He seemed a bit flustered by my words; the hand holding the cane trembled slightly.
“Hmm, hoho. Has your hearing deteriorated with age? It seems I’ve hearing nonsense.”
“You heard well, bald head.”
“This kid!”
“Well, what if I shout? I can shout too, you know!”
Despite his face turning red and shouting, I wasn’t scared at all.
What’s there to be afraid of a bald head? The bald heads I know are stressed-out authors dealing with baldness due to sitting in a chair for twelve hours a day, leaving only survival muscles. There was really no need to be scared.
“Hoho… Truly an intriguing fellow. I’ve never seen someone like this before.”
He looked down at me, stroking his beard.
“Do you even know who I am before making a sound?”
I locked eyes with him.
The faint energy I sensed as he approached undoubtedly felt like magic.
There is only one class in the human realm that possesses this level of magic.
“An elder, perhaps.”
Elder.
Even without that, I had been considering meeting him.
I smirked.
“Are you an elder? Coming down to the mortal realm soon?”
“Oh, I see. It means you’re not just a naive child.”
He chuckled and tapped my forehead with his cane.
“Knowing who I am, is this how you rudely approach me?”
“What’s rude? I haven’t done anything. Just calling someone who have bald head a bald head, that’s all.”
“I have alopecia, not baldness. I hope you can distinguish properly.”
I shrugged. The elder stuck out his tongue and tilted his head.
“There’s no way Lyat would let you go willingly. Did you secretly escape from the castle?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You sneaked out.”
He let out a dry laugh.
“You better turn back. The outside is quite dangerous, especially for young homunculus like you.”
He waved his hand. However, since I had met him, I had no intention of easily backing down.
“I don’t care. I’m not going.”
So, I firmly grabbed the elder’s pants.
“You called me a fisherman a while ago. Was that because of the fishing rod you used? I caught that fishing rod.”
“Did you come out to meet me?”
“Yes.”
Not really.
Today, I came to check on the territory management and investigate the ice barrier.
I had planned to meet the elder later.
But in this situation, was there a need for me to go back? It seemed more efficient to have a conversation with him since things had turned out this way.
“Let’s talk since we’re here. I have a lot of questions.”
“Huh?”
The elder chuckled, folding his wrinkled eyelids.
“Well then, you should learn how to respect your opponent first. The sight of a little blue crawling creature is not exactly delightful.”
Although he spoke casually, there was an energy in his voice that was far from casual. He projected a much stronger magic than before, as if trying to suppress me.
But I wasn’t intimidated at all. I had experienced this even when meeting the 5th elder. He had also tried to suppress me then, surprised when I scattered his energy.
This time was no different.
Apart from the slightly denser magic, that’s about it.
“Is it weird for me to use informal language while staring at a little demon lord? That’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”
“You!”
The elder shouted, his eyes glaring.
“Do you dare to think that you can criticize the Demon Lord?”
The scream was filled with so much magic that the surrounding ground vibrated.
Ordinary homunculus, or even intermediate demons, would likely have cowered upon hearing this scream.
Me, too, felt a chill down my spine.
But I didn’t back down.
Why?
‘He likes this kind of thing.’
In a past life, I had encountered him on a distant beach. When I was a top-tier elemental mage, I had gone to the western coast to subdue a rampaging sea elemental. For some reason, he was there too. And he killed five elemental mages, including me.
‘He killed them because he didn’t like them.’
The face of the guy who chuckled like a kind old man while slitting the throat of an elemental mage is still vivid.
Only one person, me, and one of my direct disciples survived at that time.
I was out at sea for investigation and came back late, and my disciple…
‘Despite resisting to the end, I spared him because his spirit was strong.’
He held those humans who didn’t cower in fear in high regard. The ones who were afraid, he brutally killed.
So, what of it?
‘I’ll resist too.’
He would probably find it amusing to see a little rat standing up against him.
I had no intention of hiding my claws.
“Well, whether I can resist as much as the Demon Lord, I don’t know for sure now.”
“What?”
“If you help me, maybe I can resist or maybe not.”
I chuckled and approached him a step closer.
“How about it?”
His pupils shook slightly.
“Strange… A peculiar fellow was born.”
The overwhelming magic that had been suffocatingly thick as he finished speaking was lifted.
With this, I received a passing grade in his assessment of my worth. Laughter escaped from me involuntarily.
“Follow me. Don’t smirk so ominously.”
“Smirking cutely. ‘Ominous’ is a bit much.”
“Tch.”
How cute did he think I was? Too much.
I trotted behind him, lips pursed in a playful manner.
***
1st Elder, Nord Daimon.
Acknowledged for his loyalty to the former Demon Lord, Nord Daimon was rightfully the second in command in the demon realm, receiving control over Daimon Castle.
Even though his magic weakened when he descended to the human realm, he could wield magic comparable to most grand sorcerers.
So, instead of focusing on gaining power in the Demon Castle like other demons, he roamed the continent, searching for ways to break seals.
However, the efforts were in vain.
Nowhere could he sense the Demon Lord’s power.
Consequently, he reluctantly returned to the territory, avoiding entry into the castle under the pretext of managing the territory. Demons revered Daimon, so there was no need to enter a lowly castle where only those scared of him would be present.
However…
“Oh, what’s this?”
A little homunculus running around like it’s her home.
“Is this a cookie? Yummy!”
Taking snacks from the cupboard, crunching away.
Hey, what’s going on?
Why isn’t this one scared of me?
Even if it’s a homunculus, there’s no way it wouldn’t know the fear engraved in blood – the fear of ‘Daimon.’
Ideally, when we were conversing earlier on the street, this one should have fallen to its knees, banging its head on the ground, terrified of me. Because it’s Daimon. Daimon’s power flows through Nord.
‘An intriguing fellow.’
Nord let out a hearty laugh, tilting his head.
“No, didn’t you enter the castle and enjoy such snacks there? Why are you eating alone like this outside?”
Shekina looked at him and took another crunchy bite of the cookie.
“But it’s strange. Demons usually don’t eat, so why is this happening here?”
It was a questioning look, but Shekina had a certain conviction.
How did the surrounding humans react when she followed Nord through the streets and came here? It seemed like they didn’t come too close, but they smiled and greeted Nord.
Humans smiling at demons?
Not scared?
In doubt, as she came to Nord’s house and saw snacks in the cupboard, it became certain.
Nord is interacting with humans.
‘But why?’
Demons loathe humans.
That’s an immutable fact.
But why interact with humans?
Shekina narrowed his eyes.
“C…”
“Ah! Lord Nord!”
At that moment, the door creaked open, and someone entered. It was a human.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a guest and just walked in.”
Nord, holding a teacup, furrowed his brows for a moment but quickly regained composure, turning to the human.
“It’s fine. What’s the matter?”
“Well, you see…”
The human glanced at Shekina hesitantly. Shekina shrugged, and Nord sighed lightly in response.
“Speak. Don’t mind about that kid.”
“Oh, okay.”
Hearing Nord’s words, the human bowed deeply with clasped hands.
“We received a message from the top of the western region… The price of wheat we were supposed to deliver for a bag of silver coins has increased. So, it seems we need a bit more money…”
Fidgeting nervously, he seemed quite anxious.
Nord glanced at Shekina again and then, with a resigned expression, took out a bundle from the drawer.
“Take this.”
The bundle thrown contained a pile of gold coins.
“Unbelievable…”
The human man sniffled with a tearful face, bowing deeply.
“Thank you so much, really. And I’m always sorry for just receiving help like this.”
Nord briefly held a smile, then quickly extinguished it. However, Shekina didn’t miss that fleeting moment.
“Since we have a guest, it’s better to discuss later.”
“Ah! Yes, of course! I apologize! Thank you!”
The human bowed repeatedly to Nord, then to Shekina, and left.
Thud.
As soon as the door closed, Shekina opened her mouth to Nord.
“Money for a human too?”
“Yes.”
Nord sipped his tea casually and replied nonchalantly.
“Why associate with humans?”
Nord answered casually.
“Because I like humans.”
“…”
Shekina felt a shiver down her spine and swallowed dryly, feeling goosembumps on her forearms.
‘Someone who likes humans walks around committing murder?’
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