Chapter 14
Belcia, the Demon King’s secretary and the person in charge of the entire Demon Army, boasted the most capable and levelheaded mind among the demons.
She was currently climbing a snowy mountain range bordering the Dwarf Kingdom of ‘Baellogia.’
There was only one reason she was climbing without complaint through terrain battered by a fierce blizzard, despite being prone to feeling cold.
She was going to meet Glaias, the Ice Witch known as the Queen of the Frozen Prison, one of the Demon Army’s Four Heavenly Kings.
As a snow woman, Glaias never left this place.
Snow women weren’t a race bound to one place.
They could leave this place and live elsewhere just fine.
Of course, they couldn’t stay long somewhere that wasn’t cold, but even that wasn’t a reason to stay put.
If she wanted to, she could conjure a blizzard anywhere and travel through it.
Only the Ice Witch herself and the Demon King knew why she was holed up here.
“I really never want to come back here again……”
There was a portal room she’d kept ready in case she ever had to come here, but some bastard had used it without permission.
The culprit had obviously used illusion magic.
Belcia, who was beside herself with worry over the Demon King, had been pushed to her limit by stress lately.
So she’d taken the opportunity to fire every soldier responsible for the Demon Army’s security and completely overhaul the Demon Castle’s traps.
The Demon Army’s soldiers had fiercely opposed the decision.
‘How could anyone kidnap the Demon King without killing him?! He must’ve simply gone out!’
“What a load of crap……”
They hadn’t failed to kill the Demon King. They hadn’t been able to.
Even if the kidnapper knew about the Demon Heart, they’d never find its location.
Only the Demon King knew where the heart was.
Then how had Belcia herself survived?
Had the culprit mistaken her for a nobody and left after using illusion magic?
No.
“There’s no way you could kill me.”
Belcia was the Demon King’s retainer.
In other words, as long as the Demon King was alive, she could never die.
So the only one who could kill Belcia was the Demon King.
Since the Demon King would never kill her, that settled it.
“Anyway, I wonder when we’ll get there.”
Just as they were nearing the summit of the snowy mountain range,
an ice palace came into view.
Seeing the palace’s grand form, Belcia couldn’t help thinking it was beautiful.
That aside, she didn’t like its owner.
“Phew…… We’re finally here. I just hope that frozen-fish hag isn’t asleep.”
Knock, knock.
She stood in front of the ice palace and rapped on the door.
“Lady Glaias, it’s Belcia, the one in charge of the Demon Army. Please open the door.”
……
……
……
“Sigh……”
Creeeeak—
The ice door opened with a creaking sound.
Every time I come here, I like this place less and less.
Belcia went inside and walked for a long while before Glaias finally came into view, lying on her throne.
There was even some half-eaten shaved ice beside her.
“Mm. Welcome, Secretary.”
“Why can’t you ever open the door the first time?”
“It’s a pain. Now get out.”
After saying that, Glaias turned her head away from Belcia and lay back down.
The vein on Belcia’s forehead began to bulge conspicuously.
Glaias continued to ignore her all the same.
But this time was different.
Belcia had information Glaias couldn’t afford to ignore.
“Hahaha. In that case, I’ll just share the news about the Demon King with everyone else.”
“!!!”
With a sharp turn, Glaias looked back at Belcia.
Her dull, dead-fish eyes began to waver wildly.
Seeing that, Belcia smiled triumphantly and started acting smug.
“Well then…… I’ll be on my way?”
“Wait. Stop.”
“Why should I? Didn’t you tell me to get out?”
Glaias was trembling all over.
She looked just like a snarling Chihuahua.
But the more she acted like that, the worse it was for Glaias.
Realizing that, Glaias slowly cooled her head.
“……I’m sorry. Tell me now.”
It was the first time Belcia had ever heard Glaias apologize.
It showed just how desperate she was.
But Belcia wasn’t satisfied.
She was still being rude.
“Hmm, I think you’re being a little curt. Unfortunately, I’m a busy woman, so I’ll have to be going.”
“I’m sorry. Please, tell me.”
The answer came instantly.
Pfft. The Ice Witch, who didn’t treat anyone like a person unless they were the Demon King, was acting like this.
Belcia was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Still, she couldn’t just keep teasing her.
Every second counted now. Nothing was more important than rescuing the Demon King.
“Then I’ll get straight to the point. The Demon King has regained consciousness.”
“!!!”
Glaias’s cold expression softened as if she’d pressed a heat pack to her face.
“The Demon King…… will come see me again.”
Glaias covered her face with both hands, like a girl in love.
Belcia was utterly dumbfounded by the sight.
The Demon King is mine, so what the hell are you talking about?
“That won’t happen. The Demon King has been kidnapped.”
“……What?”
“The Demon King has disappeared.”
Glaias looked as though she didn’t understand what Belcia was saying.
Sigh, what a frustrating woman…… Huh?!
Fwoooosh—
Before she knew it, a chilly blizzard had begun to swirl around Belcia.
A cold so intense it froze even mana.
If even a little of it got into her lungs, her whole body would freeze in an instant.
“This is your fault. You should’ve stopped it.”
An ominous killing intent filled the ice palace.
Glaias’s entire presence had changed.
But Belcia didn’t shrink back.
“What would killing me change?”
“What?”
“The Demon King is in immediate danger. If you kill me, you’ll only have less time to rescue him.”
“……”
Whoosh.
Glaias dispelled the blizzard.
If Belcia hadn’t used the Demon King’s peril as leverage, she might have lost a life right there.
With a mere twitch of the Ice Witch’s finger, sharp shards of ice would have torn Belcia to pieces.
Of course, she wouldn’t really have died.
“Now, let’s go find the Demon King together.”
“I can’t leave here.”
Glaias looked dejected.
Belcia was a little irritated, though.
“Why not? What could possibly make you stay here without moving for a hundred years?”
She’d come just in case, but Glaias still had no intention of leaving.
What on earth had happened in the past?
“Because I…… made a promise to the Demon King.”
“What?”
“Now get out. I have nothing more to say.”
“What do you mean—”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t finish her sentence.
Glaias had forcibly sent her flying.
Fwoooooosh!!
Belcia shot back along the same path she’d taken into the palace.
“Ugh!! You frozen-fish hag!!!”
Bang!!
The ice door slammed shut with a deafening boom right in front of Belcia, who’d been thrown outside.
And it never opened again.
***
The Hero’s party returned to the village where they’d first been.
“Hero!! I need to pee! Hurry down here!”
“Okay……”
Ever since Yubel put on the elves’ sacred treasure, Yubel called Se-on whenever they needed to use the bathroom.
The two of them squeezed into the cramped bathroom together.
Se-on was embarrassed to go in with Yubel, but there was no choice.
They had no other option.
The last time, Yubel’s panties had gone back up while peeing after using [Undress] just once, causing a catastrophic disaster. So Se-on had to go into the bathroom and keep using [Undress].
Even so, Se-on found it strange that Yubel could pee so calmly.
“Yubel…… aren’t you embarrassed?”
He asked Yubel, who was peeing in the inn’s communal bathroom.
Of course, he kept his face turned toward the ceiling.
Trickle, trickle—
“Hm? Why would I be?”
To Yubel, it just felt like two guys using the bathroom together.
That only left Se-on confused.
Yubel looked at him with innocent eyes.
Could it be that Yubel knew absolutely nothing about sex?
Or maybe Yubel didn’t see me as a man……
“……”
Thinking that, Se-on suddenly felt downhearted.
So he simply convinced himself that Yubel was acting that way because Yubel was innocent.
Yubel, however, was quite angry at the moment.
The Hero kept fidgeting, and it was getting on Yubel’s nerves.
And one suspicion came to mind.
Wait, did this Hero bastard do this on purpose?
Come to think of it, he was the one who suggested I put them on.
Yubel concluded that the Hero had set this up to exploit Yubel’s weakness.
It was awkward enough peeing after becoming a woman, and now I can’t even use the bathroom alone?
You cruel bastard of a Hero.
After finishing up and going back to the inn room, they saw Riella lying on the bed.
“Se-on, Yubel. Where did you two go this time?”
“Uh, um, just…… for a walk! We went for a walk.”
Yubel was embarrassed about wearing the sacred treasure, so Yubel hadn’t told Riella.
Yubel had also done their best to hide the fact that they went to the bathroom together.
Yubel thought Riella would tease them.
“Hmm…… I see!”
But Riella had known all along that Yubel was wearing the sacred treasure and going to the bathroom with Se-on.
She didn’t know Yubel couldn’t take it off, though, and thought they went together because Yubel was a coward.
Yubel’s such a scaredy-cat.
“So what are we going to do now that we’re out of money?”
“Why are we out of money?”
“Because you eat five meals a day!!”
Since leaving Edellia, the Hero’s party had been struggling because they were short on money.
They’d been spending every bit of the money Riella earned on food.
Does all that fat go straight to her chest?
How can someone eat that much?!
Today, Riella’s huge breasts were especially annoying.
Just then, Se-on came over and pulled out a letter.
“Hey, you two. Come to think of it, we got a letter from Tiranis.”
“Tiranis? What’s that? Can you eat it?”
“It’s the kingdom that summoned the Hero. Why are you talking about food again? So what does the letter say?”
Se-on opened the envelope and began reading it slowly.
“Hmm…… It says they’d like us to start showing proper results as the Hero’s party soon.”
Results?
Doesn’t catching the Black Wolves in Edellia count as an achievement?
“Hmm…… This is a pain. Should we go hunt monsters or something?”
Keeping an eye on the Hero was hard enough. Now they had to accomplish something, too.
It really hit home that not just anyone could be part of the Hero’s party.
“M-Me! I want to try that! An orc hunt! The elves said you have to hunt one at least once in your life!”
“……Orcs?”
Elves and orcs?
That was a weird combination.
For now, I should refuse……
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea. Why don’t we go tomorrow? The Adventurers’ Guild just put out a request to hunt orcs.”
The Hero bastard had agreed in a flash. Damn it.
But weren’t there no orc-related events in the game?
What the hell was this bastard after?
Could it be an event I don’t know about?
Yubel thought Se-on knew more about the game than Yubel did.
Seeing how he’d recruited Riella at the very beginning of the game through an unbelievable method, and then maneuvered Yubel into wearing the elves’ sacred treasure to get leverage over Yubel, Yubel had decided his knowledge far surpassed Yubel’s own shallow understanding of the game.
Se-on had never even played that damn game in the first place, though.
“Yay! Se-on, you’re the best!”
“Ugh?!”
Riella ran over and hugged the Hero.
Riella’s huge breasts were pressed against the Hero.
Yubel watched them blankly.
I’m jealous…… No, that’s not it!
You’re hugging him here?
“Sniff, sniff. Se-on, you smell good! Hehe, it feels weird.”
“Uh, o-okay. Thanks.”
Riella was sniffing the Hero.
Then she clung to him and started rubbing against his body.
Rub, rub.
She was acting like a bitch in heat.
Yubel was more than a little flustered by the sight.
W-What is this?
Did she already get romanced while I wasn’t looking?
Ugh, I have to stop them!
And stop the lewdness, too!
“Hey! What are you two doing—?!”
“Eek!”
Yubel put some strength into it and pulled the two of them apart.
“Eeeh, why, Yubel?”
“What do you mean, why! You just— Sigh…… never mind.”
“Huh?”
No, how far had they gotten while I wasn’t looking?
I’d decided to protect Riella, but things had already gone this far……
“I’ll protect you……”
Yubel took Riella’s hand and trembled.
***
That morning, Se-on
was trying to decide which skill to unlock.
[Skill Points: 10]
[Points required to acquire ‘???’ skill: 5]
[Points required to acquire ‘???’ skill: 5]
[Points required to acquire ‘???’ skill: 5]
Anyway, my skill points had gone up again.
Yubel thought Riella was the one who’d raised Se-on’s skill points, but Yubel had contributed the most.
Without Yubel, Se-on would probably have had almost no skill points at all by now.
“Hmm.”
The skill window had changed.
The skill tree was starting to branch out in all sorts of directions.
This time, he had to choose one of three skills.
But what was the point of choosing if he couldn’t see any of the names?
Either way, he had to get stronger somehow to protect his companions.
Se-on had already made up his mind, so he didn’t hesitate to spend the points.
Press.
[You have acquired the skill ‘Pheromones’!]
[※ This skill is a passive ability.]
“Passive?”
He didn’t even know what the skill did, and it activated automatically. It couldn’t be more unsettling.
“Hero!! I need to pee! Hurry down here!”
Yubel urged him from outside the door.
“Okay……”
Well, it should be fine.
Skills had only helped him so far.
And so, a sensual scent began to emanate from Se-on’s body.