We live in the foothills of Dragon Peak.
A back-alley inn.
A scream from the thin man brought another person out from the back of the inn.
“Well, well, Ruilala-sama. Has this slave of mine done something?”
“Ah, Grandpa Ganjario. It’s nothing.”
Ruilala greeted the old man who emerged from the back with a smile. Apparently, this old man was the thin man’s master and the inn’s manager, a demon named Ganjario. He had a long white beard and equally white eyebrows that reached his eyes. He gave the impression of a kindly old man with a bent back, but remembering the thin man’s reaction when he was being harassed by the ill-tempered man earlier, I figured this old man would also take a terrifying attitude towards his slaves when angered.
Demons viewed humans as beings below slaves. In fact, Grandpa Ganjario was gentle towards Ruilala, but he wasn’t very friendly towards me, who stood beside her. He was probably wondering in his heart why a human slave was getting along so well with Ruilala.
“Well then, shall we head to our room?”
Ruilala wasn’t interested in the thin man either. She had said she wanted a reward, but that was just something she said to liven up our conversation. Ruilala glanced indifferently at the thin man, who was trembling on the ground after falling on his backside, and asked Grandpa Ganjario to show them to their room.
“This way, please.”
Led by Grandpa Ganjario, Ruilala went to the back of the inn. I wondered if I could follow, but Ruilala beckoned to me, so I followed. I mentally apologized to the thin man, who was still cowering on his backside, for frightening him.
“Your room is here. But, are you sure…?”
Grandpa Ganjario glanced at me.
“Ah, it’s fine. He and I are good friends.”
“It’s unusual for you to deepen your bond with a human, isn’t it?”
It seemed that Ruilala and I staying in the same room was strange to Grandpa Ganjario. The Giant Demon Lord, Charlotte, and Ruilala had all treated me and my family normally, as a matter of course. But as I received Grandpa Ganjario’s curious gaze, I realized that such reactions were very rare.
Grandpa Ganjario led Ruilala and me to our room, gave me one last curious look, and then went back.
“My, my, Elnea-kun, you should be grateful to me. It was quite a struggle to find an inn where you could stay in the same room as a human.”
“Is that so? Thank you. By the way, where would slaves normally stay?”
The room we were to stay in was a luxurious, large room located on the south side of the fourth floor. It was an inn on a back street, but both the exterior and interior were well-maintained. In the Demon Race’s Country, even inns in less frequented areas were splendid.
Once inside the room, Ruilala, who had sunk into the plush sofa, thought for a moment and replied.
“In a normal inn, there probably wouldn’t be rooms for slaves. If you could stay in a barn or a shed attached to the inn, that would be fortunate. If it were a higher-class establishment, there might be rooms for slaves, but you probably couldn’t expect much.”
“That’s terrible treatment.”
“It is. That’s why you can stay in a room like this thanks to me.”
“Thank you, Master!”
Despite my heartfelt thanks, Ruilala looked at me and frowned.
“By the way, it seemed like you knew the innkeeper, didn’t you?”
“It was a coincidence.”
“A coincidence that you’d know the owner of an inn on a back street in a provincial city in another country?”
“Ahaha. You’re quite sharp.”
Ruilala grinned, responding to my question.
“Elnea-kun, if you’re going to rule the Demon Race’s Country from now on, I’ll tell you a few things you should know.”
“No, no, I’m not going to rule it!”
Putting aside Ruilala’s misunderstanding, I listened with interest.
“Inns located on the main streets and busy areas are ordinary inns run by demons for business purposes. Their status varies from those catering to the poor to those for nobles… However, when something happens, the innkeepers are unreliable.”
“When something happens?”
“For example, if bandits break in, or a murderer invades. Some inns are even in league with bandits.”
“…That sounds dangerous.”
“If you let your guard down, you’ll lose everything. That’s the general society of demons.”
“…”
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I wasn’t born in the Demon Race’s Country.
“If you’re traveling for a particular reason, like us this time, I recommend inns like this, built away from the main roads.”
“Wait a minute. You said that even places on the main street that look safe can be dangerous, so why are inns on back streets or in suspicious locations better!?”
“That’s right.”
With normal logic, one might think that inns in deserted locations would be cheaper because they’re less popular, and therefore more dangerous and lower in status, requiring guests to protect themselves. Ruilala nodded with a knowing look and explained.
“The proprietors of inns like this, including Grandpa Ganjario, were originally high-ranking demons.”
“What, really?”
“They’ve declined with age, but they still possess power far beyond that of ordinary demons.”
“Why would a high-ranking demon run an inn like this?”
“Well, it’s probably a hobby. Entertainment in their old age. It’s not the guests who choose the inn; the inn chooses the guests. That’s how places like this are.”
“So, Ruilala, you were chosen by Grandpa Ganjario?”
“Precisely. Grandpa Ganjario was originally a demon who lived in His Majesty’s country, so we were acquainted. And he probably found my request to stay in the same room as a human interesting.”
“So, they accommodate customers they find interesting and observe them amusingly. I see, it might be a fitting hobby for their remaining years.”
Given they were originally high-ranking demons, they must have run wild in their youth. And the hobby they arrived at after living life to the fullest was observing travelers with peculiar circumstances.
“Since it’s an inn run as a hobby, the hospitality can be inconsistent, and the prices vary, but they will accommodate those with reasons. Above all, it’s safe.”
“If it’s common knowledge among demons that these inns are operated by high-ranking demons, then bandits certainly wouldn’t dare to attack.”
“That’s right.”
Hmm. There were all sorts of systems in the demon world, and this interesting story made me happy. Both Ruilala and I relaxed comfortably, finally able to settle down in a clean room with walls and a ceiling after so long. While doing so, I asked Ruilala about various things in the demon world. I was thrilled to hear about the Primogenitor Race known as the Cat Duke who went on a rampage last winter, and the existence of another Primogenitor Race called the Puppet King.
As we were talking, it was time for dinner, and the thin man from before brought the food to our room. I worried that he might have been treated poorly while we weren’t looking, but he seemed fine. There were no visible injuries or bruises, other than the bandage on his head; everything else looked normal. The thin man, while arranging the sumptuous food on the table, occasionally glanced in my direction.
“Well then, excuse me.”
Without speaking to me, the thin man finished arranging the food and left the room. He looked towards me again just before he left. Honestly, the man’s gaze felt painful. His eyes silently pleaded, asking why I, a fellow human slave, was happy while he was not. However, there was nothing I could do. I shouldn’t intervene lightly based on fleeting emotions. Perhaps, out of consideration for the humans enslaved in the Demon Race’s Country, I shouldn’t show how close I was to Ruilala.
“…Don’t worry about it. You can’t rule the Demon Race’s Country if you let jealousy get to you.”
“No, no, I’m definitely not going to become the Demon Lord, nor will I rule anything!”
Perhaps sensing my distress, Ruilala made a lighthearted remark. I retorted to him and thanked him for his consideration.
“Well then, let’s eat while it’s still hot. After all, if we leave it, it won’t go to the slave’s mouth.”
“That’s true. In that case, we should eat it with gratitude to the one who made it.”
Only I offered a prayer before starting to eat. While we ate dinner, we discussed our future plans. Ruilala and I didn’t just wander into a provincial city for no reason. If we wanted to hide from the demons aiming for the Demon Lord Seat, including Gillar, it was better to stay out of sight. We had plenty of preserved food, so there was no need to approach large towns or cities carelessly. Still, there was a reason we headed to this provincial city: to investigate the current situation of the country.
“We also need to find Gillar’s whereabouts.”
“Even if you plan to assassinate him, you’d be in trouble if you didn’t know where he was rampaging, Elnea-kun.”
“Assassination…”
“Fufufufu. You can’t deny reality by trying to be virtuous. Approaching stealthily and finishing him off without a word is called assassination.”
“Th-that’s right… But, can we get information in a provincial city like this?”
“I don’t know about detailed information, but we can get a general sense of the situation. Inns like this are ideal for gathering such information.”
“So, Grandpa Ganjario collects stories and rumors from people who fled the capital.”
“I’m glad you understand so well.”
“Then, starting tomorrow, we’ll have to work hard to investigate Gillar and the movements of other demons. Go for it, Ruilala!”
When I cheered him on, Ruilala gave me a white-eyed look.
“Well, of course. You humans can’t freely walk around demon cities, and you can’t obtain information from demons. So, it’s mostly me who’ll be doing the moving…”
“I’m cheering for you, Ruilala!”
“…It’s a debt, you know!”
“Yes. I’ll pay it back with interest, so please.”
Ruilala gave a bitter smile, as if to say, “Is that really true?” I owe Ruilala a lot from this incident. No, even before this incident. Ruilala was the one who brought supplies from the Demon Race’s Country to help reconstruct the capital of the Armēdo Kingdom.
“Well then, let’s get some rest today in preparation for tomorrow.”
And so, after the used dishes were cleared away, we decided to go to bed early.
We had separate beds! Even though we were sharing a room, separate beds were prepared for Ruilala and me. As I snuggled into my futon, I drifted off to sleep, enjoying the comfortable sensation of a proper bed after so long.
Around midnight, I woke up suddenly and sat up. I checked on Ruilala in the darkness; he was sleeping soundly, breathing evenly. But even if I wanted to play a prank on him while he slept, I knew better than to try. I’d be the one to suffer. After checking on Ruilala, I tried to go back to sleep. However, I’d been sleeping lightly and staying on guard while camping out recently, so once I woke up, I found it hard to fall back asleep. I wondered how Ares-chan was doing and tried to sense her presence. But it seemed she wasn’t nearby. The absence of her presence near the Spirit Tree Wooden Sword suggested she might have gone to visit Priscilla-chan again. She was probably flying around with purple sweet potatoes as souvenirs.
“Now, what should I do?”
I was interested in the demon city, but I couldn’t wander the streets alone at night. If a human was seen wandering, I might get into trouble with demons, just like the thin man. However, it should be safe within the inn. So, I quietly slipped out of the room and went into the corridor. On the fourth floor, the top floor, there was another room besides ours. However, it seemed there were no other guests. Wondering if there was anything interesting, I went down the stairs and sensed a presence in what seemed to be the inn’s backyard. What were they doing at this hour?
N-no way… Could it be a bandit!? Even with a high-ranking demon as the manager, it wasn’t impossible for intruders to get in. Besides, even if it’s common knowledge among demons, a human intruder might not know the system of a demon inn. I suppressed my presence and went further down. Then, I exited through the back door of the inn into the backyard. It was a quiet night under the starry sky. Suddenly, the sound of water echoed. Why was there the sound of water? Puzzled, I approached the source of the presence. There were two presences. They were beyond the barn facing the backyard. I crept forward, stealthily advancing. Then, I peeked from the wall of the barn, observing what was happening.
“Ah!”
I couldn’t help but let out a sound. The two people beyond the barn noticed my voice and turned around with surprised expressions.
“G-good evening.”
I showed myself to reassure them and managed a wry smile. One of the two people making water sounds beyond the barn was someone I knew. It was the thin man, Grandpa Ganjario’s slave. The other was a woman, also thin. They were washing clothes in front of the well.
