“I need to rest a bit now. At this rate I’m actually going to collapse.”
“I’m fine.”
“Not you, me. I’m the one who’s going to collapse. I’ve had a headache for a while and I’m pretty sure it’s from listening to you.”
“…”
With a distinctly displeased look, Xion watched Ainel rise from his seat.
You didn’t need to ask to know what that look meant.
It meant now was not the time to rest, go out at once and put the plan into action.
The only reason he didn’t say it aloud was, presumably, some semblance of consideration for Ainel, who was going to help improve things between him and Reinhild.
Whether staring holes with eyes full of unsaid demands counted as consideration was another matter.
“We can’t move right this second anyway. Rest well now, gear up properly tomorrow, and then go.”
“Even as we speak, Reinhild is in pain.”
For a moment Ainel wanted to ask, “If we’re measuring pain, wasn’t being stabbed by a sword five hundred years ago worse?”—but he held his tongue, because saying it might make Xion blow the house up.
“If his heart had gone bad from a mana surge, he’d have died right after casting. The fact you’re still alive means the Demon King is, too, and if he’s made it this long, then his life isn’t in danger. He might be hurting a bit. He probably got help from—”
CRASH—!
The mug sitting on the table in front of Xion shattered into pieces, shards flying everywhere.
The cocoa that had filled the mug ran down the table and soaked into the carpet.
“…Huh.”
Did he just break it with a look?
Had he said something that warranted that much killing intent?
Ainel had no idea what misstep had provoked Xion. Even watching Xion glare into empty air with a murderous look fierce enough to bring the house down, he still couldn’t guess.
Was it because I said he probably got help from someone else?
But why? If he got help and survived, isn’t that good?
Ainel couldn’t understand Xion’s state of mind, which only made him more curious.
He knew asking would put him at a disadvantage, but he couldn’t help it.
“What’s the problem?”
“That I can’t be there for Rain when he’s in the most pain. That’s what fills me with resentment.”
“Someone else is probably helping him.”
“When I think that ‘someone’ might be approaching Rain with ulterior motives, I want to smash the world.”
“They might not have ulterior motives.”
“Do you think… that’s possible?”
Crrrunch—
Xion spoke through gritted teeth, and at the same time the wooden floor tore up.
Ainel sighed inwardly.
If he were smashing objects and throwing a fit, he could try to stop him; but if Xion just sat there and wrecked the house by radiating killing intent, how exactly was he supposed to intervene?
“Get a grip. Not everyone who sees the Demon King falls for him.”
“You say that because you don’t know.”
No good. So much for resting.
“Fine. We’ll go, all right? We’ll go find the Demon King right now. You, go to your house!”
“I can’t leave until I confirm Rain is safe.”
“Then you’re going to leave Root looking like that? If you plan to bring him back, you need to put things in order.”
“…”
At that, Xion stood up.
The rattling that made it sound like the house would fall apart any second finally died down.
Ainel breathed several long sighs on the inside.
He’d only jumped in for a bit of fun and nearly got his nest demolished.
Maybe I should bow out now?
If he did, Xion wouldn’t just sit still.
He wouldn’t touch Ainel directly, but he’d probably level a city or two without breaking a sweat.
Better to just help now and be done with it.
Clean this up properly now and never meet again.
“Go wait. Prepare like this is the last chance you’ll get.”
Ainel shoved Xion out the door.
“I’ve gotten myself tangled in a headache.”
Still, it’d be hard to find something this exciting again.
A former Hero pointing a sword at the High God to save the Demon King… If you wrote that into a novel, people would call it absurd and tear you apart.
If he could watch the whole process from up close, a little hassle was worth it.
Annoying but not difficult. He just had to find the Demon King and bring him back before Xion’s patience ran dry.
But first there was something else to do.
“All right, first things first…”
Hands on his hips, Ainel slowly looked around.
“…I need to wash this carpet.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Xion returned to Root and prepared to welcome Reinhild back.
The most important thing was to get rid of any clues that might let Reinhild recover his memories.
So Xion cleared out every resident of the village of Root.
At the sudden order of the lord of Odrid, Root’s residents left without knowing why.
After the people were gone, so no one would wonder, “Why are there so many houses when there are no humans here?” he demolished every building except a few.
What remained were things like the windmill and the well… things that might catch Reinhild’s interest but weren’t dangerous.
He filled in all the now-useless fields, then packed the place with things Reinhild might like.
He made a river for pretty fish to swim in and a shallow lake, and planted winter-blooming flowers that kept lovely red blossoms even in cold weather, the color of Reinhild’s eyes.
Now Reinhild wouldn’t need to head into the deep forest looking for a place to recover mana.
He wouldn’t get hurt somewhere Xion didn’t know about.
So he wouldn’t be lonely, Xion built wide pens and a barn, and turned loose animals like cows and sheep.
He would always be by Reinhild’s side so he wouldn’t be lonely, but just in case the fact the two of them were alone in such a big place made him uneasy.
Of all the animals Xion set loose in the village, there were no horses.
Remembering how Reinhild treasured the horse he’d ridden to flee to the city, Xion felt like getting rid of the rest of the animals, too, but restrained himself.
This isn’t enough.
He wanted Reinhild to feel like this was his own home.
Cozy, warm, so snug he wouldn’t want to leave.
For Reinhild, the Demon King, to feel this place was home, what would it take?
Filling the area with miasma would be best, but it wouldn’t be good for Reinhild, who still wasn’t fully recovered.
And if Reinhild asked why a human like Xion was living in a place thick with miasma, he had no answer.
“…”
After a moment’s thought, Xion captured a number of owlbears and released them into the forest encircling the village.
HOOO-OOO—!
HOO-AR—!
Dozens of owlbears, forcibly relocated, let out protests like howls.
Xion smiled, satisfied with those calls.
It had a similar feel to the sound that had always carried from the Demon King’s castle. Since Reinhild had a particular fondness for owlbears, their cries would surely make him feel at ease.
“Ugh, what the… why has this place become a monster field?”
A few days passed while Xion refit Root, and Ainel came to find him.
The now more numerous owlbears bellowed at Ainel, then tucked their tails and ran at the faint whiff of dragon about him.
“I found the Demon King.”
At Ainel’s words, Xion rushed over with blazing eyes.
“Is Rein all right?”
“Perfectly fine. Not hurt, and his heart was in better shape than I expected.”
“Haah… thank goodness. When can I see him?”
“I need to check whether this place is ready for him to come back and then bring him. Let’s see…”
Ainel admired Xion’s obsessive makeover of the entire village in such a short time.
And despite still wanting to cozy up with Reinhild in a small space, the snug little house remained.
“The sword?”
“In the basement.”
When he demolished Rachel’s house, Xion moved the Hero’s Sword that had been there back down into the basement.
Ainel headed down, partly to look over the house.
The Hero’s Sword, still smeared with plenty of Reinhild’s blood, hung boldly on the basement wall.
“First, wipe the blood.”
“But it’s Rein’s—”
“Wipe it.”
Wearing an expression dripping with regret, Xion wiped off Reinhild’s blood which had been preserved as if freshly spilled.
“If you hide the sword, you’ll only trigger the Demon King’s curiosity. Don’t leave him room to cause trouble. Empty the basement, empty the storage, I said. As for the sword… fine, let’s just display it openly. Then he’ll think it’s a mere decoration.”
“There’s no way he won’t recognize it as the Hero’s Sword.”
“If the design is the problem, then we do this.”
Ainel pried out the big gem set in the Hero’s Sword and replaced it with a similar-sized cheap stone.
In an instant, the luxurious Hero’s Sword became a tacky ornamental blade.
“This should be good enough to bring the Demon King.”
“Really? How long will it take? Can you bring him right now? Rein!”
“Whoa, hold it. Just give me a second!”
Xion’s emotions burst forth like a dam breaking.
Ainel grimaced and turned his head. If he met Xion’s eyes, he felt like he’d be flattened under the weight of that emotion.
“In front of the Demon King you’ll need to control yourself. He’s very worn down; even a small shock could harm him.”
“I won’t do anything to hurt Rein.”
“Sure, sure. One last time… are you sure you won’t regret this choice?”
“If Rein can suffer no more…”
“I don’t mean the Demon King. I mean you.”
“…”
Ainel still thought the greatest victim in this mess was Reinhild, who, against his will, would lose his memories a second time, but that didn’t mean he felt nothing for Xion.
Xion would have to watch the one he loved forget him—twice.
Even if some of those memories were unfavorable to him, how could it not hurt to have all they’d built vanish in an instant?
Xion waved it off as “a chance to approach Reinhild again without his bad impression of me,” smiling as he said it, but there was no way he was simply happy about it.
He would have to greet Reinhild, who had forgotten everything, as if meeting him for the first time, and deal with his wary gaze.
And he was going to repeat that twice and still be all right?
Truly?
“I’ll be fine.”
Xion was firm.
“If the only one hurt by it is me—and not Rain—then as much as it takes.”
“…”
Ainel felt his breath catch at the madness gleaming in Xion’s eyes.
“…All right. Just wait a little. I’ll bring you to the Demon King.”
And the very next day, Reinhild returned to Root.
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