Meeting Is the Beginning

"Hey, hey—Grandma Rosa, are you really... an evil god?"

After arguing with Rosa Kevin for quite a while, Leichina lay sprawled in the mud by the roadside. Since he had only recently been resurrected, he still could not fully control his legs and kept falling over.

"Obviously... If I weren't an evil god... then who resurrected you..." Rosa Kevin, utterly exhausted, sat down on a roadside rock to rest while waiting for Leichina to get back up.

"Um... Grandma... can you resurrect the people in the village?"

"Probably... but only if my divine power recovers..."

"Then when will your divine power recover?"

"Uh... I don't know that either..."

"Aren't you an evil god...?"

"So what if I'm an evil god?! Does being an evil god mean I have to know everything and be able to do everything?! You're judging gods with prejudice, and that's very unfair to gods! We should advocate equality among all gods. Don't look at gods through colored glasses! We need to..."

"Ugh—" A whirlwind swept down from above them, and the roar of a giant dragon echoed beside them.

"Wow—a dragon—"

"Tch... You little brat who's never seen the world! It's just a dragon. What's so surprising about that?"

"Yeah, yeah—only you're so worldly." Leichina let out a long breath. "Grandma, then... how can you recover your strength?"

"Uh... let me think... The last time I was sealed away... it took me three hundred years to recover. This time..."

"Another three hundred years?"

"Maybe... perhaps even longer..." Rosa Kevin lay flat on the ground. "Anyway, I'm used to it."

"Then what do you plan to do next, Grandma Rosa? Leave Labi Village, leave Canfor?"

"I... haven't thought about that..." Rosa Kevin took a deep breath. The dead trees in the forest trembled, while the wind blowing over from the mountains seemed to be whispering something.

Leichina looked at Rosa Kevin. "Grandma, why not try staying in the village?"

"Hey, hey—your village was burned down long ago. What village is even left?"

"Then we can rebuild it."

"Hehe—there's no one left. What are you going to rebuild it with?"

"Eh—are you really an evil god?" Leichina questioned her again. "You can't even rebuild a human village, so what kind of evil god are you pretending to be...?"

"You brat, are you trying to provoke me?!" Rosa Kevin replied. "Let me tell you, I really fall for that kind of thing... As a clever and wise Elder Evil God, if I can't even build a tiny village, then I'd truly be unworthy of the title of evil god."

"You're already so old. Don't push yourself too hard... Grandma..."

"Push myself?... Does time have any meaning to an evil god like me? Rebuilding your village is nothing more than a little game to pass the time. I'll finish it in minutes—"

"Uh... I didn't know cows could fly. Was that your doing?"

"Ahem—It's perfectly normal for evil gods to measure time with slight discrepancies from humans... Don't mind it... don't mind it..." Rosa Kevin emphasized deliberately.

"Uh..." Leichina continued to look at her with distrust.

"Um... Grandma Rosa, you say you're an evil god, so why do you also call yourself the strongest Demon King? Don't those conflict?"

"Can't an evil god be a Demon King?"

"Eh—" The distrust in Leichina's eyes grew even stronger.

"What's so surprising about that... Demon King is just a profession... Elder Evil God is my race, like archers and elven archers."

"Wow... I feel like I just heard something incredible..."

"What's so strange about it? Skeleton Demon Kings, Slime Demon Kings, Ooze Demon Kings, Hell Demon Kings—aren't those all common?"

"Ummmm, why does the phrase 'Demon King' suddenly sound so much lower-class coming out of your mouth, Grandma...?"

"Maybe the prefixes aren't suitable. If you changed the Demon King's prefix to a place name or an adjective, wouldn't it sound much more stylish?"

"Like what?"

"Demon King of the Slums?"

"That has a real gangster vibe."

"Demon King of Money."

"That sounds like some powerful, influential family."

"Demon King of XX."

"That would be way too perverted! You old hag!"

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"Oh~ Is that so... I thought you really liked that kind of thing..."

"What kind of person do you take me for, Grandma..." Leichina tried moving his legs to see whether he could stand up. "Anyway, we've talked for so long. How are you planning to rebuild Labi Village?"

"Well... the first and most important thing is..."

"Mm-hmm... I'm listening..."

"Find me something to eat. I'm starving..."

"Aren't you an evil god? Why do you still need to eat... You won't die if you don't eat, right...?"

"Not dying doesn't mean I won't get hungry! Do you think being hungry feels good?!"

"Uh... gods can feel hunger too?"

"Obviously. Otherwise, why would gods need sacrifices and offerings? To put them on display?"

"Uh... that makes so much sense that I can't even argue..."

The cold wind from the north continued without pause, carrying damp air toward the black market in the slums outside Canfor. At that moment, Tiadam, a bandit who lived by plunder, was thriving in this world ruled by violence and fists.

Inside a fortress built from clay tiles and gray stone, the twenty-year-old sat upon the highest seat in the center like an emperor, with more than a dozen bandits standing to either side.

The bandits all wore savage expressions and carried swords, blades, and daggers. Goods they had stolen earlier lay at their feet. On the third day of every week, the bandits led by Tiadam would contact wealthy merchants from Canfor and Alderbu to purchase their stolen goods. Today was no exception.

"The next item up for auction is a gem-encrusted cane stolen from some nameless person the day before yesterday. Starting price: ten Kralimaya Gold Coins. Same rules as always—the highest bidder gets it!"

The auctioneer Eliyi shouted loudly, then picked up a tin-gold cane set with rubies and diamonds from beside a bandit's feet.

"Eleven!" A fat and wealthy man, protected by bodyguards, called out the first bid.

"Fifteen—" A thin old man was also quite fond of the tin-gold cane. A pure silver gemstone ring clasped one of his severed fingers, a roaring lion was embroidered on his crimson cinnabar cap, and his brocade shoes displayed his wealth.

The wealthy man had intended to bid again, but after his bodyguard whispered a few words to him, he looked at the old man and gave up on continuing the auction.

"Fifteen Kralimaya Gold Coins, going once—"

"Fifteen Kralimaya Gold Coins, going twice—"

"Fifteen Kralimaya Gold Coins, going three times, sold—" Eliyi brought down the hammer and began auctioning the next stolen item.

"Ah—" Tiadam yawned boredly from his high seat. As a bandit, Tiadam's accomplishments could be rated a perfect score, but as an auctioneer, he was a complete failure. Different trades were as far apart as mountains; Tiadam could not understand merchants haggling, nor did he understand the power held by currency as a measure of value.

He only hoped his brothers could continue living peacefully, that Yalila, the woman he loved, would bear him many children, and that Rosa Kevin's Curse would no longer continue spreading and harming other parts of the world.

"Oh, right. Has Yalila arrived yet?" Tiadam called over one of his lackeys. "She should have been here by now. Go ask around. See whether some fool nearby has blocked Yalila's path..."

"Got it—" The lackey beside him replied, then jogged outside.

"The next item up for auction was also donated by some nameless person: a waist token from the Bikasoya Empire. Starting price: twenty silver coins. Same rules as always—the highest bidder gets it!" Eliyi shouted.

Every meeting was a reunion after a long separation. Fate was like a thread, tightly binding those caught within it.

"Hey, hey—them boys have already left."

"Th-thank you..." Denolan stood outside the counter and bowed to the clerk behind it.

"Leave this black market quickly... If you wait any longer and those people come back, you won't be able to leave." The old man seated behind the counter counted today's ledger without expression.

Just moments ago, in order to escape the thugs chasing them, Denolan had brought Yalila into the black-market shop where they had previously bought holy water. When those thugs were about to enter the shop and search for them, the kind old man behind the counter immediately shouted:

"This shop was opened with the sponsorship of Lord Priest Abelato! Do things like you even have the right to enter?!"

That single sentence frightened off the thugs. After cursing a few times, they left the black-market shop.

"That was really dangerous just now..." After leaving the shop, Denolan walked in front of Yalila and said, "Luckily, that old grandpa helped us."

"So what? He helped me. What does that have to do with you?" Yalila replied.

"I..." Denolan wanted to say something, but did not.

"What?" Seeing that Denolan remained silent, Yalila pressed harder. "You only helped because you thought I was pretty... I've seen plenty of people like you—"

"Think whatever you want!" Denolan finally snapped back. "I only helped because I saw those people bullying you, out of kindness! If I'd known you were this kind of person, I never would have lost that bag of silver coins trying to save you!"

"Hehe, you finally said what you really think!" Yalila mocked. "You can go find those thugs again and sell me to get your silver coins back! Useless trash—"

"You... You think I don't want to?! If I could, I'd definitely sell you to slave traders for money! Damn elf!"

"You finally said what you really think, useless human!"

"Oh... Is the young couple fighting?"

"That voice..." Denolan and Yalila turned around. The thugs who had chased them before had come back again.

"I knew it... You were hiding in that old bastard's shop... If we weren't afraid of offending Lord Abelato, we would've dragged you out long ago... and properly... taught you a lesson..."

At that moment, Denolan and Yalila had already been completely surrounded by the thugs...