I Was Supposed to Be Feeding the Pigeons, But Somehow I Ended Up Feeding a Beautiful Demon Lord Instead - 06

Chapter 6

That day, a cold rain fell steadily from morning on. The cobblestone streets of the royal capital glistened black with wetness, and even the usually bustling market had only sparse foot traffic today.

I walked through the familiar back alley, holding an umbrella. I do not mind rainy days. The world’s noise fades away, leaving only the quiet flow of rain sounds. My only worry was her.

(…Bel probably isn’t coming today.)

She is so dedicated to her work. She should rest on a rainy day like this, but knowing her, she might say something like “site inspection proceeds rain or shine” and push herself too hard.

I checked the weight of the thermos and hurried toward the park.

Deep inside the park, amid the hazy rain-shrouded scenery, a figure stood beneath a large oak tree.

Even though the leaves provided some shelter, the wind blowing in had to be cold. Bel did not sit on the bench. Instead, she leaned her back against the trunk and stood motionless.

Her hood was pulled low over her eyes as she stared fixedly at the ground. She looked small and vulnerable, like a stray cat drenched in the rain.

“…Bel.”

When I called out, her shoulders jerked in surprise, and she slowly lifted her face. Her glasses were fogged with water droplets.

“…Kazuya.”

“You came after all. You’ll catch a cold in this rain.”

“…A promise is a promise. I had a feeling you would show up.”

She spoke calmly, but her voice trembled slightly. Without a word, I held my umbrella over her. Raindrops pattered against it.

Bel looked up curiously at the canopy, then gently reached out and touched the umbrella. I stepped closer, inviting her under its cover.

Naturally, our shoulders touched.

“…Isn’t it cramped?”

“…No. It’s not bad.”

Bel murmured softly and leaned her body even closer to mine.

From her robe came the scent of rain mixed with something sweet. The sound of rain hitting the umbrella seemed to separate our small space from the rest of the world.

“…Aren’t you cold?”

“A little chilly.”

“Then let’s drink something warm.”

I took a thermos from the bag slung over my shoulder. When I poured it into the cup, steam rose along with a rich, sweet aroma.

“…It’s yellow. What is this?”

“It’s called ‘corn potage.’ I pureed corn and simmered it with milk and fresh cream.”

“Corn… Isn’t that livestock feed?”

“In my homeland, it’s a delicacy. Here, drink it while it’s hot.”

Bel accepted the cup, cradling it in both hands.

Her fingertips had turned ice-cold, but warmth gradually returned to them as color crept back in. She blew on it gently and took a sip.

“…”

Bel’s eyes widened slowly. The tension in her face melted away like snow in spring.

“…Sweet. And warm.”

“Right?”

“It’s like drinking sunlight. The heat spreads through my chilled insides.”

She drank the soup eagerly until it was gone. A bit of yellow remained at the corner of her mouth. I pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it away naturally.

“There, you got some on you again.”

“…Hm. Sorry.”

“No problem. …You look even more tired today. Did something happen?”

When I asked, Bel gazed regretfully at the empty cup and let out a deep sigh.

“…Those rats.”

“Rats? Pest extermination again?”

“Something like that. We took the northern fortress, but the survivors fled underground.”

Bel poked disinterestedly at the muddy ground with the toe of her shoe.

“They dug deep trenches and holed up inside. Even when we fire magic at them, the earth shields them and reduces the effect. It’s like whack-a-mole.”

“I see…”

“We could force it and cause a collapse, but then they’d be buried and cleanup would be a hassle. …How to drag them out.”

Bel rested her head on my arm and gazed vaguely at the rainy sky. Her profile carried a languid allure colored by the melancholy of the rain and the fatigue of work.

I shifted my grip on the umbrella handle and pointed to a puddle forming at our feet.

“Bel. Water flows from high places to low ones… You know that, right?”

“A foolish question. It’s basic principle.”

“Then the answer is simple.”

I tilted the umbrella slightly, guiding the rainwater running down the fabric into a depression in the ground. The water quickly filled it and overflowed.

“If they’re hiding in holes, just leave them be. It’s raining this hard today.”

“…Leave them?”

“Yes. Rainwater will naturally flow to the lowest spots—their holes. Once the pits they dug fill up, they’ll have no choice but to come out.”

Rain is the natural enemy of anyone hiding underground. Without drainage, a hole in a downpour becomes nothing more than a muddy pool.

“No need to attack at all. On rainy days, we can just wait while drinking warm soup. It’s called a water attack.”

When I said that, Bel looked up at me with a start. In her eyes, the sound of rain began to carry new meaning.

“…Using the weather.”

“Nature always wins.”

“…Heh. So we’ll drown the moles in muddy water.”

A bewitching smile curved Bel’s lips. She squeezed my arm tightly and brought her lips—still scented with soup—close to my ear.

“Kazuya. You really… have a nasty personality. That’s a compliment.”

“Eh, really? I think it’s a peaceful solution.”

“Yes. Winning without fighting. Truly a Demon King-like idea.”

Bel nodded in satisfaction, took the thermos from my hand, and asked for another cup.

“Pour me more. Let’s take shelter from the rain until I finish this ‘golden soup.'”

“Sure, sure. Don’t catch a cold.”

“I’m fine. …As long as you’re beside me, I don’t feel cold at all.”

With that, she pressed close under our shared umbrella, greedily seeking my warmth. In the quiet park filled only with rain sounds, we stood shoulder to shoulder like ordinary lovers, waiting for the rain to stop.

◆

“W-Water! The water’s flooding in!”

“Drainage can’t keep up! The trenches are submerging!”

“We can’t even sleep like this! My body’s freezing and I can’t move!”

On the northern front, the kingdom army’s trench positions—their last stand—had turned into a giant mud pool.

The relentless rain, combined with the Demon King’s army causing nearby rivers to overflow, sent all the displaced water pouring into the trenches.

Weapons rusted in the mud, and the soldiers shivered from cold and exhaustion. They were in no state to fight.

To avoid drowning, they crawled out of the trenches themselves and surrendered one after another to the waiting Demon King’s forces on higher ground.

Watching from a tent on the hill was a shadow—the Demon King Bel. She elegantly sipped warm corn potage while coldly observing the mud-covered figures below.

“…Hmph. Kazuya was right. On rainy days, it’s best to stay inside drinking soup.”

Her aide, the Orc General standing beside her, trembled violently and shed tears.

“T-Terrifying… To drown the enemy using the weather itself without swinging a single sword… Does that ‘shadowless strategist’ truly command natural disasters!?”

“It’s not a natural disaster.”

Bel set down her empty cup and sighed in bliss.

“This is ‘sharing an umbrella.’ It’s simply our loving joint effort to keep ourselves dry while pushing all the rain onto the enemy.”

“Hiii…! What unjust love…!”

In the Orc General’s mind arose a mythical vision: a fictional giant named Kazuya shielding the Demon King with a massive umbrella while torrents of rainwater dripping from it washed away the humans below.