Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 80: A Moment’s Rest

Chapter 80: A Moment’s Rest

"...It’s just how the Hierarchy is built. The higher you go, the wider the gaps become."

Xaren paused for a second, his tone dropping slightly.

"But it’s not really about catching up to anyone. The levels really aren’t the finish line, just part of the journey."

Ilya turned slightly toward him, one eyebrow raised in confusion. But before she could ask what he meant by that, Xaren continued speaking.

"It may not be the end goal, but it sure as hell matters! I can’t help but imagine myself reaching those big number levels."

His words made Ilya nod slowly, her fingers tightening over her thigh.

"It’s kinda unfair how far away that world is."

"Unfair? I guess you could say that. Reality is fairly unfair to everyone." Xaren responded with a lighter tone.

"Anyway, it’s best not to think too much about all those much higher levels. Not yet, at least. Focus on the immediate future so it doesn’t weigh your mind down."

With that, Xaren swung his legs off the clinic bed and stood, cracking his neck and raising his arms in a long stretch.

Hearing his joints pop audible, Xaren exhaled a satisfied sigh.

"Aahh... Finally. Feels like I’ve been lying down forever."

Ilya blinked at him.

"You were only out for a day."

"Still counts," Xaren responded with a shrug, before continuing his stretches.

After stretching off the last bit of stiffness in his limbs, Xaren turned toward the bedside table and spotted his magic pouch sitting neatly atop it. He reached for it, opened the flap, and peered inside, seeing everything remain exactly as he remembered.

That was at least one thing he didn’t have to worry about.

His eyes then shifted down to his clothes.

’Yeah... I should probably change.’

Though his outer shirt had been removed at some point, he was still dressed in the same inner shirt and trousers from the day before—both stained with blood and the grime of battle.

Not exactly comfortable, and definitely not clean.

Xaren glanced around the ward, and at the far end spotted a door with the universal toilet and shower symbols above the doorway.

"I should probably take a shower first," he muttered to himself as he made his way over.

Pushing open the door, he stepped inside and saw two more doors, each labelled with their respective gender symbols.

He stepped into the male restroom on the right and was somewhat surprised to find it was far more spacious than he had expected. After easing himself, he stepped back out and looked out the window of their ward across from the wall where their beds were situated.

He could see demons moving busily across the compound—some on foot, some hauling stretchers. Doctors in blood-smeared coats rushed between buildings, barking orders and carrying supplies in their hands.

’Seems like the attack on the dark elves had quite a lot of damage...’

Xaren didn’t linger by the window long so no one outside would sense his gaze. He stepped back and headed towards the ward door, entering the hallway and glancing down both ends.

’No one.’

The building felt eerily quiet. Like it had been emptied out except for the two of them.

He remembered the demons moving around outside and concluded all the medical staff were outside as well, too occupied to keep watch on a couple of stable patients.

So, they were on their own—at least until whoever dropped them here decided to come back.

When he returned to the ward, he found Ilya rummaging through her own pouch, pulling out a normal bag from inside.

"We should probably shower and clean up," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Then figure out something to eat, because I’m starving."

Fortunately, he’d stocked up on some preserved food while they were in Zlego, with most of them not requiring much effort to prepare.

Some of it didn’t even need heating, but since he could use fire magic, he was definitely heating it up anyway.

The food tasted better when it was warm, after all.

He checked his own bags and went through his spare uniforms and casual clothes, picking out a few along with some bathing materials.

"It’d be nice to have the Inventory skill..."

Xaren muttered, prompting Ilya to glance over at him with a curious raise of her brow.

"Inventory? What does it do?"

"It’s basically the same concept as these magic pouches," he said, lifting his own pouch and giving it a little shake.

"The only difference is, it’s not a physical bag that can be lost or stolen. It’s like a personal pocket space that follows you around, and you can store or retrieve stuff from it with just a thought."

That alone made it far more convenient than these pouches, which still required the usual motion of reaching in like a normal bag to put something in.

"That sounds convenient," Ilya said, her interest piqued.

"It really is," Xaren agreed.

’Inventory’ was the kind of skill usually found among Warrant Officers and supply handlers—those responsible for gear logistics and resource management.

"With that, it’d be much easier to conceal weapons and instantly retrieve them when it’s time for battle," he added.

Ilya muttered to herself about the other practical aspects of that, and Xaren nodded along in agreement.

"If it weren’t a skill, it’d be perfect for surprise attacks and stealth jobs," he said. "But since it is a skill, the activation can be sensed by anyone above Level 300."

"Right, you did say that was possible..."

As Ilya responded, Xaren glanced at the wall-mounted clock between their beds and checked the time.

4:30 PM.

"Huh, feels like it should be later," he muttered, then turned back to Ilya.

"Alright, let’s get cleaned up."

The two of them headed toward the shower rooms at the far end of the ward, pushing open the door to reveal a rather standard, tiled bathing area. It was just as clean and well-maintained as the rest of the ward, which was quite surprising for Xaren considering it was a military clinic.

’Guess the demons are different in this aspect too.’

Such thoughts crossed his mind as he washed off the grime, blood, and smoke from the previous day’s battle, letting the warm water run over him for longer than necessary.

When Xaren returned to the ward in a fresh set of clothes, Ilya was already there, seated on a bed and patting her damp hair with a towel.

"Lemme help you out," Xaren offered.

"Thank you."

Ilya handed over the towel without hesitation, and he heated it up with a little bit of magic before using it to dry her long white hair.

It wasn’t the first time he’d done this. During their time in Zlego, Xaren had discovered that Ilya had some difficulty cleaning up her long hair, so he had helped her out a few times.

She’d even tried using wind magic once to speed things up—only to nearly slice off a chunk of her hair when she tried to heat the wind. The memory made Xaren chuckle lightly as it flashed through his mind.

Once her hair was dry, they got to work cleaning up their space. Their old sheets, stained with dried blood and stale sweat, were tossed into the laundry bins tucked away in a far corner of the ward.

From the drawers by their beds, they each pulled out a fresh set of bedding and redressed their mattresses before flopping down onto them with a sigh.

Then came the part they were both looking forward to.

Xaren opened up his magic pouch and started laying out some of the food they’d picked up in Zlego.

He also pulled out a pot, while Ilya helped organize the space, clearing a spot for them to cook, while subtly casting a small wind barrier around their area to prevent the smell from spreading too far.

Xaren heated up the food, adding in some dried vegetables and noodles while carefully watching the flame. Some minutes passed and soon, the aroma of spices and sizzling meat filled their space, making both of their stomachs rumble.

Once the food was done, they wolfed down their meals without a second’s hesitation, filling their stomachs that had been starved for food for over a day now.

After the meal, they cleaned up and used the water from the sink in the ward to wash up their utensils, which they promptly returned to their magic pouches.

Xaren then jumped back onto his bed, leaning back with a satisfied sigh.

"I feel like sleeping again."

Ilya, wiping her mouth with a cloth, nodded in agreement.

"That usually happens after eating... especially when the food is warm."

They stayed like that in silence for a while, before Xaren brought up an important topic.

"We’d need to train to get used to our auras soon. Our control is sloppy now, and that could spell disaster in a fight."

His words made Ilya think back to her earlier energy manipulation mishap, and she nodded in agreement.

"Then should we head out now?"

"Nahh, let’s rest a bit more. If no one shows up by tomorrow morning, then we head out on our own."

Ilya, also desiring a little bit more rest, found herself agreeing with Xaren’s suggestion. From the look of things outside, it didn’t seem like anyone would have the time to come check on them today anyway.

She laid back, head sinking into the pillow, and closed her eyes. Soon, her breathing gradually slowed as she slipped into sleep.

A few minutes had passed before Xaren, who was deep in his thoughts, finally noticed.

"Heh," he let out a quiet chuckle, laying his head back onto his pillow. "Out like a light."

He closed his eyes too, and it didn’t take long before sleep found him.

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