Draw the Legendary Sword (1)
"The Demon King has returned!"
Shouts echoed from all directions.
Cheers filled with joy.
But I… I can't acknowledge that bastard as the Demon King. That thing is not the Demon King.
Then what is he?
'A demon… a demon!'
Once a wholesale merchant. A vile trader of Daparachia. But now, a man who had become a lowly member of the demon race.
Richmond ground his teeth.
He cast his gaze toward the source of the cheers from the demon race.
There he saw Kim Jangcheol.
He glared at the man with resentment.
Then quickly looked away.
If he stared too long, he'd be caught. And then those terrifying demon farming corps goons around him would have something to say again.
So, when you glare, only for 0.1 seconds.
Just long enough to avoid getting noticed.
Then swiftly lower your eyes.
"......"
How did it come to this?
Feeling a sudden surge of sorrow, Richmond sighed. He looked down at his two hands.
"......"
Hands covered in soil and compost.
Once, with these hands, he had swayed the affairs of an entire province of the kingdom. Back then, no one dared to defy his will.
The city mayor?
The lord of a fief?
They were no exception.
They all needed food. If they fell out of his favor, they couldn't buy grain at a fair price.
Back then, he was really something.
Those were the good days.
"Haah… how did it come to this…"
That Demon King.
No, that demon.
How did his life get utterly ruined by someone like that?
It was then.
"You mean to say, you've truly been farming here, just among yourselves?"
"Well, one thing led to another, and here we are."
The Demon King and someone else were talking as they walked this way. But the one walking beside that bastard… was not a demon.
He was human, a human!
"...!"
Richmond nearly rubbed his eyes with his compost-covered hands. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He was baffled.
'What is this? Why is there another human here besides me?'
Could he have been captured miserably like I was?
Then maybe… I have a comrade(?) now?
…That fleeting hope lasted only a moment.
But in the end, the answer was no.
"No. 'One thing led to another,' you say. This is no such casual affair. This is truly… full-scale, collective agriculture. Just how in the world…"
The man admired the farmland spread out before him.
Captured, like me?
He didn't look it at all.
He was clearly dressed in the full military uniform of a royal officer. And not just any—he looked like a high-ranking officer.
Which only threw Richmond into deeper confusion.
'What… what is this?'
This place was the deepest part of the Abandoned Land. A place of despair and lamentation, where hope did not exist.
Naturally, the only humans here were either those exiled from the kingdom, or poor souls like himself who were kidnapped by these wretched demons.
That's how it should be.
'Then… how?'
A man wearing a high-ranking kingdom officer's uniform was walking alongside the Demon King, in the Demon King's territory, casually making conversation.
"Uh, excuse me!"
The moment he realized the man was truly sane, and not a captive—
Richmond cried out in desperation.
Or rather, he tried to.
He wanted to say there was someone here.
That he'd been taken.
To ask for rescue.
But he couldn't.
"Hey. What are you doing? Get back to turning the compost."
Grab!
".....!"
Just as he was about to rise and shout, a rough hand grabbed him by the scruff. Startled, he looked up to see a demon from the farming corps.
"I told you to dig through the compost, not daydream. Huh?"
"I, uh, I was just…!"
"What? You saw another human over there, and got your hopes up?"
"Y-yes!"
Richmond was flustered.
Quickly, he had to let that officer know he was here. That way, he might escape. He might return to where he once belonged.
But the demon farming soldier only gave him a pitying smirk.
"Tsk. Mr, you're delusional."
"Excuse me?"
"That human walking with the Demon King is the combat engineering commander personally dispatched by the kingdom's king. And you think you're on the same level? Are you mad?"
"...What?"
What was he talking about?
The kingdom dispatched someone?
A combat engineering commander?
To the Abandoned Land?
Formally?
"What is this…"
Was he really hearing this right?
Richmond doubted his own ears.
Meanwhile, the Demon King and the commander continued walking, unaware of his presence.
"......"
Back in the day, he wouldn't have spared a glance at some combat engineering commander.
But now, how did it come to this?
As he watched the commander's back fade into the distance, a wave of sorrow rose up. Tears welled in his eyes, and he looked up to stop them from falling, forcing a bitter smile.
'Geez… what a beautiful day. A beautiful day indeed.'
At this rate, he'd rather just die.
No, before that, maybe he should try to sneak up on the engineering commander. Beg to be rescued.
Suppressing his tangled emotions, Richmond went back to digging through the compost.
***
A new farming season had begun.
Like sprouts emerging after a long winter slumber, the demons who had lazed through the off-season were now all busy.
Among them, Artanis and her three loyal followers immediately headed to the royal capital along with the statue. They first collected the remains of the 9th Expedition Team.
"... And on another front, the Demon King's farming corps, as per His Lordship's orders, have begun preparations to cultivate potatoes, corn, beans, and pumpkins again this season."
"Mmhmm, good. Very good."
"So, with full-scale sowing just ahead, we've also begun spreading compost."
"Mmm, very good."
"And so, my Lord and I have now left the Demon King's castle region and arrived at the 3rd Star Legion territory… may I ask, what exactly Your Lordship plans to do here?"
"Hmm? No."
Kim Jangcheol shook his head.
Then, glancing at Zephyros, who still wore a sulky expression, he chuckled.
"I told you last night why I came here, didn't I? That I'm looking for the Legendary Sword to match this scabbard."
"Yes, you did say that."
"So I came to find the sword. What other plan would I have?"
"That's exactly why I'm more curious."
"Curious? About what?"
"Well… it's just… it feels like you already know exactly where that sword is from the very beginning."
"......."
Kim Jangcheol fell silent.
Zephyros tilted his head slightly and spoke.
"Come to think of it, it was the same when you borrowed the scabbard from the king in the royal capital, my lord. And it's the same now. In this vast Abandoned Land, you move with absolute confidence, as if you already know the sword is nearby."
".... Is that so."
"Yes."
Zephyros nodded and asked.
"Did you, perhaps, truly know all along?"
"Yeah."
Kim Jangcheol didn't deny it.
He didn't deflect with vague words either, but answered with even more brazenness.
"Of course I knew from the start. I knew the sword was somewhere around here. And I knew the royal family held the matching scabbard. That's why I made the proposal to the king with such confidence, wasn't it?"
"That's… what it was?"
"Obviously."
A triple layer of shameless steel was now firmly affixed to Kim Jangcheol's face.
"This is the Abandoned Land, and I am the Demon King who rules it. And you think someone like me wouldn't know what's lying around in my own land? Don't be ridiculous."
"... But, as I recall, throughout your reign, you seemed to care for nothing but slaughter and destruction right in front of you, my lord."
"That was just how it looked on the surface."
"Are you saying you were different behind the scenes?"
"If you're that suspicious, why not have a little quiz time? Ungh, this way."
Rumble.
At the foot of a volcano in the 3rd Star Legion region, Kim Jangcheol pushed aside an unassuming boulder with brute strength. Slowly, the rock rolled aside to reveal a hidden cavern entrance below.
Zephyros's eyebrow twitched at the sight.
"There's a passage… here?"
"You didn't know? I did."
"...…"
"I told you, this is the Abandoned Land, and I'm its ruler. Of course I know everything in my land."
Kim Jangcheol declared proudly.
And he wasn't bluffing.
It was no exaggeration to say he truly knew every nook and cranny of the Abandoned Land.
'After all, I played through this game 19 times, and in every run, I did a full sweep clear of every single hidden spot on the map at least ten times each.'
He couldn't rest easy unless he did.
Ten full sweeps, every run.
Once, he accidentally went through it 11 times.
And to keep the count a clean multiple of ten, he went through it nine more times, making it 20.
So over 19 playthroughs, he cleared the map 200 times.
He uncovered every map and dungeon in the Abandoned Land, and hunted every demon and monster lurking in the deepest corners.
Naturally, he became a master of the entire territory.
Monster placements.
Item farming routes.
Hidden traps.
Thanks to that, ever since his 11th playthrough, he'd never once died while controlling Aged Kimchi.
'That's how Aged Kimchi managed to power-level so absurdly. Paladin of Blood had a system where the more consecutive no-death combat time you accumulated, the higher the experience gain multiplier.'
Which is how he hit level 9,990!
"Anyway, ask me anything that comes to mind. I'll answer everything."
Brimming with confidence, Kim Jangcheol entered the cavern first.
Zephyros followed behind, thinking deeply, then asked cautiously,
"Do you mean that?"
"I mean it."
"You'll really take the quiz?"
"Go ahead, ask anything."
"......"
Zephyros hesitated a moment.
Then he asked,
"This cavern we're entering—does it really have the Legendary Sword at its end?"
"Yup."
"Then… could you describe in as much detail as possible how long it will take to reach the end on foot, and what condition the sword will be in once we get there?"
"Luckily, the cavern's not too long. It'll take about one minute to reach the final point. But there's a vertical drop on the way. About five steps from now. I'm jumping first, okay?"
"Wait, what?"
"Come on, follow me. I'll catch you down below, so don't worry."
Thump...!
Before Zephyros could say anything, Kim Jangcheol leapt into a vertical shaft along the cavern path.
Zephyros hesitated briefly...
"...Haa."
With a sigh, he threw himself into the vertical shaft.
Whoosh!
That sinking feeling of falling!
Thankfully, the shaft wasn't very deep.
After a freefall of about 20 meters, Zephyros crash-landed—no, was caught—on a soft mound of moss.
Boing, tumble tumble!
".....!"
The moss bounced him off.
As a result, Zephyros tumbled sideways ten times before sprawling flat on the floor.
"Hey, hey. Nothing's broken. Get up."
Then came the chuckling voice of his Lord.
Zephyros, still dazed, grumbled without thinking.
"Didn't you say you'd catch me?"
"Huh? I never said I would catch you."
"...…"
"What? Don't tell me you were expecting a princess carry or something."
"No. I'd decline that first."
"Yeah?"
"Of course. Let's not even joke about something so disturbing."
"Agreed. Anyway, get up. The current owner of the sword is approaching."
".....What?"
"You asked earlier, right? About what condition the sword would be in at the end of the cavern. That's your answer."
"What do you mean…?"
Step, step...
Just as Zephyros was about to ask—
From the deepest, darkest end of the cavern, something—or someone—was approaching.
Slowly.
But clearly.
And the moment he saw the owner of the sword approaching, Zephyros felt chills run down his spine.
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