episode_0037

If I keep going like this, I feel like I’m going to lose a useful weapon, so I reached out to Iris and said.

“You’re kind, Iris. Hurry up and give it to me.”

Then Iris hid the sword behind her back and shook her head vigorously. I spoke with a soothing expression to calm the upset child.

“Earlier was just a joke. Iris suddenly cried, and I was surprised, that’s why. I’m sorry.”

Iris’s expression twisted into a pout. Even with that expression, I could still feel that the protagonist wasn’t just anyone.

“Now that I have a knife at my throat, I won’t do that again. Give it to me quickly. Ma… no, the sword is suffering.”

At those words, Iris brought the sword forward slightly. The length of the Demon Sword, which had grown to 21cm by absorbing my blood, had suddenly decreased to 10cm.

When combined with the handle, it looked about 25cm long.

“P-please… please spare me… If I continue like this, I’ll disappear…”

The Demon Sword made sounds like a severe patient struggling to breathe. Feeling like it would really disappear if I continued like this, I approached Iris and said.

“Our Iris, you’re kind, right?”

It sounded like coaxing a wary dog, but surprisingly, Iris reluctantly handed me the sword as she glared at it. I immediately praised Iris while patting her head.

“You did well! You listened well, and Iris is a good girl!”

“…”

Blushing lightly, Iris lowered her head deeply. Her gesture of pulling at the hem of my clothes was cute.

“I want to have such a cute daughter too. Oh, right now, I’m halfway raising Iris, so can’t I consider myself half Iris’s dad?”

As I gazed at Iris with a melting expression, the Demon Sword spoke in a dying voice.

[ Sigh.. I thought I was going to disappear this time. It’s impossible for me, who even made the Dragon Lord afraid, to be destroyed by a mere girl. It’s a huge disgrace.. ]

The magic sword murmured in a corner like a recluse and grumbled. Seeing that it looked fine, it was casually thrown onto the bed. Then Iris sincerely relieved, let go of my hand and came over.

[ Eek…! H-How dare you handle the great magic sword like this! No, more importantly! Hey, human! What is that human girl! ]

As the magic sword roared loudly, Iris’s gaze turned towards the magic sword. The magic sword, which had been causing all sorts of trouble on its own, suddenly quieted down.

“Let’s leave that alone and go eat some snacks. They say they have cream bread for today’s snack. Let’s hurry up and go eat.”

Holding hands with Iris, we rushed out of the room. Behind us, the magic sword…

[ W-What about me? If you just give me some blood -… ]

Thud.

Lian ignored the magic sword’s words and closed the door.

***

While Lian and Iris were living relatively peaceful daily lives, things were heading for the worst on Noah’s side.

Thud.

Noah looked down at the leather bag that had fallen from his foot. When he raised his gaze, Mia, a black magician with a cold expression, was looking down at Noah.

“He’s been taking care of you, so take him with you. And if possible, don’t wander around the mansion. It’s annoying.”

A week since Lian disappeared, Mia gave up on Lian and took the time to abandon the slave.

Mia was one of the black magicians who treated slaves like insects. If they were not there like Lian, it was uncomfortable, but for ordinary slaves who were just a bundle of mystery, she had no mercy.

Since Lian was the reason why she accepted numerous slaves, there was no reason for Mia to keep the slaves once Lian was gone.

She could make quite a bit of money by selling the unnecessary slaves in the slave market. However, Mia chose to release the slaves.

Due to the demon’s call, she had to leave quickly. But the image of Lian, who had taken care of Mia diligently, prevented her from selling the slaves in a cruel slave market.

Instead, she decided to provide the minimum tools necessary for survival and release them into the forest.

“If only I hadn’t been transferred to Jisoo’s side, I would have tried to bring him back somehow.”

After hearing through Doban that Lian had been kidnapped and transferred to Jisoo’s side, Mia cleanly gave up on Lian.

She considered asking Rania for help, but Rania was currently quite busy under the demon king’s command. It wasn’t a situation where she could simply come or go for just one slave.

“A foolish act to make the Four Kings hostile to each other over just one slave.”

If Rania and Jisoo clashed in any way, it would lead to a considerable amount of bloodshed. In a time when the demon king’s army was actively moving to conquer the continent, if there were internal conflicts, the demon king might move directly.

Lian’s body was indeed intriguing, but it was not worth creating a major conflict.

“Ah, forget it. It’s fine. I had to leave my house empty for a long time anyway, so it’s for the best.”

Mia expressed her regret, turned around, and left the trembling slaves in the Forest of Death.

“Brother… What do we do now?”

Trembling, Nero grabbed Noah’s hand. Noah, who had been staring blankly at Mia, spoke weakly after a moment.

“…Yeah.”

Surviving on the demon king’s land with children not even 10 years old was close to impossible. It was no different from being told to die.

Shocked by losing the purpose of life named Lian and the sudden change in environment, Noah’s mind was adrift.

It wasn’t a feeling of happiness or abundance; it was a feeling of being unable to accept the consecutive horrific situations.

“Sob… Hiccup…”

“Lian, Lian, sob…”

The pitch-black parched land, eerie-looking trees, and the strange sounds echoing in the forest were enough to frighten the children.

Lian, who had played the role of a comforting guardian like a large tree, disappeared, causing the children to burst into tears like young children.

At the sound of the children’s crying, Noah snapped back to reality.

Thud!

A sharp blow to his cheek brought his dazed mind back to reality, leaving a red mark on his cheek.

“Now you’re coming to your senses?”

Julianna flew over to Noah with a rough voice. Despite her efforts to make him come to his senses by shouting and shaking him, Noah couldn’t gather himself, so Julianna remained silent, floating by her side.

Noah lowered his head, recalling belatedly what Julianna had done for him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Now that you’ve finally come to your senses, that’s enough. But more importantly, what are we going to do now?”

“…”

Coming to his senses was one thing, but the situation hadn’t improved. They were abandoned in a cruel forest where demons could emerge at any time from anywhere. Even though they had come to their senses, there seemed to be no way to survive in such a place.

“….”

“Sigh, I knew it would turn out like this.”

After letting out a small sigh, Julianna spoke in a firm voice.

“What we need to do now is find a place where we can eat and rest, in simple terms, solve our food and shelter problems. If we stay like this, the kids will all die. And after that…”

Although not in the demon king’s land, Julianna was an experienced mercenary who had camped in dangerous areas. Thanks to that, she always offered practical advice for survival.

“After that, we should go find Lian.”

“…!”

At the end of her long speech, Noah’s eyes widened at the sudden mention of “let’s go find Lian.” The light began to seep into his previously clouded eyes.

“Yeah… Lian will need a place to come back to.”

Suppressing the urge to rush out immediately to find Lian, Noah reminded himself of the goal.

First, survive. When a safe place where they could stay was established, then they would go find Lian.

“Surely Lian made this choice.”

Lian, who always put her children before herself, would have surely made the same choice as Noah.

Now she will protect what Lian tried to protect. And furthermore, she will definitely find the disappeared Lian.

The terrifying seed of a huge organization that even the Four Kings and the Demon King’s army will be wary of was sown like that.

When Noah started comforting the crying children and regained his composure.

“Master Joo…!”

Whoosh!

Taking advantage of the confusion, Jess winked and dashed towards the forest.