Ch.184Outside. The Demon Realm Picnic of the Hollow King Father and Son

Today marks the fourth day since entering the Demonic Land.

I wasn’t here for leisure but for reconnaissance. It was something I did once a year.

Though I regularly sent out reconnaissance teams (including one Master) on a rotating basis, nothing compared to stepping into the Demonic Land myself.

The mission itself was no different from previous years. I slaughtered every demonic beast I saw, and occasionally captured intelligent demons when they appeared. My method was to extract information from such creatures before killing them.

The only difference this time was one thing.

My son had come along. Spencer, the second child born to Hannah.

“Spencer. If anything makes you uncomfortable, tell me anytime. Demonic Land reconnaissance is a challenging mission even for seasoned knights.”

“I’m the one who asked to come along. Are you worried Mother will scold you?”

Me? Afraid of Hannah?

When a son asks such a question, the proper response might be to smile and agree, but I had never been controlled by my wives. I never tiptoed around them, and if minor disagreements arose, I simply resolved them through three-way conversations.

“Your mother hasn’t complained about this mission at all. She probably trusts that I’ll protect you perfectly.”

“……”

“It might sound cold, but you shouldn’t forget that your mother is a Saintess. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.”

“I know that much.”

Come to think of it, perhaps I should have brought Hannah along. It might seem like a crazy family outing in the Demonic Land, but Hannah was still an active Saintess. It might have been good to give our son a chance to witness her holy magic.

After following quietly for a while, Spencer suddenly asked an insane question.

“Father. Have you ever considered conquering the Demonic Land?”

“What?”

“The Demonic Land. Conquering it.”

I tilted my head, wondering if I’d misheard. Had some malicious magic affected my second son’s mind without my knowledge? Since he couldn’t be a doppelganger, that was the only explanation I could think of.

But Spencer, blinking innocently, looked exactly as I knew him.

Almost my height, with features that seemed to blend Hannah’s and mine, and a bright impression that clearly showed he had grown up unblemished, even from a parent’s perspective.

Compared to my firstborn who became a diplomat, this one had stronger tendencies toward recklessness. Since childhood, he would pester me almost daily to play with wooden swords.

But regardless of his tendencies, his academic performance was fairly good… so why suddenly this?

“Spencer. Are you asking out of genuine curiosity?”

“What’s strange about it?”

His serious response left me speechless. Feeling something was off, I decided to placate him politely.

“…I did look for an opportunity ten years ago. By then, domestic affairs were running smoothly, and we had increased to five Masters, so I had the luxury to look elsewhere. After careful consideration, I selected an elite force and sent them to the Demonic Land.”

“I know that. I read it in the textbooks.”

“So you asked knowing the answer.”

Indeed, ten years ago, I had sent a delegation including one Master and two 7th Circle mages. It was sufficient force to establish an advance base on the outskirts of the Demonic Land.

But the results were devastating. After proceeding smoothly with their mission, communication suddenly ceased, and eventually a report came back that they had suffered near-total casualties.

“I couldn’t believe it myself, so I flew there to confirm. But truly, only two survived while the rest perished.”

“……”

“It wasn’t even a large-scale offensive. An unidentified magical phenomenon struck, neutralizing most of our forces, and then demonic beasts appeared. …I learned at great cost that humans cannot settle in the Demonic Land.”

“And since then, you’ve only sent reconnaissance teams, right?”

“I don’t understand why you’re asking when you know so well.”

To think the day would come when I’d have to explain one of my few failures to my son.

If he were nine years old, this might be cute, but Spencer was already nineteen. Though still a child in my eyes, he was legally an adult. He shouldn’t have the dangerous mindset that “the Demonic Land must be conquered regardless of sacrifice.”

Fortunately, Spencer didn’t seem to have the temperament of a warlord.

“I know there were many casualties ten years ago. I also know we shouldn’t underestimate the Demonic Land even with the Demon Lord absent. …But somehow I thought if it were you, Father, it might be possible. The thought just occurred to me while accompanying you on this expedition.”

As it turned out, I was the one who had given Spencer the wrong impression.

I hadn’t realized it, but this was the first time I had taken lives in front of my son.

One might argue whether the creatures of the Demonic Land should be considered living beings at all, but after killing them for so long, I didn’t even feel particular disgust. I just slaughtered them like livestock, beating them to death or tearing off their limbs.

‘But from his perspective, it must be impressive.’

Though Spencer’s talent was outstanding, he had only reached Expert level a year ago.

It was natural for him to feel awe watching me slaughter massive demonic beasts—creatures that made trolls look cute—with a single strike. And that feeling would be especially profound since the one wielding such violence was his father.

Should I be grateful that my son looks up to me?

But contrary to Spencer’s belief, the Demonic Land wasn’t easy territory for me either.

‘If it were just about killing, I could do it indefinitely, but that’s not the point.’

Something the children, including Spencer, knew nothing about… I too had faced a crisis in the Demonic Land. Two years ago around this time, during reconnaissance, I carelessly entered a labyrinth. I managed to escape by killing everything in sight, but it caused a two-week vacancy in state affairs.

This was a memory I couldn’t share even with my son. Even now, Spencer was looking up at me with an expression full of trust.

There was no need to shatter his illusion. It was best to let it slide.

At this point, I conveniently sensed a demon’s presence. More precisely, it was approaching and then rapidly moving away.

It was probably trying to escape after detecting my energy. But I had no intention of letting it go.

“Spencer. I’ll be back shortly.”

“What?”

Spencer looked bewildered.

I shot off in the direction of the demon, leaving him behind.

The barren landscape rushed past, the presence grew closer, and soon the back of the demon’s head came into view. It was increasing its speed to escape me, but… once detected, that was a futile effort.

“Stop if you want to preserve your body.”

When it didn’t stop despite my warning, I threw my hammer.

Thwack!

“Arghhhh!”

The pursuit ended as my hammer shattered one of the demon’s legs.

It tumbled, spraying a tremendous amount of blood. Still, it had some tenacity—it released magical energy as I approached, but I ignored it, slowly walked over, and twisted off one of its arms. Just as I always did.

“Ugh… hic…! Are you p-perhaps the H-Hero?”

“Yes, I am the Hero. I have a few questions before I kill you, so answer them.”

Despair settled in those purple eyes that watched me with tears.

I felt no compassion whatsoever. I had taken too many lives for that.

As the Empire’s internal affairs stabilized, instances of directly killing people became rare, but I still slaughtered demons as an annual event. Naturally, I never felt uncomfortable during the process.

Mercy was not my policy.

*

The interrogation of the demon yielded satisfactory results. I was able to obtain information about the current state of affairs in the Demonic Land.

Currently, there was no struggle for supremacy in the Demonic Land.

High-ranking demons with magical power strong enough to covet the Demon Lord’s throne were “negotiating” in ways that didn’t involve bloodshed.

And an implicit directive had spread to avoid engaging with reconnaissance teams from human territories whenever possible. …This phenomenon was probably because of me.

Though I roughly knew these facts already, they seemed more certain now.

After I killed the previous Demon Lord, the demons who had behaved for a while were now scheming. It seemed they had determined that traditional methods wouldn’t work.

‘Well, unless they’re complete idiots, they wouldn’t just sit around waiting to be slaughtered.’

I didn’t feel particularly tense. I never thought I would defeat the Demon Lord just once and live comfortably for the rest of my life. There was nothing surprising about demons finding a new path now.

However, there was something slightly concerning.

“…Father.”

My second son, who had witnessed me interrogating the demon, extracting the information I wanted, and then crushing its head with my foot.

I had already shown him killing demonic beasts, but brutally murdering a demon that looked similar to humans probably felt different.

My son didn’t look at me with contempt.

However, his expression when looking at me seemed a bit more solemn. It seemed I wouldn’t be asked “When will you conquer the Demonic Land?” anymore.

“Spencer. If you have questions, ask.”

“Since your ascension… no, since becoming the Hero, you’ve lived like this all along. When I think about it.”

“Yes. I have.”

I had lived by governing the Empire and occasionally wielding force to protect it. For over twenty years.

Spencer probably wasn’t asking because he didn’t know. I nodded, having a general idea of what the child was thinking.

What could be more joyful than having my son recognize my hardships? I just hoped he wouldn’t say anything embarrassing.

After all, I was a person who had to continue living this way.

“Let’s move, Spencer.”

I said this to my son while shaking the blood off my hammer.

Spencer nodded silently and followed me. I quite liked how he had become more serious in such a short time.