There was a good reason behind why we chose this place to meet up.

Count Pontheus had servants who had no idea that he was a demon, there were also influential people coming to his mansion, as he was a noble. Eleris shop and its second story were a little too small for the four of us.

The base of Irenes wild dog was a place avoided by all and swarming with beggars. I was told there were also quite the number of secret spaces. Eleris passed through the mess of beggars affected by hallucination magic. Even while we were passing right by the beggars they didnt notice our presence.

There was a dark tunnel right under the bridge. This place seemed to be their real base.

I was told that it originally served as a type of drainage channel that would lead the citys rain water to Irene when it rained. As this place wasnt really visited by people, it also served as Irenes Wild Dogs hide out when they turn into a Lycanthrope.

There were beggars lying around and sleeping inside. There were blankets, mops and roughly built shacks.

It really was a beggar colony.

As we went even deeper inside, eventually even the shacks disappeared from our sight. As we entered the endless sewers, we saw a small light in the distance.

Someone was sitting in front of a lit bonfire. Even though they were just the leader of some beggars, they still were a king in a way, however, they didnt seem like they had anything special around him.

They were just like a dog basking in the fires warmth.

There was a person wearing a ripped shirt and tattered trousers, with thick gray hair on their head tied in random ways.

Irenes Wild Dog.

Youre here, my lord.

Come to think of it, I was never told that the dog was a man..

* * *

The King of Beggars.

Irenes Wild Dog.

The Leader of a Gang.

Loyar greets His Highness the Prince.

She knelt down in front of me as soon as she saw me. That Wild Dogs real name was Loyar and as far as I knew she was a wolf-type Lycanthrope.

Yes, nice to see you. Although its in a place like this.

We were inside Gardium, but here we were meeting up in the sewers.

Is Sarkegaar still over there?

Loyar nodded at Eleris words.

All the nobles must be busy. Theres going to be a victory celebration and stuff. Hell be here soon, though. This is a lot more important to us.

Eleris was a pacifist, however she was still surprised that I was still alive, Loyar on the other hand didnt really have any big reaction. How should I put it, it felt like she didnt really care much about all this?

Loyar, Im telling you in advance, but he lost all his memories. Except for who he was He doesnt remember almost anything.

At those words, Loyar stared at me.

For real?

Well, yeahIt somehow turned out like that.

Hmm.

Her gaze was a bit uncomfortable.

Im glad to hear that.

..Youre happy about that?

Yeah, because youd tell me stuff like I should lie down with my stomach exposed, saying that dogs should behave like dogs.

I, I did?

Yeah. Youd even put me on a leash sometimes.

Huh.

Loyar opened her mouth as she thought about those times. Oh no, youre telling me I treated Lycanthropes like some sorts of pets? Eleris mouth twitched as she was smiling half-heartedly.

Lo, Loyar. As far as I can remember, you kind of liked that

When did I ever?!

Loyars face turned red. What the hell were you talking about? Did I really treat a Lycanthrope who changes into a wolf every full moon as a common dog?

Was she like my pet or something?

Tha, that. I cant really remember, but Im sorry.

Well, its fine.

Your expression didnt look fine at all though. If I were in her shoes I would have really hated being treated like that.

Come to think of it, I was told she volunteered for this spy mission even though she was a Lycanthrope.

Could it be she was forced to volunteer to get away from me? Come to think of it, that was pretty plausible. I managed to somehow escape and come here alive, but could I trust her?

We, well. I cant erase my past actions, but Im. sorry. Lets try to get along from now on.

I reached out my hand to her, showing her that I meant no harm.

-Pat

.

.

I meant to shake her hand.

However, she just put her hand on mine. She didnt grasp it; she just put her hand on top of mine.

!

As soon as she realized what she did, Loyar was startled and then lowered her hand to hold mine.

Wasnt that

Did she just do Give paw?

Give paw.

Pat

The moment I put out my palm, Loyar put her hand on my hand. She did it without realizing it and immediately pulled it back.

Y, your Highness. Why am I doing that?

Loyar said so in cold sweat.

The speechless Eleris also added some words.

Its like the body is reacting on its own without the head telling it to.

O, oh, no!

Your Highness. How about you try telling her to lie down and show you her stomach?

Hey!

She going to flip over. Try it.

N, no! Why would I do that!

I couldnt get myself to do that in the end. Shed probably really do it.

Why was she trained so well?

How often did I bully you like this in the past? Rather, it was already on the level that her body reacted instinctively.

Im afraid shed really sit if I tell her to sit.

Uhm, erm. Sorry, Ill be more careful.

Yes.

Even though her heart doesnt like me, her body was that of a loyal dog. Thinking that I put my worries about Loyar aside. I sat down besides the fire. When Sarkegaar arrived we could start talking about the details.

I felt something approaching from afar. There was a sound echoing through the sewers.

Uooooooooaaaaah!

I couldnt even see his face yet, but I was already convinced that hell be the troublesome type.

Just like I expected.

When Sarkegaar arrived, he hugged me and began to wail loudly.

Oh my goodness! For those wretched humaaaans to kill His Majesty the Great Demon King! They must have used some cowardly tricks! What are we going to do about this? What are we to doooo? But seeing that Your Highness is still safe, theres still a ray of hope left for the people of the Demon Realm. What a miracle! Wooaaaah! Please quickly grow up and rebuild the Demon Realm stronger than it was before and erase all traces of these filthy human beiiiiiings!

.

.

He roughly kept on mumbling and crying loudly for about 10 minutes.

He started crying even louder when I told him that I had lost my memories. No, I thought I was some kind of super jerk? Why was he so sad?

Ah.

Seeing how he was acting right now, it seems like even the former prince, who was indeed a jerk, avoided him.

His voice was so loud that it made the entire sewer tremble. It was so loud that Eleris was forced to cast noise suppression magic around us.

Kuhuk.Sniff. Buhuuhuk.

Even I, who didnt think much about his crying before, was almost brought to tears. No, well, maybe I was the type that would start crying as well if I saw someone crying in front of me.

No, thats also not it. This guy was crying so sadly.

Whats with this?

Anyway, Sarkegaar was a loyalist almost to the point of insanity.

Sarkegaar continued to sniffle for a while, making snorting noises. I felt like he was going to run out of breath, so I felt like I had to somehow comfort him.

Whys such a grown-up Fiend crying like that? Huh? Its like you lost your country.

Come to think of it, we really lost our country. Looks like that idiom became reality now.

Sakegaar looked up at me, at my words.

I see! Youre right! Demons are still alive, so the Demon Realm has yet to die as well! What disloyalty I committed! The Demon Realm is still alive and well! Please punish meeeeeee!

That guy twisted my words weirdly, making his own determination flare up even more.

Loyar and Eleris were looking at me as if they were trying to apologize for being helpless in this situation.

They seemed to be tired of Sarkegaars antics as well. After barely calming him down, we all sat down around the bonfire.

What a perfect meeting place for a prince and servants of a fallen kingdom. Sarkegaar was looking at me with a firm expression.

You must rebuild the Demon Realm.

Eleris stared at me. She seemed to want to remind me about our previous conversation about moderately playing along.

Ah, uhm. Well. Thats right.

And to take revenge for the previous King, we have to build an even stronger and more powerful nation than ever before!

Ah, you bastard! If you keep on sticking to these unfruitful rhetorics Ill rip out your tongue!

Loyar shouted.

Yes, even in novels, if a character keeps on talking about similar things, the author will get cursed out for inflating the length of the chapter. Sarkegaar also fake coughed as if preparing to continue on with the third verse.

Ehem. My apologies, Your Highness. Its just when I heard the news that His Majesty the Demon King had passed away, it seemed like the whole world was coming to an end .

Alright. I got it.

It seemed like he was the type of person whod finish what he wanted to say no matter what.

Hearing the news of the Demon Realms defeat must have felt like the sky was collapsing above him. However, since I was still alive, I was his last hope, hence reigniting his fighting spirit.

Rebuilding the Demon Realm, huh. Thats good and all, but there are only the four of us and Im still some useless, incompetent kid.

Calling yourself as such is an unfair thing to say! Your Highness bloodline is the most noble! You are the only Arcdemon left in this world!-

Yeah, so thats it.

I cut off Sarkegaars muffled words.

Only

Just what the hell is an Arcdemon?

Just what was an Arcdemon, for them to not even think of finding a new Demon King and simply clung to me?

I had no idea about that yet.

Everyone was looking at me with puzzlement apparent on their faces.