That's Why I Decided to Become a Miser (8)

“David... Why are you here?”

Kururu muttered with an expression that seemed to say, “Nothing’s changed.” But when David immediately looked at her seriously and said, “That should be my question,” she fell silent, looking a little abashed.

“I was sent here by the King to verify a report that Lady Kururu had abandoned her mission to defeat the Demon King and was staying in this city. Though I’ve already heard the reason from Rex-sama and Kagami-sama: you’re raising funds while retraining to defeat the Demon King.”

After hearing David’s explanation, Kururu looked at Kagami. Kagami silently signaled to her as if to say, “We’ll go with that story.”

“That’s right. Kagami-san has reached the heights of Level 999... I decided that if I spent my days under Kagami-san’s guidance, I would surely grow stronger than I am now. My goal hasn’t changed at all. Please tell my father that.”

Having understood what Kagami’s signal meant, Kururu said this, playing along with David’s explanation.

“I’ve also been entrusted with the task of confirming whether that’s true. I’m terribly sorry, but I’ll have to keep an eye on you for at least a month.”

“You...?”

At his words, Kururu looked thoroughly exasperated.

“I’ll come wake you every morning.”

“Please don’t.”

“Ho ho ho. I used to come wake you every morning, didn’t I?”

“That was when I was a child. It’s no reason to sneak into the bedroom of a woman who’ll be eighteen this year!”

“That makes no difference. I’m Kururu-sama’s servant, just as I’ve always been.”

Though they seemed to be arguing, the two wore warm, familiar smiles. Even an outsider could tell they had known each other for a long time, and Kagami watched them with a somewhat puzzled expression.

“What’s with that puzzled look, Master?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking those two seem pretty close.”

“Apparently, David-dono has served Kururu as her servant since the day she was born. He’s more than twice her age, but I think she considers him almost family.”

At Rex’s words, Kagami’s puzzled expression deepened.

“So what’s bothering you, Master?”

When Rex asked him to explain, Kagami silently rested a hand on his chin, looking troubled. Then he led Rex a little way away from the plaza.

“I don’t know what David’s trying to do.”

At those words, Rex gave him a baffled look.

“I don’t see it that way. He got a report and came to find out what was really going on, didn’t he?”

“No, think about it. Isn’t it strange that we’re being watched just because we’ve been staying here? And what is he supposed to watch for an entire month? To confirm that ‘we stayed in the city to train to defeat the Demon King and raise money,’ does he really need to keep tabs on us every minute? They never assigned a monitor to make sure we were traveling properly before.”

After hearing that explanation, Rex finally said, “I see,” and began to look puzzled, too. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed there had to be something going on.

There were two possible reasons for surveillance: to make sure someone was doing what they were supposed to, or to investigate them. Whether they were “staying in the city to gain levels and save money” could be confirmed with a weekly check-in. There was no need to watch them constantly.

It was also unclear why they’d sent David, who was close to Kururu. Why David, of all people? Why choose him, after all these years as her servant, to act as a monitor? If they intended to conduct a serious investigation, the person assigned to watch them should have been someone without personal ties to them.

So why had they sent someone who might let his personal feelings get in the way? That was what Kagami couldn’t understand.

“Maybe he just wanted to be by Kururu’s side?”

“Maybe... but somehow, I don’t think that’s it. Something about this feels fishy. Be careful, especially around Alice and Menou.”

Assuming David might have an ulterior motive, Kagami seriously named the two who were most likely to be its targets. Rex immediately understood what he meant, nodded with the same serious expression, and the two returned to the plaza.

The land once known as Tokyo was encircled by an enormous defensive wall that curved around it all the way to the coast. Inside stretched an endless cityscape. The buildings weren’t packed tightly together; instead, open tracts of land had been left for self-sufficiency, and the city spread toward the enormous castle at its center, with the buildings gradually converging on it.

A vast castle town without a single monster or demon in sight. At its center stood a fortress-like castle. Its walls loomed so high that approaching from the front seemed impossible, and the castle itself rose so tall it looked as if it might reach the sky. Anyone who wanted to defeat the king who lived there would have to fight through the many high-level soldiers with powerful Roles inside, climb the endless spiral staircase, and reach the throne room on the highest floor.

“Kururu, of all people... It’s hard to believe, but...”

Seated on the throne at the far end of that room, a man in his late forties murmured these words. His gentle eyes seemed to enfold those he looked at, and his dignified features put others at ease.

The ornate armor, clothes, and cape he wore lent him an imposing air of authority.

“But... it’s true. And sadly, that truth must be very different from the outcome you’re hoping for. You must decide quickly if you want to prevent that from happening.”

Kneeling before the throne, a woman with long, wavy purple hair lowered her face toward the floor and spoke.

“Don’t rush to judgment. I’m having that verified now.”

“There’s no need to verify it. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“...I didn’t know you were part of Kururu and Rex’s party. So I can’t simply take your word for it. Even so, you know far too much.”

“It’s only a matter of time. Even if you don’t believe me right away... it doesn’t change the truth.”

“Parna, was it? What kind of person is this Villager who’s managed to change the minds of Rex and Kururu, whom we had brainwashed into hating demons? And why weren’t you drawn to the person those two were drawn to? Did you think I’d reward you with wealth and status if you reported this to me?”

At his words, Parna—who’d kept her face lowered until then—shook her head in denial, wearing a derisive expression as if to say, “How ridiculous.”

“I don’t need wealth or status. That Villager was incomprehensible to me from beginning to end. Ask Ku-chan and Rex what they thought of him.”

“Then what is it you want?”

“A world without demons. That’s the reward I seek.”

At her words, the King looked puzzled as he stared at Parna’s horribly twisted, repulsive expression. A world without demons was the ideal world everyone in this world wished for. But it was only a wish.

The King sensed in Parna’s expression a dogged sense of purpose, almost like a mission, along with hatred. He sighed, wondering if he’d taken on a troublesome person.

The King, too, had a sense of duty to match, even if he lacked the hatred and obsession Parna carried. He would exterminate the demons and bring peace to humanity. To accomplish a feat no one had ever managed, he had chosen any number of means, sending out countless Heroes and, in the end, even his own daughter to assassinate the Demon King.

“If what you’re saying is true...”

He would have to act quickly. He couldn’t let the forces he’d painstakingly raised be taken from him without a fight. If they were taken, he would take them back. If their hearts were wavering, he would bring them back to his side. Unlike demons, they were human—and as the ruler of the Kingdom of Hexaldoria, Simon Hexaldoria, who held the King Role, had any number of ways to do so.

“Then, Your Majesty... I shall take my leave. I’m relieved to hear that you’ve already sent people to investigate.”

With that, Parna stood, turned on her heel, and left the throne room.

When Parna closed the throne room doors behind her, she sighed, her expression changing completely from the ugliness she’d shown moments earlier to one that was meek and faintly lonely.

As if she’d been playing that version of herself in the throne room so her resolve would not waver, she clenched her trembling hand tightly and—

“...Demons are beings that must be destroyed.”

With those words, Parna slowly descended the castle’s spiral staircase, one step at a time.