“A festival, you say?”
“Yep, apparently the villagers are holding a festival to celebrate the good harvest. The villagers I ran into on my way here told me the direction of your mansion and so many great things about you.”
Kazan watched the strange conversation between his fellow crow demon and his mortal enemy with an open-mouthed expression.
‘How do those two know each other? Why are they not pouncing on each other’s throats? Why in the world are they talking like they are old friends?’
Kazan had to admit, he knew next to nothing about his kin demon.
“Really? What exactly did they tell you?”
“They told me that you lowered the taxes drastically to the point that many of them can finally taste the fruit of their labors… that you know the villagers on first name basis and one child even told me how you healed his father when he thought that his father would die.”
‘Oh, right. There was that time. Morphus and I were experimenting with usage of his power and we happened to come across a villager whose soul was almost completely detached from his body. So, as someone who could see the soul, I was able to touch it, grab a hold of it, and then put it back into the poor fellow’s body. He was lucky his soul did not completely detach from his body, otherwise, he would have been left there waiting for the Reaper in case he held on some kind of attachment to this world. But I can’t tell him that…’
“I was just passing by, it is nothing worth mentioning.”
“You are humbling yourself, my friend.”
From the corner of his eye, Runfar could tell that a couple of curious maids were watching the scene unfold, so he had to be careful with his words.
“So, Leon, you want me to…”
“Oh, yes, about that… would you like to come to the festival with me?”
“What?”
“I would like to ask you to accompany me to the festival, would that be alright?”
“Well, I…I…But as the Knight of Light, don’t you have duties to take care of as a hero? Do you really have time to be doing this?”
“Even heroes need a break, Runfar.”
“But…”
“I am well aware that the barrier has been destroyed. As soon as I went back to the Holy Order, I was sent on a mission to take care of the undead plague that seems to be infecting more and more innocents every day, so many zombies I had to destroy. So many innocent lives I couldn’t save…And then, as soon as I return to the Holy Order, I get told that the barrier is no more and that the demons might already be walking among us…Even if it was one day, I needed time to clear my head, and it happened to be my off day.”
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“So instead of resting, you chose to come to my place, why?”
“I don’t have anyone else I can call a friend, Runfar.”
“It seems you had a very rough time, Leon, in that case, I would gladly accompany you to the festival.”
‘Demons already are walking among us’ Runfar resisted the urge to say it out loud.
‘In fact, Arin Draco, the Demon King, is currently clinging to my arm, she does not seem to have any intention of letting go…Well, it’s her own damn fault for coming here in the first place…’
In the previous loops, he did not communicate with Leon by letters nor did he have the heroes attacked by Shadow Lords, which was why the events that were happening now were drastically different from what occurred in previous loops.
This time, the Knight of Light came to him, but due to not ending up encountering heroes on their way, the Demon King came to him as well.
“Thank you, Runfar! We will have a great time together!”
Leon ended up grabbing Runfar’s right hand, and he noticed by touch just how bony the hand was underneath the glove.
“Right…But you see, before you came, I already heard of the festival and made plans for it. In fact, this girl, Rin, is my date for the festival.”
“Eh?” Arin ended up exclaiming.
“What!?” Kazan’s voice boomed.
“A date?” Leon’s head tilted a little in question.
“That’s right, she is my date, so I will be taking her with me to the festival. After all, I did promise her.”
‘Dark Lord, what are you doing?’ Kazan’s eyes seemed to scream.
‘Play along, Kazan; it is no picnic for me either’
Runfar’s eye shot a threatening glance at Kazan’s direction.
Runfar was hoping that by seeing that Runfar already had a date, Leon would be discouraged and would go away.
But unfortunately, Leon came to an entirely different conclusion.
“Sounds fine by me.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, the more the merrier, right? And if you are worried about it being awkward, don’t worry, I wouldn’t disturb you two lovebirds~”
“Lovebirds?” Arin’s expression was completely red, it was obvious the complex emotions she was feeling right now was too overwhelming, sending her brain into an over-drive mode.
On one hand she was absolutely terrified of Knight of Light, the one hero who almost killed her and because of whom she was imprisoned and almost executed, but on the other, to be referred as Dark Lord’s lover….it was too much to take in at once.
“That aside, can I borrow some clothing? I am sorry, but this outfit will catch too much attention. And I would rather not be recognized, you understand.”
Walking in armor during the festival sure was a no-no.
Plus, Knight of Light was a big name, if he is seen as he is now, he would be easily recognized, and then he could say goodbye to his off day.
“Of course, you can ask the maids, they can find clothing that will suit you.”
“Really? Thanks, Runfar.”
Leon ended up exiting the room, asking the maid who was watching them the entire time, about spare clothing.
Now that the blonde haired Knight of Light was out of hearing range, Arin, still trembling from fright, asked.
“D…D…Dark Lord, w-w-what… is going on?”
Her orange eyes that matched well with her crimson, blood-colored hair were full of fright. She seemed to be on the verge of tears, knowing that she may have made a disastrous choice coming to Dark Lord’s place on this particular day.
“It is very complicated. But for now…”
Dark Lord grabbed Arin’s hand.
“You are Rin, Runfar Sevilles’s date for the festival, am I clear?”
“Uhm, yes. I understand.”
Arin gulped.
He was not her subordinate; in fact, he may be the only demon who did not view her as his ruler.
But his fearless confidence was something she admired.
It was only her second time meeting him, but she was sure she assessed his personality rather accurately.
A strong-willed demon that walks forward without fear; that was the nature of Dark Lord, as far as Arin knew.
‘If someone like him was truly on our side, demon-kind would be saved….He possesses charisma befitting of a king…Unlike me…a king who keeps failing every time she tries…’
Just thinking of her inability to help demon-kind made Arin shed a few tears that fell on the ground.
Without anyone noticing, she wiped her tears away.