20 Chapter20: Demons And Heroes

[ haa... I didn't expect that bath to be so relaxing... ] I'm sitting on one of the chairs while laying my head on the table inside Marinda-san's Inn.

[ is that so? you said that you always bathe every day right? I thought that it would already be normal for you. ] Marinda-san said as she serves our food.

[ well... I guess that's because I wasn't able to take one for two days... ]

[ is that so? where were you that two days you haven't taken a bath by the way? ] asked Victor-san who's sitting on another table.

[ hmm? well, I was traveling to different places, before I suddenly got attacked by monsters in a forest near this city, I could barely escape and I ended up with no money on me nor anything. ] I told them the same story I came up with on the spot when I met Jacked Jack.

[ I guess you had it rough. It's a good thing you can hunt monsters, or you won't have any money... ]

[ yes... ] It's not like I can't do any other jobs...

[ Anyway, let's just eat. Alice, you eat too. ] Alice was just listening to us talking without touching her food, so I cut the conversation and urged them to just eat.

[ yes. ] Alice nods with a smile.

Victor-san and the others started eating too. I noticed that Bretta-san is now sitting beside Alice. I guess they're really close friends now.

[ by the way, how is your first mission? you took Alice with you, right? ] Victor-san asked.

[ well, apparently it was easy. Alice knows almost all the locations of the monsters outside so we found our prey easily. ] Alice was really helpful. I just wish she can hunt monsters too.

[ oh...? you know that's not a piece of information you should disclose so easily, if some adventurers heard that, they might kidnap Alice for themselves... ] Victor-san said in a quiet, thin voice.

[ I'll be in trouble if I didn't hear that, but I think I get what you're saying. ]

Adventurers are always having a bad time hunting specific monsters outside the city, that it was normal to camp for days outside, so if the news goes out that Alice can easily locate all kinds of monsters near this city, they'll immediately get her for themselves.

[ I'll keep that in mind. ]

[ hmm... but to find someone with such talent the second day you arrived at this city is really impressive. ] Marinda-san said.

[ I guess I'm really just lucky...? how about you Victor-san? do you have a party? ] I asked Victor-san as I was curious what kind of people Victor-san hangs out with.

[ me...? hmm... I solo. ] Victor-san said in a tired voice.

[ people don't want to party with me because I'm only active at night. ]

[ active at night? sounds lewd. ]

[ It means I only hunt monsters at night... ] Victor-san looked at me intently with his blood red eyes.

[ I-i know, I'm just kidding. ] I didn't know Victor-san could get this scary when he's angry. Those blood red eyes of his feels like they're taking my soul out of my body.

[ well anyway, the Guild always gives me tasks that are about hunting monsters that can only be hunted at night. ] monsters that can be hunted at night?

[ are there any monsters like that? ]

[ yes... hmm... most of them are close near the Graveyard, monsters like ghouls, zombies, and many kinds of ghost-like monsters spawn in there, and I exterminate them. ]

[ wow... sounds like an important job... ]

[ yes it is... ] I wonder if Victor-san is a famous Adventurer too.

[ how much do you earn per day? ] I expect it to be big.

[ well, because I'm alone doing a job a dozen people are required to do, I got a large amount of payment. hmm... it's 6 gold a day... even tho I know that that amount is big for a normal adventurer, I don't consider it as such. I don't think I can regain my old treasures with that amount of money. ] that's double the amount I got today, and he's still getting worried about losing a single copper coin from a meal with a lot of vegetables instead of meat? what a guy...

[ you said that your Mansion was captured by the demons right? ] I remember him saying that.

[ it's not a Mansion... it's a Castle... ]

[ Ohh... I forgot. ] how can I forgot that Dracula lives in a castle.

[ yes, I already asked the country that my castle is standing at for help, but they said that the monsters are just too strong to defeat, that's why they just left it alone and never even tried to fight with the demons. ]

[ are the demons really that strong? ] I asked. If the demons, that are supposed to be the enemy of humanity roams this world... then how can I achieve my plan to venture to all of the other countries of this world?

[ hmm... the only strong ones are the commanders, and there are 13 commanders in total in all of the Demon armies. I can match one of them in a 1 v 1 fight, but if there's two of them, I wouldn't even have the chance to win. And the only thing that is keeping them from conquering the world is all the heroes from all the different countries gathering together. ] wow... heroes and demons... I know I'm not supposed to be getting excited from two existence battling for the fate of the world, but I just can't help but to get excited

but he said that "heroes gathering together" right? I thought there's supposed to be only one hero.

[ say, how many in total are the heroes? ] I asked because I was curious.

And if I can I also want to be one... it's kinda like my dream since I was little.

[ I don't know... some countries don't expose their secrets... of course that include the number of heroes they have. but the known ones are in total of 42. ]

[ what!?... isn't that too many? ] why 42? that ruined my belief that a hero can fight an army alone...

[ no, I still think that's too few. We're talking about all heroes in the world, and I say even if the heroes reach the number of the 50s, they still wouldn't stand a chance against the demon king. ]

[ Victor-san, it seems that you have much knowledge about the Heroes... but I'm surprised you know so much about the Demons too... ] ever since we started to talk about demons and heroes he started to talk seriously.

[ well, that's because I already fought with the Demons before. I manage to cut an arm off of one of their Commanders, but he manages to call for help before I could kill him.] wow... if he managed to do that to a commander... then Victor-san must be really strong...

I looked at Marinda-san, she's supposed to be surprised about this information but she's just listening calmly...

[ well, you might not know this, but Marinda-san is the strongest female Holy Knight from ten years ago... and we were at the same party. ]

...

what!? now I'm the one who's surprised! This beautiful onee-san/mother is the strongest female Holy Knight ten years ago!?

[ well, he's not kidding... I only retired when I got pregnant with Bretta, but my husband still serves as a Holy Knight, that's why we were able to fund this Inn. ] wow... who is Marinda-san's husband mystery is now solved... I was actually expecting it to be secretly Jacked Jack.

[ also, me, Victor-san, and my husband were at the same party before, when we fought with the Demon army. So we have a lot of experience at fighting Demons. ]

[ wow... you got a lot of history... ] I was surprised by how special people my neighbors are...

[ ...you forgot to add one more person Marinda-san... Jacked Jack was also with us when we fought the Demon Army. ] Victor-san added.

[ haah... I can't be more surprised in one day. ]

I'm just gonna sleep this out.