Soleil woke up with a start.
She threw herself upright, out of breath and panting violently. But no matter how hard she heaved, the air seemed to refuse to enter her lungs.
She winced and cradled her left arm. A sickly wet squelch assaulted her ears as she touched the skin.
Every morning, she would wake up wracked in great pain. While she prided herself in her immense pain tolerance, it was a different feeling from, say, being punched in the gut or being cut by a blade. It was like she was being eaten from the inside. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that it felt like her body was attacking itself.
On instinct, her right hand reached out and desperately groped at the surface within its reach. There were several wooden bottles there, and in her panic, she managed to knock them away. Fortunately, her hand managed to grab one of them before it fell out of her reach.
In her haste, she didn’t bother to remove the cork that sealed it and simply bit the neck and crushed it with her teeth. Its contents immediately started pouring into her throat, along with the splinters she had bitten off.
“... Shit.”
One wasn’t enough. She desperately needed more. But at least, her first dose had managed to calm her down enough for her to regain some measure of control. With it, she was able to reach for another bottle with less difficulty and drink it after properly removing the seal. In total, she had to down four bottles of the stuff before the pain had abated.
A sigh of contentment escaped her lips. But then, the sight of the soiled bandages on her left arm came into view. Her nose twitched from the odor, and her mood soured again.
“It stinks.”
She raised her head and saw that the sky hadn’t brightened yet. Her impeccable internal clock told her that she still had a couple of hours left before sunrise. And while she didn’t want to get off of the floor yet, she forced herself to. She didn’t have much time.
After joining her current party, she found that she didn’t have much free time for herself anymore. Previously, she was able to spend almost the entire day training when she wasn’t out looking for or doing odd jobs. Her last party didn’t take anything seriously, so unless they had a big commission, all of them were left to do their own thing. But her new group was different. The leader set his eyes on a much bigger prize, and he clawed at it with every waking second. Idle days had been put to training, and what few days off they had become time to prepare for the next mission… even if all they could take at their rank were nothing but boring escort missions and the occasional trash mob cleanup.
Oh well. It is what it is, she told herself. There was no use rushing progress. Besides, she did enjoy spending time with her new party. Unlike her previous one, both of her teammates were agreeable, fun, and interesting. And while most people would complain about their vacations being forcefully allocated to training, Soleil didn’t care one bit.
After all, it wasn’t any different from being her mother’s student.
With the pain mostly gone, she stretched her naked body underneath the last vestiges of moonlight. In an instant, the drowsiness had left her entirely. With a satisfied and eager look on her face, she nodded toward the heavens and grinned.
“A’ight! Time for the Demon Lord to roll!”
----------------------------------------
Soleil’s mornings followed a short, but strict schedule. She would always wake up a few hours before sunrise, far earlier than even her party. Using the time she earned, she would make her way out of town and run around it a dozen times as part of both stamina and magic training. It also allowed her to work up a good sweat before starting the day. Then, she would use the boulders inside the forest as punching bags. Suffice it to say that she had already gone through many of them during the time she had been residing there. Finally, she would wash herself at the nearby river before going to the guild. Everything else relied on what her party wanted to do that day.
But that time, she woke up much earlier than usual.
“Hi! Good work!”
She held up her lantern and greeted the two sentries at the gate. Those poor souls had to stay up for several hours at a time just to do such a dreary job at night. It was understandable that they would be grumpy. And sure enough, the two just sneered at her and averted their eyes.
Well, she also knew that it was due to other reasons, but she kept it out of her mind. There was nothing she could do about it anyway. But at the back of her mind, she raised the rankings of the town guard among the list of people she had to get back to once she ascended back to the Demon Lord’s throne.
She’ll get her revenge… someday. Maybe.
Well, anyway, instead of heading to her usual starting spot for her runs, Soleil instead ran directly through the forest. She had to get in quite deep to find her targets. Being bad at directions didn’t help, either. But, whatever. She just had to jump into the air to reconfirm her location, anyway.
Since Soleil couldn’t see at night, it took her a while to find her prey with only a handheld lantern to light her way. And when she was finally able to spot one, half an hour had already passed. It was a monster that went by the name “Giagula”. Strange name, but it was just a giant hog-like monster with tusks as long as a human. While all it could do was charge at people, it had armor-like skin that resisted magic on its front and weighed as much as a couple of dozen people, so it was very difficult to fight. In fact, it was a C-ranked monster.
But that didn’t matter to her. A demon lord such as herself wouldn’t have any problems with it.
It didn’t take her long to bring it down by herself. In the first place, fighting it was never the issue. Transportation, on the other hand, was. While Soleil could easily drag it on the ground, its large frame meant that it kept on hitting the trees around it. She couldn’t force it either, since that would only leave a telling scar on the forest. And there was no way she could carry it on her back, either. That wouldn’t have made a difference. In the end, she couldn’t figure out any other way besides suffering the long trek back home.
It would have been much easier if she had brought a wagon with her. But she couldn’t afford any that could withstand the weight of a Giagula, anyway.
By the time she got back to the town, almost two hours had already passed. She had panicked for a second that she would be late to meet with her party, only to realize a moment later that her leader had told them to meet up halfway into the morning that day. She breathed a sigh of relief as she dragged the corpse of a large monster through the alarmed eyes of the guards.
“Meat’s secured! Now for the booze!”
After she delivered the body to the butcher shop, her next order of business was to go to a brewery. At that time, the sky was already starting to brighten up. And while she wasn’t in a hurry, she couldn’t help but speed-walk the way there.
Soleil was… sixteen years old. In other words, she was “underage”. At least, that was what her party leader thought of anybody that was below eighteen years of age. Was that one of the ways the nobility judged people? According to him, underaged people shouldn’t be allowed to drink. But Soleil loved the taste of ale, so she forced herself to lie about her age. Fortunately, he believed that rather quickly. She didn’t know if he was just giving her a pass, or if he was really really convinced. Soleil hated lying. But, there were times when she had to.
Her other partymate didn’t seem to believe her, though. Thank goodness she kept quiet.
“Old man! The Demon Lord’s here to pick up the good stuff!”
Brewery warehouses opened very early, as they had to deliver their goods to the restaurants and bars before the regular rush for breakfast came. By the time she arrived, the warehouse had already been open for around an hour, so she was able to be entertained immediately.
A short, stocky man approached her. He was an old dwarf who had been working there for the past two decades. His eyes sized her up, and before long he broke into a smile and said, “Welcome, lass! Here to pick up the goods, yeah?”
She nodded eagerly.
“Two barrels of ale, the strong stuff. That’ll be two gold.”
“Huh? Wasn’t it supposed to be more than that?”
“Well, what’s the harm in giving a discount to someone who knows good ale, eh?”
Soleil was unsure. She gingerly held five gold coins in her hands; the full price of what she had ordered. The discount would mean that not only would she be receiving one barrel for free, but also be paying less for the other. Now, Soleil wasn’t good with finances. She would rather trust someone else to handle the money for her, preferably one of her partymates. But she at least knew that it wasn’t good to give such a discount to someone when the other party was just a regular employee in the brewery.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Originally, I only wanted to charge you one less gold for everything. But everyone else wanted to chip in, so the second barrel’s free.”
He gestured behind him. Soleil followed with her eyes and saw the four other workers there waving at her – including one that looked far more sharply dressed than the others.
“We heard about it. You kicked a drake’s butt, yeah? Thanks, lass. That’s the least we could do for the town’s savior.”
Soleil was flustered. She quickly waved her hands in front of her chest and shook her head in denial. She wasn’t used to being thanked for her efforts. All of the appreciative looks on their faces just made her uncomfortable.
“It wasn’t just me. My party was there, too.”
That was bad. Shouldn’t a true Demon Lord be so used to praise that they could accept them with indifference? She coughed. It wasn’t like she didn’t understand why they were so grateful. Matthias had told her that if the undead drake managed to escape the dungeon, then many people would have died. And the worst thing was that they wouldn’t have been able to save many of them, since the drake could have taken advantage of its ability to fly. And that would have ruined her reputation.
Soleil wasn’t arrogant enough to think that she could beat anything that came her way. Even Demon Lords can be slain. She had enough experience losing to last her a lifetime.
The dwarf laughed heartily at her response. “Of course! Tell them that we’re grateful to them, too!”
Soleil left after that. They even provided her with a wagon to take the goods back. Of course, that was only after they learned that she intended to carry everything in her arms. Their shocked faces when she lifted two one hundred twenty liter wooden containers barehanded amused her to no end, though.
“I wonder if the butcher’s done?”
No way, she thought. It had only been half an hour since she left the monster there. But despite being aware of that, she couldn’t help but feel impatient. She wished for time to move faster. Perhaps, it would be even better if she could blink and be a couple of hours ahead already.
“Bah. Whatever,” she rambled. She fished out a bottle out of her pocket and drank it. Of course, she made sure to throw the bottle away at a nearby pile.
There was nothing she could do. There were still a few hours before she had to meet up with everyone else. So, she decided to head to the guild.
A simple commission she could solo should get her more money to spend on treats.
“Look for a cat that got lost in the slums, huh…? Hmm… Mm! Sounds like a fitting quest for one such as I.”
----------------------------------------
It had been a week since the undead drake incident.
Soleil’s party had spent the days leading up to that time performing mundane tasks. According to the leader, they were too strong to accept anything “difficult” that corresponded to their current rank. That was why he would rather take short, easy ones that gave a lot of credit and then spend the remainder of the day training. Since the leader insisted on a “democratic” way of deciding things, he also asked for their opinion. Soleil couldn’t really understand what he meant, but nonetheless, she agreed with him.
Well, it didn’t really matter anyway. Her other party member would have agreed to his suggestion regardless of whether it made sense or was way more out there than the moons. So until they found another member, then his decisions would always go uncontested.
Anyway, that wasn’t all that happened during that time. A few days ago, her party leader suddenly came up with an idea.
“What if we take a break? It’s been a few days and all we’ve done is train and do boring tasks for cheap change. How about a barbecue?”
None of them understood what a “barbecue” meant. However, after he explained it to them in detail, Soleil felt an incredible excitement and anticipation bloom.
The location was in the same forest cleaning they had picked herbs in. It would include the usual camping experience of setting up tents and dealing with bugs. More importantly, they could cook as much food as they wanted, which meant only one thing for her;
As much meat as she wanted, so long as it didn’t run out.
That was the reason why she woke up so early to hunt a giagula. If she provided the meat, then she would only need to pay the butcher for the labor cost it would take to dismantle and clean it.
Together with the literal barrels of ale she had purchased, Soleil was confident in saying that her haul would be the best out of the three of them.
By the time she arrived at the meeting point, the sun had already been hanging out in the sky for a few hours. Everybody already had breakfast, and the streets were mostly empty of pedestrians. Most of the passersby were fellow adventurers or runners making deliveries. Despite the small size of the town, the residents flourished because of the low price of food and lodgings.
She had been to several places before, but that town exuded a distinct vitality unmatched by even larger, wealthier cities.
According to her inquiries, the town’s success was thanks to two groups of people. She had already expected that the town lord and his lackeys were good people after considering the livelihood of the residents, so hearing about them didn’t come as a surprise. What did make her wonder were the people mentioned next.
“Regis Fel… Fel… huh? Where did I hear that name before?”
In the end, she paid it no mind. And eventually, she had completely forgotten about it. As long as the place was nice, then there was nothing to worry about, she thought.
Eventually, her party arrived. They were carrying much more than what they usually did, which was understandable. So instead of being adventurers, they looked more like travelers.
Well, she had brought far more than they did, so she shouldn’t mention it.
“How dare you make the demon lord wait!”
“... Woman, we’re an hour early.”
Matthias, the leader of her unnamed group. His name was too awkward to pronounce, so Soleil simply called him “Leader”. He was a strange individual who had so much money that he didn’t need to work for a day in his life, yet still chose the hard life of an adventurer. Not only that, but he was also quite thrifty, and abhorred throwing money at unnecessary expenses. But at least he was reliable in making the right decisions, even if he wasn’t aware of it. At least, that was what she thought.
All he needed was the right push.
“Wait, what the hell did you bring? What’s in those bags?”
“Meat. Oh, and ale.”
“... That’s it?”
“Yup!”
She never thought the human jaw could drop so far without being dislocated from its skull. Meanwhile, the person beside her was trying her best to stifle her laughter.
Soleil squinted slightly. The girl’s name was Manna. According to them, she’s Leader’s childhood friend. True to that sentiment, the two were inseparable. Besides the times when the leader explicitly told her to go somewhere else, Soleil always found the two of them together in one form or another. And while she introduced herself as a human… Soleil had subtle doubts.
What kind of human always looked like they were always on the verge of disappearing?
“What about those two bags?” Leader asked while pointing at her back.
Soleil was startled for a moment. She had almost forgotten about those. Proudly, she presented them to him and said, “More meat! And some seasonings.”
“... Where is your camping gear?”
“Huh? “Camping gear”? Didn’t bring any.”
“Wha–Where are you going to sleep?”
Well, that was a strange question. Soleil stared at the leader and tilted her head.
“Of course, in the tent.”
“What tent? We only brought two; one for each of us.”
“Then I’ll take one of yours, Leader. You can sleep with Manna tonight.”
Both of them widened their eyes at the idea, but for completely different reasons. Immediately, Matthias opened his mouth to complain, but Manna immediately rushed to cover his mouth.
“You got a deal, Demon Lord!”
Soleil nodded in satisfaction.
With that, she had secured lodgings for the night.
Matthias had lost all of his energy to argue, which gave them the signal to head toward the campsite.
To say that Soleil was used to camping out was an understatement. During the five years she roamed the land like a vagrant after waking up, she had to sleep out in the woods and feed on the wildlife. She had tried to settle in several places before but ultimately decided on abandoning the idea.
Something dragged her feet away and stopped her from taking root. She didn’t know what it was, or why she felt compelled to keep moving. But after five years… that feeling suddenly disappeared. Or to be more specific, it turned into the opposite. She was at Rozen Elk at that time, and she found herself unable to leave.
Was it perhaps because of the state of the people there? Or the entertainment? No. There had been places with far better facilities, food, dungeons, and whatnot.
The more she thought about it, the farther she felt from discovering the truth. She had contemplated telling her party about it but eventually gave up. It wasn’t any of their business. As the demon lord, she should strive to solve her problems by herself.
“Damn. How much meat did you bring? This can’t be cheap.”
“It’s an entire giagula. I hunted it myself.”
“Huh? Why would you–actually, you know what? Nevermind.”
Out of their party, only the leader didn’t know how to prepare for camp. That was why everything had to be prepared by her and Manna. Normally, whenever she was with other people, she would try to get them to handle everything by themselves… not that she traveled with others a lot. After all, what kind of demon lord would allow herself to kneel on the soil and do the dirty work?
Well, her, apparently.
“Really, dude? You suggest we go out camping and do this “barbecue”, yet you don’t even know how to put up a tent? What a loser.”
“Hey! I know how to put one up. It’s just… I don’t know how this one’s done.”
Manna turned around as she was laying some grass on the ground and tilted her head. “What do you mean? This is the only thing sold anywhere as a “tent”, dude.”
Since he was practically useless at making camp, the leader opted to start cooking. At least he knew how to do that. In fact, he was using a method that Soleil had never seen before.
Normally, when they cooked food over a fire, they would either tie or pierce the meat with a thick branch which they would use to hold it over the flames. That was basically it. But instead of working on the campfire, the party leader had taken a small area for himself a few meters away. He was… dumping some rocks onto a small metal basin with metal stands.
“What’s that?” she asked curiously. She had never seen those things before. They were completely black and shone with a peculiar luster. But judging from the sound it made as they fell onto the basin, they seemed very light, unlike actual rocks.
“Oh, these? Charcoal.”
“Char… is it something like coal?”
“You can say that. But coal is mined, right? These are made from wood.” He took one out of the bag he had brought and presented it to her. He pointed at the patterns on one side of it and, indeed, they did look like blackened lumber. “You make it by heating something that burns like wood inside a low oxyg… somewhere without air. It’s great for cooking and, most importantly, absolutely essential for a good barbecue. You can’t go without it.”
Manna then came by them and said, “So that’s what you were up to all day yesterday?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t too hard to make since glowstones get really hot, but I had to learn it from trial and error. I couldn’t remember exactly how it was made.”
He then demonstrated how it worked. It wasn’t too different from the regular firewood that they used. But, it was much harder to light on fire. In exchange, it kept burning for a very long period. Soleil was fascinated by what she saw. She had no idea that it was possible to make something like coal using wood.
Her leader then took out a circular metal mesh from inside his backpack and placed it over the smoldering pile of coal. The basin’s diameter was slightly smaller than the grate, allowing the latter to sit comfortably over the former.
“Get me some of the meat,” he ordered her. While she normally wouldn’t stand to be ordered by just anyone, he was an exception. Obediently, she retrieved one of the large bags and placed it beside him. But then, he immediately backtracked and asked for the seasonings that she had brought instead.
Still, she obeyed despite herself and handed it over to him. She was so curious about what he was going to make that she didn’t mind having to run around for it.
“Manna–”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
For a moment, all of Soleil’s hair stood on its ends when she heard Manna’s voice. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. On top of that, she had disappeared from sight completely. When Soleil turned her head towards where Manna was originally, a well-organized “sitting area” had already been assembled out of fallen lumber and rocks.
“Here. Any sour fruit will do, right?”
“Yeah… did you make sure these won’t explode?”
“Duh. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
He laughed but didn’t reply, which earned him a pebble to the head. To that, Soleil laughed… and then sighed. The two had quite an enviable relationship. She wondered what it would be like to have someone whom she had a complete, mutual understanding with.
What did it feel like to have a childhood friend? Or perhaps, a lover?
She had lived in a cloistered environment where her only friends were her parents. Because of how eccentric they were, she had little problem integrating and interacting with other people. She had never stayed in one place for too long, so she never had any opportunity of developing a close relationship with anybody else. The first group she joined ended in a mess, too. Being in Matthias’ group was the first time she had felt comfortable enough to act like herself with other people.
But she clearly felt a barrier between her and them. Of course, that was natural. They were childhood friends. She was nothing more than a third wheel for them, even though she was the exalted being known as the demon lord. It was frustrating… and a bit lonely.
“What are you spacing out for? I thought you wanted to see me cook.”
“Oh. Apologies. I had my mind somewhere else,” she said. In an attempt to get those thoughts out of her head, she took a small bottle from her bag and downed the contents, focusing her attention on the relief that washed over her body as she did.
“Hmph. Whatever then. Anyway, the basting sauce is done… it’s not a barbecue sauce, though. We don’t have the proper ingredients in this world. Ah, shit.”
“Sauce?”
After ignoring the latter half of his statement; a healthy habit according to Manna, a word caught her attention. As far as she knew, sauces were expensive stuff that mostly only nobles could afford. It wouldn’t come as a surprise that he was able to procure some, considering he had a lot of money… but, why?
“What kind of barbecue would it be without it, then?” was his reply. Judging by his tone, facial expression, and tilted head, he was genuinely baffled at why Soleil was asking such a question. “Just so you know, I’ve spent a lot of time rememb–err, I mean, making up the recipe for this.”
“Ho! That smells really fancy.” Manna suddenly appeared out of nowhere, as usual. Soleil was trying her best to become used to it. But she found it difficult after being so used to knowing where everybody was. “Strange, though. Why am I only seeing this for the first time? Is it because you want to look good for Sol…?”
“No! What the hell are you talking about? It’s just…”
His voice trailed off. A short moment of silence ensued. Then, he rubbed the back of his neck. While blushing, he said, “I just… wanted to say thanks.”
“Even if we were forced together as a party, you two are helping me reach for my dreams. Thanks… I guess… I can’t ask for a better group than you two.”
Another period of silence took over. That time, it was even more awkward than before. Soleil herself was dumbstruck by his words.
She recalled two people. One was a woman whom they met in a dungeon. Her long hair, elegant clothing, and holy aura contrasted heavily against the dreary backdrop of death and darkness. After they had rescued her from the undead drake, her party met with her the following day. There, she told them,
“Thank you so much. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for us.”
Though she didn’t thank Soleil directly, she was listening in on their conversation out of sight.
Then, there was the dwarf from earlier.
“Thanks, lass. That’s the least we could do for the town’s savior.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
She… really didn’t do well when people expressed their gratitude to her. For her, everything she did was just something she thought was “natural” for a “demon lord” to do. Were chefs ever thanked for their food? Did a mason ever get praised for laying a brick? No. Because those were things expected of them. In her case, whether it was saving a merchant from bandits to rescuing a cat stuck on a tree, she never expected nor needed anything in exchange. She simply did it because that was what she had to do.
Her left arm twitched. A mild burning sensation assaulted it. That was usually what happened when she was going to fight. There was a voice at the back of her mind that told her to not believe them. And her left arm tensed as if it was saying the same thing.
But then, a loud, obnoxious laugh interrupted her train of thought.
Manna held her stomach and bent forward, seemingly in as much pain from laughing as Soleil was during the morning.
“That’s so cringy! Nice! Way to make things awkward, dude!”
Then, she lunged forward. But not towards Matthias like she expected. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Soleil and pulled her towards him. With Manna in the middle, they formed a huddle that violated all concepts of “personal space”. She could even feel the heat from the burning charcoal near her face.
She looked up and first saw Manna. She had a wide grin, with a hint of a blush on her cheeks. Her face showed how much she was enjoying the moment. Her right arm was digging into Soleil’s neck, but not in such a way that it hurt. It was more like it felt intimate—as if they were close friends who had known each other for years. Then, there was Matthias, the leader of the group. With his position, he shouldn’t be subject to these kinds of immature behavior. Yet despite the annoyance on his face while Manna rubbed her head on his neck, his eyes told her a different story. He didn’t mind it. Or perhaps, he even enjoyed it. Because despite his right arm mounting a resistance against Manna’s advances, he didn’t put any real strength behind it. If he had wanted to, he could have easily thrown both of them off.
But it wasn’t like Soleil wasn’t smiling. She was. She had to. A demon lord wouldn’t reject somebody’s show of affection. But inside, she was unsure of herself. Her left arm throbbed again. It wanted to get away. Something painful was to come. Like it had its own mind, it sent physical signals of pain and discomfort to her, telling her to get away.
“Get away!” she heard Matthias complain. But instead, she felt the arm over her neck tighten even more.
“Aww, don’t be shy. You said it, right? It’s a celebration!”
“Y-yeah, but–”
“Whatever, don’t care.”
Manna abruptly released their necks, causing Matthias to stumble forward and run into Soleil’s chest. When he did, she suddenly felt hot. Her arm spasmed visibly in rejection.
“Sorr–”
Matthias wasn’t able to finish his apology, as Manna took both of their hands and raised them up to the air.
Then, she joyfully said, “Congrats on the rank up! Here’s to us…!”
“...”
“...”
“...?”
“Uhh… we haven’t decided on a name for the party yet.”
----------------------------------------
“An enviable relationship, indeed.”
Spear walked onward without stopping, gracefully gliding over the bodies of the undead underneath her feet. Her movements were airy, her robes fluttered like smoke as they trailed in her wake.
As she moved, the undead ahead of them dropped like a pile of stones. Nothing could impede her movement, not even when the ceiling collapsed in on them once again. As long as she was walking forward, a path would naturally appear before her.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about Matthias. Despite the path widening, the amount of undead they faced became thicker and more troublesome. Sometimes there were even higher-ranked undead thrown in the crowd. And since he wasn’t part of whatever Spear did that made her unstoppable when moving, he had to fight his way through the mob while trying to keep up with her pace.
“But, it’s the kind of relationship prevalent among many of your peers. By chance, does your group not have anything unique? Your companion in distress, Soleil?”
“Hmm…” Matthias drifted off as he thought. Besides their high individual strengths, he really couldn’t think of any. Maybe it’s that they were all eccentric to a degree? But he had a feeling that an answer like that wouldn’t satisfy her.
“No answer? Do you not know much about your own friends?”
“... I can’t know everything about them.”
Spear sneered in disdain.
“I see. Well then, you better think of something. Child. Or else, all of our troubles will have been in vain, and you will lose sight of your path.”
----------------------------------------
It was sour. But it was also sweet. There was a smoky taste as well. At the same time, it was savory. The flavor was heavy, yet the meat was light. Every piece of it fell apart in her mouth. Tender. Delicious. Tasty.
Soleil couldn’t quite describe the experience with her limited vocabulary. All she knew was that it was the most delicious thing she had eaten in a long while. She didn’t know it was even possible for meat to taste like it. Her mouth couldn’t stop watering. What’s more, she had expected the meat to be tough to chew, relatively speaking, because of the heat the leader used to cook it. But instead, while the surface was of a dark-red color, the middle of the meat was still pink and vibrant.
What did the leader call it? “Medium-rare”?
Normally, Soleil preferred to devour meat as fast as she could. The more, the better, she thought. But, in that case, she almost felt ashamed to take a bite. She didn’t want it to run out. But, she still wanted to taste more of it. So, she ate as slowly as she could, with as small bites as she could take.
“... What are you doing? There’s more where that came from.”
So he said, but that didn’t alleviate her troubles at all. So she kept eating as slowly as she could without minding anyone else.
“Mm. This is great, dude. That sauce you made changed everything.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure if it would turn out well since that was my first time making it. Good thing I still remembered how.”
“What? This is the first time you made it? Wouldn’t have known…”
As usual, Manna hung around the leader. They began talking about things such as how to make sauces, how long meat should be cooked, what a good temperature was, and other complicated drivel. Soleil wasn’t interested in any of those, so she mostly tuned everything out as she ate.
But she was still able to pick up some details of her surroundings as she did, including…
“Hmm! Yeah, this “barbecue” is really good!”
“Indeed. This is the first time I’ve tried something like this.”
“It tastes completely different, but still tastes like meat.”
“... Ah…! This taste…! U-Eh, I mean… This isn’t special! I can make a better-tasting one.”
–that there were more people with them.
Around half an hour ago, they met with another party filled with familiar faces as the latter came out of the woods. If Soleil remembered correctly, the name of their party was Blue Wolves. Unlike the D-rank newbies like Soleil’s party was, Blue Wolves were proper veterans with a party ranking of B; two whole ranks above theirs. But instead of being arrogant, they were… well, most of them were amicable people who liked to interact with their fellows. So they were very popular in the guild.
She knew the names of all of them. Starting from the leader, Nail was a warrior type who used a spear. Then, there was the priestess Ujel, Kilo, who was a ranger like Manna, and their scout Egan. Finally, there was their mage, a woman named Mie.
Honestly speaking, Soleil had no impressions on any of them, except the latter. While everyone was just run-of-the-mill humans with martial and magical abilities, their mage stood out as someone noteworthy… even if she had a very troublesome character.
Oh well, she thought. At least they weren’t freeloading. Once they decided to join the celebration, despite Mie’s complaints, they went off to procure their own food from the forest and their equipment back in town.
But… if she was being honest, it was getting too rowdy for her tastes. Everybody was talking except for the mute scout. It was hard to concentrate on the food. And that was all she felt like doing at that time. So, without thinking much about it, she picked up some more meat… and a few grilled veggies as well and quietly walked away to a nearby river.
Once she was there, however, she suddenly didn’t feel so hungry anymore. A strange feeling of melancholy overtook her. It was then followed by an inexplicable sense of restlessness.
She looked around and tried to distract herself. The forest was as tranquil as ever. Being surrounded by forestry had a calming effect on her nerves.
“The same trees…”
The sights of her old home came into her mind. While it wasn’t perfect, the setting was basically the same.
Soleil wasn’t the kind of person to just sink into sudden fits of nostalgia. But at that time, she was already troubled by many other things. And once the memories of her parents had resurfaced, it refused to leave her alone.
She sighed. Thinking that it was bad to continue sulking like that, she decided to go fishing. Fortunately, she always had a string and hook hidden in her cloak’s pocket. And since she was wearing her cloak on her waist, she didn’t have to go through the possibly-embarrassing experience of having to go back to camp to retrieve it. All she had to do was to look for a suitably-long branch. And that was easy to do since she was inside a place where branches literally grew off of trees.
As for the bait… well, a piece of meat should do. If she found it tasty, then the fish should as well.
That was entirely a guess, of course.
While she waited for any fish to bite, which she wasn’t sure if there were any, she absentmindedly nibbled on her meal. She found that a big part of her sense of appetite and taste depended on her mood. As she sat there despondently, the meat that she had initially found to be good enough to hug at night had suddenly become tasteless. But still, having something to chew on puts her mind to work on something other than reminiscing about the past.
Unfortunately for her, though, it seemed like the fish weren’t at all interested.
How much time did she spend there, waiting for a bite that would never come anyway? Before she knew it, she had run out of meat to chew on. But she couldn’t find it in herself to go back to camp and get some more.
And soon, the sun had even started to set.
She hadn’t caught a single thing.
The meat at the end of the hook had become completely soggy. If it was the usual her, she wouldn’t even mind it and still eat it. But she didn’t feel like it. So, she lowered the reel and kept waiting.
“I should probably go back soon.”
She shook her head. The tingling sensation on her left arm had returned, so she absentmindedly drank another bottle from her cloak’s pocket.
“Maybe later,” she mumbled. It wasn’t time for dinner yet. And besides, she’ll be forced to go back sooner or later once it becomes dark, anyway.
“Maybe later? Have you any idea how long we’ve been looking for you?”
Suddenly, a dull pain reverberated from the back of her head. But she didn’t sense any hostility from it, so her reaction was just that of a normal girl’s. She held her head and recoiled as she scooted away from where she thought the blow came from.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Soleil looked up toward the source of the voice to find, much to her surprise, the mage from Blue Wolves looking down at her. Dismay was written all over her face. And as expected of a magician who dabbled entirely in the element of fire, her anger was far in excess more intimidating than others. Faced with her anger and the knowledge of her seniority, even Soleil felt subdued.
“I was… fishing.”
“Fishing? Without telling anyone?!”
“I wanted to be alone for a while…”
She heard Mie growl in fury. The temperature rose in response. Soleil braced herself to bathe in flames when… the air rapidly cooled down again. Confused, she looked up to see Mie with a blank look on her face. The latter looked around and rested her eyes on the crude fishing rod Soleil had left by the river.
Then, it was her turn to sigh.
“... Come on. What is it?”
“Yes?”
“What’s been troubling you? Tell me,” she impatiently demanded as she lowered herself to sit on the river with her feet dipped in the water. “Since you’re here, that means you didn’t tell your friends yet. Right? We’re strangers, so there’s no difference between talking to me and talking to yourself, except I can respond. So?”
As if to tell her that she won’t go away until Soleil relented, she pulled a bag out of her robes and started eating the contents. Sure enough, the smell told Soleil that it was the “barbecue” Matthias had been grilling since earlier.
With Soleil being distracted out of her previous melancholy, her normal appetite was starting to return. Because of that, the scent alone was enough to make her mouth water.
“Want some?” Mie asked, not failing to notice Soleil eyeing the meat.
“N-no…! Why would you say that?” Soleil blushed. It elicited a short chuckle from the other party.
“You’re honest to a fault. Good. You’re already better than your friends.”
She took a handful of meat from the bag and brought it toward her face. Then, she opened her mouth and–
A jet of flame erupted from her lips.
“...?!”
It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but the sight still surprised her.
“Here.” She dropped the barbecue onto Soleil’s plate and licked her hand clean. Despite the heat of the fire she released from her mouth, the skin on her palm looked completely unblemished… besides the faint red coloration the basting sauce had imparted on it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah! It’s… What was that?”
“What was what?”
“Fire came out of your mouth. That’s the first time I’ve seen a human do that.”
The mage girl blinked. It took her a moment before Soleil’s question registered.
“Oh,” she grinned. “You mean this?”
Mie’s chest expanded as she took in as much air as she could. The following stream of hot flames she blew was far larger and more fearsome than the one she had blown earlier. The vigorous blaze rushed towards the river water and produced a wave of searing steam. Even from a notable distance away, Soleil felt the sweltering heat emitted by the mage’s magic.
Wait, was that even magic?
“So, what’d’ya think?”
The breath of fire lasted for a mere five seconds. But it was long enough for Mie to torch the shallow part of the riverbed black.
Soleil gaped in amazement.
“That’s cool,” she muttered. “Was that magic?”
“Yup. An original of mine.” She grunted in self-satisfaction, which ejected a few glowing embers from her nose. “I can do it in an instant, and I don’t even need a staff to use it. Nice, huh?”
Soleil nodded despite herself.
“Of course, this is actually a secret,” Mie suddenly mentioned. “Nobody except our party knows I can do this.”
“Hmm? Why is that? Would you not become famous? You’re like a dragon from the myths.”
Mie laughed upon hearing her words. But while she seemed to be doing so due to mirth, Soleil felt something like a forlorn struggle behind it.
“That’s funny. No thanks. I’m perfectly happy where I am right now.”
She took a piece of meat from her bag and devoured it in one bite. And for a while, she kept doing so in silence. Every so often, she would look towards the darkening sky and sigh. Soleil could only look on, unable to break the quietude that had taken over.
She might be a demon lord, but she wasn’t insensitive.
“Yeah, nah. I’ve given up on that dream. It’s not my place.” Then, she looked towards Soleil and asked, “What about you? You’re strong; far stronger than your “friends”. They’re dragging you down. If you wanted to, you could join a higher-ranked party and instantly become popular.”
Upon hearing her words, an indescribable anger suddenly burst from her chest. Soleil couldn’t stop herself from shouting, “They’re not dragging me down!”
But instead of being surprised by her sudden outburst, Mie’s face instead twisted into an arrogant smile.
“What? Am I wrong? Tell me, who’s the strongest in your party?”
“I, the Demon Lord, am the strongest. Obviously. Stronger than the both of them combined.”
“Then what’s the use in hanging around with them, then? Just leave. There are better people to go with than them, you know?”
“Strength isn’t everything.”
“What matters, then?”
“Of course, it’s…”
It’s… what?
Soleil paused.
Mie egged her on even further.
“Can’t answer? Is it because you can’t think of anything else besides “power” or “strength”? Is it “compassion,” then? Or maybe “empathy”? No?”
Nothing came to her mind. No matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn’t think of a good way to describe what she felt. And in fact, she didn’t even know what she thought of it. Why was she around them? In a way, Mie was right. Soleil was strong. She was raised and trained from childhood by two heroes. There should be no point in wasting her time with two fledglings, regardless of how talented they were. After all, she had her own purpose in her travels. She swore on the empty graves of her parents.
But… she couldn’t admit it. She didn’t want to.
“Nothing, right? You can’t think of anything. That’s so funny.”
The sullen feeling returned from earlier. And it was much worse than before.
She balled her hands into fists. Her grip tightened so hard that it tore her gloves.
Meanwhile, Mie was laughing derisively while she played with the fishing rod Soleil had used earlier. Then, she snapped it in half and threw it away, together with the string and hook she had always kept with her. Soleil almost cried out and reached for it, but her feet rooted themselves on the ground in shame.
Then, she heard a sigh.
“You know, “Demon Lord”. You’re honest. To everyone. But not to yourself. Just a guess, though.”
Soleil looked up. Mie had completely changed her disposition. And instead of feeling the heat of her personality, there was instead a piercing cold that made her hair stand on end.
“It’s so easy to rile you up. I just arrived a minute ago, and we don’t even know each other. But you’re already letting me get on your nerves. All I did was ask useless questions. ”
Useless? Was that what she said? How could those questions be useless?
Soleil felt her chest tighten. The urge to punch the woman in front of her almost took over.
“What? They are useless. Just like how my reason is useless.
You asked me why I didn’t want to become popular. I just don’t want to. What about you? What’s wrong with just wanting to stay with people you like? You don’t need to have any reason other than “you want to”, right? Why hesitate?”
“... I wasn’t–”
“But you do “like” them, yeah?”
Soleil thought for a bit, then nodded with certainty.
“Yes. They’re an entertaining bunch.”
“Well then, isn’t that reason enough? There’s no reason for the strong to find meaning in anything. You have the privilege to create your own meaning. So do what you want, say what you want, be with whomever the hell you want.”
“That way, you can find a bit more fun in this dreary, nightmare of a world…”
Soleil watched in silence as she tried to absorb the meaning behind her words. But she was slightly distracted by Mie’s change in tone. For a moment, the mage had taken on a comportment that was decades older than what her appearance suggested. In a way, it resembled how Matthias would look whenever he would drift into his own world at times.
It was the look of those who were alone, isolated from the times.
“Cheh… look at me, trying to lecture a child.”
“... You don’t look much older than me,” Soleil replied indignantly. To that, Mie laughed hard and cordially.
“Trust me. I’m way older than I look. Now…” She trailed off and lay down on the soft grass, her red-orange hair lightly splaying around her head. Then, she looked back at Soleil. But that time, the look in her eye had changed. It was serious, and completely lacked the previous look of arrogance and condescension. The latter couldn’t help but gulp. Admittedly, she was slightly awed by Mie.
“Will you tell me what’s troubling you? Oh great Demon Lord?”
----------------------------------------
That was the first time Soleil had ever confided in someone about her past. To be fair to her, she hadn’t known anybody extensively until she settled in Rozen Elk, but regardless, it was a new experience for her. Of course, she knew that people close to each other would oftentimes do so, usually over ale at a cheap bar or tavern. Alcohol was a great way to remove a person’s inhibitions. It often made them more honest with themselves and others. As for Soleil, she didn’t have any ale on her; at least, not at the moment.
“Wahahaha! Oh my god, are you serious? Sorry, I’m not laughing about your parents. But that’s what you’re sulking for? Hohohahahaha!! I can’t–! My sides hurt!”
“... I fail to see what you find so humorous.”
“Duh. If you did, you wouldn’t be so troubled in the first place!”
Mie continued laughing hard, shamelessly flailing her legs and clutching her ribs. She was cackling so hard that she had to wipe the drool that left her mouth multiple times.
Irritation bubbled from within Soleil’s heart as she watched Mie continue laughing. And unlike earlier, she felt much more inclined to focus on it than her story. She didn’t know why, exactly. But perhaps it was because there was something else around her that made her feel less heavy.
“Man. I didn’t peg you as the emotional type, Sol. Oops, I mean, oh “Demon Lord”.”
“I’m sorry about your loss. But I’m sure your parents did what they could. Such is a parent’s love.”
“Is that why your left arm is always in bandages? But I’m glad it’s healed!”
“Indeed. But, perhaps Mie should stop cackling.”
“...”
Manna, Ujel, Nail, Kilo, Egan… the people she had managed to form both significant and trivial connections with were there with her. And their words of careless disregard and encouragement both relieved the ache in her chest… Well, Egan couldn’t talk, but Soleil could tell that he also had the same sentiments as the others. Even Mie’s unrestrained guffaws were somehow comforting, despite her outward reaction.
Still, she would have preferred not to disclose it to such a large group.
“Well, whatever the case is, what do you plan to do now?” Mie asked. “Tell them. Don’t worry about it.”
“Revenge. Of course.” There was no other way around it. She wanted to get back at that person, no matter how long it took.
It wasn’t a popular path to take. Most people frowned upon the notion. She learned from her many years of travel that the main religion in the continent advocated the concept of “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Apparently, it was the words of a historic sage that the religion adopted.
She expected everybody to convince her that it was not worth pursuing; that there were far more worthwhile things to do. But instead, their reactions were the complete opposite. They even seemed to be excited about the prospect. Everybody tried to motivate her.
“Sol. Girl. What’s wrong with revenge?” Manna asked. “If someone punches you, then you can slit their throat in return. If anybody asks, you can just say that it was “delayed self-defense”. Right?”
“The deities up above will understand.”
“I don’t think you should kill the other guy if it was just a punch… but she’s right, Soleil! Cutting off a limb is way too far!”
“If I was in your shoes, I would do the same.”
Egan nodded.
Their words rattled her slightly. And, it warmed her heart. Without noticing it, her mouth had even slackened into a smile. Was that how it felt to be validated? It wasn’t a new feeling, the scale of that time was entirely different.
And their sentiments weren’t in vain. Even if they didn’t push her forward, she had every intention of following through. It was just… she felt that a great amount of weight had been lifted off of her shoulder after she had shared her experience. Was it simply due to the idea that she was no longer the only person who knew about her past? Maybe.
“How do you feel?” Mie suddenly whispered. “Good, right?”
“Yes. I thank you. This Demon Lord shall remember your assistance.”
She grinned widely and answered, “You better remember. Nothing in this world is free.”
“How did you know they would react like this?”
As someone who didn’t have much experience with people, she was genuinely curious. To her surprise, Mie once again showed that vulnerable, lonely smile of hers. After a short while, she answered.
“It’s human nature, I guess. In the end, it’s the same anywhere, regardless of where I am…” But then, she perked up slightly and continued. “It’s just that people of this world are much more open to hurting each other, maybe? Everyone’s an idiot like that. Even you.”
She chuckled again. But Soleil felt some indescribable sense of heaviness in her voice.
“Anyway, there you go. Don’t hesitate again, you hear? You’re strong. And over in these parts, the strong dictate how things go. Got it?”
Soleil nodded somewhat meekly towards her. The heavy air around Mie instantly dissipated, and she smiled in return.
“Now, I’m going back to get some more meat. I’ll also be taking some of your ale as payment.”
She stood up and left without saying another word. Soleil watched her back for a while until she stopped by the table where all the meat was placed.
Then, her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten much since they started. The piles of meat that she had brought and Matthias had grilled would be wasted if she didn’t get to eat. Plus, she felt really hungry after all of that talking she did.
Ah, speaking of which, where was Matthias?
He was there with them, seated by the campfire. However, unlike everyone else, his face was dead serious and tense. He kept muttering something to himself. Soleil was worried. He didn’t respond at all when she talked about her past. Did she say something wrong? The mere thought made her chest feel tight. Should she ask him about it?
She looked at Mie in the distance and collected herself. Yes, she should. Hesitation wasn’t good for anybody. So, she walked towards Matthias and placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Leader! Hello? WOI!”
“Wh-wuh?!”
“What’s wrong? You haven’t been responding since earlier! What the hell?”
“Ah… yeah. It’s just… That’s a really strange name.”
“... What the hell are you talking about?”
Matthias looked up in a daze. He then looked at everybody gathered around the campfire, eating meat and making merry.
He then cradled his arm gently. He looked like he was in a bit of pain from a sore joint. It took quite a bit of shaking to get his attention, after all.
But Manna didn’t look like she cared, even though she also felt the shaking from having her head on his shoulder. It must have been the ale. She looked so content that she probably would have just fallen asleep if she had stayed there for a bit longer.
He then looked at Nail’s party. After Soleil’s storytime, they dispersed to different places around the campfire. Nail sat on a log with Mie, with a plate full of fresh meat and a cup of ale in her hands. Kilo was responsibly tending to the fire. Meanwhile, in the distance, Ujel had taken up surveillance by a tent. Though, she didn’t look much like one while nibbling on a drumstick. As for Egan, even though there was a ton of grilled meat already on the table, he was busying himself by cutting up even more.
Soleil blinked. Matthias did look kind of out of it. She asked worriedly asked him again,
“What’s the deal? Spacing out like that… did you even hear my story?”
“Ah…” he mumbled. He held his head and thought hard. It looked like he was troubled by something, but couldn’t put the words together to say it–just like her earlier. In the end, he lowered his head and said, “Sorry. I must have fallen asleep, or something.”
“What? Man. I’m not going to repeat that.”
Though she actually would if he asked. It felt good baring her heart out to people she knew. And as for Matthias, for some reason, she felt much more comfortable doing so with him.
And then, Manna suddenly piped up as she placed her arm around his. “She’s too embarrassed. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”
“Oh shut up.”
Nail and Kilo laughed. Mie didn’t, though. She looked much more focused on her food and alcohol.
Well whatever, Soleil thought. It didn’t make much of a difference to her. In fact, she thought it would be a great opportunity in the future.
She actually didn’t tell everyone the entire story. A bit of shame burned her cheeks. It felt like she was betraying Mie’s consideration and efforts. But, she didn’t want to tell just anyone about it. The next part of her story would be reserved for when she, Matthias, and Manna were by themselves, with nobody else.
It would be the continuation of her tale, just for her party to hear.
So, she decided to push the attention away from her in the meantime.
“Anyway! It’s your turn. Tell us a story.”
“A story? About what?”
“Your childhood. Come on. Give us something to work on here.”
She tried her best to look grumpy like she was insulted that he wasn’t listening. Manna assisted her by giving him a mischievous look. Matthias looked troubled.
Soleil smiled in her heart. She hadn’t felt so comfortable with other people besides her parents. But Matthias, and Manna–they were so easy to get along with. She felt her heart was at peace when she was with them. She regretted not being able to summon the courage to tell them about her past, without having someone else push her from behind. If she had done so, then everything would have been a special story shared between only the two of them. And that would have been perfect.
But it was too late. What remained was the last part of the tale. And, really, it was the most important part.
She was excited to tell them about it one day. And until that day came, she vowed that she would protect them at all costs.
–Next time, she will not fail to protect her family.
“Oh, I know. Tell us about your life as a noble.”
----------------------------------------
“Oh. So she had her arm cut off as a child? I see…”
After a while, the tide of undead finally subsided. Perhaps it was because there were no more bodies available to animate, or the necromancer had decided that it was futile to continue sending weak ones toward them. It provided them with an opportunity to run toward their destination. But instead, Spear insisted on taking their time and proceeding at a steady pace.
“Nothing will change if we hurry now, boy,” were her words as she beheld the dim light on the Mirror of Dust. As for why?
She just wanted to learn more about Soleil.
“That explains things. Perhaps, too perfectly. Tough luck, your friend has.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing in particular, boy. Just make sure you have the conviction to face whatever comes.”
After almost half an hour of walking continuously, Spear finally stopped in her tracks. Then, she faced Matthias with a grave look.
“Boy,” she said. “We’re almost there. Until we arrive, I want you to stay behind me. Do not move away until we see the necromancer. Understood?”
There was an unbearable power within her stare. She carried with the suggestion that she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Cowed by a mere look, all Matthias could do was nod, even though he didn’t understand why.
But fortunately… or perhaps, unfortunately for him, he soon understood.
They continued walking through the dim tunnels. The suspense ate away at his nerves. Even though the undead had stopped appearing, the feeling of tension and dread only increased. He tried his best to suppress the fear that threatened to escape from his gut but was only partially successful in doing so.
He was dearly concerned for Soleil. They hadn’t known each other much, but he felt some strange affinity with the strange, eccentric woman who called herself a “Demon Lord”. And that was despite the divine duty given to him to slay it once it appeared in front of him.
She was just a confused girl.
And as he contemplated that thought, they finally arrived.
Spear continued to walk. Her steps were resolute and firm. She stepped into a large chamber, glowing an eerie purple from some unholy magic on the ground. And as she did–
An incredible force blew past Matthias.
A thick barrier of light appeared past Spear, who continued to walk despite the absurd force that pushed against her.
The ground trembled, and the walls gave out behind them. He felt an immense pressure thrust against his chest. Small pieces of debris sprinkled his head as if threatening him with a much grander collapse. The effects of that massive impact lasted for a long time and even made him think that a meteor had collided with the ground. But, it was just a few seconds that felt much longer.
And after the dust settled, he saw whom it was that attacked them.
… “Soleil?”
It was her. There could be no doubt about it. He wouldn’t mistake the scant clothes that she wore, and the ponytail on her head. But–her left arm no longer had the bandages that usually covered it up. And there, a severely-decomposed arm was visible.
Her eyes were lifeless. The skin outside her left arm was deathly pallid. Her lips had a hair-raising purple hue on them.
And–there was a bite mark on her neck.
“Soleil!!”
“Concentrate, boy! She is not our enemy!” Spear screamed. Her desperate voice snapped him out of his panic. He quickly understood what she meant when he saw an altar-like structure at the end of the chamber.
There was someone there. His augmented eyes immediately saw its features.
A giant figure, taller than a human.
It had hunched shoulders, black fur, and sharp canines protruding out of a canine snout.
He immediately recognized those features.
It looked... like Tolg.