The Laughing Swordsman

The one-horned demon, whose name was Owen, turned around.

"What do you mean mother?"

A three-horned demon, who was apparently Owen\'s mother, was distressed.

Unlike the three-horned demons Apollo had seen, this one only stood at a measly height of two meters and had few muscles to speak of.

"They are human! Run away now!"

In a fluster, Owen took one last look at Apollo before running away in a panic.

Serosh sighed.

"You are making our guests feel unwelcome, young lady."

Owen\'s mother bowed but was firm in her belief.

"But sire, those two are human!"

Serosh frowned.

"Whether or not they are human does not concern you. They are my guests. If you do not treat them with respect, you will be sent to... \'that\' place."

Owen\'s mother froze, trembling where she stood.

Apollo spoke up, though he did so sheepishly.

"Um... it\'s ok Serosh. Her words didn\'t hurt me."

Layla nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, not me either! We should all be friends!"

Serosh sighed.

"It may not offend you, but it offends me."

He looked towards Owen\'s mother.

"To think my own subjects dare disrespect the guests I personally invited..."

Owen\'s mother fell to the floor, on her knees.

"My apologies, sire, this will not happen again."

Serosh\'s eyes narrowed.

"You shall be spared. However, that is only because my guests forgive you."

Owen\'s mother proceeded to hit her head against the floor repeatedly.

"Thank you, sire."

Serosh raised an eyebrow.

"You should be thanking the guests, not me."

The lips of Owen\'s mother trembled. She clearly did not want to do so.

"...Thank you, humans."

Layla clasped her hands together.

"Hehe, it\'s ok!"

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"Am I human?"

Serosh scowled.

"Now get out of my sight, young lady."

Owen\'s mother did not dare delay.

"Yes!"

She ran away as fast as she could. A few drops of blood fell from her forehead. They came from hitting her head against the floor.

Serosh smiled bitterly.

"My deepest apologies for my insolent subjects."

Apollo waved his hand dismissively.

"No worries!"

Layla\'s tail swayed.

"I don\'t find them insolent!"

Serosh chuckled.

"I\'m glad to hear that."

He walked on ahead.

"Now, come and follow me."

Serosh leisurely walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back. Layla and Apollo followed from behind. They matched Serosh\'s slow speed but jumped up and down filled with energy.

Serosh gestured towards the nearby houses.

"This is where the citizens of my city live. Each house has a few inhabitants so land is not unnecessarily wasted."

The houses would have been as unassuming as the houses in human villages if it weren\'t for the veiny black walls.

This oddity was not realized by Apollo and Layla.

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"The houses are like the houses from where I am!"

Serosh raised an eyebrow.

"Really? How so?"

Apollo hummed.

"Well... they are all the same!"

Serosh laughed.

"Indeed. The houses were created by my heart. For the sake of simplicity, they all have the same design."

Layla gasped.

"Wow, you have a cool heart!"

Serosh smirked.

"It is quite unique."

The group eventually came across an enormous field of plants. Sets of black leaves were poking out from the snow all across the field.

The snow did not seem to cause these plants to wither. In fact, the plants appeared to be thriving.

All across the field were two-horned demons working hard in either planting or harvesting the plants.

A two-horned demon that loosely resembled a middle-aged man pulled up a plant that had grown many black leaves.

It burst out of the snow, revealing potato-like vegetables attached to the stalks of the leaves. These vegetables had the same size and overall shape of a potato, however, their color was a stark white.

Serosh smiled.

"These are the snow potatoes that the village uses as a food source. The seeds were synthesized with my heart. Not only do they grow rapidly, but are dense with nutrients."

He sighed.

"The only problem stems from their short shelf life and the fact it requires a snowy environment to grow. I proposed it as the new staple food for us demons, but it was rejected without much consideration."

Layla\'s tail shot upwards.

"What! How could they reject it?"

Apollo hummed with dissatisfaction.

"That sounds unfair!"

Serosh shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face.

"Haha, that\'s what I told the inspectors. However, they are quite harsh with their judgments. Even if there are countless optimized aspects, a single shortcoming is enough for a proposition to be canceled."

Layla waved her fists in the air with annoyance.

"How dare they hurt friend\'s feelings!"

Apollo pouted.

"I can try to convince them! Where are they?"

Serosh smiled with genuine happiness.

"Don\'t be so concerned with trifling matters. My plants are able to feed me and my subjects and that is enough."

He snapped his fingers.

"Anyways, that is almost all there is in this city. There is not much left, but if you wish, I can show you-"

"Sire, are you attempting to commit treason?"

Serosh was interrupted.

The group turned around to take a look at who interjected themselves into the conversation.

It was a four-horned demon. He appeared to be a male, with a long grey beard. There was a large staff in his hand. It was black, with many tiny veins lined across it.

He was wearing a plain, but high quality white robe.

Three other four-horned demons stood behind him, wearing similar attire.

Their expressions were solemn.

A small crowd began gathering from behind the four-horned demons, growing in number with every second.

The encounter somehow attracted countless citizens despite just starting.

Serosh\'s eyes narrowed.

"You dare accuse me of treason?"

The four-horned demon\'s expression did not budge.

"I have not accused you of anything. I am simply pointing out a fact."

It slipped out for only a second, but the four-horned demon smirked.

"After all, you have brought humans into our city. It appears you are a spy for the humans, no?"

Serosh did not miss the smirk that appeared on the four-horned demon\'s face. He realized what was happening.