CH 37

(Haron’s POV)

“The Warrior is here! Our Hero has come out of his carriage.”

“Please look over here, Warrior!”

“Look over there son. He’s the great Warrior who is always protecting us.”

Different stories filled with praises were swarming from one place to another, yet Haron still looked at them with a disinterested expression.

As if he was barely listening to the stories they were telling, and didn’t care about them at all.

But on the contrary, people became more enthusiastic because of his attitude.

Although, of course, his number one fan was Marquis Frenbel.

“It seems that the square is jam-packed with people from all over the kingdom. There weren’t many people at the procession. But it shows, here on the square, how much they adore you, Warrior.”

“The Marquis seems to be in a good mood today?”

“Haha, of course I won’t deny it. I’ve gained so much from this and it’s all thanks to you.”

As Haron looked at the Marquis’s beaming smile, he suddenly turned around.

If it was in the past, Haron wouldn’t have intervened in a battle between humans.

Since most of those fights were tied to power struggles, which he didn’t want to be a part of.

Haron didn’t want those kinds of complicated relationships to occur for political reasons.

Duke Blake was not the reason why he participated in this war. It was his own will.

“Can I ask why you suddenly changed your mind?”

“What do you mean?”

“As far as I know the Warrior that I know of is a bit different, let’s say a little more…”

“…”

“You’re a bit more kind.”

“Much kinder…”

Haron smiled for the first time as he listened to what the Marquis was saying.

“I wasn’t kind. I’m just simply a pushover.”

How foolish of him to sacrifice himself for others without asking for anything in return.

In time, he realized how foolish he was for wasting so much time and effort all for nothing.

“Now I know the importance of money, influence, and power…?”

Two years ago, when he failed to kill the Devil, all of his hard work had turned into dust and he was also labeled as shameless.

Contrary to the speculation of those who said it would be difficult for him to get back up again, in less than two years, he became more popular than ever before.

[People like those hot-blooded heroes, rather than those kind hearted defenders of the world.]

It was what Riggs suggested to him.

It’s human nature for people to be more interested in where they would benefit the most rather than for world peace.

Haron’s eyes darkened even more.

Everyone was shouting for him, but no one was able to get his attention.

Even if they flocked like a swarm of bees now, in times of struggle, if he collapsed again, they would all turn their backs on him.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway.’

He nodded his head and looked at the Imperial Palace from a distance.

In the past, he thought that if he could finally enter the palace, everyone in the kingdom would be able to acknowledge his hard work.

‘But it’s not the same anymore.’

‘Where do I want to go?’

As he looked at the palm of his hands, he could see the black stained scar that he received when he absorbed the Mahone stone.

A faint, soft silver lining on the palm of his hand seemed to sway unobtrusively.

Haron stared at his wound for a very long time and then clenched his hand tightly.

‘Please wait for me.’

~*~

(Lucia’s POV)

“A small horn came out of my head.”

She looked and observed her appearance in front of the mirror.

At first, she thought it was a massive chunk of hair that grew in a certain part of her head, but upon closer look, she realized it was a small horn.

As she mumbled softly, Sagna, who was on the far end of the room, flew back to her.

[You have horns?! Where, where, where?!]

“Around here…?”

As Sagna looked closely at her horn as if he was about to eat it, he then suddenly laughed out loud.

[Oh, I’m so happy, you’re beginning to grow up like our former Demon King. I feel so proud to have raised you like this…]

“…I’ll kick you if you dare to wipe your tears off by using my hair.”

[Kick me? You definitely can’t do that yet! You still have a long way to go before you can catch up to the former Demon King!]

“Oh, come to think of it, did she originally have horns?”

[She, her?!]

Sagna shuddered at how Lucia unconventionally called the former Demon King casually.

From what she remembered, there was a small horn that was shown on one of the illustrations of the game. But when she was transferred into this world, she didn’t see those horns at the beginning.

“I thought it was just a removable accessory.”

[Please say something that makes sense.]

“Hmm. Maybe it will become more uncomfortable as it grows bigger.”

Lucia tried to push back the horns inside her head, but she only got hurt while doing it.

‘It only proves that I no longer have the touch of being a normal human.’

Still having a sad expression, Lucia slowly raised her head while looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Sagna, happy about what’s happening to Lucia, started to make a birdhouse while sitting on her head.

He then started to peck her head, imitating a baby bird.

She waved her hands roughly, as she slowly sat down on the chair.

On the table were books that Lucia had read.

[You still haven’t found a way?]

“Yeah.”

It’s been two years since she continued to study on how to release the remaining powers of the Demon King. She started to rub her eyes from the lack of sleep from last night.

“My horns are starting to show and I’ve managed to obtain some of the Demon King’s power. But how come my skills never level up even though I’ve been working so hard?”

[…It has been less than a hundred years, but I think it is rather daunting to have already released two of them.]

“Is that so?”

Lucia opened the book that she was reading yesterday. It was a book about magic and the history of the former Demon King.

In other words, most of the content was all boring and useless.

As the sound of thick parchment fluttering echoed throughout the room, after a while, she finally collapsed onto her chair.

‘I’ve been staring at this all day, and now I’m about to vomit just by looking at these texts.’

No matter how hard and persistent she may be, if she couldn’t find the answer to all of her questions, everything would be useless and that made her feel very sad.

She mumbled while her head was buried on the table.

“At a time like this, if Tina would read this to me, I might be able to absorb and understand it.”

“Really? If I read it, would you be able to understand it?”

“Yes, of course… Tina?”

Lucia was shocked to hear a familiar voice. As she looked up, she saw Tina beside her, wearing an academy uniform.

Then she reached out her hand and pinched her cheeks a little.

“It’s not a dream.”

“Yes.”

As she finally took a grasp of the situation, she suddenly pulled Tina in for a hug and Tina also hugged Lucia back tightly.

“Why did you come home so quickly without even saying a word? Didn’t you originally plan to come home tomorrow?”

“Hehe, Devil, I wanted to see you soon, that’s why I urged Derakal.”

“Did you now?”

The boundaries around the Academy were very strict, so it was impossible to draw a magical circle that would lead to the Demon King’s Castle.

That’s why Lucia decided to draw it in a nearby village, when she and Derakal ran into that place.

‘It must have been quite a distance from there… Well, even if that’s so, it’ll be fine.’

She felt a little sorry that Derakal ran into Tina as he was dragged back home, but she’s still happy to see her one day earlier.

She hugged Tina one more time before she started asking questions one by one.

“Are you in any pain? Where have you been hurt? Are there any bullies at the academy? Isn’t it too hard? If you need anything, you should tell me right away, okay?”

“I wasn’t sick or hurt. There are some nasty guys, but basically, for the most part, they’re all nice. Although the research is a bit difficult, it’s so much fun!”

Tina stroked Lucia’s hand gently as if she was memorizing a script.

“So you don’t have to worry about me like this every time you see me.”

[Right, the Devil always fussed like this whenever she saw the princess, and it’s only been a year since we last saw the princess.]

Suddenly, a black head popped out between Tina and Lucia.

“Derakal?”

“Huh? Did you feel refreshed after seeing everyone die a while ago?”

[No, I didn’t.]

Derakal looked back and forth between Tina and Lucia as if he was mad for being wrongly accused. Then he slowly went to his carpet bed and flopped down flat on top of it.

[Instead of worrying about her, you should have been worried about me, my Lord. I’m the one who’s been carrying her and I’m about to collapse from exhaustion.]

“You’ve worked hard. You must be so tired because you ran a long way in just one day.”

[Running for a long time wasn’t that hard, but the princess on my back was too heavy, urgh!]

“…Be quiet.”

Derakal, who was speechless after being kicked by Tina, wriggled a little. That guy knew he was going to get hit like that while moaning in pain.

Lucia looked at the two together, thinking that they had gotten closer as time went by and that nowadays, they were always together.

‘…Am I thinking too positively?’

[Princess, as I’ve been studying lately, I found out that every time I emptied a bucket of cookies… Ouch, okay I’m sorry! Don’t swing that candlestick!]

“This, this, this naughty…!”

Candlesticks flew around the room.

‘Uh, oh. It seems that our Tina also learned about swordsmanship at the Academy.’

Derakal also sprinted around to avoid Tina’s attacks.

Books fell all over the floor while frames and ornaments made loud crackling noises as they fell down.

Lucia glanced around the messy room for a moment, then slowly turned her head towards the window.

‘Indeed, it is a peaceful afternoon.’

~*~

It wasn’t really empty words. It was quite a peaceful afternoon. Until now.

“You vicious Demon King! Come out now and take out your sword!”

‘…..Who the hell is this person?’