Chapter 40: The Stranger in the Order
Tamie was sleeping in her bed… when she felt a breath on her hair. She started and opened eyes, to let out a yell – Jin was sleeping next to her, in her bed, dressed in light blue pajamas as if nothing! She sprang up and covered herself with her blanket:
“What are you doing here?!”
Jin didn’t budge. He only groaned and turned aside, eyes still closed:
“What’s all the commotion? People are sleeping…”
“What the heck are you doing in my bed?!”
“Sleeping… Well, until you decided to cause a ruckus…” he muttered, half asleep. “Oh, by the way, this room sucks”.
“Get out!” Tamie kicked him off the bed.
“Ouch!” Jin let out a cry as he banged on the floor. He snarled, sprang up, and glared at Tamie: “What the heck is up with you?”
“What’s up with me? What's up with you? Why are you sleeping in my bed?”
“Where else could I possibly sleep?! I’m your muse!”
“Yes, you are, so you could get back into my dream world, duh!”
“I don’t want to,” Jin crossed his arms and turned around.
“Huh? What’s with the attitude?”
“Attitude?!” Kokujin turned back, with his eyes flashing. He grabbed Tamie’s chin, to let her meet his demonic icy eyes: “Know what, Goddess? You let me out of the book yourself, so now bear with it. I am free so I’ll do as I please. Got that?!”
Tamie frowned and pushed him off:
“Fine… But today we’re going to get a new room on the second floor since I’ve become a Grandmistress when rose to Rank Seven. So, I’ll tell them to get you a separate bed,” she stood up, “Get out now. I need to dress”.
“Such a grumpy girl you are… As if in your stories we haven’t slept together at all…”
Kokujin returned into the scroll. Tamie sighed with annoyance and began with her toilette.
Now I doubt whether it was good to revive him…
After preparing herself, she walked out of the room, went up into the hall, and waved a hand at her ‘sisters’ who had already taken seats at a table together:
“Hey, girls!”
“Oh, it’s Tamie!”
She took a seat beside them.
“Congratulations on becoming a Grandmistress, sis!” Tiger grinned.
“Yeah, good job!” the others smiled.
“Thank you!” Tamie blushed. “Oh, damn, I’m so happy! I’m going to live on the second floor now!”
“That’s amazing! And take more expensive jobs!” Tiger winked, petting Blizzard at the same time.
“So, what about your muse, Tamie?” Riza asked, “Weren’t you going to revive him yesterday? How did it go?”
“Umm…” Tamie twisted her fingers, not sure how to answer.
“Yeah, how was it? Did you manage?” Tiger and the other girls got excited too.
“Well, technically, I did”.
In all of a sudden, the noisy crowd silenced all at once.
“Huh? What’s wrong, girls?”
Tamie looked at her friends, who, just like the other members in the hall, stared at a certain place in a stupor. Cherrie pointed Tamie on her behind, to the stairs that led into the basement. Tamie looked back, to grow startled – Kokujin?! He wore a casual black hoodie and blue jeans as if some street boy, but his eyes still sparkled in demonic light blue, which made a truly strange combination.
“What?” he frowned once noticed all the eyes were set on him, “Don’t you lazy bunch have your stuff to do?” he walked towards Tamie, “And the heck’s with you? Seeing me for the first time?”
Tamie blinked in surprise at first, and then furrowed her brow:
“Yes, I see you for first in such casual clothing. It looks too weird on you!”
“I dress as I please,” Kokujin leaned on the back of her chair with his hands, and shot a glance at her friends: “These girls are your ‘sisters’? They appeared in my kingdom in such a sudden…”
The girls watched him dumbfounded – this weird eighteen-year-old guy was the same ‘Demon Lord’ that beat Erik up with his bare hands back then? In this casual hoodie, he looked… too normal.
“Your kingdom? Tamie has been writing about us in your realm?!”
Riza looked at Tamie in dismay – they knew she had begun writing about them, but why in Demon Lord’s realm of all places?!
“Yeah. In this new book she’s writing, you’re currently under my custody,” Kokujin’s eyes flashed with triumph.
Tamie felt embarrassed that her work-in-progress was so casually shared. Soon, the people stopped talking once more, and looked at the stairs of the second floor now – Edmund had come down. Tamie grew frightened – the Overlord would see her muse as an uninvited guest, and it was forbidden to bring strangers in!
“Damn… Jin, hide in the scroll or_”
But Jin wasn’t beside her anymore.
“Huh?”
She looked around, to widen eyes in shock – Jin had straightly gone up to Edmund!
“Yo!”
Kokujin grinned at the stupefied Magister, while his eyes sparkled with the innate blue fire.