Chapter 27: The Mage Squad That Uncovered the Script
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The Demon King stood by watching the unsettled Hero for a moment, then unexpectedly smiled—a pure, genuine smile, rare for him in this unfamiliar place.
“Yes,” he said softly, “the Hero really does have something wrong with his mind.”
After smiling, he saw the Hero slump forward on the edge of the bed, looking down—sometimes as if staring at himself, sometimes like he wasn’t really seeing anything at all. The Demon King moved to the Hero, gently pushed him back to sit properly, and said, “I’ll explain everything clearly tomorrow. For now, just sleep.”
The Hero’s eyes flickered with unease as he looked up at him. The Demon King smiled warmly and said, “I promise.”
Without hesitation, he took a blanket and tucked the Hero in tightly, covering him from head to toe.
“Well then, good night, Hero.”
From inside the blanket, the Hero whispered back, “Good night…” He peeked out at the fabric, then heard the Demon King quietly leave the room, close the door, and step away. He lifted the blanket slightly to open the window, letting in the clear, bright moonlight.
***
After watching the uneasy Hero, the Demon King chuckled quietly at the day’s strange behavior. He had pieced together why the doctor kept insisting the Hero was healthy every day—probably because the Hero’s usual energetic, carefree nature had suddenly turned fragile and anxious, evoking some pity from the doctors and others.
Though the Demon King considered himself devoid of compassion, even he had to admit that the Hero’s pitiful state tugged at something. He noted the Hero’s reactions carefully throughout the day, and after the Hero’s outburst of curses, found amusement in it all.
Unfortunately, there was serious business the next day, so no time for messing around. When the new day dawned, the Demon King dragged the Hero—who’d forgotten everything from yesterday—back outside, cheerful and full of energy as usual.
The day was bright and sunny, with plenty of people rushing around, seemingly following some announcement, crowding the streets. After going over the script and preparing to leave, the Demon King was almost swept away by the bustling crowd.
Half an hour later, the Hero, no longer gloomy or anxious, returned beaming with a map he’d gotten after asking for a shortcut. He proudly handed it over, expecting praise. The Demon King accepted it with a subtle nod.
The Hero went back to walking ahead, chatting away as if they’d been apart for ages—repeating his usual stories about parting, longing, and other clichés. The Demon King had heard all of it so many times that none of it moved him anymore. Only when the Hero paused for a response did he mutter a distracted acknowledgment.
The Hero then launched into a fresh burst of chatter—about the scenery, local customs, likes and dislikes of the people, and some gossip about certain places…
In short, happily unloading all the topics he’d been saving during their supposed separation, even if many had already been said before. The Demon King’s ears nearly grew calluses.
“Hmm…” he grunted in response. Just as they were about to exit the shortcut and meet the senior doctor, the Demon King overheard something unusual—a valuable snippet of gossip.
Two human strangers passing by were talking about… a group of mages infiltrating the demon tribes? The Demon King straightened up, alert. He glanced sideways at the Hero, who immediately went into battle mode upon hearing the words.
Grabbing the Demon King’s hand, the Hero said determinedly, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. No matter who it is.”
Without hesitation, the Hero tugged the Demon King toward the two strangers.
“Excuse me! Could you tell us more about those infiltrating demon mages you mentioned?”
He smiled warmly at the two people; when full of energy, the Hero still had a certain charm.
One of them said, “This is the news just posted on the bulletin board. A few months ago, some demons infiltrated the capital and damaged property within human territory. It seems they might have reappeared nearby yesterday… That’s about it. For details, you should check the bulletin board yourselves.”
The Hero thanked them cheerfully, took the map with the shortcut marked, and asked where the bulletin board was on the map. After getting the location, he glanced back. The Demon King was leaning against the wall, deep in thought.
The Hero called to him, holding out the map and repeating the news: “Shall we go to the bulletin board? Everyone else is checking it out. Those infiltrating demons… they sound dangerous, like they might hurt you.”
From the conversation, the Demon King roughly figured out that the infamous infiltrating demons were none other than himself. “Oh, no rush.”
The bridge he’d smashed a few months ago during their duel was counted as damage within human lands, and the cave he’d just destroyed yesterday was suspected to be a hideout. Fair enough. The Demon King nodded slightly, and after putting off the bulletin board visit, dragged the Hero off to see a doctor.
Later, the Hero pulled him to the bulletin board anyway, and there they found an additional charge against the infiltrating demon: malicious destruction of human property.
Precisely, the property was the cargo belonging to those people whose goods the Demon King had destroyed yesterday. The Demon King clicked his tongue. So that was why the place had been so crowded earlier—because of this trivial matter.
Realizing all this stemmed from a minor incident yesterday, the Demon King pulled the anxious, protective Hero away from the crowd. “First, protect yourself.”
Despite the Hero’s firm resolve to protect the local people and the Demon King, that very night the Demon King timed it perfectly and gave the Hero a good beating.
Hero’s HP: -10.
The next morning, the Hero woke up sore all over.
Hero: “…Didn’t sleep well?”
He glanced around, confused.
Hero: “Was I resting here yesterday?”
After changing bandages and taking more medicine, the Hero’s unease grew, and as he carefully observed his surroundings, he felt more and more that something was wrong.
When he cautiously stepped outside, he ran into the Demon King again. After the initial surprise, the Hero momentarily set aside his doubts, glanced at the slightly off environment, and ran over, calling out, “Joshua!”
The Demon King, who had just beaten the Hero the day before, was in good spirits and, after a few words, turned grumpy: “So, why are you here?”
He shifted the script to his usual role as the pampered rich Joshua—kidnapped by the Demon King, rescued by a princess, inheritor of an unknown distant relative’s billion-coin fortune, living lavishly in a luxury inn, and naturally looking down on the poor Hero all day long.
“So you don’t even have one percent of my fortune? Haven’t healed your wandering sickness? Haven’t changed at all during our time apart? And yet you still talk about protecting me? Go home and protect yourself first.”
After stabbing the Hero’s fragile heart all day, the Demon King dealt another blow. When night fell, he patted the Hero’s face, still in a good mood, and pushed the grumpy Hero back to the inn. After casually making him take medicine and rest, the Demon King returned to his own room. “Tch, Hero…”
The Hero, sighed, stared suspiciously at the changed Demon King who now acted like a wealthy man. Amidst gossip from others, the Hero learned about the infiltrating demons and grew anxious.
The next day, with his memory wiped again, the Hero forgot about the infiltrators—only to learn about them anew, swear to protect, and receive another beating from the Demon King.
As the days passed, the Hero gradually realized that something was always slightly off here and there…
“I was in Clover Town of the Orland Empire yesterday, right? Pretty close to Courage Town, and I was thinking about stopping by because I was afraid of getting lost.”
As the Hero slowly regained his memory day by day, he hesitated at this point and stepped outside. When he saw the Demon King again, his eyes brightened, and he ran up to him.
After casually setting up the script for teaching the Hero—who was always talking about exterminating infiltrating demons—a lesson, the Demon King pondered the Hero’s confused words.
Hmm…
The first location mentioned on the bulletin board where the demons appeared seemed to be west of Clover Town—the direction from Clover Town toward the Demon Realm.
In other words, judging by the Hero’s memory recovery pace and possible route, he’d regain his memories by the time of their decisive battle in a few or several days.
—That’s a good thing. Feeling pleased about this, the Demon King didn’t find excuses to beat the Hero again for a change, only happily punched him once more. When questioned, he mumbled, “I’m happy?”
The Hero, still grumpy and with his emotions and memories intact, left the spot, slowly walked a few steps away from the inn, then lingered by the door.
There, he saw a familiar group passing by. The magic squad captain who had once blessed him and Joshua. The deadly silent archer who was always cold to outsiders.
A lively thief who kept jumping around, trying to make himself look a little taller. And a simple, sturdy warrior who didn’t need to jump at all because he was already quite tall.
When the Hero saw them, he recalled what the Demon King had said: the princess sent people to rescue him.
Then the Hero gathered himself and walked over. “Hello? Do you remember me?”
The Demon King casually glanced out the window and saw the group the Hero was looking at— A half-dragon mage. A half-elf archer. A half-dwarf thief. And a half-giant warrior.
The Demon King clicked his tongue. So the Hero’s so-called four-person team wasn’t even all human after all. Oh no, it looked like the Hero’s previous “the princess sent a squad to rescue Joshua and they succeeded” story was about to be busted.
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