“...Is it defeated?”
“I knew you could do it, Diablo!”
Rem and Shera rushed over to him.
“Hmph... A small fry like this is... Mm?!”
Before Diablo could finish his sentence, he kicked against the ground in a hurry. He grabbed both girls in his arms, just as he had when he jumped off the carriage, and sent magical energy to his boots, 《The Empty Sky’s Gambol》, using flight magic to fly away.
The spriggan’s surface turned bright red like hot metal.
Something’s wrong!
It was some kind of special action spriggans didn’t have in the game. The spriggan, which turned red like hot metal, expanded like mush and burst in a powerful explosion. Rem and Shera screamed. Caught in the massive blast, Diablo’s field of vision spun like a wheel, and he lost sensation of which way was up or down.
“Gaaaah?!”
The spriggan self-destructed?!
His flight magic wasn’t automatic. If the caster lost their sense of balance, maintaining the flight became difficult. When he finally came to, his legs had been caught in a tree’s branches.
“Gah?!”
“Kyaaah?!”
“Help meeee...”
†
When he opened his eyes, Diablo found himself looking at a blue sky.
“Ugh...”
“Are you all right, Diablo?”
Rem looked down at him with a concerned expression. Next to her he could see Shera’s face.
“Are you okay?”
“Mm. What of you two? You’re still alive, but... are you unharmed?”
Diablo sat up. From the looks of things, Rem and Shera were fine.
“...We’re all right, thanks to you protecting us when we fell.”
“This tree saved us, too!”
At Shera’s words, he looked around, seeing that the foliage around them formed a giant palm that caught them.
“Is this possible?!”
“It’s a nice tree!” Shera exclaimed happily.
“...Elven royalty must be special.” Rem shrugged.
“That’s not true. This one’s just a really nice, kind tree!”
“...No tree, kind or otherwise, saves a normal member of the races like this.”
“There are too trees that do!”
“No, there are not.”
Watching the two bicker for the first time in a while, he scanned over the valley. The mountain road had apparently crumbled from the explosion. Defeating that giant monster was quite well and good, but now their reinforcements would struggle to get through when they arrived.
The wreckage of the carriage wasn’t in sight. It had likely sank to the bottom of the valley with the rest of the road. All around them, the remains of the spriggan were scattered about as black, charred fragments. The fact that it didn’t dissolve into particles of light was proof that it wasn’t a Fallen or a magical beast, but rather a monster in the “beast” category.
The explosion was powerful, but it was still an earth element attack.
Diablo was right to cast the wind element spell, 《Storm Wall》, to block it. This time, they got away safely thanks to the forest’s trees, but... He took an attack in mid-flight, and forgot about the fall damage. In his attempt to protect Rem and Shera, he made a mistake. He was required to take a different course of action from when he was a solo player.
If an enemy was about to self-destruct, he could cast confinement spells like Gravity Abyss and Naraka, or spells that stopped the opponent’s action in a fixed range, like 《Ice Age》. He only got it wrong because it used a special action that didn’t exist in the game, and that annoyed Diablo.
I need to be more adaptable. More careful and thorough.
Unlike the game, this world had no resets or revives. A single error in judgment could make him lose the most precious things. Right now, for example? He could have lost Rem and Shera. The thought of it... sent a shiver down his spine.
The two of them got off the cushion made of leaves.
“...Let’s go, Diablo.”
“No way but to walk on foot.”
The two gazed at where the carriage fell into the valley, offered a silent prayer, and then set out along the mountain road. Shera was sad for a while, but she wasn’t one to dwell on things or be depressed to begin with. She was smiling again soon enough.
“It’s been so long since it’s been just the three of us traveling!”
“...Come to think of it, we’ve just been moving around in carriages recently.”
“This reminds me of the forest near Faltra’s western lakefront!”
“...Yes, traveling is all about going on foot. It doesn’t matter how much longer it takes, walking is much better.”
With their carriage gone, it became a trek, and one they didn’t know the length of, at that. Rem seemed happy, though.
“I like it when things are nice and easy...” Shera smiled wryly. “Oh, by the way, weren’t you going to say something back there, Rem?”
“...”
She seemed hesitant to speak, so Diablo prodded her to continue.
“About the southern frontier city, Caliture.”
“Right, right! It feels like you’ve got some problems with them.”
With a hint of resignation, Rem started speaking.
“...First, I should explain Caliture in some broad terms. The south of Lyferia is a craggy region covered in a deep forest.”
“Kuh-raggie?”
“An area full of steep mountains.”
“Ooooh.”
Shera looked around, and, indeed, there were mountains as far as the eye could see.
“...It was about a hundred years ago when the king of Lyferia from three generations ago expanded the kingdom’s territory that far. So while it’s called a frontier, it’s not actually all that new anymore... But that aside, the largest city in this area is the frontier city, Caliture.”
Shera nodded with an “uh-huh.”
“Like Faltra City is in the Faltra region!”
That’s right, now that you mention it. Diablo thought.
He never cared much about that bit of lore in the game.
“...And I...” Rem said, a serious expression on her face. “I was originally born in the frontier city, Caliture.”
“Ooh, really.” Shera replied with a light tone that almost seemed to disregard Rem’s grim demeanor.
But Diablo thought it was strange. In the game, the southern frontier of Caliture existed. It wasn’t a large city, but it did have a lot of jolly merchants, and the town’s governor prided himself on how “there’s nothing you can’t buy in this town.” It featured an arena, and while it was a lively place, one couldn’t call it a refined city...
But still, Caliture didn’t seem like a place one would be ashamed enough of living in to make such a big secret out of it. It was then that Diablo recalled that both of Rem’s parents had died. Perhaps there were some sad memories to the place. She was a responsible, bona fide adventurer, but she was still only a fourteen-year-old girl.
“Is going back to your hometown hard on you?”
“That’s not...” Rem’s expression was full of doubt. “Do you two not know about Caliture?”
“I’ve heard that name before, but that’s it.” Shera wasn’t one to dwell on the little details.
Would saying it’s a merchants’ city be off the mark here? Diablo thought. If it was, it would be too embarrassing.
This world was similar to Cross Reverie, but there were a lot of points where it differed. Diablo then contorted his lips with a “hmph.”
“I do know of it, but... You’re still who you are. Why should the matter of whence you came from matter?”
“...You’re right. Thank you. Perhaps I was worrying over nothing.”
Rem’s expression softened, and a faint blush spread over her cheeks. Seeing that expression made Diablo feel embarrassed, too.
†
The second day after they
had lost their carriage...
“It’s no gooood... It’s too hazy to see the distance.”
It was raining. Shera had sent her summon beast, Turkey Shot, up to the sky, but not only could she not find any trace of Caliture, there weren’t any hints of nearby settlements or roads. Look where they might, all they saw were mountains covered in trees. Perhaps once the rain let up, visibility would increase and they would find something.
“...We might be going in the wrong direction altogether,” Rem said bitterly.
“Huuuh?!” Shera whined.
“...We tried to go along the road we were on before we fought that iron spriggan, but we might have gotten on a different path... Or maybe we forked off it without noticing.”
And true enough, the longer they walked down this path, the narrower it became, and by now, it felt more like an animal trail. Any carriage that would try to go through here would get stranded.
“Isn’t it your hometown?”
“...I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to get there. I left Caliture when I was ten, and it was with a caravan of carriages.”
“So you can’t remember...”
“...I was unconscious at the time.”
“Oh, right, you get sick in vehicles.”
Diablo shrugged.
“Once it clears up, we might see further. We’ve no choice but to wait.”
“...You’re right.”
Diablo had his tough body and Rem was a seasoned adventurer, so they were fine, but Shera was shivering.
“Uuuu... It’s cold...”
“...It’s usually warm in the south, so we didn’t bring any gear for the cold.”
But it was winter after all, and once it started to rain, the temperature dropped more than they’d expected.
“I’m hungryyy.”
“...Unfortunately, all our food and water is in the bottom of the valley with the rest of the carriage. We can gather the rain for drinking water, but can’t you ask the forest for fruit, Shera?”
“That’s what I’ve been doing, but they’re busy drinking water during rainy days, so it’s hard to get the trees to listen. Besides, not all trees are nice.”
“...I suppose things simply don’t come that easily, do they?”
“It’s not like Greenwood, where the Elves take care of the forest.”
Diablo then looked up with a “hmm?” Something swiftly tumbled down toward them. A red fruit. It looked like a tomato.
I don’t remember the game having these.
“Wow, you’re giving this to me?!” Shera exclaimed with twinkling eyes. “Thank you!”
“...Or maybe things do come that easily.” Rem smiled wryly. “The world always has a way of spoiling you, Shera.”
“That’s not true. I work hard for things, too.”
Shera reached for the red fruit, when...
“Not, eat!”
Someone shouted at them, and Diablo could hear something whistling through the air. It was a pebble that shot through and smashed the red fruit. It crashed against the ground with a wet sound, leaving a red puddle that looked vividly like blood.
“Aaaaaaaaah?!” Shera screeched. “What did you do that for?!”
“Is that a beast?!” Rem braced herself.
“Who’s there?!” Diablo took out his staff.
In the gap between the trees was the form of a girl. She was virtually naked, with some fabric covering her body. Diablo found himself looking away reflexively.
“Y-Your skin... Ah, never mind...”
It didn’t matter how she was dressed—she could have been an enemy. He couldn’t let down his guard.
Her hair was brown and she had triangular ears that sat perky on her head. They looked like dog ears, so Diablo thought she might be a Dwarf, but she wasn’t short and her bosoms weren’t very large, either. Also, she had two tails that she was resting on like a cushion. They looked like a fox’s ears and tails, and Diablo didn’t know any Dwarf that fit that description.
To top it off, the look in her eyes seemed different from the races’ somehow. He then recalled the girls from the monster girl soapland he’d visited...
“Are you... a Therianthrope?”
The fox-eared girl gasped at Diablo’s words.
“You, understand what say?!”
She spoke in a fragmented manner, as if speaking was hard for her.
“Of course I do. Answer me—why did you crush that fruit? Or were you aiming at Shera and missed?”
“No! Red fruit of corpse tree, never eat! Poison!”
“They’re poisonous?!”
“One bite, kill! Raise rotten corpse tree!”
She called the tree that dropped this red fruit the corpse tree, and a single bite from it was lethal, making a new corpse tree grow from the bodies of those who consumed it. Diablo dropped his gaze on the tree before him. It looked like a regular tree, but, apparently, it was a type of monster.
“It seems you saved her life.”
“Me, Fennely!” The fox-eared Therianthrope introduced herself. “You, who? Why races, understand what Fennely say?”
“Hmph... Understanding what you say is nothing before my vast knowledge! I am Diablo, a Demon Lord from another world!”
“Demon Lord?!” Fennely’s eyes widened with surprise.
Apparently having resolved herself, Rem cut into their conversation.
“Diablo! I have a hard time believing it, but can you understand what this beast is saying?”
“Huh? Ah, of course. True, her sentences are a bit fragmented, but I can still piece together what she’s saying...”
“All I can hear is barking and whimpering.” Shera shook her head.
“You can talk, right?” Diablo looked back to Fennely.
But she simply returned a confused glance.
“Races, no understand what Fennely say. Only you.”
In the end, thanks to Diablo serving as interpreter, they were capable of exchanging information. Rem nodded in understanding, apparently satisfied with why Fennely pelted the fruit with the rock.
“...I never knew a plant like that existed.”
Even though this was her hometown, she wasn’t familiar with all the toxic plants in the area. Looking closely, there were many dead insects littering the ground around the fallen fruit.
It’s a lethal poison, all right.
“Whoaaa, thank you! You saved me!” Shera shuddered.
“She’s thanking you,” Diablo told her.
“Fennely, no hate Elf.”
“Apparently, she saved you because you’re an Elf.”
With Diablo as the mediator, they somehow managed to hold a friendly conversation. She invited them to her village.
“Some fruit, have. You, come with.”
Rem was a bit cautious, but if it was a trap, they could always defeat her, and if it wasn’t, she was willing to spare them some food. Also, she apparently knew of a town of the races, but it was unfortunately pretty far off...
And so, following Fennely’s magnificent, bushy tails, Diablo and his group made their way to the Therianthrope village.
†
“...Judging by her hair and tails, I’d say she’s a Kobold,” Rem said as they strolled through the forest.
“Oh, a Kobold! Aren’t those a type of fairy?”
“...That’s one theory of several. Apparently, the females have an appearance that’s closer to the races, while the males’ appearance leans toward a more bestial form.”
“I’ve heard stories about them being really nice to the races.”
“...And I’ve heard rumors of them attacking the races’ towns.”
“But she saved me earlier!”
“...Yes, she did.”
Fennely turned around.
“Here, village!”
At first sight, it was a stretch of forest, same as the rest of the places they’d walked through so far. There were no huts between the trees, and it didn’t look like anyone was living on the treetop
s. It was winter, but the leaves grew thickly enough to serve as a roof, with only scant drops dripping in. The forest floor was covered in fallen leaves, and so they couldn’t see the ground.
Fennely lowered her knees and shook her tails, rubbing them against some fallen leaves coating the base of a tree.
“Wet tail, get dirty! Bad!” she said, drooping her shoulders in relief.
With the leaves brushed away, they found there was a hole in the ground.
“Fennely back!” she shouted into the hole.
And after a short while, others came out from the hole. They were males, and had fox heads. Looking at Diablo, they cocked their heads.
“What races doing here?”
“This one, can talk! A bit food, give!”
“Races who understand what we say?!”
There were apparently a few more holes elsewhere, because the Kobolds were popping out of them. There were about twenty of them, and they surrounded Diablo, looking at him curiously.
“Can talk? What name?”
“I am Diablo.”
“He talk?!” Their eyes widened as they exclaimed.
Most of the Kobolds were female, and, like Fennely, had triangular ears and bushy tails. They were also all scantily dressed, which made it hard for Diablo to look straight at them. The males, like Rem said, had fox heads. Their muscles looked limber and well built, and they had hair growing out of their backs. They were only dressed in loincloths.
“He really talked! Surprise!”
A thinly-furred Kobold, who had his skin visible, raised his voice. He spoke more clearly than Fennely.
“And you are?”
“The elder of this tribe. I am called Yolda. I never expected one of the races to speak to us.”
“Hmph... It is a trifling matter to me.”
Diablo didn’t know how it worked, but he was capable of speaking to them, despite never learning their language, and he could understand what they were saying too. He couldn’t speak to magical or wild beasts, but...
The Kobolds tried speaking to Rem and Shera, but it only came across as growls and yelps to the girls.
“...It sounds like you’re speaking normally to them, Diablo.” Rem cocked her head curiously.
“Yeah! It’s weird that both us and the Kobolds understand what you’re saying!” Shera said cheerfully.
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 11 Page 5
