My Disciples Think I’m Strong – Chapter 238

“Can’t we just reattach the arm?”

Maria felt an inexplicable annoyance at Inkuro’s nonchalant tone. She clenched her fists, wondering if hitting him again would relieve her frustration.

Then it happened.

“I’m back.”

Iris landed gracefully in front of the two heroes after jumping down from the roof.

“What took you so long?”

“I took care of some demons on the way here. The other territories have suffered significant damage from the demon tribe as well. It should be fine now.”

“Is that so?”

“But why were you clenching your fists?”

Instead of answering her question, Maria stared blankly at Inkuro. Iris’s gaze moved to the wounded Inkuro.

“…Didn’t I tell you not to care about what that guy says? He’s just an idiot anyway.”

“An idiot? What are you teaching the kids?!”

Seeing Inkuro getting riled up, Maria reluctantly relaxed her fists.

“…Just be thankful to be alive, you garbage.”

“Garbage? That’s too much. No matter how much I like women, I have my principles!”

While ignoring Inkuro, who was lamenting his plight, Maria prepared to cast a spell to clear the remaining demons.

A flash.

A blue light erupted from within her white coat. Maria immediately pulled out a scroll to check its contents.

“…Tina, Iris. Let’s eliminate the demons here and return to Secul.”

“To Secul?”

“Master is waiting in Secul.”

“Got it! I’ll clear this up right away!”

“Sure, I’ll help too.”

“No, that’s unnecessary.”

Maria grabbed hold of Tina and Iris, who were about to dash toward the demons. While the two looked confused, Maria began to cast magic.

“‘Magic Detection’.”

This was a spell that detected all magic beasts within a certain range. As Maria scanned the entire capital of the Aioum Kingdom, she pinpointed the locations of all demons.

Next, she raised her staff high and cast another spell.

“‘Tears of Morning Dew’.”

A massive cloud formed in the sky and began to drop water droplets, soon starting to rain lightly.

The demons wandering around the kingdom looked up at the water falling onto their skin. For a moment, they gazed at the suddenly falling rain with confusion, but then they returned to their intent to slaughter those who couldn’t escape in time.

However, the rain-soaked demons couldn’t move. The tremoring magic beasts holding weapons began to convulse before collapsing one by one.

As the demons fell without even a cry of despair, Tina turned to Maria.

“Wait… Maria, what did you do? The demons are dying.”

Seeing the magic beasts vanishing one by one in between buildings, Tina voiced her confusion.

Ninth-tier water magic, Tears of Morning Dew.

When the rainwater poured down from the clouds, it allowed mana to seep into the enemy’s body, using that mana to destroy the cells all living beings should possess.

“If you use magic like this, we wouldn’t need to bother with cleanup at all, right?”

“Whoa! Awesome! We’ll see the Master a few minutes early!”

“Exactly. Let’s hurry up.”

“Yeah! Oh, but what about that guy?”

Tina pointed at Inkuro.

“He shouldn’t have any problem moving, so let’s just leave him. I don’t want to be around this garbage.”

“I think it’s better to take him. There must be a reason Master wanted him alive.”

Maria let out a frustrated sound. Imagining Inkuro touching her body filled her with revulsion.

“Ugh, no. Just tell him to come on his own!”

“Now that I think about it, Maria, you can really be ruthless.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you!”

Maria teased Tina while grabbing her arm. Iris placed a hand on Maria’s shoulder, smiling wryly.

“‘Teleport’.”

With the teleportation spell, the three heroes departed.

“Are you really just going to leave me behind…? I’m a demon… a demon….”

Inkuro murmured with a hint of disappointment as he stared at the spot where the Three Heroes stood moments ago.

“What would I say to someone stronger than me…?”

With that, Inkuro sighed and leaned his back and head against the wall.

He looked up at the sky.

The sky had taken on a purplish hue, as if the sun were setting.

He suddenly felt a sense of emptiness and glanced somberly at his severed arm.

“Ugh, this is tough. I just want to be comforted by some women.”

Even after losing an arm, Inkuro remained Inkuro.

—

“Master! We’re here!! Where are you?!”

“I’m right here.”

As I pulled out a shovel from a small shed beside the house, I responded to Tina’s boisterous voice.

“…You came back early.”

All three heroes were in good condition.

Fortunately, it seemed they had dealt with the entire Fourth Legion without injuries. It was also true in games that breaking limits made a person significantly stronger.

“How did you handle the Fourth Legion?”

I asked as I closed the shed door.

“Of course, we completely wiped them out!”

Tina said confidently while giving a thumbs-up. Meanwhile, Iris looked a bit disappointed beside her.

“However, we did miss Stella. She created a clone to distract me and got away.”

“It’s okay. I killed Stella myself.”

“Oh! As expected of you, Master!”

The heroes glittered with admiration. Though, it seemed they were exaggerating my accomplishments compared to theirs.

Still, I was relieved that they had taken down the Fourth Legion.

Now, if only we could defeat the Demon King, peace would be assured for hundreds of years to come.

Just one step remained. A very heavy step.

Of course, many tasks remained to be handled first.

I glanced down at the shovel I was holding before entering the house. The heroes naturally followed me.

“By the way, Master, what’s with that shovel?”

I offered no response to the heroes. I merely continued to take steps forward.

Noticing something odd in my reaction, the heroes fell silent and followed me without saying a word.

“I’m back!”

“It really feels like it’s been a while since I’ve come back.”

While I listened to the heroes chatting happily and peacefully, I set the shovel down beside the dining table.

I entered the room that my father used.

Ever since expanding the house at Maria’s suggestion, I hadn’t touched my father’s room. It was meant to accommodate guests whenever they returned.

However, it felt pointless now.

“Huh? What’s that?!”

“Did Master’s father come?!”

“Father!”

The heroes cheered as they rushed into the room, calling out to Paroco.

Seeing Paroco lying on the bed with his eyes closed, the lively heroes who had been chatting just moments ago fell silent.

“Uh… Were we too loud and woke him up?”

“Geez, Tina.”

“I wasn’t the only one being loud. Iris had a big voice too, you know?”

“It’s fine. You can make noise.”

I spoke softly, gazing at Paroco, who had been cleaned up and dressed in fresh clothes.

“What?”

“Just let it be. He can’t hear anymore.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Could it be…?”

The heroes behind me quickly caught on to my profound words and rushed to the bedside.

Tina, looking down at Paroco with calm eyes, shook her head as though denying reality.

Having the sight to perceive the essence, she must have understood Paroco’s condition. She must have been stunned that she couldn’t find an ounce of vitality in my father.

“N-No, this can’t be… why…?”

Clenching her fists tightly, she hastily placed her hand under Paroco’s nose. The heroes watching Tina’s actions became convinced as well.

Paroco is dead.

“No way…?”

Tina turned around to look up at me, grabbing my clothes in desperation, trying to force a smile.

“Not true, right? He’s just pretending to be dead, isn’t he?”

I averted her desperate gaze.

Tina let out a short gasp, clenching the fabric of my clothes tight as she shouted.

“Master! Please say something!”

“Tina!”

Iris intervened, and the pressure from Tina’s grip softened slightly.

“Why… why…?”

“It was Stella who killed him…”

I was about to say Stella’s name when I caught sight of Iris, and the words got stuck in my throat. I feared that mentioning Stella would make Iris feel guilty for failing to capture her.

“I… I don’t know. When I got there, he was already laying there with a hole in his chest.”

“Then… did the Demon King order him to be killed?”

“Probably. Up until now, my actions have been things that would annoy the Demon King. I should have expected and prepared for an assassination attempt like this. I was too complacent.”

“We need to go kill it. Right now! I can’t forgive this! Absolutely not!”

Tina couldn’t contain her rage. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and at any moment, it seemed like they would overflow.

She was drawing deep breaths, her chest heaving. The furious fire burning in her bloodshot eyes was palpable, showing emotions for someone’s father who wasn’t even hers.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s hurry up and get ready!”

“Calm down, Tina.”

“Am I calm right now—?!”

Tina halted at Maria’s words.

With a normally prideful demeanor, Maria was quietly grieving without a sound.

“We must bury him first.”

“Yeah. That’s the priority, Tina.”

Iris mentioned while suppressing her own tears. Though she was desperately trying to hide her sorrow, her drooping tail showed little sign of picking up.

“Lord Praus, are you there?”

As a voice echoed, footsteps approached the house. Soon, someone entered the small room packed with six people.

“Lord Praus, we brought a coffin from the villagers.”

“We brought cloth to wrap around Paroco and some flowers as well.”

It seemed Ella and Ariel had safely brought what they had asked for. Upon seeing the heroes, Ella mumbled.

“Oh, my students are here too…”

I sighed and gently removed Tina’s hand that was gripping my garments.

It seemed that preparations for the funeral were sufficiently underway, so it felt appropriate to begin.

“Let’s go.”

Let’s do our best to hold a proper funeral and send him off peacefully.