I returned to the Demon King’s castle and examined my body once again.
At first, I didn’t notice anything, but after looking closely in the mirror, I could see that my physique had definitely grown larger, and the muscles on my body had settled in more firmly than before.
However, the things I just did couldn’t simply be explained by having a better body.
Dodging arrows or catching a spear with my bare hands was one thing.
“That spell generates flames over 1,000 degrees under your feet. It’s impossible for a human to withstand that barehanded and remain unscathed, don’t you think?”
The magic that the wizard cast earlier and the fact that the sword that cut me actually broke instead—those things were truly bizarre.
”…Could it be that my spell worked after all?”
The clue to this seems to lie with Arsep.
My body is clearly different from before.
And she was the one who said she personally summoned me to this world.
“Did you happen to cast some kind of magic on me earlier?”
“No, I didn’t cast anything just now. I’m referring to the magic I used when I revived you.”
“What kind of magic did you use when you revived me?”
“You may not know this, but when humans encounter enemies so powerful that they cannot defeat them on their own, they summon heroes from another dimension.”
Ah, I think I know what she’s talking about.
“Heroes from other dimensions are summoned with special powers for reasons unknown. Those powers are then used to defeat the Demon King or the Evil Dragon.”
Arsep tapped her head with her finger as she spoke.
It’s the typical “hero summoning” scenario where they kidnap high school students and tell them to defeat the Demon King.
“But how is that related to me being revived here…?”
“So, I used that spell not too long ago.”
Arsep spoke the outrageous words as if they were completely normal.
[Didn’t you say you were the Demon King?]
She clearly claimed to be not just any Demon King, but the Great Demon King herself, and now this Great Demon King is saying she used a spell to summon a hero? That doesn’t seem right.
Normally, summoning a hero is something a princess of a kingdom in peril would do, so why would the Demon King summon a hero? I couldn’t understand.
Heroes are usually summoned to defeat the Demon King, so why would a Demon King summon the only being that could defeat them?
“Well, I needed the hero’s help… Didn’t you see earlier? Those lunatics keep barging into my castle trying to kill me…”
Right.
Arsep, who calls herself the Great Demon King, couldn’t deal with the humans invading her castle, so she was forced to summon a hero to chase them away.
She hadn’t even considered the possibility that the hero might turn against her and try to defeat her instead.
“But the spell failed. It was such an ancient magic, and there were no proper records left. Besides, I barely had any mana left, so I couldn’t even cast such a grand spell properly.”
“Then how did I end up here?”
“You’re a byproduct of my failed hero summoning spell. By sheer coincidence, I snatched your soul from another dimension when your physical body was destroyed.”
At first, I thought I had been summoned as the hero, but Arsep said that wasn’t the case.
“Your current body was reconstructed with my mana. So, of course, it’s sturdier and better than your original body, but it shouldn’t be that much stronger. Still, I did pour all my remaining mana into it…”
Originally, Arsep wouldn’t have been this weak, but after creating my new body, she used up all her remaining mana, rendering her completely powerless.
Now, she’s practically unable to use any proper magic at all.
“Why would you do that? If you had saved that mana, you would have been much stronger than you are now.”
“Well, that’s true.”
I couldn’t understand why she would make such a decision.
Wouldn’t it have been more important to maintain some of her power rather than revive someone she didn’t even know?
“But either way, I barely had any mana left. Eventually, it would have completely run out as time passed.”
At first, she could somehow fend off the humans who invaded her castle on her own, but even though the humans kept coming, for some strange reason, her mana wasn’t recovering.
Normally, mana replenishes over time, but something seemed to be wrong with Arsep’s body.
“So, with the little mana I had left, I decided to revive a poor lost soul instead. And as a result, thanks to saving you, I was able to survive the humans this time, wasn’t I?”
”I suppose that’s true.”
Despite everything, Arsep smiled brightly as she said that.
Her words left my mind in turmoil.
She had used the last of her power, her only means of protecting herself, to save someone she didn’t even know.
If more humans had come after that, a catastrophe could have occurred.
Surely, she must have known that, yet she still chose to save me.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t thanked you yet. Thanks to you, I made it safely through the castle gates this time.”
It wasn’t the first time I had been thanked by someone.
But this time, the person offering thanks was the one who had helped, rather than the one who had been helped.
I felt ashamed for having thought of Arsep as a lunatic at first.
Of course, back then, I had no idea what was going on, so I couldn’t help it…
But thinking such rude thoughts about someone who had genuinely helped me made me feel embarrassed.
***
“Anyway, it’s probably best if you leave this castle soon. We managed to deal with things this time, but stronger people might come next time. There’s no guarantee things will always go well, so there’s no reason for you to stay here.”
As Arsep said this, she started gathering some things together.
At a glance, it looked like simple travel items.
A canteen of water, a spare coat—despite her own dire situation, she was trying to take care of me.
And this was for someone she had only spoken to for a few hours at most.
I couldn’t stand by and watch someone as kind and pure-hearted as her, who was misunderstood as a Demon King who started a war, live every day in worry and fear.
At the same time, I felt anger towards those who condemned her without properly verifying the truth, simply assuming she was the Demon King responsible for the war.
Just because she lived in a castle in the Demon Realm and had horns, does that automatically make her a Demon King who started a war?
“…Um, can I ask you a favor?”
“A favor? What is it?”
“As you know, I’m not originally from this world. I don’t know much about the culture here, and I can’t even read the language. So, I was hoping you could teach me.”
“That’s not difficult, but… I, too, only recently woke up from a long slumber. While I may know more than you, I don’t know much about the current world’s culture either…”
Of course, having slept for centuries and only waking up less than a year ago, it’s understandable she wouldn’t know.
I had already expected that much.
But that wasn’t my real intention from the start.
“Then let’s find out together. In the meantime, let me stay here in the castle. I’m not asking to stay for free—there’s work I used to do in my world, and I think I can do the same here.”
“What kind of work did you do in your homeland?”
“I was a security guard. Not in a castle like this, but I worked as a guard at large estates. Well, maybe ‘gatekeeper’ would be easier to understand?”
“Th-that means… you’re suggesting…”
Arsep’s voice trembled as her eyes welled up with tears, as if she understood what I was getting at.
Is this really that emotional of a moment?
“I’ll act as the gatekeeper for the Demon King’s castle, so you can live here safely. You saw it earlier, didn’t you? I can easily chase away most intruders.”
“Is… is it true? Are you truly, truly saying that you will protect me? Someone who’s practically a stranger to you?”
Arsep asked in disbelief.
To reassure her, I added a few more words.
“Who was it that used their last bit of mana to save a stranger like me? I don’t have anywhere else to go, so if I can live here, I’d be more than happy.”
“…Thank you. In return, I’ll do everything I can to help you adapt to this world!”
Arsep finally seemed at ease, smiling brightly again as she clasped my hands tightly.
And that’s how I ended up becoming the gatekeeper of the Demon King’s castle.
It seems that being a security guard is my true calling, as I find myself doing it even in another world.
Not that I minded, though.
Working for a so-called “evil” Demon King did make me feel a bit uneasy, but since she wasn’t an ordinary Demon King, she didn’t seem evil at all.
Nice
Slice of life huh