This Isn’t My World, And It Pisses Me Off
Chapter 20
--A While Earlier--
Madyline made her way out of the castle of the Demon King, out of Ikari’s castle. She was followed by five women, all of whom seemed to be wearing ornate robes from a passerbys perspective.
In reality, Madyline could not find any large cloaks, so she just grabbed a series of duvets from random beds within the castle and gave them to the women. They were all a good deal older than her, the youngest being only eighteen.
She found the idea of a small girl leading grown women out of the Demon Lands to be an odd one, but she didn’t have much of a choice. The whole situation terrified her. Not even a day ago she was just a maid in the castle.
Now she had become part of the party of the Hero who defeated the Demon King, who then became the Demon King. She would probably be tried for treason. The idea scared her senseless, but she had her enchanted outfit, and the mace that Eliza had upgraded for her.
All she wanted to do was get back to the Kingdom and explain what had happened to her family. Then, she would return to Ikari’s side. She knew she didn’t have to. She honestly wasn’t even sure if she wanted to.
But…
Ikari needed someone to look after him. He was new to this world, and didn’t understand how it worked. She needed to do her duty as a maid, and help her master. No matter how annoyed that word made Ikari, it was what she had been trained to call those who looked after her and instructed her.
Though she felt if she called him ‘Master Ikari’ to his face his mind would probably have to take a moment to start up again. It was surprising to see a Hero like him, as she had met about four in total during her time at the castle.
All of whom had the same black hair, grey eyes and spouted nonsense about how they would defeat the Demon King with the power of friendship. Though the only ‘friends’ they seemed to gather were buxom women with few actual fighting skills.
And yet the nobles were always shocked when they were unable to defeat the Demon King. Madyline shook her head, checking behind her to see the five women were still following. Ikari’s cynicism must have been rubbing off on her.
“Where are you all from?” The maid turned to look at the women, wanting to get them home as soon as possible. They all looked noticeably different, though she doubted the previous Demon King cared much about their faces.
“I’m from Weizen.” One of the taller women spoke first, a short crop of dark red hair framing green eyes and freckles. She seemed to have a more muscular physique than the rest of the women. Madyline knew Weizen was a farming village, so that’s probably where she got her figure from.
The rest of the women gave their homes, two of them apparently from Larune as well. Those two seemed to look much more relaxed once they realised they weren’t alone. The other two were from Bergwick and Angeln, a mining and fishing town respectively.
All of them were fiefdoms under rule by Lords who frequented Larune, and Madyline knew they were taxed unfairly from when she had been adding ice to the Lords drinks. She frowned lightly, but decided it would be better to be in a town with other humans rather than the monsters and demons that inhabited the Demon Lands.
Which they had now left, as their feet padded across soft grass. It was a welcome change, especially for the women following Madyline as they were all in bare feet. Next to them was a rather deep forest that stretched around most of the Demon Lands. “I’m afraid I’m not sure the direction to get you home, but I promise you will be protected.”
She hefted her mace, still unsure how to hold the weapon. “Not to be rude,” One of the women that was from Larune began. “But, aren’t you a little young to be using that?”
The others all nodded in agreement, their gaudy blankets shifting with the movement. “Well, I don’t actually know how to use it.” Madyline told them. “But, Master Ikari said it doesn’t matter that I don’t know how, because it’s broken.”
The smile didn’t match the description, and Madyline seemed to realise that they didn’t understand the term the way Ikari had taught her. “Um, I mean it’s a good broken.” She explained further.
“There’s a good kind of broken?” The women from Weizen mumbled to herself. It was going to be very difficult to explain what the word meant without explaining her weapon did more damage in numbers than she could ever think.
Something interrupted her before she could even begin to explain the meaning, and it was something that set the whole group on edge. The ground began to rumble ominously, and the group looked around wildly.
They were still very close to the Demon Lands, and the rumbling could be a powerful monster. Madyline knew her mace was strong, but that didn’t mean she was mentally ready to fight something. “Uhm, uhm. Hide!”
She pointed to the side, where a few bushes were clumped together at the base of a tree. The group quickly ran over, ducking behind the tree and under the bushes. Any dirt that found its way onto Madyline’s dress was quickly removed thanks to her enchantment.
The group of six waited with bated breath for whatever monster was approaching to pass them by. The rumbling grew closer, and it’s source showed itself. Not a monster, but thousands of soldiers in iron armour marching in unison towards the direction they came from.
Madyline recognised the armour immediately. They were knights of Larune, specifically the military division. “They’re our soldiers!” One of the two women from the city exclaimed, quickly getting to her knees and running forward.
She waved her hands wildly, discarding her improvised cloak and ran towards the army. Madyline’s eyes widened as she saw soldiers take notice of the running woman, and drew their weapons. Because she had disregarded the cloak, the only thing she was wearing was the clothes that were given to her in the Demon Kingdom.
They must have thought her a Demon, Madyline realised. The maid ran forward, as the woman stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide with fear. “Don’t! She was kidnapped!” Madyline exclaimed, running in front of her and throwing her arms out wide.
Despite her words, swords still swung and arrows were still released. Madyline winced and closed her eyes. She felt something scratch the side of her head, getting rid of an itch she had been feeling for a while.
“Oh, that felt nice.” She opened her eyes, which widened upon seeing the blade of a sword resting where she had felt the itch. The soldiers eyes were wide beneath their helmets, and Madyline noticed three arrows on the ground in front of her.
“H-How!?” The soldier jerked his sword back, swinging again. This time, Madyline brought her mace up to block the blow out of fear.
The bright blue head of the mace, ever so gently brushed against the man's hand. He cried out in pain as the sword he was holding shattered, and his hand fell limp, fingers pointing in directions they shouldn’t be.
The maid backed up in horror, her back bumping against the woman she had ran out to protect. The woman, apparently realising she would not be rescued and brought home as previously hoped, grabbed Madyline by her wrist and ran back.
The others, who had stood up in shock upon seeing the soldiers of their kingdom try and attack an innocent girl, saw her returning and decided it would be best to run into the forest and hide. They slowed down enough for Madyline and the Larune to catch up, before picking up speed.
They could barely hear shouts and orders from someone instructing the soldiers to catch them. Madyline was breathing heavily, her eyes wide and beginning to brim with tears at the realisation she had hurt someone.
The woman who had grabbed her, Ada, increased her speed upon seeing Madyline’s posture falling. It was very difficult to run in the annoyingly tight clothes she was given. She wasn’t an athlete, and her only skills were in tailoring.
The others were a small distance ahead of her, Ada being slowed down by Madyline but refusing to abandon the small girl. Yelped as an arrow impacted a tree next to her. Several shouts could be heart as they ran deeper into the forest.
“You were with the guy who killed the Demon King right?” Ada asked as she ran, gasping for breath. “Shouldn’t you be used to this?”
“I’ve never hurt anyone before!” Madyline cried out, turning round and running herself. Her legs were a lot shorter than that of the grown women, so she did not immediately match their speed.
“CONSTRICT!” A voice yelled out from behind them, and Madyline and Ada’s feet became tangled by some kind of rope. The four ahead stopped immediately, and rushed back to help.
Madyline rolled onto her back, and saw a group of soldiers approaching, along with two men in deep purple cloaks. She recognised them as War Mages, they were treated with more respect than regular foot soldiers, and specialised in combat spells.
Madyline sat up and raised her mace high. She had no idea what this would do, but she needed to try something. “Breeze!” She activated her skill and pointed the mace towards the group approaching her.
A gust of frigid air shot out from the head of the mace, bowling those in its path over. She was surprised at the reaction, as she had only ever used it to make ice before. Maybe it was the fact she was channeling it through an item that boosted its power.
Before she could even consider it much more, she felt herself lifted into the air. She worried she was being controlled by another mage, but instead found the woman from Weizen picking both her and Ada up effortlessly.
“Keep going!” She called out to the other three women. They did not need much instruction, and continued the moment they were safe.
Both Ada and Madyline were left staring backwards towards the approaching soldiers, who had quickly gotten back on their feet and continued chasing. “Breeze!” Madyline exclaimed again, pointing her mace backwards.
The soldiers were ready this time, dodging to the side as the freezing winds blew past them. In response, one of the War Mages pointed a hand towards them. Madyline didn’t hear what skill they used, but saw a ball of fire shoot towards them.
“DUCK!” Both Ada and Madyline exclaimed, as the Weizen woman did as instructed. A rush of heat flew over them, and continued going. It travelled further on, past the three ahead of them and exploding against a tree.
The tree was immediately consumed by flames, and sent the three women to the ground from the explosion. Just as Madyline attempted to jump down from the shoulders to help them, a wall of earth sprung up just before the flaming tree.
A second, third and forth erupted from the ground, trapping the group of women. The six looked around unsuredly, before Madyline gripped her mace tight. “Stand back.” She instructed, bringing her mace over her shoulder.
The women did as instructed, having seen the power of the mace demonstrated against the man who tried to harm her. Madyline had never swung a weapon before. The thing that came closest was when she had been trying to kill a rogue spider with a broom.
Ignoring the shiver that ran up her spine at the thought of the eight legged creature, she swung at the wall. It exploded in a shower of dirt and rock, and left them with a clear exit.
A clear exit that had several bows and swords pointed at her. “Oh dear.” Madyline whispered, gripping her mace tightly.
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“Drop your weapon.” A soldier instructed, his hand holding the string of the bow taut. It was not aimed at her however. They had realised that their weapons were ineffective against her enchantments, and so took aim at those that didn’t have them.
Madyline’s eyes widened as she realised this. She would have been fine if they were all aimed at her, but to put others in harms way because of her…
“These women are not your enemy.” She said as she slowly lowered her mace. “They were captured by the Demon King, and released by the Hero Ikari. These were the only clothes available to them.”
The moment her mace touched the ground it was snatched by a soldier and held away from her. “Get this to the Baron.” He handed it to another soldier, and turned his sword back to the group. “You lot. You’ll be kept in holding until we decide what to do with you.”
“Holding?!” The women exclaimed.
“But they just want to go home!” Madyline stepped forward, before her eyes widened as the soldier raised his hand. The back of it struck the maid across the cheek, causing those behind her to gasp.
“AAAHH!” The soldier cried out, cradling his broken hand. Madyline was completely unharmed, the slap feeling more like a light pat on the cheek than anything else.
“Get these traitors to the cells, now!” He instructed the other soldiers, all of whom moved forward sheathing their weapons and grabbing the wrists and arms of the small group.
They were marched in the opposite direction the army was. They were going away from the Demon Lands, which should have been a good thing. But why did that fill them all with dread?
Among the countless soldiers, they passed by several ballistas and catapults. Madyline had never seen such a force before. This was all for Ikari?
“You will be tried as traitors once we return you to the Kingdom.” One of the soldiers said.
“WHAT?!” “WHY?!” The shouts were instant, but were quickly silenced with a rush shove from the soldiers escorting them.
“But we are not traitors!” The woman from Weizen exclaimed. “My name is Tara Stark and I am from Weizen. I was stolen by the Demon King. I did not betray this Kingdom!” With her stature, she might have been able to break out of the soldiers grasp. But that would depend on their level difference.
“Ikari Yasashi is a traitor to the Kingdom. He refused to follow the orders of the glorious King Otto. Long may he reign.” The soldier explained, and the last sentiment was repeated by the rest of the soldiers escorting them.
Madyline felt an uncharacteristic surge of anger at them badmouthing Ikari. “King Otto lied to Ikari.” She stated bluntly. “Ikari has not taken any action against the Kingdom.”
“He refused to hand over what is rightfully King Otto’s. He deserves to be executed.” The soldeir’s voice was filled with anger, as he roughly pushed Madyline forward, the maid tripping into a cage. It was made of metal, and the Madyline could see several others littering the area.
They had brought this many cages? But, why? What could they need this many for unless…
“You plan to kidnap the inhabitants of the Demon Lands.” She realised, speaking aloud as the rest of the women were thrown in. The soldiers simply sneered.
“Succubus make excellent maids.” One of them joked. “Unlike you.”
Madyline froze, becoming stiff and shivering lightly. One of the older woman gasped at his swords, and immediately put her arms around Madyline to comfort her.
“It’s ok dear, you’re a wonderful maid.” She whispered into Madylines ear as the young girl barely held back sobs.
“ASSHOLE!” Tara exclaimed, banging her fist against the cage once it had closed. As soon as it had been locked, the soldiers left. Falling back into rank of the marching army, only a select few standing guard around them and not even paying attention.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you all in trouble.” Madyline said through stifled sobs.
“Don’t worry about that sweetheart.” All of the women took turns comforting the younger girl. The two from Larune especially knew how important the maids of the castle treated their job.
After a moment of slowly diminishing sobs, there was silence. “Do you think, Ikari was it? Do you think he’ll be ok?” Tara asked.
Madyline wanted to say yes. But, this was a whole army. The Demon King was but one man. One strong man yes, but the average level of every soldier might have evened out. “I hope so. He doesn’t deserve what he has been put through. He is a truly kind man.”
“But, he’s the Demon King?” The woman from Angeln said.
“Yes.” Madyline nodded in fairness. “But, he also killed the Demon King.” She told her, not that anyone within the confines of the cage could forget it. “I’m certain Kindness is is his highest virtue.”
“Have you seen his virtues?” She asked again. “Oh, I’m Sofie by the way. I was a fisher in Anglen.” She introduced herself.
The next moment was spent with pleasant introductions. Amelia was from Bergwick, and she handled the trade and accounting of the city before she had been taken from the Demon King. Ada and Olga were both from Larune, Ada being a seamstress and Olga ran an apothecary.
Tara had already given her unintended introduction to the soldier, so didn’t feel the need to repeat it. “But, no.” Madyline answered. “I have not seen his virtues. I’m not even sure he knows they exist.” She laughed to herself, wiping away some tears.
“How?” The others murmured to each other. “That’s like, the most basic knowledge. You learn it when you’re still breast feeding.” Tara spoke.
“Well he is a Hero.” Ada pointed out. “He only came into this world recently. How long did it take him to defeat Beezlebub?” She asked Madyline.
“Two days.”
“See. Two da- TWO DAYS?!” She exclaimed, looking wide eyed at the maid. It made Madyline feel a little better seeing their reactions.
“Yes. Ikari is very intelligent. He used his skills in new ways, ways I doubt even the most renowned alchemists would think of.” She explained. Olga looked up in interest at the mention of alchemists.
“He does alchemy?” She asked, eyes sparkling. As someone who ran an apothecary, alchemy was second nature to her and most of her best customers were alchemists.
“He does, and he does it well.” She began rifling in her front pocket. “I’d dare say Trank would be jealous of his concoctions.”
Olga gasped, though the others seemed less impressed. Trank was the God of Alchemy and Apothecary. To even suggest such a thing was no doubt- “Here is one of his potions.” It was one of the few Ikari had given Madyline specifically, to keep her safe.
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“Oh. Oh my.” Olga was dumbfounded. The others within the cage not so subtly leaned in for a better look.
“Oh fuck.” Tara stated bluntly. “No wonder he killed the Demon King.” She wasn’t wrong. Madyline was certain that if Ikari had actually drank any of his beneficial potions during the fight, Beezlebub would have been evaporated.
“You know…” Amelia began, having been quiet for most of the journey. “If the Demon King finds out you were taken here, won’t he destroy the army?”
There was a moment of silence.
“We need to get out of here.” Madyline stated, her blue eyes widening and standing up, grasping the bars and futilely trying to bend them apart. It’s success would be about as likely as an ant picking up a castle.
“I have an idea.” Ada spoke up, taking one of the blankets from the group and holding it out. She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated. “Unravel.”
At her command, the length of fabric was completely undone, turning into a heap of different coloured threads at her feet. She bent down and picked up the golden threads. They were quite literally made of gold, and she began to spurn them with only her own two hands, using yet another skill.
Some of them expected a key to their freedom. The others expected some kind of a lock pick. Instead, she produced a golden hook. “Oh.” Sofie realised, smiling at Ada. She took it from her outstretched hand, picking up one of the thicker strands and tying it properly.
With that, she looked around for a nearby soldier. They were not paying attention whatsoever, yawning and scratching his side. Sofie swung the hook around by the thread, focusing on the ring of keys on his belt.
“Cast.” She whispered, her eyes briefly glowing blue as she activated her skill. The hook soared, rearranging its own trajectory in order to land on the ring. With a quick tug, the ring of keys fell to the ground.
“ACHOO!” Amelia gave a rather dramatic fake sneeze, covering the sound of the jingling keys hitting the ground.
“Gesundheit.” Madyline offered, more out of habit than not realising it was a fake sneeze. The soldier simply shifted his weight from one front to the other, not noticing the interaction. They keys were reeled in and picked up by Tara, snatched them up.
Hiding them in her own blanket she began to rifle through them, trying to find the one that would open the cage. It took a moment, but eventually she settled on one that seemed like it would fit. She reached around and fit the key into the lock without issue.
“Hold on.” Olga instructed, looking around for a moment. She spotted a small group of orange flowers and ripped them from the ground. She closed her hands around the flowers and began performing small skills.
Eventually, she nodded to Tara, who unlocked the cage immediately. It swung open without a creak. It must have been well taken care of, or brand new. Olga stepped out first, and despite the others silent protests, walked up behind the soldier.
“Excuse me.” She spoke. The soldier turned around with a bored expression, clearly not expecting anyone to be out of their cells. Olga smiled at his slowly widening eyes, opened her hands and blew.
A small cloud of orange dust flew from her open hands, striking the soldiers face and causing him to cough roughly. “What the-” He had his sword halfway out of his sheathe, before his eyes rolled up and he fell to the ground.
For a moment, the group still inside the cage worried she had killed him. Before a soft snoring sound began to erupt from his mouth. “Knock-Me-Outs.” Olga explained, gesturing to the orange flowers around them.
They accepted it with a nod. It was a common herbal remedy for insomnia. With that, they snuck into the brush, Tara dragging the unconscious soldier along with them so he wouldn’t be spotted. “Does it really matter?”
Madyline asked, after the soldier was already halfway in the bush. “I mean, they’re going to see us missing anyway.”
In response, Tara blinked, before letting the soldier drop unceremoniously to the ground. “Fine.” She dusted her hands off, going to rub them on her clothes, before realising her clothes consisted of what was basically lingerie.
“Also, can we get some actual clothes. Please. I’m freezing. And I look ridiculous.” Tara requested, crossing her arms against her chest.
“I think you look good.” Sofie said, winking at Tara as the woman suddenly blushed. “But, yeah. We need proper clothes.”
“I’m working on it.” Ada told them, the woman having been silent since they had hidden. They found out why, as she had been unravelling all of the gaudy blankets, and had since been working on making basic clothes out of the different colours.
“That is remarkably impressive.” Madyline said without a hint of sarcasm. Her own skills were limited, as she only had levels in Maid. The Maid had levels in Maid, she often thought. She always wanted to learn some other skill, but never had the chance to.
Ada took the compliment in stride, and held out her finished work. They were very basic dresses, each a different colour. Ada was just glad she had enough thread to at least cover everyone’s unmentionables.
“Ok, now we just have to-” Madyline was cut off by a comical scream, very close to their current location. The others instantly stiffened, fearing a monster rampaging through the army before eventually finding them.
Well, they were half right.
“MADYLINE!!” A voice practically roared, followed by several more screams. From where they hidden in the bush, they could see soldiers being flung up in the air, not actually hurt in anyway aside from the fact they were airborne.
Madyline sighed with a smile, and sucked in a deep breath. “MASTER IKARIIIIII!” She knew the words would reach, mostly because she knew he would hate being called that.
For a moment there was silence, and then more screaming. A throng of soldiers, who had turned upon hearing Madyline’s shout. Their eyes widened to comical sizes as they realised they were stuck between Ikari and where he was going.
Several of them ran away from her, which Madyline found some gratification in. The rest were stood still, as a group of them were flung into the air.
As soon as the were sent skyward, Madyline saw who was causing it. Not that she expected anyone other than the new Demon King standing there with a wide smile on his face.
“Madyline!” He exclaimed joyously, as three swords shattered into nothing after striking him. He ran forward, not as fast as he could have given his enchantments, and scooped Madyline up into a surprising hug.
The Maid’s face turned red, as the women behind her gave a soft: “Awwww.”
Ikari put her down with a soft smile on his face. “I’m glad you’re safe.” He reached behind his back and produced something bright blue.
“My mace!” Her face lit up with glee. She took it instinctively, the first thing she had been allowed to pick out herself, she would always treasure it. “But, how did you get it back?”
Her question caused Ikari to grow a smirk, and Madyline suddenly was afraid of the answer. “Well, there was a very rude person using it. And I told him ‘hands off’. Even when I got it back it took a while to do what I said.”
Madyline could tell Ikari was trying to tell a joke, but based on the context she wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh at it. “Um, thank you.” She decided.
“No problem. No, let’s get back to the castle.” He glanced upwards towards the women, a bit confused at their state of dress but thankfully not spasming because they were dressed inappropriately. “Would you care to come with?”
The group seemed surprised at the offer, glancing at each other, and then over Ikari’s head. “If you can get us back…” Tara began, the others alright with her taking the lead. “I don’t see why not. Not sure if you’ll be able to though.”
The farmer nodded behind him, and Ikari turned. An army of thousands faced him. Ikari smiled. The army was suddenly a lot less sure of itself.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Now that I know Madyline is safe, I can actually put some effort in.” He dragged his foot back against the ground, his shoulders bunching up and tensing, getting ready to shoot off.
“And you don’t need to worry either.” He addressed those nearest to him. “You’ll be going back with everything intact.”
His eyes took on a dangerous glint.
“Well, mostly.”