Chapter 45 (1/2)

Aran grimaced as he downed the purple liquid in his flask. He sat with the other members of the Red Blade Adventurers in a tavern. They sat around a circular stone table with a steaming crab in front of them on a metal plate.

“I’m sick of crab,” Zeke muttered as he hacked off a leg off with his dagger. “What did we have for breakfast? Crab. What did we have for lunch? Crab. Wh-“

“We get it, Zeke,” Sophie said as she drank the purple liquid in her glass. “We’re all sick of it.”

“I’m never eating seafood again once we go back,” Claire said as she sighed. Her brown bangs covered her eyes as she lowered her head.

“If we ever get back,” Zeke said as he stabbed the crab leg and peeled the shell off. “Two years. We’ve been here for almost two years now and we only finished two missions. And that was with the demons’ help.” Bits and pieces of crab shell flew across the table as Zeke wielded his dagger.

“Calm down,” Ross said. His hair had turned grey and his black vest was tattered. Burn scars decorated his arms and fingers. He grabbed the steaming crab with his bare hands and snapped two legs off. “We’ve grown a lot despite the low number of missions.”

Zul nodded. His blue robe was frayed at the edges and the color had faded into a light blue. “Aran’s upgraded his armor and Ross got a new shield. Claire’s proficiency in white magic nearly doubled and we’ve all gained much more levels than we would’ve if we stayed in Zuerst. The longer we stay here, the stronger we’ll get.”

“He’s just bitter the demons showed him up,” Sophie said.

“Showed all of us up,” Zeke said and rolled his eyes. “You weren’t exactly that great compared to them either.”

Aran nodded. “We shouldn’t need to rely on them as much now that I have better equipment. I’ve also heard rumors that they’re getting recalled to Zuerst. Both Tina and Chad’s parties. Something seems to have come up.”

Sophie asked and raised her eyebrow. “Something that the adventurers over there can’t handle? What? Did the dragons invade?”

Zul shook his head. “If that happened, then we would’ve been called back too.”

“Lucky dogs,” Zeke grumbled.

“It gives us a chance to pass them,” Aran said as he refilled his flask. “You want to surpass them, right?”

“I still feel cheated,” Zeke said. “The adventurer’s guild made Fuselage seem like a paradise. What part of this is paradise?”

“I mean,” Sophie said, “if you liked crab…”

“Well, I don’t,” Zeke said and made a face.

“Cheer up,” Claire said. “Three more years and we can go back. I can’t wait to see my family again.” She sighed. “I wonder how they’re doing.”

“I’m sure they’re doing fine,” Zul said and pat her shoulder. “Our families get special treatment even if we die here.”

Claire frowned. “Don’t say that. I’m rather addicted to living,” she said and poked her crab leg with a fork, “although, these things will probably be the death of me.”

###################################################################

Mina and Tafel stood outside Dustin’s room.

“What’s going on, Mina?” Dustin asked as he rubbed his eyes. He sat up in bed and looked towards the hallway. Mina clasped her hands as she stood next to Tafel. Vur was still passed out and the fairies were watching over him. “You assaulted Zollstock in Konigreich and then you appear naked in my house a month later.”

“It’s Zollstock. He’s dangerous,” Mina said and bit her lip.

Dustin nodded. “Of course. He’s the demon lord,” he said.

Mina shook her head. “You don’t understand,” she said. “He’s dangerous to us.”

Dustin’s forehead wrinkled. “Elaborate.”

Mina took in a deep breath. “I think he killed the previous demon lord.”

Tafel stared at her mother with wide eyes. Dustin frowned.

Mina continued. “He seemed normal when we first met him that day. He even seemed normal after we had been married for a year. He was nice to me, gave me gifts, said sweet things to me, and supported my family with wealth. He tried to make me like him.”

“Are you going somewhere with this?” Dustin asked. He stared into Mina’s eyes with his hands clenching his blanket.

Mina bit her lip. “He changed after we had kids and he became the demon lord. He stopped paying attention to me and spent more time alone. He would disappear for hours at a time, leaving me to watch over the children. I looked through his room one day while he was gone,” she said and hesitated. “And I found a golden horn. A demon horn.”

Tafel’s face paled.