Chapter 198 : The Absolute Demon Under the Sky

A contract with a spirit.

'Does that mean I'll become a spirit user?'

But I'm a swordsman who wields a sword.

Spirit user. Swordsman.

'Then, a spirit swordsman...?'

The feel of it is quite good.

'Spirit Swordsman Ashuban Sherwood.'

The name is cool.

Just hearing it makes my heart swell.

'A spirit swordsman. It might be quite good.'

But the thought didn't last long.

Because the moment Hud mentioned the contract, these spirit guys became very noisy.

They got all excited and started chattering about something.

—Human, do it with me!

—No, do it with me! I'll treat you well!

—Let's make a contract! Let's start a family!

Waggle, waggle.

It's so noisy.

For now, it's confirmed that I won't do it with the guys here.

I said in the coldest voice possible, as if brushing off the noise.

"I'm not interested."

Waggle, waggle.

"Can't you hear me? I said I'm not interested!"

When I shouted, they finally quieted down a bit.

—Ah...

Sullen.

They were guys who got dejected easily.

'Are spirits originally like this?'

I had a mysterious feeling about spirits.

It feels like that whole thing is shattering.

It's like a bunch of brightly raised kids who have been gathered together.

It's chaotic and noisy.

Are all spirits like this?

I tapped my forehead and said firmly.

"The master in my head is enough for me."

"Uh... okay."

Hud nodded with a reluctant face.

Judging by her expression, it seemed she was thinking about whether I had fallen on my head from the cliff.

"Ait, get lost."

I pushed away the rabbit spirit that was digging into my bosom, and then I caught the squirrel that had sneakily climbed onto my shoulder again and threw it at Linda.

—Squeak!

The squirrel hit Linda's forehead and bounced off, and then it disappeared somewhere as if it had evaporated.

It seems that a spirit is a spirit.

"Ouch."

Linda reacted a beat later.

She foolishly rubbed the spot where she had been hit by the flying squirrel.

"...I think something flew at me."

Meanwhile, the dark blue tiger with a horn on its head, which had carried us on its back, was lying down solemnly behind Hud.

If it's a quiet spirit like that, I think it would be okay to make a contract. It seems to be rare.

As I was watching the tiger lying down with its eyes closed, my gaze naturally shifted to its owner.

The mysterious purple-haired spirit user was looking at me with a blank expression.

"What are you looking at?"

"Uh, huh?"

Hud was startled as if she had woken up from a dream.

"What are you looking at so intently? Is it the first time you've seen a man who has come back from the dead?"

"Ah... I still can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday that I was looking at your tombstone..."

"If you're tied to the past, you can't move forward into the future. I'm a man who lives in the present."

I nonchalantly changed the subject.

Because I thought the conversation topic would get buried here otherwise.

"The past is the past, let's talk about the present now."

I got to the point.

"I believe the first and second questions have been answered sufficiently."

The three questions Hud had threatened me to answer in order.

The first was about my identity, and the second was about how I knew her name.

And the last, third question was about the reason I had come all this way.

"You asked why I came. I came to take you."

Hud's eyes widened.

"Take me? Where?"

"Where else? The Sherwood Mercenary Corps."

Hud tilted her head.

"That was disbanded, wasn't it? Didn't you hear? The leader and my sister—"

I waved my hand and scattered her words.

"I know. The first people I met when I came back to the Maia Kingdom were the leader and my sister."

"Ah, really?"

Hud's head drooped sullenly.

"But why didn't you tell me..."

"How would I know? Anyway, those two aren't coming back. They're retiring."

Hud blinked her eyes.

"What, really? Even though you're back? Did you hear it directly?"

I nodded.

"I heard it directly."

If I had my way, I would have dragged them out by force...

But they're not the type to be dragged out, and I don't have the power to drag them out, so I had no choice but to leave them be.

"Sherwood, I've re-established it."

I pointed at myself with my thumb and said solemnly.

"I am the new leader of Sherwood. Now the era of Gustan is over, and it's the era of Ashuban. I even changed my name to Sherwood. Ashuban Sherwood. Sherwood itself."

I finished my words with utmost solemnity.

"Come back, Hudmilla Everett. To Sherwood."

"...Pfft!"

"Huh?"

Hud suddenly burst out laughing.

As if my words had been a kind of trigger, she laughed so hard that she held her stomach.

"Puhahahaha!"

I watched her blankly.

They say that if you laugh after crying, you'll grow a horn on your butt. I can't even check this.

I raised my eyebrow slightly.

"...Are you laughing?"

Hud, who had barely stopped laughing, wiped the moisture from her eyes and apologized.

"Haa... ha... Ah, sorry. You're the leader. I can't imagine it."

"What can't you imagine?"

"It doesn't suit you. What's the weakest guy going to do as a leader?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I defeated the villains in the Blake Kingdom, defeated the Royal Knights, and put the Black Prince on the throne."

"Yes, yes. I get it."

"...."

It seems she didn't take me seriously.

...I'm getting angry.

"Anyway, I've re-established the Sherwood Mercenary Corps. It's the revival of Sherwood, I'm telling you. Ring the bell of revival!"

"...."

Since no one answered, I stood up by myself and danced a dance of joy.

"Yay, this is great!"

"...."

Only Linda followed me and stood up from her seat, shaking her butt excitedly.

"Hehehe!"

Shushruta sighed deeply, and Hud and the spirits watched our dance with blank expressions.

The Heavenly Demon just grinned.

After a while, I sat down as if nothing had happened and said in a serious tone.

"I'm gathering the members again. Miho and Schmitt have already joined."

"Miho is here?"

Hud said in a slightly surprised tone.

"You said your sister retired. Then isn't she still living in that mountain village?"

"That's right."

"But Miho came just because you asked?"

"She said she was bored, so I brought her. She's probably taking a nap by the warm, sunny window of the hideout by now."

Linda, who had been shaking her butt without a clue, was made to sit down by me.

"Linda, dance time is over. Sit down."

"Ah, okay."

Linda sat down awkwardly.

Hud thought for a moment and then asked.

"...Let's say Miho is like that. How did you find Schmitt?"

"He came on his own."

"What?"

"Unlike some foolish person, our great detective Schmitt figured out that I had returned through clues and came to where I was directly. Reflect on yourself, you foolish Hudmilla."

"...Ugh. That little thing."

Miss Hudmilla, who was snorting with frustration, punched the innocent grass.

Every time she swung her small fist, her purple hair fluttered.

I watched her for a moment and then asked what I had been curious about.

"Hud."

"What."

"Anyway, didn't you leave the family because you didn't want to be here? Why did you crawl back? I looked for you for a long time, you fool."

Hud glared at me.

"I'm not a fool."

I proudly pointed at our thieving cat and said.

"If it weren't for our genius of information, the cat who doesn't distinguish between day and night, the thief favored by Ketel, the princess of the underworld, Shushruta, I wouldn't have even known you were here."

"Hmph."

The proud Shushruta crossed her arms and raised her nose.

"...."

Hud, who had been staring at Shushruta, shifted her gaze to the sky.

A blue sky and feathery clouds were floating by.

Hud hugged her knees and said.

"After you fell off the cliff... Sherwood also scattered..."

Her tone lowered.

"When I was wandering around, not knowing what to do, I happened to get in touch with my family. My father asked me to come back. I thought it would be better if I was buried in work. So I came back."

"Is that so?"

Hud slowly lowered her gaze and looked at me.

A weak smile hung on her lips.

"I've been working like that, and now I'm here."

"No wonder you looked tired."

I clicked my tongue.

"You don't have to do that anymore. Come back."

Hud's purple eyes stared at me.

They were eyes that seemed to contain the mysteries of a world I didn't know.

"The place you belong is not a noble place like this. The fallen noble Hudmilla Everett belongs in Sherwood."

"...You said I was a lying noble."

"I'll forgive you."

The guy laughed playfully.

"Really?"

"Just come back."

Her playful smile turned into a bitter smile.

"...It's too late."

"What?"

"My father is only looking at me. He was the only one who protected me when everyone was teasing me for seeing ghosts. Do you know? Today is the succession ceremony."

"I know."

Hud laughed weakly.

"I'm sorry, Ashuban. I can't go back to Sherwood."

"...."

"I'm sorry for lying. I was afraid you guys would hate me. Because I'm not Hudmilla Everett, but Hudmilla Richtiello."

I stared at the bitterly smiling Hud.

"You're really not coming back?"

"After I inherit the family, I'll come and visit when I have some free time. It's not like we'll never see each other again."

"When will you have free time?"

"I don't know."

"...."

Hud stood up from her seat and rubbed her eyes.

"Damn it... the succession ceremony is just around the corner, and my face is a mess."

Hud forced a smile and showed me her face.

"How do I look? Am I okay?"

"No, you're a mess."

"Hey."

"Since you're a mess, don't go. Let's go back like this."

Hud laughed.

It was a sad-looking laugh for some reason.

"I can't do that."

...What should I say?

It was like seeing the laugh of a grown-up who had become mature.

That we are no longer reckless children.

The sad smile of an adult.

The time when we were all together in Sherwood felt so far away.

"I said I wouldn't be late, but it seems I'll be a little late."

Hud let out a big sigh, as if spitting something out, and then looked at me.

"I'll go first. If you're not busy, come and see the succession ceremony."

She jumped onto the back of the dark blue tiger and quickly returned to the city of the count's domain.

"...."

I could only stare blankly at her back.

I couldn't stop her.

Because there was no good reason.

***

A little later, we were mixed in with the crowd, watching the succession ceremony from a distance.

The succession ceremony was held in the large square of the city, and the atmosphere was amazing.

It was truly the center of the festival.

...Watching it, my feelings are complicated.

Because I came all this way, boasting that I would bring her back, but now I'm going back empty-handed.

Above all, my heart was very heavy because her expression was not bright.

"Hehe."

Next to me, Linda, who had three wreaths on her head, was laughing innocently.

At a glance, it looks like she has a tower of flowers on her head.

It's thanks to me giving up my wreath and Shushruta's.

"Are you happy?"

"Yeah! ...Aah!"

As she nodded her head vigorously, a disaster occurred where one floor of the flower tower collapsed.

[Pick it up for her.]

I sighed and picked up the fallen wreath and restored the tower.

Linda smiled.

"Thank you, devil."

"Be quiet."

"Ugh..."

At that moment, a magnificent trumpet sound was heard, and the noisy square gradually quieted down.

By the time it became completely quiet, the protagonist appeared.

She was wearing a purple dress that suited her hair well.

Although the bottom was radically torn, what should I say. It looked like it was torn on purpose.

It looked surprisingly elegant.

'Looking at her like this, she looks like a natural-born noble.'

People cheered.

I could vaguely hear the voices of women whispering that it was a new dress style.

After that, a bunch of miscellaneous ceremonies that were typical of nobles, but in reality had no substance, were held, and the final order came.

A middle-aged man who looked like her father approached Hud, whose eyes were swollen.

They looked alike.

He was holding a short staff with a jewel that seemed to be the symbol of the family, and Hud's expression as she looked at it seemed complicated.

The Heavenly Demon said in a low voice.

[Are you just going to watch?]

"Then what should I do? She said she doesn't want to."

[Is it true that she doesn't want to?]

"...But there's no good reason."

[A reason.]

The Heavenly Demon laughed lowly.

[Since when did you have a reason for your actions?]

"...!"

A flash of light passed through my mind.

By the time the staff was being moved from the middle-aged man to Hud's hand, I couldn't stand it anymore and got on the roof of the carriage that was parked behind me and shouted.

"This succession ceremony is invalid!!!"

My voice, mixed with internal energy, echoed throughout the square.

The staff stopped just before it was moved to Hud's hand.

And.

All eyes were on me.

Not only the two of them, but also the people who were filling the square.

'A good reason?'

I don't need that.

The Heavenly Demon is right.

Since when did I care about reasons?

I am the leader of the New Sherwood, and a dictator.

The absolute demon under the sky.

The second Heavenly Demon.

I don't accept any objections.

What I want, I will get.

"Hudmilla Everett! Throw away that damn dress and come here right now! That's an order!"

The Heavenly Demon smiled with satisfaction.

[That's more like it.]

The Heavenly Demon is stuffed in my head, Chapter 199

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