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These Useless Fellows
This was the King’s bedroom.
“Any signs of life from Zakuroma have disappeared.”
“That guy was trash among great demons, but he still shouldn’t have died that easily.”
“Perhaps there was a repeat of the previous demon slaughter.”
“Maybe so. However, I guess it missed us here.”
“Indeed. So let’s do our best to keep this dance going.”
On both sides of an unconscious king, a man and woman giggled to each other.
Meanwhile back in Warren.
The turmoil with the pumpkin zombies had finally settled, and Freedom Promenade could calm down. If only that were true. The reality was that nothing was happening here because nobody knew what to do.
The rumors had always been there about the famed Straw Hat among Warren’s citizenry. How he was the illegitimate child of a lord or a renowned magic teacher. But it turns out he was actually the Demon Lord. Who’d have guessed?
Certainly the overwhelming power it took to annihilate those pumpkin heads was tremendous. The same could be said for his companion Berunal. But for people, the cold heartless being that announced on a nation-wide broadcast, “Your only choice is slavery or death,” that is who the Demon Lord is. It’s etched into their very souls.
And right now, that very man, the ‘Demon Lord’ is standing right in front of them. And at this very moment, he’s……..
“So why am I suddenly banned!?”
“Obstinate. Those are the rules so it can’t be helped! Otherwise I’d never be able to show myself to the new girls!”
“Then let’s do it once to make it official.”
“What are you saying in a place like this!? Have some shame!”
“Now that you mention it, why are you out here in a sexy outfit exposing yourself in public without my permission!? You’re only wearing a bra and panties! Are you trying to strangle me to death with jealousy!?”
“I don’t want to be told that by somebody who was about to run all the way here completely naked! Learn to cover yourself before you go judging others!”
For Ferdinand, the citizens of Warren, the soldiers of Wheat Grace, or the mages of Wisdom; how could any of them believe the gentle man who had started a lovers quarrel with Margherita before their eyes could possibly be the Demon Lord?
And then there was Berunal and Mebett, the two girls standing nearby, completely unconcerned with the heavy air around them, boasting about the number of pumpkin heads they killed.
Nobody could move with this kind of atmosphere…….
Finally, the receptionist made it back to the plaza after returning to Dandy’s Shangri La, bringing over a change of clothes for Margherita and the Demon Lord along with their belongings.
“Straw Hat, Margherita, calm down for a second and at least put on some clothes!”
Reduced to haggard breaths after devolving into a round of cursing at each other, the two bickering adults finally came to their senses after the receptionist’s scolding.
They both took a deep breath.
Then they noticed how everyone’s attention was focused on them, and they instantly felt ashamed.
“Stop staring! Fall over and die!”
“Quit saying such absurd things! Maron, we’re borrowing your store to change our clothes!”
The Demon Lord was still livid about the earlier encounter, but Margherita chided him for his threats, grabbed his hand, and forced him into Trans Happy’s changing room without a word to the surrounding people.
……….
“Well, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy at least.”
After a moment of silence, Ferdinand gave his honest opinion of the Demon Lord. His surrounding soldiers nodded in agreement.
Those words acted as a signal, and movement returned to Freedom Promenade.
Meanwhile at the vigilantes corps encampment facing off against Ceramics’s army.
Morale for the soldiers had skyrocketed and cheers of victory echoed through the air when it was reported that all the pumpkin heads in the city had been purged and the great demon that had summoned all of them was killed by Mebett and the Mechanized Dragon. But with the next report, the flame of victory was instantly doused.
“The Demon Lord has arrived.”
For a moment, silence encapsulated everything. Then having taken a moment to ready himself for the news, assuming the worst, Theseus asked for a full damage assessment from the messenger.
The news was beyond his imagination.
“The Demon Lord, after quarreling with Miss Margherita in the center of the city where everybody could see, has currently been remanded to Trans Happy’s dressing room after Margherita dragged him there………..”
“Huh?”
The worst case scenario. That’s what the soldiers were expecting to hear. Just how many people has the Demon Lord already slaughtered. But when pressed for information, the messenger’s response was, “I don’t think he’s killed anybody.”
“When you say Margherita, you mean the Thieves’ Guild’s Margherita?”
The messenger nodded silently at Baltis’s question.
……………
“So what were they fighting about?”
Flint got a little curious and decided to ask the messenger for a little more information.
“So apparently it all started when he wanted to have sex with her in the shop which resulted in him being banned. The two of them then ended up leaving the shop while barely clothed after that, and when they got to Freedom Promenade, they started shouting at each other. Then when another girl from the shop brought over a change of clothing, Miss Margherita grabbed the Demon Lord’s hand, and they both disappeared into a nearby building.”
“So Margherita knew this man already?”
“Yes Miss Maria, he was the unknown man many people have taken to calling Straw Hat.”
…………
“For now, we can only wait and see how the situation develops. Including how accurate this information is.”
Everyone sighed, forced to follow along with Izerina’s words.
But then, a ray of light traveled through the air. It was the same effect {Leap City} gives off whenever the Hero fast travels to town.
“Welcome back Gray!”
Those who noticed Gray in the city suburbs called out to greet him, but the Hero never responded. He silently passed through the vigilantes forces and headed straight for the Ceramics army.
Baltis was the fist guildmaster to notice him and signaled to the others about his appearance.
“Where is he going?”
“He looks a little off.”
“And that Marionetta girl isn’t with him.”
Flint, Maria, and Theseus spoke their thoughts aloud, compounded Izerina’s gut feeling.
“He’s not coming to meet with us……… I’ve got a bad feeling about this…….”
All five of the guildmasters fell silent.
And then those worries became reality.
As soon as the Hero joined up with Ceramics’s army, he turned on his heels and started walking back towards Warren. At the same time, the entire army restarted their march, closing the distance between them and Warren’s vigilantes corps. This time they were careful not to get caught in the still summoned swamp though.
After reaching about halfway down the plains, the army halted. The Hero however took another step forward. He then cast a magic on himself to increase the volume of his voice. Slowly and emotionlessly, like he was reading off a cue card he had just been given, Gray recited his demands towards Warren.
“This is a royal decree. Citizens of Warren. You are to bring me the heads of the five Dragon Maidens and their five dragons so that I may deliver all ten of them to Skycastle.”
His words caused an uproar throughout the city, but the Hero went on regardless.
“But if you tell me you don’t have the strength to accomplish this, then bring them here, and I’ll cut their heads off myself with the strength of the Hero.”
After a momentary pause, he shouted out in that same emotionless tone.
“Ellis, for the people of Warren, I ask you to die!”
……………
The air froze once more.
The first to regain his senses, Baltis tapped Maria’s cheek. She blinked a couple times before using magic to increase the volume of his voice so he could give the Hero a response.
“Hero! Unfortunately the Dragon Maidens aren’t in Warren at the moment. Pull back from here.”
“Thieves’ Guild guildmaster, if that’s the case, then bring Ellis and the others here right away!”
“You, have you gone insane?”
“I’m completely sane. I am the king’s sword, the Hero!”
“And is Marionetta fine with this!?”
……………
The Hero fell silent as soon as Baltis mentioned that name.
Seeing the face he was making, every single member of Warren’s Powder Keg immediately realized what was going on here.
“She’s been kidnapped.”
“Definitely.”
“Well, that’s probably right.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“Such a simple guy.”
Izerina, Maria, Theseus, Flint, and Baltis were all overwhelmed by how easy it was to figure out this Hero.
After taking a breath, Baltis gave him an answer.
“Hero, we’re looking for Ellis right now, so wait a bit.”
“Okay, be as quick as possible.”
This guy’s seriously stupid. That thought rung true in all five of their hearts at that moment.
Looking out while not making any effort to look for anybody, they could all clearly see a hat made from whale leather that most likely belonged to Marionetta in the Hero’s left hand.