Chapter 45 : Why Are You Here? (2)

The Demon King is the enemy of the world.

The Demon King’s army not only invaded the Empire but also waged wars across the entire continent, creating countless casualties.

Among those casualties were members of Kalian’s family.

In the past, a part of the Bright family’s territory was attacked by the Demon King’s army.

At that time, Kalian, who happened to be in the middle of the attack, witnessed the horrifying deaths of his family’s subjects.

Although he narrowly escaped the threat of death thanks to my help, Kalian came to despise the Demon King equally.

The original novel also focused on Kalian’s journey to defeat the Demon King, so no further explanation is necessary.

But… now the final boss is here at a festival, buying and eating chicken skewers.

What on earth is going on?

At a glance, I could tell she was the Demon King.

She looked like an ordinary human on the outside, but her hidden essence was identical to the depiction in the original story.

Three black halos overlapped above her head, and a dark aura emanated from her body.

These were unique traits of the Demon King.

“Is it tasty?”

“It is.”

The Demon King was licking the ice cream I bought for her.

At first glance, it seemed like she was just here to have fun, but if someone like the Demon King showed up here, there had to be a reason.

“Why are you here?”

I asked, pretending to have a casual conversation.

Although she was hiding her identity and probably wouldn’t answer honestly, this kind of question wouldn’t seem out of place.

The Demon King answered nonchalantly.

“The Commander told me they had something to do, so they told me to wait here.”

“The Commander?”

“One of the Four Heavenly Kings, the one who handles most of my work.”

“Wait a minute.”

Why is she being so straightforward?

Shouldn’t she be hiding it at least a little?

To an uninformed person, it might just sound like a joke, but isn’t she being too candid?

And being left here because the Commander told her to? What is she, a child left in a mall’s playground?

Is this really the Demon King I know?

In the original story, she was primarily depicted in scenes where she fought Kalian, but I never expected her to act so recklessly.

“What kind of task is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

She didn’t even know the details.

I thought about using her loose lips to figure out what they were planning, but it seemed impossible.

What should I do now?

As I watched the Demon King finishing her ice cream, I pondered my next move.

The Demon King was powerful in her own right, but what made her especially untouchable was the protection of her formidable army.

That’s why she was still alive despite being the enemy of the entire continent, and why Kalian had to gather so many allies to fight her.

The reason I’ve been training Kalian so far is also to help him unite humanity across the continent with his natural charisma.

But if the Demon King has left her fortress, the story changes.

This might be the best opportunity to kill her.

The problem is that if I confront her here, everyone in the vicinity will die.

At the very least, the entire city of Arcana, as well as the capital, Perseidon, would be caught in the chaos.

So, would it be a gain or a loss?

Compared to the total lives the Demon King’s army might take in the future, sacrificing one city might not seem like a significant cost.

But when I consider the potential damage from the capital’s destruction, the calculation becomes more complicated.

I want this world to remain intact.

I want Kalian to smile in the end.

If I kill the Demon King now, at least the possibility of Kalian losing his life would vanish completely.

But imagining how he might react if the capital were destroyed and his recently adapted school was gone makes my mind conflicted.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

The Demon King, having finished her ice cream, looked at me curiously.

“I’m debating what to do with you.”

“With me?”

She tilted her head innocently.

Is this really the being who slaughtered humanity? I can’t help but doubt it.

I prided myself on my decisiveness since arriving in this world, but here I am, wavering. It seems I still have a long way to go.

I grabbed the Demon King by the wrist.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To enjoy the festival. What are you going to do just standing here? Since you’re out of the house for once, let’s experience everything.”

“The Commander told me to wait here.”

“If you’re having fun, they’ll come find you.”

I decided to postpone my choice.

It wasn’t the right place to kill the Demon King, so I settled on just keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t cause trouble.

I took her around the festival.

She seemed particularly interested in street food.

She ate grilled cheese, various fried dishes, egg bread, and more.

Even after eating so much, she didn’t seem to tire, always looking for the next snack.

Whenever she saw something delicious, she naturally turned her gaze to me.

She wanted me to buy it for her.

Of course, I didn’t do it for free. She only had jewels, so I gave her coins in exchange.

In return, I took her jewels.

“Listen carefully. One jewel equals five copper coins.”

“Got it.”

“If you hadn’t met someone like me, you’d probably be sucking on your fingers right now… You should be grateful.”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to her, I made a tidy profit. Trading copper coins for expensive jewels was a pretty sweet deal.

Anyway, that wasn’t the point.

After eating so much, she finally seemed full and started paying attention to other things.

The Demon King’s interest shifted to games.

At the festival, knights and mages offered games that utilized their abilities, providing great entertainment for ordinary people.

The area where outsiders and knights gathered bustled with activity.

A knight from Arcana, who was greeting visitors, recognized the Demon King and warmly welcomed her.

“Welcome to ‘Catch the Knight’!”

“What are you?”

“The lady’s objective is to score a hit against our Arcana knights. Just wear this glove and try to touch their chest, arms, legs, or anywhere else.”

The knight showed her a soft glove and gestured toward the ongoing game.

In the spacious plaza, civilians wearing gloves were chasing after knights, who were dodging and weaving to avoid being touched.

It was essentially a game of tag, but with knights performing flashy maneuvers and creating thrilling near-miss moments, it was much more exciting than regular tag.

Even those who failed to catch a knight didn’t seem too disappointed.

“Do I just kill the knight?”

The Demon King, making a chilling comment, stepped into the plaza.

“Wait a minute.”

“What?”

“It’s not about killing. You just need to touch them with this glove.”

“Not about killing?”

She raised her eyebrows, as if the idea was utterly ridiculous, but reluctantly put on the glove after my insistence.

The game ended in less than a second.

“Argh!”

“Too easy.”

As soon as the referee blew the starting whistle, the Demon King vanished and launched one of the knights out of the arena.

The knight slammed into the shock-absorbing outer wall and lost consciousness, but the onlookers, thinking it was part of the event, cheered loudly.

The other knights were left stunned with their mouths agape, while the Demon King walked away as if nothing had happened.

She caused trouble in another game, too.

This time, it was a game prepared by mages where participants had to overcome magical interference on a ball and score it into a goal to win a prize.

The goal, however, was a basketball hoop rather than a soccer goal, making it difficult even without magical interference.

But… the Demon King ignored the magic entirely, flew into the air, and dunked the ball straight into the hoop.

Crash!

“Too easy.”

“Uh… the hoop?”

“What’s the prize?”

The mages were left in shock, staring at the shattered hoop in her hands.

Completely unaware of the situation, the Demon King demanded her prize, and I quickly dragged her away, fearing they’d ask her to compensate for the damage.

We took a break at the fountain.

By the end of the festival, she had caused four counts of property damage and six counts of attempted murder, but overall, things went smoother than expected.

The Demon King suddenly spoke.

“This was fun.”

“What was?”

“The food, the games, the people… everything. It’s all new to me.”

“What’s the big deal? Don’t they have festivals where you’re from?”

Now that I think about it, I wonder what they do for fun in the Demon King’s castle.

I don’t know much about that part of the setting.

She splashed the fountain water playfully.

“Where I live, there are no festivals. Or maybe there are, but I’ve never seen one.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve always stayed inside the castle. I never knew the world looked like this, or that people could live so joyfully.”

That’s news to me.

The Demon King I know is the enemy of the world and the final obstacle Kalian must overcome.

In the original story, she was described as cursing everything and driving the world toward ruin, yet here she is with such ordinary thoughts.

I’m starting to find it harder to understand.

This person has waged countless wars against the world? It doesn’t add up.

“Why did you stay in the castle?”

“That’s what everyone wanted.”

The Demon King answered calmly as I continued to question her.

“Ever since I gained consciousness, everyone told me I had to stay inside the castle. They said the outside world was dangerous. So I just stayed.”

“Didn’t you ever want to leave?”

“I never thought about it.”

“What about now? After seeing the outside world, does it seem as dangerous as they said?”

“Not really… but I’m not sure. Maybe everyone’s hiding their true selves, like I am.”

“Is that so?”

I stood up and extended my hand to her.

“Then let’s look around some more. There’s something even more fun coming up.”

I wondered if I was spending too much time with her, but leaving her alone felt riskier.

A little more time together shouldn’t hurt.