At the edge of the Demon King’s Castle, the two who had long since left left behind only Gerard’s distinctive stench and a boastful declaration. Just then, Sieg, who had been busy all day, hurried back, floating in midair using magic to fly. After all, he had gone to help Emilia settle her worries by burying those people alive, completely burying them so she would have no more concerns.
I’m truly a genius. Let me make you taste my pain—the pain of being erased. It hurts, it hurts so much that my eyes almost awaken the Reincarnation Eye. My mind involuntarily drifts to thoughts like how many floors a sack of rice can support, or whether it can support two floors.
One sack of rice—how tired I must be. One sack of rice—I’ve washed it, washing off so much mud, every grain covered in mud. Who gave you a sack of rice anyway!
Enough, add some water.
Just kidding. He shrugged, having no interest in burying anyone. He had only taken them all hostage. Whether they were willing or not was none of his concern. After all, he was the kidnapper; why should he care about the hostages’ feelings?
Then, one by one, he brought them back for Emilia to deal with. Once they were back, it was her problem. He sniffed the air near his nose and caught a faint, off scent.
It was the scent of outsiders approaching. How foul. How many days had it been since they washed their feet?
And yet, they actually took advantage of his absence… What a coincidence, or was it deliberate?
“There’s a problem. But they’ve been gone for a while. Their strength doesn’t seem weak. Really troublesome. Has the situation here been unexpectedly discovered by others? Or is there another purpose?”
He furrowed his brows slightly. It seemed the others hadn’t further infiltrated the interior of the Demon King’s Castle. They only stayed at the outskirts, which was quite clever. Otherwise, the moment they entered, he could have instantly sent them flying with a single teleport.
He shook his head lightly, choosing not to overthink it. He sighed. Since they hadn’t done anything outrageous, even if he wanted to track them down, they had already disappeared without leaving a trace. Very cautious.
Continuing the pursuit would be pointless; he’d have to learn from this mistake.
Next time, he’d have to expand the barrier’s range.
The ethereal voice of a girl echoed in his ears, calling out to her husband. Her long silver-white hair poured down like moonlight, falling smoothly to her waist. The ends curled slightly, shimmering with a pearl-like luster under the light.
A few strands of hair fluttered gently in the wind across her forehead. A small, delicate hairpin adorned the top of her head. She raised her head slightly, smiling, her blood-red eyes gazing deeply at Sieg floating in the sky.
“Sieg, welcome back.”
“Oh, how did your negotiations go? Don’t let them cause me any trouble. Even I can’t stand it.”
Used to it, he didn’t say much. He landed heavily in front of the girl, looking imposing, but in reality, it was all for show. Over the past year, his strength hadn’t recovered much. Not only were his internal injuries severe, but the final battle had already drained his body. No matter how much he trained, there was no effect. It seemed he had reached his limit and couldn’t improve any further.
He looked at his rough hands. They were enough to handle normal enemies. He just hoped never to face a fully powered hero again; otherwise, he’d be helpless.
“It’s almost settled. I basically explained the situation to them, and it seems they all accept it. I promise they’re well-behaved. As for my foster mother, she’s doing okay.”
It was clear Emilia was a bit worried about her foster mother, which made her expression uneasy. But she didn’t say more and only bowed politely to express her gratitude.
“But still, thank you, Sieg. Without you, I don’t know what I would have done or how I would have survived. If you died, I’d probably want to die with you.”
As she spoke, for some reason, she began gravely discussing the idea of dying together, her eyes showing no hint of joking. Sieg stretched lazily, intending to skip the topic. It was a bit too heavy.
Yet after thinking it over, he answered anyway, saying that dying for love was too extreme. He analyzed the matter logically, both physically and mentally, in a well-reasoned manner.
“No, no, no, Emilia, don’t be like that. Don’t worry. If you die, I definitely won’t die—that I can guarantee. Physically, I’ll live longer than you. Mentally, even if I accidentally die, I might reincarnate. You probably won’t be able to do that.”
“Yes, that’s true…”
Thinking carefully, she indeed had no reason to refute that and nodded slightly. But no sooner had the storm settled than another arose.
The rapid sound of footsteps approached—da, da, da. It was a panicked slave overseer, panting heavily, as if with urgent news to report.
“We can’t find Gerard. Lady Emilia, have you seen him? If nothing’s wrong, he’d probably come here to spy on you. Have you seen him?”
“No. That guy… I don’t know where he went.”
Obviously, she had no idea about his whereabouts. She was confused, having been busy persuading those from the orphanage and not having any free time.
Could it be that the guy couldn’t stand it anymore and ran off? Did he want to return to the Empire?
Sieg suddenly had an epiphany. The smile on his face instantly turned grim. After all, someone who truly wanted to win wouldn’t be smiling.
He paced back and forth, stroked his chin, and sighed.
He gave his guess and answer, which was almost certainly correct.
“That bastard Gerard went back to the Empire. If I’m not mistaken, he’s probably already there. What a headache. I just sensed someone coming here—it’s probably someone looking for him. I really let the tiger out of the cage by accident. I should have managed that guy more strictly, but it’s useless to regret it now.”
He just had a headache about it, rubbing his forehead. He was just thinking about how he hoped not to encounter a fully powered hero again, but that’s exactly what happened. Judging by the Empire’s half-dead state, they probably called Gerard back to take charge.
They want him to regain the hero’s power and end the Empire’s war. That bastard regaining the hero’s power… that’s going to be tough to deal with.
No doubt he’ll come back to take Emilia away. There’s no doubt about it.
But Sieg didn’t say much to Emilia. It was pointless. This was her concern and her own failure. After all, she only needed to manage the Demon King’s Castle, while Sieg had many more things to worry about.
He only muttered a final complaint without blaming anyone.
“What a pain.”
“It’s my fault. I’m really sorry, Sieg.”
Emilia naturally took all the responsibility upon herself. Her negligence placed a lot of pressure on Sieg and allowed the potential threat of Gerard to roam free.
She bit her lip lightly, her exquisitely beautiful face filled with a complex expression. Based on the recent news about the Empire, she knew Gerard would probably regain the hero’s power, and he also knew the location here…
Just thinking about it made her feel the trouble was huge. Sieg shook his head slightly, yawning, showing no hint of blaming her.
“What does it have to do with you, Emilia? What’s yours, I’ll tell you. What’s mine is mine. You’ve got a bad habit. And stop apologizing all the time… It’s unnecessary. At this point, let’s just eat first.”