Shit.

The Demon Lord is here? And now?

Are we talking about that asshole with the Harem and all the banners?

The guy who wanted to get Alex, pushed her until she made a mistake?

I'm not ready for that.

Screw him. And I'm stuck here, with no way back to my world without the Thirteenth Bride.

I should have stayed there for the night and slept until this was over.

I don't even have a way to send a message to Alexandra.

She bought me an expensive phone in the world that surprised me, but it doesn't work here.

Nothing works here. Damn it.

He can't even bring back anything from the other world, except our naked souls.

That's why she needs a clone or homunculus in both places. What a stupid rule. Who made this up?

[Notice: Panicking won't solve your current problem.]

But it feels good. At least it's better than trying to think about what I'm about to face.

But I'm open to suggestions.

Should I send the signal to all the tribes and prepare to fight?

Could they assemble in three hours? What if they're too late? Turn him back from the gates?

Run and hide? Can I fight him on equal footing? This body belongs to a Goddess after all.

He is only a Demon Lord.

No. This still sounds scary.

How do I deal with him? Why is he coming here?

Nobody likes his face, other than the Orcs and some other folks.

[Reminder: That covers the entire camp apart from yourself. And you were the one inviting him here to negotiate. It took Omerta all her strength to send a long-range telepathic message.]

Damn it, she shouldn't have. Why bother with something so tiring? It was a simple courtesy.

He wasn't supposed to take that opportunity.

Who would travel two thousand miles for that?

It was my way of saying, I'm not giving you any more young girls for whatever sick shit you want to do with them. Now that he is coming, it makes him all the creepier.

Ugh. I need to calm down.

Deep breath. Another. One more, and now I'm feeling dizzy.

But wait, he's weak. Right?

He needs the royal blood of the Princess to break some curse.

So it doesn't matter how he got this far and that fast, I'm stronger than this asshole, and I can boss him around. Yes, there is no reason to worry about him.

[Notice: As an individual, you don't have magic or any specific powers that would allow it. And the Goddess of Luck Alexandra forbade hostilities against the Demon Lord.]

No, she did not.

She said I shouldn't give myself to him. It's an emergency, and the Auto Battle function should sort it out. I refuse to deal with this, I want to sleep instead.

Who the hell is coming that early in the morning anyway? And without a notice.

It screams ulterior motives, trying to catch us with our pants down.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

[Notice: He contacted you through Omerta five days ago. And once more yesterday through a messenger, when they got close to the camp. But they didn't want to intrude late at night.]

Shit, give me something I can complain about at least.

Where is that message? Did he say what he wanted?

Well, the question of the Princess is obvious. The trial with Omerta too. What else?

[Notice: Some matters are too important to leave them to messengers. If he disclosed everything in advance, he wouldn't have to come here to negotiate.]

Exactly! So why didn't he? This could have been an e-mail too. Shit.

Of course, that wouldn't work. The closest you have to an e-mail is telepathy through Omerta.

And she's on house arrest.

That asshole doesn't trust Hana's little sister, because she was too ambitious. That's fair, I also wouldn't trust her, if not for that big brute of a brother. Or sister. Whatever they are.

Damn it. We aren't moving forward, and time is ticking. I know. The perfect solution occurred to me. I should have thought about this earlier.

[Doubtful remark: It must be an excellent idea.]

It is, and you made it possible. I will praise the System for it at least twice a day for a week. The Bathhouse is ready. It has heated pools, showers, and all the luxuries this world has yet to see.

[Querry: How will that help with the negotiations, or dealing with the Demon Lord?]

Huh? Who talks about him? I don't want to think about that asshole, and the Bathhouse is perfect to relax and turn my brain off. Yes. I refuse to deal with it, and the problem will go away.

[Notice: That's not how things work. At least not in this world.]

It's unfortunate, but I can't hear you. Let's go check out that Bathhouse. I can already see it from the window, it looks great. I had the System build it from the first stone delivery.

I sketched a layout to ensure women and men can use it without bothering each other. The stream solves the water pumping, and the charcoal-burner does the heating.

I can't wait to try it. Oh, and keep in mind the slimes, cleaning the water. It's perfect. This world has everything taken care of without extra chemicals. Looks good, System, good job.

It's so early in the morning that the sun isn't up yet, so I won't have to deal with the crowd. It's crazy how large the camp grew in a week and how many buildings popped up.

My plan to ignore the System's nonstop notices and the problems of reality almost works. Almost, if it weren't for that guard who stopped me on my way to inform of the delegation.

"What?! Already?" Didn't you say, it will take three more hours for the Demon Lord to get here? System, I demand an explanation.

[Notice: I said it was an estimate. They were faster than I expected.]