kscans

Chapter 279 - The Princess and the Demon Lord

A banquet was underway at the mansion Hayato and the others were using as a temporary base.

It was a far more lavish affair than the previous one, serving as both an expression of gratitude and apology from Simon and Benitsuru, and as a welcome for the Demon Lord’s Army.

Hayato, eager to use his beloved knife that had been returned to him, took the ingredients provided and cooked one dish after another, despite being on the receiving end of the gratitude. It was fair to say this added to the splendor of the banquet. He had likely wanted to vent his frustrations after everything that had happened.

Just as Hayato had hoped, the Ten Holy Demonic Swords and the ninjas had all been thoroughly beaten and captured. The leader of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords was also already confined to a cell, with no possibility of escape.

Even if the ninjas possessed treasure-hunting skills, they could not break out. Each country had an inescapable prison, prepared as a place to confine troublesome NPCs and players. Diite had explained this to Hayato with a smug look on her face.

For the time being, the matter was settled.

There would be discussions about what to do with the Ten Holy Demonic Swords and the ninjas in the future, but it had already been decided that they would not see the outside for at least a few years.

And before the banquet, Benitsuru had bowed her head and apologized. Simon had also bowed her head beside her.

Benitsuru used polite language in her apology, and perhaps because of that, she stumbled over her words, but it was a heartfelt apology, so no one reprimanded her.

Only Lunaria, perhaps because their circumstances were similar, felt something and approached Benitsuru to speak. She lightly placed her right hand on Benitsuru’s shoulder and spoke as if to reason with her.

"Being selfish is not good. That is why you are betrayed."

Everyone present was dumbfounded. Most of them had the words, ‘look who’s talking,’ on the tips of their tongues, but since Benitsuru was deeply moved, no one interrupted.

Besides, the Demon Lord’s Army, although Lunaria had been at fault, had done as they pleased, confining her to make cookies or making her a fashion model.

Hayato thought it was a case of mutual fault, but that they probably had a good relationship. He did not know if it was really a good relationship, but he decided that the lack of reservation between them was not a bad thing.

After that exchange, the free conversation continued.

Hayato finished his meal and stood up to talk to various people. Perhaps because he had been in sales before, it had become second nature for him to go and greet people himself.

First, he headed towards Benitsuru and Simon.

This time, Benitsuru was in the seat of honor as before, but she was sitting in seiza on a single cushion. She was not the cheerful drunk she had been last time. She looked happy, but she was more subdued. This was probably a manifestation of her remorse.

Seeing Hayato approach, Benitsuru looked apologetic. And she bowed her head.

"Hayacchi, I’m sorry—oh, no, no. Hayato-san, I am truly sorry."

"No, no, everything turned out fine, so you don’t have to be so formal. I got my knife back, too. You can go back to your usual way of speaking. You apologized at the beginning, and we accepted your apology, right? That’s the end of it."

"But…"

Benitsuru glanced at Simon. That Simon nodded.

"Since Hayato says so, it is probably fine. However, you must not get too carried away. If you do the same thing again, you will lose their favor for good. Not just mine, but everyone here."

"Ugh. Y-yeah, I wouldn’t want that…"

"Now, now, Simon, don’t threaten Benny too much. It was a difficult situation this time, but she just needs to learn from this and grow little by little. Besides, everyone makes mistakes, so as long as she doesn’t make the same mistake, it’s fine."

"Hayacchi, you’re so kind. Yeah. Next time, I’ll try to think things through so I don’t get tricked."

At Benitsuru’s words, Hayato nodded with a smile.

In the first place, Benitsuru looked to be in her late teens. And though she was a princess, she was just strong. Not all of them were, but it could be said that she was at an age where she was easily deceived by bad adults.

It was probably unavoidable that she would trust the Ten Swords, who indulged her selfishness, more than Simon, who was always nagging her.

"From now on, I’ll listen to what Simon says and try to be a respectable princess. Besides, I have someone to look up to now!"

"Oh, who?"

"Demon Lord Lunacchi. Lunacchi is amazing. Mad respect. I’m going to try my best to be someone my retainers admire, just like Lunacchi. Maybe I’ll start by making cookies."

"I think that’s a bad idea."

In the first place, Lunaria was not so much selfish as she was outrageous.

The Demon Lord’s Army, which was at her mercy, must have had a hard time. However, she rarely used her power as the Demon Lord against her companions, and she listened to their admonitions, so there was a balance.

In the first place, Lunaria was tied up with ropes or confined to her room. The reason this was possible for the Demon Lord Lunaria was because Lunaria did not fight back against her companions.

Hayato thought that unless it was something serious, she listened to what those around her told her not to do. He thought that was probably not good for a Demon Lord, but perhaps that was why she was admired.

After finishing his conversation with the two of them, he headed towards Lunaria this time.

Lunaria was sitting as if sandwiched between Rosalie and Gil.

She was wearing a yukata and a haori instead of her usual crimson armor. However, the design was different from the yukatas everyone else was wearing. It was probably a unique yukata designed by the members of the Black Rose.

"Lunaria-san, thank you for today. You were a great help."

"Yeah. But don’t worry about it. I just came because I had a strange feeling that Rosalie-chan was about to get involved in something strange. The Demon Lord has strong premonitions."

Lunaria said that with a smug look on her face.

What’s a strong premonition? And didn’t she say she came for a sightseeing trip?

Not just Hayato, but Rosalie was also looking at Lunaria with a suspicious gaze.

"What was the real reason you came? For that matter, I received a message yesterday that Lunaria-sama’s selfishness had exploded, you know?"

Come to think of it, she did say something had happened at the Demon Lord’s Castle…

Lunaria could not withstand Rosalie’s gaze and averted her eyes.

It was Gil who burst out laughing at that.

"Hahaha. Lunaria-sama was lonely because Rosalie-dono took a vacation and went to play. She insisted that we all take a vacation and go to the Eastern Country, so we gave in and came all the way here."

When Rosalie had said she was going to the Eastern Country with Ney and the others, Lunaria had said she wanted to go too, but the Black Rose and the Dark Knights had confined Lunaria to her room and made her do paperwork. That had worked for a few days, but she probably could not stand it.

Lunaria had proposed that they all go to the Eastern Country and had received permission.

"Oh, so that’s how it was."

"Gil-chan is insulting the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord does not feel lonely. It just so happened that I wanted to go to the Eastern Country. This is a sightseeing trip for the Demon Lord’s Army, a Demon Lord’s pet project. For that matter, it’s Hayato-san’s fault. If you’re going to invite Rosalie-chan, you should invite me too. So that this doesn’t happen in the future, write a pledge."

It seems like what she’s saying is gradually changing, but is it tactless to point that out? Besides, Rosalie-san looks happy, so it’s probably better not to say anything unnecessary.

"Then from now on, I’ll make sure to invite you too, Lunaria-san. By the way, next time, we’re going to fight a turtle called Genbu in a place called Ryugu, so could you help us out? I think with Lunaria-san’s Arondight, we’d have a considerable advantage in the fight."

According to Diite, Genbu had high physical defense. But Lunaria’s Arondight could unleash an attack that ignored defense and had high base damage. They would have a considerable advantage.

Lunaria was happy to be relied on, and her face broke into a wide smile, then for some reason, her expression changed to a proud one.

"Hmph, an easy task."

"I can take that as a yes, right?"

"You can leave it to this Demon Lord Lunaria. A turtle, I’ll just, like, flip it over."

It was Rosalie who sighed at this exchange.

"As usual, Hayato treats Lunaria-sama so well. Well, since she went to the trouble of coming, I was planning to ask her myself. By the way, the members of the Black Rose will be going with us, so we won’t have any problems in terms of combat strength."

"Really? That’s a great help. Oh, by any chance, will Gil-san and the others be going too?"

At Hayato’s question, Gil shook his head.

"No, the members of the Ten Dark Knights will be going to Takamagahara to investigate the hot spring source. I hear there is a giant snake there, so we plan to exterminate it."

"Is that so? Oh, speaking of the hot spring source—"

"Umu. When Lunaria-sama found out she couldn’t enter the open-air bath, she was a little disappointed. I heard about it from your companion, Hayato-dono—yes, yes, from Ren-dono, so I intend to resolve it."

"Yeah. I’m entrusting Gil-chan with a great task. It’s meaningless to come all this way and not be able to enter the open-air bath. To show off the Demon Lord’s magnificent crawl, just go and defeat that snake."

"Hahaha. It is a great honor. I shall live up to Lunaria-sama’s expectations."

"The open-air bath is fine, but you’ll be scolded if you swim in the bath."

"To scold the Demon Lord is laughable."

"Rosalie-san scolds you often, right?"

Seeing the usual Lunaria, Hayato let out a small, wry smile.

The Demon Lord is outrageous, huh? But this time, she helped us. Hearing all the circumstances makes me feel a little conflicted, but I should probably thank her properly.

Hayato used his reclaimed knife to make a large amount of chocolate parfaits and other desserts and gave them to Lunaria. He also asked the members of the Black Rose and the Dark Knights what they wanted to eat and gave them their dishes. Everyone ate with satisfied looks on their faces.

Lunaria, who was watching, nodded.

"As expected of the Demon Lord’s Army’s exclusive chef. Make this every day from now on."

"Don’t decide that without my consent."

Wondering if he had just gotten another strange title, Hayato looked around, planning to move to another spot.