Chapter 95
Ariella smiled faintly.
“That can’t be.”
“Because of it, you made a contract with me. Honestly, if you hadn’t been here, I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened to the Demon King’s Domain.”
Ludwig looked at her straight on, recalling everything she had done.
Ariella had uncovered Bephar’s corruption and destroyed the Fedwick Trading Company’s schemes.
She had rescued the Gold Dragon’s hatchling, making the soil of the land fertile. She had even succeeded in trading with the Fairy Forest for the first time in history.
She had relocated the Ents to build a wall against the orcs, found new talents and recruited them, and now she was preparing a new path to confront the neighboring Demon King.
None of these things would have been possible without Ariella.
And after she came, Ludwig finally had the time to personally oversee his domain.
Because of that, he could see it clearly.
Compared to before, the streets were overflowing with life.
Even more than the increase of travelers, the most striking change was the look on his people’s faces.
Once, they had lost all hope and lived only to endure each passing day.
Now they were changing.
Laughter was heard. Light of hope appeared in their eyes.
And finally, even the Demon King’s sun had begun to grow stronger.
Thinking about all this, Ludwig spoke.
“You said I saved you. But it goes both ways. You saved me too.”
It wasn’t just Ludwig she had saved.
“In fact, you saved the entire Demon King’s Domain—along with me.”
It was the first time Ludwig had said such a thing.
Ariella looked at him quietly.
Perhaps because of the dream she had just seen, she kept remembering the first time they met.
His face rising above the burning ship beneath their feet… overlapped with the face now lit by the campfire’s glow.
Then and now, the word handsome wasn’t enough to describe him.
Whenever the flames flickered, his sharp eyes and perfectly chiseled jawline stood out even more.
His black hair, still slightly damp from being dried, shimmered like a shadow, and his pale skin glowed under the firelight.
He looked like a mythical being who had descended to earth just to sit by the fire for a moment.
Though she saw him every day, she felt her old impressions returning.
Perhaps it was because he was unusually serious now.
His features looked fresh, as though she was seeing them for the first time.
“I once told you, didn’t I? That I’ve always been lucky. Especially when I think about the environment I grew up in.”
Those words didn’t sit right with Ariella.
Her eyes lingered on Ludwig’s upper body.
His clothes had been torn by the storm the serpent had summoned.
Beneath them were old scars.
And surely, there were countless more hidden where she couldn’t see.
Scars that proved his desperate struggle to survive.
At an age when he should have been protected, he had been forced into endless battles.
And yet he survived.
Was that really just “luck”?
Maybe fortune had played a part, but Ariella didn’t want to dismiss it that way.
If this was a lucky life, then what could possibly be called unlucky?
Ludwig spoke again.
“I often thought living this long meant I had already used up all the luck in my life. But now… I’ve changed my mind.”
The campfire swayed gently.
“Perhaps, Ariella… meeting you is the greatest fortune I was ever allowed.”
His voice was low and calm, but the words sank deeply into her heart.
Like the flicker of the fire, her heartbeat wavered.
“…”
Ariella felt awkward and unfamiliar with this mood.
So she forced a lighter tone, almost like joking.
“Don’t you think you’re overestimating me? You’ve already lived for hundreds of years.”
She turned her eyes toward the fire.
“In all that time, you must’ve had greater fortunes than just meeting me. And you’ll live far longer than humans, so you’ll surely meet even greater ones in the future.”
“Wait. What did you just say?”
“What?”
Ludwig made a strange face.
“You just said I’ve lived for hundreds of years. Why are you saying something so absurd like it’s obvious?”
Ariella blinked, not understanding his reaction.
“But… you’re a Demon King. Demons get stronger as they age. To be strong enough to kill the previous Demon King, you must’ve trained for centuries…”
Ludwig cut her off.
“My growth stopped only three years ago.”
Ariella’s eyes widened.
“Wh-what?”
The gentle mood from before vanished instantly.
Her mind raced.
Demons lived much longer than humans, but their growth speed was similar.
Which meant their bodies stopped growing at around seventeen years old.
And Ludwig said that happened to him only three years ago…
“…Huh?”
Simple math gave her the answer.
“Then Ludwig… you’re only around twenty?”
The exact number wasn’t clear, but it couldn’t be far off.
“You’re about the same age as me?”
Ludwig replied bluntly.
“I don’t know why you misunderstood. Why did you assume I was that old?”
“Because you never once told me your age!”
“I never said because you never asked!”
Ariella replayed her memories.
Had she really never asked?
‘No—I did ask!’
She remembered the day she summoned him. She had been flustered because he looked so young.
But she hadn’t thought much of it afterward, since demons’ appearances often didn’t match their ages.
She remembered their conversation clearly.
“I’ve never made a contract before. I don’t know how it works.”
“You’ve never had experience? How old are you, then?”
“Why would age matter for becoming Demon King? You really are full of human prejudice.”
Yes—that had been their exchange.
He had avoided the question back then.
Now she realized—he hadn’t said his age because he was actually very young for a Demon King.
And she had never brought it up again.
“Oh my… I really misunderstood everything.”
“Hold on. So all this time, you treated me like I was hundreds of years older than you?”
“Exactly! I thought you were so much older, so I at least treated you with respect!”
When the misunderstanding cleared, new thoughts rushed into her mind.
‘Wait. If he became Demon King at only around twenty years old… then as he continues to grow stronger with age, how powerful will he become?’
The contract with her would accelerate his growth even more.
But even without it, Ludwig’s natural potential was extraordinary.
The synergy between the two was beyond imagination.
Ariella had to admit—she wasn’t the only one with incredible talent.
‘My goodness…!’
She felt shaken in a way that was hard to define.
Until now, she had always thought of Ludwig as a three- or four-hundred-year-old elder—clumsy, childish, and ignorant, someone she had to constantly scold and guide.
Now that image crumbled.
Ludwig looked completely different to her.
‘No… this shouldn’t be so shocking. Age isn’t that important.’
She tried to calm herself, but deep down, she knew something inside her had changed.
Ariella tried to organize her confused thoughts.
The best way was to focus on real problems.
That suited her nature better.
She preferred clear problems she could solve over emotions she couldn’t define.
‘Once we recover some magic, we must attempt to escape.’
They couldn’t stay on this deserted island forever.
They had to find a way to contact their allies.
Richmond could use message magic.
But the reason no messages came yet must be because they didn’t know where Ariella and Ludwig were.
‘We must have drifted very far from the battlefield.’
And this island seemed to be in a sea Pi had never flown across before.
‘Then instead of just waiting, we need to make a rescue signal.’
Crackle, crackle—
She stared at the campfire.
For now, they were using wood to save energy, but if Ludwig wished, he could create fire even without fuel.
She had seen him do it before—summoning flames in midair as they traveled over the sea.
‘If we use that…’
So she asked him:
“How far can you control your fire?”
Ludwig looked surprised by the sudden question.
“When I launch it to explode, I’ve never measured the distance.”
“No, I mean keeping it burning steadily, like when we flew over the sea.”
“Precise control only works within about a hundred steps.”
Ariella frowned.
“A hundred steps isn’t enough.”
But she didn’t give up.
“When you create fire, what exactly do you imagine?”
Most mages needed complex formulas and spells.
But Ludwig could use fire magic freely just by imagining it.
In that sense, it was similar to word-based magic.
“I draw mana out of my body, gather it at one point, and imagine heating it until it’s blazing. Then I picture a tiny spark—like a very small lightning flash. That’s when it ignites.”
“Lightning? But you don’t know lightning magic.”
“It’s not real lightning from the sky. Just a tiny spark, too small to even see.”
“That’s fascinating. Who taught you that?”
“Did someone have to teach me how to raise my left arm? I’ve just known how since I was little.”
Her questions continued.
“You can also cut things with fire, right?”
She remembered him using fire like a blade when they hunted the Dead Eater.
“Yes. I can shape the flames like a sword, cut things apart, or smash them.”
Ariella’s eyes lit up.
In her mind, his flames were close to ether plasma.
“Then your fire is not just a phenomenon—it can be treated as matter.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“It means… I can cast enchantments on your fire! Just like I did when I gave weapons magical properties.”
The requirement for enchantment was simple—the target had to be non-living matter.
And Ludwig’s fire qualified.
Ariella’s eyes sparkled as a new plan formed in her mind.
Ludwig only stared blankly, unable to guess what strange scheme she was thinking of this time.
