Demon King – Chapter 416 – A Couple by the River

Early in the morning, even though there was still quite a while before morning self-study, when Yuki arrived at the classroom, he discovered that almost all of his classmates were already there.

After all, the second year of high school was already a rehearsal for the third year. Not many people dared to keep fooling around like they did in their first year anymore. What was more, this was the Honor Class, where the competitive pressure was much higher than in other classes.

After sitting down and looking around the classroom, aside from Ziyu and Jiaqi, who had gone out to buy breakfast and had not arrived yet, there was only one empty seat left in the entire class.

Yes, the one next to Yuki.

“Tch…”

Yuki smacked his lips in irritation. That little girl really just left him here alone, huh? For several days now. Couldn’t she come over and keep him company once in a while?

Of course, complaints aside, Yuki still understood Eiru’s special physical condition. No matter how you looked at it, that girl treated her blue bar like a health bar. If she really stayed in the classroom every day, it would only cause more trouble.

“Worthy of the great demon king of skipping class. Looking through the entire history of Seventh High, you probably can’t find a second Honor Class student who skips class like this.”

The light-dusted-haired Qianchen sitting in front of Yuki let out a sigh.

“No wonder Xiao Yue can go a whole year without seeing him once. I’ve truly seen it now.”

“But you sitting here all alone, even I feel bad for you. Want me to sit next to you?”

Although she said this with a grin, Qianchen still stayed firmly in her seat, with no intention of moving at all.

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“No need. If you come over, then the one sitting alone will be your sister.”

Yuki coughed lightly and turned her down. He had not taken those words seriously to begin with anyway.

He had already been mentally prepared to sit alone for two years. That was still better than letting her sit with someone else. Thinking that, Yuki tidied up the books in front of him and prepared to start today’s morning self-study.

—————

“Strange, why haven’t I seen Little Ru today?”

The Demon Lord, having arrived at the embankment of the Huanglong River, failed to find that familiar figure today.

Normally, that kid would wander over here even earlier than she did. Eiru had even started to suspect that the girl might actually live by the river.

Honestly speaking, for such a small child to not attend school and be messing around here before eight in the morning was truly absurd. As the Demon Lord thought this, she was completely unaware that she herself was also someone skipping school and running out early in the morning.

“Don’t tell me she snuck out too many times and got caught by her parents. That’s rough.”

Thinking that, Eiru covered her mouth and let out a snicker.

When she was young, Eiru had also snuck out plenty of times. When her grandfather and uncle could not find her, they had been so angry that they locked her in the house the next day. So when it came to being grounded, the Demon Lord had deep personal experience.

“Little girl, how is it that I see you wandering around here every day? Aren’t you going to school?”

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Just as the silver-haired girl was embarrassing herself with these thoughts, an elderly man doing cleaning work nearby suddenly struck up a conversation with her.

“Ah, hello, uncle. You’re up early.”

Having been here every day these past few days, the Demon Lord knew he was responsible for cleaning this area, and she waved back in response.

“At your age, you haven’t been going to school these days and are just wandering around here. Don’t your parents keep an eye on you? Studying is important, girl. My son is like this because he didn’t study properly. Now he can’t even find a job and just loafs around at home every day. Sigh.”

“Eh, don’t worry. My grades won’t fall behind.”

Eiru stuck out her tongue playfully. Seeing her like this, the cleaning uncle could only shake his head helplessly.

“Forget it, I won’t control you. Studying is your own business. No one else can help you with it. Go play over there. I need to clean this area.”

“Okay.”

After replying, the Demon Lord trotted away. After all, it would not be good to affect someone else’s work.

Still, it really felt strange without Little Ru around. Sitting on a stone bench, Eiru propped her chin up with both hands. After having grown close to Liru over these past few days, she truly felt uncomfortable with the girl not being here all of a sudden.

“Even if she’s grounded, she could still sneak out through the window like me. Though I’m a tough guy and she’s a girl, so you can’t lump us together… wait, what’s going on?”

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While muttering to herself, the Demon Lord suddenly noticed a couple who looked like husband and wife arriving at the embankment railing not far away.

As mentioned before, from the Huanglong River embankment, you could go down to the riverbank via a set of stairs. However, for safety reasons, railings had been installed along the embankment, and under normal circumstances, unrelated people were not allowed to go down to the riverbank.

But at this moment, Eiru saw a staff member responsible for maintaining the area take out a string of keys, briefly explain something to the couple, and then open the gate in the railing for them.

“That’s weird. Aren’t people not allowed to go down?”

Eiru felt that something was off. After all, the couple did not look like embankment management staff. There was no reason they should be given permission to go down.

“Huh? Little Ru?”

Rubbing her eyes, Eiru realized that behind the couple was a small figure following them.

A family of three? That should be it. Watching the three of them go down the embankment stairs and head toward the riverbank, the Demon Lord formed a few guesses in her heart.

Different from usual, Liru, following behind her parents today, was exceptionally obedient and quiet. Although she was normally not very noisy either, today she was quiet to an excessive degree.

The three of them walked silently along the riverbank. Along the way, there was no conversation between them at all. It did not look like a stroll, nor did it look like some kind of inspection work.

Leaning against the railing and quietly watching the three people walking below, Eiru felt that this family of three’s actions were more like some kind of ritual procession.

“Uncle, what are they doing?”

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The cleaning uncle happened to have finished sweeping over here. The Demon Lord turned her head and asked him directly. After all, he worked here every day and surely knew some inside details.

“Them? They’re here to pay their respects.”

Following Eiru’s line of sight and looking down, the cleaning uncle also saw the couple by the river.

Just as the Demon Lord had guessed, the cleaning uncle worked here every day and was naturally familiar with the couple. In fact, even the people living in this area knew of their existence.

“About seven or eight years ago, a child fell into the river around here. To this day, they still haven’t found the body. That poor child was the kid of the couple down there.”

The cleaning uncle sighed and told Eiru the story.

After the relevant departments announced the child missing and gave up the search, the couple still searched for their child like mad, using every connection and ability they could muster.

But even after spending enormous amounts of money and effort, they still did not get a single result. If even official personnel could not find any trace of their child, what could individuals possibly do? In the end, they could only slowly accept reality.

Even though there was no longer any hope, this matter became a hurdle the couple could not get past. So whenever they had time, they would come to this river to mourn their child.

The embankment management staff were also aware of this situation, so they opened a special back door for them. As long as the weather was fine and safety could be ensured, the couple would be granted permission to go down to the riverbank and pay their respects to the child who had already left this world.