“So… What’s your plan?” Hiro asked as he sat down on one of the single beds in the room. 

“Do I have to share it with you?” I raised an eyebrow at that question. Despite knowing that the plot has changed, it’s still rather unthinkable to be working hand in hand with the hero as the demon king. 

“We’re working together, right? So you should let me in on your plan too-!” 

Wait, since when? All I’ve agreed to was to head to town together. 

I sighed, scratching my head as I tried to think of something. 

“Well, the initial plan involves a lot of disguising and transformation… But since you haven’t learnt those yet, I suppose you could gather information instead?” Even though it’d be way easier to just transform into a small creature to eavesdrop on the nobles, or even sneak into the palace with a disguise. 

“I see… I should learn the transformation spell too…” Hiro mumbled to himself. Somehow, I feel like since he’s the protagonist, he could probably learn it in a day. “Oh, right, I can gather information about the nobles based on the rumors I’ve heard. Though that’d mean having to go through most of them since it’s a loooong list of names!”

“… Maybe we should just wipe them all out after all. Saves the trouble—“ I blurted out upon hearing how troublesome it’s going to be. “Ahem. Well, we’ll see how things go. For now, get some rest in you first.”

Hiro just stared at me for a bit before flashing a smile and nodding. Thankfully, the rest of the night went by peacefully. 

As the sun rised, I made my way out of the room first since I had been awake reviewing my spells and stats. Thinking that I should go grab breakfast for the both of us, I headed out of the inn. 

And that’s when everything began falling apart. 

The moment I exited the inn, I was greeted with posters notifying the capture of the Broctopus. Of course, that was within my expectations. What’s not right is the fact that there’s a sketch of my face in the poster as well, listing me as the one who subdued them! Even after I specifically told Dominic and his buddies to NOT do that!

By the time I’ve finally processed what’s going on, there’s already a small crowd gathered near me. 

“That’s him, isn’t it? The one in the poster.”

“Wow, he’s so tall. Is he an adventurer?”

“I heard he took them down all by himself within seconds!”

Hearing all the murmurs around, I was ready to deny it all and run back to the inn so I could change up my disguise. But just then, some heavy footsteps were heard marching up towards me. 

“Hmm. He does look identical to the poster.” The man dressed in the royal guard’s uniform nodded as he looked af me up and down. 

… Wait, royal guards?

“A-ah, it’s him, sir! That’s the guy!” A trembling voice came from behind the guards. Upon a closer look, it was one of the Broctopus, who’s being handcuffed. 

Well, now I can’t even deny it. 

“Sir, as the person who successfully subdued all of the bandits who had been causing trouble for the villages nearby, we would like to invite you to the royal palace to receive your reward.” The guard announced as he read from a scroll which he whipped out of nowhere. 

“… Right now?” I blinked. 

“What are you talking about, young man?” One of the onlookers whispered at me. “You shouldn’t let His Majesty wait for you!”

“Right—… But wai—“

“Let us go now.”

Before I could finish speaking, one of the guards tore a scroll and teleported us to the royal palace. 

…

I SAID WAIT. 

Now Hiro is definitely going to think that I left him behind on purpose…

Calm down, calm down. Anyway, this is a good chance to meet the king without going through all the fuss! I should make good use of this opportunity. 

Entering the palace, something felt… off. In the game, the royal palace was described as the most beautiful place in the nation, filled with holy aura. Because of that, I had expected to at least feel uncomfortable here, but I’m completely fine. 

It’s not that I’m immune to the holy aura, I’m sure of that. 

Instead, the holy aura in the palace is almost nonexistent. 

Something big must’ve happened. The normal conclusion would be demonic influence, but in this situation, it’s really hard to tell. If I’m not the demon king himself, it would sound very plausible, though it doesn’t rule out the fact that there might be demons who weren’t under my ruling out there. 

For now, let’s meet the king first. 

…

As we arrived in the throne room, an old man with a full white beard was sitting on the throne. 

And it was at that moment, I realized what’s going on. 

It was faint, but dark energy was seeping from the old king. At this point, there were only two conclusions - either the king had been making deals with the demons, or the one sitting up there right now isn’t the real king. 

“Hmph. So it was you who took care of the bandits?” The king asked. Despite the guards saying that the king wanted to reward me personally, he didn’t seem too interested about it. 

“Yes, your majesty.” I replied, trying to think of a way to test my theories. 

After mumbling something along the line of it being troublesome, he asked if a hundred gold is enough for a reward. 

In the game, the king was described as a kind and generous leader who cared deeply about the nation. However, not only were there rumors regarding corrupted nobles, there was also the incident involving Hiro’s village. If it was the normal king, he wouldn’t have let these happen in the first place. 

I only have one chance to do something. 

“… Instead of gold,” I started carefully, watching his facial expression as I spoke. “I would like to request for the honor to attend Princess Veronica’s birthday ball. I believe it’ll be taking place next week.”

“How imprudent—“ One of the guards tried to cut me off. 

“I’m not asking to meet with the princess personally, just to attend the ball.” I added. 

However, the ball as I recall wouldn’t be taking place until two weeks later. I could see some of the guards trying not to laugh at the blatant mistake in my words. 

“… So you’re giving up the gold to attend the ball? Fine, suit yourself.” The king replied. “But don’t come begging for the gold afterwards.”

The room fell silent. 

The king didn’t point out my mistake. On top of that, why would the king allow me, someone with an unknown background, to attend the ball of his precious little princess? 

I stared at the imposter. If I make my move now, can I reach him before the guards hold me down? Of course I can take care of the guards with no problem, but that would give him time to escape. 

Is it worth a shot? In the eyes of others, it would look like I’m attacking the king for no reason. 

Just then, one of the royal guards whispered something to the king. 

“You…! Guards, take him down!”