Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 143

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 143
And it wasn’t just the masses who believed this rumor—Asmodina’s inner circle and officers shared the same conviction.
They never doubted that their commander, Asmodina, was the person befitting the Demon King.
Therefore, they firmly believed that her refusal of the throne was out of consideration for the current Demon King.
Even Asmo-rina, the Merchant’s Daughter, had once believed the same.
…Until she witnessed the shocking scene of the Demon King kneeling before Asmodina.
Not long after announcing her refusal of the throne,
Asmo-rina happened to witness Asmodina and the Demon King together in the Garden.
‘What are they doing?’
The Garden was silent—no Guards, no Servants anywhere.
The two stood facing each other without uttering a word.
The atmosphere was so cold it was difficult to believe they were father and daughter.
Curious about their conversation, Asmo-rina hid herself and quietly eavesdropped on them.
Before long, the Demon King spoke with a trembling voice.
“Dina, I beg you—please grant this father’s request.”
It was the first time I’d heard him address Asmodina so affectionately.
While Asmodina calling the Demon King “Father” was common, the reverse had never happened. The Demon King always referred to her by her title or as the Princess.
‘What could he be asking for?’
Then Asmodina answered hesitantly, as if troubled.
“Don’t worry, Father. I’ve already announced that I won’t become the Demon King….”
“Yes, which is why you must not stop the war.”
“….”
“You know as well as I do—what the role of the Demon King entails, what becomes of me if you disappear. So please, please… don’t lose.”
The Demon King’s shoulders began to tremble, whether from tears or not.
Perhaps it was the pathetic sound of his weeping, but despite wearing a robe adorned with a massive mane, the Demon King’s shoulders seemed far smaller than Asmodina’s.
Unable to bear looking at such a pitiful figure, Asmodina averted her gaze.
“…Father.”
“Don’t let my turn come. I… I don’t want to.”
The middle part was difficult to hear through his trembling sobs.
Soon after, the Demon King knelt. Whether he collapsed from weakness or genuinely prostrated himself in supplication remained unclear.
At the sight of his pathetic form, Asmodina bit her lip.
Then, taking a deliberate breath, she opened her mouth.
“…Don’t worry, Father. I’ll end this war no matter what.”
“You can’t end it. Dina… we can’t escape this cycle.”
At the time, Asmo-rina had interpreted this conversation as the words of a frightened Demon King.
A weak ruler’s plea—unwilling to go to the front lines, yet desperate to maintain his position as Demon King.
In that moment, she understood the Demon King’s heart somewhat. In the Demon Realm, it was natural for the weak to seek mercy from the strong.
He was simply more fragile than the public expected.
But now, her thoughts had shifted somewhat.
‘What if the Demon King had known, as Gregory’s theory suggested, that the war would never end as long as Asmodina lived?’
If the Demon King had realized that the war in the Demon Realm was actually a catastrophe controlled by an immense will—something beyond their power to resist—then perhaps that request wasn’t made as the vanguard of war, but as a victim of this world sacrificing his own daughter.
If that were true, then he hadn’t offered his plea as a commander of the battlefield, but as a victim of this world who had sacrificed his own daughter, hadn’t he?
‘If that’s the truth… I can’t forgive it.’
He had pushed his own daughter into that abyss of despair and tried to preserve his own life alone.
As a comrade who had marched onto the battlefield together, as family, it was incomprehensible.
‘You are not family. Not a parent.’
So you have no right to grieve Asmodina’s disappearance.
You must regret it for the rest of your life and atone.
Until Asmodina truly forgives you.
Until her terrible life is repaid…

* * *
And the first words Asmo-rina uttered upon opening her eyes were a curse.
“Demon King, you bastard…”
Perhaps because she had dreamed while exhausted, the end was hardly something that could be called a memory anymore. As sensation returned, she realized this was a dream, and fury surged within her.
‘If I’d known it would be like this, I would have beaten him to death before coming to this world.’
Thinking of the Demon King living comfortably in the Demon Realm where war had vanished, her fists clenched involuntarily.
If Gregory had told her the circumstances earlier, she would have destroyed the Demon Lord’s Castle.
‘…No, perhaps he didn’t tell me precisely because he knew I’d do something like that.’
Thanks to the cool morning breeze, her head cleared slightly. Since she acted so impulsively, Gregory and the other Legion Commanders probably wouldn’t tell her the truth either.
Asmo-rina sighed as she brushed out her tangled violet hair.
Hearing her sigh, a young girl from behind called out to her.
“Oh my, you’re awake?”
Asmo-rina, frowning slightly, turned around.
A disheveled young girl who had woken before Asmo-rina was folding up her sleeping bag. She pointed to Asmo-rina’s sleeping bag and spoke.
“Would you like me to fold it for you?”
“…Never mind. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay~ Oh, what about breakfast? This morning we have potato soup.”
“I don’t need any.”
The girl shrugged and withdrew.
Asmo-rina calmed the dizzying emotions from the dream and slowly surveyed her surroundings. The place where she had fallen asleep was a dilapidated campsite, and about a dozen people nearby were busily tidying the area.
Seeing their faces, she belatedly recalled yesterday’s memories.
‘Right, I saved these humans.’
Not long after parting with Gregory, Asmo-rina had set out on a journey without a destination.
There was no particular place she was heading toward. She simply walked and walked to calm her turbulent heart and determine what she should do next.
Then, by chance, she discovered humans being attacked by bandits.
Normally, she wouldn’t have cared about human conflicts, but one young girl caught her eye.
‘Get your filthy hands off our mother!’
The girl had charged at the bandits wielding firewood to protect her parents. Of course, she was no match for them, and the girl was sent rolling across the ground by the bandit’s kick.
‘Ugh!’
Yet the Young Girl refused to surrender. She crawled across the Ground like a beast, attempting to sink her teeth into the bandit’s leg. Even as a blow split her lip, she did not relent.
I had to admit—she possessed considerable tenacity.
Asmo-rina found her display rather entertaining. It was as though she glimpsed her own childhood reflected in this desperate struggle.
The Young Girl’s refusal to yield, even as blood streamed down her face, stirred something within her.
That was why she chose to stand with the Young Girl. If she were to select which existence deserved to survive in this world, the Young Girl seemed far preferable to these filthy bandits.
“W-who are you?”
“That is none of your concern.”
With those words, Asmo-rina dispatched the bandits with swift efficiency.
She required no magic—a mere fraction of her demonic power sufficed to eliminate them.
I suppose that will do. There is something oddly satisfying about this.
As she turned to depart, the Young Girl seized the hem of her garment.
“W-wait! Thank you so much!”
“Release me.”
“Our Campsite is just ahead! Come with us! Please, let me repay you!”
The Young Girl dragged Asmo-rina toward the Campsite without hesitation. She could have easily resisted, but the thought of extinguishing the life she had just saved with her own hands held little appeal.
Thus, she found herself at the Campsite, where the Young Girl’s Family lavished her with profuse gratitude.
“My goodness, where did such a young lady acquire such strength…?”
“We are truly grateful. It is humble, but please accept this. It is a family heirloom.”
Asmo-rina regarded them in silence. Their gifts and thanks held no value to her, yet refusing seemed only to invite further insistence.
Unwilling to engage in meaningless conversation, she accepted their offerings and spoke.
“My business here is concluded. I depart now.”
But her body betrayed her intentions. As she turned to leave, a loud rumble erupted from her stomach.
Grrrrowl—
“…!”
Despite being a Demon, she now inhabited a human form. Having gone without food for days, hunger was inevitable. Asmo-rina’s face flushed as she quietly pressed a hand to her abdomen.
“Are you hungry, older sister?”
The Young Girl, her face marked with bruises, approached with a bright smile and produced several sweets from her pocket.
“Here, have these for now! I caught fish for dinner, so let’s eat together, yes?”
“I…”
She should have refused, yet whether it was the appetizing appearance of the sweets or the peculiar resemblance the Young Girl bore to her own reflection, Asmo-rina found herself nodding without conscious thought.
Thus she spent the night at the Campsite of these humans she had only just met.

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