Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10

“Mm, good.”

The finished product that came out after several trials and errors was perfect.

I praised myself and covered it with a lid for preservation.

I placed it on the table, planning to bring it to Adam as a surprise when he returned later.

Since cooking finished earlier than expected, I wandered around and went to where Abracxas was. When I openly checked whether he was working properly, his eyebrows twitched as if expressing dissatisfaction.

However, that wasn’t my concern.

“Yawn, maybe I’ll take a nap.”

Anyway, the Hero would return late today as well, and all the work I should do as a maid would be done by that slave… no, Abracxas.

When there’s a lower-level subcontractor, the middle manager gets to enjoy the sweet life.

I pulled the curtains slightly and lay down in a spot where warm sunlight was pouring in.

The combination of moderate temperature and warm sunlight naturally made me wear an expression like a well-fed cat.

* * *

This was the last monster.

“Haah…”

The Hero, Adam, let out a sigh that had now become a habit, seeming tired. It wasn’t this difficult when that person was here. At some point, I stopped feeling the gaze of someone watching over me.

It felt lonely, as if I were alone in this place.

Adam fiddled with the necklace tucked inside his shirt.

The Demon King’s Subjugation Stone.

Thanks to the Subjugation Stone that he didn’t even know the Demon King possessed until now, he could rule over monsters without having to kill them.

However, using the Subjugation Stone consumed mental strength.

One or two monsters were too easy for him, but if their numbers reached dozens, hundreds, or thousands, he felt like he would go mad from feeling like a killing machine that only swung a sword.

The feeling of standing alone in a blood-soaked world was also sickening.

Adam fiddled with the Subjugation Stone with clouded eyes.

…Because he told me to stay here.

Anyway, the Subjugation Stone’s duration was one week, so he had to look at each monster weekly and subjugate them. Abracxas couldn’t win against the Hero even if he rebelled, and he wasn’t in a position to leave the Demon King’s Castle, so he didn’t defy him even without the Subjugation Stone.

Of course, Adam didn’t want to leave such dangerous variables alone, so he made individual oaths with each one.

‘They have strong pride and hate having someone above them.’

However, they submit to power. All the Three Great Demon Clans serving the Demon King had such tendencies.

The content of the oath was simple.

Do not attack humans.

Those for whom killing humans was merely entertainment chose subjugation over death.

He thought the problem would be settled with that…

‘Rather, the newly arrived child is the problem.’

Adam, recalling Iberis’s smooth face, let out an even bigger sigh than before.

Was it youthful recklessness? She wandered around the Demon King’s Castle as she pleased.

No matter how much he refused and tried to persuade her, she didn’t seem like she would listen. If she was meticulous enough to bring a contract, she definitely wouldn’t go back with simple words.

He had let her into the Demon King’s Castle because he was worried that a monster that missed its subjugation time might harm her…

‘And strangely, that person came to mind.’

That was also the reason why he, who would normally have sent her back immediately, momentarily decided to let her in.

She looks completely different from that person’s appearance that he roughly knew.

There’s no way that person would appear here.

While lost in thought, Iberis’s face suddenly popped into his mind. He unknowingly let out a hollow laugh.

Since he couldn’t predict where she might go, it seemed better to keep her in the palm of his hand and watch over her. Anyway, if she experienced the boring daily life of the Demon King’s Castle, she would leave on her own.

His thoughts, diverted to Iberis, continued to flow. He was worried since it was the first time he had let a human into the Demon King’s Castle.

After all, no one except himself had ever entered the Demon King’s Castle, and the other party was a small child.

‘Surely Abracxas isn’t bullying that child.’

He didn’t think such a thing would happen since there was an oath, but you never know.

Adam’s steps quickened a little.

It was almost the first time he entered while thinking of someone who would be in the Demon King’s Castle.

“Eve…”

What lay before the Hero who entered the Demon King’s Castle with a slightly worried expression was a situation completely opposite to his thoughts.

“Oh my, there seems to be some dust left here?”

“Haha! Then I’ll clean it again until it’s sparkling clean!”

“Laughing? Work must be quite easy for you.”

“Oh my, they say laughter brings good fortune! Haha.”

Abracxas kneeling and scrubbing the marble floor with a hand cloth, and Iberis sitting in a plush chair from who knows where, gesturing with her hands.

The hierarchical relationship seemed somehow strange.

‘No, nothing would be as mismatched as a Hero in the Demon King’s Castle.’

“So you ate the food meant for the Hero?”

“I should be grateful that the Hero didn’t eat that tasteless thing… Ack! Don’t hit me with the cloth!”

Seeing Iberis skillfully scolding the great demon, he felt completely deflated.

Adam unknowingly hid behind a pillar and watched them.

No matter how he looked at it again, he wondered if letting her into the Demon King’s Castle was really the right thing to do.

‘Will it be okay…’

Adam habitually clenched his right hand, then shifted his gaze at the stuffy sensation.

Unlike her skill with herbs, her bandaging technique was terrible.

‘It should be fine.’

At least her nature wasn’t evil. If it were, he surely would have noticed.

“Your hands seem to be resting?”

“I think that’s your misunderstanding? Ah no! Then I’ll mobilize my feet to clean too!”

“…”

It should be… fine.

* * *

A month had already passed since Iberis came to the Demon King’s Castle, which had only been bustling with one person, one demon, and monsters.

The season had changed from late spring to summer, and accordingly, the farmer’s hands should have become busier.

“Why do I have to do this kind of work…”

However, that farmer attempted rebellion once again.

The farmer, no, Abracxas, who was leveling part of the garden with a shovel, finally threw down the shovel.

“I’m delicate and don’t even carry weapons!”

“How amazing that such a great demon is weaker than me.”

Iberis was also sweating profusely while planting herb seedlings in the fertilized soil.

“It’s hot! I said it’s hot. Are you the only one who gets to block the sunlight? My beautiful skin is getting all burned!”

“Abracxas was the one who refused, saying to take away this ugly hat.”

“I have noble honor!”

That damn honor, honor. He kept saying that honor like a catchphrase, but I had never seen it.

His nickname was ‘Party Combat Power Meter,’ and he was just a demon who typically died to the Hero’s party in 10 seconds.

‘If you killed him in 3 seconds, the party’s combat power was excellent; if it took more than 10 seconds, you had to return to the village and reorganize your companions.’

Poor combat power meter…

“What’s with that impure look in your eyes?”

“It’s nothing. But if you don’t use weapons, how exactly do you fight, Abracxas?”

Since he was always defeated at the entrance in one blow, how could I know his weapon? It was certainly an ability that didn’t work on Adam at all.

“Me? I govern music and pleasure. All those who hear my music fall into hallucinations and go mad.”

“…”

Iberis silently moved far away from him.

When bringing companions, strangely the companions would get debuffed and could only use 50% of their original abilities, except for Adam who had awakened as a Hero. It was because of the technique Abracxas used, who got cut at the entrance.

‘I thought it was just balance adjustment.’

Since the protagonist who should shine was Adam, the Hero.

When Iberis moved far away from him, Abracxas let out a snickering laugh.

He seemed to think she was avoiding him because his ability was amazing.

‘You don’t avoid shit because you’re scared of it, you avoid it because it’s dirty.’

“Ah, don’t worry. I wouldn’t waste my abilities on taking the life of an ant-like human such as yourself!”

Iberis’s eyes darkened as he watched him lean back and cackle.

He took off his dirt-stained gloves and stood up from his spot. Seeing her leave work early, Abracxas looked puzzled.

“The ant is going trot trot. Off to make another trot trot report to the Hero today.”

“Wait!”

Abracxas belatedly called out to stop her. However, she dodged his urgent reach and hurried toward the Hero’s office with quick steps.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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