This is wrong. This is all wrong!

Why is the village still here? Why are the potatoes still growing healthily?

And most importantly…

Why am I in Hiro’s house right now?!

Though… This is the first time I’ve seen his house properly. It has only appeared in one of the flashbacks in the game, and not much details were shown then. Still, this is not the time to be all awed just because I’m in the protagonist’s house! I’m in a dangerous situation here, aren’t I?

After leaving Dominic’s party back then, I started heading towards the town, expecting things to be the same as the original game - which means this area should have been an abandoned village instead of a normal, functioning one! Did the demons not go wild while I was away? What kind of demons are they if they don’t do things like raiding villages?!

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Hiro, who had changed out of his clothes, walked over with a set of clothes in his hands. He's cute even when wearing simple clothes like this… But that's not the main point! "Here, a towel and some clothes! You can change into these while waiting for your clothes to dry!”

Me being drenched is not the problem here, Hiro!! Why are you being so nice and trusting?! Did I not bring you up the right way in the original save file? Could it be that you're like this because you didn't have much friends in your past (previous) life (save file)?

As the clothes were pushed into my hands, I had no choice but to take them. For now, I should follow whatever he says, since he still thinks that I’m the noble’s son who had ran away from home. Doing or saying anything unnecessary might blow my cover. I also didn’t think that Dominic would be useful at a time like this. As much as I’m glad that the lie worked out, I’ve realized something during the recent encounters - the charisma stat is absolutely useless.

The encounter with the Broctopus got me thinking that perhaps charisma wouldn’t work on mobs that were supposed to be defeated. Meeting Dominic’s party and seeing Hiro as a farmer confirmed it for me - Someone needed to take down those bandits. Our original protagonist - Hiro, is just a normal farmer now, so he’s out. Dominic and his party were busy hiding from them, so in the end, it was up to me to take care of the fodders, which was why charisma wouldn’t work at that time.

[SYSTEM: Thinking detected. Your INT level has increased.]

Another reason why my charisma wouldn’t work on Hiro just now was probably because of the state of the world currently. The demon king had been away, and his underlings didn’t do a single thing except waiting for his return like baby chicks waiting for the hen. Saying that the village I was living in was destroyed by demons made it clear that I was lying, so it wasn’t persuasive at all. The Broctopus only brought that lie since their village was destroyed before the demon king disappeared.

[SYSTEM: Thinking detected. Your INT level has increased.]

By the time the pop-ups disappeared, I had changed into the clothes Hiro passed to me. Before I could even say anything, he took my wet clothes from me and went to hang them up. I stood by the fireplace, watching as the fire crackled.

If Hiro wasn’t the hero of the story… Then I don’t have to do all these anymore. My fate was already different from the beginning. That means I don’t have to kill anyone or risk my life to invade the human nation… But what about the demons waiting for me back at the castle? What will they think of me if I just waddle back and tell them that the plan has been cancelled? Will a revolution happen? Will I get dethroned for being a useless demon king?

“Nico?” Hiro’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “What are you thinking about? You’re making a weird face.”

“... Nothing, I was just…” I was just thinking about how I don’t have to invade the humans anymore, I can’t possibly tell him that. “... Thinking that maybe I won’t go to the town.”

“Oh…” He fell silent for a bit, as if deep in thought. Then, he looked up at me with a smile so soft, it could deal psychic damage if I laid eyes on him for even a second longer. “That’s understandable. After all, you ran away from home because the noble families are corrupted, right?”

The noble families are what now?

I blinked at him. The noble families in the original game were loyal towards the nation and they even helped out with some of the quests in the main storyline! Though with how things are right now, I couldn’t say that I am surprised that the noble families turned out to be the bad guys here.

I nodded in response.

“There were rumors that they were trying to take the throne so they could control the nation… I’m worried about what will happen if that comes true.” He continued as he fiddled with his thumbs. “There’s a huge chance they’ll start a war with the demon nation…”

That sounded logical. The humans did lose to the demons back when the demon king was five, and all that’s left of their nation was only the town and a few villages. It’s natural that there are people who were still upset about that and would want to take back their land.

“Oh, sorry… I’m speaking ill of your family, aren’t I? That was rude of me…” Hiro scratched his cheek lightly as he looked away.

“No, it’s okay.” They weren’t my family, anyway. “You were just speaking the truth…”

“Mmn…” He hummed, then glanced back at me with those bright green eyes of his. “You said you won’t return to the town… Where will you be heading, then?”

Right… I can’t just go back to the castle without accomplishing anything too. Now there’s also the problem with the nobles wanting to start a war with the demons. I have to stop them before that could happen, so innocent people wouldn’t get dragged into this.

How un-demon-king-ly of me to think that way. I blame it on the fact that I have a human’s soul.

“I’ll… see as I go.” Was the only response I could give him.

Then, a pair of warm hands grasped onto mine. That was the first physical contact I've had in awhile which wasn't related to fighting. Despite being slightly shorter than me, his hands were bigger than mine. His palms and fingers felt rough, nothing unusual for a farmer, I suppose. My gaze lingered on our hands, an unexplainable feeling swirled in me. Is this what being touch starved means? Wait, no! What am I thinking?

“What about staying here? You can stay here for as long as you like!” At that moment, it’s as if he’s a sun shining so brightly, I couldn’t even look straight at him. I couldn't find a word to say at that sudden offer. “It’s dangerous to wander around by yourself too! I heard the demon king has returned after all these years.”

I wonder how he’ll react if he knew I’m the demon king he’s talking about right now.

“... I’d rather not impose…” Who knows what will happen if me, the supposedly villain of the game, stuck around with the supposedly hero for too long. Besides, I feel like I'll really end up being biased towards the humans (Hiro) if I stay by him at this rate.

“It’s fine! You can stay here until you’ve figured out where to go, it’s not imposing at all!” Hiro seemed very insistent about it, especially with how his hands were squeezing mine.

This guy is not going to let go until I agree, is he?

“... I get it.” I’ve finally witnessed the power of a protagonist up close. It’s impossible to reject him. I feel like I’m playing a game where my choices don’t matter at all because it’ll all lead to the same outcome eventually. “But what about your family?”

“I’ll talk to my aunt and uncle when they’re back later on! I’m sure they’ll let you stay.” Of course they will, huh? No one can reject the protagonist, even if he’s a potato farmer right now.