Free Web NovelThe Demon King-sama was not stupid.
She instantly caught the double meaning in the black cat’s words.
“Cat-sis, you said my father and mother are both dead. But if they are dead, how would I ever know whether they want me or not...”
The little girl in the black cloak held the umbrella with both hands, letting the heavy black cat lie sprawled on her head. She edged carefully against a wall blackened by years of wind and rain, as if that worn-down wall could grant her some sense of safety.
“Back in Demon King’s Castle, everyone always said I was dumb and clumsy, weak, dull-faced, nothing like a Demon King at all...”
“Meowu.” The black cat ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ only gave a soft cry, saying nothing more.
“I know, Cat-sis, you also think I am not smart. But you helped me... When I could not stomach the food in Demon King’s Castle, you brought me fruit to eat...”
“Meow!”
The black cat flicked her tail uneasily, opening one eye to glance furtively around, then snapping it shut again like a thief.
“Ahem. Well, it is not your fault you are not clever. Other Demon Kings are born either with full inheritance of knowledge and power, or enough time to grow and mature...”
The black cat spoke smoothly, almost leisurely:
“Sigh. The main thing is your parents were both irresponsible and unreliable. As strong as they were, human and demon alike, when they fell in love, they quarreled like children, always bickering and fighting, completely oblivious to the weight of their identities.
Yet everyone could see their relationship was good. Always fighting at the head of the bed, reconciling at the foot, meow~”
Finishing, the black cat drooped her ears and tail, looking lazy, as if waiting for someone to eagerly press for more.
And the Demon King-sama did not disappoint. Her eyes sparkled.
She had no memory at all of her father or mother, but she wanted to hear, to understand.
The little Demon King responded enthusiastically: “And then?!”
The black cat lifted her tail. “Whether in demon history or in human history, love that grows too sweet never lasts long. People say too much of anything reverses into its opposite.
After they openly revealed their feelings, their relationship collapsed. Even before you were fully born, they began tearing each other apart, devouring one another completely... tragic beyond words. Even you, not yet born, were dragged into it, meow~”
Saying this, the black cat guiltily poked her head out, furry ears pricked, golden eyes scanning the pitch-black curtain of rain.
As if afraid those she had maligned would suddenly rip through the downpour from their dark graves, seize her by the scruff, faces twisted with rage: You damned cat, you should have been boiled into cat stew back then!
Meow! fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The black cat coughed.
“Seems I said a bit too much. Ahem, meow! Hold the umbrella steady! Don’t let my tail-tip get soaked!”
“Oh, oh!”
Reminded, the hooded girl clumsily adjusted her grip on the umbrella, though her mind still lingered on the news of her parents.
“Then...”
“Meow! I know what you want to ask.”
The black cat cut her off, tail swishing, voice leaving no room for refusal. “That’s only my instinct. It cannot be spoken aloud. If I said it, it would lose its effect.”
“Oh... oh.”
Feeling guilty about being brushed off, Helcat thought for a moment, then raised a new topic:
“I brought you so many good things to eat. When you find your mother, remember to put in a good word for me, meow~” freēwēbnovel.com
“Oh... Mm. But what if my mother does not want me?”
“Then it means your parents are nothing but rotten dried fish. No helping it. You would have to wander the human world, scavenging garbage to eat.” The black cat kindly offered her own vagrant experience: “The demon lands are not suitable for someone like you, slow and weak. The human lands are a bit better. But humans are sly. Do not trust them easily.
If you truly find nothing to eat, you can scavenge offerings at human cemeteries. Mooncakes, apples, bananas, roast chicken, white wine. And if you come across a funeral, where the hosts offer a rooster, do not grab it right away. Wait until they leave, then take it...”
“Uu...” The girl’s mood sank, as though imagining the worst outcome already.
Sigh.
Helcat sighed inwardly, stopping her lecture on scavenger’s survival.
How pitiful. Clearly a Demon King, yet she might end up a beggar, scrounging garbage among humans.
Unlike herself — she wandered only for the fun of it.
Some cats simply cannot be caged! For every hair upon their bodies gleams with the light of freedom!
So Helcat told herself.
The black cat flicked her tail, ears drooping, her voice falling low, like speaking to herself:
“It should not be wrong. Her whole body reeks of the last Demon King’s aura... And on her chest, that shattered mark of the World Tree... World Tree, last Demon King — all closely tied...
Though I only saw it faintly, through clothes soaked in wine... unclear... but then again, it does not quite match... ah, how strange, meow! My head hurts, meow, meow meow...”
The little girl did not understand why the cat on her head suddenly meowed in pain. She thought it was the rain splattering on her, and quickly tilted the umbrella lower.
The rain poured harder, showing no sign of easing.
The girl in black garb, under a black umbrella, slowly faded into the thick, stormy night.
“Cat-sis, then... are we just leaving like this?”
Speaking, the girl looked back toward where the Demon-Hunting knights had vanished.
Otherwise what? Demon King-sama, are you planning to defect? Do you still want to return to Demon King’s Castle and be a Demon King?!
At that thought, the black cat let out a scornful meow:
“Meow~”
...
“Huh, Deerhorn City really has so many goblins out. Good thing I have the day off. Otherwise those humans would have dragged me in for overtime...”
At Vieya’s request, Xiao Lü willingly began her work. “Ye-jie, the three great factions in the city are preparing to activate a high-tier Purification Array, to wipe out the overflowing goblins as quickly as possible.”
“I see.”
Vieya propped one hand under her chest, the other beneath her chin, her beautiful eyes fixed on the images Xiao Lü projected from within the city.
For some unknown reason, the sewers of Deerhorn City had become overrun with goblins, swarming into the streets like locusts.
The human defenders were strong, keeping them suppressed. But the fight dragged on, and casualties had already appeared.
Still, only to this degree...
Vieya paused, then asked: “In such a case, the Tribunal’s leaders would not normally approve such a money-burning tactic. A full-cover array in Deerhorn costs at least ten million gold coins for a single use. However many goblins, they could not cause that much damage. They are stingy. I learned that firsthand before.”
“True.” Xiao Lü nodded, her tone no longer cheerful. “But it seems something major has happened on the demon side. A large number of monsters rioted and fled, putting massive pressure on the southern border. Most likely they are forced by that, so they agreed.”
“The demon side...”
For most people, when monsters were mentioned, the first image was of those beings born who knows how, driven only by pure destructive instinct. Whenever humans relaxed their guard, those monsters appeared, killing at random, wiping out whoever they disliked — even their own kind...
Vieya frowned. She might now be a monster girl herself, and no longer hostile to all monsters as she once was, yet she still had no fondness for the demon side.
“Xiao Lü, leave those monsters aside for now. Help me with something else.”
