Spawn

"What are you doing here, uncle?"

My uncle, the king, stands before me, a full entourage of armored soldiers behind him. The ship feels even more overwhelming now that we're standing at the foot of it.

"We've just received news that a Demon Lord has appeared on the outskirts of the kingdom," he says, a sour look upon his face. "We're at war."

Upon seeing the royal crest, a few ideas had crossed my mind. My uncle's answer confirms the worst possible scenario. I thought we'd have longer. I already have my hands full with the Cyrene and only a few weeks to prepare. My uncle continues.

"We've assembled a fleet of the most skilled magicians and adventurers in the world. It's waiting one the horizon. I've come here to recruit the last known group of A-rank adventurers and..."

He pauses.

"To say goodbye. Just in case."

He's making this all sad and depressing for no reason.

I glance over at Vol, "Thoughts?"

"I think we have time," he shrugs.

"Elizabeth?"

"I agree."

Good. I figured. I turn back to my uncle, who's looking rather confused at our exchange.

"There's no need to say goodbye. We're coming with you."

"What?! No, I can't allow-"

"You said you wanted the most skilled magicians and adventurers in the world?" I ask, raising my arms to the people beside me.

I take some inspiration from Vol's earlier speech and repeat his arguments, modifying them slightly to fit to the kind of person my uncle is. But he gives in faster than I had expected of a king.

"Fine," he sighs, putting a hand to his head, "Very well, very well. We need all the help we can get."

I guess he was already considering bringing me along. All he needed was a little push.

The streets behind us have gotten rather packed, a crowd gathering to look upon the grand ship. Many humans and elves seem to recognize the king, as well. Children pointing and their mothers nodding.

"Eh, excuse me - coming through - sorry!"

From within the crowd, I see a glint of golden armor. Right. My uncle was here for the last group of A-rank adventurers. The blonde-haired head of Jonas emerges from the crowd, followed shortly by the mage, who seems to be clinging to his arm and looking apologetic.

"Your majesty - huh, kid? What're you doing here?"

Dude, finish greeting the king first.

"Helping," I tell him.

"Oh, right, of course."

"Ah, you are the A-rank adventurers, right?" the king asks them.

"Yes, your majesty," the mage says before Jonas can respond.

"You have been informed of the situation, yes?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Good. You will join us, then?"

Jonas and the mage look somberly at one another. The last assignment their group worked on ended rather poorly. It seems to have weighed quite heavily on them.

"Actually, your majesty..." the mage hesitates, looking somewhat distressed, "I'm afraid we'll have to decline."

"We need them for something else," I interject, turning to my uncle.

I decide to leave out the hard-to-believe parts like the gods and needing the nuns robes to survive in the celestial realm.

Instead, I spin up a story of needing the robes as disguises for an undercover investigation into suspicious church activities. Vol seems to catch on, and corroborates my story by retelling our run-in with the elven council, and our suspicion that they gained their information via the church.

"Hrm, I agree that the church garners investigation. But I would, of course, prefer to have such high-ranking adventurers with us," he sighs, "Well, adventurers have the freedom of choice, so I won't stop you. It wouldn't be right to force you to join the fight, anyway. Not when we might all die in the process."

It sounds like my uncle is expecting a lot of casualties from this battle. We won't get to that point, however.

I'll follow along with the fleet for now, but once we've located the Demon Lord, I'll be the one to kill him. If three of the greater monsters have contained my memories, chances are that Number 12 contained more within the fourth.

Elizabeth gained my memories from the third greater monster. I let that slide because she's my friend, not to mention she saved my life.

But these are my memories. I'm not letting anyone else have them.

---

"You've fought a Demon Lord before, haven't you?" Elizabeth asks me.

It's a few hours until midnight and we've been traveling for around a day and a half. We've secluded ourselves in our grouped cabin.

"Several," I nod.

"What are they like?"

That's an interesting question. I pause to think back on the ones in my past.

"It varies," I eventually say, "One of them had dark, purple skin and long, curled horns. Another had long claws and tentacles like an octopus. They usually take a humanoid shape, though."

"Hmm," Elizabeth makes a humming noise like she's saying "I see."

"Do they scare you?"

I can't really imagine her scared, but then again, it's hard to imagine Elizabeth with any emotion.

"No," she says, "They don't."