As the Demon King, I have married a slave elf. How should I express my love?

—I'd better give this kid a good beating first.

Barbaros ignored Sagan's cold look and patted him on the shoulder a few more times.

"So, who is that brat they're talking about? Didn't you say you weren't interested in sacrifices? So you're raising her as a pet? Don't tell me she's your new apprentice."

"...Actually, she's someone you've heard of before."

"What? She's a magician? But isn't she a woman?"

Barbarossa now crossed his arms and fell into deep thought.

"Speaking of the female magician around here, could it be Gomel from 'The Witch'? But I remember she hated men to the core, and she wasn't that kind of little girl, so what about the rest..."

Seeing Barbaros muttering to himself, Sagan breathed a sigh of relief.

—Since even he didn't notice, then Fa'er's true identity as a dragon should still be revealed.

Her dragon identity will be discovered sooner or later. When people see her perform magic... or rather, her dragon form, they will realize that she is actually Varrefar.

While these issues are unavoidable, it's too early to make them public now.

The enemy still exists.

Sagan's reputation as the "Demon Lord" has spread far and wide, and no one wants to challenge her anymore. Just as planned, magicians and paladins now understand that challenging Sagan is a losing proposition.

That being said, this is still not comprehensive enough.

There are certainly some who are eyeing the new "Demon King" with predatory intent, waiting for him to fail so they can seize the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Some magicians simply possess that kind of power.

It will take some time before those people give up their crooked ideas.

Even if measured in terms of life, the title and legacy of the "Demon King" remain incredibly alluring.

—It seems I might need to gild my resume.

Gilding—establishing a legacy strong enough to deter all magicians, ensuring they would never dare challenge Sagan again. Now, Sagan has Neferpitou and Fael to protect.

As Sagan was thinking this, Barbarossa, who was still muttering to himself, suddenly exclaimed:

"Ah! Right, Varefal!"

A wave of tension made Sagan tense up.

--Could this kid have discovered Fa'er's true colors?

Next, he asked, feigning calmness and curiosity:

"What are you talking about?"

"No, Varrefar caused you trouble before, didn't he? He was that masked, armored giant."

"...Oh, now that you mention it, that's true."

Having grown accustomed to the current Varefal, he momentarily forgot that she was the same person as the old Varefal.

"So what happened?"

Sagan feigned ignorance and asked, while Barbaross looked incredulous.

"You don't even remember something like that? I heard that guy disappeared afterward, so what happened to him? Did you take care of him?"

"What do you think? Don't you know exactly how I usually deal with intruders?"

He gave a vague answer, and Barbarossa looked up at the ceiling.

"Ugh, what a waste. There's always been a rumor that that guy was a dragon. Even if we could get our hands on his corpse, it could be used as a top-quality catalyst."

It is because of people like him that Fa'er has no choice but to hide her true identity.

Sagan nodded listlessly.

"Oh, now that you mention it, it seems like that's true."

"What? You knew about this and still threw him away? Let me check, is he dead?"

"If I'm lucky enough, I might still be alive?"

Sagan tried his best to appear relaxed, and Barbaros clicked his tongue but didn't ask any more questions.

Then Barbarossa tilted his head back and drank the ale in one gulp, and began to speak again:

"So, it's still the same old story? Okay, never mind Varrefar for now, the important thing is that brat you brought along. Who exactly is she?"

--Is this kid just pretending to know the answer...?

Despite being probed repeatedly, Sagan suppressed the urge to show his displeasure and shrugged, saying:

"...I'll leave it to you to guess. Or you can treat her as my adopted daughter."

"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp! Raising, raising a daughter... Pfft chirp chirp hahaha!"

—This kid is hopeless.

Seeing his friend laughing so hard he was almost falling over, with tears welling up in his eyes, Sagan was about to give him a good punch.

But then, Barbarossa suddenly became serious.

"Okay, I think we'll stop joking around there."

"...Finally getting to the point?"

This man isn't just bored; he wouldn't have brought Sagan out simply to chat.

"I heard a troublesome person has arrived at the church. I'm here to let you know."

"A troublesome person?"

"It's the wielder of the Holy Sword, and not that little girl from before, but someone even worse."

It seems that besides Shessty, a new Paladin Commander has arrived.

"They've sent a new holy sword. It seems the Church is starting a major operation. Do they think they can win just because I'm a novice Demon King?"

The conflict between magicians and the church has lasted for a thousand years. In such a long history, the Demon King and the Holy Sword have naturally clashed several times.

However, while the Holy Sword had once repelled the Demon King, it had no record of defeating him.

While the Holy Sword can serve as a deterrent, it cannot kill the Demon King—a consensus shared by both magicians and the Church. Therefore, it's quite logical for the Church to seize this opportunity to overturn this perception.

Barbaros looked embarrassed.

"But the chances of winning this time are hard to say. The paladin commander who came to report is said to be a ruthless character, the paladin commander who has annihilated the most magicians in history."

"...That sounds absolutely appalling."

"Isn't that right? I heard he's killed 499 magicians so far. I don't know what he dislikes about magicians, but he kills one every three days on average. I bet he came here this time to celebrate you as the 500th person!"

The enormous number made Sagan frown.

If the figures were released by the church, they might be somewhat exaggerated or inaccurate, but Barbarossa was not the kind of person who would fabricate numbers.

Sagan lowered his head and snorted.

"This is truly strange. Even if he is the wielder of the Holy Sword, is it really possible for him to single-handedly kill nearly five hundred magicians?"

"Magician" is just a general term. But there is a world of difference in power between a novice magician with only basic skills and a potential demon king.

Assuming the Demon King candidate possesses ten thousand "circuits," then the novice magician, fresh out of school, might only have a hundred at most. Even if he killed a hundred novices, he still wouldn't be a match for the Demon King candidate. Since he's killed five hundred people, he must have fought the Demon King candidate once or twice.

In addition, among those candidates for Demon King, there are also magicians like Barbaross who possess more than 20,000 "circuits".

In truth, if we're only talking about magician skills, this hopeless man before us is superior to Sagan. Although Shisty, who recently fought Sagan, hasn't yet unleashed her true power, if she were to fight this potential demon king, she probably wouldn't escape unscathed.

—Could it be that besides the Holy Sword, he has some other hidden techniques?

Just as Sagan was wondering what was going on, Barbaros put down his glass and laughed.

"Regarding this matter, I heard that he once slew and ate a dragon."

"...?"

This almost made Sagan stand up.

"Are you telling the truth?"

"Yes. The Church doesn't allow dragon hunting, so this isn't official news, but it seems the claim that he killed a dragon is true. Since he possesses dragon power, killing five hundred magicians isn't impossible, is it?"

—Damn it. So that's what happened.

Sagan cursed inwardly.

--How is it wrong for magicians to dislike paladins?

Fael and the paladin were irreconcilable enemies, and from the day she met her, she was unusually obsessed with the pursuit of power, unlike what one would expect from a magician or a dragon.

There is a paladin here who has slain dragons.

While it's not yet certain that this is true, it would be naive to expect luck that the two events are unrelated.

Thinking of this, Sagan glanced sideways at Barbaros.

"You've been quite generous with your messages today."

"Well, I was thinking of offering something as an apology for what happened last time. I now think it's better to stand by your side than to hold a grudge against you."

"...You really have the nerve to say that."

Sagan looked like he couldn't stand him anymore, and he poured Sagan another glass of brandy.

"I'm quite a talent, you know? Having me as a helper should be good for you."

"If you are a commendable person, I might trust you more... So, what do you want?"

Sagan asked while drinking his brandy, and Barbaros chuckled twice.

"Should I manage the legacy of the Supreme Elder? He's a magician who's lived for a thousand years, after all. His legacy must be enormous. You definitely can't manage it all by yourself, right?"

Having his sore spot touched, Sagan could no longer hide the gloom on his face.

But his response showed no confusion.

"don't want."

"Why?!"

"...You'll definitely hide things you don't want me to see, right?"

"Isn't that obvious? What's wrong with it?"