I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 64

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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 64

 

When I opened my eyes to the sound of knocking on the door, it was just around dawn.

 

Perhaps because I rarely slept for long periods recently. Even when I closed my eyes to sleep more, sleep wouldn’t come.

 

“Mr. Jude, wake up. It’s morning!”

 

Maybe it was because of that damn energetic voice.

 

“Mr. Jude? Are you okay? Nothing’s wrong, is there?”

“…I’ll be out shortly. Please wait a moment.”

 

That diligence, which had been quite helpful when camping, was now just a hindrance when we had secured proper lodging.

 

I sighed and put on the clothes I had taken off. When I opened the door, I saw Albeng with a refreshed face, probably from getting a good rest.

 

“Hmm? You look a bit tired. Didn’t you sleep well? I’m sorry about this. Should I use some divine magic…?”

“No. I’m fine. I’m always like this in the morning. The bed was comfortable, so I slept well for once.”

“Really? That’s good. Still, since we’re here…”

“I said it’s fine.”

 

Leaving behind Albeng, who shrugged his shoulders as if disappointed, I went downstairs thinking I might as well have breakfast.

 

The inn owner, who had been preparing for business early, saw Albeng following me down and asked.

 

“You’re already coming down? Without resting. All night…”

“Ahaha, it’s fine. Priests originally have good stamina, you know.”

 

Albeng quickly cut off the inn owner’s words and sat down at the table.

 

“Would it be possible to ask for a simple breakfast?”

“Yes, of course. If word reached my wife’s ears that I didn’t even serve a meal to a priest, I might be going to meet the Goddess that very day.”

 

The inn owner smiled awkwardly, perhaps finding his own joke a bit uncomfortable, then put down the broom he was holding and headed to the kitchen.

 

“Please wait a moment. I’ll prepare the finest breakfast.”

“Thank you. Mr. Jude, please come and sit down too.”

 

As I took a seat, I observed Albeng’s face. His bright smile and casual attitude with the inn owner felt nothing like the same person I had encountered at that cheap inn a few days ago.

 

Why was someone like this staying at such a cheap inn in the first place?

 

No matter how poorly priests were treated, considering the power of divine magic I saw yesterday, there should be people anywhere who would want to serve him.

 

“Why are you staring at me like that? Ah, you really do seem tired. Don’t refuse and…”

“I said it’s fine.”

 

* * *

 

I haven’t known the man called Albeng for very long, but honestly, my impression of him isn’t that bad.

 

Rather, it’s on the good side.

 

Unlike the priests I’ve seen so far, he didn’t show greed for wealth or arrogant behavior.

 

Take yesterday’s incident, for example. He treated someone who was dying of illness just for not receiving payment for dinner. He later said it was possible because the woman’s illness wasn’t serious, but I’ve seen people die every year from such “not serious” illnesses.

 

To receive even a quack doctor’s examination requires pouring out considerable money, and receiving even a strand of a priest’s divine power is something only nobles or wealthy merchants could dream of.

 

This was exactly why it wouldn’t have been strange at all if people’s long-suppressed anger had exploded due to rumors that priests’ divine power had weakened.

 

Of course, even so, there probably weren’t many who would openly show hostility. Even if weakened, divine power was still divine power, and everyone harbored the fear that the Goddess might punish them if they didn’t follow a priest’s words.

 

The conclusion was that, regardless of my favorable view of the man called Alben Mahir, if someone didn’t know him well, they would have no choice but to be wary of him.

 

“Priest! Good morning! Did you sleep well last night?”

“Here, freshly baked bread. Please try one.”

“Hey, don’t you know the proper order? Priest, please try this first…”

 

After finishing our meal and leaving the inn, quite a few people gathered around Albeng.

 

“They said you were popular at the Academy, and it seems that wasn’t a lie.”

“Haha…”

 

I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of Albeng scratching his head awkwardly.

 

What on earth could he have done for people to rush at him so favorably when only one night had passed since entering the village?

 

I already knew that Albeng’s affability was extraordinary, but…

 

Could the inn owner’s wife he treated yesterday have been the village’s most popular person? Without that, there was no way to explain the current situation.

 

“You people! What are you doing in front of the priest?”

 

The mystery was solved by the voice of a man running from afar.

 

“He must already be tired from working hard all night, so why are you bothering him?”

“All night…?”

 

Albeng just laughed heartily as usual.

 

The man who had chased away the people bowed his head in greeting. A familiar face. Was it Max? He was the man who had watched the store at the inn owner’s request when we left together last night.

 

“I thought you would rest until late today.”

“It’s fine. Staying up for a night or two doesn’t even count as ascetic practice. You must be tired too, Max, so please go inside and rest.”

 

Max’s eyes lit up as if impressed by Albeng’s answer, looking like someone in love, which gave me an uncomfortable feeling. What could have happened during the night?

 

-Simple. He went around the village and treated people who were sick.

 

The Demon Lord clicked his tongue and muttered.

 

Only then did I realize what that sound of the adjacent room door opening last night was. It must have been the sound of Albeng going out again after returning from treating the Inn Owner’s Wife.

 

‘This isn’t just different—it’s on a completely different level.’

 

Albeng smiled and bowed his head or waved to those he encountered on the path. Most passed by with reluctant expressions, but occasionally those who smiled and offered something must have been people who received help last night.

 

Considering their number wasn’t small, he probably didn’t sleep a wink. Since I didn’t hear him return, he must have woken me up right after that.

 

His words that staying up for a night or two didn’t even count as ascetic practice proved this.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

“Let’s go! Thanks to the village residents giving us various things, we won’t have to worry about food for a while.”

 

I stopped in my tracks, dumbfounded for a moment. This was exactly like an exemplary Priest straight out of a picture book.

 

Though watching him rummage through his bag while humming, it didn’t seem entirely like that.

 

Thanks to this, Albeng succeeded in replenishing travel supplies without spending a single coin. It was enough that even I, who had been standing quietly beside him, could use them.

 

“It’s still morning so it’s fine, but we need to move quickly.”

“Why? We could stay a little longer.”

 

Repeated camping was quite taxing even for me, who possessed physical abilities comparable to a Knight. Since there was no urgent business, it would be better to get sufficient rest in an environment where we could.

 

Especially since that Priest hadn’t slept a wink all night.

 

“I couldn’t treat people with truly serious illnesses or injuries. I’m just a Traveling Priest, after all.”

 

When I looked at Albeng with a questioning expression about what that mattered, he erased the smile he had drawn on his lips and said:

 

“Human hearts are like that, you see. The moment hope turns to despair, they look for someone to blame. Staying long won’t lead to seeing anything good.”

“…That’s.”

 

Was it from experience? Or something he learned at the Academy?

 

There was no way to know.

 

But thanks to that, if I should call it that, Albeng and I left the village without any particular incident.

 

We camped several times and passed through several villages.

 

Each time, Albeng made excuses about saving money and treated people. Since I felt awkward just resting quietly, I followed him around helping with various tasks, and I got a strange feeling.

 

The expressions of people shedding tears and expressing gratitude were familiar.

 

Only after a long time could I realize they were similar to the expressions of the Territory Residents I had saved in Belive Territory. Perhaps they resembled my face on the day Master saved me too.

 

Though Albeng wasn’t someone receiving the Hero’s Trial, to those people he might be no different from a Hero. That’s what I thought.

 

“A little further ahead is Imperial Territory. From then on, it’ll be a bit more comfortable.”

“Is that so?”

“The Empire pays more attention to maintaining public order compared to other countries. We can consider it rare to encounter Bandits or Monsters. The roads are much cleaner too.”

“We won’t have to worry about being watched when camping, right?”

“Haha.”

 

What is the Hero’s Trial? Before that, what is a Hero?

 

The Demon Lord said it was simply part of the laws created by the Goddess, but my thoughts were different.

 

In the fairy tales I pestered Master to tell me, a Hero wasn’t just something that merely possessed powerful strength.

 

“Huh?”

“What’s wro…”

 

Following Albeng’s gaze, I saw a person collapsed in the middle of the path.

 

The dirty and wounded person tried several times to get up from where they lay, but couldn’t rise and kept collapsing again.

 

Albeng’s expression changed completely as he ran over to support them.

 

Given his personality that I’d observed, this was absolutely a situation he couldn’t just pass by. No matter how I thought about it, he wasn’t someone who could be seen as an ordinary Priest or Noble.

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Light emanated from Albeng’s hands, and the wounds on the Passerby’s body began healing rapidly.

 

This was a different level of power from my memories of him having difficulty achieving effects beyond curing simple illnesses, Fatigue Recovery, or Emergency Treatment. Just as I was thinking that perhaps the Goddess, valuing Albeng’s efforts highly, had granted him greater power.

 

“Th, thank you. Thanks to you, I’m alive. How can I ever repay this…”

 

The man who bowed his head said.

 

“It’s fine. I didn’t do this expecting repayment.”

 

When Albeng smiled and waved his hands dismissively while letting out a sigh of relief, the man flinched and slightly raised his head.

 

“I heard rumors about a Priest going around villages treating people, but could you be…”

“The rumors have spread? Oh my.”

 

Seeing the man’s anxiously wavering eyes, Albeng took out a water bottle from his Travel Bag and handed it to him to calm him down.

 

“Jude, it seems we’ve been moving quite slowly indeed. I’m sorry for suggesting we travel together.”

“…No. Thanks to you, I’ve traveled comfortably. I saved a lot of money too.”

“Jude…?”

 

The Drinking Man gripped the water bottle he had received tightly and frowned as if thinking about something.

 

“More importantly, what happened? To be injured like that…”

“Ah, it’s nothing serious. I just got attacked by a monster.”

“By a monster?”

 

But it was strange.

 

There were no signs of battle nearby, and a monster wouldn’t just leave someone so badly injured and walk away. It would have been more natural if he had said he encountered bandits.

 

Most importantly, a monster attack wasn’t something that someone who had been collapsed and near death just moments ago could dismiss as nothing serious.

 

Albeng, who had been supporting the man, tried to step away from him.

 

There was no way Albeng hadn’t sensed what I had felt. He seemed to have wandered the continent as a traveling priest for quite some time. In terms of experience, he was several steps ahead of me.

 

But it was too late.

 

With speed completely unbelievable for someone who had been collapsed just moments before, the man pulled out a dagger from his chest and stabbed Albeng.

 

Albeng’s body slowly tilted.

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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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