A Mother's Heart

A corridor within Demon Castle Cutranux.

The Lord of Deceit, Xavier, and the Lord of Blood, Bloodstain, were deep in conversation.

"So, how did it taste, getting a sample firsthand? Bloodstain. Even without a Hero, humans are hardly pushovers."

Xavier regarded him as he spoke.

It had not been long since Xavier's attempt to assassinate the Hero had failed. The moment word arrived that the Hero had been mortally wounded, Bloodstain seized the opening, leading a host of monsters in an assault on the human kingdom. But the army under his command had failed to break the defensive line stationed at Horn Canyon, and had been driven back in defeat.

Bloodstain had been somewhat taken aback by the strength of the human woman who had stood against him. That he — whose combat prowess ranked among the highest even among demonkind — had struggled against a single human was almost beyond belief. While he was occupied with her, nearly every monster he had brought with him had been wiped out.

Even if he had punched through Horn Canyon alone, turning the kingdom into a wasteland and hunting down the Hero to kill him would have been no simple matter. And so he had been forced to retreat. For Bloodstain, who had once razed human villages single-handedly, it was a blow to his pride.

"If you'd just succeeded in killing the Hero properly in the first place, none of this would've happened."

"Hmph. That is hardly something I care to hear from a man who never even laid eyes on the Hero's face."

Xavier's sneer drew a breath from Bloodstain like that of an enraged bull.

"Grrrr... I'm worried about Her Majesty. Lady Bercella is too soft-hearted, too much of a coward. Is picking off just the Hero without destroying the human kingdom even possible?"

"Worry not. Lady Bercella is merely young. That frail temperament of hers will be mended as the Demon King's Soul awakens. Indeed, the power of the Demon King's Soul grows steadily even now. Have you not seen? Monsters touched by its influence are stirring in every quarter."

"Hmph. Even so, if we keep giving the Hero time like this, we'll lose Her Majesty all over again. That's a given."

Bloodstain snorted. Xavier's mouth curled into a slow grin.

He had failed to assassinate the Hero, but he had lingered long in the human world. And because of that, there were things he knew.

"Well now, I wonder. This Hero seems a rather peculiar one. Do you know what the humans call him in the streets? The Trash Hero. Chosen as a Hero, and yet he does nothing — merely throws his weight around at the Central Church, bullying the people around him."

"A spineless Demon King and a Trash Hero. The world's gone mad."

"The gods washed their hands of this world long ago. Like an old toy wearing out, this world too may be breaking down."

Xavier narrowed his eyes and spoke again.

"I rather think of it as an opportunity. A chance for the Demon King — who has always fallen to the Hero — to seize victory for the very first time."

I walked on and on across the land of the Demon Realm, following Shari.

We took a wide berth around Demon Castle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cutranux, moving as carefully as we could to avoid other demons and monsters. But it was not as dangerous as I had imagined.

I had pictured the Demon Realm as a nightmare of lurking horrors — fearsome monsters teeming at every turn, demons like Bloodstain hunting my life with every step, flames erupting from the earth and lightning crashing from the sky. Of course, the environment was quite different from human lands. But different was not the same as terrifying or grotesque.

The power of mana really is something else.

To raise forests and fields like these even on parched, dead earth... So all these violet plants growing here must have had their vitality strengthened by mana. It reminded me a little of adventurers, steadily reinforcing their bodies through Mana Conversion.

Shari, who had been leading the way, stopped at the crest of a hill and pointed a small finger down the slope.

"Are we here?"

She nodded.

I looked in the direction she indicated, and there it was — a city of considerable size. Having already seen the mushroom village of the Karia Tribe, the visual wasn't particularly shocking. The architectural style was a little different, but it was a proper city, with houses built and roads laid out much as humans would have done.

"Pureblood demons... a city where people of Shari's race live together, then..."

I studied Shari as she drifted in the air before me. Tiny bat-like wings were attached to her back, and a pair of little horns sat on her head. Honestly, going by appearance alone, the lizardmen I'd seen at the guild — those reptilian demihumans — had been far more grotesque. And those lizardmen were living perfectly normal lives as adventurers in Kubel, so as for demons...

"A human?! How is a human here?"

The moment we reached the entrance, a gatekeeper barred my way, bristling with hostility. A fair reaction, I supposed. The gatekeeper was a demon, of course — great bat wings on his back, and a horn jutting from the center of his forehead like a unicorn's.

I immediately tried to put Shari forward and open a dialogue. The gatekeeper didn't give me the chance. He came at me at once.

"W-wait a second!"

"It's a human! A human has invaded Einblad!"

"No, that's not—!"

"Die!"

The gatekeeper closed the distance, drew his sword, and swung. Caught off guard by the ambush, I didn't even draw my own blade — I simply leapt backward and let the strike whistle past. But he didn't stop there. He turned the empty palm of his other hand toward me, conjured a small fireball with magic, and hurled it.

"Waaagh! Are you a magic swordsman?!"

I twisted aside at the last instant as the fireball came screaming in, blazing at tremendous speed. It grazed past my face, slammed into the ground, and burst in a small explosion.

"What?! A human? How dare you come here!"

"Kill the human!"

At the gatekeeper's shout, several more demons came rushing out from inside. There were even demons diving in from the sky. The Karia Tribe had at least heard me out — why were these people so aggressive?!

Shari! Do something!

I dodged the attacks flying in from every direction and glanced over to see what Shari was doing. She was just as panicked as I was. She zigzagged frantically between me and the gatekeeper, waving her hands in a flustered blur.

"Hey! Can't you see the kid flying around over there?! Hey!"

"Kill the human!"

"Hey! Would you listen to that child for a second!"

"Die! Human!"

Talking was utterly useless. Whether they couldn't see Shari, or were pretending not to — or whether they'd simply decided to kill the human first and ask questions later — I had no idea.

A rumble of thunder rolled overhead. I looked up, and the demon who had come from the sky was casting magic at me. I kept sidestepping, kept dodging — then a sinister prickle ran through me and I froze in place.

A bolt of lightning crashed down right in front of my nose. One more step and it would have hit me. A chill ran down my spine.

Before I could even catch my breath, the gatekeeper came at me again with his sword. The other demons poured in from every side, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flinging magic and weapons without discrimination.

"Please! Let's talk this out! With words! Waaaaagh!"

Clang!

I couldn't dodge everything coming from all directions. I had no choice — I drew my sword and knocked the attacks aside. I couldn't cut these people down with Shari watching. It was an impossible position.

Was running my only option? But it already seemed too late for that. No matter how fast I fled, they were a race that could fly. More demons were flooding in from deeper in the city. Lightning fell from the sky, fireballs came screaming in, and swords, spears, and arrows joined the barrage. I was dodging all of it so desperately that I was starting to impress even myself.

Wait. Where was Shari?

All of a sudden, she was nowhere to be seen. Not that showing herself had stopped them from attacking me. But she wouldn't just vanish and abandon me entirely... would she?

"Persistent for a mere human!"

"You came here alone? We will not let you leave!"

"Everyone, be careful! That one doesn't seem like an ordinary human! He might be the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hero!"

The demons attacking me were leaping to whatever conclusions they pleased, and I had no idea where I'd even begin to set them straight. There was no walking this back now. Shari had disappeared somewhere, and the only choice left if I wanted to keep my life was to fight.

"That's enough!"

Clang!

I poured mana into my blade and met the gatekeeper's incoming sword with a heavy counter. The weapon flew from his grip, spinning through the air. I had not returned a single blow until that moment. The instant I finally struck back, the gatekeeper faltered.

An opening. If I closed the distance and drove my blade into his solar plexus, I could finish him for certain. But I had a feeling that killing him would make this truly irreversible. What would be the point of meeting Shari's mother after slaughtering every demon in this city? I would just be a brutal human invader.

"Kh... What am I supposed to do...!"

While I hesitated, the disarmed gatekeeper scrambled backward, out of my reach. The demons' attacks were about to converge ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on me again — and in that instant:

A young woman's voice, vast enough to dominate the air itself, brought every demon to a halt. I looked toward the sound. A female demon with great wings stood with one hand extended. And beside her, Shari drifted gently in the air.

The woman who had appeared with Shari approached me slowly, her gait languid and captivating. With every step she took, bluish wisps of mana rose from the ground. She carried an air that set her apart from the other demons around her — a difference of stature. A pair of horns like a mountain goat's sat on either side of her head, long straight hair cascading down, and she was, moreover, strikingly beautiful.

So that was where Shari had gone. She had left to bring this woman here.

"This human has not come to do us harm."

Up close, she was remarkably tall. She stood a full head taller than I did.

"I am Ludmila, Queen of Einblad. Follow me, human."

She spoke those few words, then turned and began to walk. Of all the welcomes I had ever received in my life, this had to be the bloodiest.

With the eyes of every surrounding demon fixed upon me, I followed Ludmila.