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“Then, let’s begin the 9th Demon King Subjugation Meeting!”

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

As I announced in a somewhat loud voice, applause echoed throughout the room. I wore a satisfied expression at my friends’ reactions and looked around to find a spot among my friends, who were sitting in a circle on the floor without any cushions.

Wiggle.

Noticing that I was trying to find a place to sit, my friends wiggled their bottoms and shifted a little to the side to make space for me.

However, I still stood there, unable to sit down.

That’s understandable; as everyone tried to make room for me, the circle naturally rotated a bit to the left, leaving no actual space for me to sit.

“Um… hey guys?”

Wiggle.

Standing awkwardly, my friends once again wiggled their behinds to the side.

But this time, the direction of the rotation just reversed, so all eight of them moved together, leaving me with no progress.

Even though it would have been tempting to just stay still out of annoyance, I was moved by how my kind friends couldn’t help but try to create space for me. I may not have much luck in other areas, but in terms of friends, I truly feel blessed.

But I couldn’t keep this up forever. If I let my friends handle it, we’d just spin around all night long and never get anywhere, so I squeezed in between Selian and Yuli and finally sat down.

Even though I gave it a grand title like the 9th Demon King Subjugation Meeting, the atmosphere wasn’t particularly serious. We hadn’t gathered in a meeting room — we were just sitting around in the spacious living room of my home. To make matters more relaxed, everyone was dressed comfortably in their pajamas since bedtime was approaching.

Some friends wore cute pajamas, while others donned thin ones that left little to the imagination, which made just looking at them feel like a moral dilemma. This was already quite tamed compared to how flustered I had been when I first became a girl and saw my friends in their sleepwear.

“Everyone already knows, but the last remaining of the Four Heavenly Kings, Keltus, is probably in the Demon King’s Castle.”

Having repeated this life several times, especially in the last playthrough where I directly defeated Keltus, I knew this for certain. Even if there were many variables in this round, I assumed Keltus’s location hadn’t changed much.

After all, Keltus is the brain of the Demon King’s Army. He was likely leading the charge from the castle again this time.

Though the demonic race tends to be quite individualistic, they have been moving somewhat organized due to the Demon King’s resurrection, and Keltus played a significant role in that.

“Keltus must also be stronger than he was when we faced Vulkan or Glen. And even if we do defeat Keltus, he likely has traps laid out like last time.”

In the fourth round of my previous life, I managed to defeat all Four Heavenly Kings. Back then, Lilith had plunged straight into battle without much dialogue, so I never imagined we would be allies like this now.

But the problem came next. Keltus had set such nasty traps that he even calculated his own death into the plans. In the end, I fell into one of those traps and met my demise by volunteering myself as the sacrificial lamb.

“Don’t worry about that. Disarming traps is one of my specialties.”

But this time would be different. Unlike before, I’d have Lindy playing the ranger role, so we wouldn’t fall into physical traps, and we also had Frecia, a Great Wizard, in the party, so magical traps wouldn’t pose a threat either.

They were truly cherished allies.

“The problem is the Demon King…”

One regret I had from the last round was that after defeating all Four Heavenly Kings, I never even laid eyes on the Demon King. As mentioned, I was too busy fleeing from the trap laid by Keltus.

Because of that, I had no clue what kind of weapon the Demon King used, whether they employed magic, or how powerful they truly were. Essentially, I’d be charging in barehanded.

The only hint I had was from my encounter rescuing Cecilia during Glen’s ambush, where I used the power of a hero. The power to change fate.

Cecilia explained to me about the power of the hero she discovered, saying the Demon King would likely wield a similar force. Therefore, it was inevitable that the Hero and the Demon King would be direct adversaries.

The catch, however, was that I was still inexperienced in wielding the power of fate. I was trying to get accustomed to it, but the concept was so vague that I felt limited.

I couldn’t even ask anyone else about it. Even Selian, who had been a Hero before me, didn’t know anything about this power. In other words, I had to navigate this solely with my own strength.

“Fortunately, the Demon King’s resurrection isn’t complete yet. If it were, they would have shown themselves by now.”

To lighten the somber atmosphere, Selian spoke up. I too acknowledged that the Demon King wasn’t fully resurrected yet. While they were in a resurrected state, I believed they hadn’t regained their full power from their prime days.

When or where they regain that power — whether it’ll be tomorrow, next year, or in ten years — nobody knows. That’s why I was hurrying while the Demon King was still in a weakened state.

“But don’t let your guard down. Regardless, the Demon King is still the Demon King; even in a weakened state, they should be regarded as at least on the level of the Four Heavenly Kings.”

Of course, if I used the power related to fate, it wouldn’t simply be about being strong or weak.

“Alright! Since overthinking about the Demon King is pointless, let’s put that aside. I’ve roughly drawn a map of the Demon King’s Castle structure… Let’s discuss it while looking at this.”

I pulled out the map I had stashed away. But how big could a hand-drawn map really be? In the end, to see the map, we had to huddle closer together than before. Naturally, our bodies ended up pressed against one another.

But I definitely didn’t intend for this situation. Even if I’m a bit of a loser, I’m not that lewd of a guy.

Probably.

*

“We’ve covered all the important points, and since it’s getting late, let’s wrap it up. Make sure you all remember what we discussed today.”

We started the meeting around evening, but it was already crossing over into late-night hours. Frecia, who usually needed plenty of sleep, had turned into a cat and had been napping in my lap for a while now.

Carefully, I stood up, trying not to wake Frecia. It felt a bit wrong to wake her, so I had no choice but to let her sleep in my room tonight.

If Frecia were in her original form, it would have been difficult for me to manage, but since she was a cat, I had no moral qualms about it.

“Hmm…?”

However, while I was preparing a place for her to sleep, I couldn’t help but voice my confusion.

“Aren’t you all going to bed?”

After all, my friends were still hanging around in my room.

“Ahaha… well…”

Trying to think of something to say, they simply turned the conversation away and offered awkward laughs.

“I’m just so sleepy, can I lie down for a bit?”

Amidst that, Yuli yawned widely instead of answering and plopped down onto my bed. She must have been really tired because she fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

“Hehe… well, I guess I…”

Following Yuli’s lead, Anne also jumped onto the bed and shut her eyes. Soon, her chest was rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern.

Then after Anne, Mariel, Lindy, Luna, and Lilith all climbed on my bed and lay down.

“They’re probably all so happy to be invited over to El’s house. How about we all just sleep on El’s bed tonight?”

“I don’t mind… but won’t it be cramped for everyone?”

As I looked around at my friends, each one had found a spot on the bed. Meanwhile, they had managed to leave a space for me to lie down in the middle.

But no matter how big my bed was, it was bound to be cramped for all nine of us. Thankfully, Frecia was in cat form, or else we wouldn’t have been able to try it at all.

“No, from experience, this should be plenty of space. There’ve been times more cramped than this!”

“Hmm? Has Selian experienced something like that?”

I tilted my head in confusion at Selian’s comment. I had been crammed with sweaty men back in the assassin’s days, especially during the particularly poor periods of the Assassin Guild.

But unlike me, who had grown up poor, what kind of experiences could someone like Selian, who was raised in comfort, have?

“Oh, no…! That’s not what I meant…! I just meant that everyone has great patience, so this is nothing!”

“Ah… what did I just say.”

Nodding at Selian’s explanation, I slowly made my way towards the bed. I carefully laid down with Frecia in my arms, being cautious not to wake her, and placed myself into the space my friends had left for me, with Selian following suit.

As I lay down, everyone clung to the middle where I was, trying to avoid falling off the bed.

Certainly, the sweet fragrance of my friends tickled my nose, unlike the foul odors of sweaty men. The soft, warm skin pressed against me comforted me.

I felt a twinge of guilt, but… since I didn’t suggest this first, I thought I was innocent and fell asleep, setting off on a dreamy journey. Tonight was bound to be filled with sweet dreams.

 

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