286. A lot of talk and a lot of trouble (5)
“Kreuk-.”
The hand that instinctively goes up grabs the arm that pierced me. But that was all.
Before long, the spark of life goes out and the hand that was holding my arm falls down helplessly. As usual, the Demon King calmly withdrew his hand, noticed the large amount of blood on his hand, frowned, and took out a handkerchief from his pocket.
“…I thought it would fall off at some point since it was attached to a sleeve, but I never thought it would fall off so quickly.”
That too, of course, today.
…No, in some ways I should say that it is a good thing that I am away today.
He threw the handkerchief that had been cleaned of blood next to the body and took out the communication table.
– Yes, Demon King. What’s going on?
“There will be a body in area D on the first floor.”
– …yes?!
“I did that, so don’t make a fuss and come clean it up. And bite all the demons on the shortest route from this area to the central garden. If you come across them on the way, I will kill them all.”
A perplexing voice was heard from beyond the communication table, but the Demon King hung up without listening any further.
If you don’t want to get rid of the body, you’ll take care of it yourself. Even if there are demons who cannot leave because work is delayed, it doesn’t matter because they can be killed. The main forces are in the banquet hall, and any demons they encounter will only be users.
It’s not an irreplaceable force, so it’s no problem to kill that much. Thinking nothing of his cruel but cold thoughts, he began to walk again, where he had stopped for a moment.
The cufflinks, which had broken from the impact of falling and were unable to perform their function properly, were hit by my steps and bounced awkwardly.
***
And just as he had predicted, the Demon King went to the central garden, killing all the demons he encountered.
The smell of blood permeated the space filled with the flowers of the human world. The flowers that had been filled for Deonhardt’s mental health gave off a scent as gorgeous as their appearance, as if they would not wither, but it seemed not enough to drive out the smell of blood, and the greenhouse was instantly filled with the smell of blood.
As if he had a purpose, the Demon King walked with an expressionless face without even looking around and stood in front of a large decorative stone.
As soon as I placed my hand on it, my vision changed.
In the distance, you can see the leader of the dwarves rushing to a visitation signal out of nowhere.
The Demon King kindly stood still and waited for him to come closer, and when the distance got closer, he took out the magic stone he had in his arms and threw it at him.
Suddenly, a question appeared on the face of the dwarf leader who accepted it.
“I want you to use it to make a tool to hide magical power.”
“…what?”
“ASAP.”
He suddenly came to me and said something…
He even openly smelled of blood. No matter how strong they are and how good our technology is, it’s still like that! The dwarf leader’s face was distorted by the other person’s shameless and rude behavior.
“I don’t want to…”
“You said you didn’t have enough money because you sold the weapons for less than the right price.”
The reason they are selling it for less than the full price is because of the last conference hall intrusion incident.
“I know that dwarves spend most of their money on buying magic stones…” “
…Is this a threat? They are definitely trying to stop the distribution…!”
“Huh? That can’t be possible.”
Why bother when there is a better way? The Demon King grinned.
Since you said you can’t find enough magic stones to satisfy your needs, you’re probably quite thirsty for magic stones.
“I’ll give you two boxes of high-quality magic stones. So, what do you think I’ll make for you…”
“Let’s start right now.”
…I have more than enough to spare.
Immediately the dwarf leader raised his hammer. He started asking questions actively, as if he couldn’t even see the Demon King’s puzzled expression.
“You said it’s a tool to hide your magical power, so it should be something you always carry on your person, right? Some kind of accessory would be good. What do you want? A ring? A necklace? A bracelet? Or… a brooch?”
“….”
“Why isn’t there an answer? Come on, tell me!”
The Demon King looked at him for a moment and burst into laughter.
“I’ll make a sturdy necklace. How long will it take to complete?”
“Well… if you help, it can be done in one day…”
“1 hour.”
“…what?”
“I will actively help you, so I want you to complete it within an hour.”
“Are you crazy?”
Even if you do it, it’s too much. The dwarven leader put down his hammer.
“I wonder if your conscience is okay! That’s realistically impossible…”
“One more box of magic stones.”
“…I won’t! I asked because my conscience seemed so healthy! Isn’t it normal for a demon lord to be a bit rotten!”
Let’s get started right now!
The dwarf leader walks to a nearby work board and puts down the magic stone he received, then taps the board as if asking what he is doing. The Demon King burst out laughing again and took a step forward.
“But why do you need a tool to hide your magical power? You’ve never hidden it even once before.”
“Well… I have something worth doing.”
I wonder if the combination of my usual habit of wasting magical power, saving Deon Hart, and the recent monster hunting had resulted in the current result.
It’s uncomfortable, but I don’t regret it right now. The reason I poured all the magical power I needed to save into hunting monsters in the first place was because I felt that there was not much time left. If you end up having to wait for the next hero beyond this one, you will regret it then.
‘I risked everything on this hero.’
The dwarf, who was busy preparing various things, looked in this direction as if he had something to do. The Demon King smiled and approached him.
“Would you mind pouring magic power into this? It will take a long time for me to process it and I will need to use a lot of magic stones.”
“okay.”
“Just in case you don’t know, I’m telling you in advance that you are helping me with this. I will work very hard for you, so don’t complain later.”
“If only that would shorten the time.”
***
The dwarf leader really got the job done on time.
The Demon King took a necklace with a simple design and slowly examined it. It was noticeable that the magic stone embedded in the center showed off its presence with a strange light.
The dwarf leader, who had been lying down as if exhausted, raised his head.
“Do you like it?”
“Well… performance is important in the first place, not design. I like that it’s sturdy.”
“It’s unlikely that the string will break. But don’t pull that hard!”
The Demon King, who was pulling the necklace string to make it taut, laughed and hung it around his neck. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt a little, put the magic stone inside, and fastened it again, creating his original outfit with no visible necklace at all.
At least it won’t get caught somewhere and break. He pressed the area where the necklace was on his clothes and looked back at the dwarf leader.
“Thank you for your hard work. I’ll make sure to send you three boxes of magic stones.”
“Okay. Are we going back now?”
“That’s right.”
An hour has already passed. The Demon King checked the time and straightened his disheveled clothes.
The Dwarf leader, who had been quietly watching him, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Now that I think about it, is that person well at that time?”
“….”
Suddenly, the Demon King’s hand stopped.
In the sudden silence, he looks back at the dwarf leader. His eyes took on an unreadable light, and he stared as if he could pierce the other person.
“That question is a bit surprising.”
“….”
“I don’t think you were interested in ‘humans’.”
The Demon King, who had moved his stopped hand again and finished arranging his clothes, tilted his head crookedly. Contrary to the atmosphere, a gentle voice came out quietly.
“Has the Dwarven leader seen the past?”
“….”
“What did you see that makes you interested in mere humans?”
Oh, don’t be nervous. This is purely out of curiosity.
Only then did the Dwarf leader, whose expression had hardened, slowly move his lips.
“I broke down several times, collapsed from exhaustion, and tried to die from exhaustion.”
“….”
“I saw a wonderful soul who eventually got up and kept moving forward.”
And then our eyes met with Yeok-an, whose mind could not be read. The dwarf leader, who had glimpsed the past of the Demon King through a human, raised the corners of his mouth and smiled proudly.
“You really are trash.”
“Fuha.”
The Demon King burst out laughing. He was giggling as if he had heard something funny and said while pretending to wipe away tears.
“That’s a new thing to say.”
When have I ever not been trash?
“….”
“Anyway, I’ll just leave. You don’t have to see me off.”
Somehow I feel like I have to go back quickly. I had a feeling that some kind of accident was going to happen.
The Demon King immediately turned around and returned to his own territory.
“…under.”
It wasn’t long before I was able to see with my own eyes that my intuition was excellent.
“What is happening now?”
After looking around the banquet hall, where the atmosphere was in disarray, my eyes immediately turned to Deon. There was blood on the corner of his mouth that could not be wiped away.
***
It is said that the Demon King wore a tool to hide his magical power…
Even if that were not the case, there is one thing that comes to mind. Pushing away the image of fancy cufflinks that filled his mind, Deon tapped the terrace railing.
“…Since when?”
“Hmm… I don’t know the exact day, but it must have been shortly after Deon went to the human world.”
“okay?”
Slowly, the words of the Demon King, who said he lacks magical power, come to mind.
Does that mean it wasn’t a lie? Deon, who was lost in thought while playing with his mouth, slowly asked a question.
“Has the Demon King hidden his magic before?”
“No, at least not once in my memory.”
“…I guess it’s true.”
Looks like it wasn’t a lie.
“So I guess they hid it even at the risk of being suspected.”
Otherwise, there is no reason to hide your magical power. The damage is too great to do it just to cause confusion here.
Lirinel made a puzzled expression at the self-talk that came out inadvertently.
“?”
“It’s nothing. I just need some time to think. Can you leave me alone for a moment?”
“Oh yes! Get some rest!”
Lirinel, who was tilting her head, hurriedly left the terrace. Deon, who was left alone, leaned his arm on the railing and was lost in thought. Fingers tapping on the railing made crashing sounds at regular intervals.
Where should I start thinking?
‘…the basis for the belief that the Demon King has a small amount of magic power.’
Since he suddenly hid his magical powers, there was no way other demons wouldn’t have questions. Some cunning military commanders will start to get suspicious. It makes no sense that the Demon King does not know this.
If the amount of magic power was the same as before, I wouldn’t have hidden it in the first place rather than being suspected…
because it’s not the same as before.
So it must have been hidden. It was better to hide the small amount of magic power even if it raised suspicion than to be discovered, so it was probably done to prevent the demons from reaching out.
The Demon King does not exercise absolute control over the Demons. Deon had already gained some confidence in this through several demons nearby.
‘The Demon King is overwhelmingly strong and is the source of the ‘Demons’, so they praise, respect and follow him. The Demons can turn their backs on the Demon King if they want to.’
So, if it becomes known that the demon king’s magical power is low in the demon world where the ideology of the law of the jungle is strong, something quite interesting will happen. It would be quite annoying for the Demon King.
Although the amount of magical power is not an absolute measure that determines everything about military power, the Demon King was famous for his overwhelming magical power more than anyone else. If that person’s magical power decreases, anyone will subconsciously think, ‘Wouldn’t it be worth a try?’
‘…If the amount of magical power is discovered, things will be quite interesting.’
Should I just rip off my cufflinks when the time comes?
