Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

155 – The Flame Hero, Forest Hunter, Black Sorcerer, and Vampire Queen Part 1

「P-p-pardon the intrusion. I am the Hunter Lily, I am currently working as an Adventurer.」

「Yes, welcome to our humble abode. My name is Milla. I work at the Demon King Castle as a Vampire and so forth.」

A rather uneasy looking Elf beauty and the Vampire beauty that is smiling with her whole face.

「Huh, so this is where you live, eh, Lem?」

Wow Fenix, this isn’t some fun trip to a friend’s house or something, y’know?

Do you not feel the intense pressure coming from Milla?

We’re in my apartment in the dormitory area.

Milla, who has become more or less my roommate, is welcoming Lily and Fenix.

Oh man, how did it all come to this…

I recalled the time I had a conversation with Milla about meeting these two.

『Meeting Fenix and Lily, you say?』

『Yeah, I’m sure we talked about it before, didn’t we? They wish to help us out as Monsters.』

『Well…yes, yes we did. But…Lem?』

『Hm?』

『This would mean that you have to spare your free time out of working hours for your old allies, right?』

『…? Yeah, I guess so.』

『But Lem…I thought we had discussed that you and I would go on our big date when the Raid Battle has reached somewhat of a stopping point.』

『Yeah, we did talk about that.』

『I concede that it is of the utmost importance to make advance arrangements. Know that I understand the full importance of such a thing. However, if I may say so, you are using your time off work in order to meet with your former allies. Under any normal circumstances, I would not mind in the slightest. What you do with your own leisure time is your business, after all.』

『R-right.』

『What is currently bothering me is that you graciously promised that you would reward me with a precious portion of your free time.』

『…I did say that, yes.』

『So then, what have those two done for you, Lem? Have they perhaps contributed enough to wedge themselves into our prior engagement…?』

『Uh…Milla? I sorta understand what you’re trying to say, I think. But, this is a meeting that I can’t afford to cancel.』

『Yes. I have already agreed that this is important in the grand scheme of things. However, so far as you do not think of me as annoying or troublesome, I have a suggestion.』

『I would never think that of you.』

『…! I-…Th-thank you very much. R-right then, I was thinking if it would be possible for me to participate in this meeting. What do you think?』

『Ah, so that’s what you’re suggesting… Sure, I don’t think those two would mind.』

『Would it be alright to hold the meeting right here?』

『Huh…? But isn’t this the Demon King Army dormitories? Is it OK for Adventurers to enter?』

『Well, you’re an Adventurer too, aren’t you, Lem?』

『Touche… Well, I suppose we could meet up somewhere and then from there, as long as I use my magic, we won’t get found out on the way here…』

『May I ask you to do just that?』

『Sure, I’ll let them know. But…why here?』

『In order to show off, of cour… I mean, I would like your former colleagues to witness the life you live now. The wonderfully full life that you are able to live after leaving the party. This is simply my own selfish desire.』

『R-right. I get it.』

…is kinda how that went down.

I have no reason to believe that Milla was telling a lie, but I get the impression that the goal was to invite Fenix and Lily into the house all along and the logic was sorta stuffed in there afterward.

She had met Fenix once more after the tenth stratum battle, but that was it.

As for my other former allies, she has only met them when she fought them as Carmilla.

「For the time being, why don’t you two come in?」

And with that, here we are.

「That’s right, please come into our home.」

Under Milla’s guidance, we proceed to the living room.

「Hey Lem, you shoulda told me that you two have already made it this far. Keep me up to date, man.」

For some reason, Fenix was speaking in a hushed tone.

「Huh? What the heck are you talking about?」

「I mean, you and Milla are already living together? That’s huge.」

「…We’re not, and even if we were, why should I have to tell you?」

We really aren’t living together. We just spend most of our nights together, currently. Probably. I think.

「In general, I don’t think it would be too strange to tell a good friend about his wonderful love life.」

「Well, I’ve never heard any love stories from you, so I guess we aren’t as good friends as I thought, huh?」

Fenix is in passionate love with so-and-so! or something like that would become news right away, but those are usually lies or just misunderstandings. However, Fenix is quite popular with the ladies. I mean, it’s Fenix, after all.

But we never brought up the topic amongst ourselves, nor did we ask each other about such things.

Until recently, at least.

Recently, Fenix has been clearly cheerful.

I wonder if he’s over the moon that his unpopular best friend has become intimate with a member of the opposite sex despite being unpopular.

「In the end, we’re talking about the general, ordinary people. Yup. It probably, totally doesn’t apply to us at all.」

「Yup, sure it doesn’t.」

That should probably keep him quiet for a while.

Fenix and I, we’re fine, honestly. No matter what the topic might be, he’s a trusted friend.

「You wish to fight alongside us as a Monster, right, Lily?」

「Y-yes. There is someone who I have to fight at all costs, so I have decided to ask Lem for his assistance…」

「Is that so? By the way, what kind of connection do you have with Lem that you can rely on him so?」

「Huh…? Well, that’s… I suppose because he was someone who used to be in the same party as me? I…I had the opportunity to know that Lem is the Demon King Army’s Chief of Staff.」

The opportunity that she is referring to is that time after the Fenix party were repelled and I went to see them off as they were headed towards a new town.

According to a plan that was lead by Milla, I summoned my Monster allies with my ring when I saw them off.

「Oh my, but if memory serves me right, also I happen to be a fan of Lem’s who checked every little movement he made, Lem was driven out of the Fenix party, was he not?」

「Urgh… Y-you…you are not mistaken in your understanding…」

「I am certain that it was the Warrior Alba who lead the charge. Did the other three share any dissenting opinions I wonder? Of course, since you’re all allies, I’m sure you did.」

「…The only one who opposed it was Fenix.」

「Which would mean that the other two were in favor of his expulsion. Am I correct in my assumption?」

「…It is embarrassing to admit, but at that point in time, I had yet to realize Lem’s true capabilities.」

「Really? Despite having fought countless battles alongside each other all that time?」

Milla spoke in a gentle tone. However, each word was like a knife being thrown.

Fenix tries to say something, but in this case, he isn’t the person who should be doing so.

I raise a hand to stop my friend, and I open my mouth.

「M-Milla? We’ve talked about this before, the main cause was the fact that I tried to hide it in the first place.」

Lily was shrinking away.

I try to gently calm Milla down, but-

「I am fully aware of that, Lem. I wish to discuss feelings.」

As a fan, the fact that the one you are a fan of is being treated like dirt within the party and is then forced out is a painful one, no matter what the reason was behind it.

Having one of the people who drove that person out now rely on the very person that they drove out, there’s no way that their feelings can remain calm.

It is also probably only natural to feel angry at how convenient it all is.

However, I can’t just leave Lily, who I finally became friends with, to wallow in self-loathing again.

If Milla wants to talk about feelings, then…

「I’m very happy about how you feel about me. But, please, don’t say anything bad about the discussion that eventually led to me leaving the party.」

「…Lem?」

「After all, if it weren’t for that happening at that exact timing, I wouldn’t have been able to reunite with you, Milla.」

「…」

Also, I was able to meet Cashew in this town when I was driven out of the party.

I was able to become friends with the fruit seller Blitz.

I was able to become allies with everyone in the Demon King Army.

I also got to know the people in the Elementary Level – Beginner’s Dungeon.

And I was also able to enter the Tag Tournament together with the Silver Hero Nicola.

「All the encounters and experiences I had after I left the party are all filled with joy and warmth to me. It’s true that things were tough during the time when I just left, but now I am nothing short of thankful for it. I would be glad if you would look at it that way, Mil-」

「I do look at it that way…!」

The anger that was seeping out from within her has been blown away without a trace, leaving only happiness behind.