Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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"Huh? There's no particular reason for me to grant that request."
"...."
Lena began to tremble like an aspen leaf upon hearing Seong Suho's words.
She couldn't exactly pinpoint why her body was shaking.
She couldn't judge whether it was from the disappointment of her request being denied or the anxiety that Suho was disappointed in her.
But even as her body quivered uncontrollably, she focused every nerve and opened her mouth.
"I'm sorry... for saying something unnecessary...."
But her words couldn't reach the end.
As she bowed her head, a hollow emptiness began to envelop her entire body relentlessly.
Lena clenched her eyes shut, enduring the onrushing void.
'No.... Not like this... I don't want to leave such a final impression....'
In the end, the anxiety cloaking her disappointment chilled her heart.
Then she heard Suho approaching.
Lena barely lifted her head.
Suho, standing tall before her, placed a hand on her shoulder and said,
"...Let's go."
"...Pardon?"
..
..
Suho took Lena to see Gardia.
Lena followed him in bewilderment, and the place they arrived at was a dining hall.
Lena, who was supposed to serve, ended up sitting at the table with him and sharing a meal.
After hearing the reason for being summoned in this utterly incomprehensible situation, she asked with a face full of utter confusion.
"What... do you mean by that...."
"What else? Exactly as I said."
To sum up what Lena had heard from Gardia: he would guarantee the basic livelihoods of the people in that land, including Duke Peron.
He also mentioned sending letters to the retainers staying in Peron Dukedom to heal Duke Peron's illness.
Lena let out a hollow chuckle in her mind.
'A dream... A cruel dream... Why is Master showing me a dream like this....'
The line between dream and reality was hazy.
Lena mistook it for Suho showing her a dream.
That delusion struck the final blow, crumbling the sandcastle in her heart.
She lost consciousness and collapsed.
"Is she okay...."
After Lena collapsed at the table, I carried her back to the guest room and laid her on the bed.
[That's what I want to say. Please refrain from such reckless behavior.]
"No, well... I panicked too...."
The chair Lena and I had been sitting on was custom-made to match the Demon King's table.
Startled by her fainting and tumbling from that high seat, I grabbed her—but ended up falling myself, turning everything into a mess.
And since I was holding her on the way down, my ribs and shoulder blade shattered.
It was truly astonishing that injuries like that could be healed with just 100 Enel.
[Lena de Peron has a sturdy physique. If she'd fallen alone, her injuries would've been lighter.]
"There are things you just can't do, even if you know better...."
[....]
Armonia seemed displeased but said nothing more.
The room held only Lena lying on the bed and me seated in a chair.
Viola, figuring the Demon King's castle was the last stop, had gone off sightseeing with Beatrice.
"Did I go too far?"
[No. I trusted Lena de Peron's loyalty too, but certainty matters. Now that she's completely shattered, she'll heed your words all the more.]
Joy exists only because of despair.
Without despair, no one would even recognize joy.
Delaying this revelation to Lena as long as possible stemmed from my desire to deliver even greater joy when she was backed into the deepest corner.
And as Armonia said, she'd listen to me better that way....
Still, I hadn't expected her to faint like that.
After some time passed, Lena groaned and opened her eyes.
"Where... is this...."
"You okay?"
"Hah!"
Lena took in her surroundings and tried to bolt upright in shock.
I told her calmly,
"Lie back down."
"B-But...."
"Lie back down."
"...Yes, understood."
Lena wore an uneasy expression but obeyed obediently.
She lay still with her eyes closed.
Lena fell silent, deep in thought, then finally spoke.
"Why... did you show me such a dream...."
"...What're you talking about?"
"If my request bothered you, I apologize.... But that dream...."
"...."
Lena was weeping with her eyes shut.
'She thinks it's a dream....'
[It probably feels that unrealistic to her.]
I climbed onto the bed and placed a hand on Lena's forehead.
Her pink pupils gazed up at me.
"It's not a dream."
"But... something like that... is impossible...."
With my hand still on her forehead, I explained.
Everything Gardia had said would become reality.
Lena lay there with a bewildered look, staring at me as tears streamed down.
"Th-That can't be. There's no reason for him to help our nation...."
"There is a reason."
"Wh-What...."
"I asked him, and he agreed."
"Ah.... Aah...."
Lena clutched at my clothes, gazing up at me pitifully through her sobs.
I stroked her forehead and said,
"This time, let me ask you something."
"Wh-What...."
Lena's throat was so choked she could barely respond.
I made my proposal.
"Come with me. I need you."
"Ah...."
"Hey!"
Lena fainted once more.
..
..
"Don't faint again."
"I'm sorry...."
I explained everything to Lena.
Once she'd recovered, she grasped it all.
"So.... I just need to accompany Master on your journey?"
"Yeah, it won't be that tough. Plus, there are a few other things."
Like tutoring Viola?
Whether she'll get along with Viola... who knows.
Lena started sniffling again.
"Really... really taking a woman like me...."
"...One more time, and I won't take you."
I'd lost count of how many times I'd said that.
"Hng! ...S-Sorry... I'm sorry. Hngg...."
"No, just... don't cry...."
Who was really at fault here....
I approached Lena and pulled her into a hug.
"Hngg.... I'm sorry.... I just can't believe it.... Hngg...."
"I'm the one who's sorry. I only got the firm answer yesterday, so I couldn't tell you sooner."
"No.... Master, thank you so much.... For the rest of my life, you...."
It was right then, as Lena clung to me tightly, tears flowing, delivering her heartfelt lines of gratitude.
Click.
"Suho! Beatrice... and...."
"Uh...."
Momentarily stunned, I stared at Viola without even thinking to push Lena away.
She was...
"What are you two... doing?"
"Th-That is...."
She glared at us with the eyes of a bristling cat.
"Fuck.... They ignored us and just left...."
"Aah... Should I just die...."
The men stood in line outside the latrine, waiting to urinate.
Doomed to never pee freely again, they grumbled miserably about their lot.
By evening, after work ended, they learned Lena had departed the Demon King's castle—and flew into a rage.
They assumed she'd left without honoring their morning plea.
But even that fury soon ebbed, giving way to grim acceptance of reality.
"Hey, still... this seems better...."
"What bullshit."
"Better than that guy."
They whispered while watching Berius emerge from the latrine.
Berius, face pale as if about to retch, was tasked with removing and refitting the men's chastity cages.
"...At first, I envied them peeking at the women. But I couldn't do that shit."
"Me too.... Yeah, this is definitely better...."
They gazed at Berius, suddenly feeling optimistic about their own plight.
A man forced to unlock and lock other men's cages—not his own.
They all muttered they'd take lifetime latrine duty over that.
As another man entered the latrine, the chatter resumed.
"Hey, Lorian.... Think he'll be okay?"
"He doesn't need a cage anymore, so maybe more comfy."
"Crazy fuck.... I'd wear mine forever."
"Just talk. I couldn't live like that either."
The day after Lorian's crotch exploded, he'd been hauled off somewhere.
They claimed it was for treatment, but the men had a rough idea.
Everyone knew injured humans didn't get pampered care here.
"...Poor bastard. Should've just listened."
"Nah, honestly—if he hadn't bolted like that, I'd have cracked too."
They all nodded.
No one would've rationally believed their dicks could explode.
In the end, they were left to live out their days in equal parts relief and dread.
In a dingy room lay a man, legs splayed wide, limbs bound.
He was out cold, gagged.
There, three purple-hued demons—cloaked head to toe in fabric—conversed.
"Aigoo.... Totally burst...."
"How do we even fix this?"
"Can't. Gotta scrape it all out. But surgery? Really?"
They peered between his spread legs, trading loaded remarks.
They were field medics, patching up war-wounded demons.
Armistice had slowed their workload, but they still tended the odd injured soldier.
Human surgery was just another baffling chore they didn't get—why bother?
"How'd we sink to this.... Butchering livestock for a living...."
"No choice. Gotta feed the wife and kids."
"Hurry up and let's grab a drink."
"This? Makes me crave bull balls tonight."
They bantered freely about horrors that'd make humans recoil.
But it meant nothing to them.
Just as humans chat slaughter beside livestock without a care...
To them, humans were mere livestock.
Then.
"Krgh.... Hnggh!! Hbbgh!"
Lorian, conscious for the first time since his crotch blew, scanned his surroundings.
Purple demons filled his vision.
Gagged, he couldn't speak; bound, he couldn't move.
'Wh-What!! Where am I!!'
The demons muttered at his legs.
"Aw, he's up."
"Anesthetic?"
"Nah, skip it. Use it without clearance, and we'll catch hell...."
"Post-war stock checks are brutal. Even pig neuters got dope...."
"This ain't a pig. Those are for flavor...."
"Let's start then...."
"Hnggh!! Hbbgh!!!"
Ignoring Lorian's muffled screams of agony, the demons casually hefted sharp tools.
'Wh-What... what're you gonna do....'
One shone her blade against a mana stone, testing the edge, then said,
"First, slice off the dangling bits clean. Shove in a piss tube. Long as he can pee, done. Then..."
"Grrgh!"
"Cauterize the rest for a neat finish."
'Aaaaagh! Mercy!!!!! Kraaaagh!!!!!'
Lorian's gagged howls echoed through the Demon King's castle depths.