Chapter 16
“Ludwig?”
Ariella froze in shock.
Not just his clothes—his cheeks, forehead, even his hair were soaked with blood that hadn’t yet dried.
Where he walked, crimson footprints stained the floor.
“Are you hurt?”
“…?”
While Ariella fussed, Ludwig only blinked slowly.
Then, in a deep voice that didn’t match his young face, he said:
“Hurt?”
“Then… this blood—”
She finally noticed. For someone covered in blood, his face looked perfectly fine.
“It’s not mine.”
Ariella realized she’d overreacted.
“It’s from the orcs.”
Ariella wasn’t that old herself, but Ludwig’s features always gave her the impression of a boy.
So seeing that boyish face drenched in blood had startled her.
‘Even if he looks young, he’s probably a few hundred years old. He’s the Demon King, after all.’
Ludwig frowned as if annoyed.
“They crossed the border again, looking for food.”
It was apparently a common problem.
The orc tribe was strong enough that Ludwig had to handle them personally.
“I thought you’d been badly hurt somewhere.”
He stared at her with an unreadable look.
“Do you dislike it?”
“Huh? Dislike what?”
“Blood.”
“What kind of question is that? You think I like looking at it?”
She’d thought this before—this man was missing a screw somewhere. Ordinary common sense didn’t seem to work on him.
“I see.”
He nodded… and then made Ariella jump out of her skin.
Whoosh!
His entire body suddenly burst into flames.
Bright red fire swallowed his silhouette completely.
“Ludwig!”
Without thinking, Ariella grabbed the blanket from his bed and ran at him.
Fwoosh!
But before she could do more than flap it a few times, the great flames vanished naturally.
There was no burn mark on Ludwig’s body, his clothes, or even the floor.
Only—every trace of blood that had covered him and the ground was gone. Not even a speck of red remained in the room.
Lowering the blanket, Ariella shouted:
“Seriously?! You scared me! Can you please explain before you do something like that? And… you used that incredible power just to wash yourself and do laundry?!”
Instead of washing with water, he’d burned away the mess—without harming skin or cloth at all.
With the magic Ariella knew, that was impossible.
“I’ve always bathed like this. Since a long time ago.”
Well… it was convenient.
It took only seconds—no trouble drying hair, either.
Ariella thought back to her human realm days. Even though her hair was short now, she used to have so much of it that washing and drying was a huge chore.
Ludwig changed the subject.
“You said you had a report?”
“Yes.”
Pushing aside her envy of his morning routine, Ariella explained her plan for repairing the library.
She hadn’t even finished when Ludwig interrupted:
“I heard. You made something strange from slimes.”
“How could you know that? You just got back.”
“The whole place outside the gates is buzzing about it.”
“Wow… news spreads fast.”
Ariella nodded.
“Since I’ve made it already, I thought I’d mass-produce it and sell it. It’ll help the domain’s finances.”
Ludwig’s eyes widened—he clearly hadn’t imagined that.
“Make money… with that?”
“Yes. I don’t think there’s anywhere around here selling it yet.”
“And where did you learn such a method?”
“From a book.”
“…Book.”
He repeated the word slowly, as if it were unexpected.
“I thought books were only good for firewood. Turns out they’re useful.”
“…Excuse me?”
Ariella bristled.
So that’s why the library had been neglected all this time!
“Firewood?! You really don’t know anything, do you? In this collapsing domain, those books are the only valuable things!”
“Collapsing, huh…”
“It’s true. So, have you changed your mind yet? About how amazing books are?”
“Hmm.”
“Have you ever even read one?”
Ludwig answered proudly:
“I can’t read.”
“Knew it.”
She’d suspected back when he read the contract upside down.
He could follow the flow of a magic circle but not read words.
“So no one’s ever taught you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Too much trouble.”
Ariella stared at him. He looked away.
She’d seen that evasive look before.
“Be honest. There’s another reason, isn’t there?”
In the human realm, early education was essential for anyone meant to be a ruler. Ariella herself had been trained that way before her stepmother arrived.
“Even without schools in the demon realm, you must’ve had tutors.”
“I had none.”
“…No tutors?”
His answer was flat:
“No one.”
Ariella hadn’t expected that.
Trying to hide her surprise, she pressed on:
“Then… your parents? Family?”
He shook his head and said, in a voice with no trace of emotion:
“I wandered the demon realm alone. From the first moment I can remember.”
A short silence fell.
Ariella broke it with a question:
“That’s cold. Are all demons like that?”
“No. Of course not.”
True—demons wouldn’t normally abandon children.
“Usually, if you’re abandoned in the demon realm, you’re killed or eaten before you grow up. Surviving like me is rare. I was lucky.”
He conjured a small flame in one hand and tapped the hilt of the sword at his waist with the other.
“I learned swordsmanship before speaking, magic before listening to others. Anyone who attacked me—I burned or cut down without hesitation.”
So, from the time he was very young—his earliest memories—he’d lived at the edge of life and death.
Even if he spoke about it so casually, it must have been far more brutal than Ariella could imagine.
“…You’ve lived rough.”
“I said I was lucky. I survived.”
He nodded slightly at the flame.
Ariella repeated the word lucky in her mind.
He might have had luck—but not happiness.
Then Ludwig said:
“I’ve talked too much. In the end, I learned something other than reading—so isn’t that enough?”
She suddenly wondered: how had that wandering boy become a ruler?
Right after came another feeling—pity.
Pity for a boy who’d fought to survive from such a young age.
‘Wait—why am I pitying him? I’m the one without family, without a home, struggling in a foreign land.’
“Is that all?” he asked.
Ariella finally remembered why she’d come.
“Then… we can go ahead with the library repairs as planned?”
She’d come for post-approval, after all.
Ludwig nodded.
“Do whatever you want. I’m leaving it to you.”
A few hours later—
Ariella stood in front of the library.
