The construction work was almost over.
What was supposed to take three months to finish, was already done in a mere span of three weeks.
It was all thanks to the magicians that Kevin brought. Hey were provided with enough mana potions and they worked like crazy for the last three weeks, no sleep, no break, just so they could get a glance of that being.
"Hnggg..."
Ale stretched his legs as he sat on his comfy chair and was observing the almost finished product in front of him.
"Young master.. Won't you go home? I'll be here so-"
"I want to go home as well but.. "
Ale pointed to the little kitty who was hiding inside his shirt once again and sighed. It was the dragon. He wanted to see for himself, the construction of his future home.
Kevin understood why Ale couldn't leave and quietly stood beside him once again. The sun had started to set already. It was time for the shift between workers.
After seeing the magicians work like crazy, Ale had to stop them and divide the work times between the regular workers and the magicians for everyone's safety. The mana becomes way too turbulent when they work, making it hard for the regular workers.
*BOOM*
Right when Ale was about to strech his arms and legs one more time, a huge sound rang from the back of the building. It sounded more like an explosion rather than something going wrong in their work.
"What the-?!"
The two of them hurriedly went over, only to find all the worker gathered there in one place. A part of the mansion had collapsed.
"Is everyone okay?! What happened?"
Ale asked one of the nearby workers while Kevin did a quick headcount. The last thing he wanted was for a servant to die under his young master's watch. He knew what kind of effect that'd have on Ale.
"Um.. Young master.. We also don't know.."
"Everyone was getting ready to go home when something... I think something fell and broke the mansion."
"I also saw something fall. I wonder what it was..."
"Something fell... and broke a part of the mansion?"
Ale wondered what kind of thing was capable of breaking a mansion that was created with the help of so many magicians. Although the shield hadn't been activated yet, but it should still be very sturdy in nature.
*vmm*
Right at that moment, when everyone was looking around wondering what was going on, something inside Ale's body started reacting. The sword. It was vibrating, sending a shiver down Ale's spine.
'What was that... Ah..'
It took Ale a second to figure out what was happening, but now he knew. There weren't many things in the world that could resonate with that sword of his. There was only one answer.
"Empty the place. And tell the wizards to take a break today."
Kevin wondered why Ale was being so serious all of a sudden. But after knowing him for all these years, he knew better than to ask him why.
"Please don't do anything dangerous."
With those words, Kevin went away and took all the workers and knights stationed there with him. He didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it was something that normal people shouldn't witness.
The whole place was empty within a few minutes. Not a trace of life could be seen anywhere near Ale, except the animals of the forest and the baby dragon.
"Hmm.. Maybe I should've asked them to remove these pillars before going."
Ale looked at the huge and heavy pillars and wondered how he was going to move them. They looked pretty big.
"Welp."
Finding no other way, he channeled his mana and strengthened his own body. Once in a while, a little bit of manual labor was good for the body.
Ale grabbed the broken pieces of his mansion one by one and started putting them aside, slowly unveiling the one who was hidden inside. And just as he had expected, it was him.
A Demon. The Prince and the Future King of the demons. Ale's best friend from the future. The guy he saw countless times in his dreams. Also, the main reason why he lost everything and was hated and cursed by the entire world till the day he died.
"Should I just kill him?"
That was the first thought that came to his mind as he watched that guy lying there, injured and wounded. The sword that appeared automatically on his hand was expressing his desire quite clearly.
"This is probably my only chance, right?"
He watched the demons' breathing slow down almost to the point where you wouldn't be able to tell whether he's alive or not if you don't check for yourself. Ale's clutch on the swords handle tightened as he wondered what he should do. But right then, something moved inside his shirt, making him remember that he wasn't the only one there.
"Hmm.. What do you think, Light? Should papa kill the bad guy or no?"
Ale looked at Light who had come out of his shirt and was sitting on his shoulder. The cute baby tilted his head to the side, wondering seriously about Ale's question.
"Bad guy?"
"Yeah. He broke our home, didn't he?"
"!"
It dawned upon him a little later, but it was true. For now, the only crime committed by this guy was breaking Ale's mansion. The home that his kid was sooo looking forward to.
"Bad guy! Light punish?"
Although it'd look like a cute scene between father and son, the dragon was actually asking for permission to turn the one in front of them into ash. Ale managed to teach him to ask for permission before he did something like last time in the future.
"Help...me.. please."
Ragged breathing. The demon was alive. And he was well aware of the people and the dragon that was standing beside him.
"Heh.. You're asking for help from the guy who's talking about killing you?"
Ale found it funny. He knew that it was all a front. That guy wasn't on the verge of death. Injured? Sure. Fatally injured? Yes. But he wasn't going to die.
'Shameless bastard.'
Ale only found out much later in the future that the Demon was testing him on the day that they met. He wanted to know if the humans were really as 'humane' as he had heard of before.
"Help.. "
But since the demon had no idea about the fact that Ale already knew about his little acting, he kept to his role and pleaded once again. The injuries he received were quite serious. Crossing dimensions on top of that had drained most of his mana. But he also had many cards up his sleeve. Death wasn't going to take him that easily.
*Sigh*
Ale loosened his grip on the sword and dropped it to the ground. He grabbed the demon by the arms and yanked the demon out from the debris of the broken mansion in a moment. Since Ale forgot about the mana strengthening, which was still at work, he accidentally put in more strength than necessary.
"Agh.. hurts.. "
"Whoops.. Sorry."
It wasn't intentional. He didn't mean it. But it definitely didn't look like that. If anyone saw that scene from far away, they'd think Ale was bullying a helpless, weak demon.
So, to not add fuel to the fire, he carefully placed the guy on the ground, letting him lean against a nearby wall. There was blood all over his body, and now the blood was even in Ale's hand, from when he grabbed him by the arm.
"Thank.. you."
The demon slowly moved its head and looked Ale in the eyes. But the moment their eyes met; a chill went down his spine. The eyes of the human in front of him was colder than even the gaze of his father, the King of the Demons.
Yet, there was a certain warmth hidden behind it that was hard to ignore. It was weird. He could tell that the person in front of him wasn't normal.
Like ice that was on fire. Or a fire that felt cold to the touch, he didn't know which one suited more with that person's aura. But it was definitely an anomaly.
"Use it."
Even the words coming out of his lips were as mysterious as his aura. The Demon wondered if all humans were as mysterious as this person as he tilted his head.
His long white hair which had turned red with all the blood he was covered in fell to one side as he did so. The blood red reptilian pupils of his that looked more like a demon's than anything else looked at Ale with all the curiosity in the world.
"Use the damn potion that's in your pocket. I don't have anything that can heal a demon."
If Ale used his attribute, he was sure that'd cause more harm than good. Light was one of the main attributes that the demons hated. And light users were considered their mortal enemy.
The feeling was mutual though. Light users also couldn't bear to tolerate the presence of demons. They'd get all riled up and lose their rationality whenever they saw a demon or demonic being.
But of course, Ale being the anomaly that he is, didn't fall into any of those categories. If anyone asked, and if he had no choice but to answer honestly, Ale would rather choose bugs than humans or demons. He was fed up with both.
"How did you... Oh.."
The demon was surprised for a moment as he subconsciously placed his hand on top of the pocket that contained the potion. But to his and Ale's surprise, the bottle was half outside. It made him misunderstand and think that Ale saw the bottle by chance.
In reality, Ale didn't even look that way. He knew about the potion since he was the one who hand fed it to the demon in his memories. That guy even pretended like he couldn't even lift a finger in Ale's memory.
"I'll let you rest here for the night. Leave before the sun rises."
Ale didn't want anything to do with this guy in this life. He had already suffered enough in his memories by befriending a demon and thinking naively that everything would be okay.
"But I don't.. *gulp* have anywhere else to go.."
He drank the potion as he spoke. Ale could see the scars starting to heal even as he spoke.
"Go back to your own world. Why are you even here?!"
Ale was trying very hard to suppress his frustration, but he couldn't. It started to leak out slowly, along with a bunch of other emotions.
"Why.. did you have to come here.. why?!"
This guy was his best friend, the one he swore to share all his sorrows and joys with in his past life. It was also the person who, although unintentionally, but still, caused him the greatest pain.