the Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

Zich and Lyla came out of the ruins and returned to the city. Hans, Snoc, and Elena stayed at the lodging place they had used before they headed to the tomb.

"You are back, sir?" Hans nodded to the two he hadn't seen for long. Only he was there, and it appeared that Snoc and Elena had gone out.

"Yeah. Did nothing much happen?"

"Yes, sir. We kept surveilling the city, but nothing much happened."

It hurt Lyla's conscience to hear Han's words; they had only told Hans and the other disciples to survey the city to trick Marilyn. In other words, their actions had been completely meaningless. However, unlike Lyla, Zich's expression didn't change since he was completely shameless.

"Good job."

Hans bowed at Zich's compliment. Then, seeing that the party's newest member was missing, he asked, "I don't see Ms. Frill with you. Did she go somewhere?"

Lyla's face darkened, but Zich was calm again as he said, "She betrayed us, so we killed her."

"….!"

"…!"

Lyla was also surprised. She hadn't expected Zich to say it so outright. Hans was also incredibly surprised, but it didn't last long.

"I see," Hans said and didn't ask any more questions. Lyla tilted her head to the side.

'He is also really strange,' she thought. She didn't know if she should say that Hans's trust or loyalty towards Zich was exceedingly high. Since she also heard of the events leading to Hans becoming Zich's companion, the current Hans seemed more strange to her.

In the end, Zich and Lyla went up to their rooms at the lodging place. Since the room they had stayed in before was empty, they got the same rooms as before. They could finally rest comfortably on a bed after a long time. The two didn't mind rough conditions and camping outside was easier with all the goods they stuffed inside the magic box, but the comfort couldn't compare sleeping on top of a bed with a roof over their heads. The two laid around until dinnertime and greeted Snoc and Elena after they came back from their surveillance.

Like Hans, Zich told them that they had killed Marilyn after her betrayal. The two were surprised, but Snoc showed a similar response to Hans. Since he had spent a long time traveling with Zich, it seemed like he had a similar level of trust in Zich as Hans. Elena seemed to have more questions, but when she saw Lyla nod, she didn't say much and let the matter pass.

After eating their meals and sharing their current situations, the companions separated to their individual rooms. Zich went to his room and lay on the bed. Since he had lounged around until dinnertime, his fatigue from traveling was already all gone. However, he hadn't had a break in a long time. Lounging on the bed and doing nothing for a couple of days didn't seem like a bad idea now. Yet, Zich had to come off his bed soon afterward.

"Come in," Zich said before the familiar presence in front of his door even knocked. Like he expected, Lyla came in.

"What is it?"

"I have something to discuss."

"Take a seat." Zich sat on a chair beside a table and pointed at a chair in front of him.

"Excuse me," Lyla entered carefully. She walked in awkwardly and sat in the seat that Zich pointed at. It was completely different from the time before when she walked into Zich's room with no hesitation. However, this was expected since she had realized her feelings now, and she was entering the room of the person she liked.

Zich wanted to burst into laughter from this sight but kept quiet. "Okay, what is it?"

Although Lyla was slightly stiff from nervousness, she relaxed after Zich talked to her in a carefree manner like usual.

"It's not anything important. I just wanted to ask you about future plans."

"Future plans…" Zich leaned his back against the chair. "I don't really have much in mind. I want to smash Glen Zenard's back right now, but we don't know how to stop his regression yet. We also don't know the location of the other trees either."

"Yeah, I mean you said you would officially begin to act like a hero after blocking Glen Zenard from regressing."

"I plan to rest for a couple of days. I have to think about what to do in the meantime," Zich sighed. "I wish a clue about the next tree could just drop down from the sky."

"How could that…" Lyla suddenly shut her mouth, and Zich looked at her in wonder. He saw her eyes pointing towards his backside and turned around. Windur was leaning against the wall. Usually, Windur looked very strange, but now it looked different. Like a tree that had been beaten by strong winds for several days, its branch-like blades were leaning to one side.

"…Did that always look like that?"

"It began to change form when you began talking about a clue for the next tree."

Zich got up from his seat. He walked to the wall and gripped Windur.

Ziiing.

When Zich lifted it up and twisted its direction slightly, it moved its blades like a living creature. Its blades twisted like before in the same direction. Zich paced around the room while holding Windur a couple of times and Lyla's eyes followed him. Windur's blades pointed at the same corner of the room no matter which direction Zich turned his body towards.

"…I think this guy is pointing to a specific place. What do you think?"

"I think so too."

"The direction it's pointing to is probably where the tree is."

"That's what I thought."

Zich stared at Windur and said, "Return to your original form." As soon as Zich finished his words, Windur returned to its original, tree branch-like form.

"Where is the tree?"

Windur's blades began to swerve again. It was now certain; Windur was pointing at where the tree was.

"What is up with this guy?" If it wanted to tell them the location of the tree, it should have told them earlier on. Zich grumbled and sat back down in his chair.

"Perhaps, can that sword actually talk?"

Lyla's words sounded extremely persuasive, and it wasn't because Zich was going crazy. Zich asked a couple of questions in case this coy sword would reveal any other information.

Zich asked various questions to Windur about where Clowon's important ruins were located and the locations of Demon People, Estellade and Tornuim, Glen Zenard, etc. However, Windur didn't react to any of the questions above. The only thing it reacted to was the location of the tree. Moreover, Windur only revealed the location of one tree. From Zich and Lyla's predictions, there should be two more trees left.

"There might actually be only one tree left. Or it could have judged that we don't have the ability to find the other tree," Zich said as he placed Windur back on his table.

"Or perhaps, both of the trees are in the location it's pointing towards." Lyla made another suggestion, but Zich was pessimistic about Lyla's suggestion.

"That's being way too optimistic, but the possibility is not zero." Zich knew very well that hopeful predictions usually had very little possibility of turning into reality.

"Regardless of what it is, a clue is a clue. I guess we'll find out if we go to where this guy is pointing us towards," Zich said as he tapped Windur next to him.

* * *

Before they left the city, Zich went to a mountain that was a short distance from Violuwin. The only person with him was Lyla and the disciples remained in the city. The mountain they went to was an extremely rough place to climb, but Lyla skillfully climbed up the mountain. There was no need to even mention Zich's expertise. After they climbed up the mountain for a while, Zich and Lyla were able to reach the spot they saw from the bottom.

Among the rough terrain in the mountain, there was a spot that was easy to move around. There was not even a big tree to block the sky so sunlight also came through very well. Zich began digging the ground there. In an instant, he dug a hole that was deeper than a person's height. Then, he took out the coffin that had Marilyn's corpse from his magic box. Before he put the coffin in the hole, Zich opened the top of the coffin and looked down at Marilyn's corpse. Her face was still in a horrible state, but her expression looked peaceful. Zich closed the top. He put the coffin inside the hole and pushed the dirt back into the hole to cover it up.

Lyla quietly watched this sight from a few steps away. It did not take long for Marilyn's grave to be completed. After flattening out the earth, Zich put a rock the size of a human in front of the grave. Then, he stretched out his finger and put it towards the surface of the stone.

Crrrrrck!

His finger filled with mana easily scratched the surface of the rock. Zich moved his finger and wrote on the rock.

[The one who desired a foolish and eternal dream lies here.]

After shaking off the rock dust by clapping his palms, Zich put a bouquet of flowers in front of the rock. Lyla had been quietly watching Zich's actions. She stepped forward and also put flowers in front of the rock. Then, they looked at the grave for a short while.

"It's really over."

"Yeah," Zich calmly affirmed Lyla's words.

"It feels weird to see her grave like this." There was a trace of bitterness in Lyla's voice. Even though it hadn't been very long since she traveled around with Marilyn, the latter had made a big impact on her.

"Now that I think about it, I became close to her really fast."

"If not for her obsession with me, her personality was very friendly and lively. It's a really good way to make friends."

"Yeah, that's definitely true, but her obsession with you was horrible. Whatever she said, she would start going on about how much she liked you."

"She probably did that because she noticed your feelings early on and wanted to shake you up mentally so that she could more easily draw out any information that you had. If you do a good job, it's a very effective method."

Lyla opened her eyes wide; her thoughts hadn't reached that far.

"Well, she probably also wanted to keep you in check. When two people like the same person, if you continuously express your feelings for the person you like to your rival, your rival would falter to express their feelings. This method is also quite effective."

Lyla said dejectedly, "…She really was an amazing person in various ways."

"Yeah, but she's buried here now." For the last time, Zich imprinted Marilyn's grave into his eyes and then turned his back. "We'll never meet her ever again." There was clear resolution in his voice.

* * *

After finishing all their work, Zich and his companions left Violuwin. Even Zich, the leader of their group, did not know their destination. They merely headed in the direction Windur pointed towards. Like owner, like sword—Windur only gave its direction by pointing straight ahead. Even while passing a high cliff, a wide river, and a dense forest, it didn't provide any side paths or ways around those locations. In the first place, it was funny to expect kindness from a sword. However, thanks to Zich, the companions were able to move through the rough terrains without much trouble. Then, what appeared in front of them was a gigantic mountain that seemed as if it would pierce through the sky.