episode_0013

“Whoaaam… I slept well…”

Booth opened his eyes, got up, combed his now familiar yellow hair, cleaned his eyes a little, and dressed up on his own.

-Shock.

“…But, you’re the captain. This is just! What a human should do! Doing basic things like that! You can’t go around the Demon King’s castle like a rascal, right?”

“…Who are you talking to? Leah.”

“Hic. Oh, Abel? ”

Leah flinched when Abel appeared behind her, and then blushed as if embarrassed at being caught talking to herself.

“Why are you here?”

“I came here because I thought you were sleeping well, but I guess you’re a little late.”

“Parasite brother. Swallow.”

“Why this time…?!”

Abel choked up, but it was his honest opinion. His face seemed to be showing his appreciation. Why are you so handsome?

“Come to think of it, Hira isn’t here. Except for the last accident, he was always by my side like a piece of gum.”

“Your condition seems to have improved since last time, so I’ve put you back to work. The Four Heavenly Kings have a lot to do.”

“Oh, as expected. Even though they say they don’t work, there’s no way there won’t be work when they’re waging a war of aggression…”

“? It’s just work related to the internal conflict within the Demon Clan.”

“…War? Supply plan? Tactics???”

“That’s for exchanging shit.”

… oh my god.

“Or something like that?”

“It wasn’t there?”

Yes, sir.

“Do you even think about winning…?”

“…If you win, the goddess will give you…”

“Ah.”

For a moment, I was more concerned about the victory and safety of the Demon King’s army than the Demon King’s army itself, but in the end, I just remembered that I was the cause.

“You don’t have to worry about it. Even if it weren’t for you, most of the past demon lords felt aversion to harming humanity and ended up self-destructing. …The 6th one was a little different though. ”

“6th? What does that mean?”

“Umm… So… Galvein?”

“You give up too quickly?!”

Abel wasn’t a brainiac. And that’s why Galvein was able to hire him.

“Would you like to call me…”

The condition is not normal…?

“It’s okay, just explain it once and it will come back to life.”

“What are you talking about… zz…”

…Why are you so sleepy? I rolled my eyes to find a clock in my room, but then realized there was no clock in the room, so I asked Abel what time it was.

“What time is it now…?”

“It’s 3am. It’s the perfect time to explain.”

“…Galvein, you go back to sleep right now-!! And Abel, are you doing this to try to cause a coup?!”

I thought it would be dark in the morning because it was a demon realm connected to the demon world, but it was just because I woke up early that it was physically dark?!

I forcibly pushed Galvein, who was walking towards me while swinging his cane, back into my room, physically preventing him from coming out, and hit Abel on the forehead.

“At least you shouldn’t wake up your sleeping subordinates at this hour of the morning and use them for your boss’s personal business…!”

“The goddess of libra said so.”

“The Goddess of Libra is out of the question…”

-widely!

Leah thought, wiping her forehead hard.

I had no idea because of his appearance on the high-pressure battlefield, but if you just peel off one layer of his skin, he’s just like any other person… No, he’s even more of a fool, right?

“Haa… Now I’m more scared of where you did this while you were the Demon King than of how you look when you fight…”

“?”

“No, nothing. I’d rather hear you explain it yourself.”

“!”

The recovery is too fast.

As soon as I said that one word, Abel’s eyes sparkled and he began to explain. It was only today that I realized that Abel had a talent for explanation.

*****

“So… from the beginning, the ‘Demon Tribe’ was created because of the goddess’s doing?”

Nodding, Abel quickly moved his head up and down.

“Isn’t this complete trash?”

“And maybe I’ll be the last Demon King. Since all seven deadly sins have been consumed, and the sixth one has caused an accident, the Goddess is thinking of abandoning Pangea.”

“If it’s the 6th… I thought it was strange that there was no record of the Demon King. Do you know?”

Well, yes. Humanity had no information about the Demon King. You could tell just by looking at the fact that the warrior party was organized like that. If they had known how strong the Demon King was this time, they wouldn’t have sent me out alone, but would have used all three of them in actual combat.

“There must have been a lot originally, the 6th one erased them all. I only heard it from the testimony of Mino, who is an immortal (assuming that he doesn’t have a stake driven into his heart).”

“6th, 6th. You’ve been talking like there’s something wrong with the 6th Demon King since a while ago… Since he’s the Demon King, he’d want to destroy everything and have no reason to die, so wouldn’t it be normal for him not to commit suicide?”

“Oh, right. You forgot a lot about the system. Do you want to hear more explanation? The 6th one is taboo even within the Demon Clan… …Well, if you want to be annoying, call me the Demon King.”

Although my interest was piqued for a moment, I soon developed a strong aversion to difficult stories.

“Okay, actually I was going to talk about revenge but I got carried away. That’s why I brought up the war story… I went out to see how my fellow girls were doing yesterday, but I only saw Gabriel. Belle and Ena should be in the Empire, but it’ll be hard to find Sue and Nia…”

“Shall I tell you? Recent news.”

Abel said, stealing chicken from the kitchen through the portal. No, I was going to eat it myself in the morning anyway, so isn’t that stealing? No, why are you eating chicken in the morning in the first place?

“Did you know?”

“Of course.”

“Who starts from?”

“The next warrior chosen by me, Belle, and Ena.”

“…Ah, those two…”

Two instead of three? I felt something strange and Abel avoided my gaze.

“Those two women will be slaves. They lost without even having a chance to defend themselves in court for failing to protect the hero. Judging from the pressure from the saint, it seems like that was necessary for the plan.”

“Slave? I’m sure it was the last time I saw you… Ah.”

Now that I think about it, the last time I saw him was when Abel saw me being beaten by Smith. I hate to admit it, but it’s true that Abel was beating me up, so it’s highly likely that he had already blown Smith’s head off by then.

“It feels so good. It’s a shame I couldn’t kill them myself, but I can take revenge on the other two myself.”

I sharpened the knife in my mind once again.

“And the elf and the thief, they are the world tree and the new warrior party respectively.”

“New warrior party? Smith is dead?”

“They say they picked a new one without consulting the Holy Land. They probably persuaded the thief to take him.”

“That was easy. There’s no way you wouldn’t notice the warrior party’s activities. Since this is the Demon King’s castle, they’ll come to you on their own.”

Basasak, I snatched a piece of chicken that Abel was eating with my chopsticks. I wonder if it was boneless meat since he was eating it with a fork? It was delicious.

“Even the elves might come faster.”

“Huh? Huh?”

(Huh? Why?)

“I heard there was a problem with the World Tree. I thought you were the one who cured it.”

“Ah, that… That’s right. It must have happened by now. Since I harbored hostility toward Nia, the treatment I had applied must have worn off. Anyway, since my body is in this state due to the warrior’s power, I can’t cast it again unless I’m prepared to die.”

“Hmm? Can you undo something that was already treated?”

“Yeah. To be exact, I stopped what I was doing. The root was rotten, but the infection rate was getting faster, so I lied and said it was the power of a warrior, and I treated it for a long time like Jangpan-hyung. No matter how much power I had, it was impossible to cure it all at once. ”

“Now that that’s stopped… the World Tree’s decay will accelerate.”

“Yeah, I took revenge without knowing it.”

As we were having a casual conversation, I suddenly felt anxious. I was anxious that he might be disappointed in me.

“…What are you not saying?”

“Why me?”

When I saw his face turn back to me as if he was asking me why I was really asking such a thing, I felt a little relieved. After all, he was the Demon King.

“…Why am I worrying about this?!

This, this is just… I’m just scared of being betrayed again… I don’t have any other feelings! ”

Ah, my face turned red after I said the words. Abel didn’t say anything in the first place, but I was the only one who felt hurt and confessed without thinking.

Abel was dazed for a moment, then chuckled and patted my head.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Since I would have been too weak to pull it off anyway, I gave up and just ate the chicken. Mmm, it was delicious.

…It’s not that I’m feeling good or anything. I just like the peaceful atmosphere, so I can be tolerant of this.

“…over there.”

But in the end, you will die someday. Because of the chains, I cannot disobey the goddess, and the goddess sees Abel as a hunting dog who will be shot someday.

“Don’t die.”

Even if I die. If the person who said he would protect me dies and I live alone, that would be bleak in its own way.

Well, I think I know why there are so many fairy tales where the hero rescues the princess and makes her love her. No, in this case, it could be the reason why there are so many women who fall for swallows.

If you save me like that and treat me well, how can I not like you?

…That’s what I would do if I were a woman. Not that it’s good!

I’m just saying, thank you.

*****

“Who is that girl?”

“Oh, my noble one…? Now the character-”

“Shut up and ask who you are.”

Mino was sweating profusely. It was because Leah was on the verge of going berserk.

‘Why? Why on earth? Does this happen every time I’m with your noble person? To this extent, I seriously doubt that I’m actually disturbing your noble person’s feelings…’

“Sir~”

It had only been five minutes since the leader of the succubi (who had a very voluptuous body) arrived, wearing clothes that were almost like underwear.

Mino first learned that day that Leah could, for a moment, emit a suffocating aura that was no different from an angry Abel.