CH 122

“Bou’s a monster?”

“Human world’s monster and demon is different? I, demon.”

He’s not a monster, but a demon.

“Are there differences between monsters and demons?”

“Demon can use Skill. Monster can’t use.”

“I see. That’s easy to understand. Was that cabin made using Skills?”

“Naoki! This hut, like? Come come, enter.”

Bou got excited when talking about the cabin. It seems he wants to show off the cabin he made.

With his invitation I entered the cabin, and it was well made; a truly splendid cabin.

There’s a table and chairs as well, and even a well-made stone stove.

“N~ it’s amazing! Is Bou’s Crafting Skill high leveled?”

“Not Crafting Skill. Building Skill.”

“Building Skill? Amazing!”

“Um, um, wait a minute…”

Bou took a thick and heavy book out from a leather bag, flipping the pages while looking for something.

“Is that book a dictionary?

“Dictionary? What is dictionary? This, take look.”

Bou spread open the book and showed it to me. On the pages are this world’s words and mysterious characters lined up together. Looks like a dictionary.

“Are these characters demon words?”

“Yes.”

There are a number of rectangular grids lined up next to the demon words, and within those grids are various drawings. They’re similar to magic circles.

“This is a good dictionary.”

“Dictionary? This is a dictionary.”

Seems like Bou understands ‘dictionary’.

“What were we talking about? Ah, the Building Skill.”

“I, was at Castle. The castle broke, so took Building Skill.”

Bou searched for ‘castle’ in the dictionary and gave an explanation. He took the Building Skill to try to fix the castle.

“By castle, you mean the Demon Lord’s?”

“Demon Lord=sama, died long time ago. Defeated by Hero. Demon Lord-sama died, but castle remains. Demons live in it.”

“I see. Even if the Demon Lord dies, demons live in the Demon Lord’s Castle. So why did Bou come here?”

“Exiled. Someone not Demon Lord started saying he was the Demon Lord. Weird?”

“Yeah, that’s weird.”

“I said so. So exiled.”

I unconsciously smiled. Bou also smiled.

“Bou, do you intend to attack people?”

“Naoki, attack me?”

He responded to my question with a question.

“Not really. Although I think I’d return the attack if attacked.”

“Me too. But there are people who attack, yes?”

“Well, there are.”

“Earlier, armor woman, will attack?”

“Aah, I don’t know about Ayl. She probably won’t. She’s my companion.”

“I see. There are also demons who attack people, but there are also people who don’t.”

Bou nodded.

“By the way, did you understand what Rita was just saying?”

“Rita!? That person good person. Sometimes brings food. A good person.”

What the, so Rita is properly moving things along.

“Did you understand what she meant by flooding?”

“Don’t understand flooding. What is it?”

“When the rain falls, it will be submerged. Buried under water.”

“Buried with water?”

Looks like he doesn’t really get it even with an explanation.

Taking some rough paper and charcoal, I explained with pictures. “That’s bad!” he said.

“So that’s what she saying. When she said go north?”

“Seems like there’s land that’s suitable for farmland there. It’s hard to grow crops here, she said.”

“But there are lots of people north. Threw stones. Because I’m demon, tough.”

Bou looked downwards.

Even if they were told he was a demon, they wouldn’t understand. In the first place, they don’t know the difference between a monster and a demon.

“I see. It seems there are 3 months until the rainy season. It would be best if you found a good place before then.”

“Un.”

“What do you do for food?”

“Defeat monsters at night, take magic stones.”

“Do demons eat magic stones?”

Bou shook his head. “

“It’s only magic, but can live 7 days.”

So demons can siphon magic power from magic stones? Seems like demons have a different body structure.

“How about dried fish?”

I piled dried herringfish from the item bag onto the table.

“This many! Is it okay?”

“Yeah, it’s tough when you’re having a hard time with food, after all.”

Bou, staring dazedly , at the dried food said,

“Why? Why, Naoki, are you being nice?”

“Why? Well, recently I’ve seen sirens and a human married. I have the Search Skill. With the Search Skill, both monsters and demons are seen as red. In short, they’re seen as… enemies. But we can properly communicate. We ate together, and they came and guided us. So therefore they’re friends to me, right?”

“Friends?”

“Yeah, and right now, I’m talking to Bou. We might be able to become friends.”

“But, I’m an enemy?”

“That’s the Search Skill. ‘In the end, Skills are just Skills. It’s better to use them to make life fun,’ is what a long-lived friend said. I believe in that.”

It’s Marcus-san’s words. I feel like they’ve become the principles I live my life by in this world.

“Skills are … … Skills.”

“I don’t know who made Skills, but if I become friends with Bou like this, I hypothesize… we’ll be able to surpass the foreseeable future. That’s really interesting, right?”

Although that’s God who’s managing it.

“Fuha-! Interesting.”

Bou laughed.

“That’s why I’m being nice to Bou. Ah! Hang on. My job is to exterminate monsters, so that probably means I’ll kill demons to. Can we be friends despite that?”

I killed monsters with skills for Marcus-san, and I’ve also defeated ones I could talk to previously.

“What is exterminate?”

“Exterminate is to chase away or kill all the monsters that have a bad influence on a specific place.”

Bou understood after he looked up ‘influence’ in the dictionary.

“All of them? Kill all the bad monsters?”

“Yeah, more or less killing them all.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yeah, that’s my job.”

Taking requests for things other than monsters would be a terrible time, though.

“Amazing. That kind of job exists?”

“Yeah, I’m an exterminator. I also do cleaning.”

“What an interesting race.”

“Hang on. Bou, aren’t you speaking better than before?”

“Eh-? A! The [Language Ability] Skill appeared!”

Bou immediately took the [Language Ability] Skill.

“It’s probably because I was talking to Naoki so much.”

“That’s lucky, huh? That I came.”

“Fuha-! It’s lucky.”

“Want to eat?”

“Yes!”

And like that, I made a demon friend.

I grilled the dried fish at the stove that has never been used to make food even once, and we ate.

I tried adding water and hard bread, but it seems that Bou isn’t good with food that’s more like cooked dishes.

While eating, I asked about Bou’s everyday schedule, and it was pretty interesting.

Waking up in the morning, he practices smiling. In the morning he tends his field, eats when it’s time to eat, then practices smiling. After taking a nap, he searches for seeds in the meadow, harvests herbs, and at dusk he practices smiling. At night the shadow monsters shadowick appear, so he defeats them with an axe, collecs the magic stones, and practices smiling before bed.

“Why do you practice smiling so much!?”

Bou got mad when I laughed at him and said,

“Smiling is important! With a smile, there was an old man who let me ride his wagon!”

“Really? Then how do you practice?”

Bou smiled, showing his teeth, putting on his best smile. It’s on the level of a clumsy smile, the level where you show it would make babies cry.

When I busted out laughing, he said,

“You do it then, Naoki!”

“Alright, I’ll show you a textbook example!”

I flashed my best smile in the cabin.

Bou said, “Idiot! Women will run away at that face!” Looks like I’m incapable of a reassuring smile.

After lunch we left the cabin and rejoined Ayl and the others.

When Bou went out, he was very concerned about his horn. One way or other, it seems like he doesn’t want to stand out, so covers it with a hood.

“Do you want my companion to make you a hat?”

If it’s Merumo, she’ll make it in a flash.

“Is that okay!?”

“Or else a wig?”

“Wig?”

“Fake hair, basically?”

“What’s that?”

“Now that you ask that, I’m also wondering why a wig.”

Well, the horn will keep the wig from lying flat.

While chatting randomly, I took a call from Velsa, and Bou and I faced east.

Bou was surprised at the communication bag, but he taught me that there’s a large communication tool like a crystal at the Demon Lord’s Castle.