Dawn City.
Sukuna sat absentmindedly on his chair while silently fondling Solitar's soft breasts.
Solitar, sitting on his lap, remained calm; usually she would react like a human woman, but today her sole focus was directed towards the magic book in her hands.
She was trying to find references for the magic satellite project.
As she turned the page, Sukuna's fingers moved over to her pink nipple and started lightly playing with it.
Hm, feels nice.
Following his instincts, Sukuna's right hand slid down, moving over her smooth stomach before slipping under her underwear.
Without blinking an eye, Solitar leaned back against his chest and raised her lower body, giving him better access and silently cooperating with him.
Just as Sukuna's hand was about to go over the opening, he suddenly stopped and retracted his hand.
Feeling confused, Solitar looked up only to see Sukuna staring in the direction of the city gate.
'Did someone arrive?...'
Following his gaze, she turned towards the city gate and quickly scanned with her senses.
'I don't sense any strong mana.'
It doesn't look like any strong individual has come to the city.
As she was thinking, Sukuna's hand suddenly pinched her left cheek, making her look at him in confusion.
"Did you sense anything?"
"Is it someone you know...?"
Seeing her clear, innocent eyes, Sukuna stretched her cheeks even further before letting go.
"You need to train your mana senses more."
A light bulb instantly lit up in Solitar's mind.
"Someone suppressing their mana? Like you—!"
Solitar's calm expression suddenly underwent a huge change as her pupils instantly contracted.
Staring straight at Sukuna, she asked in a hurry.
"Is it him? That man... Hero of the South???"
Hero of the South.
A terrifying human who could easily kill her without any suspense.
The news of his death had not yet spread to this part of the world.
And Sukuna hadn't bothered informing anyone.
Solitar's fists unconsciously tightened.
...Well, it seemed Lenie wasn't the only one upon whom the Hero of the South had left a shadow.
Sukuna saw Solitar's scared face and couldn't help but feel amused.
It was an expression he had never seen before.
So Sukuna did the only right thing and told her in a serious tone.
"It's him."
"!!... He's here!?"
"Don't worry, I'll protect you."
He gave her a reassuring smile, only for Solitar to tightly hug him without a second thought.
Fortunately, her strongest support was right here!
Sukuna silently patted her back, feeling smug.
----
Meanwhile, at the Dawn City gate, the hero party led by Himmel passed through the city gate after showing their identification papers.
They also received a 0.1% discount on the entry fees.
Hero Himmel speechlessly stared at the metal coin in his hands.
He didn't even know what currency this was.
"It looks even better than the royal capital..." Priest Heiter said as he observed the well-developed architecture.
"Indeed," Himmel nodded, looking curiously at the crowd.
The warrior Eisen was also silently observing the surroundings.
Only Frieren kept staring at a specific place in the distance, feeling the powerful mana fluctuations that could only belong to Great Demons.
And it couldn't be Sukuna since he liked to suppress his mana.
It seemed the rumors were true. Dawn City was a place where humans and demons lived together, even great demons.
Feeling doubtful, Frieren couldn't help but wonder how Sukuna had managed to keep these Great Demons under control.
Strength alone couldn't be the reason, as it went against the demons' very nature.
As she was walking, Himmel suddenly stopped in place, making her bump into his back.
"Why did you stop?" she asked while rubbing her nose.
Instead of replying, Himmel pointed towards a walking shark holding a tray of freshly baked muffins.
Under the hero party's stunned eyes, the shark walked up to them and quickly exclaimed in an excited human voice.
"Hello, adventurers! Please try Dawn City's most popular fruit muffins! Made by Shark Bakery!!"
The shark raised the tray in its hands towards them, showing freshly baked fruit muffins.
Shark Bakery...
The hero party looked at each other, then turned back towards the shark and silently picked up one muffin each.
"Ahahaha! Please visit our shop if you have time!"
The four of them silently watched the shark leave.
After it was gone, they looked down at the muffins in their hands.
They looked normal.
Hero Himmel blinked his eyes, then silently took a bite.
Pretty good.
Smiling in satisfaction, he took another bite before saying to his party members:
"Dawn City is indeed different. They even have a walking shark."
Puff
Heiter almost choked on his saliva, unable to control his laughter.
After the little incident, the four of them walked towards the city hall.
"This should be where Sukuna lives?"
The four of them entered, hoping to meet their demon friend.
Only to be met by a sudden roadblock.
"Hero Himmel, Lord Sukuna is currently busy with important tasks related to the city's development and is unable to meet you right now...."
"That's a shame..." Himmel nodded.
"Lord Sukuna has also instructed us to prepare the highest guest room for you and your party..."
"Ah? Sorry for the trouble, and thank you..."
Turning away from the staff, Himmel faced his party.
"It seems we can only try again tomorrow."
Everyone nodded.
After all, Sukuna was the city's leader, plus they had come unannounced, so it was only natural for them to wait while he was busy.
But hey, they were getting free accommodation in this grand-looking building, which was nice!
"Frieren, you have been staring outside for quite some time. Are you sensing something?" Himmel asked, noticing her odd reaction.
"I am sensing high mana readings belonging to demons."
Frieren didn't hide her thoughts and calmly spoke her mind.
"Demons? Other than Sukuna...?" Himmel paused.
After separating from Sukuna, their party fought several battles, many of them against demons.
This made them understand why Frieren thought all demons were irredeemable; it was their very nature to prey on humans.
They had even fought and defeated one of the Demon Sages, Böse the Immortal, which made them clearly understand their unreasonable power.
But all of this also helped them understand the uniqueness of their friend Sukuna.
A demon who wasn't like a demon at all.
He was an anomaly.
And perhaps, the demons living in his city... could they be the same as him?
Otherwise, why would they live together with humans...?
As Himmel was thinking, Frieren suddenly turned her head towards the entrance and said,
"A demon is here."
The three of them instantly turned their gaze, looking at the small demon girl who silently entered the hall.
It was Linie.
The little demon girl silently entered the hall and went to a specific counter.
Under the hero party's gaze, Linie received a large box from the counter, almost equal to her size, which she easily lifted up before moving out with her little steps.
Seeing her leave, Frieren unconsciously tightened her grip around her staff.
Himmel noticed her reaction and asked in a soft tone.
"Do you want to follow her, Frieren?"
"Mhm," Frieren nodded without any hesitation.
"But will it be alright?"
They were currently in Dawn City, a place where demons and humans lived together.
"What do you mean? We're simply going on a stroll, not following anyone." Himmel gave her a calm smile before taking the lead.
Frieren saw the scene and smiled lightly before following along with Heiter and Eisen.
----
On the clean city streets,
An expressionless Linie quietly made her way with the large box on her shoulder.
Being a young demon, she lacked in many areas and was thus totally unable to notice the Hero Party, which was following her.
Then again, Linie, being a demon, received almost a thousand gazes from tourists whenever she walked around the city, due to which she tended to unconsciously let her guard down.
Walking down the familiar road, Linie took several turns before meeting up with an unexpected guest.
It was another demon with green-colored skin and spider-like legs protruding from her back.
'Another demon... her mana is lacking.'
Frieren lowered her eyes and contemplated in silence.
She must be a recently born demon.
Linie said something to the spider demon, after which the two of them started walking together.
Not long after, they arrived at an empty part of the beach.
Here, Linie finally placed down the box on her shoulders.
Then, under everyone's curious eyes, she opened it up, revealing its contents.
It... appeared to be a wooden training dummy created in the shape of a petite demon with small horns on her head... and an overly large forehead...
Under the Hero Party's curious eyes, Linie asked the spider demon to attack her.
The spider demon didn't hesitate and instantly struck with one of her spider legs.
But before the attack could hit,
Linie suddenly grabbed the wooden dummy's arm and pulled it in front of her as a meat shield.
The spider's leg struck the training dummy with a wooden sound.
Then Linie repeated the process again and again.
Making sure to use the wooden dummy as a meat shield every single time.
"..."
What... kind of training was this?
Seeing that they kept repeating the same action, Himmel suddenly walked out from the side, catching their attention.
Linie instantly threw away the wooden dummy in her hand and turned towards the approaching heroes.
"Humans?"
She said in a blank tone, also looking at Frieren's long ears.
'A human with long ears?... No, that's an elf...'
This was the first time Linie had seen an elf in real life.
"Hello, my name is Himmel, and these are my friends."
Hero Himmel introduced himself and his party with his natural calming smile.
Alas, his charms were useless against a demon.
"Um... can we know your names?"
The spider demon beside Linie remained quiet.
She was still in the process of learning human language and couldn't speak properly.
Linie, on the other hand, was contemplating something.
"You followed me from the city hall."
Relying on a demon's terrifying memory, she instantly connected the dots.
Himmel apologetically scratched his cheek and said,
"I'm sorry, but we don't mean any harm..."
While Himmel was trying to smooth things over, Frieren had been silently observing the two demons without blinking.
Observing their reactions, eye movements, that monotonous tone, and every other little detail,
And all of them only reminded her of one thing.
A demon.
Unlike Sukuna, who seemed like a human in demon skin, full of spirit and opinions... these two...
They were demons.
Frieren took a step forward, stopping Himmel and Linie's conversation.
Himmel fell silent.
Linie turned to her.
Frieren opened her mouth and asked a simple question.
"What do you think of humans?"
"Humans?"
"Yes, what are they to you?"
Frieren's calm voice rang out.
Linie instinctively opened her mouth and replied.
"Humans are-!"
Suddenly, she paused as if she had remembered something.
Then, under Frieren and the Hero Party's confused eyes, she took out a small book from her waist pocket.
It read:
[Sukuna's Guide To Human-Demon Coexistence.]
"..."
Linie unhurriedly flipped through the pages before stopping on a particular one.
Then she carefully placed her finger on the page and started reading.
"A human is many things: a companion, a neighbor, a chef, and even a friend..."
Frieren: ....
Himmel: ....
Heiter: ....
Eisen: ....
Under the dumbfounded eyes of the hero party, Lenie kept reading.
"...Humans are intelligent creatures capable of love, hatred, innovation... Please be patient with them."
"..."
Frieren, Himmel, Heiter and Eisen silently looked at each other then came beside the focused Lenie to inside the book.
Lenie ignored them and continued turning the page.
[Q) Can I eat humans?]
[A) No.]
[Q) What if I'm really hungry?]
[A) No, and don't lie, demons can survive on mana.]
Just... what were they reading?
[Q) A human child handed me a flower. What does this mean?]
[A) It means the child likes you.
Do not:
1) Eat the flower.
2) Eat the child.
3) Kidnap the child.
Simply say "Thank you" and leave.]
Himmel couldn't help but pause for a moment before continuing.
[Q) Why do humans scream when they see me?]
[A) There are many possible reasons.
1) You are a demon.
2) You appeared from a cloud of blood.
3) You emerged from their closet at midnight.
Consider changing your approach.]
The more they read, the more dumbfounded they became.
Suddenly Lenie paused, turned to Frieren, and said.
"Elf, what is your name?"
Frieren looked at her and then said.
"Frieren."
Lenie paused for a moment.
Then turned back to the book and turned the pages at a slightly hurried pace.
[Q) What should I do if I encounter Frieren?]
[A) Remain calm. Since you are reading this, she hasn't killed you yet.
Her life philosophy is "The only good demon is a dead demon."
So pretend to be a furniture and hope she leaves alone.]
Frieren: ....
Lenie silently closed the book, placed it inside her waist pocket, and then suddenly lay down on the ground.
Himmel crouched down, poked Lenie's head, and asked.
"What are you doing?"
"I saw Frieren; I became a mat," Lenie replied in a suppressed voice.
Heiter held his mouth, barely able to suppress his laughter.
Eisen silently patted Frieren's shoulder.
Himmel suppressed his voice and reminded Lenie.
"You forgot about your friend."
The spider demon was still standing on the side.
Lenie raised her head from the ground, then quickly gestured for the spider demon to lie down as well.
Spider Demon gave her a confused look.
She didn't know sign language.
----
TL: You can read this if you want:
Muzan: Conquering the multiverse.