The only warm place in the demon castle, the greenhouse.
Arthur sat leisurely at a tea table in the middle of the colorful flowerbed.
Fine tea, soothing music, and a serene atmosphere filled the air.
It was a time to forget the sweat and exhaustion from training in the courtyard.
In the middle of the greenhouse, transformed into his personal space, Arthur enjoyed a moment of tranquility.
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Until just moments ago.
‘Is this the front yard of your house? It’s the Demon Lord’s greenhouse, so wouldn’t you be embarrassed if you acted like you owned it?’
The voice, rising from the darkness, poured curses at Arthur.
“Hmph.”
Arthur slowly placed the raised teacup back on the table.
“If you’re going to curse, do it up close. I can only hear whining from that far away.”
Then, he directed his words towards Calvin, standing at a distance.
Calvin was truly out of his mind.
While it’s true that most demons are a bit unhinged, when asked to pick the craziest one, Calvin ranks about third in madness.
His loyalty to the Demon Lord is unparalleled, leading him to despise and reject all beings except the Demon Lord and himself, considering them impure.
If it were just a matter of ignoring or belittling others, it might be manageable…
“No! Why should I be near someone like you! Disgusting! Stay away!”
The problem was his germophobia.
Calvin hated the very air being contaminated when someone stood nearby. If by any chance they touched him, he would foam at the mouth and collapse.
Despite excelling as an information gatherer in the shadows, serving as the intelligence officer, his combat abilities were lacking.
Hence, while Calvin held the position of commanding the Fourth Legion, it was a position that Arthur could easily exploit. They were friends from the start.
“You come and find me, but then you say you don’t want me around. Truly, you’re an idiot, then and now.”
Arthur’s face lacked a hint of a smile, a demeanor different from when dealing with Shekina.
“I came because I have something to say! Stay away! If you take one more step, I swear I’ll leave!”
Calvin, with his fur bristling, barked loudly, prompting Arthur to flick his ear and retort.
“If you’re not here to deliver good news, shut up and leave. I’m in a great mood right now.”
“That’s not it! Ugh, disgusting! Don’t let the wind blow my way!”
Arthur sighed and blew the wind in Calvin’s direction again.
“Dirty bast*rd. Ugh.”
Calvin took two steps back, raising his hands in surrender.
“Yurian will return soon.”
“Yurian?”
Arthur squinted his eyes.
Yurian, the first homunculus and a skilled magic user, had shown prowess in general magic. Thus, demons sent him to the academy in the hope that they could enhance his magic and he would bring back knowledge about humans from the human world.
After three years,
‘It’s time for him to return.’
Arthur sighed, finding the absence more comfortable.
With a hint of regret, he tousled his hair.
“And Yurian is taking an interest in the youngest homunculus.”
Arthur’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Why?”
Referring to Shekina, the youngest homunculus.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
As he casually advanced, Arthur grabbed Calvin’s head.
“Why is that brat interested in Shekina?”
“Uh, uh… Let me go!”
“If you don’t answer properly, I’ll stick my finger up your nostrils.”
“You bast*rd!”
Calvin resisted Arthur’s finger that seemed ready to go up his nostrils.
“He learned summoning magic at the academy. Seems like he wants to compare his skills with hers! I answered, didn’t I? Let me go!”
Dismissing Calvin’s struggles, Arthur sighed and squinted his eyes.
“He shouldn’t be ordering such barbaric things to our Shekina.”
“What?”
“He’s still three years old. At that age, it’s okay to do nothing but play. No need for such low-level competitions. It’s not happening. I should tell that Yurian guy not to come.”
“You…”
Calvin widened his eyes, looking up at Arthur.
“Are you seriously insane?”
Arthur extended his palm towards Calvin.
“You wouldn’t want a crazy guy touching you, right?”
“Don’t come near! Don’t touch me!”
Although Arthur didn’t exert much force, Calvin couldn’t escape from Arthur’s grasp. Arthur clicked his tongue.
“Your combat skills are truly trash.”
“I use my abilities elsewhere! Without my information, you would have died a hundred times over!”
“Sure. You would have died two hundred times more without my protection.”
Arthur chuckled and brushed off Calvin.
“Ugh, you dirty bast*rd.”
Calvin shivered and stepped back, straightening his disheveled clothes.
Then, Arthur added, as if realizing something.
“Oh, and the temple guys are nearby.”
Arthur, who was about to mention Yurian, froze.
The temple guys likely referred to the priests from the Northern Temple, who had recently visited the territory not long ago.
Why mention it now? A glint of determination appeared in Arthur’s eyes.
“They said they were looking at a site to build a temple… Why is your expression like that?”
“I’m just thinking it would have been better if you had told me that earlier during the time wasted on your stupid obsessive-compulsive disorder.”
“Huh?”
Calvin’s wrist was caught by Arthur before he could comprehend the situation. Ah, no! Disgusting! Let go!
“Aaargh! Let me go!”
“One of those temple guys aimed a spear at Lady Shekina.”
“Let me go, you crazy bast*rd!”
“Maybe it’s better to just kill them.”
“Me too, I’m die! Die!”
Arthur’s eyes flickered.
***
After visiting Sebastian, Shekina hid in an empty room in the annex.
The reason was simple.
They needed to use a teleport scroll.
“Is there no other choice for this?”
Shekina examined the scroll with a disgruntled expression, recalling Sebastian’s words as she received the scroll.
– Seriously, this time it’s for real. I’ve staked my life on it. If this goes wrong? Just throw me back in that prison.
Yeah. He swore to the extent of being willing to go back to that prison.
So, with the thought of giving it a try, Shekina tensed her legs and straightened her back, holding the scroll ready to tear it at any moment.
She’s about to teleport.
‘The destination is…’
Shyaak-!
‘Northern Canyon.’
There’s an artifact here.
Shekina plans to hand over the artifact found here to Nisha. Since Nisha is currently without the power of the demon lord, if Shekina activates the artifact and hands it over, Nisha should be able to wear it.
Currently, it’s trapped in the scroll Sebastian gave her, but it won’t last long. She needed to quickly get Nisha’s help to create a new containment for the artifact.
Therefore, Shekina wanted to give Nisha the best item in her opinion.
‘She’ll definitely love it.’
This artifact has an effect that can further enhance Nisha’s stats.
“What if Nisha falls in love with me? I wonder if it’s a four-way relationship since there’s the twins too.”
Shekina chuckled happily, letting the torn scroll paper fly away in the wind. Then, she stared absentmindedly at the world where snowflakes were swirling.
“Well, if I slip, I have to use this too.”
She pulled out another scroll. It’s a magic scroll for anti-slip, created with the certainty that it would be essential when going to the canyon. Along with it, Shekina added a heating magic effect.
“I guess this should be enough for now.”
Shekina took a deep breath and lowered her head towards the canyon.
A canyon so deep that you can’t see the bottom.
A single misstep and it looks like there would be no chance to retrieve one’s bones.
However, Shekina had to descend to this place. There’s an igloo on the floor of the canyon, and inside, there’s an artifact.
‘They really made it difficult to find.’
Shekina took another deep breath and pulled out a scroll with the Fly spell.
Swoosh!
Ripping the scroll, Shekina felt the magic clinging to the soles of her feet as she threw herself into the canyon.
‘Just grab the artifact and hurry back.’
Breaking through the darkness obscuring her vision, Shekina descended rapidly.
And when she reached the bottom,
“… Huh.”
There, she could see a very familiar figure.
“Dehan?”
It was none other than the hero.
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