Chapter 11: Lesser Demons Are Like Cats
༺ Lesser Demons Are Like Cats ༻
Romimimi—
Naru peacefully lay in bed, fast asleep.
Beside her, I whispered softly.
“Naru, if you don’t wake of up now, we will eat cake without you.”
“Mnnn……nnn……nnnoh…….”
“Hehe.”
Hilarious.
I’ve noticed lately that after Naru lays her head on the pillow, she falls asleep within seconds.
And once she’s asleep, she doesn’t wake up easily.It’s quite the opposite of me, a light sleeper.
I usually toss and turn for about an hour before I can fall asleep.
Even then, since I’m a light sleeper, I also wake up at the faintest of noises.
It’s a habit formed through my rough days on the street, or perhaps that’s my nature.
In that sense, Naru’s deep sleep was probably inherited from her mother.
I don’t think I have ever encountered a woman who slept this well.
As I thought about this, the door was slammed open.
Creeeak—
A rush of hot steam escaped from within.
And I could see a pair of whiter-than-expected toes.
Above them, thin ankles, toned calves, and flawless thighs were revealed.
Leather pants that resembled a dolphin’s shorts, a smooth belly, and big breasts covered by a damp towel.
Droplets of water fell from her wet hair.
“I’m sensing an ominous gaze. A demon……?”
Cariote looked around the room.
At the same time, I subtly turned my head, pretending to not notice anything.
“Wait a second, You. You’re supposed to come out properly dressed!”
Brigitte immediately scolded Cariote who had just come out of her shower.
However, Cariote ignored her as she dried herself before neatly putting on the clothes she had laid out on the couch.
“I’ve been sweating all day on the journey here, I’m feeling great now. Thanks for letting me use your shower, mage. I hadn’t bathed in a week.”
A whole week without a bath?
Well, in this world where proper sanitation facilities were scarce, going a week without bathing wasn’t exactly rare. I’ve even gone two months without bathing in some cases.
But.
What surprised me is that even after going a whole week without bathing, there wasn’t any bad smell coming from Cariote.
In fact, she even had this faint soap-like scent.
Even though she came from the land of the savages, women were women.
Quite different from the ragged and smelly male folks I’ve encountered.
Vworgrrrr—
Cariote skillfully used the coffee brewing machine in the lab.
She then sat on the couch, taking a sip of it.
“First things first, I want to talk about the imps we’ll be hunting. What do you know about them?”
Was she asking me?
Imps, huh?
“Not much, it’s hard to spot lesser demons on the battlefield. I’ve encountered many Prime Evils tough.”
“Well, that’s to be expected. But whether you know it or not, you might have encountered some imps. Imps are skilled in disguises and shapeshifting. They often pose as humans in the human world.”
I see.
Well, I knew this much already.
Brigitte then butted in with a smug tone.
“Isn’t it common knowledge that Imps are good at shapeshifting? The real question is, how do we track such creatures? That’s why we sought an expert like you.”
“I won’t be tracking the imp.”
What?
Did she just refuse to do what we had hired her for?
She was very bold.
“Not—?”
Just as Brigitte started saying something, Cariote continued.
“Skilled demon hunters don’t track their prey, they make the demons come to them. Especially with Imps, they are like cats. If you approach them, they’ll run away.”
I’m not entirely sure what she meant by that, but since she had said it, it must be right.
I’ll remember this for future reference.
“Of course, we need to keep our trap a secret. Imps are more cautious than you’d think. At the first sign of danger, they will just run away.”
Stealth and speed.
That is the key to this plan.
“The most important part of the plan is putting this ‘Yallubullu Grass’ in their pillows. This herb is toxic to demons. So, any Imp who sleeps on the pillows containing this will lose their shapeshifting abilities for a day. Their tails will be revealed then.”
So that’s how it is.
It was surprisingly simple.
Everything was perfect, aside from the weird name of the herb.
After listening for a while, Brigitte said.
“So, the key is whether we can infiltrate the Imp’s home. Good, here’s my plan then.”
Rustle—
Brigitte pulled a white sheet of paper from nowhere.
And began to draw on it with a piece of charcoal.
“We have a pretty good clue that the Imp will be posing as a kid in the Academy, but since we have no idea who this kid will be, that’s where Naru comes in.”
Naru.
The paper then transformed into a scene from a children’s book, depicting Naru making lots of friends.
“Naru will enroll in the Academy and make lots of friends. Then she’ll visit her friend’s home and hide the herb under their pillows.”
What a brilliant plan.
The Imps would be less suspicious if a child like Naru did the hiding, instead of us.
“But for that to work out, Naru needs to stand out to catch the Imps’ attention. Cariote, how do we make the Imps approach her first?”
In response to Brigitte’s question, Cariote picked the charcoal.
Then she drew a crown above Naru’s head.
“It’s simple. Imps always seek the ‘strong’. And by that, I don’t simply mean physical strength. It could be anything, like someone pretty, wealthy, smart, or with a good talent. Imps are always trying to get close to people like that.”
Was that another kink of lesser demons?
I could feel myself getting smarter.
With that settled.
I said.
“So, if Naru enrolls, makes lots of friends, becomes a top student or something, the Imps will be drawn to her.”
Just when I said that I realized.
Naru’s book smarts were barely able to get her into the academy.
“Brigitte, Cariote. Is there another way we could do this?”
* * * * * * * * * *
“Okay Naru, here’s the next question. What’s the capital of the Ordor Kingdom?”
“Ugh…Ordurr…..I don’t know….”
“Now Naru, It’s not ‘I don’t know’, It’s Ordor. The Kingdom was founded in the City of Ordor an ancient city. Did you get that?”
Brigitte continued to teach various things to Naru.
This made me remember the time when I used to study back home.
I must have given my teacher quite a headache.
Maybe I was her first true challenge in life.
“Naru, what’s the capital of the Dolores Kingdom? Since there are only two days left, you should know this by now.”
“The capital……It’s Ordor!”
“No, that’s the capital of the Ordor Kingdom. The capital of Dolores is Saint Fabrium Wingbrook Orchos Valta Maria Sanchovelaia. Got it? Make sure you don’t forget that okay?”
“……”
Wait.
How could she possibly remember that?
Even I can’t remember that.
Graham Academy sure is a fancy place, filled with geniuses.
I’m sure that If I took the entrance exam now, I would fail.
Cariote suddenly chuckled.
“Hmph. Stuffing your head with this nonsense will just make you hesitate when it matters. A good Barbaroi woman just needs to know how to survive. If your body is tough enough, you will make do somehow.”
Cariote’s approach to raising a child was rather lax.
Maybe it’s because she was someone from Barbaria.
Suddenly I had this wild theory.
Honestly, Naru’s education was……Well, it wasn’t stellar.
Maybe it’s because her mother didn’t think it was important?
Her mother’s education must be something like ‘learn as you go.’
Well, that was what I thought.
Cariote was looking more suspicious now.
If I married her, and we had Naru……
Didn’t it mean that this woman would sleep with me every night?
……Honestly, it’s hard to even believe that!
That’s probably because my imaginary graphics card hasn’t gotten an update since I crossed over to this world!
Rustle-.
At that moment, Cariote looked at me.
No way, did she realize I was fantasizing about her? As I tensed up, she said.
“Why should she even bother studying for this test? You’re a thief, aren’t you Judas? Can’t you just steal the pre-made test?”
That was a good idea.
If the entrance exams had something like a pre-made sheet, that is.
But Brigitte shook her head at that idea.
“That’s not possible. The entrance exams are managed by Elle Cladeco personally. Even if the answer sheet was already made it would be in her office.”
“Elle Cladeco. I’ve heard of her. She’s the first to reach Platinum-Tier right? She’s the one who made the levels, tiers, and the karma system.”
Did Elle Cladeco make all of that?
She’s more amazing than I thought.
“She was also the one who proposed the Transcendence Theory, claiming that a human can transcend when they reach Level 50. I don’t know if that’s true though.”
Cariote was more knowledgeable than she appeared to be.
I guess that was a necessity in the life of a demon hunter.
“Cariote, you’re smarter than you appear.”
It suited her in her own way.
Just then, Brigitte said.
“It’s not about being smart, that’s just common sense. Elle Cladeco is the closest one to reach Level 50. If we just break into her office and get caught, then the entire plan goes out the window.”
That was a good point.
“Furthermore, most mages’ workshops have unique bounded fields or formations set up. It would be suicide for Judas to even try to sneak into Elle Cladeco’s workshop.”
Brigitte was indeed wise.
She was truly the brains of our Demon King subjugation party.
And that same confident woman shouted with gusto.
“Well, there will be no need for that if Naru passes the exam. I’ll do whatever it takes to turn her into a proud student of the Graham Academy within these two days!”
“Yay! Naru will do her best for Mom and Dad!”
Naru raised her hands, shouting with her enthusiasm.
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