〈 Chapter 24 〉 71st Demon King (2)

*

Clank, clank.

The well in the center of the village.

As I pulled the rope, the pulley turned, and the basket filled with water came up.

I skillfully lifted the basket and transferred its contents into the metal water bucket.

‘Come to think of it, this felt pretty heavy at first.’

Now, thanks to my increased strength stats, the basket felt light.

If I think about it, a lot has changed since the first time I invaded Allen’s body.

If after all that effort nothing had changed, that would have been strange.

‘Not to mention the attention of those around me.’

Suddenly, I heard the surrounding voices.

Once again, I realized that this guy is pretty sharp.

“How about someone just smack Allen on the back of the head?”

“Hey, what if we get caught? Don’t you remember how that bandit nearly got taken out by Allen?”

“Well, if we don’t get caught…”

“You really think we won’t get caught?”

The kids might still be kids, but they seemed somewhat scared of me.

Having come back from the journey, I probably looked more like an adult to them.

In reality, I had been wandering around the realm of chaos, which is a lot worse.

‘As long as they don’t interfere, it’s fine.’

Carrying two metal buckets, I returned to the inn and opened the door.

Weiss sat at the counter, and her appearance caught my eye.

Weiss had fully adapted to the inn work now.

‘If Weiss were the Demon King, all of this would be an act after all.’

The reason the Demon King entered the village was for reconnaissance before breaking the barrier.

To check if there were any noteworthy talents that could stop the invasion.

But despite that, Weiss was adapting too quickly.

She seemed almost ready to settle down at the inn, making me question if she really had lost her hometown.

‘By the way…’

That guy is here again.

The Pathfinder who brought Weiss to the inn.

I think his name was Finn. He claimed to be checking on Weiss’s condition, but he looked way too interested.

‘Not that it concerns me.’

I didn’t really care.

If he was keeping an eye on Weiss in my place, that was actually a relief.

Thinking that, I set down the buckets.

It seemed like Weiss finally noticed me due to the sound.

“Allen? I wondered where you went, and you brought water. You’re so diligent.”

Diligent, huh.

Lately, I rarely came out, spending most of my time holed up in my room training with Wind’s Power.

Still, her exaggerated praise made me feel awkward.

“Well, I’ll be in my room, so call me for lunch later. It’s my turn to cook today.”

*

‘She asked me to call her…’

By the time she called me, lunch was already fully prepared.

I looked down at the food in my bowl.

A variety of vegetables were nicely stir-fried with potatoes.

It looked pretty delicious.

‘I hope there’s no poison in it.’

She doesn’t particularly suspect me to be strong.

So, to keep my disguise, it would be a waste to kill an innocent person.

With that belief, I put the food in my mouth.

‘Hmm?’

My eyes widened.

It tastes good.

I had thought the ingredients of this world would make anything taste terrible, but this was good enough to change my mind.

“Miss is quite skilled in cooking.”

The Innkeeper seemed to enjoy it as well.

“Guess it was worth bringing stuff from outside the barrier.”

Why is he inserting himself into this conversation?

Whatever, it doesn’t matter.

I focused on clearing the food in front of me.

Opportunities like this to eat good food don’t come by often.

At that moment, the Innkeeper asked Finn, the Pathfinder.

“By the way, don’t you think you should be going outside the barrier? I thought you were a Pathfinder?”

It seemed the comment struck a chord because Finn flinched.

“I sold some artifacts I brought back, so I have a little extra.”

He seemed to be the type who only ventured outside when he needed money rather than saving it.

In fact, most Pathfinders were like that.

Choosing to be a Pathfinder basically meant you had no intention of living long.

But then came a surprising statement from him.

“And I don’t want to be a Pathfinder forever. I want to use the money from selling artifacts to open my own shop.”

The Innkeeper chuckled.

“Oh? Do you even know how much it costs to open a shop?”

“Well, I should start with a small stall first.”

He seemed to think running a shop would be easy, but that wasn’t my concern.

If it doesn’t work out, he could always go back outside the barrier.

At that moment, while I was about to get up from my seat…

“By the way, there are rumors that the recent bandits outside the barrier have disappeared because of some hero. Is that true?”

Suddenly, a topic related to me popped up.

It was definitely the kind of news a Pathfinder would be interested in.

But which hero were they talking about…

‘Are they referring to Gwen?’

It seemed the news of the bandits being defeated had spread as an achievement of Gwen.

For someone like me who didn’t want attention, that was quite welcome.

“I’ve heard that a hero stayed at our inn recently from the guests.”

It was the Innkeeper.

He was quite knowledgeable about the news from guests due to his good nature. But I didn’t expect him to know about Gwen.

“I think they said it was the Rose Knight. Apparently, she’s quite famous.”

“A famous hero? Is she still at the inn?”

“No, she left already.”

“I see. I wanted to thank her…”

Though the original recipient of my gratitude was right in front of me, I didn’t bring it up.

I quietly slipped out of the dining area.

*

“Thank you.”

I filled my basket with the ingredients I bought from the merchant.

And just as I was about to shift the basket again, another hand touched the handle.

Ignoring that hand, I yanked the basket up.

“Um, I was going to carry that…”

“I’ll carry it.”

Weiss looked sulky.

I ignored her sulking and began searching for the next item I needed.

“Oh, Miss Weiss! Come here, the vegetables today are super fresh!”

“Isn’t that Allen? Long time no see! Are you two on a date?”

But Allen certainly didn’t miss the remarks from around.

I didn’t respond, but it was a bit annoying.

‘But how could Weiss have become this popular with how long she’s been in the village?’

Since earlier, every villager I encountered greeted Weiss.

Every time, Weiss smiled brightly and returned the greeting.

Well, Weiss was quite pretty. Being pretty and a little naive probably made her well-liked.

After wandering around the village with Weiss for a while, I finally managed to buy all the ingredients.

The ingredients I could gather in this remote village were limited, but collecting various items still made for a decent haul.

“Can I prepare dinner today?”

“I will be preparing it. I was the one on lunch duty today.”

Of course, Weiss’s cooking would be tastier.

But I wasn’t completely hopeless in the kitchen either.

At least, I was more confident than the Innkeeper.

“By the way, Ms. Weiss.”

In the evening alleyway, we stood alone, holding the basket.

It was a good environment to ask questions.

“You lost your hometown, didn’t you?”

“Yes?… Yes, that’s right?”

It had already been a week since we met.

It was time to gain some certainty.

To gain that certainty, I threw out a question.

“But how did you adapt so quickly?”

“What do you mean…”

“How can you be so kind?”

In that moment, Weiss halted her steps.

I turned to glance at her.

“Um, I…”

Her eyes started to turn red.

Only then did I realize something was wrong.

*

“I’m sorry. I asked a rude question…”

Seeing her wipe away her tears made me feel guilty.

I never intended for it to go this way. Yet looking back, my question was quite insensitive.

What if she isn’t the Demon King? I hadn’t considered that at all.

“…It’s okay. It’s my fault.”

“Huh?”

“It’s just that I overreacted… it was burdensome for me.”

No, that’s not true at all.

“It’s not burdensome at all.”

I merely wanted to ask.

“Honestly, I wanted to know if losing your hometown was sad for you.”

Thinking about it, that was also somewhat rude.

Yet I genuinely wanted to know.

After all, until now, her demeanor had never shown a hint of that sadness.

“I see. Whether losing my hometown makes me sad…”

She lowered her sleeve that was wiping her tears.

Her tears had stopped by now.

“It is sad. There’s no way it wouldn’t be. My hometown disappeared, and I found myself in an unfamiliar place with no memories.”

Suddenly, she smiled as she spoke.

“But there’s nothing I can do about it. My hometown is already destroyed, and I need to survive.”

I could only gaze at her smile in awe.

I had failed to notice until now that she was in a situation much like mine.

There was practically no way to return. And yet, we needed to keep living.

In that situation, she was smiling.

Unlike me, who was nearly ready to give up,

She was hiding sadness behind a strong smile.

“To survive here, I had no choice but to force myself to smile. Kindness was the only weapon I had.”

She quickly found a way for her survival.

That kindness became her weapon.

“Along the way, I never cared if someone was hurt by my kindness. I was just too focused on surviving.”

I wanted to argue against that, but she seemed so resolute.

“So, I’m sorry, Allen.”

I couldn’t face her anymore.

Her dirty face, stained with dried tears, was somehow burdening yet beautiful to me.

“Can you forgive me?”

But I couldn’t answer that question.

Not now, not yet.

Because I might have to kill her someday.

*