3 bar menu

Chapter 249 – Respective Fanservice 2 (Part 2)

249 – Respective Fanservice 2 (Part 2)

「You have nothing to worry about. Besides, there isn’t anyone but you who can recognize me right now.」

「Uhm…you’ll still show up in photographs.」

Asmodeus puts on an overexaggerated surprise face.

「What an oversight on my part.」

She’s definitely lying.

「Oh well. I don’t mind rumors spreading about me and a wonderful man like you.　Unless…rumors of you being with me would cause trouble for you?」

I tried imagining it.

The image of Milla with the light gone from her eyes popped into my head, sending chills down my spine.

「…It would. Great.」

「Hahaha, well aren’t you the ladies’ man. In that case, in consideration for the maiden who won over your heart, perhaps I will take my leave here?」

She let go of me, walked a little bit ahead, and turned around.

She said this while walking backward like that.

「You have nothing to worry about, Lem. Good looks and popular magic are without a doubt powerful weapons, but they are far from everything.」

Words of encouragement.

I guess she heard what the public said about the Wraith party.

「Thank you very much.」

「I am 100% sure that there are more people than you think that know of your strengths and charms. At the very least, none of the fierce fighters you’ll be fighting from now on will be underestimating you. Of course, that includes me.」

They were words of encouragement and a declaration of her intent.

「…Thank you very much.」

「You’re welcome.」

Her lips draw an arc, forming a smile.

「I do not know whether I will fight you, or end up working together to defeat him. Either way it goes, I’m looking forward to it.」

「Me too.」

「Well then, I’ll see you later.」

After saying that, she disappears.

『It’s rare to see a six-horned variant. So there were still some left in this era. How many of those are hers?』

Dark appeared as a black chick and landed on my head.

She was born with six.

『That’s amazing. It’s not like the more horns the better, but six horns is a pretty good number for a Demon King. The amount of Magical Energy she can store has gotta be more than you, right partner?』

Most likely.

『If possible, in the…what was it? Tour…nament? It’d be great if you met her there. I really wanna see how you handle someone with six horns.』

It’s not just her. All the parties who made it to the second stage are threats.

『Oh man, I can’t wait~. I’m so glad I stuck with you~.』

Looks like it’s mostly talking to itself, so I’ll ignore it for now.

「Finished with your little chat?」

As if knowing the perfect timing, Wraith calls out to me.

「Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just talking to the Spirit.」

「Nah, not that. With the Northern Demon King.」

「…When did you notice?」

「From how weird you were acting, I thought I’d try and let out some Magical Energy. I managed to Resist it with that, and then I noticed a Black Sorcerer being all flirty with a Demon King.」

It would appear that Asmodeus noticed that her Black Magic was Resisted but kept silent.

「No, you see, that was…」

「Ahaha, I know, I know. It was a job offer, right? Man, everyone wants a piece of you lately, huh? The competition is growing fierce. But that just fires me up even more.」

「Ahaha…」

He’s probably talking about all the times I got offers like when the Scales of Justice Astrea invited me to join the Knights Order.

「The stronger the enemy, the better, right? That way, the hero will look even cooler when they win, right?」

The young Hero looks up at me and says that with a mischievous look on his face.

「Ah well, let’s leave that aside for now. You’ve got a job to do too, Lem.」

He pointed at something and I was surprised when I looked.

「You gotta please the fans who’ve been supporting us. It’s all part of the job description.」

At the side of the pathway, there was a large group of the public.

Among them, there she was.

「Lem…!」

While her dog ears and tail wiggled left and right, she waved her tiny hand with all her might… The little secretary of the Chief of Staff.

Cashew.

And it wasn’t just her, her whole family came out to see me.

Her mother Hazel, her older sister Maca, her younger sister Mia, and her younger brother Nuts.

「Aim for the top, Lem~…! If anyone can do it, you can~…!」

Maca stared daggers at the people who called me plain and yelled that.

While scolding Maca for doing that, Hazel gave me a small wave.

Noticing me a little late because she was entranced by the Snow Kid, Mia’s face lit up the moment she saw me, shouting「Le~m!」while jumping up and down.

I could hear Nuts going「Oh, it’s Lem. I wonder when Fenix is gonna get here.」.

It looks like he’s become a big fan ever since I gave him a replica of Fenix’s Holy Sword as a present.

I waved back at them, feeling my chest getting warmer.

Having people to support you truly is a joyous thing.

Most of all, I’m glad I get to feel this way.

As I think that, I noticed the group of people standing next to the Cashew family.

They all wore black suits, hats, and sunglasses. Both the men and the women. There were more than ten of them.

I immediately knew who they were.

「I see you have arrived, Chief of… Black Sorcerer Lem.」「Finally… By the way, I’m jealous that those two get to be footstools.」「It would appear that Lady Haagenti will be receiving a different reward.」「That Lamia Assassin…went to a beauty salon…with our queen…!」「Isn’t the queen in high heels today? I am so jealous of those two on footstool duty…」

The ones having…such a conversation can only be the Vampires from the Demon King Castle.

The Carmilla party that was routed before the Wraith party in the first stage.

That party consisted of the Vampire Queen Carmilla, the Impaling Daughter Haagenti, the Evil Eye Assassin Botis, and the two male Vampires who prefer to be nameless.

Among the two nameless Vampires. There was a long-haired Blood Manipulator and a short-haired Semi-Immortal.

It would appear that they are being rewarded for their efforts, including those in the preliminaries.

The two of them were side-by-side, on their hands and knees.

A single woman was standing on them as footstools.

While wearing heels.

「Oo-?! H-how is it, my queen? …D-do you have a good view of Sir Lem?」

「Agah-?! I am happy to be of service…!」

「Shush. And stop shaking. You’ll be in trouble if this picture comes out blurry.」

She’s the only one not in a suit.

She’s a Vampire with beautiful blond hair dressed like a lord’s daughter on her way to a tea party.

She is holding a camera that looks so expensive that I dread to think of the price.

The other Vampires who are not footstools are holding up large fans that each have the words『Lem, Win』,『Use Black Magic』『Look this way』, and『A fan of your race』written on them, with a dead-serious expression.

It goes without saying that Milla instructed them to do that, but, as usual, I am amazed at their unflinching and rather frightening loyalty.

In all honesty, they stand out like a sore thumb.

「…Lem. Uhm, she’s…」

Josh, who fought alongside me in the Original Dungeon, knows Milla.

「……Yeah.」

「She’s…uh…a lot different from the Milla I saw back then… Also, uh…are the two guys being stepped on okay?」

If they were regular Humans, no. But with the regenerative power of a Vampire, they should be fine…they have to be. I hope.

Her heels stabbing into their backs should be extremely painful, but their faces show nothing but joy.

When our eyes met, her eyes sparkled.

Then she held up her camera.

I’m pretty sure she can take photos of me any time she likes, but for the time being, I am an Adventurer. I have some knowledge of how a fan thinks.

For example, among fans of an Actor, there are those who are fine with seeing them perform in a work, and there are those who are interested in seeing other sides of them.

How they look like when they’re doing another job, or how they’re like in their private life.

The same can be said of Adventurer fans.

When I was in the Fenix party, the journalists who chased after Fenix just to take a picture of him were trouble. The runners-up in popularity were Lily and Lark. Alba took it all as the fate of the popular, but the other three weren’t so enthusiastic about it all.

Me? I was rarely the target of their photos in the first place…

I suppose to her, someone who’s a fan of this unremarkable Black Sorcerer, the figure of me walking to the lottery event to see what the matching is in the second stage of the All-Heaven Festival Contest is a moment that she cannot let slip by.

I slowed down my walking speed somewhat, turned to the camera lens aimed at me, and smiled.

click goes the camera shutter.

I could hear it well in the middle of this noisy surrounding.

Her smile immediately after told the tale of whether or not that was a good shot.