Tilia (2)

I walked the streets of Sepia alone.

A pleasant wind blew past — cool enough to border on chilly. In contrast, the warm morning sunlight that fell across me tickled at my eyes.

To find Lena, the guild was the place to go. This time I wanted to take a closer look around inside.

Even though it was still quite early, plenty of people were coming and going in front of the guild.

I squeezed my way through the crowd, and the familiar scene from before opened up before me.

One entire wall was packed tight with request papers. People stood in a line at the counter — adventurers, most likely.

Where was Lena? She was probably dressed the same as always. That mage-like outfit…

I stood still and scanned the room, and there it was — a very familiar hat. The one I had made with magic. She was still wearing it. Did she like it that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much?

"Le… Lena!"

"Hm?"

"Tiable! You came to the guild! Perfect timing!"

Lena welcomed me with more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enthusiasm than I had expected. She grabbed both of my shoulders and kept talking.

"Think you could take a request with me?"

"It needs two or more people, and the job's a little vicious, so nobody wants to team up. Honestly, I could handle it alone — I'd just need to drag anyone along~"

Then she held out a request paper for me to see.

Bloody Dragon was a monster I had never heard of, but Hiades Plains? That name was familiar. Somewhere near Hiades Valley, maybe.

"Hiades?"

The moment I said the name, Lena leaned in and muttered into my ear, as if someone might overhear.

"You know Hiades Valley — where we fought Horn last time? They left the bodies lying around, and I think that's why dragons showed up. Bloody Dragons tend to appear wherever the scent of blood is strong."

"If the corpses disappeared, the Bloody Dragons would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leave on their own, but there are places you can only reach by going through Hiades Valley…"

Hmm.

I hesitated, and Lena grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the counter. Was she going to force me into the request?!

That wasn't quite her plan. Instead, she pointed at a large map hanging beside the counter. It was the same kind of map I had seen in Orun. Back then it had been written in the orc tongue and I couldn't understand a word; this time the labels were in a script I could read.

Just like when I looked at the map in Orun, an inexplicable sense of familiarity washed over me.

The shape of the continent was somehow similar — similar to the world I had come from. Only the overall outline, of course. The finer details of the terrain were completely different.

"Okay, so this is Hiades Valley, and Sepia is here. Over there is Orun, the nation of orcs; this side is Horn — and here is my hometown, Orsis."

Hiades Valley sat to the north of Sepia. You had to go a long way around the valley before you reached Horn, and the other nations — Orsis included — were in much the same situation.

The north was structured so that the only way through was Hiades Valley. The Hiades range itself was enormous.

The only places you could reach without going through Hiades Valley were Orun, the orc nation we had visited before, and a country labeled Shalenia marked to the southeast.

"What kind of country is Shalenia?"

"The nation of elves. Elves hate humans more than most other races do, so they don't get along great with Sepia."

"Ah — but Tiable's a demon, so it doesn't matter for you, does it~?"

Lena tacked on that useless little remark under her breath. I wasn't a demon. Or… had I somehow become one without realizing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it?

Everyone around me kept calling me a demon, and it was starting to mess with my sense of who I was.

I didn't even know what kind of race demons were! If I ever met a real one, maybe I could figure out whether I actually was one…

"What's the demons' country?"

"The demons' country? It's not big enough to show up on a map~ There aren't even enough of them to really call it a nation, you know?"

"If monsters like that—"

Lena glanced at me and switched her wording.

"If there were a lot of demons, the world would've ended already. Even a hornless demon can supposedly wreck a small village like it's a toy."

"Alright — looking at the map, we should hurry to the Hiades Plains and take care of that dragon, right? The dragon only showed up because of you, Tiable…?"

Ugh. She really knew how to jab at my conscience. Still, it didn't seem like a dangerous request. Lena was a thoroughly capable mage, and I was stronger than her.

But… was I even allowed to leave Sepia without permission…?

"I… I think I need to get permission first…"

"Permission? From who? That red-haired guy?"

"Hu… Hugo, and Hwia…"

"Ahh~ those kids from before? What, you're living with them? Well, whatever — you can just come back today!"

It had taken almost a full day just to reach Hiades Valley last time. How were we supposed to be back the same day?

"If Tiable uses teleport, we can wrap it up in a day~"

Ah. Right. I had been to Hiades Valley before. Wait — couldn't she just teleport there herself?

"Lena could teleport too…"

"Hm? How am I supposed to teleport all the way to Hiades in one go~? Wait — Tiable, can you actually teleport that far? I was just saying it."

"If I teleport there myself, I'd have to wait around until my mana recovers~"

"I could drink a potion and fight right away, then head back — but mana potions are expensive, you know~"

I had teleported from Orun all the way to Sepia. Hiades shouldn't be that hard.

"I… I don't know…"

"Come with me just this once~ Please~? If you do, I'll answer every single question you ask!"

Did she know how interested I was in magic? Whether she had baited the hook on purpose or not, I had no choice but to bite.

"Ev… everything?"

"About beastman magic?"

"Yeah!"

"Everything?"

"Yeah, I'll answer all of it~"

"Then… I'll do it…"

"But why this request, of all things…?"

"This request pays a lot."

When I made a thoroughly sick-of-it face, Lena piled on a little more.

"Like, really, really a lot, okay?"

The mutated soldiers obeyed Tilia's commands. Demon mind-control magic — no, magic that turned people into thralls—

There was no time to think. What mattered was that this was demon magic I had never seen before. Was making thralls Tilia's specialty?

A regular soldier should never have been a match for me — and yet a sword came flying at impossible speed, the man making some strange, unintelligible noise with his mouth.

The soldiers weren't just following Tilia's orders. They seemed to have become something else entirely. Even their base abilities looked significantly enhanced.

Otherwise, there was no explaining the force behind the blade I was locking against right now.

"Hyaaah—!"

I put everything I had into shoving the heavy sword aside, a shout escaping me before I could stop it.

Trying to face not one but two of these monsters was more than a little overwhelming.

An attack from the left, then without a breath of rest a blade from the right. They worked together better now than they ever had as people.

"Damn it…"

My breathing roughened without my meaning it to.

"What's going on?!"

Honestly, I wished they hadn't come. Drawn by the endless noise, more soldiers kept arriving.

"Ghk… What the hell is—"

"Gyaaaaaah…!"

Of course, every soldier who came to check on the commotion fell under Tilia's mutation without exception. All it did was add more blades swinging my way.

"Kihiihit! Attack! Attack!"

Tilia did nothing herself — she simply stood there and gave orders. As if she were enjoying a bit of entertainment, she watched me get driven into a corner and laughed.

I was only human. My stamina was running out, and I could no longer dodge every blade that came for me.

My left arm had long since stopped answering.

With one relatively intact hand, I was barely holding the attacks at bay.

The situation was as bad as it could get.

And then, at last, an attack no human could avoid came in.

A sword sank deep into my waist — a mortal wound.

The opening was all she needed. The demon — Tilia — flew at me with an unpleasant yellow flame cupped in one hand, aiming straight for my stomach.

Was I going to end up like them too — a monster without reason, obeying nothing but Tilia's commands?

Something unknown forced its way into my body. Pain like my brain was on fire. Enough—

"Gyaaaaaaaaaah—"

Worse than the torture when I'd been captured as a soldier. Worse than the poisoned dagger. A pain I had never felt in my life tore a scream out of me.

So this is how it ends.

Apparently, to accept a request you had to register on the guild roster. Something about recording achievements and getting a travel permit.

Anyway, they said it was a good idea, so.

But could you really take a dragon-subjugation job the second you registered? Well… she probably had a plan.

"Tiable, go to that counter and tell them you're a demon. Got it?"

A demon? Wouldn't saying that get me beaten to death?

"Aren't I not supposed to say I'm a demon?"

"The guild's relatively free of that kind of prejudice. If you're strong, that's all that matters."

She flashed the gold necklace on her chest and gave a little heh under her breath.

"It's easier if you just tell the receptionist everything~ Other adventurers might pick a fight, but the receptionists don't care about that stuff!"

"A… alright."

Introducing my race as "demon" still didn't sit right with me, but I didn't have much choice.

Not every counter in the guild had a long line.

The one with only about two people waiting was the line for guild roster registration. Compared to the others, the lack of people made it stand out.

I walked over slowly and took my place behind those two.

I peeked around the person at the front, watching a little as they registered. How did this even work?

The receptionist smiled brightly and warmly as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid registration may be difficult for you."

…I can register, right?