Reinhild lifted the curtain of the small window beside the front door just a little and peered out through the gap.
He could see Xion—usually always calm—speaking about something with unusual fervor.
To be precise, he could only see Xion’s back, so he wasn’t certain.
It just felt like that.
Either way, the fact didn’t change that he’d left Reinhild alone and stepped out following another human.
Reinhild narrowed his eyes and watched the two humans.
All I can see is that human Rebecca’s face.
What were they saying?
Yo… o….
Even watching their lips, he couldn’t make it out.
The Hero is coming? The Hero is coming today? I wish the Hero would just disappear from this world starting today.
Reinhild pressed his ear to the window.
Maybe he’d be able to hear them this way.
He heard nothing.
Surely the Hero isn’t coming right this instant.
Whether the Hero came now or later, nothing changed.
Reinhild was still weak, and Xion would still stand with the humans.
If I’m going to run, this is the only time.
He had to run while Xion wasn’t here.
If he were caught in the act, Xion would ask why, and Reinhild wouldn’t be able to explain a single word.
If Xion sensed something suspicious from that and held Reinhild back—or even called the Hero—it would be a disaster.
I don’t want Xion to find out I’m the Demon King.
The reason didn’t matter. He simply found himself wishing that Xion, at least, would never learn he was the Demon King.
Xion, wearing that aghast, disgusted expression humans made with the Demon King before their eyes…
He couldn’t even picture it, and he didn’t want to.
If I run now, I can still keep my identity hidden.
Xion would be shocked to find the house empty.
Even so, that was fine.
Once the Hero left Root Village, he could sneak back and explain everything.
Of course, that “everything” did not include the fact that he was the Demon King.
As for how he’d excuse running from the Hero without revealing he was the Demon King… he could start thinking about that now.
Problems for later are meant to be put off till later.
All right, I can do this.
Reinhild clenched his trembling hands tight.
Can I really get away?
Honestly, the chances were slim.
His mana was still lacking, and the village was already in the Hero’s palm.
Not knowing where the Hero was, he couldn’t even move about the village right now.
If he happened to run into the Hero, his heart would be run through in an instant.
It was hard enough just to escape this house, let alone the village.
If I open the door and step out, Xion and that human Rebecca will spot me.
He couldn’t exactly bust through a wall, either.
Not only could he not leave the village, he couldn’t even step out of the house as he pleased.
Frustrated and stifled, Reinhild thumped his chest.
After pacing around the house and agonizing for a long while, he finally opted for a second-best plan.
If I can’t run, I’ll hide.
In his heart, he wanted to drive that Hero bastard away or bury him in the ground, but that would be difficult.
He had no choice but to conceal himself for now.
This was no time to worry about the Demon King’s pride.
Pride doesn’t help you survive.
Reinhild rose and seriously looked around.
There had to be someplace in the house to hide.
Confirming through the window that Xion was still talking, he hurried through the house in search of a hiding place.
There isn’t.
He’d thought there would be, but there wasn’t.
Who would have thought he’d see the day when this small, cozy house felt so disagreeable!
The bath? No. The moment they open the bathroom door, I’ll be found.
In the bath, the only place to hide was the tub.
Hiding in a spot that obvious was no different from putting up a sign for the Hero to come take him away.
A Hero who’d come all the way to a country village like this to find the Demon King wouldn’t fail to open a bathroom door!
Then the living room?
Thinking of hiding in the living room, the very place you see the instant you open the front door.
If the Hero knew, he’d snort.
Not that there was anywhere to hide there anyway.
At best, if he climbed the fireplace and wriggled into the chimney, he could conceal himself for a moment… but to be frank, Reinhild lacked the strength to crawl up a chimney.
If only I had mana, I’d just fly up.
If that were possible, he wouldn’t be hiding in a chimney. He’d ride it up and flee the village.
No, if he had that much mana, it’d be better to just defeat the Hero!
Then, as a little celebration for felling the Hero, he’d have some of Xion’s pudding… What good was imagining this when he had no mana anyway.
Reinhild hopped in place, racing about in search of somewhere to hide.
What do I do? What do I do?
He checked under the bed and opened the kitchen cupboards one by one.
To hide in the shed he’d have to go outside, so that was out, and under the bed was too cramped.
There was nowhere to hide.
Not a single one.
Reinhild stared up at the open cupboard with a hollow look.
The plates crammed into the cupboard felt like they were mocking him. Are you really a Demon King if you can’t even hide one body?
“Maybe if I take all the plates out, I could fit?”
Nonsense.
He knew it was nonsense, but cornered as he was, Reinhild absentmindedly reached toward the plates.
“Ah!”
Clatter!
Maybe his hands hadn’t stopped trembling ever since he heard the Hero was in Root.
His hand slipped, he dropped the plate, and it shattered on the floor.
Shards of the broken plate scattered across the carpet.
“This can’t be.”
To make such an absurd mistake.
He gathered up a few of the larger pieces, but the tiny splinters embedded in the carpet looked hard to shake out.
Reinhild didn’t know much about housekeeping, but he did know that if you stepped on glass, delicate human skin would be cut.
This was where Xion came in every morning and evening to cook.
If Xion came in after talking with Rebecca and started tidying the table, a glass shard might jab his foot.
Sure, he wore shoes, but there was no law saying a shard couldn’t pierce through and stab Xion’s foot.
What’s more, if Xion realized he’d broken a plate, he might guess that Reinhild had planned to clear out the cupboard and hide inside.
Anxiety muddled his judgment. After plucking out shards one by one, Reinhild finally, in frustration, pulled the carpet back.
“Huh?”
Hidden beneath the carpet was a small door.
A mysterious door he’d never seen before.
“What is this?”
Reinhild had had no idea such a thing was there.
Since coming to this house, he had never once seen Xion lift the carpet.
It wasn’t that Xion hadn’t known; it was obviously a door that wasn’t used in daily life.
A door that’s hidden and not used ordinarily?
There was only one purpose for such a door!
A secret passage! Or a secret room!
It had to be a secret door, made in secret so one could hide or flee elsewhere if something big happened in the village.
He was sure.
Even the Demon King’s castle where Reinhild stayed five hundred years ago had secret passages.
Just because it was a human house didn’t mean it couldn’t have a hidden door.
If this was a door leading to a secret passage…
I can hide!
Reinhild’s eyes sparkled, full of hope.
If he was lucky, it might even be a passage out of the village.
For now, he needed Xion’s help, so even if he ran he’d come back soon, but it was perfect for staying out of the Hero’s sight for a while.
With a face bright with expectation, Reinhild set his hand to the knob.
Please be a secret passage.
He prayed earnestly and tightened his grip on the knob.
Even with light force, the floor door opened easily.
Stone steps could be seen below.
A secret room!
There was a hidden cellar under Xion’s house.
Reinhild’s face brightened.
I can hide here.
He’d had no idea such a secret space existed.
If even Reinhild, who’d been lazing and loafing here for months, hadn’t noticed it, there was no way a Hero on a brief visit would.
The Hero would come up empty and leave.
And Reinhild could continue his peaceful days with Xion.
Perfect.
Reinhild moved to descend immediately.
Go down the stone steps, close the door, and hide.
If he could just go down… if he could just take a single step into the inner part of that secret space… he felt he’d be safe.
WHAM!
But before Reinhild could move, a hand shot out from behind and slammed the door shut first.
“Hah!”
Startled so badly he couldn’t breathe, Reinhild snapped his head around.
If the one who’d shut it was the Hero, then this very moment might be his last—so he thought.
Fortunately, it wasn’t the Hero who’d closed it.
It was Xion.
“X-Xion…!”
Caught.
Terrified, Reinhild looked at Xion and found himself speechless.
Slamming the door without warning—and hard, at that—was a roughness that wasn’t like Xion.
But more than that roughness, it was Xion’s expression that so startled him he couldn’t go on.
Xion looked urgent.
More than at any time he’d ever seen.
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