Chapter 666: Mysterious Dwarf - Logan Stonekeg!
The Demon Emperor stepped out of the portal, his demonic features fading, as his skin became tanned and his hair and eyes returned to their natural colours. Golden blond and Ocean blue. He stepped out of a small alley onto the wooden pier of a strange village with dozens of humans scurrying around.
"I have no memories of this place..."
"...." The people spoke a strange language that was difficult to understand, but when he focused his ears and listened. He noticed it was a peculiar version of the Mainland common tongue, just a little rough and filled with slang.
"Oi Oi, big lad, what’s with the massive axe and fierce gaze?"
A strange, bearded old man who barely came to Asmodeus’s waist called out to him. He squinted his eyes while observing the demon before his lips curved into a shit-eating grin.
"You don’t seem to be local."
"Oh, could you tell?"
The old dwarf blinked twice, and Asmodeus himself covered his mouth. The elegant and husky tone matched Darius closely. A grand duke, who stood at the top of the empire with the best education and training.
"Ack! Are ya a noble sneaking out for some fun?"
’What should I say...’
[Asmodeus, I can’t believe you suddenly left!]
[Darling, you’d better be prepared when you come home!]
Serena and Lumina sent mental threats to him, but he just shrugged them off with an awkward smile. This smile seemed to trigger something in the dwarf as his mouth formed a circle, and he let out a sigh.
"Oh, laddie are ya by chance... a third or fourth son?"
Because the Dwarf seemed more accommodating when he asked this, Asmodeus decided to go along with it... "Well, it’s not something I am proud of."
"Hahaha! Forget it, we know what this damn empire is like if Yer not a firstborn! Come, I bet a silver spoon kid like you has no idea how the world works!"
"W-Wait... who are you?"
Asmodeus hadn’t felt this pressure for a long time.
It almost reminded him of being a teen again back in the other world and dealing with his father’s subordinates, who always tried to match him with other clans’ princesses and teach him how to shoot.
"Hmmm? OH! Names... my name is Logan Stonekeg! A Former B-Rank Adventurer who works for the guild and someone who loves to drink excellent beer!"
’Logan, B-Rank... I see.’
Asmodeus long forgot the rankings of the guilds and what dictated someone being a C, B or A rank. He probably surpassed the likes of SSS Rank by now, but the reason he came to this place was recon, to find information on the sudden storm, and these coordinates are where Martha and her Dragon Knights last appeared.
’Let’s just register with the guild.’
"I’m Ryuji, Ryuji Vincenzo."
"Oh? That’s a strange name... human nobles have the most pretentious names! Hahahaha!"
"I see."
The dwarf slapped his back suddenly, and the pair began to walk through the small town, which was called the port of Stormvale. A place where many shipwrecks, pirates and maelstroms happened because of the unstable mana in the depths of the ocean.
***
Inside the cosy tavern attached to the guild, Asmodeus looked down at his adventuring card, which carried over from when he was in the continents. He couldn’t help but smirk at the details missing, but the rank was clearly nostalgic.
[Ryuji Vincenzo • C-Rank • Sovereign Berserker]
The mainland didn’t show or reveal your attributes or skills; it just showed the important details, rank, name and class so that people could form the correct parties. Logan’s long brown beard dripped with suds from his pint as he slammed his tankard down and began to scoop salted nuts into his mouth.
"C-Rank, eh? Hah! Never expected you to be that strong. These days, it’s all fancy bastards calling themselves Dragon-Slayers or Saint-Somethings." Logan snorted, wiping the foam from his beard with the back of his arm. "Still, Sovereign Berserker? Sounds like you’ve got a mean swing behind that pretty face, lad."
"I can’t tango with the best of them."
"Hmmm... then I should put you in contact with a suitable party, you said you were looking into the recent shipwrecks, right?"
"Mm." Asmodeus gave a faint, awkward smile. "I manage."
Ryuji lifted his mug, and the pale amber nectar with a thick foam swished in the mug. He’d not drunk anything but Ryo’s magical diet for a week. Yet something about the sweet, fruity scent and citrus tang was nostalgic.
’I told this dwarf what I wanted... because it seems interesting that no one has heard anything about a group of thirty sexy female knights.’
Luckily, the items in his storage and the pact he made with all knights and vassals, like Brando, told him that most of the crew survived. ’Well, at least half did.’
But sadly, he couldn’t find their location because Abyssal energy masked the area.
He glanced around the tavern as the room buzzed with drunken laughter and the occasional crash of mugs. Despite the warmth, he could sense something off beneath the lively noise and drunken songs.
’The mana... it’s faint but familiar. Abyssal residue.’
A dark, faint pulse of aura, it was something that resembled Mephisto but was different, coming from beyond the harbour. It prickled against his senses like static.
’It looks like those books were true...’
"The guardians of the planet... huh." He muttered before chugging half his pint.
He took another sip of the ale in front of him, pretending to enjoy it while focusing his perception outward. Whatever remained of the storm still lingered far off the coast, crawling across the horizon and dispersing without a sign.
"Something bothering ya, lad?" Logan leaned forward, his nose twitching. "You’ve got that look. The kind a man gets before he proposes to a woman above his station and then picks a fight with a dragon or he can’t afford."
Ryuji laughed.
’If I proposed to a woman, something much scarier than an abyss would attack me...’ The images of his kind and gentle wives became terrifying demons at night when he made them jealous or angry.
"Hah. Maybe both." Asmodeus chuckled softly, setting the mug down. "I’m looking for someone. A group, actually. A merchant fleet that got caught up in the storm... although they were from the continent one of my close friends was aboard. They were caught in the storm that just passed."
The dwarf’s grin faltered. For the first time since they met, his jovial expression dimmed. "You serious?" He glanced around the tavern, lowering his voice. "You won’t find much left o’ them, lad. That storm wasn’t natural. Half the coast’s been on edge since it passed. Ships vanishin’, fishermen finding bits o’ hull and burnt metal washing up on the reefs."
But then he paused, mid-sip and from what Ryuji knew of this dwarf. He didn’t stop drinking for anything.
"Wait... there could be."
Logan took a deep breath, then downed his pint and held up three fingers. "Buy me three pints and I’ll help ye."
’That’s all, is it a trick? Or is this Dwarf just hopelessly kind?’
Asmodeus believed that the people of the mainland were horrible people who hated the continent, and yet... the people he met so far. None of them resembled those harsh and judgmental images in his mind.
He lifted his hand and shouted to the barmaid. "Three more, Dark Stouts for the handsome dwarf! I’ll take the same again!"
The young woman, probably in her late twenties, blushed and nodded, holding the wooden tray. "Oh Laddie are you trying seduce our little Lucy?" Logan elbowed Ryuji three times with a grin. "Cheeky boy. Her Pa will skin you alive."
"Haha, no... I just wanted to order."
"Che, you damn elves and your pretty faces."
’Elf?’
Suddenly, he noticed his reflection in the bar mirror and couldn’t help but smile, although he looked like his past self. The slightly pointy ears made him look like an ethereal half-elf with gold hair and striking blue eyes.
Asmodeus’s fingers tightened around his mug. "Forget my looks, so about the storm. Were there really no survivors reported?"
"None. Though..." Logan scratched his beard. "There were rumors. Some of the salvage crews said they found wreckage further south and near the old pirate coves. No one’s stupid enough to go near those waters now, though. Word is, the old Seak King himself’s gone mad."
Asmodeus looked out the fogged window toward the port, where the sea was hidden beneath a rolling mist that glowed faintly red under the moonlight. His eyes narrowed. "Then I’ll go there."
"W-W-Wait Laddie, you don’t need to go meet them... if there were any survivors. Those dirty bastards will send them to a special market..."
"Special market?"
"Ah... the black market that those corrupt bastards love."
’So I’ll need force or money.’
Because of the annoying situation with the Arbiters and Abyssal appearing, he didn’t want to cause chaos in the Mainland.
Clack!
The pretty young maid Lucy left the beer and a small parchment with a room number on it beneath Ryuji’s glass. ’Ugh...’ Her naïve attempt at seduction still managed to arouse him after so long of holding off on a proper release.
He closed his eyes and decided to work with Logan more; there must be a way.
"What do you think is the best way to attend?"