Chapter 244: Shocked man
"Hahaha! Wee! Wee! LoAlice''s friends! Treat this ce like your own home!"
man was the same friendly and muscr uncle as the first time Alice had met the other party a few months ago. Although he gave a frightening first impression, he was actually a very amiable person.
Meanwhile, man did not show any dissatisfaction toward the friends Alice brought, even though they came from races hostile to the demon race.
Frankly speaking, demons didn''t harbor any feelings of hatred toward humans, elves, and the other races living in the human realm. They were merely forced to fight by their circumstances. Hence, instead of treating Alice''s friends with hostility, man warmly weed them.
Meanwhile, Luna recognized man as the Heavenly King of Fire at first nce. After all, she worked for the Gryffin Kingdom''s intelligence department. While not much information on the Four Heavenly Kings was avable on the inte, their images were avable in the Gryffin Kingdom''s intelligence department''s archives.
Alice had told Luna about her ns in the demon realm beforehand, so Luna knew that man believed that Alice was the Demon King. Thus, man''s enthusiastic treatment was understandable.
However, Zauna and Lalu didn''t know about this fact. So, they assumed that man was a wealthy and friendly demon uncle. Although they had been worried about staying in a demon''s home initially, after interacting with Heris and man for some time, they quickly realized that demons weren''t as savage as rumors made them out to be.
Demons might be a race that valued strength, but that was only one of the ways demons approached life. They didn''t live to fight, and neither did they need to fight to live. Aside from special circumstances, no demon would fight all day for no reason. Of course, the demons'' entertainment might involve more fighting than humans, but it wasn''t anything that involved bloodshed.
"We''ll be in your care during this trip," Zauna politely greeted man. When she saw how friendly man and Heris were, she was finally able to let go of the worry in her heart. She also revised her opinion of the demons. At the very least, man and Heris behaved nothing like the savage demons described in novels. They didn''t even harbor any deep-seated resentment toward humans.
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"Isn''t it about time you let go of me?" Alice asked Heris in a helpless tone. The demoness had been holding her like a teddy bear since they had gotten out of the car until now.
"This is a rare opportunity, after all. I might not get to be so intimate with you the next time I see you," Herisined as she reluctantly let Alice down on the ground. While retracting her hands, she also took the opportunity to pinch Alice''s cheeks. She could only treat Alice like this right now because Alice was trying to hide her identity as the Demon King from Zauna and Lalu. However, there was no saying whether she would get such an opportunity again the next time she met with Alice.
Meanwhile, after Zauna and Lalu were done exchanging greetings with man, Heris brought them to the guest room. Luna also followed them to unpack Alice''s luggage. As for Alice, she remained in the front hall.
After Heris brought the others away from the hall, man walked up to Alice and bowed slightly.
"Wee back, Lord Demon King."
"You don''t have to act so respectfully. I''m not quite used to such treatment," Alice said with a helpless smile. "Anyway, the main reason I returned to the demon realm this time is to visit Demon King Castle. Speaking of which, how is Demon King Castle right now? Please tell me you guys didn''t demolish it."
"Of course not. Demon King Castle has been strengthened by two Demon Kings. We can''t demolish it even if we wanted to," man said, shrugging. The Four Heavenly Kings might have the strength to reach the feet of Demon Kings, but there was still a gigantic gap between them. So, unless they uprooted the entire Demon King Castle, there was no way they could get rid of it.
"That''s good. But did those businessmen turn it into a tourist spot?"
Alice chuckled when she recalled the information she had previously found on the demon realm''s inte.
ording to what was avable on the inte, a group of businessmen had bought thend that Demon King Castle sat on in an attempt to modify it into a tourist spot. Although those businessmen were forced to abandon their ns because of the Radioactive Soul Stone in the city, now that she had already destroyed the Radioactive Soul Stone, there was no saying whether those businessmen would pop up again.
"You can rest assured on this matter. Wintas has already bought thend back by force," man said,ughing when he heard Alice''s question. "After all, the new Demon King has already appeared, so there''s no saying whether Demon King Castle mighte in useful in the future. Those businessmen can say nothing about Wintas''s actions, either, unless they can dethrone him and be the Windy Kingdom''s new king."
The demon realm''s political system was very straightforward. So long as an individual had enough strength, they could challenge the Four Heavenly Kings. If they managed to defeat any of the Heavenly Kings, they''d be able to take over the Heavenly King''s position and authority.
However, those businessmen clearlycked the strength to beat Wintas. Hence, they could onlyply and sulk in a corner when Wintas demanded to buy back Demon King Castle''s territory from them.
"By the way, Lord Demon King, about the puppet on your shoulder"
After updating Alice on Demon King Castle''s situation, man couldn''t help but turn to look at the figurine sitting on Alice''s shoulder.
man wasn''t an ordinary demon. While he might not be able to win against Heroes and Demon Kings, as the Heavenly King of Fire, his strength still ranked at the pinnacle in both the demon realm and the human realm. Although Andusia had remained motionless this entire time and behaved no differently from a normal figurine, man still noticed something strange with Andusia. Specifically, he could sense the dangerous power contained within her small body.
Of course, man wasn''t an anime otaku, so he naturally didn''t recognize Andusia''s appearance as the protagonist of the human realm''s national-level animation "Magical Girl Hikari."
"You mean Andusia?"
Alice chuckled as she turned to look at Andusia. After thinking it over, she felt that it wouldn''t matter even if she revealed Andusia''s identity as a former Demon King to man. After all, they were currently in the demon realm, and man was one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
In fact, if man were to find out that she had a former Demon King following her, her identity as the current generation''s Demon King would be even more credible. There was no way man would ever think that Andusia, a former Demon King, would cooperate with a human, least of all a Hero, right?
With such thoughts in mind, Alice shrugged her shoulders, shaking Andusia''s body a little as she asked:
"Andusia, how about offering the current Heavenly King of Fire a greeting?"
"Hmph. I guess he''s a little stronger than Igneel," Andusia said as she looked at man arrogantly. She instantly knew what Alice was trying to y at when she heard Alice''s words. Although she was very surprised to learn that Alice had the identity of a Demon King in the demon realm, since she had already agreed to cooperate with Alice, she naturally wouldn''t expose Alice at this time. "But he''s still weak."
"...??" man was visibly surprised to see Andusia suddenly moving and speaking. After opening and closing his mouth a few times, he turned toward Alice and asked, "C-Could this person be?"
man already had an inkling of an answer in his heart when he heard Alice calling out to the puppet on her shoulder. After all, the puppet''s name was one that he was very familiar with. However, he still found this situation too unbelievable, so he still wanted to get confirmation from Alice''s mouth.
"It''s as you''ve guessed. This person here is Andusia, the Ninth Demon King," Alice said, smiling as she grabbed Andusia off her shoulder. Then, after sitting Andusia in the palm of her hand, she continued, "She might have shrunk down a lot, but she is, by no means, weak."