People meet and part constantly. There’s always a pseudo-random collection of strangers that form and separate soon after somewhere in the world.

  Sometimes, these strangers become acquaintances, and sometimes they become something more. Rather than just a name and a face in the background of someone’s story, they find a little place in each other’s hearts.

  That’s how I met a lot of the people I hold most precious in my heart.

  I met Paul in the Bundeswehr while we were still recruits. We weren’t even supposed to be in the same unit at first, but I got transferred into his unit at the last second and we eventually became best friends.

  I find his tastes questionable, but that’s just a part of the package.

  I met Anne at the Frankfurt book fair. I normally don’t go to such events, but how could I not when I had the chance to meet Margaret Atwood! It was while I was waiting in line that I met Anneliese, the love of my life.

  It wasn’t even a very noteworthy meeting. There was no sudden falling in love or any great emotions stirred. We simply started idly chatting about the book while we were in line, and I found her very interesting to listen to. Then we exchanged numbers to finish our conversation when we finally got to the front of the line.

  Ever since then, we kept meeting to talk about more books, though it was mostly her doing the talking as she was a much more avid reader… and before I knew it we were in love and dating… I was going to propose to her in December, the day before her birthday. I should find a way to return before then.

  Bringing my attention to the group before me now… Kanako, Arashi Kurohana, Nisha, Vildost, and me, Armin Fischer.

  Essentially, we’re a group that met completely by coincidence, a party made of unaffiliated wanderers.

  Kanako and I have the same destination in mind: Lariatne, the merchant nation. I said I would think about whether we would travel together or not, but I’m fairly certain I trust her enough to travel after what we’ve been through.

  As for the others… I’m not too sure about them yet, but I did risk my life to save them, so maybe I’m just a fool who thinks too much and trusts too little?

  At the very least, I don’t intend on hiding any secrets from Kanako. If we’re going to travel together and risk our lives for each other, then the least I can do is be honest.

  As for the others… “I have a goal I want to accomplish.” I started speaking to lay out my plans at least. “I might end up wandering all over for it, but right now I want to go to Lariatne. Kanako, at least, has the same destination and so I hope to travel with her. What about the rest of you?”

  “I… also need to go to Lariante. I don’t know if my journey ends there, but it’s the only place I can think of right now…” Arashi was the first to answer, surprisingly, but Nisha soon followed up with “I want to find my people… I think that they are there. I want to go to Lairante too.” he answered, pausing every here and there to make sure he had the right words.

  “Well I dunno, I don’t reaally~ have a place in mind.” Vildost carefreely added, chuckling. “I’m whash you call a ‘story-finder’. *hick* I follow interesting people and learn about their stories. Ya know, like, you need to know the journey of others to better know your own.”

  I see, ‘you need to know the journey of others to better know your own’… unexpectedly eloquent coming from him. I’d expect that of a monk or a bard rather than a drunk cowboy.

  It seemed we’d all likely be travelling together for a decent bit. It's not a short journey from what I gathered… but I wasn’t sure if I should so readily bring up my secrets just like that or if I should wait to know them better. Maybe just telling Kanako for now and the others later?

  “Ah, also, I find interesting stories for a dragon *hic* friend of mine~” Vildost casually added.

  What?

  “WHAT!?” “Huh?” “You know a dragon!?”

  [I’m sorry, what?]

  I didn’t expect someone else to drop a bombshell so suddenly!

  Kanako was completely wide-eyed at that, almost falling off her seat. Arashi was stunned. Nisha had sparkles in his eyes like a child, and even that devil was shocked.

  “Isn’t that something you shouldn’t tell people?” Kanako replied, standing up as she looked at him in shock. “How’d you even meet a dragon!?”

  “Ah, keep that a shecret by the way~ I just don’t want ya guys spooked if I go off to tell them yer stories sometime.” He laughed it off so easily, and with everyone’s reactions I felt certain he wasn’t lying.

  [Just so you know, there are dragons that find mortals send them off to do things for them… ‘story-finders’ usually hide themselves very well so they can collect stories without interference. Their job becomes harder if people know about them and treat them like spies.]

  So, he revealed such a big secret like it was nothing?

  I couldn’t help but laugh at that. It hurt my bruised sides, but I still found it fucking hilarious!

  I felt like I was worried about nothing.

  “Jesus, I just can’t get a read on you.” I said, wiping a tear from my eye.

  “Thanksh, I aim to be pretty cool. Glad it’s working~” he readily replied with a wink. “And who’s Jesus? That one of those new gods from those fish people?”

  Well, there was no need to hide it at this point. I decided to take a bet and see what would happen after.

  At the very least, I believed this group to be good people enough to trust them.

  There was a bit more of a back and forth between the three in front of me, but I paid them no attention for a moment.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  ||Hey, devil… no, Starlight, right? The deal we had was that I find you knowledge and you help me with your knowledge, right?||

  [It is, yes. Oh, have you finally come around to how amazing I am and how much of a fool you would have to be to turn down my offer?] she asked back, in that overwhelmingly smug voice. But I decided to ignore that, she’s only been fair to be so far, despite having an overwhelming advantage over me.

  ||Yes, I have.|| I replied, and she let out an awkward grunt in reply. I suppose she didn’t expect me to give in so fast. ||But I have a condition… are you alright with revealing yourself to this group?||

  [Hm… I’m not in the habit of showing myself so easily, but since you asked nicely I’ll make an exception this time. I expect a lot of wonderful knowledge from you, after all~] she said, spoken with supreme arrogance but caving like a true pushover. Honestly, I couldn’t pin down what I thought about the devil- about Starlight… but I pushed that matter to later. I could think about it in the morning.

  “Well… I respect how easily you told us your secret, Vildost.” I said, breaking the bickering between Kanako and Vidost that had broken out- something about being jealous he found a dragon before her. “I’d like to trust this group a bit with some of my own, too, if that’s alright.”

  “Sure, I like secret,” Nisha replied with a chuckle. “I secret very well.” he added, and for some reason I had a hard time believing him. “Oh, more stories for free!? Sign me up, there’sh noo hidden subscription fee, right?” Vildost replied, once again making a joke I’d hear back on my Earth.

  Copyright infringement, subscription fees… I’d believe these exist on this Earth, given that no one reacted weirdly to them, but it feels so out of place in a presumably fantasy world.

  “Well, first… I’m sorry for not telling you this earlier, but our group has a sixth member.” I said, before gesturing for Starlight to make her appearance.

  A few seconds later, there was an ethereal chuckle that echoed through the room. The very light around us warping, a throne of what seemed like black wood appeared next to my bed, and the devil Starlight was sat upon it, one leg crossed over the other as she rested his chin on a palm. She was wearing a black blouse that was open enough to show a decent amount of cleavage, an unbuttoned purple blazer, and a matching miniskirt. If I were to describe her in two short phrases: ‘Glammed out’ and ‘unnecessarily sexy’.

  Arashi and Nisha clearly looked surprised at that, while Vildost was inscrutable in his intoxication. Kanako was caught off guard too, but looked relieved as opposed to confused like the rest.

  “Well, well. I didn’t expect to bless you all with my presence so soon. It honestly seems a bit of a waste, but greetings, fledgeling adventurers. I am Starlight Von Aurora, Keeper of the Auroral library, and eternal seeker of knowledge." She introduced herself looking down on the group. She honestly struck an imposing figure with that utter condescension… though given how small the room was, that throne seemed comically out of place.

  The room went silent again. Unexpectedly, Arashi was the first to speak up, gripping her glaive as she took half a step forward. “You… What rank of infernal are you?” she asked, her hand trembling a little as she only got a condescending chuckle from the devil. “And what would you do with that information? Know how much mercy you have to beg for? I’ve no interest in violence, so put that silly stick away.”

  Hearing her words and seeing Arashi and Kanako tense up in fear, I remembered how utterly terrified of the devil when I first met her too. Nisha didn’t seem sure too affected, but he readied himself seeing the others react. Vildost… he still had his goofy smile, but he was completely silent as he stared at her. I couldn’t read his reaction.

  That said, after knowing her for less than a day I quickly realised how toothless she is.

  Letting out a sigh, I shook my head at her.

  “Stop trying to intimidate them, or are you going to try your luck at trading questions with them? How did that end for you last time?” I asked, deciding to knock her down a peg.

  “That was a fluke, that doesn’t count.” She immediately retorted, blushing, any intimidating presence put out like a candle with a wet blanket. I apologized in my head (but not telepathically), but rather than help her look cool, I preferred not scaring my potential companions.

  And my efforts seemed to have worked, as Arashi and Kanako calmed down a bit.

  “How did you make this big chair?” Nisha asked, stepping right up to her with earnest curiosity when she no longer seemed like a threat.

  “A big chair? It’s called a throne you monosyllabic dunce.” she coldly retorted, looking at the pretty elf man with contempt. “And it’s a unique material of my own design, conjured with the spell Material Creation. I take it you’re not very well studied, to not realise something so simple.” she answered with a smug laugh.

  “Oh! Thank you.” the elf laughed, completely disregarding her tone. “That is very useful magic! Can you make big things too? Like a tent?” he earnestly asked, and his simple sincerity made Starlight’s smile stiffen as she leaned away.

  “Yes, I can, but it’s not… the… why do I have to answer you?” she stuttered out. It seemed she was weak to childishly straight forward people too.

  The more I saw her, the more I understood what this ‘disparity’ I felt towards her was. I’ve called and thought of her as a devil till now, and she certainly tried to act it, but behind those words, she’s… incredibly earnest.

  Despite having an overwhelming advantage over me, she never forced me into a deal with her. And even the one she offered was surprisingly fair. She went out of her way to save my life, yet didn’t force any terms onto me in the process. Despite her well adept high and-mighty act, she crumbles under pushback, like a true pushover… I didn’t know why just yet, but I added all of this to my backlog of ‘I’ll think about it later’.

  “E-excuse me…” Kanako called out to Starlight. When the devil looked at the cloaked girl, she didn’t put too much of an arrogant act and her expression was a bit softer as she stared at her. “A-are you… Why are you travelling with Armin?” she asked, confused.

  “Well why not? I’ve decided to make this human my warlock, my Seeker, and act as his patron.” she smirked at me, pissing me off a bit. I was honestly impressed at how easily she managed to annoy me with that act. “He’s already promised himself to me, not that long ago~” she added, stepping off the throne and sitting down on the bed next to me in a fluid motion. I scooted away before she could lean on me, making her stumble and stare at me in annoyance.

  “Please don’t make jokes like that, I have a girlfriend.” I shut her down straight away.

  “You have a lover?” she asked back, staring at me. “That’s shocking, for such a bland personality…” she questioned without a hint of mockery, and honestly that hurt me a bit.

  Getting things back on track, I gestured towards Starlight. “So, now you know that I’m travelling with… whatever she counts as. Infernal, devil, I’m not sure. But beyond just that…” and then I hesitated.

  Looking at the faces of the four others, I had a bit of an internal struggle. I wasn’t fully sure if I was making the right choice, it felt like such a stupid idea even though I had planned on not hiding such a big secret…

  If I just had to admit being from another world, that would be worrying enough, and it was likely that they wouldn’t even believe me. But my situation was much worse than just that.

  I was living in the corpse of someone from this world… I didn’t know what they would think about that, and that scared me. Would they think of me as some evil spirit possessing an innocent victim? Would they think of me as some kind of lich or necromancer? Would they even understand? Would they attack me? Would they just leave in disgust? Would they think of me as some kind of monster who’s living in the skin of my victim and making up lies? What if they reported me to someone in authority and I ended up being hunted down?

  But… if I didn’t say anything and kept this as a secret, I could see problems starting the moment I met someone who knew Millar and they recognised me. No, that was likely to happen at any moment, it was more surprising that it didn’t happen yet. Explaining things after the fact would be a nightmarish situation. I still didn’t know much about Millar, what his crimes or accomplishments were, and I’d be a poor actor if I tried to play it off that I was still him.

  And so, I started telling my story, recapping the last three days, spilling my heart out.

  Maybe a smarter person might be able to get away with keeping all of this a secret, but I’m not that smarter person, so all I could do was be honest and hope these people would understand me…