In the throne room of the Demon King’s Castle, the seat was occupied by a weary Demon King. He’d returned after a long expedition that had left him worn out. He placed an elbow on the throne’s armrest and sighed. “Haah...”
“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”
“Oh... It’s you, Crowell.”
He had even noticed her until she’d gotten close.
“How did it go this past month?” he asked. “I haven’t seen her in some time. Is she well?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come now. Obviously, I’m talking about the princess I ordered you to look after. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.”
A month prior he’d put Mil in Crowell’s hands before leaving the castle. Someone else had been temporarily assigned to the Demon King’s daughter, Mary, while Crowell’s turned her attention to taking care of Mil. And having been gone the entire time with his own attention focused elsewhere, the Demon King himself was clueless as to the happenings within his castle.
“If you mean Princess Mil...” Crowell spoke clearly, undaunted by the Demon King’s overwhelming power. “She’s no longer in this castle. She set out a few days ago.”
“Ah, I see. Then make sure— What?! She’s gone?!”
“That’s correct,” Crowell said calmly. “She spoke of adventuring, so I doubt she’ll return.”
“I gave you an order! I told you to look after Princess Mil. How could you let this happen?”
“My orders were ‘Attend to Princess Mil’s needs while she’s here in the castle.’ Now that she’s not in the castle, I’m not under orders to attend to her.”
“Then you should’ve stopped her from leaving! Why didn’t you?”
“I was under no orders to do so.”
With a sigh, the Demon King put his hand to his brow and shook his head. “You’re always like this. You never change.”
“Thank you, Sire.”
Crowell had long served the Demon King, even back when the previous Demon King was on the throne. He’d been used to her eccentric nature for just as long.
“I doubt she’ll last long out there,” the Demon King said. “The monsters must have gotten her already. We’ll probably find the princess lying dead by a roadside somewhere.”
“You needn’t fear for Princess Mil. I taught her swordplay, and she learned numerous spells from our library.”
The Demon King was so shocked he rose from his throne. “You did what?!”
Crowell hadn’t just allowed Mil’s escape, she’d abetted it.
“I also provided her with a compass, some food, and other things she’ll need for her adventure. She certainly won’t die along the road.”
“I can’t believe this... You always had a soft spot for adventurers...”
“Thank you, Sire.”
“It’s not a compliment!”
The Demon King sighed once more and sat back down on his throne.
“Wait, did you say spells from the library...?” The Demon King turned pale. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. “Oh, but I’m sure she can’t have learned that spell.”
Crowell knew exactly which spell the Demon King was talking about. “I assume you’re referring to a particular form of elimination magic?”
Specifically, they were referring to Extinction Gate. Merely speaking its name was a taboo among demonkin.
“You know just how... Oh, but a human wouldn’t be able to use that spell for its true purpose. Enough about that. Where’s Mil now?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you. If she’s aiming for the royal capital, then I assume she headed eastward.”
“East... Well, Mil can’t possibly run from him. Summon him at once, and send him after her.”
“As you command, Sire. Oh, and...”
“There’s more?”
“I must inform you that Princess Mary has met Princess Mil. She took your favorite scythe and used it to fight her.”
“What...? I hope Mary wasn’t hurt.”
“She’s quite all right. Her clothing got slightly dirty, but she was completely unharmed.”
“I should hope so. She’s the future Demon Queen. If anything happens to her, all’s lost. Remind her that she should stay out of trouble and focus on her studies.”
“As you command...Sire.”
The Demon King couldn’t help but notice when Crowell furrowed her brow for just a moment. “You have something to say?”
“No... Not at all, Sire.”
Crowell could never question the Demon King’s orders. She bowed and slowly left the throne room.
When he was left by himself, the Demon King heaved a heavy sigh.
“It’s one thing after another. Lately, Mary’s been difficult too. Though I suppose Mil is the more pressing concern. It’s a good thing humans move slow. I’ve no doubt he can bring her back.”
Above all, he feared for Princess Mil’s well-being. She was small and feeble. He just hoped she wouldn’t be eaten by a monster.
“There’s no end to my troubles,” he said, punctuated by another deep sigh.
✧✧✧
“Yulia! Look! Look at all these tentacles!”
“Ah wah wah... M-Mil, please, let’s run away.”
After leaving the village and heading eastward, Mil and Yulia hadn’t gotten far before being attacked by a monster.
The creature, known as a roper, had a body soft as mud and tentacles adapted for preying on people. At that moment, it was holding all four of Mil’s limbs in its tentacles and was gearing up to chow down.
“Whoa. Their tentacles are way lumpier than I thought. I figured they’d be slippery smooth, but they’re kind of rough.”
“This is no time to think about that!”
Though the roper had nothing even resembling a face, a section of its body had parted in two to reveal a wide opening—presumably its mouth—and the creature was preparing to throw Mil into it.
“I knew it! Its breath stinks!”
Mil was too busy playing with the tentacles to notice how worried Yulia was.
“I’ve g-got to do something.” Yulia reached both hands up to the sky and began casting a spell. “Death trail tempest!”
A rolling mass of thunderclouds appeared above Yulia’s head, and the trees around her began to creak in the winds of the growing storm.
“That’s your magic, Yulia?!”
It was an ultimate elemental spell that drastically changed the weather. Torrential rain battered everything in sight, and winds raged so hard that trees were threatening to tear from the ground.
Bright flashes followed as numerous thunderbolts tore the roper’s tentacles.
When the tentacles holding her were severed, Mil crashed to the ground, landing hard on her behind. “Ouch.”
Mil watched as lightning bolts continued to skewer the roper, and it cried a sort of low-pitched screech before giving up and slithering away into the forest.
“Aww. It got away.” Mil stayed on the ground as she brushed the dirt off her skirt.
“A-Are you all right?”
“Yep! Your magic’s amazing, Yulia!”
Yulia must have undone the spell, because the thunderclouds were shrinking rapidly, restoring the sky to the same clear blue as before.
“I’m just glad I didn’t hit you, Mil.”
Yulia’s power was way beyond any ordinary adventurer. She had full control over some of the most powerful magic Mil knew of.
“Thanks, Yulia. Let’s look for a giant slime next.”
Mil wanted to find out what it was like to be inside its squishy body.
“We can’t. We’ve wasted too much time already...”
They’d left Yulia’s village half a day ago. The western sky was already starting to turn crimson. At this rate, they might have to camp somewhere deep within the forest.
“That place you mentioned was in this direction, right?” Mil asked.
According to Yulia, there was a beastkin village to the east of her village. The two villages were in regular contact and only half a day’s walk apart, so they’d made it their next destination.
“That’s right. Hopefully they’ll know it’s me when I show them my staff.”
Yulia took the short wooden staff affixed to her waist and held it up for Mil to see. It had originally been a gift from the beastkin settlement.
“So they won’t chase us away just because we’re humans?”
“I d-don’t think so... Beastkin don’t side with humans or demonkin. But they’re friendly enough to trade with my village.”
Mil only knew a few things about beastkin. They had ears and tails like animals, they understood human languages, and they were always wary. That was the extent of her knowledge. Beastkin sometimes made contact with humans, but most of their settlements were secluded deep in the mountains.
“I hope we get there soon,” Mil said. “Shouldn’t we be there already? You said it would take half a day.”
“We would be, but...we haven’t made good progress because you keep getting sidetracked.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Mil had a bad habit of wandering off to look at whatever rare plant or monster happened to catch her eye.
“But it shouldn’t be long until—oh, there it is.” Yulia pointed straight ahead.
Through the trees they saw fields and several thatched roofs. It looked like the beastkin village Yulia had described.
“Ooh! So that’s where the beastkin with the fluffy ears live?”
“Yes, I think so. Though it’s my first time seeing it.”
“Really?”
“My dad often told me about the beastkin, but I’ve never actually seen them myself.”
Mil could barely contain her excitement as she tried to imagine what sort of people beastkin were. She pictured animal ears and tails, and squishy pads on their hands and feet. I wanna touch them!
“I’m going ahead!” Mil declared.
“N-No, Mil, wait.”
Mil didn’t even hear Yulia as she charged off through the trees, and she didn’t stop until she was in front of the village gate. It was a splendid wooden structure attached to a high fence to keep out any would-be invaders.
A figure standing in front of the gate soon noticed Mil approaching and reached for the sword at their waist.
“Who’s there? Halt!”
It was a beastkin woman with long, shimmering blonde hair. Her outfit resembled a casual kimono with an obi tied around her waist. Aside from the odd outfit, she herself was beautiful. Her long legs and narrow waist were striking, and she also had much bigger breasts than Mil or Yulia. Her clear, pale skin, narrow eyebrows, lips with a touch of crimson, and sharp eyes all gave her face a mature look.
The gatekeeper’s other noteworthy feature was on top of her head. A pair of animal ears, like those of a fox or a cat, stood up tall, coming to sharp points at the tip. She also had a sleek, golden tail extending from her back. Other than the lack of squishy pads on her hands, she was exactly like Mil had imagined.
“Ooh! Animal ears! A tail! You’re so cute!”
“Animal...? Tail...? Cute?”
The beastkin girl was caught off guard. At first, she simply stared as Mil inched closer, but she quickly came to her senses and drew the sword at her waist.
“Our v-village lies beyond this gate. You cannot enter without permission.”
The sword was better described as a katana. It was slightly curved and had a dull shine.