The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 1 - Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

The Ex–Demon Lord and His First Date Ever

Ginny planned to take us on a tour of the royal capital for our three-way date, guiding us through a few landmarks, since I was unfamiliar with the city. In all honesty, she was doing a better job than I’d expected, providing us with actual pointers and facts.

All the while, passersby stared at us.

I supposed that was unavoidable. After all, they saw a dignified boy wandering around with two gorgeous girls. But their envious glares didn’t get to my head or anything. There was a particular reason for that.

“The palace is a must-see, right?! Who cares about the dumb old library?!”

“Oh-ho-ho. You don’t get him at all, Miss Ireena. And to think you want him all to yourself. Listen up. Ard is an intellectual—unlike you. How could you expect him to be interested in the palace of all things? It’s knowledge that moves him the most. Right, Ard?”

“Huh? N-no, that’s, uh.”

“You wanna see the palace! You can’t wait to see its huge, sparkly amazingness, right?!”

“U-um, that’s, uh.”

This had been going on for a while now. My stomach was seriously killing me.

…Fast-forward to us finishing our tour and entering the theater for part two of our date. Watching a performance was a pretty standard activity, or so I’d heard.

The show began shortly after we reached our seats.

All plays had their standard plotlines, no matter the era or location. The Laville Empire of Sorcery was no exception, and we had two go-tos: first, the ballad of the Demon Lord, though this story line wasn’t exclusive to our country. Second, a story based on the legends leading up to the founding of our nation.

Apparently, the predecessor of our current state was an empire that had been destroyed by a white dragon named Elzard. Known as the “Frenzied King of Dragons,” it had pushed humanity to the brink of collapse, but one young man was able to put a stop to its diabolical scheme, restoring peace on earth. After that, he’d become the first emperor. Well, that was a very simplified version of those events, and now it was being performed on the stage in front of us.

The scenes depicting the atrocities committed by the King of Dragons were needlessly intense and, to be honest, a little petrifying. Beside me, Ireena must have felt the same way, because she was sweating buckets.

“Oh, Miss Ireena, you’re covered in sweat. Are you that frightened?”

“Wh-wh-wh-what are you talking about?! I-I-I-I’m not scared at all! N-no King of Dragons can s-s-s-scare me!” she asserted in absolute fear.

As I internally doted on her, the second half of the play began, focusing on…the ballad of the heroic Demon Lord.

“I am the Almighty King Varvatos! Evil Gods, ready yourselves! Your tyrannical reign shall come to an end—today!”

The performance began to recount the part where Megisa del Sol, one of the Evil Gods, or the “Outer Ones” in ancient times, was vanquished. I’d spent half my past life fighting these guys.

Produce more demons, control humanity, treat them like slaves: That was modus operandi for the Outer Ones’ reign of tyranny, but I’d wanted to create a world where we determined and carved out history with our own hands.

As someone born with nothing, I latched on to that ideal, eventually forming a rebel army with Olivia and declaring war on the world. After a series of twists and turns, the Evil Gods were sealed away, for the most part, or sent back to their original world.

With that said, the glory was in no way all mine. I had irreplaceable comrades who both fought and fell alongside me in battle. The Evil Gods would have never been eradicated without their help… They were all such great people that I could never rank them against one another.

However, a certain person in particular will forever hold a special place deep in my heart.

“You always do as you please! Stop leaving me hanging by a thread!” called out the actress onstage.

“…Lydia.”

Lydia had rejected the Outer Ones and fought to put the world back in humanity’s hands, just like me. But our methods diverged slightly—causing us to butt heads on more than a few occasions. Back then, her group had been denounced as traitors, but in the current world, she was shown as an example of heroism and given the title of Champion.

“I admit that you can call on immense power, but please! Rely on me a little more!”

“Right, sorry. I won’t let it happen again.”

As I observed the actress and actor have this exchange onstage as Lydia and my former self, respectively, it involuntarily brought back a huge wave of old memories, causing a full-body shiver down my spine. Well, more accurately…my body trembled in rage. I couldn’t believe how many artistic liberties the playwrights had taken to distort her character out of proportion.

I mean, come on. They put that meathead in a position to admonish me.

Of course, I knew it’d be impossible for a play to accurately pin down every single character and line. It couldn’t be 100 percent true to history. But, like, this was too much, especially if you consider that these characters totally swapped our actual personalities.

Back in the day, that king of fools was constantly throwing a wrench in my plans…

“H-hey! Wait! Stop! If you rush in now, all our plans will be—”

“Shut up! Here I come, you bastaaaaaaaaards!”

Just like that. And every single time she ruined one of my plans, I always had to reprimand her…

“Look before you leap, idiot! It’s a complete mystery to me how you’re going about like nothing ever happened! Quit acting like a dumb-ass!”

“Whaaaaaaat?! Who you callin’ an idiot, moron?! Say that again—I dare ya!”

She’d get pissed off when I yelled at her for being reckless, and then she’d punch me for it… How I ever became friends with that raging fool was the greatest mystery of my past life.

Oh, and speaking of personality changes, the actions and behaviors of the Four Heavenly Kings ended up unintentionally hilarious. Seriously. The playwrights were idealizing them a little too much, no? They were nothing like the saints onstage. I mean, they were a tough crowd to wrangle as subordinates.

For starters, the strongest of the Heavenly Kings, Alvarto, was a messed-up war nut.

As for the self-proclaimed “genius scholar,” Verda was a dirty little mad scientist.

And then, there was Lizer, who seemed decent at first glance, until you realized that he was a twisted lolicon.

Last but not least, my big sister, Olivia, was the grossest of all with her full-on brother complex.

“Ah, my dear king. To your good health,” said an actor.

Alvarto would never have said that. It would’ve been more like, Ah, my dear king. To your sudden death. Yep, that sounded about right.

“Your Highness! I, Verda, may be unworthy, but I have invented a new form of magic!”

That sounds nothing like Verda. Try: “Hey! Hey, Var! Your favorite genius came up with somethin’ supercool, so come be my guinea pig! Pleeeeease? It’ll be totally fine! You’ll just go a li’l insane is all!” Yeah, that’s much better.

“Your Majesty. I would like you to review the new laws. The Council of Seven and I have made a few amendments that need your review.”

Wrong again. Lizer would say, “Your Majesty. The Council of Seven’s nitpicking the shit out of my law. It’s supposed to be for the benefit of little girls. I’m requesting your permission to destroy them.” Just like that.

“Please be at ease and allow me to handle this. I’ll always have your back.”

As for Olivia… Well, other than her tone of voice, this play wasn’t too far off. But when I let her “have my back” or whatever, she’d secretly snip off some of my hairs for her private collection, among other things… What I’m trying to say is that on the outside, she played the part of a peerless beauty. On the inside, she was rotten to the core.

Anyway, neither Ginny nor Ireena knew the truth, and from the looks of it, they were enjoying the play just like everyone else, especially the tale of Rivelg, the knight of roses, which brought them both to tears.

In this episode, the knight meets a tragic end while trying to save a girl who had been taken hostage, as he’s tricked by the despicable followers of God and revolts against the Demon Lord, breaking his allegiance with him.

That was how the story supposedly went…but once again, the truth had gotten distorted. But this was inevitable. After all, I’d made it that way. I’d felt disappointed in his desperate revolt against me… But to preserve his legacy, I gave strict orders to prevent the truth from ever getting out into world.

Recalling those events made me think about when exactly Rivelg had started planning his rebellion. There was a particular time that came to mind.

He’d been one of my close associates, strong enough to be the captain of the guard and well-versed in governance. He had incredible talent, you see.

But on that fateful day, Rivelg had stared daggers in my direction for no reason, right as I had some business to go over with Olivia. That was the moment I thought I had realized his true feelings: that he was infatuated with Olivia.

At the time, I welcomed this revelation with arms flung wide open. I had thought it was about time for Olivia to settle down, and I figured having him around meant she’d finally let go of her little brother. But Rivelg couldn’t help but doubt the nature of my relationship with her. In order to rectify this, I had set up a place for us to talk alone at a later date.

“D-did you have some business with me?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d clear up a little misunderstanding on your part. I don’t have the relationship you think I do with Olivia. It’s nothing like that at all.”

“I-is that true?”

It looked like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He must have really liked her.

“Yes. Y’know, Rivelg… You’re an open book.”

“Wha—?!” His eyes widened in horror, his face slick with a cold sweat. “D-do you…?! D-do you see right through me, Your Majesty…?!”

“Aye. Furthermore, Rivelg, I accept your feelings.”

“Hghwa?!”

I’d never heard such a sound before. I guessed I’d never realized how even the coolest and most collected men could become all mushy-gushy in love and I reveled in this new discovery.

“I know I can trust you,” I continued with bravado. “After all, I’ve got nothing but praise for your academic and military performances—and your character. Even among my subordinates, you’ve clearly got some serious talent. Rivelg, you have my total confidence.”

“Y-Your Majesty…! I knew it was the right choice to pledge my loyalty to you for the past hundred years…!” he exclaimed, working himself up to the point that he started to weep.

Well, he’d always been one to jump to conclusions. I mean, at that point, we still hadn’t known whether Olivia held any special feelings toward Rivelg, and I’d been getting ready to point that out, but then he beat me to the punch.

“To think the day would come when His Majesty’s sweet ass would finally be mine…!”

“………Huh?”

I could remember this exact moment like it was yesterday, especially the part when I’d become completely awash with the very distinct sensation of What the hell is this guy going on about?

“W-wait. I’m talking about entrusting Olivia to you,” I’d clarified.

“…Huh? U-um, but didn’t you say you could see through my feelings, Your Majesty?”

“You like Olivia, don’t you?”

Please say yes. I’m begging you, I’d pleaded internally… But my wishes had been instantly pulverized.

“N-no, you’ve got it all wrong! Um, I guess this is my opportunity to say it loud and clear… I’m completely enamored by you—and your butt, Your Majesty!”

At the time, I had absolutely no idea how to respond.

I could say I’d had my fair share of experiences, but this was the first time my mind completely blanked out. My response flew out of my mouth just based on pure instinct.

“No. Absolutely not.”

And that…had led to Rivelg’s uprising.

The whole thing had been truly unfortunate. A disaster. I guess it just goes to show that you never really know anyone. I mean, I had no idea he was gay.

Sure, he was sickly sweet to handsome young men and ogled the asses of brawny knights as he smacked his lips, but I’d never suspected he was interested in men.

“Awww, poor Sir Rivelg…”

“To die with the one you love in your arms… How tragic…”

Those two sobbed along with the other guests… I felt like crying, too. For more reasons than one.

Ginny didn’t waste a single beat to snake her arm around mine when we stepped out of the theater.

“The play was packed with super-interesting stories!”

If I was being totally honest with her, I would have vigorously shaken my head. But I did my best to respond appropriately and obligingly nod in response.

Ginny blushed. “But I bet I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself if I went alone. I wonder if it was because you were there with me…? Hee-hee-hee, just kidding,” she teased, sticking her tongue out with a bashful little grin.

She was acting all cutesy…which made blood rush to my cheeks all of a sudden.

Is she really just leading me on? I was starting to wonder if she actually had the hots for me. That said… I’d have no idea how to respond or act if that was true. I mean, I’ve always been the one in pursuit when it came to romance… Or no, wait. There was one exception to the rule.

There was a female general who readily came to mind. I’d beaten her in some competition or battle, and she’d come up to me, saying all kinds of stuff, like “I fell in love with your majestic figure at first sight…” Well, I guess I’m not sure if she actually liked me. Just read one of her love letters, and you’ll understand.

To my beloved Demon Lord,

I’ve heard news of your successes and prosperity over recent months, Your Majesty. Still, I’m way stronger than you.

I’ve noticed it’s gotten chillier lately. How are you faring? I’m powerful as always, thanks.

The hunting season is drawing near again, and it feels like only yesterday that I gazed upon your brilliance when you landed the first mark. I’m hopeful you will reign supreme again, but don’t forget that I can overcome you at any time.

During the competition last year, you were virile and gallant, completely captivating the entire stadium, Your Majesty. But I hope you will always remember the name of the one who was most bewitched. It was I, Freya, Your Highness. My heart beats faster than everyone else’s, and if you would allow me to mention one more thing—

Remember that if I go all out, I’ll always be better than you.

I hope you and I, the almighty Freya, can engage in some friendly competition once again this year.

With all my love.

Best (in class),

The World’s Strongest Woman

Freya

…My army had been extremely talented and equally full of oddballs and perverts.

“Let’s go find somewhere to eat! You could use some food, right?” Ginny purred.

I nodded.

“I know just the place! I looked it up for today!” She grinned, tugging on my arm and drawing it closer to her enormous breasts.

I could feel them jiggle and mold themselves around my arm.

…Hold up. Is she not wearing a bra?

“Hmm? What’s the matter? Are you blushing?” Ginny giggled coyly, the spitting image of a coquette.

…I give up. I had absolutely no clue how to respond, especially since I’d never dealt with this sort of thing before. But my behavior seemed to give Ireena the wrong idea.

“C’mon, knock it off! Let’s get going already!” she snapped, yanking my arm and tearing me away from Ginny’s grasp.

It was kind of like an older sister refusing to let the younger one monopolize their big brother’s time, which was absolutely adorable. Geez, she’s seriously the cutest—

“…Tch. I knew Miss Ireena would be a pain.”

I thought I heard a wicked voice right beside me, but it must have been my imagination.

“Let’s go! Their curry is the best, y’know? Oh-ho-ho-ho!” Ginny said.

Yep, definitely my imagination. There’s no way this pure, innocent girl could be evil, I thought as we continued to chat, strolling down the main road. That’s when something caught my interest.

“Damn, she’s one stubborn woman…”

“No wonder they tout her as a messenger of the Holy Goddess or whatever.”

“Well, when it comes down to it, the queen is only human. I say it’s high time.”

There were some low murmurs coming from the backstreets, an odd conversation between those concealed in black robes and looking clearly suspicious. Ireena and Ginny seemed to pick up on this, too.

“Those guys seem sketchy, right?”

“I swear I heard them say the queen is stubborn… It sounds like they’re trying to assassinate her or something…”

Alongside the pair, I dubiously examined the alleyway gathering again.

“Well, she’s in for a real treat when we complete that magic circle… Come on, let’s get a move on,” ordered a man—probably their leader—and the shady group obliged.

“What should we do? I’m planning on following them, of course,” I said, especially because who knew if this would develop into a super-serious problem down the line?

There was no way we could ignore this. Plus…I couldn’t let this one slide for personal reasons. If we ended up stopping a crime syndicate from assassinating the queen, we’d be able to use that as a bargaining chip, meaning a direct audience with her and a chance to secure more funds for the academy. Of course, the ultimate goal was to decline appearing in that annoying-ass battle event.

“I’m coming with you, Ard. I can’t let anything happen to the queen,” Ireena declared.

“Same. I think I can actually make a difference now,” Ginny continued.

They both nodded with steadfast resolve as we immediately started coming up with a plan to track down the suspicious group.