“How much do I need for dinner?”
“That depends on what you’re eating.”
“And to stay in a room?”
“Three silver coins a night. If that includes a horse, add two silver more.”
So it would be a total of five silver to rest comfortably at the inn with Brownie.
And that didn’t even include meals.
Reinhild didn’t even know whether that was a lot of money or a little.
‘I’ve been so stupid.’
Reinhild lowered his head.
He was hungry, but had nothing to eat.
He had nowhere to sleep.
If only he hadn’t come into the city, he could at least have camped out in the woods.
If he tried to sleep on the street, the patrolling soldiers would surely catch him and drive him off.
“Sorry, but standing here like this gets in the way of business, so would you please leave?”
The human at the inn gave him the boot.
In the end, Reinhild turned away, shoulders drooping.
With nothing to show for it.
“Hey, you there—hold up.”
Just then, a big, shaggy mercenary with fur sprouting like an owlbear beckoned to Reinhild.
‘Is he… trying to help?’
Reinhild turned back to the mercenary with a brightened face.
He’d noticed it in Root, too: humans were dumb and foolish enough to help others for no reason.
Maybe this human was as foolish as the people of Root.
He didn’t much care for humans other than Xion, but if the mercenary offered a kindness, he was willing to accept it.
The mercenary took in Reinhild’s pleading look and smirked.
“I’ll fill you up, so why don’t you sit here and put on a little show for us?”
He slapped his knee as he called out.
The other mercenaries beside him burst into laughter and chimed in.
“Bwahaha! What’s so great about a guy packing the same parts?”
“You don’t get it. With a face like that, who cares if he’s a guy?”
“But are we sure that’s even a guy?”
All the humans in the inn laughed out loud.
Some banged on the tables; some let out nasty whistles.
“Looks like you’ve got nowhere to go—lucky you, the spot next to me in my bed’s open tonight!”
“What a liar. That spot’s always open.”
“Ahahahahaha!”
Hahaha, hahahahaha.
The petty humans roared with laughter and jeered at Reinhild.
Reinhild’s face flushed scarlet with shame.
He would have melted these filthy humans down to the bone with Hellfire… if he had any mana.
Reinhild decided to endure it.
‘How dare they mock me!’
Having to swallow it because he lacked strength was more agonizing than he’d imagined.
With a stony face, Reinhild clenched his fists and walked out of the inn.
“Even that dead serious look is pretty.”
“Bet he’s good when he cries, too. Come back when it gets cold—I’ll be waiting in room 303!”
The humans kept jeering even as Reinhild turned and left.
Peace, the thing humans love? Love?
All bullshit.
Reinhild swore he’d gather his mana as fast as possible and wipe out every last human—except Xion.
“Let’s go, Brownie.”
Sensing Reinhild’s weariness, Brownie leaned his head against him as if to comfort him.
Reinhild vowed to spend his whole life with Brownie.
How many years do horses live?
He didn’t really know, but as long as Brownie stayed by his side, he thought he’d feel a little less lonely.
Five hundred years ago, being alone had felt more natural.
When had he become such a weak Demon King who felt lonely when alone?
‘This is all Xion’s fault.’
He found himself resenting Xion, who hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
Night brought a rough wind.
Clinging tight to Brownie wasn’t enough.
Reinhild glanced around and slipped into a narrow alley.
He meant to get out of the cold wind for a bit and hide his body.
If he curled up and slept in a corner like that, maybe no one would find him until morning.
He was exhausted and worn out.
His stomach growled, and his eyelids drooped.
His strength was drained, his head wouldn’t work right.
Maybe that was why.
Reinhild didn’t notice someone coming right up behind him.
“Where you going, pretty thing!”
“Eeeek!”
At the creepy, skin-crawling voice that sent goosebumps down his whole body, Reinhild jumped.
If he’d stepped back a moment later, the human would have grabbed him.
Having missed catching Reinhild by a hair, the man clicked his tongue in regret.
“Tch.”
It was the same man who looked like that owlbear.
At least owlbears are cute; this human was nothing but disgusting.
“Heh-heh, you teased me like that and now you’re leaving me hanging?”
Was he insane?
Who had teased whom, when, and how, exactly?
He was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even snort.
“I know you’ve got nowhere to go and nothing on you. I said I’d help, so why turn me down?”
“Because I don’t need it. Get lost.”
“We’re both lonely. Don’t play so hard to get, yeah? Hey pretty, I’ll treat you right. Come with me!”
The human suddenly lunged at Reinhild.
A speed that didn’t match his massive bulk.
“AaAAAAAAAH!!!”
Faced with being grabbed by the filthy human, Reinhild screamed.
At the same time, the magic-stone pendant hanging at his neck shone.
Instinctively, Reinhild drew every scrap of mana left in the stone and whipped up a wind.
“Guh-haaah!”
The mercenary was swept up in the strong gust, hurled far back, and smashed into a wall.
“Argh!”
Thud!
Slammed so hard his head could have brought the wall down, the mercenary twitched for a few seconds and then went still.
Without the presence of mind to even check whether the man was dead or alive, Reinhild fled the alley with Brownie.
“Hahh… huff…”
His heart ached like it would burst.
Thanks to the magic stone’s help he still had enough mana to move, but suddenly channeling mana in his current condition put a strain on his body.
“Uuugh… I’m hungry…”
The emptied magic stone crumbled into powder and vanished.
Another trace of Xion was gone.
More than the pain and hardship, that saddened Reinhild.
“Xion…”
As the mana recovery halted, his strength began to drain away.
His body grew more spent and weary, and his stomach felt glued to his spine.
‘I have to eat something…’
If he didn’t eat right now, he felt like he might die.
Only by eating and sleeping well could he endure.
He had to get through this moment safely if he was going to return to Xion’s side.
“I have to go back to Xion…”
Flop—
His strength gone, Reinhild sank to the ground.
He couldn’t go anywhere because he had no money.
Neigh.
Brownie paced nearby, worried about Reinhild.
“Brownie.”
Reinhild looked at Brownie, then slowly pushed himself to his feet.
“I’m sorry, Brownie.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Brownie was a healthy, sturdy horse raised on Root’s fine crops.
Which meant he fetched a very good price.
“Ahh, that’s warm.”
With the money from selling Brownie, Reinhild ate a good hot meal and paid for a warm room to sleep in.
He’d promised to spend a lifetime together, but what could he do?
His life looked like it might end today.
‘Brownie will be better off, too—well-fed and well-slept in a rich human’s house.’
With a full belly and warmth, sleep came easily.
It was a night that made him miss Xion.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Tsk, should’ve grabbed him when he was right there.”
“Did you see how white his skin was? They say the princess in the next country over is pretty, but she’s not on that level.”
“You’ve never even met the princess next door.”
“Met her? I meet her every night in my dreams. Wahahaha!”
Inside the inn Reinhild had visited, a filthy conversation was in full swing.
This inn was all but the den of the Black Bear Mercenary Company.
Among mercenaries known for foul mouths and rough behavior, the Black Bears were notorious for being even filthier and more vile.
Tricking other mercenaries or stabbing them in the back was their daily routine; after taking escort jobs, they would deliberately lure clients into dangerous areas and then extort money by threatening them.
Their methods had grown so infamous in the capital that they could no longer run their cons there, so they’d crossed over to Audrit.
The original plan had been to pass through Audrit on the way to the next domain, but they’d arrived on the very day the borders were shut and were stuck here.
Just as their complaints were piling up, Reinhild had appeared.
With nothing better to amuse themselves, the mercenaries snickered and harassed the absent Reinhild.
During that time, someone with a hood pulled low came into the inn, but no one paid him any mind.
“Wanna bet whether the vice-captain will get that pretty thing under him or not?”
“What’s the point of betting on something with a foregone answer? If money won’t lure him, he’ll just drag him in.”
“Think my turn will ever come?”
“Even if you wait till tomorrow, it won’t.”
“Gwahaha!”
“Ahahaha! Ah, what the—!”
In the middle of their raucous laughter, the hooded man tapped the shoulder of the loudest guffawer.
A trifling gesture but the mercenary took it as picking a fight.
“What kind of beggar—”
With that, silence fell over the inn.
The inn where the Black Bear Mercenary Company had been staying closed down the next day.
And after that, no news was ever heard again of the once notorious Black Bear Mercenary Company.
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