Demon King – Chapter 192 – Treasure Vault

After greeting her family, Eiru disguised herself as a boy and slipped away…

Following the village path, Eiru soon left Ei Village and reached the riverside outside the village. Taking a look at the rushing waters, just hearing the sound coming from it made her heart uneasy.

After all, she had fallen into this river years ago, which left her with a fear of water… how could Eiru dare to tempt fate by getting closer?

Keeping a very safe distance from the riverbank, she strolled along the riverside… Before long, a large forest appeared before her eyes.

“There seem to be more trees…” Removing her disguise, the silver-haired little loli appeared once more… Her Majesty the Demon Lord, with a lighthearted mood, walked straight into the forest.

Relying on memory, the little Demon Lord quickly found her destination in this rarely visited grove: an open clearing at the center.

In the middle of the clearing stood a small mud hut, crudely built and so shabby it could hardly be called a hut… its exterior appearance was even worse than an earthen stove, looking out of place among its surroundings.

Yet at the sight of this shabby thing, Eiru’s face lit up with excitement, and she dashed over with quick steps…

“Our Treasure Vault～” Standing before the half-man-high clay hut, the little Demon Lord clasped her hands together, squatted down, closed her eyes, and muttered as if chanting a spell…

“Stupid Qi, Stupid Qi, open the door～pfft…” As she spoke, Eiru couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

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“It’s been so many years… and this password is still so stupid…” While complaining, Her Majesty’s eyes filled with nostalgia, recalling all the silly things she once did with her childhood friend.

Back then, the two of them loved collecting unwanted bricks from the villagers, then secretly built this little clay hut here along with some rocks and dirt, and grandly named it the “Treasure Vault”.

After finishing it, the two went around collecting things they each considered treasures to hide inside… and whenever they had free time, they would come together to reinforce and maintain this shabby little hut.

But ever since her childhood friend went abroad, the Treasure Vault had only Eiru left to take care of it…

Even though she was alone now, every time she returned to her hometown, Eiru would make time to come here in order to wholeheartedly protect this childhood castle of theirs…

Though broken beyond belief, and filled with what others would call garbage, the clay hut still carried the precious childhood memories of her and her childhood friend. ¹ Honestly this is so sweet… I don’t have that many childhood friends around anymore (college made me lose a lot of connections ngl), so I envy this relationship

“So, today’s treasure I’m bringing is…” The little Demon Lord took out a trinket she bought at a scenic spot in Qionglong City, and carefully hung it on the protrusion by the hut’s “door”.

“Eiru, if you have a gift for me, just put it in the Treasure Vault… when I come, I can take it directly. And in return, I’ll leave gifts for you there too, so you better check carefully and don’t say I didn’t give you anything.”

The words of her childhood playmate echoed in her ears… At first, this was just a makeshift plan when they got in trouble and weren’t allowed to meet, but later it became their little pact. Even birthday presents were exchanged this way, which seemed like a bit of an exaggeration…

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“But in the end, you really never came back… it’s not that I didn’t see them…” The little Demon Lord looked at the many gifts she had prepared over the years, her eyes full of loss…

Over the years, Eiru had returned home about a dozen times, and each time she would leave her carefully prepared gifts here.

But even now, the things inside still lay quietly in the clay hut, untouched… only weathered further by the wind and rain.

“Forget it, forget it, you’ll just have to make up all the gifts you owe me later anyway… though I wonder if you even still remember this…” As if complaining, Eiru stood up and kicked at a small stone nearby with dissatisfaction.

“Guess I’ll wander around a bit… looks like I’ll need to reinforce this too, I’ll gather some materials and come tomorrow to fix it up.” Circling the Treasure Vault, Her Majesty assessed the situation and came to a conclusion.

“But where am I going to find bricks…” Resting her chin in her hand, the little Demon Lord thought as she walked back the way she came…

However, not long after she left, a boy suddenly walked out of the woods. He looked at the departing figure of the little loli with a complicated expression for a long time, then smiled and shook his head… ² Looks like our lil demon lord has been exposed to her childhood friend too!

He walked over to the clay hut, stared at it for a long while, then slowly squatted down and took off the backpack from his shoulders…

—— Back at the Demon Lord’s home ——

“Eiru! How old are you already! And you’re still playing with dirt and rocks? Bricks? Cement blocks?” In front of their home, as usual, Eiru was being scolded by her mother, Liu Wan, making her face full of despair.

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After collecting materials all afternoon, she was unfortunately caught at the last moment by her mother… Liu Wan instantly exploded in fury, determined to properly discipline this unlucky child of hers.

At sixteen or seventeen years old, she was still collecting rubble and dirt to play with… playing was one thing, but bringing all that junk back home and turning the backyard into a mess was another.

“I’ll clean it up…” Eiru said weakly, hoping she could salvage the situation.

“Shut up, did I say you could talk?” Cutting her off without mercy, Liu Wan’s temper flared even hotter at the sight of the sand-filled backyard.

“Good thing your sister isn’t here, or she’d be copying you. You’re the older sibling, can’t you set a good example? Haven’t you caused enough trouble already?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Hurry up and clean this up, then throw out the trash and bring the bag back… I really can’t with you. Do you even know what that bag is meant for? You use it for whatever nonsense…”

Isn’t a bag usable for anything… of course Eiru kept that thought to herself. If she said one more word, the scolding would probably last several times longer…

While cleaning the backyard, Her Majesty the Demon Lord was utterly exhausted — today’s efforts had all gone to waste again, and she had to figure out some way to salvage materials…

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After seeing the state of the Treasure Vault today, she was quite worried. If she didn’t reinforce it soon, by winter break it might not even still be standing…

Maybe she could dump everything in the storage room first? Then early in the morning before they woke up, sneak out with it in bags — ehehe, I’m so clever.

Thinking this, Eiru finished tidying the backyard, packed everything into bags, before dragging two large sacks into the storage room…

That very night, she got a good beating… Under the watchful eye of her father Eiyuan, Eiru, eyes brimming with tears and clutching her sore butt, used a shovel to move the sand and rubble bit by bit from the storage room to the garbage pile outside.

Translator Note

I can’t wait until her parents find out Eiru’s true identity… I want to see all the regret they’ll have for mistreating her. I also really hope that they accept Eiru.

PS: I hope you guys don’t mind the commentary and mfns I’m leaving all over the novel. I like adding my own commentary and TL notes as I’m a fair bit more chatty than Pickle. Thanks for reading as always!