CH 215

While Ed was secretly firming his resolve alone in the dark forest prison, Lunaritia was also fighting her own battle within the settlement.

“Hey! Enough! Enough already!”

In front of Lunaritia was a pile of dishes that was crowded with food. Most of it was meat. There were a variety of meats like rabbit and wild boar, but since they were all seasoned with the same strong sauce, to be honest, she was already tired of eating.

“Hm? Really? But Lunaritia, you’re small. You won’t get stronger if you don’t eat, right?”

“Small… Well, I suppose I’m small compared to Donatella…”

Turning a somewhat weary gaze at Donatella, who was calmly continuing to eat meat next to her, Lunaritia noticed that Donatella, who was a little taller than herself, was covered in muscles, and indeed she was more than twice the size of Lunaritia.

“But being big doesn’t necessarily mean being strong, and eating more doesn’t make you stronger, right? I mean, if it was a matter of strength, I would lose, but if it came to a fight, I’m stronger than you, you know?”

“Hahahaha, is that so! Indeed, as expected of the Hero! Here, eat more!”

“No, like I said, I’m already good… ugh…”

Facing Donatella, who was laughing heartily and offering more meat at her provocative words, Lunaritia forced a thin smile with a troubled expression. Just looking at it was enough to give her heartburn, and if she ate any more, she felt like she might actually throw up.

“So, anyway, about this Hero thing… Why am I a Hero?”

“Hm? Lunaritia, don’t you know you’re a Hero?”

“I don’t know. The next thing I knew, I had appeared in this place and was being called that. I would appreciate it if you could explain it to me.”

Being separated from Ed, she wanted to gather information on her own. With this in mind, Lunaritia asked, and Donatella took another bite of her meat before speaking.

“Munch munch… then I’ll explain. Ten years ago, a black star fell to the east of the forest. The black star emits a black miasma. Touching it makes both humans and beasts violent. The black demon is very dangerous. We have been fighting it all this time.”

“Oh, that must have been tough.”

“Yes, it was tough. That’s why I wanted the power to defeat the black star. Then, five years ago, a shining star fell on me.”

“A star… fell on you?”

“Yes. The shining star fell, and I woke up. The reason I couldn’t beat the black star was because men are weak! So, I chased the men away. There are no more annoying men! We become strong! According to the oracle of the shining star, a hero has appeared! We are the strongest! Men are the weakest! Now we can beat the black star!”

“Wait, wait a minute! I cann’t follow the conversation, but why did it suddenly become a conversation about how weak men are?”

Suddenly leaping to a different topic, Lunaritia hurriedly asked Donatella. In response, Donatella frowned obviously, but explained the reason.

“…The black star, it takes the form of a woman. With bouncy breasts and jiggly butt. Men’s gaze is glued there. That’s why men are useless!”

“What!?”

Lunaritia exclaimed in surprise at Donatella, who was biting into her meat in irritation.

(What, the Demon King here is a woman!?)

Until now, all the Demon Kings she had encountered were either genderless monsters or men. Since the original Demon King was Ed, Lunaritia had assumed that the Demon King would also be a man.

But upon thinking about it, it seemed much simpler for the Demon King to take the form of a woman rather than becoming a tree or a monster. She could imagine that, but…

(A woman with Ed’s face…?)

First, she vividly imagined Ed as he was, then tried to inflate his chest and butt. But that only resulted in a Ed with protruding parts, and she couldn’t quite picture it.

“Men are dumb! Men are empty inside! As long as the chest and butt are big, that’s good enough! Men are useless! Men are weak!”

“”Men are unnecessary! Men are the worst!””

At Donatella’s words, the other women around them raised their voices in agreement. By the way, if size was the only consideration, Donatella was quite big in both respects. But that was due to her muscles, and if one were to speak of her feminine features, she would be about average or a little small.

“Hero Lunaritia! Do you agree?”

“Huh!? Oh, yeah, sure.”

“Is that so! As I expected!”

Donatella, looking very pleased, pounded Lunaritia’s back with hearty thumps. She had been thinking about something else and had answered in a hurry.

“Lunaritia, your butt is quite big, but your breasts are small! I understand! You are like us! The best Hero!”

“…Th, thank you.”

Even though she was being praised with a beaming smile, Lunaritia couldn’t quite bring herself to feel happy about it. There was something unsatisfying about this situation, but there was no way she could voice this out in this place.

While enduring the feast where Donatella and her group drank and ate meat while shouting their grievances against men, Lunaritia was finally released when the moon was shining at its zenith.

“Ugh, I’m so tired…”

Her provided sleeping place was a small private room. As expected from a house in the humid rainforest, it was designed to let the air flow even if it blocked the view, so the sounds of insects chirping outside could be heard quite loudly.

“… I wonder how Ed is doing.”

From Donatella, Lunaritia had heard that Ed was in a prison on the outskirts of the village. The fact that Ed, who could escape if he tried, was staying quiet in there, paradoxically implied that he was safe and was staying there on his own volition.

(The black star is definitely the Demon King, right? I was surprised that it takes the form of a woman though… But what about the shining star? Is it the same thing as the extra thing that came with the Demon King’s power, as Ed said before? But, last time it was inside the Demon King, and this time it’s inside the Hero…? I don’t really understand.)

Lying on a mat woven from plants, Lunaritia starts to sort through the information she’s gathered. She didn’t have a chance today, but she wants to get in touch with Ed and exchange information as soon as possible.

Fortunately for them, they can communicate just by touching hands, even without exchanging words. However, given the atmosphere in this village, just staring silently at each other would likely draw criticism, so she’d have to be careful.

(Anyway, I need to decide on a course of action. It’s fine to cooperate with Donatella to defeat the Demon King, but should I prioritize reconciling with the men? But if I rush things, Donatella might become suspicious of me? Besides, I don’t even know where the men who have disappeared are… Ah, if it was Ed, he could find them right away.)

While she can sense the presence of things around her using spirit magic, she certainly can’t distinguish between male and female. Frustrated by this, she rolled around on the mat, and forced her eyelids shut.

(Haaa, it’s okay. I just need to do what I can do. First of all, I need to get along better with Donatella and gain her trust. And if we become friends, I might be able to change her stubborn dislike for men. Then, I can ask her to release Ed… and then…)

As Lunaritia’s consciousness slowly drifts, a faint light gently rains down on her from nowhere.

“Ugh… plump… bouncy… boing boing…”

That night, Lunaritia was tormented by a mysterious nightmare. In it, she, who couldn’t move inside a transparent cage, was forced to watch Ed, who was laughing and chasing after a busty woman, and slowly, her consciousness was painted white.

And the next day. The moment Lunaritia woke up, she went straight to the cage where Ed was…

“Men are the worst! Ed, you pervert!”

“Eh…?”

As Ed wore a confused expression, Lunaritia pointed her finger at him and loudly berated him.