The Demon Slayers Sidekick

Having finally set off on their journey, the group made their way through a path leading towards the kingdom of Storm before deciding to stop for the night and get some rest.

As Filora prepared her and Domino’s sleeping bags, she glanced over at Rorio, who stood there shuffling through a tiny bag in his hand without even attempting to prepare himself for bed.

Actually, now that she thought about it, he didn’t appear to bring anything along with him when they left Gogonai. At least, nothing else other than his old adventuring outfit which still fit perfectly.

Giving the outfit an actual look, Filora noticed just how weirdly simple it was. The outfit consisted of a maroon-colored t-shirt with a brown strap going from Rorio's shoulder down to his waist, black jeans that stopped right before reaching his feet, and some dark brown shoes.

The shirt seemed to be made of a unique type of cotton while the pants reminded Filora of jeans. However, with how easily Rorio moved around in them, she had to assume they were made of nylon and polyester.

Looking down at herself, Filora noticed her outfit was similarly average.

She wore a long grey shirt that fell to her hips, and skin-tight pants that, while constricting movement, made it easy for her to strap things onto her legs such as daggers and other weaponry.

Along with all of that, she also had a set of dark grey shoes as well as a brown bag she had hanging over her back.

Seemingly deciding to compare outfits, Filora glanced over at Domino and looked him over.

He wore the same outfit he’d been wearing ever since six months ago. It consisted of a black t-shirt, a metal chest plate, shoulder pads, long black pants, and lastly, a set of dark brown shoes.

After seemingly thinking her outfit was the best, Filora grinned to herself and finished the last of the sleeping arrangements.

Turning back over to Rorio, Filora still found herself feeling rather curious as to how he was going to sleep.

Would he try to sleep on the ground, or perhaps on a nearby tree?

Since they hadn’t bought him a sleeping bag or anything, she figured he was just gonna have to make do with whatever was around them.

However, a few moments later, she widened her eyes in surprise as Rorio reached inside the tiny bag in his hand.

Was it just her, or did his hand go deeper than the bag itself?

Feeling lost on Rorio's actions, Filora kept watching him curiously. And then...Rorio pulled an entire sleeping bag!

“Huh!?” Filora cried out in surprise.

Domino glanced over to them and let out a chuckle.

“Still have your inventory bag, do you Rorio?” he said with his voice full of nostalgia.

An inventory bag. A special item adventurers obtain upon reaching a certain rank and passing a dangerous trial.

To explain, inventory bags have the ability to store almost anything inside them with only a few exceptions.

Despite its convenience, however, the reason this item is only obtainable to adventurers of a certain rank is because the only way you can get it is by going through the previously mentioned trial set by each of the guild leaders from every stationed adventures guild all across the world.

Said trials not only prove your skill as an adventurer, but they also exist to help you obtain the items required to produce said inventory bag. In short, it’s a task so difficult that only the most dedicated and hardworking of adventurers have ever gained such an item.

Another massive downside to trying this trial is that you’re only allowed to attempt it once. And if you accidentally lose the bag, then there's no getting a second one.

Once obtained, you can put pretty much put anything inside the bag without ever running out of space.

However, as also mentioned, there are a few things the bag rejects. Things such as living creatures, ancient relics that are more than ten thousand years old, as well as corpses from recently deceased humans, and other human-like creatures will be instantly ejected if you attempt to stick them inside the bag.

As you might expect, it’s quite a useful tool for any adventurer.

But with all the work that came with obtaining it, most adventurers decide to either just hire a bag carrier to watch over their stuff or carry their items themselves.

“Of course I have it. Unlike you, I don’t accidentally forget it inside a demon lord’s castle and only remember leaving it in there after we’d already burned the place down.”

“Er...”

Upon hearing that, Domino’s shoulders slumped as he gave an awkward smile in response. All the while, Rorio laid down in his bed and shut his eyes. And then...

“...Zzzz”

“He's out just like that!” shouted Filora, completely dumbstruck.

Domino, having got over his slump, smiled again as he looked at Rorio.

“That's Rorio for you. First to rest and first to rise.”

Seeing how easily Domino rolled with everything Rorio did couldn’t help but make Filora laugh awkwardly.

After that, she went to lie down in her own sleeping bag with Domino following suit.

Filora fell asleep a few minutes later. Meanwhile, Domino lied in his bag while looking up at the stars in the sky.

“We’re finally back together...after all this time I can finally reach out to him again.”

Glancing over at Rorio, a memory flashed into Domino’s mind. A painful memory he’d rather forget. One he was sure Rorio wanted to forget just as much as he did.

“I just hope things can go back to the way they used to be...before that day.”

As he said that, Domino wrapped himself up in his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

A few weeks later, the group slowly started to come up to the capital of Storm.

“We’re almost there guys! Come on!” Domino shouted excitedly.

Filora responded with a smile, but Rorio just rolled his eyes and looked at the kingdom ahead of them.

He couldn’t explain why, but for some reason, he felt like something about this whole kingdom was a bit off. But trusting his old friend's instincts, he looked over and saw Domino continuing to march forward.

Figuring Domino had everything covered, Rorio decided to ignore this strange feeling and continued walking toward the capital.

Once they reached the entry gate, the three of them were let in almost immediately. And as Domino and Filora walked through the streets, everyone stared at them with looks of admiration. On the other hand, no one seemed to take any notice of Rorio who followed them from a little farther behind.

While the other two continued to happily look around and greet people, Rorio gathered a bit of food from some stalls in town and put it inside his inventory bag.

After about an hour, Domino and Filora appeared to be finished with their greetings and they started making their way to the castle at the center of town with Rorio close behind.

Upon reaching the castle gate, the trio introduced themselves. While some of the guards glared suspiciously at Rorio, the group was still let inside and guided to the throne room of the king.

They reached the castle without any issue and were instantly given access to go toward the throne room where the king resided.

Before long, they found themselves standing in front of two giant gold and blue colored doors that were pushed open to give our group entry.

As they walked inside, Rorio looked around the room. As if scanning its design.

What faced them were walls coated with bright tan bricks, along with a mix of red carpets and dark blue curtains that added to the aesthetic.

Inside the room laid a giant chair that you’d normally consider to be the throne.

However, with how many steps it took to get to the top, people wondered why the king even bothered to sit up there at all.

Above everything else, however, the thing that stood out the most inside the room was the man who sat on the tall throne.

He had an average figure for a king, but the beard that was growing heavily over his mouth made it clear just how old he was as it consisted of a mixture of both gold and white hairs.

Taking notice of their presence, the king looked down at Domino, Filora, and Rorio.

Domino and Filora knelt immediately. This was the king after all. The man known as King Melodis. The king who ruled over the entire kingdom of Storm.

Seeing the two adventures bow caused the king to grin. However, that grin instantly turned to a frown when he saw Rorio leaning on a pillar nearby. It also didn’t help that Rorio let out a yawn while continuing to look around the room.

“What kind of fool are you to disrespect a king by not bowing boy? do you not know the custom when it comes to being before royalty?” said the king with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Hearing him, Rorio let out a sigh as he stopped leaning on the wall and looked directly at the king.

“I can assure you sire that I understand your customs. I just think they’re stupid.”

When he heard that, King Melodis's face twitched slightly.

Sensing things were going south quickly, Domino spoke up.

“I apologize sire. My comrade here is more accustomed to village life these days and doesn't know of normal customs that come with how you should treat royalty.”

Rorio looked at Domino and tried to speak up.

“I literally just said-”

He was instantly interrupted by King Melodis.

“I'll excuse his rudeness this time. However, I won't be so forgiving if it happens again.”

Domino let out a sigh of relief.

“Your kindness knows no bounds, sire,” he replied before looking over at Rorio and mouthed not to say anything else. Rorio simply shrugged his shoulder in response.

After talking for a little while longer as Domino went over his adventures during the last six months, the discussion eventually came to an end and Filora stayed behind to talk with her father while Domino and Rorio left to go look around the castle.

However, as soon as the two of them left the throne room and began walking down the hall, Domino turned his head to Rorio.

“Come on Rorio! Being cruel to me is one thing, but to royalty, it’s almost a crime. Actually, scratch that. It is a crime!” shouted Domino as he attempted to lecture Rorio about what had just happened.

Rorio let out a sigh.

“Just because these people wanna worship some dumbass on a chair doesn't mean I have to.”

Hearing that caused Domino to let out a frustrated groan.

“But there are certain rules and regulations everyone has to follow. You used to be a stickler for these types of things!”

“Don't compare me to how I used to be. I was only like that because I thought I had to carry your story. Now, I don't give two shits about that.”

Domino felt himself starting to lose a handle on his emotions and before he knew it, he let out something he never should’ve said.

“Well, I'd rather have the complacent version of you instead of who you are now!”

Domino expected Rorio to simply take a step back in surprise, but instead, Rorio glared at him, angrily. It almost made Domino himself take a step back as Rorio’s eyes began glowing a crimson red.

“I dare you to say something like that again.”

His voice full of malice, Rorio kept his attention on Domino who gulped nervously as he stared into his friend's eyes.

Finally done with the staring contest, Rorio let out a sigh, and his eyes faded back to their normal deep blue color.

After that, Rorio turned away and walked down the hall as Domino just stood there gripping his palms tightly.

Rorio walked away furious, not even attempting to look back at Domino, and ended up exploring the castle on his own.

He passed many people who gave him looks of suspicion but he simply ignored them and kept walking.

Once he reached the castle quarters he was given to sleep in that night, he slammed the door and tried to hold in a shout before turning his head to a wall nearby.

Unable to contain his rage any longer, he put all his energy into his fist-

“RAAHH!!”

-and slammed it into the wall which exploded on impact.

Rorio breathed heavily as he looked at the hole he just made before letting out a frustrated groan.

“Who does that idiot think he is saying something like that!? GRAAAH!”

Screaming out to no one, Rorio resisted the urge to punch another wall and let out a sigh.

He didn't want a single comment to make him lose control of his emotions, so he attempted to calm himself down taking in several deep breaths until his anger started to subside.

As he did so, he looked out the hole he just created and saw two people on the ground below him. Those being King Melodis and Filora who appeared to be talking to each other.

“Hm?”

Watching them walk by below him, the strange feeling Rorio got before returned.

Still having some hesitancy, Rorio just shrugged his shoulders and crashed onto the bed inside his room.

After a few minutes of mindnumbing boredom, Rorio decided it would be best to patch up his old weaponry so he sat up and got to work.

Pulling out his two favorite swords, Xeto and Rolphin, he held them each in one hand as he felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him.

Grabbing a cleaning cloth from his inventory bag, Rorio started wiping off what little dust was on his old swords. As he did so, he felt like his mind had finally cleared up.

Having finished cleaning off Xeto, Rorio was about to clean Rolphin as its shiny green texture reflected his face when Domino walked in.

Rorio ignored him as he began cleaning Rolphin.

“I see you've kept your blades in good condition.”

Rorio didn't want to respond to this conversation starter, but since he knew Domino would keep pestering him if he didn't talk, he decided to respond.

“I personally think that a man is only as good as his blade,” Rorio said calmly.

Domino chuckled.

“Do you even know how cliché you sound right now? Even I thought that was a goofy line.”

Rorio didn’t say anything and instead continued cleaning the weapons.

After a few minutes of silence, Domino cleared his throat and started talking again.

“Well Rorio, while I can't say that I’ve really enjoyed your attitude throughout this whole situation, I’m still glad you joined me again. I must admit, I half expected you to tell me to shoo until I actually left.”

“Wait...I could've gotten you to leave?”

“Wha-! O...Of course not! There’s no way I’d ever leave without you!”

“That so? What about the time I nearly got trampled by that rhino when we first met?”

“I barely knew you back then so that doesn’t count!”

“Is that so?”

The two continued this back and forth for a little while until a soldier suddenly entered the chamber looking slightly exhausted before recomposing himself and looking at the two of them.

“Sir Demon Slayer! You and your sidekick have been requested to meet the king in the throne room as soon as possible!” relayed the soldier with a salute.

Domino and Rorio stared at him for a moment before Domino spoke up.

“Very well. We'll be there as soon as possible,” he said with a smile.

Instead of responding, Rorio turned his head to the hole in the wall as he recalled what he saw before.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” he muttered as he got up from the bed and both he and Domino began making their way to the throne room.

Upon arrival, Domino and Rorio were met with an angry glare from the king.

“I suppose you two are wondering why I brought you here?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Not really.”

Ignoring Rorio, King Melodis focused his attention on Domino.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done Sir Demon Slayer?!” he shouted.

Domino gave him a quizzical look.

“I'm sorry, sire. I don't believe I know what you’re talking about.”

Domino was clearly confused by the king's attitude. Without saying anything himself, Rorio kept his eyes on the king.

His anger growing, King Melodis pointed his finger at Domino.

“I have heard from my daughter that while on your journey, you tried taking advantage of her several times and even managed to defile her! What say you to this!?”

The king put so much passion into these words that it was clear he meant every word.

“...Huh?”

Completely lost, Domino stood there silently for a moment before shaking his head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about sire.”

These words seem to only anger the king more.

“Don't you dare even try to weasel your way out of this! I demand you explain yourself this instant!”

Silence filled the room at those words.

Rorio turned to Domino and waited for his response. But his next words left not only Rorio but the king as well completely dumbfounded.

“I don’t know how that’s even possible. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m still a virgin.”

“.........?”

No words could be uttered that would make that sentence any less awkward.

The king, who seemed insulted, began gritting his teeth.

“That's it! I'm done trying to talk with you. It's clear you’re just going to deny everything! Therefore, I am judging you guilty of assaulting royalty and your punishment shall be death! Get him, guards!”

As he said that, guards instantly began filling up the room with their weapons ready.

All the while, Domino found himself completely lost on what was going on.

Starting to get the picture, Rorio sighed and stepped up next to Domino.

“Alright, I see what's going on here. Domino, can you meet me back at that mountain we used to hang out on that’s not too far from here? I'll clean these guys up here and join you in a bit.”

Hearing that, the king let out a loud laugh. Domino, however, responded with a nod.

“Uh...Okay. Just don’t overdo it please.”

“You got it.”

Feeling satisfied with that answer, Domino ran over to the door and flew it open before dashing away at an incredible speed.

“What!? After him-!”

“Pretty clever ruse I must admit.”

Hearing Rorio’s words, the king’s own words got caught in his throat as he turned to look at Rorio.

“And what possibly could you mean by ruse?” he asked as if trying to feign ignorance.

“A person of royalty travels with adventurers and she claims she was assaulted or something of the like. With accusations like that, even the world's most popular hero would be considered disgusting filth. And since the one giving said accusations are royalty, there wouldn’t be any need for proof. That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?”

Rorio kept his eyes on King Melodis as he stated his theory.

Melodis was silent for a moment. But soon enough, a creepy grin spread across his face.

“You're pretty smart for someone who works with that idiotic Demon Slayer.”

“You know, you're probably the first person to ever tell me that, and I don't think I like it.”

The king sneered at Rorio before shouting orders to his guards.

“Attack!''

All the guards immediately charged at Rorio.

However, in response, Rorio simply stood in place.

And then, when the first guard who approached Rorio tried to strike him with their spear, Rorio vanished from sight.

Confused, the guard looked around for a moment before a fist nailed him in the chest and sent him flying across the room.

“What the-” Another guard said before Rorio appeared behind him. With unbelievable speed, Rorio pulled the blade he called Xeto from his inventory bag and sliced right through the guard's weapon before he had a chance to react. And as the blade clattered to the ground, the soldier glanced down at what was now only a hilt, before his face went white with terror. Seconds later, Rorio slammed his fist into the guard's face.

As the guard smashed into the ground, Rorio turned away and continued taking down every guard one after the other as they charged at him.

Seeing how poorly things were going, one guard tried to fire an arrow from a distance in hopes of catching Rorio by surprise. But just as the arrow was about to hit Rorio, he reached up and snatched the arrow mid-air and threw it back at the archer who barely managed to duck out of the way before the arrow slammed into the wall behind him.

Dodging another guard’s attack, Rorio spotted someone with a shield.

“Perfect,” he muttered.

Grinning to himself, Rorio ran past his opponents before reaching the shield wielder.

Not giving them time to react, Rorio kicked the shield off the guard’s arm and grabbed hold of it.

Then, like a frisbee, Rorio threw it across the room and it smashed into guard after guard before flopping onto the ground completely destroyed.

As it stood now, it was easy to see who had the upper hand and Melodis glared at Rorio. As he did so, however, there was a strange look of excitement in his eyes that Rorio couldn’t help but feel put off by.

Before long, the only ones left standing were Melodis and Rorio

Grinning, Rorio turned to Melodis and pointed his blade at him.

“I don't know why you’re doing this, but I promise that Domino and I will take you down.”

In response to those words, all Melodis did was chuckle.

Irritated, Rorio was about to ask him what was so funny when he heard the sound of footsteps quickly approaching.

Figuring more fighting would be a waste of time, Rorio turned around and dashed out of the throne room before completely disappearing from view.

Still sitting on his throne, Melodis let out a laugh.

“Something tells me this is gonna be more fun than I originally thought.”

After saying that, he got up from his throne and made his way out to a special broadcasting tower only royalty were allowed to use. Once he turned it on, he set the broadcast to be played across every kingdom across the land. And the words he stated caused shock across the entire world.

“Attention everyone! The Demon Slayer and his sidekick are heretics against the kingdom of Storm under the jurisdiction of assaulting royalty! There's a bounty on their heads as of now of twenty million gold, and are to be brought in dead or alive!” Melodis announced.

As of that broadcast, Domino and Rorio were officially criminals against the kingdom of Storm. And with that bounty placed on their heads, it was safe to say the whole world was against them.

Rorio made his way toward his destination and soon found himself standing atop a hill that loomed above the ground below.

As of now, the kingdom of Storm was off in the distance and was barely visible unless you focused on it with your eyes.

Looking around for a bit, Rorio soon found Domino sitting on a giant rock waving at him with a smile.

Rorio rolled his eyes before walking over to Domino.

As they sat on top of the rock, Rorio decided to ask Domino if knew about how he was going to be betrayed.

Despite Domino’s clear confusion, Rorio was curious to see if Domino was actually aware of what was happening and had merely been playing dumb.

However, Rorio’s expectations were clearly too high.

“In all honesty, I had no idea.”

“...”

Letting out a sigh, Rorio shook his head.

“What the hell man? You mean that despite being one of the most skilled adventurers in the world, you seriously got deceived that easily?”

Domino shrugged.

“I guess Filora was just really good at deception.”

Rorio rubbed his eyes.

“How the heck did you survive these past ten years? I thought you would've gotten at least a little bit smarter after a gap like that. Guess it only made you dumber.”

“Wha-! Now you listen here!”

The two instantly started bickering.

After a few more minutes, the two finally cleared their heads.

Taking in a deep breath, Domino looked Rorio in the eye.

“Well, we’re trapped in this situation now. My guess is that King Melodis will more than likely send out a broadcast and pin some price on our heads. And with how rich someone like him is, he probably set a pretty high bounty. That means even if we try and flee, there will always be someone chasing after us.”

Rorio nodded in agreement.

“That’s more than likely the case. Meaning that if we want to avoid being hunted every moment of our lives, we’d need to go somewhere that isn’t influenced by royalty or the like.”

“Agreed. But is there even such a place?”

Rorio pondered that question for a moment before an idea popped into his head.

“There is one place we can go that Melodis can't. Or rather, a place he wouldn’t dare go.”

Domino cocked his head in confusion.

“There is? Wait...You don’t mean...”

Without saying a word, Rorio pointed his finger off toward an empty field of grass off in the distance.

To most, it looked like a rather peaceful spot of land. However, Domino understood all too well what really lied there.

“We need to go to the Outbursts,” Rorio said before lowering his finger while waiting for Domino’s response.

To explain, the Outbursts was a place that belonged to monsters and humans weren't normally welcome there.

Although the Outbursts didn’t exist until after he had quit adventuring, Rorio was well aware of what laid on the other side thanks to the many rumors he’d heard over the years.

According to said rumors, it became a safe haven for monsters everywhere. Meaning a human-like Melodis wouldn't dare go in there. And since no one knows what caused the creation of the Outbursts, the only thing that was clear to everyone is that it was a place that most humans tried to avoid.

Since Demi-Humans were technically listed as a monster race, Rorio wouldn’t have any trouble going in and out of the Outbursts. But Domino, on the other hand, was human. Meaning he’d have to struggle through quite a lot in order to survive in such a place.

But as rough as it would be, it was probably the only place the two could run to without worry of having to deal with Melodis.

Domino thought about the suggestion for a few minutes while also trying to rack his brain for any other good solutions. But in the end, nothing came to mind.

“I can't think of anything better. I guess we have no other choice.” Domino said, grimly.

Rorio nodded.

“All right. Should we get moving?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

With that plan agreed upon, the two began making their way off toward the empty grassy plain off in the distance.

After about two to three hours of walking, the two of them finally managed to reach their destination.

Stopping for a moment, Rorio squinted his eyes a little before reaching out his arm.

Upon doing so, his hand vanished from sight and a barely visible wall jiggled in front of him

He turned to look over to Domino who was doing the same.

Giving Rorio a determined smile, Domino said one last thing before walking forward.

“Let’s do this.”

And with that, the two of them stepped through the jiggly invisible wall, and their adventure within the Outbursts had officially begun.