“Kagami-san, wake up. Look, you have to go and greet Menou!”
“Nn? Aah-…Let me sleep…for eight more hours…”
“Hurry and wake up already. Otherwise, Takako-san will to come wake you, you know?”
“I’m up.”
It was morning in Balman. The attack by the Demon King Army had happened the previous day. The houses that had been destroyed were now being repaired and the injured people were being nursed. Despite it being morning, the town was crowded. The scene of Adventurers with the Roles of Monk and Craftsmen busily coming and going could be seen from the Inn’s window.
Last night, Kagami had returned to the town after slaying all the Monsters and lied about the Demon running away, settling his state of affairs. He was questioned by Adventurers of various Levels and the Hero’s party because they wanted to know how he had defeated them. Afterwards, he brought Alice and Takako back to the Inn and told them the truth.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve met Menou…Look, Kagami-san, change your clothes, change your clothes!”
“Kyaaa, Alice is a pervert! Geez, don’t be so fussy. I’m sure that Uncle will be waiting. I already told him that we would go greet him around noon.”
Alice smiled radiantly as she forcibly took the futon away from Kagami.
“I’m sure you’re an S, taking the futon away from me with that smile. Actually, why have you been smiling so radiantly since yesterday?”
“Kagami-san didn’t waste his breath to defeat Menou and since we’ll meet with him, I have a chance to properly talk with him. I’m really happy.”
Alice was elated and also told him, “Kagami-san, thank you.” When he saw that dazzling smile, Kagami thought about the Black Steak he ate while grinning yesterday and took mental damage. Although he thought about the gold he had saved, his heart still hurt, somehow.
“Now that I think about it, Kagami-san, what did you do with that large amount of gold and gems you were holding yesterday?”
“I deposited all of it, since there’s no way to carry it. It was an unexpected harvest.”
All the gems that had been dropped by the Hell Crows had come out to a total of 51 Gold and 900 Silver. Rather than giving half of it to the townsfolk for the town’s expenses, he had quickly deposited all of it into his safe at the Quest Guild.
He had an account registered in the Quest Guild so any other Quest Guild building became a bank that he could withdraw gold from.
Since the Quest Guild existed all over the world, a lot of Adventurers used it. It was the safest bank so they could deposit without any worries. There was also a charge of one Silver taken as commission for withdrawals so, other than Adventurers, very few people used it.
“Is Takako-chan back yet? After eating yesterday, she said she would go take a look at the horrors of her Bar Club, but it seems like she didn’t go there.”
“She came back once, but she immediately went to help out the townsfolk. She said it was important to socialize with the neighborhood.”
At Alice’s answer, Kagami muttered, “Just like Takako-chan,” took off his sleepwear, and began to change into the plain clothes that he always wore.
He then saw Takako’s figure outside, walking rapidly while holding two large logs, from the bay window and immediately erased that memory, deciding that he had not seen anything.
“Waah! Kagami-san, why are you changing in front of me!”
“Isn’t it fine? I’m wearing underwear. There’s no problem if you think of it as a swimsuit.”
“That’s not the problem! I’m an elegant woman, so think about it a little!”
Kagami responded with “Be careful next time” to Alice, who was complaining while puffing her cheeks, and continued to change his clothes without taking her complaints to heart.
When she saw this, Alice, who was being treated like a child, headed to the dining hall on the first floor, thinking it was unpleasant.
Kagami finished changing with a ‘phew’ and collected the luggage in the room before chasing after her.
He returned the room’s key at the first floor lobby before walking to the dining hall, putting his luggage down, and sitting in front of Alice, who was sitting with a glum look.
“Don’t be so angry. Were my muscles that unsightly?”
“Not really.”
He sighed as he met her eyes, while she dangled her feet. He thought that her mood would be lifted by eating food, so they ordered from the lady who was carrying food around the dining hall.
Sure enough, when Alice carried over her food several minutes later, her mood had brightened up. When Kagami saw the brightened Alice, who was happily eating while asking him what food he had ordered, he was amazed. He then thought “Whatever,” feeling satisfied.
“Well then, we have to plan the schedule of the trip to the Demon King’s Castle.”
“Certainly, it will take us ten days to get there. Though, I think that it would take twice as long if we tried to move discretely.”
“Going there is rather simple, but since we have a few people, as well as that Demon Uncle who can’t hide his magic, it will take several trips to get supplies from the town.”
Kagami spread open a map of the Arcasia Kingdom while holding bread in one hand. Alice looked slightly anxious.
It couldn’t be helped that she wanted to know the truth behind her father’s illness and the Demon Army invasion as quickly as possible. Above all else, she intuitively felt that things would become irreversible if they were slow to act.
“Horses…are no good?”
“Horses would absolutely never let Demons ride them…Alice, your magic is suppressed but that Demon Uncle…Menou is impossible.”
Alice was disappointed and dropped her shoulders.
“Well…if we need to go there quickly, there is definitely a way.”
Alice immediately perked up at these words.
“How?”
“There’s this certain thing that we could ride that would let us arrive quickly, but I absolutely don’t want to ride it.”
“W-Why is that? I…I want to know what is happening, even if it’s just a little faster.”
Kagami, who didn’t know Alice’s feelings, thought about it as sweat ran down his forehead. Honestly, Kagami was also worried about what had happened to the Demon King. His intuition felt that they could not be slow about this, no matter what. It was more important than worrying about being attacked by humans.
“Yosh, let’s decide it based on what we see. We’ll go with the majority vote.”
“Takako-san says it’s fine if we ride her?”
“Takako isn’t someone who would want to let multiple people ride her?”
Kagami put the payment for the meal on the table, stood up, and walked out of the Inn. Alice trotted along, ahead of Kagami.
“That certain thing…is a monster called Kenta・Uros. It’s a Monster that exists outside of the Arcasia Kingdom. Although they can talk like a Demon, they are still Monsters so there is no point in worrying about them releasing magic like a Demon. In other words, they are harmless.”
“There is such a Monster, huh? I didn’t know, since it was impossible for me to leave the Arcasia Kingdom. It wasn’t listed in the books I read either.”
“They were put on an island country instead of the Demon King’s Castle, since it was too dangerous to have them inside the Arcasia Kingdom.”
Kagami stopped at one of the town’s crossroads and pointed at a wagon that was approaching with a rattling sound.
Alice’s gaze followed his fingertip and the wagon reflected in her view caused her heart to pound violently. A Kenta-Uros had come forward, pulling the wagon. Its upper body had the appearance of a human that bore horns, as if it were a Demon, while its lower half had the appearance of a horse.
This wagon was pulled by two Kenta-Uros. One was blond and had a beautiful figure, while the other, who was old enough to be an Uncle, had a black mustache and short, black hair that was combed straight back from its forehead. They had a unique aroma and gave off a grand atmosphere as they pulled the wagon.
“A-Amazin’! They are able to speak because the upper half of their bodies is like a Demon, right? But, I don’t feel magic, even though their horns look like a Demon’s…Amazing! The path of coexistence that I am aiming for will be gran-mogo!”
“Quiet! Your voice is loud. ‘Cause here, you’re a human. For now, it’s still too early to decide…so just look.”
As the Kenta-Uros pulling the wagon passed by Kagami, he sent them a distorted gaze, as if he felt grossed out to see a Kenta-Uros’s face.
Without saying anything, the Kenta-Uros, who had noticed Kagami’s gaze, stopped in front of him.
“A human…this face, what is it?”
【Kenta-Uros Feature #1】Too much pride. No, although it was uncertain if their pride was actually high, if they saw a disagreeable gaze, they would definitely stop and begin to talk about something.
(They would start talking even if it was something dead)
When Kagami continued to look at the Kenta・Uros without saying anything or changing his expression in response to the Uncle Kenta・Uros, the blond Kenta・Uros stepped forward.
“Human…we are a noble existence. You guys are inferior living beings.”
【Kenta-Uros Feature #2】They always believe that they are of a noble existence, even in front of humans of an overwhelmingly higher level.
“Those like you are an existence equal to rubbish. You should be thankful that we’ve even let you hear our noble voices. Such trash is…”
“Shut up! Walk faster!”
As the Kenta-Uros were speaking, the distressed Merchant man aboard the wagon cried out and, with a bashibashibashibashi!, whipped the two Kenta-Uros that had stopped. At the same time as the violent, painful sound rang out,
“”NNH AAAAAHHHNN FEELS SO GOODDDDDDD!””
The two Kenta-Uros began to shout happily, their eyes rolled upwards, and their tongues hung out of their open mouths when they were struck with the whip.
【Kenta-Uros Feature #3】Overwhelmingly masochistic.
They had power several times higher than that of a horse, were able to vigorously continue past any obstacle, and were faster than horses. Since they looked down on humans, it would be normal for them to never obey. However, they were masochistic so they were just harmless Monsters that obeyed humans and wanted to get whipped. They are: Kenta-Uros.
They were Monsters who wanted to be whipped, rather than wanting to preserve their pride. They are Kenta-Uros. However, the Kenta-Uros recognized this as a give-and-take relationship so, to them, their pride was being preserved.
“Amazin’, Kagami-san. This is the first time that I thought I was so hated.”
“I know.”