The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 393: Me and Doors and our inseparable fate

Chapter 393: Me and Doors and our inseparable fate

"Hoo...she’s pretty, huuh?" I raised my brow and Ian frantically flapped his hand to try and explain himself.

But Zarfa and Aina leaned to me to snitch on him. "She’s pretty and sexy."

"He couldn’t even speak in front of her."

"Oho."

"T-that’s not...that’s just..."

"I know, boy. It’s just youthful hormone," I patted his shoulder pitifully. This tanker would be too weak to charm. If Zia were a mature succubus, he would probably fall on his knees in front of him and get kicked by a gun-maniac elf.

"...what’s a horrmon?"

The three of us transmigrators waved our hands to dismiss the young paladin and resumed our walk. "So that’s why you’re hesitant to come here with someone else."

"Well, since we’re about to say that we won’t be asking for her help anymore...it’s kind of awkward, no?" Zarfa shrugged.

Hmm...well, that’s true. It was like canceling a progressing contract with a client, I guess. "But we bring the thing she requested of you, so all’s fine, right? If anything, she should be the one who pays me."

"That’s right," Ignis nodded.

[That’s right!]

Zarfa circled my arm and asked me in a low, conspirative voice. "By the way, what kind of pay are going to ask her?"

"It’s a secret."

"Eyy!" she pursed her lips. "You became more dramatic now."

"Well, we have a better life now," I shrugged. "We can be a bit more dramatic than before."

She laughed and held my arm a bit tighter. "Mm; we have a better life now."

I patted her head and Aina whispered on my other side. "My life is just the same, but I guess I surpassed the age I died."

And why did you say something like that with a giggle?

"But you know...isn’t it great that we are still peers even in this world?" Zarfa laughed softly. "I don’t have to wait for almost seventy years like your Demon Lord."

"Right; I can’t imagine being lectured by a Grandma Ceci."

"Hey!"

"We’re almost there," the Hero warned us as the forest was getting thinner. It looked more like a nice park now, and it opened to a clearing leading toward a meadow.

There seemed to be something like a deep ravine at the edge of that meadow, with a stone bridge connecting two sides. A dirt path flanked by vegetable gardens went all the way from the bridge to the tall structure that at a glance looked like a cliff. But as I looked up and concentrated the mana in my eyes, the cliff started to look like a stone tower with a delicate craving after about five meters from the ground.

"Hmm...illusion magic, huh?"

"We can’t see your Lair from the realm of nature’s side too."

"That’s from the border magic," I said.

I reckoned the elemental birds also did something, although the Lair was properly visible from the demon realm’s side. I guess, since it was meant to be exhibited to the Lord of Pride, it was meant to be visible.

"Ah, right..." as we crossed the meadow, something suddenly crossed my mind. "How do you guys know about the magician? I mean, how do you know she could purify the elemental mana?" I looked at Zarfa. "Did you tell them?"

The girl shook her head. "No--in the foresight, I wasn’t even supposed to be here. The regent--that is, Fatia’s mother--already knew about the magician. That’s how it is originally."

"It’s something that my grandmother knew," Fatia explained without the need for me to ask. "She said the magician purified a dungeon in our land when my mother was young, probably...thirty or forty years ago?" she tilted her head to recall the story. "Anyway, it’s a long time ago, but...that’s the last time anyone ever saw her. If I had to take a guess--"

"She got hit by a decaying core that deformed her mana circuits," I concluded, and Fatia nodded.

Hmm...

"Can purifying mana result in that?" Zarfa tilted her head. "I know she’s not a druid, but..."

"Who knows," I shrugged. "But people need to pay for their sins."

"Huh?"

"Let’s cross the bridge--be careful," I took her and Aina’s hands and we crossed the fenceless stone bridge together.

The moment my foot stepped onto the dirt path after crossing the bridge, I felt a slight shiver and flicked my eyes upward. "So we step into her territory, now."

I glanced at the two girls and told them to mind their mouths through my gaze. They were both quick-witted, so they nodded and clasped their mouth shut. It was good that we already spoke about her before we crossed the bridge.

I pulled my hood down further to hide my eyes beneath the shadow, and Ignis crawled to hide behind my hair. It was impossible to hide Jade, but my baby just looked like a cute little bird, so I just let it perched on top of my head and happily sightseeing.

"But...why are you hiding yourself?" Aina asked in a whisper."

I cleared my throat and lowered my voice. "I just like to act mysterious."

"Do you know that Valen used to be a family member of a maf--"

"Sush," I flicked Zarfa’s forehead to shut her up. "What did I say about watching your mouth?"

"Ouch?" she pursed her lips and pouted in a sulk, even though she still held my hand as we approached the tower.

The dirt path led us to a wide courtyard that seemed to be perfect as a camping site beneath the cliff. Perhaps, people who came here to look for the magician used to set up camp here while waiting for her permission to enter the tower. I was about to ask the way to get in when the Hero came to the cliff and used his sword hilt to knock some patterns into the cliff.

"She told us the way before we go to the Lair," Zarfa paused her sulking to explain it to me. "She said she couldn’t be bothered to go down just to let us in like last time."

"...how long did you wait last time?"

"Not too long, just about three days," she shrugged. "She finally came down when Aina said she wanted to make a hotpot with the vegetables in the garden."

The inventor girl giggled, and I had no idea whether she was serious about it or just trying to bait the magician out. Either of those intention still deserves a thumbs up, though, which I have her with a grin. On the other hand, Fatia was sighing and shaking her head, looking traumatic at the experience.

Anyway, a rectangular section of the cliff in front of the Hero suddenly became blurry, and Jin looked back at us, nodding before going through the stone surface.

[It’s a portal] Ignis whispered in my mind.

"Not a door?"

[No, going straight to the middle]

"Ah-ha!"

Perhaps the activated portal would go to a different floor depending on the password? If someone just randomly knocked, perhaps it would send them to a basement or throw them into the lake.

Anything could happen in a witch’s lair, am I right?

As we approached the portal, both Zarfa and Aina gripped my hand again, looking tense. I think, with how high profile the magician was, and the fact that she should be at least a century old--gasp! Older than Natha, even!--the two young girls probably weren’t so good at facing a dominatrix type.

Not that I was good at it, but at least a woman’s charm wouldn’t work on me.

"Jade, come inside for a moment."

Perhaps sensing the tension, the little bird did not question things much and just dove into my cloak, snuggling between my chest and the cloak’s lapel. Fatia stepped inside after the Hero vanished into the swirling stone, and we followed right after while holding hands. Ian, as our rear guard, would enter the last.

"I wonder if it feels the same with the portal back in the La--"

My words got cut as my head passed the threshold which got me a second of nauseating sensation. I lost my bearing for a bit, and with that, lost the feeling of warmth in my hands. When my feet touched solid ground again, I raised my arms and looked at my empty palm.

"What? Again?" I let out a sigh when I couldn’t feel anyone around me. None of the humans, at least.

[The other disappeared!] Jade chirped in surprise from my chest, looking around while gasping. I could feel the little bird wriggling out of my cloak, but I put my hand over my chest to prevent it from doing so.

"Stay here for now, Jade."

I glanced back at the swirling stone that disappeared the moment I stretched my hand to touch it. The ’door’ had become a wall now, a dead-end. A long corridor stretched out in front of me, illuminated by several hanging eternal torches. The fire cast a shadow along the carved stone wall, and my footsteps echoed loudly on the hard surface.

What. This felt more like a Demon Lord’s castle than the real Demon Lord’s castle.

"Should I enact a barrier?" Ignis asked quietly.

"No; but get ready to deploy one, just in case," I told the Salamander.

I still had no idea why I ended up getting singled out, or if everyone ended up in several different areas. It didn’t make sense if she really did it, but...who am I to talk about sense in a witch’s tower?

Patting the confused Jade, I walked until I met an intersection. There were three dead-ends and one big door, so our choice was obvious. I loosened my shoulder for a bit to lessen the tension and pushed the door open.

It was a large hall with a dome ceiling and stone pillars decorated in creeping ivies and climbing roses. There was no other thing there except for a throne made of stone and piled with cushions, as well as a very attractive, very beautiful voluptuous lady with a mature look lounging on top of it. Her cascading dark hair was as silky as the loose robe she was wearing, and she raised her face from the book she was reading when I entered the room.

"And who might you be, who come here uninvited?"

I see. She was singling me out.