Chapter 2: Heading to the Southern Frontier
When given the choice between accompanying ten thousand soldiers sent as reinforcements or taking a carriage that would go on ahead first, Diablo chose the latter.
His reasoning wasn’t that he wanted to defend the races’ city from the threat of the beasts as soon as possible, but rather that he absolutely hated the idea of traveling with so many strangers. Of course, minimizing the races’ casualties was important, too.
And so, Diablo and his group boarded a large carriage of four horses and made their way south. They left the day after their audience (which was officially considered a conference), and seven days after leaving the capital...
They were on a mountain trail that couldn’t quite be called a road. On their left was the mountain, and on their right was a valley. The trees grew thick, and, at times, branches got in their way, meaning they would have to stop and have their escorts cut their way through. In the passenger compartment of this carriage, which was large enough to fit eight people, sat only Diablo, Rem, and Shera on a plank board that served as a bench.
Since it was a military carriage, it only had a small window for lighting. It was dim and they could hardly see what went on outside. The roof was loaded with plenty of food and water, and the driver sat at the reins outside with two escorts. These escorts were soldiers that would guide them to the battlefield, but their role was most likely to also watch over them. They kept their distance from Diablo’s group even when they stopped to eat and hardly conversed with them.
They continued their ride through the mountain trail, with Rem being visibly pale.
“Ugh... It’s a good thing this is a large carriage. A normal one would shake so much more, and I don’t know if I’d be able to take it.”
“You’re still weak to moving vehicles, are you?”
“...Yes.”
Shera, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically quiet. She looked out the small window and sighed. She was usually so thoughtless and bubbly, running around with her breasts bouncing despite her clothes, so it was unusual to see her like this.
Diablo did find it curious, but... If he were the type to reach out and talk at times like these, he wouldn’t be so cripplingly socially inept. So Diablo stuck to his silence, but Rem asked.
“...Is something wrong, Shera?”
“Mmm.”
An uncharacteristically vague response.
“...This isn’t like you. Don’t be shy and just tell us.”
“I’m not being shy... I just don’t really understand it myself.”
“...I don’t really understand what you’re saying, though there’s nothing unusual about that.”
“Aaaaah.”
It was a pretty harsh assessment from Rem, but it did make it easier to speak to Shera. After a short pause, Shera parted her lips to speak, “Well, you see... The kingdom of Lyferia attacked the Elven forest in the past, right? They called the Dark Elves Demon Lord worshipers.”
“...That’s what I’ve heard, yes.”
The king from three generations ago sent an armed force called a crusade, and the Dark Elves were driven out of the bountiful forests and forced to live in the poisonous, toxic woods. The surviving Dark Elves loathed Lyferia’s Humans for driving them out, as well as the Elves for abandoning them in their time of need.
Currently, they were heading for peace at Shera’s suggestion, but...
“This might be a thing of the past for the Humans, and Father has made peace with the kingdom of Lyferia,” she said, “But there are still Dark Elves who lived through those horrible things.”
“...You can’t forgive Lyferia?”
“No, that’s not it. I just don’t want something like that to happen again... And I want them to understand that the Dark Elves aren’t Demon Lord worshipers.”
“...I agree.”
“So I wanted to say that to the king, but I didn’t get the chance.”
“...That’s pretty well thought-out, coming from you.”
“Huh?”
Rem sighed.
“...You know how they say that there’s a proper time and place for everything?”
“Prop-her?” Shera tilted her head quizzically.
“...It means you have to pick the right time and place to talk to some people. Would appealing to the king about the Dark Elves’ innocence and the suffering they’ve been subjected to until now have been the right thing to do? I believe it would have been thoughtless. And I don’t think we were in the right place, either. An audience isn’t the right place to make selfish demands of the king.”
Really?
Diablo had a feeling he should have been quite surprised with himself over how selfishly he’d spoken back there.
“...And most of all, it wasn’t the right time,” Rem continued. “It was the worst possible time. The dignitaries were beside themselves with anger. A fight could have started at any moment.”
“Yeah, I was really scared!”
The cause of said dangerous atmosphere could, of course, be attributed to one particular person.
“...So, what were you doing in the capital, Diablo?” Rem sent a cold glare in Diablo’s direction.
The question felt like she’d spat out something she had kept bottled up until now.
Well, I can’t tell her I got a coupon for a monster girl soapland, can I? It’s embarrassing! And some people think going to a brothel is cheating. Not that I went to the capital with the intention of going to a brothel! My intention was to switch Rem’s ring, after all...
There were double and triple reasons for him to not be honest about it.
“Hmph...” Diablo folded his arms. “I thought a situation might arise that you might not be able to resolve on your own!”
“...True enough. Doing this quest would have been impossible without you, Diablo.”
“That’s right!”
I dodged the question!
Rem turned the conversation back to Shera.
“...Let’s calm down and try to think this through. Lyferia isn’t going to send soldiers to the Dark Elves’ village anymore.”
“Right.”
“...The discrimination toward the Dark Elves is still a problem, but complaining to His Majesty about it won’t do much to fix it.”
“It’s not that simple, right?”
“...I understand how you feel... But if you don’t choose the right time to say it, you won’t get the result you want. Saying whatever you want whenever it crosses your mind is a child’s behavior.”
“I understand. Thanks, Rem.”
“Don’t mention it... You’re becoming more mature, little by little.”
“Heehee...”
Rem was a bit younger than Shera, but acted like an older sister. Diablo felt the same way, though. The Dark Elves had an arduous life imposed on them, all because of a misunderstanding relating to a ritual connected to the Demon Lord that’d been passed down to them. He thought they deserved to be saved. In this audience, however, Diablo nearly had himself branded as an insolent criminal and traitor.
If this quest goes well, maybe we can appeal to the king about it. It depends on the atmosphere when we meet the king again, but...
That thought passed idly through his mind.
“By the way, where are we going next?!” Shera suddenly changed the topic.
As soon as someone compliments her, she returns to this behavior.
“...The southern frontier city, Caliture,” Rem answered, glaring at her reproachfully.
“Hmm? Rem, did something happen to you there?”
“Huh? Why are you asking...?”
“I mean, your expression went all dark when you said that name.”
Diablo looked at Rem fixedly. He hadn’t noticed that sort of shift in her expression.
“...You have a knack for being perceptive about the oddest things.” Rem shrugged.
“So something did happen?”
“...Caliture is—”
As soon as she was about to finish that sentence, the carriage shook violently.
“Kyaaah?!”
Surprisingly enough, the one to scream and cling to him was Rem. It was usually Shera who jumped at him in times like these.
Diablo caught her slender body. He wasn’t used to touching girls yet, but managed to catch her in a time of emergency. He was used to that much.
“Are you all right, Rem?”
“Uuu... I’m sorry. I get anxious when my feet are off the ground, and then it shook, too...”
When she shivered so much, she looked like a kitten.
“It looks like something happened.”
The carriage shook harder and Diablo felt his body be pushed back. They were picking up speed. Moving fast on such uneven soil was dangerous, and it wasn’t like they were in a hurry to reach their destination.
Diablo looked around the compartment.
“Shera, where are you?”
Rem was frightened in Diablo’s arms, so Diablo figured Shera was looking outside... But unfortunately, he found her tumbled down onto the floor.
“Aiyaaaahaaaa...”
Her head was spinning, it seemed.
H-Hey, I can see your panties!
†
“What is that monster?!” A shrill voice came from the driver’s seat.
Monster?
The military carriage’s window was small and unsuited for looking outside. Diablo concluded now wasn’t the time to hesitate. With Rem in his arms, he got up and kicked the compartment’s right side door open.
A powerful wind blew in immediately and green scenery was flowing behind them. There should have been a valley on the right side of the carriage, but instead, a massive head filled Diablo’s field of vision. It was a stout monster with a neck, with holes where its eyes and mouth should be. Diablo recognized it immediately.
“A spriggan!”
It was the type that waited on the outskirts of certain areas in Cross Reverie.
Why did it appear in the middle of the road?!
“Is that a spriggan...?!” Rem asked, her eyes wide.
“Hii?!” Shera screeched.
The spriggan swung its thick arm, which had a mallet-like fist at the end. The carriage likely wasn’t fast enough to avoid it. If anything, it was just the right speed to make for a prime target. The moment he sensed danger, Diablo’s thought speed accelerated.
I have to repel it with magic! No, any spell capable of taking out a monster that large with a metal hide would take too long to chant. If I don’t make it, we’ll get hit for sure. Maybe I’ll be able to take it, but Rem and Shera won’t!
“We’re jumping off!”
Diablo shouted at the carriage driver. He already held Rem with one hand, so he picked up Shera with the other. With both of them in his arms, he hopped off the carriage.
Flight magic!
They jumped off at high speed, and if they were to land on the scraggy ground, they wouldn’t get away unscathed. Diablo took off to the air, and the next moment...
The spriggan’s hammer-like fist rammed into the carriage, crushing it. The sounds of metal bending, wood snapping, and the horses’ cries filled the air.
“...The driver and the guards...” Rem moaned.
It seemed they didn’t jump off. Trying to shake a large monster with speed was reckless. They should have abandoned the carriage and taken refuge in the forest.
“That’s awful...” Shera said on the verge of tears.
“...Kuh... What should we do, Diablo?”
“If it’s just the three of us, we could fly from here using flight magic.”
“...Yes. But...”
In a few days, reinforcements from Lyferia would cross this road. If they let this massive monster be, it would result in countless casualties. The minister even specified this monster as part of the enemies that attacked the stronghold when he gave Diablo this quest, and, as such, it was probably part of the quest’s objectives to defeat it.
“Hmph... Any fool who swings their blade at me will be met with fitting retribution!”
Diablo landed near the crushed carriage.
“I’ll make a diversion!”
Rem threw a crystal, summoning the summon beast Stoneman, a giant made of rock. It was called a giant owing to it being twice the size of the races, but compared to the spriggan, which was as large as the capital’s walls, it was miniature.
Stoneman rushed along the road, drawing the spriggan’s attention. Meanwhile, Shera used her own summon beast, Turkey Shot, to survey things from the sky.
“This big one is the only enemy around!”
Their work was surprisingly thorough. They’d always just stayed behind and watched whenever he fought high-level enemies, but now the two of them... Perhaps they’d seen Rose and Sasara serve as vanguards for Diablo before and decided to do the same together. They truly were maturing.
The spriggan brandished its fist again. Meanwhile, Rem’s Stoneman leaped at its face to punch it. A heavy sound echoed and the spriggan’s massive fist crushed Stoneman to bits, which dissolved into a black crystal that returned to Rem’s hand.
It lost without dealing any visible damage... But it did buy more than enough time. Diablo stuck out his staff, the Tonnerre Empereur.
Spriggans are earth element monsters, which means wind attacks are effective.
“...Rumble forth, air, and coil in spirals that gouge into the earth! ?Grand Tornado?!”
A tornado touched down, uprooting the mountain’s trees and tearing through the earth, sucking everything into its vortex. The spriggan’s surface crumbled, fragments flaking off and being thrown into the air. Its thick, hoarse voice rumbled along with the screech of the wind.
It was crying out in pain.
It was so massive that it completely filled Diablo’s field of vision, but while physical attacks couldn’t dent it, exploiting its weakness was effective. It was durable, but Diablo could beat it with brute force. Its attacks were powerful, but it was sluggish.
As the Grand Tornado’s effects died down, it was left with clear cracks in its metallic surface, with black viscous liquid seeping from its insides.
Blood? No, it looks like oil.
Cross Reverie never did display damage like that. For that matter, even when living things took damage, blood and organs didn’t come out either.
As it went on its third attack, Diablo fired off another spell. It was a repetition of this simple pattern. The metal giant boasted ridiculous defense, but it couldn’t withstand a dozen high-power spells. It swung up both arms, which suddenly bent with a loud noise, tearing and falling off, perhaps from their own weight. The ground rumbled and the spriggan stopped moving.
Diablo wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Phew... Finally.”
“...Is it defeated?”
“I knew you could do it, Diablo!”
Rem and Shera rushed over to him.
“Hmph... A small fry like this is... Mm?!”
Before Diablo could finish his sentence, he kicked against the ground in a hurry. He grabbed both girls in his arms, just as he had when he jumped off the carriage, and sent magical energy to his boots, ?The Empty Sky’s Gambol?, using flight magic to fly away.
The spriggan’s surface turned bright red like hot metal.
Something’s wrong!
It was some kind of special action spriggans didn’t have in the game. The spriggan, which turned red like hot metal, expanded like mush and burst in a powerful explosion. Rem and Shera screamed. Caught in the massive blast, Diablo’s field of vision spun like a wheel, and he lost sensation of which way was up or down.
“Gaaaah?!”
The spriggan self-destructed?!
His flight magic wasn’t automatic. If the caster lost their sense of balance, maintaining the flight became difficult. When he finally came to, his legs had been caught in a tree’s branches.
“Gah?!”
“Kyaaah?!”
“Help meeee...”
†
When he opened his eyes, Diablo found himself looking at a blue sky.
“Ugh...”
“Are you all right, Diablo?”
Rem looked down at him with a concerned expression. Next to her he could see Shera’s face.
“Are you okay?”
“Mm. What of you two? You’re still alive, but... are you unharmed?”
Diablo sat up. From the looks of things, Rem and Shera were fine.
“...We’re all right, thanks to you protecting us when we fell.”
“This tree saved us, too!”
At Shera’s words, he looked around, seeing that the foliage around them formed a giant palm that caught them.
“Is this possible?!”
“It’s a nice tree!” Shera exclaimed happily.
“...Elven royalty must be special.” Rem shrugged.
“That’s not true. This one’s just a really nice, kind tree!”
“...No tree, kind or otherwise, saves a normal member of the races like this.”
“There are too trees that do!”
“No, there are not.”
Watching the two bicker for the first time in a while, he scanned over the valley. The mountain road had apparently crumbled from the explosion. Defeating that giant monster was quite well and good, but now their reinforcements would struggle to get through when they arrived.
The wreckage of the carriage wasn’t in sight. It had likely sank to the bottom of the valley with the rest of the road. All around them, the remains of the spriggan were scattered about as black, charred fragments. The fact that it didn’t dissolve into particles of light was proof that it wasn’t a Fallen or a magical beast, but rather a monster in the “beast” category.
The explosion was powerful, but it was still an earth element attack.
Diablo was right to cast the wind element spell, ?Storm Wall?, to block it. This time, they got away safely thanks to the forest’s trees, but... He took an attack in mid-flight, and forgot about the fall damage. In his attempt to protect Rem and Shera, he made a mistake. He was required to take a different course of action from when he was a solo player.
If an enemy was about to self-destruct, he could cast confinement spells like Gravity Abyss and Naraka, or spells that stopped the opponent’s action in a fixed range, like ?Ice Age?. He only got it wrong because it used a special action that didn’t exist in the game, and that annoyed Diablo.
I need to be more adaptable. More careful and thorough.
Unlike the game, this world had no resets or revives. A single error in judgment could make him lose the most precious things. Right now, for example? He could have lost Rem and Shera. The thought of it... sent a shiver down his spine.
The two of them got off the cushion made of leaves.
“...Let’s go, Diablo.”
“No way but to walk on foot.”
The two gazed at where the carriage fell into the valley, offered a silent prayer, and then set out along the mountain road. Shera was sad for a while, but she wasn’t one to dwell on things or be depressed to begin with. She was smiling again soon enough.
“It’s been so long since it’s been just the three of us traveling!”
“...Come to think of it, we’ve just been moving around in carriages recently.”
“This reminds me of the forest near Faltra’s western lakefront!”
“...Yes, traveling is all about going on foot. It doesn’t matter how much longer it takes, walking is much better.”
With their carriage gone, it became a trek, and one they didn’t know the length of, at that. Rem seemed happy, though.
“I like it when things are nice and easy...” Shera smiled wryly. “Oh, by the way, weren’t you going to say something back there, Rem?”
“...”
She seemed hesitant to speak, so Diablo prodded her to continue.
“About the southern frontier city, Caliture.”
“Right, right! It feels like you’ve got some problems with them.”
With a hint of resignation, Rem started speaking.
“...First, I should explain Caliture in some broad terms. The south of Lyferia is a craggy region covered in a deep forest.”
“Kuh-raggie?”
“An area full of steep mountains.”
“Ooooh.”
Shera looked around, and, indeed, there were mountains as far as the eye could see.
“...It was about a hundred years ago when the king of Lyferia from three generations ago expanded the kingdom’s territory that far. So while it’s called a frontier, it’s not actually all that new anymore... But that aside, the largest city in this area is the frontier city, Caliture.”
Shera nodded with an “uh-huh.”
“Like Faltra City is in the Faltra region!”
That’s right, now that you mention it. Diablo thought.
He never cared much about that bit of lore in the game.
“...And I...” Rem said, a serious expression on her face. “I was originally born in the frontier city, Caliture.”
“Ooh, really.” Shera replied with a light tone that almost seemed to disregard Rem’s grim demeanor.
But Diablo thought it was strange. In the game, the southern frontier of Caliture existed. It wasn’t a large city, but it did have a lot of jolly merchants, and the town’s governor prided himself on how “there’s nothing you can’t buy in this town.” It featured an arena, and while it was a lively place, one couldn’t call it a refined city...
But still, Caliture didn’t seem like a place one would be ashamed enough of living in to make such a big secret out of it. It was then that Diablo recalled that both of Rem’s parents had died. Perhaps there were some sad memories to the place. She was a responsible, bona fide adventurer, but she was still only a fourteen-year-old girl.
“Is going back to your hometown hard on you?”
“That’s not...” Rem’s expression was full of doubt. “Do you two not know about Caliture?”
“I’ve heard that name before, but that’s it.” Shera wasn’t one to dwell on the little details.
Would saying it’s a merchants’ city be off the mark here? Diablo thought. If it was, it would be too embarrassing.
This world was similar to Cross Reverie, but there were a lot of points where it differed. Diablo then contorted his lips with a “hmph.”
“I do know of it, but... You’re still who you are. Why should the matter of whence you came from matter?”
“...You’re right. Thank you. Perhaps I was worrying over nothing.”
Rem’s expression softened, and a faint blush spread over her cheeks. Seeing that expression made Diablo feel embarrassed, too.
†
The second day after they had lost their carriage...
“It’s no gooood... It’s too hazy to see the distance.”
It was raining. Shera had sent her summon beast, Turkey Shot, up to the sky, but not only could she not find any trace of Caliture, there weren’t any hints of nearby settlements or roads. Look where they might, all they saw were mountains covered in trees. Perhaps once the rain let up, visibility would increase and they would find something.
“...We might be going in the wrong direction altogether,” Rem said bitterly.
“Huuuh?!” Shera whined.
“...We tried to go along the road we were on before we fought that iron spriggan, but we might have gotten on a different path... Or maybe we forked off it without noticing.”
And true enough, the longer they walked down this path, the narrower it became, and by now, it felt more like an animal trail. Any carriage that would try to go through here would get stranded.
“Isn’t it your hometown?”
“...I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to get there. I left Caliture when I was ten, and it was with a caravan of carriages.”
“So you can’t remember...”
“...I was unconscious at the time.”
“Oh, right, you get sick in vehicles.”
Diablo shrugged.
“Once it clears up, we might see further. We’ve no choice but to wait.”
“...You’re right.”
Diablo had his tough body and Rem was a seasoned adventurer, so they were fine, but Shera was shivering.
“Uuuu... It’s cold...”
“...It’s usually warm in the south, so we didn’t bring any gear for the cold.”
But it was winter after all, and once it started to rain, the temperature dropped more than they’d expected.
“I’m hungryyy.”
“...Unfortunately, all our food and water is in the bottom of the valley with the rest of the carriage. We can gather the rain for drinking water, but can’t you ask the forest for fruit, Shera?”
“That’s what I’ve been doing, but they’re busy drinking water during rainy days, so it’s hard to get the trees to listen. Besides, not all trees are nice.”
“...I suppose things simply don’t come that easily, do they?”
“It’s not like Greenwood, where the Elves take care of the forest.”
Diablo then looked up with a “hmm?” Something swiftly tumbled down toward them. A red fruit. It looked like a tomato.
I don’t remember the game having these.
“Wow, you’re giving this to me?!” Shera exclaimed with twinkling eyes. “Thank you!”
“...Or maybe things do come that easily.” Rem smiled wryly. “The world always has a way of spoiling you, Shera.”
“That’s not true. I work hard for things, too.”
Shera reached for the red fruit, when...
“Not, eat!”
Someone shouted at them, and Diablo could hear something whistling through the air. It was a pebble that shot through and smashed the red fruit. It crashed against the ground with a wet sound, leaving a red puddle that looked vividly like blood.
“Aaaaaaaaah?!” Shera screeched. “What did you do that for?!”
“Is that a beast?!” Rem braced herself.
“Who’s there?!” Diablo took out his staff.
In the gap between the trees was the form of a girl. She was virtually naked, with some fabric covering her body. Diablo found himself looking away reflexively.
“Y-Your skin... Ah, never mind...”
It didn’t matter how she was dressed—she could have been an enemy. He couldn’t let down his guard.
Her hair was brown and she had triangular ears that sat perky on her head. They looked like dog ears, so Diablo thought she might be a Dwarf, but she wasn’t short and her bosoms weren’t very large, either. Also, she had two tails that she was resting on like a cushion. They looked like a fox’s ears and tails, and Diablo didn’t know any Dwarf that fit that description.
To top it off, the look in her eyes seemed different from the races’ somehow. He then recalled the girls from the monster girl soapland he’d visited...
“Are you... a Therianthrope?”
The fox-eared girl gasped at Diablo’s words.
“You, understand what say?!”
She spoke in a fragmented manner, as if speaking was hard for her.
“Of course I do. Answer me—why did you crush that fruit? Or were you aiming at Shera and missed?”
“No! Red fruit of corpse tree, never eat! Poison!”
“They’re poisonous?!”
“One bite, kill! Raise rotten corpse tree!”
She called the tree that dropped this red fruit the corpse tree, and a single bite from it was lethal, making a new corpse tree grow from the bodies of those who consumed it. Diablo dropped his gaze on the tree before him. It looked like a regular tree, but, apparently, it was a type of monster.
“It seems you saved her life.”
“Me, Fennely!” The fox-eared Therianthrope introduced herself. “You, who? Why races, understand what Fennely say?”
“Hmph... Understanding what you say is nothing before my vast knowledge! I am Diablo, a Demon Lord from another world!”
“Demon Lord?!” Fennely’s eyes widened with surprise.
Apparently having resolved herself, Rem cut into their conversation.
“Diablo! I have a hard time believing it, but can you understand what this beast is saying?”
“Huh? Ah, of course. True, her sentences are a bit fragmented, but I can still piece together what she’s saying...”
“All I can hear is barking and whimpering.” Shera shook her head.
“You can talk, right?” Diablo looked back to Fennely.
But she simply returned a confused glance.
“Races, no understand what Fennely say. Only you.”
In the end, thanks to Diablo serving as interpreter, they were capable of exchanging information. Rem nodded in understanding, apparently satisfied with why Fennely pelted the fruit with the rock.
“...I never knew a plant like that existed.”
Even though this was her hometown, she wasn’t familiar with all the toxic plants in the area. Looking closely, there were many dead insects littering the ground around the fallen fruit.
It’s a lethal poison, all right.
“Whoaaa, thank you! You saved me!” Shera shuddered.
“She’s thanking you,” Diablo told her.
“Fennely, no hate Elf.”
“Apparently, she saved you because you’re an Elf.”
With Diablo as the mediator, they somehow managed to hold a friendly conversation. She invited them to her village.
“Some fruit, have. You, come with.”
Rem was a bit cautious, but if it was a trap, they could always defeat her, and if it wasn’t, she was willing to spare them some food. Also, she apparently knew of a town of the races, but it was unfortunately pretty far off...
And so, following Fennely’s magnificent, bushy tails, Diablo and his group made their way to the Therianthrope village.
†
“...Judging by her hair and tails, I’d say she’s a Kobold,” Rem said as they strolled through the forest.
“Oh, a Kobold! Aren’t those a type of fairy?”
“...That’s one theory of several. Apparently, the females have an appearance that’s closer to the races, while the males’ appearance leans toward a more bestial form.”
“I’ve heard stories about them being really nice to the races.”
“...And I’ve heard rumors of them attacking the races’ towns.”
“But she saved me earlier!”
“...Yes, she did.”
Fennely turned around.
“Here, village!”
At first sight, it was a stretch of forest, same as the rest of the places they’d walked through so far. There were no huts between the trees, and it didn’t look like anyone was living on the treetops. It was winter, but the leaves grew thickly enough to serve as a roof, with only scant drops dripping in. The forest floor was covered in fallen leaves, and so they couldn’t see the ground.
Fennely lowered her knees and shook her tails, rubbing them against some fallen leaves coating the base of a tree.
“Wet tail, get dirty! Bad!” she said, drooping her shoulders in relief.
With the leaves brushed away, they found there was a hole in the ground.
“Fennely back!” she shouted into the hole.
And after a short while, others came out from the hole. They were males, and had fox heads. Looking at Diablo, they cocked their heads.
“What races doing here?”
“This one, can talk! A bit food, give!”
“Races who understand what we say?!”
There were apparently a few more holes elsewhere, because the Kobolds were popping out of them. There were about twenty of them, and they surrounded Diablo, looking at him curiously.
“Can talk? What name?”
“I am Diablo.”
“He talk?!” Their eyes widened as they exclaimed.
Most of the Kobolds were female, and, like Fennely, had triangular ears and bushy tails. They were also all scantily dressed, which made it hard for Diablo to look straight at them. The males, like Rem said, had fox heads. Their muscles looked limber and well built, and they had hair growing out of their backs. They were only dressed in loincloths.
“He really talked! Surprise!”
A thinly-furred Kobold, who had his skin visible, raised his voice. He spoke more clearly than Fennely.
“And you are?”
“The elder of this tribe. I am called Yolda. I never expected one of the races to speak to us.”
“Hmph... It is a trifling matter to me.”
Diablo didn’t know how it worked, but he was capable of speaking to them, despite never learning their language, and he could understand what they were saying too. He couldn’t speak to magical or wild beasts, but...
The Kobolds tried speaking to Rem and Shera, but it only came across as growls and yelps to the girls.
“...It sounds like you’re speaking normally to them, Diablo.” Rem cocked her head curiously.
“Yeah! It’s weird that both us and the Kobolds understand what you’re saying!” Shera said cheerfully.
Diablo flapped his cloak and smirked.
“It is because I’m a Demon Lord from another world!”
“Demon Lord?!”
They stiffened for a moment—
Before erupting into laughter.
“Someone from the races is a Demon Lord! That’s a good joke! You’re a funny one!”
Not just the elder Yolda, but the other Kobolds were cackling, holding onto their bellies.
Diablo was overwhelmed. People had doubted him plenty of times before, but it was the first time he’d been laughed at to his face.
“They, want food!” Fennely said, moving her hands in gestures.
“Yes, that’s fine. We have plenty.”
At the elder’s orders, some of the females crept back into the hole and returned after a short while with dried meat and dried potatoes.
“Ugh...”
Their baskets were also full of dried dead insects. A bit of a hard diet for Diablo and his friends’ urban upbringing.
Well, I guess we don’t have to force ourselves to eat bugs.
They brought quite a bit of food, so it was like a small feast. Baskets of food were laid over the rug of fallen leaves, with grape wine being served in small wooden containers.
“This is better than rainwater, yes?”
“That it is.”
In truth, Diablo wasn’t much for alcohol... but, unlike alcohol, which didn’t decay easily, water and juices were hard to preserve. Antiseptics didn’t exist in this world, after all. But despite not being a drinker, after a few sips of the grape wine, Diablo grew used to it. It didn’t have much alcohol anyway.
“Mm? Is this...?”
The wine bottle was a familiar shape. It looked like the type used in Lyferia. Yolda ran his fingers across the bottle’s surface.
“This is from a Human town.”
“So I thought.”
The wooden containers had an elaborate design, too. Considering they lived in burrows under the ground, their lifestyle was rather civilized. The dried meat tasted good, but the dried leaves... didn’t. They truly were nothing more than dried leaves, and left a rough sensation in Diablo’s mouth.
“So? Where did you come from?”
Saying he came from another world(!) wouldn’t advance the conversation any.
“A city called Faltra.”
“Never heard of it.”
“I suppose it is more than ten days away from here by carriage.”
“You came from pretty far away!”
“Is everyone from the village here? I see a lot of women...”
“The men are all out since the day before yesterday. Some trouble happened.”
“Hm.”
“Among the races, the demis are better. Some even trade with us, like the Dwarves who also live underground.”
“Rock Dwarves.”
Apparently, they had visited this village once. They distanced themselves from Lyferia’s cities and chose to live in hiding. Diablo found that tendency to shut themselves in to be relatable.
It was pretty awful back then too, though...
“There are some Grasswalkers, too. We don’t see Elves and Pantherians too often, though.”
He cast a glance at Rem and Shera. They couldn’t exchange words with the other Kobolds, but the girls seemed to be enjoying their meal all the same. There wasn’t much need for words when sharing a table, after all.
But then Yolda’s foxy face contorted, his brows furrowing.
“But Humans are bad! When they find us, they start firing arrows like they’re hunting animals!”
“What?!”
“We’ve lived in this land for many ages. But the Humans came along and made cities. That’s fine. But they try to drive us out. Many of us were killed. It is unforgivable.”
“Why do the Humans attack you?”
“Probably because we can’t speak Human language,” Yolda spat out spitefully. “They don’t see us as part of the races because of that.”
“That’s foolish...”
“You think so?”
“Of course. All the more so because I can understand you. Is there any difference between you and the races?”
“Even if we have fox heads?”
“That doesn’t matter. Treating something unequally because of their appearance or customs is called discrimination. And discrimination is an unforgivable act.”
“Are you sure you’re from the races?”
“Hmph... Do not make me say it again. I am a Demon Lord from another world!”
Yolda cackled loudly.
I guess that’s how they react if I don’t show them magic.
There was something cute and affable to how he laughed, so, despite being somewhat disappointed, Diablo didn’t feel all that bad about it.
In the end, they stayed in the village, as the rain wouldn’t stop. At first, they were a bit anxious to crawl into a hole in the ground, but once they did, they found the hollow was surprisingly wide enough to stand up and walk around in.
The trees served as support pillars and the inner surface was hardened with clay. The place was pleasantly chill with a moistness in the air, and, despite the scent of animal, it seemed perfectly hospitable. Most importantly, since they were underground, the raindrops couldn’t reach them.
Fennely told Diablo about where the races’ city was in extreme detail. Apparently, the forest’s trees had markings on them, so once the weather improved, they wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost. Come nightfall, they were lent blankets which they used to sleep with their backs to the clay walls.
The following morning, they found it was hard to tell whether it was sunny from inside the hole, to say nothing of the time and the weather. What woke them up was the sound of several sets of footsteps approaching them. To be exact, Rem was the one to notice, and proceeded to elbow Diablo and Shera awake.
“Mm?”
They woke up to find themselves surrounded by burly male Kobolds.
“They demis?”
One exceptionally large male with red fur stood on guard. Diablo half rose to his feet, but before things could get any more complicated, the elder Yolda and Fennely popped out from some other hole and explained they were invited as guests.
“...It seems that red Kobold is the boss around here,” Rem whispered.
Even without understanding what they were saying, Rem could pick up on that from the way Yolda treated the red-furred Kobold. Yolda did say he was the elder, but... apparently that didn’t mean he was at the top of the pack.
The red-furred Kobold stood in front of Diablo.
“You understand what we say?”
“Indeed. Introduce yourself to me. I permit it.”
“He really talk?!”
“Of course I did. Or can you not understand me, fool?”
“Ah! Cheeky one! This my village!”
“Hmph...”
“Well, never mind... I chief, Boldboss! Never thought would give name to races!”
“Hmm. Incidentally, is something amiss? You seem perturbed...”
Boldboss exchanged a glance with Yolda. He was put off by Diablo’s attitude, who, despite being a guest in the presence of many, acted as if he was king.
There wasn’t much Diablo could do, though. He may have gotten used to speaking to people, but if it wasn’t for his Demon Lord role playing, he wouldn’t be able to finish a single sentence.
“No business of yours,” Boldboss eventually said.
“If you insist, I do not mind, but...”
He still owed them for last night’s lodging and the food they shared. If they were in some kind of trouble, he wanted to help them. Still, forcibly getting them to talk would be wrong. His gaze wandered around the other male Kobolds apart from Boldboss, when he noticed something one of them was holding.
A fragment. It looked like a thick, metallic-like shell, its cross section being visibly cracked, and it was sticky with some black, viscous liquid. There were charred marks on it, too.
Could that be...?
“The spriggan...”
“You know it?!” Boldboss’s eyes widened at his whisper.
“Ah, no... I mean, yes, of course I do. I am a Demon Lord from another world, so my knowledge knows no bounds.”
Three days ago, he’d fired several high firepower spells and forced the spriggan to self-destruct—but he couldn’t tell them that, and they naturally didn’t suspect he was capable of that.
“This, our guardian deity,” Boldboss crossed his arms and said.
“O-Oh...”
Hiding the shiver of stress that ran through him was a challenge. Beasts that worship the spriggan—in other words, they were...
“Three days ago, invaders arrive in road near the valley. Guardian deity go there, and, after a while, big boom.”
“Mmm.”
“Look like, guardian deity fight someone. And now it like this...”
“I see.”
Boldboss glared at the ground in frustration.
“Don’t know why. Guardian deity in pieces.”
It blew itself up, Diablo thought, but couldn’t bear to say.
“Did anyone see what happened?”
“This time, very sudden. By the time we arrive...”
“I see...”
“What we do, Boldboss?!” one Kobold who had black circles around his eyes like a racoon asked. “Without guardian deity, we can’t win!”
“Stop saying stupid things! Big Human town in reach already! We can win, alone! Drive them away from land! Sure of it!”
Boldboss raised his voice in an impressive cry. But one thing tugged at Diablo’s mind.
“Big Human town?”
“Yes... I think they call it, Caliture.”
“You’re going to attack Caliture?!”
“What...?!” Rem went pale.
“You can’t!” Shera raised her voice.
“What women say?” Boldboss and the other Kobolds eyed the girls dubiously.
“Are you the beasts that have been attacking Lyferia’s strongholds?” Diablo asked without answering his question.
“We no beasts! We people. Call us Therianthropes, we allow.”
“Answer my question.”
“Hmph... We are ones who crush Human strongholds, using power of guardian deity.”
So the Kobolds were the targets of their quest, after all. The spriggan was their main force, it seemed, but Diablo had destroyed it.
“This is quite the mess...”
“You are demi. Why side with Humans?”
Diablo was conflicted. His position in this was problematic. The king of Lyferia gave him a quest to hunt down the beasts attacking the races’ towns. But now he owed the Kobolds a debt of gratitude.
And if what they said was true, they lived here first, before the Humans arrived. According to what Rem had said, they had clashed when the kingdom of Lyferia expanded its borders one hundred years ago. That meant the Humans were the invaders here.
“I owe you...” Diablo glared at Boldboss. “...Especially Fennely, a great deal. I cannot return a favor with enmity.”
“Understood. You understand what we say. Not Human, so no ill-will toward you. But some go savage when war happens. Leave if you want to live.”
Diablo said nothing. He couldn’t decide what to do. Boldboss then appended, “Storm outside now. Once weather clears, should leave.”
They really weren’t bad folk. But it would have been so much easier if they were...
†
Boldboss went deeper into the tunnels, leaving the three of them alone. With Rem and Shera badgering him, Diablo relayed the circumstances to them. Having heard the full story, the two had complicated expressions on their faces.
“...So the Kobolds were the beasts they sent us here to dispatch.”
“Oh, no...”
“...I recall Caliture’s troops marching into the forest every so often, to hunt beasts that endanger the races—or so they said, but they might have been attacking the Therianthropes.”
“That’s awful!”
Diablo related to Shera’s outrage.
“...But it’s a fact there are people of the races living in these lands, too,” Rem bemoaned pensively. “They can’t simply vacate Caliture.”
“They can’t?”
“...An Elf living in the blessed forests might not realize this, but... To live, the races need forests they can hunt in, fields they can produce crops from and land abundant with water. Those aren’t things one can prepare easily. It took a century to make Caliture habitable, and it would take another century to make another town like it.”
“Mm, but a century isn’t that long.”
“See, this is why you can’t explain anything to Elves!”
Shera flinched as Rem glared her down. Diablo had to agree that a hundred years was a long time.
“If the races were to leave this place, they would have to go somewhere that’s already inhabited by someone. Telling them to leave Caliture makes no sense.”
“I agree... Still, I’m... I’m opposed to exterminating the Kobolds.”
“We can’t do that, no matter what!”
Diablo was in agreement. The Kobolds had lived in this land first, and they owed them a debt of gratitude.
“...Caliture is a large region.” Rem clenched her first. “The races’ presence here may have grown, but there’s no need for them to fight over turf with the Kobolds. Not when they’re so few, anyway. It should be possible to broker peace here.”
“You’re right!” Shera nodded assertively. “Just like how the Elves and the Dark Elves get along!”
“...We should stop the Kobolds from recklessly attacking Caliture. And, at the same time, we need to make the Humans realize how terribly they’re treating the Kobolds.”
But that was where the snag was.
“I agree there aren’t that many Kobolds here, but... Is attacking Caliture really that reckless? They’ve already toppled the citadels.”
“...I checked the records before leaving the capital. Four citadels in the Caliture region have fallen, but the estimated causes of defeat are that the spriggan attacked, and they lost their walls or commanders in the fighting.”
“Hm.”
Diablo had defeated the spriggan, and, with this, the Kobolds had lost their primary source of strength.
“...The Kobolds seem to realize this will be a difficult fight for them, too. They probably know they’ll lose.”
“Then they shouldn’t fight, right...?” Shera said, seemingly unconvinced.
“...If nothing else, now’s the time. Given time, Lyferia’s reinforcements will arrive. They’ll rebuild the citadels and, eventually, a subjugation party will be sent into the forest. They’ll be more severe and thorough than ever before.”
“Oh...”
When they had left the capital, Diablo’s party was asked whether they wanted to come along with the army or go ahead. Which meant that, by now, the reinforcements were on their way. But with the road destroyed, they probably wouldn’t arrive that quickly.
“...It’s sad to admit it, but... this is war. The war between the kingdom of Lyferia and the Kobolds has already begun.”
“Then what should we do?”
“...Like I said earlier—first, we need to stop the Kobolds. If they attack Caliture with their current forces, they’ll be wiped out.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Yes. Caliture doesn’t just have an army... Mm?” Rem fell silent.
It was Fennely. As always, she was dressed in an outfit that barely covered her body.
I guess she’s still better than Sylvie...
She had probably just bathed, because she was wiping her wet hair dry with a piece of fabric.
“Hello.”
“Hello there, Fennely,” Rem greeted her.
She didn’t understand what Fennely had said, but did guess at her intent. Fennely smiled back at her.
“Diablo, war, soon start. Dangerous.”
“About that... Who decided you’re going to war?”
“Decide? Mmm...”
Fennely tilted her head in contemplation.
“...Maybe the Kobolds don’t have the concepts of a leader or a chain of command?” Rem asked with a confused expression.
“They don’t have a king?” Shera was surprised, too.
“Is Boldboss the most important person here?”
“Ah, yes! Most strong! So, most important!”
They’re pretty animalistic when it comes to strength...
Still, they had fought Lyferia for a long time. It only made sense for the strongest person to become the head of the pack.
“Anyhow, I suppose I should persuade Boldboss to stop.”
“...Don’t do anything excessive, Diablo,” Rem warned him.
A male Kobold peeked his head out of one of the holes.
“Fennely, hurry! Ritual, start soon!”
“Ah... Yes...” she said, a shiver noticeably running down her spine.
“Ritual?”
“Yes... Enemy, strong. Warriors, need courage. So, ritual... do. Before battle, ritual.”
For raising their fighting spirit?
The Kobolds needed to crush Caliture before the reinforcements from Lyferia arrived. And the faster they attacked, the better.
“Fennely, go now.”
Fennely headed down the hole.
“She looked kinda sad...” Shera whispered.
“If we’re going to convince them to give up on fighting, this pre-war ritual would be the right time.”
†
They’d gotten lost. The Kobolds’ tunnels were more winding and complex than they thought.
We should have had Fennely show us the way.
“...I hear voices from that way.” Rem pointed.
Peering ahead, Diablo indeed found a large group of Kobolds. There were two hundred or so of them gathered in a large hollow, with Diablo looking down on the place from the floor above.
“Oh, there’s Fennely.”
Shera pointed at what looked like a platform at the front of the large space, where Fennely was seated. There were several other young female Kobolds there as well.
“...Doesn’t this feel suspicious, somehow?” Rem narrowed her eyes.
Boldboss was standing in front of the females, apparently making some kind of speech before the other males.
“Let’s win!”
The Kobold males swung their fists in the air.
“Oh!”
“Definitely win!”
“Oh!”
“We are here, to win!”
“Oh!”
“Fighting spirit!”
“Oh!”
“Can’t hear you!”
“Ooooh!”
This isn’t so much of a speech as it is a pep talk.
They were apparently not at all in a mood to discuss things reasonably. Even if he were to explain the pros and cons of his suggestion, Diablo doubted they’d listen to him. When he brokered peace between Greenwood and the Dark Elves, he was able to persuade them with reason. The Elves were intellectual, after all.
But the Kobolds were agitated before the war and were more overflowing with savagery than usual. After a few more cheers, Boldboss said:
“We now do ritual before war!”
“Ooooh!”
“Some will die in war. But your souls live on in offspring!”
Wait, whaaaat?
Diablo leaned forward. Didn’t he just say something suspicious?
Boldboss then slapped Fennely’s behind loudly.
“Hiyaaah!”
“Good curves! Fine behind to birth strong warrior!”
The male Kobolds cheered loudly.
“Even if we die, our souls eternal...!”
And as he shouted those words, Boldboss reached for her clothes, pulling them off, revealing Fennely’s unclothed figure to the crowd.
“Naaaah~”
It was evident from both her reaction and those around her that this was no accident. This was the ritual, apparently. Fennely was blushing red but seemingly understood this, making no effort to hide herself.
“I will pour soul first,” Boldboss said, undoing his loincloth.
“...Yes.”
With an ecstatic expression, Fennely’s gaze focused on a single spot.
In the second floor section, Rem and Shera were blushing.
“...What..?!”
“What are they doing?!”
The two couldn’t understand what the Kobolds were saying, and what was happening made no sense to them. Even Diablo, who was listening in on the speech, was having trouble keeping up with the situation.
“Apparently, that’s the ritual.”
“...Impossible!”
“They can’t!”
Their opinion made sense, but this was from the perspective of the races’ value system. Rejecting the Kobolds’ culture wasn’t right.
Wait, no, this was a ritual for increasing their fighting spirit. If we’re stopping the war, we have to do it before the ritual ends.
“Wait!”
Fennely opened her legs and Diablo nearly fell over the ledge as he leaned in to look.
Whoa, that was dangerous!
He jumped down, but falling flat on his face would have been lame.
“You...” Boldboss glared at him.
“Hmph. I’ll be interrupting this.”
“Look if want. Fennely get excited by more people looking.”
For real?! Wait, no...
“I told you to wait.”
“Guest, this important ritual for warriors.”
“You’re all wrong! You’re leaving behind children in case you die in the war? Fools. You should be ashamed of yourselves for coming up with such a foolish plan!”
Boldboss growled audibly at him.
“You call me fool?!”
Convincing them through reason wouldn’t work after all. Diablo took out his staff, the Tonnerre Empereur.
“From what Fennely told me, the strongest among you is the most important person in the group. So if I win...”
“You challenge me!”
Like Diablo thought, reason didn’t work here. The moment Boldboss started letting off bloodlust, he lunged at Diablo.
He’s quick!
His front leg—no, his fist came flying. Had Diablo not been trained by the Swordmaster Sasara, he wouldn’t have even noticed he was being attacked before his head was plucked off. But Diablo blocked the blow at the last moment with his staff. Still, it knocked him some five steps back.
He’s not just quick—his blows have weight to them!
In terms of a skill type, he was similar to a Pantherian grappler. Swift and powerful. The optimal warrior so long as the enemy was within arm’s reach. But right now, there was still a gap between them.
Causing the tunnels to cave in would be bad, and he couldn’t use any wide area attacks because they would hit Fennely and the other Kobolds.
“Try this, then! ?Lightning Bullet?!”
“Haa!”
Boldboss jumped away, avoiding the spell and launching a fist at the same time.
What is this, a fighting game?!
A large jump punch. He then unleashed an attack combo of a medium standing punch into a heavy punch into a finishing move. Boldboss’s finisher fired off a ball of light composed of compressed SP, ?Shining Blow?. An attack the Paladin Captain Batutta once used on him.
So he was a level 100-or-over grappler. It wasn’t for nothing that he was the chief of a clan that fought against the kingdom of Lyferia despite having such small numbers.
The Kobolds that appeared in-game used weapons, and despite appearing in large numbers, were mooks with low stats. Was Boldboss special, or were the others like him too?
No, I doubt that.
If they had two hundred warriors over level 100, they wouldn’t need to rely on a spriggan. They’d beat Lyferia’s army even if it charged at them in the tens of thousands.
“You dodge my attack, guest!”
“I should hope you don’t start claiming you weren’t fighting seriously afterwards!”
Diablo was currently over level 100 as a warrior. Boldboss overwhelmed him when it came to speed, but not to the point where Diablo couldn’t block him at all.
“Me always fight at full strength!”
“Do you, now? My apologies, then. I was trying to see if you were an opponent worthy of witnessing my full strength.”
“What?!”
“Can you dodge this?!” Diablo unleashed a spell. “?Burst Rain?!”
Shining magic circles spread out in midair, that promptly began spewing out countless fireballs. The spell’s charge-up time was slow... But it wasn’t an attack one could easily avoid.
“Nngaaah?!”
The Kobolds watching over their fight all raised their voices in shock and took a step back. The women screamed. Diablo did calculate the angle properly so that it wouldn’t hit anyone, but...
“Fennely!” Boldboss cried out.
That momentary distraction cost him, as a fireball hit him square on. As he fell to his knees, Diablo turned his staff into the magical sword Tonnerre Empereur: Libre and pointed its tip at him.
“You were quite the quick one, but that’s not enough to win.”
“Grrr... I, lost.”
He took his loss fairly. Diablo looked at the female Kobolds.
They’re not hurt, are they?
He took care to keep them out of his spells’ range, but he was still anxious.
Fennely was frozen in place, her legs still spread open with her hands extended toward her privates.
“Ah... I... What do now...?” she asked with tears in her eyes.
“Get dressed, for goodness’ sake!”
Rem and Shera came down from the second floor and covered Fennely with a blanket.
†
Diablo stood on the large hollow’s platform. Next to him was Boldboss, now drained of fighting spirit. Rem and Shera escorted the female Kobolds to an adjacent room, given that a massive battle could break out depending on how the talks went.
Ugh... I just had to get on the platform in the heat of the moment...
Diablo hated nothing more than being the center of attention. Thankfully, his would-be audience right now was all male Kobolds. All of them having fox heads curbed the pressure he was feeling. There was something healing to the sight. Like a village of foxes.
“Tell us. Why interrupt ritual?” Boldboss asked.
He thought he had already told him, but apparently Boldboss really wasn’t listening back then.
“Attacking Caliture with a force of this size is suicide.”
“Can’t know how fight goes until try.”
“Lyferia has people on their side that can beat a spriggan. Do you still think that way?”
That wasn’t technically a lie. He simply didn’t tell the Kobolds that he was actually talking about himself.
“What?! There’s no way Humans have someone like that...!”
“What makes you so sure? It’s only natural to assume whoever came down that road came from Lyferia’s capital.”
“Uuuu...”
And I guess the Order of Palace Knights might have some people that could beat a spriggan.
He’d heard they’d hunted a huge-class Thunder Dragon once before. They were definitely a party of people over level 100, though Diablo didn’t know if they’d show up in the southern frontier.
“I will not mince words. If you attack, it will be tantamount to recklessly rushing to your deaths. Desist.”
“You try help us?”
“Wrong! I am a Demon Lord! Be it the races or the Therianthropes, I save no one. But I happen to feel charitable. I will meet with Caliture’s governor and have him acknowledge your residence on these lands.”
“What?!”
Not just Boldboss, but the rest of the Kobolds all reacted with shocked uproar.
“Humans acknowledge us?!” “No need for fight?!” “Really, Demon Lord?!”
“Hmph... What say you? Will you have faith in a Demon Lord?”
The Kobold males quieted down, awaiting Boldboss’s response. His brows were furrowed seriously.
“Why Demon Lord do so much for us?”
I owe you for a bed and breakfast...
But that wouldn’t be Demon Lord-ly. Instead, Diablo laughed indomitably and flapped his cloak.
“For I am simply too powerful! The conflicts of the weak are trifling noise to me. So I will do away with it as I might brush off a fly buzzing in my ears! Or do you intend to challenge a Demon Lord at his full strength? I would blast your tunnels to bits!”
Boldboss sank into thought, but he wasn’t one for thinking to begin with.
“Fine!” He shook his head wildly. “We obey who strong. Will let you handle!”
Phew... Diablo sighed in relief internally.
It seems he’d successfully stopped the Kobolds.
He headed for the room the females were taken to.
“It’s decided.”
He peeked in without knocking, since there was no door...
“No!”
...when he was suddenly urged out of the room by Shera’s voice. Looking ahead, he saw Rem and Shera, blushing profusely with their faces red.
“...You can’t come in, Diablo.”
“Wh-What?”
The two stood in his way, hiding the room from his view, but he could see Fennely behind them. Her face was blushed and she was panting heavily.
“Haa... Haa... Nnn... Ooh... I... don’t think can... restrain...”
“Stay calm, Fennely! Keep your wits about you!”
“I don’t really get what’s going on, but you can’t, okay?!”
They couldn’t understand each other, but Rem and Shera were trying to calm Fennely down.
Wait, did I just walk in on something crazy?!
The other females were similarly blushed, while others seemed a bit more collected. In other words, those that were caught up in the ritual’s atmosphere were actually...
In he?t?! They’re in he?t?!
Diablo broke into a cold sweat.
“Th-They must have gotten a cold! Since they’re not dressed properly! You foolish little things! Wrap yourselves up in warm blankets, drink something hot and rest! The Demon Lord allows it!”
“Nnn...” Fennely twisted her body. “It... itch down here...”
“Yes, a cold!”
“You should rest, Fennely!”
Rem and Shera bobbed their blushed faces up and down in fervent nods.
So this is Therianthrope culture... Diablo pondered as he swiftly left the room.
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