A Childhood Incident

“Go to the forest and gather some firewood.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Following Mom’s words, I headed to the forest as usual to collect firewood when I spotted a girl.

Her body was covered in bruises and wounds, and her eyes glowed red, as if signaling she wasn’t human.

“D-Don’t come closer!!”

She glared at me warily, but she seemed too exhausted to flee, rooted to the spot.

“Uh? W-Wait a sec!”

I hurried back home, grabbed some ointment for wounds and porridge, and returned to the girl.

“Here, some medicine and porridge.”

“What?”

She looked up at me, stunned, her expression blank as I offered the medicine and porridge.

*Swish*

After a moment’s hesitation, she took them, her face slightly flushed as she spoke.

“Th… thank… you.”

And this moment, they say, marked the starting point of the birth of the Demon King, destined to be recorded as both the greatest and the worst in the future.