The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary

“Wearing black full body armor and accompanied by a dark elf. I can only think of one person that fits such a description.”

“I can’t say for sure that there is no one else who fits that description, but… It’s them, isn’t it?”

“That bastard…”

Foras watched the three’s reactions and somehow seemed to understand what effect the information he had given them had. After thinking for a while with his arms folded, he said in a light tone.

“Well, good luck.”

“Loren, this is a rarity you know. A pep talk from His Majesty the Great Demon King.”

“Just because it’s rare doesn’t mean it’s of any use.”

No matter how powerful the Great Demon King may be, a single ‘good luck’ was not a spell, and would not benefit them at all. When Loren dismissed it with a weary expression, Foras’ expression slightly stiffened. Worried that he was offended, Lapis turned a little pale, but Foras remained like that for a while, then uncrossed his arms and turned toward Loren.

“That is true. Receiving a useless word truly has no merit.”

“Ah, no, Your Majesty, I didn’t mean to…”

“I’ve asked you to come here to satisfy my curiosity. It is my duty as a king to reward you accordingly.”

Foras ignored Lapis, who tried to interrupt the conversation, and spoke to Loren.

A reward from a king would be very valuable. But even though the Great Demon King was indeed a king, a gift from him was likely to be something of little use, so Loren could not be truly happy.

“Could you just give me some money or something?”

“How could the Great Demon King’s reward be something so ordinary?”

Loren tried to make a harmless suggestion, but Foras stared at him as if he was an idiot, and Loren pressed his hand to his forehead, wondering if the suggestion was a bad idea after all.

“That’s right. Take, for example, that spider clinging to your shoulder.”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

When Loren saw Foras pointing at Nig, he pulled his right shoulder away slightly to protect Nig.

Foras, who was moving his fingertip to point at Nig in accordance to Loren’s movement, smiled wryly and shrugged as Loren watched him with caution.

“I’m not trying to do anything bad. Wouldn’t you be happy if that spider had the ability to turn into a pretty girl?”

“Nig is a male.”

As Loren gave Foras a cold stare, wondering what this Great Demon King was up to, the king stared at Nig, who was still clinging to Loren’s shoulder with a slightly surprised expression on his face.

“It is this attached to you despite being a male?!”

“What does it matter if it’s a male or a female…?”

Seeing Foras shaking his head in disbelief, Loren thought that not many people would think that this was the Great Demon King ruling at the top of the demon tribe.

The same thought seemed to also occur to Gula, who was looking at Foras with a dumbfounded expression, and it was somewhat surprising to Loren that even Lapis was looking at the king with angry and condescending eyes.

“Well… Wouldn’t you be happy if that spider can turn into a beautiful boy who looks like a girl at first glance?”

“No, not at all.”

Foras asked Loren again, and Loren immediately responded without hesitation.

Loren did not mind Nig clinging to his shoulder and even found the act somewhat adorable precisely because it was a spider. It taking on a human form would cause all sorts of problems. The power to make a spider take on a humanoid shape of the Great Demon King was indeed something to marvel at, but that did not mean Loren wanted to see it in action.

“I’d much rather you help us with the preparation for our trip from here to the north.”

Loren tried to move the conversation to a different direction, but Foras was having none of it.

“I’m the one who asked you to come, you know? It’s only natural that I would make arrangements for your return trip. I’ve already arranged for Emery to take you to the north tomorrow morning.”

“You’ve prepared for this…”

“Rather than that, that spider…”

“Why are you so keen on making Nig humanoid?”

As Foras leaned across the table and reached out, Loren, who was still trying to protect Nig, lightly smacked his hand away.

Foras looked at Loren, with a curious expression on his face as he retracted his hand.

“Now, there’s no comfort in your party, is there?”

“Your Majesty?”

“Hey, Great Demon King.”

Loren, horrified by Foras’ words and wondering what he meant, became even more tense when hearing Lapis’ and Gula’s voices.

Loren, who was unable to move, heard the two girls slowly getting up out of his field of vision. Being unable to look at them, he could only guess from Foras’ reaction what kind of expressions and eyes they were looking at the king with.

“May I ask what you mean by ‘no comfort,’ Your Majesty?”

“Do you understand that what will happen depends on your answer?”

Loren could hear the girls cracking their knuckles, and he knew that they would not let Foras get off score free no matter what his answer was.

But the other party was not just any thug, but the Great Demon King. In front of Loren’s eyes, who thought that this was too difficult an opponent for the girls, Foras calmly stood up.

“What do you mean, ‘What will happen’? You are the ones who need to understand the situation. I am the Great Demon King, and all the maids here are under my command. You don’t stand a chance, do you know?”

After the Great Demon King spoke those words that were full of reprimanding, one of the maids who stood beside him slightly raised her hand and said.

“Sorry, Your Majesty. We are not to interfere in this matter.”

Foras involuntarily frowned and asked the maid with a composed face.

“What do you mean by that?”

“We think Your Majesty is at fault for the conversation we just had. But still, we are Your Majesty’s servants. In our hearts, we are inclined to support Lapis-sama, who was told that she was ‘no comfort’, but we are going to hold off on that and will not to interfere.”

Foras looked around and saw the maids waiting by the wall nodding in agreement, and he realized that none of them seemed to be willing to defend the exchange. He looked thoughtful for a moment, but then his expression immediately changed to that of someone who had just had a good-for-nothing idea. He turned to Loren with a sly grin.

Loren frantically tried to guess what the king was about to say and realized that he was going to ask some question that would put Loren in a tight spot. Just as the king opened his mouth, Loren wondered what he himself should say next.

“Then it would be most certain to ask him. What do you think, Loren? Is this Demon King’s daughter, or maybe that unknown miss for that matter, enough of a comfort factor for you?”

“Needless to say.”

Loren was relieved that the words came out of his mouth without pause, but upon hearing them, Foras, Lapis and Gula all looked at him and seemed to think very carefully about what they should do next.

The words that Loren had just said could be taken as either a denial or an affirmation, and it was difficult to determine what he was thinking just from this one reply. However, neither Foras nor Lapis could easily go further into questioning Loren’s opinions, considering what might happen if they did.

If Loren expressed a positive opinion, Lapis and Gula would gain points, and the maids were very likely to side with them, making Foras’s position very bad. On the other hand, if Loren expressed a negative opinion, Foras would be in a stronger position, but what awaited him would probably be a rough fight with Lapis, Gula and the maids who were upset with him.

The maids who were watching over them could understand how difficult it would be for them to question the truth of Loren’s words, since Lapis and Gula were afraid of receiving a denial, and Foras would lose his ground if Loren gave an affirmation. That was why some of the maids were admiring Loren, who gave a very vague but fair answer to the Great Demon King’s question.

“I-I see. Well, let’s leave it at that, shall we? Do you have any objections?”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty. We have no objections.”

Foras tried to end the conversation in a vague manner by not clarifying the situation, and Lapis and Gula seemed to have decided to go along with him, affirming Foras’ words with amiable smiles.

Loren was about to be reassured that this would be the end of the conversation, but Foras, determined not to let that happen, stirred things up again.

“So, about the reward.”

“You haven’t given up yet?”

“I can’t call myself a king if I forget about the reward, I’m going to give you.”

Foras sounded so confident that it was as if his previous fluster and hesitation had been a lie. For his part, however, Loren thought it would have been better if he had just forgotten about it. He certainly didn’t feel any bit of gratitude for the reward.

As Loren wondered if there was any way he could make the conversation go in a direction that would minimize the damage, Foras took out something from his pocket and tossed it to Loren.

“What on earth is this?”

Loren caught the item in mid-air and held it up in front of him.

It was clear at first glance that it was not one of the coins circulating in the human realm. The silver-colored coin had an elaborate picture of a knight riding a horse on its surface.

“Is this a coin from the demon realm”

Having travelled around the continent as a mercenary, Loren had some knowledge of the design of the coins circulating on the continent. But he did not recognize this coin, so he could only assume that it was circulating in the demon realm. He held it up and showed it to Lapis, but she denied it.

“No, it is not. This is… What is it?”

If it was something that puzzled even Lapis, Loren suspected that it had more magical than monetary value. Just to be sure, he showed it to Gula, but she also shook her head as if she did not recognize it either.

“I’m only sure that it’s not gold.”

If neither Loren, a human, nor Lapis, a demon, nor Gula, who had knowledge from the Ancient Kingdom period, did not recognize this coin, there was at least one thing certain about it: it was not a currency in ordinary circulation. Foras nodded.

“I told you I won’t reward you with money. It is not gold, but it is precious. Carry it with you at all times. It will help you.”

“How about you just give me some money? Don’t you see how much it would help me if you would just reduce your debt?”

“Loren, let me tell you something.”

Foras began in a slightly formal tone. Loren’s expression changed as if asking what was going on, and Foras began to speak with a serious face and voice.

“The truth is, among the Demon Kings in the demon territory, certain things are becoming more and more problematic year by year.”

As Loren sat up straighter and wondered what a Demon King, and even the Great Demon King, would consider a problem, Foras continued with the same seriousness.

“That is the issue of grooms and brides.”

“…Huh?”

“The daughters and sons of Demon Kings are always in need of a groom or bride. The greater their power, the more difficult it is to find a partner.”

Loren was taken aback by Foras’s words. Gula looked at Lapis, who had hung her head with a red face, with pitied eyes.

“As the leader of the demon tribe, I am worried about the future of the tribe.”

“What do you want to say?”

“Fortunately, humans can marry demons. As for their abilities and lifespan, there are ways to manage that.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Loren uttered in a rather low and measured voice, his face gradually becoming more and more stern. Foras met his eyes head-on and smiled brightly.

“And that’s why it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever do anything to reduce your debt.”

“Hey, what does that mean?”

“By the way, if you make it to the finish line, I’ll cancel the whole thing.”

“What finish line?!”

Loren snapped, but Foras seemed to have no further interest in the conversation. He ignored Loren’s words and not even made eye contact with him after that.

Watching Loren, who refused to back down, Gula told Lapis, who had finally turned red all the way to her ears, in an indifferent tone.

“Good boss, isn’t he?”

“…Please allow me to refrain from commenting.”

Needless to say, Gula’s and the surrounding maids’ warm eyes focused on Lapis, who had managed to squeeze out those words then returned to hanging her head.