“!”
“Yo, sleepy princess. How are you feeling?”
Amelia, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly woke up. She kicked off the comforter and sat up. As she looked around, I spoke to her, making sure to let her know I was smoking.
“Jiro, sir?”
“Looks like you’re conscious. It was worth the trouble, it seems.”
She still seemed dazed, her gaze unfocused as she looked at me. However, her tone, her aura, I could definitively say it was Amelia. Although I had received assurances from Instructor Fushio and the President, it was still reassuring to have a face-to-face conversation and confirm this.
“Where… is this?”
“It’s the infirmary in the Demon Lord’s Castle. We saved you, but you’ve been out for three days.”
“Three days? I… I believe I was—”
“Well, it probably felt like an instant to you.”
As her mind slowly awakened, and the information about her situation began to connect, she seemed to grasp what was happening. Seeing Amelia like this, I asked if she could talk, and she slowly nodded. She didn’t appear to be in bad physical condition and seemed capable of conversation. If her condition worsened at any point, I could just have her rest. With that thought, I began to explain the events up to this point. It began three days ago.
The story jumps back to after I managed to rescue Amelia.
“Jiro, this place is dangerous. Let’s evacuate to the Demon Lord’s Castle immediately.”
“Yes, it seems that way. I’m getting a strong, unpleasant vibe.”
I would have liked a moment to smoke if I could, but that wasn’t an option. Should I say the air was screaming? It was certainly close to a battlefield, a place filled with a disturbing atmosphere, but now it felt like standing before a bomb. The source of that tension was obvious without having to think about it. A noisy space that could be felt even from a distance. The arena where the President and the Hero were fighting was starting to get serious, as if their warm-up was over. Like a volcano about to erupt. I felt on my skin that this place would soon become a battlefield, and when I met the instructor’s gaze, he silently began preparing teleportation magic. I slung the unconscious Amelia over my back.
“Himik, I’m sorry, but can I leave those two to you?”
“Understood. But are you sure?”
“If the instructor isn’t saying anything, it means it’s okay as long as I take responsibility.”
At that moment, I gave an instruction to Himik, who had removed her helmet, revealing her face. Himik’s sister, whom we had temporarily evacuated and put to sleep, was being protected from the aftershocks of the battle. Although Himik had restrained and put her to sleep, they were both Seraphim. It was obvious that their power dwarfed that of ordinary humans. It was also a fact that they were members of an opposing organization. It would have been wiser to execute them here than to take them with us. But.
“I promised you, didn’t I?”
“Master.”
I had said I would take her back and look after her. I wasn’t going back on my word. Perhaps he understood myresolve, or perhaps he thought it would be more interesting to leave them as they were, I had a feeling it was the latter, but the instructor merely glanced at me and then audibly clicked his jaw. I had expected to be told to execute her immediately, rather than to bring her back, so it was somewhat anticlimactic. Himik held the twin angels in her arms, and Amelia was on my back. And then.
“I’m alive! I’m alive!”
“Hmm, I don’t know why, but we are alive.”
“…Could it be that this isn’t reality, but hell?”
“Don’t say such scary things!”
The three who had survived desperately grew silent, acting as if it were strange that they were unharmed. Well, even with my support, they had fought against opponents of a higher rank for hours. Perhaps their spirits were a little fatigued.
“Instructor, please.”
“Kekekeke, understood.”
This was the place where we, all weary in different ways, were brought by the instructor’s teleportation magic.
“It’s been years since humans were brought here. What do you think, Jiro? What’s your impression of entering the Demon Lord’s Castle?”
“It feels like I’ve wandered into a dangerous place where I might die.”
“You’re generally correct. There’s a lot of secrecy here. Curiosity will shorten your lifespan.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
This was the Demon Lord’s Army’s final stronghold. The castle that protected the Demon Lord. I had imagined it wouldn’t be ordinary, but my imagination had been too tame. The piercing gazes were devoid of contempt or arrogance, merely pure vigilance. They understood that we were not enemies because Instructor Fushio was with us. However, we were not welcomed. It was easy to imagine what would happen if we acted suspiciously, even without being told. I let out a wry smile at the instructor’s words and, following his lead as he told us to come along, we began to walk. And then, we were led to.
“This is…”
“It’s like an infirmary. Jiro, lay the girl down on that bed.”
“Yes.”
It was a strange room, just white, with a single bed in the center. As I did as the instructor instructed and laid Amelia on the bed, a barrier was erected when I stepped away.
“This girl has indeed survived, but her soul is severely exhausted. This place is for healing the soul. She will need rest for a while, but she will wake up soon.”
A pale green light emanated from the barrier, engulfing Amelia. Knowing that this was a healing process, we all naturally let out sighs of relief.
“Next, I’d like to treat you all, but time is of the essence. Follow me.”
I thought it was our turn next, but it seemed not to be the case. Only the dangerous Amelia received treatment, and we were led to a different room.
“You are fortunate. It’s been years since I last witnessed this battle.”
This was the central hall of the Demon Lord’s Castle. The ground in the center of the hall seemed to be made of glass, allowing us to see through it. Following Instructor Fushio, who was peering into it, we too looked down.
“That is the Demon Lord’s fighting form.”
The President, who seemed to be enjoying himself, swung his staff and was cornering Carter, who was trying to escape.
“Th-that’s amazing! What is that? How many spells is he using?”
“It’s not just that. Each one is a top-tier spell.”
“Is that what you call cheated?”
Carter, who had escaped from a lake of tar-like substance with a blade made of Holy Sword light, unleashed that blade at the President. However, the President was overwhelmingly overpowering him with magic, as if he didn’t care at all about the Holy Sword’s light. To what extent the outcome changes when one can focus on a one-on-one fight without anything to protect. It made me understand that the fight in the arena back then had indeed been restricted. The President, who had stopped restraining himself and was focused solely on defeating his opponent, was revitalized. He unleashed a diverse array of magic as if flowing, drowning explosions with explosions, only to then create a blizzard that seemed to freeze even those explosions, followed by a wave of earth that swallowed the blizzard, and finally, thunder that tore through the wave of earth from the heavens. It was something we couldn’t do, even if we stood on our heads. As Minami said, from my perspective, he was nothing short of cheating. Still, in the fight between the President and Carter, it was clear to anyone observer that the President had the advantage and Carter was at a disadvantage. While I thought this might be the end, the fact that Carter’s expression wasn’t one of despair lingered in my mind. Light emanated from the Holy Sword, slicing through the magic. Carter moved so fast that I could barely track his position from above, making me wonder if he could fight at long range as well. His determination not to give up, made me suspect something was up. And as I was pondering what that might be.
“…He wants to close the distance?”
“Correct.”
I recognized his actions and arrived at the answer. After all, I had experienced it myself. As someone who had no chance in long-range combat, I tried to force close-quarters combat. That’s exactly what Carter was doing. Even though I muttered it softly, Instructor Fushio confirmed my words.
“The Hero has realized he cannot win in a magical exchange and is trying to get to a distance where his own abilities can be maximized. That is his only way out. And the Demon Lord is not allowing him to do so.”
A typical battle between frontliners and backliners. If Carter closed the distance, he might win, but the President wouldn’t let him. I thought this might actually be a close match, but.
“However, that way out might also be a death trap.”
“Instructor, what do you mean?”
“You’ll understand if you watch.”
The instructor vaguely denied my words and urged me to silently watch, as if to hint that I would understand the upcoming development.
“He broke through!”
“Whoa, isn’t that bad!?”
Just before Kitamiya shouted, Carter had broken through the storm of magic. The distance between the President and Carter had been about thirty meters. For Carter, who moved at high speed, it would take less than a second. He traversed the distance in fractions of a second, slipped through a narrow gap, and finally reached close combat range. Once at this range, he could no longer use powerful magic carelessly. But before I could even think if he could push Carter back with the magic he could use at this distance, close-quarters combat began. I leaned in, thinking the roles might be reversed this time. And then.
A blinding light appeared.
“Impossible!”
It wasn’t the light Carter had unleashed.
“Why is the Demon Lord using light magic?”
Minami’s words echoed the thoughts of all of us present. The Demon Lord, drawing a sword of light from his waist, intercepted the light from Carter’s Holy Sword. Minami’s jaw dropped at the sight. I, too, couldn’t believe my eyes.
“You must be surprised, Hero. I doubt you ever imagined the Demon Lord could use the Holy Sword.”
“What do you mean?”
Or rather, I thought to myself, the President, despite being the Demon Lord, actually possessed a Holy Sword. And was it a spoils of war? While I was thinking this, I listened to the instructor’s explanation.
“It means exactly what I said. The Demon Lord can use the Holy Sword. That’s all there is to it.”
“But the President is the Demon Lord, isn’t he?”
My doubts deepened.
“Indeed. And as you can see, he also possesses the potential of a Hero capable of wielding the Holy Sword.”
“No way…”
My doubts deepened, but it was no longer necessary to think deeply about it because the instructor had turned what I had dismissed as impossible into something that could be true.
“Kekekeke, yes, that’s exactly it.”
“The President is… the child of the Hero and the Demon Lord?”
“Yes, born from forbidden love. It’s nostalgic. The Demon Lord’s grandmother was a Hero who lived happily ever after with the previous Demon Lord. It caused quite a stir back then.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It is, considering the evidence right before your eyes.”
I wanted to say it was cheating. But I understood that such words were meaningless here. A being possessing the powers of both light and darkness. It was like something out of a chuunibyou protagonist’s story. And Carter, who had seen close-quarters combat as his only hope and path to victory, was beginning to be overwhelmed. I knew what would happen next, even I.
“More importantly, the Demon Lord is favored by the moon and the sun.”
I felt a sliver of pity for Carter, who had made an enemy of such a being.
Today’s quote:
Some beings are just bugged.
That’s all for today.
If you found it interesting, please leave comments, ratings, bookmarks, etc.
*The first volume has been decided to be published by Hayakawa Bunko JA. It was released on October 18, 2018. The e-book version was also released on October 31 of the same year. A second volume will be released on December 19. The content has been revised and expanded from the version posted on Shousetsuka ni Narou, with the addition of an unpublished interlude. Please check out the new book!
Additionally, a comic adaptation has been decided for Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.”
