episode_0017

Surprisingly, I don’t have much experience with homelessness.

This was because most of the party members strongly expressed their opinion that they could not sleep out in the open, so they stayed at the village inns except in a few cases such as when entering the Demon Realm or at the beginning of the trip.

But I can guarantee that this will be the most comfortable and luxurious sleepover you’ve ever had.

“It’s done, Hira-sama!”

“Get out of the way! I’ll report you!”

“Hira-nim looked at me!!”

” No, you idiot? You looked at me! ”

In every village he passed by, there were one or two ‘attendants’ who were absolutely loyal to Hira who had written a temptation, and he provided them with tents, bedding, and food… everything.

“This is… homelessness? What I’ve experienced so far…”

“Uh, uh… what do you think…? You’re too poor…”

“It’s the opposite. Isn’t it too luxurious?!”

Abel was already comfortably lying on a leaf bed, as if he was used to it. It was to the point where it was reasonable to suspect that Abel had moved like this every time he went to war.

“Leah, you come and lie down too.”

“…Is this really okay? Those people must all have families too…”

“Think about it, Leah.”

“…what?”

I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but I never rationalize-

“The fact that you were attracted to Hira in the first place means that your tastes are very flawed. Rather, you should look at it from the perspective that we cleaned up the trash. If we had left it alone, it would have done bad things in their village.”

It seems like.

Hira, I care about you, but I’m not romantically attracted to you… No matter how much I try to overlook it, I think it’s just your taste…

“Uh, I… Ma, Ma King…”

“Huh?”

“This, this time… I tried to charm you by making you hallucinate in your old form… But, ah… I guess… someone like me… won’t charm anyone…”

“…uh.”

There was something strange about the atmosphere. Abel, who was flustered, didn’t seem like he would answer, so I quietly approached Han, who was standing guard, and asked him a question instead.

“Han, what was Hira like before? Why is Abel acting like that?”

“It’s a bit long to explain… but to summarize, Hira-sama has a ‘special constitution’, so her body changes according to her mental growth. And in the past… she wasn’t exactly like her older sister, but she was definitely on the adult side, so that’s why she reacted like that.”

“Aha.”

So those people are just ordinary victims of fascination… That’s how things are handled here.

At that point, I gave up on the idea of ‘handling things without holes’ with the Demon King’s army. It was clear that the Demon King’s army’s main personnel had their personalities and abilities swapped, so it had a different meaning from my party members…

“…Let’s release it.”

After a brief commotion, Abel made the decision. When he said he was going to release it, it sounded like he was going to release a goldfish.

“The memories are physically incinerated, and if you leave them alone, they will find their way home on their own. There is nothing more to do anyway, and the Elf Forest is right in front of them.”

“If it were normal, I would have killed someone-”

“Shut up, Malfoy. No, Han.”

Anyway, it seems like people have decided to release them, so I guess I have nothing more to do. Still, I feel bad, so I put a small amount of money in my pocket, even though I probably won’t remember it anyway. About 10 silver each.

After sending people away like Jiwoo sending off Pidgeontu, as the night gradually grew dark, I also lay down on my leaf bed.

Actually, I know that they could have just brought a plain bed. Maybe they were just trying to set the mood? They were overly emotional for someone who would soon trample on a species called elf.

“Isn’t the night sky pretty? Especially the moon. The area around the Elf Forest is particularly free of pollution. If you look at the reason, it’s because the ultra-right elves dare to block dirty machines that use human magic stones from being brought into the sacred World Tree, so it’s a little uncomfortable to know.”

“Sure, it’s pretty.”

“I think you probably haven’t seen it often, so I asked Hira to prepare it for you.”

“It’s definitely nice to lie down like this and leisurely look at it for the first time, but since I don’t know how it was made, it’s definitely a little bit scary…”

“…Next time, don’t even consider the process.”

“Ah, ah-?! That’s not what I meant! Is this good enough? I was just joking, joking!”

“Aha.”

-Twinkle, twinkle.

The stars shined brightly today.

I could just assume it’s because the area around the Elf Forest is free of pollution… but to me at least, it looked like they were trying to shine a little more because they didn’t know when they’d lose their light.

Just like me.

“…Now that I think about it, I guess I’m deceiving you too.”

It was a muttered word without thinking. Even though Abel was closing his eyes, he knew that he was listening, but he wanted to hear an answer. … He wanted to rationalize it.

“I don’t think it’s a lie.”

“That’s why it’s a lie.”

Sigh, I heard Abel laughing next to me.

“Love is something that is originally very extreme. You want to have everything of the other person, or you want to give everything of yourself.”

“What, you want to say the latter? Then I’m doubling down on the deception.”

“Well… It was originally the former, but as I lived, it became the latter. Don’t worry about that, and think about how to deal with that elf who will betray you tomorrow. It’ll be really good now.”

After saying that, Abel started to move around noticeably as if he was telling me to look at him.

Abel truly satisfied my self-justification needs more than I could ever hope for.

I thought that this would be okay for a while, but then my heart started pricking me again with the guilt of deceiving someone.

In the end, I also chose to fall asleep.

Anyway, sleep didn’t betray me. When I woke up, my mind would be a little more organized.

*****

“Leaniieim… Demon Kingieim… T,you have to wake up…”

-Shake, shake.

I woke up as my body shook violently. And the first thing I saw was Hira’s face.

“Ah, right. The Elf Forest Invasion… Thanks for waking me up. Hira. No, should I call this an invasion…? There are four people?”

“Invasion, invading and attacking another country. Source: Naver Korean Dictionary. The number of people on the attacking side is not specified, so invasion is correct. ”

Didn’t you just say something was the source?

“Anyway, please prepare. Once Lady Leah has finished preparing, we will begin the invasion right away.”

“…Oh, right. I have to prepare as best as I can. I mean, look as clean as possible. ”

I don’t know what kind of bean pods I’ve been carrying all this time, but… I have to repay all the humiliation I’ve suffered with this one shot.

“Can you help me prepare? Hira, please.”

“Yes…!! Choi, I’ll do my best…!”

-Swish, swish.

Every time Hira combed her hair, my distracting thoughts were swept away as well.

You can look forward to it, Nia. Today is the worst day of your life. It’s time to realize why you didn’t light a campfire last night despite the cold.

Well, of course I’m not doing it myself, but isn’t that it?

*****

Oh my god, oh my god!!

The soles of his feet, which had not been washed away, pounded the ground where no grass had grown.

I clearly sent the wind spirit. Leon, what other value is there besides serving the World Tree? How could a weakling like you be able to shake off the power of the spirit you contracted with under the protection of the World Tree? How did you reverse summon it?

It was a possible idea, since Nia had not yet heard the news of Leah’s betrayal (although the context was a bit mixed).

“No way. I guess I have to go myself.”

When the conclusion was reached, Nia took out her bow and arrow without another thought and aimed at Leah.

No, that’s exactly what I was going to do. If only I hadn’t seen the shadow of someone who dared to climb up onto the branches of the World Tree.

“Die!”

As soon as Nia saw someone, she aimed her bow and shot an arrow. Why was he stepping on it? It didn’t matter. There was no absolution for the serious crime of stepping on the World Tree, which was not even an elf.

-Knock knock!

However, that was more like showing a bright red cloth and waving it in front of an already angry ogre. No, it might have actually had a higher survival rate.

“Dare.”

Han quickly came out of the shadows and cut down the flying arrow. In fact, it didn’t really matter if he didn’t do that. Abel had already set up a shield anyway.

“It’s been a long time, Nia.”

The identity of that person was none other than Leah.

*****

“You…! Who do you think you’re stepping on―”

“…Shut up.”

I didn’t know I could do this, but my heart grew cold and I lost all sense of empathy.

And soon my request was met with Abel firing a warning shot.

“You… How, no… Are you crazy? Colluding with the Demon King’s army? I even gave you a chance to serve the elves! Get down from there right now, apologize in front of the World Tree, heal the World Tree, and then die!”

“Still the same, that damn superiority complex, that demanding sacrifices from me as if it were natural. Now… I’m the one who’s ahead.”

Even when I saw Nia wielding her evil spirits, I didn’t feel anything but a cold emotion that was frightening. This must be a pent-up desire for revenge.

And, this is all you were.

“Leah, who should I kill first?”

The Demon King whispered to me―

“Over there, the house with the green leaf roof… I don’t know. It’s a little to the upper left of where Nia is. There’s a ginkgo tree in the yard… Yeah, just get rid of it from there. ”

I pointed to Nia’s family’s house first, without any guilt.

“How, how?”

“As primitive as possible.”

“There’s no other expert in that field as much as Hira. Hira?”

“…Yes. Fascination-Punch!”

As Hira swung his fist into the air, a huge cracking sound was heard, space was distorted for a moment, and the house was completely destroyed without a trace.

-Kwaaaa …

All that stands on the site of the house where Nia’s family once lived is green, brown, and… red.

“…Mom? Dad…? Just now, over there… What, flew away… …Ah, ah… …No… No!! You, you…!!!!”

Nia denied reality, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes. But, of course, nothing changed.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s just the beginning, Nia.”

Ah, a thrill of pleasure that made my brain tremble came all at once. This is the pleasure of revenge.

Now, it was the beginning of the first revenge.