When we left the cave she warned me of two additional things. One, I needed more allies. And two, I wasn't the only hero searching for the 'demon king'.

Honestly, number two was reason enough to add allies. With those thoughts, we returned to the water and with the assistance of Coleen, acting as an elevator, stepped back onto the ship.

"Welcome back Captain, nothing to report."

"That's good Jun, thanks for the hard work. Go and get some sleep you look exhausted."

*groooooowl*

"Rather, I'll make you a quick oatmeal. Come on down to the galley. You all hungry too?" I ask turning to the crew who had finally all been delivered to the deck.

""Yes!""

"Alright then let's go, I'll make a large serving, Rou and Aqua can I ask you to set us on a bearing to the Capital. I will come get you when food is ready."

""Yes Sir!""

{Ah, if I may be so bold, would you like Coleen to push you until the gate?}

"Oh, yes please Aquarou," Aqua says with a smile at the sudden whisper.

"Thank you Aquarou," Rou adds, rubbing her stomach hungrily.

{Don't mention it. Well again. It was a pleasure to meet you all. I hope to see you again soon.}

"Likewise." The princess says towards distance reef.

~ ~

"Uwwwwww, do we really need to part?" The princess asks pulling a blanket to her chin. It became like this after the princess refused to sleep in a separate room. She argued that she likely wouldn't see me for some time, and as such we should share precious memories before she returns to her home in the capital.

I think she imagined much more was happening within this room at night but I left it to her imagination and allowed it for tonight.

"Hey, Captain. You said there was a seventh one right?" Mirna asks from beside me.

"I will tell it to you. But I have something else I wanted to talk about first. Well, to be honest, I am surprised it wasn't you all who brought it up first."

"About your true identity?" The princess asks.

"Mm, about both the demon king part and the other world part."

"As for the other world part, I was curious from hearing of the belief system before, but really is it such a big deal? I thought you were from another country and, well it wasn't wrong."

"I suppose that's true, but is that really all? I was sure I would be chided for not telling you all sooner, or looked at in disgust for being something as evil as a demon."

"I am more surprised demons can be so amazing. If I had known that I probably wouldn't have thought they were evil entities."

"Well, you remember what Aquarou said though El, now we are Demons too."

"Ah right, the curse of loving Captain was it? I can live with it."

"Same, we became strong by following the Captain, so what's wrong with being called a Demon? If it's something from Captain I will gladly accept it."

"You all really are taking this better than I expected. And you Alice? You have been quiet for awhile."

"I think to be called a Demon or monster by Master would be… Or perhaps trash would be better or cu…"

"That's enough."

"Yes, Master."

~ ~

"I don't want to stay, I don't wanna. Take me with you!"

"Wow, she has taken a liking to you in a hurry." The king says when we returned with the princess and explained our intentions of leaving for Marrow.

"Yes, it seems so. We sparred a few times on the ship so she must desire to continue improving herself. I just regret I couldn't find an abyssal for her to fight " I say making up a reasonable lie.

"If you leave me here I will tel…"

Before she can complete the sentence I grip her arm firmly and lock my eyes with hers. She seems to tremble for a moment before relaxing. "Uuu, you give me no choice if you look at me with those eyes. Very well I will stay and do as you asked. But you must promise to visit!"

"Of course."

"Ah, at this rate I won't even need to abdicate. Nice work Clove!" The king says shoving a thumb towards her direction.

"In fact to prove my resolve, I won't visit you until the Demon King is vanquished!" I say raising a fist and smiling at the absurdity of the statement.

"Uhm, that's not necessary Cole." Clove says grabbing my arm and pulling it down gently.

"Mm, I agree, but I do indeed appreciate your resolve nonetheless. If I leave it to you that fiend will be destroyed for certain. Well then, in case I don't see you before the tournament, good luck, and thank you for keeping my daughter safe."

"Father, Cole needs no luck to wipe the floor with anyone in the B tournament. If brother and I can't win against him, who else could?"

"Ah, there are always new challengers. If someone as strong as Cole appeared from Marrow who knows what else could appear? And of course, there are your rivals."

"They aren't our rivals. They just always seem to get seeded together with us and we end up fighting in the Semi's, do you really think they have gotten so strong in the past year?"

"Ah well, who knows. It's always exciting for someone like me to watch. Even if they say a match is decided I never really know until the end. I feel like I am always surprised even if the outcome is expected."

"Dear really does enjoy the tournament doesn't he?" The queen says sitting beside him and watching his face with a smile.

"It's the highlight of my year!"

We got a bit off track but we were able to maneuver out of the capital after a long winded explanation of the greatness of the upcoming tournament. Honestly, I had forgotten about it but if it was something he looked forward to so much I might as well give him a good show once it's time.

~ ~

"Are we ready to set sail?" I ask turning to the girls a few minutes after we boarded the Excalibur.

"Yes, Captain. It is late but we have a full moon tonight and no clouds so the stars should be bright, navigating won't be a problem."

"I leave it to your trusted hands. Any opinion how long it may take?"

"The winds on the way here were on-coming so maybe… eight days if we skip The Port of Love."

"Do we have any need to return to the port?"

"No, not exactly, and I know you were inconvenienced by it last time so…"

"No, it really wasn't a problem, if you guys want to visit I have no problem with it."

"It's ok, there is no need to return now that we have the sprout," Aqua says stepping up the stairs to the command deck.

She was talking about the seedling that had recently erupted from the small pot we got when we first visited the town. It was indeed thriving, I wonder if El didn't use her plant growth magic despite my warning. Well, I don't mind.

~ ~

In reality, it was six days. That was probably thanks to El insisting on continuing her work on turning our home into an Elf ship. She was sly about it but I had recently noticed a strange increase in the color purple across our bow. Where once it was a single beam now nearly all the wood submerged under water was a deep bluish purple color.

When confronted she explained that her mana limit has increased so she was using the bow as a test to see its true limits. It seems that after breaking through the wall El was now much stronger at Mana control. She could dye a lump of wood purple in an instant. I permitted it after she promised to keep it to less noticeable areas of the ship.

A few strips could be explained as a gift from an elf friend, but any more than that and people would think we stole the ship from the Elves. And we had only just regained proper ownership.

~ ~

Our dock in Marrow port was lively. We were welcomed back by a large crowd. I was very confused by the situation, to say the least.

"Sir, welcome back. Although I know this is rather sudden I wanted to introduce you to our new recruits. They haven't completed training yet to Pina and Golin's specs, it seems the two aren't as adept at training as Captain. It took them near twice as long to lift the log even with proper placement of the nails."

"Interesting. But really there are quite a few. Are so many really necessary?" I ask looking at the large group. Easily over twenty stood in well-formed lines with straight backs and heads locked ahead.

If I didn't know better I would think they are troops. Although it's not entirely wrong. I did inadvertently turn Golin and Pina into low-level Demon commanders after all.

"In fact, this is likely not enough. We have already begun the process of starting another recruitment to form four more after their training is complete."

"Karlie, you aren't wasting my money are you?" I ask astounded by her willingness to hire more hands.

"Sir, it's the opposite. If you will follow me to the warehouse I can show you properly."

I nod to her and follow her lead. The girls follow behind me, and finally, the new recruits follow behind in tight lines. Had my training ever included formations like this? What was the point of it exactly? Though it did look good.

"This is…" I say looking at the interior of the warehouse through the open doors. It seems closing these massive doors is no longer an option. A crowd of merchants is constantly walking in and out. Confirming numbers on crates with forms on clipboards and trucking them away.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

It's an endless chain of taking a box and then seconds later filling the spot with an outgoing order.

So business was good?

"So business is good?"

"Unbelievably. We were able to open new trade routes to Yellow Sands, Ikin, and Lyons. From there we basically became a stop over for shipments heading to the capital. Half of our shipments are between Yellow Sands and Ikin, delivering the sand needed for glass. From there we bring the glassworks here and the merchants go crazy for it. We also do most of the food transport for the small island villages. It seems once our speed was seen even the merchants began sending their customers our way."

"That's… unexpected. But I suppose it's not a bad thing. I now understand why you need eight new fleets. I will prepare boats for the new crews right away but fitting them all in the port will be tough."

"May I suggest placing two of them in Ikin. We can afford the cost of a small building and it would make…"

"Perfect sounds good we will set up our first franchise. And what about help in the office? Is six still enough?"

"Yes although it is tough we make do. I'm mostly afraid any more would just get in the way. It's tight enough in the warehouse as it is."

"Oh, we can fix that no problem. Ah, that reminds me, the restaurant. I haven't seen… Uhm…"

"Autumn?"

"Yes, Autumn. Right, I haven't seen Autumn, is the restaurant doing ok?"

"How about we just walk around to the other side and I show you. If I'm right it's the middle of the lunch rush right now."

"We have a lunch rush?"

"Oh, you should've seen the crowd we had for 'Midnight half price burgers'."

"Successful event?"

"Gangbusters."

"Oh wow, yeah that's a line alright. How can they handle a crowd like that?"

The small offset building had a crowd nearly larger than it. It looked like a swarm of bees returning to a hive.

"They switched the orders to simple to say numbers. Autumn said it increased our throughput by around 60%."

"Impressive. I'm glad I left it to her. She's a natural it seems."

"You should tell her that yourself. She has been working very hard."

"Right, Mirna would you mind helping them out for a second so I can thank Autumn."

"No problem!" Mirna shouts running off towards the side door to the restaurant.

A loud chorus of "Chef!" could be heard. I had forgotten those girls idolized the 'Demon Chef' Mirna. Oh, that name fits pretty well now doesn't it. It was almost like foreshadowing or something.

"Y…you wanted to speak with me?" A voice says cutting my thoughts off at the root.

The girl, Autumn was cute. She had a light sprinkling of freckles and smooth red hair down to her shoulders. Her voice sounded like silk. If I were at all lacking I would invite her to my bed but it seems my initial decision was better. She was extremely talented at her job clearly.

"Yes, I want to thank you for your tremendous work. It seems the restaurant is operating spectacularly."

"Ah, yes sir! Thank you!"

"Of course, is there anything you would like as a reward? Anything within my power will be yours if you ask."

"Mm," she says to herself thinking about my words carefully. Was I going to get a response like Pina's? I inwardly hoped so. "If I can be so bold, I would like to expand the restaurant."

"That was already my intention. Perhaps even move it. Anything besides that?"

"Well more staff would be…"

"With an increase in size, I would, of course, want to hire more staff as well, anything else?"

"Hmm… " She ponders again, becoming slightly flustered over my sudden acceptance of her proposals "A farm?"

"A farm?"

"Yes, if we were able to grow our own ingredients costs would drop and quality would increase. We could even grow the majority of spices we use. Perhaps even sell them in the future."

"There you go! Perfect idea. Will the land behind the warehouse work. The forested area beside the training grounds?"

"It's not ideal, the soil around here is rocky and dense."

"So further inland? What about the land down the street from Mirna's parent's inn? I saw it before we decided on this warehouse."

"Oh, that might do. I will have to inspect it myself after work but I think that could work perfectly."

"Mm, and I will see about repairing the old building across from it. If we can turn that into the new restaurant it would make things much easier."

"Indeed, th…thank you. I'm honored by your kindness."

"Ah lighten up you worked hard its the least I can do. Same goes for you, Karlie. I, of course, intend to expand the warehouse but if there is anything you desire as a reward. please ask."

"I will think carefully about it."

"Good."

Autumn nods to us and rushes back to look after the restaurant. She's a dutiful worker. A few moments later Mirna pops out from the door and runs to me.

"Good work thanks for the help."

"It was easy!"

"Of course it would be for Mirna."

I pat her head and she squints her eyes in delight.

"I have a question though, Sir." Karlie suddenly says interrupting my pleasant patting. "Although it's not exactly regarding my reward."    

"Go ahead."

"What's that?" She asks pointing to the leather collar Alice begged for at a store near the Capital.

"That's something you will have to ask her about. She seems to have found herself."

The subject turns bright red and drops her head avoiding Karlie's eyes.

"And that true identity is?" Karlie asks turning her head back to me.

Mirna answers before I can brush the question off with a joke. "'She is Master's Slave,' Or, at least that's what she was mumbling in bed this morning."

I must have been asleep for that part of the sleep talking. There was quite a bit said though, I'm slightly worried what else Mirna heard.

"Uh, huh…" Karlie says with her hand on her chin. Is she deciding punishment? I'm terrified for some reason. I thought 'I' was supposed to be the Demon.

"You! It must be you! Give me it immediately. I know you have it so I won't wait any longer. Relinquish it to me at once so I can begin work."

My party turns to the sudden voice and turn our head down almost simultaneously.

Before us, standing a few inches shorter than Mirna or El was a girl with rough thick brown hair. She had a small stature yet her visible muscles were toned and lightly tanned a golden color.

"Right, this one has been looking for you here every day for the past week. She is constantly on about an 'Ultimate Material'. I assume she's another of your companions? But really to call it 'ultimate material' so openly... Lewd."

"Yes, the ultimate material. Give it to me. Only I can properly use it to its full potential."

"How will you use it?" I ask trying to get context for the jumble of words.

"I will create the most incredible magic tool on the planet."

"Oh, you want a Magic Core? And what tool will you make?"

"Ah she meant..." Karlie says before quieting down.

"I… Uhm…" The small brunette begins before stopping suddenly and furrowing her brow. "Um, maybe a… No that would be a waste…"

"So you are a Magical Engineer?" Aqua asks the girl who still pondered her final product.

"Yes, the greatest on the planet. I left the Dwarven Highlands to search for the ultimate material. Live extracted Magical Stone."

"Oh, like the shark one. Hmm, I don't have one anymore I gave that one to the Auction house, unfortunately. But I can…"

"NO! Ah, I must hurry to the capital. Although money will be an issue. Ah, no choice I will find a way. I am crafty, I will make tools on the road to earn money and then I will…"

"Slow down, I can get you another if it's that important. Let's sit down and talk slowly for a bit. You are, Triff right? I have heard of you before. I'm curious about magical tools so this is a great opportunity for both of us."

"You know me? I mean… Of course, you know me! Only natural as the greatest engineer on the planet, Triphilia Bronzescale. But you can really get another? The ultimate material is difficult to acquire you know?"

"I can. And it's a pleasure to finally meet you Triphilia. My name is Cole Moedy. I am the Captain of the Excalibur and B rank adventurer."

I am also the hero candidate of the country and the demon king. But that's better left for later.

"Call me Triff as you have. I much prefer that name."

"You know I wasn't finished with this whole Alice is Cole's slave thing? Don't think you can get out of this that easily." I prepare to groan but realize she is talking to Alice, and not me. Alice fidgets in place while glancing up at her friends face with reddened cheeks.

I really don't want to hear the conversation. But for some reason, I think Alice will unconsciously enjoy it.