The Small-Town Girl Becomes the Demon King (EP 37): No one will join our party…

T/N: I’ll be going back and updating the pages with their chapter titles, to mark specific arcs in the story.

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Meanwhile, with the Heroes…

Eliza, the Hero who met with the Sage and received the stigma, was moving from town to town trying to gather allies. Along the way, she met a fellow Hero Descendant, Dorothy, and a traveling wizard, Maria, and added them to her group. Now, she’s heading to a tavern for travelers to further bolster their strength.

“I’ve posted a quest with the Guild, will others be joining us?” Maria asked as they sat around drinking mugs full of beer.

“We’ll see,” Eliza said. “But if they don’t take to that one, we’ll just post another.”

“But Eliza, I hear that the Demon King has greatly expanded her control recently,” Dorothy said. “It’s only a matter of time before the whole world falls into her hands.”

“We can’t afford to rush, Dorothy,” Eliza said. “If we do, our loss is guaranteed. Don’t forget that both of us have already been defeated once.”

“Guh… Demon King, I’ll never forgive you for humiliating me like that,” Dorothy said.

She recalled her loss against Merle, of being stripped of her clothes and left in her underwear, of her Hero’s Pride being damaged, and the psychological trauma that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

“I’m here for the Guild quest, are you the clients?” a muscular, well-seasoned traveler said as he appeared before the three. “What monsters are we slaying, exactly?” he asked as he placed the notice on the table.

“We’re going to slay the Demon King,” Eliza replied.

“You want to slay the Demon King?” the man asked.

“That’s right,” Eliza said. “We’re raising an army to destroy her and save the world.”

“Unfortunately, this quest isn’t for me,” the man said. “It sounds like bad news.”

He crumpled up the notice and hurried on out of the tavern.

“Did he get scared when he heard that we’re aiming for the Demon King?” Eliza asked.

“Maybe it was wrong to write that it’s just a monster-slaying quest?” Maria asked.

They could understand the fear and hesitation at the mention of the Demon King. It was going to be a lottery but they stayed in the bar, hoping there might still be interested parties.

“Sorry to disturb you, are you the clients for this quest?”

Next up was a woman who looked like a painter, holding a wand and a brush, her clothes splattered with various types of paint.

“We are,” Eliza said. “Are you applying?”

“Ah, my name is Attai, I’m a traveling painter. I see you’re going to slay some monsters and I’d like to see how well my art magic works against them. Can you tell me what your target is?”

“We’re aiming to slay the Demon King,” Eliza said.

“The Demon King?!” Attai sputters. “Why her…?!”

“Why doesn’t she want to defeat her?” the heroes wondered.

Fear of the name is natural as she’s the Demon King, it’s only a matter, of course, to keep the world from falling into her hands.

However, this woman’s eyes just went wide with surprise.

“The Demon King is trying to conquer us, isn’t it right to try to stop her?” Eliza asked.

“Hmm! That may be true but I can’t take this quest,” Attai said.

“Hold up a minute, why?” Eliza asked.

“Why? Don’t you know anything about the Demon King’s rule?”

“Oh, I know all about that,” Eliza said. “The monsters are spreading around the world and the people are suffering. I have to stop them…”

Attai snatched Maria’s beer, downed it, and slammed the mug down on the table. As Maria peered into her stolen drink, she teared up as she saw not even a drop was left.

“That’s the story so far!” Attai said. “But this current Demon King is different. Rather than expanding her territory to dominate the inhabitants, she’s doing no such thing; instead, she’s helping the people.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you know that the Demon King conquered the capital? And the surrounding towns are thriving instead of being threatened by the demons? The heavy taxes are gone and what we do pay is barely a pittance and when she heard that a town would take years to recover, she sent soldiers and supplies. Aren’t we living a much better life than under the previous King?”

“That’s impossible…”

“She saved me as well,” Attai said. “I’m from Fort Coast, have you heard of the name?”

“That abandoned town? I heard it’s going to collapse soon enough.”

“Oh, it was on the verge of that,” Attai replied. “What do you think the Demon King did when she heard the story of Fort Coast? She sent three doctors from the city. No, not just them, there were so many carriages in time. I was ill at the time and thought I was hallucinating but instead, I was rescued and cured.

“She sent doctors?” Eliza asked. “Hiring their services should cost a significant sum of money.”

“Her Majesty sent them for free. The carriages were already loaded with medicine and supplies. And I recovered thanks to those doctors as did the rest of the town. Everyone is now recovering and looking forward to a bright future.”

“Do you expect us to believe any of this?!” Dorothy shouted as she shot up from her seat.

As the eyes of everyone else in the tavern turned on her, Dorothy made a clenched fist and sat back down.

“If you don’t believe me, just go look with your own eyes,” Attai said. “In so many words, I’m indebted to the Demon King. I can’t possibly raise a weapon against her. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Do you expect anyone to believe that…?” Dorothy muttered as she continued clenching her fist, looking away from Attai.