Inside the Demon King's Castle at night—
“You finished watching. How do you feel?”
Ivelia stood at the doorway of the room.
In front of her stood Furni, who had just returned from the residential district.
Furni's complexion did not look very good right now.
Between being bombarded by magic spheres, walking all the way back to the Demon King's Castle, and then heading to the residential district to observe Leticia, the dragon currently looked as though she were about to drop dead from exhaustion.
But when Leticia was mentioned, her eyes brightened slightly, as if she had discovered a glimmer of hope.
“Not bad at all.”
Furni peered through the doorway, looking at Lin Ling, who was covered by a pink blanket on the bed.
“It seems this little Hero is quite capable.”
The sleeping Lin Ling was quietly curled up under the blanket.
Had Furni not witnessed it with her own eyes today, she would have found it difficult to connect this soft-looking little thing with the terrifying monster that had chased her down and blasted her earlier.
“Still...”
Furni scratched her hair.
“That old codger Karl still plans to summon a new Hero.”
“Does this count as me bringing bad news?”
Looking at the sleeping Lin Ling on the bed, her heart felt slightly more at ease.
At least for now, this little Hero's mindset still aligned with a traditional Hero. She possessed immense power, but at least she hadn't mentioned wanting to rule the world or anything like that—otherwise, it would have scared a dragon to death.
Of course, if they hadn't been on the demon race's territory today, she would probably be a dead dragon by now.
Ivelia glanced at Furni and noticed she was staring at the sleeping Lin Ling inside the room.
She then used her body to block Furni's view of Lin Ling.
Seeing Ivelia block her line of sight, Furni seemed to realize something. Her golden slit pupils stared directly at Ivelia.
“Ivelia, this little thing doesn't quite seem like a human.”
Ivelia's gaze instantly locked onto her.
Ignoring the dangerous glint in Ivelia's eyes, Furni continued speaking to herself.
“Think about it. We've dealt with humans for so long. If a human had such immense magic power inside them, their body would have exploded long ago.”
She recalled how Lin Ling had used the magic spheres earlier.
Constantly absorbing external magic, forcefully compressing it, and then throwing it out in an extremely crude and violent manner.
With a normal human's magic circuits, let alone using it repeatedly, just letting that kind of magic flow through their body once would likely burn them from the inside out.
“But she didn't.”
Furni's golden slit pupils narrowed slightly.
“So, is she really human, or is she something else entirely?”
Ivelia fell silent for a moment.
Then, she turned her head to look at Lin Ling on the bed.
Lin Ling's breathing was very light as she slept.
The pink blanket rose and fell gently with her breaths.
“It doesn't matter what she is.”
Ivelia's voice was very calm.
“She is Lin Ling. The Lin Ling who belongs here.”
“That is enough.”
As she said this, Ivelia's gaze softened slightly.
Watching her expression, a mischievous grin slowly spread across Furni's face.
“Oh my~”
“Is the ever-rational Demon King actually falling into the whirlpool of emotion?”
As a giant dragon who had lived for countless ages, Furni had seen this look before.
And more than just a few times.
That look of tenderness when gazing at someone, without even realizing it themselves.
It was incredibly easy to read.
Ivelia withdrew her gaze and looked at Furni.
“Wipe that amused look off your face.”
She did not pursue the topic.
“When will the Hero Summoning take place?”
Seeing Ivelia change the subject, Furni stopped teasing her.
After all, she had already nearly been beaten to death by a Hero today.
Provoking the strongest Demon King in history right after that would be far too disrespectful to her own life.
“Well...”
Furni stroked her chin.
“I don't really know~”
“Karl is determined to summon someone who can maintain the country.”
“Going by how often he's brought it up recently, it should be in about a month?”
She thought about it, then added:
“Of course, it could be sooner.”
“After all, on Camillaya's side, the former Hero is missing, the Saintess is gone, and the First Prince is desperately trying to assert his presence.”
“That old codger Karl is probably worrying himself bald.”
“But don't they have you?”
Just then, Niya walked over carrying some food.
On the tray were a few cookies and some small pastries.
“Why do they still need a new Hero?”
When Furni saw the cookies in Niya's hands, her eyes lit up instantly.
“Adorable little Niya, are these for your teacher?~”
She reached out and took the entire tray right out of Niya's hands.
Niya: “...”
She looked down at her empty hands, then at Furni, who was already stuffing cookies into her mouth.
“These were prepared for Miss Saintess when she wakes up.”
Furni froze mid-bite.
She then glanced at Lin Ling, who was still sleeping on the bed.
And then she thought of the magic spheres from earlier today.
She fell silent for a moment.
Then, with absolute naturalness, she placed the tray back into Niya's hands.
“I was just helping to check if they were poisoned. You know giant dragons have high poison resistance, right? You knew that, right?”
Furni's eyes darted left and right, though her mouth kept chewing on the cookie.
Niya stared at her.
“Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“You had this exact same expression whenever you lied in the past.”
Furni: “...”
Little Niya was not cute at all anymore.
To cover her embarrassment, Furni cleared her throat and began answering the previous question.
“Ahem, naturally, it's because as a giant dragon, your teacher only protects Camillaya from foreign invasions.”
“I cannot interfere in political power, nor can I directly meddle in the internal power struggles between the nobles and the royal family.”
“The purpose of summoning a Hero is, first, to deter foreign enemies.”
“And second, if a Hero is present, the various factions of nobles will at least restrain themselves a bit.”
At this point, there was a visible exhaustion in Furni's eyes.
“Most of the little fellows who get summoned are hot-blooded idiots.”
“They will stick their noses into injustices, save people they see, and talk back to nobles just because they feel like it.”
“Though they're a handful, they are indeed useful at times.”
Furni picked up another cookie.
“Internal strife is far more terrifying than foreign enemies, little Niya.”
As she spoke of internal strife, the exhaustion in her eyes deepened visibly.
It was a weariness left behind after witnessing too many similar tragedies.
Listening to Furni's words, Niya also seemed to think of something.
She looked down at the cookies on the tray.
“So Teacher has a hard time too?”
Furni paused.
Then, she immediately put on an expression that looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
“Little Niya finally knows how to worry about her teacher!”
“Your teacher really has a hard time!”
“I was even almost beaten to death by your Miss Saintess today!”
Niya took a step back with an expressionless face, holding the tray.
“That was because you spoke out of turn, Teacher.”
Furni: “...”
She felt her student had completely gone over to the other side. Even though giant dragons weren't afraid of the cold, Furni could feel the absolute chill of this world.
“Fine, fine.”
Furni waved her hand.
“Ivelia, remember to arrange a private meeting between me and this little Hero.”
“There are some things I still want to confirm in person.”
With that, Furni turned and left this place of heartbreak.
Ivelia did not answer, merely watching Furni's retreating figure.
Meanwhile, outside the window, Phelan was hiding and taking notes.
“Lady Furni appears to be somewhat afraid of Lin Ling.”
“The cause is likely due to her battle with Lin Ling.”
He recorded this while glancing once more at the departing Furni.
But as he wrote, Phelan couldn't shake the feeling that he had forgotten something.
He began flipping through his records.
Did he leave Leticia behind in the residential district because he had returned to close the gates?
Phelan: “...”
He looked at the recording board in his hand.
Then he looked at Lin Ling, who was still sleeping inside the room.
Finally, he very calmly added a line to his recording board.
“Addendum: Due to the Furni incident, the original residential district observation plan was interrupted. The Saintess of the Holy See is temporarily staying in the residential district.”
“Need to confirm the situation as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile...
Inside Mrs. Nashi's home in the residential district.
Leticia was sitting at the dining table.
Although Mrs. Nashi had helped her clean off the mud on her body, there was still a lingering sensation of hard labor.
The feeling was entirely foreign to Leticia, yet she didn't seem to dislike it.
“Just some ordinary food.”
Mrs. Nashi was bringing the food to the table.
“I hope it is to your liking.”
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