“A long time ago, back then when the gods were creating this world, the Creator decreed that to make the worlds prosper, there must be both Light and Darkness. When humanity was created, the humans started fighting each other, like the most vicious and savage of animals. Which is why…” I stopped Yuri.

“Can you please tell it shorter?”

“Because the mortals were killing each other all the time, and were too close to eradicating each other, the Creator decided that there must be a force that would make the mortals join their efforts. Thus the Demon kings were settled in every world. Somewhere they were laying dormant, until it was time to act. Somewhere they woke up from their slumber and done a lot of stuff, before disappearing until required.” (Y)

“Okay, I see. And this world’s Demon king has awoken?”

“Because this world is flawed, and some of its gods are failures… The Demon king did not wake up, and things went out of control. The sea monsters were supposed to be part of the Demon king’s army but instead they are roaming everywhere. Luckily, there is a force that can subjugate a Demon king.” (Y)

“A hero?”

“Yes. The abnormal existence that defies laws of the Creator, even though is part of them. It all goes like you would expect: a hero, driven by sense of justice, goes to fight a Demon king, in process unifying a world’s powers. However, our case is the most special.” Yuri sighed.

“Now we need to reignite this struggle. There is a hero but there is no Demon king to fight. Thus, we need to wake up the Demon king and fight him. Then the world should return to the way it was supposed to be.” I pretended that I understood what is going on.

The fox girl continued sighing. She appeared to be tired of everything.

“What if it doesn’t go like that?”

“You think I was sent here for no reason…? Either I succeed, or this world will be deemed a failure. The consequences are… grim…” (Y)

“How about we ask for the others’ help? If it’s that bad, everybody will agree to help, right?”

“That girl’s little vagary did contribute a bit.” We looked at Veronica.

The girl was standing in a corner, without any desire to participate in our conversation.

Meanwhile, everybody woke up.

“I will go meet everyone. They must be shocked.”

“Go, please.” (Y)

I went to the crew quarters. My comrades were looking around in daze, and tried to understand what happened.

“Everybody! I’m here! We are on my ship!”

“Are we…?” (P)

“Yes. It’s alright, everybody is safe.”

“What about that thing?” (A)

“Veronica is safe too. WAIT!” I had to grip Alba, who radiated her desire to murder.

“How about we all calm down and talk this through…? There was a lot of weird stuff going on lately.” I led everybody to the bridge. As we approached closer, Yuriko was becoming stiffer.

“I’m back!” I entered, and didn’t see anybody.

“Yuri, Veronica?! Where are you?!”

[Don’t tell me that fox took Veronica?!]

‘Murmurs’

I followed the sound of mumurs, and looked behind the navigation table. I saw Veronica there, she was shivering and murmuring something. I could barely get one word: ‘monster’.

Even when I turned around to look at the others with a smile, they all were feeling uneasy, and all were on guard.

“H-how about we all calm down, and relax…?” I tried to lift the curled up girl. When Veronica stood up, she started panting and gasping, making everybody feel even less safe.

“Let go of her for a moment.” Yuriko approached us first.

“She’s yours.” I entrusted Veronica to her.

Yuriko poked the girl a couple of times, until she was satisfied with something.

“There is no doubt. The puppeteer is gone.” (Yko)

“What is gone?” Alba approached us too.

“Previously there was a strong energy surging around her. Now, I do not feel any unusual energy from this girl.” After Yuriko's confirmation I sighed in relief.

“You are relaxing a bit too early. All of my senses are numb. Whatever happened here, it overwhelms me. Be cautious.” (Yko)

“May it be related to the Demon king?”

“Ha…?” Everybody was stupefied, except for Yuriko. The woman was stiffened.

“You read too many fairy tales?” (P)

“We had a chat with Yuri, the thing that possessed Veronica.”

“She was possessed?! That explains it…” Alba glanced at Veronica.

“How about we start preparing for action? If the Demon king is…”

“Hold your horses, hothead. We better return to the city of Benezio, and deal with the mess we have made. The ramble about the Demon king can wait. Neither of us in shape to do anything.” Alba pushed Veronica somewhere into a far corner, and approached the windows.

“Fine. I’ll start moving then.” I ordered Fairy to come here, and moved the ship towards the harbor.

It was indeed weird to think of fighting a Demon king while we all are barely standing.