Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 19: An Unexpected Incident
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The archenemy of demons, Kenta Maya.
Following orders to investigate his relationship with Weimar and his surroundings, Mona ventured into the forest where Kenta was said to be hiding, a place now widely known as an open secret.
And right away, she found something strange.
“…Why are Weimar’s soldiers guarding the entrance to this forest?”
While Mona could enter the forest by bypassing the main, soldier-guarded entrance, she had come for a specific investigation of Kenta’s surroundings.
Soldiers guarding the entrance to Kenta’s forest struck her as an anomaly.
Was this proof that Kenta and Weimar were secretly in league? Mona wondered.
“I’ll need to investigate this.”
She decided to slip past the guards and head into the forest, planning to question the soldiers on her way out.
Using magic to advance through the densely wooded forest, Mona eventually reached a point where she could safely merge onto the mountain path, out of sight from the guards.
“This security is ridiculously lax. Are they even trying to keep people out?”
Mona entered the forest easily enough that she suspected it might be a trap.
Remaining on high alert, she moved forward until something caught her attention.
“A barrier?”
As she walked, she discovered a barrier expertly concealed with magic energy.
“…It pains me to admit it, but this is impressive. Almost no human would notice it, and even for demons, only a few would.”
Because she was cautious, she had managed to sense the faint traces of magic in the barrier.
If she hadn’t been on high alert, she might have missed it altogether. Begrudgingly, she had to acknowledge the skill behind it.
“There was no barrier like this in previous reports. So why would he set one up now?”
Kenta, who hadn’t used barriers before despite his conflicts with human nations, had suddenly put up one.
She considered the possibilities and concluded that the barrier was likely intended to keep demons out rather than humans.
“But why so suddenly? Ugh, there’s too much to investigate this time.”
Mona muttered as she reached out to analyze the barrier.
“What a precise, efficient spell. Just by touching the barrier, it alerts him…”
That meant Kenta was likely already notified.
Mona quickly set to analyzing the barrier, hoping to finish before Kenta arrived, but she wasn’t making any progress.
“Ugh, why can he, a non-demon, set up such a complex magic spell?”
Frustrated by the urgency of Kenta’s imminent arrival and the intricacy of the barrier’s spell, Mona found herself yelling out loud.
It was a thoughtless act, breaking her stealth under pressure, but…
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Ahhhh!”
Immersed in the barrier’s analysis, Mona was startled by a voice from behind her.
The sudden sound shocked her so much she screamed, stepping back in fear.
Her heart pounded furiously, and her whole body shook.
“W-What?!”
Her trembling was so intense that she struggled to speak coherently.
Mona was in a near panic.
“I’m not a ghost. Relax.”
The man who had approached without a hint of presence spoke nonchalantly, and Mona calmed her heartbeat enough to look at his face.
She recognized him as Kenta Maya, the archenemy of the demons.
“Kenta Maya…!”
Caught off guard by her encounter with her enemy, Mona could only manage his name.
Glaring at him with a mix of hatred and fear, she saw him respond with infuriating nonchalance.
“Yeah, that’s me. Who are you? And what’re you doing here?”
His arrogant attitude made her blood boil, but she knew she couldn’t beat him in a fight.
So, she decided to provoke him, hoping to get information.
Switching from her hostile expression to a mocking tone, she spoke to Kenta.
“Putting up such a grand barrier… Are you scared we might finally be coming for you?”
“Nope.”
Even though she had done her best to mock him, he denied her with that same casual tone.
In fact, he looked at her as if to say, “What are you even talking about?”
His condescending attitude stirred up her anger once more.
“…Fine. Then why bother putting up a barrier now when it’s been wide open until now?”
Realizing that hinting would get her nowhere with him, Mona asked directly why he had set up the barrier.
But this time, his expression turned cold, and he cut her off harshly.
“Why should I tell you?”
“…So, you’re hiding something then—”
“Didn’t you hear me? Why should I tell you anything?”
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With that, Kenta emitted an intense wave of pressure, one that Mona felt acutely.
It came directly from him. Kenta was channeling his magic to impose an intimidating force on her.
“!? Ugh!”
The pressure was unlike anything Mona had felt before, and she nearly fell to her knees.
Barely managing to stand her ground, she heard him speak again in an even colder tone.
“Whatever you came to investigate, I have no intention of telling you anything. Leave now.”
The blunt dismissal, combined with the weight of his intimidation, left Mona speechless; she could only glare at Kenta with deep resentment.
They locked eyes for a while, and then, suddenly, the pressure vanished.
Having used all her strength to withstand it, Mona’s energy drained, and she dropped to her knees.
Kenta spoke to her once more as she knelt there.
“I understand why you and your kind hate me. But I’m not about to let myself be killed so easily. I don’t want to die, so unless you come at me, I won’t touch you. But… if you try to take me down, I’ll fight back with everything I have. If you’re coming for me, be prepared.”
“…”
Hearing his words, Mona knew she had no choice but to withdraw for now, cursing her own helplessness.
Her King’s killer was right in front of her.
His actions had thrown the demon kingdom into chaos, forcing the princess to ascend to the throne to bring order—only for her to go missing after a failed initiative.
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Yet she could do nothing against Kenta.
The frustration drove her to memorize every detail of him, burning the image of him into her memory.
Maybe because she was staring so intently, or because her thoughts turned to the princess… her eyes caught something that made them widen.
It was a handkerchief, with very familiar embroidery.
“…Ah, what? No… it can’t be…”
She knew that pattern well.
In fact, she was the one who had taught it, so she couldn’t mistake it.
But surely not…
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Thinking it couldn’t be possible yet unable to dismiss it entirely, Mona was brought back to reality when Kenta spoke to her.
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
That was all she could say to cover her reaction.
“What’s up with you?”
“I-I said, it’s really nothing!!”
Mona had actually wanted to question him about the embroidered handkerchief, but her intense resentment for Kenta made it difficult for her to ask directly.
So instead, she instinctively raised her voice in denial.
“…Don’t shout so suddenly. Got it, now hurry up and go.”
He waved her off as if shooing away a dog, which only stirred her anger further, but she knew she had no choice but to do as he said.
Reluctantly, she turned to leave, but she couldn’t help glancing back over her shoulder.
“…I’m Mona.”
“Huh? What’s with the introduction out of nowhere?”
Kenta asked, looking puzzled, though she understood herself how strange it must have seemed.
Still, if she revealed her name here, the woman she assumed was with Kenta might hear it.
If that happened, there might be some kind of reaction.
So, she quickly came up with an excuse.
“…It’s only fair, since I know your name.”
“I didn’t care to know it, though…”
“A-Anyway!! It’s me, Mo-na! Just so you know!!”
With that, she yelled her name at the perplexed Kenta, then bolted out of the barrier.
As she ran, her mind was filled with thoughts of the woman who had embroidered the handkerchief… former Queen Meyleen.
“If Lady Meyleen is with him… could she have been captured and forced to stay with him? No, if that were the case, she wouldn’t have used that embroidery pattern, and the magic in it wouldn’t make sense either. Which means… Lady Meyleen is willingly under his protection…”
The embroidery she’d seen was of a rose.
It was a design women used to convey affection when giving something to a lover or husband.
In other words, Meyleen wasn’t there unwillingly—she was staying with Kenta by choice.
Just realizing that made Mona’s heart race.
Mona’s hatred of Kenta stemmed from her belief that he had thrown the demon kingdom into chaos and that, as a result, Meyleen had disappeared.
Now that Meyleen seemed to have been found, her resentment toward Kenta had already begun to fade significantly.
After all, she had joined the intelligence department mainly to search for Meyleen, and now that she had likely found her, she even wondered if she should leave the demon kingdom and go to Kenta herself.
As she mulled this over, she spotted the guards at the forest’s entrance.
“Now that I think about it, I still need to question them.”
Recalling her mission, Mona slipped off the mountain path and out of the forest to approach the road.
Disguising herself as an explorer gathering materials, she walked up to the guards.
“Halt!”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
Mona feigned slight confusion and obeyed the guard’s instructions.
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“Are you an explorer?”
“Yes, I came to gather herbs from the forest…”
“I see. Sorry, but this forest is off-limits for now.”
“What!? Really? Why?”
Feigning surprise, Mona looked up at the guard with wide eyes.
The guard, unable to distinguish her from a human when she hid her wings, was completely unguarded. In fact, he seemed pleased by the way she was looking up at him, captivated by her figure, and began talking freely.
“Oh, yeah. Apparently, they issued an incorrect wanted notice a little while ago, so we’re here to keep anyone from getting hurt by mistake.”
“A wrong wanted notice?”
“Yeah. Have you seen the wanted poster for the guy deep in this forest?”
“You mean the one who’s wanted by the entire human realm?”
“That’s the one. They put out a new poster for him, but… even I thought the content was a bit much. So we’re here to make sure no bounty hunters wander into the forest.”
“Hmmm… so, what was wrong with the notice?”
Mona lightly touched the guard’s arm and looked up at him with doe eyes.
“Well, alright… but this is just between us, okay?”
The guard took out Kenta’s wanted poster from his pocket and showed it to Mona.
As she read the text, Mona almost lost control, her anger nearly causing her to release her magic power. Realizing that would reveal her demon identity, she forced herself to calm down.
“Right? Isn’t it awful? Sure, they want to catch a dangerous criminal, but targeting an innocent spouse? They withdrew it quickly enough, but it already circulated a bit, so we’re keeping watch just in case.”
“Oh, I see. Thanks for letting me know. Bye.”
“Hey, wait, um, at least your name—”
The guard called out from behind, but Mona ignored him completely and walked away.
Once she was alone, she began to mutter to herself.
“So that’s why… Kenta Maya set up that barrier. To protect Lady Meyleen. That wanted notice circulated, and he retaliated against Weimar for issuing it.”
Realizing this, Mona had made up her mind about what to do next.
As soon as she got back, she would start preparing.
Unlike the gloomy feeling she’d had on the way there, Mona’s return was lively and confident.