Chapter 9: The Demon Lord Who Can’t Even Hold His Ground

The days following my disastrous delivery attempt were a blur of minor embarrassments and self-inflicted failures. Every time I tried to regain my dignity, something seemed to go wrong, from spilling soup all over Aria's table to accidentally setting fire to the kitchen while trying to cook dinner. The worst part? Aria kept her cool through it all, offering only sarcastic remarks and the occasional eye roll.

Still, she had started to tolerate my presence more than she had the first few days. In fact, after the whole fruit stand incident, she agreed to give me another "mission," though I could tell by the sly smile on her face that this time, she was hoping for even more comedic disaster.

I stood in front of her in the living room, preparing for what I hoped would be a simple task. "Alright, Leonard," Aria said, holding out a small parchment with a simple seal. "This is your next job. You're going to help with the guild's request. It's a simple cleanup job. No fruit stands involved."

I took the parchment with confidence. "A cleanup job? I can handle that. It sounds simple enough."

She raised an eyebrow. "Just don't accidentally destroy anything this time."

"Hey, I'm a demon lord," I said, my chest puffing up. "A cleanup job is beneath me, but I shall do it... for the sake of restoring my honor." I paused dramatically. "And because you won't stop giving me chores."

Aria didn't seem impressed. "Right. Don't break anything and don't burn anything down. I'll be watching you."

The Cleanup Disaster Begins.

The location was a small farm on the outskirts of town. The farmer had requested help with clearing out an overgrown garden and fixing a few fences. Simple. Straightforward. And—most importantly—not anything involving fruit stands or beer mugs.

I took my first steps onto the farm, breathing in the fresh air. It was surprisingly peaceful. I looked over the overgrown garden with determination. I can do this, I thought, with visions of returning triumphantly to Aria, where I'd be treated like the noble demon lord I was.

I grabbed the gardening tools and set to work. The garden was a mess, sure, but it wasn't anything too difficult. I figured I'd chop down the weeds, clear out the bushes, and be done in no time.

I took the rake in hand and started sweeping the leaves with great enthusiasm, imagining myself as a warrior slaying mighty foes. But I wasn't fighting monsters or demons. No, today, I was fighting weeds. And as it turned out, weeds didn't quite respect the majestic power of a demon lord.

As I raked away, I realized that I wasn't actually clearing the garden—I was causing a bigger mess than I had planned. A gust of wind blew some leaves right into the air, and with a single misstep, I tripped over a garden hoe and fell flat on my face.

A loud thud echoed across the farm, and I quickly got up, brushing dirt off my cloak. "I'm fine!" I shouted, too loudly. "This was part of the plan! Yes, this is exactly how I imagined it!"

I heard a faint snicker from behind me. Turning, I saw Aria standing nearby, watching me with the most unamused expression. She crossed her arms.

"Right. You're doing great," she said dryly.

Great, she said? I was clearly making a fool of myself, but I wasn't about to admit that.

I stood up, gritting my teeth. "I am Leonard Nightfall, demon lord of the underworld! This is beneath me!" I yelled in defiance, but it came out as more of an embarrassed mumble. "But... but... I'll finish this! I will!"

The Fateful Encounter with the Fence.

After my heroic failure with the garden, I turned my attention to the fences. The farmer had requested that I repair the fence. How hard could that be? I had dealt with royal estates, after all. Fences should be nothing!

I grabbed a hammer and began to pound a few nails into the wooden planks. But as I was hammering, I noticed the fence was wobbly—not in the good way, mind you, but in the bad way. It felt like it was going to fall at any moment. I pressed harder, thinking I could somehow fix it with sheer willpower. The wood cracked under the pressure, and before I could react, the entire section of the fence collapsed—right into the pigsty.

The pigs squealed and ran in every direction as the fence collapsed, and in my frantic attempt to salvage it, I managed to trip and tumble directly into the mud.

"Leonard!" Aria's voice rang out from behind me, filled with a mix of disbelief and amusement. "What did you do?!"

"W-What?!" I sputtered, wiping mud off my face as I stood up. "I was just… testing the durability of the fence!"

Aria stood there, hands on her hips, shaking her head. "You're testing the fence by destroying it?"

I took a deep breath and straightened up, but my confidence had completely shattered. "You don't understand. This is… this is the work of a demon lord in a new world. I'm just... adjusting."

"Well, you're adjusting really poorly," she said, trying to hide her smirk. "At this rate, I'm going to need to hire a real worker to help around here."

I could feel my face turning crimson as I struggled to maintain some semblance of pride. "I'm not giving up, Aria! I'll prove myself!"

The "Successful" Mission.

After what felt like hours of embarrassing moments and complete failure, I managed to finally get the garden in a somewhat acceptable state and fix the fence enough so that it would stand without completely falling over. By the time I finished, I was covered in dirt and sweat, my dignity shattered beyond repair.

But, for some reason, Aria wasn't completely disappointed in me.

"Well, I'll admit," she said, looking at the garden with a slight nod, "it's not perfect, but you did finish the task. I guess I have to give you credit for that."

"I did it!" I shouted, raising my fists in triumph, but the moment felt a little hollow.

"Yeah, yeah," Aria said with a smirk. "You might not be the world's best gardener, but I guess it's good enough for a demon lord."

I slumped a bit, defeated. "I'll get better next time. I swear it."

As we walked back toward the house, I couldn't help but wonder what I had gotten myself into. But one thing was clear: No matter how hard I tried, my life as a demon lord in this world would be a whole lot messier than I'd ever imagined.