The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

“Alice, you must be careful once you go over to the humans' side.
Make sure you don't get kidnapped by baddies.
Even the hero novels brought over from the humans' side frequently bring up evildoers.
This just goes to show that there are plenty of evildoers even in the human realm.”

In the afternoon the next day, after Alice had lunch in Flaman's manor, she prepared to set off on her journey back to the human realm.
Before she could leave, though, like a mother seeing off her daughter, Heris embraced her and kept on prattling about various things that she should pay attention to in the human realm.

Alice hadn't gotten much sleep last night because of the blunder she made.
Her failure to find a way to change the Hero's Sword's name only served to distract her mind even further.
So, she did not resist Heris's embrace or blabbering and simply listened to the demoness's warnings in a daze.

Meanwhile, the Four Heavenly Kings mentally struggled on whether they should smile at this scene.
On the one hand, they felt conflicted about letting Heris treat Alice, the Demon King, in such a frivolous manner.
On the other hand, they felt that Alice's appearance indeed resembled a life-sized doll and that there was nothing strange about letting Heris hug Alice.

Not to mention, Heris was Flaman's daughter.
If she could maintain a close relationship with Alice, it would be good news for the demon realm.
As the Four Heavenly Kings, they knew a lot more about the demon realm's history than most demons. 

According to what they know, the only Demon King to have ever succeeded in invading the human realm wasn't a bloodthirsty barbarian like what most people would assume.
Instead, the Seventh Demon King had an amiable personality.
It was also thanks to his friendliness that he managed to unite the demons and execute a successful invasion into the human realm.
Thus, Alice's acceptance of Heris's behavior was good news for them.

“I think that's enough for now, Young Miss.
Lady Alice might miss the caravan if you keep delaying her,” Davis suddenly said.
Even if he knew that his words would earn him Heris's dissatisfaction afterward, he had no choice but to do so.
After all, he was Flaman's close aide.
Since Flaman wasn't willing to offend his daughter, Davis had no choice but to play the role of the villain.
“It's not like Lady Alice would be leaving forever.
Also, if you really wish to see Lady Alice, you can just hide your tail and pay Lady Alice a visit in the human realm.”

Demons could hide their unique filtration organs if they wanted to.
If Heris hid her tail, she would have no problems blending in with humans.
Only, the risk of her getting exposed would increase the longer she stayed in the human realm.

“You're so long-winded, Davis,” Heris said as she rolled her eyes at Davis.
Then, she reluctantly let go of Alice and continued, “Since that's the case, I won't pester you any longer, Alice.
However, make sure to message me once you reach the human realm, Alice! I won't be able to sleep well, otherwise!”

“I got it, I got it.”

Alice was rather helpless against Heris's clingy personality.
However, her petite appearance was probably to blame as well.
After all, this body that God had created for her was indeed very cute.
It was so cute that Alice would often find herself sighing ruefully when she looked at herself in the mirror.

“Safe travels.”

Aird, who stood among the other Heavenly Kings, also waved goodbye at Alice.
Although her action didn't seem out of place, Alice understood the meaning Aird was trying to convey.
Early this morning, Alice had held a secret conversation with Aird.
They talked about what she should do after returning to the human realm.
Thus, Aird's “safe travels” should be a signal to remind Alice of their discussion.

“No problem.
I'll be careful,” Alice said as she smiled at Aird.
Then, she picked up the backpack the Four Heavenly Kings prepared for her and followed Davis out of the manor.

Flaman and the other Heavenly Kings naturally couldn't see Alice off to the human realm.
If they did so, it would attract unwanted attention to Alice.
Thus, they decided to let Davis take on the responsibility of sending Alice to the meet-up point with the smuggling caravan.

“Uu… I keep getting the feeling that Alice and Lady Aird are hiding something from us…” Heris said as she turned to look at Aird in dissatisfaction.
Even though she was the one who found Alice first, Alice had ended up spending these past few days with the Four Heavenly Kings instead.
Now that she saw Alice smiling at Aird as well, she couldn't help but grow displeased.

“You must be overthinking it.
Lady Alice and I are innocent,” Aird said with a dead-pan expression, making it impossible for others to see through her thoughts.
Even if Heris suspected her relationship with Alice, the young demoness could do nothing about it.
After all, she had made sure not to leave any evidence of her secret discussions with Alice.

“I guess it's a good thing that Lady Alice is this generation's Demon King.
At the very least, she is different from most of the past Demon Kings whose priorities are to drown themselves in pleasure and luxury,” Flaman said as soon as the doors closed.
“When I heard Heris saying that she was returning with the new Demon King, I have already mentally prepared myself to lose this manor.
But looking at things now, she might really be able to help the demon realm out of its predicament.”

“Had she been the type of Demon King who only knew how to enjoy pleasures and luxuries, I would've killed her myself even if it meant risking my life,” Ellu said.
Her personality did not allow her to submit to someone for no good reason.
It didn't matter even if the other party was the Demon King.
“However, it seems that this generation's Demon King suits my taste.
If she can maintain her current personality, I wouldn't mind letting her lead me.”

“You two sure have complicated thoughts.
My only thought is that the new Demon King's appearance is deceiving and that it should allow her to move around easily in the human realm,” Wintas said, shaking his head.
“I have already given you Lord Demon King's contact method.
If you have anything you wish to tell her in the future, just give her a call.
However, make sure you only contact her for important matters to avoid exposing her identity… Anyway, now that my work here is done, it's about time I return to my country.”

“Likewise.”

Aird nodded and gave a curt response.

…

Alice and Davis naturally weren't aware of the conversation the Four Heavenly Kings had in Flaman's manor.
After a short drive, Davis and Alice arrived at the meet-up location.
The meet-up location was located in a small grove outside the Fear Kingdom's Teli City.
Moreover, to Alice's surprise, she met someone familiar at the meet-up point—the middle-aged shopkeeper responsible for smuggling her into the demon realm.

Afterward, Alice and the middle-aged shopkeeper stared at each other in stunned silence, neither of them expecting to meet each other here.

“Since we have already arrived at our destination, I will be taking my leave first, Lady Alice,” Davis said.
Although he noticed Alice staring at the caravan leader in silence, he didn't think much of it.
He simply assumed that Alice wasn't used to speaking with strangers.
So, after dropping off Alice at the meet-up point, he promptly took his leave.

As for the possibility of Alice coming into danger?

What a joke.
That was the Demon King they were talking about.
Even Flaman was incapable of withstanding a hit from Alice.
Meanwhile, even the strongest magician in this caravan was merely at the level of a university graduate.
Even getting a doctorate would be a challenge for this magician, let alone picking a fight with the Demon King.

After Davis left, the middle-aged shopkeeper nervously gulped as he looked at the little girl he had smuggled into the demon realm a few days ago.
Then, he asked, “W-Who are you exactly?”

Originally, the middle-aged shopkeeper thought Alice was merely a wealthy young lady from the human realm.
After all, Rosa had willingly used the favor he owed her to ask him to smuggle Alice into the demon realm.
No matter how he looked at it, Alice should possess a high status in the human realm.

However, looking at things now, it would seem that Alice didn't just possess a high status in the demon realm.

The middle-aged shopkeeper recognized the person who had dropped Alice off.

Davis, personal adviser to the Fear Kingdom's King Flaman.
He was a demon with great authority in the Fear Kingdom, and even the other Heavenly Kings dared not casually lay their hands on him.
After all, to do so would be to provoke the Heavenly King of Fire.

Yet, such a person had served as a driver for Alice.
Moreover, he had done so with a respectful attitude.
This situation stirred the middle-aged shopkeeper's thoughts.

Of course, no matter how the middle-aged shopkeeper racked his mind, there was no way he would ever link Alice to the Demon King.
After all, the Demon King's “selfie” had already spread all over the demon realm's internet.
Whether it was in terms of age, figure, skin tone, or hair color, Alice and the “Demon King'' were vastly different from each other.
Moreover, the middle-aged shopkeeper had never thought of the possibility that this generation's Demon King might be concealing their identity.
Thus, it was only natural that he failed to guess the truth.

“I advise you not to pry too deeply,” Alice said, sighing.
She felt that it'd be best if she stopped the shopkeeper before his thoughts strayed too far.

First, she had been smuggled into the demon realm while hiding her identity as the Hero.
Now, she was being smuggled back into the human while hiding her identity as the Demon King.
Although the entire trip lasted for only several days, she couldn't help but feel mentally exhausted.

After thinking about what she had experienced the past few days, Alice decided to get a proper rest once she returned to the human realm.
Then, she would research a way to change the Hero's Sword's name.
If she left the Hero's Sword's name as it was, she felt that it'd be both embarrassing and rude when she introduced it to others in the future.