Slayers - Volume 12 - Chapter 1

1: Ah, the Demons One Meets on the Road

As darkness fell, so too did silence. A city of this size would normally still have bars open, leaving drunkards and other miscreants to roam the darkened streets... but this particular town was locked down tight. We were living in dangerous times, after all.

That meant I was the only soul out on the road. My cape flapped in the darkness, its color blending in with the night as I ran while trying to mask my footfalls as best I could. I was headed for—

“More bandit bullying?”

Grk! The sound of that unexpected voice from behind me sent a shudder through my body.

I whipped around. “Yeesh... don’t startle me like that, Gourry.”

Yep. The guy standing there in the faint moonlight with a wearied expression was my traveling companion, Gourry. He was tall, blond, handsome, and a master swordsman... which was all well and good. The fact that he had seaweed for brains? Not so much. He’d probably seen me slipping out of my room at the inn and tailed me.

“You’re really the one complaining here?” he said. “Why do you always have to slip out on your own like this?”

“What, you wanted an invite?”

“Of course not.”

Our conversation was held entirely in whispers. It was nighttime, after all, so we couldn’t exactly cause a scene.

“C’moooon, man. I gotta go bully some bandits to replenish our travel funds. And to blow off steam,” I said sulkily.

Gourry’s expression remained exhausted. “Are you still annoyed about that?”

“’Course I am,” I admitted bluntly.

He let out a soft sigh.

“Just to confirm... Is this report entirely accurate?” So the old sorcerer inquired, but his face and attitude were saying, “This bitch is trying to play me.”

Ten days prior, I’d compiled the recent goings-on of Crimson Town into a report that I submitted to the Telmodd City sorcerers’ council. I’d filled five scrolls with my account of what went down, but when this old council bigwig glanced through it, his initial response was skepticism.

“It is,” I assured him confidently.

The old sorcerer just looked at me with a grimace. “Were there... any other witnesses?”

I was briefly stumped. Gourry had been there from start to finish, but where most people had their long-term memory, he had a bowl of mush. Even if I brought him in as a witness, he’d probably just say, “Did that all really happen?”—the final nail in the “she’s lying” coffin.

So after a bit of thought, I ultimately replied, “My companion... isn’t really credible. There are no other living witnesses to the report as written.”

“Hmm... I see...” The sorcerer fell into uncomfortable silence. “I confess I find this difficult to believe. The involvement of the General of the Dynast’s sword, the connection to the incident in Bezeld... It’s all far too extraordinary.”

Grr...

I could feel a vein bulging in my forehead under the sorcerer’s dubious gaze. But, objectively speaking, he wasn’t wrong to feel the way he did. While the world was full of entities that fell under the “demon” umbrella, the higher-ranking ones were few and far between. There were basically no formal records documenting their existence.

Dark Lord Shabranigdu, lord of all the world’s demons, had five faithful lieutenants, each with their various Priest and General servants—that was basically the hierarchy of the upper echelons of (what passed for) demon society. But most sorcerers, in practice, regarded this as mere legend.

In all honesty, there was a time when I, too, found the stories of a dark lord in the mountains of Kataart pretty sketch. If past-Lina had read a report like the one I’d handed in, I also would’ve written it off as fame-grubbing nonsense. So on one hand, I couldn’t really blame the old sorcerer for his reaction.

On the other... it still pissed me off!

“Well... I shall accept your report. But the council has a small request for you. If you really did what you claim to have done, you should find it simple enough.” There was blatant sarcasm in the old sorcerer’s voice.

The council ended up asking me to get to the bottom of some recent reports of mass lesser and brass demon spawnings. I was to head to the Kingdom of Dils, where there’d been a spate of them lately. But as with all council jobs, the payment I’d be getting for the job was well under what the work was worth, so I naturally didn’t want to do it. There were no leads on the investigation, and there was no telling how long it would take just to interview the people involved. It was gross to expect someone to do such an annoying job for so little compensation. Refusing would have been easy...

Except if I’d simply said no, I knew exactly what that old sorcerer would’ve thought: “Ah, she’s scared of demons. This confirms her report is a lie.” Thus I’d swallowed my pride and taken the crummy job.

Of course, I’d also requested a massive increase in remuneration. The piddly payment they were offering hardly covered such an open-ended task. It wouldn’t have even covered room and board. In lieu of money, however, the council bigwig offered me payment in kind—a letter that I could show to any local sorcerers’ council for free lodging and meals. Too bad not every city we stopped in had a branch, and even if it did, the quality of the food there wasn’t exactly guaranteed.

The result? After just a little traveling and asking around, Gourry and I had already burned through the advance the council had given us. It was hardly the kind of situation that keeps you in high spirits. So if I vented my frustration by busting up a bandit gang and stealing—er, reappropriating—their cache to recoup my traveling expenses, who could blame me?

“Well... there’s nothing wrong with beating up bandits, and I can’t tell you to stop doing what’s clearly in your nature...”

“My nature?” I’m not a wild animal! I was about to say something, but held off.

“Lina,” Gourry called abruptly.

“I know.” I nodded firmly in response.

The darkness around us had just grown deeper, and it wasn’t a shadow passing over the moon. There was a presence mixed in with the darkness itself. Hatred, sorrow, jealousy, despair... All the negative emotions that plagued living things steeped the air in a melange.

Miasma. That can only mean...

“Say, Lina... would this be another fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into?” Gourry muttered.

Before I could respond—Thud!—I heard an impact some distance away.

“Over there!” I called. Gourry and I took off at the same time. “It was somewhere around here...”

“Lina! Look!” Gourry stopped on a street corner and pointed. There were fragments of something scattered across the road. And beyond them lay...

A person?!

We ran up to the man on the ground. He looked a little over twenty years old. Dark fluid pooled around him, gleaming crimson in the moonlight. I lifted him into my arms, but it was clear he was already dead, bleeding from a gaping wound in his chest.

“What in the...” I started. But before I could finish the thought, I sensed a rush of malice headed our way.

Gourry sprang into action. The sharp clang of metal on metal rang out beside me as I jumped away. I looked over to see Gourry, sword in hand, squaring off with a dark figure.

And when I say “dark,” I don’t mean that it was hidden by the shadows. I mean that it was pitch-black from head to toe, including the light plate armor it wore and the sword it held. Curious white patterns scrawled all over its body stood out in the faint light of the moon. This dark figure looked a bit like a shaman from some weird religion, but its aura revealed its true nature...

Yup, we’ve got a demon on our hands!

It hadn’t appeared out of thin air. I could see that the second-floor window of a nearby building (what looked like an inn) had been broken from the inside. I was guessing this thing had attacked a man staying there, then leaped out the window to confirm the kill.

“I have... business with... that man.” The creature turned toward the fallen man, speaking in a halting, muffled tone.

“He’s already dead,” I told it.

My words caused the creature to fall silent for a time. Its face-not-face (which was really just a pattern on a black field) turned my way. “He is... dead?” It seemed to think for a moment before tilting its head. “I see... He is dead...” it whispered, cocking its head again and falling quiet once more.

Not one of our brighter demons, I guess...

After a period of silence, it looked back up at me. “You saw... me...”

Hang on a minute! Don’t you dare—

Before I could even object, the “shaman” took off! It dashed to the side and got in close to me.

It’s fast! I just barely managed to block its sweeping slash with my half-drawn shortsword. I then leaped in the opposite direction. And strong!

Truth be told, it was sheer luck that I was able to defend myself. If I’d moved a split second slower, the creature would’ve lopped my head off. And if I’d finished drawing my sword all the way, I wouldn’t have been braced to resist the force of the blow completely. It would’ve cut my stomach open.

The shaman, realizing that its strike had been blocked, withdrew its sword... It then leaped back and, without even looking, took another slash at Gourry, who’d moved in on it! Had it tried a follow-up attack against me, Gourry most certainly would have run it through from behind. That had to be why it had changed targets.

Clang! When Gourry deflected the shaman’s blow, it got around to his side. This time it was Gourry who leaped, getting a little distance from his opponent.

“Be careful, Lina! This guy’s good!” he called.

Obviously, I’d pieced that together. I was already working on a spell chant.

Meanwhile, Gourry and the shaman sized each other up—and the shaman took the initiative! It raised its blade high and sliced down at Gourry. The big lug wavered over how to respond. With sword skills like his, he probably could have just eviscerated the thing... But would that be enough to finish a demon? His hesitation produced a moment’s delay, and...

Cling! Gourry blocked the shaman’s incoming sword. A second later, the shaman was on the move again! It used their swords’ meeting point as a fulcrum as it leaped into the air—right over Gourry’s head toward me! And then—

“Fireball!”

Bwoosh! My spell met the demon midair! Of course, a Fireball wouldn’t hurt one of its kind, but the force of the explosion still sent it flying backward. The shaman landed some distance on the other side of Gourry and turned its face back toward us.

“Wait!” I shouted. The shaman was about to start up again, but it stopped at my call. “You’re trying to kill us to eliminate witnesses, right?”

The shaman tilted its head and said nothing for a time. “That is correct. I must kill... all witnesses...”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to run for now? That spell will have people swarming the scene any second now! Which means you’re gonna have more witnesses than you can handle!”

I was afraid that it might just threaten to kill them all, but after a lengthy silence, the shaman leaped lightly off the ground and disappeared back through the busted second-story window.

“Did he give up?” Gourry whispered, his sword still drawn as he looked up at the shattered window. Just then...

Fwooom! There was a huge explosion from inside the room.

“So... what do we do?” Gourry asked the next afternoon over lunch at a restaurant.

“About what?”

“The thing yesterday when—”

“Hush!” I silenced him by shoving a fried chicken wing into his mouth, then cast a surreptitious glance at the tables around us. “Keep it down! Someone might hear you!”

He chewed on the chicken wing, swallowed, and lowered his voice. “So what? It’s not like we did anything wrong... And the local authorities are searching for clues about what happened, so why can’t we just tell them what we saw?”

Hahh... Gourry was being so short-sighted that I couldn’t help but lament.

If you’re smart, you’ve figured this one out already. That’s right—after stumbling onto the attack, Gourry and I had fled the scene. My Fireball had attracted all kinds of attention, as expected, and it turned into a whole hullabaloo with the local guards running around questioning people since early this morning. Obviously, it would be easy to come forward and tell them what we’d seen. But...

“What do you think would happen if we did that, Gourry?”

“...They’d appreciate it?”

Haaaaaaaahhhhh... My lamentations grew deeper.

“Enlighten me here... Just what do you think that thing we fought yesterday was?” I had to ask.

“A demon, right? It felt like one.”

“Right. I thought so too, though it seemed pretty dumb as demons go... and using an explosion for a cover-up isn’t a very demon-like thing to do... But anyway, the victim was killed in his nightgown, and the room where he was staying got blown up—meaning the authorities don’t really have a way to identify him. Now, let’s assume we came clean to them about what we witnessed yesterday. They’d have an explosion at a local inn, an unidentified corpse, and a blood-stained sorcerer and her mercenary buddy at the scene crying, ‘A demon did it.’ Here’s a question for you: What do you think the authorities would do with all that on their hands?”

“...Thank us for our cooperation?”

“Yeah, right! They’ll look at the suspicious duo—that’s us, just so we’re clear—and say, ‘A demon, huh? Likely story! I bet you did it yourselves!’ Then they’ll arrest us and won’t listen to another word we say.”

“Yeah? But once we explain the misunderstanding, I’m sure they’d let us go.”

I clicked my tongue and waggled my finger. “Don’t be naive. When a case is hard to crack, the authorities just want to arrest the first suspect they find so they can feel like they accomplished something. It’s human nature. I did it all the time back in the day myself.”

“You did?”

“Besides, even if we eventually clear things up, how much time gets wasted in the process? Remember how back in Solaria, despite all identities being known and the course of events being rather self-evident, we still had to spend a million years rehashing our story for everybody and their brother? Wait... I guess you wouldn’t remember that, would you?”

“Um... actually...” Gourry slumped. “I don’t remember the name of the city... but I do remember the questioning.”

Huh. So it had been that bad even for him, had it?

“Good. Now, we’re total strangers here and the identity of the victim is unknown. How long do you think it’d take the authorities to peg the deceased and then establish that we have no connection to him? Besides, say we do give our full testimony from yesterday. You think that’d really help things? If the authorities start looking into us, that’s just going to waylay the real investigation—which isn’t good for them or us. So I say our best move is to look the other way and skip town ASAP!”

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course it is!” It really wasn’t. “So we’re staying out of this. You follow, Gourry?”

The big lug just shrugged in response.

Still, I’m betting we haven’t seen the last of that demon. We have a terrible track record when it comes to unfinished business... With that thought, I let out another internal sigh.

“A white... giant?” I couldn’t help but scowl openly at the bizarre story I’d just heard.

Gourry and I had left the city behind a day ago to hear from witnesses in a small village that was recently attacked by a demidemon swarm. Given that status quo, I found it rather odd that the place seemed more or less untouched and that the villagers were going about their lives as normal. A bearded older gent had agreed to talk to us at the local tavern in exchange for the price of a meal.

“That’s right. The handful of mercenaries we hired for protection started shouting and ran into town. We came out to see a mess of demons coming out of the forest to the south,” he said, gesturing pointlessly as he spoke. “I’ve never seen a demon before... Looked like real bad news to me. I thought I was a goner, for sure.”

“But didn’t you hire the mercenaries to protect you?” Gourry asked.

The old man just shook his head. “Well, I think there were about a hundred of the things...”

“A hundred?!” I gasped.

“Yeah. And however strong the mercenaries might’ve been, there were only a handful of them. They didn’t stand a chance, so they just raised the alarm about the demons coming, then scarpered. Can’t say I blame them. We all thought we were done for, running around like chickens with our heads cut off...”

“And that’s when the white giant appeared?”

“That’s right. Oh, could I get more of the fried romarl?”

“Sure thing. Ma’am! Get this man another fried romarl fish plate! And I’ll have three more fried sampler platters, lunch combo C, and a special salad on the side!”

“Oh, and I’ll take one order each of the crown sausage, bacon, potatoes, and eggs, as well as lunch combos A through C!”

“Hey, Gourry, don’t think I didn’t notice you slipping in those orders! Two can play at that game! I’ll take the roast lamb, the fish liver terrine, and the duck egg soup too! Anyhoo, now what’s this about a white giant?”

“Th-That about-face gave me whiplash. Anyway... the demons were about to attack when suddenly the whole place lit up.”

“It lit up?”

“Well, it’s like... there was a flash. It blew the demons away in an instant.”

“Huh?”

“I said it blew away the demons. There were plenty left, but something was burning nearby—not sure if it was the trees—and I could see the giant a little ways away.”

I didn’t quite know how to react to this information, but the old man kept talking nonetheless.

“It looked about the size of a big hill, I’d say, and it was white all over. While I watched, the giant released two or three more of those flashes and blew the rest of the demons away. The demons tried to fight back with their fiery arrows, but they didn’t seem to hurt the giant. If you ask me, it’s got to be a mountain god.”

“I see...” I replied vaguely to the old man’s story.

Even if the lesser and brass varieties were the lowest branch of the demon family tree, the idea of something blowing away a hundred of them with just a few blasts... It certainly didn’t sound believable. Then again, plenty of what Gourry and I had been through would sound that way to a stranger too. Plus, when we’d first arrived in town, we’d seen the remnant scorch marks of a battle at the village entrance—huge trenches gouged out of the earth, their walls melted into smooth glass. I knew that no human could do that, so I’d been curious about their origin. Were they traces of the giant’s attack?

But what the hell is this giant?

“Could you tell me more about how the demons or the giant behaved when they appeared?”

“I’m not sure what more I can say...” The old man screwed up his face thoughtfully. “The giant vanished right away, and the other villagers just watched from afar like I did. They don’t know any more than me, I’d wager.”

“Hmm... What about the mercenaries, then? I bet they’d know more about how the demons appeared, if not the giant.”

“I told you, they made tracks before it all went down. We never saw them again, even after the demons were gone. Not that they were obligated to come back.”

“Do you have any idea where they’d have gone, then? Well, I guess you wouldn’t...”

“I don’t. But I do wonder...”

“Wonder what?”

“I heard that Gyria City’s been recruiting mercenaries in large numbers. Maybe that’s where they went.”

“Bugh!” I couldn’t help but groan when I heard that name.

The afternoon sun gently bathed the landscape. Birdsong drifted from the forest to my right, and from my left came the sounds of flowing water—probably a small river just outside of view.

Hahh... I sighed wistfully, gazing glassy-eyed at the peaceful scene around us.

“What’s wrong, Lina?” Gourry asked.

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” I responded listlessly.

“You’ve been super down since we left that village. What’s up?”

“Oh... that,” I said with another small sigh. “It’s what that villager said... about how Gyria City was recruiting mercenaries and we should check things out there...”

“What about it?”

“I’ve just got... bad memories of Gyria, you know?” I said with a melancholy air. I’d gotten mixed up in some... let’s say... complicated trouble there once before.

Gourry, however, just smiled brightly at me. “Oh, is that all? That’s not like you.”

“‘Is that all’?! Who would be happy about revisiting a city they have bad memories of?”

“Well, come on. Is there any city you have good memories of?”

“Grk!”

“See? If you let that get you down, you’ll be depressed for the rest of your life. Just let it roll off your back!” he said cheerfully and patted me on the shoulder.

You know... whatever, man. You’re not helping!

“Anyway. Just sighing won’t—” Gourry began, then suddenly halted in place.

“Hmm? What’s—” I turned back, about to ask what was wrong, when I realized it for myself. There was a faint presence lurking deep in the forest beside us.

This is...

Before I could even finish my thought, the presence was right on top of us! Gourry drew his sword and I began chanting a spell. A figure leaped out at us from the shadows of the underbrush. Gourry deflected a silent incoming slash with his blade. Our attacker then jumped away, out into the middle of the main road as if to block our path.

Oh, this thing again...

I didn’t know the creature’s name, so I’d taken to calling it “Shaman.”

“Now... there will be... no more witnesses...” it said.

Then it dashed straight at Gourry! Clang! Just as their swords collided...

“Skree!” Shaman let out a cry like a raptor.

Two things happened at the same time: Gourry instinctively leaped back, and a dozen arrows of flame appeared where he’d been standing. They fired, streaking toward him! While continuing to rush back, he dodged some and knocked aside the others.

While this was unfolding, I released a spell of my own! “Zellas Bullid!” The beam of light it produced could change course midair to track its opponent, and it was powerful enough to take out most demons in one hit.

“Hraaagh!” Shaman let out another wail. A small, thin shield of light appeared beside it to block my spell.

Ha, silly demon! My beam of light shattered its shield! I win!

Or so I was thinking—but then Shaman effortlessly slipped out of the way to dodge by a hair.

Bwuh? My attack hooked back around for Shaman, but the thing once again summoned a shield of light and dodged when it shattered. By this point, Gourry had dealt with all the flaming arrows and was ready to get back in action, but he couldn’t exactly jump in under the current circumstances. Shaman repeated the same shield-dodge play two, then three times, and... Plink! My beam of light, at last sufficiently weakened, poofed out of existence as it pierced the last shield.

No way...

I couldn’t help my astonishment. I’d seen demons tank my blasts and come out none the worse for wear. I’d even seen them evade them by shifting to the astral plane. But... this was my first time seeing one combine physical skill and minor defensive magic to neutralize a spell. Obviously, such a feat was much easier said than done. Shaman had dodged each of my beam’s passes by the skin of its teeth. I’d underestimated the creature when we first met, taking it for a silly, third-rate demon... But it might be one tough cookie after all.

Shaman turned its face toward me.

“Hyah!” At the same time, Gourry stepped in with a cry and a slash.

Shaman deflected the blow and unleashed a counterattack, which Gourry blocked with his blade on the backswing. Perhaps realizing that another round of flaming arrows wouldn’t be any more effective a second time, Shaman seemed intent to lock Gourry into a swordfight.

Obviously, I wasn’t about to interfere. If I started chucking spells willy-nilly, I’d wind up nailing Gourry. I could charge in with my own sword to draw Shaman’s attention, but at my level of skill, it was more likely that I’d just get in Gourry’s way. I was basically stuck watching from the sidelines.

Still, it was clear that we wouldn’t get anywhere like this. I needed a way to launch a spell into the fray without hurting my swordsman buddy...

Of course! I drew my sword and began a chant, then dashed at the two of them. Both noticed my approach and turned their attention to me.

“It’s not safe, Lina! Stop!” Gourry cried.

I ignored him and pressed my charge. Just before I reached them, I changed course, got around behind Gourry, and grabbed him by the hair!

“What?!”

Then I incanted my words of power—“Lei Wing!”

Thanks to my amplified fast flight spell, we sped away from Shaman. I turned back and saw the creature first stare into space in confusion, then break into a dash.

“Ow, ow, ow! Are we running away, Lina?!”

“Heck no! That thing’s already on our tail!”

Once we’d gotten sufficient distance, I set us down and dismissed my spell. Before Gourry could complain about me yanking his hair, I got behind him again and leaped up onto his back.

“H-Hey...”

Ignoring his attempt to protest, I began chanting another spell.

“Oh, I get it...” At last realizing what I was up to, Gourry turned to intercept Shaman’s imminent approach.

That’s right. I’d only fled in order to buy me time to chant a new spell. I was going to fire it from Gourry’s back—meaning there was no way I’d hit him! I’d then jump down after I fired so that even if the spell missed, Gourry could immediately press the offensive. There was just one flaw with this plan: it looked awful silly!

I’d judged the distance perfectly, though. By the time Shaman entered Gourry’s sword range, I’d already finished my spell. He blocked Shaman’s strike with one of his own. I could only assume the demon was on guard for close-range magic. It could potentially dodge this no matter how abruptly I unleashed it, so I was biding my time for now.

Gourry and Shaman’s swords clashed again.

Not yet...

Then a third time.

No, not y— I started to tell myself, but reevaluated.

“Bram Blazer!” I released the blue light at close range, and it consumed Shaman along with its sword!

“Graaaah!” Shaman’s scream echoed through the surrounding area.

Yes!

The blue light was a shock wave that also dealt spiritual damage to an opponent. Normally it wouldn’t do much against a demon, but I’d supercharged this one with my amplification chant. It wasn’t going to be a one-hit takedown, though it should definitely smart!

Except, as I was thinking that, Shaman freaking sliced the light in two!

“What?!” I squeaked, so shocked I forgot to hop off of Gourry’s back.

Shaman’s sword had cut my spell right in half. It was likely that earlier howl wasn’t one of pain, but an incantation. It had cast some kind of spell on its sword, allowing it to cut through mine. Perhaps Shaman had still taken some damage in the process... but if it had, it wasn’t much. As if to attest to this, once it was done cleaving the blue light, it readied its sword again.

“Dam Blas!”

Clink! Just then, an attack spell struck Shaman’s sword from the side and shattered it! Shaman leaped back.

“Tch... Missed,” hissed a familiar voice from the patch of forest where the spell had originated.

“Looks like we just can’t get enough of each other,” I said breezily.

“Yeah, it’s like a curse,” Luke responded in a truly sour tone.

Three people emerged from the woods. First was the dour-eyed, raven-haired Luke in his swordsman’s garb; second was the subdued, silver-haired Mileena. We’d been involved in incidents with these two twice before, but this time, they had a dark-haired man with them. He looked about twenty and was also dressed like a fighter, with a broadsword hanging from his hip.

Never seen this guy before. Although... Wait, nah. Bigger fish to fry here...

I looked back and saw Shaman looking carefully between its broken sword and the new trio on the scene. At least, I assumed that was what it was doing... I mean, it wasn’t like the thing had eyes!

“I thought you were fighting an ordinary assassin, but I see I was mistaken,” Mileena said calmly, her eyes on Shaman.

Luke nodded. “Yeah. This guy don’t seem human to me.” He then drew his sword and leveled it at the demon.

Shaman turned its face toward Luke and the others. “More... witnesses?” it whispered in an almost wondrous tone. It tilted its head for a while as if thinking something over, then... suddenly leaped away and disappeared into the forest. I could hear the tramping on grass grow more distant as I sensed its presence moving away.

“Huh...” I remarked.

“The damn thing ran away!” Luke shouted.

I wasn’t sure if Shaman had realized it was at a disadvantage or if it had simply fled because it got confused and couldn’t decide what else to do. I didn’t know what to make of the disparity between its quick thinking in battle and its sluggishness otherwise... But for now, at least, it seemed safe to assume that the battle was over.

Luke apparently reached the same conclusion, sheathed his sword, and turned his gaze on me. “Looks like you got wrapped up in more weird crap, huh? Say, I gotta ask you somethin’...”

“How about I save the explanation for the nearest village?” I proposed.

But Luke clicked his tongue and wagged his finger at me. “That ain’t what I meant.”

“What is it, then?”

“I meant... how long are you two gonna play piggyback?”

“I told you, it was a strategy!”

“Okay, I get it. You got on his shoulders for strategic purposes and liked how it felt, so you stayed there. Mmhmm. I can just see how close you two are. It was perfect—like a spirit and the possessed.”

We’d stopped at an eatery in the closest town and put in our orders. Luke had yet to shut up about my piggyback ride, and I could feel a vein throbbing in my forehead.

“Nnnngh... You need to drop this one, buddy.”

“Tease ’em while the teasin’s good. That’s my motto.”

“What’s wrong with a piggyback ride? Shouldn’t we talk about—”

“Shut up, Gourry. Well, Luke, that’s quite a motto you’ve got! It sure explains why Mileena’s so sick of you.”

“Geh?! Wh-What’re you talkin’ about?! Mileena always says, ‘That’s what I love best about you—’”

“I never say that,” Mileena interrupted, expression unchanged.

“Ha! See?”

“Hey, Lina...”

“I told you to stuff it, Gourry. I’m getting to the good part!”

“The good part?”

“Snerk! Luke’s got a one-sided crush on Mileena and he follows her around everywhere against her will!”

“Y-You shut up! Get it straight, okay? Mileena’s my—”

“Your what?” It was Mileena, not I, who cut him off cold. Luke went abashedly silent. Before he could say anything else, Mileena turned to me. “Now, who was that man you were fighting? His presence suggested a demon, but...” She sounded a bit doubtful.

There was a lot about Shaman that didn’t seem demonic. The fact that it was wielding a sword that could be broken with a Dam Blas, its slow reactions... I could understand why Mileena had questions about its nature, but its aura definitely said “demon” to me. I’d met demon fusions—syntheses of human and demon—before, and this was totally different. Shaman actually had the kind of cold hostility that your brass demon-level creatures emit. I guess, at the very least, it couldn’t be a very high-ranking demon...

“I don’t know exactly what it is either. This shouldn’t take too long to explain, but two nights ago— Ah!” I unconsciously cried out.

It had finally clicked. The man traveling with Luke and Mileena... I’d never met him before, but his face was naggingly familiar, and I’d just realized why. He looked like the man Shaman had killed that night. Not a dead ringer, just... similar. Brothers, maybe?

“What is it?” Mileena asked bluntly.

“Oh... nothing,” I said hesitantly as I sipped at my qaran juice. The resemblance could just be a coincidence, after all, and I could always ask him about it after I heard his story. “Anyway, two nights ago, that creature... I don’t know its name, so I’m just calling it Shaman. I happened upon it right after it had killed someone. Since then, it’s been after us, claiming it has to kill witnesses. The guy it killed was in his nightgown and staying at an inn, and Shaman blew up his room right after... so I still don’t know who he was, but...” With that, I cast a glance at the man accompanying Mileena and Luke.

“You want to know about him? He’s our current employer,” Mileena said, interpreting the gesture as the cue to introduce him. She then shared a look with Luke.

Luke nodded slightly. “Sorry for the late introduction. This is Jade, um...”

“Caudwell. Jade Caudwell,” the man muttered in response to Luke’s prompting.

There was something palpably somber in his voice and expression. He sounded like a man going through some serious stuff.

“Truth is, there’s some pretty weird shit going down right now in Dils’s capital, Gyria City. He went to inform the local lords, ’cept none of ’em would talk to him. But he ran into us and spilled the whole story,” Luke explained without my asking.

“H-Hang on a minute here,” I had to insist. “Are you sure you wanna tell us all this? You’re not trying to drag us into it, are you?”

“Just hear me out. A while back... About a year now, I guess? I’m bettin’ you’ve heard about it. There was this big, mysterious fire in Gyria. The whole place and its army ended up in ruins.”

“Yeah, I’m aware...”

“The city’s finally back on its feet... The army not so much. After all, even if you hire new recruits, it takes ’em a while to train into proper soldiers, right? So they’ve been recruitin’ mercenaries to bolster up their forces quick.”

“I do feel like I heard about that somewhere...” Gourry said, chewing on a baguette sandwich he’d ordered as an appetizer. It was like he’d forgotten he was a mercenary himself or something...

“Well, one of the mercenaries was head an’ shoulders above the rest. The king decided he liked ’em and promoted ’em in a hurry, and now there ain’t a thing that happens in the kingdom without their say-so. Things’ve been weird ever since.”

“Yeah, you sometimes see ambitious types like that zooming up the ranks,” I said as if it wasn’t my problem in the slightest...

Which, I mean, it wasn’t! This person was upending the kingdom’s status quo, and Jade was probably asking the local lords to do something about it, but I could see why none of them would be willing to tackle the task. This is what the big brains like to call an “internal affair.” No lord was going to poke their nose into an issue that thorny. I sure as hell wouldn’t. So... while I didn’t know whether it was Luke or Mileena who’d accepted the job, either way, it was kinda odd that they would.

As if Luke read my mind, he said, “If I’m honest, I didn’t wanna get involved either at first. I changed my mind when he told me the new bigshot mercenary was a gal named Sherra.”

“What?!” The name drew an involuntary shout from my throat.

Not so long ago, Gourry, Luke, Mileena, and I had thrown down with Sherra, the General in service to Dynast Graushera and wielder of the demonic sword Dulgoffa. I’d managed to improvise a way to get her off our backs at the time, but...

Mind you, it was possible that this was a completely different person with the same name. Given how we knew that General Sherra was already actively scheming in the vicinity, though, it seemed safe to assume it was her and that she was up to no good here as well. Speculatively speaking, she also might be the one behind the current demidemon spawnings. The timeline on that and her most recent mischief matched up too well. But what was her motive? And what was she up to in Gyria City now?

“No one knows what she’s plannin’, of course,” Luke said gravely. He then indicated Jade with his eyes. “From what he’s said about her, the name ain’t just a coincidence. She’s that Sherra for sure. Which means she’s got more on her mind than a cushy castle post. Jade says his dad was a general in the royal army, an’ he kept tellin’ the king she was bad news, but he wouldn’t freakin’ listen. And then the chief retainers opposin’ Sherra started disappearin’ one after another. So his dad decided to get word out to the local lords...”

“And sent him as the messenger?” I asked.

Jade nodded. “I visited several local lords, but they all rejected my petition, saying it wasn’t a matter they were fit to deal with. And... it’s true. When I try to explain it, it really does sound like pure internal politics. Except... something about it feels... wrong.”

“How so?” I prompted.

Jade frowned uncertainly. “That’s... difficult to articulate. This feels like more than some mere power struggle. It just... smells different.”

“Smells different, huh? Good instincts, bud,” Luke put in.

“Er?” Jade asked, confused.

His mercenary companion waved his hand dismissively. “Ah, we’ll explain later. Anyway, keep goin’.”

“Right. I believe my brother was also sent out with my father’s petition... but I suspect he fared no better than I did.”

“Your brother?” I looked up. “You mean there was a messenger besides you?”

“Yes, there was. Why do you ask?”

Was I supposed to tell him, or not? It could have been a total coincidence, after all...

“I might be barking up the wrong tree here... Just stay calm and hear me out, okay? The man I mentioned earlier that was killed by Shaman... He looked a lot like you.”

There was a considerable silence. Then, seeming to realize what I was getting at, Jade cast his eyes downward.

“Er, of course, it’s possible that I’m imagining the resemblance and it was somebody else. It happened in a city one day’s travel south of here... Want to go check?” I asked.

The man remained silent for a while, then shook his head slowly. “No... if it’s not my brother, it would be a waste of time. And if it is... all the more reason for me to return to Gyria as quickly as possible with help.”

“Okay. Got it.” Unsure of what else to say, I just nodded my acceptance.

In the silence that followed, I felt someone tug on my cape. I looked over and found Gourry staring at me, clearly hoping for an explanation.

“So, it sounds like,” I said, scratching my head, “there’s real bad news going on in Gyria City, and we need to figure out if we should go there or not.”

“Oh. You should’ve said that from the start,” he replied cheerfully.

Hmm. Guess he wasn’t following the convo at all...

“Er...” Jade started to look worried.

Luke waved his hand again. “Ah, don’t worry. He’s just that kind of guy.”

“I see...”

“So, are we going to Gyria City, Lina?” Gourry asked.

“Yeah, we are,” I answered confidently.

I couldn’t look the other way after everything I’d heard.

The trip to Gyria City was eerily uneventful. Of course, this is the part where I add, “so far.”

We didn’t forget to ask the people in the towns we stopped at along the way about any demon swarming incidents they’d been party to. Of course, since we were trying to make good time, we were doing a pretty half-assed job of it. Every now and then we’d hear another story of the so-called “white giant,” but nothing they could tell me really clarified what it was or what it had to do with anything. But even more worrying than that...

“It’s weird he hasn’t attacked us since then,” Gourry muttered as we were enjoying a late dinner four days out from Gyria City.

We were in the kind of eatery-slash-bar you’d find in any little town. It was well past dinnertime, but plenty of people had come to drink, so the place was plenty packed.

“Who hasn’t?” Luke asked insufferably, apparently blind to my careful ignoring of Gourry’s comment.

“You know, the demon in black who attacked me and Lina before,” the big lug continued.

“Do you mean the one you called Shaman?” Mileena chimed in.

Guh!

“It’s true that we haven’t seen it for some time. Is it possible it gave up?” Jade added.

You guys! Come on!

“What do you think, Lina?” Gourry inquired.

“Don’t ask me, damn it!” I shouted without meaning to.

Everyone looked at me in surprise.

“Hey, Lina. Where’d that come from?”

“Aaargh! Don’t you know how these things work?! When you say ‘that demon hasn’t attacked us in a while,’ that’s precisely when the demon attacks! It’s a law of the universe!”

“I-Is it really?”

“Yes! That’s why I’m decidedly attempting to avoid the subject!”

“Oh, don’t be stupid. There’s no way—”

Fwoom! The sound of a distant explosion interrupted Luke’s words, and everyone but me looked around in shock.

Told ya!

“H-Hey! You gotta be kiddin’ me...” Luke grumbled, starting to rise.

Just then, the shop’s door flew open. A man burst in, stumbling over himself in his haste. “Everyone, it’s an emergency! Demons! Heading for the city!” he yelled hoarsely, slamming his hands onto a nearby table to right himself.

A commotion broke out among the people in the bar, followed by—Fwoom!—another distant explosion.

Not Shaman, but a demidemon swarm?!

“Oh, hey. Different demons, then.”

“That’s no reason to relax back into your chair, Gourry! It’s still a big deal! C’mon!”

Luke, Mileena, and Jade, not needing my orders, had already headed out the door. Gourry and I ran out of the bar after them and found the people of the city running around in a panic.

“I can’t even tell which way the demons’re comin’ from!” Luke spat, annoyed.

The townspeople were in the grips of hysteria, which made it impossible to glean the information we needed. I wanted to grab someone and ask, but there was no guarantee I’d get a correct answer. And so...

“Levitation!” Before I could begin my chant, Mileena cast her own flight spell to ascend over the roof of the bar. She took a look around and then immediately returned.

Getting a bird’s-eye view... It seemed we’d had the same idea.

“This way,” she reported, landing cleanly and taking off running.

We followed after her.

“We’ll use the back alleys,” Mileena declared, and we dove into the nearest one to avoid the masses.

It was a good call. Cutting through a panicked crowd was never easy. We turned right and left through the empty alleyways, all five of us in a line, until...

“?!”

When we came back out onto the main avenue, Mileena stopped. I ran out right behind her. And we saw... nobody at all. The street looked completely deserted.

“Are you sure this was the right way? We didn’t take a wrong turn?” Jade asked.

“Don’t be stupid. My Mileena’s got a perfect sense of direction!” Luke protested in response, subtle self-interest and all. (Typical.)

“I’m not yours,” Mileena objected, putting him in his place. (Also typical.)

“This is more than just going the wrong way,” I murmured. “The noise is completely gone.”

“Ah!” Jade cried out, apparently just now noticing that.

Indeed, the panicked voices we’d been hearing all this time had stopped entirely.

Jade looked around in a fluster, as perhaps this was his first experience with the phenomenon. “Wh-What’s going on here?!”

“It’s a barrier,” I responded.

“Exactly,” a new, deep voice replied.