Chapter 193: From Starting to Observing (1/2)

There was no talk about a dwarven village being destroyed at all.

Loren thought that a village being destroyed was a rather brutal thing, but it seemed like the demons didn’t share the same opinion.

Part of it was due to the village’s location. Even though it was inside demons’ territory, the village was in the mountainous area, a region closest to the territory of another race. Another reason was, there were only a dozen dwarves that disappeared. Also, demons were the type that had no concerns for others, so as long as things were going well for them, then it was all good. A dozen or a hundred of dwarves disappeared wouldn’t make the news, Lapis said.

“Do think so too, Lapis?”

“I… no matter what you say, I’m a demon that has been strongly influenced by humans’ way of thinking, so I can’t have such a clear distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ like that.”

Lapis answered with a wry smile that seemed to say ‘Sounds bad, doesn’t it?’, but Loren found it to be a very satisfactory answer.

They were currently in a demon town. Their party had used the great tunnel dug by dwarves to get into demons’ territory, and had been attacked by the horde of spiders living in there. They escaped outside, but were met with a destroyed dwarven village, a group of dark goblins that probably had something to do with the destruction, a swarm of ghosts and in the end, were attacked by a man in black armor. They managed to repel the man and escape with great difficulty thanks to Lapis, though Loren and Gula were injured and lost consciousness. Loren believed Gula was down not because of the clash between the forces Lapis and the man used, but because she was covering for him.

Luckily for them, the people who noticed and came to check the uproar were from Lapis’ household, and they had brought them to this town, where Lapis’ home was.

“Hows’ Gula?”

Since he was alright, nothing too bad should happen to Gula, someone stronger than him. However, if Gula really was injured because of protecting him, he had to confirm her status in case anything happened.

“It’s just some minor injuries compared to yours. Just some burns and cuts.”

Lapis explained. When he thought about her choice of words more closely, he realized that his injuries weren’t the same. Even though he was still feeling a bit sluggish, there were no wounds on his body, and he didn’t feel like he had been in a bad shape like he was told. He had been properly healed, and he could only feel thankful for it.

“By the way, Lapis, you really are a lady, aren’t you?”

They were walking towards Gula’s room, and the hallway was large enough for them to walk comfortably side by side. Moreover, they had been walking for quite a while, but still hadn’t reached Gula’s room yet. The house was considerably large, and they had passed by numerous women wearing maid outfits on the way. They looked at Loren with a puzzled expression on their face, but once they noticed Lapis walking next to him, they immediately showed hospitable smiles and politely bowed. All of them had purple eyes, and Loren found it a bit odd that there were even demons who worked as maids.

“How should I put it… My mother is just one of the current Demon Kings.”

Lapis slightly waved and nodded at the maids and said, somewhat embarrassed.

“The demon king system is not a hereditary one, but a meritocracy one. The term of office is four years, and even though my mother is currently serving as one of the Kings, if someone more capable emerges, she’ll need to hand over her seat.”

“What is the process of such a thing?”

“Candidates will announce their candidacy at the end of the term.”

“Will everyone engage in a fist fight?”

“Something similar. But it’s not just about physical strength.”

Lapis said that there was always an exception to everything, and ended the story there. Looking at her, Loren suddenly wondered if Judie wanted Lapis to succeed her as a Demon King. Probably yes, considering how Lapis’ parents cut off her limbs and removed her eyes and hid them away. They seemed to be the type of parents that made their kids learn through hardships, but he felt that they went a bit too far.

“Being the daughter of a Demon King seems to be so troublesome.”

As Loren muttered, Lapis stopped before a door. Loren did the same. It seemed like this was their destination. Lapis knocked lightly a few times and said:

“Gula? It’s Lapis. I bring Loren along too. Can we come in?”

Lapis sounded very cautious, but Loren thought it was totally understandable. Gula was the Evil God of Gluttony, and sometimes her actions and speech were just plain unimaginable. Something trivial like exposing herself just to tease Loren, for example. It wouldn’t be strange if she was waiting inside stark naked just to make Loren embarrassed. That was why Lapis was cautious, and Loren thought he shouldn’t set foot inside that room until Lapis had checked the situation first.

Lapis knocked again.

“Gula?”

No answer.

Lapis sounded even more cautious now. Loren reached for his shoulder, where the hilt of his greatsword was always at, but then remembered that it wasn’t there now and dropped his hand.

Lapis wasn’t really aware of it before, but the white greatsword she had taken out from her home and passed to Loren was actually the property of Judie, a Demon King. As Judie had no recollection of letting the sword go, she asked him to return it for now. Loren himself didn’t want to stick with something he didn’t really understand either, so he handed it over to her.

But Loren couldn’t find a replacement weapon right away, and was currently barehanded. He was feeling confused and lonely because of the loss of the familiar weight, but he comforted himself that it couldn’t be helped.