Published at 26th of December 2025 7:41 am

Chapter 495: Sometimes Others Know Better What Youre Capable of Than You Do Yourself.

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Ah, finally free, I sighed.

After enjoying a luxurious dinner and sleeping in a fluffy bed at the lords mansion, we headed into town to gather information about the Black Rose Witch. Escaping from the overly polite treatment, I stretched my body and let out a big breath.

Tia, walking beside me, poked my cheek softly.

Hey! They were so hospitable, you shouldnt say things like that!

I know, but Im just not good with that kind of thing.

Even though I was scolded, all I could do was give a wry smile. In the first loop, we received similar hospitality after solving the incident, but my feelings were the same. This was probably just because the mentality of a lowly baggage carrier was ingrained in me.

Still, the lord was quite generous. I cant believe he gave us a ship, Luka chimed in from a little behind us.

Luka, who had been the most or rather, the only active participant this time, had received an even warmer welcome than Lorenz, the hero. They even seriously invited him to become the son-in-law of their daughter who had just woken up, once they realized Luka was male.

Of course, Luka had no such intentions and just laughed it off while enjoying the luxurious food and expensive alcohol.

Well, he didnt give us ownership, just the right to use it. The crew is arranged by the lord, and were only using the ship to go to and from the small island offshore. Considering that, I think its a reasonable thank-you for saving his daughters life, I explained.

Needless to say, ships are expensive to operate and maintain. So, except for warships, there are basically no ships that are fully operational but doing nothing other than for repairs and inspections.

Therefore, we couldnt just ask, Can you take us to that island over there? Local fishermens personal fishing boats might be different, but if we took something like that out to the monster-infested offshore waters, wed be sunk in seconds.

Thats where the lord comes in. This lord governs well, and since its a port town with active commerce, he has money, power, and trust. Thats why he could charter a ship from a merchant under his patronage, keep it docked for us for a short period, and offer us the right to be taken wherever we want whenever we want as a thank-you gift.

This was something we could never have obtained on our own, and it was absolutely necessary for our future adventures. We had planned to ask for this favor after solving the incident, but thanks to Lukas performance, we unexpectedly got it ahead of schedule.

By the way, Lorenz isnt here right now because hes at the port with the lord, taking care of the procedures.

Hmm, is that so? I still dont really understand that kind of value system, Luka mused.

Haha, that cant be helped. Its still too early for you to calculate things by adding sentiment and gratitude to simple numbers, Luka.

Boo, Luka puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction as I laughed and patted his head. It would take a lot more time for Luka, who was born in such a high position, to get used to human sensibilities.

Oh, right. That reminds me Luka, you went a bit overboard yesterday, didnt you?

Yesterday? Um, what are you talking about?

I mean, suddenly removing that young ladys curse. Im not saying it was wrong to help her, but if you show off such extraordinary power, youll attract nothing but trouble from now on, you know?

What he did was right. But if I were to ask whether it was the right thing to do in that situation, Id say no. However, Luka furrowed his brow and tilted his head at my words.

Eh, really? You say its extraordinary, but Im properly adjusting my power to match the abilities of the people Im with, you know? Look, even when we were in the previous world, I was matching Taruho-san and Jig-san, so it wasnt strange, right?

Hm? Now that you mention it, thats true.

Indeed, when we worked with Luka in our hometown, I just felt he was a promising young mercenary with skills beyond his years, not someone with outstandingly amazing abilities. And even in this world, he had been traveling with Lorenz for a short time before meeting us, so he must have been managing that balance well.

Eh, then why did you do that? Are you saying that if the hero or Tia specialized in that area, they could do something like that?

If thats the case, I could understand. But for Lukas ability, which is said to be able to do anything, to be the same as someone who has mastered every field to a high level is too much no matter how you look at it.

I was thinking that I should teach him properly about this when Luka looked at me with what seemed like exasperation.

What are you saying, senpai? You could have done that easily, right?

Huh? Me!? Why do you think I could remove curses?

I cant use magic, and I dont have much knowledge about it. I couldnt understand why Luka thought I could use such an advanced technique as removing a deadly curse. Luka looked at me with eyes that had gone beyond exasperation to something almost like pity.

Eh, do you really not realize? With your power, you could have ended such a trivial curse in no time, right?

Ah oh, that

I hadnt considered that perspective. And when pointed out like that, indeed, I could do it. The power that can harm even gods should be able to end a mere human-cast curse well, Ive never actually done it, so I dont know if I really could.

Wait, wait! Why is my power the premise here!? I basically dont use the Demon Kings power, you know?

But you would use it if necessary, right? Investigating an enemy whose whereabouts are unknown, figuring out how to break the curse, and then executing it that would take up the whole month in no time. So instead of postponing it, you could have Ah, I see! Senpai, you already knew how this incident would be resolved, didnt you? Then it makes sense that you didnt use your power. Oh, Im sorry! I jumped to conclusions!

Oh yeah

As Luka stuck out his tongue and apologized, I found myself at a loss for words.

If I didnt have the knowledge from the first loop and if I had the idea to end the curse, I might have used my power. I would easily throw away my pride of trying to keep the Demon Kings power secret if it meant saving a life that could be saved rather than putting it in danger unnecessarily.

So I see, your judgment was correct. Im the one who should apologize. It seems my assumptions were naive.

Dont worry about it. Or rather, if youre going to worry, praise me more. You know, Im the type that grows with praise!

Alright, alright. Well done, Luka. Good job.

Yay!

I patted the head that was thrust out towards me with a wry smile, and Luka beamed with an untroubled smile. Hmm, doing this makes me feel like Im petting a cat

Ed and Luka really get along well, dont they Tia murmured, watching us thoughtfully.

But that observation was somewhat unintentional.

No, no, its not like that. Right, Luka?

Thats right. Senpai and I are fierce enemies! Even now, Im thinking about how to slit his throat in his sleep!

Eh, is that so?

Yes! I was plotting to stuff nuts up senpais nose while hes sleeping tonight!

Nuts in the nose!? Thats just unpleasant, but how does that connect to getting rid of me?

Come on, senpai. Dont you think a Demon King who gets nuts stuffed up his nose while sleeping is so pathetic hed have no choice but to shut himself away in the countryside? The Demon King of the End with Nose Nuts, you know?

Well, I certainly wouldnt want to show my face in public after that.

Regardless of being a Demon King, if got a nickname like Ed the Nose Nut, Id probably run away from that region at full speed.

What a diabolical idea Luka, youre something else.

Hehe, Im improving every day too!

You two really do get along well.

As I shuddered and Luka puffed out his chest proudly, Tia repeated the same line with a wry smile, watching us.

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