Chapter 9: Nine

Maesron dropped the bag full of goblin jaws on the hole, which then Brunai began covering in dirt with swift sweeps from her battleaxe.

"Can you at least explain the purpose of that?" Janilari said, gesturing at the jaw bones being buried. "What difference does it make to put them in the ground?"

"Goblins bury their own kind, as a form of respect." Replied Huddinli. "It's the least we can do."

"They are dead. They won't know if they get buried or if they get traded by a reward in money, which by the way you need."

"We don't want that money." Grunted Brunai, her voice strained with the effort of moving the dirt. "It's tainted."

"... And who cares!?"

"We do." Rida sent her a warning look, and the demoness crossed her arms, pouting.

A few hours had happened since they got the bag from Ardiane, and now they were heading over to their next mission. A decent distance from the town, they stopped to make this improvised burial on the side of the road.

Janilari's efforts of convincing them to just get the money were fruitless. She wondered why it was so hard to convince humans to act on their own interests.

She could understand, even if she found it silly, their desire to not hurt living creatures. But their efforts in not "disrespecting" the dead?

Her only conclusion was that mortality affected their brains or something, forcing them to put some misplaced significance in death. That she could understand, in a way. She remembered the time when she learned about mortality, about how some creatures had a limited time of existence.

She was fascinated with the concept, even if she struggled to understand it at times. When she noticed how different the lives of demons and mortals were, she half-hoped she was capable of dying. The older demons spent decades immobile, doing nothing but waiting for a time when something would motivate them to move again, a time that never came. Her mind shivered when she imagined a similar future for herself.

"Let's get going." Said Rida, their impromptu funeral finished. The rest of the humans nodded and got back on their horses. Despite her protests, Janilari again wasn't given one.

"I guess I'll walk." She sighed, but again nobody had mercy for her.

*

Since they left in a different direction than the day prior, the scenery here was different, arid, and with fewer trees. It was more boring, too, leaving Janilari levitating along the horses with only one source of entertainment.

"Come on, Rida! Please?"

"... No."

"But why not!?"

"... There's not enough space."

"Yes, there is!"

"What is she on about?" Asked Brunai, slowing her horse to join them. Rida hesitated.

"She won't let me ride with her!" Said the demoness instead. She pouted at Brunai.

"Oh? And why is that, Rida?" teased the strong warrior. The mage glared at her.

"What's going on?" Maesron joined them, along with Pendi and Huddinli.

"Rida is being mean."

"No, I'm not!"

"What did she do?"

"Don't answer that." The mage hissed. Janilari rolled her eyes. "Maesron, what is our mission, exactly?"

Brunai chuckled at the blatant change of topics, and the mage sent her another glare.

"Ah! Its orcs!" Maesron explained jovially. "Apparently they are raiding the crops over at the eastern farmlands."

"... Don't they do that every season?" Asked Huddinli.

"They do, in fact!" Continued Maesron.

"... Great." Rida took a hand to her face. "What are we even supposed to do?"

"Don't worry about that." Maesron chuckled. "I have a plan."

"That is even more worrying." Replied the mage. The knight waved a hand in a carefree gesture.

"Prince Ardiane's party usually deals with those orcs." Huddinli said, holding open a book. Maesron froze. "Apparently, for five years in a row he failed to completely eradicate them."

"Surprisingly." Mumbled Pendi.

"... Ardiane." Rida repeated, looking straight at Maesron. "Is this just your attempt to one-up him?"

"No!" The knight almost shouted, agitated. "... Not exactly."

"No way this is just about him." Said Pendi, staring at Maesron with a bewildered look.

"It is not! It's about... Listen." The knight raised a hand in a defensive gesture. "For years he tried to solve the problem in the eastern farmlands, and failed. But if we go there and solve it, we can prove that peace beats violence! Through the power of diplomacy, we could prove how wrong his ways are!"

They all stared at him, incredulously.

"Are you insane!?"

"When were you going to tell us?"

"... The orcs are just going to kill us."

Janilari nodded at the last one. "That's true! An orc could kill any of you with one hand!" They all stared at her. Rida raised an eyebrow. "Not you, Rida! I wouldn't let that happen!"

"... What about us?" Asked Huddinli. The demoness just shrugged, but Rida stared at her and raised an eyebrow again.

"Fine." Janilari rolled her eyes. "Nobody is dying, I guess. Doesn't mean your plan is going to work."

"I agree." Said Rida. "Orcs don't even speak our language, how are we supposed to communicate?"

Maesron's smile dropped. "They don't?"

"And how open would they be to diplomacy?" Added Huddinli. "There's already a group of humans that fight them every year. I don't think they are going to see us in a very positive light."

"Well..." Maesron hesitated. "I'm sure we can find a way."

"A way to not die, maybe." Muttered Pendi. "We should go back and not waste our time."

You are reading story What can go right when summoning a demon? at novel35.com

"Woah, Pendi!" Maesron cried out. "We can't give up without trying!"

"Maesron..." Brunai doubted. "I think we all agree that this is not a good idea."

The knight kept silent for a few moments, deep in thought. "But what if it works?" He said, slowly. "Do you know what that would mean?"

"It's not going to work." Rida stressed, but then hesitated. "But if it did, Ardiane would have to shut up, finally."

"He would be proven wrong." Huddinli agreed.

Pendi cursed under her breath, also in agreement. Janilari's eyes darted between them.

"Wow, you all really hate this Ardiane guy." She said, casually. "What did he do?"

The adventurers around her visibly tensed.

"I mean, I get he's rude and all..." The demoness continued.

"... Rude?" Pendi looked at her in disbelief. "He's a monster!"

"... I thought he was human?" The demoness looked back in confusion.

"He killed thousands." Huddinli clarified.

"... So?"

"So!?" Brunai was wide-eyed. "He's a murderer."

"... Huh." The demoness looked between the adventurers. "So you have different values, right? Why is that a big deal?"

Going by the (yet again) horrified expressions around her, there was something Janilari was missing. But was she wrong? Did humans hate others only based on their differing values? She was about to ask that before being pulled away by Rida.

"Give us a moment." The mage grumbled, ignoring the looks of the other humans. With her hand on the demoness' arm, she slowed them down to put some distance between them and the rest of the party.

"Uh..." Janilari hesitated, looking straight at the point where her arm was being held by Rida. But the mage promptly took her hand off her.

"I don't need you to make a worse impression." Rida told her, in a lower voice to bury any chance the rest could overhear. "They are already in my ass for summoning a demon."

"First off, ouch." The demoness crossed her arms. "I think I leave very good impressions on people."

"Really? With all the times you insulted them?"

"That was just the truth." Janilari said hurriedly. "And second, I was just asking an innocent question! It's not my fault that it's a sensitive topic!"

Rida was about to retort, but then just sighed.

"I know."

"What?"

"I know." Repeated Rida. "I know why you don't get it. I wouldn't, either, if I was in your place."

Janilari relaxed at the surprisingly patient tone from the mage. She uncrossed her arms. "Oh. Thanks."

"I'd imagine we would struggle too, if we were the ones in Hell."

"Well, if that happened you would die." Janilari scoffed. At the look Rida sent her, she smiled. "But I understand. Can you explain it to me, then?"

The mage hesitated, but caved when Janilari's smile widened to almost impossible levels.

"I'll explain if you stop doing that." She said. The demoness deflated. "It's not about us hating him for not sharing our point of view. It's because of his actions." She stared ahead, towards the rest of the team. "Our values are not just 'not hurting anyone'. It's not about a personal code, or anything like that. I-... we believe that the world needs to change. People suffering needs to stop. Ardiane... Represents everything we are against. He is a source of that suffering."

Janilari was hearing attentively, her eyes open wide.

"If it was just because of personal values, we would forget about Ardiane. But he's actively against us." She looked at the demon. "In more ways than one."

"... Well." Janilari concluded. "That makes more sense." But the sentiment was a typically human one. She understood, but a demon would never want to change the world. "What do you mean, 'in more ways than one'?"

At that Rida sighed again. "Remember what you said yesterday? About humans only getting magic through sacrifices or whatever?" Janilari nodded. "... You were right. I hated the fact you were right." She glared at a random portion of the horizon. "That's how Ardiane and his group got power. Their weapons, their armor, their magic... It's all powered and enhanced by the deaths of the creatures they slay. And... They slayed thousands."

"So they have a lot of power, for being humans." Rida nodded, then looked straight at her.

"Yes. For being humans."

*

She spent the rest of the travel listening to Rida explain their views further, and also retelling some of Ardiane's crimes. In exchange, she successfully got Rida to drink enough water and get enough food, but she still couldn't convince her to share the horse.

They stopped a few times to let the horses rest (Janilari could have moved them herself, but whatever). Eventually, they reached the farmlands, a vast expanse of short crops suited to the dry climate, with the houses of the farmers scattered within.

One side of the farms was clearly in a worse state than the others. The crops had been smashed and trampled on, some of the dirt removed to reach the potatoes or carrots underground.

They soon were greeted by a group of farmers, who didn't hide their disappointment when they noticed they weren't Ardiane's group.

"Why is the prince not here?" Asked one, looking at Maesron with a distinct lack of trust, perhaps noticing how the knight was missing a sword.

"No need to fret, friends!" Replied Maesron. "The prince might not be here, but we are! And we are here to offer a different solution to your orc-related woes!"

Of course, the farmers laughed as Maesron shared his plan with them. Janilari didn't know what else he expected. But eventually, the peasants argued that if he managed to strike a deal with the orcs, they would double the reward.

Not that they wanted a peaceful solution. The demoness could almost sense their mischief. They were clearly expecting them to fail, and they wanted to see them try.

But Maesron seemed completely unaware of this and took their offer as proof of their good faith. Judging by the looks of the rest of the adventurers, nobody else was thrilled by the idea of meeting the orcs.

Well, Janilari kinda was. She was hoping for an excuse to use 'non-lethal violence', that is.

"This is a terrible idea." Brunai said under her breath, once they started riding toward orc territory.

"We've had worse." Rida deadpanned. She stared at the sky, it was getting dark. "Whatever you do, stay together."

As they advanced, the land around them went from plains and low hills suitable for farming, to cliffs and rocky canyons that made going forward more and more difficult. The group fell into silence, the only sounds those of the wind blowing through the abrupt terrain, and the calls of a couple of vultures flying high in the sky.

Pendi was leading the way, but stopped suddenly while they were crossing through the bottom of a shallow ravine. Before anyone could ask her why, they saw the dozens of silhouettes peeking down at them from the top of the canyon. 

---