Chapter 19: I Kidnapped Myself
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
I thought I could write an autobiography titled How Rumors Are Born. Anyone who bought it wouldn’t have to pay, as long as they kept me and the Hero separated in every possible way.
—By the last Demon King, who played the dual roles of both perpetrator and victim.
After the Hero arrived, the Demon King returned to his own domain and regained some of his magical power. Then, without much ceremony, he simply banished the Hero from his territory. But before the Hero came—
After driving the Hero away, the Demon King relaxed only to be nagged by the village chief, who didn’t know the full story and advised them to each give a little ground.
When the Demon King stepped outside to avoid further conflict, villagers who saw him greeted him. Although he couldn’t recognize all of them, he responded politely. Finally managing to slip away to a remote place, the Demon King waited for the magic dragon. But as they took off flying together, they were suddenly met with a barrage of fireballs and flying arrows.
They hadn’t even enjoyed the moment for long before troubles began. The magic dragon had excitedly called out upon arrival, and that shout probably drew someone’s attention, triggering the attack of fireballs and arrows.
The Demon King speculated this as he witnessed the chaos on the dragon’s back: after being hit, the fireballs fell and ignited the trees below. The flames spread quickly, fanned by the dragon’s wings, setting more trees ablaze.
The burning trees caused a panic among the villagers. In the midst of the chaos and their frantic movements, the Demon King—
He cast a small magic circle and watched as buckets of water were frantically hauled up amid the confusion. Seeing that the attackers seemed to be on their way, he stopped the dragon from fighting back. He had to admit, the humans’ ability to create chaos was quite something.
After the initial shock, as the fire gradually died down and danger approached, the Demon King flew straight back to his domain and landed inside his castle. There, he found the marquis casually picking flowers in his castle.
The marquis looked at the flower in his hand and then glanced at the Demon King, who had just returned after being gone for so long.
“I think this beautiful flower should suit Your Majesty quite well,” the marquis said with a wink from his deep purple eyes. “Your Majesty’s outfit today is quite unique.”
He offered the flower, plucked without permission, to the Demon King.
Despite his less-than-stellar mood after the string of events and his rather cheap-looking attire, the Demon King accepted the flower and waved a hand. “Thank you for the compliment. By the way, Marquis, do you happen to know where the last person who said something like that is now?”
The marquis took two steps back. After naming someone from Aiso Town, the Demon King pointed to the magic dragon and then went straight to his bedroom. The dragon was taken away to rest once directed. Then, after returning to the bedroom that suited his status, the Demon King called a servant over.
…
After washing up and changing clothes, the Demon King finally lay back down on a bed worthy of his title. He examined his body, still itchy and blotchy from earlier discomforts, then glanced at his right hand healing visibly before nodding with satisfaction. Very good.
The next day, feeling better, the Demon King held a ball and invited all the demons who hadn’t seen him during that time. The ballroom was lively and noisy, demons joked and mingled, while the Demon King sat aloof on his throne.
Among the bustling crowd, the newly dressed demons twirled and laughed, moving back and forth. The marquis carried a rose, chatting with others before giving it to a female demon.
The female demon blinked her deep purple eyes as the marquis complimented her, “Have I ever told you how cute your horns are?”
He reached out to touch her head, brushing teasingly through her black hair, then tucked a brilliant red rose into it with a subtle “Hmm?”
As the dancers spun below, many such playful interactions happened throughout the hall. The Demon King, dressed in a purple shirt adorned with sword and dagger ornaments and wearing a half-mask shaped like horns, sat watching the socializing. When a few counts arrived, he waved at them twice in greeting.
…
After using the ball to reassert his presence, the Demon King went to visit the magic dragon and care for the magic vine. Once he confirmed that no demons had ventured into the Death Realm during this time, he relocated the magic vine to the castle.
“All useless,” the Demon King muttered as he brought back the magic vine, still recovering from illness, and scolded the other demons.
After his reprimand, once the magic vine thrived again inside the castle, the Demon King returned to his rightful chamber. Halfway through his recovery, he dealt with one problem. After recovering more, he sensed another issue.
Sensing this, the Demon King had the magic dragon handle the Hero’s problem. After banishing the Hero again, he glanced up at the clouds in the sky. Far below those clouds, the Hero had fallen into a lake and then swam to the shore. The Demon King felt a headache coming on at the sudden reappearance of the Hero.
After being thrown far away, the Hero stood confused in the unfamiliar surroundings. But in the end, the dazed Hero found someone waiting by the roadside. “Hello? Excuse me, where is this?” the Hero asked.
A shepherd passing by, herding goats back home, answered, “Timothy Town, west side of the Kingdom of Joseph?”
Looking at the drenched Hero standing among green grass and a flock of white sheep, the shepherd hesitated but gave what he thought was the correct answer. The Hero was confused too.
***
The Demon King, who had a headache after banishing the Hero, enjoyed a long stretch without any headaches. Life was peaceful. Comfortable. His magic steadily restored.
He occasionally summoned demons to spar and kept the remaining magic dragon and magic vine well fed and vibrant. Later, he moved the now-recovered magic vine back to its original growth site, scattering seeds nearby.
With hope in his heart, the Demon King returned to the castle with the magic dragon, resuming his daily routine of handling affairs and training, occasionally crushing other demons who dared to challenge him.
One by one, the demons fell. Those who had been restless during the Demon King’s weakness finally gave up and stopped challenging him, bringing quiet back to the castle. So quiet that the Demon King, needing only to deal with his duties, sighed softly.
Two months after his return, he leaned back in his chair until the marquis arrived. Sitting up with proper poise, he said, “Marquis, are you here to challenge me as well?”
The marquis, always carrying a rose, shook his head quickly, his purple eyes curious as they roamed around.
“No, no, Your Majesty,” he said. “I just wanted to come see the beauty you stole.”
The Demon King, who had only taken one princess and who had already sent her away, gave a cold glare. ??? What beauty?
The marquis, looking around again, blinked and said bluntly, “You mean the rumored beauty you kidnapped from the humans — the Hero’s beloved? They say she’s so beautiful she could thaw even your cold heart.”
The Demon King said nothing. The marquis pressed on, “So, Your Majesty, may I have a glimpse of this beauty?” as he offered the rose he always carried. “I hear fresh flowers suit beauties well.”
The Demon King, realizing the marquis had already seen her, thought: You’ve already seen.
Since the marquis had no intention to challenge, the Demon King sparred with him anyway. Amid the marquis’s muttered complaints about stinginess, the Demon King roused the sleeping magic dragon.
After living a quiet life away from the world for a while, the Demon King finally heard the wild rumors spreading outside.
He, the Demon King Francis, was accused of lusting after beauty, kidnapping the Hero’s beloved Joshua, and ruining the Hero’s destined love. His reputation was utterly destroyed. Not just in some remote, closed village, but across large parts of the human continent, the rumors spread vividly and loudly. Upon hearing these rumors, the Demon King’s emotions were complex; he felt angry, and the consequences seemed very serious.
He turned and sent the magic dragon to give the Hero another ride high in the air. And the rumors continued again. And again.
…
Eventually, tired of headaches and pains caused by the Hero and these rumors, the Demon King was forced to face reality and went outside with the magic dragon.
After searching for a long time from the dragon’s back, following the trail of rumors, they finally found the Hero slowly helping an elderly grandmother walk in the wild, nodding repeatedly.
The grandmother said, “You said you’re going to save your beloved, right?”
The Hero nodded, “Yes, that’s right.”
The grandmother replied, “That’s good.” She repeated, “You said you’re going to save your beloved, right?”
The Hero nodded again, “Yes, exactly.”
The grandmother smiled, “That’s wonderful.” Again she said, “You said you’re going to save your beloved, right?”
The Hero nodded, “Yes, I must try hard.”
The grandmother agreed, “Yes, you must try hard.”
…
This cycle repeated many times, each time echoing similar words.
Then, after helping the grandmother reach a small wooden cabin, the Hero said, “Grandma, you’re here now~ By the way, I’m supposed to head this way, right?” He pointed in a direction while looking at a map.
The grandmother asked, “Where are you going?”
The Hero replied, “I’m heading to the Demon Realm. My last stop was Clover Town in the Orlandi Empire, and next I need to go to Irene Village. But I’m lost now, so I hope you can point me in the right direction.”
He smiled, standing in front of the cabin, surrounded by a rain-dampened forest, the grass beneath his feet still dotted with droplets. From not far away, the grandmother, who was being slowly helped back, said, “Oh, that’s good. I see.”
Finally, the grandmother gave an answer. Inside the cabin, an elderly man, hearing the voices, came out leaning on his cane. Suddenly, the grandmother asked again, “Where are you going?”
The Hero turned around and declared, “To save my beloved!”
Only then did the grandmother nod and go inside. Watching the whole scene, the Demon King could only think: …
Before entering the door, the elderly man called out, “Good luck!”
—Please stop with the ‘good luck’ already.
Through this repetitive interaction, the Demon King finally understood how rumors spread and grew worse and worse. The Hero turned back, full of energy: “I definitely will!”
After encountering a confused shepherd, the equally puzzled Hero was kindly brought home. While leaving, he explained why and how he had come.
The shepherd’s wife was amazed and, after hearing the story, asked, “So you’re going to the Demon Realm to rescue your beloved?”
The Hero nodded firmly, “Yes. He is my destined love, just as I am the destined Hero.”
Though Joshua, his soulmate, was a little different from before, just as the Hero himself had flaws, the Hero accepted fate despite the occasional hardships that destiny dealt. Joshua falling in love with him first was probably, like the other efforts the Hero had made, destiny’s way of compensating and correcting for the rough patches.
Having been trained rigorously by his father since childhood because of his terrible sense of direction—and repeatedly told to “let go a little, the world is beautiful”—the Hero, having finally let go, accepted the unexpected soulmate just as he accepted fifteen hours of daily training. And he believed in this firmly. The shepherd’s wife asked, “Is it just because it’s destiny?”
The confused Hero asked back, “What else?”
“Like, love?” she said.
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