Kaeld opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was a pointed spike hanging from the cave ceiling, a droplet of water trembling at its tip, ready to fall.
‘A cave?’
But for a cave, it was strangely bright.
He sat up.
And then, he noticed a woman reading a book in the corner.
Above her head floated a softly glowing orb.
It was that orb’s light that lit up the cave.
“You’re awake.”
The woman, Idria, spoke without even looking his way.Kaeld instinctively knew.
‘She’s the Demon King.’
The very one who had sent him the quest via official notice.
He struggled to his feet and approached the woman.
Thud.
But after only a few steps, he collapsed.
Idria spoke, still focused on her book.
“You literally came back from the dead. Your body hasn’t finished adjusting, so don’t move.”
“Who are you?”
“Idria. As you guessed, the Demon King. Demon King of Lies and Deception.”
“……”
“Feel honored. I rarely introduce myself that way. Only a soul like Lepia Odgar has heard me speak so directly.”
Kaeld chuckled bitterly.
“I’m a hero too. Doesn’t that make me qualified?”
“How far do you plan to stretch that shamelessness?”
“……”
“You’re a failure. You don’t even come close to brushing the edge of what it means to be a hero. I’ll admit I once placed hope in you, but I was wrong. Bion Kunze had a far better hand. Compared to him…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but Kaeld knew exactly what came next.
‘You’re trash.’
He gritted his teeth and said,
“It’s not over yet. Not yet.”
“Once you pass a certain point, determination becomes stubbornness.”
“Damn it. Are you just going to keep mocking me? Why did you even bother reviving me?”
“……”
“I still remember the feeling of Mide’s blade cutting my throat. I died. I know I died. But you brought me back. Didn’t you?”
“Hmph.”
“You revived me because I’m still useful, right? Then cut the sarcasm and tell me what to do next. Give me my next quest!”
Snap.
Idria closed her book.
Then, twisting her lips into a smirk, she looked at Kaeld.
“If I give you a quest, will you actually follow it this time? I told you to kill Mide, or at least Serein. Didn’t I?”
“I told you to stop mocking me.”
“Please. You’re not even worth mocking. But you’re right—you still have some use.”
“……”
“Still, if you’re going to defy my judgment with that idiotic brain of yours again, I’ll need to make our hierarchy perfectly clear before round two begins.”
Swish.
Idria raised her hand.
And in that instant—
“Gyaaaahhh!”
Kaeld’s scream echoed through the cave.
What is this? What the hell?
It hurt. Unbearably so.
It felt like countless needles were digging into him from the inside out.
“Something’s eating me from inside! Stop it! Stop!”
“I made adjustments when I rebuilt your body. Planted my insects along every nerve.”
“Urgh… Please, stop…”
“You’re nothing but a piece in my game to bring true deceit into the world. I suggest you remember your place.”
Snap.
Idria flicked her fingers.
The pain that had tormented Kaeld disappeared like a lie.
Swish.
She turned back to her book and spoke again.
“Your body isn’t what it used to be. The overflowing power, your bizarre immunity to magic and sorcery, that’s all gone.”
“W-What?”
“You really thought you’d be back to full strength just because you survived death? If I could pull that off, I wouldn’t be a Demon King—I’d be a celestial god.”
She continued, unhurriedly.
“Think about it. Why were you ever so powerful in the first place? You know, don’t you?”
“That’s because… I was Bion Kunze.”
“More precisely, you inhabited that body.”
Yes.
When the Demon King of Lies descended to this world yet again, who knows how many times, it triggered the celestial gods to respond by birthing the hero Bion Kunze.
But was it a mistake?
Or part of some divine arrangement?
Bion Kunze was not born into an empty vessel.
That body already had a soul.
The soul of Kaeld Wake.
Kaeld shouted,
“No! I was the rightful owner of that body! Bion was just a thief who barged in!”
“……”
“My soul was helplessly swallowed up by his overwhelming power. He hijacked my body and lived my life—as Bion Kunze.”
“Be quiet. Can’t you see I’m reading?”
“He laughed with my face! He spoke with my face! He won people’s hearts with my face! The villagers who hated and shunned me started loving me one day. Started admiring me!”
Blood vessels burst in Kaeld’s eyes.
His face twisted with rage, jealousy, grief, and awe all at once.
He cried tears of blood as he screamed.
“The love and attention I so desperately craved—Bion got it so easily! Why?! Why?!”
“……”
“People were confused at first, wondering why I’d changed so drastically, but they all said it was a good thing! That I looked better, that I seemed cooler! No one ever noticed me—the one buried inside!”
Then came the day he saw the message.
Kaeld had always shared in Bion’s sensations like sight, touch, even thoughts.
But Bion acted like he hadn’t seen that message.
To Kaeld, oppressed under Bion’s overwhelming presence, that message was a sliver of hope. Satan’s whisper, offering everything.
“So… I gambled everything I had. I killed Bion. Took back what was mine. Put everything back in place!”
“This is getting obnoxiously loud.”
“And now it’s Mide standing in my way?! Why do so many keep blocking my path?! I just want to be loved!”
Idria raised her hand, ready to tear into his nerves again.
But Kaeld had already collapsed, face pressed to the floor, sobbing.
“Hrk… I’m not some sacrifice meant to empower the hero. I’m me.”
“Haaah.”
Idria sighed and lowered her hand.
Well… if you think about it, he really is pitiful.
He didn’t ask to be born in that body. He was the rightful owner. And yet the gods shoved Bion Kunze’s soul in anyway.
So he had to live possessed for ten years.
Until Idria discovered that strange cohabitation.
‘Come to think of it… he survived being consumed by Bion for ten years and kept his ego intact. That’s impressive in its own way.’
She decided to be a bit more generous.
“Anyway, the reason you were so abnormally strong, immune to magic and all that was because the body was designed for Bion. You can’t deny that.”
“I’m still in the same body, aren’t I?!”
“The body your soul is in now is one I made from scratch. Based on the remains of Bion’s body.”
“A… fake body?”
“I can forge almost anything, you know.”
Idria continued leisurely.
“But compared to the real thing, this body is inferior in every way. Bion’s original body was far too special.”
“I told you, that body was mine!”
“Yes, yes. Sure, let’s go with that.”
Kaeld calmed himself slightly.
Right. No use crying over the past. He had to face reality.
His current face was the same as before.
But it was just a shell.
This fake body was no longer strong. No longer invincible.
“So what now? In this state, I can’t possibly take on Mide.”
“Of course not.”
Rustle.
Idria turned a page in her book and continued.
“And I’m not just talking about your body. Your party of top-tier heroes has already been swayed by Mide. You think you can find replacements for them in this era?”
“…Then what should I do now?”
“Eat. Sleep. Poop when the time comes.”
Kaeld’s face twisted.
But Idria hadn’t meant to mock him.
Rustle.
She turned another page.
“I’ve got a decent plan. Until then, you’ve got nothing to do.”
“What kind of plan?”
“Not something I’m obligated to share with you.”
“……”
“Interrupt my reading again and I’ll ki… hmm, no, I suppose I won’t kill you. But I will make you relive that pain for three days straight.”
Kaeld suddenly found himself curious about what she was reading so intently.
He couldn’t ask directly, so he focused his vision on the book.
To his surprise, it was a history book.
The Demon King reading human history, he couldn’t believe it.
Noticing his thoughts, Idria chuckled.
“Isn’t it amusing?”
“What is?”
“Once I spread perfect lies across the world, how do you think humans will record me?”
“As the Demon King, obviously.”
“And why’s that?”
“What do you mean why? Because it’s a fact that you are the Demon King.”
Idria’s smile deepened.
“I will turn even that fact into a lie.”
We were on our way to the capital.
It was because Xenia had received word from Dame.
—Xenia. How have you been?
“Father! How are you contacting me? I assumed by now you’d…”
—Haha. You thought I’d be in prison, didn’t you?
Even if Dame was favored by the Emperor, the disgrace he had brought upon the Imperial core organization—the Order of Holy Light—was no minor offense.
Xenia replied in a slightly gloomy tone.
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
—No need. You’re not wrong.
“If I’m not wrong, then…?”
—The trial ended a while ago, and I was imprisoned a week ago.
Neril asked,
“How’s prison treating you?”
—Why does it always sound like sarcasm when you speak?
Lisel let out a short laugh.
“Heh.”
A rare sneer from her.
Usually gentle and kind, she evidently had sky-high standards when someone got compared to Grade.
In the end, only Neril, Xenia, and I went to meet the Emperor.
We officially informed the palace of our arrival, and naturally, an audience with the Emperor was scheduled.
As we were being guided by a member of Alkahad, Xenia whispered,
“By the way, Neril, are you going to use honorifics this time?”
“Are you crazy? Once was humiliating enough.”
“Humiliating, really… Then why even come along if you hate it so much?”
“Because Mide’s going.”
“What a rational reason.”
Shortly after, we sat face to face with the Emperor.
He said,
“Hasphil Territory released a statement. Avis Territory has officially endorsed it.”
“……”
“The statement claims that the horrors in Hasphil were caused by Kaeld Wake. Do you have anything to say about that?”
I shook my head.
“There’s nothing to add. I assume what you heard is accurate.”
“Truly? You’re saying the very person once hailed as humanity’s hope is behind that massacre?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose I must ask—are you not falsely accusing him just to eliminate a rival?”
I was unbothered, but Neril and Xenia’s eyebrows twitched.
Thankfully, Xenia—slightly more reasonable than Neril—spoke with grace.
“Think back to what happened in the capital, Your Majesty.”
“Hm. The Black Sun incident?”
“Yes. The one who resolved that was Mr. Mide here. If anything, that was a true feat worthy of a hero.”
“I never said he wasn’t a hero. But even heroes can feel jealousy toward their rivals.”
“That’s not—”
I gestured to Xenia to stop and turned to the Emperor.
“Can you explain exactly what’s happening?”
“Hasphil has declared that Kaeld is an imposter posing as the Hero, and a threat to humanity standing in your way.”
“I see.”
“As I said, Avis supports that claim. Other northern territories seem to be leaning the same way. I couldn’t ignore it any longer.”
“……”
“I understand their position. You’ve achieved much in the north. It’s essentially your domain now.”
The Emperor stroked his chin.
“But the same applies to the south.”
“……”
“Here in the capital, your fame has grown since that incident. But further south, the vast majority still believe Kaeld is the true Hero.”
“I understand.”
“And just recently, a southern territory released a formal statement as well. They claimed the Hasphil statement was a complete fabrication, and that you framed Kaeld.”
I sighed inwardly.
Come to think of it, this kind of development was inevitable.
While my fame now overwhelmingly surpassed Kaeld’s, he still had territory in the southern regions.
And those lands likely still revered him as sacred.
I asked,
“Hasphil led the charge in the north. Which territory is leading the south?”
“Dronoar Territory.”
I thought for a moment.
Dronoar… right.
It was Kaeld’s original destination before we diverted to stop the Tetra earthquake.
Serein had mentioned it, how she left Tetra and went straight to Dronoar.
And she said Kaeld had healed the lord of Dronoar.
If Kaeld saved someone at death’s door, it made sense that the lord became completely devoted to him.
Then the Emperor spoke in a subtly suggestive tone.
“That being said…”
“Yes?”
“Would you go to Dronoar and try to persuade Count Acaine?”
Hmm.
The fiercely pro-Kaeld territory of Dronoar.
The lord had publicly declared I framed Kaeld.
There’s no doubt the place would be extremely hostile to me.
And yet… he wants to send me there?
……
I think I get it now.
I smirked.
Trying really hard, aren’t you.
Mr. Ant With a Crown.