During the journey, the hero teaches him wind magic. The hero holds the reins and talks to him as he walks, learning as he goes.
"Nefia. Do you understand the four elements?"
"Fire, water, earth, wind"
"correct answer"
"Hahahaha!! As expected of me."
"It's common sense."
"...…Ou"
"In fact, these are thought to be the things that shape the world. Certainly, when you apply this, you can generally categorize things, and there are even things that have two attributes."
"method...…"
Isn't it difficult? It is difficult.
"So, the question is, what is wind?"
"What do you mean by wind? Umm... Like!! It makes my hair flutter!!"
The answer is movement.
"Oh, yeah?"
No good! I have no idea!
"The fundamental principle of wind is that it moves due to the expansion, contraction, and pressure changes of air."
"I see, I see!!"
I don't understand anything. It's frustrating so I pretend to understand.
"Wind magic uses magical power to move the air. Wind magic forces it to move. Fire magic creates and controls fire. Water magic controls water, creating and increasing it. Earth magic raises and manipulates the ground."
"I got it!! Wind magic is magic that controls the air!!"
"oh yeah"
I understand now. So the thing you're controlling is the air!! Not the wind!!
"So then, how come... you can mute your sounds and hide your presence?"
"The principle of sound. Sound is a wave."
"...I'm sorry. I don't know."
"Ah, do you know what your vocal cords are? If you touch your throat, they vibrate, right?"
"Uh, uh, uh."
"oh yeah"
"Um, I get it."
"Using it, you can make the air vibrate and produce sound. That sound reaches your ears and can be detected as sound. Well, you can only manipulate it a little bit on the spot. After that you need to chant it."
"Oh, I see... What if there was no air?"
"Sound doesn't travel"
"Are you running out of air?"
If you can do that, you'll be strong. You'll be unable to breathe.
"No, I'm just channeling magic so that I don't tremble."
"Hmm, seems easy."
I feel like I've gotten to know the world a little better. I didn't care about air. It's just something you breathe. Without it, it's suffocating.
"It's easy once you understand it. Now, the next way to disappear is to simply change the color of the light emitted. This is more difficult. It changes the light passing through the air. Everything exists through reflection. It reflects light and our eyes receive it, so..."
"Yes!! I don't know!!"
Throw away your vanity. I'm no good.
"Simply put, it's something that's contained within the wind, so I can manipulate it. There's water in the air, so to a certain extent I can manipulate it like water magic."
The hero chants and creates a water ball.
"It's more convenient than water magic because it uses what's right here. The amount of water held varies depending on the temperature and location. Water droplets form on a cold glass because the air contains water."
"Hmm. Why does water come out?"
"I told you that the amount of water that can be held varies depending on the temperature. It's just that the water that can't be held is coming out."
"YEAH!! I DON'T KNOW!!"
I understand that it is a world that is more difficult to see than fire, water, and earth.
"Just teach me some simple sound magic."
"Have you given up?"
"N-no... I have fire!!"
"Okay. I'll draw a magic circle for you."
"mother...…"
I gave up on wind magic. I can't do it. I compromised and learned only sound.
*
In the evening, we prepared to camp out early. The hero gave us some special training. He had a big wooden stick that he brought from somewhere.
"what are you going to do?"
"Well, I think I'll go with Sparta."
"Sparta? The Spartan way?"
There is a strong country in the desert called Sparta. It is famous for the Colosseum. The strong king of Sparta is also famous, and I heard that he was the same age as the first king of the empire.
"No, I mean 'Spartan' in the sense of 'strict.'"
"I-I see! So strict!!"
"Are you scared? I can't believe that you, the former Demon King, would be scared..."
"You idiot! I'm not scared!"
"Well, a man never gives two hoes."
"Ou!!"
I felt motivated to be treated like a man.
"Well, avoid them all."
The hero grabbed the wooden stick with both hands and swung it around.
"W-wait! If it hits you it'll hurt!"
"If it hits, then it's over. Because."
BAAAAAAAANG!!
"Kah?!"
"Because it will break."
"Cough cough!!"
I feel a dull pain in my stomach. It's moving too fast. And it's merciless.
"Ouch! Take it easy!"
"That's right. Since she's a woman, I'll go easy on her."
"Don't treat me like a woman... Ah..."
"There's one more. I won't treat you like a woman who knows what she's doing."
I felt strangely regretful. I thought being treated like a woman was an advantage. And then... one of the poles broke right after that. And with a pain.
"That's terrible..."
"Yeah... I believed he would be able to avoid it quite well. I guess I overestimated that. He's died twice now."
"Kuu."
It's true that he was slashed twice. In actual combat, that would be a fatal blow.
"That's all for today, but I'll only do one tomorrow so don't worry."
"...…it hurts"
"It's cheaper than death. Well, maybe I spoiled you a little too much... I have to make sure you're okay even without me."
The hero puts his hand on his chin, worried. He's thinking about something. But more than that, a question has arisen.
"...Are you going to be gone forever?"
"Yes, if you return to being a Demon King. There is an antidote in the Demon Castle and you will be able to return to being a man. Then I might set out on a journey to find the girl I'm looking for."
I was surprised when he suddenly brought up the date for our breakup.
"Aren't I your current girlfriend?"
"Oh no, no. I want to meet a woman who looks like Nefia and confirm something. Do you think it might be you?"
It felt like the hero had said something close to his goal for the first time.
"I, I see. I was hoping to make you my vassal."
"Well, I'm an adventurer after all. I go with the flow."
"Haha... That's true, I am an adventurer after all..."
When I become the Demon King, I'll have to break up with this guy. I don't know why, but I found myself feeling lonely.
"Now, let's eat and go to bed."
"Um."
Even when I looked at my own chest, I couldn't understand what that feeling meant at all.