The 71st Demon King
"I don't know who they are, but I'm just grateful," a man muttered to himself as he walked through the ruins, a backpack slung over his shoulders and a dagger in one hand.
He was a Pathfinder, making a living off the relics he excavated while exploring outside the barriers. However, for some time now, a bandit group had been running rampant in the vicinity, making his explorations difficult. It had gotten so bad that he had even considered moving to a different area.
But then, rumors began circulating among the Pathfinders that the bandits had recently vanished. And those rumors turned out to be true.
They really have completely vanished, haven't they?
It was his seventh day exploring outside the barrier, and there was still no sign of the bandits. To make things better, he had managed to salvage a few decent-looking relics today. His steps felt exceptionally light.
Come to think of it, I heard a hero passed through here recently. Did that hero wipe out the bandits?
However, most of the rumors surrounding this hero were hard to believe—things like them being a tiny child. As a Pathfinder in the remote countryside, there was no way he would have heard of Gwen, the Hero of the Rose.
Well, let's call it a day and head back.
Just as he was quickening his pace, a voice called out.
"Excuse me..."
A weak voice drifted from somewhere. Turning his head, he saw a woman slumped on the ground. With dried blood caked on her forehead, she was clearly in bad shape even at a glance.
What should I do?
He wasn't strong enough to afford caring for an injured stranger. He didn't possess any combat-oriented Holy Relics; he only had a single bracelet imbued with just enough divinity to withstand the Chaos. But still...
She's beautiful, isn't she?
She had doll-like pale skin and long, transparent ice-like hair. It was almost suspicious that such a beautiful woman was out here beyond the barrier. After a brief moment of hesitation, he finally made up his mind.
"Take my hand."
He approached her and reached out. The woman offered a faint, fragile smile.
Creeeak. The old door opened with its usual loud groan. Stepping inside, I looked toward the counter and let out a sigh.
"Sleeping like a log, I see."
The Innkeeper was fast asleep, slumped over the counter. There was absolutely no point in him keeping watch like this. I walked over and nudged him awake.
"Uncle. Wake up."
Only then did his eyes flutter open.
"Huh? Alan?"
"Yes, it's me."
"What are you doing here?"
He looked utterly bewildered to see me. Well, it made sense, considering it had been nearly a month since we last saw each other.
"Don't worry about that, just go inside and get some proper sleep."
Of course, I was tired too, but perhaps because my stamina stat had increased, I wasn't exhausted enough to pass out like him. But seeing me seemed to jog the Innkeeper's memory.
"No, I can't do that."
Suddenly disappearing into the kitchen, he returned holding a bottle. As he popped the cork, a familiar aroma drifted through the air. It was the scent of alcohol.
"Uh, what is that?"
"What do you think? It's booze. I've been saving this to drink with you when you got back."
"But I'm not an adult yet..."
"What are you talking about? Once you leave home, you're an adult."
Pouring the liquor into a cup, he slid it toward me.
"Here, have a drink."
Honestly, I didn't mind. I was curious about what alcohol tasted like in this world, and it had been quite a long time since I last had a drink anyway.
Well, don't mind if I do...
Just as I was about to raise the cup to my lips, the inn door burst open.
Huh?
A man rushed into the inn. On his back, he carried a woman. Even at a glance, her condition looked terrible.
"Is there a doctor in this village?!" the man shouted.
The Innkeeper immediately registered the severity of the situation.
"There is no doctor here. However, we keep basic first-aid supplies at the inn. I'll go grab them."
As the Innkeeper dashed into the back of the inn, the man laid the woman down on the sofa. I stood quietly by the counter, observing the two of them.
This is a bit early.
I was referring to the period when the Demon King first enters the village for reconnaissance before tearing a hole in the barrier. It was about a week earlier than the timeline I remembered. What did that mean?
A stranger appearing at this exact timing...
There was a very high probability that one of these two was the 71st Demon King.
The problem is, which of them is it?
Of course, it wasn't as if I had never seen the 71st Demon King's appearance in the game. But the issue was that they had more than just one or two forms. The 71st Demon King possessed a unique ability to alter their appearance.
For now, the seemingly fine man is suspicious, but...
I had to be careful. No matter how much I wanted to eliminate the Demon King, I didn't want to end up a criminal by killing an innocent person.
Even if they entered the village early, they'll still need preparation time to breach the barrier.
Therefore, my only option for now was to keep both of them within my sight and observe. If one of them was the Demon King, they would slip up eventually.
And that slip-up came much sooner than expected.
"Um... where is this?"
Those were the first words out of her mouth the moment she regained consciousness. Sure, it made sense to ask since this obviously wasn't her room. But her next words were entirely unexpected.
"Is this... not the Ice Valley?"
I froze instantly at her words. Of course this wasn't the Ice Valley. In the first place, the Ice Valley right now was...
"I don't know what your circumstances are, but would you mind if I shared some unfortunate news?"
It was the Innkeeper. He seemed to have noticed my hesitation and stepped in. Hearing his words, the woman looked puzzled but nodded.
"It's alright. I already figured out this wasn't the Ice Valley from how warm the air is. So, where are we?"
"You are correct. This is not the Ice Valley, but the Basil Region."
"The Basil Region? That's wonderful. It's not very far from the Ice Valley..."
"And the Ice Valley has already been destroyed by the Chaos."
The woman's eyes widened. It was the reaction I had anticipated. I asked her:
"Do you happen to know what year it is right now?"
"Isn't it the Year 231 of Chaos?"
Just as I thought.
"It is currently the Year 298 of Chaos."
A whopping sixty-seven years had passed. For reference, the collapse of the Ice Valley's barrier had also occurred in the Year 231. It seemed her memories were stuck right before the destruction of the Ice Valley.
"How could..."
The woman clutched her head. It looked like she would need some time to calm down. I turned my gaze to the man who had brought her in.
"What state did you say she was in when you first found her?"
"She was collapsed on the ground. There weren't any Chaos Beasts around that had attacked her."
No attacking Chaos Beasts in sight... That statement certainly made the woman look even more suspicious. However, I continued questioning the man.
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
It was still too early to completely clear him of suspicion.
"Well, I don't know why you're asking, but let's just say I'm an ordinary Pathfinder."
"A Pathfinder? Have you been in this village all along?"
It was strange. I had no memory of seeing this man either inside or outside the barrier.
"Yeah. I think it was since last month? I started staying in this village, but lately, the bandits have been causing so much trouble that I couldn't go outside the barrier."
The bandits were a plausible excuse. After all, I was the one who had personally wiped them out. The timing of his arrival last month also coincided with when I had left the inn.
That lowers the probability of the man being the Demon King.
That left the woman. A woman claiming to have come from the Ice Valley sixty-seven years ago. She was definitely suspicious. Yet, for some reason, I couldn't be entirely certain.
Closing my eyes, I feel the wind. As if an imaginary hand is grasping the breeze...
"Bullshit."
I was talking absolute nonsense. No matter how I trained my Wind Authority, the results were deeply unsatisfying, so I was currently trying out different training methods. One thing was for sure: this wasn't it.
When training wind magic in the game, the flavor text was usually something like this.
Maybe it was because that was magic, whereas this was an Authority. In fact, precisely because it was an Authority, I could manipulate it without even trying to feel it. The real issue lay in its precision and power.
Flicking a coin casually into the air, it began to spin. I wished it would spin perfectly in place like telekinesis, but instead, it fluttered around like a falling petal, riding the air currents. It even kept drifting downward, as if lacking the necessary force.
Even after acquiring Precocious, growth is still this slow.
After a week of diligently training my Wind Authority, I had barely managed to reach C+ rank yesterday. However, the difference from C rank wasn't particularly noticeable. If I had to point out any changes, the weight I could support had increased ever so slightly, and using the ability felt a bit more natural.
This isn't enough.
Just as I was about to refocus on my training, my Wind Authority suddenly detected something. It was right next to me.
"...!"
I whipped my head around. There, a woman had her face leaned in incredibly close to mine.
"Kyaah!"
"Whoa!"
I almost instinctively pulled my sword from my inventory. Seriously, when did she get so close? I hadn't noticed her at all. Had I been too focused on my training?
Or could it be...
I stared at the woman with a wary gaze. Her face paled instantly, and she stammered out an apology.
"I'm... I'm sorry."
"An apology?"
"For startling you..."
Since she reacted like this, I didn't really have anything to say. It wasn't as if I was absolutely certain she was the Demon King.
"No, it's fine. I was just spacing out and got startled."
"But what was that just now?"
Her eyes were locked onto the coin in my hand.
Did she see it?
While I was racking my brain for an explanation, she spoke up.
"Is that magic?"
"...Yes, that's right."
It seemed much better to pass it off as magic rather than trying to explain what an Authority was. At least magic was relatively well-known to the general public. Even after playing this game for thousands of hours, Wind Authority was something I had never seen before.
"You know how to use magic? That's amazing."
"No, it's nothing special. At best, I can only make a coin float."
The woman shook her head.
"Nothing special? There are so many people who can't even do that."
"...Actually, while that might have been true sixty-seven years ago, even the village kids can do it now."
"What?"
She looked genuinely bewildered.
"I'm just kidding, of course."
A palm came flying at me, leaving a stinging sensation on my forearm.
Ouch...
I looked at her pouting face and finally asked what I had been wanting to know.
"By the way, what brings you here?"
At this late hour, what business did she have at the counter?
"You looked tired, so I came to take over for you."
"I'm fine, though?"
"Well, I'm not. I've been freeloading at this inn lately."
It was all thanks to the generous Innkeeper. He had temporarily taken her in since she had no money and nowhere to go. In return, she had started helping out around the inn, doing everything from washing dishes to cleaning.
Though it makes me incredibly anxious.
A woman who might be the Demon King was living in the very inn where I stayed and trained. Did she have any intention of leaving?
"Um..."
Come to think of it, I hadn't even learned her name yet. The Innkeeper had just been calling her "young lady."
"What is your name, by the way?"
"My name? Oh, that's right. I haven't told you yet. My name is..."
Who knew? Maybe her name would reveal her true identity.
"Wyss."
It was a name I had never heard before.