Through the dark cave path lit by oil lamps on both sides, they would eventually come across a large cavern nestled beneath the towering mountains of the range. Inside the cavern lies a vast city built from massive stone blocks, spread throughout the interior. The most striking feature, from the perspective of the stone path leading into the city, is the large fortress carved into the cave wall, looming over the entire city below.

Gazing down at the city from the stone walkway were two travelers from distant lands. They were not there for sightseeing, but rather, they had work to do—an important mission to complete. Fumiko and Muriel—looked down at the city below with excitement. This was Fumiko’s first real adventure in this other world, without having to search for someone to return with. And she wasn’t alone—she had her trusty companion, Muriel The Black Calamity, by her side.

“Can we get going now, Fumiko? I’m hungry. And we’re not here just for the view, you know,” Muriel, noticing that Fumiko was standing still, clutching the edge of the railing and not moving, wrapped her tail around Fumiko’s waist and gently tugged her.

“Huh? Are you hungry, Muriel? But we just ate an hour ago before we got here!” Fumiko, pulled away from the railing, let go, and started walking down the side path.

“I had to fly at nearly sonic speed for a whole hour, you know? That used up almost all of my magical energy. By the way, why are you so excited? It’s just a dwarven stone city, isn’t it?” Muriel released her tail from Fumiko’s waist, letting her walk ahead toward the lower path.

“Well, because it is a dwarven city! There was nothing like this in my old world. And besides, we’re on an adventure, aren’t we? It’s kind of like a vacation too,” Fumiko replied, her voice full of cheer, so much so that Muriel was starting to feel nauseated.

“This isn’t a vacation. Didn’t you forget what Queen Yui asked us to do before we came here? She told us to get the dwarven city of Listerok to reopen itself to the outside world,” Muriel objected. She and Fumiko were at Listerok to negotiate with the Dwarven Hold King to reopen the city to trade with the nations beyond the mountains, after being closed off for nearly 150 years.

“Haha, yeah, you’re right. That’s true!” Fumiko chuckled softly in response.

After the two of them descended to the city below, they walked along the main street that led directly to the fortress carved into the cave wall. Along the road, numerous shops and a bustling crowd of dwarves were clearly visible. Fumiko and Muriel were the first human and dragon pair from the outside world to step foot in Listerok in 150 years. Many dwarves stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the two as they made their way down the street. Muriel visibly loathed the attention, feeling disgusted by the lowly dwarves who looked at her as if she were some kind of zoo exhibit. Fumiko, on the other hand, felt pressured by the untrusting gazes cast upon her.

At last, they arrived in front of the castle. Standing there was a dwarf dressed in fine red silk. Although he was only slightly shorter than Muriel, he appeared taller by standing on the second step of the grand staircase. This was something Muriel could barely tolerate, but Fumiko placed a hand on the back of her neck, preventing her from leaping at the dwarf the moment they locked eyes. The dwarf bowed his head in greeting to both Fumiko and Muriel. Fumiko returned the bow, while Muriel kept her head held high, refusing to lower it, even though Fumiko tried nudging her down.

“Welcome, Lady Alice Vialoren, and… Lady Muriel. I hope your journey to Listerok has not been too difficult. It has been many years since we last received visitors from the outside world. I am Edna Bucketfoot, here to escort you to the negotiations,” Edna said, lifting his head. As he mentioned Muriel’s name, she slowly turned to glare at him, clearly displeased. However, he glanced at Fumiko and then gestured toward the castle behind Edna.

“Demon Lord-”

“Yes, thank you for the warm welcome, Lord Edna. Please don’t take offense at Demon Lord Muriel, she’s always like this,” Fumiko quickly interrupted, jabbing her elbow into Muriel’s side to cut her off, then responding kindly.

“We understand that the Kingdom of Listerok has had reasons to harbor resentment toward the demon lords ever since the time of Demon Lord Merrion. But as times have changed, we ask that you open your hearts once more,” Fumiko continued.

Fumiko was well aware of the history—how nearly 150 years ago, Listerok had to fight off the demonic army of Merrion, which almost brought the mountain stronghold to ruin. This forced the dwarves of Listerok to retreat into seclusion inside their mountains for many years. Even though it was risky for Muriel, the successor to Merrion only in title, to come to this place herself, Fumiko had to help the dwarves of the mountain fortress understand that the era where demon lords and heroes could coexist had arrived.

After Fumiko and Muriel followed Edna into the castle, they admired the many stone statues beautifully arranged along the way. Eventually, Edna led them to a waiting room, excusing himself to go speak with the Dwarven King and prepare for the meeting. This left Fumiko and Muriel with some time to converse while they waited.

"I hate this place. Ever since we entered the market, it's been nothing but the smell of coal and metal," Muriel grumbled to Fumiko as soon as Edna was out of sight.

"And you! As soon as you saw Edna, you practically wanted to start a fight. Don't think I didn't notice," Fumiko replied, sitting comfortably in her chair, and throwing a playful glance at Muriel.

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"That's because I'm a dragon! Dragons and dwarves have been enemies since... well since they love gold as much as we do!" Muriel retorted, though her voice softened a bit, as even she wasn't entirely sure of her intense dislike anymore.

"Since you've been at the magic academy, your hatred of everything that exists has started to soften, hasn’t it?" Fumiko tried reasoning with her, speaking gently. "You could try to tone it down a little."

Muriel frowned, clearly not happy with Fumiko's words, and turned her head away in defiance, though she knew deep down that Fumiko had a point.

"And also, when they call us in for the talks, you don't need to come in. It’ll just lead to more problems," Fumiko continued. She didn't want Muriel barging into the meeting and potentially destroying the room in a fit of anger.

"Excuse me? But I’m the Demon Lord! Isn’t the whole reason we came here for me to negotiate with them?" Muriel's voice rose with frustration, her displeasure clear in her tone.

"I understand that’s how it should be, but you know as well as I do that your bluntness can complicate things in this situation. Plus, I've got a knack for talking things out, remember? I’ve been doing it since my previous life," Fumiko explained, trying to calm Muriel down. Though Muriel listened, she couldn’t help but feel a little insulted that Fumiko was taking over her role.

"Hmph. Fine, but if something goes wrong in there, don’t expect me to save you in time, Fumiko," Muriel grumbled, rolling her eyes in boredom.

"Thank you for understanding. And how about after we finish here, we go get some big slabs of meat? I heard the dwarves' food is quite different from what humans or elves eat," Fumiko whispered softly into Muriel's pointed dragon ear. Promising food was always an effective way to get Muriel on board.

"Dwarven food, huh... Hmm, alright then. I’ve heard rumors that the food in these mountains holds, especially in the heart of the Western Continent, has unique flavors you can’t find anywhere else," Muriel’s interest was piqued as her curiosity got the better of her.

"Exactly. And as long as you behave and don’t try to steal any treasures… There won’t be anything for me to report to Chiaki," Fumiko teased, dragging out her words playfully, using Chiaki as a little threat to keep Muriel in line.

"Ugh, fine! I won’t steal anything, geez. You don’t have to keep repeating it."

"Great! So just be a good little dragon and sit tight like Hiro-kun wanted, okay?"

"I’m the favorite child, you know. I already know how to behave," Muriel replied, her tone filled with pride, though she was clearly still sulking.

As Fumiko and Muriel continued to chat about nonsensical things, their conversation slowly drifting into trivial matters, Edna reappeared, emerging from the stone door leading to the council chamber. He approached them, signaling that the dwarven king was ready for Fumiko’s audience. As Fumiko had requested, Muriel would not be attending the meeting.

While Fumiko entered the room, Muriel remained behind in the waiting room. Growing bored, she wandered around, examining the decorations. One of the most prominent features in the room was a large painting of a blue mushroom, displayed in a small pot. The size of the painting was oddly large, and Muriel found it strange. She figured it might just be some quirky design choice to keep the room from looking too plain, something she'd seen in human castles before. But why a mushroom?

Looking more closely, she noticed that the stone walls were intricately inlaid with silver and emeralds, meticulously crafted into fine details. She ran her hand along the wall, surprised by how smooth it was, as though she were touching soft skin instead of stone. It unsettled her, and she quickly pulled her hand away, deciding to explore another part of the room. However, there wasn’t much to see aside from the giant mushroom painting, which only served to deepen her puzzlement.

After wandering for a bit, Muriel eventually returned to her seat, spreading her arms wide as if sitting on a throne. Boredom soon overtook her, and slowly, sleep began to creep in. Before long, her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off into a nap.

“Hey.”

"Hey! Muriel, wake up, it's morning already," Fumiko leaned over, nudging Muriel gently on the shoulder to wake her up. Then, she took Muriel’s hand and pulled her to stand.

"Hmm? Fumiko, are you done negotiating with those people?" Muriel mumbled groggily as she slowly grabbed Fumiko’s hand, getting up from the chair.

"They said we have to stay here for another two or three days. But they’ve set up a guest house for us. They mentioned it might be a bit old, but they asked us to stay there, probably because of you," Fumiko explained, leading Muriel out of the waiting room to meet Edna, who was waiting outside the room to guide them to their accommodations.

"They probably think I’m dangerous and want to keep me far away. Not the first time this has happened. But, Fumiko, you can let go of my hand now," Muriel responded, still half-asleep, though aware enough to point out that she didn’t like holding hands while walking around. Not because she hated Fumiko, but because it made her feel like a child, which she didn’t like.

"Oh, right. I forgot, haha," Fumiko laughed awkwardly, releasing Muriel’s hand. A bright smile spread across her face as she did so.

The two of them followed Edna out of the city and into a narrow cave passage wide enough to house a small stone cottage. From their position, they had a clear view of the beautiful city of Listerok below, though Muriel felt uneasy. No, she smelled something strange—something she really didn’t like, though she couldn’t quite place what it was. This strange scent bothered her so much that she began searching all around their new quarters, sniffing the air, while Fumiko watched in curiosity.

"Oh, by the way, Muriel, the king said there’s a bit of trouble in Listerok at the moment, so we’re not allowed to leave the house at night," Fumiko added. She didn’t quite know when night officially began since the entire city was always shrouded from sunlight. Luckily, their guest house had a clock, and it was almost 8 PM now.

"Interesting. Fumiko, I think you should stick close to me while we’re here in Listerok."

"Huh? Why’s that?" Fumiko asked, surprised by Muriel’s sudden shift in tone.

"I smell spiders."