HKWM | Chapter 28

“I’m late.”

It was early morning after an execution, and when I returned home, the atmosphere was somehow gloomy. Even Noah’s face, who greeted me as I came home, was particularly grim. No, not even a proper greeting; he wouldn’t even make eye contact, clearly in a bad mood.

“Noah, you’re up already?”

“…No.”

Something felt off in his response, so I took a closer look at Noah’s face. He hadn’t just woken up; it seemed he had stayed up all night waiting for me. It was my fault for not explaining things beforehand and just warping him away.

“Why did you send me back alone?”

“Well—”

“What if that blacksmith had asked for something weird? Like asking someone to kill him, or begging to be tortured until he died.”

I was about to respond but then clamped my mouth shut. I mean… that’s what I wanted to say, but as my expression became strange, Noah quickly added,

“…And this was supposed to be a gift for me, so I should have the right to help Jin.”

“What right to help in what I do?”

“Anyway.”

So, essentially, what Noah meant was that he was worried about me. Knowing that I dislike unnecessary killings, he was concerned that the deal might put me in a difficult situation.

“You sometimes forget that I’m an Archdemon.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I just hope Jin doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to.”

Instead of pointing out why an Archdemon like me would hesitate to kill, Noah wanted to keep helping me so I wouldn’t have to do things I hate. Though he might not intend it, it felt like he was reprimanding me for being young and weaker, not explaining things properly because he doesn’t want help.

I ended up laughing like a sigh. At this moment, Noah didn’t seem just a kid but rather mature.

“There was nothing for you to worry about. So, how about you try using the gift you received?”

Before I could be scolded further, I quickly pulled out the sword I had forgotten to give Noah due to the warp. I had left it in the subspace. Noah’s expression was a bit sour as he took the sword, but it seemed he was going to let it slide this time.

“…Thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

As Noah examined the sword, checking the engraved name on the scabbard and handle, he smiled slightly.

“My name is on here too.”

“Yeah, I asked for it to be engraved.”

“Can you engrave Jin’s name next to it?”

“Why my name?”

“Because Jin gave it to me.”

“But it’s your sword?”

“Still.”

Perhaps it felt like a memento? It wasn’t too difficult, so I nonchalantly used magic to engrave my name next to Noah’s. It certainly wasn’t as good as what the blacksmith could have done, but fortunately, Noah seemed quite satisfied.

Not stopping there, I brought out Kimaris, who had been cleaning inside, and we headed to the training ground. He must have been eager to try it out.

Most of the recent swordsmanship lessons with Kimaris were conducted as sparring sessions. Since demons don’t have specific sword-fighting techniques, we just corrected basic grips and postures and then moved on to practical sense. Though it was a training method quite different from the many widely known human techniques, Noah was following along without any issues.

“…Wait.”

After I had asked Kimaris to pretend to be my lover to deal with an issue with Adam, there was a very minor problem when Noah briefly suspected something between Kimaris and me.

Remembering the conversation they had, I felt a headache coming on again.

“Kimaris, are you interested in Jin?”

“What kind of interest are you talking about?”

“Like, wanting to be Jin’s lover or family?”

I still vividly remember how Kimaris’s face had crumpled menacingly. It looked downright awful. After my solitary defeat while magically observing from a distance during that first lesson, Noah’s misunderstanding was resolved, and the swordsmanship lessons were smoothly proceeding as well.

“Young master, your guard is open.”

“……”

“I told you that such tricks wouldn’t work against a much stronger opponent.”

Though he initially wanted to try out the sword, Noah ended up getting a lot of nagging but his growth was remarkably steep. When Kimaris first taught him, he used only one hand and didn’t move out of a small circle, but now that circle had expanded significantly. In just a few days, what was one step had become three, a noticeable improvement even to someone inexperienced in swordsmanship like me. Kimaris too seemed to have fallen into the joy of teaching someone.

Since it was just a session to test the sword, the sparring ended quickly, and Kimaris went back inside to finish cleaning. Noah, after catching his breath for a while, came over.

“How’s the sword?”

“I like it.”

“I want to grow up fast and try other swords too.”

It was a relief to see his mood had improved after being downcast all day. This is the joy of giving gifts. While I was feeling proud, Noah, wiping off his sweat, cautiously asked,

“Jin, are you busy today?”

“No, why?”

“Can we eat out tonight? Jimmy was saying that his parents’ restaurant got new ingredients and they’re making a special menu today.”

Jimmy was a recent friend of Noah from school, younger than him, whose parents ran a restaurant. It must be that restaurant he was talking about.

“Yeah, let’s do that. Did you tell Kimaris and Phoras?”

“Yeah, yeah… They said they won’t come.”

I tilted my head. It was unlikely that he spoke to them before me…

The truth is, lying and deception, being demonic traits, it’s impossible to fool a demon. However, a lie without malice, even to a demon, can’t be perfectly discerned. That’s why his words felt vaguely ambiguous.

No, would Noah really need to lie about such a thing? I shrugged it off nonchalantly.

“Alright, then let’s the two of us go.”

I was quietly looking at the menu when I drooled. Jimmy’s parents’ restaurant was just as unfriendly on the menu. The dish Noah mentioned earlier must be the one written next to “Today’s Special.”

“A Dream of the Sky on Two Legs…?”

Do the humans here get sick if they speak directly? As I touched my forehead, Noah explained the menu as he had before.

“It seems to be a dish made with ‘kain.’”

“Kain? What’s that?”

“A bird whose wings have degenerated, so it walks on two legs.”

Like a chicken or a duck?

“Hello, big brother Noah!”

As I was imagining what a kain might look like, a young voice suddenly popped up next to us. Turning towards the sound, I saw a kid, about a head shorter than Noah, waving at him. It must be Jimmy.

“Hi, hello.”

Noah greeted him, albeit gruffly. Jimmy, smiling innocently at Noah, turned to me. But before he could greet me, he stiffened up, his mouth agape, staring up at me, prompting a man who seemed to be Jimmy’s father to rush over and apologize.

“Jimmy, it’s not nice to stare at people like that! I’m sorry, he’s still young….”

“No, it’s alright.”

The man with a kind aura patted Jimmy’s back and struck up a friendly conversation.

“Jimmy has told us a lot about you. He said his new friend was very handsome and smart, and he was absolutely right.”

“I’ve heard a lot about him too. Jimmy is very cute.”

After the man appeared, Jimmy clung to his leg, gripping the hem of his pants and peeking out shyly. It seemed he was wary of my aura, but his next words proved otherwise.

“…Are you a fairy?”

The man tried hard to suppress his laughter at this innocent question. I would have liked to maintain the child’s fantasy, but if any passing fairy heard that, they’d probably choke on their laughter, so I replied truthfully for their sake.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not a fairy; I’m Noah’s uncle.”

“Oh, I see…”

The kid looked visibly disappointed as I pointed to the menu.

“Is this made from kain?”

“Yes, it’s usually too scared and fast to be used as an ingredient, but my dad is amazing and caught one!”

“He caught it himself?”

Proud of his father, Jimmy bragged while the man scratched his head sheepishly.

“Ah, I just go hunting as a hobby, nothing impressive.”

It was modest, whether true or not, but I whispered to him quietly.

“Your father is really amazing. You’re lucky.”

“Yes, I love my dad the most!”

Hearing my words, the man, embarrassed yet proud that his son admired him, even offered us some food on the house.

As we ate, he made sure not to disturb us, but from his soulful eyes and behavior, the man seemed like a very good person. It was reassuring that Jimmy, who was close to Noah, and his father were such kind people.

“Anything unusual at school lately?”

Knowing that I was very curious about what happened at school, Noah always told me about his classes and conversations with others when he came home from school.

“No, not really. Since last week, we’ve started learning about different races, and it’s interesting because Rass and the teacher often have different opinions.”

“How are they different?”

After thinking for a moment, Noah answered.

“First, Phoras thinks all races, except demons, are stupid and useless.”

I rubbed my forehead as I picked at the ordinary food we ordered. What on earth is he saying in class….

“…It’s best not to take that opinion seriously.”

“Okay.”

“What else?”

“Recently, we learned about demons and angels. And about the Divine Empire too.”

While angels might be fine, I thought it inappropriate for young children to learn about demons, but here, knowing about demons was as crucial as knowing how to survive; it was necessary to protect their souls.

“Jin, what do you think about angels?”