The Hero Sidekick Is The Demon King

Meeting the King

Just like how Lance’s appearance completely changed the moment he wears good clothes, it was even more apparent for Clyde. His face isn’t malnourished like Lance’s and the moment he wears good clothes, his charm shined even more. Not to mention that the current him is radiating a valiant aura like a knight, the fire elements make him seemed hospitable and a warm person.

After taking a bath and have a change of clothes, Clyde is now being guided by Elmer to the King’s castle. Although Clyde seemed to mature over the journey and through the battle from the village to the capital city, he is still a teenager at heart. He is looking around curiously. Not to mention the bustling city and its people, the King’s castle is even more lavishly decorated and Clyde couldn’t stop the amazement inside his heart. Elmer who notices Clyde’s expression can only laugh looking at his behavior. Clyde seemed to realize Elmer’s gaze on him so he can only smile and scratched his head while looking back at Elmer.

“Is it your first time seeing the city and the king’s castle?”

“Yes. When I arrived earlier, I didn’t manage to look around as I am too focused on the audience with the king. Now, after knowing that the audience has been arranged, I feel relaxed and start to examine the city. It didn’t fail to amaze me. The people, the buildings, the atmosphere, everything is completely different from the village. I can see the people here are smiling freely. Different from the village where every villager needs to be extremely wary because a monster attack can happen anytime, the citizen of the city doesn’t need to fear that. Just looking at the thick stone wall of the city and the sentries taking guard, I understand how the citizen of the city can be so laid back.”

“It must be hard living in the village.”

“Not really. At least in the village, you could find food easily. It seemed that finding a job in the city is even harder than in the village.”

Clyde’s way of thinking is very simple. In the village, anyone can find food if they go out to the forest to forage or planting vegetables on the field. In the city, where the houses are cramped and land seemed to be limited, someone needed to have a special skill to earn them money to buy food. Not to mention the competition between people to make sure that they could earn their keep.

“Well, someone of your skill won’t have to worry about that anymore since you will be having a more important task.”

Clyde is a bit confused but he just nodded as he continues to follow Elmer. As they get nearer to the King’s castle, there’re no other buildings as there’s another layer of castle’s wall surrounding it. If the city wall is laxly guarded, this one is guarded very tight.

When the guards at the castle’s gate saw Elmer, they immediately give him a salute. Elmer then waved his hand signaled for them to return to normal.

“Good afternoon sir Elmer. May I ask who is the teenage boy behind you?”

“His name is Clyde and he already has an appointment to meet with the king.”

“His sword?”

“Don’t worry about that. He already has special permission to bring his weapon inside.”

The guard didn’t ask anymore and permitted Clyde and Elmer to enter the castle. Once again Clyde knows that Elmer is an influential figure in the capital. If not, he wouldn’t be able to guarantee someone to enter the castle with their weapons.

If Clyde is shocked when seeing the castle’s garden, he is even more surprised when he actually entered the main castle building. It was luxurious, full of expensive art decorations and even though Clyde didn’t understand about them, he knows that those are pricy items that the village might not even be able to afford even after they pooled all their wealth. Paintings, sculptures, jewels, even the red carpet that he is stepping on looked glamorous.

After feeling Elmer’s pat on his shoulder, Clyde regained his composure and his eye didn’t wander around as much as earlier. He is just like a pond fish who first saw the ocean. After tasting the saltwater, there’s no point in dwelling in something he couldn’t keep. The castle itself is quite large, after walking for some time, finally, they stopped in front of a large door.

“Is the king inside?”

“Yes, sir. The king is already waiting for you.”

“Alright Clyde, we shouldn’t make the king wait for us.”

The guards at the door opened it and Clyde walked into the hall following Elmer. The hall is spacious but it wasn’t empty due to the decorations arranged inside. The main eye-catching spot is the throne located at the end center of the hall. Clyde can see from afar that there’s a man in his fifties sitting on it. His golden hair is neatly combed to the back as the crown holds it in place. His eyes are sharp as if they could see through anything that Clyde is hiding. To his left, a beautiful woman can be seen. Wearing clothes as dazzling as the king, she should be the queen. On his right, a handsome man can be seen. Bearing similar features to the king with a wide smile on his face as he looked towards Clyde.

Elmer stopped ten meters away from the throne and kneeled. Clyde who is following behind naturally followed suit. Although he never kneeled formally before, Clyde is still doing his best as to make a mistake and leaving a bad impression on the royalty.

“My king, I have brought the hero, Clyde to you.”

The king then nods at Elmer, giving his approval. “Sorry for troubling you, Elmer.”

“It’s my honor, your majesty.”

“Rise.”

Hearing that, Elmer stands up again and Clyde also mimicking his movements.

“So, your name is Clyde?”

“Ah, yes your majesty. My name is Clyde, I’m 16 years old this year and I come from a village near the Darkwood mountain range.”

Hearing Clyde’s reply, the king is only nodding his head in satisfaction.

“Elmer is trying hard to convince me to meet with you. It’s a relief that you are a good lad and didn’t disappoint him. Now, Elmer said that you had a dream before. Can you tell us about it?”

Clyde didn’t dare to tarry so he replied immediately.

“Your majesty, it happened around three weeks ago. That night, I have a dream that I was standing inside a white room. It is so white to the point that I couldn’t differentiate whether I am standing or floating in the air.”