"A·Gedora! You can't kill me! I possess eternal life! As for you, time will steal your power, the goddess's blessing will never truly belong to you! You will die! I will once again dominate this world! Let darkness envelop this world!"
The man with two horns on his head let out his roar, seeing his body being sliced by a sword radiating golden light.
The eighteen-year-old man's eyes shone brightly: "You're right, Demon King, I can't kill you, so I'll slice you up, your limbs, your organs, your horns... into pieces, an eternal seal!"
In the last year of the Era of Strife, the first year of the New Era, the Demon King Modoh was vanquished by A·Gedora, his body divided into thirteen parts. Sealed eternally across the world.
That year, A·Gedora, later known as the Hero, was eighteen years old.
...
Year fourteen of the New Era, June.
"Bring me a beer!"
In the little tavern, there was a raucous commotion, with someone loudly clamoring for a beer.
A young girl in a cheap maid outfit looked speechlessly at the customer asking for beer: "You haven't settled your tab from two days ago! How could I possibly serve you! The boss would dock my pay!"
"Hey! Mohe-chan, no need to be so harsh, right? You'll become a mean woman~"
"It's not your place, you drunkards, to say that!"
While tussling with the drunkards, Mohe glanced towards the tavern's entrance, thinking that by now, normally...
Just as Mohe was thinking about it, a middle-aged man pushed the door open and entered the tavern.
"Oh! Look who it is! Our great adventurer Doro! What tales do you plan to share with us today?"
As he entered, many in the tavern turned to look, cheering loudly.
Doro, with a scruffy beard that seemed unkempt, exhibited a weathered sense of life's trials, barely managing to flash a faint smile, he found an empty spot to sit: "Today, I plan to tell the story of the Northern Snow Country."
"Northern Snow Country? What's so special about ice and snow?"
Doro chuckled: "That's because you've never seen the Snow Elves in the Snow Country, they're completely different from the Mainland Elves."
"Oh?"
The men in the tavern instantly showed expressions of curiosity.
"What are Snow Elves like?"
"Mainland Elves are well-known, though beautiful and tall, their skin tends to be dark, after all, they are a race close to nature, always enjoying the sun, but Snow Elves are different. Their skin is whiter than snow! And unlike the slender figures of Mainland Elves, Snow Elves are all rather voluptuous, about this big!"
He made a somewhat lewd gesture at his chest.
The males present all displayed a "hehe" smile.
Mohe placed a beer and a piece of grilled bread heavily in front of Doro.
"Look! Doro! Your talk of Snow Elves has upset our modest Miss Mohe! Next time, don't mention voluptuous women!" someone joked in defense of Mohe.
Mohe just glared fiercely at the person.
Turning to Doro: "So, is anyone treating you today?"
Doro looked towards the people in the tavern, all of whom smiled.
"I am!"
A man suddenly said, and then added to Doro: "Doro, with so many stories, why don't you become a minstrel? Maybe you could become a guest at the nobles' banquets."
"A minstrel? Come on, I'm not that romantic, and aren't minstrels usually handsome guys and beautiful girls?"
Hearing Doro's words, the one who offered to treat took a careful look at Doro's appearance: "You're right, your looks indeed fall short, even compared to me, let alone a minstrel."
Doro took a sip of his beer, pointed at the man, and laughed: "I'm not worse-looking than you!"
"Hehe~"
The tavern was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
...
Late at night, Mohe looked at the tavern about to close, taverns in this town usually don't stay open all night, those who come to drink are locals who have to go home at night and work the next day. Only adventurers visiting occasionally would stay to drink all night. However, adventurers never linger long.
Doro was an exception.
Just like now, he was sprawled across the table.
In the entire tavern, only Mohe and Doro remained.
Mohe thought of what the boss had told her.
"Mohe! Here's your chance! Haven't you always had some interest in Doro? Late at night, just the two of you, it's your opportunity!"
That woman just ran off on her own, leaving me to clean up this tavern... She said something about setting me up with an opportunity, but really it's just her not wanting to deal with it and dumping the work on me.
This is the human workplace! The inherent flaws of humanity!
But...
This might actually be an opportunity.
Doro—Hero A·Gedora, who stepped on my head to earn the title of "Hero," now appearing before me in such a downtrodden state, presents a perfect chance to eliminate him.
The pitch-black Magic Blade appeared in Mohe's hand; she only had a bit of power left. However, if he's drunk...
She stabbed directly with the blade.
And then it was grabbed.
The Magic Blade was held by Doro's hand, and a gleam of clarity appeared in his murky eyes.
Mohe retracted the Magic Blade: "So, dear Hero, pretending to be drunk isn't very cultured."
Doro shook his head, rubbed his own forehead: "I really am drunk. Grabbing your Magic Blade was just a reflex. Besides, even if I let you stab, you wouldn't be able to hurt me. Ugh... drank too much, feeling so nauseous."
"An attack that can't harm you doesn't elicit a reaction from your body, right?"
"You're the Demon King, only your killing intent can make me react. After all these years, it's still just your killing intent that's so intense. Just feeling it sends chills down my spine... Knowing it won't hurt me, yet there's indeed a desire to kill me. The Demon King seems to be impotently furious."
The Magic Blade in Mohe's hand dissipated; she picked up Doro's unfinished beer on the table, took a sip, then sat across from Doro, sneering: "Look at that! How fresh! The Hero who vanquished such a terrifying Demon King, and what's he become now? A vagabond? A drunkard? Can't even pull out a single coin, pretending to be an adventurer recounting past tales, how pitiful!"
"Are you going to donate two coins to me? Consider it my payment for protecting the world."
"Are you trying to make me die of laughter? Protect the world? With my head as the price?"
Their mutual destructive exchange ended here, and both fell into a long silence.
Mohe eventually couldn't hold back first: "Are you here to arrest me?"
"No, I'm no longer the Hero."
"Then if I were to do something, would you stop me?"
Doro finally once more met Mohe's gaze: "If I'm not mistaken, I sealed your left hand at the church in the nearest city."
"As you said."
Mohe did not deny it.
"Your left hand... what is it?"
"It bears my Magic Seal, which can give me back my immortal power."
"Aren't you immortal now?"
"Just an immortal soul, grown to only 14 years old now. I don't want to grow from an infant once more. Regaining my left hand would mean that even if this body dies, it would resurrect, unless you dismember and seal me again."
Mohe explained: "In fact, you are quite sinister, if I hadn't let my soul escape, being dismembered and sealed by you like that, the Demon King might have already been split into many fragments."
"I did plan on doing that, but you're smart. If given another chance, you wouldn't have that opportunity, but now... never mind."
Doro nonchalantly waved his hand: "Whatever you plan to do is none of my concern, let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"I won't meddle in your affairs, and you don't interfere with mine. You can sense me, and I can sense you, but don't let me get caught. The others won't find us. If you keep your mouth shut and don't use me, I won't stop your plans."
Mohe's lips curled into an ambiguous smile: "Oh, truly new to me, that despite being a Hero, upon hearing the Demon King might resurrect, you make no move?"
"Just a left hand... I won't even comment on whether you could succeed. Even if you do, you still have so many parts, don't you? Right hand, two legs, vital organs, head, horn, skeleton, eyes. Thirteen parts in total. I think it won't affect you much, and you have plenty of time to develop. When you fully resurrect, I might even be dead by then."
Hearing him list off the parts of her body, Mohe felt her blood pressure rising, maybe it's because of the beer too, who knows? Regardless, this man is extremely aggravating.
"Fine, you better remember your words, Mr. Doro."
"Oh, here's a piece of news for you. In the location of your left hand is your former subordinate, the Vampire Duke, Lisidorwei. She seems very interested in your eternal undead power, given that your eternity is different from hers. She must be very intrigued, right?"
Mohe's smile grew more pronounced: "Lisidorwei! Ha, such a familiar name. Back then she shielded you with her life when I commanded her to kill you, and she actually fell in love with you. What happened? Did she abandon you?"
"Abandonment or not... I let her down."
"I have heard some things about you." Mohe suddenly said, "Do you want to make a further deal?"
The man's face revealed a smile too: "A further deal? You mean?"
"The Hero lost his status, ended up on the streets... if the Demon King revives, people will realize the worth of a Hero — at that time, you'd become the Hero again."
"..."
The man picked up the glass of wine, downed it in one gulp: "Forget it! The Hero is already dead! The one here is just a 34-year-old middle-aged man."