0.0000001% Demon King - 0DK Chapter 33: The Choice (2) (Part 2)
“Then do it now. It needs to be conveyed to them before I arrive.”
– Really.
Irina murmured as if amused.
– I really do have a strange master. Understood.
“Then…”
Their task was finished. He smirked.
“I’m sorry, Lillis.”
– Are you aware?
“Objectively speaking, I’m not a good master.”
He had almost been killed by Bathesia when he went to confront the Great Demon King, got entangled with another Demon King while subjugating goblins, and now was being dragged by the hero to the land of their greatest enemy, the gods.
Lillis sighed softly.
– If you’re aware, I wish you would restrain yourself a bit. It would take days to list all my complaints.
“Tch.”
Having nothing to say about her, Karos just clicked his tongue.
– But… even so, you are my Demon King, Karos.
Her voice was calm.
– Do as you wish. I will follow behind.
“…Thank you.”
– You can thank me by listening to my complaints when you return. And though I’m not sure if this will help, your ability, the drawing. There’s one more type now.
“Oh? What’s my current score?”
– 2,245 points.
“It’s increased. What caused it?”
Aside from being dragged around by the hero, he hadn’t done anything notable, similar to when he subdued the Demon King.
“I don’t know. Lillis, do you still have that box that summons monsters?”
– Yes.
“Prepare it for me.”
– What are you planning to do?
“Preparation for survival? Ah. And what color is the new box now?”
Lillis answered.
– It’s a black box.
**** ****
As the day dawned, Karos woke up. As he sluggishly got up, Sinclair was calmly putting on her armor.
“Are you awake?”
“Let’s start moving.”
“Understood.”
He had nothing particular to bring along, being dragged into this. As Karos stepped outside, he felt various gazes on him.
The villagers looked at him with strange eyes, but kept a certain distance without approaching.
‘What happened?’
He had finished the conversation and slept, so he didn’t know what the hero had done afterward.
As Karos, preparing to move, noticed people slowly approaching him.
“Hey.”
“Ah.”
Karos greeted them with a smile.
“Hello?”
A slim man, representing the approaching mercenaries, bowed his head.
“Thank you. We received a lot of help because of you.”
They were still unclear about the current situation, but they knew they had been unluckily involved and almost annihilated.
They barely survived but didn’t want to thank the hero. So, feeling obligated, they came to thank Karos instead.
“Then, we’ll be off.”
The slim man raised his head, making an obviously awkward face as he bid farewell.
‘There’s no need to get involved further.’
The hero of the Sun God. A village that was clearly artificially created. And the fight yesterday.
Anyone could see it was a troubling matter. Deciding that getting deeply involved would do no good, they planned to leave quickly.
However, there was one thing they didn’t know. Karos tilted his head.
“Oh? Leaving already?”
“Yes. Is there… a problem?”
“No problem on our side.”
They were already deeply involved without realizing it.
“You’ve come to know what the Sun God Order wants to hide most. By now, instructions should’ve passed down to deal with you.”
The hero’s secret was a top-level secret that the order wanted to hide. Even nobles involved would be eliminated, let alone low-rank mercenaries.
“If you want to visit your hometown before dying, I won’t stop you.”
Karos’s calm words turned the slim man’s face pale with fear.
“Then, what should we do…?”
“Come with us.”
Karos remained calm.
“Running away won’t help you escape the order. Instead, moving with the hero might be better, right? The order won’t dare to touch you while you’re with the hero.”
“…Is that alright with you?”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
Karos smiled. He had no intention of leaving them to die. They were necessary for him.
“The hero will also agree.”
“Th-thank you.”
The slim man’s face brightened as he asked.
“Where are you headed?”
“The holy land.”
“…What?”
“You know where it is, don’t you?”
At Karos’s casual remark, the slim man’s face turned pale.
**** ****
Sinclair and Karos walked. Unlike their previous journey, she did not speak at all. Karos followed silently behind her.
And twenty men quietly followed behind them.
“…Ouch.”
“Speak.”
“How did we end up going to the holy land?”
“Don’t ask me. Damn.”
The slim man gritted his teeth.
“How did it come to this?”
They were caught in the affairs of the Sun God, almost killed by the hero, and now they were heading to its very headquarters on their own feet. Thinking too deeply about it felt like they might go mad.
“Brothers.”
“Are we going to die?”
The following mercenaries asked with gloomy faces. The slim man waved his hands.
“You won’t die, you guys.”
“But…”
They weren’t deaf. They knew that Sinclair, the hero of the Sun God, had subdued their leader. And in the strange village of a branch of the Sun God, they had shouted at each other.
The false employment. The twenty gold coins. The villagers screaming for their death. It was too clear for them to think otherwise.
“I was planning to propose when this was over…”
“You, haven’t I told you not to say that? It’s the fourth time now.”
“But, brother…”
“Don’t worry. I can save you guys somehow.”
The rugged man confidently pounded his chest, brightening their expressions slightly. Then, while walking again, he whispered to the slim man.
“Can’t we run away?”
“Are you saying that to your subordinates?”
“Even I can’t stand up to a god. You were good at figuring these things out, weren’t you?”
“Let’s see.”
The slim man frowned as if pondering.
“Can you escape from the Sun God?”
“Huh.”
“…Come to think of it, you probably could, brother. Barely including me.”
The slim man clicked his tongue and gestured backwards with his eyes.
“Then what about the subordinates? It’s impossible to escape with eighteen of them.”
“Damn it.”
The rugged man scowled.