CH 162

Keira: “Ugh.”

This feeling was the same, even though it was the second time. It felt like her stomach was turned upside down.

Keira: “Blergh…”

After she fell to the floor and vomited for a long time, Keira was finally able to come to her senses.

She saw a large fortress wall when she looked up. It wasn’t much different from the castle of her hometown in the capital.

…As she thought so, a crown lined up in front of the gate caught her eye.

There were winged demons, those with animal heads on their neck, four-legged creatures, ones with five tails on their behind…

It again came to her that she wasn’t in the human world. Startled, Keira looked around.

Erez: “Oh, are you okay now?”

Erez came over and asked.

Keira: “This is…”

Erez: “It’s in front of the checkpoint. We can’t teleport into the castle.”

Keira’s eyes turned back to the group standing in line, seemingly waiting for the checkpoint.

About one out of five people looked just like a normal human being.

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However, the demons in the forest immediately recognized that she was human. It must mean that she had something that made it easy for them to realize she wasn’t one of them.

Keira: “Is it okay for me to be like this? No matter how you look at it, I’m different.”

Erez: “It’s okay if you go with me. They’ll think of you as my prey or servant.”

“…”

She didn’t know whether the idea was reassuring or not…

When she got up, brushing her clothes, Erez walked straight to the guard instead of standing in line at the checkpoint.

What was visible under the guard’s helmet was a fleshless skeleton. Oh My God. Keira was startled and speechless.

《You there! What are you doing without standing in line?!》

《They didn’t even stand in line in this scorching sun!》

《Does he want to get his head blown off!》

The voices of those in line grew louder.

It was Keira’s first time hearing the language, so she couldn’t really understand, but it was clear from the harsh tone they weren’t happy.

Erez didn’t pay them mind, took something from his pocket, and showed it to the guard.

Then the Skeleton Soldier tapped his chin and answered.

《Oh, what are you doing here? You’re like that, so I didn’t recognize you. Besides, why are you in that figure?》

The skeleton didn’t seem to have vocal cords, and Keira couldn’t tell where its voice came from. So she gave up trying to guess.

《If I returned to my original form, she would be scared.》

《Aha, you’re unexpectedly considerate to your servants.》

The skeleton soldier returned his nameplate and wrote something on the file. Then, he rang the bell and cleared the way.

Erez: “It’s all over, so come over here.”

Keira: “What were you talking about? In the middle, they glanced at me.”

Erez: “I mentioned I have one companion, so I was asking them to let you in, too.”

He didn’t mention the talk about Keira being his servant.

Erez: “Now that I see it, it must be uncomfortable that you can’t speak our language. Wait, I’ll cast an interpreter spell for you.”

Erez lightly tapped Keira’s forehead. As Keira was about to protest at the contact, she started hearing the voices of the crowd.

“You, frozen over there! What are you doing without getting out of the way?”

“Hurry up, hurry up!”

She started understanding what they said.

Translation magic, huh? There were many strange things about the magic of demons, Keira thought as she rubbed her forehead.

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Erez: “This way.”

Keira: “Oh, right.”

She followed Erez as he walked. But there was one curious thing–there were walls, but no gates.

‘Do we have to walk long to reach it? Aren’t checkpoints usually in front of the gate?’

The answer came soon enough. When Keira turned around to see a bright light flashing from the side, several guards stood guarding a place a little far from the checkpoint.

‘Why are they standing in front of nothing?’

Upon closer inspection, Keira spotted a magic circle in an unrecognizable language at their feet.

Whoever arrived before Keira stood over it. The next moment, yellow light flashed, and their body disappeared like smoke.

So that’s why the gates didn’t exist. There was no need for one in the first place.

Keira’s head pounded at the culture shock. Erez pulled Keira, standing blankly, and made her stand on the magic circle.

Erez: “It’s a short distance, so you won’t be dizzy this time.”

Again, yellow light flashed. Blinded by the light, Keira closed her eyes for a moment and opened them to see a brick road.

Large buildings were lined up on either side of the boulevard. It looked like a bustling city center.

Erez: “This is it. You cannot use teleportation magic inside the castle, so we’ll have to walk a little.”

Keira walked with Erez and looked around. It was quite different from where she lived, but it was hard to take her eyes off the wonderful architectural style.

When Erez talked about the demon realm, Keira imagined a rocky land with flowing lava everywhere, so she couldn’t help but be surprised at the sight.

Erez seemingly read her thoughts and said.

Erez: “It’s only like this inside the castle. The outside is lawless, like the first time you fell. Outside of the castle, there is no law. So, be careful not to go outside the castle by any chance.”

The forest came to Keira’s mind. So everything was like that outside the castle…

‘I’ll just have to settle the matter and go back.’

She had one more reason to return sooner. Fortunately, this wasn’t a lawless area…

‘Hold on.’

Keira: “If there are rules in the castle, does that mean there’s someone who will punish them for breaking the law?”

Erez: “Of course.”

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Keira: “Then he must be the ruler of this city. Since we didn’t come here to sightsee, he must have been the one you wanted me to meet.”

Erez: “That’s right.”

He answered and pointed his finger in the distance, where a castle in the middle of the city stood. Even though it was quite a long distance, Keira could see something standing tall at the top of the spire.

Erez: “It’s waiting for us over there.”

“…”

Hearing that, Keira gulped.

Keira: “What are we waiting for?”

Keira grumbled as she sat on the sofa.

Despite waiting for us, the ruler asked us to wait for a while because they had something to do.

Keira was dissatisfied, wanting to return as soon as possible, but she persevered when she was told they only had to wait for half a day.

Erez rented an inn outside the inner city so that she could wait.

In the end, she wasn’t able to head home until the next evening.

By the time she left the inn, the sky was completely dark. The night of the demon realm was exceptionally dark, most likely due to the lack of a moon.

Not even a few lights were lit on the way to the meeting place, so Keira almost tripped a few times.

After she nearly fell for the tenth time, she asked impatiently.

Keira: “How much further?”

Erez: “Almost there.”

The inner castle had a structure surrounded by a forest, with no wall separating the inside and outside of the fortress.

‘It’s a very unique structure. There’s a forest in the castle…’

The trees in the garden had grown so densely that the castle’s lower floors were hardly visible. Only the pointed spire was sticking its head up.

“Meow.”

It was then that Keira heard a cat cry. Keira, looking at the castle spire, quickly turned her head.

‘Where did that come from?’

She couldn’t see the cat because of how dark it was. She didn’t really care about it, so she quickly shrugged it off.

Erez: “Here.”

“Meow.”

Then she heard the cat again. It was closer than before.

‘Where is it?’

If she could hear it so close, it must be nearby, but Keira couldn’t see anything. Erez gazed curiously at Keira as she looked around.

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Erez: “What are you looking for?”

Keira: “I’ve been hearing cat noises since a while ago…”

Erez: “It’s this one.”

She turned her gaze to where Erez was pointing and saw an armored creature under the lamppost.

It was the armor worn by the skeletons at the checkpoint.

“Meow.”

However, when they took off their helmet, it wasn’t a skeleton but a cat—one with fluffy orange fur.

The cat soldier came closer to Keira with the helmet on their side.

“Meow.”

Keira: “……What do they mean?”

Erez: “Just offer them your cheek.”

“…?”

As she did, the cat soldier kissed her on the cheek. 

It was fortunate that it was a cat and not a skeleton. She couldn’t imagine a skull kissing her cheek.

“Meow.”

The cat soldier also kissed Erez on the cheek and wore their helmet again. He even waved his front paw to say hello.

What just happened? Keira followed Erez into the woods, a little dazed.