The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 374: Role-playing is so fun!

Chapter 374: Role-playing is so fun!

The day of the humans’ infiltration.

"Why do you need a swivel chair?" Izzi asked curiously while modifying my armchair in the master suite.

"So it can swivel, duh."

The golden eyes stared at him unamusedly, but I just grinned at him and told him to get on with it.

"Haven’t you seen some movies? I want to greet them while sitting on a chair and turn it slowly--you know, for suspense!" I chuckled lowly while sitting on another chair and stroking Jade on my lap. The little bird was confused, but just went with it since it liked to be caressed.

Izzi looked at us and shook his head while exhaling. "You want to act like a mafia or something?"

"I mean...I was a grandson of a mafia boss..."

"What?!"

"What?"

Izzi blinked at me slowly, before turning back to finish my swivel chair and mumbling inaudably.

Well...of course, the real mafia bosses didn’t have a hobby of waiting for someone in the dark so they could surprise people in their swivel chairs, but...who cares? This is my Lair, so we’d be going with my rule!

Anyway, I told the demons to stay in the bedroom gallery--including Angwi and Doun--while the twins were to conceal themselves on the cliff so they could watch the whole Lair and receive my next order.

Just like that, the night was falling, and we were all waiting for this group of humans. In my bedroom, I crouched in my new swivel chair, giggle-gaggled with Jade while Ignis curled on top of the fireplace. Thanks to one of Natha’s artifacts, our mana and presence were concealed so that no one would know that we were there.

But waiting was so boring. I almost fell asleep when I received a signal from Vrida. Quickly, I told my little companions to clear up the trace of our night snacking--an indulgence I let myself have just this one time--and waited with bated breath and a grin on our faces.

[Trees say one stay in river, Master!]

"Oh...maybe I’m a genius," I stroked my chin to praise myself. It was pretty accurate to my prediction, wasn’t it?

We waited for another half an hour while Jade was whining about getting sleepy, but the little bird finally received another vision from its seniors. [Master! They split!]

"Oh?"

This one I didn’t envision.

[Two of them climb the tower, Master! Down there! Below us!]

This time, Jade was no longer sleepy. The little bird was energetically relaying shared visions while jumping up and down instead. [Oh! They climb so well! Like Ignis!]

The Salamander stirred at the sound of its name and narrowed its light blue eyes. "Hmph--they use strange things."

Oh? Could it be something that the inventor made? Kind of sounded like stuff made for a spy movie, wasn’t it? How fun!

And then, finally, I could hear them as they climbed over to the balcony. I clasped my hands over my mouth, and Jade followed me. We stared at each other while sending two sets of silent footsteps approaching the balcony door.

And then--they stopped.

I waited while blinking confusedly, until I finally remembered. Oh my God! I forgot about the door’s safety mechanism! The balcony door could only be opened from the inside, and the moment it was shut, it would get locked with several layers of barriers. Unless it was me or Natha, no one would be able to open it--not even Zia or Angwi.

Aah! How could I be so dumb and forget about it?!

Ugh...but it wasn’t like I could just open the door for them, right? What about my mafia boss role-playing?

As I was lamenting my carelessness, the two people outside started to move again after a short discussion. It seemed like they wanted to try coming from the rooftop. Good! That’s good! I told Jade to remind the other elemental birds to not do anything to them when they arrived.

Phew...and we waited again.

Oh, it was so ridiculous! How could those people in the movie bear waiting around until the guests show up and--oh! They’re here!

I felt some people in front of the door, more than two, so I guessed they were meeting here again. Oh, how convenient. It wouldn’t be so exciting if I only did this to two people max. I looked at Jade and put my index finger in front of my lips, waiting for the door to open.

Four sets of careful steps entered the foyer, and Ignis crawled to my shoulder so they wouldn’t see its flaming pale blue eyes. Unknowingly, my heart was beating faster, and finally...

Finally!

They stepped into the sitting room, and I patted Ignis’s head. The fireplace lit up and I turned my chair around. "Welcome to the Lair of Greed," I said, like a good host that I was. And then, perhaps because I was getting tired, I blurted out. "What took you so long?"

There were four humans in the middle of the sitting room; all with surprised expressions on their faces. Yes! This is what I want to see! My smile stretched wider, and the stunned humans finally stirred.

Brandishing their weapons at me.

Whoa whoa whoa--chill, people! My smile retracted and my companions tensed on my lap and shoulder.

"Who are you?" the one at the front, who held a sword in his hand, asked in a low tone. His eyes were sharp and dark, looking weirdly familiar.

Ah yes, he was the Hero; conveniently attractive, great physique, considerable mana pool--just your usual recipe for humanity’s savior. But this Hero was still in the middle of his journey, and I didn’t think he could even defeat Angwi, much less Natha and...well, me.

"How weird," I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. "You’re the one who is breaking into someone else’s home, and you ask me who I am? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?"

I could see the righteous Hero was quite flustered about being called out, and the hand that was holding the sword faltered a little bit.

"Well," I clapped my hand once, "Of course, I’m informed enough to know what the human’s Hero looked like,"

This time, the Hero flinched, and the woman behind him--probably the elementalist--tensed up again and roused her mana.

"I just...didn’t think you would be a thief."

"We’re not--" a timid-looking girl in bulky clothes peeked out behind the elementalist, squeaking. "We’re not a...a thief."

"Are you sure?" I tilted my head. Honestly, I kind of enjoy their flustered reaction of going back and forth from doing something illegal and knowing that it clashed with their conscience. "Breaking into someone’s home and entering the owner’s suite is what a thief doing, right? Or..." I shifted my gaze to the righteous Hero, who should be someone who knew my face to some extent. "Are you trying to kidnap an old acquaintance?"

Again, their expression turned into confusion, and the Hero’s hand was faltering even more. I snapped my fingers then--for added effect--and Ignis lit up all the lanterns around the sitting room to enhance our vision.

The Hero’s eyes fluttered and his sword fell to the ground with a loud clanking sound. "You’re...are you...Valmeier?"

"Oh, so the esteemed Hero remembers me," I quipped, and I could hear a hiccuping sound from somewhere. I tilted my head to see the source of that voice, but the Hero was stepping forward and obstructing my sight.

"H-how..." the Hero looked at me with trembling eyes.

He looked...more emotional than I thought. Honestly, it felt kind of...weird? I mean...I barely knew this guy, and Valmeier had no thought on him other than ’Oh, that’s the guy they called the Hero’.

But I was glad I told Natha not to come here, because I felt like he was going to flip if he saw the Hero making this guilty face right now.

"How are you..." the Hero seemed to be in a daze, letting go of all his caution. "You’re still alive?"

"Have you seen my corpse?" I tilted my head.

"I did."

Oh...Oh! Right; Heraz and his team made a dummy so the kingdom would think I was already dead. I guessed the Hero must have known about Valmeier’s death from them, at least.

"Well, I’m still alive," I shrugged. "Took you long enough to find that out."

"I..."

Before the Hero could say anything more, he was yanked back by the elementalist--a stern-looking woman whose face I couldn’t truly discern under her hood. "Get a hold of yourself, Jin!" she hissed. "We don’t know if he’s an enemy or not."

"But he’s..." the Hero glanced at me. "He’s Valmeier, the one who--"

"I know!" the elementalist pulled the Hero further away from me while also shielding the two smaller girls behind her. "But that’s why it’s suspicious, because why..." she looked at me, a cautious gaze full of doubt. "Why is the man called a demon slaughterer staying in a Demon Lord’s lair and calling it his home?"

Oh, how clever! She looked at me with suspicion, but didn’t immediately attack me for my affiliation with the demon. A reasonable mind, it seemed; a stark improvement from the Hero’s previous companions.

The elementalist’s words pulled the Hero back from his daze, because he quickly recalled his fallen sword to his hand. Neat. Not as neat as my spear, though.

"You heard us," the elementalist said, finally addressing me. "Are you really the Battle Priest Valmeier?"

Hmm...how should I answer this?

I tilted my head and tried to look at the girl who had been quiet at the back. "I will say that I was Valmeier."

"What?"

"Well, I don’t think I can call myself with that name only," I shrugged. "Don’t you agree, Cecilia?"

Once again, I could hear the sound of hiccupping.