The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind

ch knew who they were.
Besides Ms. Bargot, he looked down at the graves below him.

‘Are they her family members who died from the epidemic?’

“They are my family,” Ms. Bargot finally said.
Her voice was calm, almost as if time lessened the affection she felt for her family.
However, that wasn’t it.
Time had simply changed a person’s sorrows into longing, and she couldn’t erase the love she had for them in her heart.
Ms. Bargot placed her hand on top of the stone slab which had the name Alex Bargot written on it.

“This is my husband.”

She quietly began her explanation.

“He was much older than me, but we truly loved each other.
Even while my husband was busy with his business, he was always attentive to me.
I loved my husband for that.
So when our love bore fruit, I felt like I had the whole world in my hands.”

Ms. Bargot moved her hands to the slab which said ‘Luin Bargot.’

“She was such a lovely child.
Always smiling, crying, and sleeping a lot.
Every time Luin squirmed inside my grasp; I thought my heart would drop from her cuteness.
I didn’t know until I had a child of my own and realized what a child meant to their mother.
Luin was a child who made me realize why mothers care for their children so much.”

As if time hadn’t fully healed her sadness, her eyes soon watered, and a teardrop slid down her cheek.
Then she took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. “I’m sorry.
I can’t help it whenever I come to this place.”

“It’s fine.”

“The people I wanted to introduce to you are my family.” She stood in the center of the two slates and placed her hands on both of them at once.
It almost seemed like she was holding her husband and child’s hands. “I don’t know how you obtained the cure to Igram, but thanks to that, I saw hope.
Hope that we can beat all the infectious diseases.
Did you notice that I’m wearing mourning clothes?”

“I was aware of it.”

“I swore at my family’s funeral that I would take these clothes off once we overcame all the diseases.”

It was basically an impossible goal, but who could laugh at her?

“That’s why I wanted to show you my husband and child.
I wanted to show them that thanks to you, we were able to accomplish a bit of our goal.
I wanted to tell them that at the very least, no one would meet the same fate as them from Igram,” she said bitterly. “Now that I think about it again, this might be very selfish of me.”

“No, that’s not true.
You have done so much.
No one would find fault in you for this.”

“Thank you.” She smiled.
As a mother and wife, she shone blindingly. “Let’s go back now.”

As if she was trying to forcefully brighten up the gloomy mood, she increased the pitch of her voice and stated, “Igram hasn’t completely disappeared yet.
Let’s go and cut off its last breath.” Ms. Bargot held Zich’s hands, and the warmth of her soft hands slowly spread to his fingertips.

 *    *    *

After returning to his temporary shelter, Zich lay on his bed.
Hans and Snoc had looked at Zich with curiosity when he first returned with his arms crossed with Ms. Bargot, but after Zich slammed each of their heads down with a disciplinary punch, they turned their eyes away.
But those punches probably didn’t make them change their minds.

‘Hmm, lovers.’

Zich knew what Hans and Snoc were obviously thinking.

‘I guess that’s what it looks like to outsiders.’

Because Zich didn’t care about what other people thought, he didn’t realize how other people might have looked at him and Ms. Bargot.
Yet, to the point that it might shock and exasperate them, Zich didn’t possess even an inkling of romantic feelings for Ms.
Bargot.

Of course, it was true that since her first appearance, Zich’s gaze continued to search for Ms. Bargot, and he tried to gain her favor.
However, the reason for that wasn’t something as sweet as romance but for something much more sinister.

‘There’s a chance that she could be Fest.’

With the introduction of the cure to Igram, Ms. Bargot suddenly appeared and expressed her interest in Zich.
She was extremely knowledgeable about infectious diseases and spouted words that Zich knew he had heard of in the future.
Truthfully, she was the most likely candidate to be Fest among everyone he had met so far.
Thus, Zich didn’t reject the interest she showed him and he instead welcomed it to observe her more closely.

However, he didn’t obtain much information so far.
All he found was that she possessed a vast amount of knowledge and interest in infectious diseases, and that was it.
Overall, she didn’t seem like a Demon Person.

‘I should observe her for a bit longer and then distance myself.’

This didn’t mean that Zich had gotten rid of his suspicions about her.
He simply judged that he wouldn’t be able to find out more useful information by staying next to her.

Zich thought of the two suspicious figures: Dracul’s previous knight and current butler, Shalom, and Ms. Bargot who lost her whole family in an epidemic—and then fell asleep.

*    *    *

A couple of days passed by.
After a few more days, Igram seemed to have completely lost its power. It could no longer bring fear to people’s faces. During the previous day, even the lockdown and quarantine policies had been lifted.  

They had won against the disease. People thought that Igram would soon be done for good.
However, the task force, including Joachim, didn’t let their guard down.
They would only be able to fully relax after catching and beating all the diseases spreading around the region.
Zich thought the same and headed to his temporary shelter again.
As usual, he cared for the sick and made the cure.

Then, suddenly, someone called out, “Zich!”