The Little Demon King is Too Bothered by Her Brave Dads - Chapter 7

It was late afternoon.

 

Kirios, who was nervously glancing toward the door, mumbled irritably, “What, why isn’t that damn kid coming today?”

 

Usually, she would stick out her head in the morning and walk around diligently while squeaking all sorts of nonsense. But today, the palace itself was quiet as a dead mouse.

 

“This is a bit….”

 

“It’s strange, right?”

 

The three men stared at each other. After that, Kirios rose up, grumbling.

 

“Oh, really, it’s annoying.” Then in a sour voice he rebuked the other two men. “What are you doing, aren’t you going to look for the child?”

 

“Didn’t you say that we should not trust that child?”

 

“That is that and this is this!” In the rush of embarrassment, Kirios lost his temper.

 

Siegfried and Cesar stood up pretending they couldn’t win against him and went to work looking for the small child they’d come to expect in the castle. However, even after searching every nook and cranny for a long time, no trace of Tatiana could be found.

 

“Where the hell did that kid go?” Kirios grunted for all to hear.

 

Listening to him, Siegfried pointed to a door in the corner.

 

“You haven’t been to that room yet, have you?”

 

The shabby door, which did not match the dazzlingly splendid demon castle, was half open. Judging by the broken doorknob, it seems that the room was originally locked.

 

Kirios, who strode forward, poked his head into the room.

 

“Hey kid. Are you here……?”

 

At that moment, Kirios eyes widened.

 

In a dirty room that smells like mold without even a little bit of sunlight, on top of an old, tattered blanket, lay a pale-faced Tatiana, curled up.

 

The three men looked at Tatiana, frozen in their tracks.

 

“What, what’s wrong with her?!”

 

The first to move was Kirios. Kirios rushed over and tried to get Tatiana up. Then he bit his lip.

 

“……….she’s got a terrible fever.”

 

The tiny body was literally a ball of fire. Her slender limbs drooped like wet laundry.

 

“Ah……….”

 

At that moment, the child struggled to open her eyes. Blurry sky-blue eyes alternately looked at the three men, then she smiled bashfully like a habit.

 

“Why did you come all the way here……?” Tatiana tried to get herself up somehow.

 

However, her weak arms without enough strength couldn’t support her body and she kept falling back.

 

Kirios, who couldn’t look at that, narrowed his forehead and scolded her.

 

“Just lie down, why do you keep trying to get up?”

 

“I-I’m familiar with this…….”

 

“What do you mean by that…….!” Kirios, who had been raising his voice reflexively, bit his molars tightly.

 

Cesar stepped into the conversation, narrowing his brows. “Kirios, stop harassing the patient.”

 

“I’m not……ha,” Kirios sighed with frustration.

 

At the same time, Tatiana’s shoulders shrank, and she spat out a strong cough.

 

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

 

She hurriedly covered her mouth with her small hands, but to no avail. Drops of blood trickled down through Tatiana’s fingers. She was vomiting blood.

 

The three men opened their eyes wide in surprise.

 

“Hey, kid!”

 

“Miss Tatiana!”

 

“Did you vomit blood just now?”

 

***

 

In response to the intense reaction of the three men, I rubbed the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand.

 

“I, this is…….”

 

I tried to wipe away the blood, but it was a mistake. Now not only my mouth, but also my cheeks were covered with blood. I looked helplessly at the horrified faces of the three men in front of me.

 

‘Why do I have to cough at a time like this……’

 

I clicked my tongue briefly.

 

‘I’m doomed.’

 

With that thought in mind, my field of vision darkened. I lost consciousness.

 

****

 

In the pitch-black darkness, the voices rang out as if they were coming from a deep cave.

 

‘It’s a disgrace to the demons that such a mongrel is a demon king.’

 

‘What if I rather kill it and wait for the devil to choose a new demon king?’

 

‘If the devil gets angry, it would be a big deal.’

 

‘That’s right, if we act as the Demon King’s proxy instead of this mongrel……’

 

I reflexively covered my ears.

 

‘I don’t want to hear it.’

 

Come to think of it, everyone I’ve met so far has hated me. It was as if the whole world was pointing fingers at me for being worthless. So, I was always curious. Could it be my own fault for being born?

 

‘I want to run away. I hate this place…. ‘

 

But then.

 

I saw three men in the distance. They were the saviors of mankind and the three warriors who freed me from the high-ranking demons.

 

‘Hey, hey! ‘

 

I started running like crazy.

 

However, the more I ran, the further away three men seemed to be.

 

‘Wait, wait a minute! ‘

 

I tried to speak out loud, but no words came out, as if someone had blocked my mouth.

 

I put strength in my legs. I was out of breath and my legs hurt as if they were going to explode. I was desperately anxious because I couldn’t reach them.

 

‘No! If you guys leave like this, I have to continue living in hell!’/living in this hellish place!’

 

Leaving the world of demons and safely becoming an adult, as well the plan to take revenge on those who bullied me. It would be all in vain!

 

Finally–

 

‘I got you! ‘

 

After a moment that felt like eternity, I was able to grab the hem of Cesar’s long priestly robe.

 

‘Don’t go! ‘

 

Three men stared at me in silence. They didn’t smile and they didn’t treat me kindly.

 

Still, the fact that they were no longer far apart somehow put my mind at ease.

 

‘Hehe. ‘

 

I could only then laugh a little.

 

***

 

“Don’t go…….”

 

With a small whisper, her slender fingers clasped at Cesar’s sleeve, who was nursing her.

 

Cesar, who had been observing Tatiana’s condition for a long time, looked down at the sleeves that were tightly gripped.

 

“……….”

 

The three were now in a luxurious bedroom that one of the five demon king’s might have used.

 

Under Cesar’s insistence that she would catch diseases if left in that shabby room, she was moved to a clean room.

 

Kirios lifted his head to look at the child and asked a question.

 

“This little kid. Can’t you heal her with divine power?”

 

“No, I can’t. She is a child with demon blood, even though her other half is human.” Cesar shook his head. “You know that demonic energy and divine power are at odds.”

 

“Well, yes. But you never know, right?” Kirios, who shrugged his shoulders, cynically added, “Why does this kid bother people so much?”

 

“Kirios, why don’t you decide to do just one thing, whether you’re talking badly or worrying about the child?”

 

“Tsk.” Kirios clicked his tongue. Kirios couldn’t take his eyes off Tatiana, even though he spoke cynically. “Why is the kid sick?”

 

“Well, Miss Tatiana herself is an extremely rare being, the one and only in the world.”

 

Cesar shook his head heavily. A mixed race individual, part human and part demon. It was a first for Cesar, who had heard various stories as a high priest so far.

 

But if Tatiana was really of mixed blood between a demon and a human….

 

“Although this is just my guess, I think Miss Tatiana’s demonic energy is attacking her own body.”

 

“What? What does that mean?”

 

“I told you the other day that Miss Tatiana’s body is almost human. But demonic energy…….” Cesar sighed and concluded, “It basically has the nature of rejecting humans.”

 

“……..”

 

“……..”

 

For a while there was a heavy silence.

 

Kirios asked again with an impatient voice, “Then how can we treat the little kid?”

 

“First of all, I think we should move toward alleviating the symptoms.”

 

“You want to use symptomatic therapy? But that doesn’t solve the cause itself, does it?”

 

“But we still can’t help it.”

 

“No, don’t just say you can’t help it….!”

 

“Then is there anyone among us who can remove Miss Tatiana’s demonic energy?”

 

At Cesar’s cold retort, Kirios and Siegfried closed their mouths.

 

Because that was impossible. It was something that even those who have reached the realm of transcendence cannot do. It was like saying that none of the humans could cure Tatiana.

 

“Then…. does that kid have to live in such pain for the rest of her life?”

 

After a little while, Kirios blurted out in an angry voice, “Isn’t there any way for her to recover completely?”

 

“Maybe it’s impossible to get completely cured with outside help,” Cesar sighed in response. “She has to overcome it herself.”

 

“That means……”

 

“Miss Tatiana has to control the demonic energy herself. There’s no other way.”

 

At that answer, Kirios and Siegfried’s faces darkened like a cloudy sky.

 

Even they, the undisputed heroes and transcendents of the world, were not confident that they could handle the demonic energy.

 

But that young and weak child could only survive by handling the demonic energy that gnawed at her body.

 

“Then, if that kid can’t control the demonic energy….”

 

Suddenly, Kirios voice was trembling slightly.

 

“…….Is she going to die?”