Chapter 5

Initial bow.

Let's turn back the clock.

This was when I was working for the Shoubarehinna family.

The Shoubarehinna family was a military household built by the current lord, who rose from a common soldier to a position of power through his military exploits alone.

Yes, it is the family of the great general I mentioned earlier.

As I mentioned before, General Athanagius led 100,000 soldiers into a decisive battle against the demon race, resulting in their complete annihilation.

Strangely, Athanagius alone managed to survive and returned to the capital as a defeated general.

I do understand the heavy responsibility of losing 100,000 soldiers.

However, losing a battle is something that can happen once or twice in a long war.

While I offer my condolences to those who lost their lives, the Shoubarehinna family still hoped that Athanagius would return to the battlefield.

However, Athanagius never returned to the battlefield.

Worse still, he began to spout delusional statements like, "The 100,000 soldiers were killed by the demon king," and "I was using the restroom and barely managed to escape," which even those of us who wished for his return found absurd, causing disappointment all around.

From then on, Athanagius became like a hollow shell, and the retainers who saw no future in the household began to leave one by one.

Before I knew it, I was the only retainer left in the Shoubarehinna household.

My job was to take care of Athanagius.

By "taking care," I mean that in his later years, Athanagius would stay in bed all day, just looking out the window.

He would stare at the front gate of the mansion as if he were afraid of an attack.

One day, I suggested he try oil painting.

I said, "You must be bored just looking outside all day."

At first, he was hesitant, but once he picked up the brush, he began to paint as if possessed.

In the beginning, his brushwork was clumsy, and it was hard to tell what he was painting, but I could barely make out a face.

As time passed, Athanagius's painting skills improved dramatically.

Finally, he completed a portrait of a man.

It was a portrait of a rather unremarkable man.

His hair was as black as the night, his cheeks were gaunt, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

He looked like a miner who had worked too hard, lacking any sense of vitality.

I glanced at Athanagius and asked about the man in the painting.

That was all I did.

But Athanagius's face changed completely.

His usually calm face, which seemed to melt into the afternoon drowsiness, turned pale as if he had plunged into an icy sea, and his whole body began to tremble.

Then, he answered in a strained voice:

"It's the demon king..."

After that, Athanagius continued to paint the portrait of the demon king in a frenzy, as if possessed by the demon king himself.

He told me about the time he met this man.

He said that when he went to use the restroom, his entire army had been annihilated.

The demon king appeared alone, and Athanagius was the only one who survived.

He also mentioned that the demon king had a surprisingly pure and trusting heart.

Still, I couldn't believe it.

There was no way a man as worn out as a slave could be the demon king.

I thought it was just the delusion of an old general and didn't believe it.

Eventually, I decided to leave the Shoubarehinna household.

Even after a considerable amount of time had passed, the image of the demon king that Athanagius painted remained etched in my mind.

And finally, today.

I have encountered him.

There's no mistaking it.

Right in front of me, there sits a man who looks exactly like the demon king in the painting.

No, no, calm down.

Calm down, me.

Yes, he does look similar.

But so what?

Isn't it just that he looks like a painting done by an elderly man?

People often resemble each other.

That's right. Most working men have gaunt cheeks and dark circles under their eyes.

"Let's start the interview. Mr. Capua, do you have any questions?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting this. Uh... Miss Margarita Egnant. Nice to meet you. I'm Capua, the current head of this household."

"Huh? Not the demon king?"

…………………………!

Aaaaaaaaah!!

What am I saying?

To question my new employer on our first meeting.

And asking, "Not the demon king?" What kind of question is that?

Even if this Capua were the demon king, he wouldn't say, "Oh, I'm the demon king. Nice to meet you!"

I'm such an idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!!

"Hahaha... I guess I'm... nervous..."

Your eyes are darting around!

You're even sweating profusely.

Clearly, you're acting suspicious.

Could you really be the demon king?

No, no, that can't be.

There's no way the demon king would be in such a remote village!!

Bang!!

The door was suddenly kicked in.

Not just opened, but kicked in.

A girl with bright red hair in twin pigtails appeared.

"Capodicia, I came to play with you."

The girl smiled broadly.

She was slender, wearing a revealing bondage-style outfit that showed off her tanned skin.

"Oh? A guest? You were working. I'm sorry."

"Hahaha... What a lively child."

"I'm not a child. I'm Grisaria! The gr―――"

Just as she was about to say something, Mr. Capua grabbed Grisaria like the wind and disappeared through the door.

After a while, the sound of an argument could be heard from the next room.

Something about homunculi.

That they were made again.

This time, it's safe because it has safety features.

It was a conversation about magic, filled with dangerous technical terms.

I decided to ignore it.

But there was one fact I couldn't ignore.

I didn't miss the wings that fluttered on the girl's back.

Normally, you'd think they were fake.

But they weren't.

They fluttered in sync with the girl's speech.

They didn't look like something a child would make for a costume.

At that moment, I reached a conclusion.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm a big fan of spy novels.

Perhaps because of my experience, I had an intuition.

High income...

Strict confidentiality...

The man in the painting...

And the girl with wings (familiar?).

There's no doubt.

This must be a spy base for the demon king's army.

They must be using this remote village of Neuvill to gather and send various information about the human army to the demon king's base.

The demon king's army is quite resourceful.

No one would expect a spy base to be in such a remote village like Neuvill.

As I was slightly smirking, I felt a gaze.

I looked up and saw Elite staring at me intently, as if she were suspicious...

"Um... Is something...?"

"No, nothing in particular..."

Just that an interesting candidate has come in...

Those words lingered in my ears.

It's the first part, so you thought it would end in the next part, right?

...The author thought so too.

I recommended it last time, but I'll mention it again.

I've started a new work titled, "The Demon King, who said, 'Let me heal you,' finally reincarnates as a holy maiden." It's a difficult work, but it's a misunderstanding comedy in a different world that I think the readers of "Kuku" will enjoy. Please give it a read. Thank you.

The link is at the bottom!