Unorthodox Guild

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Several years ago.

In the dead of night.

"..."

At this moment, the entire Demon Continent was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

The dazzling white light and magical fluctuations emanating from various places, along with shouts and sounds of battle, all indicated that a battle was taking place here.

The war between humans and demons.

At this moment, this war, which has lasted for several years, seems to be nearing its end.

Under the leadership of the hero squad, the demons suffered a series of defeats.

The demon territories on the mainland continued to shrink... which led to most of the demon leaders, after realizing that the situation was hopeless, scrambling to escape to the small islands, even though the Demon King was still putting up a stubborn resistance on the front lines.

Not long ago, after defeating ten or even nine demon leaders, the hero team finally encountered the Demon King on the front lines.

After several fierce battles, the heavily injured Demon King seemed to realize he was no match for the Demon King. With his remaining magic power, he cast a powerful spatial spell, leaving behind a spatial teleportation array whose destination was unknown.

"I never expected the Demon King to still possess the power to cast powerful spells."

"It's my fault; the demon-dispelling magic I just cast didn't work."

The boy's expression was grave as he looked at the portal before him, its magical energy fluctuating wildly and seemingly on the verge of collapse. "Perhaps we should rest for now. After all, none of us are familiar with spatial magic. What if this is a trap set by the Demon King..."

"..."

Then, the hero team seemed to be divided on whether to continue the pursuit.

"...I need to have my license checked."

"..."

"Can't you be serious for once? This concerns humanity..."

"Those who don't go in are given away."

"..."

As a result, most of the team members chose to enter the teleportation array.

"..."

"Are these guys even human? What's the rush?"

The boy stared at the vanished teleportation array, unsure of what to say.

The outcome is predictable: without exception, all members of the hero's team who entered the teleportation array vanished completely along with the Demon King.

However, this sudden event did not have a significant impact on the overall course of the war.

After all, the hero team had already eliminated most of the demon elites and leaders before entering the teleportation array.

Furthermore, the Demon King's disappearance also took away the Demon King buff effect from the demon race.

The remaining demons are no threat at all; it's only a matter of time before they are driven off the continent by the adventurers.

"..."

Not to mention, the very purpose of the hero team is to defeat the Demon King.

The fact that the hero and the demon king have both disappeared is more in line with the wishes of some high-ranking officials in the human kingdoms.

On a smaller scale, it saved a considerable amount of money in rewards.

On a larger scale, each member of a hero's squad is powerful enough to influence the landscape of a region.

Although it might feel a bit like "the rabbit is killed after the hunt," it's hard to say that having fewer variables in the world is a bad thing.

......

That very night, shortly after the Demon King entered the teleportation array.

"..."

Inside the enormous black castle.

The black-haired girl clenched her fists tightly.

He seemed to be worried about something, his gaze frequently drifting towards the window.

"..."

"...Huh?"

The girl rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

She seemed to see countless black lights, originating from afar, hurtling towards her in the dark sky...

"This, this is..."

The devil's magic? ? ?

The girl hurriedly got up from the stool, so anxious that she tripped and fell, but still stumbled to the window.

No, really?

He swallowed hard, watching the black beams of light continuously surging towards the castle.

If all of this is the Demon King's magic, doesn't that mean...?

"..."

"Yura..."

"Eh, eh?"

The dark magic outside the window coalesced into the figure of a young girl.

Although it was already late at night, the black-haired girl immediately recognized her face.

"Miss Kukru, is that...?"

The first Demon King of the Demon Clan, Kekrukruk.

Although no one knows why the Demon King appeared here, no one knows why the Demon King's name has six characters.

"..."

However, now is clearly not the time to worry about these things.

"Yura..."

The figure, formed from magical energy, slowly opened its eyes.

Looking at the black-haired girl in front of him, who had her mouth agape and seemed somewhat at a loss.

"Hehe, it's me."

A smile that revealed no emotion appeared on his face.

"It was nice to see you, but..."

The girl resumed her aloof expression, as if a smile had never appeared on her face.

"Now is not the time for reminiscing."

He shook his head. "You... are Kukuru... in this sekai... your only... friend."

"Although you are... ninngenn, you... should... listen to what I'm about to say..."

"Okay, okay, don't worry, Kru."

As the girl's figure gradually dimmed, her voice became increasingly intermittent.

Seemingly realizing something, Yurabe bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.

She was on high alert: because she had silently vowed to remember everything that Kru said next...

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"that......"

"..."

"Kukru, did you just speak?"

Looking at the girl whose mouth was moving but no sound was coming out.

Yura knew this was ruining the atmosphere.

But seeing that Krul was talking so enthusiastically to himself, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"?"

"Oh, sorry Yura, I accidentally turned off the microphone."

"..."

"Oh no, time's up!"

Seemingly noticing something, the girl tapped her head and looked apologetically at the black-haired girl who was standing there dumbfounded.

"I'm a little embarrassed, but Yura, you're the Demon King now."

"You'll have to figure out the Demon King system yourself. Good luck with our dreams!"

"Eh, West... Tong? Eh?"

The moment he finished speaking, Krukru's figure transformed into countless black rays of light.

"Huh, huh??"

Before Yura could react...

That immense black magic power surged entirely into the girl's body...

"..."

"..."

"..."

To this day, Yura still doesn't know what Kru said that day, nor does she know what that thin barrel was.

Therefore, without receiving the complete Demon King's inheritance, Yura cannot be called a true Demon King.

She had simply obtained a large amount of dark magic power by chance after the previous demon king went missing.

Although the total amount of this magic is huge, it is inexplicably quite difficult to control.

This led to her taking several years to adapt, and she only learned one relatively practical method of using magic: creating beings called Demon King's Familiars by transferring Demon King's magic power to monsters.

The girl's decision wasn't actually problematic: compared to others, creating familiars was arguably the most cost-effective Demon King skill.

This single skill encompasses intelligence gathering, combat capabilities, survival, and many other aspects...

In the game, it would sell for at least 98 gold coins, or it could be sold as a super-powerful limited-time event operator to rake in a huge amount of gold coins.

"Ugh..."

However, now she has lost her only skill.

"Mr. Kaya, Yura really doesn't know anything..."

The thought of how the skill she had spent half a year learning had turned into a stick-wielding master brought tears to Yura's eyes again.

I don't know why I suddenly fainted, and I don't know why I have no magic power left in my body.

However, she knew one thing.

The point is that I definitely can't tell Kaya that I'm the Demon King.

I won't even mention how much of a commotion such words would cause.

Even if Kaya is a good person (?), and didn't report him to the association.

Even if the girl was clumsy, she could still guess what had happened on the demon side.

She clenched her pale little hand... She had already lost all of the Demon King's magic.

Can the girl named Yura still be considered a "Demon King" now?

"Yura woke up to find herself in a forest, and then woke up to find herself surrounded by monsters."

"..."

Kaya thought to herself, "This isn't the Magic Telephone after-sales service center."

"Then, then maybe because she was too scared, Yura's magic went out of control, sob..."

Seemingly aware that her excuse was rather flimsy, the black-haired girl rubbed her small hands and feet together.

The way he spoke also got softer and softer towards the end, until he was completely inaudible. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was some kind of black fly.

"Finally, Yura felt dizzy and was led by the two Furies to a strange place..."

...Those must be Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

"I saw a lot of strange people having a ring match."

That's a revival match... wait, is there anyone playing basketball?

"No, no, that's not right."

Realizing the conversation was taking a strange turn, Kaya quickly rubbed his head.

"Then what's with your magic? Don't tell me it's just another awakening... um."

I noticed the black-haired girl with her head down, fiddling with her fingers.

"..."

"Ugh."

He sighed, as if he had given up on something.

"..."

"Yura, do you still plan to stay in the guild?"

We changed to a less serious topic.

Although Kaya knew that she was definitely hiding something from her.

But judging from Yura's current state, it seemed that what the girl was hiding was something she could never say, so Kaya didn't press her for more information.

After all, he knew that everyone has at least two secrets, one on the left and one on the right.

Looking at the black-haired girl with her head down: Let's not force her.

Even Kaya herself has many things she has never mentioned to her guildmates.

The relationship between him and Yura was ultimately just that of a senior and junior adventurer within the guild.

Kaya had no right to demand that Yura tell her everything on his mind.

However, he needed to confirm whether Yura would continue to stay in the guild.

The Forest of Cuteness falls under the jurisdiction of the Cat Guild.

The truth will out. Something this big happened today can't be hidden any longer. We have to report it to the Adventurers' Guild.

"..."

And in order to write the report... even if it's just making up a story, Kaya needs the help of Yura, the instigator.

"If I hadn't mentioned it myself..."

If this guy sneaks away, things will really get complicated... um.

While Kaya was still struggling with how to deal with the investigators from the Adventurers' Guild...

"Um, Mr. Kaya..."

The black thing had somehow managed to grab his sleeve.

"That's right, that's Yura..."

"..."

"Can I still stay in the guild... Waaaaah!"

She looked at Kaya with teary eyes.

She seemed to finally be unable to hold back and burst into tears, which fell onto the wooden floor.

".....?"

No, why did you start crying?

Looking at the little black creature sobbing incessantly, it was as the saying goes, what goes around comes around, and now it was his turn to be at a loss.

"Yura, Yura has nowhere else to go, boohoo..."

"Hey, Yura, I didn't say I was going to kick you out..."

"Waaaaaah!!!"

Before Kaya could explain clearly...

Yura, however, thought of something sad and cried even louder.

"Yura, I'll pay back my debt properly, sob sob."

"Anyway, Yura isn't the Demon King anymore, so I'll make Yura do whatever I want, be Mr. Kaya's slave, be his maid for life..."

"Meow, Lilia really wants to be a maid too, meow..."

"Quiet down!!!"

Kaya yelled at the purple thing next to him and quickly stood up.

"Yura, Yura, calm down."

A seasoned adventurer who has handled countless monster requests.

Seeing the girl with large tears streaming down her face, he was flustered and didn't know what to do.

"Waaaaah, Yura, Yura doesn't want to go back to pull the cart... Waaaaah..."

"Oh dear, the boss made the girl cry."

"..."

..........

..........

"Mmm, mmm..."

"..."

The black thing was stuffing large mouthfuls of mashed potatoes into its mouth.

"Waaah, boss, why did you hit Elisa...?"

A white thing covering its head.

"Elisa is going to cry too, boohoo..."

"...You have ten seconds to leave the guild."

"Hehe, are you leaving get off work early, boss? See you tomorrow~"

"...Today is a day off."

"Then remember to pay Elisa for her overtime work."

"..."

boom.

With a soft bang!

The unserious white figure hopped and skipped as it closed the guild's wooden door.

"..."

"It's finally quiet now."

I rubbed my aching head: Today is supposed to be a day off, but it feels even more torturous than a workday.

Kaya didn't know why things had turned out this way.

There was just a vague feeling that ever since these guys came to the guild, trouble had been piling up one after another.

He was initially optimistic, thinking that if more members joined the guild, he could leave this place sooner and enjoy his youth.

Looking back now, it seems I'm finding myself increasingly unable to escape this situation...

"..."

"Wouldn't it be better to kick a few people out?"

He glanced at Yura, who was wolfing down her food, out of the corner of his eye: but just now, he clearly had such an opportunity, yet, for some inexplicable reason, he didn't really want to drive Yura away.

"Sigh, what's wrong with me?"

He sighed.

"By the way, Yura, didn't you just say what you were?"

"Um, Mr. Kaya, what are you saying? You must have misheard me, um..."

"..."

Am I hallucinating?

But he clearly remembers... Never mind.

"Maybe I've been under too much pressure lately..."

Kaya felt like her life was coming to an end: it seemed she really needed to take a good rest.