The Cleric’s Disturbance And “Sasumaō!” (As Expected Of The Demon King!)

While Alec and Liricia were spending an intensely intimate night together…

In one corner of the capital, under the night sky, a female mage carrying a staff walked with a bottle of liquor dangling from her hand.

The wide brim of her pointed hat swayed.

She headed toward the clergy residence near the church—an apartment-style building where clerics and nuns lived.

As if she were perfectly familiar with the place, she greeted the gatekeeper casually, passed through the grounds, and climbed the stairs of the building.

She stopped at a room on the second floor and knocked.

“Sou-chan, you in there?”

The door clicked open, revealing a female cleric in her robes.

“What brings you here?”

“I heard you’re feeling down. You took the day off again today, right?”

“I am fine. I will return to work tomorrow.”

The cleric tried to close the door, but the mage wedged her staff between it and the frame.

The cleric opened her mouth to complain, but the mage spoke first.

“I heard Alec did something amazing again! They say he found a gathering place for a wicked deity.”

“What!?”

Caught off guard by the sudden news, the cleric froze—allowing the mage to push the door open and slip inside.

Then the mage raised the liquor bottle triumphantly.

“Tadaaa! When you’re hurting, you drink and forget!”

“N-no! I cannot! I am a cleric—I serve the god! I cannot indulge in luxury! Please leave!”

An hour later

Inside the small, simple room, the cleric and the mage sat on the floor around a low table.

Two cups filled with alcohol sat beside a plate of sliced ham.

The cleric slammed the table with her palm, her face bright red.

“It’s trueee! Alec-san is sooo amazing! But it’s not love—I’m just comfortable around himmm!”

“Hey, you drank too much! So being turned down really shocked you, huh?”

“I was NOT rejected! I’m just… just… ughhh, I don’t understand anything anymore!”

The cleric grabbed her head with both hands and shook wildly, her blue hair flying everywhere.

The mage sipped her drink and laughed.

“That’s totally love~. I mean, he’s the type who works quietly, so he’d be boring as a boyfriend, but if you married someone like him, he’d be dependable. But Sou-chan, when you were around Alec, you held his hand, touched his arm, leaned on him—you were soooo clingy.”

“Huh!? I-I did that!? …Oh nooo, I can’t believe myself…”

The cleric turned even redder and covered her face with her hands.

The mage giggled and twirled her hat in her fingers.

“You never notice your own stuff like that—I get it, I get it. And that’s why you were so stunned when you saw him holding hands with that other woman, right?”

“Yes! It really shocked me… something black and ugly just welled up inside me—like fwoooosh all over my heart… ahhh!”

The cleric clawed at her blue hair in distress.

And at that moment—bruiselike marks spread across her face.

Not just black—an ugly mix of blue, red, and green blotches crept from her neck, up her left cheek, and began to cover the left side of her face.

The mage’s eyes flew wide.

“Wh-what!? Sou-chan!! What is that!? What’s happening!?”

“Huh!? Wh-what?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me! Look—!”

The mage grabbed a small hand mirror nearby and held it up.

The moment the cleric saw her reflection, she screamed.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Her scream shook the entire building.

The door suddenly burst open and an older nun rushed in.

“You are being far too loud, Sister Soficia! How long do you—what is that on your face!? Is that… a curse!?”

“D-don’t look at me! Don’t loooook!”

But the nun ran out into the hallway shouting.

“Everyone! It’s terrible! A curse! Soficia has been cursed!”

“No! These bruises suddenly appeared two days ago…! I used Curse Dispel over and over and it seemed okay—uwaaaaah!”

The cleric burst into tears.

The mage gently rubbed her back with a saddened expression, but the cleric would not stop crying.

Meanwhile, in the Demon Realm…

Inside the half-ruined Demon King’s Castle, a gaunt man in black clothes and a black cape looked out over a wide hall.

Despite the castle’s damaged exterior, the interior had been carefully restored—naturally, to deceive human eyes.

In the hall below, an entire battalion of massive soldiers stood lined up.

The Demon King’s eyes gleamed.

“Hmph, so these are the Demon Death Soldiers.”

The goblin mage at his side rubbed his hands eagerly.

“Yes, Demon King-sama! They are ultra-powerful undead units made from the corpses of human Sword Saints, War Gods, and Sages, reinforced with demon, monster, and giant remains! And the best part: no food cost, no wages, no maintenance required while idle!”

“Fuhahaha! You’ve thought this through well, Archmage Gorb! As expected of my right hand. Whether Alec dies soon is still uncertain. But this is too few! Make more! Many more! Without humans noticing!”

“Leave it to me, Demon King-sama! I will create another ten thousand within ten years!”

“Excellent! Continue the good work! Fuhahahaha!”

Gorb smiled gleefully at the praise.

—Then suddenly—

A bat flew through the window.

Gorb caught it, and it transformed into a letter.

As he read, his expression turned from serious to astonished, and he shouted:

“M-Maou-sama! Big news!”

“What is it?”

“‘Demonic Reincarnation ~ Banished from the Kingdom and Slaughtered, I Became a Demon and Rose to Power While Building a Multi-Species Harem!’ has gone into reprint for all volumes! It has now passed one hundred million copies worldwide!”

The Demon King threw his head back and laughed triumphantly.

“Fuhahaha! It has come at last! Since I am unable to act openly as Demon King, I sought to corrupt humanity culturally! And how are the survey results!?”

“Before the series began, only 0.01% of people wanted to be demons or live in the Demon Realm! But now—seven percent say they might have preferred being born demon and living freely!”

“Fuhahaha! Behold, humans! This is the Demon King’s power! I snared your hearts with literature!”

“As expected of you, Demon King-sama!”

Gorb twirled in excitement.

But the Demon King suddenly looked pained and covered his face dramatically.

“Twenty years of hardship… unable to operate as Demon King… my subordinates starving… So I wrote books, built printing presses for work, and had my shapeshifters run the worldwide bookstore chain ‘Maomao’ to sustain themselves… At last! My efforts bear fruit!”

“Yes, Demon King-sama! You expanded into manga, children’s books, even picture books! Now even small children playing in empty lots choose Demon King role-play over Hero role-play!”

“Kuhahaha! Children can sense the truth—that the Demon King is the one worthy of admiration! Let us imprint my greatness into the young of every species! Fuhahaha!”

“And with one hundred million copies sold, the influence is certain!”

Gorb beamed with devotion.

To be precise, those numbers included copies purchased by monsters and demons too—but they still sold, so it was not a lie.

Truly, the Demon King’s methods were “mature.”

The Demon King suddenly gasped.

“That’s it! If I publish another story claiming the Demon King is superior to the Hero, it will spread even further! How about this idea, Gorb!? The Demon King disguises himself as a hero and walks the world freely!”

“As expected, Demon King-sama! But heroes and demon kings are natural enemies—without an antagonist, the story lacks tension!”

“Hmm… Then what about this? Another Demon King from another world tries to conquer everything! Our Demon King awakens, becomes the Hero, manipulates humans as he pleases, defeats the otherworldly Demon King, and gets praised immensely! All while building a harem and gaining legal control of humanity!”

“As expected of you, Demon King-sama! That would sell a million—no, ten million copies easily!”

“Fuhaha! My evil ideas arise instantly—truly terrifying!”

“Yes! Terrifying indeed!”

“For the title… ‘Being a Hero Isn’t Easy ~ Why? Because I’m the Demon King!’ Perfect!”

“That will surely sell, Demon King-sama!”

“Of course! Then I must begin writing the new series immediately! It will be over ten volumes! Fuhahahaha!”

The Demon King swirled his cape grandly and strode toward his chambers.

His joyous laughter echoed throughout the crumbling castle.

“Three days until Demon King-sama cries and runs.”