Strangely enough, even in this ridiculous situation, my hands were still tightly holding onto the lifeline.
A burning torch held tightly in my hand. Without even realizing it, I swung it towards the stem that was tying my leg.
"Kiiieeeeeeek!"
With a loud roar that threatens to tear your eardrums, the stem let go of my ankle.
Good! It's a good thing I carried the torch myself! I really didn't think there would be something to write about, but...
'But... why does my back feel cool?'
That disgusting flower also seems to be moving further away... No, it's good that it's getting further away, but somehow...
'Wait a minute! I'm falling!!'
What was the height here? It covers a radius of 10 meters, so wouldn't it be closer to 10 meters?
"...Haha fuck."
Save me!!
Even though I was so shocked that it was no wonder my heart was jumping out of his mouth, my body, which had rolled over on the battlefield, was steadily preparing to fall.
Yes, it's sure to break in one or two places, but... it's better than breaking your neck.
I made up my mind and braced for impact, but someone grabbed me.
"D-D-D-D-Demon! Are you okay?! Where are you hurt? Are you injured anywhere?"
I'm the one who should be surprised, so why are you stuttering? How come you even chewed your tongue?
I wanted to push this bastard, the culprit of everything, into the mouth of that man-eating plant right now, but I held back.
It's not because the opponent is stronger than me. When I felt the arms firmly supporting me, I raised my head and looked at Hien.
'...You caught me, so I'll just look at you this time.'
I fell from that high place and he caught me without difficulty. No matter how light I am, I'm still within the weight range of a normal adult, but demons are demons after all.
"Demon?"
"...It's okay."
I gently pushed his chest.
Hien took my refusal based on survival instinct as a signal to come down and carefully lowered me to the floor.
As I landed on the floor, the world started shaking around. I stood there with my eyes closed for a moment to help my shaking bones settle back into place. Then, I lowered my hand to cover my face and looked back at Hien. And...
"...."
I had no choice but to remain silent.
Behind Hien's back, the background, which should have been a combination of the silver of the moonlight and the black of the night, was glowing red.
The acrid smell stung my nose and the hot heat hit my skin.
A ray of cold sweat ran down my back.
It's not because it's hot....
'This... is because of me, right?'
The garden was burning because of my lifeline torch, which I lost hold of when I fell.
***
'I might die today. No, I will definitely die.'
Hien lowered his head helplessly as the heat touched his skin.
The plant he was tending to tried to eat Demon. Of course, Demon couldn't possibly be defeated by something like a plant, but it was clear that he didn't like that plant. Otherwise, there would be no reason to be offended by such a trivial attack.
He didn't like that plant, or rather, the garden itself, so he was looking for a reason to burn it down.
Maybe he didn't like Hien himself.
The plant's fault is the gardener's fault.
Regardless of Hien's intention, in the end, it was the plant he was tending that attacked first, and Demon had no choice but to counterattack after being attacked.
As a result, not only could he no longer blame him for the burning of the garden, but he was also put in a situation where he had to take responsibility again.
In the first place, he didn't even acknowledge the idea of holding Demon responsible for the burned garden as an option.
'If he doesn't like it, it's my fault.'
He was usually a very generous person. Just listen to his doctor, Ben, brag about it.
So, if he's angry, it's probably because something on this side has offended him.
Even though he was prepared, he was still afraid of death. He smoothed his face, which was clearly turning white, and looked at Demon's back while biting his lip.
I don't know if it's because he's from behind or because he can't tell his expression, but he seemed to have a different vibe from the usual Demon.
'No, no. Now is not the time to look at the mood.'
It's time to lie down flat.
He bent down towards him, who was only looking at the flames devouring the garden without even turning around.
"Sorry."
His foot, which was showing its heel, slowly turned around.
Hien closed his eyes tightly when he saw the other person's shoes facing him.
***
Hey, it burns really well.
Is this what it was like for slash-and-burn farmers who fled to avoid excessive taxes from their lords to set fires to farms in the mountains?
The problem is that this is not a mountain, but the Demon King's castle, and there is no farming.
'What do we do...?'
Even if you burn well, you burn too well.
The disgusting man-eating plant that attacked me had already been completely consumed by the flames and no longer made its terrible screams, and other disgusting plants around also disappeared into the fire without a sound.
The fire, which had already engulfed half of the western garden, was greedily expanding its scope to devour the remaining plants, as if it were still not enough.
I feel a stinging gaze on the back of my head. It's probably Hien's.
I didn't have the courage to look back to see what kind of expression he was making, so I just stared at the red-stained garden in half-fascination.
Oh yeah. I have no intention of denying it. This is escapism.
This is the garden of the Demon King's castle, and the gardener is, of course, a devil. It means demons.
'Someone please put this out. Anyone is welcome, so please.'
As I was making a prayer for water, hoping that it would at least rain, I heard a faint voice behind me.
"Sorry."
"...?"
I thought I heard wrong. Obviously, this is a situation where I should apologize, but why is he apologizing?
I claimed that I heard with his ears correctly, but with my head, I insisted that I heard incorrectly, so despite much hesitation, I slowly turned around to find out whether it was true or not.
Fortunately, what came into view was not Hien with an angry expression, but Hien bowing down.
I was half relieved but didn't understand so I stayed silent, so he added an explanation on his own.
"I didn't know you didn't like that plant or this garden."
"...."
"Or maybe you're angry at me..."
"No, that's not true."
Do I seem like a person with no conscience? I gently touched my face and looked at Hien again.
Anyway, what you're saying is that you think I set the fire because I didn't like those man-eating plants or the garden itself? But instead of getting angry, he apologized.
"Are you crazy?"
"Sorry."
"That's not it..."
Now I see that this bastard was actually a brat.
Anyway, looking at the situation, I don't think he will be angry at me for this. I also think the chances of survival are higher this way than if I foolishly left the torch.
So what should I say now?
"...I don't really like the garden, but I don't hate it either."
No, I honestly don't like it. I absolutely hate it. Gross!
However, it is impossible to ask the gardeners of the Demon King's Castle to grow ordinary flowers of the human world, such as roses and lilies, so what can you do? I have to endure it.
"Then..."
"I hope you will refrain from growing that plant you showed me a moment ago."
"Ah yes! Of course. I will throw away all the seeds."
Even throwing it all away. I have no intention of getting involved in raising what you please at home.
Anyway, it seemed like everything had been resolved, so I nodded, but a shadow appeared behind Hien, who had a determined expression on his face.
Anyone can see that it looks like a human or a demon. As I narrowed my eyes and looked at it, wondering who it was, a voice came from the shadows.
─A very familiar voice.
"What kind of fire is this?"
Hien's body stiffened. It wasn't noticeable, but I froze too.
That voice is definitely....
"Who made it? Did you do it on purpose?"
Because it belonged to the one and only king of the demon world, known as the Demon King, who is said to be the strongest of all time.
"What are you doing here, Demon King...?"
"My castle is on fire, are you telling me to stay still?"
The Demon King, who cut off Hien's doubts at once, turned his head. As his eyes slowly rolled over the scenery, he takes a look at the flames, and with a particularly eerie glow, Hien and I are in his field of vision.
His eyes, which had been dull when he looked at Hien, took on a bright color as soon as he saw me.
"I was wondering why there was a fire and no one put it out..."
He stroked his hair and smiled. Obviously towards me.
Oh, is this it?
Today is my memorial day.
As expected, the Demon King said my name. Perhaps because there are other people around him, it is not his real name, but a name known in the demon world.
"You were here, Demon."
When he waved his hand at the same time, the thick smoke around us rushed out and disappeared into the distance.
Only then could I see clearly.
There are a lot of demons lying around. They were looking this way with troubled expressions, unable to do either this or that.
No, if you had come earlier, you would have put out the fire quickly. Why are you just standing there and watching?
Thanks to you, this incident drew the attention of the Demon King.
"So what don't you like?"
"...?"
"Are you mad at the gardener or just don't like the garden? I can kill that guy if you want, but what should I do?"
No, wait a minute. I think I heard that the gardener brought it here himself. How can you talk about killing someone so easily?
There is no smile in his eyes at all to dismiss it as a joke. I looked back at Hien in confusion, but even he, who had to defend himself with pleading or whatever, kept his head down calmly as if he would accept whatever decision was made.
I hurriedly opened my mouth as I felt like the Demon King was really going to kill Hien like this.
"I'm not angry at the gardener and I don't dislike the garden."
"Then why? ...No, before that. Then can I put this out?"
"Yes? Yes."
When I nodded my head, those who were waiting rushed over and cast magic.
Huge water droplets were created in the empty sky and poured down all at once. It might have taken a while with just one or two people, but with so many people doing this, it was really instantaneous for the blaze to be put out.
"Why did you set fire to the garden when you don't dislike it?"
Here, I paused for a moment.
First of all, there is no reason to speak out about Hien's misunderstanding and expose it to the eyes of useless people. So should I tell the truth?
What would his reaction be if I told him that I almost died because of just one plant?
'You're saying you're weak enough to be overwhelmed by a single plant, so you've been fooling me this whole time,' right? Wouldn't he say, 'Die!' Or maybe 'You burned my garden just because of that?' He may try to kill me while doing so.
However, I have no choice but to answer the Demon King's question. I thought for a moment about what answer to give, but Hien suddenly intervened and explained on my behalf.
"The plant I brought in this time attacked Demon. So Demon got angry and started a fire."
"...."
Hey. This bastard was clearly a spy. Who sent him? The Revolutionary Army? Or was it sent by the Empire's noble faction?
While I was wondering how to fix this so that word would spread that he had done well, he seemed to have not finished speaking yet, and after a moment, he opened his mouth. The voice was trembling slightly.
"It's my fault. I didn't educate them properly."
The word 'education' is completely inappropriate for plants, but no one here seemed to feel awkward.
Well, if you think about what it looked like a little while ago, it was closer to an animal than a plant.
"Ugh."
At that moment, a short moan penetrated my ears. When I suddenly raised my head, what I saw in my field of vision was the Demon King, who was holding Hien's neck with one hand and lifting him up... Hien, whose face was distorted by the interrupted breathing, but who was not resisting.
'Oh, I'm really going crazy. I could have finished it well, but why....'
The air is different. It's so heavy and serious that it's enough to crush a person and explode.
While I was speechless and struggling, the Demon King holding Hien's neck turned his head and looked this way. His face, which had clearly been grim when he saw Hien, calmed down when he turned to look at me. No, he was clearly smiling.
"What should I do?"
"...Yes?"
"Shall I kill him?"