There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero's Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her: Daily Life at the Demon King's Castle
Youki used to be a mid-boss in the Demon King's army—right up until the hero's party stormed the castle and ended his boss's reign. But instead of finishing him off, the party's priestess, Cecilia, gave him a second chance at life among humans. And somewhere along the way, he fell for her. Hard.
So he did the only logical thing: he confessed. Dramatically. With a "I am the one who rules the darkness—" speech and everything.
She shot him down so thoroughly it echoed.
Now, six months later, You
There Was a Cute Girl in the Hero's Party, So I Tried Confessing to Her: Daily Life at the Demon King's Castle - Black Shadow in the Sewer
"Good morning, Youki. Today I'd like you to take on a monster extermination request in the underground waterways."
Lina, the receptionist, slid the request form across the counter toward him. Her chestnut hair swayed softly in the morning light. The adventurers' guild headquarters in the royal capital of Minerva was buzzing with energy, as always.
"Yeah, morning. The waterways, huh. I hear monsters have been multiplying down there lately."
Youki narrowed his deep purple eyes as he took the form. His short black hair stuck up in places—proof he hadn't had time to fix his bedhead. He wore a light outfit: a white shirt, a dark brown leather vest, and black trousers. His slender frame carried not an ounce of wasted muscle.
"That's right. Sightings have spiked over the past month. With a B-rank like you on the job, Youki, we can rest easy."
Lina smiled brightly. She'd worked as a guild receptionist for three years now. Cheerful and a born caretaker, she was well trusted by the adventurers. She'd been the one to process Youki's registration when he first joined the guild, too.
"Hah, you're overestimating me. But leave it to me."
Youki scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. A small black earring glinted on his left ear. On the back of his right hand, the faint trace of an old crest remained—a remnant from his days in the Demon King's army. No one knew what it meant anymore.
The guild hall was crowded with all sorts of adventurers. Request forms lined the walls; some studied them with serious faces, others huddled with their parties to plan, and a few were already drinking at the tavern despite the early hour. Youki loved this atmosphere.
"Youki! Could you give me a hand for a second?"
He turned toward the voice and saw a young adventurer struggling with a massive load.
"What's wrong? That looks heavy."
Youki hurried over and lifted one end of the burden.
"Thanks! I threw my back out on the way to the weapon shop."
"Don't push yourself. Here, I'll take half."
As the two of them carried the load, Youki listened to the young adventurer talk. Everyone overdoes it when they're just starting out. Youki had been the same. Well—his circumstances had been a little different.
"Thank you so much! Youki, you're really kind, you know that?"
"It's nothing special. We all need a hand sometimes."
Youki waved with a smile and left the guild behind.
The streets of the royal capital Minerva sparkled in the morning light. Walking along the cobblestones, Youki found himself looking up at the sky.
This world—the continent of Luxheim—was filled with a life energy called "ether." By manipulating the ether in the atmosphere, one could use magic. About thirty percent of humans were born with the aptitude to handle ether; the remaining seventy percent lived their whole lives untouched by magic.
Youki had originally belonged to that seventy percent.
No—to be precise, the current Youki wasn't even human. He was a demonfolk: a former human transformed by excessive ether intake or environmental change, or a descendant of such. Youki was the former.
He had spent nearly twenty years as a subordinate of the Demon King, as a mid-boss of the Demon King's castle. Then, half a year ago, the hero's party defeated the Demon King, and everything changed.
"...Cecilia."
He startled himself, the name slipping out unbidden.
Cecilia Aquarein—the priestess of the hero's party that had stormed the Demon King's castle. He'd fallen for her at first sight, confessed, and been spectacularly rejected. Even so, she was the one who had brought him out into the wider world.
(Still hung up on her, aren't I...)
Youki smiled wryly. Six months later, and her face still surfaced in his mind. Kind, earnest, and strong-willed. Of course she'd turned him down. He was a demonfolk, a former subordinate of the Demon King—and his confession had been the worst possible approach.
"I am the one who rules the darkness—"
Remembering his own line from that day, Youki wanted to bury his face in his hands. When he got worked up, he spouted nonsense like that. A chuunibyou flare-up. It was mortifying.
"...Sigh."
Heaving a sigh, Youki headed for the entrance to the underground waterways.
Beneath the royal capital Minerva sprawled a vast sewer network stretching roughly thirty kilometers in total. It was vital infrastructure supporting a surface population of a hundred and twenty thousand—but its labyrinthine structure had also become a den for monsters.
Opening the iron grate at the entrance, Youki stepped inside. Cool air and a musty smell hit his nose. The sound of flowing water echoed from somewhere deep in the darkness.
"Alright, then."
Youki raised his right hand and conjured a small orb of light. The light, born of manipulated ether, cast a faint glow around him.
(This much brightness is plenty.)
Killing his footsteps, Youki advanced deeper into the sewers. After a while, he sensed multiple presences approaching from ahead.
"Grrrrr..."
Three giant rats appeared. Each was ten times the size of a normal rat, with sharp fangs and claws. They were on the weaker end among the monsters that took up residence in the sewers, but they attacked in packs, so he couldn't let his guard down.
"Sorry, but this is my assigned area."
Youki readied himself lightly. The next instant, he vanished.
No—he only seemed to vanish. In a flash, Youki circled behind all three and brought his hand down in a chop. The monsters crumpled to the ground without ever knowing what had happened.
"Phew. Well, that's about right."
Youki's combat ability was once said to surpass even the Demon King's. Though he was a mid-boss of the Demon King's castle, his true strength exceeded the Demon King himself. Perhaps that was exactly why he'd survived the battle with the hero's party.
Youki crouched to examine the corpses of the monsters he'd defeated. That was when he noticed something off.
"...What's this?"
An unnatural pattern was carved into the giant rat's neck. Looking closely, it was a magic sigil—a mark embedded with some kind of spell formula. Not something that occurred naturally.
"Someone's casting magic on these monsters...?"
Youki furrowed his brow. Magic to control monsters—did such a thing even exist? At the very least, he'd never heard of it. But he could definitely sense residual ether from the sigil.
(Someone is deliberately branding these monsters. Purpose unknown. But I can't just leave it alone.)
Youki burned the shape of the sigil into his memory and searched the area thoroughly. But he found no further clues.
"Guess I'll report this to the guild."
Youki exited the sewers and returned to the adventurers' guild headquarters.
"Welcome back, Youki. That was quick."
"Yeah, I took down about three monsters. But there's something that's been bothering me."
Youki explained the magic sigils that had been placed on the monsters. Lina listened with her head tilted, but eventually gave him a troubled smile.
"Magic sigils...? But Youki, monsters often have patterns on their bodies. Maybe you mistook a natural marking for a magic sigil?"
"No, but that was clearly artificial—"
"Youki, have you been tired lately? Please don't push yourself too hard."
Lina gazed at him with concern. Under that look, Youki felt his will to argue drain away.
(...So they won't believe me after all.)
The adventurers around them were tilting their heads at Youki's story, too.
"Magic sigils? What's that supposed to be?"
"Another one of Youki's delusions, huh."
"He's a serious guy, but sometimes he says the weirdest things."
He could hear the murmurs. Youki let out a small sigh.
"...Yeah. Maybe I imagined it. Thanks, Lina."
Youki accepted his copper coins as payment and left the guild.
Feeling the weight of the coins in his hand, Youki's feelings were complicated.
(A former mid-boss of the Demon King's army, and now I'm earning coppers exterminating sewer monsters. ...Not that it's bad, but still.)
Once, he had commanded hundreds of monsters in the Demon King's castle. Now he lived alone in a tiny apartment in the city, scraping by as an adventurer.
(But this is fine. This is the path I chose.)
The outside world Cecilia had brought him into. Life in human society. It had never been easy for Youki. Discrimination against demonfolk ran deep, and he'd had more than his share of unpleasant experiences.
Even so, Youki wanted to keep living this life.
"...I'll go back again tonight."
That sigil bothered him. Lina hadn't believed him, but he'd seen it with his own eyes. It wasn't something he could write off as imagination.
Youki returned to his apartment and waited for sundown.
Night.
The city of Minerva showed a different face than it did by day. Streetlamps lit the cobblestones, and cheerful singing drifted from the taverns. Slipping through the darkness, Youki headed for the entrance to the underground waterways.
Unlike during the day, the sewers at night were even more eerie. The darkness was thicker, and the sound of water echoed unnaturally loud. Youki conjured an orb of light and advanced cautiously.
(It was around here, I think...)
He reached the spot where he'd defeated the monsters during the day. The corpses were gone. The guild's recovery team must have cleared them.
He went deeper. Normally, Youki never came this far. The deepest parts of the waterways were considered dangerous even for seasoned adventurers.
"...Hm?"
A faint light appeared ahead. Torchlight, maybe. And not just one or two.
Youki killed his footsteps and hid behind cover.
There was a group clad in black robes. All of them had their faces hidden, and they were efficiently hauling some kind of cargo. Something packed in wooden crates. He couldn't tell what was inside, but their movements were clearly those of trained professionals.
"Hurry. We need it all moved in before dawn."
A low voice gave the order. The others obeyed in silence, carrying load after load.
(What the hell are those guys...?)
Youki held his breath and watched. The black-robed group numbered about ten. They were carrying their cargo into what looked like a hidden passage in the sewer wall.
(Was that passage there before?)
Youki had mapped out this area's structure during his daytime investigation. But he had no memory of that passage.
(I'll check it later... first, I need to find out who these people are.)
Youki moved from shadow to shadow, closing in on the black-robed group.
That was when it happened.
"—Someone's there."
One of the group called out in a sharp voice.
(Shit!)
Youki spun around on instinct. The next instant, a volley of arrows buried itself in the spot where he'd been standing.
"After him! Don't let him escape!"
The black-robed group charged after Youki in unison. Their movements were far too coordinated for mere bandits or smugglers.
(Damn, this is an organized operation...!)
Youki sprinted through the sewers at full speed. The pursuers' presence closed in behind him. He didn't look back—just ran forward.
"There he is!"
A magic bolt grazed his side and exploded against the wall. Shrapnel cut his cheek.
(Bad. At this rate—)
Youki abruptly changed direction and dove into a side passage. He'd use the maze-like structure of the sewers to shake his pursuers.
"Damn, where'd he go!"
"Split up and search!"
The pursuers' voices faded into the distance. Youki pressed his back against the wall and caught his ragged breath.
"Hah... hah... I managed to lose them, at least..."
He could no longer sense the pursuers. Youki exhaled slowly.
(Those guys were no amateurs. That coordination, the way they used magic. They've had military training.)
A black-robed group was hauling suspicious cargo beneath the royal capital. What it meant, Youki still didn't know.
But one thing was certain.
(Something big is happening under the capital.)
Youki clenched his fist.
"...I can't just ignore this."
Youki left the sewers and walke
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