Chapter 5 (1/2)

I've come to the Oth.e.l.l Forest today for a quest. It took about five hours by carriage to get here from the imperial city of Minerva.

Even though it's still the middle of the day, the sunlight can't quite get through so it's rather dreary. Sometimes monster growls can be heard, making it a creepy forest.

My rank has risen to C.

Last time at the Aquarain mansion, I learned that Hero-kun had also fallen in love with Cecilia.

I realized it would bad for me to keep on like I was, and I wanted to shorten the difference between Hero-kun and myself even if only a little bit.

So I came to the forest today to slay a rank C monster — c.o.c.katrice — who was causing trouble in the area.

”Geez, petrifying the nearby villagers impulsively at random...just what is it trying to do?”

The c.o.c.katrice is a monster with the power of petrification.

But, because it doesn't have any other noteworthy abilities, it's only rank C.

Still, it was a fearsome enough monster for your average villager.

After walking in the forest a while and doing a little bushwhacking, I heard a noise from the bushes ahead.

I stayed vigilant and slowly approached the bush.

“Woah!”

Suddenly, a headless knight jumped out sword swinging.

I avoided the sword with a backstep, and put some distance between us.

With my specialty magic I thought I'd trample him, but...

“....Huh?”

”...What the? Captain, is that you?”

Now that I get a good look this guy was one of my underlings at the Demon Castle: the Duke of Dullahan. The head he was holding to his right had a surprised look.

”I knew it was you, Captain! What happened to your horns and wings? Wait, before that, where have you been all this time? The Captain who never left his room was suddenly missing, the Hero vanquished the Demon Lord, we were all so worried!”

”Eh? Calm down first. Before I get to your questions, why are you here?”

When Cecilia persuaded me that day, there wasn't a moment to spare, so I ended up leaving the Demon Castle without saying a word.

Could it be that the others survived?

”I was searching for you, Captain! Hapyneth and Sheik too, we were all really worried about you!”

Hapyneth is a harpy, and Sheik is a pixie, both of whom were also my former underlings.

”Are they also here in this forest?”

”Yeah, today we decided to search for you here. We planned to rendezvous just a little ways from here. Let's go, Captain!”

I hadn't seen my old underlings in so long, I really wanted to see them again.

Plus, they'd been searching for me all this time.

How could I refuse to meet with them after that?

So Duke led the way, and we arrived at the rendezvous point.

”...Alive...”

”Hooray~! It's the Captain~!”

There was Hapyneth and Sheik, just like Duke said.

Hapyneth narrowed her eyes and looked away, while Sheik had a big smile and gave me a hug.

”...You guys were still alive?”

When the Demon Lord was vanquished by the Hero, I was worried that these guys had been done in as well.

I'm glad they were able to make it out alive.

Angry at my words, standing proud with his legs apart and a hand at his hip, Duke rebelliously replied,

”Don't write us off so easily!”

According to them, that day when the Hero Party came, because I always commanded them to dump the party at the nearby village, they were on standby in another room.

However, no matter how long they waited, I never called for them. Becoming worried, they checked on me in my room and...

“...Captain was gone.”

Hapyneth gave an uncharacteristically lengthy response,

”And then, you know, after the Demon Lord was defeated the three of us ran with our tails between our legs from the castle.”

'Ahahaha~' Sheik was laughing.

When I asked what was so funny, apparently when they were running away, Duke was crying out ”Captaaaiin!”

That is rather funny, I must admit.

”But, we never doubted that Captain was still alive...that's why we searched all this time.”

Even half a month later they were still searching for me.

They sure thought highly of their boss.

”After all, Captain was a shut-in who never left his room. We couldn't help but anxiously wonder where you were.”

...What?

”...Left alone...what would you do...”

Wait what?

”Sometimes you’d flip out and start yelling the strangest things~...”

Just a d.a.m.n minute, what the heck did these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds think of me?

”At least it's good that we finally found you.......Now Captain, I asked you before but just what happened to your horns and wings?”

”I got rid of them.”

“...” “...” “...”

After that the reaction varied.

Duke was crying 'what were you thinking?!', and Hapyneth was saying something like 'you finally awakened'.

What's up with that?

And Sheik?

He laughed so hard he was left twitching on the ground.

”Captain! What on earth happened while we were gone?!”

Duke cried and hugged me closely, looking for an explanation.

How could I possibly explain this to them?

Should I just be honest?

”In the Hero party, there was this cute cleric girl. After I confessed to her and got shot down I've been living as a human.”

The crying Duke, the callously faced Hapyneth, and the rolfcoptering Sheik.

The three who had previous reacted differently all simultaneously turned to stone.

I lightly slapped my three underlings who had turned to stone to bring them back to their senses.

That summary was probably too simple, so I gave them a more in-depth explanation.

”Captain, why are you chasing the skirt of a human girl? Captain's a demon, right? Getting rid of your horns and wings— it's too tragic.”

Duke was drowning himself in tears.

Cecilia is the one who invited me out to the world beyond my room.

It's not like I was just a skirt chaser.

“...Repulsive.”

That was uncalled for.

Hey, Hapyneth, don't you look away from me!

”Ahahaha, ahahaha〜 It's no use, I can't stop laughing!”

'Can't stop' my a.s.s! Quit it Sheik, you're being obnoxious!

”Haaa~ Anyway, right now I'm a human Youki, living a human lifestyle. ...I'm not your captain anymore. I came here for a quest. See ya, live long enough to fall in love, guys.”

It's sad but I need to draw the line.

For both Cecilia and these guys.

”No way! Captain is our Captain.”

”...That's right.”

”I think so too~”

What are these guys thinking?

”No, I mean, I'm living as a human now, I'm no longer a demon.”

”So that Cleric girl, she's a looker is she?”

”...Beautiful girl type.”

”Forget about her looks, those b.r.e.a.s.t.s of hers~”

These guys didn't listen to a word I said.

And Sheik. Why do you know about that?

”I'd like to meet her, the human girl Captain fell for.”

”...Agreed.”

”Me too! Me too!”

What are these guys up to?

While I stood there stunned, those three just carried on with their conversation until they decided on something.

”We have come to a decision; we want to meet the human Captain's in love with.”

“Are you r.e.t.a.r.ded?!”

What's with this sudden turn of events?

Before they were acting all cool, now they’re all pumped for a meet-and-greet.

”In the first place, I came here for a quest. I need to kill the c.o.c.katrice that's been terrorizing the villagers around here. I don't have time to play around with you lot...”

”Roger that!”

”...Move out.”

”And we’re off~”

I was going to stop them, but they thoroughly ignored me and headed out into the forest.

Sometime later, the threesome came back dragging along the corpse of the c.o.c.katrice. Those little s.h.i.+ts, at least give me a part to play in my own quest!

”Now we can go!”

”...Mission complete.”

”Been a while since I last exercised~”

No matter what I say, they're intent on meeting Cecilia.

”...If you're willing to go that far, you must be prepared, right?”

One hurdle we absolutely have to clear is getting them into the imperial city.

It’s up to me to beat some understanding into them.

”Of course!”

”...Acceptable.”

”No worries~”

They seem very determined.

It can't be helped if they're that resolved.

Guess I gotta bring them home with me.

I gave them my okay and they rejoiced. A rather intrepid smile appeared on my face.

Two days later...

With the threesome in tow, I returned to the guild to complete my c.o.c.katrice quest.

”Captain...I can barely see...do I really have to wear this?”

”If you take it off there'll be a huge commotion. Well, I would eliminate any commotion before it got started with my magic, but you get the point.”

Duke was wearing a helmet to keep his head from falling off, and the helmet was strapped to his armor.

This why he just looks like a normal armored knight.

”There are so many amazing things~”

Without his wings, Sheik looks like a normal cute young boy.

His wings are so small they're easily hidden by clothes.

The real problem was...

I could hear the sound of gentle sobbing behind me.

Hapyneth.

She's a harpy so there are feathers all over her arms and legs.

I pondered over how to go about her disguise, and she earned my respect with her earnestness.

The result was...

“...Who will want to marry me now?”

It wasn't so much a full-body waxing as it was a full-body plucking.

...It might have been overkill, but it’s what she wanted.

There were no regrets.