“Um, please don’t be so disheartened. If Mr. Thrett doesn’t mind, I can give you the Hero’s Totem as a token of my gratitude for saving me. How does that sound?” The hero, once again misinterpreting Thrett’s actions, thought he looked downcast and wanted to console him.
“What?” Thrett was genuinely flabbergasted this time. He hadn’t managed to deceive the hero into giving up the sword, but he somehow ended up with the totem, leaving the Demon Lord completely astonished.
The hero continued to speak as he rolled up his sleeves, revealing the Hero’s Totems on his arms. Unfortunately, in the darkness, Thrett could only make out a bunch of ordinary red runes. Thrett wasn’t particularly interested in these symbols.
Nevertheless, it was better than nothing. If he had the Hero’s symbolic totems on him, taking them back to show the demons in the castle might have a shockingly entertaining effect, causing an entire row of soldiers to faint on the spot!
Thinking about the hilarious image, Thrett readily agreed, “I want it. Give me the Hero’s Totem.”
“Sure,” the hero nodded and reached out, lifting Thrett’s hand to bring their palm prints together. Their fingers interlocked firmly.
Not long after, Thrett started to feel a burning, stinging sensation that slowly climbed up his left palm and spread throughout his arm, moving towards his heart.
It seemed that the earlier playful exchange had gone too far. After all, the Hero’s existence was created to defeat the Demon King, and everything about the Hero could potentially harm the Demon King. Even though the power of this totem didn’t seem to have a significant effect on Thrett, it still made the Demon King uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, there was no turning back now. Since the totem was already etched onto his skin, he had to take it back and make that comical scene a reality. Later, he could figure out a way to remove it.
The Hero released his hand, indicating that the transfer was successful. Thrett then rolled up his sleeve to examine his left arm. Indeed, the Hero’s totem was now there, but it looked completely different from what he had seen earlier.
The fiery red symbols resembled the graceful curvature of feathers, beautifully etched onto his skin. The vivid crimson seemed to come to life, pulsating with each heartbeat, making it exceptionally bright and eye-catching in the dark night. Thrett couldn’t help but admire the brilliance of this blood-red totem.
“It wasn’t supposed to glow like this before, so it’s a bit different from the original… I’m really sorry,” the Hero said, looking at Thrett’s totem with a puzzled expression. He compared it to the dim totem on his right arm and apologized with a hint of guilt.
Thrett, momentarily mesmerized and lost for words, only came back to his senses upon hearing the Hero’s apology. He then replied, “No! I love this one, and it feels like I got more than I should. I even feel like I should give you something in return.”
“Really?!” the Hero exclaimed, leaning in closer to Thrett, eagerly inquiring.
“Um, sure, as long as it’s something I have,” Thrett replied, initially just making a casual offer. He didn’t expect the Hero to react so enthusiastically, but he honored his word.
“In that case, please share your name with me.”
“Share my name? I have no problem with that, but if you want a name… Ah, I get it now. No matter how you look at it, it’s so much better than that joking name, right?” Thrett responded, understanding the Hero’s request.
The Hero nodded in agreement.
“Is it okay if I take half of my name after sharing it?” Thrett asked.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Yes, I’ve thought your name sounded great from the very beginning,” the Hero complimented him candidly.
“Xgfja, atjcx sbe,” Ktgfaa rjlv, offilcu j yla abemtfv ys atf rlcmfgf mbwqilwfca. Lf gfjilhfv atja atlr Lfgb, vfrqlaf yflcu rbwfbcf tf mbeivc’a tfiq yea afjrf, jirb tjv j ufcelcf vfrlgf ab rff tlw tjqqs jcv cba vlrjqqblcafv.
“Mgbw cbk bc, P’ii yf ‘Ktgfaa Mscvglinji,’ jcv sbe—”
“Qlii yf ‘Siisjv,'” atf Lfgb olclrtfv klat j rwlif, atbeut la kjr vloolmeia ab rff lc atf vjgxcfrr.
Originally, they had planned to continue their conversation, but they heard voices in the distance calling for the hero. It seemed that more people wanted to kneel and worship the great hero.
“Are you not going?” Being surrounded by a crowd made it difficult to have a conversation, and after experiencing all the fun with the Demon King, having any more conversation didn’t seem that important anymore.
Ellyad looked at the crowd in the distance and shook his head slightly, saying, “I’m not the kind of great hero everyone thinks I am, and I don’t like constantly being surrounded by crowds. So, I plan to leave this town and go somewhere else.”
“If I were in your shoes, I’d find it quite annoying to be worshipped all day long,” Thrett nodded in understanding.
“Thrett, were you planning to leave just now?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Could I accompany you for the time being?”
“You want to travel with me?”
The demon king and the hero traveling together? This was already one of the many surprises Thrett had encountered today.
“Sure.”
“Of course, you’re welcome.” Thrett suddenly began to anticipate what the hero’s reaction would be when he discovered he was traveling with the demon king in the not-so-distant future.
Thrett waited at the forest’s entrance for Ellyad to return with his packed belongings. It didn’t take long before Ellyad, now dressed in earth-toned attire and carrying a simple bag, returned to the spot, his neck still adorned with the gray scarf. The oversized, nerdy glasses he wore earlier appeared to have been obliterated by Thrett’s lightning strike, leaving no trace behind. As a result, Ellyad’s entire face was now visible.
“Sorry for the wait,” he said.
“No problem, now that we’re both ready, let’s go,” Thrett replied.
Ellyad nodded. Although he wasn’t used to traveling with others, he found the contracted demon by his side quite easy to get along with, which put him at ease. Just as they had ventured into the forest for a short while, they suddenly heard a series of loud and violent explosions coming from behind them!
“It’s the town!” Ellyad exclaimed, turning around to see a horrifying scene. The entire town of Rolen was now engulfed in flames, with the center of the inferno being the small town itself.
Without a second thought, Ellyad rushed back towards the town, and Thrett followed closely, clicking his tongue in annoyance, as he had already sensed the presence of those demons from this location.
Ellyad arrived at the entrance to the town, only to find the whole place consumed by raging fires, making it impossible to get any closer. Hovering in the air around the blaze were several demons, clearly indicating that they were the culprits responsible for setting the town on fire.
“Ah, look at that, the hero isn’t inside?”
“Yeah, nothing like you said. He seems pretty weak.”
Ignoring their banter, one of the demons exclaimed, “So, how do you like it? This is the town you claimed to protect today, and it’s gone up in smoke in no time.”
The two demons who escaped earlier today had returned with other demons to attack the town, planning to eliminate the hero and wipe out the entire town as revenge against the humans for attacking the demonkind. However, they didn’t anticipate that the hero had left the town earlier, narrowly escaping their scheme.
“Ellyad, don’t rush in,” Thrett urged as he arrived behind Ellyad, witnessing the raging inferno that had consumed the town. The fire burned intensely, yet there were no cries of agony. It was apparent that the townsfolk had likely been turned into ashes.
Ellyad stood still, facing the roaring flames, with no impulse to charge in. He had no intention of attacking the demons either. He knew very well that it was too late for any action at this point.
“Don’t blame us for this! The reason we came back for revenge is because it was the command of His Majesty the Demon King,” one of the demons stated.
“Wait a minute, when did I say that!” Thrett cursed in his mind. While he enjoyed pranks and often deliberately allowed his own subjects to be treated as bait, he swore that he had never intended to assist the demonkind, nor had he ever contemplated issuing commands for them to attack any place. After all, he could easily handle such matters himself.
“The Demon King’s command?” Ellyad mused aloud, and Thrett contemplated explaining himself. However, he was concerned that the hero might not be in a state to listen to any reasoning at the moment. He could be so overwhelmed by emotions that he might not only attack those misguided demons but also turn against Thrett himself. Humans’ rationality was easily swayed by emotions, and Thrett was well aware of this. So, what he truly needed to do was make these demons disappear as quickly as possible.
“Leave,” Thrett commanded in the language of demons. All of the demons suddenly froze, their bodies stiff, their eyes widened, as they looked at the person in the black cloak on the ground.
Demon language was not communicated through sound but rather through the manipulation of magical energy. The spoken words held significant power, and they could make the spoken content a reality. However, these words were not audible to human ears.
“That’s…” the demon began to say, but his words were not heard by the bystanders.
“No way?” they exchanged unspoken expressions of surprise and confusion.
The identification of demons didn’t rely on their appearance or sound, but rather on the fluctuations and intensity of their magical power. Therefore, their instincts told them that the command, combined with the magical power they felt, was not to be disobeyed.
“Do you not understand?” Thrett questioned in the Demon language.
“It’s His Majesty!” one of the demons whispered, and immediately disappeared with a whoosh. The others, too, retreated several meters in disbelief.
“As you wish, vanish from my sight,” the words had barely left his mouth when the remaining demons followed suit, disappearing completely into thin air.
Ellyad’s gaze remained puzzled, staring at the empty space where the demons had been. He thought to himself that they probably felt they had taken their revenge and decided to withdraw, as demons, to some extent, were always wary of heroes. However, he couldn’t help but notice that their expressions seemed filled with fear as they fled.
Thrett, a bit anxious, approached Ellyad and asked, “Are you very angry now?”
“Maybe,” Ellyad replied with an indifferent tone, his gaze still fixed on the blazing fire.
“Would you want to defeat the Demon King?” Thrett asked. If the hero’s answer was yes, Thrett was ready to do everything in his power to stop him.
Ellyad’s unpredictable actions piqued Thrett’s curiosity. He truly didn’t want the hero to get eaten by those pets just because he wanted to kill the Demon King.
“I’m not a hero, and I don’t have the qualifications. Besides, this isn’t the Demon King’s fault,” Ellyad explained.
“Huh?” Thrett made a single-syllable sound of surprise. Given the current situation where it was the Demon King who ordered the demons to set fire and slaughter humans, it was strange to hear the hero say it wasn’t the Demon King’s fault.
“He gives those orders because he doesn’t understand,” Ellyad added.
“What doesn’t he understand?” Thrett inquired.
“The Demon King probably doesn’t understand the feeling of ‘preciousness’… to be able to order the killing of life so easily is because he doesn’t grasp the value of life, isn’t it?” Ellyad pondered.
“Maybe,” Thrett replied vaguely, but he didn’t really know if the demons had such emotions or not. How could they even discuss whether they understood or not?
“Do you really have no desire to kill the Demon King?”
Ellyad turned to face Thrett, and he said, “Not at all because even for a Demon King, there might still be people who would cry for the Demon King’s death.”
People crying for the death of the Demon King?
Thrett remained silent. Ellyad’s thoughts were indeed extraordinary and always beyond his expectations. Thrett chose not to ridicule these thoughts. He also wanted to see if such an existence would emerge within the Demon King’s infinite life.
If it did, would he, as the Demon King, be able to experience that sense of “preciousness”?
To feel that someone is precious, to risk everything to cherish them, would such a thing really happen to him?
“However, if the destruction is about to occur and I can prevent it, I will take action,” Ellyad added, feeling responsible for his role as a hero.
“Ellyad, would you like to go meet the Demon King and tell him what you just said, and ask him to control those demons properly?” Thrett suddenly suggested.
Interesting mindset you’ve got there bud.
Honestly their interactions are pretty cute, although I may not agree with their views.
Changing names? Couple material.
The fluff is enough to feed me for now, I wanna see more moral dilemmas!!
Exchanging totems and taking his last name? Is this a marriage? (￢‿￢ )
Thank you for the chapter ( •̀ ω •́ )✧