Logan's relentless interrogation.
What flew from my mouth in a panic was a clumsy attempt at deflection.
"What are you talking about? I'm just a Demon King, so—"
"Don't play dumb. You trying to waste my time with pointless back-and-forth?"
Logan cut me off.
His irritation at my disingenuous reply seeped through every word.
For some reason, he was utterly convinced.
Even though the magical power inhabiting my body had transformed so thoroughly that nothing of my former appearance remained.
Logan cleared his throat, regained his composure, and spoke.
"I haven't gotten so old that I'd forget a friend. The fact that my appearance has changed doesn't change that."
"...You can still call someone like me a friend?"
"I never said I was cutting ties."
Logan answered without hesitation.
He carried the same kindness he always had.
It was no different from how he'd treated me back when I was human.
"I'll ask again. Dwight, what happened to you?"
Another question from Logan, pressed once more.
At this point, there was no hiding it anymore.
Lies wouldn't work on him.
My true identity had already been exposed.
I had no choice but to lay everything bare.
"..."
I clasped my hands together and looked down.
If I were still human, I would have been sweating profusely with my heart pounding out of my chest.
This was tension.
My heart was shaken to its core.
I felt grateful to be undead.
At the very least, I could maintain a calm exterior on the outside.
After taking my time to steel my resolve, I finally began to speak.
"...That I and the Hero were executed?"
"I know. I was so furious I plotted to assassinate the king. If it weren't for my role as clan chief, I would have carried it out."
Logan spoke in a low voice.
His words were drenched in raw, visceral emotion.
No exaggeration—this was truly a man who would have gone through with the assassination.
And he had the resolve to see it through even at the cost of his own life.
This was the first I'd heard of it, but apparently Logan had already been clan chief by the time the Demon King was slain.
The last time we'd met was over a decade ago.
I hadn't kept track of his movements.
I hadn't wanted to cause Logan any trouble, so it was a relief that he hadn't carried out the assassination.
I didn't want my old friend to end up a criminal and then die because of me.
For that alone, I had to be grateful for the way things had turned out at the time.
Logan studied my appearance intently.
It wasn't so much disgust toward the undead as it was pure, genuine curiosity.
"Completely transformed into that form... You're a lich, the Undying King. Were you resurrected with timed necromancy?"
"No, it's not that. Actually—"
I proceeded to confess everything that had happened since my execution, holding nothing back.
No more secrets.
I was honest about my current purpose as well.
After hearing me out, Logan frowned and groaned.
"The Valley of the Dead, huh... To have absorbed all of that miasma without leaving any behind..."
"I discarded my humanity and fell into darkness. I've killed more humans than I could ever count. Do you despise me?"
The question slipped out, tinged with self-mockery.
It had been smoldering inside me for a long time.
I was a Demon King who had committed endless slaughter.
I would be met with looks of contempt and hurled with curses.
I was in no position to be defended.
I carried sins far too heavy to be atoned for by merely dying.
The only ones who would view me favorably were the subordinates of the Demon King's army.
They were devoted to me, or else they were using me for their own desires.
That was fine with me.
Rather, I should be universally hated and shunned as an evil existence by everyone else.
But Logan's reaction was different.
He simply shook his head and offered his opinion.
"I don't despise you. This is the path you chose. It's not my place to stick my nose in."
Contrary to my expectations, Logan's response was calm and matter-of-fact.
He hadn't changed at all from the old days.
His tone carried both severity and warmth in equal measure.
"Your methods and your form may have changed drastically, but you're still you. You struggle and search, enduring anguish as you devote yourself to the world. That is the way of the sage called Dwight Harvelt."
"Logan..."
I murmured his name in a groan.
Without realizing it, my fingertips began to tremble.
I wanted to take a deep breath, but with a body made of nothing but bone, that was a wish that could never be fulfilled.
I clenched my back teeth and averted my gaze.
"However, if you were to bring harm to my elf clan, that would be a different story. I'd kill you, even if it meant we took each other down."
"I see. You've become quite the clan chief."
"It wasn't easy getting into this position either, but compared to your circumstances, it's trivial."
Logan stated it casually.
He had grown tired of the elf village and returned home to take the seat of clan chief.
And now he was acting to protect the members of his clan.
There must have been complicated circumstances behind it all.
It wasn't something I needed to dig into.
When the conversation fell silent, Logan stood up.
I followed suit.
"That concludes my business. I won't tell anyone about your true identity. Rest easy."
"Logan."
As he began walking toward the exit, I called out to him involuntarily.
Logan stopped and turned back to face me.
"What is it?"
"..."
I started to say something more, then hesitated.
I was torn over whether I should say it.
When I actually tried to voice it, the words stuck in my throat at the last moment.
Something inside me might break if I said it.
Was I afraid of that possibility?
I recognized once more how unstable I truly was.
Still, after several attempts, I finally managed to ask him.
"...You're not going to stop me?"
"Let me ask you the opposite. Do you want me to?"
Logan shot back immediately.
It caught me off guard.
That was something I hadn't even considered.
There was no hidden motive—I was simply curious, that was all.
Or perhaps, deep down, I did want him to.
Maybe that was why I'd asked.
I couldn't read my own true intentions.
Having no answer, I stammered pathetically.
"That is..."
"I just said it moments ago. It's not my place to interfere. I agreed to submit to you with full knowledge of your true identity. Do you understand what that means?"
"..."
Without a single word in return, I closed my mouth.
Logan let out a sigh and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"I will do what I must. You should do what you must as well."
"—Understood."
I nodded.
My vague anxiety began to recede like an outgoing tide.
It seemed like it had been an unsophisticated question after all.
Logan neither affirmed nor denied what I had done.
He remained strictly a third party.
That was a characteristically resolute stance of his.
For my part, I didn't need to be saved by kind words.
There had been nothing to hesitate about in the first place.
As the current Demon King, I would simply continue to act.
Nothing had changed since the moment I made my resolve at the bottom of the Valley of the Dead.
The lump remaining in my chest—I would leave it be for now.
The fact that my existence was twisted was nothing new.
Even if doubts lingered that I could never shake, I was never permitted to stop.
"I'll bring the Demon King's army. Make sure to inform the elves of the village so they don't get agitated."
"Understood."
"...Logan."
Before leaving the room, I called his name one more time.
He responded with a somewhat reluctant expression.
"Is there still something?"
"Thank you."
"—Don't say that. You're a Demon King, after all."
My elf friend gave a faint, wry smile.
It was an expression he rarely showed.
Having witnessed that, I returned to the Royal Capital via teleportation magic.