I Became the Main Character’s Demon Sword

4

“Let’s eat first.”

After bringing the child and seating him on a slightly tall chair, Arpel handed him a fork. While quietly watching him push food into his mouth determinedly, Arpel began to speak.

“I’m going out for a while today.”

“Then I’ll…”

“No.”

Arpel glanced down with a slight nod. Naturally, the short legs wrapped in bandages came into both of their views. He comforted Rohan, whose face quickly became sorrowful, by gently touching his cheek.

“When you’re better, we’ll go together.”

“Really…?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll come back today, right…?”

Even though Arpel had said he wouldn’t abandon him, it seems that anxiety still coiled up and remained in a corner of Rohan’s heart. All Arpel could do was answer that he wouldn’t abandon him every time he asked.

Arpel nodded slowly.

***

After that, similar days continued.

Rohan focused on recovery, and Arpel wandered around the forest behind the village until sunset, gathering medicinal herbs and edible mushrooms that James had told him about.

There was a bit of a commotion a few times when he picked some poisonous ones, with people asking if there was any problem… but Arpel was fine. Even though some of the mushrooms could cause rashes just by touching them.

It was natural, as he was only human in appearance but his true form was a sword. Of course, a demon sword wouldn’t be affected by poison.

During this time, Rohan seemed to want to go outside, and there were times when he insisted he was fully healed despite still having pain. However, he was repeatedly refused as Arpel’s keen eyes caught the slight awkwardness and flinching when Rohan moved his feet.

And today, Arpel sensed that it was time to leave this village.

“I’m all better now!”

Rohan shouted with a clear face and stomped his feet on the ground. Observing this action with sharp eyes, Arpel acknowledged that the wound had healed.

“Alright, I’ll take just half of it.”

When Arpel went downstairs to pay for their stay and say goodbye, James insisted on taking only half of the offered money.

Having earned money by selling herbs and mushrooms during their stay, Arpel had a rough idea of the currency value in this place.

Even considering the cost of food and treatment, in addition to providing an unused room, the amount James mentioned was really a ridiculously small sum.

“Keep it. The more money you have, the better, especially when you have a child to take care of.”

“…Thank you.”

Arpel, who was about to hand over the money again, quickly agreed to these words. Looking down, he saw Rohan staring with round eyes, seemingly not fully understanding the situation.

Since he had decided to make him happy anyway, the more money, the better.

“If you go east from here for about a day, you’ll come across a village you can pass through. Though it’s small, it’s close to the lord’s castle, so mercenaries often come and go. It’ll be helpful.”

There’s nothing better than being a mercenary for earning money while traveling with a child.

James said, glancing at Rohan. Arpel nodded obediently.

Although Arpel hadn’t explicitly stated their destination, James vaguely understood from Arpel’s actions that the two were heading towards a distant place.

“If that’s the case, come back and pay the rest when you have the chance later.”

A shallow smile pooled on Arpel’s face. It was the first emotional change he had shown since meeting James. Meeting a good connection wasn’t as bad as he thought.

***

According to James, it would take about a day of hard walking to reach the next village, but that was at the pace of an ordinary person.

Arpel, who had been walking side by side with Rohan until they completely left the village, hugged the child’s body and ran towards the direction James had indicated as soon as they left the village.

Small exclamations of wonder kept coming from Rohan’s mouth, perhaps finding the passing wind and rapidly changing surroundings fascinating.

That sight particularly caught Arpel’s eye. Patting Rohan’s head was perhaps a natural action. He thought that this might be the feeling people commonly express as “cute.”

The two arrived at the next village before sunset. Although the village wasn’t very large, the claim that mercenaries frequently visited seemed true. Unlike the previous village where shops closed quite early, this place was still bustling with activity.

Moreover, some of the passing people were wearing armor and carrying swords. Although they weren’t new, judging by the many scratches, they seemed to be equipment that had seen their fair share of use by the mercenaries.

“Do you have a room available?”

After observing the village atmosphere, Arpel entered what looked like one of the better quality inns.

The first thing he considered when choosing accommodation was whether the quality of the staying mercenaries wasn’t bad, and the second was whether the food was decent. He had received advice that learning to cook would be good… but it seemed better to buy food for the time being, as it would be difficult right away.

The woman sitting at the reception desk nodded, slightly narrowing her eyes as if scrutinizing something, but Arpel didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Will you be sharing a room?”

“Yes. One bed is enough.”

After asking for bath water to be prepared separately, he paid the fee. Instead of going up to the room after receiving the key, he went back outside the inn.

“Where are we going?”

“To buy clothes.”

Although they had acquired spare clothes in the previous village, it still seemed quite insufficient.

Perhaps due to the sizeable commercial district, there were quite a few shops selling clean and good quality clothes. Thinking that just one more set of clothes for himself would be adequate, he started choosing clothes for Rohan first.

When he suddenly came to his senses, Arpel’s hands were already piled high with clothes. Making eye contact with Rohan, who was staring with round eyes, was an added bonus. …It would be impossible to wear all of these, no matter how he thought about it.

In the end, he put down several sets of clothes he was holding. It took quite some time due to the repeated deliberation.

“Aren’t you going to buy more for yourself, Arpel…?”

“…I will.”

Arpel, who was about to firmly say this was enough, closed his mouth upon seeing the child’s expectant eyes. Eventually, words of affirmation came out of his mouth.

Is this what luxury feels like? When he packed the greatly increased amount of clothes into a bundle, both hands were full. While feeling quite uneasy as he looked at the luggage for a moment, he thought it was fine anyway when he saw Rohan’s happy expression.

***

Rohan wasn’t a difficult child to take care of.

He was obedient, didn’t throw many tantrums. He wasn’t a picky eater and didn’t make a lot of noise.

Arpel must have thought he was a mature and brave child. If only it weren’t for the voice calling for his mother while crying every night.

“Shh…”

Although he seemed mature, Rohan was still a young child.

It hadn’t been long since Arpel awakened as a demon sword, but with some memories of his past life remaining, even Arpel, who could be considered an adult, sometimes recalled the scenes from that night.

If even a mentally mature adult would struggle to forget and suffer from such an event, how could this young child endure it? Moreover, it wasn’t a story about unrelated strangers, but one where his family, friends, and acquaintances were the main characters.

It was a situation that would be unbearable without having nightmares.

Rohan, who acted like a completely mature child during the day, became honest with his emotions when night fell and he went to bed. He suffered from nightmares, cried, and searched for the precious people he had lost.

One day, he even scratched his neck while flailing about, so from the next day on, Arpel deliberately didn’t close his eyes and spent the night lying down, patting Rohan to comfort him.

Today was no different.

“Mom, sob, mom…”

If he pretended to be asleep with his eyes closed, Rohan, who had been tossing and turning beside him, would fall asleep. Soon after, as if having a nightmare, he would start whimpering and shedding tears.

At first, Arpel tried waking Rohan up, wiping his tears, and patting his back. The problem was that when awakened, Rohan wouldn’t remember that he had been crying, and even if he fell back asleep, he would have another nightmare.

He tried comforting the child in various ways, such as wiping his tears or patting his chest, but to no effect. Night after night, it felt like his insides were burning.

It didn’t take long to find a method. It was to hug the child tightly, whisper that everything was okay, and pat his back.

When Rohan felt the warmth of the person hugging him, he would stop crying as if by magic. Only his wet cheeks and reddened eyes would indicate that he had been crying. Even this would start again if Arpel let go for even a moment…

“It’s okay.”

Arpel didn’t mind.

If he doesn’t hug and comfort him, he cries. So, all he had to do was hold him and comfort him all night long.

He had explained that he was a sword, and Rohan had even seen him transform into a sword several times. However, perhaps because he recognized Arpel as a person when in human form, Rohan would worry when Arpel didn’t sleep properly or eat.

One day, Rohan became depressed, asking if it was because of him, so from then on, even if Arpel didn’t particularly feel hungry or sleepy, he acted like a human to match Rohan’s lifestyle.

After learning that Rohan wouldn’t cry if hugged and comforted, Arpel stopped sleeping. Yet, he felt fine. At times like this, he could really feel that he was a being different from humans, and it even felt fortunate.

As the crying didn’t stop easily today, Arpel wiped the falling teardrops with his finger and regularly patted Rohan’s back.

Sometimes, very rarely, there were days when Rohan would wake up.

“Arpel…?”

“Yes.”

Each time this happened, Rohan would stare for a long while, as if reassuring himself that the person in front of him wouldn’t disappear, before closing his eyes. Arpel would silently stroke Rohan’s head, thinking to himself:

I hope that someday you’ll overcome these nightmares.