"Ahh!" I let out a gasp and scream as I sprung up half expecting to be restrained with some type of chain or whatnot only to find myself in the bedroom where I had slept for the night in the castle

I looked around at my surroundings wondering if the fight I had with those religious ninjas was real or not since I wasn't feeling soreness in my entire body and my suit I remember being damaged in the fight but had no cuts at all, was that all a nightmare? Considering how real and bad it hurt, maybe some dream fairy decided to have fun with me...I do remember that me and the bogeyman have some old beef but he couldn't have traveled to another dimension inside a book to just prank me and not finish the job

I leave the room I was in and notice how distant it was to the hallway, considering I took the first room closest to the entrance... I wasn't in the same room as that night, and since I was not a sleepwalker it could only mean that I was moved from my original room because something must have happened there. I tried to find the one where my fight took place, after opening way too many doors with nothing significant inside them I finally find the damn room and I gotta say they did a good job as it almost looks like nothing happened last night, almost being the key word here because a closer inspection tells a different story.

For starters the wallpaper doesn't match the ones of all the other identical rooms I saw coming here, second, there was the balcony which was a rushed job in terms of repair but most wouldn't notice because of the fresh coat of paint and the last detail was the blood stains that although were gone it could still be felt the faint smell of blood if you sniff close enough, or maybe it was a perk of my demon nose, I looked out from the balcony and into the garden below to find a large spot that had not a single flower in it and was just the right shape for a crater made by a demon and monster-sized ninja falling from this height

I got out of the room since there was nothing worth noting there now that my investigation was complete, and lay against the wall as I recollected my thoughts on the incident last night. There is some sort of religious order armed with ninjas that wants me dead for being a demon, not the first time some organization tried to kill me because I was a denizen of good old hell, the first time they did it with katanas, and tonfãs rather than guns or lightning spears made to hunt giants

But I wonder about those purple ninjas I saw before I passed out, they weren't with those religious ninjas since I wasn't dead and assume they were also the ones who fixed the broken room where the fight took place so no one in the castle would know what truly happened last night, coming to think of last night again, I was saved from becoming red paste on the floor by that hulked out ninja by what I assumed was a ghost but it might have been one of the purple ninjas using some sort of magic to distort the air around them for some pseudo invisibility, so I own them my thanks.

But that makes me question if they were truly allies or if they had something planned for me... did they steal my blood during my time knockout for some ritual? One can truly imagine why they wanted someone like me alive instead of summoning a young human person instead, maybe one of them was charmed by the face of a broken gargoyle that I have? I heard it is all the rage with women, particularly creepy witches

Suddenly I hear the sound of three doorknobs opening and see my fellow "heroes" emerge from their rooms wellrested but seemingly still groggy and wanting to sleep more, it is probably because I am used to getting my ass handed to me but if I can wake up from that, they should not be wanting some more close eye time

"*Yawn* Oh, you are up early, big red," the only people that can call me something like that are my friends and we aren't at that point, spear jock

"Yeah, also, considering the current position of the sun, it is eleven in the morning, that is early for you?" I said, when I looked out of the balcony while investigating the room, I saw how high in the sky the sun was and deduced the current time, a skill I picked up from the many occasions where I suddenly found myself in an isolated random dessert away from society and no clock watch on my person, the boys shrugged it except for shield kid how seemed a bit embarrassed from slumbering for so long

"Huh? Hey wait a minute, I can't see your level anymore, that means you are a higher level than us, how did you raise your level from one from that night to now?" Bow boy asked and the other two seemed to notice that fact as well and I could see their levels above their heads now, I didn't know that they could see this level thing, I probably didn't notice until now because everyone else in this castle was levels above us four, I better come up with a excuse since explaining the ninja battle I had could put them in danger if whatever evil organization tried to kill me discovers that the other three heroes know that there was a attempt on their lives, I doubt that they will go after the kids since their priority number one at the moment is me

"Sleep paralysis demon, one of those inoffensive types, the ones that lick you, slowly removes your clothes, or sing a freaky lullaby, I guess he didn't expect that his immobilizing trick wouldn't work since I had to be scared of it, and when you are in my profession dealing with the occult, a small imp making monkey sounds isn't going to cut it," I lied to them, my story should be believable to them since they are speaking to a demon at the moment, so a sleep paralysis demon shouldn't sound far fetched at this point, and by their expression, it seemed that they brought it

"Did it give anything good?" Shield kid asked innocently enough and I could feel spear jock and bow boy staring at me with I assume envy, they are probably not fans of the idea of me having some cool and strong demon sword form that they don't possess

"I can now see 0.25% better in the dark than your average Joe, I honestly expected more from a demon even if it was a small one," I lied once again to get them off my back on this subject and it seemed to work, although I feel like bow boy wasn't entirely convinced

"Okay... let's go see if the king guy got our parties ready... after breakfast!" Spear jock said and I think I agree with him on this one, fighting those ninjas did make me a little peckish, I need nutrients to heal myself from that beating and recuperate the blood I am certain that I lost, either from the fight or that I assume those purple ninjas drained me from, after going down and waiting for a bit as the servants were preparing lunch since it was already way pass the time for breakfast, after having some gosh darn good sandwiches, we were taken to the area where we would get our teams

"Heroes these are the best warriors in the land, they will be accompanying you on your journey," the king said in a booming voice that seemed to catch the three other heroes off guard, were they still a bit sleepy or did they never have someone yell at them before?

"So do we get to choose them or do they choose us?" Motoyasu the spear jock asked as it was obvious that he wanted to form his group with the ladies present there, fucking pervert

"The latter sir spear hero. Now! Our future champions! Is time to start your journey!" The king exclaimed and the adventurers made their way to the heroes of their choice, and after a few seconds, the result was mostly what I expected, spear jock had three ladies with him, bow boy had four people to his name, shield kid had a single person as his companion but she did seem to be wearing good equipment. And of course, my handsome self had no one, even if I figured that as much from the moment that the king said that the people were the ones choosing who to follow

"Wow, no one decided to join with the demon, who would have guessed?" I joked a bit sarcastically, the other three looked at me with different feelings, spear jock seemed smug as heck because I assume he didn't like me since our interactions so far haven't been the best they could be, or he was smug because he had a bunch of girls in his group and seemed to be thinking about dating them. Bow boy seemed neutral towards my situation, it might have been because of my whole false story about the sleep paralysis demon thing to explain how I was levels higher than them, I guess he thinks I don't necessarily need teammates if I can slay a demon at level one which was a fair assumption I guess. Shield kid was the only one with some sort of pity in his eyes but also confusion, he was certainly wondering why he got one party member while the others got more which I also wondered why that was the case, but he was perhaps an unpopular choice among the three that didn't have red skin and a tail

"Huh... it would seem that the sword hero will have to find party members on his own during his journey, I suppose it would be fair to give him a higher amount of money to ease in his search," the king said and with a wave of his hand, some servants came and handed us some bags with coins on the inside, I guess they don't have paper currency in this kingdom

"Heroes I wish you all luck for the adventure ahead of you," the king said, and with that, the heroes were finally out of the castle, and into the city While each of us walked in different directions, immediately after I stepped out of the inner wall surrounding the castle, I could already see and hear the sound of horrified gasp, looks of terror, and utter confusion as I walked through the streets, people clinching to the walls as they eyed me in fear, I am feeling weirdly nostalgic to the first few times I had to do missions in public spaces and when pursuing monsters in populated areas

I am just trying to get out of town, both to see the monsters that they said were close to the nearby forest as well as to get away from all the screaming and glares sent my way, when I made my way to a gate that seemed to leave to outside the city, some guards went to stop me, although one of them was trembling like crazy, the one who was scarred was level 24 and the more serious one was level 17... The weaker guy was less afraid than the strong one, how does that work?

"Halt! Where do you think you're going, demi-human scum?" A guard with an annoying voice shouted as he held his hand in front of me signaling to stop, demi-human is new, never got called that before but it fits

"I have businesses outside, just let me through...please," I add the last part in the hopes that things don't turn into a brawl... who am I kidding? With my luck, it always becomes a brawl

"I-I-I think we should l-l-let him, he looks... fierce," the scared guard said with his voice trembling just as much as his hands

"Bah! Just because he is some type of exotic species, I should give him special treatment? You new draftees have no spine," the annoying guard looked at his fellow guard angry and disappointed before eyeing back at me, and just after a few seconds of us both silently staring at each other, he gritted his teeth and pulled out his sword from its sheath, did he get mad because I didn't immediately leave his sight?

"I had it with you, get out of my sight!" The annoying guard screamed as he sloppily dashed my way, I just swatted him with my right hand and he was flung away into the soil, his health bar seemed to drop to a third of what it used to... I have to watch out to not kill people with my stone hand

"Can I go now?" I asked the other guard and he shook his head up and down in agreement very nervously, almost like one of those heavy metal fans

"Y-y-y-yes sir! Come and go whenever you like! Just don't hurt me..." he said while moving out of my way and bowing down

Out in the pastures, I sit on the grassy ground and think about how I am going to do this whole hero business if the people I'm supposed to help either run in fear of me or try to attack... Whatever, I am just here to fight off those Waves of calamity until I can go home, whatever the public thinks of me is irrelevant at the end of the day, they aren't going to be rooting for me but that doesn't mean I shouldn't do my duty and slay whatever evil fuck comes my way.

Suddenly a bit of tall grass started to move a bit before an orange ball jumped out from it, a sort of balloon with eyes and teeth looking very angry at me... is this a monster? Gosh, I wish the monsters in my world looked like doodles made by a child, the thing is almost harmless except for those teeth, I kind of want to just let it be instead of kill it. The thing jumped in my direction with its jaw open wide to bite me, I raised my right stone hand to let it munch on it but the moment he laid his teeth on it, he just popped up and his torn-up rubbery skin fell to the ground

1 exp gained

Well... if these balloon things are the only monsters around and they all give 1 experience point, then I think I am good for now since thanks to me killing those ninjas, I'm level 31 and pretty sure I would need to kill a few thousand of these things to go another level up. Now that I think about it, during my fight with those guys, the "legendary" sword transformed into a copy of the katana that belonged to one of the ninjas, I wonder how that was possible... There must be an answer to this status magic thing, I remember seeing something called "Help Menu"

[The legendary sword can make a copy of any type of sword that the wielder held with his body, allowing him to access the powers and abilities of that sword]

[You have a new sword form(4)! Go check the Weapon Menu]

And as soon as I opened the thing it gave me an answer, neat. I opened up the aforementioned Weapon menu and I saw this sort of web of icons that are currently grey except for the center one that was listed as (small sword)[currently equipped] which was the basic form that the sword in my hand was currently in, I mentally moved along to any other white icon I could find until finding one

[Holy katana of the Divine Trinity]

20 attack 15 light magic resistance 8 Agility

[Ability: imbued with holy magic by a priest, this blade causes 35% more damage to creatures of hellish origin]

I equip the copy of the katana and hold it up to inspect it, seems that whatever religious order those ninjas get their weapons from hates subtlety because the thing is covered in patterns of crosses and rosaries at the handle, there is a little keychain thing of a small angel holding a spear, it is a pretty design but a bit overloaded, still, I think mastering this will be worth it

I remember that the status screen had said I got three more swords, so I looked around for them but I couldn't find them until I came back to the (small sword icon) and noticed a thin red dot to the side of the icon, which I mentally clicked on, as soon as I did, it took me to a new pitch dark screen with seven icons, four of them grey while three were red, with the name and description of this series of sword forms on the top

{Cursed Deadly Sins weapon series}

{Series Description: When a hero falls in absolute despair, their greatest sins gain form to motivate them to keep moving forward, even if it leads them to a darker path of suffering and villany}

{Series function: Grants an immense and devastating power at a high cost to the soul and body of any human hero who decides to use them}

[Cursed Sword of Wrath] lv 3

[A sword form unlocked when a hero's heart and mind are filled with rage at everything and everyone in the world... Or when the chosen hero is a demon originating from the Wrath ring]

50 attack, 15% more damage toward every monster, 35% more damage to allies, friends, and innocent people

[Unique Ability: Hellfire touch: when this sword form is equipped, anyone who touches you will catch on cursed fire that burns both body and soul]

[Unique Skill: HellMaiden: create a giant iron furnace shaped like a demonic maid that will unleash burning hot chains to catch its targets and drag them inside herself to burn in eternal flames of suffering]

》《》《》《

[Cursed Sword of Sloth] lv 1

[A sword form unlocked when a hero loses his will to fight or combat the forces of evil, falling into a deep depression... like when a certain someone decided to take a vacation to Africa instead of confronting his personal issues]

30 Defense, 30 Magical Defense, 5 to all resistance

[Unique Ability: Lazy Aura: when this sword form is equipped, the closer someone is to you, the harder it becomes for them to move]

[Unique Skill: Sloth restraining jacket: cast a metal jacket resembling a sloth(animal) on a single target, the target will lose all of their motivation to take action of any kind]

》《》《》《

[Cursed Sword of Gluttony] lv 1

{A sword form unlocked when a hero is consumed by an insatiable drive towards an unreasonable goal... Or when a big red emotional wreck stays drunk on tequila for a few months straight while in Mexico, starting a career as an amateur wrestler in the process}

40 health, 10 Magical Power, 10 Soul power

[Unique Ability: To Quench Sorrows of an Empty Stomach: when this sword is equipped, anyone hurt by it will immediately enter a state of extreme starvation]

[Unique Skill: Beelzebub's Spawns: cast a curse that makes the person afflicted have demonic flesh-eating flies come out from their guts and consume their bodies]

Well... that is... interesting to say the least I suppose... so I currently have access to three out of seven sword forms based on the deadly sins that have powers and abilities dangerous to anyone even close to me, allies and foes alike. A part of me is surprised at this but I can't say I didn't expect to somehow get a demonic sword that uses evil as a power source

The Wrath series I unlocked just for the fact that my dad Azzael was a demon of that ring of hell, but it being on level 3 while the other two are just at level 1 means it is stronger than them, right? Is it because of my lineage or because of my bad temper? It's probably both.

The Sloth series seems to lean more towards depression rather than overall laziness, using that as an explanation for the lack of will to do anything, I had... more depressive episodes than I would have liked to, especially when they involved my adoptive father and some of my friends like Liz, so I can kind of see why I got this one as well

According to the bible, indulging in wine was Gluttony because the wine was the blood of Jesus Crist, so drinking wine without care and to satisfy impulses was looked down upon as abusing the son of God's generosity, in modern-day this has been adopted to include all alcoholic beverages, and I am a certified sinner in that regard, I drank more alcohol than most people do in their entire lives, I even drink with ghosts from time to time, and as the description pointed out, I fought hangover after hangover with more and more tequila for... I don't remember how many months, just trying to remember already gives me headaches

Although I seemed to have unlocked two of them in unconventional ways that are still tied to the original sin... is the sword trying to sass me with those descriptions? I guess I insulted it the night before but it didn't need to act like this. But that just makes my small theory that these "holy" weapons aren't as divine as they seem, they are certainly powerful magical artifacts but not weapons of "angels" or "saints" if they can give such cursed abilities if the wielder has a bad fucking day... I worry if those other three guys unlock this curse series, they seem like the types that didn't have any sort of life-changing tragedy strike them, and that makes me worry that at the first sight of real danger, they are going to turn to the dark side immediately

I equipped the sword of Wrath to test something and I immediately feel the urge to cave my fist in the face of the next bastard I see, I'm currently considering kicking a puppy just to hurt something, I am just annoyed at everything at the moment, but I can still clearly see what is happening here, the moment I changed the sword to the basic form, all that rage vanished from my mind, as I suspected, these cursed series aren't just dangerous because of the powers they give but because they try to wrap your mind so you sin more, if I equip Sloth I'm going to get depressed and if I equip Gluttony my alcoholism is going to become my main driving force

I wasn't planning on using something like that before, but now I ain't going to use it unless I have to fight five giants at the same time and even then I might still not, I better warn those kids of this before... and the sun is going down, either day and night pass faster in this world or I just stood in the middle of a field for an entire afternoon while looking at the magic screen about swords, I equipped the katana for it to master and start to make my way to walls of the city to enter it

The guards in the gate were different from the ones before but instead of trying to stop me, they kneeled to the ground and started praying while crying... weird... The streets were not nearly as filled as before but the few people that were outside closing shop or walking home had just as extreme of a reaction as the guards, violently closing doors and windows whenever I passed by, people in the street ran away screaming and the ones that tripped and fell to the ground cried and begged for mercy... what is wrong with this people? I know I am not the most handsome fella but this is all a bit too much, I am not even doing anything

I see a sort of two-stories tall bar open, must be an inn for people to drink, eat, and sleep in, I make my way inside and as soon as I get inside everyone quiets down and looks like they are about to shit their pants, I approached the bartender as he looks as pale as a vampire and is sweating like he is in a sauna, he is holding a rosary tied to his neck in his hand as if to ward me off

"Hey there, I just want the cheapest meal you have and the cheapest room possible to sleep a single night, I have money to pay you," I said in the kindest way that my rough voice allows me, but that didn't seem to help calm the bartender down

"I... sure sir, I will ask the chef to prepare you something... Don't devour my soul," the man said as he went to the kitchen to scream at the chef. After a few minutes, I received a meal that wasn't the cheapest, I sighed before eating while feeling guilty, and then I was taken to the room where I would spend the night, and even then I still think that this, just like my meal, was not the cheapest

As I entered the room, I wondered why everyone was acting so much weirder than in the afternoon... Oh God... I see it... my reflection in the vanity mirror of the room... my horns... they are fully grown... standing tall and mighty as they point in defiance to the heavens even as they slightly curl... The Cursed series... when I equipped that sword of Wrath... I was so focused on the way it was affecting me emotionally that I didn't notice that it was also affecting my body... never again, I won't use that series ever again, if just a few seconds holding it made my horns grow so much, what happens if I hold for a minute? Will my teeth become as sharp as blades? Will I sprout bat wings? Will fire come out of my mouth when I speak? Will my body grow as large as that of other demons? I don't want to risk losing whatever sort of humanity I have just for a simple power-up

"I won't be a monster, I will be just myself," I grab the horns with my hands, and with some painful struggle, a thunderous sound is made as I break them off my head, I hold the two disgraceful representations of my heritage, before throwing them under my bed if someone steals them I don't care, I just want to sleep today away

The creature...No... The man I watch over is so incredibly fascinating to one such as myself, it is a demon that bears in his hand the divine weapon that was made by angels and only supposed to be used by saints, yet it now lays in the cold stone grasp of a hellspawn. What does this tell us about the holy sword? Is it like the shield, who has been slandered for decades to only pick hooligans and thugs to wield it? Every past hero it chose was human... But in the records of the past heroes, not the records that the populace has access to and that so many gossips are written about, No, in the true records detailing the past heroes, the sword was the only one where it was noted a fall from grace from user to user, the first few heroes to wield it like Arthur of Camelot or Musashi Miyamoto were truly worthy of having their names in legends but every new sword hero was slightly worst than the last

The most recently summoned sword hero before the individual who I currently observe, the sword hero of 300 years ago was a degenerative young man bent on the fantasy of being "the Dark lord" as he described. He was summoned to be a hero but instead preferred to be a villain due to it being more "fun" than being a beacon of hope for people, from a slave harem consisting of little girls to extortion and theft to even mass murder, some blame that on the fact that he was summoned and stayed in the Faubley kingdom, a place infamous for corrupting people into indulging in their darker and horrid desires, but some say that darkness already laid inside him.

So did holy sword choose someone even worse than the previous wielder... or did it choose him because he was better than any other human it could find? A dark thought to have but one that seemed ever so likely from what I observed of him, for a demon, he is surprisingly polite if not somewhat rough at times, he has this professional aura about him, he is an adult hardened by experience while the three other heroes were still teenagers in mind and unprepared to face hardships, a fact he demonstrated when he handle a group of trained shadows on his own

He is also physically quite pleasant for a demon, there is an inexplicable charm to him that shouldn't be there for a demon from the Wrath ring, although not a popular read for most and downright forbidden in hyper-religious places such as Melromarc and Siltvelt, the Guide of Hell and its Demons by the bow heroine of 700 years ago provides detailed pieces of information of every single thing you might find in hell. His appearance matched that of demons that belonged to the wrath ring, however, he was smaller and less hairy than what is described, and of course his most differential feature, his horns...

I moved swiftly and quieter than the wind, grabbing from beneath the bed his slumbers, pulling out the pair of dark red horns that belonged to the sword hero, according to the book, a demon's horns meant the same thing to them as a crown meant to a king or a priest robes, as to say, it was something they took a lot of pride in, the longer and taller they were the more pride the demon took in them, especially for those that came from the Wrath ring, to see a demon throw away his horns like that was the same as seeing a demi-human cut off their ears and tail, it was a attempt to look more human... to resemble less a monster and more of the common people around them... I look over the slumbering sword hero, a demon who wants to be human... it is admirable in a way, I wish more people were like that.

I question what to do with these horns, should I take them to my master? Horns from such powerful and rare creature such as a demon has so many uses if the stories are true, they could be used to produce a magical staff ideal for utilizing curses and fire magic, be used in armor to give it near complete immunity to fire, study them to learn more about the nature of this demon, perhaps even a binding artifact if anyone with that dark knowledge is alive today

Such a simple choice for me to make... and yet, I preferred to be stupid instead of what was taught me, I placed the horns back under the bed of Mister Hellboy and left them there, I will wait and see what he does with those horns, if he is going to sell them or absorb them into his sword, I was given orders to observe and learn as much as I can about my current target, I shall only act when necessary

...

...

...

And now for the boring part of my job, gosh I wish it was morning already!

Raising myself from bed and cracking my back for a bit, I didn't get murder in my sleep so I considered that it was a better night than the previous one, I looked under the bed and found the horns still there, guess no one wanted to steal them, now I just have to figure out what to do with them. I walk down to the first floor and see the bartender from before looking like he didn't get a night's rest from the bags under his eyes

"Hey, thanks for everything, Here is the payment," I said as I placed about half of my silver on the balcony, got to compensate the man for what is most likely a taboo in here, allowing a demon to eat and sleep at your establishment must not be well received

"Y-you are paying me?" The bartender said surprised as he held the silver coins in his hands and looked at me confused because he expected me not to pay for anything

"Yeah, also you can have these, I don't have a use for them," I laid down the two broken horns at his desk, and he raised an eyebrow in confusion

"What... do I do with these horns?" The bartender asked as he held the two items

"Sell them, turn them into powder, use it as bragging rights or whatever, I don't care," I said before taking my leave out of the place, whatever happens to those things isn't of my interest anymore

Walking the streets, I noticed that no one seemed to care anymore about my existence, as they talked about some gospel I was only catching glimpses from the conversations around me, whatever it was they were talking about must be important, I should find out what it is.

"Hey buddy, what is everyone talking about? Everyone seems so chatty today," I asked a nearby guy who was opening up his shop, the man gave me a look and scoffed before turning around to face me eye to eye

"So you haven't heard? The shield hero raped his companion while drunk off his ass! His trial was this morning! The bastard..." I was caught off guard by what he said for a moment, the kid raped his companion? He didn't seem like that sort of guy from what we interacted but I guess the alcohol brought out the worst within him

"Really? What evidence did they have?" I asked since this whole thing sounds a bit fishy to me, it is possible the kid did it but I can't deny him the benefit of the doubt. Someone sent assassins after me on the first night, who to says they aren't trying to incriminate Shield Kid for something he didn't do?

"The whole nine yards of evidence! Empty bottles and a sticky trail of liquid led to his room from the winery of the inn they slept in, the door of the room where his companion was sleeping had been violently busted, and the ripped lingerie and undergarments of his companion were found at the crime scene, not to mention the fact he was drenched in booze from head to toe when the guards found him, his companion had bruises and marks of assault, and during the trial, he was not only having a hangover but was spewing absurdity after another, he even accused his victim and said he would cut her tongue off!" This guy seemed so angry I thought he was gonna pop a vein. But goddamn, that is a solid case against the kid, I can't say if this is a hundred percent true since I wasn't in the trial or was able to investigate the crime scene but I also can't deny that this seems all within reason through common logic, it is very sudden but not impossible... I should look for the kid, he is most certainly in a dark space of mind and full of negativity, let it brewing and it can turn into one of these cursed series weapons if the description given by the sword is anything to go by

"The bastard should have gotten the guillotine but since the world needs to be saved, he was just allowed to be free and grow strong to fight the waves, allowing a rapist to become more powerful is the worst decision the king has ever made..." the guy told me as if I wasn't there, seemly rambling to himself, I agree that it is not a bright idea to leave a criminal go and gather strength but if they could handle the waves with just three heroes than they wouldn't have summoned the four of us

"... thanks for the info, have a nice day," I said as left the man to attend his shop and angrily mumble to himself, as I walk the streets the only thing I can think about is how shitty things seemed to be going, there was an attempt on my life, shield kid is a rapist, spear jock and bow boy seem like the types to die first due to arrogance in any combat, and I still have to worry about those mysterious ninjas. I am pulled out of my thoughts as I see a girl with quite the oversized sword and some other weird people entering a building

I look at the building, is almost the size of a mansion or a supermarket, it is very well decorated and clean, there's the head of some sort of copper bust of a dragon in the top center holding a plate with something written on it... wait a minute, I can read this! Is it a weird mixture of German, Latin, and... Japanese? It is a bit hard but if I am right it is written... "Guild of the Adventuring"? That seems about right, and the people I see entering and leaving this place definitely fill the bill of what a fantasy adventurer would look like in a book for kids and teens, time to enter and see inside, and as soon as I enter, everyone gets quiet and looks at me... before resuming to whatever they were doing without caring about my presence, now I know how a D list celebrity must feel

"Welcome to the adventurers guild, how may we assist you today, sword hero?" A woman said as I approached the front desk, a giraffe woman, I am talking to a freaking humanoid giraffe, long neck and all, no wonder the people of this place aren't giving me a damn, in fact, as I look around the place I can see that there are a few more people with animal features, I still look out of place but way less than normal. I am not going to question how she knows who I am since it was probably the talk of the town yesterday that the sword hero was a big red demon with a stone hand and saw-off horns

"Uh hi, I was wondering what this place here is all about," I asked wanting to know what was the deal here, this place looked way too nice and pretty but it had so many people who looked like mercenaries and thugs

"Well, the adventurers guild is a International institution with many establishments across the world, the guild is a source of income for adventurers as we put up quest ranging from anything like monster extermination jobs or escort missions, we pay the adventurers for completing those jobs as long as they conclude what is ask in the quest and bring something to confirm that they did the job," what she said Sounds like my old job but open for the public to partake in, it makes sense for something like this to exist here, the world I am from, humans had very little chance against the supernatural without aid from magical items or exploitable weaknesses like salt and even then they would use guys like me to help them fight it, but here every human can do magic and grow strong enough to pick up boulders with enough of this "Levels" so a job like monster hunter would be commonplace, especially since monsters here seem more mundane and less fantastical in comparison to the one I saw back home

"And how do I sign up to be an adventurer?" I asked since this sort of job required some form of registration since they are an International institution rather than a small family business

"Uhm... depends if you want to be a freelance adventurer or an officially licensed adventurer," she asked me while looking both uninterested and curious about what I was going to respond

"What's the difference?" I asked her back, I guess what might be the difference but I wanted to see what she had to say first

"A freelance adventurer is someone who works with the guild occasionally and gets the common quests, they don't need registration and are usually people wanting to make a quick buck because of their own reasons, mostly because they can't get any other employment," Okay, so my guess on what a free-lancer adventurer is was somewhat right, someone who works the job as a side hustle or when needing more money than they have at the moment, this job doesn't seem to need any sort of qualification to do so it must be how most start a career

"An officially registered adventurer is someone that is employed by the guild, they have a lot more bureaucracy and rules linked to them but also benefits, like getting the more high-end quests, There is a ranking system that provides even more benefits if you're good enough, but some people don't like having to write reports of what happened in the mission every time they conclude a quest," That's more of what I expected, freelance adventurer is like a part-time job while officially licensed adventurer is a full-blown job working for a large company, interested to know what the benefits are and how this ranking system works

"Since you're a hero, you can have the benefits of a licensed adventurer as a freelance without the rules, courtesy of the crown...yay..." the giraffe woman said with clear distaste in her voice, placing a hand in her chest where a strange sort of purple mark was placed, seems like there was some beef in here, I just don't know if is a personal one or a business one. I pondered for a minute before making my choice

"I want to register to become officially licensed," I gave my answer and that seemed to take everyone there off guard, not just the giraffe woman but the adventurers and staff around me

"You're serious? You know that you are going to be tied to the same rules as everyone else and that you are going to deal with paperwork, why would you want that when you're a hero?" She asked me as if I had lost my mind, seems like a fair question to ask, why would someone want to have to follow rules and have restrictions when they can have all the benefits of the profession without losing their freedom to do whatever they want? Well...

"Because what you described was exactly what my job was before getting here when I go home after finishing the waves, I don't want to be rusty when I have to go back to dealing with deskwork," When I return, I don't want to risk forgetting how to write a report for missions, plus, this way I feel more close to home even if it is because of annoying paperwork

"... Heh, I like you, the other heroes were so entitled when they came here as if they owned the place, do you know how to write the language?" She said as she went to grab some papers from under the front desk, so the other three already came here? Guess I can maybe bump into them one of these days through here

"I think I do but it is not going to look pretty, I will have to get some classes," I said since I only have a vague understanding of what is written in this language since it seems like a mixture of three languages I knew from my words, plus, to consider that I read the sign outside as "Guild of the adventuring" instead of "adventurers guild" I definitely have to learn more

"I will ask Samantha to help with that, for now, let's start the paperwork!" She said so excited about just filling forums in a sheet of paper and wished I could be like that, and such I started to sign the contract with the giraffe woman, with her correcting me whenever I wrote something grammatically wrong. And with that, I got myself a job in a new world

[Author's Notes]

I hope that no one gets mad that I gave Hellboy 3 curses, although I think I explained well enough how and why he has them, Hellboy is a very flawed character and his flaws are a big reason why I like him, if the four heroes of the original story got curses from stuff like having to face reality and see the consequences of their actions, so a guy who has been experiencing and seeing some of the most messed up things a person can in their life as well as living knowing that your destiny is to cause the end of the world and kill all life should have at least one if not all of them. The consequences and drawbacks of the curses are a bit lessen to Hellboy because he has a much stronger soul than most and since he is a demon, the corruption of the curse series is less about damaging his body and soul and about making him more like a demonic monster that he fears he will become, so he is not going to use them every fight like a certain shield hero. sort of got inspired to do this since a fanfic I like very much "The Dark Knight of the Shield" did something similar, where the author gave Batman 3 original blessed series

Hellboy wasn't invited to the trial because no one wanted a demon to partake in court unless he was the one being accused, because of that, he received the version of the trial that was given to the public, a way more incriminating and believable version than the one in canon, so he is not outright a hater of Naofumi but he is also aware that no one is a saint and that alcohol can make you do stuff without thinking

Who was that mysterious person watching Hellboy in his sleep? Only time will tell... but leave your guesses in the reviews