Chapter 70 - Whose Is the Bond of the Demon King (3)
"A spirit?!"
Atanasia, the God of Immortality, who came to Clay's office in Barugenia, wore a look of shock.
"You said you brought back a lot of spoils from Yafenon, but you brought a spirit too?"
"What is that?!"
Naiad also shouted as she looked at Atanasia.
"Isn't that an ancient evil god! How can such a hideous thing be here?!"
"What? A hi-hideous thing?!"
"Yes, you hideous thing! Don't come any closer! Unless you want to drown!"
"Naiad."
Clay asked, suppressing his bewilderment.
"How do you recognize Atanasia right away? You said you're a later generation Spirit Queen, so you should be around the same age as me, right?"
"…Ah?"
Naiad's eyes wavered for a moment, and she quickly made an excuse.
"The, the appearances of the ancient gods are recorded with us. So I recognized her."
"Ha! You're talking nonsense, aren't you?"
Atanasia sneered, as if she had found an opening.
"You've met me before. Back then, you were a newly born spirit, so you were always hiding whenever I appeared. Isn't th… Pfft?!"
CRASH!
A stream of water blasted from Naiad and hit Atanasia directly. Atanasia stumbled back and held out her hand.
"W-what is this?!"
"Shut up! You damn evil god! You shouldn't be with Clay! How did you appear again! Go back underground!"
Naiad relentlessly poured out insults and pushed Atanasia back. Atanasia, in shock from the unexpected attack, just staggered with a look of disbelief.
'So the two of them have met before.'
Clay let out a small breath as he watched the two bicker. If Naiad was a spirit who had existed for much longer than she had claimed, that was not a bad thing for him at all.
After all, he was currently 고민中 (in the middle of contemplating) how to explain the beings in this place to Naiad. If she possessed immense knowledge and experience, it would at least take less time for her to accept everything around her.
"You couldn't even make eye contact with me before!"
"Shut up! That was then, and this is now!"
Or not. Will it take even longer?
Clay put his hand to his throbbing forehead.
'Still, it might be a relief.'
Compared to the great shock she showed when she came to Barugenia, Naiad seemed to have recovered her usual demeanor.
'By the way, Naiad also considers Atanasia an evil god.'
This meant that even though Atanasia was one of the indigenous gods, the spirits recognized Elheim as good.
'Why?'
Elheim was a god who came from the outside. If he only considered that fact, it would be normal for them to show hostility to him and defend the indigenous god.
"Stop spraying water…! Unless you want to become a walking corpse!"
"You, you take your hands off me…!"
Atanasia's hands, pushing away the stream of water with a wave and trying to grab Naiad.
CRACK!
And Naiad's spherical shield, blocking those hands.
A sudden gust of wind was raging inside the office due to their clash.
Flap! Flap, flap!
Seeing the papers in the office fluttering around in a disorganized manner, Clay opened his mouth.
"Stop."
A single word imbued with demonic energy immediately stopped Atanasia and Naiad.
"Don't make a mess of the office anymore."
At the sharp tone, Atanasia immediately moved away from Naiad. Naiad, however, unlike Atanasia, just wore an embarrassed expression.
"You're definitely different."
She flew over to Clay and spoke.
"So this is what it means to be a Demon King?"
"…"
"Well, don't worry. I won't expect you to be like you were before."
And yet, her face became slightly sad.
"Still, I might miss the old Clay a little."
"Naiad."
Clay held out his palm to her.
"From now on, you can comfortably bring up the past you know. You are the same as you were back then and now."
"Hmm~."
Naiad landed on his palm.
"Thank you."
Atanasia, who was watching the two from a little distance, let out a small, hollow laugh and muttered.
"I'm a little, jealous."
She couldn't hide her awkward feeling about being treated differently, but Clay didn't hide a very Demon-King-like question from Naiad.
"But Naiad, why did you antagonize Atanasia? From your point of view, she should have been an indigenous god fighting against an outside god."
"Oh, that."
Naiad, who looked like she was about to answer easily, suddenly tilted her head.
"Oh, right. Why is that?"
It was a moment when there was no answer.
Part 2
Elheim.
The outside god who descended upon this world.
He, who called himself the savior, drove out the foolish indigenous gods and promised a civilization fitting for everyone.
He did, in fact, put the indigenous gods to sleep and allowed humanity to build a civilization.
That was the story passed down in this world.
"So, you don't have a memory of it either."
A three-way meeting.
The three sat around a chair. At Clay's question, Atanasia wore a troubled expression.
"I remember fighting with Elheim. And that he was an outside god. But I don't remember anything else clearly. Or why he left this world and hasn't returned."
And yet, Elheim had left his divine power in this world.
"I don't know either. Why I thought this hideous thing was an enemy as soon as I saw her."
Naiad frowned, looking uncomfortable. Clay lowered his gaze slightly.
'Did he erase their memories?'
For whatever reason, there were signs that Elheim had erased their memories.
'Perhaps there might be something that was changed.'
Going beyond memory erasure to memory alteration.
If he had done such a thing to the indigenous gods, the spirits, and furthermore, all living beings of that era, then it was possible that Elheim had been forced into a long seclusion due to the vast amount of energy he had expended.
'Then what is this divine power?'
If he had used so much power that he had to restore his existence, it would be almost impossible for him to scatter such an immense amount of divine power to humanity.
'Is there some other method?'
Even so, the continuous injection of divine power into this world was a mystery. The fact that there was no reaction even though Clay was using the divine power in a distorted way meant that he wasn't even looking this way.
It was strange, no matter how you looked at it, that he would send power without showing any interest.
'I don't know.'
But Clay couldn't figure out what Elheim's intentions were. Even if he had become the Demon King, Elheim and the outside where he resided were truly an unknown territory.
"I see."
Whatever the case, the conversation couldn't go on any further. Clay decided to wrap up the discussion here.
"Naiad, I will prepare a place for you to stay."
For now, he had to take in Naiad, who had decided to lend her strength to him.
"Tell me where you want it."
At that, Atanasia's eyes widened.
"A place you want?"
She spoke as if she couldn't believe what she had heard.
"You're not going to designate a place for her yourself?"
"Of course not!"
Naiad, in place of Clay, turned to Atanasia and let out a smirk.
"I'm special to Clay!"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Naiad looked puzzled at her compliant response, and Atanasia immediately followed up.
"Since you only look like a pet bird."
"Hey!"
Just as a commotion was about to start again, Clay remained silent.
Click.
The door to the office opened, and Beatrice, with her red hair fluttering, came in.
"It's quite noisy in here."
She walked with heavy steps and stood beside Atanasia and Naiad.
"Did you forget that this is the Demon King's office?"
"…"
Atanasia fell silent and slightly raised her hands. It was a clear sign that she was giving up.
"Beatrice."
But Naiad was not like that.
"What's your game?"
"My game?"
"Yes,"
Naiad narrowed her eyes and flew right in front of Beatrice's face.
"You seem to have become Clay's chief of staff, so you can't be in that position without any thoughts."
"Would it make you happy if I did have some thoughts?"
"Don't play dumb. I know everything."
She glared at Beatrice and spoke with a confident voice.
"You like Clay."
PFFT!
Atanasia, who was taking a sip of the tea in front of her to wet her throat, choked.
"ACK! COUGH! COUGH!"
"You like him, don't you? Huh? Since when? When did you start having feelings for him?! You black dragon!"
"A black dragon?"
"You have black intentions, so you're a black dragon!"
Seeing Naiad speak with such illogical reasoning, Clay let out a small groan inwardly.
Naiad had always been like this. She wasn't the type to be easily intimidated by the atmosphere around her. Even if she seemed to be for a moment, she would soon regain her will and start chattering.
'I wonder if I should call this a good thing.'
Clay also didn't want Naiad, who was now bound to live in Barugenia due to the oath she had made, to be intimidated by the other demons around her.
However, he hadn't imagined that her personality wouldn't die down to this extent.
'You really, haven't changed.'
It was absurd, but he didn't dislike it. For some reason, her appearance gave him a sense of comfort, like 'rest.'
"So! I'm going to live here!"
At some point, the conversation had progressed, and Naiad came right in front of Clay and shouted.
"I agree."
Beatrice chuckled and raised a hand.
"To say that you'll live in the office, not the Demon King's chambers, is something I can accept without any complaints."
"Right, that's a good thought! Wait, what?"
"It's too late."
Beatrice clapped her hands together.
"I 'made' a place for you to stay, thinking it might be necessary."
Then a maid came in carrying something covered with a veil.
"Wh-what is that?"
As if to tease the flustered Naiad, Beatrice grabbed the veil and lifted it herself.
"!"
The object that was revealed from under the veil was,
"A birdcage?!"
It was a birdcage made of iron bars, with the inside decorated like a dollhouse.
"Look. There's a bed, and a mirror too."
Beatrice held up the birdcage and pointed to various places with her finger.
"You, you…!"
Naiad trembled with anger.
At Beatrice's actions, which seemed to be increasing the commotion rather than ending it, Atanasia sighed.
"…This woman is also incredible."
Having finally cleared her throat, she secretly muttered to herself, and her gaze returned to the office entrance.
There, a woman filled with cold energy was standing.
"What is this?"
Selimia.
She was the one who had built an ice wall and blocked the intruders coming to Barugenia under Beatrice's orders before Clay returned.
The first sight that met her eyes as she hurried back to Barugenia at the news of Clay's return was this.
"What is it."
Atanasia turned her gaze to Clay upon seeing the demonic sword, Siltnaro, also arriving behind Selimia, who was muttering to herself as if she were furious.
"…"
Silence.
That was the only dignity he could show right now as the Demon King.