Chapter 1

The warp point took me to a remote part of the Earl’s territory. It seems that I’d been in the burial grounds of Lucifer for a total of 3 days. Morgana said that most of that time was spent trying to make my way to the ruins and being trapped in her illusion. The old dragon could have told me that I’d been wandering aimlessly for that long. I suppose he was a lot more ticked off about me forbidding him from helping than I thought…

I made my way through the mountainous wilderness and was constantly made to stop so that Morgana could pick up rare herbs and plants for her quote “stash”. She claimed that she had finished building the cottage in the realm of my familiars and was now cultivating the earth to home grow the necessities she required to quote “work her magic”. I didn’t mind being made to constantly stop, but Morgana would never leave my side and insisted on being evoked at all times.

I felt my demonic energy diminish and my patience wear thin at her overt displays of affection and incessant humming. Strangely, Shiko was sapping a lot less of my demonic energy than she usually did and she’s a glutton so I was worried. The old man said that I had nothing to worry about and that Shiko was just being shy because Morgana had joined us and she was no longer my only female familiar. Despite this I made sure to keep an eye on her and ensure that she felt included, regardless of being completely overshadowed by the perverted old dragon and the mischievous witch.

I endured Morgana’s humming until we happened on a small village. The second Morgana detected the hint of people she made an uncharacteristically sorrowful face and disappeared. The scars from almost being burnt at the stake by those she considered to be her friends and acquaintances must be pretty deep. I forcibly evoked her and stroked her head, she responded by smiling and rubbing up against my hand, she then closed her eyes and looked up at me expectantly. I decided that she had returned to her usual self and returned her to her cottage.

I made my way through the village gates and was almost instantly hit with some bloodlust. I saw an elderly man walking toward me, judging by his clothes and the two burly escorts not too far behind him, he must be a man of notable rank in this village.

“Easy old timer, don’t wanna throw your back out by exerting that much pressure do you?”

“What business do you have in our village? How did you even...W-wait! You’re!”

When the old timer got close enough to see my face he instantly lost the hostility he had toward me and bowed.

“L-Lord Kuro! F-for you to grace our humble village with your presence is…”

“Whoa, whoa, hold it old timer, I’m no lord, how do you know my name?”

“N-nonsense! For the betrothed of Princess Mei-Lien, to be treated as anything less than a Lord is ludicrous! P-please, follow me to my humble abode.”

The old timer dragged me to his hut, going by the size difference and the overall superiority in it’s construction, he must be the village head. He informed me that the Earl had recently sent a decree to all leaders of a certain rank in his territory, stating that he had finally found a suitable match for Princess Mei-Lien and that said person, was the one that had defeated him in the recent King of Hell summit clash.

Apparently most people had initially thought that the Earl had been referring to Seir, as the lord that headed the household, they believed him to be the person in question. To combat this confusion, the Earl sent out pictures of me in a straitjacket being fed by a smiling Mei-Lien. When the hell did that geezer take those pictures!?

In spite of my constant insistence that I be treated as a regular person, the old timer wouldn’t hear of it. The village held a feast that night in my honour, all villagers made merry and there was dancing and middle aged men even offered their daughters to me as a means to win favour. Morgana released bloodlust when the girls attempted to attract my attention and invite me to dance. I apologised on behalf of her outburst and respectful refused their invitations. I wasn’t used to this much attention though, so I spent most of the feast in the village head’s home.

Time passed and it's been two solid days since I happened on the village. I’ve tried leaving on a number of occasions but the old timer and the rest of the villagers wouldn't allow me to leave...It seems that this village has been plagued by raids of a huge boar monster the last few weeks. They had sent numerous requests for aid to the geezer’s men but nobody had bothered to venture this far out in the boonies to exterminate it. The old timer said that the men of the village were unable to do it and so the boar had caused a huge amount of property damage and injured a lot of people.

On the night of the third day of my stay the boar appeared.

“*Oink *Oink, I will give you filthy devils one more chance, surrender 1 child to me as a sacrifice and I will spare your village from my raids for the duration of…”

“They didn’t tell me that you could talk and that you were this...succulent.”

“Who are you? *Oink*”

“Damn it, now I wanna taste some of Mei-Lien’s pork buns...”

The boar roared and started charging toward the village, I felt the villagers begin to panic and the men begin to arm themselves. I even spotted a boy of about 11 or 12 holding a pickaxe and shaking with fear.

“All of you! Don’t panic!”

The villages stopped scrambling and looked at me. I made my way toward the entrance and waited outside the gates for the rampaging boar to approach. Just when it was in striking distance, I released some demonic energy toward it to reduce the speed of its charge. I summoned Shiko and right when it was about to trample me and break through the gates of the village, I side stepped and delivered 6 precise thrusts to the side of its body and head. The thrusts were so quick that it must have appeared as if it were just one strike. The boar stopped in its tracks and after a few seconds, it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“Hm, looks like I’ve lost my edge, thank you Shiko, you did great.”

Shiko wriggled in my hand and returned back to the old man and Morgana. Soon after the villagers came rushing out and thanked me in droves. They carried the boar inside and said that they were going to roast it for another feast.

“L-Lord Kuro, for you to assist this decrepit village when your presence is very much needed elsewhere, warms this old man’s heart.”

“No problem, I’ll make sure to have a word with the geezer about providing better protection for his rural...say what now?”

“A-Ah, my apologies my lord, I was referring to the upcoming clash between your current Lord and the Belith House.”

“W-what! You never told me anything about another Summit match! W-when is it!?”

“T-the day after tomorrow my lord.”

“D-damn it!”

I gathered up my belongings, asked the village head the quickest way to get to the summit vicinity and left the village.