Kind Demon King

You need specialized skills and tools to solve problems in this life. Martial arts—or maybe I should call it the art of killing since what I did had nothing to do with art—are no different. Depending on the enemy, terrain, and what you have in your hands, changing your tactics is only normal.

The problem here was that I had spent my entire life fighting against giant bugs. Unless they were close-combat specialized units like Hornets and Reapers, martial skills weren’t that necessary to kill them. Just find the weak points in their exoskeletons and blast them with whatever you have. Human-to-human combat wasn’t something I had a lot of experience with.

While it didn’t mean that I couldn’t fight against humans or humanoids, I knew that the woman in front of me was dangerous. I sighed and pulled out my sword and shield. Seeing me take my stance, a brief flash of surprise crossed her face, but it was quickly overtaken by her emotionless expression. She probably didn’t expect me to know how to take a proper stance.

She slowly walked closer. The saber was a short yet fast weapon, but I had already seen her swing it twice. I raised my shield high just as a pale blue flash shot toward my chest. I barely managed to lift my shield in time. The sound of metal clashing made my head throb; I hadn’t considered that a sabre could make that much noise. I stumbled backward. Just like Arslan, she was covering her weapon with mana except she was stronger and faster.

“Interesting.”

Her voice was as cold as ever. She began to circle around me, keeping her distance.

“Let’s see how far you can go.”

Pale blue light enveloped her sword. Before I could process what had happened after blocking one strike, she thrust her sword forward despite the distance between us. That could only mean one thing!

“Boom!”

I threw myself to the side, rolling on the ground. The blue light from her sabre passed through the spot where I had just stood, hitting the wall behind me. When I dared to sneak a quick glance, I saw a hole in the wall. She could also shoot her mana!

(Monstrous Strength is activated. Strength is increased by 20 percent for 2 minutes.)

Yeah, fuck that. My muscles expanded, and I felt power surge from deep within. I sprang to my feet and began to run in circles around her. You can’t hit what you—

“Fuck!”

Even though I was on the move, she predicted my movement and shot where I would be. I nearly lost a limb there! What was worse was that where she had struck, there was now a huge ice block!

“Hehe, Ice Queen.”

As my dumb brain made a reference only I could laugh at in this life-or-death situation, I charged at her. If she had ranged options, I preferred to be close, where I could strike back. I dodged several more beams before I was almost within arm’s reach. Our blades clashed, and I was pushed back. She was stronger than Arslan by a large margin!? Not only that, but I could see she was still toying with me.

Still, I was happy that I was able to swing my sword toward her even though she nonchalantly blocked and parried them. One of her parries threw me off balance, causing me to stumble past her. She kicked me in the side, and it felt like a hammer had struck me. I fell to the ground. Before I could even catch my breath, she was on top of me, pinning both my arms to the ground with just one of hers. How the fuck? My strength buff was still active!

“Interesting. How did a peasant like you learn to fight this well?”

She pulled off her glove with her mouth, and I realized something was growing in my groin.

…

I hate this teenage body.

She caressed the scar on my side.

“How did you get this?”

“Orcs.”

Technically, I wasn't lying. She released me, rising to her feet and placing her hands behind her back.

“It seems at least one of you is passable.”

She turned to me.

“You. You will be my squire for the duration of my stay. If you serve me well, perhaps even more. You will do everything I say and only what I say. Now, get up and follow me.”

This could work! I don’t know how I got this job, but it was the best option! If I was closer to her, I could gather more information! This could actually save the operation. She mounted her horse with a single swift motion, and I quickly grabbed the reins.

(Duration ended. Your strength will be decreased by 10 percent for the next 5 minutes.)

I led her to the barracks. She spat on the ground.

“What is this?”

She turned to the Captain, who was also on horseback.

“I told you to build high-quality housing!”

…

Wait. Did she care about beastkin?

“What will you do if it collapses on top of the slaves? Or if they get sick?”

…

Yeah, she cared about them, alright. Only as goods.

“This is why I came early! So I can fix your mistakes!”

Her voice, though loud, didn’t rise into high-pitched screams. She maintained her cold tone. I should applaud her for not looking tired at all. I was exhausted from my “fight” against her. Yet she tore into the Captain like killing one soldier and toying with another—me—hadn’t worn her out in the slightest.

“It is not my fault, My Lady! This town isn’t developed—”

She raised her hand.

“I don’t want to hear excuses. Only results.”

After surveying everything in the slave camp, she turned toward the forest, shooing everyone away except for me. It was already getting dark.

“What are you waiting for? Follow me.”

“Where are you going, My Lady? The town is in the other direction. You must have been traveling for a long time. Don’t you want to rest?”

Truth be told, I didn’t want someone as strong as her to roam around freely. If she was in town, it would be easier for me. She pulled a map from her pouch—a magical bag of holding, probably, since the map was massive and the pouch was small.

“Have you ever wanted to conquer a dungeon, squire?”