Chapter 10 – Once Again, the Truth Game

Episode 10 Once Again, The Truth Game

“Is the water okay? Isn’t it hot?”

“No, that’s fine…”

“…”

If I could change the awkward air of this moment, I could sell my store right away.

It was a long time ago that I went into the water with Rumika.
So, about a hundred years ago?
The last time I went to the beach with Rumika was the last time.

It was when Rumika, who had gone beyond her feet while playing with her, went to pick her up as she struggled.

[Hueeng! Teacher!!
Here, here, my feet can’t reach!!]

[Ugh, I told you to be careful because it floats down, right?
Wait.]

[Hey, kyahahahaha!!!
Teacher, it looks like an old tree!!]

As I walked, they hugged me like a koala clinging to a tree and laughed.

[Teacher!
This is a giant game!!
Hey, let’s go over there!]

[I really want to be a teacher or a nanny…
Okay, let’s go.]

The Demon King was busy with construction work, and Rumika’s mother was…
At that time, you almost entrusted Lumica to me.
I wonder if she was tired of parenting.

Now Rumika’s body is back to that level.
… Now it’s just the two of us in the bathtub.
Although it’s different that I’m giving back hugs on her lap.

When I was a tutor, he often came and sat on my lap.

[Teacher, please read the book!]

[Today~ I saw an animal with a long neck~]

And chattered like a sparrow.
Although she became more like a cat when she became an adult.

[Camyu, do you often talk about the old days?
Do you miss the old days?
Is the past better than before dating me?]

[You mischievous princess, can you do that?]

[Yes.
You are pervert.]

[That’s by the way.
Just.
Because I like the girl I like when I was young.
Sometimes I look back on my memories.
It’s cute.]

[…You sometimes say strange things very well.
Smirking perversion.]

[Don’t you want to hear it? Is it shriveled up?]

[It shrinks, but I like it.
My man says he likes me, but how can he not?
… I love you, Kamu.
I like you too.]

The sound of water dripping from the bathroom ceiling
It’s so quiet and awkward that you can hear everything…

Rumika This guy, whenever he boldly enters the bathtub…
When I come in, I am very shy.

… In this case, let’s show the dignity of a hundred years of age difference.

Snap.

“… !”

Flinch!

I gently hugged Rumika from behind her and placed my hand on the back of her hand.
Rumika twitched her shoulders, but she didn’t say much else.

I leaned her head on her little shoulder.

“Thank you, Rumika…
Let’s stay like this for a while.”

Moonlight barely visible through the small ventilation window.
It crumbles into the bathroom.
It seems that my lustful feelings toward Rumika are gradually being turned to powder.

“Hey…
Baby Mu…
That… Yours, that… Hey, don’t build…”

“… Sorry.
Eva’s decoction works really well…”

How can a moving atmosphere not last more than a minute…
Under…
Let’s die…

“Rumika, I know it’s hard and uncomfortable…
If you keep tossing and turning… It gets more difficult…
Could you please stay still?”

Don’t scrub
The more you rub it, the bigger it gets.

“Anyway…
Even if you have the strength to lift a spoon, you’re a guy who’s going to chuckle, ugh.”

“… It’s okay if you’re pretty enough
Isn’t it against the law to be pretty even if you’re small?
If I fall again, it will be your fault.”

“… Look at not blaming others.
Bastard Mew, only your body has grown.
What do you like about this young child’s body?
How did you play the role of a tutor in the past?”

“I hate my hormones too…
But do you wash your hair with scented rose water?
Sniff sniff. It smells so good.”

“Hey tickle!
Don’t do it!”

Splash splash.

There is a moment of commotion, then silence again.

I hear an owl outside.

Also… Jade…

You can also hear the steam condensing in the bathroom dripping onto the floor.

Dogeundogeun.

I can hear Lumica’s tiny heartbeat.

“…Come to think of it, what about Eva?”

“Ah, I’m so tired… I just sent it home.”

“Ah…
I see…”

Also… Jade…

You can also hear the steam condensing in the bathroom dripping onto the floor.
Throbbing.

The sound of Rumika’s heart beating a little louder echoes in my heart.

… The atmosphere became more awkward.

“Rumika, actually…”

“In fact?”

I am speechless.
What should I ask…?
I don’t know…
I don’t know…
Eh, I don’t know!

“Rumika, shall we play the truth game one more time?”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“Huh… What we did when we were drinking a while ago.”

“You don’t even have a drink?”

“If it’s difficult, you can just listen.
My mind is complicated,
I thought it would be easier to say that way.”

“What if I don’t want to talk?”

“Then just move on.
I am… I want to say something now.”

“Yes, then.”

“Huh…”

Silence came again.
It’s like thin ice on the river on the day spring came.
I was careful not to touch him with words.

Again… Knock.

The sound of water vapor condensing and dripping.
Lumica’s soft breathing.
Small sounds roll like cotton candy and fill the bathroom.

Took.

“… !”

Rumika tilted her head and rested the back of her head against her collarbone.
I just lightly tilted her head.
The ripples grew in my chest as if a rock had been thrown into a lake.

… As the ripple would grow, she hurriedly brought her words out.

“Rumika, you…
During the special lease attacking the top floor of the castle… Did you know there are three people I target?
Saint of the Sun, Knight of the Moon, Princess of the Stars…”

I told Rumika all the names of the special task force I had heard from Marianne.

According to the inquiries she made on her way back, Marianne’s words were true.
Information about the members of the Hero Special Lease Team was not shared at all, not only among demons but also among humans.

No, rather, it was treated as a top secret.
To the point where I wonder what Marianne said to me, and why her paladins didn’t stop her.
In the human kingdom, the only special task force that advertises extensively is Hero Alberic, Archmage, and Elf Ranger.

It can’t be a really strange thing.
Why?

A saintess like Marianne had already acquired titles through treatment and defense.
If you even reveal that you are a member of the special assignment team, can there be a better situation than this from the cathedral’s point of view?

Who lives here on the moon?
The morale of the noble knights would skyrocket?
What could be more tempting than this to bring power from a confederation of nobles?

Who is the star princess?
This is the most questionable.
Isn’t it the royal family of Amitie who is thirsty for the priesthood, the nobility, and the strengthening of the royal authority?
Without the star princess, the assassination operation itself could not have been carried out.
No matter how short the depth is from the border area to the Devil’s Castle, it is impossible to directly enter the top floor of the Devil’s Tower in the Devil’s Castle without being caught by the special lease.
Even more so to succeed and run away.
Therefore, the performance of the star princess is a much more important core role than combat soldiers.
But why hide it?

… Why didn’t I know about this until now?
Ha.
If only the support from the home country had been enough…
No, it’s an excuse.
Isn’t it an essential virtue to check the target before executing the operation?

You knew yesterday
That the saintess in front of me is my enemy.
I’ll just, just tear it apart.
Up to the paladin next to you.
I’ll kill you.
If there are no witnesses, it’s an assassination.
Next target?
You can do it somehow
It’s all excuses.
Wanted to kill
But why did you hold on?
You should have offered the sacrifice for her sins with the blood of the saint.

I am a sinner

I vomited without hesitation until here.
Unsightly, as he was speaking, his emotions flared up, so the latter half was not words but cries.

“I, why did I endure it?
This, I, I really… Black…
Big…”

“Kamu, calm down.”

“Hey…
Yes… ?”

“Calm down. Baby Mew.”

Snap. Tight.

“… !”

She turns her body on her side and puts her ear on my chest.
Then she takes my arm and holds it in front of her own chest.

Thump thump thump.

My heart feels like it’s about to burst
I excitedly told a story that was too long, and my emotions surged until I collapsed.
Repressed anger.
I cringed in skepticism again.

“Camus. You say
It seems like you keep putting off the things you want to say the most from a while ago…
I’ll wait.
Are you okay.
So, slowly.
Calm down and talk.”

Thump thump.

I’m a schemer from espionage.
Endured
See the bigger plan.
The enemy of the family… It was just nicely sent.
An idiot.
You don’t even have a belly?

“… See
Even now, it feels like my heart is about to burst.
This is a safe place.
No one will hurt you.”

Throbbing.
I’m a coward.
When my family died, I wasn’t there.
In a moment of rage, he ran into the demon king, applied for a duel with his master, and was defeated.
I should have kept the position then.
If I were there, my mother, father, and younger brother.
Would have saved them all

“Camus. Nobody blames you
No, believe and trust.
I came across the border from Devil’s Castle to entrust you.
Need more proof than my life?
I trust you, Kamu.”

Pounding.

I was absent at an important time.
That marriage.
What if you don’t
That academy chief, what if I miss it?
If I had been patient just once, I might have saved my family.
Warrior baby.
Assassination squad.
I don’t know if I could have stopped it all.

“… And, you are a lovely and proud demon.
Me too, Eva, do you know how worried I was when you collapsed?
I really didn’t want to talk about this, ha…
That big-breasted saintess and her friend, the freckled nun.
Did I send a messenger to see you when I heard that you had collapsed?
… Of course, we sent it back euphemistically because of our identity.
You, if there are people around you who care about you this much, don’t be depressed for nothing and take care of yourself.
Tell me not to worry
Are you a kid?”

…
The sound of my heart shaking my whole head… It stopped.

“Okay. That’s right.
My heart is calm now
Kind.
Well done~”

“… Don’t stroke your hair
Am I a puppy?”

“On the topic of making the expression of a dog that got caught in the rain.
Come now, don’t pretend you weren’t.
Do you grunt and scratch your chin?”

“… Sorry.
And thank you so much.”

“You really go through a lot.
It has often been like that since ancient times.
You thought you’d get the disease of being a child again when you’re over 200 years old, what is that?
Why did such a soft-hearted, hot-tempered and pleasant guy become a hypnotist?
It doesn’t suit your temperament.”

Rumika laughs for no reason and teases me.
This is rather comforting.
No, all of the words she just said are the foundation of my life.

“Rumika, unlike your real appearance, you look like an adult.”

“Isn’t it natural?
The content is a princess from the Demon King Army who is over a hundred years old.”

Snap.

Seeing my face, he seemed relieved.
Brightened Lumica.
She sits sideways on my lap and leans in, ahem, and pins her breasts.
It might be a pose to look dignified, but it’s quite funny because it’s the appearance of a young girl now.

Shit.

As I sneakily raise the corners of her mouth, Rumika stares at my face.

“Baby mu. Thank god.”

“What?”

“I saw you smiling for the first time in a few days.”

“I see.”

“What is it?
I usually smile without reason.
At times like this, I feel unnecessarily depressed.”

“Really sorry…”

“If I’m sorry, will the demon king’s life end?
Don’t do anything to be sorry
The demon queen she saw was disappointed in you.”

Pinch!

“Oh, it hurts.”

“Looking at how you react, you must be okay?
Alright then, I’ll answer what I said earlier.
Are you ready to listen?”

I nodded.
My ex still… He’s an important guy to me.