A Meeting Is a 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 occasionally fell to the ground.

"Obviously... if I'm not an Evil God... then who resurrected you...?" Rosa Kevin, exhausted from shouting, sat down on a stone by the road to rest while waiting for Leichina to get back on his feet.

"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...?"

"What's wrong with being an Evil God?! Does being an Evil God mean I have to be omniscient and omnipotent?! You're judging gods with prejudice, and that's very unfair to gods! We must advocate equality among gods. Don't look at gods through tinted glasses! We need to..."

"Ugh—" A whirlwind swept down from above them, and a dragon's roar echoed beside their ears.

"Whoa—a dragon—"

"Tch... what a sheltered little brat! It's only a dragon. What's so surprising about that?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah—you've seen it all." Leichina let out a long breath. "Grandma, then... what do you need to do to regain your power?"

"Uh... let me think... the last time I was sealed, 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?"

"This... I haven't thought about it..." Rosa Kevin took a deep breath. Dead trees in the forest trembled, while the wind blowing from beyond the mountain seemed to whisper 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 there left?"

"Then we can rebuild it."

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

"Huh—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 little brat, are you trying to provoke me?!" Rosa Kevin snapped. "Let me tell you, that trick works on me... As the clever and wise Elder Evil God, if I can't even build a tiny village, I'd truly disgrace the title of Evil God."

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

"Push myself?... Does time mean anything to an Evil God like me? Rebuilding that village of yours is nothing more than a little game to pass the time. I'll get it done in minutes—"

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

"Ahem—there are slight differences between how Evil Gods and humans measure time. Perfectly normal... don't mind it... don't mind it..." Rosa Kevin deliberately emphasized.

"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? Aren't those two things contradictory?"

"Can't an Evil God be a Demon King?"

"Uh—" The distrust in Leichina's eyes deepened further.

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

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

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

"Ummmm, why does the phrase 'Demon King' suddenly sound so much cheaper coming from you, Grandma...?"

"Maybe the prefix isn't suitable. If you replace a Demon King's prefix with a place name or an adjective, wouldn't it sound much more impressive?"

"Like what?"

"Demon King of the Slums?"

"That has quite a 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!"

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

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

"This... 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 food... You shouldn't die even if you don't eat, right...?"

"Not dying doesn't mean I won't get hungry! Do you think it feels good to have an empty stomach?!"

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

"Of course! Otherwise, why would gods need sacrifices and offerings? Are they just there to look pretty?"

"Uh... that makes perfect sense. I actually can't refute it..."

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

Inside a fortress built from earthen bricks and gray stone, the twenty-year-old sat like an emperor on the highest seat at the center, with more than a dozen bandits standing on either side.

The bandits all wore vicious expressions and carried swords, blades, and daggers. Goods they had seized 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 come buy their stolen goods. Today was no exception.

"The next item up for auction is a jeweled cane stolen from an unidentified person two days ago. Starting bid: ten Kralimaya Gold Coins. Same old rules—the highest bidder wins!"

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

"Eleven!" A fat, rich man called out the first bid under the protection of his bodyguards.

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

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

"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 could have earned a perfect score, but as an auction merchant, he was a complete failure. Different trades were worlds apart; Tiadam could not understand merchants haggling, nor did he understand the power currency held as a measure of value.

He only hoped his brothers could continue living peacefully, that Yalila, whom he loved, would bear him a whole brood of children, and finally, that Rosa Kevin's curse would not continue spreading and harming other parts of the world.

"Oh, right, has Yalila arrived yet?" Tiadam called to one of his lackeys. "She should have been here by now. Go out and ask whether some blind fool nearby blocked Yalila's way..."

"Got it—" the lackey beside him replied, then jogged out the door.

"The next auction item was also donated by an unidentified person. It is a waist token from the Bikasoya Empire. Starting bid: twenty silver coins. Same old rules—the highest bidder wins!" Eliyi shouted.

Every encounter was a reunion after a long separation. Fate was like a thread, wrapping those caught within it tightly together.

"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 those people come back later, you won't be able to leave." The old man seated behind the counter expressionlessly counted through the day's ledger.

Just moments ago, while fleeing from those thugs, Denolan had been forced to bring Yalila into the black-market shop where he had previously bought holy water. When the thugs were about to enter and search for them, the kind old man behind the counter immediately shouted:

"This shop was opened with the sponsorship of Lord Abelato, the priest! Do the likes of you have the right to enter?!"

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

"That was really dangerous just now..." After leaving the store, Denolan walked ahead of Yalila and said, "Good thing that old man helped us."

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

"I..." Denolan wanted to say something, but held it back.

"What?" Seeing Denolan remain 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. "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 hooligans 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 having a fight?"

"That voice..." Denolan and Yalila turned around. The thugs who had chased them earlier had returned.

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

By then, Denolan and Yalila were completely surrounded by the thugs...