Chapter 6
As expected…
I really did feel like I was about to cough up blood.
Maybe it was because I suddenly vomited so much of it, or because my head, which had been spinning for a while, still hadn’t calmed down.
My vision kept swimming.
I sat down on the spot, caught my breath, and wiped the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand that had covered it.
So it wasn’t just the tea that had divine power in it, huh.
I thought of the cake plate I’d cleaned off completely except for one small piece.
No wonder it had felt strangely sharp in my mouth every time I ate it. I thought they’d just added some new herb.
I stared down unpleasantly at my blood-covered hands.
If someone saw me right now, they’d think I just finished a meal like some wild beast.
Since I was already bleeding, I figured I should summon my beast and head back to the castle to wash up.
Just as I was steadying myself to stand,
Clatter.
The sound of running footsteps came from somewhere.
An ambush?
I thought maybe it was those who tried to assassinate me today.
It could also be a low-level beast without a mind, drawn to the smell of blood.
Either way, it was an opponent I had to deal with.
After a quick decision, I gathered magic in my hand.
The dark magic that demons use loves blood and darkness.
My hands were already covered in blood, so boosting the destructive power wasn’t difficult.
All gathered.
At that moment, whoever was running toward me was almost close enough to touch.
Just as I was about to explode the magic from my hands to attack,
“You…!”
A refreshing scent suddenly wafted over.
It was a smell I had smelled somewhere before.
The one who approached was neither a low-level beast nor the assassins.
It was a normal human.
I had no choice but to scatter the magic I had gathered into the air.
“Ugh.”
Despite the pleasant scent, nausea rose.
Was it a human who wandered in from a nearby dungeon?
“Go away…”
“Hey, are you okay?”
Even with my vision spinning, his voice sounded familiar.
Why was I hearing this voice here?
I forced my focus and barely lifted my head.
“Why are you in such a state here? Could it be that the manager of the ant nest did this to you?”
“…”
“Just hold on a little. I’ll heal you now.”
The leader of the paladin order I met in the ant nest.
His handsome face was looking at me closely, worried sick.
Was his name Sian…?
I tried to endure the rising nausea, my breathing becoming rough.
Seeing me like that, Sian seemed to think I was in bad shape and tried to pour his divine power onto me quickly.
“No, wait…”
This is because I ate the cake with divine power and ended up like this!
This is like sprinkling salt on a ghost or garlic juice on a vampire!
I was too flustered to stop him.
The holy light from Sian’s hands enveloped me.
Ah, damn…
I lost myself in the brightening view.
***
“Huff.”
I opened my eyes inside a secluded cabin.
It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.
There was a time when I, a novice at possession, would have wanted to notice things like this, but not like this.
Where… am I?
It was a place I’d never seen in all my past lives, but I felt no tension.
Who in this world could threaten me?
And even if there were…
In the end, they’d just die.
I leisurely rose to my feet.
The bed filled with straw wasn’t luxurious, but reasonably soft.
The blanket wasn’t an expensive goose-feather one, but it smelled clean and sun-dried.
At least they aren’t hostile toward me.
If I had been captured by an enemy, there would be no chance of lying on such a bed.
I’d probably be tied up somewhere in a cart.
Looking back, the clothes I had been smeared with blood before collapsing had been changed into a neat dress.
I wasn’t even awake while being moved and changed?
The paladin leader’s divine power is terrifying.
“Hmm…”
How long had I been asleep?
Thanks to the sunlight streaming through the window, the room was still bright.
When I was walking around the Demon King’s castle, the sun hadn’t even risen yet.
Since the sun hadn’t set, I hadn’t been unconscious for too long.
I quietly walked toward the window. Warm sunlight streamed through the glass.
Click…
“Huh?”
At that moment, a surprised voice was heard as the door opened.
I turned to see a brown-haired girl with short hair, holding a tray with water and a towel. I had never seen her in this life or the last.
“Oh, you’re awake… no, your body… wait, wait a moment!”
The flustered girl stamped her feet a few times, then hurried out of the room.
She could have left the things she was carrying behind.
The child’s clumsy behavior reinforced my thought that this wasn’t a kidnapping.
Tat-tat-tat.
I listened to the footsteps fade away as I gazed out the window again.
One thing I knew for sure:
This is the human world.
The last person with me before collapsing had been Sian, so he probably brought me here.
A paladin leader who took a collapsed Demon King to the human world instead of finishing them off.
If this got out, it would definitely become legendary.
I laughed quietly at myself in the window’s reflection.
“You!”
Someone burst into the room with clattering footsteps outside.
It was Sian.
Sian walked straight toward me with an extremely urgent expression.
“You’re really awake…!”
He came right up to my face.
“Um…”
I opened my mouth to ask something, but he spoke first.
“You have no idea how worried I was!”
He glanced back as if checking behind him, then tightly hugged me with a pained expression.
The refreshing scent wafted again. I recognized it from before I collapsed, but it wasn’t as nauseating as before.
Over Sian’s shoulder, I saw the brown-haired short-haired girl.
She looked moved, with tears in her eyes.
“Um, put this down first.”
What on earth is going on?
I had imagined many situations, but never this.
Sian didn’t even give me a chance to speak.
The shocking part was:
“Don’t worry anymore, dear! I… your husband is here.”
Sian wiped his tears as the brown-haired girl stepped aside, then finally let go of me.
His expression was now completely neutral.
I wondered if I had misseen his previous tender expression.
Sian slowly explained why we were here.
Only after his explanation could I regain my composure.
“So you brought me here because you couldn’t leave me collapsed in the Demon World?”
“Yes.”
“It’s already been four days since I collapsed?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Was it because I was injured by the divine power in the cake?
No, the Demon World is the real problem.
A newly born Demon King going missing for four days right after an assassination attempt?
The Demon World must be in chaos.
Demon King!
Ilay’s voice echoed in my ears.
I need to return to the Demon World quickly.
Thanks to my long time spent with Ilay over multiple loops, I knew exactly how he would react.
If he found out I collapsed due to a paladin’s attack and was moved to the human world…
Wow, at least there’d be a war.
I had to prevent that at all costs.
No matter how calm I am, a demon is a demon. I needed to return before fiery-tempered Ilay got angrier.
Even leaving the Demon King position vacant for too long could be dangerous.
Devils could seize the opportunity and start a civil war to take the throne.
My head throbbed, possibly because my body hadn’t fully recovered from the divine power combo.
Or maybe it’s just the thought of handling the Demon World situation that’s making it hurt.
I furrowed my brows and touched my forehead, letting out a deep sigh.
Sian noticed my reaction and apologized.
“I panicked and called you my wife. I apologize if that made you uncomfortable.”
“No, it’s fine. That’s okay…”
I removed my hand from my forehead and looked at Sian.
His face, perfectly sculpted as if made by the gods, was looking at me.
Sian looked like a devout person, and I looked like someone who might attend the temple once or twice a year.
Our faces just don’t match.
It was a relief he believed me to be his wife.
After four days, my whole body felt stiff.
Like a child developing fine motor skills, I stretched and moved my joints.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“…Why did you do that?”
