Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 11

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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 11

* * *

“Hero! Good afternoon.”

I went to give today’s report and opened the door to Adam’s office wide.

“!”

And I froze completely at the sight that unfolded before me, forgetting even to breathe.

As I stood there with my mouth agape, Adam hurriedly finished putting on his clothes.

It was Adam’s voice that awakened me from my frozen state.

“…Eve, please knock when entering a room.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you were changing clothes. Shall I help you?”

This wasn’t motivated by any personal interest—I was simply doing what I should as Adam’s only maid.

But Adam was faster at avoiding my touch.

“No, thank you.”

It was a polite refusal, but I could feel a sharp line being drawn. Adam was deliberately making that boundary clear.

Don’t try to cross it pretending it’s an accident.

‘Why is he so bundled up like that?’

As I stared at Adam, he pressed his eyelids as if tired.

Come to think of it, I had never seen Adam sleep.

Whenever I woke up at dawn unable to sleep, Adam was always sitting blankly on a rock or reading a book.

‘Isn’t he sleeping properly? His under-eyes look dark.’

It was a reasonable suspicion. After all, what he did in the Demon King’s Castle was just staying buried in the library or managing the monsters. He was constantly on edge, worried that the free-spirited monsters might go to the village.

“Hero, aren’t you very tired?”

At my worried question, Adam smiled and said,

“I’m fine.”

Again, another lie.

Adam seemed to dislike my worrying so much that he would tell such obvious lies. However, I couldn’t back down like this.

The fact that he, who had been acting perfect, was showing such careless moments meant his fatigue had accumulated more than expected.

“I haven’t seen you sleep at all though?”

“I can sleep later.”

He was calling that an answer.

At this rate, he’d probably say he can sleep when he’s dead.

“If you don’t sleep, your thinking becomes slow and you can’t make proper judgments.”

“That does seem to be the case.”

Adam readily admitted it.

‘But why are you looking at me while saying that?’

Surely you don’t mean that letting me into the Demon King’s Castle was a poor judgment?

When I looked at Adam with that meaning, he slowly averted his gaze.

“I have something to look for. I’ll sleep properly once I find it.”

“Whatever it is, it won’t run away if you sleep for a bit.”

“There’s that, but…”

Adam wouldn’t listen no matter how I tried to persuade him. It would be better to step back this time.

Stress – 57%

‘Sigh, he’s struggling so much.’

If he had been sleeping properly, his stress would have decreased little by little. However, the stress level remained unchanged.

This meant Adam wasn’t resting at all. Since I arrived, or perhaps even before that.

“Alright. Then you must sleep on time tomorrow, okay?”

“Understood.”

Adam answered with a faint smile.

However, that night too, the light in Adam’s office didn’t go out.

* * *

“Why doesn’t the Hero sleep?”

I rested my chin on my hand and muttered.

Just in case, I checked Adam’s room at dawn, but a soft light was flowing through the crack under the door. It seemed he was keeping a lamp lit and continuously doing something.

‘Not sleeping at all.’

Then was he looking for something while even rebuilding the Demon King’s Castle before I came?

The Demon King was dead. The monsters threatening people were under the control of the subjugation stone that Adam possessed.

So all problems were solved!

Only a path of roses should be spread before him…

‘Reality is a Hero working overtime.’

Thinking of Adam, I eventually let out a big sigh.

Then Abracxas, who had been busily mopping from earlier, gritted his teeth and said,

“I’m curious too. About why you, who came as a maid, don’t work.”

“Yes, there’s dust you didn’t clean in that corner over there.”

“Ugh!”

Abracxas, who started as my nemesis, had been following my words well.

Rather than submission, it was because he went to report to Adam once a day about what he had done. If this demon harmed me and Adam found out about it, he knew very well that he wouldn’t survive.

“What could he be looking for all day long?”

It was the moment I muttered without realizing it.

“What is the Hero looking for?”

Abracxas’s eyes curved long. Then he threw down the mop and walked leisurely toward me.

“I won’t tell you.”

However, it didn’t work on me at all.

“You said it was a worry! If you tell me, maybe some solution will come up. So human, tell me.”

“How dare you put your mop-touching hands on my shoulder.”

I coldly swatted away Abracxas’s hand. After sitting and worrying for a while, I began to feel sleepy.

It was because I had stayed up all night to check his office at dawn.

“Then I’ll go take a short nap, so please take care of things while I’m gone.”

“…”

Abracxas muttered something behind me, but I couldn’t hear it.

I’ll play, who’s going to do the work?

‘Abracxas has to do it!’

Who told him to be the Demon King’s lackey anyway?

This was true poetic justice.

Behind me, Abracxas muttered, “I don’t know who’s the villain and who’s the demon,” but I ignored it.

* * *

The daily routine of Abracxas doing work and me supervising was going smoothly.

Since coming to the Demon King’s Castle saying I’d take care of the Hero’s welfare, I had actually done nothing, which pricked my conscience.

After a short nap, I draped a blanket over my shoulders and got up. The blanket, full of warm sunlight, felt pleasant.

I was sure I had heard Abracxas grumbling beside me before falling asleep, but his figure had long since disappeared without a trace.

“Come to think of it, there’s no way he’d do well without me.”

Even when I supervised him right in front of his eyes, didn’t he try to run away the moment I showed any opening?

Demons were definitely not trustworthy.

I got up from my spot and sauntered toward the pillar.

That thing that had been bothering me.

That shoe tip was definitely Abracxas’s.

I walked at a steady pace pretending not to notice, then quickly rushed inside when the pillar came into view.

Crash!

“I knew this would happen! You were slacking off where I couldn’t see… huh?”

As I rushed toward the presence behind the pillar with my blanket fluttering, what I saw was Adam, who had fallen with his legs tangled.

At his unexpected appearance, a deflated voice came out involuntarily.

“Hero, why are you here…?”

“…”

“Ah! For the record, I didn’t see anything. No one will know that you fell backward by yourself behind the pillar when no one was around. I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

Adam silently covered his face with both hands. Even though I said I didn’t see anything, he probably didn’t believe me.

Though he hastily covered his face with his palms, his ears were still visibly flushed red.

I tried to look away into the distance as if pretending not to notice, but my gaze kept stealing glances at Adam’s disheveled state.

‘No, if he gets embarrassed, his stress will definitely increase!’

So as Adam’s loyal maid, I had to desperately pretend not to know.

I deliberately kept my gaze fixed on the distant sky, pretending not to show any interest in the fallen Adam.

It was a desperate act of looking away.

Then suddenly, a thought crossed my mind and I checked his complexion.

“Hero, you’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

There’s no way Adam was hiding behind the pillar for no reason and got startled by my appearance…

If his legs suddenly gave out and he collapsed, it must be protein deficiency.

‘As I thought, muscle loss has set in.’

I resolved that after the Demon King’s death, I should make the Hero do quadriceps exercises since he doesn’t value his muscles.

A healthy mind comes from muscles.

Adam, who had been wearing a troubled expression, seemed to come to his senses belatedly and quickly composed his face.

The change happened in the blink of an eye, before I could say anything more.

“I’m fine.”

Having composed his expression, Adam smiled as if nothing had happened.

‘He’s definitely not fine.’

Of course, that effort wouldn’t work on me at all.

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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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