Episode 17
Late hours. A small inn in the capital of the kingdom.
It didn't look very hygienic, but it was enough to relieve the fatigue accumulated from camping for a long time.
When I undressed and ordered a meal, what came out was a stew that I couldn't tell what I was eating. Just as I was about to take it to my mouth, I tried to overcome my reluctance.
"Have you heard that rumor?"
The innkeeper, who was returning from bringing food, sat down in front of the man who was drinking alone at the table in front of him and said. Even if they didn't want to hear it, their eyes turned to them at the booming voice that they had no choice but to hear.
"What kind of rumor are you talking about?"
"Oh no. I don't think I heard it yet. Tsk..."
When the man retorted by throwing snacks into his mouth as if he was used to it, the innkeeper pushed the plate aside and kicked his tongue.
"This person. How do you know if you say that? Don't take it too far, I'll tell you quickly."
"Warrior."
"Hero? If you're a hero, Ruin...."
Just as the man was about to respond with a face flushed with alcohol, the innkeeper interrupted the man and said.
"No, it's not that hero. He said that a new hero has appeared."
"Does that make sense? How long has it been since the Demon King was defeated, a new hero? Does that mean the Demon King has been resurrected?"
"Listen to me."
A man who drinks alcohol as if he is making a ridiculous sound. The innkeeper looked around for a moment, then leaned towards the man and whispered.
"You know it's the Beliv Estate, right?"
It was then that my intention to eat quickly and go up to my room changed.
"Beliv, velibra. A gate to the demon world was created, and it was a small city in the south of the kingdom."
Veliver Estate. It was the place where I had my first ordeal not long ago.
He passed the ordeal safely and left the territory, but he couldn't help but be quite nervous.
"They said something big happened there. The lord tried to exterminate the people of the territory by making them servants of the devil."
"The lord? Did you eat something wrong? Why?"
"I don't know until then. There is also talk that the denomination is involved..."
"Don't go anywhere and say that! You were the one who would do a big job, right?"
The man seemed to have run away from alcohol at once, slammed the table down, and looked around. However, the innkeeper continued to sweep away the food crumbs that had been spilled out in shock.
"That's not the important thing right now. Didn't I talk about it earlier? Brave life. A warrior appeared, slain the mad lord and soldiers, and saved the people."
"Is that really? That's great. But is that what makes you a hero?"
The man asked with a choke as if he was hesitant at the innkeeper's reaction.
"The moment when a person who was wrongfully imprisoned was saved! When asked about his identity, he said he replied like this."
"What do you mean?"
As the innkeeper took time by picking up a snack with his hands, the man urged him as if he was in a hurry.
"'I'm a warrior.'"
"Fusu!"
At the completely unexpected words of the innkeeper, I had no choice but to spit out the water I had been holding in my mouth. Fortunately, the innkeeper and the man, who were completely focused on the conversation, didn't seem interested in me.
Inside me, the demon king, who was sharing my senses, burst into laughter.
-Is the rumor already so distorted? Ha, humans are really interesting.
The Demon King's laughter echoed loudly in his head.
As the Demon King said, the rumors were quite distorted. The lord's actions to eliminate the poor and develop the city were to annihilate the people, and my answer as a warlock was that he was a self-proclaimed hero.
Even if the former is possible, what kind of process does the latter have to go through?
-Information about the Champion is always kept top secret. The Cult and the Empire are united and controlled.
After a long period of non-stop laughter, it was the first word the Demon King uttered.
Thanks to that, I couldn't even hear the conversation between the innkeeper and the man, but the topic of conversation had already moved on to something else. I put aside the half-left stew and asked the demon king.
'Top secret?'
-Until you pass all the trials, the hero is just a little better human being. To prevent me from knowing and preparing in advance.
If you think about it, most of them didn't even know about the hero's existence until just before he announced his subjugation of the demon world.
The reason was revealed by the words of the Demon King.
The absoluteness that will surely kill the Demon King. Until they are assisted by the laws that make up the world, the entire Middle-earth will strive to protect the heroes.
'Otherwise, if I had known about the birth of a hero in advance, I might not have entered the master's house and become a warlock...'
The demon king ignored my thoughts and started talking again.
-Anyway, it's quite interesting that rumors like this are circulating.
Does it mean that the upper echelons of the church and the empire do not control rumors? I can't afford it, maybe something big has happened.
It was quite a welcome thing for those who had been being chased by the Holy Knights of the Church not long ago, but the Demon King snorted and dismissed it.
-I don't think that's very likely. Either you don't believe the rumors are true and leave them alone, or...
The Demon King paused for a moment.
Is he imitating the behavior of the innkeeper who took his time talking earlier? If so, the effect was certain. Despite the noise from the inn, I had no choice but to focus on the Demon King's words.
-It is the intervention of other forces. Someone is deliberately inflating the rumors.
"Are you sure?"
-Whatever it is, you can't judge it with limited information. It will be resolved soon.
As the Demon King said, the lack of information was something that would soon be solved.
The reason why it took several weeks to come to the royal capital.
Protecting the Demon King's precious treasures, increasing his influence in the human world, and helping him in his trials.
It was to meet the minions who prepared for the time when the demon king who was defeated by the hero was resurrected again.
* * *
The next day, I left the inn as it was bright.
It was a long time of rest because he had been pursued by the Holy Knights for a long time, but most of his fatigue was relieved by a short rest of his body, which had grown through trials.
I feel like I'm a different person. It was a change that could not be compared to the previous weak body.
It was difficult to say that it was a change that had only passed one ordeal, but it was not without concerns.
"Every time I pass an ordeal, if it changes like this..."
The height of the eyes and the length of the limbs have changed due to the increased height. Two or three years at once changed as if I had aged. I got used to it quite well, but I still felt awkward often.
According to the Demon King's words, there are more than ten trials ahead. If this changed each time, it meant that by the time the trial was over, he might have doubled his height or taken on the appearance of an old man.
-Is that the story again? I would have already said that I didn't have to worry about that.
"But..."
-At least the appearance of the warriors who fought with me did not deviate much from being human.
Even if there was a restriction on not being able to lie, it did not mean that I could feel relieved.
This was because the demon king's aesthetic standards could not be the same as humans in the first place. Can I tell the difference between the face of the innkeeper I saw yesterday from his point of view?
-That's ridiculous.
"Tell me the magic that prevents you from getting old or that you can change your appearance."
-… Your problems are not one or two, but the most important thing is that you have a lot of worries. It would be easier if you didn't think about useless things like before.
When I say before, I probably mean the time of trials.
I laughed it off in a cool mood, and the demon king sighed and said.
-I know hundreds of magic that have such effects, but it's not good to learn them now. It can adversely affect the flow of magic and weaken its power.
“….”
-And if it was simply magic that could change your appearance, you would have already told me, right?
However, contrary to the Demon King's words, he had no memory of learning such magic.
Isn't all I learned from him so far is soul magic, spirit magic, and deception?
-Why have you never thought about deception rather than stealth?
"Huh?"
I had never thought about it. I was just using the magic I learned to sneak into the bookstore.
-The magic of deceiving the perception itself as it pleases, beyond simply hiding its appearance and spirit, is deception. Depending on how you use it, you can become an old man over eighty years old, or you can become a different race altogether.
"That's...."
It was literally the most suitable magic for demons, deceiving and deceiving someone.
Somehow, the magic circle was too complicated. I wonder if anyone is not the demon king, and every magic that tells me is not ordinary.
-So move quickly. Isn't it because of wasting time like this that the reason why I came out early in the morning will fade?
At the Demon King's urging, he moved on again. However, heading to the destination was not an easy task.
That's natural. It was my first time coming to the royal capital. The roads were intricately connected, and I was confused about why there were so many people.
The Demon King also didn't seem to have been active in Middle-earth, so it didn't help much.
In the end, after wandering for a long time, I decided to catch a passerby and ask for directions.
"Do you know where the top of the black moon is?"
"The top of the black moon?"
The middle-aged man with a warm impression glanced at me up and down and smiled.
"That too?"
"Yes?"
"No, that's it. If you go to the main road on the right, you can see a big building that anyone can see... It's next to you."
The middle-aged man turned around and said.
"Good luck."
Ignoring the strangely bad mood, he was heading in the direction pointed by the middle-aged man.
"He, are subordinates also demons?"
-Hmm.
If it's a demon, it's a demon or not, what does it mean?
-He's a demon and a human at the same time. To be precise, the human body can be regarded as a demon.
The demon king continued his explanation.
One of the extremely rare races in the demon world. It is said to be a parasitic creature that occupies the host's body and moves.
After listening to his explanation, I thought it might be similar to the current Demon King, but the Demon King dismissed it as completely different.
-When their lifespan ends, they can be replaced by the body of their descendants, so they judged that they would be able to increase their power without being suspected over time.
"I've never heard of such a race."
-As I said, they are an extremely rare race in the demon world. Now he is the only demon...
The Demon King muttered bitterly.
By the time I thought that the entire world I ruled was destroyed, it might be natural. A question came to my mind.
"So, that is the only demon left now?"
-Correct.
That is definitely the influence of this hero's subjugation of the demon world. However, there were warriors a thousand years ago. Surely the demon world would have been subdued at that time, but how could the demon tribe thrive again?
After thinking for a while, he closed his mouth.
Not only was it not important right away, but it would be a memory that the Demon King didn't want to recall. If necessary, they will talk to you later.
-It has the characteristic that its power varies greatly depending on the host. Now that he has a human body, his combat ability may not be very high, but he was literally a demonic guy.
I walked for a long time listening to the story of the demon king.
-If it was as I had told you in advance, it would be hundreds of years from now, but since the amount of goods I had was large, I would have formed a fairly large force at this point...
I found the building that the middle-aged man had mentioned. How tall and big, the building that makes the resistance of the Beliv estate ridiculous... Beside.
[Top of the Black Moon]
The shack is collapsing. There were only quite colorful signboards hanging out of place.
A shabby building that is not at all ahead of the slum buildings I saw in the Beliv estate.
-….
The demon king couldn't continue.
0 Comments