Yomigaeri no Maou

The day of departure came surprisingly quickly.

The day that it was decided that they would become adventurers might have been too busy.
Having used up all energy in their bodies partying that night, and even leaving a day free, with their hangovers gone, everybody felt a strong sense of loneliness at the pair’s departure, and a few people even burst into tears.

However, once someone said that rumours of the two would immediately be heard in town, the atmosphere was stopped from getting any more depressing.

Thinking back on it, the time with Rusty and the others was just like this too, and Luru being on the side that was seeing them off, separated from them quite readily.

It wasn’t as though they were going to war.
Although you couldn’t say that it was impossible that they would die today or tomorrow, and that it would be an eternal farewell, it wasn’t a situation where they were cornered enough that they had no choice but to worry about such a thing happening.

The danger of the adventurer profession was incomparable to normal jobs, but they understood that at least it wasn’t a situation where they would immediately receive news of their death, and the two would be sending a few letters back to their parents once they arrived in the capital.

The villagers all knew that they were trained by Patrick, Gran and Yuumis, so they weren’t needlessly worried about the pair dying.

Behind the curtains of the carriage, Luru sat there, legs swinging back and forth as he burned the scenery of the receding village into his memories, deciding that he would not forget it.

Thinking about it, including his time as the demon king, he had almost never been on the side of those departing.

On the contrary, when he was the demon king, he would encourage the soldiers heading to the frontlines, seeing them off, and rarely appeared on the frontlines himself, so he had few experiences of being seen off himself.

He originally thought that this second life of his might be filled with only things he had already experienced, but leaving on a journey was the beginning of a very fresh experience to him.

“It’s a good sign, huh…”

Luru muttered this, and Iris who was dressed in traveling clothes, spoke with a smile beside him.

“In the past, you seldom had the free time to go on journeys, didn’t you, Ojisama…?”

Looking with desire beyond the mountains, Iris recalled them.
The past, the old days.
Luru’s old form.

“Even though Bacchus always got to go on trips… Why was I the only one who had to stay in the castle?”

“The most important person to our people is not somebody who can move on their own… And, it was because there was no replacement for you, Ojisama… We could not lose you at, any cost…”

Long ago, the demon king was powerful.
However, he was not absolute.
The conclusion of that battle was proof of this.

When he disappeared, just how many people had darkness borne in their hearts?
When he considered this, it felt as though his chest was going to split part.

Seeing Luru’s face, she probably understood what he was thinking about.
She spoke caringly.

“The past is the past. Please excuse me… I brought up that topic again.”

“Nah, my bad. I get that I’m overthinking this stuff but… I can’t help it.”

“No. It is because you are like this that the demon race followed you… However, shall we move on from the gloomy topics? Ojisama, let us speak about what we will be doing from now on.”

Because Iris suddenly began speaking cheerfully like this, Luru decided to switch gears as well.

“From now on, huh. For now, I guess our goal is the capital. The Lezaadian Royal Capital, Desielt. We’ll pa.s.s through a number of villages…. It seems like it’ll take about a week.”

“Once we arrive, will we be registering as adventurers?”

The requirements for registering with the Adventurers Guild was just your age, and a single silver coin.
Because they didn’t require anything else from you, Luru felt that hurrying up and registering was probably the most efficient.
But, there were some people he had to show his face to, or perhaps you could say that there was a promise he ought to fulfil.
Luru hadn’t forgotten this.

“That’s the plan, but… it might be better to go meet with Gran and Yuumis first. Those guys have created a clan in the capital so… that means that Rusty and the others are there as well.”

Hearing Rusty’s name, Iris grinned.

“I wonder if everybody has gotten strong. Have Mii and Yuuri been able to use their magic well…?”

Saying that, Iris looked into the air as though recalling something.
Leaving Rusty aside, Mii and Yuuri were Iris’ first human friends, as well the first beloved pupils she had brought up herself.
It probably couldn’t be helped that she was wondering how strong they had become in the few months that she hadn’t seen them.

Thinking about it, the training that Iris gave them was very harsh.
She recalled how even her tone of speech changed, and how Rusty, Gran and Luru who were training more relaxedly in the same place turned gazes of pity towards that h.e.l.lish training that gave not an inch of reprieve.

It was only after recalling the things she did to them, that Luru realised how after his death, and the harsh training Iris went through, Iris had gone around attacking the church’s forces as a guerilla soldier.

The ancient demons were not fundamentally spartan in their training, but there certainly were some who went mad with their training, so perhaps Iris’ trainer was one of those.

There were traces of one of his long gone subordinates in Iris’ training with the two, so this guess was probably correct.

He understood as well that in order to have Iris who was nothing more than a child, combat ready within just a few years, there was no method but that.

However, having said that, there was probably no need to have even Mii and Yuuri go through that as well…

Thinking that, he thought of indirectly suggesting to Iris about not being too harsh, but the words that she gave as her reply were extremely unexpected.

“The only reason that I did so was because the two of them requested that I be as harsh as possible, and so…”

For a moment he wondered “Really?” in doubt, but Iris had no reason to lie.
Being the case, then it meant that those two wanted Iris’ harsh training themselves but, why exactly?
What spurred them towards such harsh training was too much of a mystery to him, and he couldn’t stand not knowing.
So, when he asked Iris about this,

“Even if it is you, Ojisama, it is not something I can tell you. It is what you would call, a maiden’s secret.”

She evaded answering.
The two of them probably forbade her to talk about it.
If that wasn’t the case, then Iris shouldn’t have hid it from him…

Having thought that far, feeling just a tad bitter, Luru suddenly gasped in realisation.
Wasn’t this the loneliness of a parent whose daughter was growing independent?

Coming to this idea, Luru murmured in his mind.

‘Bacchus. It seems that your daughter has grown into a fine young woman.‘

Speaking of which, just what had that guy gotten up to after he died, Luru wondered.
As Luru expected, even if he asked Iris she didn’t know, but Iris did a.s.sess her father as ‘a person who won’t die even if you kill him’ and Luru held the same feelings towards him.

In either or nine cases out of ten, he stayed alive even after Luru’s death.
And… just how had he lived?
There no longer remained any way for Luru to know.

However, it would be nice if in the end, Bacchus somehow found happiness.

So Luru thought.

Like that, the shaking carriage continued down the highway.

They pa.s.sed through a few small villages.

Turning back to face Luru and Iris,

“We’ll be staying overnight at the next town, so prepare yourselves.”

said the carriage driver.
If they looked carefully, they could see a grey wall a little further ahead.

Up until now, Luru had never been to a large town, so this really was quite a sight to him.
As for Iris, she didn’t seem all that surprised and said,

“It is a large town, isn’t it? …Well, it’s no match for the Demon Capital Kuranu though.”

Kuranu was a town that once belonged to the demon race, and certainly its size and scope could not be compared to by a town like the one before them.
From Iris’ point of view, the sight of Kuranu was not all that long ago.
Was it because he died once that Luru could only faintly remember it? Or was it because he had forgotten it because he had grown older?

It was a sad thing, so he wanted to believe it was the former.

While he was thinking this, the carriage finally arrived at the city gates of the fortress city.

By the gates stood a number of soldiers, and it seemed that they were checking the people that were entering the town.

The carriage that Luru and Iris rode was no exception, and after checking the driver, the luggage, checking Luru and Iris’ faces, and asking about their origins, they jotted something down.
However, that was basically it, and immediately afterwards,

“Welcome, to Fortress City Finale!”

said the guards in a welcome.
It seemed to be a routine greeting because not a shred of emotion appeared on the driver’s face as he began moving the carriage again, but Luru found it somehow fun, and smiled at the soldiers.
When he did, the soldier gave him a prompt thumbs up, so Luru returned it.

Since they somehow understood each other, Luru’s mood improved.

As for Iris, she gazed at Luru with a smile, seemingly finding the scene heartwarming.

“Having fun?”

Being asked that, Iris smiled and answered.

“Yes of course!”

That smile was something rare for Iris; unlike her usual reserved and somewhat ephemeral self, she was giving a broad smile, brightly illuminating her surroundings like the sun.

After entering the city, the carriage immediately headed to an inn.
There was already a place prepared to leave the carriage, and it was seemingly intended for such use to begin with.
Probably because it was on the way to the capital.
There was also a lot of pedestrians, and the streets were wide to accommodate for this.

The inn they entered was quite thoroughly cleaned.
As you’d expect there was no bath, but there was at least a place to pour water over yourself, and not only were the beds white, the meals were apparently delicious as well.

Because the sun had gone down but it was still too early for dinner, to kill some time Luru decided to have a stroll around the city with Iris.

“It’s dangerous with only you children.”

said the carriage driver in concern, but,

“We are intending to become adventurers, and my father has acknowledged my strength as well, so we’ll get by somehow.”

Luru replied, and after looking like he had just recalled it, the driver a.s.sented.
Seeing that the driver had that much faith in his father’s strength, Luru felt a little happy.
After that,

“Well then, shall we go, Ojisama?”

said Iris, so after nodding to her in reply, they left the inn and headed out to the town together.

/Chapter 20 END