Chapter 65 – Vampires
A little over a month has passed since I started living under the same roof as my twin sister.
“…The civil war in the Kingdom of Makai has already ended?”
“Looking at that reaction, even the teacher didn’t know. We only heard the news about the Kingdom of Makai when we stayed in the next city to buy materials. It’s probably going to spread slowly to our territory soon.”
Leaving the twin sisters to the adventurer’s guild in the morning, Bonen Roden and Roxia came to the store and, while receiving various materials from Holm Merchant’s staff, they heard the news that the civil war in the Kingdom of Makai had ended.
“When we first heard the news, we were really surprised. We didn’t expect the civil war to end so quickly… After listening a little more closely, it turns out that there are rumors that the demon king of this generation has begun to move slowly. He said.”
It was not unreasonable that such rumors spread around the world. If the civil war, which was expected to take more than 10 years, ended in a short time of less than a year, there is a good chance that the demon king would have exerted his power.
“Devil…”
Roden muttered the word demon king while listening to the words of the guild staff.
Come to think of it, these days I’ve been living almost forgetting that this kid is the Demon King.
The employee, who interpreted Roden’s narrow-eyed appearance in a completely different way, made an effort to speak brightly.
“Even if the demon king reappeared, he lost quite a lot of troops as a result of the civil war, so there is no time to actively attack human lands like in the past. Furthermore, as long as the Altma Kingdom and the Crove Principality stand on both sides, It’s safe here in the Duchy of Haron, so don’t worry too seriously.”
From the point of view of the citizens of the Principality of Haron, who are far away from the Kingdom of Demons, the rumors of the Demon King only feel very far away. It’s just interesting.
“Well… That’s right. Thank you for letting me know. Thank you all for your hard work.”
After briefly checking the contents of the box her staff had brought over, Roden thanked her for the job as one of them signed her check-in form.
As usual, right before leaving with a greeting asking him to use the Holm Merchant’s Merchant next time as well, the employee who had just delivered the news of the Nation of Darkness came close to Roden.
“Ahhhhh! Teacher. It’s not time to open the store yet… But can you sell that cool medicine in advance, which is selling like hot cakes these days? I’ve heard that it’s very effective when applied to insect bites.”
“It’s okay. Loxia, bring some anti-itch medicine for the number of these people.”
“Yes, Uncle. Hold on.”
A lot of ingredients just came in, and he made quite a lot the day before, so Roden, who thought it wouldn’t be a problem to sell a few in advance, handed the staff a bottle of transparent medicine one by one and received the price.
The contents are very different from the modern water patch, but it is a drug that gives a feeling of coolness like a water patch when applied. In particular, thanks to the recent surge in mosquitoes, it is a filial product that is selling as well as a potion.
Anyway, after the staff had left, Roden began moving the crates of ingredients into the basement. The work was fairly easy thanks to Loxia, who was next to her, assisting with her weight-controlling magic.
As Roden worked, it was not difficult to notice that the girl was thinking hard about something. After finishing his immediate work, he flipped the sign to ‘operating’ and sat side by side with Loxia while waiting for her guest.
There must be nothing else Roxia is thinking right now…
“You seem to be very concerned about the news from the Kingdom of Makai.”
“Yes… Even though I ran away, it doesn’t change the fact that this is the hometown where I was born.”
Looking into her master’s eyes and nodding her head cautiously, the girl put her hand on her chest and continued her words.
“It’s really fortunate that the civil war in the Demon Kingdom ended quickly. I often secretly saw demons fighting against demons from a distance on the evacuation route I left with my friends, but it was so horrendous and scary.”
Loxia remembered this moment clearly.
She smelled the disgusting smell of blood she smelled sickly as she hid herself among the corpses of her own people to escape from the eyes of the adults.
“All I’ve heard about the former Demon Lord is from the adults at the facility… But he was quite belligerent, and he said that he fought a war with humans until the day he died at the same time as his tenure. By all means, I hope the Demon Lord of this generation is someone who prioritizes peace. “
As Roden listened to the girl who was unaware of the fact that she was speaking like that, she naturally thought that there was no such thing as an ironic situation. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to ask a question he hadn’t been able to bear before.
“How did Roxia feel when she read the scene in the book she borrowed from her twin that her dragon love and her companions risked their lives to defeat the Demon King?
“Hmm… Honestly, I don’t know. Because I can’t have the same thoughts as the demons from the days of the previous Demon King. If I had to answer, I thought the hero and his colleagues had fulfilled their mission. Thanks to you, the long war between the two races will end quickly. So, in the end, I think it was the right thing to do.”
… I couldn’t shake off my intuition that one day I would inevitably have to tell the truth that this child is the Demon King and my past, but thanks to the answer now, I feel much more at ease.
“Master?”
Thinking so, Roden approached Loxia without saying anything and started stroking her hair. The girl was a little puzzled, but she couldn’t resist her master’s touch.
With my daughter, with my daughter.
It wasn’t long before the fun time with each other came to an end when the sound of bells rang out, announcing that a customer had arrived. Roden and Loxia opened their mouths at the same time as they looked at the door.
“Welcome.”
* * *
“I’m back-“
“I’m back…”
It was late at night when the sun had completely set and darkness was everywhere. Responding quickly to the sound of knocking, Roden opened the door, and her twin sister, unable to erase her exhausted expression, was standing in front.
“I thought they were camping because they didn’t come back by this time, but I’m glad. Come on in.”
“Ugh… If I was ten minutes later, I would have had to spend the night in front of the castle wall.”
“It’s been a while since I reported to the guild.”
The twins step into the house in turn, sharing a hug with Roden. Then, the two of them headed to the bathroom together, washed off their bodies that had accumulated dust all day, and then sat side by side in the living room with refreshed faces, with the same stretched expression. He must have been quite tired.
The quick-witted girl approached her twin sister, grabbing two glasses full of cool water.
“Merim unnie, Marill unnie. You worked hard today too.”
“Oh, I’ll have a good drink, thank you.”
Gulp, gulp.
Gulp, gulp.
“Kyaaa! I think I’m going to live a bit now. Thank you.”
Merim, who was stroking the girl’s hair from both sides of her with her brother at the same time, suddenly opened her eyes wide.
“Uh… Roxia, stay still for a moment…”
“Yes yes.”
Merim took the odd pose a cat would assume just before swinging her arm, then she quickly swung her right hand at Loxia.
Slap-!
It’s a sound effect that could be misleading, but this sound is not Merim slapping Roxia on the cheek, but her arm. The girl widened her eyes at the momentary sensation of her wrists tingling.
“I got you… Oh, Loxia. I’m sorry for the sudden surprise. Are you sick?”
“Oh, no. I’m a bit surprised, but it doesn’t hurt. But what happened all of a sudden?”
“I couldn’t stand to watch this damn thing try to suck our little Loxia’s sacred blood. Now, watch this.”
What Merim, grinning, spread her palms out and proudly showed to her girl, was none other than Mosquito.
“Ahaha… Thank you, Merim sister.”
“Ha-Merim, don’t brag about things like that, just throw them away.”
“That’s right. I’m not a kid.”
Roxia smiled awkwardly and tightened her tight wrists, while Marill and Roden, who were watching her from the side, were in unison and each said a single sound.
“Yes yes.”
Merim nodded her head obediently, shook her stung mosquitoes out of her window, and returned to her place.
“Uh-! Hey, Marill. Don’t you think there are at least twice as many mosquitoes as there were at this time last year?”
“Well, that’s true. Compared to then, the weather doesn’t seem to have changed much… But it’s strange.”
As she answered, rummaging through her memory, Marill rummaged through her backpack and took out her clear bottle of medicine.
It’s the same anti-itch medicine Roden sold to Holm Merchant employees this morning.
“Whoa, thanks to the medicine Roden brother gave me, it’s fortunate that even if I get bitten by an insect, I can relieve the itching.”
“Apart from that, the problem is that sucking blood from them makes you feel dirty in itself.”
Gently tilting her bottle, Marill smeared her medicine into the palm of her hand and slowly applied it to her arm and her sister’s thigh. In fact, her twin sister was sucked up by her mosquitoes several times while carrying out today’s request.
Roden and Loxia, who had been watching her twin sisters, also agreed with the saying that there are strangely many mosquitoes these days.
The four people sitting next to each other spent some time talking about mosquitoes. In the end, the conversation ended with the obvious conclusion of holding out until the mosquitoes calmed down, so it wasn’t a conversation that could be called very informative.
… However, even after this day, as time passed, the momentum of the mosquitoes increased exponentially instead of decreasing.
As if something was controlling it from behind.
