"Only 8 hours, sir."
8 hours? That's too long. Then again, it was my fault for not remembering. But why did the goddess not tell me?
[You told us to shut up, so we did.]
These cheeky gods. I bet they did it on purpose. They hated Valier for stopping me at the gate a few years ago, so they made him stand this long.
"Anyways, sit down, Valier. Tell me what you found." Immediately, he sat down on the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"I am sitting down."
"Sit on a chair, dude. What are you, a dog? Wait, he is a dog since he's a beastman."
"Thank you."
"Sure, sure. So tell me what you found while you went to the human regions." I'm obviously curious since it was a place I lived in. Now that there are no more heroes, they should be living quite well without any worries.
"First thing is that the independent port city Metos has been taken over by the pirates, and it seems that the holy empire has been preparing a festival."
"A festival? Wait, isn't next month Heroes' Day?"
Heroes' Day was the time when we slayed the demon God and liberated this damned world, though I bet only the two other heroes will be celebrated and not me.
"Is there anything else?"
"The Great Empire in the north has been recruiting anyone to join their ranks; it seems something is going on."
"Are they planning on attacking us?"
"I don't know; the information is too hidden. I couldn't find any more information."
If they are planning on attacking, we might lose in this situation; most of our army is focusing on development and building.
[Don't you have a friend who shares information?]
That's right! During my time as a hero, I had saved many, and others were in my debt. There was one particular individual who hasn't repaid his debt.
But isn't it to risky? Considering that he is currently located in the holy empires capital and I'm the demon king if I'm discovered there might be an all out war.
"Valier can I entrust this land to you and sebas while I'm gone?"
Valier nodded, and I exited my office. Now, time to go back to that cursed place. Without wasting any seconds, I prepared my stuff and was ready to go.
The head butler offered that I ride a carriage to exit the demon forest, but I refused. I only needed one horse, and I took my personal favorite horse, Bucephalus. I named it after the ancient horse of a great king.
As I rode through the forest, we eventually got to the exit point. From then on, it was a rigorous journey. I stopped and saw the scenery of the place that I once forgot.
[Are you feeling sad, Esmond?]
"No, I just feel nostalgic, that's all."
[Tell us if you ever feel lonely. We will gladly embrace you with joy]
I smiled and rode my horse to a nearby town. Of course, I left my horse and entered the small town. They had banners and everything; it seems that they are celebrating Heroes Day quite early.
I walked the streets, and vendors were selling figurines of the previous heroes and their companions. But as expected, I was not there, but my companions were.
"Mama, can I get a toy as well?" There was a boy in a stall with his mother.
"Of course, which one do you want?" the mother replied and picked up a figurine with a bow.
"I don't want that! I want the one with those mini swords!"
"Swords? Oh, you mean the hero Cassius?" Cassius, I never thought I'd hear that name again. He was a good man, and he was the one who chose to stay here after defeating the demon king.
"No, the one with the mini sword, the hero Esmond! That's the one!" I looked at the kid, to my surprise, my name was still going around as the hero, but the mother quickly covered the kid's mouth.
Understandable. I am the villain. I'm the demon king now. Being hurt by words will simply make me angry, so I turned around and left like I heard nothing and saw nothing.