A Reincarnated Demon’s Life of Wonder

"God ****ing dammit... why is it so hoooooot..." - Garami

I couldn't stop the complaints from falling out of my mouth like a waterfall. The same applies to my sweat. There's nothing sexy about an albino demon getting scorched black and mushy by the sun. Why, I ask again, WHY isn't the magical AC thingamajig that made the night so superb working to make the day less scolding!? Can it only raise the temperature? BULLSHIT!!!!

And for once, I'm not alone in my suffering. The rest of the town is either sitting inside with their cooling magitechs running at full force, or they've evacuated to the nearest shadowy place while casting magic spells from the Cold category. As in, attribute spells belonging to attributes such as Ice or Snow. I wish I had dragged Alf along now. His Ice powers would be worth a fortune here! The Nightmare Voyagers' war funds could always need some extra padding.

Alas, I made the mistake of not doing that. Just like how I couldn't drag along the other guys, except for Revi, to come along and suffer alongside me! Even Iron refused!! But in his defense, he did try, but his armor got so hot we fired our eggs on his shield. The inn's kitchen crew was overwhelmed by the combined heat of the kitchen and the weather.

Despite this record-breaking heat wave, Revi seems to be fine as she walks beside me. She's even humming a tune! That she shares the same "sweating like pigs" ailment that I have, there's not a big chance she's just hiding some cooling magitech underneath that witch costume of hers. Then again, if she had it, she would have given it to me even if that was the only one. This girl's loyalty can be scary sometimes.

"Now...where is that place..." - Garami

Staying out in the heat would just turn us into mummies, so I shoved away my complaints and questions and started focusing on the map Filyn gave us last night. It's supposed to lead us to the hiding place of this so-called "colleague" of mine, but I still have a little doubt about all this.

I mean, we're talking about another Champion here. I've never seen one that's not me before, and I've met dragons, desert guardians, self-proclaimed evil organization bosses, gods of poetry, even a freaking Disaster! Oh, and Machinerz, but those guys' boss is a jerk, so I don't wanna count them.

My point is, despite everything and everyone I've encountered, there's never been anything Champion-related there except for me myself. And now there's supposedly a fellow sufferer from the Ultimate Gods here in this town? Hmm, then again, with my luck, there was only a question of when, not if, I would encounter them, so it checks out.

"Princess, over there," said Revi as she pointed up to one of the houses that make up the three-dimensional streets of Shararin. Up there, hidden in the shadows of its fellow buildings, was an inscrutable door, almost invisible to the rest of the world, with only a weird, broken, and abandoned-looking sign that had once featured a five-pointed star, now broken in half, straight through the star's design.

"Yup, that's the place," I said after checking Filyn's notes again. One of the fancy carpets was located at the foot of the building, so we stepped on it and it elevated us like an...well, an elevator. God, I need to know where I can learn how to make some of my own.

After reaching our desired floor, I started knocking on the door with the specific combination that was written on the notes. Seriously, why all the secrecy? And time. It took a good five minutes before the door's lock finally gave a sound. I'd have busted the door in by the time it took had not been for the notes also warning us that it would take so long for it to open. Sheesh...

"Who is it?"

The person who appeared from the door was a Therianthrope, a person with animal traits added to them. Unlike Beastkins, which are more commonly referred to as "furries", Therianthropes, like the individual in front of us, typically have at most animal ears on top of their heads, tails, or other more uncommon elements, such as whiskers.

The man in front of me has both the tail and ears of a silver fox. He's even wearing a classic kimono, making him look like some fox youkai that's trying to disguise himself as a human with less than successful results, which is... someone I wouldn't expect in such a 101 Arabian Nights-inspired city. And according to [Identification]...he's got some interesting stuff going on.

"I've gotten this request from a self-proclaimed evil overlord. One about assisting a Champion of sorts." - Garami

"She found someone!? I mean, thank you for taking the time to share with us. Now, come in, quickly." - Fox man

The fox man hurried us inside, where we were greeted by lifesaving cold air. As for the rest of the room, it's mostly in shambles. Some holes in the walls have been hastily repaired, and there's a lot of broken furniture stuffed into one of the corners. New items have been added to replace the old ones, but the latter have yet to be discarded. You don't need to be a genius to understand that the fox man's crew has just recently arrived at Shaharin.

Right, there's that too. There's at least one more guy here other than the fox man. One that I think Flint will get along with well.

"Huh? Hey, Matamo!? Why did you bring those gals in?!"

"Kagetora, relax. It seems our benefactor has brought along just the help we need...I hope." - Fox man

The other guy looks like an Oni samurai. He's got striking red skin, long dark-brown hair tied into a samurai-ish ponytail, and a well-worn kimono. Compared to the ones Flint likes to wear sometimes, the Oni's are way more worn and torn, though still quite elegant. The katana resting on the wall beside him would make both the Lizardman and Mira salivate, but I'd like for him not to stretch his hands towards it while glaring at us. How rude.

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"So, who are you guys? I don't see any Champion-class clients here." - Garami

"Please excuse him. Jim, I mean, the Champion you are asking for is kind of...incapacitated at the moment. And where are my manners? My name is Sukeroku Matamo. Please call me Matamo," said the fox man with a light bow. With that kinda name, he's bound to come from Wakoku, the most Japanese-ish land on Terra Sol that I've heard about. Oh, right. Their first names are always first, as opposed to the Japanese names back on Earth. Probably influenced by the World System's status page, where the names go in the Western order.

"The name's Kagetora Oninosuke," said the samurai Oni. How...fitting of a name.

"Garami here. And this is Revi Darul, a fellow member of my Guild, the 'Nightmare Voyagers,'" I said as I did the introductions for both of us. Revi only contributed with a simple nod, not showing much enthusiasm for the two Wakokuians.

"Very well then, Miss Garami. Is it safe to assume that you have not been given any info from Miss Nequitas?" - Matamo

"Nequitas"? Oh, he means Filyn.

"None whatsoever. She only told us that there would be a group of guys here that are in so desperate need for help that they'd barter with the Goddess of Darkness if they could. And also not to 'bring along any suckers that would fall for a pretty boy's face', whatever that means." - Garami

"I see. And it is safe to assume that neither of you is one of these 'suckers'?" - Matamo

"Bingo, dingo." - Garami

"*Nod, nod, nod*." - Revi

Guys aren't in my taste, plus Revi's affection seems to be solely aimed at me. Not sure if that's so healthy for her, but why should a demon like me worry about that?

"Very well then. To be safe, I wish that you still refrain from meeting our party's leader." - Matamo

"You mean the Champion? Why?" - Garami

"How to explain this... Are either of you familiar with the Ultimate Goddess of Life, Yrlanaya?" - Matamo

"I've heard the name." - Garami

"Nothing." - Revi

"Okay then. Yrlanaya is the patron of our comrade, Jim Highland. The Champion of Life that you have been asking about. And according to Jim, this goddess is...in simple terms, a 'brainless pervert'. His words, not mine." - Matamo

"...Continue," I asked, half confused over the statement, half accepting this weird nonsense when thinking back to my few interactions with my 'patron goddess'.

And continued he did. The fox guy, Matamo, started to explain the situation of this Jim Highland character. How he was a normal, if not good-looking dude from a different world, who got whisked to Terra Sol by the hands of this Goddess Yrlanaya. He was nominated to be her Champion just for his looks, then tossed into this world of monsters and disasters (pun intended) without anything to his name except for the usual Champion setup. Is it just me, or am I starting to feel a serious case of affinity for this guy?

But the troubles for poor Jim didn't stop there. After somehow managing to save a country, despite the odds, this 'bimbo goddess' somehow unintentionally screwed over this Jimmy-guy, and not in a fun way. Turns out she gave him an additional Blessing that came along with a nasty trait. "Ever-loving", or something? I didn't quite catch that, but it seems to have an effect that causes [Charm] ailments to be thrown out on anyone who "likes" this Jim character.

Aaaaand by [Charm], I'm talking "predator-level berserker"-level crazy-Charm. It wasn't supposed to be that strong, but the bonus effects this bimbo goddess slapped onto her Blessing without thinking (Jimmy-boy's words, not mine nor fox guy's) made things go into overdrive. Enough to cause the whole country he saved to be destroyed. Talk about counter-productive! It does explain why Filyn told me not to bring along any pretty-boy-lovers to this meeting.

Anyway, this problem trait makes it impossible for this Jim character to walk in public without turning over 50% of the populace into Ferals. And I'm not talking about the funny type! Well, this probably isn't about the "literal" type of Ferals either...

"Sheesh, this guy can't catch any breaks." - Garami

"That's pretty much the anomious vote here in this room. Hence, we traveled to this city." - Kagetora

"...? You need new clothes?" - Revi

"Not the clothes, but the dyes. Or better said, where the weavers in this city acquire their dyes." - Matamo

"Their dyes?" - Revi

Oho~? Now we're in the interesting territory~.

"There is a Haunt underneath the city, an underground forest-type one filled with Fae-creatures." - Matamo

Now that's WAAAAY too off-theme for the rest of the city. Even when comparing it to these guys!! Well, Haunts are weird in the first place. They're like Dungeons, but without a Dungeon Core or any gimmicks. They're mostly just areas with tons of specific types of aether, spawning specific materials and monsters based on said aether.

"The plants, bugs, and fairy dust there can not only be used to make exceptional dyes for clothing, but they are also scarce alchemy materials." - Matamo

"I still don't see how this is related to helping Mr. Popular." - Garami

"I am getting to that. Many of these materials are also extremely important when it comes to crafting potions and other items that allow one to obtain new, or change existing, Traits. Like the one that is troubling Jim." - Matamo

Now I see. And dude, is it that easy to obtain new traits? Wait, he said this stuff is rare, so it's probably not that easy.

"You can't buy the stuff at auctions?" - Garami

"Nope. Other Haunts that have the shit are monopolized by Alchemist Guilds, and none of them have a reputation of being charitable." - Kagetora

"Which leaves the Underground Shararin Forest as the only source of the materials we desire. For better or worse, these materials are not the most sought-after by the city's Weavers and Alchemists, mostly because trait transformations are a far different field from dyes and common magitechs, so as long as you can enter the Haunt, have some luck and good discovery-type skills, it should be possible to obtain one's query." - Matamo

"And that's your request? Can't leave your buddy behind, huh." - Garami

As I said that, I looked at the door leading deeper into the building. Matamo's gaze followed mine before returning with a troubled smile. "What if someone entered the hideout while we were away?" is probably the main reason why they can't go and fetch the stuff themselves. Oh, maybe it's better to call this place a bunker than a hideout, then?

"That is true," started Matamo, "but the most troublesome part we cannot complete is getting into the Haunt."

"That damn place is under stricter lock and chain than our war funds! Those Union guys don't allow anyone without permission to enter!" - Kagetora

"Permission?" - Garami

"From the Adventurers' Union. Unfortunately, that organization is not so well-spread in our country as it is on this continent, hence why we are not part of it. Which results in us needing some local adventurers to do the collection quest for us." - Matamo

"Hmm...fine then. We'll see what we can do." - Garami

Hearing my OK, even the Oni Samurai couldn't stop his face from lighting up. And it took everything of me to prevent my poker face from falling apart in the same fashion. The promised reward from Filyn is one thing, still not sure why she's going the long way for these guys, but the materials down there in the underground forest sound lucreative for my own alchemy and weaving practices. There are only pluses in taking this quest. All that remains is to see how things will fall spectacularly. Yaaaay, my luck...