Chapter 20 - Mochi vs Herttua

Nao had pulled a picnic blanket and basket from an unknown location, and once again set up on the ground, trying to calm Mochi down with meat. While she was on Nao’s back she had confidence and audacity, but now that she was on the ground and a single basket away from an oversized bird demon, all her fury had turned to cowardice. She nervously peeked out from behind Nao’s seated position and darted back into hiding over and over.

The demon sat with them with his human looking knees tucked up politely, doing his best to fit on the corner of the blanket while ripping apart a roasted leg or some kind of creature with his beak. Because his body was still very round and bird-like, most of it spilled over the blanket onto the dirt, and he occasionally reached back to brush rocks away from under his feathered tail.

“Thank you for sharing your hunt with us, Sir…?”

“Ah-ah-ah, you’re not gonna fool me. You can call me uhh… Herttua. Yeah, close enough. And don’t mention it! You gave me some of your food, I give you some of mine. Demons love a trade, ya know? And that fuzzy thing you got? Cooked it up real nice with that weird fire. Good job fuzzy thing.”

Milly quietly mumbled to herself, not wanting to talk back to this creature who, regardless of his casual personality, still had a pretty threatening aura.

“I’m a Princess… and a dog.”

Herttua reached out to pat Milly, but she winced and Mochi regained her fearlessness, barking loudly to protect her. His large hand pulled back.

“Oof, you got some nasty energy there kid, I wouldn’t want to go toe to toe with you.”

Mochi growled, but couldn’t help smirking at the perceived compliment.

“Sir Herttua, could you please tell us anything you know about the Demon Lord? We really do need to defeat them.”

“Sure sure, they all say that, but honestly, it’s my job to stop you, and telling you all the nitty gritty isn’t exactly going to help me do that, so I can’t help you. Union rules.”

“You mentioned a union before. I’m also in a union, you know. The maids of the castle unionized not too long ago.”

“They’re great things ain’t they? Sometimes anyways. Lots’a rules though. Only reason I’m here too. There wasn’t any work left where I’m from, our Demon Lord sort of retirin’ and all that. Or I guess she made more of a ‘lateral move’ and changed her title. Anyways, you know how it goes, you’re in the union, you go where the work is. Can’t say I’m a big fan of the commute.”

“Indeed, we have a similar rule! I request all the time to be stationed in the bathroom or to be put on garbage duty, but I’m always told ‘not unless someone else calls in’, or ‘personal preferences cannot be considered at this time’. It’s unfair!”

“...Mm.”

Herttua leaned his massive form towards Zen, and not-so-discreetly whispered.

“I don’t think I’d want to go toe to toe with that one either. Bit of a weirdo.”

“You’re telling me.”

Zen agreed with the demon about his sister, but was still on edge. Despite their relaxed picnic party, Herttua had clearly said he would stop them from proceeding, which meant Zen would still have to fight him. He carefully watched his movements and analyzed his size and body, looking for something he could use to his advantage later on.

Milly watched the demon as well, but analyzed his words instead. She believed she could trick him into giving more information with carefully worded questions.

“A…Ahhh~. Unions. Tough. Hah. Hey, if you’re here to work for our Demon Lord, does that mean there weren’t enough demons here before?”

It was only a shame that the puppy princess wasn’t very eloquent with her words. Luckily Herttua wasn’t very eloquent with his thoughts either.

“Not enough? Ha! Try none. You guys had so many heroes questin’ to reach the Demon Lord, they damn near wiped out every last one of em. Why else would the gods outsource to other worlds?”

The group blinked slowly, trying to process the sheer amount of information Herttua had just let slip in a single sentence.

“Uhh… Hm. I’m definitely gonna get chewed out for this. Can you guys stop askin’ me so many questions? I’m getting confused over here.”

But the party had already started to gossip.

“If what he says is true, then we only need to defeat him, and it’s smooth sailing to the Demon Lord?”

“Guys?”

“That would be nice, though I was looking forward to participating in at least one battle.”

“Hey, uh-”

“M-may I ask about the gods and other worlds? It could change life as we know it.”

“Whoa, no way I-”

“I want more meat! He ate it all! Bark! Bark Bark!”

As everyone talked over each other and squabbled and ignored him, Herttua’s feathers grew stiff, and raised out from his body. His chest inflated and Milly looked up in horror as he grew even larger in size than before. The twins and Mochi stopped talking all at once and scooted backwards as the demon expanded. His beak opened slowly and the casual chatty voice he’d had before seeped out as a guttural growl.

“The thing about demons…”

Zen grabbed Mocchi under one arm and reached out for Milly, scooping her soft belly in his hand and jerking her back. He held her close to his chest, leaping back a fair distance from Herttua. He placed the girls down and unsheathed his sword. Nao leapt the same distance and took a position of defense in front of the princesses.

The bird continued to increase in mass until it towered over Zen and the others, casting them in darkness. He had doubled in size and his eyes glowed red through his own shadow, as his beak pointed at the group and slowly opened again, steam rising from the corners

“It’s wise… to show us respect.”

Herttua: 0

Milly: 1