Chapter 49
‘……I can’t sleep.’
Lying in bed, Prea couldn’t seem to fall asleep.
Maybe it was because there had been so many shocking things today, but no matter how long she lay there, she couldn’t drift off to dreamland.
It was the first time Prea had ever suffered from insomnia; she was used to exhausting herself with an overly demanding schedule and then sleeping like a rock.
‘No…… Maybe I’m just reluctant to let the day end like this.’
Why did people stay awake instead of sleeping?
Probably because they weren’t satisfied with how their day had gone.
Prea, too, had wanted to show off a little more, especially since today was the Hero’s party’s first expedition.
She’d hoped to distinguish herself by reciting prayers to grant buffs, healing injuries with holy power, or weakening monsters and demons…… Things like that.
But all Prea had done today was harm the Hero she liked, faint at the sight of Yubel’s striptease, and get carried to the inn.
‘No, isn’t “striptease” a little strange……?’
Thinking about it, something was a little twisted about the Hero’s party right now.
A Hero carrying an obscene curse who needed to receive blessings.
Yubel, who periodically showed pure obsession and jealousy.
And Riella, whose body was the most mature while her mental age was the youngest of all.
‘As the only normal person here, I have to do something about this party…….’
Prea was somehow filled with a sense of duty.
Just then, she heard a rustling sound beside her.
“Preeeaaa, can’t you sleep either?”
“Hm? Yes…… I suppose not……”
“Really? Then wanna go hang out in the next room?”
The next room?
Go hang out there?
In the middle of the night?
“……Lord Se-on and Lady Yubel might be asleep.”
Prea was briefly tempted, but she suppressed her curiosity and declined, thinking it wouldn’t be polite.
She had been trained to restrain herself as a Saint, so she didn’t particularly regret it.
She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to sleep.
Then she felt a warm touch as someone took her hand.
The hand began shaking Prea’s vigorously.
It was Riella’s attempt to wake her up.
Just as Prea was about to lift her other hand to stop her,
“Aw, don’t be like that! You look like you’d be disappointed if you went to sleep like this, too. Don’t you think something a little special should happen?”
“H-How did you know……?”
That sharp insight saw right through Prea.
It left Prea quite flustered.
It stung all the more coming from Riella, who had seemed so carefree.
Riella seemed to notice, too, and gave Prea an innocent smile.
‘Come to think of it, there’s a lot I don’t know about Lady Riella…….’
Prea found herself wanting to learn more about Riella, the Hero’s party’s archer.
“U-Um……! M-May I ask why you joined the Hero’s party?”
“Ehh? Why are you asking me that all of a sudden……? Hmm……”
Riella closed her eyes and thought hard.
Then she smiled brightly at Prea and answered.
“I forgot!”
“What!? B-But shouldn’t you remember something like that……?”
“Huh? Why?”
Why?
If she had to explain why……
“I-I mean, don’t people need a purpose in life……?”
A purpose.
People lived to achieve something they wished for.
At least, that was what Prea thought.
After all, her own reason for joining the Hero’s party was, in truth, that she wanted to become close to the Hero.
“Is that so? I don’t really know…… But I’d rather just stay in the Hero’s party than have some kind of purpose! I like going around with Yubel and Se-on! And I like you, too, Prea! Isn’t that enough?”
“I-Is that so…….”
Doing something because you liked it……
Was that really enough?
As the eldest sister at the orphanage and a Saint of the Holy Nation, simply doing something because she liked it, without a thought, was beyond the scope of Prea’s thinking.
That was why Riella’s answer felt so refreshing.
And…… Riella looked so happy.
Unlike herself, tainted by the world and full of suspicion.
‘Maybe I should follow my feelings, too…….’
Just as she had the first time she said she wanted to join the Hero’s party.
In that moment, she had felt completely free.
Prea wanted to feel that way again.
“So, are you going to the next room or not? We can’t let Yubel have Se-on all to herself! I wanna hang out with them, too!”
“Ahaha…… Yes, let’s go see.”
To be honest, Prea wanted to lie down beside Se-on.
So she agreed with Riella partly out of desire and partly out of curiosity.
In any case, Prea and Riella got out of bed and stepped outside their room.
***
I’d heard that people fell into two categories when faced with an unexpected situation.
The first type stayed calm, made quick decisions, and solved the problem.
The sort of person people called good under pressure.
The second type, on the other hand, went blank, as if a fog had rolled into their brain, and couldn’t even manage to act properly.
Unfortunately, people like that were doomed whenever they faced an unexpected situation.
And today, I realized which type I was.
I was clearly the latter.
“Uh, I, um……”
I couldn’t get the words out.
I wanted to try talking, but no human language would come out.
For a moment, I worried I’d developed aphasia or something.
“Ah……”
No, at this point, I’d rather have aphasia.
That was how completely I couldn’t think of any way to get out of this mess.
“Sniff, hic, sob……”
Yubel was beneath me, covering her eyes and sobbing.
Clear tears streamed down Yubel’s cheeks.
Normally, I’d want to kill whoever had made her cry, but this time, that person was me.
I had made Yubel cry.
That fact stabbed sharply into my chest.
“I’m sorry……”
If Yubel, who was usually so bold and spirited, was crying like that, I couldn’t even imagine how deeply this had hurt her.
‘Anyone would react that way if they woke up to someone naked on top of them…….’
Even if I hadn’t meant to do it, this was the result.
Now that there was a victim, no excuse could absolve me.
So, in my heart, I begged Yubel for forgiveness.
I was sorry that I always messed things up when all I wanted was to make her happy.
I was sorry that all I seemed to do was leave her with scars.
I apologized from the depths of my heart.
But then……
“Hic, k-k-k-kh……”
“……Huh?”
Yubel’s shoulders began to shake, and her body started trembling.
Meanwhile, I sat up and moved away from her.
‘What’s going on?’
At first, I thought Yubel was simply that upset, but……
Something about it seemed strange.
The corners of her mouth kept lifting between the fingers covering her face.
“K-k-k-kh……! How, how delightful……! How could you be fooled so completely? K-k-kh! You fell for it so easily! K-k-kh……”
“……”
Blank.
All I could do was stare at Yubel—or rather, the demon—as she burst into laughter.
After experiencing what felt like having my soul sucked out, I couldn’t manage to retort.
Before long, the urge to kill began to rise within me.
‘I’m going to kill you.’
I felt like I could even give up my life just to kill that bastard.
“Whew, hehehe……. Haa…… Were you surprised? How was that? I fooled you completely this time, didn’t I? The look on your face while I sat there crying so quietly…… K-k-kh! It was like tasting the finest dessert. Hehe.”
Crack.
“Shut up, demon. What do you want this time?”
“Hm? Are you angry? Hehe, what a sensitive fellow you are, for a Hero. Our Yubel must have such a hard time with you.”
“If you have nothing to say, get out. I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”
“Whew, what a shame. I came out to give you some advice…… Or rather, to warn you.”
“……A warning?”
The word ‘warning’ made my mind start working again.
Had she somehow noticed we were going to look for the holy sword?
No, that couldn’t be.
I’d only just managed to hide that from Yubel, so there was no way the demon had heard about it.
‘Then what exactly is she warning me about?’
I stared into her red eyes and waited for the demon’s answer.
Then the demon opened her mouth.
“You’d be wise to be wary of the human kingdom, Hero.”
The human kingdom.
It could mean any kingdom inhabited by humans, but there was only one kingdom people called that.
“……Are you telling me not to trust Tiranis?”
“Hehe. Yes, surely you’ve felt something was off, too. Were you not a little puzzled by how readily you agreed to defeat the Demon King after being summoned to this world? You may be indecisive, but you’re not naive.”
“……”
That was true.
I had thought it was strange.
I wasn’t the sort of righteous person who would step forward for complete strangers, nor was I brave enough to challenge some great evil.
I was just an ordinary university student you could find anywhere.
That was who I, Baek Se-on, was.
‘And is it really true that I’ll go home if I kill the Demon King?’
I’d started wondering about that after I lost consciousness for a while after meeting the Black Knight and then woke up.
From that point on, I felt as if I’d escaped the restraints that had been choking me, and my hazy memories had grown clearer.
And those memories were returning in real time.
I soon realized that I’d been attending my parents’ funeral before I was summoned here.
So, from the moment I noticed the gaps in my memories, I began to be wary of Tiranis.
That was where it all began—where I stopped being myself.
But it wasn’t just the kingdom I was wary of.
Why should I take the demon’s word for it and turn against the kingdom?
Maybe she was just trying to tease me again.
“How am I supposed to believe that? I’m not foolish enough to take a demon’s word at face value—”
“I swear upon my sin.”
“!!!”
My eyes widened before I knew it.
An oath upon one’s sin.
It was the most solemn oath a demon could make.
Prea had told me that if they broke it, they would gradually lose not only their power and authority, but even the very concept that allowed them to maintain their demonic form.
Fwoooosh—!
Then the demon traced a complex magical array in the air and continued her oath.
I could just barely make out the letters in the center of the magic circle.
«Lust»
‘Lust, huh.’
Thanks to that, I learned what sin the demon embodied.
Lust devoted solely to her own pleasure. It certainly suited a femme fatale like her.
“Why go this far……?”
“Hehe, someone is trying to interfere with my amusement, and I find it unpleasant. So don’t be so hostile toward me.”
That was probably true, too.
As long as the magic circle was active, the demon could only tell the truth.
That was the weight of an oath.
“Hm. It’d be a shame to leave just like this, so I’ll give you a piece of information that might help you.”
“……Information?”
“Yes, some very valuable information. I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Valuable information I’d like, huh?
If a high-ranking demon who embodied one of the sins was making such a confident claim, it must really be important information.
I felt a little tense.
The demon studied my face, then slowly began to speak.
I held my breath and listened closely.
Now that she couldn’t lie, I intended to memorize every word.
‘Could this be the truth about this world?’
With that hope, I focused all my attention on her words.
Then the demon whispered to me.
“Yubel is a virgin.”
“Mm, that’s a relief……”
“……”
“……”
What?
“Oh? You don’t believe me? Surely you know what a virgin is? A virgin is someone who has never had any experience with a man—”
“No, no! What kind of bullshit is that all of a sudden!?”
At the sudden revelation that she was a virgin, I waved my hands and backed away.
Yubel was a virgin?
Yubel, who’d been made to do those things by her family since she was little, and who’d been captured by orcs while adventuring?
A flood of questions with no answers welled up inside me.
“Is it really so hard for you to believe Yubel is a virgin? I thought you’d be pleased.”
“No…… I mean, of course I’m pleased, but…… No, why are you bringing this up out of nowhere—”
“Sigh……. Since you still don’t believe me after I swore an oath, I’ll just have to show you myself.”
Show me?
How?
As she spoke, the demon spread her legs into an M-shape and exposed her private parts to me……
“Aaaahhhhh!!!! W-Wait a second!!”
“Come now, look over here. There isn’t much time, and Yubel will wake up soon—”
Bang!
“Hey, guys! We came to hang out…… Huh?”
“Lady Riella, why aren’t you going in…… Ah.”
“……”
My eyes met those of the people who’d suddenly entered the room.
Prea and Riella, my close companions who shared my meals.
And at the end of their gaze were Yubel and me.
The two of us, completely naked.
What’s more, look at the situation we were in.
This damn demon was posing like that to show me whether Yubel was a virgin, wasn’t she?
Cold sweat ran down my back.
But I couldn’t blame the demon.
The terms of our contest forbade me from speaking about her existence.
“Ah! Huh? Why am I naked……?”
“Uh, huh?”
Then I heard Yubel’s voice, a little different from the demon’s.
Yubel, who had been bowing her head in that M-shaped pose, began to take in the situation.
“Yubel’s awake!”
“Lord Se-on, did you do something to Lady Yubel while she was sleeping……?”
“W-What’s going on here, Hero!?”
The situation had become hopeless.
My brain froze for a moment.
Social death was…… right at my doorstep!
“No, it’s, um, not like that…… I was just talking about her being a virgin……”
“Huh? V-Virgin? Does the Hero like virgins?”
No, what?
“……Oh! So Se-on was trying to check if Yubel was a virgin? That sounds fun! I wanna check, too!”
“L-Lord Se-on…… How could you…….”
Curious gazes, sparkling gazes, even gazes full of contempt.
All sorts of eyes focused on me.
‘Why does this always happen to me……?’
Every time I tried to explain, the misunderstanding only grew.
My head throbbed at this hopeless situation.
***
The Dwarven Kingdom, Baelogia.
It was currently going through an unprecedented decline.
The sharp blizzards that had continued for the past few months had left Baelogia’s furnaces unable to function properly.
And now, in the center of Baelogia, which had been reduced to ruins, the Demon King statues were currently sliding down from the snowy mountains.
The statues Glayeas had thrown outside as failures because they couldn’t capture all of the Demon King’s charm.
“Chief! You mean the one in this statue is……!”
“That’s right. They’re probably the one responsible for causing this ice age.”
How dare she scatter statues of herself and deceive them!
That only made the dwarves’ hearts burn hotter.
With the determination to smash the horned woman in this statue to pieces.
“I’ll make her regret this.”
Until she was sobbing and screaming that she’d rather die.