On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

A few hours after receiving Antares as his prize, Layland found himself at the southernmost part of the Castle's complex. It was one of the sacred places in the complex, yet the most unpopular one due to the Cursed Creation's nature. It was the Resting Crown Jewel Graveyard. The place where every splendid Warrior who fell on the battlefield was buried.

Looking at the gravestone before him, Layland smiled funnily. Kruff didn't leave anything behind to bury. Ilschevar didn't even have any plan to give Kruff a grave because of that. Although saying he fought for the symbolic grave would be an exaggeration, he did need to argue slightly with the Demon King to get it.

If Kruff were there, he was sure he would smack him in the back and laugh while asking why he cared about such superficial stuff. After all, an empty grave meant no more than the memory the fallen left behind.

Layland would argue, however, that something physical was required to make someone eternal. Memory would fade and those who had it would eventually die. Kruff had done a lot for the Kingdom and him. Kruff wasn't just anybody, so it wouldn't be fair to let him die and be forgotten. The empty grave was there, so the future generation could know him.

It was Layland's way to tell everyone that an Orc named Kruff once existed and had helped the future Demon King walk the right path.

"This is a weird culture that you humans have, I must say," a remark made its way into Layland's ears, causing him to take his attention away from the grave.

"Can you tell me what part is weird about visiting a grave, Eliseus?" he asked curiously.

"Visiting a grave isn't equal to paying respect to the one buried. You can do that by simply remembering them and talking good things about them. Standing before their grave and praying for them like it is going to do something is nonsensical for me."

The explanation made Layland smile softly. "Well, that is true. Since you have been a Demon since you were born, you must think anything God-related is nonsense and I do agree with you. However, it is worth to be noted that God is not the reason why we visit the dead's graves. We do it because we want to remind ourselves of the fact that the dead once lived."

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Yes, it is but it doesn't eliminate the possibility that people will ignore it. Besides, visiting the dead's grave is not only your way to remind yourself of your mortality but also to tell people around you that you also want to be always remembered after you died."

"…that is a quite selfish reason," Eliseus remarked.

"Nothing in this world is done based on pure selflessness. Even a good Samaritan helps people because he wants to satisfy his weird urge to see people's smiles."

"Why do humans need to pray for the dead then?" avoiding a heavy topic, Eliseus inquired.

"Oh, that is not praying my fellow Warrior Eliseus. That is just our way to comfort ourselves. By wishing the dead to have a good fate in the afterlife, we convince ourselves that the same thing will also happen to us after we die. It's a psychological trick to make us less afraid of death."

"You didn't…does that mean you are no longer afraid of death or…?"

Without skipping a beat, Layland answered, "I don't see myself dying, so I don't think I need to comfort myself yet."

"You can't be too sure about that. The future is unpredictable; you may be proven to be wrong in the blink of an eye."

Flashing a challenging grin to Eliseus, Layland tauntingly said, "Do you want to be the one who proves whether I am wrong or right?"

The female Demon stared into Layland's eyes silently for a few seconds before looking away to hide her blush. She cleared her throat and politely told Layland, "No," but he was too bewildered by the unexpected reaction to register it.

His attention was soon taken away from Eliseus when he felt someone's arm wrapped around his. Turning his head to the left, he found Valeria looking up at him. He nodded his head and then told Eliseus that they were going. He also had the girls with him and they already looked uncomfortable, so he didn't want to hold them back from cleaning themselves.

"Oh, may I join you guys?"

"It is very rare for Eliseus to show the willingness to mingle with others. I am surprised," Vibiane remarked.

"I have a feeling that having a bath together with you guys is going to be interesting."

There was a light smile on Eliseus' face as she said those words, so the girls and the clueless Vibiane couldn't help but turn to Layland for some clue. Layland blinked his eyes at their gaze, wondering what the correlation between him and Eliseus' statement was.

Figuring out what the girls might think soon, Layland decided to part with everyone. He told them to have their time cleaning themselves while he spent some of his time with the Wyverns in the stable.

At this moment, however, Lunea who had been talking with Vibiane looked up and said, "Why don't we take a bath together first? Aren't you uncomfortable with the dirt that sticks to you?"

It was a question that was asked genuinely out of curiosity; alas, it sparked a problem that Layland was trying to avoid. Eliseus' interest was sparked and her eyes glowed as she looked at Layland.

"I didn't know you had such a fun custom. That is one more reason to join you guys."

Millonia, Abigail and Winerva sighed lightly. Lunea instantly sensed the change of mood but still couldn't understand why it happened. She looked around, met Gabriela's smirk and became even more confused. Valeria was amused by the girl's innocence and eventually sighed softly.

"You show more expression than you did now, Eliseus," Layland remarked.

"I can say the same thing to you, Layland," Eliseus retorted. "Anyway, why don't you allocate some of your time to catch up on all the things that happened while you were away?"

"I don't want to bother your girl's time."

At Layland's splendid reasoning, the girls nodded their heads in agreement in relief. Eliseus' response, however, made it clear to the girls that she didn't want to let Layland off the hook no matter what.

"You can blend in well with us since all of us are your friends, so your worry is unwarranted. You can't be saying that you are embarrassed to see me naked, can you?" Before Layland could say anything, Eliseus continued, "After all, you have seen me—"

"Let's go take a bath together," Layland immediately interjected as the girls' disbelieving eyes turned to him.

Resigning to his fate, Layland gave Eliseus' a light irritated smile. Eliseus smiled back with a light blush, getting what Layland's smile meant wrong, which further added fuel to the already raging fire.

They went to the garden and bathed together in the lake. Layland was immediately surrounded by the girls as soon as he entered the lake; giving Eliseus, and Vibiane who was caught in the crossfire, no place to be near him.

Unbothered by the girls' action, the female Demon immersed herself half a meter before Layland, which was the closest she could be to him without invading the girls' territory. She updated Layland on what happened while he was away and constantly roped Vibiane into the conversation.

The girls soon realized that Eliseus didn't have any intention to cause a commotion. They stopped watching her intently and then cleaned themselves. Looking at the bemused and embarrassed Vibiane, they felt bad for dragging her with them. The guilt soon disappeared, though, as they figured out she was looking at Layland's nether region.

"So…what you are saying is…"

"Yes, I think I have fallen in love with you. You are the reason why I can 'feel' more than I did lately."

"You don't even know what love is."

"People describe it as a 'spark.' You gave me the 'spark' and I think it is enough indication that it is love."

The lake turned silent as the girls caught up with the conversation. They wondered what happened for the conversation to go in that direction, so they couldn't help looking at Eliseus as if she was an ultimate homewrecker.

A funny interaction would have happened if it wasn't for the fact that Layland had a solemn look on his face. Eliseus was one of the people he suspected to be a Demon King Candidate; therefore, he tried to figure out what Eliseus had for him.

Valeria, who had been watching the charade in amusement since the beginning, smiled mysteriously as she looked at how Layland behaved. His cautiousness made her sure that she had guided him well.

Whether it was unwarranted or not, however, was still up for mystery.

"Well, why don't we see about that? Since this is your first time having a feeling toward someone, there is a huge possibility that you are just confused."

"Only time will tell, won't it?"

"Indeed."

The conversation between the two ended that way. They focused on cleaning themselves afterwards and didn't talk to each other until they got to the dining room.

The tension between them already disappeared as they talked in the dining room but it was clear that they were observing each other. It made those who watched them wonder whether they were planning to confess to each other or kill each other in their sleep.

When they finished eating, Layland and Eliseus were summoned by Ilschevar. Just like that, tension returned.