episode_0024

Camilla and I were struggling against an enemy that appeared as soon as we opened our eyes.

Even if we were dealing with an army of demonic beasts, we could easily defeat them, but we didn’t have the talent to deal with a hangover.

“Raul, I brought you breakfast! Even the customer’s!”

We wanted something that would relieve us, but reality was cold.

“I got good butter and cream from a nearby ranch! I made toast with plenty of butter and made a stew with rich cream!”

“… You better eat it. We don’t have much of an appetite today.”

Except for pork and onions, I didn’t have any likes or dislikes about food, but I also disliked greasy food after drinking alcohol.

Camilla was also turning her head as if it were the same. She was also prone to hangovers, so there was a slight chance that she would vomit just by looking at something greasy.

“Rather than eat that, I’d rather fight the monster one more time.”

“… Don’t say things like that, even if it’s just for fun. I still vividly remember being hit by that strange wind and being cursed.”

The monster was one of the main forces of the demons that Camilla subjugated, and was also the most outstanding shaman.

The moment even the tip of my hair touched the strong wind generated when the monster flapped its wings, I fell under a strange spell of unknown identity given by the monster.

Now those memories may be nothing more than a fragment of the past, but I had no wish to fight that horrible thing again.

“Now that I think about it, Her Majesty and Her Royal Highness were young at that time, and you were not in good shape…”

“That doesn’t matter, but it was something that couldn’t be subdued without you. So don’t ever say something like that again.”

“I really enjoyed being teased.”

Camilla has always been like that. I considered teasing myself as one of life’s entertainments and always pursued it.

“By the way, speaking of your maid… where did you pick it up?”

“The butler picked me up while I was wandering on the streets.”

“… No. I felt like I’d seen it somewhere, but it couldn’t have been that.”

For Camilla, the response was quite lukewarm.

It was a bit surprising because her temperament was so conductive that it was always either hot or cold.

“Anyway, I still feel really sick.”

“…. I guess I’ll have to get something myself.”

I thought about what to make for her.

She was basically a person with strict evaluation standards when it came to food.

While I was trying to decide between quail soup, quail stew, stewed quail, quail salad, and grilled quail, someone knocked loudly on the door of the residence hall.

“… Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The owner of that voice was none other than Cecilia.

She was holding a pot differently than usual, and it felt awkward.

“… Is that pot a new weapon?”

“Some kind of joke… That’s not it.”

I was serious, but she seemed to dismiss my question as a bad joke.

“I made this after hearing that you drank too much last night. The day after drinking alcohol, you feel sick.”

What she made was a simple soup made with all kinds of ingredients, including tomatoes.

“… Thank you.”

“These are words of high praise. It’s all in return for saving me that day, so don’t feel burdened.”

“It was a car that was in trouble, so I’m truly grateful. I’m limited in the dishes I can cook, and my friend’s cooking… can melt your internal organs.”

Camilla glared at me with an annoyed face, but she couldn’t tell a lie.

It was a simple fact that the military minister and His Majesty were on the verge of death after eating her cooking. Of course, I also lost consciousness for about 15 days after eating that dish.

“I see. It seems like your friend is a little awkward when it comes to life. Would you please tell me that I can teach you?”

I grabbed Camilla’s wrist and stopped her, who was almost ready to commit violence.

“Well, it’s a bit surprising. I never thought there would be someone who gets old and can’t even do basic household chores.”

I felt an electric current running through my arm, so I had to get Cecilia out as quickly as possible.

“I will eat it gratefully. I’ll come visit you soon. I have something to say about that guy who was flirting with you.”

“… Then I will leave now.”

As she walked away, Camilla sighed and muttered as if trying to relieve her anger.

“That girl is harsher than she looks… She came to repay me with two words for saying one word.”

I served the soup in bowls while Camilla was having an aimless tantrum.

I scooped up a bit and ate it, and although it was bland, I was a little surprised by the deep flavor.

Even Camilla, who is said to be the pickiest eater in the empire, was surprised and it was clear that this food was objectively delicious.

“… I hate to admit it, but she’s good at cooking.”

“I guess I naturally became good at it because I lived alone for so long.”

I was proud of her.

Even though he is younger than me, he has supported this village with a strong attitude and has excellent living skills.

I even thought that maybe he was a better person than me.

“She could have risen to a higher position.”

“That’s the same for us too.”

“……”

“Nowadays, we can obtain anything we want and become anything we want to be.”

We had once gone beyond human limits to protect our country, but right after the war ended, we were simply monsters that were difficult to deal with.

The emperor, trying to keep us in check, spread scandals about us, and most of the deaf people began to believe the rumors.

For example, Her Majesty the Empress suffered the dishonorable stigma of being a prostitute just for losing her virginity.

“…… The food will get cold.”

I felt like if I talked about such negative things, my emotions would come out without me knowing, so I decided to change the subject.

“But it’s really delicious. If possible, I would like to eat it every day”

“… Should I marry him?”

Her voice became cold for a moment, but I answered calmly.

“You know better than anyone that that won’t happen.”

“Right? You have a fiancé…”

“It would be a nuisance to become a couple with a body that cannot live long. And.”

There was another reason that was closer to the essence than any other reason.

“Because I cannot understand the act of marriage.”

“Hey, you can’t believe it…”

“Camilla. Didn’t you see it too? How foolish that act was. How that foolish act transformed the devil.”

The Demon King was originally a wanderer who only bore the title of Demon King. It wandered along the clouds and water, and if it saw someone in trouble, it offered a helping hand, even if that person was a human.

He even taught humans how to use a sword and said that his long-cherished wish was to one day create a world without war.

It was marriage and humanity that changed him from such a benevolent person.

The Demon King, who met his lover and married her, wanted to achieve a real peace, not just words.

In this way, he took the initiative in establishing unity and peace, including the human empire, and sent his wife as an envoy. The cause was the empire’s arrogance, which dictated that if it wanted peace, it would send a person worthy of it.

“In fact, it is safe to say that the war began the day the delegation arrived.”

“Tsk… If only that pig had kept my nether regions…”

However, upon seeing the Demon King’s wife, the Emperor slaughtered the other envoys and raped her.

He then imprisoned him in a dungeon, unleashed his dark sexual desires, and sent a message to the devil saying that no delegation had come.

However, just as one cannot cover the sky with one’s palm, the Demon King learned the truth.

The angry demon king warned him to send his wife back, but the demon king’s rain could not overcome the shame and committed suicide.

In the end, that incident made the Demon King, who wanted peace, hate humans more than anyone else, and that heart returned to us as war.

“And as we saw, the devil…”

“It was a crazy hideous thing. Actually, I’m still scared that it will appear in my dreams.”

And it was the same for me too.

The sight of him swinging his sword, shedding bloody tears, was still as vivid as a watercolor painting.

‘I don’t care if I win or lose this war! If we can engrave her presence in this world, that’s enough! I’m in love with her! This is my pure love to her!’

He was the one who scattered like a shower of attacks so powerful that even I had difficulty blocking them.

In fact, I don’t even remember how I beat him.

“If it is the loss of a companion that transforms even those who love peace.”

If there is even the slightest possibility that I will become like that.

“I don’t plan on making that sprout in the first place. I don’t want to be that kind of monster.”

Because if you don’t get married in the first place, you won’t become such a monster.

“So, I plan to ask her to break off the engagement. It wasn’t an engagement for marriage in the first place.”

“…… I’m talking about that application for break-up of engagement. Can I pass it on?”

“It doesn’t really matter, but I’d like to ask the reason.”

“Probably the same reason why that idiot emperor attended your sister’s inauguration ceremony as head of the family.”

I had no way of guessing what the reason might be.

But selfishly, instead of solving that question, I wanted to talk about my past memories a little more.

Although I should definitely be there for them, my selfishness was pointing not at them but at memories of the past that I had revisited over and over again.

Even though we definitely need to look back at them.

My eyes were only looking at those sparkling memories.