A few days had passed since the Hero came to Xion’s house only to be humiliated and sent away.
What happened to that Hero after that, Reinhild had no way of knowing.
But given how quiet it was, maybe he’d gone somewhere else?
Born a Hero of a noble house and then getting thrashed by a country farmer—he’d be too embarrassed to come near this village ever again.
If it were me, I’d be so ashamed I wouldn’t even spit in this direction!
Serves you right, Hero.
Here’s hoping we never cross paths again in this lifetime.
“A Demon King should live with his head held high.”
So this is how good it feels to live without clutching your chest in anxiety.
Why didn’t I know this five hundred years ago?
Maybe everything was so dull back then I simply failed to realize it.
But after going through fear and unease once, Reinhild realized it keenly. Quiet is best.
So this is why humans like peace.
But why wasn’t I afraid when the Hero came back then?
He barely remembered anything about the Hero from five hundred years ago.
But even groping after those faint fragments of memory, he could not recall ever trembling in fear.
Was it because he wasn’t weak then?
The Hero should have been an opponent just as strong.
Because life was too dull?
That’s possible. Maybe he treated the Hero’s visits as a kind of thrilling hobby because he was so bored.
If not that…
Because there was no one he wanted to protect back then?
Then does that mean I have something I want to protect now?
Reinhild, without thinking, looked over at Xion.
As if he had eyes in his back, Xion sensed Reinhild’s gaze and immediately turned his head.
“Is something the matter, Rein?”
“It’s nothing.”
Well, Xion was precious to him.
Just a little!
Maybe as precious as the ancient jewels he’d stashed away in the Demon King’s Castle.
No, that’s selling him a bit short.
Then is he as precious as the owlbears visible outside the window?
A bit more precious than that, but…
Anyway, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
What matters now is that I’m safe for the time being!
Safety! Peace!
Since he was already pretending to be human, Reinhild decided he might as well fully indulge in the things humans like.
“Xion, I want to go out with you today too.”
Reinhild grabbed a straw hat and followed after Xion.
It didn’t suit autumn, but he rather liked this straw hat Xion had made for him.
“Where shall we go?”
“Weren’t we going to work?”
“Isn’t today perfect weather to go out somewhere far for fun?”
Come to think of it, it was.
A perfect autumn day with no chill in the wind and just the right touch of sunlight.
Even a work-addicted human like Xion must get the itch to play on a day like this.
“I want to look around the village.”
Though quite some time had passed since he came to Root, Reinhild still hadn’t properly gone around the village.
At most he’d dropped by the grocer’s or butcher’s on the way back from working with Xion.
What do the streets of Root look like?
How do the people here live out their days?
What animals wander about in the daytime? He wanted to know.
Since I’ve decided to live here for a while, it can’t hurt to know!
It was the first time he’d taken an interest in a human village.
The people of Root could take pride in this fact.
They were the first village ever to catch the Demon King’s interest.
Also the first human village the Demon King had lived in.
If they learned this, the people of Root wouldn’t feel pride, they’d fall over backward in shock, but that wasn’t Reinhild’s concern.
“Very well. Shall we go?”
Xion readily agreed to Reinhild’s suggestion and held out his hand.
Reinhild took it as a matter of course.
The sky was clear and blue.
A slightly cool breeze blew, but the autumn clothes Xion had made kept him from feeling cold.
Perhaps because most of the villagers had gone out to work the fields, the streets were quiet.
The occasional people they met on the road all smiled brightly and greeted Xion.
A man splitting firewood in front of his house waved his arm and hollered at Xion.
“Hey there, Xion. I thought you’d hide your wife away forever, and now you’re just outright walking around with her. Let us get a proper look at her face.”
It was fine that he said hello, but Reinhild had no idea what he was talking about.
Was it some code only humans could understand?
Where exactly was this hidden wife supposed to be?
He looked around but couldn’t tell.
“I heard you even went to the capital to bring her back!”
The man kept spouting nonsense.
The capital was more than ten days away on foot. When had Xion gone there?
“Xion, have you been to the capital recently?”
“No.”
Knew it.
From what Reinhild had seen, Xion hadn’t been to the capital, or even to the next village.
Xion hardly ever left home except when working.
But hasn’t he been staying home constantly lately?
Well, that was an exception. He’d been caring for a sick Reinhild.
“I just got some great fish in today. Want to take a look?”
So he could finally understand the man. Because he was splitting firewood, Reinhild had thought he was a carpenter, but apparently, he was a fisherman.
Instead of answering the fisherman, Xion asked Reinhild.
“How about braised fish for dinner?”
“Sounds good.”
“You hear that, he said good! Come on in and take some. I’ll clean it up real nice.”
The fisherman not only had a big voice; he had keen ears.
To butt into Reinhild’s conversation with Xion like that.
Reinhild didn’t much like it.
“I’ll wait outside.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Xion followed the fisherman into the shop.
Reinhild waited for Xion while looking at the wildflowers growing along the roadside.
Maybe because he’d chased off the Hero and now had peace of mind, even just looking at flowers put him in a good mood.
“I heard he brought his future wife from the capital. It must be that one?”
From farther off came the sound of humans whispering.
Too quiet for an ordinary human to hear, but Reinhild was the Demon King, not an ordinary human.
As his mana had recovered recently, he could hear small sounds fairly well again.
He wasn’t curious about what the humans were saying.
Still, he couldn’t plug his ears, so he had no choice but to listen.
“They say she’s so sickly she has to lie in bed all year round.”
“Oh my… So that’s why she’s so pale.”
“Apparently, she’s only come outside a handful of times these past few months. Must be some illness that keeps her out of the sun. That’s why she always comes out with her face covered like that.”
“Tsk, how’s a person supposed to live without seeing the sun.”
“Judging by how her hair’s been chopped off like that, it must be a serious illness. If she weren’t sickly, no girl from the capital would come down to marry some bachelor in a backwater like this.”
“What’s wrong with Xion? He’s so tall and diligent.”
Xion?
Were they talking about Xion?
He’d been letting the humans’ conversation go in one ear and out the other, but the word Xion came through clear as if someone had turned up the volume.
Since it was about Xion, he suddenly became interested in their conversation.
Feigning distraction, Reinhild pricked up his ears.
“Diligent my foot. When’s the last time Xion even put his hand to work?”
“Yeah, I heard too. They say he hasn’t been working lately?”
What was this about.
That work-loving Xion not working?
When did Xion take time off?
Thinking back, it seemed fairly often.
Mostly when he was nursing Reinhild. Or when they went up the mountain together to hunt a monster.
So it was all for me!
Xion had chosen him over work.
Reinhild’s lips twitched up in a smug smile he couldn’t explain.
He mustn’t smile.
A Demon King does not rejoice just because a mere farm job got set aside!
Reinhild pressed his lips tight and pretended to focus on the flowers, shuffling around the wildflowers.
The humans, oblivious that Reinhild was eavesdropping, went on.
“Xion isn’t working?”
“Yeah, I’m telling you. If there’s another mouth to feed, he should be working, but he’s let the fields go to waste.”
“No wonder I haven’t seen Xion around lately.”
“So what. You only get one honeymoon—what’s the big deal if they enjoy it a little?”
“It is a big deal! Why wouldn’t it be.”
Hmm. Reinhild didn’t know when Xion’s honeymoon had supposedly been, but enjoying life isn’t a big deal.
In fact, it’s a good thing, isn’t it?
He had no idea what those humans were so worked up about.
That was a pointless thing to hear.
Just a moment ago their talk had been interesting.
Not anymore.
At the human’s words that seemed to run Xion down, Reinhild lost all interest and turned his body.
He couldn’t relocate, so he planned to let the conversation go in one ear and out the other as much as possible.
But the next words couldn’t be ignored.
“This isn’t something to just let slide. At this rate he’ll have his fields taken away soon.”
…What?
Startled, Reinhild almost turned his body toward the humans without thinking.
Holding his turning head in place with sheer will, Reinhild clenched his fists while fixing his gaze on the wildflowers.
If he had understood correctly what the humans had just said… Xion had taken time off work to care for him, and because of that he would have his fields confiscated.
Xion will have his fields taken away?
Xion, who had nothing but a small house complete with a cursed basement… and his fields?
Why on earth?
Leave a Reply