Visiting the Demon Lord (Part 3)

As Sian said, we really tasted an absurd amount of food, ranging from meats to sweets.

There were several stalls selling unique foods, and even though some of them looked strange, they were incredibly good.

If I had to choose, my favorite would definitely be the one called coxinha. According to Sian, it is a dish made with wheat flour dough and chicken broth. In the middle of the dough there is a filling of seasoned meat and cheese, but from what I saw, there are several types of fillings.

As we passed by the stalls, I heard that several of these foods were recipes introduced by the demon lord. From Sian's words, he is an excellent cook.

Coupling this with his unimpressive name, the image I had of him got entirely shattered.

Interestingly, Sian showed the same crest as before on all the stalls we passed, but unlike the first one, everyone seemed on guard around him, as if they knew he was dangerous.

When I asked him what that crest was, he said it was something given to him by the demon lord himself. It serves as a pass for him to buy whatever he wants in the lord's territory and the bill will be sent to the castle.

The crest is a magic tool with a very interesting function. It leaves a magic mark with the price consumed. With this, all the vendors need to do is take the mark to the castle and ask for payment. Since the mark has the magical signature of the demon lord, it seems to be impossible to counterfeit.

For the lord to give something like this to Sian, there are only two possibilities, either he was threatened, or they are very close. But knowing Sian, I am more inclined to believe the first possibility.

"Did you hear what happened to that guy who was challenging the lord?"

While I was tasting what appeared to be a sweet corn cake, the conversation of two customers approaching the stall reached my ears.

"If I hear it? I was there and saw it with my own eyes," the man who appeared to be a blue demon replied to his friend, who appeared to be of a plant race.

"Really?" the plant man looked surprised. "How the challenger was defeated?"

"It was a brutal scene. The lord just snorted and in a matter of seconds, the guy rotted to the point where his bones fell apart."

I take back what I said before. This is something a demon lord would do, or at least it is so in my imagination.

"The lord is still as ruthless as ever."

"Why would anyone challenge a demon lord?" I asked Sian.

"It is strength that decides the lord."

Instead of Sian, the plant man answered me. Keeping his yellow eyes locked on my direction, he continued.

"From the voice, I can tell you're young, and from the question, I'm sure you're not from this area."

Leaning over, he tried to see under my hood, but since I was wearing a mask, he couldn't see anything.

"It's like he said, although the strength decides the lord, the current one is doing a great job. I hope someone who can defeat him doesn't come anytime soon."

The stall owner added as he dispatched the sweet corn cake to the newcomers. Since there was no dialogue, it seems that they were regular customers.

"We can only hope that the Undefeated King doesn't come to challenge the lord." Taking a bite of his food, the blue demon continued, "If he were to become the new lord, I bet everything would be a complete chaos."

"Nah, that's impossible," the plant man said. "Even though he has defeated many lords, he has never accepted the position of lord."

"You have a point, nevertheless, that would throw mud in our lord's face."

Intruding into the conversation of the two, I asked, "Who is the Undefeated King?"

"He's a fearful human," the stall owner replied. "He came out of nowhere and made his name in the blink of an eye while taking down the demon lords of each region."

Pretending to show no interest, I said apathetically, "That sounds like an amazing achievement."

Although I did not know the identity of this undefeated king, I already had a suspicion of who it might be.

"But it doesn't end there, lass," the blue demon said. "He is never alone, he always takes his three generals wherever he goes."

"Generals?" I asked.

"That's right, they are known as Demonic Cow, Myriad Colors, and Blood Nightmare. Even though they are not as strong as the Undefeated King, they are strong enough to take down demon lords. The most amazing thing is that according to rumors, they are treated as servants by him."

As my hypothesis that this Undefeated King was Sian grew stronger, the plant man said.

"You forgot to mention his watchdog, Fire Storm. Rumor has it that he is as strong as the Undefeated King."

"Its just rumors. No one has actually seen that bird in action."

"That's because those who saw it are now dead."

It seems that there is no longer anything to doubt, now I am sure that Sian is this undefeated king. This being the case, the generals are Milka, the Demonic Cow, Dannanok, the Myriad Colors, and Rebecca, the Blood Nightmare. As for the Fire Storm, I had no doubt that it was Teshar.

To finish nailing the nail, I asked, "Do you guys know where I can find this Undefeated King?"

"I see, so you are another batch of challengers. As anyone who lives in this city can tell you, I will save you time. He lives in the monster forest." The blue demon had a look of disapproval as he shook his head, "I can sense that you have some strength, but before you go, let me give you some advice, among those who have gone to his home to challenge him, no one has ever returned alive."

***

After thanking him for the information, we went to another food stall. This time it was a caramel stick.

"Those guys were talking about you, right?"

I asked Sian through the connection he created between us, it's more convenient and clearer than with the telepathy spell. I found out that using this connection, no matter the distance, I can use it to communicate with him without consuming mana.

"There are many muscle brains on the demonic continent. Since they are considerably strong, I went around challenging some as a training method."

Although I wanted to retort that this was something a muscle-brain would do, I managed to restrain myself.

"In any case, you seem to have a far more imposing reputation than you do on the central continent. Besides, Undefeated King, generals and the watchdog?"

"Those were names said randomly by Milka. No need to pay attention to them or the rumors."

"It's hard not to pay attention. You're forming a legend, you know? 'Those who have challenged him never returned'. Don't you find that similar to the lines of a fantasy story or a legend passed down for generations?"

"Well, when you put it like this, it really looks a little."

According to Sian, even when he doesn't go around challenging people, some show up to challenge him or the girls. Since it's a good opportunity, they serve as training for Milka and the others.

Even when the challengers don't die fighting, they end up dying on their way back from their injuries. But it's not a death by bleeding or anything like that. The forest monsters kill and devour them.

As we walked around the stalls, I discovered that that forest is an extremely dangerous place where few dare to enter.

After some more walking around, it was finally time to go to the castle.

While Tina and I had already reached our limit, Sian and Emily seemed ready for more.

While Sian's belly didn't seem to have changed much, Emily looked like a ball. She had eaten so much that her legs were tired from supporting the extra weight, so Sian carried her back on his shoulders.

He wanted to carry Tina too, but she was totally against it, saying she was no longer a child.

"What's a castle like?" Emily asked Sian.

"Very large and full of nobles' stuff."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Have good food there?"

"You can be sure of that. I bet Clay must have prepared a feast to welcome us."

"Yay!!"

As I wondered how much these two could eat, we spotted the castle gate.