The Elf Journey In The Western Fantasy World

Either way, there were only these two possibilities. No matter which it was, once that person became the Demon King, they were, by definition, a demon.

When the Demon King was recalled to the Demon Realm, the demonic body sealed within them would slowly recover, nourished by the Demon Realm’s abundant magical elements. Those Demon Kings, whose initial appearances were similar to humans, would gradually become more and more like true demons.

The current ruler, Anos, was such a Demon King.

After Illiya had grasped this information, Sebastian continued, "But it’s not entirely clear whether something went wrong with His Majesty’s inheritance. It seems there might be some issue that makes him deep down not truly identify with us."

Illiya was shocked. "Huh?!"

So that’s how it was?

Sebastian thought of this and couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile. "It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? In truth, His Majesty doesn’t really accept his own identity. He thinks he’s only temporarily occupying the position of Demon King, and that one day, he’ll leave. He believes he’s an outsider. Even though he puts his heart and soul into changing the Demon Realm, he treats it all as just a task he needs to complete."

"All of us are very worried about His Majesty and want to change the current situation. But we can’t make such a big leap all at once, so my plan is to first get His Majesty to rely on us more and not try to handle everything alone."

"By the standards of demon ages, His Majesty is really just a child."

"That’s why I asked you at the beginning what your first impression of His Majesty was."

Illiya found himself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information he had just received.

He hadn’t expected that the seemingly carefree Demon King actually had so many thoughts buried in his heart. The Demon King seemed to get along well with the demon warriors, but in reality, those relationships were only superficial.

This was truly...

Quite unexpected.

After thinking it over for a while, Illiya decided he could accept this request.

He carefully calculated it all. He wasn’t the one who would be putting in the effort or taking action. His role would likely just be to act as a catalyst.

Without getting too tangled up in it, Illiya agreed to Sebastian’s request.

"That’s fine, so what do you need me to do?"

Sebastian looked visibly relieved and gave a smile. "Then let me thank you here and now, Your Esteemed Elf. In truth, I’ll also need the help of your companions."

Illiya could only helplessly shrug at this. "For other matters, I might be able to lend a hand. But in this case, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t make decisions for others—everyone is their own independent being."

Sebastian only gave a mysterious smile. "No need to worry. Actually, they’ve already agreed."

Illiya: ???

Sebastian finally felt a sense of sweet revenge. "It’s like this—what they told me was: ’Illiya’s decision is our decision.’ Since Your Esteemed Elf has already agreed, that means your companions have also agreed."

"So let me thank you on behalf of all the demon lords."

When Illiya heard Sebastian’s words, he suddenly had a feeling that he’d fallen into someone’s trap.

It was as if... Sebastian had been waiting for him to agree to this, or maybe some demon had been digging a pit for him from the very beginning.

Adding to this, Sebastian had also said that his companions were just waiting for his answer, which only made it clearer that this demon standing before him had already calculated everything!

Now, there were two different paths laid out before him, but both paths ultimately led to the same result.

The first was exactly what Sebastian had described: before visiting Illiya, he had already spoken with Illiya’s companions. After getting the answer "we’ll go along with whatever Illiya decides," he came to see Illiya himself. As long as Illiya agreed, Sebastian’s plan would succeed.

The second was that Sebastian had chosen to approach him first and even made up such a statement just to get something for nothing. Once Illiya agreed, the others would more or less agree too, out of respect for Illiya. After all, this request wasn’t exactly hard to accept in the first place.

Once Illiya figured it out, he realized that he was still too young after all.

Besides, who said demons were as simple (or stupid) as described in the books? Just look at this current demon steward of the Demon King—clearly, the demons were far from simple!

The continental histories had misled him!

Indeed, the next time he encountered something like this, he should probably just not open the door. That would be the wisest choice.

Illiya felt frustrated, and this frustration showed in his behavior from then on, with a faint sense of embarrassed anger in everything he did.

"Ah, I see... No wonder you managed to stand out among so many demons and become the steward of the Demon King. Truly, I have to hand it to you," Illiya said. As an elf, he couldn’t bring himself to openly show his anger in front of someone, so he could only make a few sarcastic remarks.

Sebastian knew that he couldn’t fool an elf for very long. Judging by the elf’s current demeanor, it was obvious that Illiya had finally figured it all out. But fortunately, his objective had already been achieved, so he didn’t mind a few harmless sarcastic comments. Compared to the harsh insults he had heard from others behind his back, these words could almost be considered compliments.

He was lucky that this was just a young, not-yet-adult elf.

Sebastian sighed inwardly. If he had been dealing with a fully grown elf, he would have either ended up getting beaten up today or paying a steep price.

Here, Sebastian really had to thank the Elf King and the High Priest for sending out the little elves to gain experience. They were indeed very fine elves!