Chapter 5: Question Elf and Poof

The flame in the magic fireplace flickered unsteadily, filling the room with the scent of burning sandalwood.

It was an expensive, unfamiliar fragrance—one that made Jon feel even less at ease than the scent of Pupu.

Whether it was sandalwood or princesses, he never quite fit in with that upper-class world.

Jon carefully latched the lock, returned to the bed, and only then cautiously took Pupu out from his pocket.

The wet, soft, jelly-like texture made him all the more attached to this little creature.

“No wonder Uncle Barn likes raising Pupu.”

He sighed inwardly.

Barn was the old hunter of the village.

Because of battlefield trauma, he always lived alone and never married.

He often shared unsellable animal organs and blood jelly with the village’s orphans and elderly, Jon included.

Uncle Barn raised three pink Pupu, rumored to have been specially caught.

For some reason, whenever Jon asked about them, Uncle Barn’s face would turn red, and he’d quickly change the subject, even forbidding Jon from touching them.

Thinking back now… maybe Uncle Barn was just afraid he’d break them?

Jon gently poked Pupu’s head, watching it tumble foolishly to the ground, its legs melting into water as it slid around the table in an adorable way.

His brow relaxed, and he broke into a healing smile, completely disarmed by its cuteness.

People always want to keep odd little things—especially when they’re lonely.

Having left his hometown to become a Hero, countless words he kept bottled up inside, with no one to share them with, now spilled out to the ever-silent Pupu in this moment of solitude that was not quite solitude.

“I never thought I’d become a noble one day.”

“It all feels so unreal… and a little scary. Little one, do you think someone like me, who’s never even read a book, can really govern a territory?”

Jon dipped his fingertip in honey water and used it to tease her, playing a simple hunting game with his finger.

“Miss Margaret seems to hate me. Miss Yuna is so passionate it’s frightening. Miss Aelita is weird and loves to mess with people… Noble girls from big cities are really hard to understand.”

“I miss home.”

He murmured to himself, feeling lost.

But soon, recalling how well the Demon-Hunting journey had gone, his mood brightened and he returned to his usual optimistic self.

“If I defeat the Demon King Lia, the world will surely return to peace. Then even those who are unhappy will become happy, right?”

The Hero’s eyes were filled with longing for the future.

“I heard the Demon King also sent people to blow up the dam on the Noda River, flooding twelve villages.”

“Ugh, why is the Demon King so evil?”

……

The more Lia listened, the hotter her face became.

【What does that mean?】

【So I’m the root of all evil, unfit to live, is that it?】

【And who blew up the dam? Dog Empire, are you blaming it on me? Just you wait!】

Staring at the Hero’s hopeful smile for a better future, Lia sneered inwardly.

【Heh, how naïve.】

【Ever heard the saying? “Defeating the Demon King” is the end of a fairy tale, but in a historical story, it’s just the beginning.】

After her mental complaints, Lia instinctively clung to the Hero’s finger, her body melting into a liquid that wrapped around it.

She was trying to steal the faint threads of magic lingering on the Hero’s skin.

It was hard work, but the gains were enormous.

The Hero’s power was so overwhelming that even the tiniest fragment that leaked out was like a vast ocean to a Pupu.

She’d found a way to replenish magic!

Wait… This flow… So much, so strong! Uwah~~~

Magic surged in, hot and prickly, like a massive, electrified club delivering a thousand-year strike.

Lia went numb all over, unable to maintain her form, and collapsed into a puddle of pink water.

Jon jumped in surprise, flustered by the sudden event, but luckily, in no time, the palm-sized little girl “crawled” out of the puddle again.

Though it was just Pupu reforming her body, what Jon saw was a scene of a “goddess rising from the bath”—the slender, flawless pink body of the little girl slowly emerging from the water, first the head, then the waist, and finally two delicate little feet.

The revived Pupu was covered in pale pink droplets, looking wet and indescribably cute.

“Looks like I played with her too long.”

Jon felt a bit embarrassed.

“Must be the aftereffects of infusing magic earlier… Still not fully recovered… No, I need to consult an Expert in Magical Beasts.”

With that, the Hero carefully picked up Lia, placed her back in her little leather nest, and hurried out the door.

Watching the Hero disappear from view, Lia let out a small sigh of relief.

Now she truly understood Liu Jianming’s feelings in .

As the Demon King, lying low at the Hero’s side was a real test of nerves.

She was terrified of slipping up and arousing suspicion, then hearing those dreaded words: “Supreme Holy Slash!”

【The Hero’s gone? I should be able to relax now, right?】

That’s what Lia thought.

But before even half a minute passed, a voice drifted in from outside the door:

“Jon”

“Jon”

“Are you there?”

Lia: ?

It’s that elf again!

But at least Jon wasn’t here, so she shouldn’t be rude enough to—

“If you’re not here, I’m coming in”

With this questionable last warning, the magic on the lock was dispelled with a click, the handle spun by itself, and Aelita pushed the door open with a mischievous grin.

“Ah, really not here, huh.”

Aelita glanced around, then ran to the Hero’s bed, pulling out a white stocking—clearly worn—from her pocket and stuffing it under Jon’s pillow.

Lia peeked secretly, then suddenly noticed the openwork pattern at the ankle—a symbol of the Light Holy See.

The whole Pupu went blank.

Wait—wasn’t this the stocking worn by that busty Saintess?

Why would she bring it to the Hero’s room?

What the heck!

Framing the Hero for stealing the Saintess’s stocking! Is this party bullying? You guys are really Big daring! Aren’t you afraid of eating ten thousand Supreme Holy Slashes and flattening the entire Elf Royal Court?

Lia was so stunned she forgot to shrink back into her nest and hide.

So, when Aelita turned around, their eyes met.

“……”

“……”

The silence dragged on, until finally, Aelita cried out in shock.

“Primordial God above! What is this thing?”

She suspiciously grabbed Lia, not gently at all—rougher than even the big hero himself.

She stared at the “pink jelly little girl,” lifeless as a figurine, for a long while, then shook her, then tossed her up and down like a ball.

Lia, holding perfectly still and pretending to be a decorative figure, was about to be shaken sick.

“Hmm… It’s soft and squishy… so delicate. Could this be one of those legendary figurines?”

Aelita mused.

Wonderful.

Yes, please keep thinking that way, girl.

“But Jon isn’t the type to buy decorations. He’d only spend money on essentials, especially food. Oh—I get it! It’s a gummy candy shaped like a little person!”

Before Lia could react, Aelita had already opened her “giant mouth” and bit half of Lia’s body inside.

Lia panicked, kicking and wriggling as her lower half disappeared into Aelita’s mouth.

Uwahhhh—what’s wrong with this elf’s brain?!

Aelita choked a bit, but instead of getting mad, burst out laughing.

“I knew it! I knew you were alive! Hahahaha”