◎The old nightmare demon Kuji from the grocery store◎
Clang.
The old Nightmare Demon Kuji took great pains to unload a dozen straw mats from the wicker basket, walked into the grocery store, and placed them neatly in a clean corner.
He hunched over, walked slowly to the table by the window, sat on the chair, and looked with cloudy eyes at the demon soldiers in the distance who were shouting training slogans loudly. It was not until a jumping goblin walked to the window that he retracted his gaze and looked at the goblin in front of him with scrutiny.
The goblin Barlow smiled and waved at him, calling him in a very friendly manner: "Grandpa Kuki, can I buy something now?"
Before being appointed by the King himself as a salesperson in the newly opened grocery store, few demons other than the Nightmare Demons had heard of the name of the old Nightmare Demon Kuki. Even if they had occasionally seen him in an open-air restaurant, they did not have much impression of him because they had never chatted with him.
The goblin Barlow also didn't know Kuki, but that didn't stop him from being very familiar with the place. He chattered nonstop: "When the construction team was building a house here a few days ago, I came to see it several times. At that time, I thought the house was very beautiful. Today, the grocery store opened, and I came to see it again. Wow, it's so beautiful! The design of the wooden window is very convenient, and the straw hat decoration outside is also great!"
The criss-crossing wrinkles on the old Nightmare Mokuki's face seemed to have smoothed out a little.
"Lively goblin boy," he snorted, his voice was a little hoarse but very straight, "What do you want to buy?"
Barlow touched the coin bag in his arms and waved his hands to gesture: "I want to buy a piece of cotton cloth, about this size, to make a quilt at home. The weather has been getting colder recently, and it's chilly to sleep at night. I wish I could move to the lava lake to sleep!"
...
...
Kuki turned around, his fingertips glowing crimson, and a roll of cotton cloth flew out from the well-stocked shelf in the grocery store, unrolling a little in midair. He took out a knife from the drawer. His arm was trembling, but his movements were surprisingly agile. He cut off a piece of cotton cloth, held it in his hand and observed it for a moment, measured the size, and placed it on the table.
He looked at the blackboard with the price list written on it. "Price: two copper coins... Wow, you goblin boys, you really save on fabric! A set of clothes for a nightmare demon cub would cost a full silver coin of cotton cloth."
Pulling out two copper coins and handing them to Kuki, the goblin Barro scratched his ears and said, "You are amazing. It's only the first day of business, and you even remember what's on the shelves of the grocery store."
Kuki took the copper coin and put it neatly into the middle drawer. "The king gave me the task of running the grocery store. If I can't even do this well, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the Nightmare Demon Clan?"
All he talked about was the Nightmare Demons, drawing a clear line between himself and other demons. His tone was not friendly, and he sounded as if he was ready to pick up weapons and start a fight any moment.
However, he was patient in his actions, and the cotton cloth was cut neatly and delicately. Since he didn't know how to write magic runes, he asked Barlow to press a goblin's paw print with magical fluctuations on the small blackboard, and he carefully drew the shape of the cotton cloth next to it, and wrote "Actual amount collected: 2 copper coins" at the back.
Barlow folded the cotton cloth neatly, held it in his arms, looked up and smiled at him: "I have to go now. The black bean planting team has officially started planting bushes today. I have to go and take a look. See you next time!"
Watching the goblin hopping away step by step, the old Nightmare Demon Kuji put the knife back into the drawer, sat on the rattan chair, and looked at the bustling military camp in the distance.
It was not yet time for lunch and the grocery store was deserted, with only the wind chimes in front of the window making crisp sounds from time to time.
Suddenly, a bright purple flame rose up right above the military camp. It was the magic soldiers training their magic attack capabilities. A nightmare demon was thrown into the air by the aftermath and fell to the ground in a mess. Then it climbed up with high morale and rushed back to the training ground while howling.
The young Nightmare Demon might have been dazed by the fall, so he rushed back to the training ground. Only then did he realize that he had not picked up his weapon, so he screamed and ran back to get a knife.
Old Kuki snorted loudly, retracted his gaze, picked up the price list at hand, and read it carefully with squinted eyes.
This price list was drawn up by the Demon King himself. It was written in neat magic words. Taking into account the fact that most demons could not read, each item was drawn with simple sketches next to the magic words, followed by the corresponding prices, making it clear at a glance.
But old Kuki was not satisfied with just understanding the pictures. He stared at the strange-shaped runes and traced them slowly on the table with his fingers, trying to remember them by heart.
Perhaps it was because of the warm breeze in the middle of the morning or the strange hypnotic effect of the magic runes, but it wasn't long before Old Kuki lost his concentration, vaguely recalling the fierce quarrel that had broken out between him and the Nightmare Demon Chief Sur some time ago.
Every time he thinks of this, old Kuki would sigh: Maybe he is really old.
Old Nightmare Mokuki himself couldn't remember how many years he had lived. As far as he could remember, when he was just hatched, the previous Demon King had not yet ascended the throne - and the previous Demon King ascended the throne one thousand two hundred years ago.
He had once been a key member of the Nightmare Demon Hunting Team, fighting alongside his tribesmen every day to hunt monsters and defend the tribe. Later, some of his companions died of injuries, some died in the war or from hunger and cold, and a few lucky guys died peacefully in the tribe. Only he lived alone until he was too old to lift a weapon, and was forced to leave the hunting team and return to the tribe to help raise the cubs.
Later, the cubs grew up and left one after another, just like their original companions, turning into piles of mud that only Kuki could recognize.
But Kuki is still alive, forgotten by the god of death in the demon realm, but not let go by time. He gradually couldn't straighten his back, couldn't walk, and couldn't use powerful magic anymore. Slowly, he became the lonely and weird old nightmare demon in the eyes of the demons.
It was not until the Nightmare Demon Chief Sur returned to his tribe that he announced to the demons that the entire tribe would move to the Demon King's Palace.
Kuki, who had not intervened in the internal decision-making of the Nightmare Demon Clan for a long time, was almost mad. He expressed his opposition fiercely.
A kind and wise demon king, a demon palace where every demon had meat to eat and goblins were respected? He had lived for so many years and had never heard such an outrageous joke!
"You will kill all the Nightmare Demons!"
Kuki pointed at Sur's nose and cursed, but failed to change Sur's mind. He had to follow him angrily - if the Demon King wanted to trick the Nightmare Demons into the Demon King's Palace and kill them, although he was too old to lift the long sword, he might be able to save one or two Nightmare Demon cubs by risking his life to blow himself up.
That was the first time he had left his clan in nearly a hundred years. On the way, he kept thinking about what kind of death would allow him to take away more demon soldiers or inflict a few wounds on the cruel and cunning Demon King. With this energy, he actually followed the clan to the Demon King's Palace in one go.
"Hey! Grandpa Kuki!"
His brief recollection was interrupted as the Nightmare Demon Sur was lying in front of the window, waving at him happily.
"How was your day? Did any demons come to the grocery store?"
Old Kuba snorted with a frown, "It's time to work now. Why are you here if you don't want to work? The goblin Barro has gone to help plant bushes!"
Suer smiled. She knew that Old Kuki was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, so she didn't take the criticism to heart: "Today is the first day of opening the grocery store, so of course I'm curious about what it looks like!"
Looking unhappy, Old Kuki glared at her and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a piece of dried meat wrapped in a clean animal skin. "Eat something and get back to work! I'm not old enough to be unable to move, so you don't need to worry about me all day long!"
I don’t know if it’s because of his age, but old Kuki can no longer remember when he realized he was wrong.
Maybe it was when he first arrived at the Demon King's Palace and saw the group of giggling demon soldiers carrying fire whales, or maybe it was when he was sitting in the open-air cafeteria and the demon chef served him specially crushed meat sauce and warm mashed potatoes, or maybe it was when he saw the beautiful and imposing nightmare village being built bit by bit, and the nightmare demons around him were happier day by day.
Kuki thought, he was really old, not only could he not lift a knife, but even his proud experience was no longer effective against the Nightmare Demons. So why should he stay here and waste the food that the children had worked so hard to hunt for?
With this in mind, he had made preparations to sneak away from the Demon King's Palace at night. The first time he left in the middle of the night, he was seen by patrolling demon soldiers before he even reached the lava lake. He had no choice but to say that he got lost while strolling around because he couldn't sleep. The second time, he planned his route in advance and specifically walked through a pitch-black area, but he ran into the Dark Iron Dwarves who were renovating street lights, so he had to turn back home.
Before he could try for the third time, the devil suddenly appeared at his doorstep and asked if he could take a job as a salesperson in a grocery store.
"The Demon King's Palace is short of labor right now, and we are really too busy to handle it." Warren did not mention a word about the fact that the demon soldiers reported Old Kuki's abnormal behavior in the past few days to him, but explained his thoughts in detail, "Feiwu said that you are the best demon in mathematics among the Nightmare Demons, and you have so many years of experience in handling affairs, so you are very suitable to be a salesperson..."
At that time, old Kuki suddenly understood why Sur only went to the Demon King's Palace and resolutely entrusted the lives and future of his entire clan to the Demon King.
No matter who sees this devil, they can't help but regard him as the eternal faith in their hearts.
…
"Okay, I'll leave now."
Sur took the jerky. He wasn't actually hungry, but he still took a bite in front of Old Kuki, with an exaggerated expression of "it's really delicious".
"The king said that he will continue to teach us to sing tonight. You should go and listen. It's very nice."
The old nightmare demon curled his lips and waved his hand in disgust, but he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes: "Go away, go away."
She left the grocery store with brisk steps, and until Suer's back disappeared in the textile factory not far away, the cheerful song she hummed could still be heard by Kuki with the sound of the wind.
"Potato pancakes, round and delicious, taste great for half a year. If you still want to eat them after half a year, come find me to satisfy your cravings."
The author has something to say:
This chapter is from Old Kuki's perspective!
PS: I don’t know if you like this kind of narrative from the perspective of a supporting character. This is also the first time I’ve tried to write like this, so I’m a little unsure (sweating soybean man.JPG)
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2023-04-27 19:59:40~2023-04-28 13:03:28~
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 10 bottles of Kongchengji; 1 bottle of Hualuo and Yueyouwen;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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