“Look, don’t make such a worried face. That guy isn’t bad, I guarantee it.”
Alice followed the calm Kagami as they headed directly towards the inn. After securing a room, Kagami left Alice and went to go search for this person that he relied on.
“You’re slow…Kagami-san.”
Alice waited inside the room for about two hours. The room was the length of roughly ten tatami mats, which contained two beds, a table, and chairs placed to allow a view of the whole town from the window.
Although she had considered going outside, that would definitely make Kagami worry, so she sat on the bed to fool around and kill some time while watching the town from the window.
Nevertheless, it was definitely boring to wait in the room for two hours without doing anything. After adapting to a lifestyle of sleeping out in the open during her journey from the Demon village to the Ancient Cave, it would undoubtedly be impossible to sleep in a bed. She would simply feel uncomfortable.
“Oi! Are you awake? Open the door for me!”
Just as she started to feel slightly uneasy, she heard the sound of the three knocks alongside Kagami’s voice coming from the entrance.
Alice’s expression lit up while she jumped out of the bed and went to the door.
“Welcome back, Kagami-san! I’ll open it now!”
Alice turned the key above the door knob counterclockwise enthusiastically and opened the door vigorously.
Then she immediately shut the door and locked it.
The moment the door was opened, Alice became expressionless. She thought that she had seen Kagami standing in front of the door, but there had been someone else behind him. It was a large, muscular man who had hair woven in braids, with a height that was 1.2 times taller than Kagami, he wore a pink dougi and resembled a bear.
“O-i, Alice, it’s me, Kagami. I said to open the door for me.”
The voice she heard was definitely Kagami. Since he had called his name, she decided to properly confirm his identity and once again began to slowly open the shut door.
“It’s Araya…How cute!”
Alice froze in fear from the impact of the person behind Kagami.
The man’s build appeared like a body that’s been born to fight. He had a rugged face with a cleft chin, which was separated into two with applied makeup, and apparently applied a moisturizing agent like lip balm on his cod lips. When Alice saw this figure, she selected the command to flee in her head, but there was no path to escape.
(TN: Cod lips means the lips are very big. Stung-by-a-bee kind of big)
The pink dougi made one think that this man’s appearance belonged to THAT group of people. He was just a completely dangerous fellow with that amount of hardened, ripped muscles.
(TN: The joke is he looks gay)
“Cho, Takako-chan. You’re scaring her so go in first.”
When Alice looked past the large man, she finally saw Kagami and her heart immediately became calm.
“Geez…I’m not scary though~? Young lady, I’m friendly, alright~?”
Kagami felt his appearance lacked any credibility. Alice, who had nearly collapsed in fear, collected herself and closed the door after the large man wearing the pink dougi entered the room.
“Yoisho, look, I went and bought the medicine. I’ll hold onto it so you don’t lose it.”
Kagami muttered to Alice soon after he entered the room. He placed the large rucksack on his shoulders next to the window. He had probably been preparing for the journey.
He then took something that looked like a tea set from the rucksack and prepared a flask with a drink that smelled like black tea. The large man sat in a chair and began to drink elegantly.
“U…umm, Kagami-san? The friend you talked about, is that…this person?”
Alice, who had watched the actions of the two people with a stupefied look, timidly asked Kagami a question.
“Hmm? Yeah? This person is the most reliable Level 124 Monk, Takako-chan.”
Alice was still surprised when she heard that the person was level 124 since their appearance wasn’t unique enough for others to expect such a number
Alice believed that he was a Monk, but it was unexpected for Kagami to say that he was the most reliable one.
“Are you listening, Alice-chan? Geez, you really are cute…Want to eat something?”
Alice quickly moved and hid behind Kagami’s back without changing her expression.
“I said that you’re scaring her. Takako is a good person who is willing to be our ally without any issues, even after knowing that you are a Demon.”
“Eh…! Even though you know I’m a Demon…you aren’t scared?”
Alice softened her expression, surprised at Kagami’s unexpected remark.
Oddly enough, she felt a sense of affinity with the monk, who wasn’t hostile to her even though he knew that she was a Demon.
“I still haven’t introduced myself. I’m Takako Vildar. As Kagami-chan said earlier, I’m a Monk. I won’t ever attack you just because you’re a Demon, so you don’t need to worry.”
“W-Why? Aren’t demons a hindrance?”
“Alice-chan is a cute-looking child, and that makes you safe~…Besides, neither Demons nor humans have any relations to me.”
“I too was able to slay Demons in the past, but one time, a long time ago, I exhausted all of my healing medicine and a Demon ended up saving my life…Ever since then, I’ve noticed that Demons and Humans aren’t different.”
Alice widened her eyes and glanced at Kagami and Takako in turns.
“U-Um! I want you to cooperate with me! I want to build a friendly relationship with humans!”
“That’s impossible~. It’s something you cannot understand. After all, Demons won’t stop harming humans. Therefore, I became tired of fighting and now manage Club Gachi Muchi, which lets retired Adventurers enjoy their lives in this town. I’m living a carefree life, no?”
It was during such circumstances when he met Kagami, who had unexpectedly come to play at her bar. He clicked with him and, together with other retired Adventurers, enjoyed quests searching for treasure together. Takako let out a deep sigh.
“I was glad when Kagami came, since he couldn’t come to play recently…However, this unexpected business of wanting to escort a Demon was surprising! If it’s a favor from Kagami, there’s no way I could refuse it, you know.”
“But Takako-chan, you rarely manage the bar anymore.”
“Isn’t it fine if you come to the Club? You can sell things that way.”
“No way. I never want to go to such a horrible place again.”
When she saw the exchange between the two, Alice’s wariness towards Takako gradually faded away.
“Umm…I’m sorry. In the beginning, it was surprisingly strange.”
“Ara! Proper etiquette? It’s fine? Such an appearance…is not overly surprising?”
“I’m in your care, Takako-san!”
Alice bowed to show her sincerity.
“It’s fine? Ah that’s right! Alice-chan has always slept out in the open, right? Don’t you want to take a bath? Shall we go to this city’s hot springs? It’s a good place where there aren’t that many people.”
Alice became excited. Since she had always lived outdoors, she never took any baths.
Although, no matter how many times one bathed, they couldn’t forget the feeling of soaking in warm water.
“Y-Yeah! I want to go! Let Kagami-san go too!”
“If you want to go, then you two should go. Males and females are separated so there is no meaning in going together, right?”
“…Eh? Takako-san will be together with you, right?”
“What the hell are you saying? Takako-chan is a woman.”
At that moment, the vigorous Alice interrupted her thoughts, thinking “Amazing, Kagami-san, to use such magic to stop time!”
“Well…eh? That, like Kagami-san…Takako-san is also big?”
Certainly, she was wearing makeup and a pink dougi. However, no matter what Alice thought, her body was much larger than a normal woman’s.
“But, I’m a woman.”
A chest that tightened with muscles, as if it were an iron plate.
She only had to stand for one to see that her muscles had been forged from training overwhelmingly. It was an appearance that would make one think that it wouldn’t be strange even if she crushed a rock. She was more manly than anyone else.
But she was a woman.
She had arms and legs as thick as logs, along with the appearance of a ferocious bear, and was the Level 124 owner of the Club Gachi Muchi in Balman.
But she was a woman.
“W-w-w-wait a moment! Well, Takako-san has no chest!”
“Takako-chan’s breasts changed into muscle by burning all of her fat.”
Kagami sorted his luggage as he responded, as if he were used to it.
“Geez! Kagami-chan! Don’t you know how to properly choose your words?”
“Haha, stop being so serious Takako-chan. My health is decreasing, right?”
In response to the rude remark, Takako-chan aimed a Low Kick at the back of Kagami’s neck with her log-like legs. A fierce sound rang out when she kicked, lightly shaking the ground.
Although it was impressive that Kagami was enduring it, Alice couldn’t hide her surprise at Takako-san, who had unleashed such a Low Kick. She was…a woman? Alice doubted it expressionlessly.