The speckled, moldy, fist-sized seed was so pretty that he didn't even think about looking back because he was just looking at it.
It's not your first time seeing a seed, you damn gardener.
Suddenly, the Fairy King's eyes landed on me. Blue green eyes shined with interest.
"Yes, the Mermaid Queen can see the future... I've seen her briefly before, but she's a very interesting person. You, human over there, what's your name?"
"It's Deon Hardt..."
I spoke in a whisper, but glanced at Hien just in case. It's obvious he didn't hear it. The Fairy King also seemed to sense the situation and nodded.
"Hmm... Okay, I'll remember that."
You don't have to remember. Please forget it.
No matter how I felt, the Fairy King examined me carefully as if evaluating me, then turned his head and looked at the Demon King. A much calmer voice than before called out to the other person.
"Demon King, why did you bring this person here? Is there anything that needs to be heard?"
"Because the scenery here is the best in the abyss."
"... What?"
"I brought him here to ensure mental stability."
"This is not a tourist destination!"
Voices rose again.
... Is now the time to fight about something like that? I definitely heard a woman called the Mermaid Queen talk about the death of the Demon King. Why was there no response?
'Did I hallucinate?'
I slowly raised my head and saw the woman still holding my shoulder. As if she sensed his gaze, she immediately lowered her head, met his eyes, and smiled softly.
I immediately turned my head and avoided eye contact.
There was an unknown kindness in her eyes, which made me feel uncomfortable for some reason.
I heard that soft and elegant voice from behind me.
"You seem to be very hated by the World, Demon King. This hero is no joke."
"To begin with, our species itself is a thorn in the side of the World, so there is no need to be more hated. Rather, isn't seeing the future any different from a prophecy? The future you see can change at any time."
"Well... the future I saw this time is a bit special... wouldn't it be a miracle if I could change it?"
"I told you. The World is on edge."
These were remarks made by the heads of two races. Even though I didn't know much, I knew it wasn't something to ignore.
Nevertheless, the Demon King was uncharacteristically calm for someone who had heard threatening remarks. His smooth face, without a single hint of agitation, was plastered with a smile.
"Shall I tell you a fun fact?"
As always, with his light and relaxed voice behind him, the Demon King's unique atmosphere began to dominate the space.
He stood crookedly with his arms crossed, smiled playfully, and snapped his fingers as if teasing the two nervous leaders.
"Do you know what humans call the power that we demons use?"
The sound of giggling laughter echoed throughout the vast space.
The small but vivid laughter that rang in my ears silenced not only me but also the heads of the two races.
As if answering the question that was never returned, the Demon King gave his own answer in a short space of time.
"'Miracles'."
"..."
"... So arrogant."
After silence, the Fairy King lightly clicked his tongue and looked back at me... Why are you looking at me?
"There, human. You hurt your hand."
"Yes... well..."
"It looks like they couldn't treat it properly because the Demon King banned magic, and instead treated it with primitive methods. I will treat it myself."
"No, it's okay..."
"Follow me."
Yes...
It seemed like he was strangely interested in me earlier, but I guess I had no choice. For some reason, I feel like he wants to use wound care as an excuse to observe me more...
Maybe it's my mood, right?
I hesitated to look at the back of the man walking ahead, then turned my head and looked at the Demon King. He smiled and waved his hand, as if he couldn't see my eyes asking for help.
"Go ahead. I'll be here talking to this mermaid."
Damn it...
I looked back at Hien with some hope, but...
'He's still doing that.'
I'm just going to give up.
Leaving behind Hien, who was about to marry the seed, I obediently followed the Fairy King.
Even though it was the same night as when I was in the Demon King's Castle, the scenery here was quite beautiful.
The moon cast a soft curtain of light, and green trees rose tall beneath it. There was a clearing here and there with gently shining flowers, and even though the trees were quite large, there was never a time when the moonlight did not reach the ground.
'The Demon King didn't bring me here for no reason.'
This was the first time I realized that such pretty flowers existed even in places where there was no sun. Hien, why did this bastard grow strange plants when there were such pretty flowers capable of growing here...
'... Let's not think about it.'
It may be because it is a plant that could only grow in the fairy lands.
I moved on, internally defending Hien. When I thought of Hien, I immediately thought of the monsters of the Demon King's Castle and was scared for a moment, but soon I was fascinated by the surrounding scenery and forgot about it.
I think I looked around with a sense of fascination that was beyond a change of mood.
What brought me back to my senses was when the Fairy King, who had been walking in silence for a while, snapped his fingers and called someone.
"Bring the herbs for trauma."
"Where are you hurt?"
I stopped breathing for a moment. I thought my heart stopped.
The view that had been clear just a moment ago was obscured by a black shadow. A black figure with no face suddenly appeared in front of me, against the moonlight, and bowed before the fairy king.
An escort or errand boy?
I barely calmed my startled heart and slowly looked at the person who appeared in front of me.
'He also has pointy ears. They seem to be of the same race, but the ear shape seems to be a racial trait, right?'
Jaykar, the commander of the Demon King's 1st Corps, also had pointy ears.
After considering the correlation between Jaykar and the Fairy tribe, I quickly shook my head.
'Let's stop making unanswered speculations and focus more on this.'
It looks like they jumped from a tree.
The tree here was quite high, but the fact that they landed without making a sound, let alone getting injured, showed that they were a different race from humans not only in appearance but also in other aspects.
"It's not me, it's the guest here."
"A guest...? All right."
The guy who glanced at me kicked between trees a few times, jumped up onto a high branch, and disappeared in an instant, stepping on the branches as if crossing a stepping stone.
It was a movement that left me completely amazed.
"I wonder if Jaykar can do that too..."
"Jaykar...?"
No matter what, this kind of admiration shouldn't come out of my mouth.
The Fairy King's pointed ears twitched. He looked back at me with his eyebrows slightly narrowed as if he was doubting his ears, and then his entire face frowned as if he was convinced that he had heard correctly.
There's no way he wouldn't know the name of the second-in-command who also acted as the Demon King's agent. Even if he didn't know, given the circumstances, it would be predictable that the person I'm talking about was a demon.
How would he feel because I dared to compare the fairy race to one of the demon race that they were not even on good terms with?
'Damn...'
This situation was clearly a mistake on my part. I was about to apologize for being rude, but before I could say anything, a sharp voice came at me.
"Yes, a warrior of our clan who has been contaminated by the Demon King's magic energy. It's been a while since I heard that name. How is he?"
Woah, he really was related!
As I said before, the power of the Demon King did not only birth demons. It seems that Jaykar was a demon from the fairy race, created from the power of the demon king.
The Fairy King deserves to hate the Demon King...
'And now he might hate me too.'
He didn't seem to have a very good personality, but I made a mistake in speaking that touched a sensitive part...
Ignorance was not a very good excuse.
I couldn't answer that he was doing well, or yes or no, so I hesitated. The Fairy King, who was looking at me for a while, let out a light sigh and held out his hand.
"...?"
"Your hand. I need to treat it."
A soft voice, like calling out to a child.
I reflexively placed my injured hand on top of his and then looked around. The guy who went to get the herbs hadn't come yet? I don't think I have to stay like this until he comes.
At that moment, I saw the Fairy King picking up a small box from under a nearby tree.
'... They've already come and gone.'
They're also fast without any trace.
I obediently handed over my hand. The bandage wrapped around the fingertips was removed, revealing a small wound.
"... I cut off almost half of my finger. The width is narrow, but the wound is deep."
When I say that, it doesn't seem like a small wound...?
As I was laughing awkwardly, the Fairy King opened the box, took out some herbs, crushed them, and spoke.
"You said you came here to get mental stability."
Nope. That's an excuse the Demon King gave up on his own.
"Our species' territory is not a tourist destination, and this is the first time humans have set foot in our territory. Since we have already arrived, I will personally guide you as a souvenir, after the treatment is over."
Yes? No, wait a minute, you don't have to...!
I was shocked and was about to refuse when he put crushed herbs on his fingertips and pressed them. My body stiffened in surprise at the unexpected action.
Ah! It hurts... Ah... It doesn't hurt, does it?
'... Is this a dream?'
Everything was healed. I couldn't understand the situation, so I blinked for a moment. I brushed off the herbs and carefully looked at my exposed fingers. The look was so clean that it looked as if the wound never occurred, to the point that no one would think that the skin was sewn.
... I wanted those medicinal herbs.
The Fairy King seemed to have noticed my lustful eyes and snapped his fingers in front of me, who was looking blankly at the herb box.
"Deon Hardt."
"Sorry."
"... What?"
Ah, that's what my expression must have looked like when the demons suddenly apologized to me.
I learned something I wasn't even curious about. I avoided the Fairy King's gaze with a shy expression.
"It's nothing. Instead, just call me Deon."
"... Yes, Deon. You seem uncomfortable with my favor."
He looked at me with suspicious eyes, took my hand again, untied the stitches, and started talking casually.
Are you saying that because you knew? This bastard...
'... He knew I was uncomfortable for a moment, but he pretended not to know and brought me to a place where no one was around...'
Was he trying to kill me...?! No, but he treated me. There's no way he could kill me after treating me. So, what on earth?
... I don't know what it is, but in this place where it's just the two of us, it's better not to go against his wishes. I answered with a straight face.
"No."
"There is no need to lie. It seems like it's not only me, but also with the mermaids' representative that you're uncomfortable."
It didn't work.
As if retaliating, he undid the stitches and pressed the crushed herb again on the spot where a little blood was oozing out. My body trembled with a stronger force than before.
He put down his clean-cut hand, as if throwing it away, and reached for the other bandaged hand.
"Doesn't this unreasonable favor bother you?"
"..."
"Hmm... bone-related herbs..."
He rummaged through the box, took out another herb, crushed it, grinned, and patted it on my fractured hand, who didn't know when the bandage had been taken off. His flowing blonde hair swayed with his movements.
"It would be uncomfortable for me to treat you like this now. You'll probably want to refuse the offer to guide you, too."
You understand.
"You probably don't understand the reason."
My hands were cool. The throbbing pain that had been bothering me all along disappeared.
This time, he muttered 'herbs for muscles' and rummaged through the box again. A monotonous voice came out dressed in a casual tone, as if asking what I wanted to eat.
"It's because the World is paying attention to you."
"... Yes?"
"I don't know why the Mermaid Queen shows favor to you, but that's the only reason I show favor to you."
Thinking about it again, that wasn't something to say casually while dabbing muscle herbs all the way to my wrists.
"As the head of a clan that most respects the will of the Eorld, I cannot help but show favor to the one the World is paying attention to."
... I was told that my physical condition seemed to be pretty good these days, but it seems like there was a physical problem going on.
Yeah, no matter how much I think about it, I feel like my ears were broken. Otherwise, I wouldn't keep hearing nonsense. Who is the World paying attention to and why?
I tried to stay calm and asked back carefully.
"Could you... say that again? I think I misheard."
This time, I concentrated and opened my ears wide, so I should be able to hear properly. Let's just ignore my trembling voice.