The girl looked young.... way too young to be in this dangerous mountain filled with danger at every corner.
She wore some kind of beanie on her head, it was torn in some parts. She must come from a poor family. Her eyes were blue and I could see the strands of her hair which was crimson just like the hero who had just 'killed' me.
'' Who are you, child ?'', I ask her gently.
She looks scared.... she should be scared.
'' My name is Diane.... but are you alright, mister ?''
I'm confused... the previous stutter in her voice had gone and she looked worried... for me ?
'' Why wouldn't I be alright ?''
She looks at me with a look that said, ' Are you stupid ?' and proclaims loudly,
'' Because you have a hole in your body, mister.''
Ah.... she must be talking about this.
I look down at wound caused by the hero. Where my heart was supposed to be... there was a hole. Normally a person without a heart should and will die. But even if my head is cut off, I won't die because of my [Immortality] trait.
My heart wasn't gone forever, it was slowly forming again with the help of my [ Regeneration] skill. Unlike the [ Instant Regeneration] skill that my son possessed my healing skill doesn't heal my wounds in an instant. The process of healing was slow and painful.
But over the years, I've become numb to the pain, I still feel the pain but it just tingles now.
'' I'm fine.'', I say to the concerned voice of the girl,
The girl, Diane looks confused but doesn't pester me with question.
She seems like a smart kid.
'' Whew, I almost thought that the thing that did this to you was somewhere around here.'', Diane says with relieved expression on her face.
Is that why she seemed afraid at first ?
She walks closer to me with a smile on her face,
'' What's your name, mister ?''
What a trusting child... how can she completely trust a stranger like me... well, it seems like [Weak Body] is working well. She must think that I'm weak.
I could sense a small amount of mana within her, she must think that she can take me on if I do something suspicious.
I'm once again impressed by the thought process of this child... she looked at most 14 or 15 but she thought like an adult. It's too bad that she's wrong.
'' My name is... Xavier.''
Kaecilius was the alias that I had chosen when I became the demon king.
'' What are you doing here, child ?'', I ask Diane.
She smiles at my question and takes a deep breath before saying,
'' I'm going to go save the demon king !''
'' Is that so ?'', I ask back.
She nods her head vigorously.
What an odd child...
'' Why do you want to save the demon king, who has mercilessly killed millions ?'', I ask her.
She makes a peace sign with her hand and winks at me before saying,
'' I want to save him because, I'm his number one fan !''
I don't know if I said this before but..... what an odd child.
'' I see.'', I say
'' Then it's too bad that he's dead.''
After hearing my words, she seems shocked.
She falls down to the ground on her knees and I can see tears falling down her face,
'' I was too late.'', she says in a depressed manner.
Now... I'm not a person who judges people based on their preferences, the world is a crazy place and had different types of people in it. That's a fact. But to revere me like this is truly odd. It would be understandable if she was a member in my army.... but I have never met this young lady before. This made things even more confusing but I don't want to pry too much.
I ask her directions to her village and find that if I travelled ten more kilometers to the north, I would reach Borax village.
Before parting ways, she asks me one last question.
'' How did the demon king die ?''
I sigh internally and start to tell her, everything that happened a few hours ago. I tell her about the crimson hero, about the mass teleportation and also add in that I was a soldier fighting in the battlefield.
This was the story that I had made up for time I would be staying in Borax village.
The child is starting to show hostility to me since I told her about my made up profession. Of course, she doesn't try to physically harm me but she does start to verbally abuse me and the enemy kingdom.
I don't really pay attention to what she's saying. I'm bored with her now.
I say goodbye and leave somewhat abruptly.
'' Hmph'', I can hear her pouting behind me.
~~~~
'' Thank you for saving me again mister.'', Diane says walking beside me.
The child had been ambushed by wolves and I saved her.
Why ?, because she could be useful to me.
After saving her, her personality took a 180 degree turn and she's been following me ever since.
While walking she told me about how she had reached till this point.
In short, she's just a little brat that ran away from home because she wanted to save the demon king.
After hearing her story, I reevaluate my thoughts on her.
She's just a stupid kid.
'Sigh'
If continue in this pace, we'll never reach her village today.
'' Get on.'', I say while going down on one knee.
'' Huh'', the child asks back in confusion.
'' Get on.'', I once again reaffirm myself.
Be honored, child.
The great demon king, Kaecilius is giving you a piggy-back ride.
She gets on hesitantly and I slowly start running,
If I ran in my maximum speed, she would disintegrate into dust so I had to hold back a lot. I could always use my [Teleport] skill but I didn't want to use it in front of this girl.
Diane has promised me that her family will provide me with a house to live in and a few clothes and food as well, so I need to bring her back with me.
~~~~
'' She's back.'', a person rushes into Layla's house and tells her.
After hearing that her daughter had come back, Layla tries to rush out of the house but the man stops her,
'' B-but she's not alone.''
Hearing the man's words, Layla becomes confused.
'Who did my daughter bring back with her ?'
It doesn't matter. All that matter is that her daughter was back and she was safe.
Layla reaches the gate to the village, where a crowd had formed and gasps at the sight before her.
A semi-naked man was carrying her daughter on his back. Her daughter wasn't moving.... was she d-
Layla runs towards her daughter, many people try to stop her but she breaks free of them and runs towards her daughter.
' I have to save her !', this was the thought that passed through her mind while doing so.
The mysterious man tries to say something but she ignores him and kicks him in the balls so that he would drop her daughter out of his grasp.
But weirdly enough, the man shows no visible reaction to Layla's kick,
He just stands there, with a blank expression on his face.
~~~~~