This Is an Affair
This Is an Affair
004
'Adventurer' is actually a promising line of work.
Right off the bat, that absolute troll of a warrior in the Hero Party and that pointed-eared thief bitch are both former adventurers.
Any random riffraff can't just slap on the title of adventurer.
Most of those types operate under the name of mercenaries, hired out by individuals or groups.
Adventurers are those who conquer unexplored lands, rugged terrains, or demonic realms and dungeons across various places.
Of course, there are times when they get hired like mercenaries too, though.
But that doesn't have much to do with the actual title of adventurer.
Anyway.
Meaning, under normal circumstances, this kind of commotion rarely breaks out at the Adventurer Guild that issues those licenses.
On top of that, this isn't even my first time registering as an adventurer.
Because Deron had also registered as an adventurer back before he became a knight.
But the gap between then and now is clear.
It was seven years ago when Deron barely scraped through adventurer registration to get an E-Rank.
"Here, take this! It's your A-Rank ID card!"
Now, an A-Rank ID pops out instantly.
Of course, it isn't just a simple A-Rank, but practically close to an S-Rank (Tentative).
Apparently, due to regulations, they can't issue an S-Rank evaluation on a first-time registration.
"......I'll come back next time."
"Yes! Please watch your step on the way out!"
Seeing them see me off like soldiers standing at rigid attention, I let out a deep sigh.
Until I walked out of the guild, the gazes gathered on me did not disappear.
I didn't want this kind of commotion.
Of course, it's partly my fault.
The Miran Kingdom is a relatively small nation by continental standards.
Setting aside a few big cities, in a branch located in a place closer to a relatively small town like this, I was bound to stand out.
"......At least I got lucky this time, I guess."
As a result, it seemed no one recognized me.
I put on a bit of a disguise just in case, but even if I hadn't, it probably would have been the same.
Because officially, Deron wasn't a member belonging to the Hero Party.
Furthermore, except for the commander, the identities of the Royal Guard Knights were not disclosed to the outside world.
The fact that Deron was banished from the kingdom is a truth known only to the other party members, the Royal Guard, and a few old retainers of the current Queen's faction.
Not to mention my previous identity.
Even if someone managed to figure that out, no one would ever associate me with the hero.
"Well, bloody thanks a lot."
This is all thanks to my former Hero Party members who swallowed up all my achievements.
I expressed my pure, unadulterated gratitude.
"Enjoy your lives...... even if it's just for a few years."
Either way, the future lying ahead of them is nothing but ruin.
A one-way street with no detours.
That is how the grand flow of the world has been woven.
The advent of the Demon King brought immense chaos to the continent.
Of course, it was not an unprecedented event.
Up until now, beings called the Demon King had appeared on the continent several times.
However, that standard was vague.
The land eroded by demonic energy and occupied by demons, so-called the Demonic Realm.
The overlord of that place was sometimes called the Demon King.
A crazy lich who spent thousands of years researching dark magic in some corner of the mountains was also called the Demon King.
"......Haaah."
But this time, the 'Demon King' was a proper Demon King.
A monarch of the Demon Realm who directly manifested from the Demon Realm.
An absolute powerhouse whose purpose was the conquest of the surface.
The strongest being whom no one could match alone at this point in time.
That Demon King was letting out heavy sighs left and right.
It was all because of a girl tearfully spilling her complaints right in front of her eyes.
"If I had only taken my kin with me, I wouldn't have been subjected to such a humiliatioooonn......"
"Did I not tell you? In order to manifest your kin in this place, too much had to be sacrificed."
"But, buuuut......"
"......"
Her appearance was practically nothing short of a child throwing a temper tantrum.
Demon King Gremory felt the advice to 'act your age' rising from deep within her heart, but she barely managed to hold it in.
Surprisingly, the Great Duke of the Demon Realm in front of her—
True Ancestor Charlotte was older than her.
She even recalled following her around hundreds of years ago, calling her eonni-.
Anyway, since they had that kind of relationship...
Reaching the present day, she had felt an emotion beyond gratitude just from Charlotte lowering her head first.
Originally, demons were such insolent bastards that one couldn't expect such treatment before beating them up a few times.
In fact, after ascending as Demon King, Gremory had spent all forty-some years physically subjugating those insolent bastards.
"Hueeeeng!"
"......"
But that older woman, who had lived for a thousand years, had been beaten up by a human male and was now sniffling and crying her eyes out.
It was a monumental tragedy for the Demon Army.
That the true nature of the Demon Army, which brought tension to the world by its sheer appearance, was this dismal......
Of course, apart from Gremory's lamentations, their objective combat power was still formidable even now.
For the high demons who manifested alongside her were each comparable to the top-tier powerhouses of the continent.
Charlotte was merely an exception because she could only unleash her full potential when the trifecta of her kin, her bloodline, and her territory aligned.
However, that alone wouldn't do.
Gremory remembered the previous failure.
The memories of the former Demon King were preserved intact inside her head.
'In the end, if a common enemy appears, they are bound to band together.'
Overthrowing a mere kingdom on the continent was entirely possible.
But beyond that, complete occupation or species-level extermination was impossible.
When a crisis of this magnitude strikes, the entire continent unites beyond a single species.
It was damned infuriating.
Isn't it practically species discrimination?
Gremory truly thought so.
The demons living in the Demonic Realm and Demon Realm are also just one root of species.
Just because they were born with horns, forcing them to live shoved away in the Demon Realm where not a single blade of grass grows...... isn't that far too harsh a story?
It had been about three months since she manifested the demons on the surface who were moved by this cause (of course, many were moved by her fists).
As the continent slowly began to recognize the existence of the 'Demon Army', that damn collective racism was already showing its outline.
She had to come up with a way to overcome this.
Various methods came to mind, and she was currently executing them.
Among them, the one deemed most effective was the recruitment of the hero.
The hero of the Libert Kingdom, the second largest kingdom on the continent.
Apparently quite famous in the Demonic Realm already, she was practically the primary enemy to the surface demons.
Not only in terms of military strength, but she was also useful in terms of political strategy.
In the end, the ones holding hegemony over the continent were the human species.
If the hero, who had been the idol of those humans, were to join the Demon Army, the future Gremory dreamed of would surely become vividly clear.
"There, there, eonni...... I understand how you feel, so stop crying. Shh?"
"Heuk- euk-! Shh!"
......However, the Great Duke of the Demon Realm, ambitiously dispatched for that purpose, was rejected right at the door without even meeting the hero.
After getting slapped in the cheek by some bastard, she was now snuggled up right in her arms.
Tightly closing her eyes and kicking out all the subordinate demons, what remained were two demon sworn sisters.
Naturally, the one acting like a spoiled brat was the eonni.
'By the way, how was that possible?'
A sense of futility washed over her from being in a position where she had to soothe a woman a whole 300 years older than her like comforting a child.
Simultaneously, a single question came to mind.
Letting out a slight groan for a moment, Gremory picked up the now-quieted Charlotte, set her down, and immediately brought up the topic.
"By any chance, that human man...... do you know who he is?"
"I don't know, I've never seen him before."
Then it was even stranger.
Although Charlotte looked extremely trivial in her current state, by absolute standards, that wasn't the case.
It was just that the title of Great Duke was too grandiose.
She possessed strength that placed her above most high-ranking demons.
Even by present standards without her bloodline and kin.
"Was there no other peculiarity?"
"Ah, right! He knew my nickname?"
"......A nickname?"
"He called me Rotty. But I definitely have no memory of him......"
It was bizarre.
In the first place, those who referred to Charlotte by her nickname were rare even in the Demon Realm.
How on earth could a human with no prior acquaintance recognize her identity and even call her by her nickname?
The Demon King felt an intuition.
Her own ideal.
Until reaching the throne to accomplish it.
What provided immense help at every single moment was this very intuition.
Rather than an instinct, it was a kind of authority.
What would be more accurate to call foresight was manifesting right now.
As a result of that.
"Go back."
"Eh, eueee? Go back, go back again? That's a bit......"
"This is an order issued in the name of the throne blessed by the Demon God, Charlotte. Uncover the identities of Hero Amelia and that man, and win them over as much as possible."
"Ah."
Gremory had returned to being the Demon King, and Charlotte was addressed as the Great Duke.
The solemn order of the Demon King was accompanied by immense authority that could not be refused.
The venerable True Ancestor Great Duke Charlotte, aged 981.
Launching her second sortie toward the hero's hideout.
Bremwell, a small-to-medium-sized town in the Miran Kingdom.
......was actually a place of no great account.
It wasn't some trade city, nor did people visit for tourism due to famous local specialties.
News of undiscovered ruins or dungeons appearing nearby was non-existent.
The neighboring cities and villages adjoining it all felt the same way.
Instead, a single bakery was exceptionally famous, and in that regard, Deron could feel a bit of nostalgia.
Because even in his past life, there was a place where a single bakery was more famous than the city itself.
After a long time, the memories of 28-year-old cargo truck driver Kim Taeyoung sparked to life.
"Now this is real food......"
Therefore, taking advantage of coming down to the city, he bought a few loaves of bread.
It was a proper meal he was eating for the first time in a truly long while.
'Then what about the things we ate at home?'
One might ask such a question, but in Deron's mind, calling those proper food was a bit of a stretch.
Deron's cooking skills came from his past life.
That is to say, they stemmed from the experience of 28-year-old cargo truck driver Kim Taeyoung (living alone experience: YES).
Naturally, bachelor cooking is closer to meal prep than actual culinary arts.
And when even that becomes bothersome, one looks for ways to skip the prep altogether.
The reason he had been in charge of cooking all this time was because Amelia's skills were even more catastrophic than his.
Feeling one of his five senses regain its vigor—
"This is the life......"
Just as that perspective on life was shrinking in real-time.
'What the... why is a thing like that in a backwater place like this...... Red hair?'
'......No way, did that guy come for the same reason too?'
It was just a single instant.
In the middle of the square.
Two people, a man and a woman, whose eyes accidentally met.
'Red hair, red hair...... Who is she? Fuck, the novel described appearances so vaguely that I can't even recognize her.'
'I'm going crazy. There's no way it's already leaked out, right? What on earth are those bastards doing properly?'
Simultaneously with the momentary crossing of their gazes,
two thoughts, similar yet different, flowed past as well.
But both of them concealed their inner thoughts.
And then, without knowing who started first, a faint smile blossomed on both of their faces.
"......Do you like books?"
"Ah, I do. Was I staring too intently?"
"A little bit?"
"Haha, well this is a bit embarrassing."
'Who the fuck is this bitch?'
'Please don't be who I think you are.'
Thoughts crossing beneath the surface of the smooth-flowing Q&A.
Deron and the unidentified woman conversed like that.
On the surface, it looked ordinary.
A young man caught stealing glances at a woman engrossed in reading, and a woman who secretly found that young man to her liking.
A scene of youth blossoming within a heartwarming atmosphere.
A few passing pedestrians glancing at the scene, turning away with subtle smiles.
It was just that kind of scene.
'This one is no joke.'
'......I think I messed with the wrong person.'
But between the two of them, a war was raging.
A war without spears or swords.
The result of that war was declared from Deron's mouth upon returning home.
"Hero-nim."
"Yes? No, wait, huh?"
'Please stop using that awkward polite speech-' such a request.
......Recalling that, Amelia corrected her response.
Into her ears, Deron's calm voice echoed.
"I'm going on a date tomorrow."
"Uh~ a date?"
A reflexive answer.
Separate from that, three seconds passed until full comprehension of the sentence she just heard was achieved.
Pulpseok-
"......What?"
The hero's hands, exceedingly delicate for a swordsman.
Deron's coat slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor.
It was news just that shocking.