The hero's gender is yet to be determined after rebirth.

"Who are the people you've taken in?" said Burbo. "Kurara is fairly well-behaved; I can feel her progress and understanding as I teach her. But Meilan doesn't study much, and she doesn't even listen to my teachings. She relies on her own comprehension to improve. I've never seen such a genius!"

"That's great," Lorenwei said with a smile. "By the way, how do you feel about Sylph's progress?"

Kurara brandished her knight's shield, but inwardly she grumbled: "Don't you even ask about my progress?"

Bulbo stroked his beard and said, "Sylph, she's a prodigy too. Otherwise, why would I say you're surrounded by such talented people? Oh, and elves? I've never seen such a genius elf. This morning, her archery skills visibly improved by a level. She's already at the level of a sharpshooter, but she's still lacking in strength."

"Hmph, which of the people I've chosen is bad?" Lorenwei said smugly, hands on her hips.

That was the heroine Sylph, only she had lost her original strength. Kurara harbored resentment, but of course she wouldn't voice it; she could only silently remind herself to train hard and not fall too far behind.

“By the way, do you think Kurara’s Knight Shield is a bit too simple?” Lorenwei suddenly said. “I think we could add some mechanisms. Otherwise, she’s always getting hit like a turtle, only able to fight back when she gets close, which is too disadvantageous.”

"You want to modify the Knight's Shield?" Bulbo asked in surprise. "By the way, Kurara's Space Ring was also created by you independently. Could it be that you also specialize in alchemy?"

"I know a little." Lorenwei put her hands on her hips even more proudly.

"Spatial magic is a bit simple. As long as you know how to calculate it and don't get the three-dimensional positioning wrong, it's much easier to control."

"Easier said than done," Burbo muttered. He was skilled in holy magic and had dabbled in spatial magic when he was younger, but he always felt that he wasn't cut out for it.

"By the way, do you have a Knight's Shield prototype?"

"No, go look inside the store."

"The highest grade of prototypes in the shop is only silver, which I don't care about. How can I be careless when it comes to the new knight's shield for my wife?"

Upon hearing this, Kurala, who was diligently exercising, couldn't help but smile.

"Did you study spatial magic, alchemy, or dwarven blacksmithing?"

"I know a little about both. You know, my mom and dad have a dwarf hero friend, and I've learned quite a bit from him."

Bourb sighed, “The second generation of British people have something to be proud of, after all, they stand on the shoulders of giants.”

“It’s on the dwarf’s shoulder. Knight’s Shield prototype, I’ll go figure something out.” Lorenwei waved and left.

Kurala couldn't help but glance at Lorenwei's back.

"Focus on your training! You've been sneaking glances at her more than a dozen times! You're not talented enough and you're still not focused. How far do you plan to fall behind her other wives?" Burbo scolded Kurara, his words quite cutting.

"Yes!" Kurala replied with shame, but then roused herself and trained diligently.

Lorenwei left the small training ground and searched everywhere for Meilan.

Surprisingly, Meilan wasn't even on the grass next to the courtyard. She usually played here with the Slime King when she wasn't training.

"That's it! Why not use a detection magic spell!" Lorenwei suddenly thought. If Melanie was playing with Puyo, she could find her more easily using a monster-detecting spell.

However, when the demon-detecting magic was used, there was no reaction.

"Didn't you summon Puyo?" Lorenwei asked in surprise.

Just then, she noticed a red-haired girl on the balcony of the small villa.

So she had been sitting on the second-floor balcony the whole time. Lorenwei felt a sudden sense of realization.

They quickly went into the small villa, went up to the second floor, passed through the bedroom, and arrived at the balcony.

"Meilan, what are you doing here?" Lorenwei walked over.

Meilan faced the outside of the balcony and sat on the wooden railing.

If it were someone else, they might mistakenly think she was about to jump. Of course, jumping from the second floor is unnecessary; the probability of death is low, but disability is very likely.

Meilan was sitting on the railing, staring blankly at the sky, her red, shoulder-length hair swaying slightly backward in the breeze.

Lorenwei sensed a peculiar charm emanating from Meilan.

Strangely enough, at this moment, Lorenwei could even sense that Meilan was exuding a noble aura.

How did Meilan, who usually wolfs down her food, become associated with the word "noble"?

“Meilan?” Lorenwei called out again.

Meilan still didn't respond to Lorenwei's advances.

“Meilan?” Lorenwei walked over, stepped over the railing, and sat down with her on the balcony railing.

"Ah, Lorenwei." Meilan finally came to her senses.

She shifted her body slightly in a fluster, but did not move away from Lorenwei. After a moment of unease, she remained seated on the balcony railing.

Are you thinking of your hometown? Or your family?

Meilan was taken aback: "Hometown? Which hometown are you talking about?"

Lorenwei laughed and said, "Which other hometown? Master Mountain, a poor mountain village in the north, didn't you mention it before?"

“Ah, yes, Master Hill.” Meilan nodded, a rare moment of embarrassment on her face.

At this moment, Lorenwei felt that Meilan was no longer the carefree and crazy girl she usually was, but instead had a kind of mature woman's shyness.

Meilan was actually a little flustered.

"I almost let it slip!" Meilan thought, thankful that she hadn't spoken as quickly as Lorenwei.

She almost blurted out, "You asked if my hometown is Mount Master? I thought you meant the Demon King's Castle in the Landeqiming Mountains..."

"So you're not missing your hometown, but your grandma? Has she written to you? Oh, is she illiterate?"

“Grandma can read, and she taught me the few characters I know. But I don’t like learning, so I haven’t learned them all,” Meilan sighed.

After spending a lot of time with everyone and seeing some of the bad things happening at the school, she began to realize that her grandmother was really a good person. She should have seriously learned to read from her grandmother back then, instead of only starting to learn from the character recognition book that Lorenwei gave her now that she realized it was necessary.

"Do you really miss your grandma?" Lorenwei asked.

“No.” Meilan shook her head seriously. She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to tell the truth either.

Last night, while she was shopping, a mysterious person suddenly sent her a telepathic message.

This was a very sophisticated wind magic control technique that transmitted sound directly into Meilan's ears.

The mysterious female voice said, "Your esteemed successor to the Demon King, we have finally found you..."

Meilan was startled.

But she did not respond and continued to buy things discreetly.

"My Lord, the successor of the Demon King, we are your loyal servants, and we are willing to help you restore the supreme glory of the Demon King!"

Who is it? Is it a subordinate that the former Demon King failed to exterminate? Or is it a human coveting the gifts bestowed upon them by the demon race?

"We know of your secret technique, my lord. After you have cultivated in the Misty Sea, your technique will be perfected! At that time, we will pave the way for you to the throne!"

After these three sentences were spoken, the sound disappeared.

The other party seemed certain that Meilan had heard, or rather, that Meilan's actions or expressions were not as perfectly nonchalant as she had imagined.

The Demon King's Supreme Glory!

The Road to the Throne!

Meilan was very tempted when she heard these words.

However, after living among humans for more than a decade, she felt somewhat lost.

Demon King?

Ascend to the Demon King's throne?

These are the responsibilities of the Demon King's successor; these are the tasks etched in my heart.

but……

Last night at dinner, Meilan savored the food prepared by Lorenwei.

This delicious flavor that lingers on the tongue is the peace and tranquility of humanity. Isn't that something all life should yearn for?

My late grandfather once said, "Whether you are a person or anything else, being able to eat your fill is the most wonderful thing."

I've already eaten so deliciously, what if I became the Demon King...?

Meilan was worried that Lorenwei would turn against her.

No, there's absolutely no need to worry; it's 99% certain!

Lorenwei, after all, is a human!

Meilan was lost in thought and didn't pay attention to what Lorenwei, who was sitting next to her, was saying.

"Hey, Meilan, you really don't miss your hometown and family, do you?" Lorenwei could tell that she was still absent-minded when her grandmother was mentioned, so it definitely wasn't because of those two things.

Meilan didn't respond to Lorenwei, but instead asked, "Um... Lorenwei, you know about the hero Mu Zhe and his companions defeating the Demon King, right?"

“I know,” Lorenwei smiled.

"You've read more books and know more than I do, so can you tell me whether the Demon King should be defeated or not?"

“…” Lorenwei looked at her in surprise.

Lorenve already knew that Meilan was not human.

Could it be that the bullying of Sally has caused a rift in her sense of affinity towards humans? Lorenwei cursed inwardly those girls who bullied others.

"I... I'm not defending the Demon King. I'm just wondering, why must the heroes of the human race defeat the Demon King?"

“…” Lorenwei looked at Meilan quietly.

Seeing that Lorenwei's expression was indifferent and she didn't react much, Meilan continued excitedly, "Isn't the kingdom established by the Demon King just like the kingdoms established by humans, also based on bloodshed and slaughter? Why should heroes be praised for fighting the Demon King?"

“Because you are among the human race, what you hear is naturally the praises of the human race,” Lorenwei said with a smile.

"You...you mean..."

Seeing Meilan's surprised expression, Lorenwei remained calm and waved her hand to set up a sound-blocking barrier: "Don't tell anyone what you just said. Don't tell anyone except me."

"Mm." Meilan nodded.

After setting up a sound-blocking barrier, Lorenwei continued, "Hmm... I think that if you, Meilan, were in the Demon Realm, you would only hear the Demon King's hymns."

"……Correct."

"I don't know how many secrets lie behind the Holy Empire being replaced by the Fate Empire. But what I've read in so many books is how the Holy Empire was... Oh, I'm getting off topic. What I mean is that there are interests behind everything. Take the hero, for example..." Lorenwei smiled, looked up at the sky, and said leisurely, "The hero knows he's a hammer and the Demon King is a nail."

"..." Meilan looked at Lorenwei with a strange expression.

"This continent has existed for thousands of years. When did the demon race begin to ravage it? It's always been the height of human power. Isn't there a larger-scale manipulation behind this? I don't believe it!"