CH 1.3

The three demons were staring at Takashi. A long, lingering silence. During that lull, all the fiends that had invaded the king's chamber and perpetrated their tyranny had left.

In the king's chamber, other than Takashi, only the tanned-skinned demoness and the two petite demons with similar facial features remained.

They did nothing and simply stared at Takashi. Time passed in vain until he couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"W--what in hell are you planning to do with me?!" he shouted belatedly. His voice trembled with fear.

The tanned demoness glanced at her subordinates' faces. She responded, "Ah, aah. That's right. You, bastard, are a human. Of course, you won't get away with this for free."

"I--I knew it. You are going to kill me...!"

One of the petite demons raised her scythe while the other readied a dagger. Both were breathing heavily. An unusual atmosphere permeated the air. Takashi shuddered and squealed "Eeek" at the situation. However, the tanned demoness raised her right hand as if to hold back the petite demons.

"Don't be in such haste. It doesn't mean I'm going to kill you, bastard."

"Lies! You just said it was worthy of death a while ago!"

"C--certainly, I did say that. However, I never said anything about killing you."

Even the other two demons looked at the tanned demoness with blank faces. Huh. What? Saying worthy of death did not mean getting killed? Then what did it mean?

"I'm a little uncomfortable calling you 'human.' Identify yourself."

"Suzuki... Takashi..." he muttered softly. Thereupon, the tanned demon's cheeks reddened a little.

"Suzuky... It's a good name..."

Even the petite demons smiled kindly.

"Yeah. It's a really good name! It has a pleasant ring to it..."

"Aah, it sounds wonderful! It's got a certain noble flair!"

All three demons were praising his surname, which was very common in Japan. Takashi was absolutely terrified by their comments and behavior.

(W--What is this? Why'd they suddenly start praising my last name?)

He didn't understand. Demons and humans must have completely different thought processes. And then all of a sudden...

"I--I, my name is Meru--! I'm the younger sister of Kiru over there--! Nice to meet you--!" said the demon with a ponytail as she held her hand out to Takashi. Takashi trembled in fear.

The twin-tailed demon shouted, "Meru, you bastard! Who dares introduce themselves before the commander, Lady Nephira? ...I am Kiru! Meru's older sister! Let's get along from now on!"

The twin-tailed demon also offered her hand to Takashi. And a moment later---

"You bastardsss! I'm firsstt!"

---Nephira raised one long leg high enough that her important place could be seen, and then brought it down in a single motion. The marble floor cracked and sank from a mere foot stomp.

"Eek-- I'm sorry--!"

"I--I also apologize!"

The demon sisters hung their heads, but Takashi was more horrified by Nephira's terrifying power, which created a crater in the marble floor with a single stomp.

"Our name is Nephira. Commander of the Thunder-Lance Charge, leading 600 fiends. Much stronger than Meru or Kiru. In other words, incredibly distinguished."

The two demons timidly backed away. Takashi shuddered at the sight of the triumphant-looking Nephira.

(Since a while ago, these gals... were arguing about who gets to take the lead? ...HUH!)

Takashi thought of something terrifying. Perhaps, were they competing over who gets to eat him first? That's it! That must be it!

"Even if you eat me, I won't taste good!" he cried out in terror.

After a moment of silence, the demon sisters started laughing.

"Ahahahaha! Eating Suzuky, doing something like that--!"

"You're an idiot, you know! Aren't you too prejudiced against demons?"

Seeing the two's behavior, Takashi felt a tad relieved. He murmured hesitantly, "Is that so? You gals, don't eat humans, do you?"

"No, we usually eat plenty of them!"

"Yes! We heartily eat them, you know--!?"

"I knew you were going to eat me! Or rather, I remember now! You, earlier, said something about dragging out my entrails!" Takashi yelped, pointing at Meru. Meru's eyes darted about uncomfortably.

"...I didn't say that."

"Yes, you did! Why are you spurting lies?! And after that, the redhead over there said something about hollowing out my eyes while I-I'm still alive!"

To avoid facing Takashi's pointing finger, Kiru looked away and played with her redhead's twin tails.

"...I don't remember any of that!"

"What the hell? What the fudge!?"

They said they would kill him, then said they wouldn't. They said they don't eat humans, sure enough, then said they do. And now they said they don't remember things that they have said. Takashi had no idea what these demons were thinking---he couldn't understand at all. The thoughts of fiends must be far beyond human comprehension.

Nevertheless, no. Precisely because of it, Takashi had to make sure.

"In the end, what are you planning to do with me!?" he shouted. The twin demons turned anxiously toward Nephira.

"Huh, wait..." Nephilas said, looking confused for a moment, but then immediately tightened her face, held up her right arm wide, appropriate for a fiend of her stature, and declared, "Prison! Throw Suzuky into the castle's underground dungeon!"

At Nephira's instruction, the twin demons nodded, and each held one of Takashi's arms while blushing slightly.

"Wait!!"

Just before Takashi was about to be taken out of the king's chamber, Nephira's bellow echoed through it.

"Three meals a day!! And make sure to give him plenty of water! And provide restrooms both inside and outside of the prison cell! In addition, make sure he gets a healthy amount of sleep!! Take him outside for sunbathing when the weather is fine, and always have a demon on guard in case he gets sick! After that, give him a snack at 3 pm! Understood?!"