Chapter 636 - Chapter 3: The Demoness of Engrio
The two of them had been completely hesitant, but because they were in the same room as Sianya and me at the base fortress where we stayed for one night before the investigation, they were able to talk and became more open. Sianya repeatedly telling them that she was nothing more than a single priest was also effective. However, they naturally couldn't talk to her casually as they did to me, and although Sianya said several times that she didn't mind, they remained formal. Since everyone else supporting the investigation, including Falstaff-san, was using formal language, it was only natural. I mean, I was the only one in this group who was talking to Sianya casually.
No, there's one more. Needless to say, it's the master of the Demon Realm, the self-proclaimed Queen. She went out of her way to come and meet us. The soldiers are quite intimidated. However, she's apparently come two or three times for meetings, and the commander was responding with a somewhat accustomed feel. Perhaps as a return for the bear she brought on her shoulder as a souvenir, a wine barrel was carried in.
"You've sent quite a lot of priests again."
Before even greeting us, the Demon Race woman spoke up. This part is different from humans. She's like some delinquent prince.
"Especially you, you look quite refined, but are you okay? You're going to be walking around in the mountains. I won't care if you fall and cry."
She suddenly pointed at Sianya. If someone from Primordia were here, it would turn into a huge fight.
"H-Hey, stop that!"
As expected, the base commander was flustered.
"I am Sianya, a Bishop. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Sianya was well-mannered as a priest, and she greeted her gracefully without minding the sudden rudeness.
"Heh, you're a Bishop too despite being young. Unlike Jeanne, you're quite a beauty and look smart too."
Leave me alone! Sorry for having mediocre looks and not looking smart! That's beyond rude!
"Open this barrel, I'll treat you today."
The extremely rude Demon Race woman suddenly said let's drink. She sat down heavily in the seat of honor, crossed her arms, and to my surprise, put both feet up on the table and crossed them. She's just like a town's hoodlum boss or a local influential figure.
"Hey! This Archbishop Price is the deputy head of the Medioland Royal Capital Cathedral, which means he's effectively the number two of the Church. At least take your feet down!"
The base commander said, pointing to Price-sama.
"Huh? Number two? I don't know if he's one or two, but that has nothing to do with me."
She remained leaning back. She must have cut the tips of her hair that Lyudmila scorched. Her hair had become a bit shorter. She ran her right hand through it with a "hmph."
"Queen of the Demon Realm. This person is someone who, along with Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama who were here the other day, defeated the Demon Lord from two cycles ago. Wouldn't the respect paid to someone who defeated the Demon Lord be respect for the Demon Lord?"
This time it was Bishop Harrison. As expected of a hero, he says clever things.
"Heh, is that so. You're quite fired up for this investigation... was it?"
The Demon Race woman said that and took her feet down. Paying respect to the strong is unique to the Demon Race.
The participants of the banquet... I mean, the meeting, were five investigation personnel including Price-sama, the commander of the Monster Extermination Unit who came all the way from the royal capital to take overall command of the investigation support system, the base commander, two Engrio bowl users, two priests from the monster extermination unit, and Falstaff-san, totaling seven people. Carla and Annabella left the room after lining up the bowls and pouring the wine.
According to the Demon Race woman, there are countless caves and holes of that sort, so searching is difficult.
"Don't you have any clues?"
"There should be an altar. Even if there isn't, there's a wall that magic doesn't work on."
"I haven't seen one. As you can tell, I haven't investigated every single cave. Don't you have any more easily recognizable landmarks from the outside?"
"Like a small shrine."
"A small shrine, huh. I don't know any. They're from ancient times, right? Are they really still around?"
I can understand the Demon Race woman's point, but if it were easy to find, we wouldn't be struggling. Besides, the fact that it's the fifth one is bad. Until now, they were places related to the Four Great Spirits, so we were searching by making approximate guesses.
"Is it just hit-or-miss? Sheesh, isn't that impossible?"
She's saying whatever she wants.
"Do you know of an existence on par with the Four Great Spirits?"
I asked with half-sarcasm, thinking she wouldn't know anyway.
"That's obviously the Demon Lord."
No, no, that's not it. Could it be that my way of asking was bad?
"It's not that, it's the fifth spirit."
"The fifth? There are hundreds or thousands of spirits, not just five. Look at the Goblins, there are probably over ten thousand."
"N-No, it's the fifth spirit that is on par with the Four Great Spirits."
"On par with fire or water?"
"Yes."
Did I finally get through?
"That's why I said it's the Demon Lord."
"The Demon Lord isn't a spirit!"
"It's the same thing."
"Eh?"
Is the Demon Lord a type of spirit?
"What do you mean by the Demon Lord and spirits being the same?"
Price-sama asked for me, as I was bewildered by the unexpected answer.
"I can't say much. We high-ranking Demon Race resurrect, right? Spirits are the same; lower-ranking spirits like Goblins or Alraunes are like low-ranking Demon Race and it's over when they die, but high-ranking spirits above Dryads pass on their memories, or so they say, and in other words, they resurrect, right? That's what it means. After that, think for yourselves. If I talk too much, things will get bad for me."
"I see. Thank you very much."
"Come on, let's go. Time is limited, right?"
The Demon Race woman finished the wine in her bowl, stood up, and went outside.
We boarded the bowl and set out. The commander of the Monster Extermination Unit stayed at the fortress since he was in overall command, and in his place, the base commander, who was also the window, came along. Both commanders had silver swords at their waists. I heard from Carla and Annabella that they were handed over directly by King Seldic during the decoration at the royal palace. Engrio doesn't have a silver mine; King Seldic's feelings for the two can be seen in his behavior.
The leader was of course Price-sama, and Bishop Harrison, Falstaff-san, and the two from the monster extermination unit were the first squad. The second squad was Harris-sama, Sianya, Carla, Annabella, and me. And for some reason, the Demon Race woman. She's flying beside the bowl. Since she's the guide, she should fly beside the first squad, but since she came here, the second squad ended up going ahead.
There was no high speed or anything, it was normal speed, so we stopped once at the edge of a pond for a break. There were Orcs lounging around, but perhaps because the Demon Race woman was there, or because humans were there, they stood up and vanished into the forest.
The first place we went was the Demon Race woman's home.
"I'd hate to be thought of as hiding something."
She's quite frank. I wonder if she cleaned up properly.
"Cleaning? The hornless ones do it. They're good, those guys. I didn't like them much when they had horns, but they've become quite good."
That's good. After all, once their horns are gone, they're on good terms with everyone.
"Can you make fruit wine?"
"Yeah, I've sent about three of them to the fortress for training. I'm having them learn fruit wine making, cooking, and cleaning."
They've completely blended in, haven't they?
"I can't believe those guys were originally those Ogres. They're always smiling and gather around the fortress every morning to feed the small birds."
The commander, who had been tense, also softened his expression.
"I've left them to you. Please be kind to them."
"No need to worry. They're on good terms with the soldiers too. They're honest, and whether it's fruit wine making, cooking, or cleaning, they apparently remember what we say and do careful work."
"I bet, I bet."
It seems they're getting along better than I thought.
The Demon Race woman's house is, in short, a cave. As someone with wings, the entrance is in the middle of a cliff.
"You enter from here."
It's more of a crack than a hole. Since there's a ledge, it's possible to stand in front of the entrance. However, you have to crawl in one by one.
"Are you okay? You can enter if it's one by one, right?"
She herself entered with Teleport and was only showing her face from another small hole nearby. It's just like a beehive.
"Is it okay if we intrude?"
"I don't mind. However, everything inside is mine. If you take anything without permission, I'll kill you."
"Please rest assured on that point. We would not do such a thing."
"I hope so."
It can't be helped. Since the scouts Carla and Annabella were there, I gave them each a Firefly and had them enter first, then had them spread the Simple Teleportation Magic Circle that the monster extermination unit had brought inside.
"Heh, you've made various preparations."
The abilities are different. Someone who uses non-vocalized Teleport wouldn't understand.
When I entered, it was indeed spacious. It was the size of a large mountain hut. I thought it would be pitch black, but the first hall had many holes for light, and since the Demon Race woman lit several torches, it was dim but not inconvenient.
The stone was neatly hollowed out and the walls were smooth. The floor had very small depressions that weren't enough to catch on, so as not to slip. The details are fine.
In the center of the room was a large stone table, and there were also four long benches. They weren't brought in later, but the rock was left to become a table and long benches when the room was made. It's similar to the hideout Alex made. She seems to have equivalent magic control. Fundamentally, there are no pieces of furniture, and everything seems to have been made by hollowing out the rock. There's also one fireplace. Firewood was also piled up. There are also shelves with tableware lined up. There are hooks on the wall with several leather bags hanging. Since there are several doors, there must be other rooms. Those naturally had wooden doors.
"Ah!"
There's a mirror! A full-length size is embedded in the wall.
"What? Is a mirror rare for a human?"
"No, I just thought you really are a woman."
Until now, I've entered many Demon Race habitats and spirit dwellings, but this is the first time I've seen a full-length mirror. I can feel a sense of familiarity with the furnishings.
"It's for grooming, right?"
"That's true."
Sianya, Carla, and Annabella also came to see.
"It would be nice to have a full-length mirror of this size."
"Yeah."
It was Carla and Annabella. A full-length mirror is something beyond the reach of commoners. Everyone only has hand mirrors. I'm the same.
"What, you don't have one? You have mages, so you should just make one."
"Can you make them with magic?"
Carla bit at the chance, asking her to teach them.
"Yeah, the point is to polish a metal plate, right? Metal is originally taken from rock, so you can polish it by applying earth magic."
Apparently, you put a truly fine powder-like sand? mixed with water on the metal plate and move it finely and quickly with Clump Sand to polish it. It uses stones instead of sand, but I wonder if it's like threshing? I feel like it would take more time than threshing. Since it requires magic control, I wonder if it can't be done well unless you're at the ultra-high-level. I understand, but if I ask someone to do it instead of doing it myself, it'll end up being more expensive.
"Humans are inconvenient."
She's cackling.
"Only royalty, nobility, or the wealthy have something this big."
"Heh, does Jeanne have one?"
"I don't."
"What about you?"
She's asking Sianya.
"I have them if I go home."
Well, I guess so. Doesn't she have any number of them?
"As I thought, a princess is different, isn't she?"
"Yeah."
"Princess?"
In an instant, Carla and Annabella's complexions changed. If I were to say it was an unnecessary word, that would be it.
"What, so that's why you're a beauty. I'm the Queen here too. We're on the same level. We both have large mirrors."
"Hehe, that's true. I look forward to working with you."
Carla and Annabella let out sighs of relief. As expected of Sianya. She settled it perfectly.
As a result, the place became harmonious, and at the suggestion of the Demon Race woman, who had become cheerful, we decided to have a light drink while taking a break.
Everyone sat at the table.
When the Demon Race woman snapped her fingers, three hornless ones came. When the Queen said something, one of them brought a barrel from behind the door. The other two lined up the bowls.
"It's fruit wine I made. Well, have some. It might not be to your taste, but don't you dare say it's unpalatable."
A liquid of a mysterious hue, which I would call orange with a strong yellowish tint, was poured.
When I drank it, the mouthfeel, the acidity, the sweetness, and the way it went down were all exceedingly delicious. This is on par with the fruit wine made by elves. Humans probably couldn't make this.
"Delicious!"
"Is it? That's good."
She smiled as if relieved to see Sianya's smile. A princess of a nation is saying it's delicious. Anyone would be happy.
"It is an exquisite fruit wine. I have never tasted anything this good in my life."
Come to think of it, Price-sama didn't participate in the banquet at the elven village.
Everyone else was also full of praise. Sianya and Price-sama are saying it's delicious. Anyone who drinks it would find it delicious.
Since it was a special occasion, I brought out the new work that Miana had wrapped up.
"This is tasty. Did Jeanne make it?"
She really is a girl. She liked it.
Sianya smiled at me with only her eyes. Miana also participates in the recent plague countermeasure meetings and always gives us her new works. She must have noticed immediately upon tasting it.
"A companion runs a shop, and it's made there. It's a specialty."
Actually, a princess of Sertoria is making it, but I can't say that.