“How do you plan on getting inside?” Henchman #1 asks with innocent curiosity.

“I don’t think it’s possible. But we brought you here just like we said,” Henchman #2 adds.

They’re so funny.

“Wait, what are you doing, Boss?”

Crash!

“Wh-what are you doing!?”

“You can’t just break through the front gate like that!”

“But … it was in the way.”

“Do we really need these fools, Master? I think we should just get rid of them now.”

“Really? I think they’re interesting. And, keeping a few mob characters around makes me feel important.”

“But look at them. They’re completely useless.”

“They’re not completely useless. They can, I don’t know, stand guard or something?”

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing over there? This is private property!”

“Oh, it looks like they came out to greet us. I love being shown the right amount of hospitality.”

“Bro these chicks are kinda crazy, don’t you think?”

“Shh, they’ll hear you.”

My new followers stay put at the broken gate while Enika and I let ourselves in. There’s actually a surprisingly small amount of guards for such an important house. With Enika here, I don’t even have to do anything.

They weren’t even enough to slow us down. The only thing that kept us from entering the house immediately was the unnecessarily long walkway to the front door. Now that we’ve made that journey though--

Knock knock-knock knock knock

Knock knock

“Uh, Master, what are you doing?”

“Well, I didn’t want to be rude.”

“I think that time passed when you broke their gate.”

“No, no, that’s completely different, Enika. A true gentleman always knocks before entering a room. A door is a door, and a gate is a gate.”

“There is too much wrong with that statement for me to even question it. Just get out of the way.”

“Oh, good idea. We should both knock, so that they know there’s two of us. We wouldn’t want to surprise them.”

CRASH

“Uh, Enika, I think you knocked a little too hard.”

“Sure … But, since the door’s open now, shouldn’t we head inside? We shouldn’t keep them waiting, right?”

“Good point.”

The inside of the mansion is cold and quiet. The way all the curtains are closed and the lack of any signs of life, I’d assume that it was an abandoned building. Maybe even a haunted house. But even so, there’s absolutely no dust or spiderwebs.

“Don’t you think it’s a little too quiet in here?”

“Maybe no one’s home. See, that’s why it’s important to knock before entering. What? Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s true.”

“Let’s just look for Arileia.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Wait, do you smell that?”

“What?”

“It smells like … something cooking.”

“Could you not think with your stomach right now?”

“I’m serious. I think it’s this way.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Wait! Don’t just run off! Don’t you realize that we’re in an enemy’s home right now?”

What Enika says is true, but it doesn’t feel like there’s any need to worry here. No one calls out or tries to approach us no matter how many rooms we search.

“We should be getting close now.”

“Actually, I think I can smell it now too, but …”

Before Enika can finish her statement, I open the next door. On the other side is a charred mess. Broken furniture is scattered about and the drapes are singed. It looks like there was some kind of explosion right in the center of the room.

“Yep, Arileia was definitely here.”

“How can you tell it was her?”

“Because I’ve seen her when she’s angry. If you don’t believe me, why not just ask?”

“What?”

Oh …

I didn’t notice it at first, but near the center of the room is the figure of a young woman. Her black and white outfit is covered in ash and charcoal while she calmly seems to be trying to clean up the mess left by our companion.

“Hello?”

Hearing my voice, the woman turns around carrying a bundle of wreckage and smiles. She seems nice.

“Oh, you must be the guests that Master Kaigen was expecting. You’re early. He’ll be very pleased.”

plop

Everything suddenly falls from her arms as she smiles sweetly. Everything. Including one of her arms.

“Hiiii!”

Somehow, the maid isn’t bothered by my sudden scream, or the fact that I’ve hidden behind Enika. Actually, I don’t even think she’s even realized that she’s lost an arm. She just continues to smile sweetly.

“Umm, is your arm okay?”

“Oh, it happened again? I’ll be fine. I can just have Master Kaigen fix it for me.”

“R-right …”

“Now then, if you’ll follow me, I can take you to Master Kaigen right away.”

She scoops up her arm from the floor and walks past us.

“What should we do?”

“Follow her, obviously.”

The maid leads us to a large door at the end of a hallway, and before entering the room, she knocks. This only serves to prove that I was right earlier, so I smugly smile toward Enika. She ignores me.

“Come in.”

The large room we are led into has walls lined with bookshelves and chairs that look comfy enough to sleep in. Sitting behind a desk in one of those chairs is a middle-aged man with a somewhat scruffy beard, and standing in front of him is Arileia.

“You made it here much earlier than I expected. Please, take a seat.”

“We’ve come for the dragon!”

The man seems confused by my sudden proclamation, and even Arileia gives me a strange look. The face I look back at them with is probably more similar than I realize. Thanks to Enika, I quickly learn why.

“Seren. I didn’t realize that Kaigen was one of your aliases. Or even that you were still alive.”

“That’s a horrible way to greet me, Enika, but I see that the demon lord is doing well, so I guess you deserve at least some praise. Today is full of nothing but good surprises. I never expected to reunite with Arileia this way, but once I realized who she was, I knew that you would be on your way here.”

“What have you been doing all this time, Seren? Our forces completely fell apart, and yet here you are is some human town playing king.”

“I’m far from being a king, but Kaigen is indeed one of my more influential personalities. Believe it or not, I’ve been biding my time and preparing for our lord’s return. And now she’s … here …?”

Kaigen, or Seren, or whatever the old man’s name is, studies me for a moment before standing up from his chair.

“Arileia, you seem to be doing better now, and I would hate for my poor little Mei to be forced to clean up your mess all on her own. Can you please help her while I speak with these two a moment longer?”

“But …”

It seemed like Arileia was about to refuse, but a glint in the old man’s eye sparks right at her and she pulls back. I’ve never seen Arileia comply so willingly to someone before. Without a single complaint, she turned around and grabbed the maid by her hand (the one still attached to her body) before leading her out of the room.

Just who is this guy?

『Seren: a highly ranked member of the Demon Lord’s council.』

After Arileia leaves the room, Seren moves to the door and shuts it behind them.

“You’re not the same demon lord as before, are you?”

“W-what do you mean? I’m as demon lordy as ever, r-right, Enika?”

“By the gods, it actually worked. When I was asked to help her research the spell, I didn’t think she would be able to pull it off. Are you really from a completely different world? What was the soul binding like? Do you remember your previous life? I have so many questions.”

“Calm yourself, you crazy old man. We can’t understand a single thing you’re saying.”

“You’re right. My apologies.”

“She may not have the same memories as she once did in the past, but the Demon Lord is still the Demon Lord. She is a being that deserves respect? Is she not?”

“Yes, yes, of course. I let my excitement get the better of me. I suspect Arileia has still yet to learn the truth?”

“Correct. So I appreciate you sending her away for the time being. However, don’t think that I’ve forgotten about your involvement in her kidnapping, Kaigen.”

“No, no, of course not. I’ll answer any question you have when the time comes, but for now, we have much to discuss. After all, the demon lord’s plan is finally being set into motion.”