Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 5 Chapter 1

Status: Incomplete

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Being with You in the Demon Realm

Part 1

Midnight came around, and Lucia appeared on time.

Jumping through space and appearing before Basara and the rest—

“Thank you for waiting…is everyone ready?”

Her tone and liveliness were completely different from Maria’s – relatively cold.

“—We’re ready, please begin.”

Toujou Basara nodded his head and replied. For the past month, everyone had been preparing for this journey.

Other than Maria, they were all wearing their school uniform, including Kurumi who had changed into the uniform she had worn to attend Hijirigasaka Academy’s Sports Festival. Although Yuki and Kurumi had their Hero battle clothes, they decided not to wear clothes that could stimulate the Demons.

Because -- including Basara, their positions today are not Heroes -- but instead just purely Mio’s family and friends.

For their clothes and daily necessities, they had gone with packing for a short trip overseas. According to Maria, their clothes could be washed anywhere and their weapons could be summoned anytime, to there isn’t any personal concerns; both Yuki and Kurumi only needed to prepare the medicinal items needed for the Heroes.

Thus, Basara and Mio each packed a single luggage case, and Yuki and Kurumi two each, each and every one being of a different size; Maria has her own residence within the Demon Realm, so she didn’t pack anything.

“Alright, we will now depart.”

With that, a large magic circle appeared in the space beside Lucia and slowly merged into the space, turning into a pitch-black hole.

“My god…”

Kurumi became amazed.

Of course Kurumi would be amazed. Normally, humans needed to fulfil some conditions before they are able to proceed to the Demon Realm. The Demon Race are beings in a higher class than Humans, and that the dimension the Demon Realm was higher than the dimension Humans are in; the principles in constructing a tunnel from a higher to lower dimension are complete different from that of from a lower to higher dimension.

One of the ways for to construct a tunnel was to make use of the overlapping between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm with its lessor numbers, to create space instability in some places and the natural phenomena -- The 「Dimensional Boundary」. Japan has some places where the Dimensional Boundary has occurred that are currently strictly controlled by the Hero [Village] – without their authorization, those like the exiled Basara and Mio who has Demon blood within her are not allowed to use it. Jin who had pretended to be going to Dubai when in truth going to the Demon Realm when Mio and the rest started living together had probably used a Dimensional Boundary overseas.

…My dad has got many connections after all.

Even if Jin has been blacklisted by the Heroes in Japan, the Hero of the Great War is still very popular overseas, so finding a way to the Demon Realm wouldn’t be something difficult for him.

And right now, Lucia who is a pure Demon had just created a very stable Dimensional Boundary that even Humans like Basara can cross, showing a glimpse of her power to them.

…But since Lucia is the Right-Hand Man of the leader of the Moderates Faction, such power was to be expected.

Amongst the Heroes, there were some specialising in creating spells that manipulate space, but Basara had never seen one that are as stable as the one before him right now. Of course, being able to construct barriers or manipulate space does not equate to strong battle power. Just then—

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. Mio-sama has Demon blood, Basara uses a cursed sword, some of Kurumi’s contracted spirits relations to the Demon Realm; just by taking advantage of those demonic fluctuations, creating a Dimensional Boundary that you all can pass through isn’t that hard.”

Lucia said, as if seeing through why they were so surprised.

“…What about me? My [Sakuya] shouldn’t have any demonic fluctuations.”

“—Affirmative, Yuki’s spirit sword doesn’t contain any demonic fluctuations.”

Lucia slightly nodded in response to Yuki’s question.

“That’s why, I’ve used those demonic fluctuations within your body.”

“Within my body…?”

“The fluctuations from the Master-Servant Contract you had made with Basara. Yuki sis and Mio-sama are both linked to Basara with my demonic power.”

The intermediary Maria, explained to Yuki who was frowning from being unable to understand.

“So, it doesn’t really matter even if Mio-sama doesn’t have Demon blood; as for Kurumi, she recently has been through my succubus baptism a lot, so its fine even if she doesn’t have any demonic spirits, they all would be able to pass through one-sama’s Dimensional Boundary.”

“ ! …T-That was why you had done all those things?”

Upon seeing the red-faced Kurumi coyly ask, Maria replied all smiles:

“You’re wrong. I was unable to hold back my succubus instincts, and vented my libido on you.”

“Y-You idiot! Why do I have to handle your libido!?”

“C-Calm down, Kurumi. If you start to Maria’s tone, you’ll fall into her trap.”

“ ! ….Big sis~”

Kurumi immediately plunged into Yuki’s arms after being warned by Mio, and Yuki began patting her head to placate her.

Yuki is showing such a happy face…such glaring big-sister’s-love radiance.

「…………」

Lucia quietly watched all this, her eyebrows not wrinkling even once. Even while standing still in a very natural way, she didn’t show any sign of any flaws or struggles, while maintaining the Dimensional Boundary. Her outer-appearances are similar to Maria’s adult form, and she could very well be a S-Class expert.

“……Is anything wrong?”

Seeing Lucia sense Basara’s gaze, she replied [Nothing] and turned to Mio and the rest.

As if seeing what this meant, they became serious and stopped making a ruckus.

Toujou Basara thus said to the four of them:

「——Let’s go.」

They nodded -- and walked towards the Dimensional Boundary in a single file.

Part 2

They were immediately enveloped by an abyss-like darkness, and they suddenly lost their orientation.

As if like they were in outer space.

--However, that sensation was short-lived.

In the next moment -– they were all standing within an unfamiliar forest with the sweet smell of grass; as the wind blew, the rays of sunlight scattered on the ground also underwent some changes.

It’s just as Maria said, there was a time difference from Japan.

“This place is—“

“--Adola Forest.”

Lucia turned to face Basara, and answered his uncertainty. Just then—

“Adola Forest…is this place?”

Kurumi asked while shrinking her body away, making Mio surprised.

“You know this place?”

“Yes. Although our knowledge of the terrain in the Demon Realm is limited – everyone will definitely know about Adola Forest.”

For Basara, Yuki, and Kurumi, all of their knowledge of this place came from their elders who had participated in the previous war. In the past, the Moderates Faction controlled majority of the Demon Realm, but then rapidly lost power and influence with the death of Wilbert, ending up in today’s state. Comparing from fifteen years ago during the war, the current power map must have already changed a lot. But the Moderates Faction probably never accounted for this forest, since after all—

“—This place is the forest closest to the Demon Lord Wilbert’s castle.”

This might have been a suitable place for Basara and the rest to land, having been invited by the Moderates Faction after all. However—

“Lucia-oneesama – why didn’t you directly bring us into Vereda City?”

Maria asked while frowning. The term Maria just said was also one that Basara and the other Heroes often heard – The city of the Demon Lord’s Capital back when Wilbert was still on the throne.

As the ones who were invited by the current leader of the Moderate Faction Ramusas and other high-class Demons, it would usually be done as Maria said, sending them directly into the city to save trouble and simplify matters.

“From the viewpoint of crisis management, we have made the decision to try to avoid the areas near and within the city, to prevent any involvement and manipulation of a third party and be mistaken as an enemy invasion.”

“You might be right, but do remember that the Current Demon Lord Faction is also after Mio-sama’s life—“

“I am well aware of that, and that is why I had chosen Adola Forest. This place is not far away from the city, it’s difficult to observe anything from outside, and it would be difficult for anyone in the surrounding areas to feel any Dimensional Linking.”

After Lucia replied without any change in her expression to the complaining Maria—

“Let us walk for a short distance, and there will be a horse carriage to bring us into the city – Please follow me.”

And proceeded to walk off in another direction into the forest.

“I’m sorry, everyone…”

Maria lowered her eyes while feeling bad, and Basara patted her shoulder and said:

“No need to say it like it’s your fault… I guess we better get moving then.”

“…Alright.”

Maria nodded, and Basara began following Lucia.

Much less a pavement, there wasn’t even an exposed path on the forest floor. Everyone walked in a single file slowly through the grass, and soon—

“Eh… When I had first about the Demon Realm, I had thought that it would be a dark and scary place; but in the end it was just as Maria said, it wasn’t much different from our world, and there’s even a sun… There’s so many different types of plants here, giving the forest so much fresh air, it just feels no different from the mountains in the countryside.”

Mio expressed her feelings to the view of the natural forest before her. As it’s their first visit, Basara consulted Maria on a few matters to gain some knowledge on things like cultures and customs; but upon seeing a view completely contrary to his expectations, everything felt fresh. It’s just—

“What fresh air… Really, you just don’t understand.”

“What do you mean, Kurumi?”

Behind her, Kurumi sighed, and Mio turned back to ask.

“You have Demon blood, so you might not have noticed… While the views and scenes within the forest are indeed beautiful, the concentration of demonic power within this place is completely shocking. With such strong demonic fluctuations, it really gives people of coming to the Demon Realm.”

Hearing Kurumi say tensely, Mio became surprised.

“Oh… Is it true, Basara?”

“Yes, the demonic concentration within this place are very strong. Remember Zolgear’s house? It’s similar to that.”

Such thick demonic concentrations will probably lower the immunity system of a normal human, but as ones who had underwent the training from the Heroes, that might not be too much of a problem. But as such strong demonic concentrations usually equates to a fairly powerful demon or evil spirit lurking around, they were unable to relax.

“Really…? In such a natural and beautiful place?”

Basara gave a bitter smile to Mio who muttered unbelievably, and turned his sight to another place.

“…Yuki, are you alright?”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

Beside Basara, Yuki nodded and replied, showing no hints of any stress within her expression.

…Probably because she’s the user of [Sakuya].

In short, the spirit sword can purify her body anytime, even weakening the demonic fluctuations from the Master-Servant Contract; it certainly is useful as a Hero, but it presents another problem in the Demon Realm. Being unable to use [Sakuya]’s original amount of power like within Zolgear’s mansion, the one most affected by the demonic concentration is undoubtedly Yuki.

Basara couldn’t see any abnormalities in Yuki right now. But before Yuki manages to get used to the demonic concentration, there would be a burden on her, so any repercussions appearing wouldn’t be strange at all.

“Yuki—“

Basara originally wanted to help Yuki carry one of the two luggage she was carrying, but instead retracted his words.

Yuki probably is already aware that the one most affected by the demonic concentrations in the Demon Realm will be her.

But yet she still agreed to go along with Basara and the rest. Basara’s worries, might be contempt in Yuki’s eyes.

“What is it, Basara?”

Replying, Yuki’s breaths became slightly faster.

“Nothing. It’s great if you’re alright – let’s go.”

Hearing Basara expressing trust and worry, Yuki became slightly surprised.

“…Oh.”

And happily smiled.

Just like that -- after following behind Lucia for a while, they saw an ancient-type wooden horse carriage with a window waiting for them in a more open area. The carriage would probably be able to easily fit more than ten people, and there were four black horses attached before it. However--

“T-The horses in the Demon Realm are very big…”

Mio said. The Human Realm had many horses like those used in agricultural activities, but they all pale into insignificance. The horses before them are at least three metres tall, its stature doesn’t seem heavy and seemed more like racing horses.

“No, these horses are especially different. Horses of this size are rare in the Demon Realm.”

Two maidservants then appeared at the front of the carriage, most likely to be Lucia’s subordinates. They approached them after opening the door, and said respectfully:

“Everybody, please enter the carriage, and leave your luggage to us.”

And then carried their luggage onto the goods rack at the trailing end of the carriage. Just then--

“Ah, no need, I’ll carry this myself.” “Me too, sorry to cause inconvenience to you.”

After handing over the luggage containing their clothes and sundry items, the other luggage contains their assist tools , which would naturally be better if they were to carry it themselves.

After the two of them entered the carriage, Lucia entered last, and a maidservant closed the carriage door. After ensuring they the maids had gotten onto the coachman’s seat and gripped the reins, she said:

“--Everyone, we will be departing now.”

At the same time, the horses attached to the carriage began to move forward slowly. Not long after leaving the open area, the horse carriage got onto a dirt path and began to gain speed. While observing the scenery passing by the window, Basara asked:

“Um… How long will it approximately take to reach Vereda City?”

“--In terms of the units from your realm, it will be about an hour.”

Lucia answered without even looking at Basara from her position right at the edge of the seats.As they would all be under her care for the next hour, Basara had wanted to try to close the gap between them and her…but as her attitude is that cold, everyone hesitated on whether they should speak or not.”

「……………………………」

The depressing silence went on and on. What could be heard in the interior of the carriage, was only the sounds of the wheels of the horse carriage rolling on the path.

“……Ah, everyone, please look to your left!”

Suddenly, Maria said as if wanting to dissolve the awkwardness within the carriage. When everyone turned towards the voice to the left -- the horse carriage left the forest, and wide and droad hills came into view; in the bottom right of the window is the view of the many many buildings of the city. Surrounding the city, is the outer wall that seemed to have been made by cutting from a large piece of rock.

“Wow…”

A very spectacular view it was. That is likely the previous Demon Lord’s royal capital -- Vereda.

“So the city with a castle at the centre of the urban is Vereda City?”

“Yes. That and the castle was governed by Mio-sama’s father, His Majesty Wilbert, and its governor right now is His Majesty Wilbert’s brother Ramusas-sama.”

“…………”

Listening to Maria’s explanation, Mio silently griped Basara’s hand while looking at the view through the window, and Basara held that cold and trembling hand.

As the scenery passed by the window without stopping, they got closer and closer to that far-away castle.

Part 3

After the horse carriage Basara and the rest were on followed around over half of the city’s wall, they finally arrived at the back entrance of the castle.

Mio was the spiritual leader of the Moderates Faction as Wilbert’s only daughter, and Basara and the others were Heroes. If they were to simply cross the urban district and be recognised, a large commotion would likely be created. Going around the urban district after entering the city was probably a good choice. After crossing the moat on the bridge let down, the horse carriage finally came to a stop. The door was then opened from the outside, and after Lucia alighted from the carriage--

“Mio-sama, and the other guests -- welcome to Vereda City.”

Lucia formally welcomed them with a serious bow, and the other maids also bowed. The main guest is Mio, while Basara and the rest were accompanying her, thus--

“Err… I am Naruse Mio, I’ll be under your care for the next few days.”

Originally planning to remain amongst her companions, Mio then stepped forward, unsure of how she should be acting, tentatively bowing first before saying that.

“……Well then, please come this way.”

Lucia said so, and the maids behind her bowed and went past them towards the horse carriage. They were probably going to get their luggage.

After handing their luggage over to them, Basara and the rest went into the city under the lead of Lucia. Even if they had entered through the back entrance, the ceiling was still pretty high, and the decorations were still very luxurious.

Much attention was undoubtedly given to the furnishings and lighting within the walkways and corridors, as they seem to tell many stories from the past. Of course, everything was spotless.

…As expected of the spiritual leader Wilbert’s Moderates Faction’s city.

The Royal Capital displays the prestige of the nation. Even though the Moderates Faction quickly lost power after Wilbert’s death, the urban areas were still very vibrant from what they could see from the horse carriage; probably because from the civilians’ viewpoint, this castle that symbolises the Moderates Faction preserves the vestiges of Wilbert when he was still alive for the sake of it.

Following Lucia, they crossed through the corridors filled with a solemn atmosphere, and after a few turns -- they came before the door to the room at the end of a corridor.

“This is the room Mio-sama will be staying in during her visit here. The males’ room for Basara is at another place, someone else will be coming later to show you the way.”

Opening the door after saying that, what they all saw behind the door turned Basara and the other speechless for a while. Not because it was stunning -- the truth was the opposite.

Opening the door after saying that, what they all saw behind the door turned Basara and the other speechless for a while. Not because it was stunning -- the truth was the opposite. The high and wide spaces and high-class furnishings that created a luxurious feel, are all completely absent in this room; the room only contained a plain bed, sofa, table, and otherbasic necessities of the lowest grade. After entering the room, it seems that the lighting is also poor, making the place fairly dim. Seeing a room like that--

“…From the furnishings seen on the way here and the decorations of the other rooms, this just isn’t a guest’s room but a warehouse for piling excess furniture. I’m fine with it, but is this really the room for the only daughter of the previous demon lord?”

Kurumi asked coldly.

“Ramusas-sama wanted you to use the rooms on this side.”

Lucia indifferently answered, not minding Kurumi’s gaze at all.

…I see, the same old trick.

Basara had heard from Takigawa that Ramusas held no goodwill to Mio. There were ill-will between each royal family members held over seizing power, just like from a long time ago in the Human Realm -- from all indications, there was no need to anticipate the reunion between the so-called niece and uncle.

“…………”

Mio drooped her eyes, unable to hide the sorrow from showing up in her eyes. She was originally looking forward to coming to the Demon Realm, hoping to experience some warmth from her blood relatives, but yet now she is receiving the cold shoulder.

…Since it’s become like this.

There is no need for her to remain here for long. After thanking the maidservants who arrived to deliver their luggage, Basara then turned to Lucia--

“I understand… Since that is the case, we’ll go along with the flow for now. Right now, can we ask for you to bring us to meet with Ramusas-sama? We all have our own lives to live, and we hope to return as soon as possible.”

And said so very seriously. Only to see shake her head and reply:

“I’m very sorry. Ramusas-sama is currently out on business and is not in the city. He will be meeting you all tomorrow.”

“Not in the city? Wasn’t he the one who invited us here?”

Yuki asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Affirmative. If you had come when I had visited you, there would have been no problems at all with Ramusas-sama’s schedule. However, just like every one of you have your own lives to live, we also have our issues to settle. Especially now where it can be considered that we Moderates Faction is at war with the leader of the Current Demon Lord Faction Leohart.”

Lucia then continued:

“As the representative leader of the Moderates Faction, Ramusas-sama is very busy with his usual office work, and coincidentally today he had matters where he could not be absent from. We had complied with you delaying your journey by a month, so can you not wait for just a single day?”

“”………………””

Since Lucia had said it that way, Basara and the rest could find no words to refute that at all.

“…Then why didn’t you just wait until tomorrow to bring us here?”

In the end, Kurumi was only able to muster a complaint quietly.

“Thank you all for your kind understanding. Well then--“

As Lucia said that, someone knocked on the door and entered the room.

“…Please have some tea.”

That was a beautiful brown-skinned maidservant. The girl pushing a metal cart loaded with a tea set was one that Basara and the rest recognised. Thus, Basara couldn’t help but to say her name.

“Zest…!”

[Hello.] Zest nodded at Basara, and then said:

“It’s been a long time since I last saw you, Toujou Basara -- no, Basara.

Seeing her, Kurumi then leaned over to Yuki’s ear and asked:

“….So she is that Zest?” “Yes, she was previously Zolgear’s subordinate.”

Yuki answered Kurumi who had never met with Zest.

“You seem well… This is great.”

“Yes. Thanks to your care, Zest is very grateful to you.”

Towards the expression Zest showed when Basara expressed his relief, he was somewhat surprised. Because Zest faintly smiled. Seeing her smile for the first time--

…She can already smile…

Basara lamented. After defeating Zolgear -- the Toujou household temporarily took in Zest, until the one sent by the Moderates Faction brought her back to the Demon Realm, having agreed to find a place for her. Back then until when Zest was almost killed by Zolgear who had deemed her to be a burden, her expression was always icily inorganic. When if she received protection as a witness, there were some uneasiness in handing over Zest who was of the Current Demon Lord Faction over to the Moderates Faction; so considering Zest’s power and the possibility that she might escape from the Demon Realm, Basara had told her that she can return any time before she had left. On their way here and until they were brought to this room, there were still worries on whether did Zest receive any ill-treatment -- seeing that it was all himself over thinking, it was all great. However--

“……!”

Toujou Basara line of sight was drawn to another change in Zest, and he gulped.

--In Basara’s mind, Zest was a female with an extremely good body figure. It’s only been two months since they had defeated Zolgear and handed Zest over to the Moderates Faction, but yet Zest’s breasts had definitely gotten bigger. Not only Basara, this shock surpassed that of this sudden reunion in Mio and Yuki, causing them to stare at her in disbelief.

“………Ah.”

Seemingly having noticed their gazes on her, Zest gently twisted her body shyly red-faced. Even then, her breasts with a shocking amount of volume sensationally shook left and right.

“S-Sorry…!”

Basara hurriedly averted his eyes, and Zest shook her head and said [It’s fine].

“It’s not surprising that you’ll be surprised… Even I did not expect that my body would become like this. According to the doctors -- this change is due to the release from my previously repressed state, not due to something like an illness, so there is no need for any worry.”

“…--I see.”

Hearing Zest say that, Basara answered in a low voice.

Translator Notes and References

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