Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle - Chapter 196-1

196 – Stepping Foot onto my Hometown (Part 1)

A few more days after leaving the hot spring village.

We finally reached the hometown of my birth around the evening.

A crowd of villagers gathered.

The investigative team’s carriage stops in front of the village, and Maggie descends to obtain permission for passage and for some of the personnel to stay.

We talked in advance, but it is important for representatives from both sides to greet each other when there is a gathering of people.

Not having one greatly changes the impression the villagers will have of the investigation team.

At Maggie’s insistence, I followed her down towards the village’s entrance.

Perhaps she is considering that people will calm down if they see a familiar face among the additional personnel of strangers.

「Goodness…! Is that you, Lem?」

It was the village elder who was already a fairly old man when Fenix and I were children. About ten years have passed since we left the village, he’s still as healthy as ever.

「It has been a long time, I’m glad you are looking well.」

It’s thanks to this person setting up the TV in the village assembly hall that I first encountered Dungeon Clears.

Good and bad things happened in this village, but when I look upon this person, I recall all the good things.

My expression naturally relaxes.

「Look at how you’ve grown… To think that little leader of the pack would grow into this.」

「Aah…ahaha.」

I certainly am quite different now.

I don’t want him to mention it too much in front of everyone. It’s kind of embarrassing.

「You look better now than you did when I saw you on the TV. I was worried, but it looks like I didn’t have to.」

I guess he’s talking about the Clear videos when I was still in the Fenix party.

「Thank you very much.」

「Oh stop with the formality. It feels like there’s a wall between us.」

「No, I…heh, yeah. I’m home, gramps.」

「Welcome home, Lem.」

The villagers started getting noisy.

I introduced Maggie to the elder, and when I went away from them a little, I was caught in a throng of villagers.

There were many nostalgic faces, and the conversations were lively.

I was welcomed relatively well by the people who were already adults while I was growing up.

The adults in the countryside village collectively raise the children of the village, perhaps not to the level of their own child, but they still treat them well.

The ones who openly changed their attitude towards me when I became a Black Sorcerer were the kids who I thought were my friends at the time.

Speaking of, I see the familiar faces of a trio of people coming this way.

「Well, if it isn’t the grand return of the self-proclaimed hero.」

「Hmm? But aren’t those Black Sorcerer clothes?」

「Hey, where’s that crybaby Fenix, huh? Oh, that’s right, he tossed you aside like yesterday’s garbage.」

These three are the ones who especially picked on Fenix.

In other words, they’re the three I fought with the most.

…Hmm. It’s not like I plan to set a trap for them in the forest or brawl with them until we’re covered in mud after all this time.

I could just smile politely and let it go, but something one of them said ticked me off a little.

I’m used to people saying things about me, so I don’t care, but I can’t stand idly by while my best friend is made fun of.

「Right now, Fenix is leading the world’s 4th ranked party. Also, our relationship hasn’t changed in the slightest. So you have no reason to laugh.」

I smile.

I release just a little of my Magical Energy.

Enough to feel a slight pressure, but not harm.

That one person’s expression changed, and stepped back in surprise.

「B-but it’s true…!」

Before I could open my mouth, a voice called out to me.

「Is something the matter, darling?」

It was Milla.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Milla’s Lover performance.

Gazing at me like she’s madly in love while holding onto me in a way that my right arm is sandwiched between her breasts.

「Are these your friends? My name is Milla, and I am very intimate with my darling here.」

The three of them were shocked.

「D-da-da-da-darling…?!」「She’s so pretty!」「No way… Her? With him…?」

I heard Milla let out a small laugh.

「Le~m. Hurry up and show us around~. You got a secret base or something? Can you bring me along?」

Sitri wraps around my left arm the same way as Milla does.

「Th-the Demon of Love Sitri?!」「Sh-she’s so cute!」「Why is she so close to Lem?! Sh-she said bring her along…」

When our eyes met, she winked at me. She seems to be doing the same thing as Milla.

「Practice with me, Sir Lem. I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the night.」

Furcus, who walked in front of me, puts her arm around my waist.

「Th-the Reaper Knight Furcus?!」「She so small, but so big!」「Midnight practice… What the hell… Dammit…!」

Looks like even Furcus is going along with it. She has no expression, but I know this is one of her unexpected jokes.

「Oh that simply won’t do, Miss Black Knight. Lem has a prior engagement to discuss magic with me all night.」

Says Merlin as she presses her breasts against my back and wraps her arms around my neck.

「Th-the Wizard of Foresight Merlin?!」「S-she’s so sexy!」「Talking about magic all night…? Goddammit…!」

These three seem to be stuck on the same surprise pattern.

「My my, is there no room for me? You absolute cad, Sir Lem.」

Even Maggie joined in.

「Th-the Thousand Form Summoner Margret?!」「She’s so pure!」「This many of them… Lem…just what are you…?」

I understand what Milla was thinking.

For some reason or other, these people just want to say mean things.

So it would be meaningless to give them a sound argument or respond emotionally. The words won’t sink in.

So in that case, Milla chose to create an enviable situation.

It is true that I am a Black Sorcerer, and that I left the Fenix party. It’s a perfect target for them.

However, witnessing the state of me being sought after by a beautiful lover or several beautiful and powerful individuals, any snide remarks said would be ineffective. They thought that it would have been nice to make a fool of me, but they would lose interest at the sight of me at the height of happiness right in front of their eyes.

It’s embarrassing doing this in front of everyone else, but everyone did this in consideration for me, so I’m happy.

「Lem…you’re in a pretty enviable predicament.」

Ex laughs as he approaches.

The villagers got even noisier.

「Are your parents here? This would be a great opportunity to greet them.」

Even Arthur is here, which elicited a high-pitched cheer from the ladies. He responds to said cheers with a smile.

When I looked back at the trio, they were gone.

「…Originally, I wanted to tear them limb from limb, but I didn’t want to stain the ground of Lem’s hometown with blood. I had to put up with it by resorting to this… By the way… Could you all please step away from Lem?」

All three of them gripped me tighter with cheerful expressions on their face, well, except Furcus, who had no expression as usual.

「…I’m hungry.」

「Aw, but I wanna get to know Lem better~」

「The Magical Energy you released earlier was an exquisite display of Magical Energy regulation. You kept it at a level that would cause ordinary people with no resistance to feel fear but not know why for just a moment.」

「The three of you are famous! Won’t your association with Lem cause suspicion?」

Right now, Milla is the only one who is participating as an average person.

The other three are well-known Adventurers and Monsters, whose appearance is known to the public.

But these three didn’t seem to care one bit. Maggie was her usual self, smiling from a place slightly away from us.

「Everyone, thank you very much for just now. But I think it’s about time you let go of me. I mean, what if my parents were to see-」

「Lem?」

…this.

In the exact spot where the trio was just now, stood my parents.

My mother, calling her own son’s name, had a very confused look on her face. I suppose if the roles were reversed, I would have reacted the same way.

Milla hurriedly let go of me and gave her best modest smile.

「…Hi, I’m home.」

Uhm… When Fenix graduated and came back home, I followed him and showed my face to my parents just once, which was about seven years ago…

「He’s home he says… That…」

That is probably referring to me being coiled around by multiple beautiful women.

Just as I thought my mom looked a little faint, she started falling backward.

「Mom…?!」