“W-wha…?”
Xion looked plainly flustered by Reinhild’s question about being thrown out.
Seeing that, Reinhild let out a small breath of relief.
I really thought he was giving me a last feast before kicking me out.
So it wasn’t eviction after all.
Thank goodness.
There were plenty of reasons he could be kicked out, and he’d been on edge about every one of them.
I can’t be driven away yet.
The world outside was still full of danger, and he was pathetically weak.
For now he had to cling to Xion and stay hidden.
Perhaps guessing at Reinhild’s thoughts, Xion gently took his hand and spoke earnestly.
“I will never drive you out, no matter what happens.”
“Mm-hm, sure.”
“No matter what happens. I promise.”
“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
Reinhild answered off-handedly and sat down.
Xion was kind enough to say such things only because he didn’t know the truth.
The moment a Hero showed up, sword in hand, demanding the Demon King, even Xion would break that promise.
Reinhild had zero expectation that a human would keep a promise to a Demon King.
“Thanks for the meal!”
The feast Xion had prepared was even tastier than Reinhild expected.
He ate at least three times his usual amount.
After spending a huge chunk of mana, eating plenty and resting well was the best way to recover.
All that rich food sent energy surging through his body.
With this, my mana should refill faster.
The last grain-of-sand’s worth of mana began to circulate swiftly around his heart.
Without that breakfast, recovering at this pace would have been unthinkable.
Grinning ear to ear, Reinhild finished his meal.
He’d been worrying he might have to drag himself back to that hateful lake just to patch up his dying body, but at this rate sitting in a tub of warm water ought to suffice.
If I could eat like this every day, I’d top off my mana and run before any Hero reaches the village.
Of course, he knew such a diet helped only when mana was bottomed out; at other times it would just ruin his health.
Eat this every day and fat would pile on faster than mana.
After the meal, Reinhild sat comfortably beneath a sun-lit window to rest.
Maybe because his worn-out body was now well fueled and maybe because the day was especially fine, drowsiness crept over him.
While he dozed, stretched in the sunlight, Xion finished getting ready to head for the fields.
Reinhild snapped upright the moment he sensed Xion leaving and hurried over.
“I’ll come with you today.”
“If it’s all right, could you stay home, Reinhild?”
He’d thought Xion would be pleased to spend the time together.
The refusal caught him off guard. Blinking, he studied Xion’s face.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“I hung the wash outside, and it looks like rain. If it starts, would you take the clothes down?”
Oh, that was it.
So he wasn’t tired of Reinhild’s company. That was good.
“Of course, leave it to me.”
“In truth I’d love to spend the whole day with you, but there’s work I must finish. Please wait just a little.”
Xion kissed Reinhild briefly on the cheek and left the house.
Reinhild stood at the window for a long time, watching him go.
Maybe because he’d been afraid of being sent away, he couldn’t stop thinking about Xion.
——
He trudged back to his seat and sat in the sunlight, slowly gathering mana.
Doing nothing made his thoughts dull.
He sat so long that the sun’s angle shifted, and the light fell elsewhere. Staring out the window, he came to a realization.
“Ah, he said it might rain.”
When had so much time passed?
The laundry would get soaked if he wasn’t careful.
Worried, Reinhild hurried outside.
Not a cloud in the sky.
Far from rain, the sun blazed brighter than on any recent day.
“Xion actually got the weather wrong.”
Usually Xion was amazingly accurate: always talking about this cloud, that feel of the air.
But even Xion could be mistaken.
Thinking nothing of it, Reinhild took down the bone-dry laundry.
“Huh? This is the outfit I wore out yesterday.”
It was the autumn jacket of Xion’s he’d slipped on against the chill hung on the line.
He remembered leaving it beside the lake before stepping into the water…
Did I bring it back myself?
Probably. Clothes don’t sprout legs and walk.
Even while that human was grabbing me, I still managed to bring it home. Truly a magnificent Demon King.
Today had been perfectly satisfying.
Yesterday’s unpleasantness was practically forgotten.
——
Reinhild folded the laundry roughly, then sprawled across the bed.
“Xion’s late today.”
It was nearly dinnertime. What was he doing?
The longer he was alone, the more his mind wandered, and his mood gradually sank.
Only a little while ago he’d been humming. Now his spirits were scraping bottom.
What’s wrong with me? From lying around?
But he’d lain around for five hundred years without feeling like this.
Well, he’d been unconscious then, so maybe that was different?
I shouldn’t just sit here.
He sat up and tried to circulate mana.
The pinky-nail scrap of power wouldn’t budge however hard he pushed.
His mood grew worse.
Flop.
Back onto the bed.
“My mana won’t recover.”
His stamina felt better, maybe from all the good food. but the mana just wouldn’t increase.
Each breath drained a little more, making the region around his heart throb.
Even scraping together what lingered in the house, it leaked away as though holes riddled his body.
“There’s a limit to training indoors.”
Should he go back to the lake?
No. He’d promised never again.
Then somewhere else…
“I don’t want to go anywhere.”
Like a sloth in a tree, Reinhild sagged into the mattress.
He hated the idea of going outside.
Today, tomorrow… he never wanted to leave, wanted to merge with the bed forever.
A world changed utterly in five hundred years.
The helplessness on discovering his mana gone.
The despair of being cast out by the demon vassals who’d once served him.
He’d met Xion in the midst of that and, thanks to him, could briefly forget the misery.
But that crazy human yesterday had shaken him badly, reminding him again:
He was still weak. Humans were strong.
The Hero was coming, and he could do nothing.
I’m powerless.
He felt pathetic.
The mana refused to gather, which only irritated him further.
At last he abandoned the effort to recover.
When he ceased forcing it, the little mana left evaporated, but he no longer cared.
Nothing was going right. What was the use of trying?
Even if he rebuilt his mana, it would just disappear again.
Nothing will be solved anyway.
Listless, Reinhild lost all motivation.
The price of leaving the house, even briefly, was steep.
It’s safest here.
Thinking everything was the fault of stepping outside, he began to believe danger awaited beyond the door.
The safest place was Xion’s house.
So he could just stay.
The grand destined battle of Demon King and Hero?
He’d live as if dead and call that canceled. Let each go his own way… wouldn’t that be fine?
Entertaining such absurd thoughts, he buried his face in a pillow.
If I could just live with Xion forever, I’d be safe.
With that notion, he felt a twinge of resentment toward Xion for leaving him behind.
Not much, but just a little.
How could he leave when I’m this distressed?
Oh right, Xion didn’t know he was distressed.
Of course, he couldn’t know if Reinhild didn’t say.
Yet the fact that Xion didn’t sense it felt unjust.
Stewing like that, he noticed it was nearly dinnertime.
Still no Xion.
Xion wasn’t the type to be this late.
Amid all his grumbling, a nasty thought flashed through his mind.
What if something happened to him?
What if Xion had run into that crazy human from yesterday?
Maybe he was being attacked.
I have to help him.
He didn’t care what happened to other villagers, but if Xion was in danger, he had to act.
With that decided, Reinhild rustled to his feet.
Forget lethargy. Now was not the time.
Xion was waiting for his help.
Thud.
“Eep!”
A heavy sound slammed against the front door, and Reinhild jumped in fright.
Someone was outside.
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