kscans

Chapter 52 - A Troublesome Customer

Hayato was in his room, thinking about the past week.

In the week since Diite had joined, she had taken him to various places almost every day. All of them were places known as scenic spots, with a strong fantasy feel. Hayato had been moved by the scenery, which would be impossible in reality, but a whole week of it was tough.

He couldn't have Ash and the others escorting him all the time, and they also needed to prepare for the Clan War. So they decided to take a break from their adventures with Diite for a while.

Diite seemed a little dissatisfied, but she understood.

(But what does Diite-chan want to do? She takes me to all these places, but all we do is camp. It's not like she wants me to make any rare items, we just do some simple cooking on the spot. I don't really get her objective.)

To put it simply, they were just visiting scenic spots and not doing much of anything. Esha had even sarcastically remarked, "So while I'm tending the shop, you're all out having fun?" a few times. She had cheered up immediately when he gave her the food he'd made as a souvenir, though.

(Could it be that she just wants to see the scenic spots...? No, Diite-chan spoke as if she'd seen them before. In that case, her objective is to show them to me, maybe? But why?)

He didn't understand her purpose, so he decided to ask her directly next time.

Just then, the door to his room suddenly opened. He wasn't surprised anymore, as it was Esha, as usual.

For some reason, Esha's eyebrows were furrowed in a V-shape.

"Master, we have a customer, but could you confirm if it's alright to serve them?"

"That's fine, but why do you look so troubled?"

"They are a rather problematic customer. I don't know where they heard about this, but they came all the way to see me."

"Is that so? Um, what kind of person are they?"

"A very troublesome person."

He didn't get any information, but the first thing that came to mind was a member of the Hero clan Esha used to be in. If he negotiated well, they might join the clan. With that hope, Hayato moved with Esha toward the shop.

In the shop, there was a person looking at the merchandise. At first, Hayato mistook them for a statue. That's because the person was clad head-to-toe in bright red armor, with only their mouth visible. From their build and gestures, he got the impression of a woman, but he couldn't be certain. They seemed to be as tall as or taller than Hayato, so if they were a woman, they would be quite tall.

He couldn't tell since only their mouth was visible, but he felt as though their eyes were meeting his. But they just stood there silently without saying anything.

Hayato decided he should be the one to speak first.

"Welcome. How may I help you today?"

When Hayato spoke, the person in red armor gave a slight nod. But that was all; they didn't say anything. Deciding this was getting nowhere, he sought help from Esha.

"Um, they're your acquaintance, right? Someone from your old clan?"

"No, that's not it. And it's more like I just know of them. They're just someone I know."

"Huh? Not an acquaintance? And, isn't this person in shock?"

The armored person seemed to have slumped their shoulders. Then, while looking at Esha, they started tapping their index fingers together. It was a slightly coquettish gesture, but they must have thought of Esha as an acquaintance or a friend.

Esha let out a small sigh at the armored person's action.

"I don't believe we've ever spoken... well, it doesn't matter. Master, allow me to introduce you. This is Lunaria Freire-sama. Her occupation is Demon Lord."

"I see—Demon Lord?"

"Yes. Apparently, she came to have a broken sword repaired—"

"Esha, let's calm down a bit. Do you know what you're saying? No, you don't, do you?"

"I am perfectly calm. I understand exactly what I am saying. In fact, shouldn't you be the one to calm down, Master?"

"It was the other way around. If this person is the Demon Lord, then you should be panicking more. Why are you acting so normal?"

"No matter who they are, once they cross the threshold of the shop, they are just a customer."

"I'm not interested in hearing about your principles right now."

Whether her composure in front of the Demon Lord was reliable or useless was a difficult judgment to make, but Hayato, having given up on various things, decided to try and communicate with the Demon Lord who had yet to utter a single word.

First of all, Esha might just be saying this to surprise him. He should confirm the facts first. Hayato opened his mouth with a sense of desperation.

"Um, your name is Lunaria-san, is that correct?"

Lunaria nodded in response to Hayato's words.

"And your occupation is Demon Lord, correct? It's not just Esha saying that, you're really the Demon Lord?"

Lunaria nodded to those words as well.

"Why would the Demon Lord come to a human country to have a sword fixed?"

He blurted out the straightforward question without thinking.

At those words, Lunaria's shoulders slumped dejectedly. Then she hugged her knees and sat down on the floor. Beyond the surreal sight, there was also the question of how she could sit like that with the armor's range of motion, but that was already irrelevant.

There was a more important problem.

He had once thought it might be possible to have a strong NPC like the Demon Lord as an ally, but upon reflection, doing so would likely break the game.

Hayato didn't know much about the Demon Lord. He knew that Esha had defeated the Demon Lord by taking the Hero down with her. The only other thing he knew was the main story he'd heard from Ney. After the last Clan War, she had taken her clan members and gone into hiding. That was about it.

And that vanished Demon Lord was right in front of him. He felt like saying, "What is this Demon Lord doing?"

For now, the Demon Lord wasn't in conflict with humans. However, if other NPCs recognized Hayato as someone connected to the Demon Lord, he didn't know what might happen. It seemed like he was already out just by her coming to the shop, but Hayato agonized over what to do.

"Master. May I have a word? I don't know why you're looking at me with such a resentful gaze, but please hear me out first."

"...Alright. What is it?"

"Lunaria-sama has social anxiety, and she can't speak unless she's quite close to someone."

"There's no way a Demon Lord like that exists—ah, my apologies. It's fine. It's a common story."

Of course it wasn't, but Hayato was being considerate so as not to add to Lunaria's apparent dejection. He would be in trouble if she went on a rampage for some reason.

He decided it was best to quickly grant her request and have her leave.

"Um, could you convey the details to Esha? You can speak with Esha, right? If my help is needed after that, I will assist you."

Lunaria, who seemed to have recovered a little, stood up looking somewhat happy and approached Esha.

"Alright then, Esha, I'll leave the rest to you."

"I just witnessed a terrible case of delegation, but I suppose it can't be helped. If you say you will grant the Demon Lord's request, Master, then I will treat her as a customer. Personally, I thought you would turn her away—um, Lunaria-sama, please don't pull on my maid outfit. I will listen to your story."

(So I could have turned her away? And why is the Demon Lord so attached to Esha?)

Hayato felt a slight regret, thinking he might have made the wrong choice, but he couldn't take it back now, so he resolved to handle the situation as discreetly as possible.