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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
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The demon king, with a sorrowful expression, looked at me.
Seeing her like this, I inwardly sighed in relief.
‘Thank goodness, it seems to have worked to some extent. I’m glad I told my story with as much emotion as possible.’
The stories of being betrayed by the heroines as a hero.
Even though I wasn’t the actual person involved, the emotions I conveyed weren’t fake.
The feelings of anger and frustration that inevitably build up in a victim of an NTR game.
Especially since this was the result of a friend’s ‘betrayal’ that I had nothing to do with, I channeled all my resentment and bitterness towards the demon king in front of me, lamenting as sincerely as I could.
It seemed that my ‘sincerity’ had reached her. The demon king now looked at me with eyes filled with sympathy, a stark contrast to earlier, and I began to feel hopeful that I might survive this.
“Listening to your story, I also feel sorry for you… Just like you, I have a duty to protect the demon race as the demon king. If my efforts were met with betrayal, I would also fall into despair…”
“…Thank you for saying that.”
The demon king spoke sympathetically, her expression filled with bitterness. She continued, looking me straight in the eyes.
“In that regard… I’d like to offer you mercy as a fellow warrior. What do you think?”
“!…”
Her voice carried a sense of benevolence, and as I listened, a sense of joy tried to creep onto my face… but I held it in, maintaining a bitter expression.
I couldn’t afford to celebrate too early and throw away all my efforts so far.
So, I held back as much as I could, managing my expression while looking at the demon king, speaking in a voice still filled with despair, forcing a weak smile.
“…Haha… Mercy. You’re much more generous than I’ve heard, demon king. But to offer mercy to someone like me, who once held a sword against you…”
“Though we come from different backgrounds as humans and demons, before being a hero and a demon king, we are both warriors who wield swords. Offering you honor in your final moments is something I can certainly do.”
‘…What?’
At that moment, her words began to take an unexpected turn.
I felt a surge of confusion wash over my face, and the demon king continued speaking in a bitter tone.
“I will grant you the peaceful, honorable death you desire. Your body will be given a proper burial, and I will see to it that it is returned to your homeland.”
The demon king began to speak in a way completely different from what I had anticipated.
In this unexpected turn of events, panic set in, and I hurriedly started thinking again.
‘Damn it, this is bad… If I don’t do something, I’m really going to end up with an ‘honorable death’ and have my head cut off!’
She probably thought of trying something like torture at first, but after hearing my sob story, she seemed to have decided to send me to the afterlife peacefully.
If I looked at it that way, things had certainly improved, but my goal was definitely not some superficial, honorable death.
‘No matter how bad life gets, it’s better to be alive. I can’t die like this!’
However, if I begged for my life now, I could risk my position and fall back into the worst of situations, which would lead to torture and execution as originally planned.
To survive this situation, I needed to maintain the dignified stance of a warrior while persuading her at the same time… an extremely difficult balance to achieve.
‘But I can’t give up. I’ve spent too much time honing my skills in games. I have to think of a way to get out of this…’
My life was literally on the line, and I had to convince her.
With my mind working at overdrive, I quickly responded before it was too late, speaking to the demon king in a voice that was calm yet still steeped in the sorrowful atmosphere.
“To be so considerate… I’m truly grateful. Indeed, an honorable death is one of the most precious things to a warrior.”
“Yes, then I’ll tell my subordinates to prepare a painless poison…”
“But… despite your kindness, I fear my name will not remain honorable.”
“…What? Why do you say that?”
My words, filled with despair, left the demon king confused.
Seeing her reaction, I answered in the saddest, most defeated voice I could muster.
“My comrades from the hero’s party who fled… They will no doubt disgrace my name in front of the
lords who supported us. To cover up their dirty schemes with the porter, they will shamelessly tear me down.”
“But surely, they wouldn’t… Do they not even have the decency to honor a warrior who died protecting them?”
“They were willing to use me when I was alive. It goes without saying that after my death, they’ll slander me even more.”
“…”
The demon king was left speechless by my irrefutable words. Seeing this, I continued to speak with a face full of emptiness.
“From the moment they abandoned me, it was all over. If I had achieved something, they would have stolen the credit. If I failed, they would blame me to cover up their mistakes. No matter what, they would have discarded me. For me, there was no chance of salvation.”
“…”
Listening to my words, the demon king’s eyes filled with even deeper sympathy than before. Seeing this, I carefully started to drop hints to her.
“If I die now, I’ll only be remembered as a foolish man who recklessly charged at the demon king and endangered his comrades. I worked so hard to become a hero… but as a human, my honor has already been shattered to pieces.”
“Haa…”
The demon king sighed heavily, clearly deep in thought.
Watching her, I felt a growing anxiety, desperately hoping she would take the bait.
For a warrior, honor was more important than life itself.
Losing it and dying in disgrace was something I could never accept.
A true warrior would endure any humiliation to protect their honor. In a way, I was subtly hinting to her that I couldn’t die like this.
And then…
As if she had understood my intentions, the demon king looked at me with a serious expression and spoke in a grave voice.
“It’s a shame, hero… For someone as strong as you to end up in such a miserable situation…”
Her words, filled with deep regret, gave me a clue that she had taken the bait. I responded, still in a voice full of despair.
“…What can I do? This is my fate… If only there was a way to change it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be so fortunate…”
Of course, there was a way. In fact, there had to be a way.
After all, that was the whole point of this act.
“…A way to change your fate… Are you saying that if you had another chance, you would take it?”
‘Here it comes!’
At that moment, her words sounded like the voice of an angel.
While feeling a rush of excitement, I kept my poker face and answered in the most bitter voice possible.
“…Haha… Well… If there’s something I could still do… yes. I’d like to give it a try. After all, I’ve lived a life full of regrets…”
I spoke the words of a man full of regret, a line that could’ve come straight out of any story.
But in that seemingly resigned phrase was the message, ‘I’ll do anything for honor, just please spare my life!’
And in response…
The demon king, as if making up her mind, slowly nodded. And then, her next words were…
“Such a pity…”
‘Wait… ma’am?!?’
So close!