My name is Yame.
We received a sailing ship from the Sea Race. The Angels worked hard to procure the sails for it. Apparently, the distance from the island to the mainland is about two days by sail. The Angels flew that distance, bought the sails in a port town, and... Couldn't bring them back. It seems the sails were much heavier than they had imagined. In the end, they asked the Sea Race to transport them instead.
Then, timing it just right for when the Village Head arrived, we showed off our hidden port. We got the Village Head aboard the sailing ship and set off. Since nobody actually knew how to steer a sailing ship, though, we had to have the Sea Race push and pull us along. The Angels who had flown all the way to the mainland muttered among themselves, wondering if there had even been any point to having sails. I think there was. Whether you have sails or not completely changes the look.
The Village Head was absolutely thrilled. He was far more excited than I could have ever imagined. In other words, our plan to surprise him was a roaring success. That part, at least, went great.
The part that didn't go so great was crashing straight into the rock wall we built for camouflage right after setting off. It wasn't that the Sea Race members pushing and pulling the ship made a mistake. The problem was having the sails unfurled. A sudden gust of wind caught them, and the whole ship became uncontrollable. Prioritizing looks over practicality was definitely a bad call.
Nobody was hurt in the collision, and the hull was only lightly scratched, but the Village Head disembarked just to be safe. I thought we had totally blown it, but he was laughing his head off, so I guess it turned out fine? Yeah, seems fine. He's even pitching ideas to improve the hidden port. Though, why does he want to turn the path leading up to the hidden port into a dungeon, I wonder? Wouldn't that just make it harder to get to?
Since the autumn harvest at the Village of the Great Tree was finished, I assumed the Village Head would be spending all his time on the island, but apparently there's going to be a martial arts tournament in the village next. The villagers staying on the island have been taking every spare moment to do some sort of training. I was invited to come watch as well, so I gladly accepted. The birds' chicks have grown big enough that there's nothing to worry about anymore, after all. Oh, but there is absolutely no way I'm fighting. I need to stay on my guard, since Bulga or Stifano might go and register me behind my back. Gucci would go so far as to pull strings with higher-ups to make it happen, so I have to be even more careful around him. I'm fragile, you know.
I watched the martial arts tournament at the Village of the Great Tree. Was that a world's best deciding match or something? I feel like their military might is completely disproportionate to the size of their village. The battles between the Angels were intense, of course, but the clash between the dragons was genuinely terrifying. Aren't the villagers a bit too used to all this? ...This time was considered subdued? That was? Just because Lu the vampire, Tia the Angel, and the dragons Hakuren and Lastismun weren't participating? Why didn't they enter, anyway? ... Ah, their pregnancies were discovered. Congratulations. To be completely honest, I think it's incredible that the Village Head is the father of all of them. Still, he really needs to eat plenty of nutritious food, or he's going to die young. Take care of yourself, okay?
As an entertainment event for the martial arts tournament, there was a fight between chickens. Hmm, so while I was asleep, chickens learned how to use magic. I had no idea. I really wish they wouldn't smash the stone plates on the floor to pieces with their pecks, though. And it left quite an impression on me when the winning chicken strutted over to report to an Oni maid with the most smug look on its face. Isn't that the kind of thing you're supposed to go report to the Village Head?
Also as part of the entertainment, an obstacle race was held using the Multi-purpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Equipment—the Artie Horses. Yuri participated as well. And she won by a mile. Clap clap. Second place went to a fellow Demon like me... ah, an Ancient Demon nowadays, I suppose. Crim the Ancient Demon. It's strange, though. Since we're essentially walking masses of magical power, even if we wear pilot suits that insulate magic, we shouldn't be able to board and operate a Multi-purpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Equipment. How on earth is she able to ride and move it? Did she disable the limiter? Or have modern Demons figured out how to completely control their magic output? From the looks of it, that doesn't seem to be the case. Hmm. Well, whatever. Not my problem.
By the way, third place was taken by an artificial lifeform named Yor. Apparently, she completely wrecked her Multi-purpose Humanoid Mobile Heavy Equipment a little while back, so she was piloting it with extreme caution. It was heartwarming to watch.
The food served at the tournament was delicious. Must be because they're using fresh autumn harvested crops. Or maybe they put extra effort into it compared to usual? It's also serving as a celebration for the pregnancies, I see. Makes sense. Oh, this white stuff is delicious. Tofu? Huh. What do you call these, condiments? The green onions and ginger are great. And of course, soy sauce is an absolute must. Yep. Without this, it'd be a bit hard to eat.
Perhaps because there were pregnant women around, the area where alcohol was being served was partitioned off. There were tons of Elder Dwarves there. They were passionately discussing the development of alcohol that pregnant women could drink, and alcohol that children could drink. You guys really shouldn't do that. No, think about it: who are you going to test it on first? If it fails, the consequences will be awful. Shouldn't the Elder Dwarves just keep things simple, stick to smithing as usual, brew their sake, drink it, and sing their songs? The Elder Dwarves I knew were always like that.
Ah, I don't handle my alcohol very well, so... Mix mine with juice, please. Just a tiny splash of alcohol is plenty. I'm not built sturdy like you Elder Dwarves, after all.
I received hush money from someone claiming to be the Angel Race Leader. It's not hush money? Just a simple token of friendship? Well, whatever. Don't worry, don't worry. I won't say another word about the God-kin. It's one thing if the Angels who hear about it just clutch their heads in distress, but depending on the person, they might actually try to silence me for good. Running away from them was exhausting. Ah, no, I'm not asking you to top up the hush money or anything. Just venting a bit. Don't mind me.
Through the Village Head's introduction, I had a meeting with Beezel from the Demon Kingdom. Apparently, he can use teleportation magic, so I might end up heading over there sometime. Beezel seems to be one of the high-ranking officials of the Demon Kingdom. I wonder if he's a descendant of someone I knew? Though, Beezel looked utterly terrified of me. Could it be that someone told him about me?
"T-The first Emperor of the Demon Empire, I presume..."
Ah, that thing. People call it an empire, but it really wasn't anything that grand. To protect themselves from rogue Demons doing whatever they pleased, various countries asked to be placed under my protection. I agreed, and before I knew it, people just started calling it an empire. I didn't actually do anything. Smart people gathered from each country to run the empire, so I just left everything to them. Also, the "first"... was there a second emperor? I never heard about this!
Beezel didn't know, so I asked Bulga, who was nearby, and it turned out the second emperor was Gucci. When did that happen?! While I was sealed away, huh. I just hope he didn't do anything awful. According to Bulga, he simply followed what I had been doing and left everything to the parliament... well, I guess that's fine, then. At any rate, that's the extent of my connection to the empire. There's really no reason to be scared of me. I made sure to tell Beezel that we should get along.
High Elf: "This is the hidden port!" Angel: "We have a sailing ship too!" Lizardman: "Set sail!" Village Head: "Ooooooooh! It's just like a scene from a movie!"
Beezel: "Lady Yame... I have heard that you are, well, the first ruler of the Demon Empire." Yame: "Ahaha... That really wasn't anything that impressive, you know..." Beezel: "(Whoa... She doesn't just share the name... She's the real deal...)"
Commentary: "The nobles of the Demon Kingdom are the descendants of the demons who achieved great deeds fighting against the Ancient Demons."
Country A of the Past: "I'm a human kingdom, but could we join your group?" Yame: "Sure thing." Country B of the Past: "The Centaur nation would also like to..." Yame: "Sure thing." Country C of the Past: "Are Elves alright as well?" Yame: "Sure thing."
Demon Kingdom of the Past: "An insanely massive nation centered around an Ancient Demon has been formed... Terrifying." Ancient Demon A: "That's Yame's country over there, so if you mess with it, you're in for a world of pain." Ancient Demon B: "Meaning Gucci, Bulga, and Stifano will come beat the tar out of you." Ancient Demon C: "You'll make an enemy out of Prada too, so don't even go near it."
Demon Empire Resident: "I'm so glad we relied on Lady Yame."
Bulga: "Yo, Emperor Yame!" Yame: "Stooooop thaaat!"