The Real Monster 29 Having the Demon Emperor as Neighbor III

It took no time at all to walk towards that central building and when we arrived at some office, the door of which there hanged a plate saying, [Mayor Kangkuro] so I'm guessing the mayor's name is Kangkuro.

{Go inside.}, said the big guy whose name I don't know yet while opening the door.

"{Thanks}" I thanked the guy who's gentle even though he's such a big guy.

{What does a human who doesn't even have any mana fluctuation doing deep in the demons' territory I wonder.} The mayor guy was standing near the window that's just behind his desk that probably was overlooking the entrance of the building. What my eyes were feasting on right now was to what kind of demon this mayor was at the moment. He had blue skin, cat eyes, cat face and a symmetrical build. Totally like a cat. However, his muscles don't tell me he's a docile cat at all.

"{Hello there, I was just taking a stroll in the demon territory to look around and I don't mean harm. I'm actually just trying to find someone, but have had no luck for a year and some months now.}" I answered him with a bit more fluency thanks to the demon language advancing.

{I see you can speak our language well enough to pass as a demon, but you can't hide the natural smell that humans exude from their body. So you can't deceive us without using some kind of trick. Are you a spy?} He asked again.

"{As I said, I'm a traveler and have just been taking a stroll while looking for someone. He owes me something so I want to look for him to collect the dept."} This is going to be annoying once he asks again and again in suspicion. I just know it.

He then moved and took his chair without offering me a seat. I don't mind but he's taking a stance as if a mob boss looking down on his subordinates in mobster movies. Then he continued asking,

{What is your true goal in coming here? Being a traveler and taking a stroll just doesn't cut how you're able to 'just' take a stroll in a demon city as if it were your own backyard.}

"{The answer to your question is simple. It's because I'm strong enough to do so. Now, please stop asking questions that are annoying and just tell me what your decision on my trespassing is. I don't want to be rude, but I'm very irritable when it comes to stupid questions, when the answer is quite obvious.

"{How do you think then that I have the confidence to stroll around a city like this without care, because I'm stupid and foolish or because I have a death wish? No, most likely I would have power to back myself up in case I get attacked. So If I have dispersed your suspicion can you take my question now?}" My tone got a bit big and Overpower was exuding a bit of its effect of intimidating others.

{How insolent. To come here and tell me these things without even a care, alright, I will believe that you have power to back yourself up, so what do you actually want?} At least this mayor guy is sensible enough.

"{First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Clay; I'm what you would call the hero summoned by the humans. A few years ago I had a run-in with that frog Agamemkeru and he almost killed me, so now that I think I've grown stronger I want to have a rematch with him, or if he's not available I want to find the hero which the demons summoned. Can you answer me this, where are they?}"

The demon mayor had his face change a few times. Hearing this news might be a bit much to digest. I'll wait for him to absorb it.

After a few seconds of breathing roughly, he finally regained composure and looked at me with a bit of fear and hate. I don't understand his state of mind and asking him might just not get me an answer.

{You say you had a fight with the Lord Agamemkeru and you survived, and now you want a rematch?}

{You say you are the hero of humanity and you want to meet with the hero of us demons?}

He questioned in series. I can only nod to his question as it was easily answerable by yes or no. No need for further words.

*laughter* Kangkuro laughed loudly without restraint. He was also holding his stomach. Just what's making him go nuts right now?

"{What seems to be funny?}" I asked with a frown.

{You are! It's funny what you just said, a fight with Lord Agamemkeru, pfft, just how stupid do you think I am? And also even if you were really the hero of humanity, how could you not even exude a tiny bit of mana from your body? Unless you had total control over your mana will you be able to do that. However, to do that would take at least you becoming an existence that can manipulate mana directly, which is unprecedented and impossible to achieve. So yes, you are funny!} He explained. So that's why he was laughing his head off.

"{Sigh}" I sighed and used ancient language to deactivate the mana movement seal I engraved on it. Suddenly,

*Psssshhhhh*

My mana started to exude from my body and the place almost blew apart from the sudden opening of the faucet that was closed for a very long time, a burst of mana that pushed everything away from me as the center, including the mayor.

"{Now will you believe me?}" I then chanted again to activate it. I don't like being detected by enemies through it and if I don't do this, hunting for food would become so frigging hard as well if I leave my mana leaking like that. The problem about rapid growth is that you can't possibly master your strengths; it's a heavy price to pay if one wants to lay low.

Kangkuro had a look of disbelief on his face and a hint of a smile replaced my frown. That should have been enough to showcase myself right? Will he tell me what I know or would he be useless?

{Y-Y-You really fought with Lord Agamemkeru and lived?!} Kangkuro jumped away from his chair and desk when he said that. There's really no need to react that way is there?

"{I know it might come as a surprise for you since you have a bias about that frog's power, but yeah, I survived so now I want to collect this debt and scratch that embarrassment away from my record.}" I said again, saying it again brings emphasis right?

{So you are in search of him?} What's this guy doing asking again and again? Now that I think about it, I haven't looked at his stats huh? And here I promised myself to practice always using for people I'm meeting for the first time and I keep forgetting it. Tsk.

So I looked at his stats with and found that his strength is just on average. All of it were on [Rare] while I was at it I also turned to look at the big guy beyond the door with xray and combo. His name is Graccus, which sounds manly enough for his stature, his stats lean on the STR stat so only his STR stepped on Heroic.

This discovery is simply frightening by the way. For demons close to human borders to actually have strength rivaling a hero's, that's just scary. Well, he's not actually ordinary as well since he's got the blood of an Oni, a higher ranked demon in his veins so I guess that explains his large build, but not the fours arms, or just that Oni's in this world have four arms?

"{If you know where I can find him, would you please point the way so I can go and do what I have intended to do in this outing?}" I demanded.

{L-Lord Agamemkeru has always been staying in the swamps of the demon realm which spans for more than a hundred miles in diameter. You can easily get there just by traveling straight west from here…}

So Kangkuro laid out on me the lay of the land and how to get there. Basically, the borders of the human/demon territory can be traveled two to three years from this city on foot or carriage minus the time that monsters would attack the travelers. Graccus also came in to help Kangkuro lay out a map for me. With my memory, I already have a copy of it in my head.

Monsters actually attack even those from the demon kind, so they also have to tread carefully when traveling. I had a misconception the same with most of the humans that monsters were demon spawn, but I guess not. That's a good misconception to clarify huh?

So this city is called Atbangkeru and the surrounding cities and villages are all suffixed with –keru because this whole southern territory is Agamemkeru's domain. From Atbangkeru one has to travel for six months to arrive at the frog's nest. So I'm due east this time after leaving here. There are villages on the way as well that serve as rest stops for those who wish to pay their respects and offer their sacrifices to the Lord of the Swamps.

"If I fly there it should only take me a few hours at most tops. I should hurry and get some exercise with Agamemkeru the frog right? If I can fight that frog and win without getting killed then I can be assured that conquering the human realm would be a walk in the park.

"{Hey, I want to thank you for your help. Is there any way I can repay this favor?}" I asked earnestly, I can't just take advantage of these people. They're more humane in some ways than humans after all.

{There's really no need, it is true that I am sending you to your death by telling you the directions though. The other advice I'll give you for free is to not go along your plan, just turn back now. It was already a great miracle for you to be alive when you fought him once, don't waste such a good chance at life.} I was surprised when Kangkuro said so with real worry and concern on his face. The same goes with Graccus' face. I wonder if they understand what the god of demon kind wants from them as well as the god of humanity is plotting? Isn't there a war between races? Their attitudes make me worry for their own race.

However, it doesn't change the fact that I will still take over this whole continent later on.

"{No really, I want to repay you for this. Don't worry; I'm not someone that would repay kindness with enmity so you can rest assured. Just tell me.}" I said again with sincerity and a stern face.

Both looked at each other and then Graccus nodded his head as if in agreement with Kangkuro's gaze. They're capable of telepathic communication? How curious.

{Well then if you insist. We actually have a little problem. The hunters we have have been dwindling in number recently as they instead of hunting become the hunted in the forest. If you go from this direction to the south where you probably came from, a creature that haunts that place is currently disturbing the peace of that forest.

{The creature is a vampire called Kurimao that feasts on both blood and flesh. It's very savage and can turn its body into mist to recover its injuries. So we have been having trouble killing it. If you can then please, take it out for us and that should make us even.} As he was describing the monster, I slowly recalled that vampire I encountered earlier in the forest.

That just can't be a coincidence right? It's annoying to deal with that thing.

"{I have encountered the thing earlier as well. It's probably the same. I ran away from it because it was troublesome to deal with.}" I said honestly. It's not a shame to run from a battle that cannot be won.

{I, I see. It seems we really have to sacrifice a bit of our men just to subjugate that thing. Damn vampire spawn. If only we can drain it's mana then it would then have no longer any means to turn its body to mist and would be easier to cut down. What do we do then Graccus?

{Anyway, if you can't take it on, don't worry about it, you can just forget about it then.} Kangkuro said in disappointment.

"{Wait, wait. What did you just say? You can deal with it when its mana it drained, and it cannot turn into mist?}" I asked to confirm.

{Yes. Vampires are mostly like that. They rely on high mana amount to fuel their regeneration. If that thing is drained of mana then it can be killed easier.} He explained.

"{So what methods are there to drain its mana quickly?}" I asked in response and with a bit more excitement now.

Seeing my face that's probably flushed in excitement,

{Usually we would use a magic formation to seal its mana in place, but that would take a lot of preparation and resources. We can't risk losing resource and men at the same time for just one vampire that's not really harming us directly. However, if we continue to damage it until it drains its mana from regenerating its injuries, then maybe it'll work, but this idea would sacrifice a lot of personnel so I did not approve of it.

{Basically, the greater the damage the greater the mana it would need to use to turn into mist and regenerate.} Kangkuro was dejected while he said the last line. That was good news to me though so,

"{Uh, let me take care of that vampire then. A Kurimao, that's the first time I've heard of that monsters name. Anyway, I'll be going. So wait for good news.}"

So I went and used my senses to track the thing. Here we go.

Chapter end