Chapter 39
Who knew it was possible to get a second fever within 3 days of your first one. Hahaha… Yeah, I took a break for a week cause I was sick, and then procrastinated for half a week, but I'm back now! I probably can't post 3 chapters this week, but anyways, thanks for reading~
I gave the future demon king time to think about her choice, so we spent a night in a deserted house in the slums. It's as if she's within my hands.
However, there are various parts I'm curious about. She is aimed at by the current demon king. That's fine. What I'm curious about is that she couldn't possibly have continued evading her pursuers alone, and yet she safely became the demon king in the first world.
This girl, Eve Reese, is unbelievably strong, but she is only strong as a living being. Her perception ability is the same as an amateur’s, she's a novice at magic and she hasn't learnt martial arts either. She is at a high level, but unlike the sword saint Kureha, it's not like she has arrived at the limit of a grand struggle to the death. Unlike humans, demons are already at a certain level when they're born, so she's just coincidentally strong since birth.
Because she is part of the previous demon king's lineage, she has received the minimum amount of education, but this high-cla.s.s daughter was brought up like a princess full of happiness without having to earn a living, which seems to me that anyone could kill her as much as they want. Basically, there is no way she could have survived while being aimed at by professionals.
Since she had survived in the first world, there must have been an existence that appeared and saved her. In addition, regardless of being aimed at by the current demon king, that person was an elite guard that was able to keep her alive until the succession. In short, I am worrying whether that elite guard will become my enemy or not. That existence should also be someone she doesn't know either, because if she knew, she wouldn’t have made that reaction yesterday.
"Kearuga-sama, are you thinking?" (Setsuna)
Setsuna talks in an enthusiastic voice with a bit of uneasiness mixed in. It is early in the morning right now, so we were doing our daily morning routine.
"Sorry, it's a bit boorish to think about another woman while we're in the middle of our daily routine. I'll just think about you right now." (Kearuga)
At least while we are doing our daily routine, I'll only look at Setsuna. As expected, it's quite impolite. Once I started only thinking about Setsuna and did my best to love her, she became pleased.
"Kearuga-sama, Setsuna is very happy. Hold Setsuna tighter." (Setsuna)
"Yeah, I'll hold you tighter." (Kearuga)
Setsuna strongly embraces me. After a while, our daily routine finished, so with this, Setsuna has become stronger once again.
Setsuna crumbles down on the spot, breathes roughly, and then looks at me with bewitched eyes. I connect my lips with her. She entwines her tongue as if fawning on me. As always, she's a cute girl.
"Wha-, wha-, wha-, what are you guys doing so early in the morning!?" (Eve)
"It's just our daily routine, you don't need to make a fuss." (Kearuga)
Freya is still happily sleeping, but the demon king (temporary) girl, Eve, seems to be awake, looking at our morning routine while covering her red face with her fingers.
"I would make a fuss! Why would you do that kind of thing in front of me" (Eve)
"I told you that it's just our daily routine. This is the only room that had been cleaned, so we have no choice but to do it whether you're watching or not." (Kearuga)
Last night, we cleaned and cleared the rubble and garbage from this deserted house so that it can be livable, but one room was the limit. That being the case, we don't feel the necessity to make more than one room possible to live in.
We are being chased by pursuers, so we applied simple defensive barriers that erase our presence and sense intruders, but the strength and magic consumption increase the wider the area is. Just for privacy, we did spread the barrier to other rooms and lowered the strength, because I should not get exhausted. After all, Setsuna and I are the type to get more fired up if we are seen.
"I-, I don't understand. Are you planning on doing those kinds of things to me as well?" (Eve)
After saying that, Eve hugs her body tightly with both hands and backs away.
"There's no way I would do that to you. I don't like forcibly doing those kinds of things, and it's not like I desperately need women anyways." (Kearuga)
I embrace Setsuna, and she happily leans her weight on me. While I'm at it, I also ma.s.sage Freya's, who's sleeping, b.u.t.t; she is still blissfully sleeping soundly.
"If you're frustrated, I can violate you if you want. Do you want me to ravish you now?" (Kearuga)
"That help is unnecessary!" (Eve)
Fumu, I had thought she was interested in it since she is quite damp. It wouldn't be good to wreck her mood by teasing her too much.
"For the time being, let's have breakfast. Since we were driven out of the tavern in the middle of our meal yesterday, my stomach is a bit empty. Until then, you should properly finish thinking about what you want to do. … Setsuna, rouse Freya out of bed and start your morning training. I'll finish preparing breakfast while you're doing that." (Kearuga)
Eve should also have an empty stomach. Although she had vigorously scooped up the bear pot, we started getting attacked once she ate a mouthful; I pity her for only being able to eat a mouthful of that delicious bear pot. Last night, Eve's stomach was frequently growling, and it would have been fine to offer her a late-night snack, but I purposely ignored her for a certain reason.
"Okay. We won't go that far away, and if Setsuna senses even a slightly suspicious presence, we will immediately retreat and send a signal." (Setsuna)
"Please do so. You know it well don't you?" (Kearuga)
I stroke Setsuna's head, and when I do so, her wolf tail starts swinging. Putting on her clothes, she literally rouses Freya out of bed.
"Kyau!? Ouc-, what are you doing all of a sudden Setsuna-chan?" (Freya)
"You slept in late again today." (Setsuna)
"Hau!? I did it again. Even though I was planning to mix in with your daily routine today for sure." (Freya)
"Don't worry about the stamina you conserved from not mixing in with our daily routine. All of it will be spat out without any left over." (Setsuna)
"Hiii, oni, oni instructor, Kearuga-sama, save me, nooooooo" (Freya)
Setsuna grabs Freya by the neck and drags her outside. Although they say what they want, those two are quite close. Freya isn't self-conscious of it, but she is steadily growing stronger every day; Setsuna is a good teacher.
"In the end, are you a good person or a bad person?" (Eve)
While drinking the tea I made Eve talks to me. She has already taken off her robe that hides her wings, so her beautiful black wings are exposed. I can sense strong magical power and multiple souls from those wings. Each individual wing probably has a function of storing a tremendous amount of mana in addition to the mana in her body. I'm a bit envious, to the point where I want to experiment whether processing one or two feathers is possible. (TL Note: Doesn't specify whether they're wings or feathers, but I don't think he would take one or two wings…)
"I am a good person. I'm not boasting when I say this, but there's no one as good-natured as I am in this world." (Kearuga)
The Kearuga-sama who is filled with calmness, gentlemanliness and sense of justice is me. Since I'm this kind of person, Setsuna has become emotionally attached to me, and with Freya, although the chance was made from brainwas.h.i.+ng her, no matter what anyone says, her bonds have further deepened after her brainwas.h.i.+ng. It's without a doubt because of my personal virtue. Even the sword saint is dazed by me and frontally seduced me, so there's no way that kind of me is not a good person.
"I don't think there are any decent people among the people that say that while br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence." (Eve)
"People who say they are bad people while br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence are without a doubt, tras.h.i.+er. Words have power, so by continuously saying I'm a good person, I will become a good person, and by saying I'm a bad person, I will obviously become bad and take bad actions." (Kearuga)
That is one truth.
"Are you unexpectedly a quibbler?" (Eve)
"I do have that sort of tendency. Well anyways, leaving that aside, let's introduce ourselves, since I still haven't heard your name. I've already introduced myself, but I'll introduce myself again. I am Kearuga, the hero of healing." (Kearuga)
"…I'm Eve Reese from the kokuyoku race. A grandchild of the previous demon king and one demon king candidate." (Eve)
"Eve, that's a cute name which suits you well." (Kearuga)
Her appearance after taking off her robe was unmistakably beautiful. Around 15 or 16 years old, and her jet black hair suits her white skin. Her red pupils are charming, and her looks are well-featured as well.
"Well thanks for that." (Eve)
Eve is wary of me. It must be because we did our daily routine in front of her in the morning.
Well that's fine, I don't mind whatever choice she takes. It would be troubling if she died before becoming a demon king, but destroying her with brainwas.h.i.+ng and turning her into a puppet that listens to everything I say is pointless. What I want is the future, grown up Eve. A beautiful and n.o.ble demon king, who's not an obedient and convenient s.e.x sleeve like Freya. (TL Note: s.e.x sleeve isn't a mistake for s.e.x slave, and it actually exists.)
Even while thinking about that, I progress my preparations for breakfast. Since they would probably grow tired of bread if they have too much of it, today we are having noodles. I moderately mix wheat with water.
Once I pour that into soup, it turns into a fluffy and squishy white lump. It has a similar shape and mouth feel to a far eastern cuisine called wonton. By soaking it in the soup's flavor, it becomes very delicious. As for the soup, I put in plenty of the jerky I made from the dog type monster we hunted the other day. This monster has valuable adaptable genetics that can exceedingly raise my speed talent value. Normally, I wouldn't want to let non-party members eat talent value-raising food, but she is special.
"You're quite skilled at cooking." (Eve)
"When you're on a trip, it's fatal to not be able to cook for yourself. That's another one of your flaws as well. Deliciously making nutritious cooking is one of the greatest pastimes during a trip. … no, s.e.x is the greatest pastime so it's number two." (Kearuga)
"Seriously, why don't you have any delicacy!?" (Eve)
The correct way of lowering the wariness of girls like Eve is to take an honest att.i.tude and purposely anger her. Although I can't say it out loud, I understand the different types of people by from the countless number of memories that I got from people, so it's easy to make people open their hearts to me.
"If you choose to come with us, we will go on a trip together. You would be ill at ease if we were keeping secrets from you right? We would be mutually unhappy if we hide something before you make any a.s.sumptions which later lead to other complaints. I have decided that we will show you everything without keeping it a secret." (Kearuga)
"… You unexpectedly think about things." (Eve)
"Since you are an important comrade candidate. Well, it's about time Setsuna and Freya come back, so let's have breakfast." (Kearuga)
The barrier perceived Setsuna and Freya's intrusion. Well then, hopefully my breakfast suits their tastes.
"Kearuga-sama, today's soup is very delicious." (Setsuna)
"Yes, the squishy feeling I get from eating these noodles is interesting, and it is packed with flavor, so I cannot stop myself." (Freya)
It seems the soup is quite popular. Putting jerky meat into it makes a good soup stock, and I used the aforementioned corn miso as well. The wild plants I randomly threw in are also easy to eat because the bitter taste is cancelled out by the corn miso.
Above all, they are probably happy that I unusually made this noodle imitation breakfast since we had always continued eating bread. Setsuna and Freya ate up in the blink of an eye and even had seconds.
This noodle imitation that was moderately mixed and then poured is suited for trips because I can make plenty with a small amount. I look towards Eve. Tears were spilling out of her eyes.
"Was it unpleasant enough to make you cry?" (Kearuga)
Eve rubs her eyes in a panic and wipes her tears.
"No, I felt relief after such a long time, ate delicious food and felt really warm. I wonder why. My tears aren't stopping." (Eve)
It's understandable. For one week after her guard died, Eve, a sheltered girl who is ignorant of the ways of the world, wasn't able to sufficiently sleep or eat while being constantly surprised of her surroundings. She was vigorously scooping in the bear pot yesterday, but she was only able to eat one bite and she probably didn't have the room to savor it since everything looked suspicious to her.
Though it was an opponent that is on guard, she does actually have the achievement of risking her life and protecting herself, and at the present time she is being protected by me, who doesn't plan on hurting her, and is slowly tasting delicious food with a piece of mind, so it seems the thread of tension has been cut. To say the truth, this is also according to my plan. The sentimental argument and the wariness towards me were all broken before just one overwhelming reality.
That is, the charm of being able to safely eat delicious food. Artificial feeding is primitive, but it's the most successful method for starved prey. The only people who deny this method are the people that have never seriously starved before. Prey that had their stomach seized won't directly use that as a reason, but their survival instinct will forcibly work up a believable reason into their head.
By the time she had drunk this soup, the option of not going together with us was already gone. Right now, just as I had planned, she is probably thinking of a reason to come with us.
"Well that's great. There's seconds as well, so you can go ahead and eat as much as you want." (Kearuga)
"Thank you… delicious, it's really delicious." (Eve)
She is properly savoring it and enjoying her meal. If she's fine with this kind of fine, I'll let her eat it whenever she wants from now on. Around the time the pot became empty, I distributed dried cranberries to everyone. I picked them from the mountain and then dried them.
"Setsuna loves this." (Setsuna)
"Kearuga-sama, you always hand these sorts of things after our meal don't you." (Freya)
"It's for your health." (Kearuga)
It doesn't matter whether it's a fruit or anything, but we need to take in sour food after our meal wherever practicable. That was knowledge I got from using【Recovery Heal】on an adventurer. That's why whenever I see tree fruit, I always process it into preserved food and carry it around whenever possible.
"Sweet, it's been so long since I ate sweet things." (Eve)
It seems these also touched Eve's heartstrings. She is eating the dried cranberries really deliciously; it seems women and children always like sweet things no matter the era. She is eating and savouring them one by one, so I wait for Eve to finish eating. And then, the promised time had come.
"Eve, you promised to decide whether you would come with me after breakfast right? Let's put the conditions in order. What I'm suggesting, is for you to take action with us. I'll protect you from the pursuers. We are strong. I can promise you that we can have a safe trip until you become the demon king, and if you wish for it, I can even kill the current demon king for you. Once I do that, the few in number survivors of the kokuyoku race will also be saved." (Kearuga)
Eve intently stares straight into my eyes.
"That's a really attractive suggestion, but I can only return a little bit back to you." (Eve)
"You have various things to offer. First, your genuine excellence as fighting power. Although you are still lacking in technique, as a living being, you are strong. As long as you are my comrade, I won't allow you to live idly, and I'll have you use that fighting power for us." (Kearuga)
Eve swallows air. Eve was born with too much power, so if I seriously train this talent lump of a girl well, even I can't imagine how much of a monster she will become.
"Next. I want to kill the demon king, and I have already told you the reason for that. If I beat the a.s.sa.s.sins being sent to you at their own game, it's convenient because I can draw out information about the demon king, and your powerful fighting power will become an important card for killing the demon king." (Kearuga)
And this is also a part that relates to my policy. I want the【Philosopher's Stone】, which is also the demon king's heart, so badly enough to make hands come out of my throat. For that reason, I need to kill the demon king. (TL Note: 'Enough to make hands come out of my throat' is a j.a.panese a.n.a.logy that just means he wants it desperately, and I was going to cut it out, but the sentence kinda sounds incomplete without it, so I'll keep it for now.)
However, as a pledge to myself, I can't one-sidedly kill someone who didn't personally harm me. The moment they do, I will make the trashes that hara.s.sed me fall to the same place, since I am an ally of justice. If Eve is going to become my property (toy), the current demon king will become trash that is trying to steal my property (toy). In other words, he will become a target person for a fun, fun revenge. No matter who it is, I can't forgive anyone who steals from me. I will gleefully murder him, gouge out his heart and get the【Philosopher's Stone】. To kill the current demon king, it's also necessary to win Eve over and make her my comrade.
"Is that really all you want? For that kind of reason, you would risk your life to protect me?" (Eve)
"That's all. If I had to say, I said this before as well but, I want to stop the fight between the demons and the humans. If you become the demon king, you will become a demon king that will negotiate with the humans. If you can just bring in options that aren't just about fighting for the demon's profit into your field of vision, that's all I need." (Kearuga)
"Why do you want to stop the battle?" (Eve)
"It's because it's troublesome. They are killing each other for no reason, and by just killing each other, they mutually gain nothing right?" (Kearuga)
In the first place, the war against the demons started because the Dioral Kingdom tried to legally s.n.a.t.c.h away other countries' backing and support, so it disgusts me that humans and demons have to continue shedding blood for them. As someone with a strong sense of justice, I can't overlook meaningless tragedies continuously being born.
"You aren't aiming for my body right?" (Eve)
"How excessively self-conscious are you? You're just a young girl, did you think that I fell for you, so I would not only let my own life, but my important women… Setsuna and Freya to be exposed to danger just to protect you? Does your body have that worth? As expected of a demon king candidate. You have a terrific self-rating. Even I don't think about that of myself. I'm seriously surprised." (Kearuga)
Eve's face turns bright red and shakes. Even her hands she left on her lap are trembling and she is teary eyed. c.r.a.p, since she kind of hit the bull's-eye, I excessively reacted. I've done too much. She might become obstinate now. (TL Note: Not sure about the last sentence. へそを曲げられかねない)
"I understand. I will follow you! Since I'm coming along with you, I'll be helpful to you. After all, despite how I look, I am really strong. It's just that I'm a bit weak against surprise attacks, but if it's a frontal attack, I can basically handle people like those pursuers yesterday!" (Eve)
"The moment you say you can win against a.s.sa.s.sins and people who trade secret information in a frontal attack with a triumphant face, I've become seriously uneasy. I wonder if this is how you feel when you watch a young girl say she can win against a fish in a foot race on land with a triumphant face." (Kearuga)
Not good, I almost unconsciously want to tease her when I talk with Eve. I think Eve is emitting that kind of aura.
"Shut up! Shut up! Why would you say such mean things? Anyways, I look forward to working with you! Also, I'm not a young girl. I am a splendid adult!" (Eve) (TL Note: *sigh*, if she just said one more "shut up!" I could have made an anime reference…)
I smile bitterly. At any rate, I have control over the future demon king now. From now on, she should be able to make my life more interesting. For the time being, we will gather information from this town as I had originally planned; I'm also curious about the younger sister princess.
"Okay, okay. I'll apologize for calling you a young girl." (Kearuga)
"You don't really get it do you? Even I… if I put my mind to it, I can do those sorts of things too." (Eve)
For some reason, she suddenly started being obstinate. I don't understand why she would talk so fervently.
No, I understand from looking at Setsuna's face. Every time she says she's not a young girl, Setsuna was scornfully laughing at her. Looking at it from Setsuna, who is from a similar environment, Eve is a sheltered girl who lived comfortably, so I can understand why she would make that kind of reaction. And also, Setsuna has a large desire to monopolize. She doesn't mention her complaints out loud as my property (toy), but she always gets hurt every time I get involved with a new woman, and her dissatisfaction has been acc.u.mulating. Even so, seeing her endure and serve me is cute, so I actually look forward to bringing new women in front of Setsuna.
"Uuu, I'll prove it to you. Even I can do it." (Eve)
I understand one new weakness that Eve has. She is an extreme sore loser. From now on, it'll probably be better to correct myself a bit.
I will make her body understand what kind of consequences those words she unintentionally said will bring her.
"I see, so Eve is a splendid adult that can even do those sorts of things. In that case, I guess I'll have you prove yourself right here." (Kearuga)
See look, this is what you call a woman's advances. I'll happily reach my hand out to her.
TL Note: Found some more pictures.