The Demon King's Gift and the Heroines' Debt
At that very moment, they were…
‘Whoa…’
The dazzling array of weapons and armor placed before my eyes by the servants’ hands. As I examined them, a deep, admiring smile naturally crept across my lips. Armor forged from an unknown rare metal and enchanted with high-level magic throughout, its black surface embedded with jewels and adorned with exquisite, delicate patterns. It exuded the refined elegance of a meticulously crafted work of art.
And then… the massive greatsword that formed a perfect set with the black armor. Its blade was pitch black, and even now, intense waves of violet energy rippled from it, making it unmistakably clear that the weapon’s inherent power was no joke.
These defensive gear and weapon, which at a glance possessed extraordinary might. Looking at them, I felt as if all the resentment I’d carried from trudging along with shabby equipment up until now had been completely washed away.
‘So this is the equipment the Demon King bestowed upon me? Indeed… the feeling is completely different from the second-hand weapons I carried during my days as the hero.’
In the original story, the hero had no choice but to arm himself with weapons dropped from monsters he killed. Of course, one could call that typical drop items from the game, but from the perspective of someone who had actually used them in this reality, it wasn’t exactly pleasant. It was only thanks to the hero’s inherently outstanding base stats that it was even manageable. Fighting in armor and with a sword full of chips, dents, and cracks had always left me feeling quite uneasy.
And for someone like me, the supreme demonic equipment gifted by the Demon King felt like receiving a brand-new car—moreover, the latest model of a luxury foreign import—after driving around in a beat-up used one.
‘Since she’s invested this much in me, I should definitely repay her properly. Just wait and see, Your Majesty. I will absolutely complete this mission with success.’
With that thought in mind, I carefully inspected the weapons as if handling precious treasures. Then, a light curiosity suddenly rose in my head about something I had briefly forgotten.
‘Investment, huh… Now that I think about it. Those bitches… they were completely decked out in luxury using the funds they received throughout the journey, weren’t they? While the hero was told to save money and made do with second-hand gear, those women spent whatever they wanted, wasted whatever they wanted, and only cared about flattering that porter bastard.’
The Hero Party had received a massive amount of funding under the pretext of investment to defeat the Demon King. The naively pure hero from the original story didn’t even know exactly how much investment they had received, but most of it had flowed straight into Torare’s and their own pockets, managed by the priestess Aileen who handled the finances. Of course, constantly selling out the Demon King’s name in the process of borrowing that money was just an added bonus.
‘In the original story, they had their debts forgiven for the achievement of killing the Demon King, then plundered the treasures inside the Demon King’s Castle and became incredibly wealthy instead. But now that has failed…’
The moment I reached that thought, a smile began to form on my lips. Immediately after, the hardships those bitches would soon face flashed through my mind like a panorama.
‘This… I’m really starting to get curious about how things will unfold from now on. If possible, I’d love to watch it happen.’
With that in mind, I slowly reached out and picked up the black greatsword lying before me. Despite its enormous size, it felt as light as a feather in my hands. The moment I gripped it, a faintly electrifying sensation coursed through me, letting me know that this weapon was resonating with me and amplifying the user’s power.
Now holding the weapon that would accompany me on the mission ahead, I slowly… began to form a cold smile on my lips.
‘No matter what, just don’t die and stay alive for now. At least until I personally wipe you all out with my own hands…’
Although it wasn’t my main objective, at this moment I had no intention whatsoever of giving up the pleasure of revenge. If someone owed a debt, it was only natural to repay it several times over. For that reason… I sincerely hoped that those two pairs of scumbags wouldn’t die buried under their debts or fall so miserably that there would be nothing left for me to touch.
Especially that porter bastard who had successfully seduced those bitches and driven things to this point…
‘Just wait a little longer, everyone. I’m coming for you.’
“Huff… huff… huff…”
“W-we’ve made it this far… so for now… we can relax… right?”
The women collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Aileen, Amelda, Shude, and Terra. Just a few hours ago, they had boldly declared they would defeat the Demon King and marched into the Demon King’s Castle as the Hero Party’s warriors. Yet at this moment, the bold spirit they had shown earlier had completely vanished from their hearts, replaced only by thick, overwhelming terror.
“To think that Elan would fall so futilely…”
“It’s unbelievable… Elan was as strong as the four of us combined… If even he was defeated, just how powerful is the Demon King?”
“I don’t know for sure… but it seems like even if we combined all our strength with Elan’s, we would barely stand a chance…”
“The Demon King… is terrifying…”
For a while, the four of them remained seated where they had collapsed, shuddering as they recalled the Demon King’s majesty, which had been far more overwhelming than they had imagined. Then, after some time had passed and they had barely managed to suppress the fear writhing in their hearts, they soon became consumed by worries about their future.
“U-um… so what happens to us now? Originally, once Elan killed the Demon King, all the credit was supposed to be taken by Lord Torare and us.”
“Yes… that was the plan. We thought it was quite perfect… I never imagined it would fail like this.”
“It’s not our fault. The problem was that the hero was weaker than we thought and the Demon King was far stronger than expected.”
“Maybe so? But either way, we’ve completely failed.”
“…”
“Kuh…”
The beastman warrior Terra’s short, blunt words struck right at the heart of the matter. Just as she said, if one were to evaluate the current state of the Hero Party, the word “complete failure” fit perfectly. The party’s strongest asset, the hero Elan, had been defeated by the Demon King, and the remaining members had abandoned him and fled. It was obvious what had become of Elan in that situation, and for them to try to defeat the Demon King again after losing their strongest member would be nothing short of marching to their deaths.
In conclusion, subjugating the Demon King had now become a realistically impossible goal. However, even if they accepted that impossible reality, they could not simply give up the adventure and return home quietly. They were the ones who had come this far under the slogan of defeating the Demon King as the Hero Party. The support they had received from the allied races and each city during that process had been enormous, and it even included a considerable amount of debt.
The debts they had recklessly piled up under the assumption that they could pay everything back once they defeated the Demon King. Naturally, those debts had been completely out of sight before the battle they had been certain they would win… but now that the subjugation of the Demon King had ended in failure, that thing called “debt” was finally revealing itself clearly before them as a cold, harsh reality.
‘Damn it… If I had known this would happen, I should have listened to Elan and lived more frugally…’
‘It was a mistake… I thought I was just investing to win Lord Torare’s heart…’
‘Wait a second… isn’t this seriously dangerous? Honestly, I ignored the hero’s warnings because I thought we could pay it all back if we just killed the Demon King. But if things turn out like this…’
‘Lord Torare spent money way too recklessly. We spent money way too recklessly too…’
Just like that, they had gone from being the Hero Party meant to save the world to becoming malicious debtors overnight. Only now realizing that they were trapped in a crisis where they could neither advance nor retreat, the four female warriors were seized by a deep sense of anxiety.
“F-for now… let’s go to Lord Torare and discuss this. He’s sure to have some good idea.”
“That would be best. At this point, it seems that’s our only option.”
Thinking that if anyone could overcome this crisis, it would be the person who was effectively their ‘master’ and the one who had devised the plan to defeat the hero, the four of them began heading toward where Torare was waiting.