I Am the Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings but the Demons Are Obsessed With Me

27 – The Witch of the Four Heavenly Kings, Magenta.

Magenta.

A girl of the witch clan with pink hair, one of the high-ranking demons holding a seat among the Four Heavenly Kings.

She was in a particularly foul mood at the moment. It had been a while since she’d returned to the ‘village’, and she was met with an unpleasant sight.

It was the members of the Sanwa clan, hanging in the barn and oozing mucous.

“Children? What might this be?”

“Ah, Lady Magenta! These are the newly captured Sanwa folks. Especially regenerative ones, so we expect to collect much mucous…”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know what this is and asked?”

“…Pardon?”

Sanwa clan. The mucous produced by this race, reminiscent of garden slugs, was used as a catalyst for various magical potions.

However, its primary use was slightly different. The Sanwa mucous had the effect of promoting plant growth. To the witch clan, who cultivated various flowers and medicinal herbs, the mucous of the Sanwa clan was a highly valuable material.

Therefore, the witch clan occasionally captured members of the Sanwa clan to harvest their mucous. Of course, the Sanwa were considered demons just like the witch clan, but… how could one possibly lump this ignoble race in the same category as themselves?

In appearance, in magical energy possessed, in the innate talent for magic, they were different. To the witch clan, the perception of the Sanwa was that of slightly disgusting magical creatures.

Magenta too had once thought this way.

But.

“Release them all.”

“What? But Lady Magenta─”

“Are you talking back to me right now?”

“…I apologize! I’ll release them immediately.”

Why was it?

Seeing the Sanwa being treated like livestock filled her with a repulsive discomfort.

It wasn’t because of the Sanwa working in the Demon King’s castle…

Rather, it was because of the half-demon among the Four Heavenly Kings who followed that Sanwa.

Rein, the name of the weakest among the Four Heavenly Kings. After his death was known, he still occupied the last seat of the Four Heavenly Kings, our eternal king.

He was a really strange one. His first ‘request’ to her still vividly lingered in her mind.

– “Lady Magenta. Do you happen to know much about flowers?”

– “Flowers? I do know. Various plants are needed for our witch clan’s spells~.”

– “Then, could I possibly receive flowers suitable for a garden of this size?”

– “Are you asking me…?”

– “It seems Lady Magenta would know the most beautiful flowers.”

– “Oh my, what could you mean by that?”

– “Because there’s a scent coming from you, Lady Magenta. A subtle fragrance of flowers… When I’m nearby, it’s like being buried in a garden, a comforting fragrance indeed.”

– “…..”

– “Lady Magenta?”

When first hearing the request, she was flabbergasted. It wasn’t just anyone, it was audacious of them to beg for flowers from her.

Such a trivial thing, she could have easily ordered a lower being to do it. It would have been understandable if they had asked for a rare material like a spell-binding flame flower.

But what Rain wanted were pretty flowers for a garden in the Devil’s Domain.

Honestly…just because a flower’s pretty doesn’t mean they’re anything special.

She felt a bit twisted inside. What could they possibly think of her, she who ruled over all the witches?

So, she rallied the witches and ordered the most difficult flowers to cultivate, the most gorgeous and splendid, of course.

Then, she handed the sapling to Rain, warning that it wouldn’t be pretty if they let the flower wilt.

What did Rain say then? They didn’t say much.

Right, they thanked her with a big grin.

– “Thank you! I’ll take good care of it. After all, it’s a flower you painstakingly got for me…”

– “Ah no, it wasn’t … I didn’t have to strain too hard, you know… I just ordered someone else to do it…”

– “Even then, I’m grateful. You went out of your way to get a precious flower, didn’t you?”

She felt embarrassed with a smile that bright, especially after laying down a threat.

She must have felt a little bashful because she didn’t really care that much about flowers. In fact, she had hoped that Rain would let the flowers wither.

If that happened, she was planning to use it as an excuse to torment them.

But look at how happy they were. Didn’t that make her seem like a petty person?!

– “Well, whatever, just know this. This is a sensitive flower. You need to take really good care of it, got it?”

In the end, she left those ambiguous words hanging and had no other choice but to flee on her broom.

After that, she kept an eye out to see if Rain took good care of the flower from afar. Didn’t they smoothly pass on the responsibility to someone else?

She was planning on taking revenge on Rain for making her feel embarrassed.

A day has passed. Naturally, it wasn’t abandoned on the first day.

Three days went by. They seemed to be fulfilling their role well up to this point.

A week passed. Perhaps caring for flowers was well suited to Rain.

A month went by. A deluge fell over the demon world. It was a scary downpour mixed with chaotic natural magic. Any small garden would have been blown away in such a downpour, but she didn’t expect them to brave the rain and keep taking care of the flowers.

She only went to check on the garden that day…just to validate her own presumptions.

But there Rain was, still tending to their flowers. They were moving pots indoors in the heavy rain, setting up makeshift temporary shelter over the garden.

The makeshift shelters often collapsed, leaving a mess, and Rain was swept aside by the stormy winds.

It was ludicrously comical.

Before she knew it, she had stepped forward.

“Ah, Lady Magenta. I’m sorry. The flower bed has been damaged a bit. The soil has been swept away by the wind and rain…”

“Why are you going to such lengths?”

“Pardon?”

“There’s no need to do so much for mere flowers. Even if they are important, you could simply order the demons below you to handle it. So why are you out here in this weather doing all this?”

She bombarded Rain with questions like a torrential waterfall. They were exceedingly sensible inquiries.

And Rain’s response, as he stood there looking blankly at her, was incomprehensible.

“Because they are the flowers that you, Lady Magenta, were kind enough to find for me.”

“What?”

“I was the one who asked for the flowers… If I were to neglect them now, claiming I’m too occupied, wouldn’t that be shameless?”

He smiled again, looked at the flowers, and continued.

“And I feel sorry for these little ones.”

She couldn’t make sense of his words at all.

Had he acted out of fear of being harassed by her, she would have understood. But Rain’s words did not seem to carry such a meaning.

Flowers are just flowers. Even if they were a gift from her, it made no difference.

If the garden were to be ruined, one could simply obtain new seedlings and tend to them again. If a downpour destroyed the garden, it was just an unavoidable mishap.

Thus, Rain’s actions were irrational.

And so:

“I just can’t understand.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll help you. If we tidy up together, it’ll be done quicker.”

She did not comprehend why she had helped Rain then, either.

That day was filled with nothing but incomprehensible events.

Like the violent rain from dark clouds that only discharged purple lightning in the demon realm, or the witch’s prank that turned people into frogs, Rain, the half-demon, was also an enigma beyond reckoning.

Yet, as she helped Rain tidy up the garden, one rather inconsequential fact crossed her mind.

Every day for the past month, without growing weary, she had found herself watching over Rain. Normally, she would have lost interest after a week.

That small realization, for some reason, intrigued her.

“Thank you, Magenta.”

“…What’s this fuss over such a trifle.”

From that day forward, I no longer felt the need to secretly keep tabs on Lain.

Instead, I would occasionally visit him to help tend the flowers. I taught him that the slime from the Sanwa tribe that followed him around could be used as fertilizer, and from time to time, I’d use witchcraft to provide the flowers with extra vitality.

When that little lizard offspring, Onyx, set the flower bed ablaze, my fury knew no bounds. I nearly declared war, marshaling all the witches, but I stopped when I saw Lain trying to force a smile through his obvious dejection. Suddenly, it all seemed so foolish.

Instead, Lain and I started a new flower bed from scratch. We hauled rich soil from the southern jungles, cast witchcraft upon it, and used the viscous slime of the Sanwa creature to create earth almost too luxurious for a mere flower bed. It was so fertile, it could even nurture several medicinal herbs and mandrakes, called ‘elixirs of life’ by humans.

Upon completion of the new flower bed, Lain’s expression of joy… Well, it wasn’t one that I could simply disregard. Honestly, it set my heart racing just a little. Was I being foolish?

“What’s this?”

“Ah, I made some treats to express my gratitude. They’re called chocolate, a snack from my homeland… but I’m not sure if I made them right. The plants here are a bit different.”

“Hmm? You do have some taste. I’ll give you that much—I’ll at least try them.”

The so-called chocolate snacks that Lain made as a token of appreciation were…

Exceptionally sweet and delicious. The taste was so delightful, it made me wonder if it contained the same kind of love potion spoken of in witches’ legends.

Had it not been for the Four Heavenly Kings, I would have wanted to make Lain my puppet.

‘…If only I had known he’d drop dead so suddenly, I would’ve turned him into my puppet right there and then.’

Anyways.

He was a strange one.

Truly.

“Magenta?”

“Ah, yes. Did you sort everything out?”

“Yes!”

“From now on, let’s stop capturing the Sanwa tribe. How unsightly is this? As one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army, I would prefer to obey the laws that the Demon King has established, whenever possible. You understand what I’m saying, right?”

“Yes! I’ll make sure of it!”

And so, after touring the witch’s village.

I was about to take the pumpkin carriage back to my shack when…

I remembered the flower bed. When I saw it a few days ago, it had been untended and withering away.

By now, it was probably completely dried up.

As I drove the pumpkin carriage lost in thought, I soon arrived at the Demon King’s castle.

I got off in front of the flower bed. As expected, the flowers were wilted and in disarray. The leaves were either drooping or had fallen off, and the stems had turned yellow, making it hard to say they were still intact.

Just as I was about to give in to my frustration and kick the flower bed.

Something caught my eye, and I bent down to get a better look.

A single small blossom had sprung forth beautifully amid the withered flowers.

“…”

What followed was merely a whim.

Pruning away the wilted leaves, cutting back the withered stems, I tidied up the flowerbed anew.

Once everything was cleared, there were hardly any flowers left in the bed. It was a natural consequence given the long neglect.

But, there was a flower that remained unfaded even as the others wilted.

Somehow.

Just like that day.

It felt as if rain was falling.

A strange rain that seemed to fall only at the corners of one’s eyes.