I Am Demon Lord In This Life
06 - Cold Torch

"I've been waiting for your arrival, Lord"

"Who are you?" ask me in a cold tone and put on a full face search. I was already on my guard and thinking about all the possibilities, but how could he know about me?

"Ohoho, you don't have to be that wary, Lord. I didn't come to make a fuss or try to hurt you. I rushed to Yurwen after finding out about your arrival and brought some information for you" the man continued.

"Information?"

"Yes, Lord. The great war for our race is coming soon, the death of the previous Lord is his mark. I know you're busy looking for information about the culprit, but you've been wrong with the concept from the start, Lord." Obviously the man with the straw hat while lowering his legs.

"What do you mean exactly? How can I trust you?" I started interrogating him.

"Before the torch gets too cold, we must immediately start the torch fire again. This endless long passageway, required at least a little of light. That way, hope will keep coming."

That sentence, the one my father used to say to me. The only thing that kept me from retreating to look for my father's killer even though there wasn't a clue the last year.

"Who are you really?" I grit my teeth. Naturally, anyone who could say that long sentence back, must be someone close to my father.

"It's too fast and dangerous to reveal it now, Lord. We'll see each other often after this so sooner or later you'll know my identity" the man continued, standing from his seat and disappearing after finishing his sentence.

"Lord, are you okay?" asked Arce shortly after I returned.

"I'm doing fine. For now, let's go back. I'll explain on the way" I continued in a hurry to get out of the tavern.

The words that the straw hat man said about me being mistaken that concept made my premonition uneasy. I think I missed a few things until I was blinded. Forget about her being trustworthy or not, but what if I had been wrong in looking for her from the start??

"Arce, Anne, we might be busy after this. I'll re-examine our search. Right from the start, I probably missed something important" I told him as we were on our way back to Styx.

"We will do whatever you ask, Lord. Loyalty and our lives belong to you, Lord."

After that I decided to go back to Styx. I've been talking about the information I've got despite the ambiguity of Arce and Anne. That's why they say they're gonna find out the identity of the guy who met me last night.

But once we got to Styx, an event happened again. From the mountain behind the west side, a huge landslide occurred and caused damage to the side of the gate and some Demon villages on the border.

"Anne, send your troops. We have to evacuate the citizens"

"Good, Lord."

"Arce, protect and create a temporary defense gate. There'll be plenty of creatures trying to break in, so take care of that one."

When we arrived at Styx, I went straight to the west side. The broken gate turned out to be worse than I thought, fortunately Alvic who was strengthening the gate defense immediately knew the news and had taken some life-threatening precautions.

"Thank you for your work, Alvic. I'm gonna take over now. In that case, please take care of the food and shelter problems of the citizens" I told Alvic who was at the scene.

Meanwhile from a distance, Arce came quickly. It flew using its wings at high speed.

"What's wrong?" my many.

"The Goblins came and offered help. They said they couldn't stand by while Styx, who had helped them, needed help" Arce reported.

"Citizens will feel a little uncomfortable in the current situation. They might have hit it too. Did you explain this to the Goblins?" I'm obviously a little worried.

"Already, Lord. But they kept insisting, they said it wasn't a big deal" Arce continued.

"Yes, let them. But please keep an eye on them always, if the situation suddenly worsens, take them back to the mountain."

That's what I thought before, but it turned out to be better than I thought. After solving some problems, I returned to the west of Styx, I found the Goblins working and helping out well.

"At first the citizens were a little uncomfortable because of their presence. But it only lasted a moment, Lord. The Goblins help very well, they work so hard that the citizens approach them first."

Yep, good to hear that. After the Harley incident, I announced about the Goblins I let live on Mount Styx. The topic was warm for some time because they were afraid that I would be deceived. But now it looks like it will be different.

Styx shuts itself off from the outside but not completely so. We are demons, also creatures who like to socialize. We just do it in a different way to protect the demons.

It is often misunderstood, but it all depends on which side we look at the situation. One point of view alone is not enough to decide a person's place.

...****************...

"Ohoho, it turns out we don't have to worry about those Goblins. They help us very well. I also had a chance to talk to one of them, it turns out they have a story that is so bad and heartbreaking" explained Leon half drunk at the Bar where he used to visit.

"True, the search for victims also took place quickly because of their wild Indra. We need to thank those Goblins" said his friend sitting next to him.

"So that's it, great. I think it's good for us too" I said immersed in their conversation. Again while eating some snacks of these delicious nuts.

"Ehh?? Lord?!! Why are you going to the bar again?!! You're not old enough yet, hiks" cried Leon while burping.

"I just stopped by and looked at the state of the city as usual. The pea snacks in the castle are also gone, I came to buy them" My chirps were upset.

While we were talking and joking, Arce suddenly appeared with a worried face. It's not usual for Arce to come see me at my break. Is there something bad going on?

"What's wrong?" I asked Arce, then took him out of the bar.

"It wasn't a natural disaster, Lord. A Goblin goes in search of food up the mountain and there she finds a strange trail and reports it to Anne. Then, as Anne and I examined it, the trail was a deliberate ruin. Someone has attacked Styx, Lord."