The Youth Association's True Purpose
Malkuth’s brilliant mind, which began with the syllable ‘ga.’ But Malkuth’s ability was limited to her brain alone; beyond that, she truly possessed no other power.
“Ah, aah! Demon King! Why are you doing this?!”
“You’re asking because you don’t know? Now you’re even trying to pull your little schemes on me…!”
Malkuth, who had been clinging to me, was suddenly yanked away by Ilena’s telekinetic magic and left dangling upside down in the air.
“Demon King, please stop! What if someone sees?!”
“I don’t care! I don’t need to hear it! I’m going to beat you senseless first!”
To think that Malkuth, who had toyed with the Crusaders in the palm of her hand, would suffer such humiliation. It was pitiful, yet somehow quite amusing and refreshing to watch.
Wait… but because she was hanging upside down…!
I hurriedly averted my gaze. Ilena noticed me turning my head and asked,
“What’s wrong with you? Did Malkuth do something to you again?”
“No. It’s just… her clothes…”
“Clothes?”
Only then did Ilena realize what state Malkuth was in. Because she was suspended upside down, her long skirt had fallen completely, fully exposing her lower body clad in rather risqué underwear.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
The moment Ilena screamed, there was a heavy thud as something hit the ground. Thinking it was safe now, I turned my head back—only to whip it away again. Malkuth’s head had planted itself in the dirt, but her legs had gone limp and splayed wide open, making the situation even worse.
“Y-you! What the hell is that underwear? Did you wear it with that exact purpose in mind from the start?”
Ilena scolded Malkuth in a thoroughly flustered voice. At the same time, I could hear sharp slapping sounds. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what was happening back there.
“Haaap…!”
With a spirited shout, there was a light landing sound. When I finally looked back, Malkuth had pulled her own head out of the ground and was standing upright. As if to prove that even someone whose role was to use her head still possessed that much physical strength.
“Demon King, if my head is stuck in the ground, I can’t answer your questions.”
“Then answer me now! What the hell is that shameless underwear?!”
“Shameless? I simply dislike anything constricting, so I chose underwear with minimal coverage. That’s all.”
“You really have a way with words, don’t you…!”
Ilena glared at Malkuth with eyes blazing like fire, but unlike her initial panic, Malkuth now wore an utterly calm expression.
“Are you saying you weren’t trying to seduce Roen? First with those enormous breasts, and now with that underwear!”
“Yes, I was trying to seduce him.”
“What…?”
It was Ilena who became flustered in turn by Malkuth’s bold attitude. Then, as if taking advantage of Ilena’s loss for words, Malkuth began to speak one-sidedly.
“I have done nothing wrong. In fact, I was helping you, Demon King.”
“H-helping me? In what way, exactly?”
“Don’t you want Roen for yourself? I was simply trying to help him develop favorable feelings toward our side.”
“Then what did you mean by ‘a secret and special relationship’!”
“The relationship between humans and demons, of course. If that isn’t a secret and special relationship, then what is?”
“Ugh…!”
Malkuth refused to yield even a single word to Ilena. Even though Ilena could, if she wished, erase Malkuth’s very existence.
“Besides, it’s not like I’m the only one who has them. Though I will admit mine are larger, you, Demon King, also possess quite the…”
“Kyaaah! Where do you think you’re touching all of a sudden!”
I had to turn my eyes away again. There was no room for me to intervene, and it certainly wasn’t a sight I should be staring at.
“I’m not touching—I’m informing you. Men are instinctively unable to resist this and will inevitably submit!”
“T-take those impure hands off right now!”
“You also possess something sufficiently large and soft, don’t you? And in terms of shape, yours is actually prettier than mine. If you truly want Roen, you should seriously consider using these as weapons!”
“S-stop it. Stop… Hyaat!”
I had no idea what was happening behind me, nor what I was supposed to do in this situation. Thankfully, the front door of the house opened and Mother stepped outside, finally bringing the chaos to an end.
“Lunch is ready. Come inside, Malkuth dear.”
“Yes, Lady Glinis. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Oh my. Malkuth dear, what happened to your face? Go inside and wash up first. And you, son—what are you doing standing there? Hurry up and bring Ilena inside!”
Only after receiving Mother’s permission could I finally turn my head. There was Ilena, sitting on the ground with her clothes disheveled. I didn’t know exactly what Malkuth had done to her, but she looked half out of her mind, her expression completely dazed.
I approached and held out my hand.
“Here, take my hand and stand up.”
“Mmm…”
I took the hand she offered and helped her to her feet.
“What on earth were you two doing?”
“It’s nothing you need to know about! More importantly, are you okay? There’s no way Malkuth would have just said random things to you.”
“What she said was exactly what you heard. She asked me to cooperate with the Demon King’s army.”
“Malkuth really does pointless things sometimes. It would be reassuring if you helped, but unless another war breaks out, the Demon King’s army has no use.”
Ilena hesitated for a moment before asking again.
“So… what did you tell her?”
“I didn’t give her any answer. That’s when she told me to join the Youth Association instead of the Demon King’s army.”
But could our village’s Youth Association really be called a youth association? In a village where four legion commanders and even the Demon King herself lived. Not to mention that two of the legion commanders held the positions of president and vice president.
“In that case, it should be fine. The Youth Association really does work for the village.”
“Still, I think I should hear a bit more before deciding.”
“Mmm…”
After hearing about the conversation between me and Malkuth, Ilena seemed somewhat calmer, but there was still a hint of unease on her face. Still, I decided not to press her about it.
Then, as we were walking into the house together, Ilena suddenly grabbed the hem of my clothes.
“You.”
“What?”
“So… do you like it too?”
“Like what?”
“……”
For some reason, Ilena’s face had turned bright red.
“I’m asking what you like.”
“Ga…”
“Ga?”
“It’s nothing!”
Ilena cut herself off mid-sentence and dashed into the house first.
All I had caught was the syllable ‘ga.’ Among the things I might like, what could start with ‘ga’…?
During lunch, Malkuth explained to me what the Youth Association actually did.
“The work of the Youth Association is simple. Most of the village elders are quite old. That means they often have health issues. We help take care of them.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes. Other than that, we gather when the village wants to bring in something new, and aside from that, we mostly just hang out and have fun together.”
Ilena chimed in from the side, backing up Malkuth’s words.
“Even though they do that kind of work, there usually isn’t much to do on a regular basis. The elders in our village are all very spry. Just look at Mother—she’s so healthy, isn’t she?”
“That’s true.”
No matter how much magic might invigorate the body, she was still able to tend a large field all by herself. Besides, having helped Mother with farm work since I was young, I knew just how difficult it was. The village elders had done that kind of grueling labor for nearly their entire lives, so their accumulated stamina must be incredible.
“You know, right? That I’m also a member of the Youth Association. If you join too, we’ll have even more chances to see each other, won’t we?”
“I feel like we already see each other plenty as it is.”
“So, you don’t like it?”
“When did I ever say I didn’t like it…”
Watching me and Ilena exchange words across the table, Mother couldn’t hide her pleased expression. Then Malkuth added one more comment.
“By the way, the elders have promised that if any of the village youths get married, they will cover the cost of setting up a new household.”
“The cost of setting up a new household? That would be quite a lot, wouldn’t it?”
“There’s no problem at all,” Mother interjected. “At our age, there isn’t much else to do or enjoy. Seeing young people hold hands and live happily together is the greatest joy in life. We don’t really have anywhere else to spend our money.”
“I think I understand what you mean.”
So that was it. It was like how an aging warrior, having reached the limits of his own martial arts, would find greater fulfillment in teaching promising young talents rather than continuing to train himself.
“Of course, it’s not just the youths. There are also some elders who have found love among themselves.”
“Even the elders…?”
“Love knows no age. Lately, it seems two of the elders have taken a liking to each other, so I’ve been thinking about how we might help them.”
They even rolled up their sleeves to support the twilight romances of the elderly. It was far more wholesome and beneficial than I had imagined. Especially considering that the Demon King and two legion commanders occupied positions within it.
“Alright. I’ll join too.”
“That’s a great decision, dear!”
Ilena smiled brightly, clearly delighted that I had agreed so readily.
“A very wise choice indeed. Hehe… Oh my.”
In contrast, the way Malkuth had been wearing a sly grin before quickly composing herself to look innocent seemed rather suspicious.
“It just so happens there is a regular Youth Association meeting this evening. It would be perfect to attend and introduce Roen then.”
“That’s right, it was today! Perfect. Malkuth dear, who is in charge of bringing food today?”
“Malcolm is supposed to prepare it today.”
Malcolm? If it was Malcolm, the one who had been eyeing Ilena…
“This evening, you said? I’ll definitely attend.”
For some reason, my grip on the spoon tightened.