I picked up the warwolves two days later, as promised. We made our way to the dungeon after the usual exchange of greetings, during which they once again froze up in front of Rir. All in all, there were about 20 warwolves present, some of which I had recognized and already greeted.

  “Mom!”


  “Good afternoon, sweetie. It’s nice to see you again.”


  Lyuu, who had been waiting outside the castle, dashed up to her mother and glomped her. The look on her face was very much akin to that of the girls when they did the same to me. Completely different from how she treats her dad too.

  It seemed her father and I were thinking the same thing, as he smiled in a sort of awkward, bitter way as he watched the two interact. I guess that’s just what it means to be a dad though. Pretty sure all of them end up having to face the same fate eventually.

  Roselia looked her daughter up and down, carefully examining her current state.

  “Your fur has gotten a lot shinier, and your skin is looking nice and smooth. You’ve become very beautiful,” she said. “You must be living a great life.”


  “You betcha, it’s real good!” she said, with a giggle. “I’m havin’ lots of fun everyday, ’cause of Master ‘n ’cause of everyone else too. We’re all real close, and I’m already rarin’ to introduce you! You’ve gotta come right away!”


  “Of course, sweetie, I’d love to meet all your friends,” said Roselia with a smile.

  “And you need to see how much I’ve been growin’ these days too! I ain’t done learnin’ just yet, but I’m startin’ to get a real good grasp of housework ‘n stuff too. I can cook ‘n clean ‘n everythin’! One of my friends, Leila, she’s been teachin’ me real nice.”


  Lyuu had obviously started rambling, so I gave her a light tap on the shoulder as I chuckled.

  “Calm down. I know you’ve got lots to talk about, but you should probably wait until everyone’s actually settled. It’s been a long journey for them, so why don’t we start by showing them to the inn first?”


  It was a fairly valid concern, given that we were still standing right by the portal that was the entrance.

  “Oh, right, that’s a real good point, Master!” She finally looked past her mother, at everyone else that had arrived. “Hey Dad! Hey guys! Nice to see you all! Follow me, I’ll show you where you’ll be stayin’!”


  With that, she led all our guests away.

  “She looks just full of energy,” said Roselia, with a light chuckle. “I think you were just overthinking it, dear. If she’s doing that well, then I don’t think you’ve made the wrong choice.”


  “…I guess not,” replied Vergillus, with a small sigh.

  “I was worried when I first heard that she was going to be marrying a demon lord, but now that I’ve met him, I’d say that he seems like a rather gentle soul.”


  “Gentle…? You’d call that gentle?”


  Her father shot me a glare, to which I replied with a calm smile.

  “Gentle’s practically my middle name,” I said.

  “I’m not falling for that one,” he turned to his wife. “If you heard about the stuff he did during the war, you’d know he’s violence incarnate.”


  I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve been called that… but honestly I guess it’s kinda not really wrong, in a way. War is more or less about killing people, after all, so…


  “Master’s real laid back ‘n stuff when he’s at home!” Lyuu came to my defence. “He normally spends a lotta his time doin’ chores ‘n makin’ stuff ‘n playin’ with the kids.”


  “Oh, so he’s the homely type? That must be nice,” said Roselia. “It would be nice if Warwolf men were more like that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them do any housework.”


  Her words caused most of the men in the group to avert their gazes while the women stared at them in a way that almost seemed accusatory.

  “I mean you guys are hunters, right? So I guess it kinda makes a bit of sense if you think about it,” I said, with a bit of an awkward smile.

  The idea of men doing housework was more of a modern concept than one that applied during medieval times. This world was one that didn’t have all the leeway and technology that came with a more advanced civilization, which meant that a strict division of labour was somewhat of a necessity. In the warwolves case, it meant that the men had to really stick their necks out in order to hunt all the food they needed while the women attended to their homes. It reminded me of what I’d read once, that men capable of fighting were naturally valued higher when war was an active concern.

  “Y-yeah,” said Lyuu’s dad, with a nod. “Us men have to hunt, and the rest of our time goes into forging our bodies. It can’t be helped.”


  “Master goes huntin’ ‘n stuff too, but he still helps out with the chores ‘n stuff almost everyday.”


  Lyuu’s proclamation was one that led to a brief moment of silence.

  “Hey, Lyuu? You know, that probably wasn’t the best time to bring that up…”


  She was making me feel awkward, given my recent defense of the warwolf men. And plus, I’ve got all these demon lord powers and stuff so it’s kinda not fair.

  Lyuu’s father seemed to realize that he would only be further disadvantaged if the conversation kept going the way it was, so he tried to steer it off course.

  “T-that reminds me… I saw several children here the last time I visited as well. Why are they here? They aren’t yours, are they?”


  “I found one of them in a forest. Four of them are actually monsters I summoned, just like Rir, and one’s actually a sword. I don’t think I got to introduce her last time, so I’ll make sure I do that later.”


  “That’s quite the number of children. I can’t wait to meet them,” said Roselia.

  “Of all things, that’s the part that grabbed your attention?” Vergillus sighed.

  “What’s the problem, dear?”


  “I’m… you… I don’t even…”


  Lyuu’s dad was at a complete and total loss for words.

  “Damn, Lyuu, that mother of yours is something else.”


  “This ain’t the first time someone’s tried tellin’ me that,” she said with a giggle.

  ***

  “You have finally arrived. We have been waiting.”


  Lefi was standing out in front of the inn, wearing something other than her usual attire.

  “So uh… mind explaining why you’re dressed like a maid?”


  I’m pretty sure she was still wearing her dress when I left to go pick up the warwolves… the fuck happened? I mean, she looks great in it, but still…


  “It has come time for Lyuu to shine. We are dressed but as maids so that she may play the starring role. You shall find Nell in the same attire.”


  “Ummm… hi.”


  The brunette stepped out of the building as if on cue. She seemed a bit embarrassed, which only served to add to the adorable impression she gave.

  “Oh, Mom! This is Leficios, and that’s Nell. They’re both Master’s other wives ‘n I love ’em to bits!”


  “Indeed, I am Leficios. Mother to Lyuu, you have done well to come such a long way.”


  “I’m Nell, Lyuu and I are great friends.”


  “Nice to meet the two of you,” said Lyuu’s mom. “I’m Roselia Gyroll. Thanks for taking care of Lyuu.”


  The women seemed to hit it off right away, as they soon engaged in a lengthy, loud discussion. I took the opportunity to turn to Lyuu’s dad and bring up the agenda.

  “I asked Lyuu about your customs and stuff, and I think I’ve got everything set up. We’re planning on chilling and stuff today, so I was thinking of hosting the ceremony tomorrow morning. I think it’s called a blood pact, right? Anyway, that sound good, or?”


  “That is fine with us. I think you’ve most likely already heard the details from my daughter, but I feel like I should remind you that cleansing yourself ahead of time is necessary. It may sound like some sort of fancy term, but all you have to do is take a bath. Anyone else participating in the ceremony should do the same.”


  “Sure. Oh, and I think you guys used the open air baths we had last time, right? Well we’ve actually got a bit of an upgrade, and now we have one with a waterfall too. Feel free to use them tonight, and tomorrow morning too. Oh yeah, I figure you might wanna check out the setup, so follow me and I’ll show you where I’ve got it.”


  “I’d appreciate that, but what about you?”


  “We’ve got another bath somewhere else, so we’ll be using that. Don’t worry about it.”


  Once we had that discussed, we dove right into the details.

  We’d start by having everyone eat breakfast and bathe in that order, then gather in front of the altar we had set up in the grasslands. Once the ceremony was over, we’d have a light lunch alongside a bit of a break, during which everyone would change out of their formal attire. After everyone was nice and rested, we’d regroup for an evening dinner party. The location we would be hosting it at was one of the beaches that I had prepared. It was fully set up and basically ready for a barbecue whenever. Leila had already used her top class skills to process all the god-tier ingredients that Lefi had gathered just for the occasion, so we were totally good on that front as well.

  I had the feeling that the kids were actually looking forward to dinner more than they were the actual ceremony, but that wasn’t really something I thought of as a problem. All that matters is that everyone is happy.

  We were planning to bring out the drinks for the party as well, so that the adults could chat the evening away, as adults did. And that would basically wrap it up.

  The whole ordeal had me nervous, but I was also looking forward to it. There was no way I wouldn’t. Lyuu and I were finally going to officially tie the knot.

  God damn, tomorrow’s going to be one hell of a day.