I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 122

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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 122

 

It was quiet.

 

However, no one was unaware that behind this quietness, the bustling movements of many people were hidden. The Crown Prince walked without paying any attention to it.

 

Passing through the warm garden and corridor, climbing the staircase, he finally arrived at his destination.

 

“Ruin Epeldor.”

 

The Hero, the one who had been the Hero, was there.

 

“You’re here again.”

 

Ruin Epeldor didn’t respond to the Crown Prince’s words. The Crown Prince approached his side with his hands clasped behind his back, as if this was familiar.

 

Before them, countless portraits hung along the endlessly stretching corridor.

 

“Vireta Ahamile. She was a daughter of a fallen Noble House from the Eastern Kingdom.”

 

The Crown Prince said while looking at the name plate hanging beneath the portrait.

 

“I heard she conceived an imperial grandson but passed away from chronic illness. I don’t have any particular memories of her. It’s not easy to memorize them all. His Majesty alone has over thirty concubines.”

 

Ruin’s fingertips moved slightly. The Crown Prince, who had been looking at the portrait with languid eyes, patted Ruin’s shoulder and said.

 

“I’m saying you don’t need to worry about it so much either. It’s good that you’re showing interest in the Imperial Family’s lineage… Well, nothing will change even if I say this.”

 

The Crown Prince’s back straightened.

 

“The succession ceremony has been scheduled. One month from now. It’s a tight schedule, but it can’t be helped since His Majesty is in critical condition.”

 

Dignity rose in his previously languid voice. Strength entered the hand gripping the shoulder. The Crown Prince looked straight at Ruin and said.

 

“On that day, I intend to make you my Knight.”

 

“One month from now…”

 

Ruin didn’t react to the grip digging into his shoulder and answered with a face that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

 

“I understand.”

 

The Crown Prince smiled with satisfaction and then left.

 

However, the Hero did not move from that spot. For quite a long time.

 

* * *

 

Sensing mana was not an easy task.

 

Even though the magic circle on the floor would restore my physical condition, it was a task that required considerable time and concentration. The Little Kid from next door and Laboratory Uncle who came to visit whenever they had time became significant obstacles for me.

 

It was strange.

 

When dealing with things mixed with the Dragon’s divinity, I had struggled a bit, but originally sensing mana wasn’t such a difficult task for me. When I learned magic from Master, didn’t it take less than a day to form a mana core?

 

Naturally, for me who thought I could sense mana quickly, this was a perplexing situation.

 

I had plenty of time to think about the reason. And the conclusion reached was simple.

 

My talent was artificially formed. If the current me at this point in time hadn’t yet achieved those conditions, it would be natural that I couldn’t sense mana. The fact that the enhanced senses I had gained from absorbing the Elf’s soul had disappeared again supported my speculation.

 

It was quite a perplexing conclusion.

 

If the Demon Lord’s magic had reproduced even my talent at this point in time, if it had reproduced even the form of my soul, then sensing divinity would be impossible. Since divinity transcends existing common sense and logic, I could only hope it was different from mana and continue concentrating my senses.

 

“Are you sleeping? Play with me.”

 

“Child. Didn’t I tell you that I’m busy?”

 

“What’s so busy about it. You’re just sitting there sleeping all the time.”

 

I ignored him and turned my body. It would be nice if there were something like earplugs, but there was no way such a thing would exist in this cold room.

 

Next time, I should try asking for at least a blanket. If I could tear off some fabric scraps and stuff them in, wouldn’t it be a bit better? I had requested it before and was ignored, but if I behave well, they might provide it.

 

“If you’re going to keep sleeping, wouldn’t it be better to lie down and sleep?”

 

“….”

 

“Ignoring me again?”

 

Tearing my clothes… let’s save that as a last resort. It’s already cold, and if I tear my clothes too, it would be unbearable. Even the experience of being trapped in Eternal Ice didn’t give me resistance to cold.

 

“I’m going to be an Emperor! You can’t ignore me!”

 

Then, hearing the Little Kid’s shout, laughter burst out of me.

 

“Child. Do you even know what an Emperor is?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

I was about to confidently explain but closed my mouth.

 

Since the Founding Emperor of the Empire was the First Hero, there was no law saying that Ruin Epeldor, the Second Hero, couldn’t establish an empire either… But a guy who entered the Imperial Family wouldn’t suddenly do something like establishing an empire, would he?

 

More than that, why should I have to respond to such nonsense one by one? Maybe I’m being affected by my body becoming smaller.

 

“Grrr…! Don’t ignore me!”

 

The Child shouted irritably. He looked ready to throw a punch. But even if he did, he’d only end up hitting the iron door between us, so he’d just hurt his own hand.

 

If he started crying about the pain, it would obviously interfere with my concentration.

 

“Child. Let’s say you really are someone who will become Emperor.”

 

“That’s right!”

 

“Then you should be able to cancel my experiment schedule, right?”

 

The Little Kid puffed up with pride as if it were obvious.

 

“If I don’t get dragged to experiments tomorrow, I’ll play with you during that time.”

 

The character from this nonsense dream who claimed to be Ruin Epeldor left like that. Time passed, and today I also failed to sense mana.

 

“Strange…”

 

I definitely felt like I could sense it, but the more I concentrated, the more that feeling disappeared. I decided to think about why that was during today’s laboratory session. Even though such thoughts would quickly fly away while enduring experiments close to torture, I had to force myself to keep thinking or I wouldn’t be able to endure it.

 

However, even when the time came, no Researcher came for me. Judging by the sounds of the guys in other rooms crying out, it wasn’t like there were no experiments at all.

 

Well, the Researcher in charge of me is human too. There must be days off.

 

This was good. Just as I was thinking that and trying to concentrate again to sense mana.

 

“I’m here.”

 

I heard the Little Kid’s voice, which had become quite familiar.

 

“You promised, right? That you’d play with me.”

 

“…”

 

Could it be because of what I said yesterday?

 

Ruin Epeldor is a Hero. That means he’s the Test Subject who produced the most perfect results in the Artificial Hero Project.

 

According to the information I obtained when absorbing the Great Demon’s soul, the Researchers gave names to Test Subjects who produced decent results. It seemed they received quite special treatment too, so wandering around alone like that was… let’s say it’s possible.

 

But I’m confident that won’t be enough to stop the experiments planned for me.

 

‘No, it’s just a nonsense dream. There’s no need to assign meaning to it…’

 

But what if it’s not?

 

What if Ruin Epeldor wasn’t a name given by the researchers, but this bastard’s real name? What if the Imperial Family stuck their foot into the research being conducted by the Magic Tower and Holy Nation?

 

“My head hurts…”

 

Most of my questions would be resolved.

 

“Does it hurt? You didn’t go to the laboratory today, so why does it hurt?”

 

Of course, this is all happening in a nonsense dream created by the Demon Lord. There’s a high possibility it’s completely different from reality. Meaningless interpretation is forbidden. Still.

 

“No, I’m fine.”

 

“It doesn’t hurt?”

 

“Yeah. It doesn’t hurt.”

 

“Then can you play?”

 

At least it means I can use this situation.

 

“Yeah. What do you want to play?”

 

The Child easily opened my locked room door. If the Little Kid in front of me is an important figure, it wouldn’t hurt to become friends with him. He might exempt me from experiments like today. Without experiments, I’d have physical and mental breathing room, and I could put that much more effort into sensing mana and divinity.

 

That’s what I thought.

 

The stamina of a Child around five or six years old exceeded my imagination.

 

To the point where I seriously thought it might be better to be dragged to the laboratory instead. The self-proclaimed Second Hero and future Emperor clung to me tirelessly without getting exhausted.

 

Hanging upside down, knocking on the laboratory and running away, spilling food in the restaurant, etc. How many games could be played in this cramped laboratory. There was the minor drawback that none of them were fun, but that didn’t matter. The biggest drawback was that Little Kid who was still sparkling with excitement.

 

In the end, I had no choice but to take drastic measures.

 

“Little Kid.”

 

“I’m not Little Kid, I’m Ruin!”

 

“…Right, Ruin. Shall we play a different game now?”

 

“What kind of game?”

 

“Have you heard of Corpse Play?”

 

It was a game that Master had taught me.

 

It was a Traditional Dark Mage Game where you don’t move at all like a corpse, and deeply understand death.

 

It seemed easy but wasn’t easy at all. You couldn’t even make breathing sounds.

 

“…What’s that. That’s boring.”

 

“Are you disrespecting Dark Mages right now?”

 

Even though he was a character in a dog dream, it was a statement I couldn’t ignore. When I looked straight into the Little Kid’s eyes, he flinched and spoke in a shrinking voice.

 

“…I’ll try it for a bit and if it’s boring I won’t do it.”

 

Before starting Corpse Play, the most important thing was selecting the location. If we tried it anywhere and got in the way of Master’s movements, we’d get severely scolded.

 

We had to go to a place where people moved as little as possible.

 

“Where is Your Room?”

 

“My Room? I’ll show you!”

 

The Little Kid ran excitedly as if he had never been intimidated. I had to run too to not lose him. I quickly became out of breath. Just when I was about to collapse, completely exhausted, the Little Kid stopped.

 

“Here!”

 

It was a good Room.

 

Unlike the narrow Room where you could barely stretch your body, this had enough width to move around quite a bit inside. What stood out most was the Bed. On the Bed big enough for an adult to lie down, there was a thick Blanket.

 

“Nice Room…”

 

“Right?”

 

“Let’s start Corpse Play here.”

 

I climbed onto the Bed and lay down. The cozy sensation of sinking into the soft Bed brought on the fatigue that had been building up.

 

“I want to lie down too!”

 

“No. You take the Floor. It would be weird if Corpses were too close together.”

 

“But it’s My Room?”

 

“Next time I’ll let you be on top. The first person to move or make a sound loses. Start.”

 

Playing with the Little Kid was so exhausting that the Magic Circle carved into the Floor activated and recovered my body. I should concentrate to feel Mana, but I was too tired to have the energy to care. Just as I was about to fall asleep.

 

“Ah.”

 

There was a reason why the more I concentrated, the more I couldn’t feel Mana.

 

“You made a sound! I won, right?”

 

“Uh, yeah.”

 

The child who had been lying on the floor suddenly got up and pointed at me accusingly, but I didn’t have the mental capacity to care.

 

“Child.”

 

“I’m not a child! I am….”

 

“Today was fun. Let’s play again next time.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Leaving the little kid who couldn’t grasp the situation, I ran toward my room at full speed.

 

I was getting out of breath, but it didn’t matter.

 

I realized the reason. I found the method.

 

The mana I had felt wasn’t atmospheric mana. It was residual mana that flowed out when the magic circle operated.

 

Then, the solution is simple too. Keep the magic circle operating continuously while obtaining mana.

 

I roughly opened the iron door and entered the room. The magic circle didn’t move at all.

 

This was the magic circle that always healed my body after experiments ended. It was the same in the little kid’s room just now. The operating principle is recognizing wounds on the body. No mage manipulation is needed.

 

I could just go to the laboratory tomorrow, but I couldn’t wait until then.

 

I swung my fist toward the floor. With a stinging pain, my skin scraped off. The magic circle tried to activate, but this much wasn’t nearly enough.

 

I kept swinging my fist without rest. Midway, I changed direction and aimed at myself. It hurt. But since this magic circle had healed even a body turned to rags, it should be fine as long as it wasn’t a fatal wound. Believing that, I tore at my own flesh.

 

Blood burst out. Before the wounds could heal, blood burst out again. The magic circle kept operating continuously. Endless mana flowed into my body.

 

After several minutes, several hours passed….

 

In this illusion, I obtained mana.

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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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