kscans

Chapter 331 - The Three Shrines and the Demonfolk

On the third day after the seal on Shuten Doji was broken, Hayato, Maris, Surya, Jolth, and Victor, a party of five, were heading for a shrine said to be on the west side of Onigashima.

They had decided this morning to explore Onigashima. There was a possibility that they wouldn't be able to defeat Shuten Doji without disabling some kind of mechanism.

During their fight with Shuten Doji, Maris and Surya had discovered a likely location. Onigashima was shaped like a triangle, and apparently, they had spotted a shrine-like structure on each of the pointed capes.

It was decided they would head to the western cape, one of those three. The judgment was to check the closest one first.

However, they still wanted to keep chipping away at Shuten Doji's health, so only Hayato, Maris, and Surya formed the investigation team. Although Hayato was a target, they concluded that in a wide open field, with Maris and Surya accompanied by their pets, there was no way they could lose.

Just as they were about to set out, Jolth came over to greet them.

Hayato thought it would end with a simple greeting, but then Jolth and his second in command, Victor, said they would go with them. They were asked to come as an apology for their failure to persuade Shooting Star.

Hayato refused, saying no such apology was necessary, but Jolth and his group wouldn't back down. Hayato was worried since the NPCs Maris and Surya were present, but the two of them had become acquainted with Jolth's group on the floating island, so he figured it would probably be fine. In the end, they were allowed to accompany them.

Due to these circumstances, a party of five people and two pets began the exploration, now heading on foot toward the western tip of the island.

"Well now, there really is something that looks like a shrine at the tip of the island."

"That's right. We only saw it from the sky, so it might be something else, but Simon-san, one of the people from the Eastern Country, taught me a few things, so I think it's almost certainly a shrine."

Maris answered Jolth's comment.

The four of them were conversing quite normally. It felt like a regular adventure, and the demons that appeared as they traveled were defeated without any trouble by Maris, Surya, Jolth, and Victor.

"By the way, how do you undo Shuten Doji's seal?"

"Oh, that's..."

"Hey, don't just try to give away information for free."

Hayato stopped Maris just as she was about to answer.

For a moment, Maris had a confused look on her face, but then she remembered with a start.

"Oh, that's right! Jolth-san, your way with words is dangerous!"

"It's not my way with words, but no dice, huh. Still, you know, I think it's a bit much to keep the method for starting such a fun event a secret. You guys did it, right? Won't you share the info?"

"You don't miss a thing. Is that why you came along?"

"No, no, that's just a side thing. My main goal is to be Hayato's bodyguard."

"Don't try to get information as a side thing. Though I guess it's only a matter of time..."

Hayato said this and looked at Maris.

To begin with, Maris didn't seem like she could keep a secret. You could say she was honest to a fault, or that she didn't know how to be suspicious. To Hayato, it felt like he was looking at Ney from a little while ago.

"Hayato-san, and Surya too, why are you looking at me with such pitiful eyes?"

"Well, it seems like you might let it slip, Maris."

"I agree with Hayato-san on that."

"Oh, is that what this is about. In that case, I agree too!"

"Could you at least deny it yourself?"

Jolth and Victor watched this exchange between Hayato's group with wide eyes.

Their reaction was natural for any ordinary player. Normally, you don't have casual chats with NPCs. You might talk to them to buy and sell items or gather information, but you rarely treat them like friends.

Players know you can converse with NPCs, but the thought that they are still AI always crosses their minds, the idea that even if it isn't a canned response, they are just reacting in a way that seems appropriate.

Jolth was more flexible in his thinking than most, and sharing information on the floating island had changed his perspective to some extent, but he was still quite surprised by the interactions between Hayato and his friends.

"Hayato, are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Your conversations with Maris-san and Surya-san."

Hayato didn't understand what Jolth was saying at first, but when he realized the intent, he said, "Ah," and nodded.

"Yeah, it's always like this."

"Somehow, I think I understand why you're so well liked."

"Well liked... am I? I'm certainly valued as a supplier of Nekomanma Deluxe."

As Hayato spoke self-deprecatingly, Maris shook her head with a smile.

"That's not true! We value you for your other cooking too!"

"That's even worse. I feel like we've had a similar conversation before."

"Oh, come on, I'm just kidding!"

Witnessing yet another exchange that seemed impossible for an NPC, Jolth and Victor's eyes went wide again.

"Ah, right. I heard from Jolth that you're fast at making production items, Hayato. Something about being able to craft nonstop?"

Perhaps to regain his composure, Victor posed a question.

Hayato nodded.

"Apparently so. Come to think of it, the Dwarves at the World Tree were surprised too... There are risks, so there's no need to do it, but it's become a habit."

"Risks? What kind of risks?"

"The risk that if you do something unnecessary while crafting an item, it gets canceled and you lose the materials. If you open the menu before the item is finished, you get the same result as a failure."

Victor was surprised and immediately looked at Jolth. It was the first time he'd heard of that mechanic, so he looked over for confirmation.

Jolth, understanding the meaning of the glance, nodded.

"Why is that a feature?"

"It's said that it's to prevent people from repeatedly restarting until the five-star effect appears, since you'd get the materials back upon canceling."

When a five-star item is created, there's an effect where a rainbow-colored light overflows. Item creation can be canceled voluntarily or if you're attacked by a monster, but if the materials were returned, you could just cancel and try again and again until the rainbow effect appeared.

It was said that this mechanic was in place to prevent that.

"So for that reason, continuous crafting during battle or against the clock is just risky and mostly pointless. I've wasted materials that way a few times myself."

"...But that rarely happens now, right?"

"I guess it's ingrained in my body. I don't think I've lost materials that way recently."

Victor looked slightly exasperated, but Jolth listened with a laugh. Maris and Surya were also listening, but Maris pleaded, "Please make Nekomanma Deluxe the normal way!"

After about ten minutes of walking while having such conversations, the five of them and their two pets arrived at their destination.

Just as Maris and Surya had seen from the sky, it was a shrine.

It was a wooden shrine, approximately five meters in height, width, and depth. It had an aged appearance and looked as if it could crumble at any moment.

Assuming a shrine must enshrine something, they approached it.

There was a lattice-like opening in the front door, but the inside was dark and impossible to see.

It might not be right to open the door without permission, but last night, he had asked Benitsuru, and she said she didn't know what was there, so he had her permission to do whatever he judged best.

"Whatever happens, I'll be the one to get scolded, so don't worry!"

That's what she had said, so Hayato figured it would be fine and opened the door. The door was huge, but he felt no weight at all and it opened immediately.

"...A dog?"

To be precise, it was a stone statue of a dog. From Hayato's knowledge, it didn't look like a Doberman or a Siberian Husky, but rather a Japanese breed. Probably a Shiba Inu. It was enshrined in the shrine. It wasn't a cute size, it was large enough to just barely fit inside.

Maris and Surya peeked inside from either side of Hayato. "It's a Shiba Inu!" Maris said cheerfully, and Surya nodded.

Jolth's group also looked inside the shrine, but their expressions clearly showed question marks floating above their heads.

"I wonder if we're supposed to make an offering of some kind? There's a plate here."

Just as Maris pointed out, a plate was placed in front of the dog statue.

"For me, the best-case scenario is that the petrification comes undone and it becomes our ally!"

Hayato thought that was just like the animal-loving Maris, and he tried placing some Nekomanma Deluxe on the plate.

About a minute passed, but there was no change. Figuring the offering was wrong, he tried placing various other items, but there was still no change.

"I wonder what the correct offering is. But why a dog in the first place?"

When Jolth said that, Maris reacted.

"They're cute, aren't they! It would be amazing if it fought alongside us!"

"Well, even if it's cute, a dog can't fight, can it? Though it might be strong since it's this big."

"Ah, that's it. It will fight with us."

At Hayato's words, everyone present turned their gazes to him, looking puzzled.

"There's an old tale, you see. A dog, a pheasant, and a monkey run rampant on Onigashima. I'm guessing if we make the proper offering, they'll either fight with us, or Shuten Doji will be weakened."

There were some inaccuracies in the content of the old tale Hayato recounted, but it was close enough. And he had confirmed that a book containing that story was in the castle's library, a book he had wondered if was really necessary. Hayato was sure he wasn't mistaken.

The problem was the offering. The possibilities were millet dumplings or peaches. He didn't have any peaches, nor had he brought the ingredients to make millet dumplings.

Hayato immediately sent a voice chat to Rose.

"Rose-san, sorry to bother you so suddenly, but where are you right now?"

"I am just about to head to Onigashima, but is something the matter?"

"Perfect timing. I actually have a favor to ask..."

Hayato explained the situation.

He requested that she buy peaches and the ingredients for millet dumplings. He had already confirmed that both could be obtained in the Eastern Country's capital, Azuma.

Rose didn't question it. "So it's necessary for the subjugation of Shuten Doji? Understood," she consented. Her arrival on Onigashima would be delayed, but it was decided she would head there after making the purchases.

Although he was almost certain, Hayato thought he should check the other two shrines as well. If his prediction was correct, there should be stone statues of a pheasant and a monkey in those shrines.

"I think we should check the remaining two shrines just in case. Are Maris and Surya-san up for it?"

"Of course, we're fine!"

"We're Hayato-san's bodyguards today, so it's no problem."

Hayato nodded to the two of them, then looked towards Jolth's group.

"Jolth, Victor, are you two still okay to continue?"

"Of course. It looks like something interesting is about to happen, and it seems more fun than fighting Shuten Doji."

"Same here. No problem."

"Alright, then let's take a look around Onigashima."

Hayato said this, closed the shrine door, and decided to head for the northern shrine.

Hayato's group went around the remaining two shrines and confirmed that there were stone statues of a pheasant and a monkey.

It seemed other players on Onigashima had also found their way to the shrines, but most of them just tilted their heads at the stone statues inside, not knowing what to do.

There were even some people trying to tame the statues, which made Maris look as if she was thinking, "That's an idea!"

Some players seemed to have figured out what the statues were, but like Hayato's group, they couldn't make millet dumplings at the moment, so they gave up for the day and decided to try again tomorrow.

It was Jolth who took charge of coordinating things.

Clan members from Imperial and Over the Top had also come to check the shrines, and after sharing information, they provided it to the other clans that had come to explore.

While it was possible to get a head start before tomorrow, it seemed no one wanted to be on the bad side of a major clan like Bandit, so the other clans also agreed to the schedule.

Hayato was thinking it would be bad if nothing happened even after offering the millet dumplings, but Jolth said with a laugh, "If that happens, we'll take the blame, so it's fine."

That wouldn't be right, so if nothing happened, Hayato intended to step forward and say he was the one who suggested it to Jolth. Conversely, if it went well, he didn't want to stand out, so he intended to let them receive the praise.

After various things were decided, it was time for work, so Hayato returned to the campsite and logged out.

And then, night came. After finishing work and preparations for the next day, he logged in and was surprised by the number of people.

Rose, the Maid Chief, Gil and the Ten Dark Knights, and an unfamiliar woman had been added to their numbers. He guessed that the woman was the Demonfolk Ney had mentioned yesterday, Xenobia Bellot.

Thinking that the number of people had grown quite a bit, Hayato decided to greet them, approaching Rose and the Maid Chief. Esha seemed to be nearby as well, as the three of them were talking.

Before he could call out, Esha noticed him.

"Master, please tell these two. Tell them that Esha is the best maid."

"I wouldn't say that even as a compliment. I wouldn't say it even if you threatened me with a gun. But why the sudden request?"

"They said I'm probably just playing around while eating chocolate parfaits. My feelings are hurt, so please give me a chocolate parfait."

It was wrong in the first place to expect Esha to do maid work, but Hayato thought of her as a top-tier asset in terms of combat strength. Besides, she worked diligently in the real world, and the real Esha was very proper. Although there were times she was so slovenly it was hard to know where to look.

Taking that into consideration, he decided to back her up.

"Esha is doing her best. And even if she lacks maid skills, her combat strength is more than enough to make up for it."

Esha seemed a little dissatisfied with that evaluation, but Rose and the Maid Chief appeared to be convinced.

After that conversation, he exchanged greetings with the two of them.

"Hayato-sama, the materials I brought from the base have been placed in the storehouse that's serving as our storage. The ingredients for the millet dumplings and the peaches have been placed there as well, so please confirm them later."

"Thank you, Rose-san. That's a great help."

She had brought a large quantity of materials for making food and medicine, so they would last until Shuten Doji was defeated. Ney and the others had been going into the mines in between fighting Shuten Doji, but they were having trouble mining enough ore for a single day, so this was a great help for Hayato.

"Also, regarding the shop's inventory, all consumables have sold out. There are no food or medicine items left at all."

"Well, that can't be helped. But I wonder what our neighbors wanted to do. If they were selling at a thirty percent discount, I would have thought it was a rival-like situation, but in the end, they just contributed to our sales. Though our inventory is gone now."

"Regarding that," the Maid Chief said, staring at Hayato.

"It has been determined that the neighboring clan is a subsidiary of Shooting Star."

"Ah, so it was them after all."

Hayato had requested the Maid Guild to investigate Shooting Star. The Maid Chief had brought the investigation report, and he decided to hear the results.

Shooting Star was a clan that had recently grown large, with its base in the Demon Country. They had enormous funds and used them for activities like acquisitions.

Currently, they had about fifteen clans under their umbrella, making them a clan of one hundred and fifty people. The leader's name was Harrington, a man who rarely appeared in public. His female butler, Ronios, and a maid named Cremola acted on Harrington's instructions.

The source of their funds was unknown. One theory was that they had obtained some unbelievably rare item and sold it to a major clan, but there was no proof.

That was all the information, but there was something that bothered Hayato.

"A base in the Demon Country?"

"I thought you would have that question, so I looked into that as well. Though I only asked Demon Lord Lunaria-sama and Rosalie-sama."

To build a base in the Demon Country, one needed to be on good terms with the Demons, Undead, or NPCs living there, like Mist. It was a rule that players could not build bases in the Demon Country without permission.

When the Maid Chief checked with Lunaria and Rosalie, they said that at the very least, the Demon Lord's Army had never given anyone permission to build a base. They also hadn't received any such reports from the residents of the Demon Country.

A conceivable possibility was that someone who originally lived in the Demon Country was lending them the location as a base.

"Someone lending it to them..."

"I actually asked Lunaria-sama and Rosalie-sama if they had anyone in mind."

"Were they acquaintances of the two?"

"They both made quite unpleasant faces and didn't answer. I thought there might be some problem, so I didn't press them and left it at that."

"Those two did?"

For them to show such disgust must mean something significant. Hayato had a decent relationship with both of them. From his impression of them so far, he couldn't imagine them making such faces.

Both were expressive, but he didn't think they were the type to show so much aversion that they wouldn't even talk about it.

Rosalie and the others had disliked Gil and his group before, and had shown their aversion, but they hadn't refused to talk about it. It was more exasperation at the talk of muscles.

Lunaria had also seemed displeased with the Hero, Ivan, but it was more of an annoyance because he was persistent, not that she hated him that much.

Considering that, it seemed the person they had in mind was truly despised.

"They probably thought it involved the banished Demonfolk."

"Gil-san."

Gil, the leader of the Ten Dark Knights, approached and said this.

He was as huge as ever, but he wasn't wearing armor now, and his stern face was not hidden by a helm. He smiled at Hayato with that face.

"Hayato-dono, I am glad to fight alongside you again. I thank you for the invitation."

"No, no, thank you for coming all this way."

"There's also the fact that Lunaria-sama called for me, but thanks to Hayato-dono, I had a pleasant ship journey with Maid Chief-dono and Rose-dono. I wouldn't have minded if the destination was a little farther."

He heard a "kyun" from the Maid Chief's direction but ignored it and asked Gil a question.

"By the way, did you say banished Demonfolk?"

"Yes. There are nine people called Demonfolk in total, but one of them refused to acknowledge Lunaria-sama as the Demon Lord, claiming that she herself was the Demon Lord. She challenged her to a fight, lost, and was banished. I've heard she has a ferocious personality and was quite a troublesome person even before Lunaria-sama became the Demon Lord."

Gil and the Ten Dark Knights joined the Demon Lord's Army after that and had never met her. However, the information had been shared, and there was a rule to mercilessly defeat her if she ever attacked the Demon Lord's Castle.

"Something like that happened? But wait, was becoming the Demon Lord a matter of being acknowledged or not?"

It was just part of the game's setting, but both the Hero and the Demon Lord awakened into their roles. It wasn't something that required anyone's permission. If anything, it might require permission from the administrator, Diite.

"I hear she had a sort of rivalry with Lunaria-sama. So perhaps she didn't want to acknowledge Lunaria-sama as the Demon Lord."

"...Something like jealousy?"

"It's blunt to put it that way, but that's probably what it was. In the end, after rampaging in the Demon Lord's Castle, she apparently stole treasure from the treasury and left. Because of that, the topic of the banished Demonfolk is not welcomed in the Demon Lord's Army."

"I see. By the way, may I ask her name?"

"She is a woman by the name of Amanda Stellart. I have also heard that she was from the same hometown as Lunaria-sama before she became the Demon Lord. It seems they had never met before forming a clan, though."

"I understand. I'll be careful around anyone with that name. It's possible she might get involved."

"If that happens, it happens. Should that be the case, the Demon Lord's Army will be your full-fledged ally, so you can count on us."

Hayato said, "I'll be counting on you then," and bowed his head.

After that, Gil and his group went to greet Ash and the others. Rose and the Maid Chief, taking Esha with them, also started making their rounds of greetings, leaving Hayato alone.

Hayato decided to greet the Demonfolk he was meeting for the first time, Xenobia Bellot, and approached her.

Xenobia was in an area with Lunaria, the members of Black Rose, and many other women. Hayato felt a bit intimidated, but he told himself that while they might be people in real life, this was a virtual reality, and drew closer.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hayato..."

"Gyaaa!"

When Hayato spoke from behind her, the woman he thought was Xenobia let out a scream and immediately hid behind Lunaria. Then she glared at Hayato. The intensity in her eyes was no small matter.

It was a scene reminiscent of when Lunaria hid behind Esha at the base long ago. That aside, it was quite hurtful. He felt like he understood how Ivan felt when Lunaria did the same to him.

Wondering if he had done something wrong, the members of Black Rose gathered around Lunaria and Xenobia, forming a protective formation. At the center of it, Lunaria was trying to calm Xenobia down.

"Did I... do something...?"

Rosalie approached Hayato and shook her head.

"No, it's not your fault, Hayato, but Xenobia-sama has androphobia. She was likely surprised because you suddenly spoke to her. From now on, please contact us before you speak to her. She needs to prepare herself, so about an hour in advance."

"Is everyone in the Demon Lord's Army like this?"

After all, Lunaria had social anxiety. She became quite forward once you got used to her, but fundamentally, she was afraid of others. And Xenobia was apparently afraid of men. The Demonfolk Amanda that he had just heard about from Gil also seemed to be a problem, so Hayato was worried about the Demon Lord's Army.

"What do you mean, 'like this'? I think she'll be fine once she gets used to you, but for a while, I think she'll react like that if you talk to her. Or her infinite combo might explode, so you should be careful."

"I see, I just wanted to say hello... Infinite combo...?"

"It's Xenobia-sama's special move where she continues to attack endlessly until her opponent is defeated. The conditions seem to be strict, but once it's set in motion, she unleashes a continuous barrage of attacks that doesn't allow the opponent to counterattack."

"I'd be defeated in one hit, so it wouldn't be a combo."

"I don't know how to respond to your self-deprecation."

(An infinite combo, huh. I feel like there was something like that in fighting games, but it's a special move...?)

As he thought that, Hayato looked at Xenobia, who was taking deep breaths with Lunaria while being protected by the members of Black Rose.

Xenobia was a petite woman like Noat, a little over 150 centimeters tall. Her dark green hair was cut short, but it was messy and didn't look like it was cared for.

She wore a hooded poncho coat that covered her down to her knees, with a high collar that hid her mouth. The color was a dark green similar to her hair, so much so that she would likely be camouflaged and disappear in a forest.

On both hands, she wore large, rugged silver gauntlets that couldn't be completely hidden by the poncho coat, and for some reason, her feet were bare.

When Xenobia finished her deep breaths, she glanced at Hayato, but when their eyes met, she quickly hid behind Lunaria again. Then, while glaring at Hayato, she mumbled something to Lunaria.

"I'm Xenobia. She says thank you for preparing a room."

Lunaria said. Hayato guessed she was interpreting Xenobia's words, or rather, speaking for her. Her expression didn't match the content, but Hayato smiled at Xenobia and said, "You're welcome."

"If there's anything inconvenient, please don't hesitate to tell me. Ah, before that, my name is Hayato. It's nice to meet you."

Xenobia, still hiding behind Lunaria, glared at Hayato even more intensely, but she nodded her head up and down.

(So we can communicate as long as someone acts as an intermediary.)

No sooner had he thought that than a stir went through the surrounding area.

"Eh? What?"

"Xenobia-sama spoke with a man she met today..."

Rosalie muttered this, and not just the members of Black Rose, but Lunaria too, looked at Hayato in surprise.

To Hayato, it was an exchange that barely qualified as a conversation, but it must have been a surprising reaction.

Xenobia was mumbling something to Lunaria.

"She says she likes the room's interior. And that the food is delicious. She's also saying you should treat the Demon Lord to the best dessert."

"She didn't say that last part, did she? I'm glad she likes it. If there's any food you want to eat, just let me know and I'll make it."

When he said that, Xenobia's face went blank for a moment, but she stopped glaring and tried to form a smile. Her expression was quite awkward, but the effort was apparent.

The surroundings stirred even more, but Hayato could only wonder if it was really that unusual.

"Your harmless appearance might be just right for Xenobia-sama."

"Rosalie-san, just so you know, harmless is not a compliment."

"I intended it as the highest form of praise, though?"

Though he thought, "Really?" he also felt that his presence might be putting a considerable strain on Xenobia, so Hayato gave her another smile and then left the area.

Afterward, Hayato gathered information about the afternoon's battle with Shuten Doji, then confirmed the materials Rose had brought, and began maintaining the weapons and armor and making millet dumplings.