Why Were You Born Human?
The soft, swaying laughter tickled my ears and pulled me from sleep. I didn’t open my eyes, but I knew exactly who it was.
“Hehe.”
Ilena, the Demon King who had woken up before me, was staring at my face and making those strange little giggles. I had no idea what was so funny, but the sound itself was so amusing that I decided to keep pretending to be asleep…
Poke.
“Hehet.”
Poke. Poke.
She started jabbing my cheek with her finger. It didn’t hurt at all, but it felt… weird. What kind of feeling was this? Like I was being ignored…? Or had she forgotten?
During the war, countless demon assassins had tried to ambush me and my companions, only to fail spectacularly every single time. And yet here she was, openly poking me over and over, thinking I wouldn’t notice? Even if she was underestimating me, this was going too far. I was going to have to give her a proper scolding.
Just as I was plotting how to punish the unsuspecting Ilena, she suddenly stopped poking my cheek. In a low voice, she murmured,
Huh? What was that about…?
“No, what am I even saying? He’s a human, not even a demon. Still… he really is good-looking. Haa…”
Then she went right back to poking my cheek.
I grabbed the hand that had been poking my cheek and yanked her toward me.
“You would’ve just what? Care to finish that sentence to the guy whose sweet, peaceful sleep you’ve been disturbing?”
“Y-you?! You were awake? Since when?”
“Since before you started poking my cheek.”
“From then?! Then why did you just lie there?”
“I wanted to see what you’d do.”
When I finally opened my eyes, Ilena was staring back at me with a bright red face and a completely flustered expression.
“I’ll graciously accept the ‘handsome’ part as a compliment.”
“Y-you really heard everything…”
“So? What exactly were you planning to do if I had been born a demon?”
“Hiiik… I-I don’t know!”
Ilena tried to pull her hand free, but I wasn’t about to let her go that easily.
“L-let go!”
“Not until you tell me.”
“I said let go! Hmph…!”
In that instant, the hand I was holding grew colder than ice. The chill shot through my own fingers.
“Whoa, that’s cold!”
“S-see?! I told you to let go earlier!”
“What the hell was that? You were talking about doing something drastic, and now you’ve completely ruined my nice, refreshing nap!”
“S-sorry about that…”
Our little commotion must have woken her, because Dipe began to stir beside us.
“Are you awake, Dipe?”
“Mmm…”
Instead of answering with words, Dipe rubbed her half-lidded eyes and stretched both arms out toward me. The moment I hugged her, she closed her eyes again and snuggled deeper into my chest, clearly hoping for more sleep.
“Dipe sure sleeps a lot.”
“No, I think she just really likes you.”
“I haven’t done anything special for her, so I’m just grateful she likes me.”
I gently stroked her hair, and even with her eyes closed, Dipe gave a bright little smile.
“Ilena, since we’re already up, shall we get going?”
“Yeah, let’s do that. If I’d known, I would’ve bought something for breakfast.”
“No need to worry about that. It’s autumn in the forest, remember?”
I climbed out of the wagon and looked around. Countless trees stretched into the distance, many of them heavy with edible fruit.
“Right over there. See those fruits?”
“Yeah. They look perfectly edible at a glance.”
“Could you pick some for us? As you can see, my hands are a little full.”
Since I was holding Dipe, I couldn’t move freely. With no other choice, I had to ask Ilena for help.
With a single casual wave of her hand, five fist-sized fruits floated over to us.
“Magic really is convenient the more you see it.”
“Want to learn it yourself?”
“I tried once. But Bater said he couldn’t teach me no matter what. Apparently I have zero talent.”
“You can sense magic power so well, you can even touch it… and you still can’t use magic?”
“Right? Even the Archmage himself said so—what can I do?”
It was a shame I couldn’t use magic, but I had never felt particularly bitter about it. I simply shrugged.
“By the way, what do these taste like?”
“Try one. They’re not that amazing, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“Mmm… You try first.”
“Why? Are you nervous because it’s new?”
“Yeah. It’s not that I’m scared, but… I guess I’m hesitating a little.”
“Ah, I see.”
When I opened my mouth, Ilena blinked at me in surprise.
“What are you doing?”
“You told me to try it first, didn’t you? I don’t mind going first, but I can’t move my arms. So you’ll have to feed me.”
“O-oh, right. Here.”
Ilena carefully brought the fruit to my lips. I took a big bite. A crisp, refreshing crunch filled my mouth as rich juice burst across my tongue.
“It’s good. No problems, so go ahead.”
“Okay…”
When I nodded and told her it was safe, Ilena finally mustered the courage to take a bite herself.
“It’s delicious!”
“Right? It’s perfectly in season. This flavor only appears at this exact time of year.”
It wasn’t as sweet as cultivated crops grown with plenty of fertilizer, but the natural freshness more than made up for it.
“To think there are fruits like this just growing everywhere, ready to be picked… The human world really is amazing.”
“Ahaha…”
Her words brought back memories of the brutal environment of the Demon Realm. It was a place where letting your guard down for even a moment could mean death. There were massive plants that would snare approaching animals with their vines, crush them, and devour them. Others would deliberately drop sweet-smelling fruits on the ground. Any creature fooled by the scent would die within ten seconds, and the corpse would seep into the soil to become nutrients for the plant.
“If the Demon Realm had things like this, it would be a much better place to live.”
The expression on Ilena’s face as she said that—the face of the Demon King—was somehow bittersweet.
“Come to think of it, weren’t you doing research on this back at the lab?”
“Yes, exactly. This is precisely what we’ve been working on. Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve learned about one more wonderful plant.”
With another wave of her hand, dozens more fruits flew toward us and neatly stacked themselves inside the wagon.
“I should take some with us. For us to eat, and some for Mother as well.”
“Good idea. Shall we eat while we travel?”
It was a morning filled with the fresh scent of the forest.
“Welcome back.”
Mother, who had already been working in the fields, greeted us warmly.
“Yes, we’re home.”
“Mother!!”
While I gave a calm smile and greeting, Ilena practically leaped down from the wagon and ran straight into Mother’s arms. She hugged her so enthusiastically that Mother actually staggered.
“Goodness, goodness. Why are you so clingy today!”
“Because I missed you. I was worried about how you were doing, too.”
“Just the thought warms my heart. By the way…”
Mother asked in a slightly sneaky tone.
“My son didn’t do anything bad to you, did he?”
“Bad? No, he didn’t.”
“Then that’s fine. Hmph…”
Ilena didn’t seem to understand, but Mother shot me a mischievous glare.
“Son? Isn’t your bowl a little too small?”
“Yes, yes, I suppose it is.”
“Tsk, tsk… Anyway, I need to finish up here. I should go prepare lunch.”
“I’ll help!”
Mother stopped her fieldwork, gathered her tools, and climbed into the wagon with us. We headed back home together.
“Oh, that’s right. A guest came looking for you earlier. Said she needed to see you.”
“A guest…?”
The word made my mind spin. A guest? Who would come looking for me?
“Who was it?”
“The vice president of the village youth association.”
“The youth association vice president…”
Of course. It wasn’t an outsider after all—it was someone from the village. And not just anyone, but one of Ilena’s own Legion Commanders: Malkuth.
Malkuth, Commander of the Imperial Guard, was physically the weakest among the commanders. But if we were talking about danger, she was by far the most dangerous. She might not have had much raw power, but her extraordinary intellect and tactical genius had supported Ilena and directed the entire war. That was why she always stayed in the rear, commanding Ilena’s personal guard. It was also because of her that our hero party had eventually been forced to step in as a last resort. The longer the war dragged on, the more the crusaders danced in the palm of Malkuth’s hand and suffered defeat after defeat.
“Why would Malkuth want to see you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to meet her and hear what she has to say.”
While Ilena and I grew serious, Mother continued with a bright smile.
“She’s a very fine young woman. Her body is weak, but with that brilliant mind of hers, she’s made our village so much more prosperous.”
“A fine young woman, huh…”
She wasn’t wrong. So that’s what she meant by taking on the role of village engineer. The strange new structures popping up all over the village must have been her doing.
“Son, I’d like to introduce you to her.”
“Huh? Introduce me?”
“……?”
The moment Mother said that, Ilena’s expression turned frighteningly cold.
“Yes. She has a pretty face and a good head on her shoulders. Of course, I still like Ilena much better.”
“Ahaha, Mother, you…”
Mother’s quick praise of Ilena eased her a little, but a chill still lingered in the air. Ilena clenched her teeth slightly and asked,
“Where did Malkuth… I mean, Miss Malkuth say she would wait?”
“She said she’d wait at our house since you’d probably be back around lunchtime.”
Hm? Something about what Mother just said felt off.
“Mother, how did you know we’d be back around lunchtime?”
“Hehe… You really don’t know?”
The moment Mother gave that sly laugh, I immediately understood what she meant. I quickly turned my head away before she could look at me. But Ilena, still clueless, asked again.
“Exactly. How did you know?”
“You really are too pure for your own good, dear. Ask my son—he’ll tell you.”
Mother…? At her words, Ilena immediately turned to me, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“How did Mother know? Tell me too!”
Damn it… Mother, why are you doing this to me?!