Chapter 49
Just the two of us
(Demon King’s P.O.V)
Like a leaf blowing in the wind, I found myself on an aimless journey. I’m not sure how long I’ve been doing this, at some point on this journey my conscious begin to fade away, causing the scenery and time to blend together, transforming everything into a white background. With no destination in mind, I continue on like this until I suddenly found myself caught in the middle of a fierce blizzard.
The freezing wind pierces my skin, and blows away the haze that filled my mind. Now fully awake, I push through the blizzard with a newfound resolve, to find shelter from this snow storm.
While pressing forward, I strain my eyes to see what appeared to be a village. Overjoy with my discovery, I ran straight towards it, only to immediately stop myself after remembering all the other incidents that started with me trying to enter a town.
I usually get attack or chase away before I can even get close to a settlement, because of my terrifying appearance, and seeing how judgmental humans is, I really doubt this time is going to be much different, but…
I look behind me to see nothing but snow.
Thanks to this immortal body of mine, it’s impossible for me to freeze to death. So I can easily sleep outside if want to, the problem is I don’t want to. Even though my body is immortal, I can still feel pain and discomfort. And trust me, constantly being pounded by icy wind is extremely uncomfortable, especially when the only thing you’re wearing is a simple white cloth that only protects your legs.
“Fuck it.” Quietly cursing to myself, I press on towards the village with the resolve that no one is going to stop me from warming my freezing body. As I got closer to the village, I notice a man lying face down in the snow right in front of the village’s entrance. I run towards the man hoping that the villagers would allow me in if I help him, but that plan quickly fell on its head before it could even begin.
The man was dead. his body was frozen solid which means he probably been dead for some time now. Seeing how he wasn’t missing any limbs or didn’t have blood on him, I doubt anybody killed him. Which means he must’ve simply froze to death, but that doesn’t make sense either since there’s plenty of houses he could’ve went in and warm up. Well whatever happen to him, I really don’t care, I just hope no one blames me for his death.
Not bothering to investigate further, I walk into the village, leaving the man to rot in the snow.
It was eerily quiet. The only thing I could hear was the wind blowing in my ears. I figure no one would be outside chatting in this storm, but I should at the very least hear some sort of noise coming from the houses, like kids laughing, or screaming that there’s a 6ft half-naked man with horns standing outside in the snow.
I peered through one of the houses window to see that it was empty inside. Tables and chairs was overturn and there was a huge hole in the ceiling, which allowed snow to cover the wooden floor.
After investigating the house, a little bit more, I check a couple more buildings to see they were pretty much in the exact same shape. Overturn furniture, huge crack or hole in the building, and occasionally a dead body.
I’m not sure what happen here, but it’s extremely convenient for me. Since everyone here is already dead, I don’t have to go through the trouble of killing them myself.
I push deeper into the village, hoping I can find house with a roof completely intact. Unfortunately, thanks to what seems like months of neglect, and the weight of the snow, most of the houses’ roofs was caved in.
“Damn, all these houses can’t be torn apart can it?!” My search grew more frantic. As the cold wind that rapidly pierce my body, went from annoying to downright unbearable.
After searching for what felt eternity, my eyes fell upon a small house in the back of the village. Not wasting anytime, I quickly look through its window, hoping, praying, that the house was completely intact.
“Ah, sanctuary.” A sigh of relief escapes from my mouth the moment I saw there was no snow on the ground. Overjoy with my discovery, I barge into the house, nearly breaking the door down.
There really wasn’t much to say about the interior of the house, since it’s pretty much was just one big room with a bed and a fireplace.
After taking a quick look around the room, I flop down on the bed and mindlessly stare out the window.
“So now what do I do?” I mumble to myself as I watch the storm outside.
This blizzard doesn’t look like it’ll let up anytime soon, and even if it did, it’s not like I have anywhere to go. Ever since I woke up in that graveyard, I’ve been aimlessly wandering around hoping I’ll eventually find answer to who I am, but it’s been a year since I started this journey and the only thing I figure out is that everyone either hates me or fear me.
“I guess I’m better off just staying here.” I let out a long sigh, as I lay down. Yea, since everyone here is dead. I can live in peaceful solitude.
“Ack.”
“Or maybe not.” I quickly jump back to my feet and look in the direction the sound came from. In the corner of the room was a little girl squirming around, trying her best to hide herself in the darkness.
“Come on out, I can clearly see you.” I point directly at her to prove I knew exactly where she was hiding. Yet despite making it clear I found her, she continued to cling to her dark corner, as if somehow it’ll make her disappear.
“Are…are you going to kill me?” The girl asks weakly. It was depressing to see how the girl fell into despair just by simply looking at me.
“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m just going to stay here until the storm lets up.”
“O-ok.” Her voice was still weak and shaky. No doubt, her fear of me will never go away, but it’s to be expected. Even if I did look like a normal human, breaking into her home, would be more than enough for her to fear me.
Seeing that she wasn’t going to come out her corner, I sat down and tried to forget that she was there, but the constant coughing wasn’t helping.
“Ack! Ack!” Her coughing grew more violent overtime. At this point I wouldn’t be surprise if blood started to come up.
“Ok, that’s enough.” I jump back to my feet and walk towards the girl. Realizing I was approaching her, she pushes herself against wall in a desperate attempt put some distance between us.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be quiet for now on.”
“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.” Ignoring me, the girl curls up into a ball in begin to cry silently. At this point I figure she wouldn’t listen to me no matter what I said, so I pick her up without saying anything.
“Please, don’t kill me.” Ignoring her plead, I carry her to the bed and gently put her down.
“Huh?” The girl looked up at me confuse with tears still streaming down her eyes.
“I told you like a hundred times I wasn’t going to hurt you. Did you seriously not believe me?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She tries to bow her head, but ends up in another coughing fit.
“Hurry up and cover yourself.” I toss her a blanket that was lying on the floor, which she quickly wraps around her shivering body.
“Th-thank you.” The girl said in a soft voice.
“Yea, whatever.” I sat back down at the edge of the bed, so the girl wouldn’t feel so threaten by me.
Now that the girl wasn’t hiding in the darkness no more, I could finally get a good look at her. The girl looked like she was nine years old. Her eyes were green and her hair was brown, a trait I’m starting to notice most human have. Basically, she’s average. The only thing that stands out about her is that she’s alone in this dead village.
Well I say she’s alone, but there’s no way she could survive out here by herself. Which means the person or people protecting her is probably out on a hunt. Great, just when I finally found a shelter from a storm.
I get back up and head towards the door.
“Mister, you’re leaving already?” There seemed to be a surprising amount of concern in her voice, although I’m sure I’m confusing it with something else.
“Your people will be back soon, and something tell me they’re not going to be happy if they see me here with you.”
“….” The girl remains silent. I’m sure she’s recalling how extreme her reaction
“C-Can you at least tell me your name.” I quickly turn around to face the girl. I was surprise by her question. No one ever ask me who I was before. Actually now that I think about it, this is the first time I really had a conservation with someone.
“I’m sorry, was that a bad question?” The girl asks while covering half her face with a blanket.
“No, it’s just…. I don’t have a name.”
“Y-you don’t? The girl eyes widen in surprise.
“No. At least I don’t think I do.” I search deep into my memories hoping this time I might actually remember, but just like every other time I tried this, my memories stop at that graveyard I woke up at.
For a whole year, I’ve been trying to figure out why I was there, but after seeing this freighting power I possess, and the terrified looks people give me, I’m starting to think I’m better off not knowing who I am.
“I see….” The fear in the girl’s eyes seemed to disappear and was replace with pity.
“Anyway, what’s your name?” I try to take the subject off me, since this girl is the very first person I ever talk to, and I don’t want to leave a bad memory of me in her head.
“R-right.” The girl let out another cough, although I’m sure if it was real or if she was just clearing her throat.
“My name is……”
.
.
.
(Anna’s P.O.V)
“Lilith? That’s a nice name.” I turn to give the girl a warm smile, but she was already gone. In fact, the entire house was gone. I found myself sitting in what appear to be a fancy bath house. I look around the bath in a daze trying to figure where I was, until my brain finally decided to wake up and answer my question.
“I fell asleep.” I let out a dry laugh at the situation I was in.
Falling asleep while taking a bath, I guess yesterday event took more out of me than I thought. I guess it doesn’t help that I woke up way earlier than I’m used to.
“Miss?” A concern female voice echo in the bathhouse. I look around to see who she was calling, only to realize I’m the only person here.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Yes?” I turn around to see a woman in a maid outfit holding my clothes.
“I finish washing your clothes.”
“Oh, thanks.” I climb out the bath and proceeded to dry my hair with a towel. I didn’t mind being naked in front of the maid since my junior is gone. The only thing sticking out my body now are my breasts, which by the way, the maid’s our far bigger than mine. If we were in a relationship she would be the one wearing pants, if everything was decided by size.
Anyway, even though I don’t mind being naked in front of her, it’s kind of uncomfortable being stare at so intently.
“Um, is there something wrong?” The maid’s body jerk from the sound of my voice like I just woke her up from a dream.
“Oh no, there’s nothing wrong, it’s just, you’re really beautiful.”
“Oh, um, thank you.” I didn’t really know how to respond to her out-of-nowhere compliment. To be honest, even if I saw it coming, I probably still would’ve reacted poorly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come out so weird, I just never seen someone as beautiful as you before.”
Ok now she’s exaggerating, but I do find it interesting that my appearance that everyone used to fear, is now being adore.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for disturbing you, I’ll be taking my leave.” The maid bows her head towards me before running off. With the maid gone, I begin putting my clothes on, pretending our conversation didn’t happen.
After quickly throwing my clothes on, I headed back to my room, the silence that accompanied me, cause my mind to wander, until it focused on the dream that I had a moment ago.
Not much has change has it? Back then, I aimlessly wander around trying to solve a mystery, right now I’m doing the exact same thing, the only difference is my gender change. I even have a kid traveling with me too. I guess history really does repeat itself. Wait if history really is repeating itself, then that means I’ll be dying soon.
The disturbing thought stop me right in my tracks.
Jeez, what am I doing trying scare myself? Right now, I should be pumping myself up, rather than jinxing myself. Right, if I keep a calm head and play my cards right, then I can obtain Ragnarok. And once I reclaim my lost creation, then nothing will be able to stop me!
Just thinking about beating both Joseph and Alexander, was enough to motivate me.
“Is something wrong sis?” Aaron ask as he walks down the hallway carry a silver tray. “You know it wouldn’t hurt to rest a little more. I mean last night it looked like you could barely move.”
“I’m fine. Plus, who knows what will happen to Ragnaork if we take too long to retrieve it.”
“Well then, at very least can we eat something before we head out?” I look down at the tray to see two plates with two sandwiches on it. My stomach begins to growl the moment the sandwiches aroma enters my noise.
“Looks like your stomach agree with me.” Aaron said with an annoying smirk.
Without saying a word, I open the door to our room. Aaron follow behind me, carefully making sure not to drop nothing on the tray.
“So then, what’s for breakfast?”
“The nobles call it hamburger.”
“Hamburger? That doesn’t sound appetizing, nor does it look it.” I take the bun off see a burnt meat top with a fried egg, onions, and pretty much everything you could find in the kitchen. While the sandwich does smell delicious, just looking at how messy it is cause my stomach to churn.
“You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Just give it a try, you might like it.”
So he says, but he hasn’t taken a bite out of his sandwich yet. He’s obviously waiting for my reaction, to see if its good or not. Unfortunately for him, I’m not his poison tester.
“Why don’t you take a bite first, then maybe I’ll give it a try.”
“Alright, fine.” Aaron picks up his sandwich and move it towards his mouth and the slowest and most dramatic way possible. It literally looked like a turtle spoon feeding a baby. After waiting like two minutes he finally takes bite out of the sandwich. Aaron’s eyes widen like he just experiences a miracle.
“Well, how is it?”
“It’s, it’s really good.” Aaron tears into his sandwich, like a madman who hasn’t eaten in weeks. Seeing him eat so enthusiastically I decide take a bite out my sandwich.
An explosion of flavors goes off in my mouth. Somehow every single topping that was mash onto the sandwich complimented each other and transform what I thought was a burnt mess, into a work of art.
Wow, now I see why there’s so many fat nobles. Not only is the sandwich absurdly delicious, but it also filling. I only took four bites and I’m already full. Which is a shame, since I was really enjoying it. If I was in my old body, I’m sure I could easily eat ten of these no problem.
“Are you done already?” Aaron look down at my burger, like he just found a new prey.
“Yea.” I pass my plate over to him, which he quickly grabs.
“You know sis; you’re not going to get bigger unless you eat more.”
“So says mister scrawny.”
“Hey, I’m quite muscular.” Aaron flexes his arm, which causes a small lump to appear on it.
Well at the very least, he doesn’t look frail anymore. Actually now that we’re sitting side-by-side, I just realize he’s taller than me. I’m shorter than most girls, so it isn’t all that surprising, it’s just weird that I just now notice he surpass me in height.
“Heh.” Aaron chuckles a little to himself.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. It’s just feels like it’s been forever since we sat down and relax like this.”
“Yea, it does feel like that doesn’t it?” My mind flashback to all events that led us here. It definitely doesn’t seem like we had any sort of rest on our journey.
“Sitting here like this, I can’t help but wonder what mom and dad is doing.”
“Probably fucking.” Aaron begin to cough violently.
“Really sis?!” Aaron’s shouted, his face turning red.
“What? Those two are full grown adults, I doubt they’re playing patty cake.”
“Yea, but did you have to say it like that?”
“I’m sorry. Mommy and Daddy are patiently waiting for a huge bird deliver them a baby. Does that sound better?
“…” Aaron looks away from me, his face still flushed from embarrassment.
“I don’t see why you’re so embarrass; you’ll eventually find a girl you’ll want to copulate with.”
“Ok, that’s enough!” Aaron shouted while covering both his ears. I guess he still a kid, but he is around that age where he’ll eventually start taking interest in the opposite sex. And honestly I don’t think he’ll have a hard time finding a partner. I mean he already has an elf that’s concern for him, and not many guys can brag about that. He definitely has the potential to become a lady killer.
I look back at Aaron to see he was still covering his ears tightly making sure no sound could enter his head.
Ok, maybe I’m giving him too much credit.
“C’mon, we wasting enough time here.” I grab my sword and strapped it to my waist.
“We’re leaving already?” Aaron unplugs his ears and look at me surprise.
“Like I said before, Ragnarok isn’t going to wait for me to reclaim it.”
“Right.” Aaron shove my half-eaten sandwich into his mouth before grabbing his gear.
The both of us remain silent as we walk out the inn, knowing full well that if we said anything that involve my pass life would arouse suspicion, or worse, get us killed. It wasn’t till we got outside that we spoke to each other.
“So what’s the plan?”
“The plan is to find the name of the city Ragnarok is located at. I’m sure we can find our information at an adventure guild.” Thankfully, this city is built on a mountain, which half the town can easily be seen just by simply looking down the road, making it impossible even for newcomers to get lost, and if by some miracle one do get lost here, you can just walk straight down to the city gate, and ask a guard for direction.
“And what about Max and Claire? Are we really going to leave them behind?”
“Of course, if we take them with us they’re going to start asking questions.” Especially Claire, she always was a noisy one and yesterday, after seeing Aaron unconscious, she seemed more determined than ever to discover my secret. It’s best if we get out of town as fast as possible before she realizes we’re gone.
“Ok.” Aaron said weakly, making it obvious he doesn’t want to leave them behind.
“Don’t worry, you’ll see them again. I do fully intend on coming back to this city once I obtain Ragnarok.” After all, there’s quite a few people I need to deal with that are here.”
“The faster we get to Ragnarok, the faster we can regroup with Max and Claire. So let’s get a move on.”
“Right!” giving me an energetic nod, Aaron pick up his pace, I quickly follow behind him.
Since the sun was still rising, there wasn’t that many people out on the streets, just A few merchants opening their shops, some old people who loves the fresh morning air, and a couple of brats that’s trying to skip town. Well that was the case for the upper region of the city, once we reach the base of the mountain, the story was different.
The city entrance was pack with adventurers, at least I assume they’re adventurers, since everyone including their mothers was carrying some sort of weapon.
“What’s going on here?”
“Don’t know, looks like everyone getting ready for a hunt.” Which reminds me….
I reach into my pocket and my pull my adventurer I.D out. The mission which I was task with yesterday was now gone, I guess I took too long to complete the mission. Well this is disappointing, I was hoping I could use what I earn from the mission to get us a ride. Oh well, I just got to find a trader, that’ll hire us as bodyguards.
Putting my I.D away, I headed for a building that sign read, “Guts and Glory.” The masculine name, and the emblem of an arm holding a sword while flexing its muscle was enough to for me know this was the adventure guild.
Upon enter the building my nose was assaulted by the powerful alcohol stench that permeated the air.
“Isn’t it too early to get drunk?” Aaron said while pinching his noise.
“When your job is to fight monsters twice your size, then it’s never too early to get drunk.”
“Those are some wise words miss.” A tall and dark man wearing fancy black and white attire walks over to us. “You two must be new here.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well obviously I would remember seeing a beauty like you before.” The man gives me a smile that cause my skin to crawl.
“I think he’s hitting on you Aaron.” I lightly elbow Aaron, who simply frown at the man.
“Cute and funny. You’re definitely my type.” The man looks at Aaron with fierce eyes, like he was getting ready to challenge him. “Are you perhaps her boyfriend”
“N- “
“Yes, he is.” I quickly cover Aaron’s mouth. If it gets this guy to stop hitting on me, then its best if to pretend we’re dating. “Now, do you mind telling me what you want?”
“I just want to do my job. After all I am the guild master, and my job is help young adventurers that looked like they’re lost, of course helping a beauty like you is an added bonus.”
This fucker is still hitting on me, even though I said Aaron was my boyfriend, then again he does look like the kind of guy that steals people girlfriends for a living.
“So then, if you have any questions that need answer, then just follow me.”
Ugh, I really don’t want to follow him, but if he’s the guild master, then he definitely knows about the area surrounding Athens and beyond.
Both me and Aaron followed the man to bar, which he went behind. he grabs a battle from a shelf and pours a dark red liquid into two small glass.
“It’s on the house.” The man said as he slides us our drink. “Don’t worry, it’s non-alcoholic. You two seem to be on a mission, so I wouldn’t serve you anything that would hinder your performance. Of course you’re more than welcome to come back when you’re done with your mission. I’ll be glad to show you all the good stuff.
Somehow it doesn’t feel like he’s talking about alcohol anymore.
“Anyway I’m assuming you two came here to hunt those new monsters right?”
“New monsters?”
“Yea. There’s a rumor going around that a beast single-handedly killed a team of highly trained knights.”
“Seriously?!” Aaron jump out of his seat and look at me surprise. Last night when I told him I got into a scuffle with a mysterious beast, he didn’t really react, but now he’s looking at me like he’s amaze I survive.
“Is there anyone of those things around here?” Aaron
“I don’t know, like I said it’s a rumor. Personally I don’t believe it, but the men are all riled up by it.”
Well that explains why there so many adventurers roaming around the city entrance.
“Since you guys didn’t know about that rumor; I guess you came for something else.”
“Yea, I want to know about more the town that’s near here.”
“You’re going need to be more specific than that, there’s quite a few towns just beyond this mountain.”
“What’s the most dangerous town in the area?” Ragnarok main purpose was to create chaos. So I doubt it’ll be located in a peaceful town.
“The most dangerous town is obviously the Monster Den.”
“Monster Den?” Yea, that definitely sound like a place my creation would end up at “I know I’m going to regret asking, but why is called Monster Den?”
“You know how we build walls to keep monsters out of our city? Well the Monster Den walls was built to keep the monsters in.
“What, why?”
“There’s a cave located deep in that town, for some reason monsters are drawn to it, and being the curios animals we are, we too were drawn to that location. Adventurers from all around gather to see what was so enticing to the monsters. More and more people gathered and eventually people turn the area surrounding the cave into a town.”
“Really? They just build a town around a cave filled with monsters?”
“Curiosity and greed leads to stupid decisions.”
“Yea, and a lot of death. I assume no one discover the cave mystery yet, did they?”
“Nope, everyone who goes into the Monster Den, never comes back out. So if you’re feeling suicidal, then Monster Den is the place for you, but seeing how dangerous this world is becoming, you may die before you get a chance to get killed there.”
The man leans over the bar and gives me a stern look.
“My advice to you miss, give up on whatever you’re planning, and find a real man that can take care of you.” The man reach for my shoulder, just as I was about to swat his hand away, Aaron quickly reach and grab his arm.
“I appreciate your concern, but I think I can take care of her.” The two silently stare each other down.
“Ok break up it you two.” Using enhance magic, I push the two away from each other with minimal effort.
“You two are insane, I like that.” The man let out a deep laugh while rubbing a bright read spot on that was on his arm.
“Are you two serious about going to the Monster Den?”
“Unfortunately Yes.” The man smile widens at my response.
“Alright, stay right here, I have a client that’ll be happy to take you there.” While still rubbing his arm, the man walks from behind the bar and into the crowd.
“You didn’t have to interfere. I would’ve taken care of him myself.” I look at Aaron who was taking a sip of his drink.
“I know, that’s exactly why I jump in. I was afraid that if I left the man alone, you might’ve killed him.”
“Aw, so you interfere to save him? Just like I thought, you two were made for each other.”
“That’s not funny.” Aaron looked away from me while downing his drink after emptying the glass, he slams it onto the bar.
“What do think about what he said? You think ‘you know what’ is at attracting all those monsters to that cave?”
“I don’t know.” Ragnork was created to entice humans, I never thought monsters would also be attracted to it.
I let out a sigh in lean back in my Stoll. The Monster Den. Why can’t something I want be at a rose den or something like that?
“These guys will be your body guard.” The guild master returns with a middle age man, with a plump stomach.
“These guys?” The middle age man examines both me and Aaron. The man’s piercing gaze cause me to unconsciously cross my legs.
“Alright I’ll take them.” Giving me a creepy smile, the middle age man turns around and heads outside.
I definitely need to buy me some pants, was the only thing going through my head after that weird encounter.
“You two are extremely lucky to have someone willing to take you there. Most people avoid that town like it’s a plague.”
“I wonder if it has anything to do with it being called ‘Monster Den’?”
“Maybe.” Annoyed with the smile he was giving me. I jump out of my seat and followed after the middle aged man.
“Have a pleasant trip!” The guild master shouted.
Yea, right. This Monster Den doesn’t sound like a pleasant place, and from the looks of it, this trip isn’t going to be pleasant either.