About the Truth. (7)
Sitting silently in front of the bonfire, I poked at the hot, glowing logs with a fire poker.
The demon sitting opposite me wasn't saying anything.
Was it hatred for what humans had done to them?
Or shame for having hoped for salvation from humans?
Or perhaps it was the reality of ultimately being saved by a human?
"...Thank you for saving me."
I raised my head at the small voice.
When our eyes met, they turned their head away. I was about to say something but closed my mouth again.
How far should I extend my mercy?
If they hadn't killed a human, I would let them live.
But if they had killed even one, death was the rightful outcome.
"Did you kill a human?"
"..."
No voice was heard, but their head nodded.
A tense glint began to swirl in the opponent's eyes.
They were wary of me, who was right in front of them, but perhaps realizing they couldn't win, they weren't tensing their body.
"How many did you kill?"
"...Three."
Three.
One killed three.
The hot fire poker ignited a fire in the Hero's heart.
Was it truly right for someone who had taken three lives to end with just one?
It was an unknowable matter.
"Why did you kill them?"
"...That's because."
That's why I asked for the reason.
The demon in front of me was clearly nothing more than a murderer who had killed humans, yet the Hero still wanted to hear their reason.
Perhaps it was also a small hope.
A hope that demons weren't entirely heinous.
"They tried to use a demon child as a sacrifice."
"..."
"And the other two, I just killed because I couldn't stand the sight of them."
The demon, looking down at their hands, let out a hollow laugh.
It seemed they were recalling the faces of the humans they had killed.
Killed because they couldn't stand the sight of them.
If that were the only reason, they would certainly be a heinous being, but the preceding words bothered me.
"Don't you demons consider children a burden? Yet you killed humans to save a child?"
"...Usually, yes, but not everyone thinks that way."
The demon, hearing his question, let out a deep breath.
Not everyone thinks that way...
Normally, I would have beheaded them immediately, but this time was different.
What if, just as humans had different dispositions, demons also had different dispositions?
Among humans, there were those who fought against demons, and those who sided with demons and betrayed humans.
What if the demon in front of me cherished a child?
And killed humans for that reason?
"What's your name?"
It was the first time I had asked a demon for their name.
To be precise, Ariel was the first, but excluding her, this was the first time.
There was no particular reason for asking their name.
Just because I wanted to.
That was all there was to it.
"...Elli."
"..."
It was a terrible coincidence.
This demon didn't resemble the Elli I knew at all, but their name was the same.
How ridiculous.
Truly, ridiculous.
"That choker makes you follow your master's commands to the end, doesn't it?"
"...!!"
I didn't know if this decision was right, but nothing else came to mind.
The demon's flinching figure looked a little pitiful.
Did they think I would harm them?
No, that couldn't be.
"From now on, after you save two humans, you will spend the rest of your life in a place no one can find."
It wasn't a half-hearted consideration.
It wasn't selfish mercy bestowed to save a demon's life.
It would surely be a fate worse than death for her.
A punishment to save with her own hands the very humans she so hated, and had also killed.
"Rather, rather kill me! Rather than saving those disgusting human bastards with my own hands—"
"For someone who says that, weren't you saved by a human's hand?"
It was a fact that both humans and demons overlooked.
Humans were not a single entity.
They were a collective formed by countless individuals.
Was the world peaceful before demons appeared in this world?
Absolutely not.
Even when there were no demons, wars occurred, and people died.
They merely united against the enemy known as demons; ultimately, even without them, the world would have been in chaos.
"This is where you'll go after you save two human lives."
I pointed to a black dot marked on the map.
The demon, seeing the symbol drawn in the middle of the forest, frowned.
They probably wouldn't understand why I was saying this.
But it wasn't an action I had taken expecting understanding in the first place.
"...What's your goal, human? A human like you wouldn't possibly let me live."
"Goal, you say..."
The Hero's eyes gleamed black.
His eyes, filled with thick vengeance, were sharpened as if to cut down everything that stood in his way.
If there was a goal, there had only ever been one, then and now.
"Revenge."
Revenge against everything that made me this way.
***
Nightmares were the worst disease an intelligent being could suffer.
To choose dreams to escape a painful reality, only to suffer even there—how agonizing was that?
"...Hallibel."
I held her pale hand.
As if it were a lie that she had been awake just moments ago, her eyes were tightly shut.
She didn't have to try to save me.
"...Why did you say that to me? Why, why?"
'Even if my life is in danger, please don't kill me. Because I don't want the Demon King-nim to suffer.'
The voice wouldn't leave my ears.
As if knowing what I was thinking, she closed her eyes again after saying those words.
Yes, I was going to.
If you truly came close to death, I would have rather killed you with my own hands to let you be reborn.
"So, you're telling me to just let you die like this?"
To be honest, I had only seen Hallibel in game scripts.
Yet, if you ask why I think of her so much, well.
Because she was the first person I saved.
Because she was the first life I saved.
"Hallibel..."
Perhaps it was lingering attachment.
Perhaps it was possessiveness.
I inhaled, gazing at the choker hanging from her pale white neck.
The sorrow caught in my throat felt like it would burst out any moment.
*Creak—*
"..."
"..."
A sound was heard.
The old, rusty, creaking hinges painted over the silent room.
So, they've come.
I had thought this day would come eventually, but I never imagined it would be now.
"Aga."
My voice wouldn't come out.
This sorrow.
This despair.
And even hatred for the Goddess who created this situation.
Tears fell.
This time, they weren't transparent, but red.
"Have you come to kill me?"
I didn't look back.
Because I thought if I showed my crying face, the child would hesitate.
Ah, truly.
How on earth did it come to this?
Would it have been better if I hadn't regained my memories?
No, then I couldn't say I had been revived.
Because if the memories were different, the person themselves would be different.
"...Ugh."
Something sharp pierced my flesh.
It was a different feeling from when I was cut by the Hero's Holy Sword.
It was hot, and it hurt.
But I wasn't scared.
I was just infinitely sad.
"I'm sorry."
I offered an apology in a small voice.
It was an apology on behalf of my kin.
Slowly, I turned my body, and the child, who had let go of the hilt, was trembling violently.
Were they scared?
Did they hesitate when stabbing me?
It was unknowable.
The important thing was that the child was trembling.
"U-ugh..."
As I held the child in my arms, I heard a small sobbing sound.
It wasn't tears of fear or sorrow.
Because that cry was one that only those who had succeeded in their revenge could make.
"I-I did it. Finally, finally, I avenged my comrades..."
"..."
"But, but why... but why......"
A sigh, "Ah," escaped me.
The emotions the child was displaying reversed.
The small face that was lifted was contorted with pain.
It wasn't an expression a child should show.
I didn't want such a face.
"Aga, I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
As I closed my eyes, something hot fell in drops.
My heart hurt more than my back, which had been pierced by the blade.
Ah, could there be another tragedy like this?
A revenge where neither the one who stabbed nor the one who was stabbed could find a clean end.
"You're the Demon King, aren't you? You have to die, don't you? You're my enemy. I was the one who said not to let go of the hilt, so why, why?"
"..."
I knelt.
The blood gushing from my back made me lose all sense of mind.
The child's frantic murmuring sounded like a lullaby.
'If I fall asleep like this, will I be able to wake up?'
At the edge of my blurring vision, I saw Hallibel's face.
This is punishment.
A terrible punishment for me, who tried to kill you.
But I didn't want to let you go like this.
If I couldn't revive you by killing you, I would rather die first.
That's why I didn't avoid the child's blade.
Because that was the only chance for me to be saved.
"Ariel-ssi!!!"
Yes.
It would have been better if I had just died here.
I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of Elli entering the room.
The Goddess's face was reflected on the ceiling, bathed in dim light.
'Did you think I would let you escape?'
A whisper was heard.
Truly, it was a damnably despairing moment.