A Safe Place to Stand
Two carriages were pulled by a massive horse.
Yoon Sang-hyuk sat in the carriage behind, sipping tea that gave off wisps of hot steam.
“So, this was when I was escorting Lord Belet to the Gray Wasteland. We were passing through the Banshee Queen’s territory. I don’t know if you know this, but Lord Belet has a rather serious pride problem. So he didn’t like the idea of paying the Banshee Queen something in exchange for passage. Of course, Lord Belet tried to force his way through her territory, but in the end...”
Zephyr, riding with him in the carriage, kept talking without pause. Since they had left Marbas’s city, a full day had passed, and in all that time Zephyr had only been quiet while eating or sleeping.
Even so, Yoon Sang-hyuk didn’t find it boring or annoying in the least. Zephyr had a gift for holding a person’s interest. His stories were lively, and Yoon Sang-hyuk found himself looking forward to what came next.
“Everyone in the patrol except for Lord Belet was wiped out.”
Belet was a high-ranking demon, thirteenth among the Demon Lords. As Zephyr said, he must have been deeply proud.
“After that, the lords always prepared gifts that would satisfy the Banshee Queen whenever they passed through her territory. And this is a secret, but after Lord Belet, none of the lords ranked above him ever went on patrol in the Gray Wasteland. Can you guess why?”
“They probably didn’t want to go and make fools of themselves.”
“Haha, exactly.”
Then the one sitting quietly beside Zephyr and drinking tea cast him a sidelong glance.
“When you speak ill of someone, bet your soul on it.”
“Urk.”
Zephyr let out a pained sound and shut his mouth.
“Especially if the target is a Demon Lord, right?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at the one who had spoken.
The elegantly seated tea drinker was Jerome, the owner of the tavern Twilight’s Wail and its bartender. Or rather, her real name was Zeronia.
It was a name that sounded somehow feminine. And, astonishingly, the bartender was not a man but a woman.
When Yoon Sang-hyuk asked why she had bothered to pose as a man, all he got was the brief answer, “Female bodies are looked down on.”
What mattered was this: they were on their way to the Gray Wasteland, so why was Zeronia coming along?
She had said she wanted to help without asking for any payment. Zephyr had also recommended her as a guide even better than himself.
He didn’t know her exact reason for following them, but Yoon Sang-hyuk readily accepted her company.
Aside from Zephyr and Zeronia, several other demons had joined the party. They had been moving with Zephyr for some time. It was easiest to think of them as Zephyr’s team.
There were three of them as well.
Originally, Zephyr had said they would need more people. Since the journey would take quite a while, there was no shortage of things to carry, so porters would be necessary.
But Yoon Sang-hyuk had an extra-dimensional storage space, so porters weren’t needed.
And so the expedition was formed: Yoon Sang-hyuk, Zephyr, Zeronia, and three members of Zephyr’s team, six people in all.
The carriage gradually slowed, then came to a stop.
“I think we’ll have to make camp here for today.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk got down from the carriage and looked around.
It was a desolate plain. Not a blade of grass, not a single small tree in sight. The members of Zephyr’s party who had come with them were already moving quickly to set up camp.
Two of them prepared the sleeping area, while one started a fire.
Yoon Sang-hyuk took out the container box he had used when conquering the Demon King’s Castle on Earth and set it down from his extra-dimensional storage.
“It’s impressive every time I see it.”
“Looks like you want one.”
When Yoon Sang-hyuk asked, Zephyr gave an awkward laugh.
“Not exactly... But as a guide, I often find myself having to camp out like this. I just thought something like that would be very convenient.”
“Even if I gave it to you, you wouldn’t have a way to carry it around.”
“Haha, I’m sure I could find a way.”
“Once we finish everything here, I’ll give you one.”
Zephyr’s face lit up.
The container box had been carefully designed so they could live outside without discomfort, but once they left the Demon Realm it would no longer be necessary. No, if he put his mind to it, he could build something several times better than the one he had now.
“Uh, then... what about food?”
“Food?”
“Haha, the ramen I had yesterday left quite an impression on me.”
It was Zephyr who had spoken, but from behind him came the sound of someone swallowing. Zeronia was watching the two of them talk with eyes full of anticipation.
Last time they had camped, he had boiled some ramen after she showed interest, and it seemed to have won her over completely. Yoon Sang-hyuk took a five-pack of ramen from his extra-dimensional storage and tossed it to Zephyr.
“You know how to cook it, right?”
“Of course.”
He had assumed that beings living in the Demon Realm would naturally gnaw raw flesh and drink blood. But every moment spent here kept showing him just how wrong that assumption had been.
The Demon Realm, too, was a place where people lived. It was more barren than the human world, but civilization existed here as well.
In fact, the higher demons and Demon Lords enjoyed a much more advanced cultural life than humans did.
While the demons were cooking ramen, Yoon Sang-hyuk took out a combat ration for himself. With dinner handled, he pulled out a chair and sat down, watching the demons at work.
The way they set up the black tent and made all sorts of arrangements around it was the work of professionals who were used to camping.
The sky of the Demon Realm was always a dark red. It was hard to even tell where day ended and night began. As he stared blankly over the barren plain, a steaming cup appeared in front of his face.
He took the tea Zeronia handed him and drank a sip. Her skill at brewing tea was surprisingly good.
“It’s made from tea that grows naturally near the Unflowing River in the western Demon Realm. It helps relieve fatigue.”
“Not bad.”
He sipped the tea while privately wondering what kind of river the “Unflowing River” might be.
“Why are you going to the Gray Wasteland?”
“Why do you want to know that?”
“Because it’s a place only the lords go to. Even then, it’s a place no one wants to visit unless Baal gives the order.”
“So it’s strange that a human like me is trying to go there?”
Zeronia gave a small nod.
“Why do you want to go? According to the ancient records, there was no reason at all for demons to go there. Like you said, the lords have no choice because of Baal’s orders, but you don’t have any reason to go.”
“......”
Zeronia didn’t answer right away.
It was Zephyr who answered instead.
“It’s because of my older brother.”
“Your older brother?”
“Yes. Zeronia’s older brother went to the Gray Wasteland a long time ago as a lord’s guide.”
“And he never came back?”
“Jerome definitely arrived in the Gray Wasteland. But for whatever reason, he never returned. I didn’t dare ask the lord why. After that, whenever I went to the Gray Wasteland as a guide, I tried to find out what happened to Jerome. But I learned nothing.”
It sounded like the Jerome Zephyr was referring to was the missing older brother of Zeronia, who had disappeared in the Gray Wasteland.
Zephyr shrugged.
“Jerome is also my younger brother.”
When Yoon Sang-hyuk showed no particular reaction, Zephyr looked at him in surprise.
“You knew?”
“Just by looking at you, and by listening to the way you two talk. I figured you were close. Same with the others here, too, wasn’t it?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk glanced toward the rest of the demons, who had finished setting up camp and were now cooking ramen.
“So you knew. Yes, that’s right. Those brats are all my siblings, too. I’m the eldest, the missing Jerome is second, and Zeronia is third. Those brats are my younger siblings.”
“So the surviving siblings all set out to find the missing one. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have bothered drinking all that foul liquor. What a pointless thing to do.”
“Haha, still, thanks to that, Lord Sang-hyuk earned the honorable title of the Demon Realm’s greatest drinker.”
“I don’t need a title like that.”
Zephyr flopped down onto the ground opposite Yoon Sang-hyuk.
“Twilight’s Wail was originally Jerome’s tavern. He opened it after gathering dark energy as a guide. Then, because a lord visited for a patrol of the Gray Wasteland, he had no choice but to give up his work as a guide and return to it later. I wanted to go in his place at the time, but the lord said it had to be the best guide... It’s embarrassing to say this, but my skill as a guide is still far below my second brother’s.”
So after the demon Jerome vanished, his younger sister Zeronia had taken over Twilight’s Wail.
“Originally, I didn’t want to teach my three younger siblings the work of a guide. It’s more dangerous than you’d think. But those brats are incredibly stubborn. They insisted on learning so they could rescue Jerome somehow.”
“Why are you hiding your strength?”
Zeronia’s eyes flew wide open at Yoon Sang-hyuk’s question.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Not just me, but any high-ranking lord above thirtieth place would see it at once.”
“That is...”
“I’ll answer that as well.”
This time, Zephyr stepped in again.
“Our family has a small dream. We want one of our siblings to become a lord. If that happens, we won’t have to worry about anyone’s opinion anymore, and we won’t have to do dangerous work either. That’s why we’ve been gathering the dark energy we each collected and feeding it to Zeronia. It may sound ridiculous, but among our siblings, Zeronia is by far the most talented.”
“So Zeronia becomes a Demon Lord? Hmm. I suppose she could probably beat Andromalius easily right now. Then why keep holding back? Wouldn’t becoming a Demon Lord make it easier to find your brother?”
“Because we have no backing.”
Zephyr let out a sigh.
“Even if she takes Lord Andromalius’s throne right now, there’s no guarantee she can hold it. Once a throne changes hands, challengers will keep coming for a while. Normally, a powerful patron stands behind the new ruler and keeps things under control. But we don’t have anyone like that. Even if we can seize the throne, we can’t challenge for it until we have the power to defend it.”
“This ‘backing’ you’re talking about. Can anyone do it?”
“Huh?”
Zephyr looked at him as though he wasn’t sure what Yoon Sang-hyuk was asking.
“I’m asking whether there are any conditions to becoming a patron.”
“No, not really. You just need the power to stop challengers until the throne is secured and stable. Of course, that means power strong enough to hold back even the high-ranking Demon Lords.”
“I see.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk nodded slowly.
“If this expedition ends safely...”
A faint curve touched Yoon Sang-hyuk’s lips.
“I’ll be your backing.”