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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
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The Demon King commanded the hero to say anything he desired.
In response, the hero began to speak with a trembling voice, showing deep hesitation.
“That is… umm… if it’s not rude, Your Majesty. Please let me… s…”
The hero’s words were filled with palpable tension.
The Demon King began to feel some concern about how great his desire must be for him to display such a demeanor.
‘I am the one who said I would grant any wish… but I hope it doesn’t cause too much of a financial burden to the kingdom.’
With such thoughts in mind, the Demon King waited for the hero’s words with a slightly anxious feeling.
Then, after a moment…
The hero finally seemed to steel himself and spoke with a serious voice, though still a bit shaky.
“Would Your Majesty grant me the honor of having s… s…. a meal… just the two of us?”
“…Huh?”
The hero made an unexpected request.
The Demon King began to feel more bewildered than she had when receiving a request that could cause financial issues.
“Are you saying… with me?”
“Yes! That is… what I desire, Demon King.”
“…”
The hero’s face noticeably turned red as he spoke.
At this moment, his face reflected not the emptiness she had seen earlier, but a sense of shyness and vivid vitality.
It felt like a wilting flower had regained its vigor after being drenched in rain.
Seeing this, the Demon King maintained a moment of silence without responding.
“Is… that not possible?”
The hero cautiously asked, his voice filled with anxiety as he glanced at the Demon King.
Watching him, the Demon King started to be overcome with a strange feeling she had never experienced since her birth.
‘A meal… together? Just the two of us?’
It was a request she had never received in all her life.
Inside the Demon King’s heart, a deep awkwardness began to brew, yet at the same time, it didn’t feel entirely bad.
‘Well… if I think about it simply, he’s just asking to share a meal. This… this much is… something I could consider as a banquet for a warrior returning from victory…’
It wouldn’t burden the kingdom’s finances, nor would it be legally problematic.
It didn’t place any great burden on her personally either.
However…
Despite this fact, for some reason, the Demon King rationalized the situation in her heart and managed to convince herself.
With a slightly awkward tone, she spoke to the hero before her.
“Um… well, it’s not that it’s impossible, but… would you really be okay with such a trivial… thing?”
“Yes! That is enough for me!”
The hero replied with a sparkling expression in response to the Demon King’s words.
His bright expression seemed to mock the gloomy shadow that had just been there.
Seeing him like that, the Demon King felt a peculiar sensation stirring in her heart.
Unknowingly, she slightly averted her gaze from the hero and said,
“…Alright, if that’s what you want, I will grant it.”
“Th-thank you! Your Majesty!”
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The Demon King asked what I desired as a reward for my achievements.
In response, I hesitated for a moment, but then I seriously began to contemplate what I could request from her proposal.
There were countless answers I could give to the Demon King’s promise to grant any wish.
There were enormous riches and territories, of course.
Or perhaps subordinates I could command personally…
Alternatively, requesting something like a so-called “slave” wouldn’t be bad either.
Unlike modern times, this world was a medieval fantasy realm, far removed from my general sense of ethics.
Social status differences were strictly enforced, and acquiring a slave was as natural as buying a product for those with money.
In that sense, I could legally create a so-called harem, which was a dream for many men, if I just set my mind to it.
I could ask the Demon King for beautiful demon women as subordinates or request human maidens as slaves.
However.
For a moment, I was shaken by such primal desires, but I soon shook my head at the thought.
‘A harem… well, it’s a bit appealing from a sexual standpoint, but it doesn’t match my view on relationships.’
Certainly, a harem could be seen as a man’s fantasy, and one could instinctively desire it.
But I was not the type to prefer such multiple entanglements and did not like stories of irresponsible pleasures.
Perhaps it was due to being heavily influenced by modern ethics or because of my overly principled views on relationships.
I always yearned for healthy romantic relationships that developed gradually and culminated in a meaningful connection.
And above all…
At this moment,
before my eyes sat a woman more beautiful than anyone I had ever seen, whose personality perfectly aligned with my tastes.
From the first time I saw her face, she captured my heart…
She was like a benefactor who had ensured that my life in this world did not end in a miserable bad ending.
And right now…
That very woman was sitting before me, speaking as she looked at me.
Say what you want.
I will grant you anything.
In response to her words,
I spoke to her in my own way
to obtain what I desired.
A request that was neither too excessive nor too meek..
As a result, what I requested was
a date proposal to the Demon King in a manner suitable for this world.
And..
The Demon King seemed a bit flustered by this, but eventually accepted my proposal.
She said she would clear her schedule for me tomorrow evening.
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After finishing the talk about the ‘reward’ for the hero, the Demon King returned to her office.
There, as usual, the person she trusted most was waiting, sipping tea while keeping her position.
A demon woman with an intellectual appearance, wearing glasses, and small young deer antlers on her temples.
A beauty with violet eyes, dressed in a neat blue maid uniform and a neatly tied blue ponytail.
She was one of the four top executives, the Demon King’s secretary, and the prime minister of the Demon Kingdom.
Belzebuth Jeremiah.
She spoke to the Demon King who entered the room in a calm yet respectful voice.
“Welcome back, Your Majesty.”
“Yes.. I’m back..”
With those words, the Demon King sat down, showing a troubled expression.
In front of her, Belzebuth poured the prepared tea, and without any hesitation, the Demon King drank it all at once.
And…
Watching the Demon King trying to calm her complicated emotions for some reason,
Belzebuth asked her sovereign in a voice filled with deep concern.
“So… what about the retainer? What did the hero request as a reward for this?”
The Demon King’s appearance was clearly unusual.
Seeing this, Belzebuth, who had already grasped the situation, immediately recognized that the hero had made an unusual request to the Demon King.
And this fact…
At this moment.
Made Belzebuth, who oversaw the internal affairs of the Demon Army,
feel a deep tension along with complex thoughts
separate from her calm expression.
‘I thought so, but… did that hero make some unreasonable demand? Did he ask for an enormous amount of wealth or a huge territory? Or perhaps he demanded dozens of our demon kin or captured human women as sex slaves? No matter how you look at it, the hero is still a male!’
She hadn’t heard the exact story yet,
but the hero’s request had unsettled their sovereign, who usually never wavered.
Just that fact led Belzebuth to judge that a tremendous request had indeed been made…
Along with this realization, she began to feel a chaotic mix of emotions and deep anger.
‘Damn it.. that hero, although he says he was betrayed and whatnot, is actually just a knife-wielding robber. He clearly came here to strip our Demon Kingdom after careful calculations. Even if it takes a long time, in the end, it’s more beneficial for us to gain from our side, rather than the coalition that will eventually win. And given the current situation, we won’t be able to refuse the hero’s demands. If our finances run dry later, he will stab us in the back…’
From the beginning, Belzebuth was the only one who accurately gauged the hero’s combat power alongside the Demon King as a thorough strategist and analyst.
For her,
no matter how much she had sworn loyalty, the hero, who possessed power comparable to the Demon King, was always a target to be wary of, and she needed to be ready to strike if any suspicious signs appeared.
Moreover, since her master, the Demon King, was lax in such vigilance, Belzebuth felt it was her duty to keep a close eye on the hero.
In fact, it was Belzebuth’s idea to involve Elisia in the attack on Rob, requested by the Demon King.
Thus, Belzebuth, who had a fundamentally negative view of the hero from the very beginning..
For her, the Demon King’s expression revealing unusual emotions regarding the ‘hero’s request’ caused her to process complex and lengthy thoughts in just 0.5 seconds, just like before.
And…
In that fleeting moment, with a poker face, Belzebuth was processing the hero in her mind at an incredibly fast speed.
The Demon King spoke in a slightly trembling voice, discussing the troubling ‘hero’s demand.’
“A meal…”
“…What?”
“He requested to have a meal. The hero.. wanted to dine with me, just the two of us. That was the reward the hero requested from me.”
“?!?”
The Demon King said something completely unexpected.
Belzebuth displayed a blank expression for a moment, feeling as if her mind had stopped for several seconds.
And after a brief moment.
The conclusion she reached in her mind was…
‘That hero.. is more terrifying than I thought..’
In the title, the consonant abbreviation ‘ㅅㅅ’ was used and meal in Korean is ‘식사’. However, ㅅㅅ can also mean ‘섹스 s*x’.
