Looking at Eleris pale expression, I got a sense of what the former prince was like.
Following this mixed up development, I figured that this guy was quite the jerk.
“By any chance, did you ever have contact with me?”
Come to think of it, Eleris was able to recognize me right away. Of course, she might have seen me a few times, as a high-ranking vampire, but then Eleris muttered quietly.
“Well, I was your tutor…. So I did.”
“…Were we pretty close then?”
Weren’t we supposed to be on pretty friendly terms then?
“B, but it was only for a short time. My ability was too low to teach Your Highness properly ….”
It seemed like my personality was just too hard to bear with, so she either got fired or quit shortly after.
“Well, the past is the past. You have to life in the present, yes.””
Eleris seemed to want me to stop being curious about my past. I’m sure I was a total mess, but just to what extent?
“Wait, so the other spies also know me personally?”
“Uhm…. Yes, definitely. But….”
Eleris grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes.
“You’re the last Arcdemon. They’ll know what’s important.”
What.
That’s scary.
* * *
The Demon King died.
The Demon World War ended in the Coalition’s victory.
Unfortunately, the warriors also fell in battle after a fierce fight with the Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings.
And, the Princess returned safe and sound.
Soon, the news was announced.
The street was filled with cheering people. The fact that people didn’t have to die in the war with the demons anymore and the survival of the First Princess who was thought to be dead.
Not only the Imperial Capital, but the whole continent must have been filled with cheers.
“Wow, this is good.”
“……Yes?”
“No, they’re just very generous.”
Eleris and I were walking down the street. I was just eating some chicken skewers that the overjoyed Stall owner said were for free.
Now that Eleris cast some magic on me I just looked like an ordinary boy to others. Eleris herself also used camouflage magic on her body.
The Victory of the Demon World War made the people of this Gangster filled neighborhood distribute things for free. Eleris didn’t seem to understand how I, who lost everything in a single day, could enjoy some chicken skewers at my own nation‘s defeat party. She was glad that the war was over, but why didn’t she look like it?
“If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.”
“Ah, that, yes….”
Rather, my tension was much higher.
Well, it didn’t really have anything to do with me whether the Demon Realm was destroyed or not, right?
I was nothing more than a little kid protected by this beautiful vampire.
I wanted to live peacefully until the end just like this. Being cared for by someone like Eleris was rather peaceful and comfortable.
Of course, I knew best that this was almost impossible.
“Are they all there?”
“Yes, they are waiting for Your Highness.”
We were moving to meet the other remaining demons in Gardium.
-Long live the Empire!
-Long live Her Highness the Princess!
-Long live Artorius!
Everyone drunk on the news of the victory, showed off their joy.
“Hurray!”
I also shouted out a hurray, that’s when Eleris finally pulled on my arm.
“Your Highness! Restrain yourself!”
“Why? It’s pretty fun!”
“I can’t believe this….”
It was fun acting a bit immature.
Of course, when I thought about my actual mental age, deadly humiliation engulfed me internally.
* * *
There were certain things one could only find in the Imperial Capital.
One of them is the mana train.
So, a fantasy version of a train. They were implemented on a large scale by the Imperial Government, as they couldn’t handle everyone’s transportation needs with just warp gates, bridges and wagons inside the Capital.
They were eco-friendly trains, which were powered by this convenient item called mana stone, a staple of the medieval fantasy genre.
The comments I received about this were as followed:
Isn’t that just ridiculous? Isn’t that much too convenient?
I mean, I’m not the only one who wrote about things like these. Lol. I did it anyway lol.
If you could make a train, wouldn’t you also be able to make a cellphone?
Dunno lol
Well, that train was actually moving right in front of my eyes now.
The city division was similar to Seoul’s, and, the route map, of course, also aligned with the Seoul subway route map. We had to head south of the Bronzegate Bridge and to do that we headed towards the station to catch a mana train.
We first had to head to the station located in the Al Ligar district and take the train to Bronzegate.
Simply put, it went from Yongsan Station to the Express Terminal and then to Banpo Han River Park. It was so easy to convert. It would have been difficult for me to put my head around this if I came up with some strange map. If I did that, I would have made my life as a writer harder, not that of the readers. I should be able to write comfortably!
I was so proud of my lazy former self. If I hadn’t put in this convenient setting of mana stones, I would have had to take a carriage or walked there. That would have been pretty annoying. I didn’t think of the places I put in the novel as these places, but as places in Seoul, that’s how I’d be able to know exactly where they were.
In the moving train, Eleris murmured quietly engulfed her robes.
“Humans sure are incredible.”
“What?”
“They know how to make things like this.”
Were you actually praising me, because I made this basically, you know? Yeah, I’m pretty good. I can’t believe I made this with just a few lines. Maybe I’m a god?
In fact, I might have been this world’s god. A stupid one that died of high blood pressure after reading some malicious comments.
“How great would it have been if we created things like these with our excellent magical power instead of powerful destruction magic and war weapons.”
Eleris murmured in a self-deprecating voice. Certainly, demons seemed to be superior to humans in terms of magic. However, the demons only used magic for destruction rather than for their daily lives.
Therefore, even with their awesome power, the Demon Realm looked rather dull, not prosperous at all. There wasn’t really a city around the Demon King’s Castle. It was just a huge fortress that stood alone.
However, there were a lot of people living in this human Capital.
She might have seen many magical tools that helped them in their everyday lives and magic being used in ways that were beneficial to humans.
Did Eleris constantly comparing the barren Demon Realm with this place, while living here?
Maybe that was the reason why she felt that the Demon Realm was wrong and backwards.
So that was why she ended up hoping for the humans’ victory and not the demons’.
I seemed to know what she as thinking to a certain extent.
A world where only weapons to kill enemies were made.
A world where people were struggling with all their might to make themselves happy.
Although Eleris rejoiced about the end of the war and the human’s victory, she was just blankly staring at the joyful sights in front of her not being able to fully be happy about the fall of the Demon Realm.
No matter what kind of place one’s home was, even if one didn’t want to go back to it, it would always feel sad having lost one’s place to return to.
* * *
The riverside of Irene was well-maintained. The green grass was trimmed well and there were people walking about the well-paved promenade.
For ordinary people who couldn’t afford to travel far, the park built along the Irene River was the best picnic spot in the area.
“It’s a place that always lifts my mood when I come here.”
Eleris wore a soft smile on her lips despite the strong sunlight. Maybe because she liked the scenery. It certainly seemed like Eleris could tolerate sunlight better than I would have assumed.
“Yeah, it would be even better if this scenery wasn’t right next to it.”
“Oh…. Yes….”
Woah…. Waah….
– Guweeeeeeek!
– Hey, you bastard! Huh! That son of a bitch, are ya cheatin right now? How did so many 3s come out?! Huh?!
-Who’s cheatin? I’ve been livin an honest life! If it’s 3 then it’s 3!
Below the Brozegate Bridge.
People don’t even dare to go there.
Because of the shade the bridge threw, this place was a lot darker and gloomier than other places.
A group of beggars were drunk, vomiting, eating, drinking, playing dice and trembling all while the sun was still hanging high up in the sky. Some beggars approached some passers-bys if they got close enough to sell them candy.
“So the cockroaches infesting this peaceful landscape are our allies and main source of income?”
“Yes…. That’s right….”
Why were you feeling ashamed, when it’s these guys who should?
I didn’t even want to get close to them.
“Hey, young lady, buy some candy from me.”
Then a beggar popped out from nowhere and crept towards us, shoving candy in our faces with his dirty hands. It looked like we were also their targets.
Eleris sighed and accepted the candy. She didn’t really want to say no.
“Five bronze coins.”
One gold coin was 1 million won and one silver coin was 10000 won.
A bronze coin was roughly 100 won.
That was how I roughly converted them. So 500 won for a candy of that size wasn’t cheap. But was candy even that common in this world? Weren’t you able to obtain carbohydrates anywhere in modern society?
However, there was a beggar selling candy. Anyway, let’s just leave it at that. I’ll lose, if I continue thinking about that.
Eleris seemed to be contemplating if she should give me that candy she bought for 5 bronze coins, maybe thinking I wouldn’t eat it.
“It’s too dirty for Your Highness to eat.”
After agonizing about it, Eleris shook her head.
“I’m not so picky about these things.”
“…….”
I wasn’t particularly craving candy, but I wasn’t such a fussy eater. However, Eleris looked at me slightly surprised as if she didn’t expect me to say something like that. No, that jerk attribute of that former prince was quite something.
Was that jerk born to be criticised or something?
Will I end up receiving praise like: “Even though you’re breathing, why aren’t you causing any trouble today?”.
To begin with, the restraint placed on my being reborn as this jerk actually had some merit. If I were reincarnated into some rising star of the century with tremendous abilities, that would be a huge advantage, but if one didn’t work hard even for a single day they will be questioned saying things like one changed in a bad way.
A bastard that gets complimented just by breathing vs. a genius that gets scolded just by breathing.
The former was overwhelmingly good. Being reincarnated into a person who had already been perceived as negative throughout the world would be great for pretending to be weak.
If I were the former prince would I have felt offended just by being approached by a beggar?
“Then would you like to eat it?”
“Sure.”
I peeled the wrapper off of the candy I got from Eleris and put it in my mouth. It just tasted sweet with no flavor.
“Did I like sweets?”
“I remember you did.”
“Hmm.”
Only
I don’t like sweets though.
However, it seemed like being young had its advantages. The beggar who approached us was approaching others now. Most of the time, it felt more like people wanted to get rid of the beggar than honestly wanting to buy these candies.
It was a disgusting sight, but I was told that that was how they funded their activities.
No, I still didn’t like looking at it.
