Three days had passed since Takashi became Nephira\'s slave. Although he wasn\'t allowed to leave the castle without permission, he could eat three meals a day and sleep freely. Takashi was living a life without any inconvenience.

Nephira didn\'t do anything to Takashi and simply treated him like a guest. Nephira had told him she planned to make this country her home until the next expedition. In some cases, they would stay in the conquered lands for several years.

After climbing the tower connected with the castle, Takashi stood alone in the wind, contemplating. As the goddess had said, the feelings the demoness had for him were different from what he understood as love. So what was really the "Ability to be Unconditionally Loved"? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was an ability that was vague and difficult to grasp. Takashi himself was unsure of how powerful his ability was.

(But well... I can feel that they, at least, care about me.)

He had become familiar with demons other than Nephira. The MeruKiru sisters, as well as the skeleton soldiers in the castle, were all very friendly to Takashi.

He descended from the tower and walked around the castle. He met a demon dressed as a maid who smiled at Takashi.

"Good morning."

"Hum. G\'Morning."

"How are you feeling today?"

"Ah... Not bad."

He was allowed to go out as long as he was with Nephira. The demons they met outside bowed to Nephira and talked to Suzuki in a friendly manner.

While browsing for groceries at the market, he met Uhouguru, the torturer from the dungeon.

"Hey! Suzuki!"

"Oh. You\'re not masked today, are you?"

"I took it off. So, Suzuki\'s looking at my face... fufufufufu!"

Uhouguru bashfully wiggled her hands. Huh? What? Did I... say something to her?

"I know! Want, a bug? It is a different one from the one before!"

"I don\'t want it."

"...I see."

Meanwhile, Nephira returned and handed Takashi the ingredients she had bought. It was a slave\'s job to carry his master\'s luggage.

"Let\'s go, Suzuki."

"Ah. See you, Uhouguru."

...The gentle sunlight and the demons smiling at him. And next to him is Nephira, who is pouting but seems to be in a good mood. Nephira must have been concerned about Takashi. The load given to him to carry was not heavy at all.

(Huh? It\'s pretty heartwarming, isn\'t it? Maybe this is the life in another world I\'ve always wanted...)

When he was thinking that...

"Come on in! Human flesh is cheap today!!--"

He heard the voice of such a fiend. Furthermore, a demon with a human woman with bruises on her face passed right next to Takashi.

"Walk quickly! You useless slave! I\'ll kill you! ... Ah, Lady Nephira and Suzuki! Good afternoon! It\'s a beautiful day, isn\'t it?"

Takashi shook his head at such a sight. 

(N--No, No good, no good! There is no meaning if I\'m the only one having a heartwarming life!!

...

Back at the castle, Nephira cooked the ingredients she had chosen. Normally, slaves were supposed to take meals separately from their masters, but Nephira wanted to sit at the same table as Takashi.

Nephira\'s cooking was surprisingly quite tasty.

Sipping blood-colored wine, Nephira spoke to Takashi.

"Tomorrow, the head advisor of the Demon Lord\'s Army, Lord Serphiano, will come to the castle."

"The head advisor of the Demon Lord\'s Army? What does he want?"

"He is coming to see how the conquered country is doing. Well, it is fine if you don\'t worry about it, Suzuki"

Nephira brings a piece of seafood similar to a shrimp to her mouth. She seemed a bit drunk and happy.

"Lord Serphiano is an amazing person. In the past, we, the Demon King\'s Army and the Beast King\'s Oni Squad, attacked the human nation of Krevalun. The Beast King\'s Oni Squad had the upper hand, but among the enemy humans was a sorcerer. He used his mysterious sorcery to make the Beast King\'s Oni Squad believe they were friendly with the humans of Krevalun."

"Hu--HUH. Really?"

"Apparently, it was quite the powerful sorcery. It was so powerful that no one in the Beast King\'s Oni Squad even noticed that they had fallen for the technique."

Nephira continued to explain.

"However, in the presence of the third eye of Serphiano, the head advisor of the Demon King\'s Army, there was nothing to fear. Lord Serphiano immediately saw through the sorcery. The Beast King\'s Oni Squad came to their senses and killed the sorcerer. After that, they slaughtered every last human in Krevalun."

Takashi gulped heavily as he listened to the story. T--That sorcerer\'s sorcery is similar to my ability, isn\'t it...?

"You will be introduced to Lord Serphiano as my slave. No problem, you will be free from any blame as long as you carry on as you normally do."

"Y--Yes. I understand."

He knew his own voice was trembling.

(Head Advisor of the Demon Lord\'s Army, Serphiano...! Is such a dangerous demon really coming...!?)

After that, Takashi could not taste anything from the food he ate.