demons searching for the Demon Lord’s claws by attacking human settlements are to stop immediately, instead searching for them in nearby labyrinths. Any ril and magic tools discovered are to be sent straight to the Demon Lord’s castle.”

So the question is, why did the demon forces separate themselves into losers and winners with this one command?¹

As the lieutenant for the Demon Lord, all demons were forced to obey whatever command Berudeus gave, but Berudeus was now Berunal. And when the Demon Lord completely trampled over her, the supreme power she had over the other demons was released. This was a very important point that slid past Berunal’s attention. So, whenever Berunal was venting her anger out on any of the lesser demons, they weren’t actually under her control. The demons only ever obeyed her commands out of habit until now. And so with Berudeus’s transformation, two sets of demons were formed. One group who ‘continued looting’ after being set free and the ‘others’ who started making decisions based on their own selfish purposes. Berunal’s new compulsory order just now should have wrangled all the demons back under her authority once again, but there was an issue with how Berunal worded her order.

“All demons searching for the Demon Lord’s claws by attacking human settlements”

So in other words, this new order only applied to the ‘continued looting’ demons. The ‘others’ were still left to their own devices.

“A small number of demons couldn’t be bound.”

The Demon Lord was confused by what she said for a moment, and ended up misunderstanding, thinking she was just talking about a situation similar to when he had to slaughter those demons that attacked Warren.

“Well, don’t worry about it. They won’t try anything until the claws are found.”

But then the Demon Lord started to wonder.

“Hey, Berunal.”

“What is it Master?”

“So our first order on the demons was released during our first night together right?”

“Yes, it appears so.”

“That’s why, just for example, if I were to play with you tonight, wouldn’t the order you just gave be undone the same way?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Okay, but why?”

“That’s because Master raped me that first night which released my hold on the demons. However, ever since that night I’ve voluntarily been playing with Master, so any new orders will hold firm. So feel free to hold me in peace from now on. As a matter of fact, hold me right now.”

“That, quit trying to sell yourself so cheaply Berunal. It starts to lose its fun.”

The Demon Lord was left utterly amazed at how largely Berunal could smile while pushing something so important to the side.

At the very least, from this day on no demon would loot a village anywhere on the continent again.

Today was the second day of the carnival.

Ellis and Claire had finished up their demon hunt from the first day, so at Reeve’s request, they spent the first part of their day retrieving the rest of the Lorenburg family from Wheat Grace. They decided to use Pi-tan’s specially made barrels crafted by Claire’s Carpenters for the occasion.

It had been a while since Gurre had seen her family, and Stuart wanted to greet his in-laws as well.

The couple had arrived in Warren two days ago, but on their arrival, they spent the whole day at the Warren Merchant Guild, confirming the different amount and types of Skycastle alcohol they had brought with them and how much it all would cost with the purchasing department.

The husband and wife spent the next day holed up at the Merchant Guild again, scheduling a number of transports for toilets and showers that were slotted for delivery, confirming the dates of delivery, and arranging various other minor details.

After all that, the two didn’t really have the energy to properly enjoy the festival with what time was left in the day.

But today was a free day for them. So for the first time in a long time, the married couple was able to enjoy some time alone together, and in the end, Gurre decided to use some of that time to enjoy a meal with her parents. This was actually an idea that Reeve suggested to her sister after careful consideration. To be honest though she was just afraid of what Gurre would do if left alone like that while she was off having fun.

Today too couples were performing on the special stage set up in town with various different souvenirs set up as prizes for anyone who tried. Gurre was watching some of the performances while wearing a court dress like the ones they wore in castles long ago that she had rented.

“Hey, how about we go up on stage too?”

“What would we do?”

“Let’s dance the waltz.”

“But there’s no instruments.”

“It’s all right, we have one right here.”

Gurre pointed behind her where a docile Reeve was wearing a palace guard costume, a meek Su-chan clinging to her chest. The both of them had been instructed by Gurre to act as guides for her for the entire day. Naturally the eyes of the women in this city followed after Reeve dressed up as a palace guard, but as a result their gazes ended up falling on the slender man and froufrouy woman she was guiding. The ladies began to whisper and quickly the gossip that these two were pushing Reeve around spread across the city. However Gurre was still able to enjoy the city without any worries.

“Reeve, give us a song we can waltz to.”

“Ah, okay.”

At this point Reeve had mostly stopped thinking for herself, and so she readily agreed, walking up on stage with the married couple after a stop at the reception desk.

“Our next performance will be done by Sir Stuart and his wife, showcasing a waltz to a song sung by the ever-wonderful Reeve!”

After the moderator’s voice passed through their ears, the audience immediately started to get noisy. They hadn’t expected to suddenly get a live performance from Reeve. And with it being a not-yet disclosed song you could waltz to, the ladies rushed to the stage.

Not even being aware enough to notice this was all going on, Reeve started to sing after receiving a signal from Gurre. She and her husband stepped in time with the song, marking the start of a beautiful waltz. With the song and dance happening concurrently, the audience wasn’t sure what to focus on, so they were left in awe, letting the experience wash over them.

The song and dance ended, leaving behind a moment of silence at the venue. And then it all exploded into a chorus of cheers. In that bustle, Gurre turned to the audience, calling out to them all with a clear voice that could be heard over all the noise.

“Everyone, thank you for all your help with my little sister Reeve. I’m Gurre, Reeve’s second older sister. I will be visiting your wonderful city a lot from now on delivering Skycastle alcohol. It’s wonderful to meet all of you!”

All of the ladies who heard that this woman was Reeve’s sister breathed a sigh of relief. And that sense of relief was more than enough for all of the ladies there to welcome Gurre as a friend. And so, using Reeve’s fame, Gurre was able to sell herself to the people of Warren while simultaneously publicizing the Skycastle alcohol. As expected of a shrewd merchant.

In short, the eldest daughter Bizon had the ability to greatly focus on a goal, the second daughter Gurre had a head specializing in business affairs, and the third daughter Reeve inherited a talent for various different art forms. All three daughters inherited one part of their “Shitty old man” grandfather Ferdinand.

And so as the married couple and Reeve quietly descended off the stage, they were met with the wild jostling of an excited audience.

“Hmm”

Gise was bored.

It seemed like he was the only man in the city with nobody to cosplay with him. He wanted to try inviting Aiful, but she and Credia were busy running the Tea Room. Even today they were hard at it, so he was currently just killing some time before leaving in a bit. The Hero and magician had enjoyed the carnival yesterday to its fullest, but today they were heading over to Ceramics. Apparently there was a type of seasoning that could only be obtained from there.

His only real company was Ra-chin, but he was in his usual spot, still as a statue with his nose stuck into the steam of his tea.

“Hmm”

Gise was wasting his time away, sulking with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. And then, someone spoke up to him.

“Is this seat taken?”

Yes, despite Gise’s loneliness, the store was actually jam-packed, and all the rest of the chairs had been taken. When Gise looked up, he found that the person who had called out to him was Plum, the proprietor of the Masquerade Boutique who had finally found some time for a break.

Gise was flustered by the sudden presence of a mature, attractive woman, but he somehow managed to squeak out a, “Go ahead”.

“Aiful, one set for me please.”

“Sorry Plum, I’ve got my hands full right now, do you want to go on back and grab it?”

Aiful gave Plum a relaxed response to her order that would make anyone think the two of them were a couple of close friends. And so entering the back of the store, Plum came back with her own tea set and a large smile. And then, “Here,” she poured some of her tea into Gise’s cup.

“Aiful seems pretty busy right now, so since you shared your seat with me, I thought I’d share some of my tea with you.”

The sudden warm hospitality through Gise for a loop. But seemingly having not noticed, Plum struck up a conversation with a smile.

“The Hero isn’t with you today.”

“Ah, Aah, that’s because Marionetta took Gray shopping.”

“I see, well it’s good to hear that Marionetta is enjoying herself. Oh, excuse me! My name is Plum, and I run the boutique down the street.”

“I’m Gise. I travel alongside the Hero.”

From there, the two of them continued to enjoy talking with one another until Ra-chin stirring from his trance let them both know how much time had passed.

“That was fun, let’s talk again if we get a chance.”

Gise watched silently at Plum’s elegant back as she made her way back to her store, her break finally at its end.

“Hmm”

Gise had a little fun there too. From there he placed his charge for the tea down on the table and made his way back to the party headquarters he had just rented. Perhaps he would go take another walk around the city later, he decided. And maybe he would try renting a costume after all, just before Masquerade closed.

1. When they say winners and losers here, they mean at life. Like ‘this guy won at life’.