Pen and Paper Translations

“No monsters? I have no idea what this human is talking about.”

To be honest, he wasn’t even that curious.

“There should be a Gray Owlbear living nearby.”

“A Gray Owlbear?”

“Yeah. Xion hunted a Gray Owlbear and gave me a mana stone necklace.”

Watching Reinhild puff up with pride over something he hadn’t even hunted himself, Rebecca was thrown into confusion.

Monsters around Root Village didn’t make sense to begin with, and now Gray Owlbears and a mana stone necklace?

She even began to suspect Xion had wanted to give a special present and had lied, gifting a fake necklace.

But before Rebecca could say anything, Reinhild spoke first.

“I saw with my own eyes Xion hunting an owlbear that fell into a trap.”

He hadn’t actually seen the hunt itself, but Rebecca’s odd look irritated him so much he blurted out a lie.

And a demon king does not feel guilty about lying to a human.

Reinhild squared his shoulders and stared straight at Rebecca with brazen confidence.

Amazingly, Rebecca looked pleased to hear there was a vicious monster like a Gray Owlbear near the village.

‘It was a monster. What he hunted was a monster!’

Rebecca cheered inwardly.

The appearance of a monster near the village wasn’t good news, but that could be solved by asking the guild mercenaries she worked with to sweep the area.

She was simply glad the blood on Xion’s sword was a monster’s.

‘So that’s why Xion hasn’t been taking jobs lately!’

Now it made sense.

He must have sold the monster parts and earned enough to cover his quota with plenty to spare, so he decided it was fine to rest for a while.

‘But why didn’t he tell the villagers a monster had appeared?’

Did he perhaps not realize it was a monster?

Well, if he was born and raised in monster-free Root, that could happen.

He must have dismantled an owlbear that had fallen into a trap, thinking it was just a funny-looking bear, and then found a mana stone.

Not knowing the value of mana stones, Xion probably mistook it for a pretty gem, strung it into a necklace, and gave it to his partner.

As for the sword, it was likely an heirloom or family keepsake.

If he’d used a blade he usually kept as a decoration for the first time, got flustered, and didn’t wipe off the blood properly, then Xion’s behavior made sense.

‘It all lines up, doesn’t it?’

In truth, it was a theory full of holes if you thought about it properly, but Rebecca settled on the conclusion that everything had been a misunderstanding.

It was all a misunderstanding.

Anyway, a misunderstanding!

‘What a ridiculous human.’

So thought Reinhild as he watched her.

If there’s a ferocious monster like an owlbear nearby, she should be afraid, so why is she happy?

Or was this human so strong she could overpower an owlbear with one hand?

‘…I should be careful around her.’

Seeing Reinhild’s wary gaze—when only moments ago they’d been chatting as if nothing—Rebecca came to her senses.

How could she drift off into her own thoughts and make the other person uncomfortable?

She couldn’t let the conversation end in this awkward lull.

Like coaxing a stray cat that had eaten all the treats and was now puffing up and on guard, Rebecca carefully ventured:

“Did you confess to Xion?”

“Confess?”

Reinhild flinched.

‘How did she know I was thinking of confessing I’m not human?’

What does this human know?

He’d known she was nosy, but he hadn’t expected her to poke at a demon king like this.

Reinhild drew up a plan to shove Rebecca and bolt if it came to it.

He wasn’t confident he could beat a human who was happy to hear about savage monsters like owlbears, but if he got even the tiniest opening, he figured he could jump out the window.

“So you haven’t confessed yet?”

Noticing Reinhild clenching and unclenching his fists while stealing glances, Rebecca asked again with a bright expression.

Married but no love confession yet.

In a rural village where love matches were rare, it wasn’t uncommon—but Rebecca could not abide it.

As an apology for her own presumptuous misunderstanding, she decided she’d spur Reinhild on to confess to Xion.

Xion would surely be delighted.

“Some things don’t get across unless you say them.”

“…You think it’s better if I confess?”

“Of course!”

Realizing Rebecca wasn’t threatening him but offering advice, Reinhild loosened his fists.

‘Should I just tell him?’

Deceiving humans was one of a demon king’s basic common-sense rules.

But Xion wasn’t just any human.

Every night he held him and wouldn’t let go—Reinhild had thought it was to share his warmth with his cold body; Xion didn’t know many demons had cool skin, and Reinhild worried he’d keep fretting over him.

So he wanted to say it.

He couldn’t reveal he was the demon king, but maybe he could say he was a demon?

No, even just telling him he wasn’t human might be enough.

If he did that, then later, should his identity be exposed, Xion might not be disappointed in him.

“What if Xion hates it?”

“What are you talking about? No one hates that.”

“Really?”

“Sure, of course.”

“…”

Who wouldn’t mind if the person they thought was human turned out to be the demon king?

Did that make any sense?

When Reinhild eyed her doubtfully, Rebecca nodded as if she understood everything.

“So you’re just scared to do it, huh?”

Apparently, she hadn’t understood at all.

“Hold on a second.”

Rebecca ran off somewhere and was back in less than ten minutes.

In her hand was a plant with several round leaves.

“You pluck the leaves one by one and alternate saying ‘confess, don’t confess.’ Whichever you land on last, that’s fate.”

“Is this method magically proven?”

“There’s no magic in fate.”

“If this fate of yours is something the Lord God has decreed, then I…”

“Here, here. Just try it.”

Because she hurried him, Reinhild didn’t get to finish saying, ‘I’m not on close terms with the Lord God.’

Rebecca watched him with a meaningful look.

The plant she’d handed him always grew an odd number of leaves. Just in case, she’d even counted the leaves before bringing it.

If Reinhild started with ‘confess’ like she advised, the leaf fortune would always end on ‘confess.’

Rebecca urged him on, already imagining Xion’s face lighting up at hearing “I love you.”

Reinhild scowled at the plant, then began plucking the leaves one by one.

“Confess. Don’t. Confess…”

The moment Reinhild plucked the last leaf while saying “Confess,” Rebecca’s eyes sparkled.

Now he just had to run over and confess his love to Xion and it would be perfect…

“Don’t.”

…Or it would have been, if Reinhild hadn’t tossed the bare stem to the floor and ended the leaf fortune on “Don’t.”

“Haaaaah…”

“No, no, you’re not supposed to count the stem!”

Leaves or stems, whatever… Reinhild’s mind had gone blank.

At the thought of telling Xion the truth, his stomach cramped and his head hurt; he just wanted to go home.

“Do I really have to say it?”

“Sure, you have to say it.”

“Surely everyone’s allowed to have one secret.”

“Who keeps a thing like that as a secret? A secret is something like a bloodstained sword in a basement.”

“A sword?”

“Ah!”

She clapped a hand over her mouth, but it was already too late.

This damn mouth. She’d been racking her brains over that basement and sword so much the words just slipped out.

Rebecca stole a glance at Reinhild.

He looked completely uninterested.

‘Why would a bloodstained sword be a secret?’

Compared to having a bloodied sword in a basement, wasn’t the fact that someone you thought was human was actually the demon king the bigger secret?

“So, the thing is…”

“Rebecca! Come down here a sec!”

Just as Rebecca was about to make excuses, Philip bellowed up from downstairs.

This timing…

“Xion’s here!”

At the sound of Xion’s name, Reinhild bolted from the room at incredible speed, leaving Rebecca no chance to say anything.

“Xion!”

“Rein. I’ve missed you.”

Though they’d been apart only a few hours, the two greeted each other like they’d been separated for years.

The only one left awkward, unable to clear up her misunderstanding and stuck there not knowing what to do, was Rebecca.

“Is your house all fixed?”

“Not yet.”

“Then do we have to sleep here tonight?”

“I could throw up a temporary wall and set up a camp bed, so it would be fine, but it’ll get quite cold at night. Even so, won’t you come back with me?”

“I will. I’m not cold anyway if I’m stuck to your side.”

Taking that as a signal to hold him tight and keep him warm, Xion wrapped Reinhild in his arms.

He wasn’t particularly cold right now, but Reinhild slipped his arms around Xion’s back all the same.

“…”

Watching them, Rebecca felt awkward in a different way.

“Thank you for looking after Rein, Ms. Rebecca. Things have settled, so we’ll be going.”

“Oh? O-oh. Right.”

Apparently, her advice to confess had been needless meddling.

Even without saying it, they were vividly expressing how crazy they were about each other.

‘As for the basement… it’ll be fine, right?’

Xion looked as if he didn’t know anything, so… it should be fine?

Uneasy, Rebecca kept watching from the second-floor window as Xion and Reinhild left.

Hoping Reinhild wouldn’t blurt out something unnecessary.

❖ ❖ ❖

“What did you and Rebecca talk about?”

Rather than answer, Reinhild stared up at Xion.

He didn’t like Xion talking about another human.

“Rebecca said there aren’t any monsters around here.”

“…She did?”

“Yeah. So I told her there are. I told her I saw one with my own two eyes.”

What else had they talked about?

He wasn’t ready to bring up the confession yet, so he’d skip that.

No matter how he racked his brains, nothing else came to mind.

After a long moment squeezing the dregs of memory, Reinhild finally recalled:

“And something about a basement and a bloodstained sword.”

He stopped short.

“…Xion?”

Reinhild halted when Xion suddenly did.

“What’s wrong?”

“The basement… you say?”

“What about it?”

Was a “basement” such a huge secret around here?

He didn’t understand why both Rebecca and now Xion were so startled.

When Reinhild gazed at him blankly, clearly at a loss, Xion pulled him into a hug.

Whatever it was, Reinhild liked being hugged by Xion, so he promptly rested his head against that chest.

Gently stroking Reinhild’s hair, Xion turned his head toward Rebecca’s house.

Through the window, Rebecca, who had been watching Xion and Reinhild, seemed to notice his gaze. She hesitated then gave a little wave.

Xion smiled at her just as he always did.

❖ ❖ ❖

The next day, Rebecca disappeared.