It’s been three days since we started our journey without even a fixed destination. As you know, we’re currently in Balros, also called Dark Continent. In order to discover more of this world, we decided to travel across the other continent. Because of that, we decided to go to Laotea, the largest continent in Veneofel, and in order to do that, we need to reach the closest port to it, which is located at the Port Town of Oreius.

We spend our last few days travelling and sometimes defeating monsters and collecting some of their parts like their hide, stingers, eyes, ears etc. We are doing this because Eri said that we can exchange the things we collected for money when we reach the city.

Back to present, we currently are sitting in a café inside Oreius. We’ve just arrived in this city, so right now, we’re just going to eat and go sightsee a bit then head towards the trading market.

The Town of Oreius looks like a typical town from Tudor Period of England, an old period from my old world. The town’s aesthetics makes me feel nostalgic since the town really looks like the one from my old world. Not that I’ve been there first hand, I just happen to read a book about old England in the local library.

We are sitting in the table near the window while drinking Ilhof, a drink similar to coffee in my old world but much less bitter. It tasted like a really tame coffee. Apparently, you can add sweeteners of any kind. This café sure is interesting. Eri looks like she’s enjoying her drink too. Despite being a Demon King General, she sure does look like she loves Ilhof which is a Human Beverage.

“Eri, say… have you ever drank Ilhof before?”

“No, not that I think of.”

“Even though you’re a general?”

“I’ve never had a chance to just sit by leisurely in the castle when I was a general, and besides, we don’t have someone that can prepare this drink. It’s true that I hate humans, but this does put a smile on my face.”

“Oho… for a demon to say something like that… this drink sure is amazing.”

“I’m technically still half-human, by the way.”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot.”

After that, we indulge ourselves in this wonderful drink and the beautiful scene of the sea on the horizon. This town sure is bustling with cheerfulness even though the world is currently under conflict between humans and demons.

After finishing our drinks, we discuss about our next step.

“Now, what should we do next?”

“First thing’s first. We need to sell all the monster parts that we collected. I would rather not touch the Demon King’s treasure yet. We also need to know what form of currency are they using in this town. If we were to just pull out some gold coins and it turns out that the coins were not even circulated in Laotea, we’re definitely be the target of different people with different objectives.”

“That makes sense. We wouldn’t want to gather all kinds of attention for us.”

“On that note, Eri, do you know where can we sell these?”

“Why’re you asking me? It’s also my first time in this town. I’m a general, did you forget about that? I only went to different towns just to invade it for the Demon King.”

“So, we’re both ignorant, huh? Might as well just ask someone in this town.”

“Yup, let’s do that.”

After being done with our drinks, we went to the counter and ask the personnel on the counter. The one in the counter is a female Beastmen who looks like in her thirties. She’s wearing a maid uniform that resembles those old French Maid Uniforms.

“Um, can we ask something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“What store will we be able to exchange monster parts?”

“There’s no store that can do that in here, only the adventurer’s guild can exchange money for those.”

“Ok, so… where can we find the adventurer’s guild?”

“the adventurer’s guild is located in front of the central plaza. You will be able to notice the guild right away because it has the largest building in that vicinity, also because many people come and go every time… and also because of the huge-ass banner in the front.”

“Thank you, we’ll come again later.”

“Well then, have a nice day, you two.”

After that, we went to the adventurer’s guild.

“Yup, this is definitely huge for a guild building.”

“You think so too, Eri?”

“Yup, this is huge, no matter how you see it.”

“Have you been in a guild before?”

“Yes, when I was really young. And the guild that I went looks just like a normal house.”

“Hmm… They sure spent a lot of money in here.”

“What a pointless way to spend money.”

Right now, we are in front of a needlessly huge infrastructure that they call guild building. They really splurge hard cash in this, and really, for what purpose?

“They must’ve a reason or two about why they made the guild needlessly huge.”

“I doubt that it’ll be reasonable enough.”

“Let’s just go inside.”

We went inside the adventurer’s guild. As expected, the interior is needlessly huge. It must be as big as a church hall. The Guild had tables all over the floor and a bar on the side, looks like this is where adventurer’s gets rowdy. At the opposite side of the room, there’s the counter for the adventurer’s guild.

I take out the sack of monster drops from the bag. I did it outside so that no one will create a ruckus about a magic item.

As soon as we enter the premise, the adventurer’s inside lock their gazes towards us.

“Looks like we aren’t entirely welcome in here, huh.”

“They certainly look like hostile.”

“Meh, let’s just finish our business in here and get going.”

“I agree.”

We went straight towards the counter while the adventurer’s gazes are following us. As soon as we reach the counter, we were greeted by a girl that looks like an adventurer too. A tanned skin with bob hair and a scabbard and a knife wrapped around her waist.

“Good Morning Fellas, what brought you here?”

Even her accent is manly, adventurer-like.

“Um, were hear to exchange some of the monster parts that we collected along the way for money.”

“Sure, what’re you going to exchange?”

“All of these.”

I put the sack that I’m carrying on the counter. It made a loud *thud* when I drop it. When the girl tried to lift the sack, it appears that she couldn’t even lift it.

“Whoa! What the heck! How can you even lift this?”

“Huh? It’s not that heavy, right Eri?”

Eri picked up the sack with ease.

“Not even heavy.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

The Girl had a shocked expression on her face, but immediately changed to a smiling one. Looks like she’s professional enough to not let her emotion show, not for a long time, at least.

“First things first, can you help me bring this on the Weighing Stone?”

“Weighing Stone?”

“You know, the thing we use to measure the weight of an object.”

“Oh, this is the first time I heard about it, that’s convenient.”

“It was staple to every merchant to have one, that should’ve been common knowledge. What’s with the two you, weird.”

“No point in prolonging this subject any further. I’ll just help you bring that to the weighting stone.”

We went across the counter and on the side, there was a stone slab that looks like granite. I put down the sack their and suddenly, numbers are shown holographically. Looks like the stone is imbued by magic that determines the weight of anything put on top of it.

“WHAT! 50 Kigar?! That’s why I can’t even lift the damn sack. How strong are you two, really?”

Gar is the basis of the weight measurement in here, it means gram. Kigar basically means Kilogram in this world. Looks like the knowledge that the old geezer gave me really isn’t for naught?

“Really? I thought it was just a couple of gar because it wasn’t heavy at all.”

“No, no, no. You two are just strong, really strong.”

“*sigh* let’s just get over with this, can you tell me how much will we be getting from all of these?”

“Well, the sack that you brought in here is so heavy, the parts collected were from entry level to medium level monsters and they are still in pristine shape. I can give you a hundred Gold coins and twenty Silver Coins for all of that.”

I don’t know how to react since I really don’t know the value of the currency they have in here. That’s why I decided to further question the Counter Girl.

“We’re not from this are so we don’t know the value of the currencies in here. Can you explain to us how much does the coins cost?”

“You’re not familiar with the currency, even though this is the only currency that is being circulated in the whole continent? You two are really weird.”

“We’re really sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Ok then, let me explain it to the both of you. Bronze is the coin with the lowest value compared to other coins. You can’t even buy a proper food with just a single bronze coin. Silver coins, on the other hand, is much more valuable than bronze ones. A Single Silver Coin is Equivalent to a hundred Bronze Coins. With that, you can have a proper lodging for a day, food not included. Gold, however, is the one with the highest value compared to others. A Single Gold Coin is equal to a hundred Silver Coins. With that, you can afford the most expensive lodging with food for a couple of days, that’s all for a single Gold Coin.”

“So, you’re saying that we’re rich, like, real rich right now?”

“Yes, you are.”

“But why is the whole sack equivalent to a hundred Gold and twenty Silver?”

“Well, all the monster parts you collected were in demand right now. Some of them are used for medicinal purpose, some is for concocting poisons and status-damaging potions. Because of the market of these products, the resources are really in need. That’s why the fifty kigar of monster parts you brought are really expensive.”

I can’t help but have a smirk on my face. Looks like my first transaction went down smoothly albeit a little unexpected.

“Hear that, Eri? It really was a good idea to gather parts of the monster that we defeated along the way!”

“Yes, I know. In fact, I’m the one that suggest to gather monster parts to be solved in the town, right?”

“…”

We head back to the counter where the Girl gave us two small sacks with the one full of gold coins and the other, of silver.

“Here’s the payment. Remember, we are not, in any ways, responsible if you were to lose that money or someone stole it inside the guild building, it’s your own fault for not being careful enough.”

“Yup, we understand…”

It seems that the girl sensed the ill intents of the adventurers around the guild and indirectly warned me against it.

“… looks like we’re not be going to leave this building peacefully, right Eri?”

Eri put her hands on the daggers at her back and readies herself. I on the other hand, stayed calm.

“Good luck out there, folks. If you have any questions, feel free to approach me.”

“Yes, will do… By the way, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“If, for example, someone start a fight and threatens the two of us, we can retaliate without someone pressing charges to us, am I right?”

“What’s ‘Pressing Charges’?”

“In other words, no one will complain to any officials if we were to, for example, accidentally kill someone because they started a fight with us.”

“I would rather not have a corpse in the building. But feel free to break some bones and knock them unconscious or just leave them near the death’s door. Just don’t kill them.”

“Noted. Once again, um…”

“Oh, I forgot. The name’s Izuna.”

“Ok, Izuna. We’ll be back.”

The moment we started walking towards the exit, the Adventurers inside the guild begun to gather towards us. Our path is then blocked by three buffed men, immediately after that, we’re surrounded by 20 people who looked intimidating.

A man, who appears to be the leader, walked towards us with an unpleasant grin on his face.

“Looks like you’ve got a great haul back there, right?”

“Um, excuse me but, who are you?”

“Oh, you didn’t know us?”

“Nope, not in the slightest. And we’ve just arrived in this town for the first time so…”

“Hahaha! No wonder you don’t know us. We, The Dragon Fang, is the highest-ranking party in this town. And I, Cero Ddgeir, is the leader and also one of the highest-ranking adventurer in this area.”

“Great! We are travelers whose name isn’t worth to remember. So, if you would, we’ll go on our way.”

Cero blocked our way.

“No, no, no. That is not how we run things in here.”

“Excuse me but, what?”

“You see, if you want to leave this guild peacefully, leave the gold coins behind. We’re kind enough so you can keep the silver ones for yourselves.”

At this point, Eri’s hands is already in the grip of the daggers.

“And also, leave your female companion in here. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine with us. Hahaha!”

I still remained calm despite the current situation.

“Sorry but we cannot do that. If you would excuse us, we’ll take our leave.”

“No, no, no. That is not that easy boy. If you don’t follow what we said, we will make sure to break all the bones in your body and steal all your money and your girl. We’re kind enough to offer you a way for us to benefit with each other. You’ll walk out unscathed and the girl will be happy with us and we both have our share of the money. Just accept it.”

“Hans, these guys are really getting on my nerves right now. I would like to kill them now if you would allow it.”

“Remember what Izuna said, right? We need to make sure that no dead bodies will be on the floor. However, you can cut an arm or two if you want.”

Cero, now looks irritated, approached the two of us and grab Eri by the wrist.

“What the hell are you talking about?! Not that I care, I’m going to take the girl now. Better hand the coins while we’re still in a good mood, kid.”

“Release me…”

Eri wasn’t showing any emotions in her face. She’s facial expressions are blank.

“Huh? Whatd’ya say?”

“I said release me…”

“No can do, little fine girl. You see, you’re our property now. You need to obey our every order.”

A split second later, blood was spurting in Cero’s Arm.

“Eh?”

“Get your filthy hands off me, you mongrel.”

It took Cero a few seconds before realizing that his right arm was gone and blood is spurting out of the bisected part.

“WHAAAAAAA!!! IT HURTS! IT FUCKING HURTS!!!”

Cero scream in agony while his comrades were still confused of what’s happening.

“Just keep your bloodlust to the minimum, Eri.”

“Yup, I know… Well then, who’s next?”

Cero’s comrades began getting themselves together and attacked Eri at the same time. The Problem is… No one can hit her.

The thugs shout every time they strike, which make them look more like a samurai but rowdier. And to make things worse, they haven’t even landed a single hit on Eri.

A few minutes have passed and the thugs were showing signs of exhaustion. Cero, on the other hand, is lying unconsciously on the floor while his right arm is still bleeding. I silently went to Cero’s place and use my ability to stop the bleeding by imagining the wounds being covered with new skin.

Meanwhile, on Eri’s side, the thugs that were surrounding her were out of breath and exhausted. Eri yawned. Looks like she’s absentmindedly dodging the attacks with minimal effort, therefore she hasn’t gone full strength and is currently bored by that.

“Is that all you’ve got? How petty and embarrassing. And to think that you’re all from the strongest party in this town? What a shame. Well, if you can’t retaliate anymore, it’s my turn then.”

Eri gather momentum for a few second then strike the 2 in front of her with ease. Using the dim parts of the guild, Eri act like an assassin and lurks in there. One by one, the thugs’ number slowly declined. Some were slashed, bludgeoned, hit, but still alive. Eri attacks with precision and finesse, like a professional ballet dancer. Except, she’s not wearing any ballet equipment and her performance is the skillful takedowns of the enemy.

It only took several seconds to completely annihilate the whole Dragon Fang party. Eri was standing proudly in the middle of the unconscious bodies of the enemy. The sight of her holding her daggers while her red hooded cloak is fluttering in the wind, is absolutely awesome, like a poster for an action movie. She then murmured something.

“Weak. Humans are weak.”

Eri then looked at me and showed a little smirk, probably wants to brag about her physical prowess.

“Ok, you’re strong, I get it. Can we calm ourselves now? Did you make sure to not kill someone in the middle of the fight?”

“I did, that’s why it’s so unsatisfying for me.”

I ignored what she said and looked at Izuna in the counter. What I saw was her terrified expression while being backed up in the corner of the counter. I thought that she was professional and will keep her calm demeanor even after witnessing that kind of savageness and violence. Looks like she can’t handle extreme violence in her watch.

I then looked at Eri and I immediately understood what’s happening. Izuna wasn’t being afraid of seeing violence inside the guild, in fact, she should’ve been fond of that already because she even warned us about what might happen here. She was afraid of something, rather, someone else. She was afraid of Eri, specifically, her being a demon. Eri didn’t even noticed but her hood has been rolled back and her sheep-like horns are in full display.

“Hey Hans, I thought this girl is professional. Why is she afraid of seeing a little violence?”

“She’s not afraid of that. She was afraid of you.”

“Huh? Me? Oh, is it because of my monstrous abilities?”

“No, not that.”

I pointed at her head.

“Your hood has been rolled back.”

She then realized what I was saying after I point my finger in her head.

“Ah…”

“You’re careless, you know that?”

We then approached Izuna little by little. In response, she tried to claw her way out of the corner. We rushed towards her and when she saw us rushing, she let go of a very sharp shout.

“Hey! Izuna! Calm Down!”

She continues to struggle.

“Hans, this girl won’t even stop struggling. Shall we kill her?”

After hearing the words ‘Kill her’, Izuna struggled even more.

“Hey, is killing your only method to solve a problem? Stop with those killing thoughts, will you?”

Eri shrugged me. Izuna is still struggling to get out of my grip, even though she really won’t be able to unless I let her go.

Eri then draw her face towards Izuna’s face and stared at her in the eyes.

“Hiii!!!”

After letting out a weird shriek, Izuna became unconscious.

Ahh, my head hurts.

Looks like I fainted in the middle of working hours.

I sure hope that master wouldn’t deduct this to my paycheck.

In the first place, why did I faint? It seems I can’t remember anything from the moment before I fainted, and that’s weird.

Anyways, what happened, happened. I shouldn’t worry too much about it. In fact, I feel really comfortable right now, looks like I was laying down on a soft surface. Might as well wake up while I’m at it.

“Hey, she’s waking up. You better hide first, we don’t want her to go unconscious again.”

“Ok.”

I heard a familiar voice telling someone to hide. But why?

As I opened my eyes, A humanlike figure crossed my gaze. The figure approached me.

“Hey, do you remember me?”

A familiar voice came from the figure. I remember this voice, it belongs to that one absurd guy that came earlier in this guild.

I tried to sit while still holding my throbbing head.

“Yes… yes, I do remember you. ‘Yer the absurd guy that brought a huge amount of monster parts, right?”

“Absurd is a bit mean, you know.”

“Oh really, well, sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s fine. By the way, I never told my name to you didn’t I? I’m Johannes, you can call me Hans, if you want.”

“Ok Hans. Once again, nice to meet you. Now, back to the matter at hand. What exactly happened. I do remember you and your partner… By the way, where is your partner?”

“Well… She has some matters to attend to.”

“But I heard you talking to someone earlier and telling them to hide.”

“That’s… Um… Nothing! That’s Absolutely nothing, forget about me.”

I’m becoming more and more suspicious about this man here.

“I don’t know what is it that you’re hiding, Hans, but if that would be the answer to why I can’t remember anything after you left the counter, then I must know it. Now spill it to me, will you?!”

The man in front of me is currently fidgeting the hem of his shirt. He can’t even look at me in the eyes. He’s definitely hiding something, that’s for sure.

“…”

“You’re going to stay quiet, huh? Should I force it out to you?”

The man then looked straight at me.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Izuna. I am sure that you know how powerful I am, right? I would like to avoid conflict as possible. So please, let’s not head that way.”

“But I have the rights to know the reason for my sudden fainting”

The man sighed and stayed quiet for a few seconds. After that, his face became dead serious.

“I will tell you. But you need to keep this a secret to everyone. You got it?”

“Sure, if it’s that confidential, then I won’t blabber about it carelessly.”

“Okay, just please don’t be so freaked out like the last time.

“Freaked Out?”

Hans looked towards the door and called someone.

“Hey, Eri, you can enter now.”

The door opened and came a girl in a red hood. And I know that she’s Han’s Partner. But I still don’t know why is she related to my sudden fainting.

“So? How is that girl related to me fainting?”

The Girl went straight towards me and looked at me straight in the eyes.

My body suddenly reacts to it by backing out. At the same time, I felt fear. Why am I afraid of her?

“So, your mind can’t remember but your body sure does.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what Eri said. You were subconsciously afraid of her.”

“Huh?! I don’t see any reason for me to fear that girl!”

“Izuna, I want you to stay calm, whatever happens, do not panic. Did you get that?”

“Sure. But I don’t think a mere girl can instigate fear in me.”

“Well then, Eri, you can show it to her.”

“Ok.”

The Girl slowly removed her hood. And as I saw what’s hidden in that hood, it immediately struck me…

Fear…

An unsurmountable feeling of terror.

Right now, I am right in front of a full-grown, deadly existence.

…

…

…

A Demon.

“And… She’s screaming. What should we do?”

Right now, Izuna was screaming while clawing her way towards the corner of the room. Eri blurted out her observation while standing beside me.

This is to be expected. After all, Izuna saw a fleshed-out Demon right in front of her. Of course, she’ll be frightened.

“I’ll do something about this. In the meantime, just stay where you are.”

“Okay.”

I approached the crying Izuna slowly. She’s still trying to claw her way out of the wall but, to no avail, she couldn’t do it. The moment I reached her, I grab her shoulder resulting to her being frozen in fear.

“Hey! Calm down!”

“WAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Looks like she wouldn’t calm down no matter how I talked to her. Might as well bring her back by force.

I slowly raised my left hand and slap the hell out of Izuna. Of course, I regulated my strength as to not deal an irreparable damage.

After being slapped, Izuna stopped crying and looked at me with a surprised expression. Looks like I somehow managed to pull her back.

“Have you calm yourself down?”

Izuna, while still in the state of shock, managed to squeeze out an answer.

“Y-yes… I think so.”

“Now, I need you to remain calm, can you do that?”

“I guess… By the way, I had a weird dream. It was me looking at a Demon in front of me.”

She laughed after saying that. Looks like she’s still denying what she saw.

“The truth is, Izuna, it was not a dream.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t a dream?”

“You promised me to remain calm, right? If you were to scream like that again, I will slap you with much more force. So please, I need you to stay really calm.”

I looked at Eri and signaled her to go to where we are.

After Eri entered Izuna’s field of vision, Izuna began shaking uncontrollably, but she didn’t scream. Looks like she didn’t want to be slapped for a second time.

“Good, you didn’t look as scared as you did earlier. I think we can have a proper conversation now. But first, wipe your tears and snot, it’s disgusting.”

Despite shaking, Izuna managed to wipe her tears. After that, we head towards the bed where Izuna slept before.

“Now, once again, I am Johannes Aarvold and the Demon beside me is Erylla Erfreth. You can call her Eri.”

“No she can’t. Only those that I trust can call me that.”

“Whatever. Anyways, I’m glad that you’ve managed to calm yourself.”

“I still am mildly shaking in fear, though. So, why is a Demon and a human together?”

“Well, it is a long story. But before I tell you about it, can you make a promise to me first?”

“What is it?”

“I want you to keep what we are going to talk about, to yourself. Everything you hear from us should be kept a secret.”

“I would like to avoid getting caught up in a shady situation or deal with particularly shady people, but I guess I have no choice, right? But why would you go to such lengths just to tell me? Is it better to keep it for yourselves?”

Izuna has a point. I can cover all that happened by just faking a story or killing all those that are involved.

“First of all, I want to have connections with the guild, and I want it to be built with trust, not with fear. We also need someone that we can trust whenever we come back from our adventures, and you seem trustworthy enough. That’s why I’m going to tell you our story.”

“Ok, I got it, I won’t tell anyone about the story of you two. If I were to be trusted, then I need to avoid betraying your trust, right.”

I fetched a stool near the door. I positioned myself in front of Izuna while Eri is standing beside me.

“Let’s get to the most important thing first. The Demon King is dead.”

As I said that, a look of disbelief appeared on Izuna’s face.

“Hahahaha. You are funny. You’re telling me that Demon King Troskaldt is already dead? The United Empire’s Alliance’s forces haven’t even reached the Demon King’s Castle. Does the Demon King succumb to some kind of sickness?”

“No… He was killed.”

“Killed? Did his subordinates betrayed him? Because the only ones who are capable to defeat him are his generals and the heroes that the United Empire’s Alliance… Wait… If I were to assess the situation I am right now… then the ones who killed the Demon King is…”

“Exactly what you’re thinking. I am the one who killed the Demon King… And also, his generals.”

“It feels like I should’ve been shocked but as far as what happens throughout this day, I don’t even think that you’re lying. But, to defeat such an entity as the Demon King, you need to be at least a Rank A adventurer to atleast join the subjugation forces of the United Empire's Alliance, and yet, it would still be a bloodshed and victory is not guaranteed. You need to be at least One of the Legendary Heroes just to have a chance in defeating the Demon King and his Generals. I don’t really doubt your strength but if I were to look at you, you look like you’re just a simple commoner that has nothing to do with what’s currently happening in the war.”

“That’s rude. Haven’t you heard of the saying ‘Do not judge the book by its cover’?”

“Nope”

“Figures… But it’s true that I defeated the Demon King. If you’re still doubting me, then I have someone that can tell you what exactly happened. More like a witness, you can say.”

“And I guess that your witness is that Demon over there… Erylla was it?”

“Stop casually calling me by my name, human.”

“Hey Hans, are you sure she’s not hostile towards us humans?”

“Don’t worry, It’s just because of her past.”

“Ok… So, who exactly is this Demon?”

“Eri, can you introduce yourself… Your real self.”

“Are you sure Hans? It is still way easier to just kill her.”

Upon hearing the word ‘Kill’, Izuna begins to become stiff once again.

“We talked about this earlier, right? No killing will occur. And Eri, can you refrain yourself from blurting your thoughts of killing?”

Eri shrugged me.

“Now, woman. You wish to learn what truly happened at the Demon King’s castle, right? Then I shall tell you all. But if you were to even slip our information to the masses, I would not hesitate to kill you.”

“On a second thought, can you please not involve me with you people? I still want to live.”

“Sorry, Izuna. But I already decided to trust you. You have no choice but to agree.”

“That’s unfair!”

“Well, I’ve grown fond of you and you seems to be a good person so… there you have it.”

Izuna pouted, but she looks somehow happy about being trusted.

“Ok, Eri. You can tell her our story.”

“Well then. But this is going to be a long one so better be prepared. And please do not forget your promise.”

“… I hope this is a right choice.”

Izuna blurted something, then looked at Eri to listen to her story.

“I am Erylla Erfreth, also known as ‘The General of the Blades Efreet’. I am One of the Six Demon King’s Generals.”

Izuna began to look pale and her whole body trembled. Her eyes are wide opened and she’s trying so hard not to scream in terror. She then blurted out something.

“Y-you are… The Assassin General Efreet?!”