Chapter 7 (10): Meetings with family, part 4

Chapter 7 (10): Meetings with family, part 4

"Well, now that this is a more private location, I guess I should ask for everyone to give an introduction so we don't have Raiser embarrass himself more than he already has. You all know who I am, the first seat of the demon generals, Takigawa Lars, Tuare's father, and so on and so forth. I also know that Raiser now knows who Tuare is, so you don't need to introduce yourself if you wish not to. Next, how about Ryuu?" (Lars)

"Well, my name is Miryuu Maou, the Demon Lord, but I have been traveling incognito as an ordinary half-elf adventurer named Ryuu. As I said, I don't care whether or not people use honorifics or titles when talking to or about me, nor do I wish to have people be punished much at all for something so minor as a slight disrespect towards me, or anyone else, actually" (Ryuu)

"After that, there's me. I am Haruveritat el Isala, third princess of the human lands, though I, like Ryuu, am traveling as a simple adventurer named Haru. By the way, Ryuu is an A rank, and I'm a B rank" (Haru)

After Lars and Raiser got over a brief instant of shock, Char spoke.

"Now, it's my turn. I am Charlotte von Ascham, the daughter of Duke Ascham in the human lands. As with everyone in the party besides Ryuu, I am a B rank, and I am not traveling as a noble, but an adventurer, so just call me Charlotte... my friends call me Char, however" (Char)

"I'm Mae Austine, the daughter of the captain of the royal guard, and like the rest, I'm just an adventurer right now, so please, just call me Mae" (Mae)

"I'm... Elise... I... am a high elf... from... the hidden village... my father... was the chieftain... until recently... so... I'm kinda... a high elven princess... or something... like that..." (Elise)

"And she's shy, if you couldn't tell... well, more like hesitant in her speech, but still... anyways, I guess I'm the last one, unless Tuare wants to say something. My name is Verene, and I'm the only one here who isn't part human, elf, dwarf, demon, beastkin, high elf, or anything like that. But, I'm just Ver to most people" (Ver)

Again, Lars and Raiser looked surprised, Raiser seemingly unable to process her statement, Lars quickly asking.

"Wait... if you aren't any of those... what are you?" (Lars)

"I am the eleventh divine beast, the Wyvern Lord Verene, formerly a greater wyvern. I'm also barely half a year old, and I was raised by Ryuu, and thus, I'm her tamed beast" (Ver, showing off her collar, wings, and tail)

"I... you know what, I'll believe it. I know better than to doubt that anything could happen near Ryuu... Anyways, Tuare, care to tell me about what's happened these last three years?" (Lars)

"Well, I got picked up by one party when I was a bit lost in the forest, and became their healer and mage, and I went with them when they returned to the human lands. They didn't know that I was a demon, nor even that I was female, actually... I went by Ninya at the time, and used magic to make myself appear to be male. Then, after a bit over two years, I met Ryuu on the road, or rather, my party was saved by her when we were surrounded by a large number of magical beasts. She was on her way to the capital to enroll in the adventurer's training school, because she was apparently considered too young or whatever to be an adventurer without an experienced one backing her up or something like that. Anyways, neither of us recognized the other, as she was hiding her aura, wings, and horns, and I, well, looked like a male" (Tuare)

That got a bit of a laugh out of Lars, but she didn't wait and just kept going.

"After that, well... Ryuu spent a week with us on our way to the capital, enrolled in the school, met up with my party again, and wound up revealing her identity to us after she, and she alone, figured out that I was hiding my real sex. A few days later, she came with us on a quest, we found a pair of greater wyverns, they attacked us, she killed them, and came upon their egg as it was hatching, so Ver instinctively thought of Ryuu as her mother, or something like that. More things happened, and she taught us a lot, enough to get half the party up to B rank, and Ver became a divine beast thanks to her aura, among other things. Months passed, she graduated, my party had disbanded due to over half of the party leaving and some of them settling down with their new respective wives. Therefore, I joined her party, which was and is composed of her roommates from school, as well as Ver and myself now... and Haru, the most recent addition" (Tuare)

"And why did you return to the demon lands?" (Lars)

"Well, uh... how should I put this... One of the things that happened in that timeframe that I was saving for near the end, so as to not derail this, was that... uh... I... I kinda became the first of Ryuu's lovers" (Tuare)

Lars blinked, blinked again, then sat down hard.

"Ah... I... yes, that would certainly derail any conversation, no matter the topic. Uh... should I say congratulations, or... uh... I mean... I'm happy for you, but I'm not sure how to express the full extent of my feelings... and, uh... I guess that I now can shut up all those who keep pestering me to consider them as potential suitors for you" (Lars)

"Do I really have so many who wish to marry me?" (Tuare)

"Well... it's less you and more the title of the first seat... but, yes, I tend to get about two dozen a month" (Lars)

A knocking came at the door, and a servant stepped in.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, but the heir to the house of Asmodeus is in the waiting room, asking to speak with you about a potential engagement to miss Tuareninya. He somehow heard that she had come back" (Servant)

"Perfect timing. Ah, right... hmm... Tell him that I'll be with him in about five minutes, or perhaps ten" (Lars)

"Understood" (Servant)

She left, closing the door behind her.

"Well, this is the third time he's come in the past two months... I know I shouldn't be saying this, but... he's quite the pain in the ass. Tuare, Ryuu, would you be so kind as to play along with me a bit? I have a bit of a plan to deal with him now that you're here" (Lars)

He explained the plan, and we agreed. Before we even got up, however, the servant came back.

"Well, two more have come to ask the same thing of you. Shall I put them all in one room together, or should I split them up into different rooms?" (Servant)

"Oh, put them together. We'll be there in about three minutes, and will deal with them all at once" (Lars)

"Very well" (Servant)

She left again, Lars stepped out as we changed into more formal dress, though, in my case, it was the same scraps of cloth that I got coronated in, underneath a less revealing dress... in it, I looked like a higher-class servant, but... what can one do? I didn't want to be in the other clothes if I didn't have to. After that, the three of us went to meet the three wishful suitors, I made invisible with Lars's light magic. Each of the three was a demon in impressive, or perhaps ostentatious, clothing. I recognized one of them as the prick that was the heir to the house of Asmodeus, and another as the heir to Baal... no, he'd be the demon general Baal himself now that his father is dead, wouldn't he? The third didn't seem to be related to a demon general, but I could tell that he was quite wealthy and powerful even so.