Slayers - Volume 15 - Chapter 1

1: They’re Back?! The Goofy Elf and Dragon Duo!

It all started one ordinary day.

“Fireball!”

Ba-bwooooosh! The attack spell I unleashed sent the half-dozen bandits around the bonfire flying!

“Wh-What the?!”

“Is it the authorities?!”

“The authorities don’t shoot first and ask questions later, stupid! It’s gotta be that wretched organism of unparalleled violence—”

“Mega Brand!”

Ka-fwooom! My enraged second wave silenced their nonsense ramblings.

Darn it! I, delicate beauty and master swordsman-slash-sorcerer Lina Inverse, do not deserve to be treated as some unidentified organism! Now I’m really gonna make you pay! Ah, well, might as well hit ’em with a couple more attack spells...

But just as I was thinking that, I detected a hostile presence appear behind me and to the side. I immediately leaped forward when—Whooooom!—a burst of light flared up where I’d been standing.

An attack spell?! I leaped through the grass to get my distance. As I landed, a black-clad sorcerer came out, rustling the leaves. In the dry, scorching air, he and I stared each other down.

Hmm...

“Would you be... a bodyguard hired by the bandits, perhaps?” I asked. It wasn’t unusual to see wandering sorcerers who’d fallen on hard times resort to selling their services on the black market.

“And what exactly brings you here? Doing dirty work for the authorities... doesn’t seem to be your game,” he replied. I couldn’t make out his face, but his voice made him sound on the older side.

I puffed out my chest. “Heh. Can’t you guess? I was feeling bored and restless, so I came to do some bandit busting as a pick-me-up!”

“Who could ever guess that?!” the sorcerer jeered, then flashed an indomitable smile. “Heh... Well, no matter. One way or another, I’m in the service of these men. It’s simple bad luck that you would cross paths with me!” He sliced his hands through the air, tracing a pattern while chanting a spell. A blue light raced along the ground, taking the shape of a large inverse pentagram!

“H-Hang on a minute...!” I shouted in surprise.

The sorcerer’s mouth curled into another smile. “Come forth! My sworn ally, lesser demon Jaldung!”

Fwsh! The light of the magic circle grew brighter everywhere except the center, where a misshapen figure appeared in the darkness. Those twisted limbs, those dark wings... It was, indeed, a lesser demon.

“No way...” I whispered hoarsely.

Lesser demons are the lowest-ranked members of the demon race. They’re far from intelligent, but their magic power and defensive capabilities make them a genuine threat to your standard swordsman or sorcerer. But...

“You used that big ol’ magic circle and over-the-top chant... to summon one lesser demon?! Haha... bwahahaha!” I couldn’t stop myself from cackling.

“What’s so funny?!” the sorcerer snapped.

“W-Well... you made such a big deal about it, I just thought it was gonna be something cool!”

“Stop rolling around on the ground laughing! If you don’t understand how terrifying a lesser demon can be, then you will die cursing your own ignorance!”

“Raaaaargh!” As if egged on by the magician’s anger, the lesser demon howled.

Ah, fine, whatever...

I’d just started chanting up a quick spell when—Tha-thump—the world around me... shook? That’s the only way I can describe what happened.

Huh...?

“What was that?!” the sorcerer in front of me shouted in sudden panic. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d felt it.

Something about the chill of the wind and the smell of the air... There were no visible changes in our surroundings, but I felt a powerful sense that something was wrong. The sorcerer and I just stood there for a time, at a loss for words. Finally...

“Graaaaaaaah!” A scream from the lesser demon broke the silence.

A deathly shudder ran through the creature, and—Bwoosh!—its back exploded! No, it grew more wings! Suddenly it had two pairs trailing behind it like black rags in the wind.

I had no idea what was going on. And yet... I felt a sudden chill up my spine. In response to this foreboding premonition, I unleashed the spell I’d chanted. “Elemekia Lance!”

My spear of light sailed straight toward the lesser demon, but... Ziiing! A sound like the creaking of metal sounded out, and a glowing light appeared in front of the demon’s chest. In an instant, the light took shape!

An inverted pentagram magic circle?! The spell I’d thrown hit the pentagram and—Skeeeeen!—with a hideous squeal, it dispersed! Needless to say, the lesser demon behind it remained unscathed.

“What?!” I found myself crying out.

The spell I’d chosen was one that damaged its target from the astral side. I’d used Elemekia Lance to deal with more than my share of lesser demons, as well as slightly higher-ranking brass demons. But I’d never seen one use a barrier to block a spell. It’s not that lesser demons lacked the magic power to do so—they lacked the intelligence.

“What’s with this thing?!” I asked no one in particular.

“I... I don’t know!” claimed the sorcerer who’d summoned it. “This has never happened before! But... Ah, no matter! Lesser demon!” he called to it, and the thing turned its eyes toward the sorcerer. The sorcerer then pointed at me. “Kill that woman!”

The lesser demon let out a bestial growl. Instantly, dozens of spears of flame appeared... No, spears of light!

Krababababash! Cutting white streaks in the night, the spears impaled the sorcerer who’d summoned the demon! The sorcerer, still confused about what had happened, collapsed without so much as a scream.

Then, the lesser demon turned its gaze back to me.

I quickly began chanting a spell. Before I could finish, the howling lesser demon summoned more spears of light. It unleashed them—not at me, but slightly to my side. The rain of light pierced the darkness and... Krrsh! A sudden flash of silver scattered the bolts. A sword had literally cut through them!

Who was responsible, you ask? Who else?

I didn’t need to see the silhouette briefly illuminated by the light to know the only warrior capable of such a feat was my handsome blond super-swordsman and traveling companion extraordinaire. His brain was as sodden as the fields during the rainy season, and his name was... Gourry Gabriev!

“Graaah!” After tearing through the spears of light, he let out a roar and quickly closed in on the lesser demon. The demon’s four wings flapped as it tried to retreat into the air, but before it could get away, Gourry was up in its face. My boy was as fast as ever!

Slash! There was a glint of his silver blade, and the demon’s rag-like black wings scattered like dead leaves. An instant later, the demon’s body collapsed to the ground, cleaved in two.

“Hey, Lina!” Gourry called with a sigh as he sheathed his sword. “Were you sneaking out at night to bully bandits agai—”

“Save the lecture for later,” I interrupted as I scanned our surroundings with a grave expression.

The bandits had scattered in terror the moment the out-of-control lesser demon had killed the sorcerer. And now that the lesser demon was dead too, the area seemed free of enemies. That was why Gourry had sheathed his sword. And yet...

“The lesser demon transformed out of nowhere and then killed the sorcerer who summoned it. That shouldn’t be possible. Maybe the sorcerer just didn’t have the correct safeguards in place, but... I dunno. There might be something else going on. We shouldn’t let our guard down.”

“Oh... you think?” Gourry replied, quickly scanning the area around us too.

I already knew good and well there weren’t any hostiles nearby. This was my patented avoid-a-lecture strategy in action! Of course, it only works on the oblivious.

Little did I know at the time that there was far more going on than I could even imagine.

A dark sky. A frozen city. Each breath of the crisp, numbing air seemed to scorch my lungs.

Black-winged figures, too many to count, circled above. Unseasonable snow seemed to absorb all sound and leave things wrapped in empty silence. It was like a monochrome painting or a nightmare described by some mad prophet. But this was neither a painting nor a nightmare—it was reality.

“What... in the world?” I whispered, my voice trembling. I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or something else.

“It’s not winter yet... Is it?” Gourry, too, whispered dumbfoundedly from where he stood beside me.

It was now the day after my bandit hunt. Gourry and I had left our inn and stumbled across this small town in a mountain pass on our way to the next city. I’d been wondering for a while why it suddenly felt so cold, but when we crested the hill along the main road, this frozen domain ruled by demidemons was the sight that greeted us.

“Let’s go, Gourry!” I said as I took off.

He followed half a step behind me. “Go where?!”

“There are still demons down there! Which means there might still be people alive, right?!”

“Got it!” Gourry responded.

I nodded in response and began to chant. We were still some distance out from the village. If we ran full speed the whole way there, we would’ve wound up too winded to fight by the time we arrived, which would have defeated the whole point of swooping in to help. Instead, I took Gourry’s hand and activated my amplified high-speed flight spell. “Lei Wing!”

Wreathed in a barrier of wind, we shot forward! We were quickly bearing down on the town, but there was still no sign of human life.

Are they hiding in their homes, or are they all...

I shook off that pessimistic thought, and soon enough, Gourry and I arrived. It was truly a city of death. We’d been too far away to see it before, but I now had an up-close view of streets littered with the corpses of slaughtered humans. Their lifeless bodies were partially obscured by the snow piling up on top of them.

It seemed the survivors had fled indoors, because most of the houses were bolted up tight. The only movement we could see was the falling snow and the swarming demons overhead. A few of them took notice of our approach and dove down toward us. They all had the same four-winged silhouette as the demon we’d seen the night before.

“Let’s go, Gourry!”

“Right!”

Gourry drew his sword and I chanted a spell under my breath. There were five or six of the demons headed our way, but I didn’t know how many were out there in total. I could have used a Dragon Slave to blast ’em all in one go, but being in a human settlement limited my options.

A cry from the demons, almost like a raging howl, brought countless arrows of light streaking toward us, vaporizing the falling snow around them as they went! Their aim was good, which thankfully made them easy to dodge! Gourry and I took off in a dash, flying into a nearby alley.

Ka-bloosh! The arrows of light burst against the ground, letting up a hiss of steam. Some of the pursuing demons landed while others remained airborne, looking down at us in the alley. I took my chance.

“Bram Blazer!”

Whoosh! The blue shock wave I released vanquished several of the demons clustered on the ground. I’d thought they might use defensive barriers like the one the night before, but apparently it was still possible to catch them off guard.

The demons in the air turned their eyes to me. But...

“Graaah!” In that moment Gourry, who had used a series of kicks off the walls of the alley to gain altitude, leaped at the flying demons with a war cry. He sliced through one’s head and then kicked off its back to change direction, slicing through the wings of another. He then did the same to a third on his way back to the ground.

The remaining demons thus shifted their attention to him. When they did, I leaped out of the alley, still chanting a spell.

Gourry effortlessly slew the two demons he’d sent plummeting to the ground, as well as another that had been careless enough to come too close. The lone demon left seemed to realize it was outmatched—or maybe it intended to attack Gourry from above—because it flapped its big wings to get out of sword’s reach and up into the air.

Except that’s when I finished my spell! “Zellas Bullid!”

I fired a beam of light at the demon. Ziiing! With a metallic growl just like the one from the night before, it conjured a defensive barrier. Too bad Zellas Bullid couldn’t be blocked so easily!

Krash! My beam smashed the barrier apart and kept going, tearing straight through the demon behind it. Its body hit the ground limply, scattering snow everywhere.

Gourry and I had now polished off all the demons that came after us. The only question was how many remained within the town...

“Guess we’ll just have to wander around and beat all of ’em we come across. Let’s get to it!” I was about to take off in a run, but...

“Wait!” Gourry stopped me. He’d sensed it. The presence of... something.

I looked around and scanned for it myself. The white streets. The corpses. The only movement, once again, was the indifferently falling flakes.

For a time, all was snow and silence.

“Why don’t you show yourself already?” Gourry abruptly asked in the middle of his vigilant scan. He was staring intently at the roof of a civilian home not too far off. “You’re not just there to watch, are you? If you want to finish things, get out here.”

Shff... At Gourry’s call, a red figure stood up on the rooftop. It then jumped down to the ground below and slowly shuffled toward us. Once the figure was close enough to make out, I felt myself draw instinctively back.

Ewww!

Some time ago, I’d seen an anatomical model in a sorcerers’ council library. That’s exactly what this thing looked like—like a human being with its skin removed. But instead of eyes, it had blood-colored protrusions of flesh that swayed and wobbled like you’d see on a snail or a slug.

Of course, this thing was no ordinary human or monster. It was unmistakably a demon. They were always pretty weird looking, but this one was particularly impressive in the bad taste department.

“Whoever you are... being able to detect me... must mean you’re exceptional.” The creature stopped some distance away from us and spoke to Gourry through a lipless mouth full of exposed teeth.

“It doesn’t matter who we are. Attacking a town to feed on its panic and fear... I know this is basically like an afternoon snack to your kind, but could you stop being such a pain in the neck?” I interjected.

“Ohh...” The interruption seemed to increase the demon’s interest, because his gaze—well, his eye-tentacles—turned to me. “So you know a bit about us, do you? Then you know how formidable a pure demon can be. You seem to have no trivial amount of skill... Care to put it to the test?”

“Pretty sure we don’t have a say in the matter, do we?” I responded.

At this, the muscles at the corners of the demon’s mouth tightened... into a smile. “I’m glad you understand. Now then, let us begin!” he declared as he planted his legs on the ground and readied his fists at his hips.

Just then—Vrnnnn!—there came a sound like the buzzing of insect wings, and the snow around the demon began to scatter. The waves of the invisible vibration tore through the snow en route to Gourry! The big lug didn’t try to dodge. Instead, he charged forward!

“Fool!” the demon smirked. But...

“Hahh!” Vwum! There was a burst of noise as Gourry’s sword flashed through the air. The snow falling around us had made the otherwise invisible shock wave obvious to the naked eye, allowing him to slice through it with his sword.

“What?!” the demon shouted in surprise, momentarily caught off guard.

Yet it seemed Gourry hadn’t fully been able to dispel the shock wave. He, too, was stopped in his tracks, while I, for one, wasn’t about to let a chance like this slip by! I went to release the spell I’d chanted.

“Dynast—”

But before I could speak the words of power, the demon produced a second shock wave that scattered the snow and cloaked the world around us in white! A diversion?! Ignoring it, I finished releasing my spell.

“—Blast!”

Ker-kyewww! The magical lightning coursed ahead, sparkling pale blue beyond the haze of snow before disappearing—but there was no sign it had struck anything.

Just then... I detected a hostile presence appearing behind me!

“Lina!” Gourry quickly moved to cover me, the sword in his hand flashing.

Bwam! Another burst rang out.

The demon had gotten around me and unleashed a third shock wave, which Gourry cut through. Just the reverberations of it were enough to shatter our eardrums. At least, that’s how strong it felt. If I’d taken the hit directly, I would’ve been knocked out in the best-case scenario—and killed instantly in the worst.

“Thanks, Gourry,” I said before beginning my next incantation.

But that’s when I noticed something. The sharp hostility coming from the demon had suddenly vanished. The demon hadn’t disappeared on us, however. Once the billowing snow settled, we could see him standing there some ways off. But he was no longer emitting malice. Instead, he was emitting... uncertainty?

“Lina... Gourry...” The demon whispered as if troubled somehow.

“You recognize our names?” I asked in a challenging tone.

Of course, Gourry and I had fought any number of demons, so it wasn’t unreasonable to think that our reputation preceded us among their kind. But a pure demon like this one didn’t seem like the type to be scared off by rumors.

“Lina... Inverse. Gourry... Gabriev.”

Okay, yeah. It definitely knew us.

“You’re pretty interested in our names, huh?” Gourry remarked.

And then, the demon leaped—straight back from us!

“Huh?”

Ignoring my dumbfounded surprise, the demon turned away, leaped up to the nearest rooftop, and then bounded from roof to roof until he disappeared into the falling snow. Just like that.

Soon, I could hear the beating of the wings above us withdraw as well.

Oooookaaaaaaaay... So he just up and ran? And politely took the lesser demons with him?

“That was really something, Lina.” After the demons were gone, Gourry sheathed his sword and plonked his hand onto the top of my head. “I thought it was just bandits... but apparently even demons flee at the sound of your name!”

“That’s not what’s going on here, damn it!”

Wham! My killer uppercut laid Gourry sprawled out in the snow.

The tension in town was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I was seeing more soldiers now, and the people coming and going looked frazzled. Of course, this was understandable. It had been about ten days since the night I first witnessed a lesser demon transform into an even more twisted form than usual. Since then, strange weather patterns and demon attacks on cities and villages had only become more frequent.

“Say, Lina...” Gourry and I were walking along the main avenue to find an inn for the night when he spoke up. “Have you ever felt anything like this before?”

“Yeah,” I admitted casually. “A little before the incident in Dils, everywhere had this kind of air to it.”

“Oh, I remember that,” Gourry said, casually hitting a fist into his palm.

Sheesh... Do you really? During said incident, even though he didn’t show himself, a big-name demon—Dynast Graushera—had been pulling the strings. At the time, we saw frequent lesser and brass demon hordes raiding human settlements. We’d managed to sort the whole ordeal out, but the fear it had instilled was deeply rooted in people’s memories, and these incidents were calling it to the forefront of their minds. Could the same thing be happening again?

I was looking around the city and thinking that over when... I found myself taking in a small gasp. Was that...?! I took off in a run.

“Huh? Hey, Lina!”

I ignored Gourry and continued running. I peeked into an alley and... Nobody?

“What the heck happened?” he asked.

“Ah... Nothing. Just a case of mistaken identity,” I said dismissively. “I thought I saw someone I knew.”

“Oh?” Gourry accepted my dissembling without much thought.

Really, it had to have been a trick of the eye. Plenty of people looked alike, and I’d only caught a glimpse of this person from behind, after all.

“Well, let’s find that inn—” I began, but was cut off halfway when a distant scream rang through the city.

Gourry and I shared a brief, silent glance, and then... I looked around and saw a whirl of chaos and screams coming toward us from down the avenue.

“The demons! The demons are attacking!” I could hear voices shouting in between all the screaming.

Gourry and I both took off in a run toward the pandemonium. We pushed our way through the rushing, fleeing crowd that steadily thinned the closer we got to the origin of the chaos. We pressed on until, in the middle of the road, we found...

A demidemon corpse?

I wondered if the local guard had defeated it, but there was no sign of fallen guardsmen anywhere nearby. Lesser and brass demons were basically cannon fodder to me and Gourry, but they were fearsome foes against your standard-issue swordsmen and sorcerers. Sorry to say it, but there was no way the town guard could take one out unscathed. So whoever killed it must have been...

“Lina! Incoming!” Gourry’s cry interrupted my train of thought.

I looked up to see about four airborne demons coming toward us. Gourry drew his sword, and I began chanting.

“Graaah!” With the demons’ cry, a mass of rays of light flickered and manifested.

Or, at least, the mass was about to manifest until—Bababababwoosh!—a dozen spheres of light appeared from out of nowhere, hit the demons in midair, and pulverized them.

That attack...!

“It’s not safe here!” the caster called from around a nearby building before turning the corner. “Get to a safe...” he began, then trailed off as he saw me and Gourry.

He recognized us—and I recognized him too. He was a handsome blond who looked to be middle-aged, wearing light leather mail over his blue clothing. But this wasn’t his true form. He actually hailed from Dragons’ Peak near the Kataart Mountains where the demons lived. His name was Milgazia, and he was really a golden dragon elder who occasionally used transformation magic to take human form like this.

“Aren’t you—”

“Milgazia. It’s Milgazia. Call me by my name, human,” Milgazia said, bearing down on him so quickly there was no time for Gourry to finish whatever he was about to say.

“Ah... right,” Gourry replied, abashed.

Huh. Guess he’s still touchy about Gourry calling him a big lizard before, even if he didn’t mean any harm.

“It’s been a while—or perhaps not for you humans. Still, it seems you didn’t need my help.”

“Master Milgazia! What are you doing in this— Actually, now’s not the time for pleasantries! Let’s finish off these demons!”

“Worry not. I’m not here alone. She’ll handle the low-level demons.”

Wait, what...? I could feel the blood drain from my face when I heard that.

“What’s wrong? You’re looking rather ill,” Milgazia asked.

“Er, when you say ‘she,’ do you mean that you’re here with...”

I looked over and saw for myself. Fwee! Kabwoom! A bright white light demolished several demons and the buildings surrounding them.

Milgazia and I stood there in silence.

“Say... isn’t that kind of a problem?” Gourry whispered.

Milgazia had no response, and as I watched the indiscriminate beams of light fire this way and that... I just felt tired.

Ahh, that stupid elf is at it again, I lamented to myself.

The demons were vanquished in no time, but the damage to the town was severe. As for the primary cause of the damage... Just don’t ask, okay? Please?

“But why do we have to go to a different city? The citizens should be grateful for our aid!”

“Take a hint, will you?!”

Wham! Without any hesitation, second thoughts, or reservations, I slapped her on the back of the head with my slipper. And who was this slappee, you may ask? None other than a beautiful blonde in white armor—a picky, selfish, and thoughtless elf! Yup, it was Memphys Rhinesword, whom we’d previously met through Milgazia.

“You were dishing out laser breath like it was going out of style! You did more damage to the city than the demons did! There’s no way we could stick around after that!”

After we defeated the demons, me, Gourry, Milgazia, and Memphys—Mephy, rather—had booked it out of the city on the road to the next town over.

“I made sure there weren’t humans in the buildings before I fired!” she barked.

“That doesn’t make it okay!” I barked back.

Er... Okay, so maybe I’m guilty of that behavior myself from time to time. But anyway!

“Discounting whatever gratitude they might feel for us saving them, at least one person was bound to come asking us for restitution. Did you really want to stick around to do some carpentry, Mephy?” I threw at her.

“Er, I suppose not...” she muttered. “R-Regardless, why on earth are you carrying a slipper?! Humans make no sense to me.”

“Because it’s convenient to have one around!” I declared with total confidence.

Mephy froze up for a moment... then clapped her hands, exchanged a glance with Milgazia, and said, “I see! That is indeed very convenient, Uncle Milgazia.”

“Yes... We should try it as well.”

“Humans do have good ideas now and again.”

Um, why are you so impressed by that? I mean, I know I’m no prize, but... dragons and elves really make no sense. Still, I dismissed the thought. I didn’t want to waste too much time imagining what a dragon or elf would find convenient about a slipper you could pull out whenever you wanted.

“So, uh, all that aside...” I started, snapping out of my momentary reflection on their strange admiration of my habits. “If you’re back in human territory, does that mean the demons are spawning again?”

“Yes,” Milgazia answered with a serious expression (granted, his expression was always serious). “When we halted the previous scheme of Dynast Graushera, he claimed that the mass demon spawnings were merely part of a feeding frenzy, but I’m not certain I entirely believe that.”

“You mean...”

Milgazia nodded firmly. “It’s still possible that the demons are striving for a repeat of the Incarnation War. Either way, just because the abnormal spawnings don’t directly affect the dragons and elves doesn’t mean we can simply sit back and watch.”

“I’m happy to hear that. But the strange irregularities in the weather started happening right around the same time this new wave of spawnings kicked off. Do you think they’re connected?”

“To be honest, I can’t say. I can’t imagine demons affecting the weather.”

“They shouldn’t have that much power, you mean?”

“Well, when Flare Dragon Ceifeed fought Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu, it’s said that half of the continent known as the Sleeping Dragon was vaporized. That could just be a legend, of course, but a strong enough demon could certainly have the power to affect the weather in parts... But it would require a truly massive expenditure of power, and it’s difficult to imagine why they would bother.”

“I see...”

“That reminds me, Uncle Milgazia. The city we passed through two days ago was unusually warm. No sign of demons, though,” Mephy put in.

“It was warm?” I found myself scowling. “The city Gourry and I stopped in ten days ago was super cold.”

“Oh? Are you sure you’re just not merely sensitive to the cold?”

“Heck no! It was so cold that... uh... If the comedic chill factor of one of Milgazia’s jokes is about sixty, then...”

“Wait a moment, human,” Milgazia objected, but I kept on.

“The cold there was... about a 2.7.”

“A decimal point?!”

“Wait! What are you implying, human?!”

“I’m not implying anything. I said just what I meant!”

“What?!” The golden dragon elder looked severely shaken. “Are you suggesting... my jokes aren’t funny?”

“I wouldn’t say they’re unfunny per se... It’s more like they’re weapons of mass psychological destruction. Oh, and for reference, anything over a five on my comedic chill factor scale would indicate lethality to living beings.”

“My jokes are lethal?! Erk...” Milgazia clenched his fists. “So the days I was known as ‘Merry Master Mil’ are over...”

When would those days have been, exactly...?

As Milgazia sagged in depression, Mephy grabbed his shoulders. “That’s not true, Uncle Milgazia! Your jokes are always very funny! Perhaps they’re simply too highbrow for these unrefined humans and their short life spans! Just remembering number eighteen, the one about the chicken and the road...” There, she burst into an uncontrollable gigglefit.

Sorry to interrupt your fond little memory, but I can smell how awful that joke is from here! I guess I really just don’t get dragons and elves...

“Yes, that’s right! I do have that joke!” Milgazia looked cheered up again (don’t ask me why) and pointed in my direction. “Now, listen, human! Prepare yourself for the greatest joke in my repertoire!”

“Wait a minute, Master Milgazia! We’ve gotten off topic here!” I tried quickly to get us back on track, figuring that hearing any joke that Milgazia and Mephy declared “the greatest in his repertoire” would turn me into a vegetable. And don’t you dare mention that I brought this on myself! “We were speculating about what the demons are after! Do you have any idea at all what’s going on or where we should go next? If not, we’re pretty much walking blind right now.”

“True... That is an issue,” Milgazia agreed.

Yes! Certain doom avoided!

“It’s clear that something is afoot,” he continued. “And it could mean the involvement of a high-ranked demon, as it did during the Dynast Graushera incident. But if they’re hiding their presence, there won’t be any way for us to detect it. Mephy and I have returned to human territory to lend a hand, but our greater goal is to unearth the cause of all this.”

“Hmm, I see. But it’s not like we can just ask the demons what’s up, and wandering around aimlessly isn’t gonna do us much good.”

“True. But if we can’t find a way to search for clues...”

“I guess there’s just one thing to do!” I proclaimed.

“Oh? What is that?” Milgazia asked.

In response, I declared knowingly, “We forget all about it and live our lives to the fullest!”

Mephy and Milgazia both simultaneously criticized my fabulous suggestion.

“What’s wrong with you?!” she shrieked.

“That won’t solve anything, human,” he said flat-out.

“That was a joke... Although there genuinely doesn’t seem to be much else we can do,” I said.

“Indeed...”

“That much is true.”

“Hey, c’mon! No worries there, guys.” This cheerful voice interrupting our hard thinking session came from our remaining team member, Gourry.

“What do you mean, ‘no worries there’?”

“Look at who we’ve got with us. The trouble will find us sooner or later. It always does.”

“You shut up! You might be right, but that is not something to be proud of!” I shouted with my whole heart, letting my cry echo through the empty city streets.

Don’t take this as a brag, but I’m pretty wise to ambushes. Even by demons. Sometimes on an abandoned road, I’ll sense a hostile air from the brush and pick up on their presence. Or I’ll be in a room at my inn and find myself awakened by an uneasy feeling just in time to sense someone approaching my window from outside.

But I gotta say... A demon just barging into a crowded eatery in broad daylight? That was a first for me.

For a split second, nobody paid it any mind. The door opened with a jingle, and the thing walked in like it was nothing. If I had to describe it, it was like a dead tree in the shape of a human. If it had just had empty holes where its eyes and mouth should be, it would’ve been rather cartoonish. But in place of a mouth, it had one abnormally large bloodshot eye that restlessly scanned the room. The creature casually entered the restaurant and began looking around as if meeting up with someone.

I’m not sure who really noticed it first, but... As odd as this sounds, it felt like a spreading wave of hush came naturally over the clamoring inn until, at last, silence reigned.

Gourry and I were sitting at a table in the corner with Mephy and Milgazia. We were in the middle of our meal and froze up for a second before we realized what was going on. The demon made its move a split second before we could snap back to our senses and act.

Wuuum! Its arms, which looked like dead branches, tore through the air. The closest customers reeled back, spewing blood as they collapsed.

Screams followed, filling the restaurant instantly. The patrons, descending into a panic, ran wildly back and forth with no clear goal in mind. Gourry and I approached the demon through the teeming crowd, but the restaurant was so chaotic now that we couldn’t use long-range attacks like magic for fear of hurting people. That meant this fight was down to steel!

The demon noticed Gourry a mere moment before he reached it. It raised an arm and its fingers elongated, extending toward him! Of course, such a straightforward attack would never work on the big lug. He dodged through the fingers, slicing them off as he went. The demon closed in, and...

Slash! A flash of silver sliced it through on the diagonal.

“Be careful, Gourry!” I screamed. “That was too easy!”

“Got it!” Gourry responded, and just then...

The fingers of the demon, which had speared the floor after being shorn off, began to swell and reconstituted into another dead tree demon.

Is that its main body, then?!

Gourry sensed it and turned toward the reconstituted demon, but just then, an identical demon grew out of the roots of the fallen monster!

Is this one a composite like the Red and Gray demons we fought once before?!

The panicking crowd of people continued to make it impossible for me, Milgazia, and Mephy to get into position to support Gourry. The two identical demons turned their fingers into arrows and launched them at the big lug. He readied his sword to block, and...

Fwoosh! Before he could swing his sword through the air, the incoming swarm of woody bolts let out a sound like an explosion, burst, and fell futilely to the floor.

“This... is...” The dead tree demon eked out a few strange-sounding words and turned around.

Bwuh?! I turned my gaze in the same direction and found myself drawing back—for standing at the center of the chaotic crowd of people was the slug-eyed demon we’d encountered in that frozen town.

This guy again?! When the heck did he... Of course, his appearance added to the panic. But if we didn’t notice his arrival, that means...

I diagnosed the reason quickly enough: there was no hostility emanating from him. And, in fact... Given the tree demon’s reaction, the anatomical model demon might have even been the one to stop its attack.

But why? Bah, think about it later! For now, first enemies first!

Of course, there were still people screaming and running all around us.

Crack!

“Gwuh!”

Fwup!

“Hrrk!”

Smack!

“Geh!”

“Wh-What are you doing, human girl?!” Milgazia asked from across the crowd.

“Knock-out chops,” I replied simply. “If things won’t calm down, I need to calm them down myself—even if it means getting a little violent! They’re all gonna die if I don’t!”

“That’s very true.”

“I don’t need you backing me up, Miss Collateral Damage!”

I don’t know if she didn’t hear me or she just ignored me, but—Bwom!—the white wings of Mephy’s armor opened explosively. The patrons they hit went flying and fell unconscious.

“What do you think you’re doing, Miss Friendly Fire?!”

“The same thing you are!”

“It’s okay if I do it!”

“It is not! More importantly, we should have an easier time getting around now!”

“Fair enough!”

Girl had a point. The panic had died down in Mephy’s wake. Of course... the people now huddled in a corner of the eatery were looking at us like we were bad guys too. But I’m sure that was just my imagination! (Totally!)

Now that we could offer support, I began to chant a spell. But before I could finish it, the dead tree demon farther back extended its fingers. It was aiming... not at Gourry, but at the ceiling! When it struck, it used its arm like a fulcrum to whip around, carry itself past Gourry, and reunite with the other dead tree demon. Feet together and hand in hand...

Creeeak...

With a sound just like a tree bending in the wind, the two demons melted into each other’s bodies and were joined again in an instant. Then, without hesitation, the newly formed creature spun around and ran out of the eatery. After watching it go, the anatomical model demon sank into the floor and disappeared.

“Tch!” Gourry tutted and flew out the door. I quickly followed.

At such times it could be dangerous to pursue, but there were people outside the shop. The commotion might have even drawn a crowd. If the demon ran out into that, there would be a bloodbath.

I opened the door, and... Crash!

“Gweh?!”

I smacked right into Gourry, who had stopped just outside. And let me tell you, bashing face-first into someone’s breastplate? Kinda painful!

“Hey, Gourry! What are you—” I started. Then I stopped.

Just as I had expected, there were quite a few rubberneckers gathered around the inn. They stared at me and Gourry, their curious gazes silently seeming to ask what in the world was happening inside.

In other words... none of them had seen a demon rushing out of the restaurant. If they had, they would’ve been freaking out.

When I stopped to think about it, there had been no indication of panic from outside when the demon first entered the eatery. And a creepy thing like that brazenly walking down the main drag definitely would have caused a scene. That suggested it had appeared from the door itself—and disappeared the same way. Effectively, it had just teleported off.

“Um... er...” Gourry, who clearly hadn’t picked up on this, spoke up rather awkwardly. “Say... did a guy who looked like a dead tree walk out of here?”

This seemingly ridiculous question was met with silence.

C’mon, dude. Do you hear yourself? You sound a little nuts to anyone who doesn’t know about demons, okay?

“Um, did you see anyone suspicious come out before us?” I joined in, attempting the impossible feat of covering for Gourry’s stupidity.

“The only suspicious person here is that guy...”

That operative word of my question launched the rubberneckers into all sorts of speculation.

“Why is he carrying a sword?”

“What happened in there? A brawl? A robbery?”

“How do we know you didn’t start the fight?”

“It’s been handled!” I shouted, overpowering the chatter from the gawking crowd. They quieted down for a moment, and I took that opportunity to scan over the group as I continued, “Of course, I doubt you’ll believe anything sword-toting strangers have to say, but you can get the details from the shop’s owner later.”

Either accepting what I said or losing interest, the crowd began to break up as people went back to their business. But...

“?!”

Toward the outer ring of the crowd, I caught a glimpse of chestnut hair. Its owner stopped for just a moment... and glanced back over her pauldron at me. I saw only her profile, and truly only for an instant. With another rustle of her long hair, she then disappeared into the crowd.

Unconsciously, I found myself chanting. “Lei Wing!” Using an amplified high-speed flight spell, I sailed right over the other rubberneckers.

I quickly scanned the area and spotted her some ways away. Just as I began to weave my way toward her, she turned the corner and disappeared into an alleyway. I arrived a moment later and looked down the alley... There were people there, but not the person I was looking for.

“Hey, Lina!” I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Gourry, who’d just caught up with me. “What gives?”

“I saw a familiar face.”

“Hmm... I feel like we had this conversation not long ago...”

“We did,” I admitted readily.

“Then your buddy’s still gotta be nearby, right? Let’s search for them together. What do they look like?”

“A beautiful girl around eighteen or nineteen years old. Relatively short. Long, chestnut hair. Wearing a black bandanna, pauldrons, and a sorcerer’s cape.”

“So she kinda looks like you? The ‘beautiful’ and ‘relatively short’ parts aside, I mean.”

“No,” I said, also readily enough, while giving Gourry a kick for good measure. “She doesn’t kinda look like me. She looks exactly like me.”