Chapter 313 : The Demon King's Palace

As we approached the haphazardly built fence, a gatekeeper greeted us with a long yawn.

"Halt... Hwaaam."

"..."

I didn't know a gatekeeper could be so lax.

I felt like even the neighborhood watch wouldn't be this bad.

Yawn—

The gatekeeper who had yawned poked his dozing colleague with the butt of his spear and then looked us over.

"Outsiders."

"That's right."

"No shiny shields or armor... they don't seem like those arrogant empire bastards... and judging by the direction they came from, it seems they crossed the sea from above..."

But even though he seemed so lax, his eyes, which were scanning our appearance, shone sharply.

When I secretly extended my ki sense to check...

Well, well. They were quite skilled.

So that laxness was a natural expression of confidence in their own skills.

While the gatekeeper and I were sizing each other up, Siri peeked her head out from behind me and whispered to me in a curious tone.

"Big Brother, they really have horns on their heads!"

"I know, right? It's strange."

Horns that you would only see on magical beasts were sticking out from the top of their heads.

One of them had curved horns on both sides of his head, and the other had two straight horns, one of which was broken.

"What brings outsiders all the way here? I thought most of them just do some business at the port and go back."

"I received a request from your highness."

"...Hmm? From our Demon King?"

Without a second thought, I took out the commission request and handed it to the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper glanced at the commission request and then looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.

"Are you the captain of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps?"

I waved my hand in a greeting gesture.

"Call me Half-Sword Ashuban."

At that, the other side also raised the spear he was holding to his chest and showed his respect.

"Ah, so you're the one who broke the shining angel's wings. It's an honor to meet you."

"Shining angel?"

"You know, the hero of the empire. The one who shines brightly and flies around like crazy."

"Ah."

It seemed they called the Hero of Light the 'shining angel' here.

When I asked why they called her that, the gatekeeper chuckled and said.

"Since they call us the descendants of the devil, it's only natural that they would be the angels. They even have white wings that shine like an angel's."

"...That's a reasonable inference."

A battle between angels and demons. My heart swelled.

The gatekeeper's gaze turned to Siri, who was peeking her head out from behind me.

"And you are?"

I introduced Siri, who didn't seem to have any intention of coming out from behind me.

"The proud member of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps, the one and only two-timing saint who is receiving the grace of both Ketel and Hope, Sirila."

"Hoo..."

The two gatekeepers' eyes sparkled with interest, and as if their eyes had met, Siri let out a "Hic!" and hid behind me.

The gatekeeper with the broken horn laughed.

"We have some precious guests. Our Demon King has been waiting for you."

The gatekeeper with the curved horns said to him.

"Tifri. You guide them to the Demon King."

"Ah, me? This is an honor. Follow me."

I followed the gatekeeper with the broken horn, who had been dozing off, and entered the capital of the Kingdom of Sorrow.

As we walked, I asked what I was curious about.

"I have a question."

"Don't hesitate to ask."

The man called Tifri said readily.

"I heard that you guys don't really like being called the demon race. Is that right?"

"It's not a pleasant thing to hear. It feels like they're looking down on us as if we're on the same level as magical beasts."

"But why do you call your king the Demon King?"

"Ah, that's because our highness likes to be called the Demon King."

"Why?"

"Don't you know? He says it looks cool."

"..."

Somehow, I felt like I could understand the personality of the King of Sorrow a little.

"I have a question too. May I ask?"

I nodded.

"If something comes, something must go."

Tifri said, looking me up and down.

"Uh... I'm sorry, but you don't look... no, you look very lacking to have defeated the shining angel."

"Hmm."

What a direct way of speaking.

I rather liked it.

Since I didn't like to beat around the bush either.

Like other people, it seemed he thought that because he couldn't feel any mana from me.

"That's possible. I use a slightly different power from other people."

"There's a rumor that you made a contract with a devil, is that true? Is it the power of a devil?"

"What kind of bullshit is that?"

"...No?"

He seemed strangely disappointed.

'Why is he disappointed?'

"Tsk. That's a shame. I wanted to see that devil's power."

"..."

These demon race guys, they seem a little strange overall.

It feels like they have nothing but fighting on their minds.

I could hear the Heavenly Demon's low laughter.

[They're quite to my liking.]

'I don't know.'

I walked through the capital of the kingdom, exchanging various conversations with the gatekeeper named Tifri.

On both sides of the crooked road, there were one-story houses that seemed to have grown haphazardly.

To the point where I couldn't see a single building that looked the same, they were all very original and individualistic, as if they had been built as they came.

Siri was following me closely, holding onto my clothes, and she was busy looking around at the unfamiliar city scenery.

And then, she pulled on my clothes and pointed to one side.

"Big Brother, look over there!"

The place Siri pointed to was the front yard of a certain house.

Two kids with horns on their heads were having a sword fight, shouting "Yap, yap!"

Clang! Clang!

And with real swords at that.

'A sword fight with real swords?'

And what was even more surprising was.

'Aura?'

It was faint, but there was a clear aura on the kids' swords.

"No, what is that?"

"Ah, that?"

Tifri, who had followed my gaze, scratched his forehead and said.

"You'll have to understand. They're still kids who haven't even breathed the air of the demon realm, so their skills are a little clumsy."

"?"

"All kids are like that."

What kind of nonsense was he talking about?

It seemed this Tifri guy thought I was thinking, 'No, how can their swordsmanship be so clumsy?'

"No, look at those kids. They've manifested aura at that age."

And what was even more ridiculous was Tifri's reaction.

"? Isn't that normal?"

"???"

I had heard that the people of the Kingdom of Sorrow were very strong, but to this extent?

To the point where even the kids who were playing sword fighting in the neighborhood, shouting "Yap, yap!", could raise an aura?

Damn it. Isn't this too unfair?

Someone had to fall off a cliff and die once to barely be able to raise it.

Looking closely, the kids had one horn on their heads.

The gatekeepers had two.

"Is the number of horns related to age?"

"No, it's more related to strength."

Tifri explained.

"When you're born and you safely overcome the energy that gushes from the demon realm and celebrate your first birthday, your first horn grows. And then, when you grow a little more, another one grows. Usually, you have two horns by the time you're an adult. Most people are like that."

"Most people?"

"That's right, most people. It's quite rare for someone to have only one horn until they're an adult."

'If the number of horns is related to an individual's strength...'

That meant that most of the residents of the Kingdom of Sorrow had a similar level of skill as these guys.

'This is the average?'

I couldn't help but be amazed.

They seemed to be at least gold-rank, but this was the average.

'What a crazy kingdom.'

A kingdom where most of the citizens were gold-rank? If someone had told me that, I would have hit them on the back of the head and told them to stop talking nonsense.

'A small but elite group.'

Now I could understand to some extent how a country so small could go head-to-head with that huge empire.

If all the citizens were gold-rank, it was certainly possible.

And then, a dangerous thought came to mind.

'Wait, if the average is gold-rank. Doesn't that mean there are plenty of guys who are stronger than that?'

"Then... are there people with three horns?"

"There are. Our princess has three horns, and the Demon King has four."

Viola has three horns.

Then it seems I can consider her to be about platinum-rank.

And since the Demon King has four horns...

It seems I can consider four to be on the same level as the Eight Sword Masters.

"How many people have three horns?"

"Uh... quite a few, I think? Just the guys I can think of off the top of my head are over twenty."

Crazy.

To think that there were over twenty platinum-ranks in this small country.

It was a country of monsters.

"Then is the Demon King the only one with four horns?"

Tifri answered with a bitter face.

"There used to be two... but now it's just the Demon King."

It seemed like a bad story, so I decided not to pry.

Thump, thump.

After a moment of silence, Tifri asked.

"You were close with our princess, right?"

"That's right."

"The princess thought you were dead for sure. Do you know how much she cried when she came back?"

"Ah, did she cry a lot here too?"

"She's a person who cries a lot by nature. There was even a joke that you could make a lake with just the tears the princess had shed."

"Hmm."

"Even when I told her that a guy named Ashuban had appeared in Maia and was rebuilding Sherwood, she absolutely didn't believe me. She said she had seen the traces of him falling off the cliff with her own two eyes. She said it must be someone else using that name, and she even cried, saying she would shoot him to death for daring to use that name."

"To the point of shooting him to death... so where is the crybaby princess now?"

Thump.

Tifri stopped, hitting the ground with the bottom of the spear he was holding.

"You'll have to hear that from our Demon King yourself."

When he stopped and looked to the side, a two-story house, the first I had seen here, was in front of me.

A wooden plaque was hanging on the door, and on it, in rather crooked letters, was written 「Demon King's Palace」.

Tifri grinned and said.

"Welcome to the Demon King's Palace, the pride of the Kingdom of Sorrow."

Siri and I stared at the two-story house blankly.

"...This is the Demon King's Palace?"

* * *

Following Tifri's guidance, I went inside the Demon King's Palace.

"What do you think?"

"...It's very modest for a palace."

At my answer, Tifri chuckled.

"It's the only two-story house here."

"What an honor."

I couldn't feel much difference from an ordinary family home.

The thought 'This is a palace?' just kept repeating in my head.

And so, we went up to the second floor.

"Demon King. We have guests."

Tifri opened the door without knocking, and when I followed him into the room...

"Welcome."

A large, middle-aged man sitting in a chair, with a vermilion-colored sword propped up in front of him like a cane, was looking at me.

"I am the Demon King, Aktir Bisanbark."

"..."

As he sat there, striking a pose...

Crack.

"Ugh."

Crash!

He rolled on the floor with the broken chair.

This is... the Demon King?

"Ah, come on, Demon King. Why did you do something you don't usually do? There's no chair in this world that can handle your butt except for that one."

"Shut up and just clean it up."

"..."

I stared blankly at the Demon King, who was crouching on the floor and cleaning up the broken pieces of the chair himself.

The Heavenly Demon chuckled.

[He's like a king of fists. There's always a fool wherever you go.]

After a while, the gatekeeper Tifri left the room, grumbling as he carried the broken pieces of the chair.

And only then could Siri and I sit down and face the Demon King.

"Ahem. You're Viola's friends, right? I've heard a lot about you."

I looked at the rather shameless Demon King.

He was the most well-built person I had ever seen.

Even in terms of size alone, he seemed to be a cut above Guston and the Duke of the North.

"You're Ashuban, and this is Siri. Am I right?"

"Yes, that's right."

I nodded at the huge man who looked like he could tear a bear apart with his bare hands.

All sorts of scars were engraved on his face like the traces of time, but his smile was warm and unpretentious.

Siri was staring at the Demon King in front of her with her mouth half-open, as if she were very impressed.

I took out the commission request and placed it on the desk, and said.

"Uh... first, I'd like to ask."

"Feel free to ask."

"According to the commission request, it says to pursue, search, and secure your daughter... is that correct?"

The Demon King nodded.

"That's right."

"May I hear the situation?"

"That's..."

The Demon King, Aktir, scratched his cheek and said.

"My daughter ran away from home."

"Ran away from home?"

"Yes."

"Where to?"

"To the demon realm."

"Ah..."

Even running away from home is on a different level here.

(End of Chapter)