The Tale of how I Recruited a Demon Lord as an Adventurer

When we entered the treasury I was once again taken aback by it's glorious mountains of guld and other valuables, even with the incredibly horrendous cyclops in the middle, the room was still gorgeous.

I saw Makono kneeling beside the cyclops I honestly couldn't tell if she was in distress or even if she was rejoiced because her facial expressions never seemed to change. 

 " Um. Sorry about uggo. " I said before I even realized I insulted what could've been a close friend of hers, though I figured if she was gonna kill me pretending I never said something I obvious did wouldn't help. " In my defense he did try to kill me. "

 " Oh. Was he your friend? " Graxia asked with a sense of guilt evident on her face, before she shamelessly began pocketing handfuls of guld.

Makono stood from beside the cyclops' corpse " No. " 

Graxia had said that she was gonna help Makono look for clothes but she was completely engulfed in her treasure hunt. I however figured that it would be a good idea to get Makono something that would draw less attention to her, after all Musashi would probably not be the only hero going after her. But all I found nothing clothing wise but lack of a functional right eye might be to blame for that.

 " Hey Graxia find anything for Makono? " I asked knowing full well that she wasn't even looking.

 " Yeah I think there's something at the bottom of this pile. " She replied as she burrowed into a mound of guld like a mole.

After a while of looking around for clothes I realized I couldn't see Makono anywhere " Graxia have you seen Makono? " 

Graxia burst from the mound with guld coins in her mouth since her mouth was full she decided to just shake her head.

I saw a flood of coins pour from Graxia's mouth " Thanatos himself must've made this pair. " Graxia said as she stared at something beyond my field of view. At first I thought it was some kind of weird treasure but then I saw her.

An odd combination, crimson and black. But Makono could pull it off. She was dressed in a eighteenth century Victorian mourning dress, crimson roses were adorned wherever you'd look, black sleeves laced in the pattern of roses went down her arms until they formed a pair of fingerless gloves on her hands, and finally the whole outfit was complete with a black straw bergere with a thin silk barrier layering it and a trim of scarlet roses to go along with the obvious rose theme. Outside of her armor Makono was surprisingly petite and I was confident I would never confuse her as a dude if she wasn't in it, maybe she wouldn't blend in as much as possible, but she sure did look nice in a gothic sense.

I was dumbstruck. She looked gorgeous for sure, but she also looked so gothic it made me depressed looking at her.

 Graxia began to circle around Makono like a predator to it's prey in a way she definitely looked like one. " Hmm. The outfit is beautiful for sure. But it's not worth it if it covers your adorable ears. "

Graxia reached for Makono's ears but was swiftly met with a backhand deflecting her needy hand. " Do not touch me heathen, or I will kill you without any remorse! " Makono growled.

Graxia cowered back by me. " Why are you being so rude? I just wanna touch them! "

 " Not gonna happen. " Makono growled even fiercer then before, then she turned to me and lightened up only slightly " Oh yeah Tokuma I found this for you. But don't even think I was thinking of you though! Unless you wanna die. "

I caught I projectile I couldn't quite see. I opened my palm to see an edgy as hell eye patch designed in the pattern of a dark flame. " Um. Thanks. " I said cautiously. " Do you know how edgy this looks? If I wear this I'd look like the protagonist of a bad anime. "

 " If you don't you'll look like the rear end of a troglodyte in heat. " Makono heartlessly replied.

 I took a massive gulp.

Graxia began laughing uncontrollable as we navigated our way through the plains of green and back to the guild. It was day but not the same as when we left which meant I'd gone too long without rest and was in dire need of it " You look so edgy! Oh my lungs they hurt from me laughing so hard. " Graxia on the other hand was still bustling in energy, she could barely keep standing as she was laughing so hard.

 I was too tired to make a good argument so all I could do was complain. " Shut up! Why does this keep happening to me? Even my title is edgy. " I pouted. I learned from Graxia before we left the castle how to check my title. It was literary as simple as reading the dog tags. My title was rogue hero due to me fighting a hero and helping a demon lord.

" Tokuma Jiroki The Rogue Hero, ultimate edgelord. " Graxia teased, I figured even if I did protest it would achieve nothing. So like a mature reincarnated hero I sped up making Graxia have to as well, but since I was in better physical condition I knew I could keep it up longer then her.

A malicious smile appeared on my face from ear to ear, suddenly I wasn't so tired anymore.

 " Wait! Hold up. Tokuma stop being so immature! " Graxia shouted after me as she struggled to keep up.

In spite of her pleas I only picked up in speed. Meanwhile Makono didn't even hasten her pace.

Nobody questioned Makono on our way to the guild, which I found odd because her clothing was the opposite of normal but I was thankful as well. 

Finally Graxia arrived at the guild where me and Makono were waiting.

 " Took you long enough. " Makono taunted as she cleaned her nails using a small knife. " I think I know why. It's because your so heavy. "

Beads of sweat poured from Graxia's face as she hunched over to regain her stamina. " I'm not that heavy! " Suddenly her tone of voice changed to a more confident even arrogant tone as she puffed her well endowed chest in pride " Wait I get it, your jealous of my... " An evil glare pierced deep into Graxia's very being. Her survival instances must've told her that if she continued Makono would surely kill her.  " It's okay I know they're big. "

Makono growled in disgust.

In midst of the awkwardness the doors to the guild flew open and Usagi hopped out her ears bouncing with the rest of her body. " Oh. Your back? And edgier then ever. I'm impressed, you finished the quest in a single day! " She said hopping in excitement. At this point I just kinda accepted that I would always be known as a edgelord. " And that girl? Lux will be excited to see a new member. If that's what she is. "

Usagi waited for a reply from Makono for an awkward amount of time but once again Makono appeared as though she didn't even know she was being talked to.

Makono looked at Usagi with a puzzled picture on her face " Your talking to me? " she asked entirely oblivious. " Yeah I'll join. "

Usagi's eyes slightly twitched in minor annoyance but her cheerful demeanor did not waver " Awesome! You three can form a proper party now! Oh you'll probably be wanting your reward. Follow me. "

Usagi led us to the second floor once again where we waited again. Eventually she returned with a bag of considerable size. " So what did it? " she asked as she tossed the bag in the air and caught it.

" A griffin. " I said confidently even though I wasn't sure if Musashi lied.

Her face lit up when Usagi heard me " Yeah it was. Did you kill it? " 

 " No. It wasn't nearby. " I was technically not lying which made deceiving Usagi a lot easier

" Alright you past the test. " Usagi said excitedly as she threw the bag to me. " But the newbie still needs to register. "

" I'll help her. After all I'm the guild leader. " Lux announced as he appeared seemingly out of thin air. 

" You bum. You just want to get out of doing your job. "

Lux suddenly cowered up as he apparently did around Usagi " Crap! I mean, that's blasphemy! I would never try to postpone my responsibilities indefinitely! "

Usagi replied by slamming her face into the palm of her hand. " Whatever, I have a job to anyways, and unlike you I'm responsible! " 

Lux bowed in gratitude " Thanks Usagi your the best! " 

Usagi quickly turned her rosy red face away. I couldn't help but think just how odd of a person she was " I know. But even my awesomeness has it's limits so you better be quick! " 

" Yes ma'am! " Lux replied in a stern voice.

Lux led us to the room with the crystal orb used to determine our mana. After everyone entered he suddenly turned to me.

" So before we begin I have a small question. " Lux said before a grosse messer sword appeared in his hand, it's tip reaching my throat. " Why are you accompanying the demon lord. "

Graxia tensed up as she looked directly into Lux's merciless eyes " Lux? What are you doing? Stop this. " Graxia pleaded.

" Don't get involved high priestess. " he replied in a terrifying cold tone of voice.

With a blade to my throat dozens of thoughts ran rampant in my head. " What do you mean? Lux are you alright? There's no demon lord here? " was the best I could think up at the time.

Just as Lux lowered his blade Makono started laughing hysterically. " Are you dull? Tokuma have you forgotten already? I'm the great demon lord Makono! "

At that moment I lost all faith in surviving " We're dead. " I whimpered.

" Odd. Your words weren't convincing yet I believed them? I'll have to be careful. Now then I'll ask again. Why are you traveling with a demon lord? " His blade dug into my throat as Lux asked with a pressing tone of voice.

Something suddenly clicked in my head. " Why is your blade pointed at me? The supposed demon lord is right beside me and yet your threatening me? That tells me your not concerned why the demon lord's with me. Your concerned why I'm with her. So to answer your question. " I continued confidently as I moved his blade from my neck. " I'm protecting her. Graxia is too. Will that be a problem? "

" Not that I need it. " Makono growled.

" Is that so? Well then no, there appears to not be a problem. " Lux's blade vanished into particles of mana as he answered my question. " Your quite perceptive. I didn't expect your transformation to be done so quickly. " He said returning to his carefree self which everyone was relieved to see.

Something stood out though. " What do you mean transformation? " I asked.

Lux leaned against a wall and crossed his legs in a relaxed position as though he was getting comfortable for a rant. " You don't know then? As semi heroes of mutual goals I'll explain. " he spoke a little bit of excitement present in his voice, as he rubbed his hands together anxiously " You see, when a hero is first summoned to this world their mind is basically unchanged, they remain as they were before reincarnating, but slowly your mind will begin to morph matching that of the hero you reincarnated into. In times where your acting more on reflexes then logical thought is when this is most present, for instance when my blade was at your throat, your mind was in a panicked state so your heroic persona took charge and made you use your profession persuasion. It doesn't always have to be a life threatening moment however, imagine listening to a song you forgot the lyrics to, before listening you obviously had no idea what was gonna be said, but once you hear part of the song the rest comes flooding in, that's similar to how the heroic persona works, eventually though you'll completely transform into your other persona so it's not worth worrying about. "

I took what he said to heart " I see. The thought of turning into someone else isn't comforting but at least I know why I've been getting random info dumps. " I then turned to Graxia, more out of curiosity then anger. " Graxia did you know about this? "

Graxia shook her head dismissively. " I had no idea. But it makes sense. When Lord Thanatos summons heroes he needs a heroic figure and if the person he summons isn't heroic in nature. Well that's where the transformation comes in."

" It's not as much changing to another person as it is maturing. Still I'm grateful I was born like this, suddenly waking up one day with a whole other body and mind. No thanks. " Lux said in a proud voice before suddenly switching to a serious tone. " Now then, the demon lord. We should talk about her. "

Makono tilted her head in a cute state of confusion, so much in fact her hat just about fell off.