Chapter 2 (3): Roommates... problematic roommates

Chapter 2 (3): Roommates... problematic roommates

When I got to my room, I found that I was the last of the four to get there. However, I didn't get a bad spot, save for the fact that I got the smallest closet space... oh well, I have my storage magic for that. The other three girls there were a tall and slender girl with silver hair and purple eyes - a high elf - with a bow on her back and a pair of unusually large breasts for an elf, and she seemed to be trying to retreat into her own boots. Next to her was a short girl with brown hair and eyes, in other words, a dwarf... no, a half dwarf, considering that she was too tall to be a full-blooded dwarf... and she had a well-used sword on her hip and a bracelet that I could tell was a magic item, one that could probably turn into a shield. Finally, we had a blue-haired girl of average height and well above average bust, wearing glasses and an almost unused sword on her hip.

"Well, now that we're all here, I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Charlotte von Ascham, third daughter of Duke Ascham, meaning that I'm third in line due to my lack of brothers. I'm also the most amazing mage here, as I have seven elements that I could use, being fire, water, wind, lightning, ice, spatial, and void, and 1650 mana. Pretty cool, right? I'm also in the swordswoman group, because I need to have a weapon for the cases when someone slips past the vanguards. As we'll be together as a group while we are training here, I guess I should be the leader, right? Nobody has any objections?" (Stuck-up blue-haired noble girl)

"I... I'm Elise... I'm a high elf... and a good healer... my only elements are light and healing. Even so, I'm really good at it... I know... I'm nothing... compared to Charlotte... save for my mana pool of 2800... I'm also in the archery class... since I like it and... I want to be useful... in a fight" (Elise)

"I'm Mae, the daughter of the captain of the royal guard, so I'm in the swordswoman group. My element is earth, so I'm decent at tripping my opponent in the middle of a fight, I guess. My mana is only 132, as I'm a dwarf... well, a half-dwarf, I guess" (Mae)

"I'm Ryuu. I'll warn you right now, I'm a half-elf from the demon lands, so if you have a problem with that, speak now. By the way, Charlotte, you may have seven elements, but you aren't the best mage here. I have EVERY element, and well over 5000 mana to boot. I'm also in the spear and axe classes, because I'm good at them in addition to magic. And another warning: Don't try to touch me while I sleep, as I won't be wearing the items that reduce my aura, instead, I'll hide it with a barrier around my bed. My aura would be strong enough to make you piss yourself in the best case, or kill you at worst" (Ryuu)

"Can you please introduce yourself again, this time, without the lies? Your aura is weaker than Mae's, so being at 5000 mana is preposterous" (Charlotte)

I silently removed my bracelets, bumping my detectable mana up to 5000 as she fell back onto her bed.

"I have more than just those two, by the way. When I warned you, I wasn't kidding. Go ahead and divide my closet space as you see fit, as I have everything I have in my storage. Even so... I assume nobody has any problems with my being from the demon lands?" (Ryuu)

"No problems here" (Mae)

"I'm from there too... Your aura isn't just large... it's like that of... a really strong demon... you... aren't an ordinary half-elf... you're... a demon... as strong as... a demon general... I... was engaged... to Astaroth's son... before he... and his father... died in the war... so I know... what their mana... and auras... are like..." (Elise)

As soon as she said that she knows what my aura is like, I enveloped the room in a barrier to keep sounds from within from escaping to the outside, a good idea, considering what happened next.

"WHAT?!?! A DEMON?!?! DIE!!!" (Charlotte)

After a pause when she looked shocked, she drew her sword and lunged at me with it, while preparing a large-scale lightning magic to attack me with. I caught her sword with two fingers, and took her magic head-on while keeping it from escaping with a barrier. Barrier magic is so useful, honestly. Without it, my identity would probably have been outed a dozen times already.

"That's not a bad spell, however, I have to ask... Are you an idiot? If I hadn't trapped that spell in a barrier, it would have wrecked the room and killed or badly hurt all three of you at the same time. In any case, to hurt me, you'll have to do far better than that. I was hoping to be able to get along with my group members, but I guess that's not going to happen for everyone. And no, I'm not a demon. Can you see my wings and horns?" (Ryuu)

"N... no... But... How could you withstand my attack?" (Charlotte)

"Considering the kind of training I went through from Astaroth, Lars, and a few other demon generals on a daily basis, I had to be able to put up a skintight barrier around myself at a moment's notice to stay alive" (Ryuu)

"Who were you to be important enough to get personal training from two of the demon generals, if you weren't a demon yourself? The Demon Lord's daughter?" (Mae)

"That... makes sense... I overheard... Astaroth... complaining about orders... to be training... someone's daughter... I thought... it was another one... of the demon generals' kids... but... training the Demon Lord's daughter... could make sense... I'd just never heard about... him having a lover... let alone kids..." (Elise)

I can't hide anything from this damned girl... Wait...

"THE DEMON LORD'S DAUGHTER?!?! DIE!!!" (Charlotte)

"Déjà vu..." (Ryuu)

This time, I not only blocked her attacks, but I also trapped her in a barrier with me as I removed three and then a fourth of my limiters, causing her to pass out as she pissed herself. (Author: No, I don't have that kind of fetish, I'm just... It works to describe how frightening her aura is. Should I make some people puke instead? I intend to, but never remember... orz)

"Do either of you know why she's so hell-bent on killing demons? This is just going to get annoying, if I can't deal with it, and it'd be easier to do so if I knew why she hates them" (Ryuu)

"You said 'them' not 'us'... does that imply that you aren't a demon, or that you don't think of yourself as one?" (Mae)

"It does. I'm the Demon Lord, yes, but demons and the Demon Lord are just another race like humans, elves, dwarves, and high elves. So long as people in the human lands think of them as evil beings to be killed on sight, and those in the demon lands don't do anything to change those opinions, I see no reason to think of myself as like them. It's even true that I'm not a demon, as they are quite different from a Demon Lord... anyways, neither of you two know or have any idea as to why she hates demons?" (Ryuu)

"No clue..." (Elise)

"Well, the Ascham family has close ties to the church, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's quite religious. I guess it would be best to keep your identity a secret from her, and just have you say that you aren't a demon, which sounds like it's not a lie, right?" (Mae)

"Alternatively, we could break it to her that the God of Light is actually a demon general who's been around since long before the church was started" (Ryuu)

"That's... right... we could... and should... I think... she would start doubting her beliefs... and that might lead... to her trusting... that not all demons... are evil..." (Elise)

"You can do that, I have a date in half an hour or so, so I need to leave. Sorry" (Ryuu)

"Oh? Who's it with? Does he know that you're the Demon Lord?" (Mae)

"I won't say, and yes. Also, please don't say anything about the demons or the Demon Lord, especially in about me, like, ever... I don't want word to get out, not even a rumor that there's a new Demon Lord" (Ryuu)

"Wait, are you going out looking like, well, dressed the way you are?" (Mae)

"Hmm? Oh... I guess I should wear something... well, less tattered than my traveling clothes, and not the school uniform, because I don't have it and it's not very good looking, I think. Let's see... what do I have? Uh... Well, there's the dress that was made for my court debut, which never happened. Other than that, there's just these... things... with such a high exposure rate that I'd feel more comfortable walking around naked" (Ryuu)

"Ah... those... I hear... they are the common dress... for demons... and I... once tried it on... they are comfortable... I wear them to sleep, sometimes... but... I can't wear it in public..." (Elise)

I changed into my court debut dress, then realized that it made me look like a princess, so Ninya... Well, she would look extremely out of place with me, so I changed back.

"What else do I have? It's limited to... oh, there's this..." (Ryuu)

I changed into it, and faced the two girls again.

"I used this when I was learning court etiquette, so it should work. I'd only look like some rich merchant's daughter, so it'd be fine. What do you think?" (Ryuu)

"Pretty. You look somewhat wealthy, but not that much so. You wouldn't be out of place with a merchant's son, a noble's son, or a decently prosperous adventurer... well, not if you were with a duke's son, but a count, for instance? You'd be fine" (Mae)

"Nn... Looks good. Go on... knock his boots off" (Elise)

"Yeah... ah, shit... How will I carry my weapons? I have the earrings and bracelets, that's fine, but I'd still make most people faint if they walked near me. I could have a barrier around myself, but... people who could notice it would think something's off about me and some, like the guards, would try to break it..." (Ryuu)

"Nobles and merchants wearing a dagger aren't that rare. I think that should be enough... no, wear the axe under your dress, I guess? Not having the staff would mean that your aura would be a bit higher than a normal person's, but not very much so" (Mae)

"Sounds good" (Ryuu)

I put them on, and left the room. After a bit, I got close to the square, and was stopped by a few rough-looking men carrying weapons of all kinds. There were three in front of me, two more hidden behind some boxes and carts, and four trying to hide behind me... and two on the roofs above me. I knew they were following me for a while, which is why I deliberately took a shortcut through a deserted alleyway.

"Hand over your money and valuables, and we won't hurt you. Well, we'll try not to hurt you in any case, as you'll fetch a better price that way. Elves are quite valuable, you see, so much so that even the filthy halfbreeds like you are worth the bit of hassle it takes to get them alive and in one piece" (Thug A)

"That's all true, save for one thing... I'm not an ordinary elf. The eight of you hiding can come out you know! The two on the roofs, four behind me, and two hiding behind objects can't hide your own auras... wait, you know, the two thugs behind me can come out, the other two behind me can stay put. Just watch and learn, because you're going to see the style of fighting I have almost perfected... no, this'll be over too fast for that" (Ryuu)

"Huuhhh? What're you talking about? We... Oh, fine. She listed everyone, so you may as well come out and help. She seems to be confident, but we're strong enough to take down a lesser wyvern! What problem could a little girl pose to us?" (Thug B)

"Blue Flame Mantle. Perfect Cube" (Ryuu)

With that, the frozen flames of the Demon Lord covered my body, and the area was sealed off by an indestructible barrier that kept out prying eyes. The twelve of us were trapped, and I drew my axe and spear, holding each in one hand as they were coated with the freezing blue flames of hell, flames so cold they could freeze other flames. Ah, how I love barrier magic. It means that I can fight as much and as flashily as I wished and nobody would be hurt or scared by it that I didn't wish to be in that position. As soon as the thugs were done trying to process what was going on, they'd all been cut or stabbed, and were getting frozen from the inside out by the flames that invaded their bodies. After a moment, there were nine ice statues, me, who'd dispelled my flames but not the barrier, and two girls who were VERY bad at stalking people, namely, Elise and Mae.

"So... why did you two follow me?" (Ryuu)

"I wanted to see who the guy who caught your eye was" (Mae)

"I... didn't want to be... the only one there... when Charlotte woke up... and this is... as good a reason to go... as any... I think..." (Elise)

"Ah... what should I do with you two? Ah, I know. You two may wish to take these ice blocks to the guards, or have one of you stay here with them to keep them from getting damaged while the other brings back some guards. They are serial criminals, after all" (Ryuu)

"But..." (Mae)

"If I really wanted to, I could shake you off in a minute or less, you know. As it is, I simply don't want to have anyone meet my date without my asking first. So, next time, maybe. We aren't official yet, it's just a trial... or rather, I'm in love, but... 'I like her, she's a good person, so I figured I'd give her a chance' was what was said when asked 'weren't you just saying that you don't know if you feel the same way about her?' so... Here's hoping! Also... if someone ruins it for me, they will feel the full extent of a Demon Lord's ire" (Ryuu)

"Hey, Elise? I think I have something else to do... what was it... oh yeah, bringing these would-be kidnappers to the guards. Wanna help?" (Mae)

"I... think... I... too... have... some... thing... to do..." (Elise)

I fled from there in the opposite direction to my destination, and then circled around, getting there as the sun finished dipping below the horizon. Ninya was there, waiting, though I didn't recognize her due to her being dressed as a woman, complete with the largest breasts I had ever seen, even on statues and paintings of goddesses. As I was also dressed in a completely different style, including having my hair hanging loose to my waist as opposed to tied in braided twintails, even if someone from her party were to show up, they wouldn't recognize either of us, and thus would not learn that Ninya is actually a girl. Hopefully.