We first dismounted from the carriage at the grounds of the old Demon King's Castle, and moved to the interior of the structure under the guidance of the Knight of the Golden Fang.

　The first person to greet us there was Travis, who had returned from the second level a step ahead of us.

'You're late, Luke. Did you sleep in unusually late?
''I intentionally delayed our departure. We're going to be staying overnight at the Demon King's Castle (here) anyway, so what's the point of leaving early in the morning?
"Mm, what, you didn't even take a detour? Since we're here, why don't we take a look around the Demon King's Castle Realm and see how it's changing?

　Travis understands what kind of response I'm going to give, and then laughs deliberately and jokingly.

　Currently, the travel time from the ground to the neutral city (Asropolis) is usually one day from the ground to the Demon King's Castle and one day from the Demon King's Castle to the neutral city (Asropolis).

　Even if you leave the ground early in the morning and go to the neutral city (Athropolis) by passing the Demon King's Castle, it's impossible for you to reach there before sunset.

　If you are an adventurer, camping somewhere on the second level is an option, but since I brought Leila with me today, I wanted to avoid spending the night outside the Demon King's Castle and the Neutral City (Athropolis) on the way.

Now, what's the point of standing here and talking. For now, let's move to a suitable room.

　Travis takes me out of the entrance and decides to move towards the back of the castle.

　All the while, me and Travis continued to exchange idle chit-chat without much of a purpose.

''It's so nostalgic. The entrance hall from earlier, the place where we had a run-in with Demon General Suzuri and Norzuri.
'You broke through the floor from there and fell underground to confront Gandalf, the Demon King.
I usually go in and out through the front gate, so this is the first time I've come through here since then. I'm surprised that I remember so many details.
It's a good thing that you have a good memory. That time we rushed after you to reinforce you, but you were so good that it was hard to believe you had a fake body. ...... Just remembering that makes my heart boil.

　Since both me and Travis are just talking about random things that come to mind, the connection between our conversations is vague at the moment.

　But from a third party's point of view, it didn't seem so, and the young adventurer and Leila that Travis had with him seemed to be listening to him in a very mysterious manner.

　It's not that I'm not interested in this, it's that I'm not a fan of the idea.

It's the first time your store's Leila has come to the Demon King's Castle, by the way. You must have been disappointed in a too ordinary castle, right?

　Travis, who walks on my left side, switched topics like that, so I turn to my left and raise my gaze to listen to the conversation in a single glance, and then I turn my head to look at Leila, who walks on my right side this time, and drop my gaze.

''That's right ...... I heard it was a castle of the demon race, so I thought it was a more gloomy and frightening place. Did the Golden Fang Knights renovate it during their occupation?''

　Leila raised her eyes to meet mine while answering a question from Travis.

　I was already feeling something unexplainable around here, but I moved my gaze diagonally upward to the left side and looked at Travis for now.

You don't need to explain, but the interior itself is almost exactly the same as it was then. It seems that the Demon King Gandalf was also concerned about mending his dignity. From the beginning, it was built in such a way that even the human aesthetic sense would find it beautiful.

　I look down to the right where Leila is again.

'I see. When I heard that Luke-san and the others were staying at the Demon King's Castle, I wondered if they couldn't find a better place to sleep in.''

　He turns to Travis again as Leila's gaze sends him off.

'If you're on the first level, ...... no, even if you include further levels, this castle is the most comfortable environment. Hollow Bottom Fortress has too much of a military base feel to it, and I'd rather travel to the guild branch than rent a room in there.

　It's been like that for a while now, but Travis is clearly trying to make eye contact only with me.

　My dismay has reached its peak for good, so I stop in my tracks by surprise and take a step back from Travis and Layla.

''Eeeeee, that's depressing. Don't bother talking with me in between. Just you two, you two!'
"Nah, ......!　But... ......
I don't see how a clerk can be so insecure about this: ......

　Sending a stationary look at the two excusable people, I lightly tapped Garnett's shoulder to make him turn his attention back to us.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this," he said. It's too late to be showing us the room assignments.
'What?　...... What the hell, that one's a no-brainer. d*mn, holy shit. ...... Let's get on with it, Alexia and Chandler.

　Garnett, with a look on his face that said, "Oh dear," too, called out to the other guys and turned the corner of the hallway.

　Maybe Ambrose and Ulysses also saw the interplay between Travis and the others, or maybe they weren't interested from the start - Ambrose in particular, I have a feeling that they were - but easily Garnett's I followed him.

Okay, I'll take care of it.
"Oh, wait a minute, Luke!

　I decided to leave Travis, who was screaming uncharacteristically, and I decided to scuttle off after Garnett.