[Omake 3] We're off to slay the Demon King! [Temporarily Locked]

"Koyoko-san..." Koyoko looked at her with a slight exhausted expression as she kept formalities, though one could say it was much better than just being called 'Hero', at least for someone like himself. "I guess that's fine. Not really going to force you to calling something in particular." He acknowledged, putting a hand on his waist.

"Oh my, aren't you such a cutie little sweetie to show respect to little old me I would give you a kiss for that one. Though I don't have lips and only a blade, so I'm going to only have to dream about that one. Though as you probably heard I'm called by Martha."

"You have no idea how creepy you sound right now..." He warned Martha as he raised her up toward his face again as it spoke toward everyone casually, now that the secret was out that she was indeed possessing the sword. Though she spoke as if she was once a human, so he wondered how long she was stuck inside the blade for. And why.

"Well, thank you... for your kindness, I suppose? hahaha..." Koyoko was still surprised that someone like Hiromi, being a master swordsman, acted nothing like a warrior, rather she just acted like a normal girl. He in particular found it healthy for her well being, but how many times has she actually been in battle. Things such as war changes people, mainly for the worst.

"Oh my, go on hero." Martha spoke, suddenly making Koyoko look back toward her.

"What...are you talking about exactly?" He looked a bit puzzled, though at that point he started to remember something crucial about him becoming the hero.

"Shes a good match for you, just think about it.. Student and teacher... then lovers... you couldn't write such better romance then that! Better then twilight at least. Ohoho Sweeties I'd love to see this happening, my number one ship. The Hero and his master...Yes... If I had it the my chin would be nodding up and down in excitement. I'm rooting for you hero!" As martha spoke, Koyoko felt a sweat coming on, as well as heat going right for his head. He completely forgot she can read his mind! And underestimated how his emotions can influence her actions!

Koyoko's eyebrow twitched as he gripped the handle tightly, an annoyed crooked smile came to his face. "Maaaarrrthaaaa..." Throughout this, Hiromi was panicking with her cheeks completely red, her actions confused, and couldn't properly speak as she stuttered and cut off herself constantly.

"Oh.. my.. well it's not in the open.... Teehee~?"

Before Koyoko knew it, in an act to let out to let out his rage and embarrassment he gripped the sword with both ends all too suddenly. "DON'T BLURT EVERYTHING YOU HEAR, YOU MORON!!!" He brought the blade all the way around and brought it toward an empty suit of armor, a decoration against the stone wall. As the holy blade cut right through the armor, it also cut through the wall, followed by an explosion of dust, showing his anger and heavy emotions. "Haa...haa..haa...Ah." Koyoko realized that he completely obliterated the wall and the armor, and to his dismay, Martha was of course completely unharmed. Shame, because he's not sure if he can do this quest with her reading every internal thought and making the most extreme assumptions.

Koyoko turned to Murakami, as surely as a knight of the kingdom, was probably not happy to see this. Let alone any knights in the nearby area. "....S-..Sorry." He hung his head in slight shame as he took the sword out of some of the rubble and sheathed it behind him. Before hitching his breath in anxiety turned to his beloved Sensei to try and clear the misunderstanding. "Ignore what she just said! I-it was just an overreaction to a comment I made, It's nothing really! Uuuh...L-let's just get out of here before I'm forced to pay for all this.." Koyoko hurriedly walked toward the exit gesturing them to follow before they have to clean the mess. I got to keep my emotions in check....What a drag...

While lost in thoughts, Hiromi could hear a loud sound. She turned around only to see a destroyed wall, with rocks rolling on the floor and dust filling the air. She could guess what happened excatly. Koyoko, most likely frustrated at Martha, caused the sword to unleashe its power... thankfully at the wall.

'We should really find a way to make him control his emotions, or it would hurt even himself', this served to distract Hiromi effectively.

"Ignore what she just said! I-it was just an overreaction to a comment I made, It's nothing really! Uuuh...L-let's just get out of here before I'm forced to pay for all this.."

'Oh... so, it was really Martha-san making assumptions, huh?', she felt a bit disappointed. Her happy illusions got shattered too soon. But, she still felt somewhat happy about that. No matter how much of an over-reaction it was, if it was such a comment, the original idea could only be something positive. And Hiromi was content with just that. Maybe it didn't have any romantic meaning to it as how Martha made it seem, but she was still satisfied that someone didn't hate her... at least not yet.

They run quickly, leaving the palace behind. Seeing them one would think they were culprits, not a hero and his party... Well, technically after what happened they could be considered as ones.

After a few miles away, Hiromi decided to clear the mood.
"Um... Koyoko-san. Sorry about my behavor earlier. I hope it didn't cause you any major inconvenience and discomfort. I apologize if it did", she apologized honestly, "But also, I wanted to thank you. I mean... If your mental comment made Martha-san say something like that, it must have been something positive, no matter how small it is. So, even if I don't know what your reall comment was, I'm grateful just for the fact that you had that thought", Hiromi said smiling brightly with a slight blush.

A Certain Road in the Countryside of the Human Kingdom:

A homeless beggar. That's what he looks like and that's what he is. Truly, not even the barest vestige of the once proud Heavenly King of the Demon Kingdom, Jack Nightingale, could be seen in his now pitiful form. Rather, even if he were to honestly admit his true identity, it was entirely possible his own mother would fail to believe him. He had fallen a long ways. At this point, even the man in question was beginning to question his own identity.

"Eh? Eh? Am I really a Heavenly King? A great and powerful demon? When I'm fighting with vultures for food, and losing?"

He was in a dangerous spot indeed. If he continued down that track, and he lost track of his own identity, then he'd become an empty shell of a man! ...More of one than he already is, anyway.

Ahem.

If he were to lose track of his identity, his history, and even the knowledge that he once had something even vaguely resembling something somewhat similar to what may have possibly been a concept called 'pride', then chances were that he'd just give up on living then and there! Just like that, one of the keys to Demon King's Castle would be lost to the ages, and the Hero's quest would end then and there. Fortunately for the world, a random stroke of luck saved all of humanity from what would otherwise have certainly been a dire fate!

A letter arrived.

Demon King wrote:

---

Letter to Heavenly King Jack

---

Jack,

If there's anything I'm grateful for, it's the fact that I have this device that teleports this letter directly to you. Seriously, I have to wonder how I would be able to contact you without this thing.

But that's beside the point. I don't know how quickly news gets to you so I'll just lay it out right here. Seems like a hero has pulled the legendary sword and is starting to make his way to here for obvious reasons. I'm not going to ask you to worry about collateral damage since you have been completely nomadic recently but do keep your guard up.

That being said, if you ever need a place to stay, I welcome you with open arms to come to my castle. We can even discuss plans for rebuilding your fortress and actually get you some food or clothes. So, seriously… Come back here. I worry about you.

Kohaku

"I... Wasn't just imagining it? I really am a Heavenly King?"

And just like that, the world was saved.

4 Hours later. 1:26 PM.
COW'S DEN Tavern, Outside of the Kingdom.

The COW'S DEN was a popular Tavern outside the kingdom, in which travelers alike would stop and rest their sore feet after long travels, feed themselves full and drink anything that calms their nerves. It is also not the safest place, since it's literally a ways away form the tall buildings and patrolling guards. People who couldn't get into the kingdom by any means would stop here for the night. Whether they came with good intentions and trade, or misfortune and mischievous motives.

For safety reasons, the hero and his two companions stopped there to talk, rest, and get a full meal before starting their journey, sitting at a table in the back room. Upon leaving the gates they were handed a great some of money in Hiromi-san's name. Most likely so that she wouldn't allow the hero or the knight to spend it off in unruly ways. Not that they would, but it's best to be prepared. The amount they got wasn't treasure but it was certainly enough to get food and a bed for a whole month.

"Hmmm..." The hero was puzzled however, as he finished his meal of chicken and potatoes, and drinking half of the tea provided to him. "We don't have enough people..." Koyoko stated what may or may not be the obvious as he took his feet off the table. "In technical terms, we only have two legitimate fighters, three when I am trained, but if three men was all it takes to defeat the demon king, then a hero would never be needed...We need to increase our numbers."

Koyoko looked to his left, seeing the holy sword leaning against the table in a scabbard provided by one of the guards that would fit his sword properly. He hated keeping it in his hand all the time, but apparently he needed it close by in order to communicate with Martha, who was inside the sword at all times. He kept any thoughts and deep thinking from occurring since Martha has proven to be someone who doesn't keep secrets well. He sighed as he looked between the two, while eyeing those behind them who could be watching. "We need more skilled participants...any ideas? Mura-kun? Hiromi-san?"

"We need more skilled participants...any ideas? Mura-kun? Hiromi-san?" Just as the hero asked the question, the sword quivered in frustation as it once against speaks for the first time after a few hours. "HOLD ON!" Martha said who clearly sounded rather upset. "You guys ate all that food and didn't think about me?" Martha said who was rather sad. "I'm over thousands of years old, I may be the legendary blade but I do need some maintenance. Sword polish and everything, some proper cleaning. You need to look after me or I will lose my effectiveness. And I need some since being stuck in a stone isn't nice. " Martha explain with a strong plea to be looked after since she couldn't do it herself.

Hiromi hated taverns. She really hated being there. She has always felt uncomfortable in the presence of all kind of alcoholic drinks. Well, she was thankful her journey companions had none of those. But she wished she stayed outside. She had thought of doing so, but she couldn't really bring herself to tell them.

First of all, there was the possibility that they would start questioning her reason to, and she didn't really feel like starting a debate, mostly a religious one. And she wanted to avoid those kind of debates with them. You never know how things would turn out with this kind of debates. Mostly they evolve for the worst. And she had no intention of angering or bothering her companions. However, she honestly doubted they would do that. They seemed like good people and they most probably would understand.

The second reason was that they had to sit down and discuss what they are going to do from now on anyway, so she somewhat had to stay with them. She couldn't just stay out when they had important plans to discuss.

Unfortunately, she tried to act as if nothing was bothering her and ignore the presence of beer nearby, but she couldn't. She kept eyeing the surrounding tables from the corner of her eye without meaning to. In addition, she had barely touched her meal at all. She tried to force herself to eat some bites of the roasted chicken leg she had in front of her, but she didn't have any appetite. She felt she would throw it all up if she had any more. What made this whole matter worse is that she started to feel dizzy. She hated the very smell of beer.

This was her third reason for wanting to stay out: she was a person very sensitive to strong smells, and this place didn't make it easy for her.

'Ugh... This place reeks of alcohol...', she complained, regretting her decision not to wait outside.

"We need more skilled participants...any ideas? Mura-kun? Hiromi-san?"
Hearing her name being brought up in the discussion suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Pardon...? Ah... sorry... I wasn't listening...", she said while holding her breath.

Since they got in, she had been trying to hold her breath as much as she could and only breath small breaths, to only get the very necessary amount of oxygen. It was already a miracle she didn't vomit until now. Probably the embarrassement of throwing up in front of them was what kept her from doing so. Otherwise, she would have done it long time ago.

"HOLD ON!"

Martha shouted out of no where and interrupted their discussion. Now Hiromi could only shift her attention to the sword. You couldn't expect her not to do so after the sword basically begged for attention by shouting like this.

"You guys ate all that food and didn't think about me?"

At the mention of the food again, Hiromi remembered her unease. It actually got worse. Looking at all the food surrounding her only increased her desire to vomit.

'I'm going to throw up!', she screamed internally and put hastly a hand over her mouth, 'I need to quickly get out of here!'

"I'm over thousands of years old, I may be the legendary blade but I do need some maintenance. Sword polish and everything, some proper cleaning. You need to look after me or I will lose my effectiveness. And I need some since being stuck in a stone isn't nice. "

After hearing Matha's plea, Hiromi felt relieved. This was the perfect chance for her to leave this place and go outside to breath some pure air. She couldn't maintain the sword here afterall.

She stood up hastly. She needed to take this role before Sir Takashi, who was also very knowledgeable in swords, did it.

She tried to force some words out her throat while holding her breath again.

"I... I will... take care of Martha-san... I have to... go outside anyway... sorry!"

She quickly grabbed the sword and her bag.

"Ah... while we are away... Sir Takashi... please protect... Koyoko-san... ", she added, and without waiting for an answer, she went running to the door.

She felt bad about running off without explaining anything to the others, specially to Koyoko as this was his sword. But she really didn't have time to. This was a life or death situation afterall! If she had waited for one more second, she would've lost control of herself.

"I... I will... take care of Martha-san... I have to... go outside anyway... sorry! Ah... while we are away... Sir Takashi... please protect... Koyoko-san... " Martha felt surprised as she was taken from the heros grasp, normally she would be able to stop this from happening by her sheer will alone. But the moment she felt this girl's non sweaty grasp she felt off-guard. Well to put it more perfectly it was god dam break from the sweaty palms of the hero.

Taken outside by the sword's temporary sl--- human weilder, the sword felt relieved as she was finally going to get the tender loving care she deserves. Now only speaking in the mind of Hiromi, the sword noticed the swelling feelings inside her until she realised the obvious truth.... "You feeling... sick? Oh no... not now... I CAN'T BE SICK YET STILL FEEL!" The sword struggled to speak inside Hiromi's mind before a sudden golden light from the sword started to surround Hirmoi as if it was giving her current weilder a temporary blessing.

"Thank god I can perform magic on my own or we would be both suffering right now!" The sword said with some relief and suddenly twitched in Hirmoi's hands as the sword can see somehow the hot springs just right in front of them. "Why do I get a feeling we shall meet an ally in there! Quick get the sword polish and lets both have a bath while we wait for this new ally." The sword said with no ulterior motives whatsoever and actually just wanted to be clean thoroughly.

Just as Hiromi stepped out of the door, Martha started speaking.

"You feeling... sick? Oh no... not now... I CAN'T BE SICK YET STILL FEEL!"

It took Hiromi a while to understand that she was speaking in her mind. After letting out a breath she was holding, she noticed a sudden golden light leaking out from the sword started to envelop her. She felt relieved and all of her unease went away. She could now speak freely again.

"Thank god I can perform magic on my own or we would be both suffering right now!"

"Wha-? Martha-san, if I wield you, you can talk into my mind too? So it wasn't only with the Chosed Hero. Wait... So my emotions and feelings affect yours too... I see... Ah by the way, thanks for that magic you casted on me. And sorry for making you feel sick... I didn't think it worked that way with anyone."

Hiromi, realizing the danger she put both of them in, made a promise to herself. As long as she had Martha in her hand, she would have to learn how to control her emotions too. It seems like not only Koyoko had a long way to learn things. She too had to do her best to improve.

Suddenly, Hiromi felt the sword twitch in her hand.

"Why do I get a feeling we shall meet an ally in there! Quick get the sword polish and lets both have a bath while we wait for this new ally."

"Oh, an ally is there? So you can feel the presence of people too? That's cool!", Hiromi praised the sword, a bit excited at discoverig yet another hidden power the legendary sword had, "Shouldn't we take the others with us though? You know, if this ally is a guy... I won't be able to meet him there...", she asked with concern.

However, to be honest, Hiromi didn't really like hot springs. She tried to come up with an excuse to have the others go there while she waited outside. She was really bothered by the sight of nudity. But also she didn't like exposing herself either. She didn't know why, but it just made her feel too self-conscious and somewhat uncomfortable.

This was why she had never went to hot springs before.

But still, she knew she had to go anyway because she had to polish Martha. And she seemed to want to be polished there at all costs. Hiromi could already feel the excitement of the sword from its constant twitching in that direction. Did Martha like hot springs that much?

She had barely made two steps before stopping again. She felt hesitant again. The guilt of her past action had now cought up to her after her mind calmed down. She looked back at the tavern with an unsure but hurting look.

After some seconds of hesitation, she made up her mind.

'I'm no better than a thief if I just take Martha without Koyoko-san's consent. I should head back there. I have to at least tell him I'm taking her to the hot springs to polish her. I should also mention the possible presence of an ally there. Maybe they might want to come too.'

She turned around and headed back to the place where Koyoko and Sir Takashi were waiting, probably still confused, or even angry, at her actions. She really had to apologize for what she did.

The silver-haired Demon King unwound. The feeling of the warm water on her body eased all of the tension within her muscles. She leaned back and stared at the dividing line in front of her that separated the spring into two separate areas for each gender. There was some steam rising through the area as the sound of water pouring into various pools of water resounded through the area. A pair of towels rested on one of the many large stones that bounded the spring.

It was an untainted and peaceful scene where people were mingling in the area as they walked upon the stone path or soaked in the springs.

"I'm glad you ended up suggesting going to a Hot Spring, Maria." Kohaku said to the maid sitting next to her in the water. She picked up a ceramic glass of sake that was sitting on a small floating wooden bucket in front of her and drank from it before putting it down. "It feels much nicer than the lonely bathing quarters in the castle."

"Well, you were always more fond of mingling amongst the people, after all, milady." Maria proceeded to pour in some more sake into the cup that Kohaku had just put down.

"I guess that's true." The Demon King sighed. "Well, I guess it's for the best that we take this time to rest before the Hero's rampage through the Land of the Demons begins."

She smiled. It was warm and nice and even though she was somewhat inebriated, she was at least lucid enough to appreciate the few moments of relaxation she had before paperwork would start to pile up.

"Oi...are any of you listening at all?" Koyoko gripped his cup as his eyebrow twitched, suddenly feeling like he is the only serious person in the room. He was the hero after all, so he had to be serious if he was going to end this unfortunate journey. He doubted most if not everyone wanted to avoid being the hero knowing that they'd be in this situation. Slaying an all powerful demon king was certainly a feat no one wants to be apart of. He sighed deeply as he readjusted his gaze at Hiromi, who looked rather sickly despite trying to keep her composure. "Hiromi-san...you don't look okay..." He muttered, half concerned and half annoyed at how his loyal team is already falling apart, and his sword complaining on top of that.

It seemed his dear Sensei was feeling too unwell and quickly vacated with his sword, most likely from the reek of alcohol, in which Koyoko has come accustomed to, originally hanging around the wrong crowd himself. He was a thief afterall, but now labeled a hero under public eye...or divine eye. "O-oi where are you-!...Haaaaaa let them go I guess..." The hero sighed as he kept his head up by propping it up with his hand up. All he could do now was try and relax and make small talk with the knight. Maybe he knows some skilled knights that could aid them, or maybe someone who knew magic.

I'm no better than a thief if I just take Martha without Koyoko-san's consent. I should head back there. I have to at least tell him I'm taking her to the hot springs to polish her. I should also mention the possible presence of an ally there. Maybe they might want to come too.'

Martha heard it all as she grew disappointed with the decision of them not heading to the Hot springs. She can read anyone's mind as long they hold onto her handle. The only difference is she could read the Heros mind even from a distance because they was connected by a blessing rather then a physical connection. Martha suddenly twitched once more like the sword had attempted to wiggle and sent a message to the hero via telepathic message.

"Hero help us! There is a powerful presence at the hot springs, which only means a new ally!" Martha said into the heros mind as it felt an even more awesome presence coming from the hot springs. Multiply of presences which overshadowed the possibility of an extra ally... It didn't matter to the sword anyway because Martha wanted in for a bath she hadn't have for thousands of years.

"No need to worry, since you see I have sent a message to the hero as we're always connected. He is now informed of her intentions of going to the hotspring, so don't you worry and let us go to the hot springs. Though I'm a famous sword so I need a disguise..." Martha said as she started to glow with raw magical light which started to warp the space around them as a sudden familiar music covered the area.



"Maximizing Mirror world connections" Martha shouted as both herself and Hiromi started to glow as they was eveloped in white light looking like they was changing attires... "Yes thats... right.. time to go sneaky!" Martha said as pretty colours sparkled everywhere and as feathers spread out everywhere as suddenly something was summoned on Hiromi's face and including on the hilt of the sword... something remarkable.

SOMETHING THAT NOBODY WOULD EXPECT!



"Whoops, I got you also... looks smashing on you sweetie... now lets go!" Martha said pointing herself towards the hot springs.

Just as Hiromi turned around to go back to the tavern, the sword speaked again in her mind.

"No need to worry, since you see I have sent a message to the hero as we're always connected. He is now informed of her intentions of going to the hotspring, so don't you worry and let us go to the hot springs. Though I'm a famous sword so I need a disguise..."

Hearing this, Hiromi felt relieved. If Koyoko was angry, Martha would've mentioned it. Also, as long as their two allies knew where they were heading to, it was probably alright, she guessed. They could always catch up to them after all. Moreover, she couldn't waste time here, there was still the risk of missing the ally if they didn't hurry to the hot springs.

'So she can communicate using telepathy with the hero... This is amazing. Does she have a solution for every problem? This is what to expect of a legendary sword, huh?', Hiromi wondered in amazement.

"But from where would we get a disguise?", she asked Martha, half-expecting her to come up with some magical solution again.

Just as she was thinking that, her suspicions got confirmed. A magical light surrounded her again. But she noticed that this time it enveloped Martha too, who yelled something the girl didn't really understand, but guessed it must've been a magical chant of some sort:

"Maximizing Mirror world connections"

The light wrapped them completely as if they were changing clothes.

'A light that makes us change attires? Is this some kind of a Magical Girl Transformation Spell?', Hiromi questioned smiling sarcastically. She was surprised that it was really the case.

"Yes thats... right.. time to go sneaky!"

'Huh? So it's really that?!', she looked down and didn't see any change in her clothes, 'Then what was the disguise?'

She looked at Martha. She seemed to have some... funny disguise.

"Pffft, Hahaha! What's that?!", she laughed loudly, "Martha-san, couldn't you find anything better than that?"

Just as she finished her sentence, she could feel something on her face.

'Oooooh no, no no no', she feared it was what she thought it was.

She put her hand on her face and could feel glasses, a moustache and some huge nose.

"Whoops, I got you also... looks smashing on you sweetie... now lets go!"

Hiromi facepalmed.

"Haaaah", she sighed.

And like that, she went to the hot springs. She stood in front of the the entrance. She just had to make one more step and she would be inside. She could feel the twitching increasing in her hand. But then, something came to her mind.

"Hm? Wait... Martha-san. Eh... This disguise... You're a sword so it's fine, but for me... it makes me look like a guy... The hot springs are gender-split... They wouldn't allow me to get in the woman bath with this on my face... I can remove it, right? Right?!", she asked worriedly.

However, Hiromi felt that Martha was already getting too annoyed and impatient to give her a proper answer, so she guessed she better do something herself. She had a feeling Martha would explode with excitement in any second.

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the weird thing and removed it. She was surprised to see it came off easily, like it was just some kind of mask or something.

'Wasn't this supposed to be some kind of transformation...? It's just a mask...', she was slightly disappointed. The flashy lights made it seem like something grandiose. However, she was thankful too. Because this allowed them to gain time nonetheless.

She hurried inside while hiding the sword in her bag to avoid looking suspicious.

She put her stuff in the appropriate room. She took the polishing material and the sword with her and headed to the showers to clean herself first. She then headed to the hot-springs with the sword and the necessary materials. Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of people inside. She could see a white-haired girl and another black-haired one from distance.

"Martha-san, is one of those two girls the ally you were talking about?", she asked whispering, not wanting to look like a crazy person who's talking to herself.

Koyoko looked around the inn, from his chair, as he kept his hood up over his head for safety reasons. He already saw Royal messengers distribute hand drawn pictures of 'The Hero' after the announcement was made and shortly after he met with her highness. Along the way here some people praised them, and even received gifts on some rare occasions. Though they weren't anything significant. He received a homemade doll from a little girl, which he will quite honestly lose at one point, and a rather big canteen most likely used to grab fresh water from nearby streams or lakes on their journey, though only one. Not like they aren't hard to buy either though.

However, it wasn't the inconvenient gifts he received some strangers, as being a former thief and gambler, free stuff was free stuff. The problem laid with those who saw the hero as the everyday handy man. Before they even got to the Inn outside of town, he had to do the following: Save a cat from the tree, help some old lady with heavy groceries from the farmers market, tackle some thief who apparently just stole a potato, give almost everyone a handshake or respectful bow, play hopscotch, all in that order sadly. Kids, Adults, Senior citizens, it was all the same. They all wanted to talk to him, and have them be his little errand boy, and kids wanting to play with him wasn't exactly on the priority list. And this all happened in a few hours...what a drag.

"Hero help us! There is a powerful presence at the hot springs, which only means a new ally!"

Koyoko immediately opened his tired eyes as he quickly looked around again instinctively, as he was not used to having voices being played in his head. "...Hot springs?" He muttered to himself as he quickly grabbed his drink and gulped it down before letting out a heft breath, running his arm on his wet lips, before it looked like he drooled. "Oi Mura...You can stay here if you want but I'm going to uhhh..check out the hot springs. I'm kind of exhausted from all the running around earlier. Join me, or stay, I don't really care.." Koyoko gave him a choice as he quickly walked toward the exit of the Inn. He didn't exactly want to say that he was going to hunt for powerful warriors in the hot springs because that'd just be weird, and telling him Martha told him to would be even weirder.

"Heeeey~! aren't you that Hero g-" A drunk slurred as he walked by his flushed face.

"You're Drunk." He changed the topic quickly as he leaves and walks out toward the hot springs down the road. By the time he arrived he would see Hiromi and apparently Martha enter building and the female changing room. He was about to approach the room when he realized the obvious problem. ...MARTHA! I can't go in the fucking women's bath you idiot?! If the powerful source is in there how the hell do you expect me to help!! He telepathically sent an enraged thought as he shut his eyes furiously, his right eyebrow twitching as he gritted his teeth a bit. Koyoko simply sighed as he looks to the men's changing room and walks past the hanging sign, changing out of his clothes and such. He went through all the trouble of walking in here, and was indeed stress. "Only when they're done I suppose..." He sighed, as he was completely undressed and went into the men's bath.


Surprisingly enough, the hot spring on the men's side was pretty empty, except for three husky men having some conversation in a corner as they comfortably sat on the end of the spring. Koyoko simply ignored them and moved to the other side, putting the towel over his shoulders and slowly sunk his body in the stinging, yet heavenly liquid. Ssssss!...Aaaah.That feels good. He smiled slightly to himself as he leaned back against the wall and relaxed into the ache relieving waters. Though it saddened him that he probably will not be experiencing something as lovely as this anymore when they leave the Kingdom's outer borders. I wonder if Hiromi-Sensei will be okay...She's a master swordsman, but I feel like socializing isn't her strong suit...Martha better not be saying anything weird while they are-....... Koyoko quickly silenced that thought, remembering a crucial detail about the sword. She can still read his mind regardless where he is and even if she's not paying attention to him, she can practically hear them clearly.

"If she says anything, I'm definitely throwing her into a lake...."

...MARTHA! I can't go in the fucking women's bath you idiot?! If the powerful source is in there how the hell do you expect me to help!!

Martha smiled with her disguise as she was taken to the hot-springs as unlike the one Hiromi had it was stuck on her like it was stuck on with superglue. She can hear the Hero's thoughts even further she looked at Hiromi as she got undressed and for some reason there was steam rising from the sword without getting into the hotsprings. Ignoring this development they soon head to the hot springs as Hirmoi asks the expected question.

"Martha-san, is one of those two girls the ally you were talking about?"

Without even looking that way she knew something was oddly powerful coming from that way. And since she couldn't get a clear grasp from her limited sight in the hotsprings "Push me across the water towards them. So I can get a better look sweetie" Martha said as Hiromi agreed pushing the sword carefully across the water. Who with a small towel over the tip of her blade and her amazing disguise she got closer to the two Hiromi had seen.

"Wow, she... Hello hello... my lovely Sweetie" Martha said rather bluntly not only for them to hear but also for the hero to hear her at the same time. Martha had seen something which was so obvious to her that if she had a mustache she would make it twirl right now from rather craf... Wait she DOES HAVE A MUSTACHE! "Well then I must my white haired lady, you're very well armed for someone of your age." Martha said who looked over her entire body and described every inch of it, the curves and the three sizes all for the hero to hear. "I think I found a new shipping... Sorry Hiromi..." Martha said who sent a strange vibe to the hero.

There was a sword. It was just there floating in the water. Kohaku blinked a couple of times before looking at the sword which had a glasses-with-mustache mask on it.

"Wow, she... Hello hello... my lovely Sweetie" She heard a voice resounding in her head. "Well then I must my white haired lady, you're very well armed for someone of your age."

It was the sound…of someone who was complementing her…weaponry? She didn't have any weaponry…well, her magic allowed her to materialize a certain form of weaponry but she sure as hell did not have it active.

She looked to Maria. "Maria, I'm seeing a sword floating in the water with a weird glasses-and-mustache mask. Am I having some sort of weird alcohol-induced hallucination?"

"No, Milady. I see it too."

"So it isn't just me. That's a relief."

"I think I found a new shipping... Sorry Hiromi..." Kohaku heard after confirming her that she was not having a visual hallucination.

"What about that weird voice I'm hearing that was just complimenting me on…something…"

"What was it complimenting you about, Milady?"

"It said that I was 'well-armed' for my age. I'm pretty sure I don't have any weapons on me." Kohaku still tried to comprehend that but even as lucid as she was, she was still a bit drunk.

"That is definitely something?" Maria could not help but be a bit worried.

"An auditory hallucination caused by high blood-alcohol content?"

"Considering that I am not hearing it, myself, it's likely."

Kohaku looked back to the sword. "Still, hallucinations or not, it's quite rude to bring a sword and leave a sword in the water. Somebody does not seem to understand bath house etiquette. I should probably just go and leave it at the entrance."

She picked up the odd blade by the hilt and stood up, leaving the water to be waist deep and making the markings on her body far more visible in comparison to when she was sitting in the water.

Hiromi didn't even get into the water when Martha said "Push me across the water towards them. So I can get a better look sweetie".

She thought of arguing that she couldn't let go of the sword and leave it with some strangers, but she doubted she could win an argument with an old... sword person?

Now that she thought about it, they have never asked Martha what kind of person she was before. Maybe she'd do it when they leave this place.

Going back to the matter in hand, she decided it was pointless to argue, and thus she pushed the sword towards the two ladies over there.

While Martha was floating, Hiromi slowly descended in the hot spring.

She headed towards the other three who were talking together from what she could see, but from her distance she couldn't hear them clearly because they weren't talking loud enough.

When she got close, she heard the silver-haired girl say something that actually made her feel a bit embarrassed and guilty.

"It's quite rude to bring a sword and leave a sword in the water. Somebody does not seem to understand bath house etiquette. I should probably just go and leave it at the entrance."

Suddenly, that girl took the sword and stood up. Hiromi was startled. She had to act quickly. She couldn't afford to lose the sword like this. It was entrusted to her after all.

"Um. Excuse me? That sword is actually mine. Well, not exactly, but it is something that was entrusted to me. I really apologize for the discomfort I might have caused you. Please pardon my negligence", Hiromi bowed down apologically, ashamed of her behavior. Even though it was Martha's request, she still felt it was her fault.

When she raised her head again, she noticed for the first time some weird markings on the girl's body.

'What is this...?', her eyes widened in astonishment. She has never seen something similar before.

However, noticing she had been staring at the girl for quite some time, she felt self-conscious. She knew such behavior was very rude. So, she averted her gaze and fixed her eyes at the sword instead. At least it was a familiar sight that eases her feeling of shame, except for that funny disguise.

On castle grounds, mid-day.

(Blast it, they're not here...)

Mila sighed. Upon visiting the castle grounds, all she'd discovered were a bunch of battered hooligans and a...rather large hole in the wall. At least now there was a reasonable draft.
But, where to now? She could try to follow the crummy tracks left in the dirt road. Or, she thought, she could do the easy  thing and ask a civilian.

"Hey, you!" Mila raised her voice and pulled one of the castle guards to his feet by his collar.  "The hero, the guy with the sword, the one that gave you bottom rash, and his crew--where did they go?"

His face grew frightful, and he scratched at his bottom nervously. "I-I don't know," he stammered, "I think they said something about visiting the tavern."

"The tavern?" Mila gritted her teeth. (The one I just came from?!)

She let the man's collar loose with a flick, and he landed on his tush, groaning evermore as she walked away.

---

Mila forced open the tavern double doors; they slammed on the tavern walls to announce her arrival.
"Has anyone in here seen the hero? Guy with a sword, the one who gave the castle guards bottom rash, apparently has a party traveling with him--that guy?"

Everyone in the tavern sat still, bug-eyed, until someone from within the crowd of drinkers peeped out, "I believe they mentioned something about a hot spring--"

But before the man could finish, Mila did a round on her heels, broke through the tavern doors, and left them swinging in desolation behind her.

---

Mila hurried to the shower rooms where she undressed and scrubbed herself squeaky clean. She rushed to the spring door eagerly, but brought her ear to it with caution. There were at least three women inside. She knew she could not come into contact with the hero in this way, his female allies and the sword, perhaps. She furrowed her brows in concentration and steeled herself for introductions. They had to be perfect. She breathed deeply, tightened her grip on her towel, brought her hand to the door, stepped into the room, stared at all its occupants, and said with a grin,

"Yo! I'm Mila."

***

In the church, mid-day.

Miiru removed her ceremonial dress and put on more comfortable clothing. If she were to meet the hero, she guessed, she would be doing a lot of moving around. She placed all of her religious articles--the ones she could carry, anyway--into a knapsack with pat.

(Well,) she smiled and nooded to herself, (off I go!)

---

Miiru politely asked travelers and backpackers where the hero and his party might be located. None could resist her bright smile and thanked her endlessly for her services in the church before gladly pointing her in the direction of the hot springs. Kindness, she knew, had many rewards.

She strolled into the springs, took care in undressing and bathing herself, and made her way to the spring entrance almost gracefully. Bystanders were charmed with her peaceful demeanor. She gently eased the doors open and found several women in already in the warm, welcoming waters.

"Hello," she spoke timidly and quietly, somewhat uncomfortable with the lack of garments on herself and others. She scanned the expectant faces whose eyes she met. "I'm Miiru!"

Kazuko's Tavern, sometime between lunch and dinner

Kazuko,

As you have likely heard, the hero has pulled the legendary sword and is beginning to make his way towards our Kingdom for to kill us. As you can probably expect they will likely end up heading to your tavern at some point should they get proper intelligence about your location.

I do hope you can keep whatever collateral damage that may occur to a minimum as the paperwork that follows that kind of thing is tedious and annoying.

That and there is also the fact that I do quite enjoy your food there. I'll drop by some time later for a meal.

Until then, I wish you luck.

Kohaku

     As Kazuko finishes the letter, she promptly skims through it once more to make sure she didn't miss anything. Once she was certain that she knew everything this bit of paper had to tell her, she crumpled it up, and tossed it into the fire, taking in the scent. The high quality paper used at the castle always smelled so nice when burned...sadly, this means the certificate they had won for the best cheese sandwich, didn't last long. Turning away from the flames, she looked around the tavern savoring the smell a bit longer. There wasn't much going on yet, plenty of empty tables. And the few people actually here at the moment, were the usuals drinking like they do just about every other day. Reluctantly, she managed to step away from the fire before making her way to the back, grabbing an empty bottle someone had left on a table on her way and dropping it off at the front to deal with later.

     As she steps into the back room, she takes a quick look around. It's not much of a sight to behold, as this is where all the spare stuff gets crammed into. There were a few chairs, a couple stacks of paper, spare candles, and shelves for storing stuff in, among other random bits and bobs you may expect to find in such a place. Her attention quickly went to the shelves. 'So the hero's finally shown up huh? Guess I'd better check on the key. It's been ages since I've last seen that thing...' Mid-thought she'd already moved over to the left most shelf and began slowly moving it out of the way, careful not to knock anything over. 'Quite a bit heavier than last time..!' Squatting down, she inspects the floor. "I'm sure it was here somewhere..." she mutters to herself as she tries to feel for a loose board. Miffed by the apparent lack of loose boards, she gets up and digs through the stuff around her for a bit. "Aha!" Standing up straight she inspects what she just pulled out. An old flat piece of metal, beginning to rust. Perfect for prying up stubborn boards. Sticking it in between the boards, she pushes down on the open end. Nothing. It won't budge. Refusing to give up, she stands up and stomps on it with her full might. Which admittedly, isn't all that much. Her effort was 'rewarded' however, with a sharp 'crack'. Instantly she realizes something was wrong, that wasn't the sound it was supposed to make. Lifting up the board, nails and all, she sees...dirt. Her mistake instantly dawned on her. 'Riigghhhttt...it was the second shelf wasn't it...?' Feeling a tad embarrassed, despite no one being there to see her, she sticks the plank of wood back, before getting up and carefully moving the shelf to cover over her mistake. 'There. Just like it never happened' she thinks to herself with a small smile.
 
   Moving over one shelf she pulls it out of the way. Squatting down once more, she somewhat hesitantly reaches for the board, only to find it came up easily. Inside she saw the object she had been searching for: The key. "Ah, good, it's still here" she says silently to herself. Now certain that the key was still here and safe, she covered it back up and moved the shelf over it once more. 'I really should mark it...eh, I can do that next time.' With that she exits the room, and goes back to standing by the fire. Now all that was left to do, was wait.

Before Kohaku could move out of the water, another girl had also seemed to walk into the water and snatch the sword out of the hands of the semi-lucid drunk who was the Demon King. However, at that moment, Kohaku felt a strange foreboding shock. It was minor but it caused a weird reaction that made her magical energy feel like it was pulsating for a second before the feeling disappeared.

"Um. Excuse me? That sword is actually mine. Well, not exactly, but it is something that was entrusted to me. I really apologize for the discomfort I might have caused you. Please pardon my negligence."

She turned to see another girl in the water, the one who had taken the sword with a mustache back. "That's fine. I know that there are people who really like keeping their weapons with them in almost any situation. Just be mindful and don't leave it lying around."

Kohaku finished giving her little lecture before she realized that Hiromi was staring at her, eyes wide open. She wondered why for a second before looking down at her body.

Markings Depiction-Size:

She was likely staring at the markings. They were odd, after all, and in the end, they were the symbol of both her own magic as well as her inheritance as the Demon King, though very few knew of their existence. It was something unique to each Demon King beforehand as they did vary between the ones who had them. However, there was a style that made it distinct as the marking of a Demon King.

She noticed Hiromi starting to avert her eyes. She was likely feeling awkward due to how much she was staring at the markings. "I guess most people don't have these, huh." She did not like making people feel awkward so she tried to comfort the other girl. "Well, it is odd, but these markings are an inheritance of sorts."

"Milady, please don't give away the details to random strangers."

"I'm not, Maria. I just want to make her feel less awkward."

However, before the conversation could continue, two more girls who looked like they could be siblings seemed to have entered the bath.

"Hello. I'm Miiru!"

"Yo! I'm Mila."

With that, Kohaku did the one thing a drunk person would do in her situation: go with the flow.

"I'm Kohaku!"

"You're not supposed to suddenly introduce yourself this late, milady."

Martha felt the shock just before she was taken back by Hirmoi, none of them could see it since she had no actual mouth. But inside the blade she smiled cruelly as memories flowed from the silver haired girl into the blade. Memories of how she came to be at this time of her life has came to Martha's knowledge, she knew that that silver haired girl was the demon king and those markings across her body was different but so familiar to Martha.

"My they have grown weak over the years." Martha said to herself as her disguise dropped off the sword without much care it had happened. That's because she had felt it the moment that shock occurred, there was a gap between the sword that only she could feel. It was small gap though and something she couldn't escape from.

For the moment.

"Hiromi let's get to fixing me up. I will truly appreciate it as we got a bank account to check out... My suddenly newly acquired bank account. " Martha said who seemed content so suddenly as suddenly the silver-haired girl started to get a second shock like a delayed effect as something started to appear on the hand she held the sword. It was a message which wasn't there before which seemed like to be a tattoo and unremoveable.

It read... "The mustache wearing sword was here 2015 <3"

Just as Hiromi averted her eyes, the girl in front of her said something to comfort her.

"I guess most people don't have these, huh. Well, it is odd, but these markings are an inheritance of sorts."

'An inheritance? Is it a magic crest of some sort? Just... who is this girl?', Hiromi wondered, getting a bit suspicious. To be honest she had never seen a magic crest in her life. However, she wasn't completely ignorant of their existence. She had heard of them from her grandfather. And from what he told her, there were very few people in the entire world who had them because of the great power they granted their bearer. That's why she knew this person in front of her wasn't any ordinary girl. But she wasn't really an expert in that field. She just heard stories from her grandfather. So she couldn't tell the nature of the magic that crest had.

"Milady, please don't give away the details to random strangers."

"I'm not, Maria. I just want to make her feel less awkward."

Before Hiromi could reply or ask further, the door suddenly opened loudly and two girls appeared introducing themselves enthusiastically for some reason.

"Yo! I'm Mila."
"I'm Miiru!"

'Huh...?', she turned her head to look at the two newcomers.

"I'm Kohaku!", the silver-haired girl suddenly yelled her name, going with the flow.

'What's going on here...? Why is everyone introducing themselves out of no where...?', Hiromi was confused.

"You're not supposed to suddenly introduce yourself this late, milady."

'That's what you are worried about?! I thought you were the rational character who always voiced words of wisdom in stories! But I was wrooong!!!', Hiromi was so overwhelmed by the absurdity of the situation she didn't know if she was supposed to laugh or lose hope in humanity's sagacity.

'Actually, who are these two? No wait, they did mention their names, but like... who are they?'

Hiromi put a hand on her forehead to calm herself down and decided to avoid randomly mentioning her name. One of those people might recognize her as one of the Hero's group, and she wanted to avoid attracting unnecessary attention to her teammates. She had to be very cautious, specially with the group of girls surrounding her right now. It's not because they were bad people. But, first of all, the behavior of those two girls who started the introductions made it look like they were searching for someone and finally found them here and so decided to introduce themselves. She suspected they could even be searching for the Hero. But more importantly, it was the silver-haired girl she wanted to be the most careful with. She didn’t think she was a bad person. And Martha said she was actually an ally. But Hiromi’s intuition told her she better keep her distance from the girl. She was too dangerous to get involved with.

It was when Martha started speaking in her mind.

"Hiromi let's get to fixing me up. I will truly appreciate it as we got a bank account to check out... My suddenly newly acquired bank account. "

"Ah right."

With all the random nonsense going on here, she nearly forgot she originally came to maintain the sword.

"Wait what? A bank account? What bank account?"

'...What is she talking about?', Hiromi was confused once again.

Maria's retort was the last thing that happened before Kohaku started to feel a pressing headache. Even weirder, it felt like somebody was probing into her memories. It was a highly uncomfortable feeling to say the least.

After a few seconds, she realized exactly why. A psychic link. At some point, a psychic link had manifested between her and another entity, allowing the other entity to do the equivalent of copying and pasting her memories and frankly, she did not like this at all.

Kohaku may have been a tactless girl but there were still boundaries that even she knew never to cross and this was one of them.

With that, her magical energy began to pulsate within her body as she refined it into a weapon against the link. Ignoring everything that was going around her, she immediately screamed. "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!!"

She clutched at her head and grimaced before unleashing a concentrated amount of miasma that corrupted the psychic link completely, destroying the entirety of the back-up of memories that was made and transferred, and ultimately severing the link.

However, there was a small side-effect. A small, but audible cracking sound came from the sword, specifically the seal. It was a small fracture. A now present but tiny fracture was there on the seal of the sword.

While Kohaku did not notice what the crack was or the seal, she could tell that the link had been with the sword. But in the end, that was not what mattered.

The process of breaking the psychic link ended up causing magical energy and miasma to start flowing outwards from her body to the point where the air around her was so thick and dense that anyone inside would feel like they were drowning at the bottom of an ocean.

The water itself, even seemed to part around her, causing Maria to decide to pick up the bucket with the sake glass and bottle in it and move it to outside of the bath pool.

Meanwhile, she continued to grimace as the crest on her body felt like it was pulsating, leading to what looked like a pure white energy wing and pure black energy wing seemed to erupt from her back and spread, scattering what looked like sparkles of white and black throughout the thick air.

There was a surge, yes that was right a surge which Martha wouldn't normally pay attention to but it was significant to the degree that the loss of gained memories had been destroyed. Yes that is right, she didn't care that as a thief she couldn't escape with her ill gotten gains. But that didn't matter, no it didn't and that was because something had occurred...

That is right she can see it with her eyes within the blade, yes she had eyes once... and what she saw was reality through the blade. A slight glimmer as if life was piercing the overwhelming darkness. The seal which had locked her into this blade for thousands of generations had finally showed a sign of weakness.

It had finally cracked.

No one could see it, the sinister intent coming from the blade was invisible to everyone. Truly everyone and the once ethuastic and trolling voice of Martha seemed much more calmer. "Let's get back in the hotspring Hiromi and start with my maintenance. " Martha suggested with a calm voice which was not like her highly motivated self. But it was not off and it seems she just enjoyed the hot springs, the one odd thing though she isn't paying attention to the raging Demon King in the hot spring.

No she wasn't, for it didn't concern her at the moment. The knowledge that she is the demon king can fade and come up another time. For now it was time to clean... and silently appreciate the bountiful fruit of today's generation.

Seeing her question was just simply ignored, Hiromi didn't want to push further. She went to a rock to take the necessary material to polish Martha, and went back to her previous location. She was still standing when the silver-haired girl suddenly shouted.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!!"

'What's wrong with her...?', she couldn't imagine what might have caused her to start yelling randomly. And...

'What does that even mean?!', finally the words sank in, 'Is someone trying to read her mind...?'

However, she didn't even get to inquire for an explication when she felt a really odd sensation in the air. She then noticed the girl had a creepy evil grimace like some sort of demon and was emitting a highly concentrated miasma.

All of her suspicions were confirmed.

This girl was dangerous.

At that moment, a white and black wings emerged from her back and majestically spread out. At a first glance, one would think the contrast between those two colors symbolized the contrast of good and evil inside the girl. However, Hiromi could tell from the aura they were emitting. She was used to be exposed to negative energy after all, but it she could tell this was another kind of evil energy, different from the one she knew. That black wing was true dakness that would suck everything in. Darkness that only left void and chaos behind. However, the white wing was far from holding positive energy and light as most would think. This white, this kid of white, only meant one thing: Cold. It meant the harsh, cruel and cold energy that would kill whoever came in its way, making them suffer and go through the worst nightmares.

Hiromi felt like running away. She was scared. She knew this girl could kill her in less than a second without moving an inch or even lifting a finger.

'This is bad. This is really bad.'

Her heart was beating hard and she could feel her hands shaking. She wanted to get out of this place, to stay away from this girl. No, she had to go away.

She looked at Martha for support, but she was surprised to see she wasn't shaken at all. She guessed the holy energy within the sword must be protecting her from all of this negative aura, but she didn't think it would be this effective. Well, this was the legendary sword that could kill even the demon king itself, so someone of this level wouldn't be a threat to her, or so she thought, not noticing the crack.

However, a huge fear surfaced again, a fear from what is to come later.

'If this girl is already this powerful, just how much is the amount of power the Demon King holds...?'

She didn't want to think of it. But she couldn't stop her mind.

A harsh realization hit her:

'I'm weak, too weak.'

At that moment, Martha, seemingly wanting to make her forget her concerns, reminded her of her original task again:

"Let's get back in the hotspring Hiromi and start with my maintenance."

Hiromi noticed Martha was calmer than usual.

'Maybe this affected her somewhat too?'

Even if it didn't shake her off, it still made her more serious.

After hesitating a bit, she decided to be honest with her and tell her her concerns. She spoke into her mind:

'I know you're right but... How can I just stay here with... with Kohaku still emitting this huge amount of negative energy?! You should already know I'm scared out of my mind?!'

Next to the silver-haired Hero, a certain male with similar, messy black hair and a more muscular build casually slipped into the bath, settling down near enough to hold a conversation without straining one's voice.

"Heard you're the hero." was the first thing he said in conversation. Hasn't everybody? The silver-haired boy who pulled the sword from the pedestal and got tasked to bring down the Demon King. Looking the "hero" over, he gave a frown. What did he inspect that was unsatisfactory to him? How did he know to come here? Why did he come here?

The reason was simple: Plot. When it comes to the legends of mythical heroes on journeys to slay demon kings while building the affections of some female romantic interest who may or may not be the sidekick, there was one unwritten rule: Everyone important to the story will conveniently show up as part of some god (read: plot) driven coincidence.

Logically, he'd be here for to relax. Logically, he didn't expect the "hero" until he entered the baths. Logically he shouldn't even be here in his natural routine. However, that simply displayed the power that was the plot.

"You must be tired already of taking a job you didn't want." How did he know this? He wasn't omniscient, nor did he obtain knowledge he should not randomly have for plot's convenience. However, in order to prolong the conversation, he chose not to explain himself until inquired, because stories have a time and place for exposition.