Chapter 1

The Demon Lord of a Famous Swordsmanship Family ⓒYulmu

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I wanted to live a cool life.

Even if I was abandoned by my parents,

Even if I wandered through slums like a sewer,

I wanted to live a cool life.

I studied hard and rose from a common pauper

To become the heir of the Black Tower, the foremost of the Empire's seven great towers.

And from some point on, the world began to call me a one-man army,

A Demon Lord.

And then,

“Maiden, did I... live a cool life?”

“Yes, you lived a cooler life than anyone else. I can guarantee it.”

Before I died saving the world, the maiden acknowledged this Demon Lord.

Is there a cooler life than this?

But then?

It seems I

Was reborn as the youngest son of some famous swordsmanship family.

I gained a family I never had.

I gained trustworthy comrades.

Then, shouldn’t I also live a cool life here?

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I wanted to live a cool life.

Even if I was abandoned by my parents and wandered through slums like a sewer, I wanted to live a cool life.

Everyone mocked me for this.

A young nobody in the slums, you, who can barely afford one meal a day from begging all day, you, who are at the very bottom of the food chain and could die at any moment, wanting to live a cool life? They told me to stop talking nonsense.

I know.

It was an absurd dream.

But I didn’t give up. I stubbornly chased my dream, even amidst the ridicule.

Because this was everything. Even if everyone mocked my dream, if this ridiculous dream were to disappear, I felt I would be nothing.

So I studied hard.

This was also to live a cool life.

The path to success for a pauper is incredibly narrow.

Success in the slums usually means becoming the leader of a gang in the underworld, or at best, a soldier who rises through the ranks.

The leader of the underworld isn’t cool, so I passed on that.

As for the military, my body was too frail for war. It seemed more likely that I would become a casualty while trying to rise through the ranks.

In the end, the only thing I could rely on was my mind.

I would stake everything on this!

I made up my mind and took action.

I bought books with the money I begged for, and sometimes even embezzled tribute money to buy books.

Even though I was kicked by the district chief, I could smile when I saw the books in my pocket. I craved learning, eating moldy black bread to save money.

Looking back now, I think even as a child, I instinctively knew.

This was my last lifeline, the only way to escape this miserable life and achieve my dream of living a cool life.

Desperate learning eventually pays off.

I felt mana from a magic book I read by chance, or rather, a common basic textbook that was embarrassing to call a magic book.

Magic (魔法)

It was the only talent heaven gave me.

If I had settled for reality, if I had lost my dream,

I would have ended my life as a beggar or a pickpocket in the slums.

This was when it started.

I wanted to live a cool life.

This ridiculous dream began to take shape.

From then on, my life was smooth sailing.

Some scholar once said that the total amount of luck is fixed, and this was my case. The luck I had been longing for, which had never shown its face, suddenly rolled in.

And the biggest piece of luck was meeting my master, the old man.

Becoming the disciple of the head of the tower, I naturally became the heir of the Black Tower.

From a common pauper rolling around in the slums just a few days ago to the heir of the Black Tower, one of the top seven towers in the Empire.

Isn’t this a true life reversal?

Finally, I escaped the endless despair! Happiness begins!

The cool life I had always dreamed of seemed to be within reach.

But it was all an illusion.

A huge miscalculation.

A cool life?

Bullshit! The damn old man never left me alone. He said something about great power coming with great responsibility and pushed me to the limit.

No, that’s ridiculous.

If the old man’s logic were true, what about the emperor? Why doesn’t the emperor, who needlessly started a conquest war and destroyed the west, take responsibility?

I felt wronged.

I finally thought I could live a cool life.

I would drink wine elegantly in a high-end restaurant, discuss the future of the country with friends in the park, and even have a girlfriend who is cold to everyone but warm to me!

But instead, I was in a dark laboratory with no light, eating drugs that threatened my human dignity for every meal, and dealing with cadavers that revealed their insides instead of having close friends.

I hope no one thinks I’m still talking about a girlfriend after all this.

After spending a damp 20 years in the laboratory,

The world called me a one-man army,

A Demon Lord.

Yes, finally!

Finally, a cool life found me!

……

…

“...Bullshit.”

Cough.

Blood trickled down.

It kept trickling down.

Looking down at the trail of blood, I saw that things that should be there were missing.

“Ha... I was wrong.”

I was wrong. Even if the Heavenly Grandfather came, he couldn’t save me.

Feeling the approaching death and accepting it, I laughed.

The old man was right. He said giving up would be easier, and indeed, my heart felt lighter.

Well, it was funny from the start.

It was nonsensical that the Demon Lord, who fell for the maiden’s persuasion to hunt a dragon, was involved in this.

But I have no regrets about my choices.

It was cool.

Would it make sense for someone who lived a cool life to miss out on such a big event? Not a chance.

So I joined the expedition to save the world.

Let’s destroy the dragon Tylus, who plunged the world into despair!

The expedition marched toward the dragon’s lair, leading with a flag.

It was a difficult journey.

A path of endless sacrifices.

The goal was the same, even if the methods differed. People threw themselves to create a path for the future, for the next generation.

We trampled the bloody carpet and took heavy steps.

And finally, as everyone hoped, we defeated the dragon Tylus.

See that head rolling over there? I cut that off.

Yes, our expedition was a magnificent success.

“Haha... Even a success full of scars is cooler than a failure. Cough.”

The expedition was a success, but we had no tomorrow.

The Sword Saint, known as the Empire’s first swordsman, was split in two, and the Mercenary King, who showed off his axe skills to the fullest, eventually oxidized.

The Guardian of the World Tree, the elf representative, performed quite well. At 300 years old, he didn’t waste his age and tormented the dragon until the end. Indeed, old ginger is spicy.

But his age caught up with him, and he became a mess at the end and is now lying there.

The dwarf elder, who also fought well, despite his short stature, flew around defying my concerns. But he couldn’t avoid the final blow and is now lying there with the others.

I wish I could offer him a drink on his last journey, but it’s too late.

Wait a moment. I’ll join you soon.

Next to him, the barbarian twins, the Empire’s 1st Knight Regiment, and the representatives of the seven great towers.

They were all dead.

The expedition team, praised by everyone in the land, was crushed to the point where their identities couldn’t be confirmed.

Yes, the expedition team, which should have enjoyed glory after defeating the dragon,

Was all dead...

“Ugh.”

Correction. There’s one more.

A woman stood up from among the corpses.

She was the maiden, the beloved of the world.

But she looked terrible. Her left arm was missing, and half of her beautiful face had melted away.

I can’t do anything about the arm, but it’s a bit sad about the face.

The maiden, who had just stood up, seemed to share my thoughts and looked around with a desperate expression.

Our eyes met.

“Hey, cough.”

“Aah...”

The maiden ran over with a relieved look.

“You’re alive.”

“Yeah, but not for long.”

I smiled and pointed down with my eyes.

The maiden, who deals with life as much as I deal with death, must know that I don’t have much time left.

Look at her expression. Doesn’t it look like she’s about to cry?

“...Don’t lose hope. You, the Demon Lord, can survive.”

“Sure, cough, if you’re going to lie, at least manage your expression. Cough!”

I chuckled, but she burst into tears.

She’s really terrible at lying.

Thinking about it, I fought with this woman a lot.

The maiden and the Demon Lord

Don’t they seem like natural enemies? We were archenemies.

She called me an irredeemable beast who knew nothing of manners and morals, and I called her a rigid, inflexible fool.

Her blushing cheeks were quite cute.

I laughed.

They say love is the most terrifying thing in the world, and you were always right, old man.

Maybe because I developed a grudge-like affection for this woman, I’m glad to see her one last time.

If only I could do something about that half-melted face. She’s a bit picky, but her beauty is exactly my type.

Just as I was thinking this, I remembered something I had forgotten.

“Hey, cough. Heal me a bit. Cough! I can’t speak.”

“Sure, just a moment.”

As her holy power entered, I felt much better.

Of course, the opposing energy made me feel nauseous, but it’s a relief to be this much better. I smiled and said what I wanted to say.

“Hey, if you cut open that guy’s chest, you’ll find a dragon heart. If you use it to heal, you might be able to fix your face, even if you can’t save your arm.”

“...Is that important now?”

“What else is important?”

“Sigh, you’re really... even at the end.”

I laughed playfully, and the maiden laughed in exasperation.

“Yeah, laugh. It’s good to see. If you’re going to atone for us, don’t keep the dragon heart. Use it quickly. I’ll give you my permission.”

“But...”

“Ah, and if you don’t use it, the emperor will definitely covet it. Do you want to see that?”

“No, I won’t. I’ll use it.”

“Good, it’s been a while since we agreed on something.”

I want to pat her head and tell her she did well, but I don’t have a hand to do it.

It seems my time has come.

My eyelids feel heavy. My vision is fading, and my soul is leaving my body.

It’s really time to go.

That’s why I want to confirm one last thing.

“Maiden.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Did I... live a cool life?”

Tears streaming down her face, the maiden smiled brightly and answered.

“Yes, you lived a cooler life than anyone else. I can guarantee it. No, everyone in this world would say you lived the coolest life.”

“...Thank you.”

It was a life I worked hard for.

I didn’t give up even in despair.

Because I had a dream.

Because I wanted to live a cool life.

I killed the dragon and illuminated the world’s future.

And the maiden acknowledged this Demon Lord.

Is there a cooler life than this?

It was truly a fitting end for me.

The Demon Lord Agnes Richard. I’m leaving the stage here.

I closed my eyes.

* * *

Reincarnation.

The concept of the soul being reborn into a new body after the physical body dies.

Humans inevitably have regrets. Even a beggar and an emperor who seems to have everything will regret at the end of their lives.

And at this moment, humans desperately wish for a chance.

To achieve what they desire, to fulfill their dreams, sometimes for revenge...

We all dream of a chance to reverse our regrets.

This was true for me as well.

“Teacher, here! Here!!”

“Really, you opened your eyes... Patient, can you see me? Are you conscious? Can you see me?”

Blink, blink.

Bright lights, cumbersome equipment.

People looking down at me.

Reincarnation.

It seems I’ve been given this chance.

* * *