The gold-haired Elf with the huge chest was Shera L. Greenwood. She admired Summoners, but seemed to be proficient with a bow. She also appeared to have come from “an amazing background.”
That was all he knew about the two so far.
Because it seemed like Diablo would be living in this world for who knew how long, he had to gather as much information as he could about the two of them.
—I don’t know if I’ll even be able to get back to the real world, either.
He couldn’t say if he would end up living a life here as one of their Summons, but it was definitely the option with the highest probability at the moment.
It was important that he confirmed the girl’s motives for doing all this.
If their reason for traveling was something like, “I seek a place to die...” or “I want to find people who are stronger than me!” then he would have to decline.
He didn’t think there would be any mechanics like “You lose all your experience points when you die and then respawn” in a world that felt as real as this one.
“You must have a suitable reason for calling someone as powerful as myself. Tell me your skills and goals. I shall allow it.”
“...Would it be all right to consider this as your way of treating one of us as your Summoner?”
“What, really!? You’re gonna be a Summon for us!?”
“Depending on your true power and your ways of thinking, I would be willing to lend you two my assistance.”
He really just wanted to hole up in his own room in peace. He had to start saving up if he wanted to do that, though.
Rem was the first one to nervously open her mouth.
“...I will introduce myself again. My name is Rem Galleu. The reason why I became an Adventurer was because, I had to... I had a need to continually demonstrate my own strength.”
“You had to keep showing your strength?”
“...It’s a personal reason.”
Rem quickly glanced at Shera. It might be something hard to say in front of her.
Rem continued to talk.
“...Anyways... I have to become stronger as an Adventurer. My ultimate goal is to defeat the Demon Lord Krebskulm and completely destroy his soul.”
It was obvious for an Adventurer to make hunting down a Demon Lord their objective. It was in any game, at the very least.
But that was only how it looked from the outside. The real reason you would do it was usually for fame and fortune.
—By the way she talked about it, it seemed like she was serious, though.
That, or she was hiding her true objective.
“...My specialty is Summoning. Besides summoning a Demon Lord from a different world such as yourself, I also have formed contracts with seven other Summons. They are currently in my pouch in crystal form.”
“Hm, understood.”
It seemed that she was hiding a lot of things.
But it doesn’t seem like she’d do anything stupid—thought Diablo.
Her way of talking was intellectual and deliberate. The reason it sounded like she was hiding things was because she was considering how much information it would be all right to reveal at the time.
Pantherians were supposed to be a race of lightning-bruisers. If she was a proficient Summoner on top of that, this was surely because of her own hard work.
And he didn’t hate hard workers.
Also, she was cute.
She had a lean, flexible body, and since her height was short, more dynamic clothes suited her well.
Pantherians not only had cat-like ears on their head, but long, bushy tails as well. She got bonus points for the way her tail came out the back of her pleated skirt...
—Hooooold it, hold it! Now’s not the time for thinking about that!
He tried to play off his now slackened jaw by clearing his throat.
Shera, seeming dissatisfied, opened her mouth.
“If you already have seven of them, then why don’t you just let me have Diablo then!”
Rem sighed.
“...You truly are an idiot, aren’t you. You only said one sentence, but managed to get two things wrong. Number one: it’s been said a thousand times, but Diablo is not a Summon. And number two: Summons are not things that can be transferred to another person.”
“But I’m the one who called Diablo! You think so too, right!?”
Looks like the conversation had been passed to Diablo.
Her eyes sparkling, “I want you to agree with me!” was practically written on her face.
Diablo pointed to Shera with his chin.
“You should be talking about yourself as well. Depending on what you say, I may consider it.”
Shera’s face lit up in a flash.
“Really!? M-My name is Shera L. Greenwood! I may have the same last name as the Elven royal family, but that doesn’t matter, okay!?”
—Oh yeah, that’s right.
He had a feeling he had read the name “Greenwood” in things about the lore of the game before.
It was the name of the forest that the Elves made their home. Not only that, but in this world, it seemed Greenwood was the name of the Elven royal family here.
There was even a quest where you would save the princess of that royal family.
Also, as a bonus tidbit, you couldn’t enter it as your player name either.
Rem fired off a retort.
“...If it doesn’t matter, then do not bother with saying it in the first place.”
“Oh, that’s right! That’s why I decided not to go around saying it out loud! Uhm... Can we just keep going on while pretending I didn’t say it!?”
She had already said her name when they first met at Starfall Tower, too...
“Do as you like.”
“Anyways! On that note, um... The reason I thought I would become an Adventurer is because I’m almost out of money, and because of the people coming after me— I mean, uh... and for other, various reasons, I thought it would be good for me to be with someone strong. Also, it’s lonely traveling by myself... Also also, I seem to have a talent for Summoning! Go figure!”
Halfway through, when it seemed like she had remembered something, for an instant, an expression of loneliness had crossed her face.
Though she didn’t seem like much of a thinker, the fact that she was so honest left a good impression.
She seemed like she was having a lot of trouble since she couldn’t keep secrets very well, but Diablo shouldn’t have to worry about having someone with a bright personality like hers around.
Just like Rem, it was obvious that she was hiding things...
Also, she was beautiful.
In the game’s lore, out of all the races, Elves were said to be the ones who were closest to Celestials. Their shining hair, flawless skin, and slender bodies seemed as if they had been molded from statues. Their movements were lithe and filled to the brim with elegance.
Not only that, but Shera had distanced herself from the traditional image of flat-chested Elves, thanks to her possessing a large and bountiful bust. Just looking at it made things like safety and adventuring and all those difficult things just melt away...
—Hold it, hoooold it! Living is important! And now’s not the time to be thinking of stuff like that, anyways!
Be cool, be cool...—Diablo kept repeating to himself.
Shera put her hands on the bed as she leaned over it.
“A-Anyways, that was my self-introduction! Now you’re fine with being my Summon, right? Right!?”
Because she was leaning forward, her chest bounced, emphasizing the cleavage of her two luscious...melons.
Rem’s expression stiffened.
“...You cheater.”
“What are you talking about, Rem!? I wasn’t lying or anything!”
“...I don’t want a high-fat Elf with useless sacks of meat like you saying my name so casually.”
“Wha—!? Well I don’t like you calling me a high-fat Elf! I have a name
, you know!”
“...I’ll just call you high-fat Elf from now on.”
“Whaaaaaat!?”
They were on the verge of fighting again.
Diablo knew that the reason these two were fighting was because he wouldn’t make a choice.
—It’s still too soon for me to declare something like, “Become your own strength and live on your own...”
They were still hiding things from him, but they must have had their own reasons for doing so.
What should I do?—Diablo thought to himself as he stared at the girls arguing with each other.
Then, there was a knock on the door behind Diablo.
†
Now that he thought about it, they were warned not to be too noisy.
—Could it be the receptionist girl?
Diablo stepped away from the door.
When he did, he had stepped toward Rem without realizing it. Shera looked like she was in shock, but he pretended that he hadn’t seen it. If he opened that particular can of worms, he was going to be stuck there for a while.
Rem, as the one who had paid for the room, was the one who answered the door.
“...Come in.”
“Pardon the intrusion.”
It was a soothing voice that sounded like a bell.
The door opened.
Their visitor was a beautiful woman.
She was a kind-looking person.
Her long blue hair plaited behind her head, with the rest of it spilling down toward the front of her chest.
She wore an extravagant red cape embroidered with gold, wearing it like a coat when she entered, but had opened it and put it on her back when she greeted everyone.
She wore a soft, blue robe that covered her from the shoulders to her ankles. It didn’t show off much skin, but since it was of a tight-fitting design, her ample bodyline was made visibly apparent.
It was kind of hard to control where he should look.
In her hands, she was holding a gorgeous white porcelain wand, with a gold ornament adorning it. He understood that to mean she was an accomplished Sorcerer herself.
Judging from her clothes, she must be some kind of higher-up—Diablo guessed.
She looked like she was in her early 20s, age-wise. Though she was only smiling, she gave off a sense of open-mindedness.
“Good day, everyone... So you really are sharing a room, Rem. I’m so happy to know that you’ve made some friends.”
Rem shook her head.
“...They are not my friends. One is someone I summoned from another world, and the other is...some kind of an extra. Please pay it no mind. Since its clothes are green, just think of it like mold you would find stuck on a wall.”
“Isn’t that too mean!?” Shera lamented.
The woman laughed cheerfully, and went to introduce herself.
“Ufufu... This is our first time meeting each other, right? My name is Celestine Baudelaire. But call me Celes, okay? I came here today because I had some business with Rem, but I would love to hear about you two as well.”
The way she tilted her head was really cute.
Though she seemed kind and mature, she also had a childlike charm to her as well.
—So her name’s Celestine? I feel like I’ve read that before somewhere, too... If I remember right, she was the Mage’s Association’s...
He had remembered, but thought against saying it out loud.
It was because it would be strange for a Demon Lord from another world to know that.
Thankfully, it seemed that Shera had picked up on it as well.
“What!? You mean the Celestine from the Mage’s Association!? The Lady Celestine Baudelaire!?
“Yes. Thanks to a string of coincidences, I am currently acting as the head of the Mage’s Association of Faltra.”
Celes nodded, gradually looking more and more embarrassed.
The Mage’s Association.
In-game, this was an organization that the player could not enter themselves, but they would see the name mentioned often.
Whenever a new spell was added in an update, it would be explained by saying something along the lines of: “The Mage’s Association has made a new discovery!”
The name also came up often as the client for quests.
As an organization, they kind of gave off the feeling of some kind of state-run research institution.
There was generally one Mage’s Association found in every town, with some having two or more in rare cases.
All Mage’s Associations had a loose alliance with each other, but since each one had their own way of doing things from town to town, there were good and bad things to be found in them all.
However, they all shared a common theme in the game’s lore.
The head of each respective Mage’s Association was in charge of maintaining the barrier that protected their town.
Basically, this meant that this woman’s very existence protected the town of Faltra from monsters and the Fallen.
He had seen the name Celestine Baudelaire as the client for various quests before, but he did not remember her ever making an appearance as an NPC before. So that’s what she looked like.
—Why would someone as important as her be at an inn on the outskirts of town?
Celes should have been in the deepest part of the Mage’s Association, using all her power to maintain the town’s barrier. I can’t believe she came all the way to see us, she must have some kind of reason—thought the shut-in, starting to get pumped up.
Celes clapped her hands together.
“Oh, I know! Would everyone care to go get some dinner together? It seems like you all have some...complicated circumstances, after all.”
Her eyes, thinned because of her smile, were looking at Rem and Shera’s necks.
That is where the two “Enslavement Collars” were.
Diablo nodded.
“Very well. I was just starting to feel a little famished myself.”
“...Then I will come too. I am Diablo’s Summoner, after all.”
“No fair, saying that in front of Lady Celes! Diablo belongs to me!”
The two girls were the same as always.
Celes tilted her head a little.
“Hmm... It seems like those circumstances are a little more complicated than I thought. We may be able to find a way to sort that all out as well, so let’s get going.”
Turning on her heels, she left the room.
Rem followed her.
Though she had been fighting with Rem just a second ago, Shera was practically skipping as she followed along.
“Food, food~ Actual, real food. ♪”
—That’s right, she did say she didn’t have any money. She might not have been getting enough to eat...
That song seemed a bit sadder now.
Despite what Diablo had said earlier, he was not particularly hungry.
What he needed now wasn’t food, but knowledge.
Being able to talk with one of the town’s big shots was certainly a stroke of luck for him.
He left the room.
There should be a bar down on the first floor.
†
The bar was a short trip down the long hallway that stretched out to the left of the front desk.
The ceiling, the floor, the counter, the evenly-spaced tables... Everything was made out of dark-colored wood that had a smoky finish to it. The walls were made of stone.
There were no customers besides themselves at the moment.
The bar Diablo was used to seeing was usually packed to the brim with players and NPCs, chat boxes flying everywhere.
It seemed that Celes had somehow cleared everyone out.
It was only Diablo, Rem, and Shera at the table, with Celes sitting opposite of them.
There were two more people who stood behind Celes on either side of her. It looked like they were keeping watch over Diablo and the others.
They were both young men, Sorcerers in brown robes that
reached to their ankles who each carried a long magic staff in one hand.
The one standing in front of Diablo was as thin as a wire, and was wearing a high-strung expression on his face. He was also making no effort to conceal the fact that he was glaring at him.
—Is he on guard? Wait, is that hatred? Contempt? It’s the first time I’ve met this guy, right?
Well this didn’t feel good.
Since they were security from the Mage’s Association, they did not sit down.
Celes gave a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry, but because of my position I can’t just go out by myself...”
That should be obvious.
If anything were to happen to her, then the town’s protective barrier would disappear. He had never seen a situation like that happen before, but if monsters or the Fallen decided to attack... He didn’t expect any of the normal people living here would make it out unharmed.
Just from the fact that she only brought two escorts here, he could feel Celes’s respect for them—well, actually, it felt like she was showing respect for Rem.
Diablo gave a generous nod.
“No matter.”
His reply seemed to have struck a nerve. The guard standing in front of him made a face as if he were having a cramp.
“Hey, you. You best watch your tone when speaking with Master Baudelaire. If you don’t show her the proper respect, I won’t hold back.”
This guy sounds like a douche—he thought.
Celes, seeming troubled by this, went to calm down the man behind her.
“Galluk, that’s rude... It was those two who were the ones who forced him to come along with them, after all.”
“It may not trouble you so much, Master Baudelaire, but having this Demon nobody disrespect you is an insult to the dignity of the Mage’s Association!”
Diablo’s shoulders were shaking slightly.
—What the f—... Is this guard really going to lecture Celes, the head of the freakin’ Mage’s Association, about the dignity of the Mage’s Association?
It seemed like this guy was overly sensitive to other people being rude, but was too thick-skulled to notice when he was being rude himself.
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 1 Page 6
