I was still in bed at Faye's house, and Ayre was sitting beside me, just finished feeding me oatmeal. After a day of training at Darren's place, she did decide to come back here.
"Maybe I'll destroy a country, Ayre," I muttered, looking straight at the wall.
"I've learned it all from Faye." Ayre helped me drink from a small jug. "Are you all right?"
"Even if we manage to use that time travel magic, there's a chance we won't return to the point in time we left." I elaborate on it further. "If we are in this era for seven days, for example, we could come back seven days after we left. If it's only seven days, what if we've been here for months? What if years?"
I still have to take care of the many individuals I am responsible for. Not to mention Phisovia, which still needs to be cured. And, of course, I can't forget the threats from my enemies.
So, I have to come back soon. It would just be a waste of time to find another high creature. The elven land guardian fairy was my greatest chance.
"It's not that, my lord." Ayre held my hand. "Yeah, so far, you've killed many people but minimized making many innocents die."
I looked into her eyes, which were now filled with tears. "You doubt my capabilities as a demon lord, Ayre?"
"You care about your subordinates and always minimize innocent victims…."
"That's because I want to have loyal followers." I cut her off.
She shook her head and gave me a faint smile. Weird, that smile triggers my mouth to gape.
My feeling says that smile is genuine, not because of her skills as a shapeshifter.
"I don't believe that, my lord," Ayre said in a low voice. "You really care. With your kind heart, I'm afraid your mind will break if you destroy the elven land."
Is that true? All this time, I believed what I was doing was for my dream of dominating this world.
It's not for kindness or some moral bullshit like that.
"Remember, I'm a demon lord, Ayre." The muscles in my face started to tense up. "In the end, I am the enemy of this world. It is natural for me to do this."
Ayre rubbed my face gently. "As I said before, I'm worried about your well-being…."
"All you have to do is obey my orders." I faced forward, avoiding her gaze. "You must keep training to be a blacksmith, and I want you to tell me about the history of that elven land."
I deliberately diverted this conversation.
Ayre took a deep breath. "Back in our era, I read a little about that country, but I didn't go into it too deeply. So, I don't know if the country was destroyed in this era or in the future."
I will not be able to estimate the impact that will occur in the future. However, there is no turning back.
I have set my goal.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," I tell her. "You stay here to learn from Darren."
The shapeshifter general sighed again. "I wanted to stop you because your wound is still severe. But that's impossible, right?"
A chuckle escaped my mouth. "You follow my orders. Why is that so difficult?"
"At the very least, let me come with you."
I smiled at her again. "No."
***
The sun had not fully risen the next day, and I was preparing to leave. Many times I winced in pain while wearing my clothes. The wounds on my body are still excruciating.
"My lord." Ayre entered carrying a backpack. "I have prepared everything here. Your journey will be very far."
"Thanks." With Ayre's help, I put on the robe Xenora gave me. Luckily I didn't wear them when I invaded Albert's house yesterday. "I really appreciate it. Doing this without the others is hard, but you helped me a lot."
Ayre closed her eyes. "How about we live here? We can start all over again. If you want to rule the world, you can do it in this era, my lord."
"You already know my answer, right?" I rubbed her head. "This isn't just about me. Our future friends are waiting for us."
After a few seconds, that woman opened her eyes. "How stupid of me. Why do I keep persuading you, even though I know the answer will still be the same?"
I know Ayre is really worried about me. But I've made up my mind.
"I promise I'll come home safely." I kissed her lips softly, then whispered. "And we will do that until you are satisfied."
Now it was Ayre's turn to chuckle. However, she did so while wiping a single tear from her eye.
Not long after, Faye came in carrying a pouch the size of a baby's head. "Here is everything you need to summon the fairy, some bits of medicines and potions. I have labeled everything. However, I don't recommend that you take painkillers while you are flying. You might fall instead."
"Thanks very much." I received the pouch with a smile. "You are very kind to a demon like me."
Faye lit a cigar. "This is so you can quickly leave this era."
"No, I think you really are kind-hearted…."
"I had a chance to finish you off while you were unconscious because of yesterday's drug." She cut me off while scratching her hair and looking away. "You know the reason?"
"Because I can go berserk if you do something to me?" I shrugged.
No amount of anesthetic would be able to completely knock me out, after all. I'll definitely get up if something goes wrong. Hence, I dare send Ayre to Darren back then.
The witch looked at Ayre. "That too, and this girl friend of yours is threatening me."
Ayre looked at me, and I nodded at her. The shapeshifter general immediately changed her face to look like Darren's, and that caused Faye to jump up and clutch her chest.
"I hate when she does that!" The witch cried out. "Darren's bearded face with a woman's body is very creepy!"
"Goodbye, then." I chuckled, stuffing Faye's pouch into my bag.
Then, I opened the game UI to use the teleport feature. I will move to the city's outskirts before continuing my journey by flying.
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