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TL Note: The term abandoned human here is the same as you would say for a stray or abandoned puppy
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(Ahh, I feel unwell… —Wait!? Right now, what did that guy just say!?)
An undead walked up to Duma's ship, which was currently docked at the harbor of the Imperial City, with a small person wearing tattered clothes.
On the deck, Nephira and Excella did not bother and were preparing to disembark, but Takashi was curious and spoke to the undead.
"H-Hey. That person is?"
"Just now, it was walking over therEee. It is a candidate for Lady Duma's dollificatioONoonNn."
"Don't 'It was walking over thereee.' me! Don't just randomly snatch people off the street, you kidnapper!"
Takashi grabbed the ragged-clothes-clad person's arm to pull him away from the undead. And as soon as he did so, he became startled by the touch of something thin and delicate.
(Eh–? Could it be perhaps… a girl?)
Takashi was convinced when he saw a glimpse of the glossy lips peeking out from the hood that was pulled over her eyes.
"Uhm. You, what's your name?"
But she was silent. After a while, a muffled "ugh" could be heard. As expected, it was a female voice. However…
"This gal, hasn't spoken since earlieeeEErr."
The undead next to him said. It could be that she was born without the ability to speak or that she lost the ability to speak due to the shock of being abducted. The girl was trembling slightly, though her face was not clearly visible due to the closely pulled hood she wore.
"Let's go!"
Takashi held the girl's hand as he said so. The undead looked troubled because Takashi had taken over the human he had brought with him. But when Duma noticed this, she laughed with a "Kike ke ke" and said.
"I-I don't mind! Since from the start, the d-doll, I was planning to give it to S-Suzuki as a present."
"I already told you I don't want that!"
Takashi glared at her, but Duma seemed oblivious to it.
"Th-Then, I'll be waiting here for your return home, ya know. Ke ke Kiki ke ke ke!"
......
After leaving Duma and disembarking from the ship, Excella bowed and spoke to the girl wearing the tattered rags.
"I'm, Excella! I'm looking forward to working with you!"
The girl pointed to herself with a trembling hand—
"A… Ai… na…"
—answered in a halting manner.
"Aina…? By Aina, you mean you are Miss Aina, right!?"
The girl nodded her head.
(I see. It's not like she can't speak at all.)
Takashi speculated that she may have only temporarily lost her ability to speak. However, it would be horrible and unreasonable to ask Aina about the cause of the problem.
"I'm Takashi Suzuki! Nice to meet'cha!"
Takashi cheerfully told Aina. Aina bowed her head slightly to Takashi as a greeting. Nephira sighed as she watched the situation from the side.
"Suzuki. I have been telling you that you should not indiscriminately pick up any 'Abandoned Human' in front of you. Can you properly take care of her?"
"It'll be fine! I will make her my slave and look after her! Also, please don't call humans 'abandoned' as if they were dogs!"
"However, aren't you about to undergo demon training?"
"Th-Thats…"
Excella smiled at Nephira, who looked like she had to chew a bitter bug.
"Lady Nephira! I will look after Miss Aina in the Lord Hero's absence!"
"Tsk. Good grief."
Nephira scratched her black hair, exasperated. Takashi patted his chest, relieved that there was no further opposition to his proposal.
Takashi glanced at Excella and said, "Thank you," as he followed Nephira, who had started to walk away. Excella smiled and acknowledged Takashi with a slight bow.
Led by Nephira, Takashi and the others walked through the Imperial Capital. The city was as bustling as it had been when they came there a few days before, far more so than the city of Leirune.
It was said that the number of demons living in the Imperial Capital was more than ten times those living in Leirune, so it was not surprising. The demons were working on their carpentry projects everywhere one looked. Just as Serphiano had said, they were renovating the city into a demon metropolis.
Once on the main street, the streets were full of stores run by demons, and the roads were well paved. The horrors of the invasion of the Imperial Capital now seemed like a long time ago, and it was almost as if this place had been a demon metropolis for a long time.
Suddenly, an indescribable smell wafted through the air, and Takashi looked in that direction. An orc was holding up a roasted human leg and was raising his voice for potential customers.
"Patronage our human flesh restaurant—! Our recommendation for today is grilled human—!"
As Takashi passed the restaurant with suppressed irritation, another demon raised its voice nearby.
"Now, now, how about some useful furniture? There's even a human chair made by the Commander of the Immortal Fleet, Lady Duma!"
Nephira cheerfully tapped Takashi on the shoulder.
"Hey, Suzuki! I see they are also selling chairs! Mhm! The price seems to be quite expensive! You should have gotten it!"
"I don't want such a thing!"
Takashi told Nephira, who was somewhat excited.
(Damn! Nothing has changed!)
Then, Takashi ground his teeth. As expected, his speech at the campaign meeting had no meaning at all!