We like talking

Overjoyed, I, Kageyama Kai, jumped into the cheap bed of an inn that Carmilla found during her exploration of the kingdom. It was sadly on the other side of Alice's inn, but I guess I shouldn't complain after Carmilla paid for our stay here.

"Based on my liege's expression, you successfully infiltrated the hero's party! I expected nothing less from my liege!" Carmilla applauded.

Instead of being in her cat form, she undid her transformation and made herself comfortable on my bed, although I was already spreading my body on the sheets.

"So when will we strike?" she eagerly asked me, leaning her face closer to mine.

"Firstly, get away from my face."

I was still just a teenage boy, okay? Having a beauty's face so close in front of me was problematic for my innocent heart!

"And secondly, we won't strike yet." I added firmly.

No matter how much I tried to explain to Carmilla that my goal was to put an end to the war without the hero's death, she somehow managed to twist my words every time and make them sound like killing the hero was the only rational choice. And because it was so annoying, I gave in and pretended to forge a plan to kill the hero.

"Because we've met just today, she and the rest of her party will still be wary of me, so I can't risk launching an attack yet. We have to build up trust first, before we can even consider ambushing them." I elaborated.

"I see...!"

Carmilla treated every single word I uttered like wisdom and rarely questioned whatever I was spouting.

"Is that all? We're going out in the morning, so let's get some sleep for now."

"A-already...?"

Strangely, Carmilla appeared slightly saddened.

"What? Do you still want to talk?"

"N-no! If my liege wishes to sleep, then I will do everything I can to make it happen...!"

It was quite an extreme statement considering that we were talking about my sleep, but there was something that she tried to hide from me.

"Fine. Let's chat for a little longer then." I said, lying down and staring at the ceiling.

"R-really?"

Her voice suddenly changed and now she sounded happier, like she was a little kid who just got candy.

And following that, Carmilla began to talk about trivial things that she had witnessed today in Esfar. She gave a detailed report about the humans' lives and behaviors in this place and even found the time to give me a ranking of the best food spots in the kingdom.

She blabbered on and on, however, I was surprisingly not annoyed this time. I quite enjoyed a demon's view on humans and everything surrounding them.

"And then that foolish hum- Wha-"

"No need to rush, Carmilla. I won't go anywhere." I cut her off, stroking her head gently.

It was in the midst of her retelling her seemingly casual observations of humans that I realized Carmilla's real problem.

"You felt lonely since Owen died, correct?"

She hesitated answering, but then decided to give a small nod.

Apparently, those two were like a grandfather and his granddaughter, which explained the small sadness hidden under layers of forced happiness. It was just a while ago that we had lost Owen and thus, it was more understandable that Carmilla was still hurt.

"No matter what it's about or when. It doesn't even have to do anything with work. You can just come to me and I'll promise that I will be there for you to listen to your stories."

"If it's just the two of us, you can drop the formalities and treat me like a friend." I added.

Come to think of it, since I arrived in this world, I'd never made the effort to make any friends. Well, not like I had any before coming here, but maybe it was a nice idea to do things that I couldn't do back in my previous world.

"Friend...?"

Carmilla, who was usually more mature, suddenly resembled an innocent child.

"Y-yes...! I'd love that, K-K-Kai!"

I didn't suggest it out of pity. It was eventually because I felt most at ease with Carmilla. While I couldn't really get a grasp on Eri's and Valer's characters, Carmilla was just like an open book for me. It also helped that she acted like those gals who attended my school. So in the end, Carmilla was the closest one to feeling like a real person to me, even if that sounded strange.

"G-good to know."

Still, it was pretty awkward. Despite suggesting it myself, I had no idea how to act like a friend to a gal-type of character.

"Hehehe..."

However, after seeing her chuckling joyfully, I lost my stiffness and could relax. I might not be able to close the hole that Owen left in her heart, but I hoped that I could at least try to make it smaller step by step. This was my goal as not only her superior, the Demon King, but also as her friend.

"Want to hear some stories about the hero?"

"?"

Maybe... And just maybe, I could finally do the thing I wanted to do the most in my previous world...!

"You see, the hero Alice may be a killing machine on the battlefield, but once the fight is over, she turns into..."

Nobody would have even cared back then. But now, these information were treated like gold here. And that, in turn, allowed me to talk about Alice without anyone holding me back or laughing at me!

"Wow... So that lunatic can actually look like that...?"

It also looked like Carmilla was thrilled by the topic as she was participating actively and made mental notes about Alice's character. I continued to utter every piece of information about Alice that seemed trivial in hindsight and I just couldn't stop. These information wouldn't be useful in battles against her, however, as a fan of her character, it's refreshing to see your favorite from many different angles.

"You sure did your research on her, huh?" Carmilla giggled.

"To be honest, it makes you look like a stalker a little bit — No, not a little bit. You actually do appear like one." she laughed.

She adapted to the status of being a friend much quicker than I anticipated and I slightly regretted granting her that position as she continued to flame me for my suspicious information about Alice.

"Don't cry now!"

"I'm not crying."

"Hahaha!" ignoring me, she just kept laughing while slapping my back multiple times.

This irritating woman...!

"Let's sleep now. I order you as the Demon King." I grumbled.

Carmilla still made some comments about me to poke fun at me, but in the end, she listened to me.

"You..."

"What is it?"

And while I was happy that she actually listened this time, I didn't really expect her to be sleeping next to me!

"As long as I'm in my cat-form, there won't be any space issues, right?" she said, grinning at me proudly.

My gut told me that it was rather more of a money issue. On paper, it looked like I rented a room for me and my small pet. If I were with Carmilla in her actual appearance, then we would have had to book another bed and room.

"Whatever... I'm too tired to argue here..." I sighed in defeat.

I sensed her fluffy fur when she snuggled up to me. And to be fair, I couldn't complain. I liked that fluffiness.

"You must be really dedicated to her, my liege." Carmilla murmured softly.

Hold on, did she realize it?!

"You must be really dedicated to defeating her if you'd gather so much information on her already."

I sighed once more. Of course, she would say that... Why was I even surprised for a second?

"Or maybe..."

"Hm?"

I looked closer at Carmilla's face as her voice turned fainter.

"Maybe you like her...?"

"?!"

My face was heating up instantly.

"Y-y-you got it wro- Wait."

I squinted my eyes.

This little punk...

"Oh, what a love story...!"

Carmilla's eyes were closed while she spoke. Not only that, she was drooling, too. This piece of work was sleep-talking the whole time... Just how fast could a person fall asleep?!

Sighing for the third time due to her, I lied down and tried to sleep as well. Tomorrow was the day I'd embark on a quest with Alice and the others. I prayed that I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of them.

And now I'd just jinxed myself.