Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 76

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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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Chapter 76

Iberis deliberately walked with vigor.

As she walked to shake off her melancholy, she discovered a familiar figure lurking around the forest near the Demon King’s Castle.

Iberis narrowed her eyes and looked at the sleek head of hair.

It was someone she could look at without having to crane her neck up as much as she did with Adam.

‘Aphene?’

This was the first time meeting him since the Demon King’s Castle.

She had completely forgotten to check whether Abracxas had safely thrown him outside the castle gate that day.

Since then, Adam’s condition had rapidly become strange, so anything unimportant had become secondary to her.

Her entire life had been centered around Adam.

Though all of that had now become a thing of the past.

“Um, Mr. Aphene?”

When she called out to him, unable to hide her bewilderment, Aphene, who hadn’t noticed her presence, jumped in surprise.

Aphene quickly composed himself and spoke as if nothing had happened.

“Long time no see. Why are you coming out from there? Did you get kicked out of the Demon King’s Castle or something?”

Iberis frowned at the playful joke he made upon seeing her.

The stone thrown in jest had hit Iberis squarely.

She glared at Aphene with a sullen expression, as if annoyed.

“…It was a joke, but was it really true.”

Aphene muttered quietly and grinned as he looked at her.

Then he approached closer while speaking.

Of course, keeping a distance of more than a span.

“Why? Did the Hero try to kill you or something?”

“What? Why would the Hero try to kill me…”

Iberis’s mouth, which had been asking back in bewilderment, suddenly closed.

A scene that flashed through her mind came to her.

‘No. That was just in his sleep…’

It seemed like he had just mistaken her for someone else.

It was that other me with the name of a god that he always called out wrongly…

‘…Was he trying to kill me?’

As the events of that day rewound quickly in her mind and she faced the proper situation, even Iberis felt a sense of unease as she recalled how unnaturally strange it had been.

‘Why did Adam reach out his hand to me? What was he trying to do?’

However, Iberis, who came to her senses belatedly, hid her expression and haughtily lifted her chin.

“Anyway, it’s not like that. So, did you make some money by selling a dreamcatcher?”

“Thanks to that, I have some breathing room. Unfortunately, the effect doesn’t seem to come immediately, but from what I can see, it should be soon.”

Today, even Aphene’s usual way of speaking was particularly grating.

Perhaps it was because he kept making pointed remarks as if he had directly witnessed that situation.

Iberis thought there was nothing good about being with him and slowly started walking away.

Aphene, who acted like the Hero’s stalker, was once again loitering near the Demon King’s Castle but unable to enter inside.

What stopped Iberis, who was trying to escape at that moment, was a cheerful voice following behind her.

“More importantly, isn’t there a good lodging? I’m planning to stay nearby and then go back home when time passes.”

“Then why did you leave your good house and come outside?”

“Exactly. Just because I was away for a few months, some strange bastard illegally occupied my house.”

She had wondered why he was living like a beggar, going from village to village, but it seemed he had such troubles.

So that’s why he came all the way into the Demon King’s Castle to force-sell his goods.

‘If he had said he was a beggar, I would have bought at least one more item, but since he looked decent, I didn’t think of that.’

Unlike what he said with his own mouth about his house being completely robbed by thieves, Aphene looked fine.

Though he had gotten a bit dirty, he was still wearing proper clothes, and his face was uninjured and intact.

Still, you never know about people’s circumstances.

Iberis secretly looked at Aphene with sympathetic eyes.

“What is the Security Force doing?”

“What can you expect from humans.”

Seeing how he dismissed the Security Force as such humans, they must not be a reliable guard force.

Well, when the Emperor is in that state, how could things below function properly.

Hmm, Iberis listened to Aphene’s words and then started walking.

“Hey, what’s the use of being so cold?”

As expected, Aphene’s thunderous voice immediately struck her.

Now escaping was out of the question, and if she went down to the village alone, all sorts of thoughts would come to her.

Iberis decided to show him a small kindness this time.

It wasn’t because she felt sorry for him being a beggar and wanted to give charity. She would still charge money.

“Then would you like to come to our inn? I’ll give you a cheap rate.”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

Unaware of her ulterior motives, Aphene readily accepted.

* * *

Aphene, who had closely followed beside her, turned around and stared at the spot where the Demon King’s Castle would be.

The place that had been his home.

And the place where the Hero would be.

He recalled the appearance that, unlike other Heroes, couldn’t shed its novice air.

His first impression was that he looked weak, unlike previous Heroes.

No matter how quickly he had been resurrected, who would have thought they’d send such a milk-smelling brat as his opponent.

He snorted and looked down at the Hero below the dais.

However, when he looked into those golden eyes, he felt chills for a moment.

‘Why was that?’

A strange, confident sensation that he absolutely could not win enveloped him.

Even though he could gain a new life if he died anyway.

The emotion that enveloped him at that moment was fear.

Just because a brat who hadn’t even lived 20 years dared to make him hesitate even briefly, Aphene cursed him.

He had tried it on the previous Hero too, and that final appearance was quite worth watching.

The sight of him killing his own lover and going mad.

Aphene, who had been chuckling, suppressed his laughter when she looked at him with puzzled eyes and spoke.

“But didn’t the Hero tell you not to let strangers inside?”

“He did, but… it doesn’t seem to matter much now.”

Iberis looked Aphene up and down and let out a small sneer.

Someone who looked so frail with fern-like hands probably couldn’t even beat Tommy.

The Demon King, irritated by her gaze, suppressed his annoyance.

Anyway, in just a few more days, he would surely go berserk.

‘Who would have thought that faithful servant’s oath would be useful. If he goes berserk and kills even one person, the Hero must die by Abracxas’s hand.’

Who would have thought that demon he was considering killing for being too frail and useless would have such utility!

The day he had been hoping for was not far away.

Aphene decided to take this brief entertainment positively.

He smiled warmly and spoke.

“Where is the inn?”

“Follow me.”

Iberis gestured to him with her chin.

Aphene followed behind her, grinning as if something was very amusing.

‘He’s been grinning since earlier, and after saying his house and money were all stolen, his head must really be going strange… I should let him stay cheaply for a few days.’

However, Iberis didn’t know.

That there was someone else who had seen Aphene.

“D-D-Demon King…!”

* * *

The village’s only elder, the hunter who had seen the previous Demon King, collapsed into his seat at that unforgettable face.

He could not forget the events of that day.

The face of that wicked being who smiled while personally setting the village ablaze, commanding monsters to devour his family before his very eyes!

He, who survived by the Demon King’s whim, fled.

He left Dainil Village and went farther still, to places beyond the Demon King’s reach.

Even when rumors spread that the 6th Hero had killed the Demon King, then killed his own lover in the capital and gone mad, he did not return.

He never married until old age, fearing his family might die again.

Since he naturally had no children, he was rather relieved that even if a new Demon King appeared, he wouldn’t have to show the same tragedy to his child.

And contrary to his expectation that he would never see it again until death, the Demon King was resurrected early.

A new Demon King, and a new Hero.

The rookie Hero, though no one expected anything, killed the Demon King like a seasoned veteran who had fought for hundreds of years.

The hunter, who had been prepared to take his own life rather than witness that tragedy again, came to worship the Hero who appeared like a ray of light.

However, unable to sleep wondering if the Demon King was truly dead, he entered the forest where young people didn’t go and peered at the Demon King’s Castle. Though others pointed fingers at him, calling him senile, he didn’t care.

He felt he could only sleep peacefully after confirming with his own eyes that the being was dead.

He wanted to escape the guilt of surviving alone while failing to protect his family, and truly live and breathe.

Then, how relieved he was to see not the cursed Demon King’s black hair, but vivid silver hair at the Demon King’s Castle.

The Hero really had killed the Demon King.

This time too, there was no Demon King!

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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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