PAW Extra 18

《Extra》18: New Lord 3

Anyway, after deciding to make Yomi learn how to communicate with others, I called over Magmell, who was the most sociable among my wives, then three of us went to visit the oni that Yomi had found.

It was a family of four that lived quietly in remote mountains.

Thanks to Yomi’s help, they were quite wary of us at first, but Magmell’s holy mother aura made them gradually lower their guards and eventually willing to listen to us.

“…I see. So that’s what’s going on.”

“Yes. Therefore, you need not worry about being attacked by humans anymore. The Savior Exa-sama; we, the saintesses; the goddesses; and the demons—although some has a little communication problem—are helping with the rebuilding of the oni village. Of course, you don’t have to move there if you don’t feel like it, but we’d really appreciate it if you could consider it.”

Magmell bowed her head politely, and I followed.

Naturally, Yomi was just standing there with a straight face, so I whispered to him.

“Oi, Yomi. We bow together at times like this. Come on.”

“Ridiculous. Why should I bow my head to people who I am not serving?”

“But Leuke-san will be sad if you don’t. You okay with that?”

“…Tch.” After clicking his tongue dissatisfiedly, Yomi lowered his head a little.

Seeing him like that, I softened my expression.

◇

Afterwards, I asked Yomi next to me while watching Magmell from afar, who was enjoying chatting with the oni couple. “How was it? Have you understood a little bit about communicating with people?”

“Hmph. Essentially, you have to be humble and humor the other party like that woman is doing, right? Its principle is the same as bargaining.”

“Haha, right. You’re not exactly wrong. But the fact is no one finds being offended amusing. That’s why people keep up their smiles and are careful with their words when conversing.”

This didn’t apply in every case, naturally.

“Of course, I’m not saying that you should smile all the time. When you disagree with something, you should argue, and in such cases, you can use slightly stronger words. In summary, you have to be flexible and respond according to the situation.”

“‘Flexible’ again, huh. What troublesome creatures you humans and demi-humans are.”

“Haha, we have ‘feelings’, after all. You demons have them too, right? You find a smiling Patty better than a sad Patty. Isn’t that right?”

“…Dunno.”

“You should be able to understand it by now. What Leuke-san really wants is for everyone to come back to the village with a smile like that.” I said as I gestured to the chatting Magmell and oni couple with my eyes.

From their expressions, I was sure they’d made their way to the village someday.

“……”

I had no idea what he thought of my words, but Yomi silently gazed at them.

At that time.

“U-um…”

““!””

Suddenly a voice called out to us from beside us, and we both looked toward the owner.

Standing there were the oni sisters, who looked to be less than ten years old.

They looked at us (or at Yomi, to be exact) and said while holding each other as though they were afraid, “Mister, are you sick…?”

Maybe they were curious about Yomi’s corpse-like complexion.

Yomi looked at me as though he was asking if he should answer them, and I nodded, then…

““Eeek?!””

…He looked down at the sisters with his usual expressionless face and quietly said, “…Why do you think so?”

“W-well, uh, because your face is so white…”

“I see. I look sick to you guys.”

“…? U-uhm, here…” Saying that, one of the girls took out a small white paper package.

“What is it?”

“This is the medicine that our mother made, sir… If you take this, your fever will go down…”

“……” Yomi silently looked down at the girl who held out the medicine with both of her trembling hands and then said, “I see. I’ll gratefully accept it.”

““!””

Hearing his words, the sisters’ faces brightened, and after giving us a bow, they ran to their parents.

Then.

“…What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, just thinking you’re surprisingly kind.”

“Shut up, or I’ll kill you.”

“Okay, okay. Don’t be mad.”

After I calmed Yomi down, the three of us left the family behind and returned to the oni village where Leuke-san was waiting.

I told her what had happened and asked if she could give Yomi a little more time.

Because I had a feeling that he’d figure things out by himself and give her a satisfying answer eventually—so I told her.

After listening to my words, Leuke-san giggled amusedly and then readily agreed, saying, “All right. Then, I’ll be their lord for the time being.”

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