Side Stories: Chapter 27
The one-year anniversary celebrating the annihilation of the Bellids was a complete failure. The dragon’s corpse, which they had placed great attention on guarding, was resurrected as the undead and threatened the high-class Karuwimans, the great temple, Yuras, and the entire city. The remaining members of the Bellid group and the undead monsters they controlled attacked the masses. It was a chaotic day where a festival meant to celebrate the Bellids’ erasure could’ve been left as the worst day in history for the Karuwimans.
Yet, compared to the severity of the situation, there wasn’t as much damage. Property damages made up most of it and the only casualties were the Miftil Kingdom’s knights. It also came to light that the nobles attending the festival as representatives of the Miftil Kingdom, Wesker Grashane and Fejiadiru Browning, were Bellid collaborators. It was like a miracle, as if God Karuna had personally acted to protect the Karuwimans.
However, this event wasn’t some miracle from a god. It was thanks to one person even though this person was someone who couldn’t compare to any other human. Everyone, including the Karuwiman Pope from above to the citizens attending the festival, saw what this man did. They watched as Piros was subdued and the remaining Bellids were all tied up helplessly. Still, the festival couldn’t go on after an event like that, and the Karuwimans soon dispersed the crowd.
People obediently scattered and returned to their respective homes. Though they could’ve lost their lives in a single mishap, what lingered in their heads wasn’t an emotion such as fear. Instead, it was a sense of admiration and respect. Everyone knew that they had witnessed a legendary battle that would be carved into history for many years to come.
After some time passed, people soon calmed their unsettled hearts and went outside, unable to beat the overflowing passion in their hearts. The festival was still going on and merchants were still continuing their businesses even after the recent incident. People went into restaurants and bars and talked about what they experienced that day.
“Ha! Did you see that? You know, right at the end when the dragon fell!”
“Of course, I saw it! I even saw the hero swing his sword. He swung his sword slowly enough that I could see it and then the dragon’s entire wing ripped right off!”
“What? Damn it, I was watching the Bellid bastards running with all their might, so I couldn’t see that.”
Two burly men talked passionately while holding two alcohol glasses. It was the same for the people at the table beside them.
“I heard that’s called a breath. I can’t believe I saw something that only appears in legends and such. Isn’t the dragon supposed to blow off mountains and even erase entire cities?”
“Of course! You saw it too! Those terrible lights and sounds. If our hero hadn’t blocked it, the entire Yuras would’ve been demolished.”
“To think that he could block a great strength like that. Isn’t he truly amazing?”
“Yeah, that’s why he was able to end those Bellid cockroaches’ leader!”
Wherever anyone looked, people were praising Zich. It couldn’t be helped. When would they ever see an amazing battle like that? Furthermore, the person they were talking about was Zich, whose fame was high enough to pierce the sky.
“I’m really glad that I went to the anniversary today! When I place my grandkids on my lap in the future, I will have stories to tell them!”
“Why don’t you say that after getting married first?”
Even after more time passed, people didn’t stop praising Zich. Seeing the fever and passion of the people in the room, it seemed like people would continue to talk about Zich for a while. Although the whole city was buzzing because of the day’s incident, the main scene was quiet and calm. The area was blocked from ordinary people entering so that it could be cleaned, and holy priests and knights were taking control of it.
“Look at this.” One holy knight flipped a dead Bellid’s body over with his feet and said to his companion, “There’s no external injury.”
They studied the corpses and flipped them around. There was absolutely no respect for the dead, but no one said anything. After all, what need was there for courtesy when dealing with the Bellids?
“He completely ground their organs without damaging their skin.”
“No wonder they died instantly though they looked fine on the outside.”
“Did he really do something like this from so far away without any warning beforehand?”
The holy knights met each other’s eyes. They seemed to ask each other if it would be possible for any of them to do this and nobody seemed to agree.
“…Let’s just clean up the corpses.”
“…Yeah.”
Zich was someone who had already surpassed their understanding. If he suddenly claimed to be the avatar of Karuna right now, they would’ve probably believed him. Yet, unlike this place where everything was progressing smoothly, there were other areas with more commotion taking place.
“This is a misunderstanding! Are you really going to believe a Bellid bastard’s words?!” Fejiadiru shouted while both his arms were tightly bound by two holy knights. Yet, no one took heed to what he said. However, considering the status of the people they were arresting, the cardinal said coldly, “We will know once we conduct our investigation. Before that, we will treat you like the noble that you are.” In other words, once Wesker and Fejiadiru were found to have any connection with the Bellids, their heads would be sliced off whether they were nobles or not.
“That can’t happen! I am the heir of the Miftil Kingdom’s Marquess Browning family! How could you treat someone like me so roughly?!”
“That’s the case for now. If you really are connected to the Bellids, you should wish things would stop at your end. If we find out that the Browning family and even further, the Miftil Kingdom, are connected to the Bellids too, we won’t hesitate to go all out.”
Of course, things would not end with just that. This event could’ve put the Pope, all the upper-class Karuwimans, and Yuras in danger. Although Zich had coolly overturned the event, it was true that the Karuwimans had failed to block the Bellids’ ambush. To make up for that loss of reputation, the Karuwimans needed to pursue this case as fiercely as possible. Fejiadiru’s face turned pale.
“My family and of course, I have nothing to do with those bastards! This is going too far…”
“Why don’t you say that to the interrogator? Drag him out!”
“No, it’s a misunderstanding! We will never collaborate with the Bellid bastards…!” Fejiadiru was pleading desperately when Lara spotted him.
“L-Lara!” he shouted. She turned around.
“Please help them clear up this misunderstanding! Aren’t you Sir Zich’s companion? I’m sure people would listen to what you say! For your brother, help…!”
Lara indifferently turned her head. Though she heard her brother call her name, she never turned in his direction again.
“His shamelessness is unbelievable,” Hans scoffed.
“He’s always been like that, but there’s nothing to be surprised about. Even Wesker Grashane was dragged away obediently. If only that guy was a bit more like the person he served…” Of course, they thought Wesker wouldn’t easily admit his sins either, but it was clear that both Wesker and Fejiadiru wouldn’t become free men again. Regardless, none of this mattered to Lara who cut off all contact with her family.
“It’s unexpected that he protested only with words while getting taken away. I thought he would at least try to use force.”
“Try to use force? After seeing what happened earlier?”
“Yeah, that’s true too.”
The two wondered why the people of the Miftil Kingdom had no choice but to obediently listen to the Karuwimans. Zich was mingling with his acquaintances. If the Karuwimans hadn’t told everyone to return to their places except the people involved in remediating this situation, Zich would have been surrounded by people all day long. Since Zich’s performance today was unrivaled, everyone was eager to meet him. After some time, even his acquaintances began to leave one by one, and the only person left was his partner, Lyla.
“What is it?” Zich asked.
Something seemed to be bothering Lyla since a while ago. She even glared at the acquaintances talking to Zich, and she was the reason why their acquaintances had dispersed a bit more quickly.
“No, it’s…” She couldn’t get her words out.
“Do you want to go to the restroom? Then you should hurry up and go…” Judging by how Lyla kicked his shin, that didn’t seem to be the answer.
“Well, do you have anything to say to me?”
“I do. There’s quite a lot too, but I think I’ll get a kick in the shin again if I say any one of those things. You want me to say them?”
“You better not!”
Zich faithfully followed her words in response to her sharp gaze.
‘He really doesn’t seem like he has anything to say…’
After staying with Zich for a while, Lyla could grasp his thoughts to a certain extent by just examining his behavior. In the end, Lyla had to bring up the topic herself. “You know, before you said…that you were making plans to propose to me.”
“Yeah, I said that. When I was with Joachim and Evelyn…” The quick-witted Zich immediately identified the cause of Lyla’s disgruntled behavior. “Were you looking forward to it because of what I said to them before?”
“…You really didn’t have plans to propose.”
“I mean, I was half-joking that time, and like I said, I was going to propose when our sense of danger and excitement is at its peak. But where’s the excitement and crisis today?”
“…You know what? According to that logic, I’ll never be able to receive a proposal. When will you ever be in danger?”
“Yeah, that’s true too.”
Lyla naturally made a fist at Zich’s easygoing responses. How should she beat the hell out of him to cool down this burn?
“Then, shall we get married?”
“What?” Lyla’s fist naturally relaxed.
“Weren’t you looking forward to it? As you said, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to propose to you on my terms. Then we should just do it while we’re at it.”
“Where the hell is the romance…”
“Do you think that’s possible for me?”
“No way.” It was such a ridiculous proposal. Nevertheless, Lyla felt her heart beating fast. She thought she might be acting too easy, yet she couldn’t help but feel delighted. She felt like she would be losing if she made her happiness too obvious.
“Fine, I guess this is my fate. I’ll just accept your proposal. So, when are we going to get married?”
“Within a week.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry. Although my proposal was like this, I’ll give you a wedding of the century.” Lyla blinked, as Zich’s playful statement made a deep impression on her.
* * *
Exactly a week after Zich made his promise, a huge stage was set up in front of Yuras. The pure white stage, adorned with colorful flowers and decorations, could not have been more suitable to celebrate the couple continuing to walk together in the future. Countless people gathered around, and everyone sincerely congratulated the bride and groom with laughter and applause.
On the stage, Lyla wore a beautiful dress with a bouquet in her hand. She muttered half in shock, “…It’s really happening.”
Lyla had been half-doubting and half-expecting Zich to keep his promise to give her a wedding of the century. Lyla had to admit that Zich’s head worked extremely quickly. Immediately after Zich proposed to Lyla—which Lyla technically did accept as a proposal—he requested the Pope to prepare for their wedding…within a week.
No matter how favorable the Karuwimans thought of Zich and Lyla, the Pope thought a request like this was too sudden and ill-mannered, but after considering it, he accepted the request with open arms. The Karuwimans’ reputation had suffered from the festival, so to recover their reputation, the Karuwimans were going to continue the festival. If they added Zich and Lyla’s wedding, the people’s attention would peak since Zich’s reputation was already reaching the heavens. Then, it would lead to the success of the festival. On top of that, they could show the stability and strength of the Karuwimans and boast their friendship with Zich. Their wedding was beneficial to the Karuwimans in every way.
Since then, the Karuwimans poured all their available energy and resources into Zich’s wedding. Living up to their name as a religion with global power, the Karuwimans were able to perfectly create an enormous wedding venue in a week.
“Are you satisfied?” Zich asked as he stood next to Lyla. He was wearing a handsome tuxedo. After formally dressing up, his already noble good looks were amplified tenfold.
“Yeah.” How could anyone show their dissatisfaction with such a grand wedding?
“That’s a relief. I’m glad we’re doing the wedding now. Since all our acquaintances are gathered here, they can attend right away as well.” Their acquaintances, including Hans, watched the ceremony in a specially arranged place for VIPs.
The wedding officially began. The music ensemble played, and the officiating Pope called out to Lyla and Zich. Lubella sat in the VIP seat and earnestly celebrated their union while occasionally glaring at the Pope.
‘Did the Pope use his authority to settle their fight on the wedding officiant?’
The scene of the Pope laughing while saying that the Saintess still had a long way to go was still fresh in everyone’s memories.
“Then, shall we go, Lyla Serville?”
Zich reached out his hand toward Lyla. She looked at his hand for a while and placed her hand over Zich’s. “Yes, Zich Serville.”
With a new surname that meant ‘a new life’ in the Clowon language—a name that perfectly reflected their identity—Zich and Lyla slowly walked up to the stage.
Author’s End Note:
Hello Wuxiaworld readers, this is Hungry Panda. Did you enjoy the time you spent with Zich? I hope that Zich’s journey brought a little bit of joy to your lives. When ‘The Regressed Demon Lord is Kind’ was first published on Wuxiaworld, I didn’t expect it to receive as much love as it did. Thus, I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who gave so much love to this work even when it was lacking in many ways. I hope to see you again in my next work, and I wish hope in all your lives not just for tomorrow, but forevermore.