Chapter 2 Full Schedule

The next morning, Agamennone woke up in the bed in the guest room, a rather sober and unremarkable room. The brown-haired man lifted his torso and scratched his head as he looked around. 'Where am i... This is not my home... And didn't i fall asleep on the couch...' The lord was still half-asleep, so he paid no attention to all the discrepancies between his last recollections and reality, and merely stood up from his bed. Dressed in the same robe, shoes included, he got up and stumbled towards the bathroom. After performing his basic functions, the man similarly headed for the kitchen to have breakfast. There he found a peculiar sight. at the sight of which he let out a yawn. '... The view is kinda nice today...' Violante was quietly eating chocolate pastries with only her pyjama shorts on, therefore bare-chested. Her mother was sitting next to her and was completely naked. The two were talking about this and that while watching a comedy show on TV. Agamennone took the opportunity to look at the two beauties for a few seconds, and then he proceeded towards the table, acting as if there was nothing wrong. Violante noticed his arrival and, blushing, immediately covered herself with a tank top she had brought along for the eventuality she had to cover herself. "S-sorry... Yesterday we talked about it and yet i continue to be irresponsible in your presence..." The reaction startled the man, who turned his head and blushed slightly. ''T-thanks for the consideration you have shown.... However... You don't have to be so harsh on yourself about yesterday. Luckily for you, i'm not a sensitive person..." The girl lowered her head and looked at her plate. "I got too comfortable with you... Let's say i was happy to..." Violante blushed. "... Well... To have a new brother to be together with..." The man scratched his chin as he observed the young woman. 'Why should she see me as her brother?' 'Maybe I shouldn't tell him that I actually pity him, given the situation he found himself into... Being his friend would help both...' Valentina, meanwhile, merely waved smilingly at her sovereign in a slightly seductive tone. The man looked again at the redhead's body. The latter smiled even more and hit on the man. "Is there anything you like, my Lord?" The man did not reply, but he was clearly displaying a certain degree of annoyance in his face. 'That woman... How crude...'' Then he calmed down. "Anyway... I was thinking... Isn't the castle, theoretically, my property? I could have moved in there instead of being a burden on your balance..." Both Violante and her mother immediately burst out laughing, which caused the young man to stiffen up. "What's so funny!?" "Dummy! hehe... The castle is the administrative headquarters... mhmh... of the entire kingdom. It's full of offices and... haha... storage rooms, you can't live in it." "Show him respect, my dear daughter, he is still.... Hehe... Your ruler." Agamennone blushed, and began to clench his fists in anger, so the redhead stood up and put her hand on the boy's shoulder to calm him down. "Don't worry, you are not a burden to us, my Lord... Just don't take too much advantage of our hospitality..." While Agamennone was being soothed by the naked demoness, despite the not so subtle threat, Agamennone, with his peripheral vision, noticed Violante getting up from the table quietly, with a smirk on her face that bothered him. "So... what's for breakfast?" "Milk!" The redhead winked sensually at Agamennone, who glared at her as he hunched over in annoyance. The woman tried to make up for her misstep by stroking the man's head with her other hand. "Don't be like that... I always tell this joke to my husband." "I am not your husband, you turniphead..." The monarch spoke in a mocking tone. Meanwhile, Violante returned with a box in her hand, which was placed on the table in front of the man. The girl returned to her place and then took a biscuit, after which she offered one to Agamennone. "Do you want it?" "Thank you." Agamennone began to eat his biscuit while Violante started talking about the box. "Given your lack of skills, i brought you one of my childhood games: 'The Little Alchemist'." Agamennone spontaneously assumed an air of cockiness, which was noticed by Violante, who became upset in response. "I'll let you know that this simple little game is able to teach you the basics of alchemy, my dear..." Agamennone calmed down partially realising that his housemate's discourse was not a mocking one. However, he was left with the urge to annoy her. "You know, you know-it-all, i could rather use some help on how to make some money." Agamennone placed his hand on the table, palm upwards. Violante crossed her arms as a sarcastic smile appeared on her face. "Ah... Strange that you realised you can't live on the taxpayers' tab, nor on our money, for the matter..." Valentina watched this discussion with delight, seeing in these childish squabbles two people who fit well together. "Anyway, do you have any skills?" The indigo-haired girl decided to become serious again. Agamennone thought about it for a moment, scratching his cheek with his index finger in the process. "I don't think so." There was a faint lack of interest inherent in Agamennone's words and this slightly irritated the woman. "Try asking around, but i think that, without skills, either you find an employer willing to teach you the trade or else.... You'll be forced to join the only place that accepts pretty much anyone in its ranks.... The Adventurers' Guild." The girl betrayed a certain annoyance at the mention of the aforementioned guild. Agamennone felt the same sentiment, for completely different reasons. After thinking about it for a few moments, the man tried to snap his fingers, failing miserably. "Can't i be hired at the castle?" "I doubt it... Not only people working at the castle are required to have specific skills which even I can say with fair certainty that you don't have, besides, you would also be your own subordinate, not the best thing in a working environment where hierarchy is important... However... you can always try, if you really want to..." "Nah... I don't have any pupils I'm trying to hit on so that I can sleep with them afterwards..." Both succubi were left perplexed. The man put a hand in his forehead. 'What a fool I am... How can I even think that they can pick up any reference to TV shows in my world...' "This is the expression of one who has realised that not only the premise behind his hard work is fallacious, but also that the error behind it is also trivial, isn't it? Violante smiled mockingly. Then she snapped her fingers. "That's how you snap your fingers, dummy... Anyway, getting back to business, if you want, after your special lessons i can help you look for a job, alright?" The girl smiled sincerely this time. Agamennone blushed slightly. "T-thanks..." Violante's smile became irreverent again as she saw the young man becoming embarrassed, while the latter, once said embarrassment had passed, sighed. 'What have I got myself into... I hate the very concept of work! But i have to keep these demonesses placid.' "By the way, if you want you can join the city's academy. There are various courses available, such as magic, fencing, cooking... There are courses for everyone, from beginners' courses to advanced ones. However... It costs a lot, and also a uniform is required..." Violante gestured a lot as she spoke. She also took another couple of biscuits. "A uniform? The one you were wearing yesterday?" Violante smiled faintly while Agamennone rolled his eyes. "Either way. I'm at square one, as i miss the cash!" "Dummy... I wouldn't have made such suggestion if it wasn't feasible. Given your situation, it is possible that the academy faculty would be willing to make an exception to the rule and might decide to take you in now and charge you later. I wouldn't put my finger on it, but in my opinion you should make an attempt." Agamennone was not very convinced by the proposal. Violante, noticing this, continued her argument. "Think about it for a moment. You are our overlord. We need a strong ruler, and you aren't one. You are also not under any warranty and we cannot replace you even if we wanted to. Do you see where I'm going with this?" The indigo-haired girl's smile turned smug and a bit sinister, surprising the demon lord, who remained slightly astonished. Having composed himself, he began to think, resting a closed hand on his chin and scratching it. "You are suggesting to exploit my position as this nation's ruler to extort a course of study from the academy?" The man instinctively pointed his index finger towards Violante, who smiled jovially as she waved her hand, which was horizontally aligned. "Close. You will use your position to get more freedom for your payment." "A-ah..." The man was surprised, and bent his index finger downwards instinctively. The woman laughed mockingly. "Do you think I would have allowed you not to pay for the course...? I am not a criminal..." Violante ate yet another biscuit. Biting off a piece and swallowing it, she assumed a calm but firm tone. "Anyway, I think it's time for you to get to the practice ground for your lessons. If you want, I can accompany you." Violante smiled sincerely, resting her cheek on a fist, and her elbow on the table. The man replied with feigned confidence, intended to hide his embarrassment at being treated like a child. "Don't worry, it's not far. I remember how to go there." Agamennone said goodbye to the women, without looking at them, and left the house. At the practice ground, an imposing knight in a shining metallic armour was waiting for Agamennone to arrive. Such knight was getting very bored, so he decided to take off his own head to use it as a volleyball. The knight continued to bounce his head until he saw Agamennone's silhouette approaching. The latter saw the performance and was confused by it. '... Huh?' The armour then put his head back. His reaction to seeing the lord arriving was rather tense, but placid nonetheless. "Your Majesty, i have been waiting for you for 15 minutes." Agamennone, embarrassed, lowered his gaze. "I got lost... This city is huge..." "Your Majesty, what are you saying! Whatever, never mind..." The armour sighed and partially extended one arm outwards, then he pulled himself together. "Your Majesty, i am Volframio, and I am the head of the guards of his majesty the demon king.... Hm... What is your name?" The pompous tone used by the armour was replaced by one of insecurity when he remembered that he did not know the name of his superior, who responded with frustration. "Agamennone" The king crossed his arms. "Demon King Agamennone!" Volframio finished his previous speech as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, I am here to teach you how to fight, my Lord. But before we start i need to check on something." Volframio aimed a fist at Agamennone and then shot it at high speed, by using magic, at the young man's stomach. Agamennone failed to understand his instructor's intent and was hit by a punch in the solar plexus that hurled him about 10 metres away from where he stood. The man remained on the ground, astonished, for half a minute, only starting to breathe again after this time. Still on the ground, Agamennone resumed to breathe normally after a further ten or so seconds. Then he clenched his fists and began to show all his anger. "YOU'RE CRAZY!" The ruler still had not got up from the ground. In the meantime, the detached hand magically returned to its owner. Volframio, standing in the distance, snickered, putting his hands on his head. "I didn't expect something like this.... Not only you're as tough as a twig, but you also have the reflexes of a rock, my Lord." Agamennone got up lazily. He was still hurting from the hit he received. He then wiped the dust from his robe and returned to the practice ground. He pointed his index finger at the head of the guards. "TURNIPHEAD!" Volframio did not reply, but he merely conjured up a spear with magic and then he gently threw it at Agamennone, who failed to catch it on the fly instead picking it up once it fell to the ground. The armour, who smirked, began to explain to his disciple how the weapon worked. "That is a spear, my lord. You should point the sharp edge toward the enemy." The brown-haired man was fed up with how he was being treated and struck Volframio with his spear, sticking it into one of the slits in the helmet, although this only happened after the spear hit one of the metal parts between the slits. The armour was not at all impressed by the lack of accuracy displayed and provoked Agamennone. "I guess you're one of the ones who misses the target from zero metres, huh, my Lord?" The ruler tried to use the stuck spear to detach Volframio's head, but the latter guessed the plan and blocked his own head with one of his hands. Agamennone kept trying to dislodge the armour's head for a few seconds, then he gave up and pulled the spear from the helmet. The man was upset and threw the spear on the ground, before attempting to leave. "Where are you going, Your Highness. The lesson is not over yet! If you don't stop i will be obliged to keep you here forcefully!" Agamennone stopped, huffed, swung an arm in annoyance and then returned to the moving armour. The man, battered and very fatigued, was now in the castle, sitting on his throne in an extremely dishevelled manner. Opposite him, the regent was standing up and was looking at him with a mixture of pity and annoyance, his right hand resting on his hip. "Your Majesty, a ruler doesn't sit like that." "MY WHOLE BODY HURTS, YOU TURNIPHEAD!" "Yet you seem to possess enough energy to argue with others." "HAVE MERCY!" The regent snorted in an apathetic manner. "I am going to fetch you the necessary books and a notebook, my lord." The regent headed towards room's exit when he heard the young man's still hostile voice. "Get a pen too!" The regent turned his head toward Agamennone for just a moment before leaving, rolling his eyes. 'He is a real headache...' In the meantime, the ruler also began to ponder, sighing. 'What did i do wrong in my life to deserve this...' Returning shortly after with the necessary material, the bovine noticed that the brown-haired man had straightened himself up slightly: He was sitting with his head resting on his right hand with his right arm resting on the armrest. "Are you mentally ready?" "Yes, but a couple of questions popped into my head in the meantime." The regent gave the notebook and the pen to the lord, who took them with his left hand, not changing position, and put them on his lap. "Speak, my Lord." The man regained his composure, assuming a certain degree of seriousness. "First question... how is it that I can understand you?" The anthropomorphic bovine first scratched his head, then he snapped his fingers as he thought about the question. "What do you me-... Ah! yeah, my lord... I think it might be an auxiliary magic related to the summoning magic. We haven't yet analysed the throne he's sitting on, so we don't know if it's a universal translation spell or just a spell that translates only the local language." The ruler crossed his arms. He was calm while also showing signs of exhaustion. "I see... And that also answers the second question..." "Rather, it is necessary for you, my lord, to know that a few days before his appearance, faint magical signals were detected from far away." The monarch grew both gloomy and annoyed. "I doubt it's an earthquake, right?" "Earthquakes do not release magical power, they just shake it if it's already present. Given their intensity and distance, I am certain these signals mean that other people like you, commonly called 'Heroes', have been summoned." The ruler was irritated, as well as worried. He sighed and rested his head on his hand, raising his forearm. "How beautiful..." The ruler's sarcasm was obvious, as was his unwillingness to dive into such subject, so he deflected the discussion. "But if they are 'Heroes', why am i a ruler?" "Because in this kingdom, until the last war, the strongest person in the kingdom assumed the leadership, whereas in other kingdoms the leadership is assumed by lineage." 'I don't know what is worse...' The ruler was mildly interested in the discussion, which could provide him with targets to vent his frustrations on. "And why was the system changed?" "Because people were more interested in fighting to take over the kingdom than in governing. The result was a series of very short and heterogeneous administrations, which often thwarted the achievements of the previous ones thus causing stasis." "Like a bunch of vectors?" The bull rubbed his cheek, having been weirded out by that question. "I'm not sure the comparison holds, my Lord..." After a some seconds of silence, in which Agamennone imagined a bunch of people becoming king only to be murdered a second later, Agamennoney started laughing. Seeing him, the regent let out a subdued smile. "You thought that it was not the best form of ruling, huh, my lord? It was your first predecessor who changed the form of government to the current one, with the demon king in charge and, in his absence, a regent which is democratically elected every three years." The brown-haired man was thinking, rubbing his head. " Oh... But what's the point of keeping the title and position of the Demon King? One could as well remove them, couldn't he?" "Well, your predecessor, as well as your other predecessors from other worlds, defeated their political opponents with minimal effort. The people, recognizing the strength and often the wisdom of such individuals, unanimously decided to retain the title of Demon King for those summoned from beyond. In their absence the title is effectively no more, my lord". The ruler smiled wickedly, with a sinister look on his face. He then stood up in excitement. "As your ruler, I order that the previous form of government must be restored!" "Forget it, my Lord!" The regent had a satisfied look on his face, his smile deepening as he looked at his superior's confused expression. "The regent has the right of veto, which he can apply in certain cases, like when there's a lack of trust between him and his Lord, and has to willingly forfeit it before stepping down from being the top dog. Regents, being natives, have much clearer ideas on what to do than someone who is summoned here randomly from one day to the next. It's simple common sense, my Lord." The ruler was both confused and shocked, his eyes wide open. "WHAT KIND OF RULE IS THAT! I MEAN... IT SEEMS GREAT BUT... BUT IT'S AGAINST ME!" "From my words, you should have understood how high is the potential of people from another world, right? It is necessary for us that you are anchored to our country. If we let you loose without any way of keeping you under control you could very well leave, ignore us and provide no support when necessary, leaving us at the mercy of events. Or you could abuse your power and bring us down from within. Do you see the point now? It's a way to protect ourselves and bind you to us." The bull spoke very seriously, in a dark tone, punctuating his words very clearly. Agamennone nodded, then he huffed in annoyance. 'Why are they so foresighted... Of all the fantastic kingdoms i could have ended up in as a messiah i ended up in a civilized one... One where absolute monarchy still holds firm, no? Then again, in this state, even as an absolute monarch i'd only last for a short time...' Meanwhile, the anthropomorphic bovine opened the book in his hand. "Listen carefully: The actual kingdom of Pyrothalassa was founded about 1300 years ago following the demonic diaspora due to their expulsion from the major kingdoms existing at the time..." The king raised an eyebrow in a moment of curiosity. "Why there was a diaspora?" "The most likely hypothesis is that they were a community with a strong identity and therefore not very comfortable for kingdoms whose population was diverse." "Ah... From what i know these communities are punctually frowned upon and are the first to be expelled, when they are lucky.... Sometimes these communities are enslaved or even exterminated.... Sometimes these mistreated communities then rise to power and start mistreating other ones. I'm starting to think that destroying whole communities is something very funny to do, given how often it is done..." The minotaur blinked rapidly in shock. The man in front of him spoke of genocides with a smile on his face and a carefree attitude. The regent was pervaded by a sense of unease mixed with slight apprehension, which he nevertheless managed to conceal. As if nothing had happened, the regent resumed his original discourse. The ruler however quickly became bored and started thinking about other things; all this while staring blankly at the regent. 'Pyrothalassa... Does not pyro mean fire in ancient greek? And thalassa is sea... Leaving aside the rightness of the name of which I have no idea.... The main point is... 'BUT WHERE THE HECK DID THEY GET THEIR INSPIRATION TO GIVE SUCH A NAME TO THE KINGDOM! AND WHY ANCIENT GREEK? Is there such a thing as ancient greek here or do i perceive the name as ancient greek for some reason unknown to me?' Returning to reality, the man found himself with an axe aimed straight at his face. His reaction came after a couple of seconds, the time he needed to fully comprehend his situation. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The anthropomorphic bovine, which was wielding the double axe normally carried on his back, retracted it, placing it on his shoulder. "DAMN YOU, YOU TURNIPHEAD! YOU'VE GIVEN ME A HEART ATTACK!" The regent did not flinch at the verbal aggression of the brown-haired man, who was also swinging his fist in the air for emphasis. "Pay attention and take notes, my lord." The regent walked away, placing the axe on his back, then reopened the book he had held under his free arm and restarted the lesson all over again. "The actual kingdom of Pyrothalassa was founded..." This time Agamennone took notes, albeit reluctantly and with frequent huffs. Walking shakily and struggling, Agamennone reached Violante's house. He knocked on the door, which was opened shortly afterwards by Violante. The man, exhausted, did not move immediately, remaining to look at the girl in front of him. "Are you well? How was the training schedule?" The girl's smiling face was in stark contrast to her housemate's gloomy one. "I don't even want to talk about it..." His voice was sounding tired. The indigo-haired woman decided to help the brown-haired man walking. "Do you want to sit on the couch?" "Y-yes..." The young man struggled his way to the sofa, with the help of the succubus, and he laid down on it. A comedy show of dubious taste was on the screen: 'Dr. Pierfrancesco Adamantini'. In spite of the crude comedy, which often lapsed into the raunchy and crude, he started to follow it. The woman was instead preparing lunch, task she was already performing before opening the door to her housemate. "This is a show i watch whenever i want to turn my brain off. You can watch something else if you want." The young woman was slightly red in the face and began to laugh out of emabrassment. "It's one of my... Well... My forbidden pleasures... I hope it doesn't change your opinion of me..." The man did not listen to her. Not because he did not want to, but because he had already turned his brain off; or rather, it had turned itself off. However, the presence of an idiotic smirk on the lord's face reassured the young woman. The lunch was ready after a few minutes. Only Violante and Agamennone were present in the house and the atmosphere was slightly tense. Agamennone looked at the meal: Compared to the previous evening's dinner, the dishes were simpler and of lower quality. Violante, who was already eating, was slightly embarrassed after her food was examined by the guest in a rather rigorous manner, before such guest started eating the dish of plain pasta in front of him. "I know i'm not a good cook... I can take criticism..." The young woman looked away for a moment, blushing slightly and betraying a vulnerable side. Then she regained her composure and became playfully condescending. "But if you are not satisfied with my meals you can always cook something yourself..." The brown-haired man stiffened at the comment, irritated but unable to reply at it. After a few seconds of silence, Agamennone then began a new conversation: "Where is your mother?" "She's at work." The conversation continued at varying speed. Agamennone did not know how to continue the conversation he had started but, at the same time, did not really interest him. Violante, on the other hand, saw no harm in answering the questions asked to her and interacted almost instantly. "And... What work does she do?" "She runs a chain of brothels." Agamennone raised an eyebrow. "You mean... That your mother is a pimp?" Violante became instantly enraged and slammed her open hands on the table while standing up, her lips parted slightly, showing her teeth like a small dog ready to growl. Her gaze was piercing and showed all the anger that question gave her. "My mama is an honest person. She does not exploit her subordinates. All the employees have joined voluntarily, they are in compliance with the law, they only do what they want to do, and they are paid more than worthily! They also have a medical agreement included, paid holidays, paid sick days, and even their own union to renegotiate contractual agreements! Not to menthion that they also benefit from a discount in case they want to join a gym or go to the beauty parlour! You better remember that!" The girl kept her voice low, and that was actually an additional value to her threat. The monarch was astonished, his mouth dropped open and his eyes wide open from such an aggressive reaction from the indigo-haired woman that was completely unexpected for him. The woman, who was staring intently at her conversation partner, began to calm down, sighing and gradually blushing more and more while she also sat down and lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry... It's just that... That term... isn't very... Respectful... You know..." "Indeed i know..." The housemate started to think, but less insulting terms did not come to him. 'Does a dignified term for that kind of professional figure even exists? Company worker does work as a term? Is it too vague?' Agamennone had a vacant look on his face as he searched for a solution to his own question. The couple remained silent for around twenty seconds. After that the girl resumed both eating and the talking. "By the way... My father, on the other hand, is an electronic engineer." The ruler however had already gone off on various tangents of thought. 'Aren't Lagrange's theorem and the mean integral theorem more or less the same thing but seen from different perspectives, at least if the function is derivable? At least i believe such...' "Agamennone?!" The young woman was lucky enough to call the man as soon as the latter had finished his train of thoughts, managing to catch his attention. "Huh?" "What were you thinking?" "Well... Nothing important." The young woman smirked, curious about such thoughts. "Come on, if you say that you automatically make me curious..." The man shrugged. "Alright... I was thinking about the mean value theorem..." "The one for differentiable functions?" "Yes." Violante scratched her forehead in confusion. "That's... Completely irrelevant though..." The conversation was going on at a steady pace. The woman took a sip of water from her glass. "Did you hear me say that my father is an electronic engineer?" Agamennone did not immediately respond, looking away even more than he normally did during conversations. "No..." Violante smiled as she wiped her mouth with a paper napkin, after which she got up and removed the now empty plates from the table. Then the girl served the second course, a pork chop, on the flat plates below those where the first had been eaten. The woman served the ruler first. "What are your parents' jobs?" The curious woman then served herself and finally sat down. In the meantime, the young man had already started eating. He answered the question after a few seconds, thinking about if he wanted to tell her or not. "My mother is a member of the Guardia di Finanza, my father is an architect." The young woman was interested in getting to know her tenant better, so much so that she instinctively assumed a seductive pose. Agamennone's face showed his confusion seeing the woman make such a pose. 'Huh?' He decided not to pursue the discussion any further. Violante noticed the slightly astonished look on the man's face and recomposed herself, with obvious embarrassment showing on her face through a giggle. The lunch continued with the two of them now slightly uncomfortable to interact with each other. The meal was soon over, with the man wasting no time in getting up from the table. "Listen, I'd like to take a shower. Ssince i don't have a change of clothes, could you possibly lend me something decent to wear?" Violante looked at him in confusion. "You know... I wouldn't mind to lend you something.... However... Do you remember that i have a father, don't you? Or do you prefer women's clothes?" 'I am an idiot...' Agamennone put a hand on his forehead. "I don't like women's clothes... I just forgot the existence your father!" The maiden giggle, before smiling sweetly. She then winked at the man. "I'll go get everything you need..." The maiden went to get the required soaps and towels; while Agamennone observed the woman and tried to memorize the position of the various items needed, then he began to think about frivolous things. 'A roasting jack music box that plays as it spins... maybe playing the song Alouette... would be a funny idea...' Finished the task, the succubus warned the man: "Everything's ready." The man nodded and went to the bathroom while the young woman went to her room to read a comic book, not before casting a couple of fleeting, instinctive glances at the man, of which she was immediately ashamed, blushing. 'I shouldn't push my luck with teasing him... He doesn't really mind but if i start throwing lustful glances at him i'll end up being annoying him so much that he could start to hate me...' Red in face, the girl tried to suppress certain thoughts and to distract herself by engaging her mind by reading a light novel. On the other hand, Agamennone started singing rather frivolous songs in the shower: Specifically "Funiculì funiculà." After around half an hour, noticing that the ruler was still in the bathroom, the young woman decided to prepare clean clothes for him, which she had not done at first as she did not know the man's aesthetic style and wanted his opinions by asking him as he showered, only for her bail out to leave him in peace. She took rather neutral clothes belonging to her father from the the latter's bedroom and put them in the guest room. Agamennone was still in the shower, now singing "Guantanamera". The woman, which was perplexed by his slowness, understood from his singing that nothing serious had happened to the ruler. She nevertheless decided to knock on the bathroom door. "Yes?" The man's tone was relaxed. "You are slow. It takes me ten minutes to shower. And my hair are way longer than yours." The woman was not aggressive, but she still tried to press her companion. "I finished showering!" The man was clearly upset by the woman's remark. "I'll give you another five minutes, after which I'll start spying on you through the keyhole." The water flow of the shower was turned off. "PERVERT!" "I don't deny that." The woman replied in kind to the brown-haired man's verbal attack. But admitting that she was a pervert, although she did not hide it much, left her red in the face with embarrassment, even putting her hand in front of her mouth. Sighing, the woman went back to her room. 'I really admitted to him that i'm a pervert... Do i have have any dignity? Still... On a more serious matter, i hope he wasn't offended by my remarks... ' Agamennone had now dried himself completely and dressed himself. He did not like the idea of borrowing Violante's father's clothes, but there was no decent alternative for him. He went to visit his housemate, who had resumed reading the light novel from earlier. The indigo-haired woman noticed his arrival, put the novel down and looked at him. Soon a look of both confusion and amusement formed on her face. Agamennone noticed this and became puzzled too. "What?" "You put your shirt on wrong.... you both inverted the inside with the outside and the front with the back..." "What!?" Agamennone looked at his shirt. He put his hands on his eyes in desperation as he realized that Violante was right. "AND I EVEN PAID ATTENTION TO IT! I NEVER GET IT RIGHT!" Violante giggled. This annoyed Agamennone, who glared at the woman before leaving the room to adjust his shirt. Shortly afterwards Agamennone returned to Violante, who had meanwhile got up and put the story in her bag. He was still upset. "Is the shirt ok now!?" "Yep." The woman assumed a more serious tone of voice and started to take out half a dozen comic books, putting them in her purse. "Anyway, it's time for your training. I remind you that we've also decided to look for a job for you." "I remember it..." The ruler displayed all his frustration. Meanwhile, Violante closed the windows, headed downstairs and waved Agamennone to follow her. The woman smiled. "Hopefully there will be some progress today." "Yeah..." Agamennone was not happy with the discussion that had taken place and although the woman tried to be supportive of him his mood was low. At the ground floor the woman closed the remaining open windows, took the house keys and opened the front door. The girl did it all while whistling a cheerful tune. In the meantime the monarch was again thinking about silly stuff. 'A given set is open if every point in it is an interior point, which means that for every point contained in the subset there is at least one neighbourhood of that point contained entirely in the subset.' 1 Violante, having finished securing the house, headed towards the front door and, seeing that Agamennone, who was absent-mindedly following her, was still in a bad mood, she smirked. She then left, waiting for the housemate to notice her leaving the house and do the same, as she then had to lock the house. "Do you happen to know what a closed set is?" As he was leaving the house, Agamennone uttered this question seemingly without purpose, but a smirk on his face betrayed his mischievous intentions. 'Should she say no, I could assert my superior knowledge. I'll show her i'm not an idiot that fails to put his shirts right!' After closing the door, the woman took the keys out of the lock. An expression of mild confusion formed on her face. 'Why now does he want to know if i know what a closed set is?' It didn't take her long to understand the reason for the question. 'He wants to flaunt his knowledge! He wants to avenge himself at my expenses because i made him notice that he put his shirt wrong!' Her expression turned smug. "It's a set containing all its accumulation points." Agamennone was a bit annoyed by her answering right, yet he decided to press things further. "And what is an accumulation point?" "An accumulation point for a given set is a point, not necessarily contained in it, for which any neighbourhood of it contains at least one point belonging to the set in question." The lord's face showed all of his irritation. "You know-it-all!" Agamennone pointed at the woman, who giggled. "Come on... these questions are not difficult... Don't think you can beat me in a mathematical contest." The man rolled his eyes. The two of them then headed towards the testing ground. Later. The training had gone the same as last time: no progress from Agamennone and Violante following him with the bare minimum of her attention while reading comic books, not knowing what to do to help him. "Agamennone, i remind you that we have to find you a job, so as soon as you've recovered we'll go right away, as we don't have any time left." Agamennone sat on the ground, laying his head on his knees and using his hands as pillows. He was mentally exhausted from the training. "Is something like being a waiter even possible? Why should i be an adventurer!?" Violante looked at the ruler, with curious and compassionate eyes. "You're right, you don't need to risk your neck to earn a few coins.... However..." The girl was overcome by a slight enthusiasm, which she immediately tried to dampen. "Let's say that we have high standards that those who want to perform these jobs need to satisfy." Agamennone sighed loudly. "Like searching for a new university graduate or new high school graduate with experience in the job?" The succubus tilted her head in confusion. "What you said makes no sense..." "I know... And yet such things exist from where i am. Still, why should these adventurers have more lax requirements? It seems to me a very simple and risk-free job..." The man's sarcasm was as clear as water. "Because the adventurers' guild is an international organization that adopts uniform admission criteria in all the nations in which it operates. And let's say that many of those states have much less developed education than ours, and the guild preferred, for its own convenience, to use their education requirements as a standard. You know... When anyone can work for you manpower can be easily found..." The woman had a sarcastic smile on her face, also extending her arms sideways to emphasize the triviality of her speech. Meanwhile the man was slowly getting up. It did not help him that he found the borrowed trousers rather stiff, while the leather shoes were loose. He had an expression of resignation on his face. Meanwhile the demoness adopted a softer approach, smiling swiftly and blushing slightly. "You know... I have a an acquaintance at the guild.... If you want i can try to get you a place that would provide you tranquillity, without the need to take unnecessary risks for some pocket change..." Agamennone looked at her, raising his eyebrow as he was perplexed. "How much can I rely on your help?" "Not much, really..." The woman turned her head towards him, looking down, almost ashamed. The king, who was now standing after struggling for some moments, gestured to Violante to start walking. He sighed, not really surprised by her response. "I didn't really have any hope from you, but... I appreciate your attempt to help me..." The resigned leader's words calmed the maiden, who pulled herself together and started talking to him again, looking her housemate in the face. "If you want... I can prove to you what i said by taking a walk through the city. I'll show you how high these requirements really are." The woman was smiling again, completely opposing the lack of vitality and the hunched pose of the man, who looked at her rather skeptically. "Alright..." The girl pointed at the young man's face with her right hand, resting the other on her hip and taking a pose between the authoritative and the concerned, with a bright but mischievous smile on her face. ''Ah, by the way... If I were you, I'd avoid letting people know that you're the Demon Lord, otherwise it's almost certain that the guild will send you to the front line to train you harder. We have high expectations for you and such expectations would be betrayed, even shattered at the moment. In hindsight... Your proposal to give up making the descent ceremony was a good idea. And I'm sure the Regent didn't spread news about you considering your current shortcomings... So... Unless someone recognized you as the Demon Lord when you went for a walk with him, or recognize you now, you should have no problem concealing your identity. And should i notice that someone recognizes you... I'll try my best to make him comply to our willingness to keep things secret." The man gave his companion an awkward smile, feeling a bit endeared by her speech. He then, however, swiftly frowned again, while also lowering his head. He sighed in discomfort, looking at the tiles of the training ground. 'This title is a conviction! Drat! It's bringing me no benefits and only drawbacks' The man clenched his fists and gritted his teeth for a couple of seconds, then he partially collected himself. Seeing this, his companion placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him again. Agamennone raised his head, looked at Violante, who smiled at him, blushed a bit in an instinctive response to her, and then he straightened his posture. The two then walked slowly towards the centre of the city, talking about nothing in particular.