Demon King and Hero

Volume 5 Chapter 4

"What's this?"

A black liquid, complete with steam shaped like a skull. As the demon king asked the hero of its identity, she puffed out her chest and said, as if it was perfectly obvious,

"Meat and potato jorim! (1) The simpler things are better, after all."

To think that she could make poisons that easily... That was a skill in itself.

'Having said that, what kind of jorim has looks more like a broth than a stew?'

The demon king could only sigh, turning his attention to the red liquid on the table beside it.

"And what's this?"

The demon king of Charm, Ayariss, also puffed out her chest like the hero and confidently said,

"Exactly what it looks like, perfectly normal fried rice!"

'Is fried rice red nowadays? No, putting that aside, how on earth do you get so much liquid from fried rice?'

"Hmph, all the other kids that ate my cooking found it so tasty, they couldn't say anything and only gave me a thumbs up."

'More like 'I'll be back!'(2)'

"But, do you guys ever taste your food when you cook?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Isn't tasting something done after all the cooking is completed?"

What to try first, or rather, which would offer the most graceful death.

'Demon god, help me. Or even the goddess of light, Raelle... If you save me now, I'll convert to heaven's side immediately!'

But alas, the gods had forsaken the pitiful lamb.

"Now, say ah~"

"Ah~"

Why could he see the shapes of skulls from the dish? Why could he hear the screams of the damned?

And the two foods invaded his mouth.

***

"Oh ho, you seem quite young, why would you be in a place like this?"

The old boatman asked the demon king, rowing the oars of his old boat.

"I don't think it really matters anymore."

But oddly enough, the boatman wasn't using an ordinary oar to propel the boat, but rather, a sharp scythe. But the boat was moving smoothly forward as if he was rowing with a perfectly normal oar.

"Huhhh, but what to do... God doesn't want you to pass this boundary just yet."

The boatman closed his eyes and muttered, stopping the boat all of a sudden.

"What do you mean by that?"

As the demon king tilted his head in confusion, the boatman rowed the boat back to where they departed and said,

"She's telling you to work."

Documents started piling up before his eyes.

***

"Huuk..."

"Oh, he's awake."

"Are you alright?"

The demon king, who had broken out in a cold sweat, looked around and found the two women in front of him.

"Was that a sign telling me to not die and work?"

The demon king, who had just come short of crossing the River Tethys(3), could not forget the stacks of paperwork he had seen at the last moment.

"So who was the winner?"

"I won, didn't I?"

Being completely unaware of the demon king's uneasy heart, both the hero and Charm pushed their faces into his with sparkling eyes. Looking on this, the demon king could only sigh.

"The two of you were both amazing (in a different meaning). I don't understand how the two of you made that incredible cooking(poison) in such a short space of time. It was so amazing I thought I'd (actually) die. It was a taste where you wouldn't realise it if a third person was to (actually) die while two were eating it."(4)

At those words, the two women's eyes lit up, and they shouted at the same time,

"So who won!"

"They were both too amazing so a draw!"

"Eh?"

"Oh, come on..."

Looking at the irritated women, the demon king swallowed down a surge of injustice.

'Who was the person, no, the demon who nearly died!'

But reminded of the two dishes(poisons) beside him, he had no choice but to keep his mouth closed.

Looking at the demon king that had his mouth firmly closed, the two women glared at each other and shouted,

"Next round!"

"Let's do this!"

Looking at their figures, the demon king could only shiver in fear.

'Please don't hurt me!'

Author's Note:

Someone in the comments last chapter told me that I might as well upload this in the 'fusions' category.

Translator's Notes:

(1) 조림 (jorim), a cooking style in where meat/fish/veg/a-combination-of-the-above is boiled in soy sauce or other seasonings until there is almost no liquid left in the cooking vessel.

(2) Originally in English. No idea why aside from obvious reference.

(3) A Greek aquatic goddess. A minor one, relatively speaking. Married her brother Oceanus, and had numerous children, including Metis (mother of Athena), Prometheus (punished for granting fire to man), and Styx (of the River Styx fame). Unsure why the author chose her, as she is very minor in Greek mythology, and it wasn't till Roman times that she became more associated with the sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethys_(mythology)

(4) A Korean idiom, 'wouldn't know if three were to die when two were eating it.' It NORMALLY means something tastes so good you can't tell that a third person's snuck for the feast as well. Also carries the secondary meaning of a taste good enough to die for.

TL/N: Rip demon king, it's time for a (eternal) rest.