Ex-Hero, Now Freeloader - Chapter 11 – The Hero’s Debut at the Park

The Demon King’s daughter says her name is Myuri.

Normally she has a busy day of eating breakfast, taking private tutoring lessons, taking a nap, and playing with her older brother.

However, there has been a change in her daily life recently.

Her brother was enrolled into some magic academy and he’s busy with schoolwork.

It isn’t fun playing by herself, and the maids are too careful due to who she is so they don’t play with their all.

Which is when she heard the sounds of us playing and came here.

「Huh, so you have an older brother. He was next to your old man, right?」

「Yup.」

After I arrived at the Demon King Castle with Eleanor, I went to say hello.

At first, I thought it would be like meeting a human king where I have to get on one knee and mumble things like「Yes, your highness.」or「You honor me, your highness.」and then it would be over, but the old man Demon King deliberately listened to my circumstances and…wept.

After that, he hugged me tightly, saying「You can stay as long as you like」,「If you ever feel lonely, you can call me papa.」, and other such warm words, which shocked me instead.

I was told that the reason I must fight is that some warlike Demons were still seeking to expand their territory, fought for fighting’s sake, or even that they were unforgivable.

…The people of this country don’t even want to go to war with humans.

Apparently, there are two kinds of people who go to the Human Realm from Makai.

Those that are tired of their present hell of war, war, and nothing but war, and come over seeking peace.

This country gathers such Demons and reinvigorates them.

And those that wish to bring war, war, and nothing but war to the Human Realm. The kind that lives only to fight and is incomprehensible.

To the bosses of those kinds of people, territory is like a trophy, and they don’t care what happens to the land as long as they can get it.

…Even if that land is a troubling land filled with miasma.

This may sound obvious, but they have a lot more detailed information than the Human Territory, so that helps a lot.

Well, anyway, the Demon King of this country is a good guy.

We are now heading to the park under the guidance of Myuri.

「I heard he was around my age, but do you go to the magic academy when you’re fifteen?」

Myuri nodded her head.

Incidentally, the other kids were happily talking amongst themselves, clinging to me, or trying to touch Mika. She’d get angry and yell『Hey, stop that!』.

「Yeah. Cos it’s dangerous to use magic.」

「Ah, that’s true.」

Even someone with the crest of the Hero like me failed a lot in the beginning.

「But mister Hero used magic when you were little, right?」

「Hm? I guess. Cos there was a magic teacher and someone who could heal any injury right away.」

Even if I got injured when I failed, the Saint would heal me right up.

Under the Sage’s supervision, even magic that can normally be dangerous when out of control can avoid causing a disaster.

There were members of the group who could do dangerous things without causing damage to the surroundings.

Even if I was healed…it still hurt, so I did my best to learn the spell as fast as possible.

「Was it fun learning magic?」

「Not at all. How about you, Myuri? Are your private tutoring classes fun?」

Myuri shook her head.

「See? Magic is the same. Studying is inherently boring. But…」

But it’s purely because of those boring lessons and harsh training that my battles could end with minimal casualties.

I…didn’t hate the words of gratitude directed at me or the looks of relief on their faces when they realized they were saved.

So it was boring, but it was not in vain.

「Hm?」

Myuri looked up at me with cute, round eyes.

「No, it’s nothing. So, why did you ask me that?」

As soon as I asked that, she got sad.

「Big bro likes studying magic more than…me…」

「What a weird guy.」

『You dumbass. People can’t normally use magic. You need the talent to create and manipulate mana, and an excellent teacher. That alone makes it precious, and something most countries want. Even this country needs the power to protect itself, and since he’s the son of the Demon King, he has a responsibility toward his country.』

There certainly are few magic users on either the enemy side or the allied side.

Even the Swordmaster that can cleave anything can’t use magic at all.

The presence or absence of talent for magic itself is vital.

「In that case, your bro’s a really great guy.」

「Eh?」

「Cos he’s studying hard now in order to protect people in the future.」

Myuri looked up at me for a while after hearing those words.

「……Yeah.」

She said in the end, nodding.

Well, even if it might make sense in your head, it won’t ease your feelings.

「About not being able to play with your brother… Why not play with me and the others?」

「…! Yeah!」

Finally, there’s a smile.

After exiting the building, we walked for a bit and arrived at a wide-open space.

The sunlight was gentle and the breeze felt good.

I thought for sure that the innermost parts of the Demon Territory would be even worse, but I guess it isn’t completely filled with miasma just because it’s Demon Territory.

「Ah, Mistress Myuri! We’ve been looking for you!」

「…You escaped while I was in the bathroom… You mustn’t run away from your escorts, Mistress Myuri.」

In this wide space, there were various pieces of…equipment? The children ran around screaming with joy.

It seems they knew how to use those things.

I will observe their movements and commit them to memory.

Now then.

On to the maids.

The short one with red hair that has a curl was a little panicked.

The one that resembles Ferris but with timid black hair and a stooping posture seemed slightly bitter.

Each of them found Myuri and approached her.

Myuri quickly scurried behind me.

「Ah… H-H-Hero?!」

She had branching horns, scales here and there, and a thick tail.

Apart from that, she looks human.

The red-haired one is a Dragonkin.

「…! …M-master Rain…」

The black-haired one still reminds me of Ferris. She is a Majin just like her. Also, her eyes widened when she saw me.

I guess they’re the two maids assigned to Myuri.

「I just ran into her not too long ago. She led us here and I was just about to have her teach me how to use this park…」

『I shouldn’t really say this now but this is different from a park. It’s within the royal palace, so definitely not a place common people can enter.』

Myuri called it a park, so don’t sweat the details.

「Urgh… Well, so long as you’re with His Highness or the kind master Hero that mistress Eleanor trusts… But you cannot just go wherever you please, okay?」

Said the red-haired maid with a complex look on her face.

「…Mistress Myuri…nice… I finally have the chance…」

Said the black-haired maid to herself.

I have no idea what the black-haired maid is talking about, but the other one is right. The latter half, at least.

「Anything to say?」

I call out to her, Myuri peeks her head out.

「Sorry.」

「……Alright. I suppose we’re no better since we both let her get away… Ahaha…」

「Don’t be so down on yourself, Azla. Mistress Myuri has tremendous physical abilities despite being young.」

「If you didn’t take so long in the bathroo-mrgh!」

「Don’t say that in front of master Rain…」

The black-haired maid covered the mouth of the red-haired maid called Azla.

『This black-haired one… She has a fair amount of mana. She appears to just be an escort… but a little clumsy.』

Certainly not as much as Eleanor, but she has considerable ability.

Putting that aside.

「Let’s go, Myuri. You want to mix in with everyone, right?」

「Yeah.」

With my eyes, the eyes of a Hero, I have already grasped how to use all the equipment within this park.

You climb the stairs and slide down the slight slope.

You sit on the board that’s tied on both ends with rope, suspended from a post, and swing with all your might.

One person rides each end of a giant lever and they alternate going up and down.

There’s a compartmentalized area with sand packed into it.

As of now, I have no idea how to enjoy them, but these are things that must be experienced in order to know.

Let’s unravel the mysteries of this place called a park.

『Well, as long as you’re having fun. …Hey, wait, why are you leaving me behind?!』

「I think you might get caught in a lot of these contraptions…」

『I’m your partner! I should be with you through thick and thin!』

Mika wouldn’t shut up, so I attached her to my back.

Azla looked at us while holding back her laughter and the black-haired maid stared with a fiery passion.