Demon King Daimaou: Volume 10

by Shoutarou Mizuki

“You can’t put salt into tomato juice, gyah. Only no-salt tomato juice is worth drinking, gyah. It needs to be natural, gyah.”

  “Can’t yah do somethin’ about that obsession with all-natural stuff yah’ve got? When yer tired, yah need salt. Dat’s just how it goes.”

  “Drink your own dried sweat then, gyah.”

  “...Looks like yer askin’ to get those hairs on your body ripped off.”

  Both Michie and Kanna froze. The two of them were glaring at each other. The third member of the trio must have saw this, because she opened her mouth.

  “Gugah.”

  She was a Liradan, tall, with glasses and long black hair. Like most Liradans, her facial expression changed rarely, and when she spoke her face remained completely flat. But there was something in her voice that brooked no disagreement... Or at least, maybe there was. It was hard to tell. Both Michie and Kanna slumped back in their chairs.

  “Yeah, I know it’s mah fault for bein’ tired.”

  “I know I’m in a bad mood too, gyah.”

  “Gugah gugah gugah,” the Liradan, Arnoul, said.

  Michie laughed. She and Kanna could understand what Arnoul was saying.

  “...Ah see. Yer right. We need ta get outta here once in a while.”

  “We haven’t had a day off in forever, gyah.”

  “And then there was that whole mess with the Zero War... We ain’t had a break in forevah.”

  “Cleaning up from that mess was rough, gyah. We got hurt too, but the president doesn’t give us any credit, gyah.”

  “What we need is ta have some fun.”

  “Agreed, gyah!”

  Both Michie and Kanna got excited.

  “Gugah.”

  “Yup. I’ll pay for your share, Arnoul. It’s our way of saying sorry for punching you when you were controlled by Zero.” Kanna slapped her fist against her chest, proudly.

  Michie looked at Kanna, impressed.

  “That’s really nice of yah, Kanna.”

  “Nope. The two of us are gonna pay for her, gyah.”

  “Really? Well, whatevah. Anything for Arnoul!”

  For a moment, Michie looked annoyed, but then she grinned. Kanna grinned back, and then her pallid face quickly took on a serious expression.

  “But that leaves the President.”

  “No way is she gonna let us have a day off.”

  “Gugah.”

  The three of them crossed their arms in thought, but nobody had any ideas. Eventually, Kanna shook her head.

  “Gaah! Enough thinking about it!”

  “There ain’t no way she’ll ever give us a day off.”

  Michie spread her hands in resignation. But then Arnoul spoke, as if to urge them to do something.

  “Gugah gugah.”

  Kanna’s eyes flashed, as if Arnoul’s words had moved her.

  “So what we’ve gotta do is run, gyah.” Michie nodded with a stern expression.

  “The president’s out taking a call right now... If we wanna do it, now’s our only chance.”

  Michie and Kanna looked at each other and grinned. They simultaneously leapt out of their chairs and raced towards the door of the student council room. They flung it open and made a break for it, running as fast as they could. Arnoul walked after them, seemingly slowly, yet somehow managing to keep pace. But then the three of them froze at a voice from behind them.

  “Oh, perfect timing. I just got a weird call...” They knew without looking that it was Lily Shiraishi, so they didn’t bother turning around. They began to dash once again towards the way out.

  “...Hey, wait! You bastards!” Lily stretched out a hand after them, but the three were used to her tricks. In an instant they’d rounded the corner and dodged her attack. Lily was left alone, and completely confused.

  “What’s their problem? Bah, I bet I know what it is. The bastards are ducking their work! Well, I’m gonna give them ‘Grannie’s Whuppin,’ a torture so bad they’ll regret ever being born!”

  Lily’s face curled into a frown.

  “...That was a weird call, though. ‘The Liradan we keep as a servant at home left to go to to the academy, saying it was going to defeat the Demon King. Please capture it.’ What the hell was that about?” She took out her student handbook and looked her contacts.

  “Those three probably won’t pick up... So I’ll let the disciplinary committee handle it. It’s basically his fault anyway. Let’s see if he can actually contribute to society for once.” She said as she started to call Akuto.

  ○

  “Well, she’s gonna be pissed, gyah.”

  “We’ve made our choice, no sense in thinkin’ about it now.”

  Michie and and Kanna frowned at each other, but Arnoul shook her head. The three of them had made it out to the city.

  “Gugah.”

  “...Dat’s right. For now, let’s forget about it and have some fun.” Michie nodded.

  “That’s right,” Kanna said. Her grim mood quickly passed, and she became extremely excited.

  “Alright! Let’s have some fun, gyah! First, let’s get some udon, pizza, and then...”

  “Whenever ya see tsukimi udon, or pizza, or anything that looks like a full moon, ya know ya transform... And anyway, I’m not that hungry.” Michie sighed, but then she smiled.

  “But pizza does sound good. Ya know, there’s a new place dat just opened, where a champion pizza dough-thrower works.”

  “Hmm, okay. Let’s get some pizza then. I’ll make sure not to look at it until it’s cut, gyah. And pizza’s got your favorite, tomatoes.”

  “And I can pour bright red tabasco on it, too. Italian cookin’ sure has a lot of red stuff in it, huh?”

  “I can’t wait, gyah!”

  The three of them laughed and started to walk, but suddenly Arnoul spoke.

  “Gugah.”

  “Huh? There’s somebody behind us?”

  “No, don’t turn around, gyah.”

  Michie and Kanna’s voices were tense. Somebody was following them.

  “This is our vacation. We don’t wanna get caught up in a mess.”

  “Hmm... That’s a Liradan, gyah.”

  Kanna’s nose twitched. She had an exceptionally good sense of smell. The three of them were in charge of a school filled with rowdy students, and they’d been involved in two past wars. They may have looked cute, but they were all strong fighters. They analyzed the fighting capability of the Liradan behind them without even looking.

  “They’re terrible at hidin’, though...”

  “Gugah.”

  “Hmm... Seems to be an agricultural model, not a combat one? I do smell soil, gyah...”

  “Which means they’re probably not much of a threat, whatever they’re doing here, huh?”

  “Yeah. If we gotta deal with ’em, we can, gyah. But I don’t want them following us. Let’s lose them before we get started, gyah. We can meet at the soba stand in the shopping street,” Kanna said.

  Then the three of them started to run. They split off in three different directions at the corner, and disappeared into the crowd. It would’ve been tough for a veteran pursuer to follow them, so a non-combat Liradan wouldn’t have a chance. Eventually, the three of them showed up one by one at the soba stand.

  “We lost her without any trouble, gyah.”

  “Now we can eat our soba in peace... wait, wasn’t it supposed to be Italian?”

  “Guga.”

  “I just picked a place that was easy to meet up at, gyah. We can start with a little bowl of soba and a drink of sake, then wander around and go clothes shopping for a bit. We’ll be hungry again before too long.”

  “Please don’t get any alcohol...” The three of them opened their menus and ordered something light. Soon, some small sweets and bowls of soba were brought to their table.

  “You guys put your wasabi on the noodles themselves, or just drop it in the broth?”

  “I’ve never thought about it.”

  “Gugah.”
<
br />   “You never eat soba anyway? Oh, I see, gyah...”

  The three of them were enjoying their conversation as they ate, when the other customers began speaking excitedly about something.

  “Huh...?”

  “What’s going on? Are they hungry?”

  “Don’t look...!”

  The customers were all looking at the same thing: the window the trio was sitting next to.

  “...Got a bad feelin’,” Michie said, looking towards the window fearfully.

  “Gyah!”

  “Gugah.”

  Kanna and Arnoul screamed. There was a Liradan pressed up right against the window.

  “T-That’s the one that was followin’ us! I thought we ditched it!”

  “Gugah.”

  “Yer right! It probably just checked every window on the street!”

  Past the Liradan, they could see the people in the other shops looking at it worriedly. It must’ve stared into their windows as well. The Liradan looked like a young girl with thin arms and legs. Like most Liradans, it had a pretty face, but it didn’t seem to take care of its skin, and looked like a cheerful country girl.

  “So um... what is that, gyah?”

  “I-I dunno... No clue, actually.”

  Kanna and Michie looked at each other and froze. The Liradan was staring at the three of them like a child who wanted a trumpet, or a kingfisher hovering above the water waiting to grab a fish. From the look on her face, there was some kind of incredible passion burning within it. It was far more expressive than most Liradans.

  The Liradan reached a hand behind its back, and pulled out a small sickle. Then it backed away from the window, walked through the automatic door, and came inside. Of course, it headed straight for them.

  “W-What do you want, gyah?”

  “If there’s somethin’ you wanna say, just calm down and say it.”

  The Liradan ignored the two of them and raised its scythe.

  “My name is Monami! I’ve come to defeat the Demon King! But first, I’m going to defeat his trio of servants!” The Liradan jumped at Kanna, the nearest one to her.

  “Take this!” she screamed, but there was only a very small “thwack” sound. Kana had simply grabbed the blade of the scythe between her thumb and index finger.

  “C-Calm down, gyah. How can we be servants of the Demon King when we’re so cute!”

  “You’re lying! I can see your uniforms!” Monami tried to struggle, so Kanna lifted her off the ground by her scythe.

  “Uniforms?”

  “Our school uniforms?”

  Kanna and Michie looked at each other.

  “Those are the uniforms of the Demon King’s servants! So I’m going to defeat you!” Monami yelled loudly.

  “I’m... not following, gyah.” Kanna fell silent, unsure of what to do.

  Michie poked her with an elbow.

  “L-Let’s just get out of here. We’re bothering the other customers.”

  “Y-Yeah... You’re right.” Kanna nodded. Both the customers and staff were staring at them. She took out her wallet with one hand and handed it to Arnoul, gulped down one last bite of soba, and then carried Monami outside.

  “Hey! Lemme go, you coward! Fight fair!”

  “Sure, sure thing. Got it, gyah.” Kanna said.

  “Let’s just go someplace else first.”

  “Sorry, folks,” Michie said, bowing to everybody in the soba place before she left. The two of them looked at each other, frowning, uncertain what to do about the still-struggling Monami.

  “Gugah.”

  Arnoul, who had finished paying the bill, walked out of the shop and pointed to the other side of the street.

  “Dat’s right. Let’s go to the park.”

  “It’s better than dealing with it here, gyah.”

  Monami struggled the whole way to the park.

  “Let me go, you cowards!”

  “...All you have to do is let go of your sickle, gyah,” Kanna said when they arrived at the park. Monami was easily convinced.

  “Oh yeah. You’re right.” She let go and dropped to the ground, before looking up at Kanna with a confident expression.

  “Hahaha! Now that I’m free, you’re mine! Prepare yourself!” she said as she prepared to leap at Kanna again.

  “Calm down, gyah.” Kanna waved a hand. She was still holding the scythe between her fingers, and its hilt passed several dozen centimeters in front of Monami’s face. Even this little breeze, though, was enough to knock her back, and she looked up at Monami fearfully.

  “Using a weapon like that is cowardly! I get it! You had me let go so you could steal my weapon! How evil! Just what I’d expect of the Demon King’s servants!”

  “That’s not what’s going on here, gyah.” Kanna sighed, but Monami was still pissed.

  Arnoul stepped in front of her.

  “Gugah.”

  “Grr... You’re really big!” Monami said, scared.

  “Gugah gugah guga.”

  “You’re saying you don’t serve the Demon King either?” Monami could tell what Arnoul was saying, too. Arnoul began to use the compressed language of the Liradans.

  “Gugahgugahhgugahgugahgugugah.”

  “Huh? The Demon King wears this uniform, but he doesn’t actually control the school,? And there are lots of people who want to beat the demon king, but nobody’s succeeded so I shouldn’t even try? Is that it?” Monami repeated back what Arnoul had said.

  Arnoul had actually said a whole lot of other things, but that was all Monami had been able to understand. Still, it was more than enough.

  “I see...” She frowned and looked down at the ground.

  “I just wanted to defeat the Demon King... But I was really rude to you. I’m sorry.” Monami bowed deeply.

  “Sigh... Well, as long as you understand. Just don’t try anything stupid like this again. If you see anybody else in our uniforms, don’t attack them.” Kanna said, and handed back the sickle. Monami hung the sickle on her belt and started to walk away.

  Michie frowned as she watched her go.

  “It feels like we’ve done somethin’ bad...”

  “There’s nothing else we could do though, gyah. What were we supposed to do, gyah? And what kind of Liradan takes the form of a stupid child, anyway?” Kanna frowned.

  “Gugah,” Arnoul answered. According to what she said, child Liradans were often made for the elderly, either those who needed care or those who had no children. But since their owners tended to die so often they changed owners constantly. And once they’d spent too long in one place and developed a mind of their own, they found few buyers, and were often sent off to do light agricultural work.

  “And you say there’s also a good chance she’s defective somehow?” Michie said glumly.

  “Then there should be somebody who’s looking after her, gyah.”

  “Gugah.”

  “...Even if she does, she may not be able to contact him. Her telepathic phone might broken, huh?” Michie sighed. There was an awkward silence after that.

  “...W-Well, let’s go get our pizza. We didn’t really get a chance to enjoy our soba.” Kanna forced a laugh.

  “Gugah.”

  “Y-Yer right. Arnoul is telling us we shouldn’t try and get involved...” Michie said, not entirely convinced, but she and Kanna started walking.

  “We’re cutting work to do this, so we’d better enjoy it!”

  “Let’s go enjoy our day without the President!”

  Their attempt to force themselves to have fun failed, though, and they went window shopping with dead eyes and hollow laughter.

  “Ahahah. This is so fun, gyah.”

  “It sure is!”

  “Gugah.”

  But the periods of silence got longer and longer. Then, they heard an incredible sound behind them. DOGASSHAN! They turned around, fearing the worst, and of course, it was Monami. She’d leapt at a man sitting at a café terrace, and tripped.

  “Gugyahgugyah.
..”

  “What a mess...”

  Kanna and Michie sighed. The man was very clearly not in a legitimate line of work. He was wearing a brightly colored suit and strangely colored golden accessories.

  “Prepare yourself, servant of the Demon King!” Monami said, even as she lay on the ground. Fortunately, the man was too stunned to be mad. Kanna and Michie looked at each other and chuckled.

  “...Wanna do it, gyah?”

  “...Oh, fine.” Michie nodded. Both she and Kanna started running at the same time. Kanna quickly leapt in and grabbed Monami, then turned on her heels and bolted. Michie jumped in beside her, picked up the chair that had fallen over, straightened up the tablecloth, and bowed before the man could react.

  “We’re very sorry! Farewell!”

  Then she ran away, even faster than Kanna.

  ○

  “Sigh... What a mess, gyah.”

  “We told yah ta stop...” Once they were away, they started to lecture Monami. But Monami just looked annoyed, and didn’t say a word.

  “Gugah.” Arnoul said, but Monami didn’t answer.

  “I have to defeat the Demon King,” was all she said.

  “We told you to stop, though, gyah.” Monami shook her head.

  “I have to defeat the Demon King no matter what.”

  “...Listen, you say that, but you keep attacking random people. You don’t even know who the Demon King is, do you?” Kanna asked.

  “The Demon King is Akuto Sai, from Constant Magical Academy,” Monami said.

  “...If you know, then why are you attacking random people?”

  “The Demon King has lots of servants, right? So I need to defeat them and get experience.”

  What she said made sense, in a way. Of course, it didn’t seem likely she’d learn anything from her experiences, and she wasn’t even attacking the right people to start with.

  “He doesn’t have that many servants. And right now, the Empress controls his power,” Kanna said, but Monami still didn’t believe her.

  “His servants are all over the town! And a lot of the students serve him as well!”

  “It’s not like that, gyah...” Kanna fell silent, but Michie slapped her hands together as if she’d had an idea.

  “We’ll take ya to him, then!”

  “Huh?”

  Both Kanna and Monami gasped in surprise. Michie whispered into Kanna’s ear.