The woman I saved was a human, just as I had guessed.
　The knife I picked up seemed to belong to her as well.

''Thank you so much!''

　Woman, coming at me as fast as she can.

'I owe you!　I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come to me!　I'm sure I must have been gheehee'd by a monkey!

　What are you imagining?
　That's a monkey, okay?

'Please come to my village!　I want to thank you properly!

　But I'm now unemployed and roaming the streets.
　And it's too dangerous to go to the home of the human race, our enemies.

I'm not going to be able to get out of it.　Come with me!
"Uggotgot...!　I'm not pulling!　I'm not pulling!

　She was a great force.
　Why was she so powerful and almost lost to the monkeys?　That's about it.

　I couldn't resist because I was wandering around, too, and I finally had her way.

　Then we moved.
　Arrival.

◆

　There was a village.
　A human village, of course.

This is your village?
'Yes, sir!　It's Lax Village!

　She said cheerfully.

　Was this really the sphere of influence of the human race?
　Even though I was driven by despair, I'm amazed that I walked so far.

　Is my hometown, the demon territory, far away with the past.....

''Come over here!　I've got my own house!

　And she's a giggler.
　She's a bundle of vitality.

"I want you to meet my parents!

　What am I talking about, girl?
　I'm going through a hell of a phase, aren't I?

　However, even if I tried to run away here in a hurry, I couldn't escape because of a firm grip on my hand.
　I'm dragged along with me....

'It's my father.'
My mother.

　I was forced to come face to face with something.
　I felt an irresistible swell of fate.

"I want to thank you so much for saving my daughter's life. She means a lot to us, even for such a trivial horse.

　Father, daughter and mother line up across the table facing each other.
　What is this tension?

Well my name is Malika, although it's a bit late to give my name.

　The woman I rescued in the woods, said in a cursory manner.

　Once again, she looks young and beautiful.
　It's a good thing that she's dressed simply like a village girl, and although her daily routine and tangles are apparent here and there, it gives her a homely impression that's rather pleasing.

　I'm not sure how much more comforting it would be to have a woman like her say "welcome home" to me every day.

　.........hmm?
　No, no.........

"So, um.........your name is also.......?
Yeah.

　It's not like I'm going to cut the shira, so I answer.

'This is Dariel.'

　I decided to explain from scratch, including why I was there.

　This is a human village.
　In other words, I'm an avenging enemy of the Demon King's army I used to be in.

　The humans send a brave man to kill the demon king.
　The demons organize a demon king's army to protect the king, and they fight back against the heroes.

　That's the kind of relationship I'm talking about.

　So to speak, this is enemy territory.
　To me.

　That's why I've decided not to hide the other aspects of my strategy except for the one thing that I'm a demon, which is to keep it under wraps.

　I've successfully blurred the connection between the demon tribe and the demon king's army, and only succeeded in conveying that I was lost after being fired from my previous job.

"So I was wandering around in the forest.... It was a disaster.
'How awful!　Dariel, you're so strong and awesome!　I'm sure the second bonbon must have been jealous of Dariel-san's competence and kicked her out!

　I don't know what it is, but Marika-san gets angry at me as if it were her own business.

''Dariel-san!　If that's what you mean, then live in this village!
What?
You don't have anywhere to go, do you?　I'm the one who gets out of bed and wakes up in my house!　There's a lot of spare room for nothing!　All right, Dad!

　Marika was being wonderfully forceful.
　Your father didn't stop his daughter from running wild.

Well, we are chronically short of people in our village...

　I'm on board.

'If you can get enough people to stay in the village to take down the beasts of the forest, you're more than welcome. My daughter is right, we have a lot of empty rooms in our house that we don't use, so you can use them as you please.

　No, I can't say that I did.

　It was a difficult offer.
　I'm grateful that I was expelled from the Demon King's Army and will be given a permanent home.
　I'd even like to ask for a permanent home.

　But the proposed settlement is a human village.
　As a demon, it's a dangerous place that could lead to my death if my identity is discovered.

　At best, we should stay one night and leave immediately, but....

''........I understand. Thank you for your help.

　I've reconsidered.
　How meaningful is life to me now?
　I was an exile from the Demon Lord's Army, wandering around, thinking that nothing mattered.

　There's a place that needs me.
　You should respond with all your might.

'But I'm all about my old job and nothing else. I hope I can be of some use?

　Marika's father answers that question.

'Then, Dariel. I would like you to be an adventurer, would you?
"Adventurer?

　As a demon, I'm not familiar with the word.

It's a job to register with the guild and perform various requests. In a country village like ours, there are only simple jobs that can only be done in the countryside, but even so, one or two people can be useful.
I see.

　So how do you become that adventurer...?

"What, I'm just going to do a little registration. Just in time to do it right here.
What?
I'm sorry to say this, but I'm the guild master in this village. It's a small village, so we don't have a guild, I'm the only one who handles the registration and requests.

　Seriously?

　And if so, is it really coming?

　The guild registration ceremony for the human race.

　Of course, as a demon, I don't know much about it, but I do know what it's all about.

　The system of guilds constructed by the human race is unique to the human race.
　I'm not going to be the only one who can use the magic that the demon race uses, but the human race can't use it, as if to keep a balance.

　The human race can gain power by belonging to the guild and oppose magic.
　And they can fight on an even playing field with the demon race.
　For the demon race, how troublesome are the adventurers that the guild unleashes, the brave men who stand at the top of it.

''Uh, er, well...!

　But right now, there's a more pressing issue.

I just said that 'the guild system is only for the human race', but that also means that 'only the human race can join the guild'.
　In other words, the demon race cannot join the guild.

　At a glance, there is no difference between the human race and the demon race.
　This is why the guild registration ceremony is the easiest way to distinguish between the human and demon tribe.

　When I was an assistant to the Four Heavenly Kings, I once sent spies to the human side in an attempt to help my superiors, but I generally failed.
　This was because many secret spies had been exposed by this guild registration.

　That dreadful guild registration ceremony was right in front of them.

''.........''

　I wanted to keep my identity a secret for as long as possible, but I didn't think I'd be caught out.
　Oh dear.
　I once thought I was dead. What will happen to me now?

Nice to meet you.
"Mm.

　Maleeka's father - although he was also the guild master of this village.
　I immediately began the registration ceremony.

　I pricked the needle into my fingertips and pressed the floating blood into some kind of contract form.
　Then I felt some strange power flowing into my body.
　The power eventually seeped into my skin and into my flesh, and some kind of crest floated in response.
　On the back of my hand.

This is the end of your registration. You will be given the blessing of the guild and will receive various benefits.
What?
What?

　I was surprised.
　Marika's father was surprised by the surprise.

　I didn't understand the exchange, but I was confused.
　I'm a demon race.
　How could a demon race pass the human guild registration ceremony?

　Why?
　Why!

　My brain was in a state of confusion and confusion, but there was only one clear answer to this question.

Was I........human?

　They were not the demon race, but the human race.
　That's why we were able to accept human guild registration, which would have been played by the demon race.

　Even though I was a demon, I couldn't use magic.

　That too.
　It's also because I was of the human race, so that explains it...?