It seed this battle festival was going to be anything but quiet.
The final tournant of the battle festival had arrived. The matchups were, surprisingly, a fight between Vertis and Milim. However, magic was strictly forbidden. In other words, it would co down to a straight-up physical brawl.
"Then, the first round begins!!"
At the referee's shout, the fighters' fists collided.
"How dull."
"Well, it's not exactly boring entertainnt."
After three matches ended in such a fashion, the final bout finally began.
"Then, the last match! Verdachi versus Mili!"
"Hey, isn't that just a little girl?"
"But didn't she blow the other contestants away in the preliminaries...?"
The crowd murmured as they watched Milim. To those who didn't know she was an awakened demon lord, she looked like nothing more than a young girl.
"Then, the match begins!!"
"This place is too small for us to fight in."
Milim grumbled at the size of the arena, while Vertis casually began to loosen his fingers.
Crack, snap, pop.
"Then here I go!"
Vertis threw the first punch at Milim. However, Milim didn't suffer so much as a scratch. Then ca her counterattack.
Milim drove a fist straight into his stomach, and Vertis was sent reeling backward, coughing up blood.
After that, the two of them began attacking each other with the intent to kill. In terms of pure physical strength, Milim was superior to Vertis. However, Vertis covered that gap with sheer grit.
He hurled his left fist straight out with all his might, but Milim caught his hand and tossed him away like a scrap of paper.
"Take this!"
As Vertis's body plumted toward the ground, he used the impact of his landing to spring back and launch a counterattack. The blow connected cleanly, sending Milim staggering back.
"Hahaha, this is great! Fighting you really is different from fighting anyone else!"
"Then, shall I start getting serious...?"
Their battle reached a speed too fast for the eye to follow, driving the spectators to flee the venue in terror. Vertis blocked Milim's fist with one hand, then imdiately followed with a kick. Even after taking the hit, she didn't retreat, answering with another thunderous punch. Blood splashed and fierce sparks flew in every direction.
The shockwaves from their clash split the ground apart, and the impact from their colliding fists sent the remaining spectators flying.
When Milim casually swung her sword, the earth cracked open and a trendous shockwave erupted. When Vertis brought his fist down, the arena shattered like a broken mirror.
Due to the aftermath of their intense fight, the festival was ruined and the arena disappeared without a trace. In the end—
"YOU ARE BANNED FROM ENTERING!!!"
Vertis and Milim were both banned from the village on the spot. As he left, Vertis thought of the kingdom of the elves where he had once stayed. Back then, he had left of his own accord. This ti, he was being kicked out...
"We got kicked out."
"That's how it is."
In the end, the two of them left the village. On the way back, they made a bet over who could catch the bigger prey for dinner. Thirty minutes later, Milim's catch was a cockatrice. It looked like a chicken, but unlike a normal bird, it had wings and a snake for a tail; like dusa, it was known to petrify anyone who t its eyes. It was a dangerous magical beast, but Milim killed it instantly with a single punch before the cockatrice even noticed her.
The prey Vertis caught was a flock of blue-spotted rabbits. These rabbits had blue spots on their bodies and always traveled in groups. They were delicious whether roasted, grilled, or boiled, and a soup made by simring them thoroughly was said to be beneficial for the skin.
Based on the wager, Milim won by catching the larger monster, so Vertis ended up treating her to dinner.
Vertis looked at the cockatrice and the rabbits and began planning how to cook them.
The rabbits should be good if I skin them, sprinkle on the remaining spices, and roast them—or even just cook them through. The problem is the cockatrice...
He had a dish in mind, but he would first need to drain the poisonous blood and remove the feathers and innards. While he was pondering how to do that, a certain item suddenly ca to mind.
Ah, right. There was that bracelet I got in the village earlier.
While everyone had been running around in panic, Vertis had quietly snatched up the bracelet that had been dropped during the fight. He retrieved it from his storage and slipped it onto his right wrist. It wasn't a particularly flashy piece of jewelry; aside from the green jewel set in the center, there was nothing special about it.
But when he released his mana, the jewel shone and summoned a sword made entirely of light.
Apparently, this sword used the user's mana as energy to manifest a blade of light. No, since it drew out mana, should it be called a mana sword?
Vertis focused on the cockatrice before him and swung the sword rapidly. In an instant, the cockatrice was skinned and its bones and flesh were separated with surgical precision. Its cutting power was astonishing.
Then, as he increased his mana output, the blade grew even sharper, allowing him to skin several rabbits and remove their innards in seconds.
"This... I think I've picked up sothing quite useful."
Given his past as a doctor, he could make full use of such a tool.
He turned his attention back to the cooking. So of the rabbits were skewered on branches and placed near the fire like grilled fish; others were boiled down into a rich soup or simply roasted over an open fla. He prepared them in several different ways to suit Milim's tastes, but the cockatrice remained the main challenge.
There was one dish that always ca to mind when thinking of chicken.
Fried chicken.
The problem was that he didn't actually know how to make it. He had always just ordered it. Now that he had to make it himself, he realized he had no idea where to start.
Then, a different thod occurred to him.
*
In the open plain, he placed the cleaned cockatrice body in the center and gathered his mana.
He summoned lightning with just the right amount of force—strong enough to cook the at, but not so powerful that it would turn the bird into charcoal—and let it strike.
The bolt of lightning falling from the sky roasted the cockatrice perfectly.
This was Garosh chicken... no, wait. It was electric rotisserie chicken.
"Milim, dinner's ready."
As soon as he called out, Milim appeared from nowhere. She reached for the food with no hesitation, but Vertis caught her hand.
"Milim. I know you won't get burned, but at least try to eat a little more like a girl. Here."
Vertis handed her a wooden fork and spoon he had carved from a block of wood. He had carefully shaped each piece one by one, as if he were sculpting a work of art.
They were sowhat crude, but they were perfectly functional for a al.
Milim seed to love the food. She drank the rabbit soup as if it were water, then imdiately stuffed a piece of roasted rabbit into her mouth, chewed a few tis, and swallowed it whole.
Then she devoured the entire giant cockatrice chicken by herself. She grabbed the legs, tore them off, and ate even the bones. Every ti she bit down, a loud crunch echoed through the air.
Crunch... crunch...
As she swallowed the food whole, the blood splattered on her cheeks gave her a strangely chilling appearance.
"That was delicious!"
Then, she fell asleep right there on the spot. He had told her that eating and then sleeping imdiately would make her gain weight, but Milim simply replied, "As a demon lord, it's fine to lie down right after eating," and drifted off.
In the end, Vertis gave up. He wove the rabbit skins he had peeled into a makeshift blanket and covered Milim with it.
"After all, you need to keep your stomach warm when you sleep..."
He muttered this to himself, then stuffed the cockatrice feathers into the remaining hide to make a temporary pillow. He placed it under Milim's head and lay down a short distance away.
Even if Milim looked young enough to be his child, she was still a girl. It was better to keep so distance.
He lay there, staring blankly.
As he gazed up at the night sky, the events of his life flashed through his mind like a kaleidoscope.
He had died suddenly, been reincarnated as a dragon, and t eccentric individuals like Guy and Milim. Looking back, his current life was far more varied and blockbuster-like than his previous one.
And yet, it wasn't bad at all.
...
...
...
...
"Mm... I slept well."
When Milim opened her eyes to the morning sunlight, she noticed the blanket covering her and the pillow supporting her head. She looked at Vertis, who was lying there as if he had fainted, thought for a mont, and then kissed his sleeping face.
It was a gesture of thanks that Velzard had taught her.
"Milim, dear—among close friends, giving a morning kiss is the best way to say thank you, you know?"
Velzard had likely ant it as a joke, but Milim had taken the advice seriously. She pressed her lips against Vertis's.
Mwah ♡
"Thank you, as always~♪"
With that, Milim skipped away to go play with Gaia.
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