Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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"Yes, the Demon King over there has invited you, Suho."
Just hearing Armonia's words, it sounded like something straight out of a villain's secret meeting.
The Demon King inviting me out of the blue? I didn't know a thing about the guy.
"For what reason?"
"He insisted on expressing his gratitude and earnestly requested it through Zodiac."
"Hmm... Sounds a bit annoying."
From what Armonia was saying, it seemed like I didn't have to go if it was too much trouble.
But Armonia looked like she thought differently.
"Personally, I recommend you go for some rest and relaxation."
"Huh? Any particular reason?"
"They've agreed to pay 200,000 Enel as compensation for accepting the invitation."
"Jackpot! Let's go!"
Why wouldn't I go if they're handing over 200,000 Enel just for showing up and chilling?
The moment I decided to go, I made one request.
"Oh, in that case, can I bring Viola along?"
"No issue on our end, but it might cause a huge stir over there."
Yeah, I could see them trembling if it was the little sister of the guy they were all about to slaughter.
"Still, I don't want to leave her alone again, so please."
"Understood. We'll proceed with Viola coming along. But I suggest keeping it secret from them."
"Got it, thanks~ I'll head out then."
"Suho..."
"Yeah?"
I turned around when Armonia called me as I was leaving.
She stared straight at me with an expressionless face, not saying a word.
Is this something serious?
"What's up?"
"...Did I say anything in my sleep, by any chance?"
"Ah... Just 'Don't go.'"
"...Understood. Rest well."
"Uh..."
I could sense a hint of relief in her tone.
I wanted to ask more, but worrying she'd make me write a report for unauthorized intrusion, I hurriedly left the office.
***
"Are you two ready?"
"Yeah."
"Yep~"
Viola was buzzing with excitement for her first outing.
Armonia acknowledged our responses and began operating the device with flashy movements.
"Viola, it might get dizzying for a moment, but please bear with it."
"Okay!"
With Viola's cheerful reply, my vision warped in an instant, and a massive castle appeared before us.
"Whoa!!"
"Oh!!"
Viola and I let out exclamations of awe as we gazed at the grand fortress.
The heavy, black structure screamed "Demon King's castle" at first glance.
It was so enormous it couldn't be taken in all at once.
We had warped right in front of a sturdy iron gate flanked by castle walls.
The gate stood at least 30 meters tall and stretched wide enough for an entire army to pass through comfortably.
Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted from the other side of the gate, and something shot up into the air.
"Oh..."
"Whoa..."
Viola and I watched the object rise into the sky without a shred of alarm, and then it came flying straight toward us.
It landed in front of us with a huge thud.
Boom!
Smoke billowed everywhere, turning the area into chaos.
"Cough, cough."
"Phew..."
Viola and I could do nothing but cough and wave the dust away until it cleared.
And when the dust finally settled...
"Whoa..."
"Wow!!!!"
What appeared before my eyes was... some kind of monster.
It was at least 10 meters tall, with a goat's face, lion's legs, and a green lizard—or dragon?—tail swishing behind it.
Purple bat wings and tawny fur covered its massive body.
Its arms looked about a meter thick, and its thighs even more so.
It bent its enormous upper body down toward me and boomed in a thunderous voice.
"Are you Seong Suho!?"
"Ah, yes. That's me."
I probably wouldn't die easily, but I couldn't help feeling intimidated.
Right on cue, a message came through communication.
'What!? No way, doesn't he look like just a gatekeeper?'
I'd imagined the Demon King as some humanoid demon in human form.
This guy seemed far removed from anything resembling a civilized being.
"Kuhahaha!"
"Ow, my ears..."
My eardrums are gonna burst.
"You've finally come! I've been waiting so long! I am Demon King Gardia the First!"
"I'm Seong Suho. And this is..."
"..."
Viola wore an expression utterly devoid of fear.
Just pure curiosity.
"My girlfriend."
"Ooooh!!! Nice to meet you!!"
"Hello!"
Viola greeted him with a bright smile.
'How old is this guy anyway?'
'...Younger than the headmaster.'
A friend younger than the headmaster...
We unexpectedly exchanged greetings with the Demon King outside the castle before heading inside.
He said he'd sensed our sudden arrival and rushed out from the gate.
He'd really been waiting for me.
Just past the gate, stern guards watched us intently.
And I spotted one of those game-only creatures too.
A dog bigger than the Demon King with three heads.
The real Cerberus was there.
"Whoa! So cute!"
"...That thing?"
Instead of its usual majestic presence, this one looked like some breed defect had turned its faces into Chihuahuas.
Huff, huff, huff.
The three Chihuahua faces panted dumbly at us.
Sticking out their tongues, they stared like we were some fascinating bug.
"Hahaha! That's my beloved pet dog. I'll let you ride it sometime when you're free."
"Yay, thank you!"
Viola got excited at the thought of riding the cute(?) dog.
We passed the gate and entered the castle proper.
The interior blended splendor with an eerie dread.
Antiques and paintings lined the halls, but their grotesque forms rivaled a haunted house.
Luckily, I kinda liked it?
'Damn, this place is cool.'
'I always preferred this atmospheric vibe over pointless flashiness. Huh?'
'...Did a person just pass by?'
This was definitely the Demon King's castle.
I hadn't seen a single human outside earlier either.
Monsters everywhere, but no humans at all.
I pondered it deeply as we walked, and soon we arrived at a door.
The door alone was at least 20 meters high.
Makes sense—everything here was built to the Demon King's scale.
"I've heard you're quite weakened from that fierce battle."
"Ah, yes."
Even if it was just one shot from a pea shooter...
"This will be your guest quarters. Feel free to do as you please while you're here. If anyone harms you, I'll kill them on the spot."
"Thank you."
"Then, let's chat over dinner later. Sound good?"
"Yes, of course."
"Hahaha! See you then!"
The Demon King laughed heartily and lumbered away with heavy thuds.
Looking back, it was pretty amazing.
Normally, you'd send underlings to guide guests or invite them to meals.
And he'd jumped the gate himself earlier too.
'Does he like me that much to escort me personally?'
'Probably because I saved him from near death? But still, if a guy like this was struggling that hard, how strong was that Hero?'
'Ugh... Thinking back on it still gives me chills.'
Recalling the Hero's assault made my legs go weak.
I gently pushed the huge door with my hand, and it opened easily.
Unlike the rest of the castle, the guest room was decorated lavishly to human scale.
They hadn't turned it into a haunted house inside either.
But Viola showed no wonder at all.
She'd seemed way more excited entering the Demon King's castle earlier.
"Viola. Wanna go explore outside?"
"Yay! Sounds good!"
"But are the rooms separate here?"
Her expression didn't look thrilled.
"Just..."
"...?"
"It looks just like my old room..."
Turned out it had triggered her trauma.
Looking again, it did resemble the bunker palace where she'd stayed before.
For Viola, the small ship cabin was far more comfortable and cozy.
"We'll only be here a short while anyway, so tough it out. In return, let's tour around."
"Okay!"
Viola smiled brightly and followed behind me.
***
The best part of coming here was seeing Viola so happy.
She wandered around, marveling at the tiniest things.
Even without a guide, no demons messed with us.
I was more surprised by Viola, though.
This intimidating atmosphere should scare anyone, but she'd shown no fear with the Demon King either.
'No point realizing now; it won't change much.'
Viola was an adult now, and even if she learned more, I doubted fear would take root.
She'd been safe in the Hero's cage before, and now under NTL Corporation, nothing would harm her.
Still, I wanted her to learn basic common sense for when I took her out...
Studying via TV had its limits, clearly.
'Need to play with Viola and teach her stuff...'
'How much for one living quarter?'
'Wow, that's insanely expensive...'
Maybe later when we had more savings, but right now, it was out of reach.
As Viola and I toured the Demon King's castle, a human boy strode toward us proudly from afar.
From here, he looked like a kid...
'Oh, a person.'
'Oh ho, slaves?'
The kid arrived before us mid-message.
Trembling with fear but standing tall, he was dressed like a servant.
Too low-class for nobility.
Viola rushed over and hugged his head.
"Oh my! So cute!"
"L-Let go! How dare you!"
"...? Are you perhaps the village chief's son?"
In Viola's mind, village chief was the highest rank, so she meant it respectfully.
But it was perfect for enraging him.
"How dare you! Mocking me with such lowly status!"
"?? What does 'lowly' mean?"
Here we go...
Viola's "What's that?" barrage had begun.
But I didn't like her being so close to some random kid, so I pulled her off and said,
"Viola, hugging him like that might give the kid weird ideas. He looks like a total perv. Let go quick."
"Who's a perv!!! How dare you insult the prince of Betel! I won't let this slide!!"
The kid suddenly threw a tantrum.
Yet he showed no sign of letting go of Viola.
If anything, he clung tighter.
Total pervert, confirmed.
And out of nowhere, calling himself a prince.
What the hell...
As I raised my knuckles to flick his forehead in disbelief, a purple-winged demon came flying toward us at breakneck speed from afar.
"You crazy bastard!!!"
***
Viola and I sat side by side in an enormous dining hall.
The kid from earlier had been ordered to guide us here.
One wrong word, and he'd gone off on his solo rage rant.
The purple demon that flew in afterward was a lesser demon who apologized profusely, bowing nonstop.
Guess we really were VIP guests.
I'd forgotten the earlier incident and marveled at the table.
'This table's as big as the castle gate...'
We sat at a table as massive as the castle gate out front.
The height didn't match us at all, so we used special high chairs made for humans.
Dozens of winged demons had carefully lifted us up at first.
They'd prepared well for us, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.
At the long table matching the gate's width sat the Demon King, us, and his retainers.
The retainers were all huge, rivaling the Demon King in size.
They came in all shapes and forms.
From true demon-like figures to reptiles far from human shape.
But at the far end, a woman human-sized with cat ears and bat wings drooled over her plate.
'Ooh! Super cute...'
She was seriously cute.
Big chest, cute face, and those cat ears on her head had me hooked.
Her hands and feet were human-like; the unique part was the purple demon wings.
But a huge lizard-like executive next to her started scolding her.
She was getting chewed out.
Unlike the other retainers, the cat-eared girl didn't fit the vibe here at all.
Yet her presence suggested she held an important position.
'Heh heh, gotta check her traits later.'
'Yeah? Check now?'
'...'
From my seat, looking at the cat girl meant looking right at Viola first.
She glared up at me from her booster seat, face scrunched.
"...See something fun?"
"Hahaha... Just a lot of interesting people—no, demons..."
Viola kept staring suspiciously.
Then, a loud crash shattered the mood.
Crash!
The demons at the huge table all turned their heads in unison.
The wind pressure from that alone hit us hard.
At the source of the dish-smashing sound, the pervert kid from earlier had face-planted forward.
All his food platters were spilled everywhere.
'...He's supposed to be a prince of some kingdom?'
The last holdouts against the Demon King's army were two places.
Betel Kingdom and Peron Independent State.
And the humans here weren't ordinary slaves.
All children of nobles.
Royalty and great nobles' heirs from every nation served as castle servants.
A treatment humiliating enough to shake national foundations.
The lesser demon who'd cursed at the kid earlier appeared, bowing to the Demon King and repeating apologies.
"S-Sorry! What are you doing not apologizing right now, you fool!"
"..."
The kid refused to bend, staying silent.
The table's atmosphere grew heavy.
The lesser demon, face twisted in fury, extended his claws as if he couldn't take it anymore.
"You little..."
"Urk..."
Just as it seemed the kid was done for.
A pink-haired woman in a maid outfit rushed in, blocking him and bowing deeply.
"I'm sorry! I'll retrain him properly."
The moment I saw her, I mentally screamed at Armonia.
'Traits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'