Roughly a thousand years ago, this continent was ruled by a vast empire. Beyond the empire's borders, the rest of the world was mostly uncivilized, its languages and customs primitive and chaotic.
Then, among the demons, a being known as the Demon King arose. With absolute power, he subjugated all demonkind, and to realize his ambitions, he began a prolonged war against humanity.
The unified empire eventually fractured into three parts: the orthodox northern empire and its affiliated kingdoms; the central kingdom and the states of the middle region; and the southern nations mired in endless internal strife.
As for the rest of the world's inhabitants... most were probably long dead.
Yet, since they all once belonged to the same nation, the language and writing system of the unified empire remained broadly useful even to this day.
Which only served to make Nagasaki Kiyomi and Toyokawa Shoko all the more anomalous.
"Haha, who knows?"
Obviously, they weren't wild people. Still chewing on the phrase "fell from the sky," Solitar tried to suppress her overflowing curiosity.
Only anomalies of this magnitude could satisfy her.
So many mysteries, what kind of euphoria would unraveling them bring? Just imagining it made her heart race.
All this patience was for the reward of that future revelation.
Thankfully, demons were not human.
A few years, even decades, were nothing unbearable.
She could wait.
She suddenly recalled a human proverb that had grown popular who-knows-when: "Curiosity killed the cat."
Would she, a great demon, one day be ruined by her own curiosity?
If that day ever came, wouldn't it be absolutely delightful?
For a moment, she felt a warning bell ring in her mind, only to dismiss it the very next instant.
Her confidence in her own strength was unshakable.
After all, if this decision were truly catastrophic, the [Omniscient] Shulahat would have shown up to correct it. So how bad could it really be?
…
The terrain was deceptive, despite spotting the town in the distance, it took them quite a while to actually reach it.
Once they got close, they continued on foot.
They were on the border between the central nations and the northern highlands, where scattered plains had been carved into parcels of habitable land, and the north was a tangle of rugged mountain ranges.
Neither the central nor northern nations had the bandwidth to govern this place.
Perhaps it was because the soil had been drenched in blood and saturated with magical particles, but the land was surprisingly fertile. Even modest plots could sustain entire villages.
Thus, in this strange, fragmented region, on mountain peaks, cliff faces, underground, nestled within rings of mountains, humanity had rooted itself stubbornly, like weeds growing out of stone.
These settlements, like the town before them, held no strategic value and were not part of the Demon King's plans.
So long as no magical beasts or demonkin wandered by, the people here could survive.
They finally arrived at the village.
Aette was in charge of the purchasing.
As a former noblewoman, she was not one of those delicate ladies raised in salons and ballrooms. Rather, she was a tough and capable matriarch.
She had once processed the bloodied prey her husband brought home with her own hands, protected the household while he was off to war, balanced the interests of her in-laws and her birth family, and handled every matter of domestic management...
So restocking supplies didn't require much thought, just muscle memory and experience.
The only part that needed real consideration was the strange man's request that she bring back some spices.
Aette understood well that she couldn't refuse those two, just as she couldn't refuse Solitar.
Spices weren't rare, but buying them in bulk in a small town like this could still be tricky.
She bought enough to fill an entire wagon, also purchased on the spot. Solitar had money to burn.
Most of it, she claimed, had been salvaged from underwater, along with other valuable artifacts.
Given that demons didn't hoard wealth or rob people for money, she probably wasn't lying.
With funds in abundance, she was free to use as much as she needed.
As they were preparing to leave, they found what they needed from a traveling merchant caravan lingering at the village outskirts.
"Pepper, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg… good quality. If only the price were a bit lower, "
As a seasoned housekeeper, Aette instinctively tried to haggle, quoting a price she could get in the southern nations, half of what was being offered here.
To her surprise, the caravan leader casually agreed, as if it were no big deal.
Aette immediately sensed something was wrong.
Though this place wasn't as chaotic as the south, traversing demon-held territory and avoiding magical beasts was still a dangerous gamble.
She discreetly tested them and discovered these "merchants" couldn't even distinguish between nutmeg bark and cinnamon, or between benzoin and myrrh.
"We haven't sold much this trip, and taking it back would just increase costs. As long as we make something, that's good enough… You ladies seem to be in a tight spot, how about we deliver it to your doorstep, free of charge!"
That's not how merchants speak.
Aette sighed internally. "No need. We have our own people."
"Out on the road, we should all help each other~"
The caravan leader reached to drape an arm around her shoulder. Aette swiftly knocked it away.
"That's not necessary. We, "
She was ready to abandon the transaction altogether, but then she realized Solitar had already climbed onto the wagon at some point and was now sitting atop the spice crates, kicking her feet playfully.
"Let's go," Solitar said with a smile. "Kind strangers are hard to come by."
Aette lowered her head. "Yes, milady."
She boarded the wagon quietly and took a seat beside her.
Some things, she now understood, were inevitable.
…
Nagasaki Kiyomi had just rocked the baby to sleep.
Worried that moving her might wake her, he left her in their room, on his own bed, gently tucking her in.
The bunk now had a ladder nailed to its side. Though unsightly, it was functional. Staring at it, Kiyomi had an idea.
"Maybe I should try building a cradle."
Toyokawa Shoko, long used to her teammate's spontaneous bouts of productivity, said, "Can you actually make one?"
"Worth a try."
He didn't have much experience, but they had cleared out plenty of broken furniture from the storage room. If he took the pieces apart and sanded them down, maybe he could assemble a serviceable cradle.
Babies calmed down when rocked, this could give Aette some much-needed rest.
Speaking of Aette reminded him of Solitar. Before she left, she'd mentioned that this outing would take longer than the last, since they had a lot more to buy.
Which led him to think about what had happened a few days ago.
[I wonder if the numbers increased again.]
Kiyomi opened his adventurer card.
+20 points.
He quietly notified Shoko. A moment later, she responded:
[I only got 5. Why?]
[I got 20.]
[Why the hell is that?!]
Just like that, Nagasaki Kiyomi's total had reached 100 points.
He stared at the store's 100-point listing for [Scatter Magic: Demon] and fell into thought.
He'd discussed skills with Shoko before.
[Are you going to buy it? It says it's a very basic technique.]
[I'm thinking about it. If I can learn this magic, I'll have made contact with mana, and if that happens, maybe you can learn it through me.]
[Kiyomi, ]
Shoko walked over, her amber eyes locking onto his.
[Don't rush it.]
Kiyomi stood quietly for a moment, then went to start preparing lunch.
Shoko followed to help.
[I got ahead of myself. Thanks for the reminder.]
[We're teammates. Better to save the points for something critical.]
She was referring to the return scroll.
Kiyomi shook his head inwardly. At least for now, he wouldn't use it. If either of them disappeared, the other would be devastated.
No need to rush. Calm down. Think through the finer details.
Solitar's magic was powerful. There was a chance she might notice something off when she returned.
He needed to be more cautious too.
That was the meaning of being teammates, to keep each other in check and to help one another.
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