Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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I shouted through the comms.
'Traits!!!!!!!!!!!!'
Even at a glance, these weren't the traits of an ordinary maid.
Armonia skimmed through the traits and explained.
'Whoa, that's insane. First time I've seen pink hair.'
Lena de Peron's height was around 170 cm—tall for a woman—and her eyes were a rare pink. She had an uncommonly striking appearance.
Even the way she bowed exuded grace and poise.
But despite her apology, the heavy atmosphere didn't lift.
Someone stood up from the table.
Thud... Thud...
The one approaching Lena de Peron, slamming down reverse-jointed legs, was...
"...I was in a great mood today. ...Until I saw your faces."
The Demon King, Gardia, whose demeanor had flipped 180 degrees from before.
His face was goat-like, but when facing us, he'd laughed heartily to liven things up. Now, his eyes blazed red with murderous intent.
The brat who'd been so cocky moments ago trembled violently and wet himself. Even the retainers at the table began shaking.
Just because the Demon King was similar in size didn't mean their power was equal.
Among everyone here, the only ones staying composed were me and Viola.
Viola seemed unfazed by the killing intent, glancing around as if wondering if she should step in.
'...Hero bastard, how the hell did he raise Viola like this?'
'Me? I've got rock-solid confidence I can survive.'
If things went south, I'd just warp out.
Excluding me and Viola, the one holding up best against the killing intent was Lena de Peron.
She bowed gracefully once more and spoke.
"I'm sorry, Demon King. I'll educate them properly. Please, have mercy..."
But even she couldn't fully hide the slight tremble in her lips.
All are equal before death, after all.
Suddenly, space warped to Gardia's right, and a massive black scythe materialized in midair.
One swing of that enormous scythe could slice this massive table like paper.
Clap clap clap clap.
Sudden applause drew the eyes of the retainers at the table.
It was Viola.
She'd clapped, noticed everyone staring, and awkwardly whispered to me.
"That's amazing. How does it work?"
"Beats me..."
Viola stared at the scythe like she'd just seen a magic trick.
But unlike us, the three standing before Gardia were in funeral-home gloom.
The brat had passed out after wetting himself, the low-rank demon looked resigned to death and was on the verge of fainting.
Even Lena de Peron had squeezed her eyes shut in surrender.
"I've held back with patience until now, but today I can't! At the very least, I'll send your heads back to your homeland!!!"
The moment the Demon King raised the massive scythe to cleave the three...
"Hold on a sec!"
My voice drew looks not just from the retainers, but from the Demon King and Lena de Peron too.
Gardia's rage-boiling eyes still glowed red as he glared at me.
The chair was too tall to stand normally, so I climbed onto it and spoke.
"We're nothing special, but we were invited here as guests. We don't wanna see anything gruesome, so could you maybe forgive them just this once? For our sake?"
"... "
Gardia snorted a few times after hearing me, made the scythe vanish into thin air, and looked at me.
"My apologies... Having such esteemed guests got me all riled up. Sorry for the unseemly display."
"No, no. If anything, thank you."
Gardia glanced sidelong at the three and said,
"Get these fools out of here, quick!"
"Yes, sir!"
The low-rank demon scooped up the brat like a shot and bolted. Some others rushed to clean up the piss.
All humans.
From kids younger than the dragged-off brat to ones around the princess's age—various ages.
They hurriedly finished up and the servants filed out.
Lena de Peron glanced at me as she left.
Once they were gone, unlike before, the demons began serving food.
One or two flew in to plate ours and Viola's, while clusters struggled to hoist plates for the nearby retainers.
The plates were huge—big enough for me and Viola to play on.
Only once all the food was laid out did the meal begin.
We were eating, but it didn't feel like dining together.
It was like ants nibbling sugar amid giants.
Unlike me, Viola was lost in the delicious food, ignoring everything around her.
I started asking my questions.
"Could you tell me what happened after I left this place?"
"Hahaha! Of course. I'll tell you everything from the start."
The Demon King's army held a position similar to the Empire.
A coalition of many races, vast territory, numerous underlings.
The Demon King began explaining from before the war.
"We'd been maintaining peace through diplomacy as much as possible."
"... "
Maintaining peace diplomatically, but hearing one side only, it was hard to know for sure.
The one who got hit forgets quick, after all.
"...So why did the war start all of a sudden?"
"Humans launched the preemptive strike."
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah... Then that damn bastard showed up, and everything changed."
I had a pretty good idea who the damn bastard was.
The Hero.
Once a real monster appeared out of nowhere and started mowing down other monsters, his fame snowballed into a push to wipe out the Demon King's army.
All human nations had been at odds with the Demon King's forces, but no full war—until humans fabricated a casus belli and ignited it.
Leading the charge: Peron Grand Duchy and Bethel Kingdom.
When I was here, the Demon King's army was on the ropes, near annihilation.
One man decimated legions, sliced through executives.
Gardia had clashed directly but always fled with grievous wounds.
With the Demon King's castle as the last bastion, a revelation came from the Demon God.
"It suddenly ordered us to advance."
"... "
Demon God?
'Armonia, what's this Demon God...?'
Playing god, huh.
Upon the oracle, Gardia led the charge and swept the allied forces.
Gardia wasn't weak just because he lost to the Hero.
He could annihilate legions himself, harvest hundreds of human heads like wheat with one scythe swing.
But humans didn't back down easily.
With survival on the line, two nations took the vanguard, boosting the rest's morale.
At the forefront of that vanguard was one woman.
"You wouldn't know, but that wench clung on to the bitter end, making it no picnic."
"Oh..."
Lena de Peron.
Gardia downplayed her outwardly, but the details showed high praise for her basic combat prowess and leadership—beyond most executives.
She'd even cornered him, albeit not in a pure 1v1.
'Ooooh! Pretty and capable!'
Even this Demon King Gardia had grown thanks to Zodiac backing.
Yet Lena de Peron reached human pinnacle through pure solo effort.
I commed excitedly.
'I want her...'
Like a kid coveting a toy.
But the story didn't paint an overwhelmingly victorious picture.
Even without the Hero, they'd burned too many troops beforehand, and Lena de Peron's presence made defeat possible.
What ended the war wasn't troop numbers or their standoff.
It was rumors.
"Suddenly, the Hero's mad deeds leaked across human nations, crumbling their alliance."
"Whoa..."
Honestly, never crossed my mind.
No matter how furious the old hag was, spilling that during war...
'Whoa, she really aired it out mid-war.'
'Plus, that rumor mid-war? Unbearable.'
Trust in the vanished Hero hit rock bottom, weakening the alliance's unity.
Lena de Peron tried personally to stem the collapse, but it was tough.
"That's when I declared: Surrender first, and I'll let you live as humans. Surrender late, and you'll live as livestock! Hahaha!"
Quick-witted minor nations surrendered fast. Peron and Bethel fought to the end and fell.
Butterfly effect's wild.
I had one more question.
But careful not to say "Hero" lest Viola hear.
"So... what’s that guy up to now?"
"Mid-war intel said he crossed the continent's desert. And recently, new info."
For having fresh intel, Gardia didn't look worried.
"Huh? What is it?"
"Heard he boarded a ship and crossed to another continent."
"...Pardon?"
According to Gardia’s info, the Hero bastard traversed the desert, razed a country looking for someone.
Slave trade hotspot, so he went berserk...
Just when we thought he'd toppled a nation, he sailed to another continent.
"Turns out he flipped the country for one woman. They lied, saying they sold her as a slave across the continent to survive."
Gardia snorted and continued.
"And that fool bought it hook, line, and sinker. Crossing alive would be a miracle."
"But aren't you worried? He might come back..."
Gardia seemed utterly unconcerned, contrary to expectation.
His answer cleared my doubts.
"Think about it. Even if he showed up now, which nation would help him? Plus, this castle holds all their precious kids as hostages?"
No welcoming a Hero who abandoned them, especially with hostages.
One flick from the Demon King, and every human would rise to capture him.
This world was now irrevocably Zodiac's.
"I don't know what tricks you pulled, but thank you truly. We can laugh like this thanks to you! Ahahahaha!"
The other retainers clapped along with his laughter.
"...?"
Viola, mid-bite, saw the clapping and joined in, puzzled.
'...Just snagged one girl, and this is the fallout. Guess I'm pretty great.'
'...Praise me for once.'
Ugh, shouldn't have asked.
Like getting textbook praise, I looked around.
Viola included, most had finished eating.
Viola especially was too busy stuffing her face to join the talk.
Unexpected words tumbled from Gardia's mouth.
"That guy's name was Rian, right?"
"?? Which guy?"
I asked Armonia.
'Who's Rian?'
'Aha!'
Finally hearing my brother-in-law's name.
"Huh!?"
Viola suddenly overheard Gardia and stared at him in shock.
"You know my brother?"
Viola eyed Gardia suspiciously.
'...Hold up. This.'
I'd planned to explain the situation later. If she spilled here suddenly...
"Wait a sec..."
Before I could stop her, the conversation rolled on.
Gardia ignored me, laughed heartily, and told Viola,
"Hahaha, must be a namesake! I meant the Hero, Rian."
"Wait a sec..."
"Ahahahaha!"
Damn it, listen to me...
Viola replied with a pout.
"Yes, Hero Rian... That's my brother, right?"