Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

191 – A Doomed Robbery (Part 1)

「My my…if it isn’t Lady Sitri.」

Margret’s smile didn’t fade, but she was surprised enough to call out her name.

The Demon of Love Sitri.

The petite girl with the appearance of a Dream Demon. With her horns, tail, batwings, and her twin-tailed pink hair.

Her true form is a leopard Demi-Beast, and she has the unique ability to transform, even to the point of recreating the target form’s abilities.

In the Raid Battle, she is a Big Four who splendidly toyed with the Adventurers, but outside of that, she is just a girl who loves cute things.

「Sorry for tricking you, Mary.」

「M-Mary…? No please, I do not mind it. With Lady Sitri’s aid, being able to vary oneself depending on the situation will be of big help to us. You are more than welcome.」

「Hmm, I was ordered here by Lu…her Highness, so I’ll do my best, but I actually hate things that aren’t cute, so don’t expect me to do the same thing as last time, kay?」

Sitri wishes to be cute.

In the Raid Battle, she still had her pride as a Floor Boss, but after seeing the struggles of Carmilla and her crew, she departed from her obsessions to fight.

It is good that she has something that she prioritizes over her cuteness obsession, but I can’t say that she sealed it away forever.

「…Your appearance is different from what I saw in the Raid Battle, yes? I mean, not that I would know.

Said Milla.

Certainly, wearing the clothes that she wore when she was assuming the form of the Demi-Human from a moment ago, she gives off a fairly mature impression.

「I wore it to surprise you~. I have my usual cute clothes right here.」

Saying that, she pats the bag slung over her shoulder.

「Speaking of, I’ll go and change right now.」

Sitri dashed into an empty horse carriage.

What a free spirit.

Ex and Arthur were called by Merlin, so we went our separate ways.

「Still, to bring along Sir Lem and even the two from the Demon King Castle, Sir Fellow is truly a remarkable man.」

Margret said as she put a hand to her mouth.

Our eyes met.

She gave well-mannered smile.

「We met once during the gathering for the Raid Battle a while ago, didn’t we, Sir Lem?」

「Yes, you’re right, Margret.」

Margret seems like a woman of good standing, and she is, in fact, the heir to a large company.

Smooth, brown, long hair. With a hairstyle where her sideburns are tied, joining at the back. She has the air of a high-born lady, raised with the utmost care.

She, herself, seems to possess business acumen, as all the Magic Tools that each of the Hervor party members use are from her collection.

Like now, she was given permission to cooperate with Fellow to investigate the Original Dungeon, so her skills are real.

「There’s also Ex and co. as well, right? Not just anyone can get the 2nd ranked party involved.」

To be more precise, only three out of the total five are here, but that’s still amazing.

「Ufufu, you’re right. But Sir Fellow is the one who brought about the Raid Battle.」

I suppose he did gather the 1st, 3rd, and 5th ranked party along with the newly discovered Water Hero.

In addition to that, he even got the 4th ranked party to participate as special trainers.

「It is because we high-rank Adventurers are easy to get in contact with. When there is an Original Dungeon, it is normal for Adventurers to be gathered. On the other hand, since Sir Lem’s location was unknown, I thought it would be difficult to negotiate with you unless I had personal contact.」

The more famous a person is, the more connections they have with various people.

Even though it is difficult to get in touch with ordinary people, when it comes to work, it is not uncommon for people to get in touch with them through others.

Certainly, I am here right now because Fellow invited me directly.

It probably would have been difficult to find me as an individual even if he contacted the Fenix party.

I suppose he could have contacted Aerial or other people, but Fellow was probably in a hurry.

「Moreover, I am personally interested in you, Sir Lem.」

Said Margret and she approached me. She places both her hands, as well as her cheek, on my chest.

A gentle scent softly tickles my nostrils. My chest feels warm.

I could feel a murderous aura emanating from Milla.

「You truly have trained yourself well.」

Her ecstatic voice was very close to me.

「Uhm… Margret?」

「Please, call me Maggie.」

「Maggie, uhm… could you stop doing that…?」

「Oh my, silly me. I beg your pardon. I couldn’t help myself.」

「You couldn’t help yourself, you say? I would like you to explain yourself more thoroughly if you please? As someone who is intimately close to Lem.」

Quickly standing in between me and her, Milla spoke.

Her voice was so cold, you’d think a blizzard was upon us.

「I couldn’t help but try to confirm it for myself. It is as Sister Herv said before, yes? That Sir Lem had trained his own body.」

It was the time that the Raid Battle members met. The Adventurers, I mean.

I nodded, but beside me, Milla was murmuring.

「…That Hervor. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be strange for someone like her to notice it.」

Speaking of which, Furcus noticed it too. About how I trained myself to the limit, having no talent for it.

I suppose when you become top-class like them, you are able to understand as much by simply looking at your opponent’s appearance.

「Sister Herv highly values people who live their life to the fullest. However, considering her personality, she prefers those with easy-to-understand strength. A man, no less. This is why this is the first time…」

Maggie paused for a moment, purposefully leaving a gap before she continued.

「…The first time that she has expressed such a strong interest in a Black Sorcerer gentleman such as yourself.」

「…Yet the public opinion of him is quite the opposite.」

「Yes… That’s right. Without having to think too much about it, considering that he belonged to the world’s 4th ranked party, he shouldn’t be incompetent. Nonetheless, we love our Sister Herv very much and were concerned. We wanted to understand. What exactly about Sir Lem attracted Sister Herv so?」

Those that realized who I was in the Raid Battle are the Storm Hero Aerial and the Water Hero Wraith. Also the Destroyer Fran, I guess.

This is just a hunch, but I think the Hero of the Cursed Sword Hervor realized it as well.

It’s possible that there are others who have an inkling, but I can’t be sure.

It took even Fenix until he was directly affected by my Black Magic to realize.

For Herv, directly fighting the tag team between me and Berith is a large factor.

The remark that Herv gave me previously was before she realized my identity, and I simply thought she was acknowledging how I continue to put in the effort despite lacking talent.

Yet for Maggie, or rather, everyone in the Hervor party, it was more than enough to pique their interest.

「Having seen the fight that Sir Lem put up recently, I believe I can understand a little.」

「Is that why you recommended Lem?」

「Of course, that isn’t the sole reason. No one knows what might happen in an Original Dungeon, so I plan to challenge it with a squad that is rich in variety. If I required an excellent Black Sorcerer, I can only think of Sir Lem, no?」

Since she is gathering capable people such as an excellent Warrior, Wizard, and Hero, she requires an excellent Black Sorcerer or White Sorcerer to balance things out.

As the leading candidate at the time, my name came up.

「Is that so? I understand. However, I wonder if getting unnecessarily close to the gentleman would cause a problem. For the time being, you are the representative, after all.」

「Ufufu, you seem well acquainted with Sir Lem, Lady Milla.」

「Hmph, of course. As Lem said earlier, we have a personal intimate relationship.」

She seems rather taken with that phrase.

「Then I gather that you are well-informed about things concerning Sir Lem?」

「Why, of course. In regards to knowledge of the Adventurer Lem, there is no-… there are only two others in the whole world who know as much as I do.」

I think she’s referring to the Silver Hero Nicola and Fenix.

「I am ashamed to admit that I am not particularly well versed in how Black Sorcerers fight. If it pleases you, could you share your knowledge, Lady Milla?」

I could sense that Milla was more than eager.

「I-I applaud your admirable way of thinking.」

As an Adventurer fanatic myself, I understand how fun it is to talk about something you like.

However, there is nothing more annoying than to have something you have no interest in shoved in your face repeatedly.

So a situation where knowledge about the thing that you love is not only tolerated but sought after is a situation to be welcomed.

There are the types that are happy to quietly enjoy what they love, but that differs from person to person.

If you were to ask me which type is Milla, I’d say she is the type that wants to talk about it.

「Of course, compensation will be provided.」

「That will not be necessary. The thought of compensating one’s knowledge is admirable, but a fan’s information is not to be exchanged for monetary gain.」

「I apologize for my rudeness.」

「If you must express your gratitude in some way, then how about having Lem appear in one of your commercials? …Fufufu…」

「I-I cannot make any promises there, but you can be certain that I shall repay you in some form other than money.」

Maggie, who had so far been maintaining the impression of a calm and peaceful air about her, seems to be overpowered slightly by Milla’s pressure.

That said, that was impressive of her.

She came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to get to know me with how Milla is.

She immediately understood Milla’s trigger and she pulled it spectacularly.

None of what she is saying is a lie and no one comes out unhappy.