The Legendary Rebuilding of a World by a Realist Demon King Chapter 22

They Like to Bathe in the Other World

Preparations for our journey to the dwarf lands finished quickly.

It was all finished the day before we would set out, and since Jeanne was already a drifting traveler, she was able to join our party at short notice.

However, she asked that she be allowed to take a bath before leaving.

She wished to ease her fatigue from the road and rid herself of filth.

It certainly was one womanly aspect to her, and so I allowed it.

This was a castle for demons, but there were humans too.

Such as Hijikata Toshizou.

Since he was from Japan, a bath had been made to fit his taste. Well, that was only half the reason, as I enjoyed them myself.

There was an outside bath that was a carved out boulder and also a wooden tub inside of the castle.

Those who wished to be under the blue sky would use the outside one, and those who enjoyed the smell of cypress wood would use the later.

Humanoid monsters would occasionally use them, but they said that the cypress bath reeked, and they preferred the rock one.

In addition, as I bathed every day, I was seen as being fixated on cleanliness to a disturbing degree.

I once heard of a Queen Elizabeth in the other world, who only bathed once a month and yet was considered to be obsessed with cleanliness.

Really, it was not easy being a bath lover in either world.

As I thought this, Jeanne returned from her bath.

“…”

The reason that I had fallen silent was because she had only a single towel wrapped around her.

And she was beautiful.

When I had first seen her, she was wearing a filthy robe and had her hair tied up. And so I had not even realized that she was beautiful.

Her golden hair framed her symmetrical face.

She looked like an angel had come down from heaven.

I could not help but stare for a moment, but my view was promptly blocked.

This was because Eve had come around me and covered my eyes.

Her hands felt cold.

“You must not look at this, master.”

She did not sound pleased.

Jeanne said boldly,

“I do not care. My body is purity itself. And I feel no shame in the looks of others.”

“You should feel ashamed. There are many gentlemen here as well.”

“I am aware. And I will only appear in this way in front of the king.”

“That only makes matters worse.”

They were starting to argue now, but I stopped them.

Nothing would be resolved like this.

I wasn’t interested in watching them squabble. I was interested in visiting the dwarf lands.

I said as much to both of them, and they agreed.

Jeanne began to change into her clothes.

Well, my vision was obstructed, so I had only my ears to relay that information.

When she was done, Eve pulled her hands away.

I looked at the cleaned up Jeanne and then at Eve.

They were an attractive pair, but thinking about how we would be traveling together made me a little concerned.

I could only hope they would not fight on our journey.

It was while I thought such things, that we left the castle in the afternoon.

No one saw us off.

It was not wise to advertise the fact that I would be absent from the castle. And so I wore a disguise and avoided drawing attention.

Ultimately, I was a Demon King who was very close to humans. It did not take too much to blend in.

With travelers clothing and glasses alone, I could pass as a civilian.

Well, glasses were actually expensive in this world, so perhaps I would appear as a shrewd merchant.

“Hmm, I think it might look strange to travel with two beautiful women as well.”

Toshizou joked right before our departure. But well, that could not be helped.

While Jeanne wore humble traveling clothes, Eve drew attention in her maid uniform.

I tried to persuade her to change her clothes, but she would not listen.

“If you wish to take these clothes off of me, then you might as well take my skin off as well.”

She said.

It must have something to do with her pride as a maid and secretary demon.

She would obey almost any other order from me, but she was stubborn on this matter.

Well, it wasn’t too unreasonable for a merchant to have a maid, and so I allowed it.

And like this, the Demon King, Maid, and Saint set out on a journey.

We were headed west towards the dwarven homelands, which was located in a land where the human forces were very strong.

It would mean trouble if we were exposed as demons, but there were no humans in the actual dwarven territory, so we would just have to reach it safely.

The problem that could arise, was encounters with knights on the way. But we ended up being lucky.

The people that we saw on the way were a family on a pilgrimage, traveling merchants, and a small group of mercenaries.

The crass mercenaries pointed and insolently asked Eve and Jeanne their price, but they fell silent when Jeanne cut open a giant tree nearby.

And I was able to hide that I was a demon.

I suppose people did not expect a Demon King to have a saintly woman like Jeanne by his side.

Thinking of it like that, perhaps this had been the perfect selection of traveling companions.

Taking an eastern man like Toshizou with me would have drawn even more attention.

Besides, he would have cut the mercenaries, not the tree.

That would cause quite the skirmish, and delay my plans to visit the dwarves.

And so while I had been right in bringing her with me, there was one thing that bothered me.

In her world, she had been called the Maid of Orléans.

Always on the frontlines in battles. But she was no undefeatable warrior.

And so where had this power come from?

Did just anyone who was summoned to this world become a Hero?

Or had she already been strong upon her arrival?

I asked her this.

She looked at me with surprise.

It was a youthful expression, but she quickly returned to normal.

“It is all God’s will.”

She really was a religious zealot.

In this other world, she had worked heroically, but was ultimately captured by the enemy and met a cruel fate.

At that time, the king of France who she had been so loyal to, betrayed her. And the nobles that fought alongside her abandoned her.

And yet she had not cursed them, and hoped only for the peace of her country. And after her death, the church canonized her.

With such a fate, perhaps she would see all of her actions as relating to god.

Eve was worried that she would betray me, but as long as I did not do anything that went against her god, she would likely stay on my side.

The Ashtaroth army was still a gathering of weak soldiers, and so it was my great fortune that a powerful Hero such as her would be their commander.

And so I swore that I would govern wisely, in order to keep her as a subordinate for as long as possible.

After all, I preferred to be realistic.

I respected men like Machiavelli and Han Feizi.

I would be ruthless and merciless against my enemies.

Surely this god would allow me that, at least.

That is what I thought, as we continued on.