About the Truth. (9)
Nothing had changed.
Elli took care of the twins with Rin, Hallibel was still unconscious, and the child who stabbed me kept glancing at me.
Even though I told her it was okay, that I forgave her, the child couldn't meet my eyes.
"...I'm sorry."
"I said it's okay."
It was hard to see her like that, so I half-forcibly pulled her small body into my arms.
I stroked the hair of the child who kept apologizing, kissed her cheek, and held her close.
It's okay. It's okay.
Revenge against demons was a natural thing, so it's not your fault.
"Laila."
"...Yes."
The child's name was Laila.
One day, she suddenly came to me and told me her name.
When I vaguely recalled a memory and realized that the master who taught the Hero was also named Laila, I was a little surprised.
"It makes me sadder when you avoid me, so please don't do that."
"...Understood."
She died during the time when demons were running rampant.
A human from an era when war was commonplace and demons swarmed the world.
Perhaps because of that, whenever she heard stories about the current world from Elli, her eyes would widen.
"So, you're saying all the demons on the continent have been completely eradicated now?"
"Yes, the continent is peaceful now. Of course, we haven't been able to deliver the news that it's all over yet."
They said that even when I inhabited this body, the continent had already regained some peace.
The reason for eradicating the Demon King was partly to eliminate the seed of evil, but they also said that the intention to revive the dead by borrowing the Goddess's power was greater.
Of course, it all became meaningless.
"I'm truly happy to see you again, Laila-nim."
"The same goes for me. Saintess, no, Elli-nim."
The two of them exchanged many stories.
I wondered if Laila, with her stern personality, and Elli, with her slightly eccentric personality, would be able to continue a conversation, but it seemed my worries were unfounded.
Their shared experiences of rolling around together on the battlefield had forged a strong bond between them.
It would be even more so since they met again after one of them had died.
"By the way, Laila-nim, you were incredibly cute when you were young."
"...Even if I hear such words, I don't particularly feel it."
It was certainly not easy to recall the Laila I had once seen from the current Laila.
The adult Laila, who was entirely grown, and the current Laila, who was entirely small, were as different as heaven and earth.
I gently stroked the hair of the child, who was blushing shyly.
It was cute how she let out strange murmurs and bowed her head.
"I wonder if Hero-nim is doing well..."
Elli murmured.
It had already been a long time since the Hero left.
I believed he would return someday, but not knowing when that would be, my longing for him only grew.
They say that if bodies are far apart, hearts grow distant too.
A strange sensation, poking at my heart, made me unnecessarily melancholic.
"A guest has arrived."
As I was spacing out for a long time, a haggard woman spoke to me.
A guest, she said.
Since she was speaking while looking at me, it seemed to be my guest.
Could it be the Hero? Indeed, there's no one else who would come looking for me besides him...
"You've got a good life, nya. Were you hiding out here, nya?"
"Ryanyori?"
The Cat Beastkin meowing 'nyang-nyang'.
I blinked at Ryanyori, who was looking at me with a pathetic expression.
I didn't expect her to find her way here.
No, rather, I wondered how she managed to find this place in the first place.
"Actually, I wasn't trying to find you, nya~ This one, she's a bit stubborn, nya~"
"...Hello, Ariel-ssi."
Ryanyori reached behind her back and pushed a person forward in front of me.
It was Bel, a pure white Cat Beastkin with one ear missing.
You were alive.
That single fact choked me up and brought tears to my eyes.
Thank goodness.
It's truly a relief.
"Thank you for being alive. Truly, truly thank you..."
"A cat has nine lives, after all."
I cried and laughed at Bel's small-voiced joke.
To Ryanyori's comment that 'if you cry and then laugh, your tail will fall off,' I replied that I didn't have a tail.
It was a relief to receive good news amidst my gloom.
***
After that, I encountered eighteen demons, and killed nine of them.
The basement of a noble's mansion.
An alley at the village entrance.
And even the caves used by Demon Worshippers.
There were too many things to find.
"Those Demon Worshippers existed even before the demons appeared, my lord."
"Explain in detail."
"Well, where should I begin... Ah! Have you ever heard about how to summon a demon?"
The hunched old man began his story.
The dark tales hidden behind great heroes.
A monarch who led a nation with eyes that saw the future.
A valiant warrior who mowed down enemies like leaves in battle.
Even a genius magician who built two magic towers.
"If you look at old stories, there are quite a few accounts of geniuses making contracts with demons to gain their talents, my lord."
"..."
"What if those demons were, well, demons?"
Current demon summoning magic is quite incomplete, with many lost elements.
Randomly summoning demons—demons—is utterly useless.
"The summoner summons a demon with the same name as themselves and makes a contract. Through this contract, they gain the demon's talents."
Whether the demon became human or the human became a demon didn't matter.
The most important thing was to acquire that talent.
The Hero, listening to the hunched old man's story, frowned.
"What happens if a demon and a human with the same name meet?"
"No one knows that. Whether they merge into one, kill each other, become friends, or share a contract to gain talents."
No one knows.
Cackling laughter filled the cave.
I recalled the demon named Elli I had met recently.
Was it truly the right thing to send that demon to where she was?
He sighed and raised his Holy Sword.
"That was helpful information, Demon Worshipper."
"It was an honor for me to meet Hero-nim, my lord. Ah, if you're going to kill me anyway, please do it in one go. I don't like pain, you see."
The sword swung, and the old man's head flew through the air.
The Hero, looking at the pool of blood filling the cave, exhaled the metallic scent of blood that had filled his nose.
It's a smell I never get used to, no matter how many times I encounter it.
"Then, next is the Royal Capital, I suppose."
He fiddled with the hilt of his sword, looking at the distant lights.
He couldn't help but feel it instinctively.
That the truth of everything lay right there.
The stories about the Demon Worshippers he had killed so far must have reached their ears.
If so, it was a race against time from now on.
***
"Thank you for your help. Thank you very much."
"...It's not like I helped because I wanted to."
I turned my head away from the human who kept bowing deeply.
Neither receiving thanks nor saving human lives pleased me in the slightest.
If only I didn't have this dog collar, I wouldn't have to do such things.
I irritably tugged at the choker around my neck, but it didn't come loose.
"...What the hell is here that they're telling me to go?"
Looking at the map, it was just an ordinary forest.
What could possibly be in the middle of that forest that they would specifically send me there?
Could humans be waiting? ...No, that didn't seem to be the case.
"For now, I suppose I'll go."
Since an order had been given, I had to carry it out.
Even just thinking 'I don't want to do it' sent a shock through me, so I had no choice.
Damn these human bastards.
"...To think there's a building in a place like this."
It didn't take long to reach the spot marked on the map.
Since a demon's robust body surpasses that of an ordinary human, I was able to arrive in less than a day.
An old temple.
Facing a building that looked suspicious to anyone, I walked forward without hesitation.
"Another guest, I see."
"Who is it?"
When I turned my head at the sudden voice, a haggard-looking woman was staring at me.
She was a strangely familiar presence.
Could this woman be a demon?
As she turned her back as if to tell me to follow, I quietly trailed behind her.
"Don't try to overexert yourself when you're not feeling well, nya!"
"But I'm better at cooking—"
"Bel and I can cook just fine, nya!"
Sniff, sniff, I sniffed.
At the scent of a Beastkin, which I had smelled before, the fine hairs on my shoulders bristled, *pat*.
I smell battle.
And what was hanging from that tail was, no matter how I looked at it, an item made from a kinsman's horn.
"More importantly, who are you, nya? You look like someone I've never seen before, nya~"
"..."
But there was no hostility on the other's face.
Instead, she was merely tilting her head as if genuinely puzzled.
I had clearly thought she would attack me first upon seeing a demon.
I felt like a fool for being so wary.
"You look like a demon no matter how I look at you. Demon King, isn't she your guest, nya?"
"It's a face I've never seen before either..."
I felt as if my heart had dropped.
Just now, what did that Beastkin say?
Demon King. She definitely said Demon King.
But the woman in front of me, her horns were—
"Ah, ahh, ahhhhhh..."
"A-Are you alright?"
My body collapsed.
Small fragments visible where the horns used to be.
As soon as I saw them, tears gushed out.
Demon King, Demon King-nim. How did you end up like this?
Why, why...