Alicia gave a polite bow: “My deepest apologies for not introducing myself the other day. I am Alicia Cristela, an Imperial Knight.”

  Alicia and Emile had met during Shera’s attempted kidnapping, but they didn’t have the time to talk back then. But now, Emile flashed a smile wide enough to show off his pearly white teeth.

  “My name is Emile Bichelberger, an ally to all women! If you run into any trouble at all, please, do not hesitate to come to me!”

  Alicia’s response was flawless, but Emile seemed a little bummed that she had brushed off his trademark introduction so easily.

  With a strained smile, Emile dropped his gaze for a second—where it caught on Klem, who still donned her robe.

  “Um... Hey, my friend... And this would be...?”

  “An Elf.”

  Now that Diablo thought about it, they hadn’t decided on the story behind their relationship with Klem. Luckily, Emile was the type of person who didn’t care about small details like that.

  “Hello there, my young Elf maiden. What would your name be? I am the great Emile, an ally to all women. If you ever run into trouble, you can count on me; I’ll come running to save you whenever and wherever!”

  Krebskulm glared suspiciously at Emile. “What’s with this guy? He’s a little too friendly, don’t you think? And not only that, but he thinks he can save a Demon Lord? Well, I’d like to see you try! I will have you prove you possess the ability to back up those words!”

  “Huh? Demon Lord?”

  “That is correct! My name is—mmph!” Shera had come up behind Klem and covered her mouth with both hands.

  “Klem! Her name is Klem! She’s my little sister!”

  “What?! Then she’s an Elf princess, too?!”

  “Ah... Um...”

  It looked like Shera had blurted that out without thinking about her own pedigree. Besides the fact that she had run away from home, she was also the princess of the Kingdom of Greenwood. Plus, since her brother had died, she had gained the right of succession, and was next in line to take the throne. If she had a little sister, that would make her a princess, as well.

  “...Stupid Shera...” Rem placed a hand on her forehead, exasperated. “Do you have a second, Emile? We do not like to stand out, and your appearance and loud voice is making us do just that. Do you understand what I’m trying to say here?”

  “Even without my devilish good looks and melodious voice, I would think you stand out plenty already, wouldn’t you?”

  There was no denying that—all together, their group consisted of a Demon with horns growing out of his head, a busty Elf, and a rare black-furred Pantherian; and the two girls just also happened to be wearing Enslavement Collars around their necks. To top it all off, they even had a female Imperial Knight with them. They were a veritable collection of walking anomalies, so of course people would stare at them as they walked about.

  “...Even if that may be so, we do not have the luxury of time to stand around talking.”

  “I see, I see. Now that you mention it, I don’t have that kind of time, either. It seems like some Paladin by the name of ‘Saddler’ has come here from the Royal Capital, and it sounds like he has a less than stellar reputation for being a regular evildoer. I was planning on keeping watch around town to make sure no women ran into any unneeded trouble with him, but...do you know of him?”

  Diablo nodded. “I turned him into a statue yesterday. Is he back to normal yet?”

  “WHAT?! You already confronted him?!”

  “I have no reason to fear an insect like him. It was true he was the type of person to cause harm to innocent people.”

  “Good grief... Still exceeding my wildest expectations, I see. If that’s the case, then it seems like I won’t need to worry about you. Leave taking care of the townspeople to me—the great Emile will protect them!”

  “Very well.”

  “Well, not that I was ever worried that you would lose to some Paladin in the first place,” Emile said with a shrug. “But try not to overdo things, got it? I don’t want to see my dear friend’s face plastered on a wanted poster.”

  If Diablo ended up killing a Paladin, he would most likely end up as a fugitive pursued by the country, and he wanted to avoid that any way he could.

  “I will destroy anyone who dares defy me. That is all there is to it,” Diablo snorted.

  “You say that...but this is the Church we’re talking about, you know.”

  “My humblest apologies,” Alicia said, bowing her head. “The higher ups in the Royal Capital are also concerned about the Paladins and their rather radical approach to their work... If anything comes up, would you be so kind as to inform me as well?”

  “Oh? Seems like you have some circumstances of your own to worry about, too.”

  “Yes... Ah, but since I am going so far as to make a request of an Adventurer, allow me to pay you for your trouble.”

  “No need! If I can be of service to a pretty lady, then that is enough for me. If I find anything interesting, I’ll be reporting back to you!”

  Giving a short farewell salute with his fingers, Emile headed inside the Adventurer’s Guild.

  Afterward, the group headed toward the Southern District, paying a visit to Petre’s. It was a bakery run by three Grasswalkers, all of them males, and had a placard with a rabbit drawn on it hanging outside.

  Klem bought all the biscuits she could handle, while everyone else chose some freshly-baked bread. They ate at one of the tables inside the shop, and after they were finished, they strolled around town for a bit before finally making their way back to the inn.

  It was yet another peaceful day.

  †

  The following day—

  Diablo and the others were grabbing lunch at the Peace of Mind Inn - Twilight. Alicia said she had official Imperial Knight business to attend to, and had left earlier that morning.

  “...I will be heading to the Mage’s Association this afternoon,” Rem said, rising from her seat. “I’ve been indebted to Celes this whole time, so I figured I should least let her know what has happened thus far.”

  “You have a point.”

  “...I’m worried about taking Klem with me, so I will be heading out by myself.”

  “I shall allow it. Be back by this evening.”

  “All right.”

  “See ya!” Shera waved goodbye. “Tell Celes we say hi!”

  Just as Diablo thought Klem would keep munching away on biscuits as if this didn’t concern her—

  She offered Rem a biscuit.

  “I don’t know where you’re going, but if you get hungry, you should eat this!”

  “.........Sure.”

  “That’s wrong; you should be saying ‘thank you!’”

  “Ah... I suppose you’re right. Thank you very much.” A complicated expression on her face, Rem accepted the biscuit, a faint smile on her lips.

  —It looks like she may have gotten a little more used to this.

  With that, Rem left the inn.

  After finishing lunch, Shera was teaching Klem a song in the dining hall, which was now devoid of customers.

  —I don’t know much about what the songs are like in this world, but they seem to be more like nursery rhymes...and all about food, for some reason.

  “Sylvie!”

  Shera pointed towards the entrance of the dining hall. There was a girl who wore barely any clothes at all, only keeping her chest and her waist covered, while her red hair came right down to her shoulders, cut just so. She was a Grasswalker, and sported long rabbit ears growing from the top of her head, and a small, round tail behind her.

  No matter how old she got, her childlike appearance would never change. Sylvie was the Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild in Faltra, so she had to be fairly older than she looked. But not only did she look like a kid, she acted with all the innocence of one as well.

  “Heya, Diablo and friends! How you all doing!” She waved enthusiastically at them, then sat down in one of the empty chairs.

  “Are you here to grab something to eat, too?” Shera asked her.

  “Mm, maybe I will grab a little something... But the truth is, I came to see you all.”

  “...This isn’t another troublesome request, is it?”

  The first time Sylvie had come to them with a request, it turned out to be a trap. Just when he thought their next job would be a simple delivery errand, he had ended up fighting against an army of one hundred Fallen. And just the other day, Sylvie had come to him with a request to “prevent a war with the Elves.”

  “They weren’t all bad, right?” Sylvie said with a bitter laugh. “Like that herb gathering quest I gave you just a while ago.”

  “Hmph...”

  On the quest, a Fallen had appeared, and they were attacked by bandits—in short, another troublesome quest.

  “I’m not here with a job for you today. I heard that you got a new girl in your group,” Sylvie said as she looked toward Klem, “and wanted to come see what she’s like for myself.”

  “So you’ve already heard from Emile, I take it.”

  “Bingo! Klem, was it?”

  Klem’s cheeks were filled to the brim with biscuits at the moment. They had gotten her to eat a bit of omelet earlier, but given the chance, she would just start munching away on biscuits again.

  “Fwat ho yoo whant?”

  Shera wiped Klem’s mouth with a handkerchief, a smile on her face. “No talking with your mouth full, Klem. All right, now swallow... Ah, geez, you’re spilling all over the place! ...But you’re so cute!”

  Shera had a look of pure joy on her face. To her, it must have really felt like she had gotten a new little sister.

  A smile crossed Sylvie’s face as she looked at Klem. “...Seems like a regular kid to me.”

  —It looks like I still can’t let my guard down around Sylvie.

  Even though she was smiling, she was still prying for information.

  “How much do you know?”

  It wouldn’t be a good idea to make Sylvie their enemy. He really wanted her as an ally, if at all possible.

  “Nothing at all.” She shrugged. “I was just a bit worried, which is why I came to check up on you. You seem like the kind of person who holds nothing back, after all... Even if it’s against a child.”

  Her stare bored into him—he suddenly remembered what happened the other day.

  He had drunk a bottle of alcohol Sylvie brought for him in place of an MP potion...but he had no recollection of what happened after that. Apparently, he had done...something to her back then.

  —Though I don’t remember a thing about it...

  By the time Rem and Shera had gotten back, she had already left—with Diablo holding a bottle of alcohol and a piece of Sylvie’s clothing in his clutches.

  —I really must have done something, huh...

  But having people think he got drunk and laid hands on a child (or at least, someone who looked like one) would be a problem for him, so he pretended he knew nothing about it.

  “I have no interest in children, for I am a Demon Lord. Hmph.”

  “Well, we’ll leave it at that for now...” Sylvie’s voice was strangely cold.

  In a warm and friendly tone, the complete opposite of what she had just used with Diablo, Sylvie called out to Klem:

  “If you ever run into trouble, come to me, OK? Do you know how to get to the Adventurer’s Guild?”

  “Very well, so you wish to serve the Demon Lord, too! It seems there are people amongst the races who understand how this works, after all.”

  “Demon Lord?”

  “I shall give this to you!”

  Chest puffed with self-importance, she thrust out her hand—and offered Sylvie a biscuit.

  As if suddenly coming to an understanding about something, Sylvie gave a wry smile.

  “I guess you really are Diablo’s kid after all... Thanks.” Sylvie popped the treat into her mouth.

  “Oh, is this from Petre’s? It’s pretty good!”

  One week later—

  The bell of the church rang thrice, signaling it was three o’ clock in the afternoon. Diablo and the others were on their way to a café.

  “...I’m sorry for making you come all this way for me.” Rem reiterated herself as they passed through the gate of the Central District.

  “It’s fine! I’ve been really looking forward to going to a café!” Shera said cheerfully.

  “...We did make a promise to go, after all.”

  “Are you fond of cafés, Miss Shera?” Alicia inquired.

  “Ehehe~ I’ve only asked people about what they’re like, so that’s all I know about them. But someday, I want to open up my own café! Rem will be the waitress who brings customers their coffee, and Diablo will be the guy who wipes the cups!”

  —Somehow, I’ve become the busboy. Great.

  Rem shrugged her shoulders. “...I haven’t made any promises for the future. Even though I did promise I’d take you to a café, I had no idea it would end up being like this.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I’m happy just as long as I get to go one!”

  “I would think these to be necessary arrangements, considering the current situation.” Alicia nodded. “It’s nothing you need worry yourself over, Miss Rem.”

  “...I wonder about that.”

  Their destination was a café located somewhere in the Central District. Waiting for them there was the Head of the Mage’s Association of Faltra: Celestine Baudelaire. After Rem had explained everything to Celes, Celes had told Rem she wanted to meet with Klem. Because of that, they had brought Klem along as well.

  Shera was holding Klem by the hand. Diablo stood at the back of the group, watching the girls. He was bad at jumping into conversations with many people involved.

  Rem was uneasy: “When I said it would be difficult to take her to the Mage’s Association, she suggested a café instead.”

  “I would think that to be a reasonable suggestion.” Alicia nodded. “If this person were to try and cause harm to Miss Klem, I would imagine it to be quite difficult to fight back while inside the Mage’s Association.”

  “...Though Celes was aware of the Demon Lord’s soul sealed inside of me, she allowed me the freedom to act of my own accord. I would like to think there is no need to worry about her doing anything contrary to that now.”

  “No one can understand what a person’s true feelings are.”

  “...I’m more worried about something else this time... No, Diablo is with us, so I’m sure it will be all right.”

  “I should hope so.”

  The reason the girls kept their conversation vague was because Klem was with them. They were worried that she would suddenly awaken to her true Demon Lord nature and attack Celes, and it seemed they were counting on Diablo to prevent that situation from coming to pass. He was certainly prepared for anything to happen, but after observing Klem for the past few days, it seemed needless to worry about that now.

  —All she does is eat and sleep.

  She was just a child; a child who really liked biscuits, at that. Shera had basically become a kindergarten teacher, spending every day teaching Klem songs and making toys for her to play with. The two had completely opened up to each other.

  The thing they should really be worrying about was breaking the bank with the ridiculous amount of biscuits they were buying. As soon as Diablo’s party ran out of money, that’s what would truly bring about the advent of the Demon Lord—or at least, that’s the way he thought of it.

  The Central District was partitioned off from the rest of Faltra by towering stone walls. The group had passed through the gates here before on their way to the governor’s mansion. Diablo had run into a bit of trouble with one of the guards last time he came through; but since they had Alicia with them this time around, they got a free pass just by being with her.

  The roads here changed from cobblestones to tiles. Instead of being built from stone like everything else, the rows upon rows of mansions were built from bricks, clearly showing that wealthy citizens lived in this town as well. There were even guards posted all over the place, their job being to protect the public order.

  After turning a number of corners, they spotted a small, stylish-looking store.

  “Wow... So this is a café, right?!” Shera exclaimed in awe.

  Just like the others, the base of this building was also built from brick, but the roof was made out of a wooden framework. An iron sign was hanging in the entrance, and the door was fitted with a pane of glass. It was the first time Diablo had seen a glass door since coming here.

  “...I have heard this was built similarly to shops in the Royal Capital,” Rem said as she introduced the place. “Celes may have already arrived ahead of us, so let’s head inside.”

  She pulled open the door—the aroma of coffee wafted through the air. Diablo had drunk plenty of coffee since coming here, but this fragrance was completely different from the kinds he had tried.

  Still holding Klem’s hand, Shera entered the café, her head on a swivel as she looked around in excitement.

  “Wow! Wow, wow, wow! This is amazing! Like, really amazing!!”

  “Hm, I don’t really get it myself...but there are supposed to be delicious biscuits in here, right?”

  “There are! They’re called scones. I remember a girl who had been to a café in the Royal Capital bragging about it.”

  Alicia looked like she had something to wanted to add to the conversation, yet remained silent. Now that he thought about it, Alicia actually lived in the Royal Capital, and as the daughter of a duke at that. She must have been to a café at least once before. Diablo, too, had a rough understanding of what they were like thanks to his time living in his previous world.

  —But scones aren’t biscuits, right?

  It was an almost cramped space, with two four-seater tables inside the shop, and five seats available at the counter. The shop had just opened recently, and no matter where he looked on the inside, it was so new; everything was clean and almost sparkling. He had heard it was supposed to be some kind of hoity-toity, extravagant place, but even compared to the shops back in his original world, it was overflowing with the feel of a high-class establishment. This was different from the shops that would fill a plastic or paper cup full of overly sweet coffee for 300 yen.

 

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