Volume 2 Chapter 21 (1/2)

Morning came. This day was the day of my meeting with the other new Demon Lord.

Lying on my bed, I opened my eyes and felt something warm on both my arms.

”…Oto-san, another cup…”

”…Master, brush my head…”

Hugging my right arm was the fox-eared beautiful girl Kuina and purring softly as she embraced my left arm was the silver-haired dwarf Rorono.

Both were wearing thin nightwears.

Kuina wasn't just coiled in my right arm, her tail was wrapping around my leg too. It had such a soft feel to it.

I was using a king-sized bed so sleeping together with everyone was no bother.

The girls, soft and good smelling, were the world's best hug pillows. I who was riddled with numerous worries was healed.

Ancient Elf was sleeping peacefully besides Kuina, by the way. Our sleeping arrangement each night was decided by way of rotation. Each night, the ones on my sides would change and it was only by chance that it was the two today.

I looked at my beloved girls' sleeping faces and gently—so as to not wake them—brushed their heads. I once more I thought that I had to protect these girls and their happiness.

◇

After eating breakfast, we made use of a pair of transfer arrays to go to an abandoned house in the slums of Eclaba city. Humans rarely came here so I figured that it was safe to lay down a transfer array here. After all, it was convenient in various ways to be able to directly move to the city.

”Kuina, you don't have to be so vigilant like that.”

”No, today, Kuina is Oto-san's guard and I can't let my guard down. Even if the Demon Lords and their followers are forbidden to hurt one another, there're a countless loopholes to that!”

What she said was certainly true.

For example, one could summon wild and rabid monsters and just relinquish his control over it. By doing so, those monsters were no longer treated as his followers and even if those same monsters ran amok and fought an enemy Demon Lord, the Demon Lord that summoned them would not be at fault.

Additionally, one could hire powerful humans and make them attack the enemy.

I had just thought of it but evidently, there really were a lot of loopholes to the rule.

Truth be told, Rorono and Ancient Elf also wanted to come but I instead asked them to stay and take care of things while I was gone.

There was also the possibility that the other Demon Lords had something planned and thus I wanted to reserve the majority of my fighting force to the city. And of course, there was the fact that the girls had their own jobs to do.

I brought Kuina along since guarding me had been her role all along.

She was highly versatile: from doing intelligence gathering—by making use of [Transform]—to head-on confrontations. Whenever going out of the city, Kuina was the best choice to act as my guard.

”Alright, I'll be relying on you then.”

”Sure, I won't let them lay even a finger on Oto-san!”

Thus, Kuina became even more pumped.

I smiled at her and then proceeded to head to the café that was the designated meeting place.

◇

With the aroma of good coffee drifting through the air, the specified café seemed like an extremely high-class store despite coffee being a luxury in this city.

When I approached, a light-brown-haired young man on a terrace seat waved his hand.

He fashioned a stylish jacket from which I could feel magic power similar to my Demon Lord clothes, convincing me beyond doubt that this man was the Demon Lord that invited me here.

Nevertheless, he certainly had adapted to the city. I had heard from Marcho that there were many Demon Lords that were fond of indulging themselves in amusement mainly intended for humans but he blending right in in the city must be a special case altogether.

”Hey, glad you came. I'm the [Steel] Demon Lord, Zagan.”

”I'm the [Creation] Demon Lord, Procell. May I ask why you've invited me here?”

Unintentionally, I didn't have the chance to make his acquaintance on the [Evening Party] so we first introduced ourselves.

According to the intelligence I had gathered, I had a rough idea on the ranks of the medals of the Demon Lords in my generation and I knew that his [Steel] was a B rank medal.

In a straightforward fight, there was little to no chance for me to lose against him.