How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 10 Page 3

  “I must do something before they find out!”

  And so he declared something rather pedantic again.

  “Master is so lovely despite being so laughable!”

  ...I am?

  Diablo never could get a handle on Rose’s sense of values...

  For the time being, he’d decided to take the damaged magimatic maid in for repairs within the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth.

  “Let’s go, Rose.”

  “As Master wishes.”

  Shera and Rem had only just departed for the royal capital, and would return in half a month at best. Before they did, Diablo would have to think of a way to fix this mess...

  †

  Using teleportation, Diablo escorted Rose to the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth. Resting on the maintenance bed would repair all the damage she’d sustained thus far. Diablo had no idea how it worked, though...

  His teleportation magic allowed Diablo and his party members to travel to any town he’d visited before (in Rose’s case, she counted as one of his items). Now, this begged the question as to why he didn’t teleport Rem and Shera to the capital?

  Simply put, the capital’s portal—the point they’d teleport to—was in the royal palace. Rather, that was how it worked in Cross Reverie. If they were to appear in the middle of the palace all of a sudden, they’d be treated as suspicious trespassers; the very image of criminal scum. In the game, where teleportation was common, the palace was open to everyone, but would it be the same in this world where teleportation was rare? Diablo didn’t know. In the end, it meant he couldn’t teleport to the capital without risk.

  After dropping Rose off, Diablo teleported back to Faltra, its portal in the center of the town square. It was a place many people passed through, so his sudden appearance startled what unfortunate folk happened to be around there. Though they took it as some new kind of street performance, as they suddenly began applauding him, no one realizing he was the hero who’d defeated the Demon Overlord.

  Having fled the square and returned to the Peace of Mind Inn - Hideout, the time was already past noon. When he opened the front door...

  “Hm?”

  “Ah...”

  A girl carrying a sword was coming down the stairs. She was the dwarven swordmaster, Sasara. She was dressed in her usual Japanese attire, and had a katana with the symbol of the crescent moon etched into its pommel sheathed at her waist. At her back was a somewhat large rucksack.

  “...Where are you going?”

  “Oh, good.” She smiled at Diablo’s query. “I couldn’t find you, so I was going to ask Klem to deliver you the message.”

  “What message?”

  “We’ve defeated the Demon Overlord, and things are finally settling down around town. Since I’ve completed my duty, I’ll be going back to the mountain.”

  The swordmaster lived near the frontier town of Sormas, in a retreat sitting atop Mount Tenzan. Since the most recent battle had the survival of the races hanging in the balance, she lent Faltra and Diablo her strength as an exception this one time.

  Diablo nodded. “So, you’re going home.”

  “Yes. I haven’t made a grave for Father yet.”

  “Ah, right...”

  Just before this battle, she dueled with her father, the former swordmaster, who’d become an oni. She hadn’t had the chance to mourn him yet after striking him down.

  “I’m glad I helped defend this town. I also learned that there are some really powerful monsters out there. It seems I still have much to train for.”

  “Hmm...”

  “I slept through most of the fighting that night... I’m so sorry. On days where I go all out, I just get so exhausted...”

  You were still a huge help.

  The Demon Overlord Modinaram utilized martial arts that enabled it to always hit and made each hit an instant kill. A normal warrior wouldn’t even be able to buy time against him. Sasara, however, had the ability to cut through and offset her opponent’s attacks. If she weren’t around, the losses would’ve been far greater, and the fight would’ve been that much harder.

  Still, a Demon Lord couldn’t offer such honest words of thanks.

  “You worked well.” Diablo crossed his arms grandly. “I praise your efforts.”

  He thought his words came off as a bit overbearing...but Sasara’s eyes widened in joy.

  “Really?! That’s a relief...”

  “...Do you want me to escort you back with my teleportation?”

  “No, I’m finally out of town, so I’d rather walk back and enjoy the travel.”

  “That’s certainly an option.”

  A woman traveling alone was dangerous, but on second thought, he pitied any monster stupid enough to pick a fight with a level 200 warrior like Sasara. Bandits weren’t likely to get the drop on her either.

  “Take care, Diablo.” Sasara bowed politely. “You are a magnificent sorcerer, but don’t neglect your swordsmanship training either.”

  “Obviously.”

  “And do come over to visit every now and then. I’ll serve you some great soba.”

  “If it strikes my fancy, I will.”

  “Heheh... I’ll be off then.”

  Sasara opened the front door and left. As the door closed behind her, the room filled with a deafening silence.

  “...”

  Diablo looked up at the ceiling, then glared down at his feet. After taking a deep breath...

  “Sasara!”

  He’d turned his body around and pushed the inn’s door open quite vigorously. She’d already tottered down the street, but turned around in flustered surprise just as she was about to make a turn at the alley.

  “Y-Yes?! I-Is something...the matter?”

  After hesitating for a moment, Diablo steeled himself and called out:

  “Thanks to you, I was able to defeat the Demon Overlord! You have my gratitude...Master!”

  After standing still for a moment, Sasara’s expression turned to joy.

  “Y-Yes!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

  Not thinking he’d bring her to tears, Diablo was taken aback. “H-Hey, Sasara!”

  “U-Uwaaah... I-I’m so happy...I could be...helpful!”

  “Stop crying, you’re a swordmaster!”

  “B-But... Aaah...”

  “Argh, dammit, I’m taking it back! An embarrassing person who cries in public is no master of mine!”

  “Nnnng, aaah... I-It’s too late already, you called me Master and I’ll remember it forever!”

  “Tch...”

  “I-If anything...I should be the grateful one here. Thank you for being my pupil...Diablo...” Even with such large tears rolling down her cheeks, Sasara grinned.

  “Hmph...” Diablo averted his gaze awkwardly.

  From the corner of his eyes, he could see Sasara bowing deeply again, with a bashful smile on her face. This time, she really did set out, Diablo watching her retreat.

  †

  “So, the swordmaster went back?”

  After Diablo stood in front of the inn for a few moments, Klem came out.

  The Demon Lord Krebskulm... Right now, they were in the form of a young girl. As always, she was dressed in a rather flashy outfit consisting of a large hat and skirt, meant to hide her horns and tail, and had makeup applied to her by Mei, the inn’s poster girl.

  “Sasara has her duties as a swordmaster to consider,” Diablo replied.

  “That one is cursed by God as well. Pitiful girl, she is.”

  “Cursed by God?”

  “Did you really believe she became that powerful due to inborn talent alone?”

  Sasara’s strength really is exceptional, Diablo thought. It’s pretty hard leveling up in this world, and even if it’s just once a day, being able to cancel out all the damage from any attack is unusual. Just calling it a unique constitution doesn’t fully explain it.

  “You think God is involved?”

  “Certain of it. God’s stench is all over her. I don’t
know what God’s intentions were in giving that girl such extraordinary abilities, though.”

  “Suspicious.”

  This being was probably different from the God Diablo knew about in his own world, but this one definitely had an existence the people called God. They had broken the original Demon Lord into fragments and sealed Krebskulm within Rem’s ancestors. They were the one who gave Lumachina her power to perform miracles, and likely the one who granted Sasara her talent. It was truly hard to believe.

  “What is this ‘God’ thinking? If They can grant that much talent to someone on a whim and are strong enough to seal the toughest Demon Lord, saving the people when they’re in need of help should be easy.”

  “Who’s to say? This Demon Lord has no idea.”

  Even High Priest Lumachina had said that “God’s ways are unknowable.” Perhaps that was all there was to it. Maybe God had no purpose and was simply some sort of natural phenomenon. Maybe it merely seemed like They had a will of their own. These were all entirely possible conclusions.

  “Well, so be it.” Klem waved her hand dismissively. “Let us leave this talk of God behind us. It makes this Demon Lord itchy in the tail.”

  “True enough... Having two Demon Lords hypothesize about another deity is an odd thing.”

  “Diablo! Let’s go have lunch!”

  “Very well. What of Edelgard?”

  “She’s working today.”

  “Hmm...”

  Come to think of it, Petre’s, the bakery in the southern district, was reopening for business that day. Everyday routines were gradually returning to Faltra.

  With Klem at the helm, they headed to the northern district, when Diablo suddenly became acutely aware of the people’s stares all around them.

  “Klem, should you really be walking around like this? People know you’re a Demon Lord now, don’t they?”

  When she fought the Demon Overlord, many soldiers had witnessed her undisguised appearance. Despite camouflaging herself now, plenty of people knew who she was. Was it because that, despite knowing this “child” was a Demon Lord, many had witnessed her fighting to protect the city and chose not banish her out of gratitude...?

  “No one has appeared to challenge this Demon Lord!”

  Still, a surprisingly high number of people in this world seemed to operate on emotion rather than common sense...

  “...I suppose there are all sorts of people among the races. Be careful though. Even if a blundering fool approaches you...”

  “Don’t kill, don’t die, and obey your orders—correct? This Demon Lord remembers. You’ve got nothing to be concerned about.”

  Diablo shrugged his shoulders. She was acting much more mature now. Children certainly had a way of growing up fast. Though Diablo wasn’t sure if calling her a child was quite apt...

  They came once again to Appetissant, a restaurant in the northern district they’d visited once before with Rem and Shera.

  “Welcome, Madam Klem!”

  “Mmm!”

  She’s already being treated as a regular...

  While it was still a high quality, albeit fairly inexpensive, restaurant for the northern district’s price range, Diablo couldn’t hide his concern at Edelgard’s hard-earned cuisine expenses...

  “Rest assured, Diablo!” Klem said. “This is lunch time after all!”

  “R-Right...”

  A dish that would cost 10,000 friths during evening hours would cost a mere 3,000 at lunch.

  That’s still pretty expensive, though...

  For the market price of this town, one could stay at an inn for 3,000 friths a night. For now, though, Klem took a seat while humming pleasantly.

  “All right! This Demon Lord is in the mood for the ‘A’ lunch!”

  As he looked at the cheerful, small Demon Lord, Diablo checked the money he had in his pocket as a waiter approached their table.

  “May I take your orders?”

  “Hmph... I already ate before coming here... I’ll just have some bread and water.” Diablo made the most frugal order possible in the grandest manner he could muster.

  †

  After finishing their lunches, Klem went to Petre’s, Edelgard’s workplace, to buy herself some more biscuits. She ordered Diablo to come along, but he had other things to do in the meantime.

  And so, Diablo walked alone through town.

  I have to do something about those rings!

  He’d looked through the jewelry and magic items stores, but none seemed to sell them. Sighing heavily, Diablo prepared himself to check the umpteenth store.

  “Howdy, Diablo!”

  A floozy had passed him by, calling out to him in the process.

  ...Or rather, it was the scantily dressed guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild, Sylvie.

  “Sigh...”

  “What’s with the long face? Is it because Rem and Shera went to the capital?”

  “No. It has nothing to do with...”

  But as he spoke, a thought crossed his mind. Sylvie may look like a child, but she was a seasoned, knowledgeable adventurer with many connections.

  Maybe she knows something about weddings rings? Asking her might be a good idea...

  Diablo stared at her intently. Sylvie flinched back in concern.

  “Wh-What’s wrong...?”

  It was rather difficult to ask what was on his mind while maintaining his Demon Lord-ly dignity.

  “Hmph...” Diablo scoffed. “I desire a wedding ring. Hand one over!”

  “H-Huh?!” Sylvie’s face went red. “M-Me, give a w-w-w-wedding ring...t-to you...?!”

  She’d gotten the wrong idea here!

  “No! You misunderstand, Sylvie! I desire two!”

  “Two rings?!”

  Such a misunderstanding didn’t seem like it would be so easily resolved...

  “B-But aren’t you...already married to Rem and Shera?” Sylvie asked, fidgeting nervously. “S-So, why are you asking me... I-It’s pretty problematic for me. And there’s a pretty big age gap between us... I mean, a man and a woman have to consider their positions in life, you know? B-But...well, i-if you insist...”

  “Wait! Calm down already.” Somewhere along the path of this upside-down conversation, Diablo had ended up being the more flustered of the two.

  Left with no choice, Diablo explained things from scratch.

  “T-To begin with, I already had one pair of wedding rings, but...”

  Talking while standing in the middle of the street made him very uncomfortable, so he took Sylvie to an open café where they could talk in peace.

  There were chairs and parasols to block out the sun in front of this small store. Some coffee shops in the central district started this new style, which other stores were quick to imitate.

  “So the wedding ring you gave to Rem forms a pair with Shera’s?” Sylvie asked, holding a wooden mug in one hand.

  “Mm.”

  “And without either of them knowing, Rem and Shera ended up getting married?”

  “Apparently so.”

  “Yikes, Diablo, you’re terrible!”

  “U-Ugh...”

  Her words stabbed directly into his heart.

  “Ahaha,” Sylvie laughed. “Well, you didn’t know, so I guess it’s not entirely your fault.”

  “Nnng...”

  “Now you want to do something to fix this mess before they find out.”

  Diablo nodded.

  “Hmm.” Sylvie crossed her arms. “Then we’d need to prepare another ring, and swap it out when Rem gets back?”

  “Right.”

  “...Or maybe you could just tell the truth and have them understand.”

  Uh, yeah, how about no?

  His crippling social anxiety was especially bad when he considered the other person might think poorly of him. Knowing he was definitely going to disappoint someone in this situation frightened him.

  “Don’t look down on me!” Diablo exclaimed haughtily. “Do you think a Demon Lord suc
h as myself would have trouble obtaining an SR rarity ring? Are you trying to insult me?!”

  “Do you have any leads about where to obtain a wedding ring?”

  “Ugh...”

  If he did, he wouldn’t be consulting Sylvie...

  Cross Reverie had a unique quest in place for couples who wanted to obtain wedding rings. Diablo had checked the Adventurer’s Guild here, but couldn’t find any such quest. This world was realistic to the point that it was pretty annoying.

  “Well, it’s a request from the hero who saved the town, so sure.” Sylvie smiled wryly. “I’ll help you out, why not.”

  Oh?!

  Diablo found himself leaning forward, but quickly leaned back into a more dignified pose.

  “Endeavor in my name. I’ll allow it!”

  “Let’s go on an adventure then—to the Viridian Cathedral!”

  Chapter 2: Conquering the Viridian Cathedral

  After waiting for the next day to come—

  Diablo arrived at the Viridian Cathedral, located deep within the Man-Eating Forest. The shrine was half-collapsed and covered in moss. If it were the same as Cross Reverie, there should’ve been a large dungeon that sprawled across the underground space beneath it.

  It was currently just before noon. Diablo had left Faltra early in the morning, his only companion right now being Sylvie.

  “We finally made it, Diablo.”

  “Hm.”

  “Now, the quest here is just like how I explained in town...”

  “Leave it to me.”

  The details of said quest were fairly simple. In the depths of the Viridian Cathedral was an enchanted metal called Eternal Mythril. Diablo simply had to obtain and deliver it to an engraver in town, who would then process it into a wedding ring.

  It’s just a bit different from Cross Reverie.

  In the game, a man and a woman would form a party and participate together in a quest. Upon completion, they’d receive the wedding rings as a reward.

  “If it’s not a unique wedding ring, you could just get one from any jeweler.”

  “So it seems.”