P/s: Suggestions to improve this translation will be highly appreciated and I do not guarantee the accuracy of my translation
Translated by: Empress ||
ARNRBKM – Demon King-sama and His New Guards [Part 2] (Unedited)
Novel Raw: 魔王様と新しい護衛たち 其の二 || Manga: I’m a Villainous Daughter, so I’m going to keep the Last Boss || Manga Raw: 悪役令嬢なのでラスボスを飼ってみました [JPN] || 作为恶役大小姐就该养魔王 [CN]
「Kyle, I’m going to retract my previous statement. We should work together」
Kyle didn’t criticize Walt when he said that the first thing in the morning when they met in front of the Demon King’s office.
With a haggard look, Kyle cast down his eyes.
「I’m glad that you understand. This is a matter related to the Demon King. I had known that it won’t be easy, but……」
「Let’s cooperate. Or it would be impossible otherwise. We can’t be proper guards 」
「And we’re the one who will be scolded by that attendant」
「Rather, this already at the level of being mean. Being owned isn’t something that “Unnamed Priests” should tolerate」
Gravely nodded to one another after confirming each other’s intention of working together, they turned toward the double door. They opened the door after taking a deep breath together in synchrony.
「Claude-sama, good morning!」
「Today is the day that――Of course he’s not here. And I had a feeling that things would turn out this way, okay!? Kyle did he left behind a note!?」
「This is it!『I’ll be back by the time Irene comes』」
「He is too Airi-chan-centered!」
Walt reflexively threw the note that Claude’s left onto the floor.
「Airi-chan said she’s going to look around the Misha Academy to see its condition, isn’t she? She was planning to meet us from around sometime in the evening to the evening party, wasn’t she?! Is it okay for him not to have guards with him until that time? He’s a Crown Prince, isn’t he……?! Heck, we’re the one who is going to be treated as incompetent!」
「Almond! Sugar! Is there anyone here?!」
When Kyle opened up the window to call out to someone, a huge crow-type monster who often wandered within the Demon King’s vicinity, came flying in.
He was rare even amongst the crows, mainly due to its white color. It seemed like a long time ago, he had some terrible experiences with humans.
Hence, he always spoke harshly to them. He glanced at them coldly.
「What is it, human」
「Do you know where Claude-sama is, Sugar?」
「Lost sight of him? Incompetent, imbeciles, this is why a human is. Be ashamed of yourselves」
「Yeah, we’re ashamed of ourselves. Now that you know, can you tell us where he is?」
「Here rewards for you」
These days, the white crow would open his eyes widely at the sight of candies that Walt decided to keep as a reserve.
「I am addicted, to those kinds of sweets」
「Al-alright! I’ll buy the sugar cookies for you!」
「If you understand, good」
With an exaggerated nod, the white crow stopped at the edge of the window and said it like he was giving an oracle or something.
「Demon King, went to ride, horse. To the direction of the lake」
「The lake? What a restless guy, he’s been fidgety since the day before yesterday!」
「We owe you one, Sugar」
「Praise me! Give me a gift!」
「Later, okay!?」
Walt and Kyle broke into a run, leaving the enraged monster that once again spewed ‘this is why a human is’ behind. They passed by James, who had a book in his hand, in the middle of the corridor. James’s current main job was to make Auguste pass his Holy Knight’s enrolment exam.
「What? Did he ran away, again?」
「Don’t say that. Also, if you happen to see the Demon King-sama, catch him!」
「It’s impossible」
「Oh, come on!」
「Nevermind that, but if you guys take that turn, you guys are going to be caught by Keith-dono」
They didn’t hesitate to take a detour at the name of the nagging Demon King’s attendant. They were fellow humans, and Walt thought that their combat ability might be better than Keith. Still, for some reason, that attendant was frightening. Above all, he was a valuable boss who could hurl yell at the Demon King.
「I should have asked you earlier, but can you ride a horse?」
「Of course, I can」
They were imposed with a wide range of education in their training as the “Unnamed Priests.” So that they would be able to perform their mission as both commoners and nobles. The only thing they couldn’t do is to go against the command.
That was why horse riding was also one of their fortes. When they finally arrived at the stable, they quickly chose horses to ride, then kicked the belly of the horse as they straddle the saddle.
（For God’s sake, what a troublesome escort subject）
In the beginning, just after the day when they had to keep Claude company in the cafe, for some reason, he said he wanted to try to buy sweets and then eat them on the street. Apparently, he wanted to eat Milchetta local pie that he heard from Auguste. He ran away when they told him that he wasn’t allowed to do that. By the time they found him at the park after hastily looking for him, the Demon King had said, “you guys are late” to them.
The servant who had served the Demon King for over 20 years, said.
「Claude-sama is just that kind of person, so it’s useless to say anything to him. So, I’m going to be mad at both of you. I’m going to reduce your salary due to your incompetence as guards!」
It was unreasonable.
If they left the Demon King alone after he disappeared, their motivation would be doubted by both the Church’s side and the Demon King’s side. Then they were probably going to be fired, and the Church going to assassinate them due to their mission failure.
It was absolutely unreasonable.
「Oh……You guys already caught up with me?」
And the root of all the unreasonableness was standing by the side of a small lake surrounded by greenery and trees.
Walt made an imposing stance after fastening his horse to a tree.
「Yes, we did. So tell me, why are you going to this kind of place again?」
「I’m having fun to have you guys chasing after me lately」
Walt thought somewhat seriously that maybe he should assassinate Claude right away. It was very likely that Kyle was thinking the same thing as him. Walt could feel the vein on his temple throbbed.
「Anyway, let’s go back. You’re going to receive a lecture from Keith-dono」
「I still have some unfinished business left to do. Both of you can go back first. Or perhaps I should say, I want the both of you to go back first」
「We can’t do tha――」
Feeling a familiar sensation that caused the hair on the back of his neck suddenly crawled, Walt cautiously looked around.
（……Isn’t this place too quiet?）
Kyle, who must have felt the same sensation, was also sharply looking for signs.
The lake with a beautiful view was tranquil as it was surrounded by trees. However, what undulating on the surface of it was――a bloodlust. Moreover, there were more than one of them.
「……Claude-sama. What kind of business do you have in this place?」
Even when Kyle and Walt’s expression changed, Claude was expressionless as ever.
「Let me see, a fun picnic」
Arrows came flying, tearing off his answer. The arrow that Walt promptly tried to catch fell after being interrupted by an invisible wall before his eyes.
「This is why I told both of you to go back quickly」
The moment when the Demon King took a step forward with a voice that sounded as if he was soothing troubled children, rain of arrows fell down on them.
But none of it reached them. A thin membrane of light that appeared in the form of a protective barrier before Claude, Walt, and Kyle blew away everything. It included even the horses that were tied up to the trees. The horses were grazing peacefully ignorant of the dire situation that was currently happening.
「Hey, wait a minute! Aren’t you being attacked right now?! And you know about this!?」
「Well, anywhere is fine, isn’t it?」
「「Whaaaaaaat！！？？」」
Both Kyle and Walt retorted simultaneously. And in the meanwhile, masked assassins jumped out of the bushes.
When the Demon King snapped his fingers, a hole opened up on the ground, and the assassins fell down the hole with a roar.
「……」
「I’m going to send both of you back to the castle for now. I’m going to deal with this, so don’t say anything unnecessary」
They understood by then.
The reason why he came here alone by horse.
It was to lure out his enemies. He was giving them a chance to come and kill him in this place with a good view.
Kyle was also dumbfounded since he probably came to the same conclusion as Walt.
The Demon King’s red eyes sparkled when he looked at them.
「I’ll be back by evening. So be a good boy」
「――Don’t be stupid……! Oi Kyle!」
「Please go to where the horse is!」
By the time Claude repeated the word horse, both Kyle and Walt had already jumped out.
The arrows were still came flying towards them. But that’s exactly where their enemies were hiding. Walt could leave the left half to Kyle to deal with while he went clockwise and jumped into the bushes.
Walt knocked down archers hiding between the trees and brought down a dagger user, who attacked him after noticing him, to the ground. What surprised him was the fact that enemies kept on coming one after another. Did they perhaps bring the whole army over?
But it was just a group of people with no experts amongst them. So making them faint would do instead of killing them. They seemed like a mish-mash of people who were hired from somewhere. To clean up every last one of them, Kyle and Walt dealt with them by concentrating the beginning of their attack from the middle, but there was nothing odd happened.
What ultimately changed the situation was when a white crow flew down from the sky.
「You lot, what, are you guys doing?」
A talking crow. That alone would be enough to warrant an attack. Clucking his tongue at the arrow that suddenly came flying out of nowhere, Walt grabbed the arrow with his bare hand while took hold of Sugar on his other arms. At the same time, Kyle kicked the archer down from the tree.
「Are you okay?」
「Yeah, was that the last guy?」
「Looks like it/It seems so」
「……You, injured」
Sugar let out a tiny murmur as he pointed at Walt’s palm that had let go of the arrow.
The small cut with a laceration had begun to heal as they looked at it.
「I’m fine. It’s just a light scratch……Sugar？」
「……」
The monster that usually filled with vigor was replaced with a frightened monster as he shivered with fear in Walt’s arms. By then, Walt remembered.
He was once subjected to horrible treatment by humans. In other words, it was that kind of thing. Kyle, who had joined them, ponder a little then gently patted Sugar’s head.
「What are you doing?! Treating me like a human!」
「Oh, you’re back to your usual vigor. So, why are you here?」
「ソレハ……貴様ラ、頼リナイカラダ！」
「That’s……Because you lot, unreliable!」
Walt nodded to Sugar that was puffing his chest out after a moment of not meeting their eyes.
「Did you perhaps came here because you’re worried about us?」
「Worry!? Don’t be conceited!」
「Walt, don’t tease him. If you’re okay then that’s――」
Kyle broke into a run as soon as he saw a figure of a person amongst the bushes. It seemed like someone was trying to escape from them. Using one of his hands to twist the fellow’s arm while holding Sugar on the other, Kyle calmly threatened him.
「Can you at least tell us from what organization you belong to before you die?」
「I-I was just hired for money! So I don’t know!」
「I see」
Kyle thrust the tip of the dagger to the guy’s carotid artery with few cold words. The guy let out a small shriek and hastily said:
「I-It’s the Church!」
「What? There’s no way that」
「Kyle, calm down――Hey, what do you mean by that?」
「H-how should I know?…… We struck a bargain at the Church. They told us that we can cause a disturbance in this place by picking a fight in a group! We never thought that guards like you guys would be here as well!」
That was――In other words.
（Don’t tell me that they are trying to give us a hand? Or――）
A warning. Maybe to test us?
「Please help me. Spare me!」
「――That’s enough, go」
If he was under the Church’s control, he would definitely be dealt with no matter where he went. Walt pushed the back of the guy with bitter memories playing on his head.
However, the face of the guy who was brimming with joy froze in an instant before their eyes.
「D-Demon King……！」
「Is it the Church again?」
「Demon King-sama! I was so scared!」
Sugar jumped at the Demon King. The feet of the guy who had turned pale at the sight of the Demon King patting the crow’s head and tried to escape from them softly floated in the air. Then he was flung into the river.
The Demon King, who had been with the three horses as per Kyle’s order, muttered calmly.
「I’ve collected everyone. And now they are going to be killed」
「What?」
In a blink of an eye, the bodies of the assailants whom they had floored to the ground softly floated in the air. The Demon King’s red eyes shone as he looked around his surroundings.
All of the assailants disappeared with the sound of the fingers snapping that they had already familiar with.
In a state of trembling with excitement, Sugar said:
「All, bad guys, disappeared! As expected from the Demon King-sama!」
「Wh-where did you send them to？Demon King」
Claude answered without hesitation to the flustered Kyle.
「I sent them all to the foot of a volcano filled with monsters for now. Surely the Church won’t be able to reach them there」
「No, there’s no way that would be able to come back, wouldn’t they!?」
「It’s alright. If push comes to shove, it is possible for them to live there」
Walt thought that was the problem, but they had a much higher chance of survival than being killed by the Church.
――Walt felt weird when thinking that he cared about that kind of thing.
（No, hold on, and leaving that aside, he’s the Demon King, isn’t he?! We would naturally be doubted if he found out that it was done by the Church）
「Sugar. Go back first. And keep what you see and hear here as a secret between you, me, Walt, and Kyle」
「Secret……！」
「Can you do it?」
Sugar cleanly did a magnificent salute in return.
「Roger, leave it to me」
「Good boy」
Sugar’s figure vanished with a snap of the Demon King’s fingers.
Then the Demon King turned around to Kyle, who had a stiff expression on his face and Walt, who displayed a wait-and-see attitude.
「You guys did well. Thank you. The horses and I are okay thanks to you guys」
Their whole body that was on guard lost their strength when Claude said that right in front of them.
Kyle, who was next to Walt, also made somewhat a disappointed face.
「You guys are strong. I’m saved」
「――Yes, thanks……But we’re not at the Demon King-sama’s level……No, in fact, maybe we’re a hindrance insteadー……」
「That’s not true. Having guards is a good thing」
「……Excuse me, but all this time what do you think a guard is?」
Claude earnestly pondered over Kyle’s earnest question.
「……Something unusual?」
「What the heck is that!!? Are you really a Crown Prince?!! Ah heck!」
Walt couldn’t help but retort sharply at that. After ruffling his bangs, Walt crossed both of his arms.
「I understand, Claude-sama. First of all, do we have to tell you what it means to be guarded?」
「Is there any problem with my understanding?」
「……I’m going to be honest with you」
Kyle must have probably couldn’t suppress his anger when he also added calmly. Then he began his advice after straightening himself first.
「Please talk to us first if something happens like it did just now. It would be the guards’ oversight if we have to be protected by our Master or the Master has to become the decoy instead. Frankly speaking, it’s an embarrassment. I hope you remember that very carefully」
「AhーAnd, that kind of thing has to be cut off from its root. So please don’t leave them alone after dropping them into a hole. Although it’s sometimes pointless to hunt them down, we’ll deal with it accordingly」
「And you’re also forbidden to sneak away from us. Because we’re the one who is going to be scolded by the attendant, Keith-dono」
「He’s right. But I can deal with it as flexibly as possible, you know? Since I want to play around as well」
「Walt! You are」
「Even the Demon King-sama felt stifled. Excellent guards would consider that a little」
「What are you going to do if something happens?」
「We’re going to deal with it at that time. You’re too inflexible」
「You’re just too playful!!」
「――Both of you get along very well」
「「Where！！？？」」
They answered simultaneously, then immediately came to their senses. And really, just a wee bit, the Demon King――Claude had his lips forming up a smile.
「Alright. I’ve said this in the beginning, but I am not a King who won’t listen to others――But, I’ll do them within my own limits」
「What?」
「――So, you mean you won’t listen to what we’ve asked of you?」
「Hmm, who knows? Anyway, shall we go back? Now that my guards are here, I might as well enjoy the scenery while going back by riding a horse once in a while 」
They hastily received the reins that Claude nonchalantly tossed at them. Claude, who had nimbly straddled his horse, looked down on Walt and Kyle as he rode it.
「That’s right, can you guys manage to do something about the case with the Church just now?」
It seemed like they have been promoted since Claude using an informal tone when speaking to them. Walt unconsciously exchanged looks with Kyle.
The Demon King, who might or might not know about their circumstances, laughed.
「Of course, I don’t mind dealing with them myself」
「It’s fine. Let us deal with them first」
The one who replied flusteredly was Kyle. It was a justified answer.
「I see, then I’ll leave it to you」
「――If I may say something. Don’t you think you’re putting too much trust in us? What are you going to do if we betray you?」
Walt said that before he knew it. He felt like Kyle glanced at him for an instant, but he didn’t say anything.
The Demon King, who was riding the horse, told them calmly.
「What am I as a King if I can’t trust nor care for you guys? 」
Probably what Walt was feeling after having his breath taken away――were a little bit of frustration and deeply moved.
（I see now, Airi-chan. You like this kind of man?）
For some reason, Walt had that kind of thought. But, he swallowed it down with something bitter.
To care and believe for someone.
The very thing that Walt thought to be unreachable and far away from his grasp was right in front of him. To make him remembered it.
「Besides, assuming, for instance, you guys were to betray me and were under the order of the Church, I would not be angry. I would feel bad for you guys instead」
「What? Why――」
「How on earth are you guys going to win against me?」
Claude manipulated the horse’s leash after looking at Walt and Kyle, who suddenly turned silent amusingly.
「I’m going back, follow me」
「――As you wish」
I wanted to run away. Someday, to somewhere.
However, it may be necessary for him to decide where to escape.
To a place that could shake his soul even for a moment.
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