Aila was wearing a mask made of steel on her face.
Her ears and tail were exposed, making it impossible to hide the fact that she was a beastkin.
“Why the mask?”
“It’s for a reason.”
Riki answered instead of Aila.
Clarke, who had moved through a magic circle connected to the underground, noticed that there was indeed a sky above.
Although it wasn’t a lush green sky, there was undeniably a place that had a sky.
He tried to figure out the location of the capital but gave up as he didn’t know the geography of the area at all.
It was probably the capital of the Roran Empire that made it difficult to spot any human figures.
Rather, every time they walked through the streets, everyone’s eyes were focused on Riki.
It must be really rare to see a human in this place.
“The reason people are looking at me isn’t just because I’m human.”
Upon taking a closer look, although it was hard to see, humans could occasionally be spotted among the demonkin.
“Then why are they looking?”
“Because my captain is in front of me. They’re all curious.”
At that moment, he thought that even the citizens seemed not to know Aila’s true identity.
His gaze naturally shifted to where people were looking.
The large moving masses drew everyone’s attention with a significant sway.
Isn’t there no point in wearing a mask if that’s the case?
Noticing this, Riki approached and subtly hinted at it.
After hearing this, Aila pondered for a moment then took off her mask.
Then the people briefly gathered to watch before dispersing again.
“Now that I think about it, I wasn’t wearing armor. Thanks.”
“That mask is sold in many places, so it’s a relief.”
“If it were special, it’d be hard to walk around.”
A golden mask like the one Jere wore would surely be unsuitable for roaming casually.
He definitely felt that the atmosphere was quite different from Latnia.
No one looked at them with strange eyes.
It was easy to see demonkin flying in the sky with their own wings.
“Ririan, don’t stare too much.”
As he gazed blankly, Aila warned him.
“By the way, I don’t see any demonkin with skin like Dahlia’s?”
There were no demonkin with purple skin at all.
Most of them had skin tones similar to humans, with many having bronze skin.
“I heard that demonkin with purple skin each have a special ability.”
Riki said while scanning Dahlia with his eyes.
Dahlia, perhaps not minding that gaze, stood even more confidently.
“Is that pillar of fire your ability?”
“No, that’s magic. My ability is something else. But it’s a trump card, so I can’t show it here.”
The place they arrived at was a very shabby and large mansion.
“This is the headquarters of the Second Knight Order.”
“It looks more ordinary than I thought?”
“Actually, since the captain doesn’t do outdoor activities, our operational funds are low…”
“This much is still livable, isn’t it?”
Although the mansion was quite large, it looked worn out here and there.
“Anyway, everyone come on up.”
Although it was called a headquarters, there was no one guarding or watching around.
“It’s a headquarters, but there’s no one here?”
“The captain chased everyone away so they wouldn’t stand guard. Usually, I receive and relay reports.”
The mansion had stairs up to the fourth floor, but Jie stopped ascending on the second floor.
“I can’t go up any higher, so I’ll stay here.”
Neither Aila nor Riki specifically called for Jie.
There must be rules of their own at the headquarters.
As soon as he opened the door to the room located in the innermost corner of the fourth floor, it was furnished with classic furniture.
From a bookshelf that looked old to a desk and a bed.
“Do you live here?”
“It’s both my room and my office.”
As Aila approached her desk, she stopped in her tracks.
Raising her arm to prevent us from approaching, she glared at the desk.
“Who is it?”
The chair in front of the desk slowly turned and began to spin faster and faster.
As the chair’s rotation slowed down, the figure seated in it became clearer.
“Niv! What are you doing here?”
“I came to hang out because I was bored.”
“When did you come?”
“Just now. Right this moment.”
How could the Demon King, who should be in a remote castle in the woods, be here in the capital?
We had taken at least two weeks to reach this distance using carriages and trains.
The only way to come and go in an instant was through teleportation.
The Demon King got off the chair and approached me.
With my original body returned, the height difference between me and the Demon King was about two heads.
“Here, Ririan, I’m returning this.”
The Demon King handed back the scales that had been taken from my tail.
“Do you not need this anymore?”
“Yeah. It’s not needed when we’re together.”
“Together?”
Aila sat down in her place while the others took seats on the sofa.
“By the way, about that…”
While Aila and the others were discussing something, I became the Demon King’s conversation partner.
“But how did you get here?”
“It’s simple. I can go anywhere with just a finger snap.”
The Demon King stood up from the sofa to demonstrate, snapping his fingers.
With a blue spark, the Demon King appeared on Aila’s bed.
“How’s that?”
“It’s amazing. How did you do that?”
“Hmm? I don’t really know the principle, you just do it.”
I briefly admired the Demon King’s teleportation magic.
“Niv, it’s getting annoying, so stop.”
“Got it.”
The Demon King quietly returned to sit next to me.
No matter how I thought about it, it was hard to believe that such a person had the power to suppress the Roran Empire by force.
“Let’s stay here today and check out the Academy tomorrow.”
Aila assigned each of the others a room to stay in.
Although it was called a headquarters, it was essentially a mansion, so there were quite a few vacant rooms.
“Ririan will stay.”
Once everyone else left, the office had just me, Aila, and the Demon King remaining.
“Why isn’t Niv leaving?”
“Because this is the room I’ll use.”
The Demon King proudly declared possession of Aila’s bed, sitting on it.
“Well, that’s fine. Tomorrow we’ll go to the Academy for admission procedures.”
“I know that already.”
“So about that, do you have the promissory note?”
I took out the promissory note that I had carefully folded and kept in my pocket and placed it on the table.
As Aila reached for it, Niv quickly snatched it away and opened it.
“Aila, did you tie Ririan down with this kind of thing?”
“I just borrowed it when he asked for it.”
“That was necessary back then.”
The Demon King examined the promissory note before handing it back to Aila.
“The terms are generous. Borrowing without interest?”
“I’ll be getting the interest in another way.”
“Make sure you do it well.”
Saying this, the Demon King settled down onto my lap.
“Why are you sitting there?”
“Because I can’t let this clueless kid go unchecked. I’m the attorney.”
What Aila had wanted to do with me was to modify the contents of the promissory note.
“First of all, I don’t intend to take interest. But I want to add a few more terms.”
“I’ll listen and judge.”
“Okay. First, even if I enter the Academy, if I call, I need you to come and help me with work. I’ll let them know about this in advance.”
“Add a condition that I’m not to be assigned dangerous tasks.”
As the Demon King opened his mouth, Aila seemed to think deeply about something.
“No. Due to the nature of the mission, I can’t exclude dangerous tasks. I can’t add that condition.”
“Are you going to get someone killed?”
“No, that’s not it, but…”
“Then add it.”
When the Demon King spoke firmly, Aila had no choice but to include that condition.
Despite her young appearance, the Demon King provided various advice to revise the promissory note.
The finalized version was written significantly in my favor.
I would repay my debt by helping with Aila’s work without a deadline or interest.
Including a condition that I must leave at least 1 gold for living expenses.
“But what kind of work do you usually do?”
“Basically, it’s Takedown work.”
Aila explained that monster takedown would be the main task.
“By the way, why does the treatment cost 5,000 gold? That’s half a year’s budget for an organization.”
“They say it’s the best magician in Latnia.”
“Who would that be?”
“They don’t have a name. So they’re called the Nameless White Face. They wear a white mask.”
I tried to recall the person I saw wearing a mask at that time, but I couldn’t remember it well.
“Did they have a mask on?”
“That person uses magic around them, so in the end, I can hardly remember their appearance. I’m a bit hazy too.”
If we were to meet again, I would probably feel like I was seeing a stranger.
The newly completed promissory note was decided to be kept by the Demon King.
“Since Aila might use this for something bad.”
“I wouldn’t do such a thing!”
“You made me use it under threat, didn’t you? It would’ve been easier if you just gave me 5,000 gold. Why did you lend it?”
“That’s… that doesn’t concern you.”
As Niv snapped his fingers, the promissory note vanished somewhere.
“Then it’s fair for me to keep it, right?”
“Ah.”
No matter how much I regretted it, the promissory note had already disappeared into a space known only to the Demon King.
After a brief commotion was settled.
Aila got up from the sofa and removed the Demon King from my lap.
“Here, I’m giving you this.”
The Demon King handed me a small piece of what seemed like a stone.
“It’s a piece of my horn. If you want to get in touch, use that to talk.”
“Is it the same method as last time?”
“Yep.”
I placed the horn piece in my arms, vowing never to use it.
As I came out of Aila’s room, Jema was waiting for me at the door.
“Oh, you’ve been waiting.”
“We’re in the same room.”
Having roughly figured out the room’s location, I went to find Aila again.
“Can we go outside?”
“It’s complicated around here, do you think that’s okay?”
Since I just followed Aila when I came to the mansion, I hadn’t properly observed the surroundings.
I couldn’t guarantee that I’d be able to find my way back once I left here.
“Since we’re here, I’ll guide you.”
“I’m feeling uneasy.”
The Demon King readily offered to guide us through Clarke.
“Don’t treat me like a kid.”
“You are a kid, right?”
Although Aila was uneasy, she had already written something on paper and handed it to me.
“If guards block us on our way to this mansion, show them this.”
“If I enter with my magic, it won’t matter.”
“Still, keep it with you.”
Aila gave the paper to me rather than the Demon King.
While going down the stairs to exit the mansion, I ran into Jie.
“Are you going out?”
“Yes. I wanted to take a look around.”
“I’ll guide you.”
“Hello, Demon King.”
As Jie knelt down on one knee to salute, the Demon King’s expression turned cold.
“Let’s go.”
