Chapter 31: To be a Demon King, part 2
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
I found Lyla sleeping among the underbrush.
「Hey, Lyla, wake up. Tell me what happened. Oi.」
Despite tapping her cheek several times, she didn’t even stir.
「What did this Rodje Sandsong do to you…?」
The dark elf in question was chasing her tail round and round in circles.
Good grief. Thankfully, I remembered a spell that Lyla had taught me before.
「’Dispel.’」
I had only ever used it on Meiri, but it took effect immediately. The sound of glass shattering could be heard from within Lyla.
「Lyla, wake up.」
「…huh? Huh… whuh…?」
Lyla blinked multiple times as she finally came to.
「Oh, it’s you. Oh yeah, Rodje…」
「I used a ‘Dispel’ on you. What happened?」
Looking around her, she took stock of the surroundings.
「My adorable vassal said she needed a favour from me. I was reluctant at first, but I eventually agreed, so here we are. I told her I wasn’t feeling well, so she let me rest with ’Sleep’.」
「A favour?」
「Well… she’ll explain it better than I can.」
「Woof, woof, bow-wow ♡」
The dark elf had gotten down on all fours. I gestured to her, and she happily scampered over.
「Hm, ‘Real Nightmare’…? That’s something you don’t see every day, but I’m not exactly comfortable with seeing my cute follower pretending to be a puppy.」
Rodje couldn’t possibly explain anything while under the influence of ‘Real Nightmare’, so I dispelled it by clapping my hands in front of her.
「– Huh!? Why was I acting like a dog…!?」
「Did you have fun?」
「So it was you…! Using a spell as degrading as ‘Real Nightmare’ on me… I’ll kill you!」
Lyla restrained her infuriated subordinate.
「Don’t be hasty, Rodje. I will not allow you to lay a single finger on him, for he is my spouse.」
「…huh? Your what? Spouse?? I’ve never heard that term before, your Majesty.」
「If you really want to fight, I won’t stop you, but it’s not like you’re a match for him. There’s nothing I can do against him either.」
「Kuh… okay, fine, that’s true…」, seethed Rodje, glaring at me.
「My magical ability doesn’t even hit thirty points.」
「Not even thirty points, your Majesty…? How can that be…!?」
‘Below thirty points’ certainly wasn’t wrong, but it was misleading. I decided to correct Lyla, adding to Rodje’s disbelief.
「Actually, it was below ten at the moment of surrender.」
「It’s even lower!?」
Lyla chuckled.
「That’s why I have him now… I promised to entrust everything to him…」
「Your Majesty… your expression is more feminine than usual…」
「And it didn’t even hit five during the ‘first match’, for almost instantly she –」
「Okay, okay, you can stop now. Don’t s-say that in front of her.」
Lyla turned as crimson as her hair, covering her face with both hands. She was probably thinking of our first time.
「I’ve never seen this side of you, your Majesty… you’re so embarrassed…」
Rodje, looking at Lyla with vacant eyes, shook her head and made an accusatory gesture at me.
「Even so, don’t think that I trust you for a second!」
「Whatever, Rodje Sandsong. We shouldn’t deviate from the topic at hand — why did you kidnap Lyla?」
She glanced at her master for affirmation, who nodded.
「I’ll start from the beginning. When I returned from an emergency meeting, I found your corpse and realised it was a fake.」
「You have a sharp eye, Rodje. However, that cadaver was constructed with the finest magic I could harness — why were you not deceived?」
「There is a physical feature of yours, your Majesty, that only someone who has taken a bath with you will know of. It was missing on the corpse.」
「A feature that only you know about…?」
Yes, said the dark elf, nodding.
「It’s the birthmark on your Majesty’s posterior.」
「Grrr, baka! There’s nothing like that on me!」
「Nope, there is.」
「Indeed there is, your Majesty.」
「…」
「Anyway, that’s how I came to know that her Majesty was alive and well. I could also tell that she had been hard pressed to escape, to the extent of having to leave a decoy when she left.」
Lyla was trying to get a good look at her own buttocks. Leaving her alone, I continued listening to Rodje’s story.
As a loyal subordinate, she had kept the secret of Lyla’s corpse being a fake to herself. She’d kept a mental note that Lyla was still alive somewhere, and remained in our realm for a few months after the war.
She only took action when the hardliners declared that they would mount a second invasion on the human kingdoms.
「Her Majesty is extremely charismatic, and as a result, highly popular. It was a huge blow to many of us when we heard of her demise. After that, many officials in the army decided to launch a strategic retreat and wait for a chance to strike again.」
I see.
Despite having lost their leader, they could still pack a punch on their own. We had been able to break into the castle only because the coalition army had dragged down the demons with multiple concurrent skirmishes.
「The hardliners are under the command of Seventh Division Commander Cornelieu Vassily. Using the excuse of avenging her Majesty, they actually plan to recapture her castle as well.」
「Wow… for my death to have stirred up chaos once again…」
「If your Majesty proves that you are still alive, then the hardliners will have little excuse to continue fighting. I can’t say this in front of them, but as a centrist, I believe that our retreat was already at the optimal timing…」
The fighting had come to a stalemate, causing the kingdoms and their armies to become weary. I suppose that the Demon King’s army had felt the same way.
「Cornelieu is rallying the demons who are hidden here and planning to wrestle back control of the castle.」
Demons live in the demon realm, but during the war, they had travelled here with the use of large-scale mobility spells. Out of the two flattened kingdoms, they had annexed what was left of the Kingdom of Jorvenssen.
That kingdom’s castle is what we now refer to as the Demon King’s castle.
Using the Kingdom of Jorvenssen as a foothold, they had also invaded Meiri’s kingdom — the Kingdom of Vadenhaag. Seeing that things had taken a turn for the worse, the rulers of all seven kingdoms held a conference where they decided to form the coalition army.
Even now, there are still stragglers lurking in the Kingdom of Jorvenssen, causing it to be marked off on maps as a dangerous area. That’s why the Heroes’ party that I was in never aimed to invade the demon realm and slay their king. Instead, we simply fought to regain control of the kingdoms that were rightfully ours.
「Lyla, even if you show them you’re still alive, you might not be able to stop them.」
「I am aware of that… however, I am the Demon King, and they might still be willing to listen to me.」
She had a point there.
「It was wrong of us to initiate the war. After living with you, I came to know ‘warmth’, and to understand just how precious the ‘normal’ way of life is. It means nothing to repent alone, so Rodje and I have decided to atone for our sins. This will be my final duty as the Demon King.」
I see what’s going on now.
「If that’s the case, I will assist you to the best of my abilities.」
「There’s one problem. If they come to know that I’m still alive, the humans will also find out sooner or later. They’ll know that you lied. They might even organise an army to hunt me down… what will happen then?」
「I wasn’t lying. I did kill the ‘Demon King’. But if anyone ever tries to kill you, Lyla, I don’t care who or how many — a small division, an entire army, or even a kingdom — they’ll have to go through me first.」
Tears welled up in her eyes, she closed in for a hug. I accepted it, and patted her head gently.
「I knew I could trust you.」
「What the hell… man, this human is pretty damn cool…」
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