Mage Milia (10)
Legion Commander Five, also known as the Fire Spirit.
And in the past, she had gone by another name — Garnet — and she had been a Hero.
A failed Hero, to be precise.
Just like Esmeralda, she had set out for the Demon Realm, and there she had died.
Not by the Demon King's hand, but by her own comrades'.
"You... how could you... why...?"
"I told you, didn't I? You trust people far too easily."
The reason for the betrayal was simple: they were afraid of marching on the Demon King.
Wouldn't it be wiser to grow a little stronger and take things slowly? That was the reasoning with which her companions murdered their Hero, Garnet.
She must have wanted to believe that, too.
If they could have grown safely, Garnet would have wanted the same thing.
But there was no time for that.
The Demon King of that era, Beelzebub, was so aggressively warlike that every single day was a battle.
Every moment she lingered in comfort, more people died on the front lines.
So they had needed to take a gamble and turn the situation around.
Everyone had agreed, and infiltrating the Demon Realm had gone well enough... until it didn't.
"Then you should have opposed it from the start! Why — why only now...?"
Right after that, she was betrayed.
By all of her comrades, no less.
They had shared life and death side by side. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine they would turn on her overnight.
"Haha, Garnet. If you'd objected back there, what would that have made us? Well, I'm sorry we stabbed you in the back at this point, but honestly, this version made the best picture."
A Hero who entered the Demon Realm and perished in a desperate, overreaching battle.
That was the story they needed to craft.
There had been signs, in truth. She had sensed something unsettled in the air, an undercurrent of unease.
But she had written it off as mere nerves from crossing into the Demon Realm.
Yes — her unquestioning trust in them was exactly why she'd been blindsided.
She had placed her faith in something formless called affection, without a shred of doubt.
"I curse you... every last one of you will die a miserable death!"
"Oh my. How frightening."
Garnet died grinding her teeth.
And ironically, the curse she laid down with her final breath would one day be carried out by her own two hands.
Having heard Five's long, winding sob story, Esmeralda couldn't help but wear a sour expression.
"That's why I did what I did. Tragic, isn't it? That's why I envy your power. To be able to see straight through anything a person tries to hide — whatever it may be."
"Ah, well... I suppose that's true."
Because something about it felt uncomfortably like her own story — the road she herself was walking, or rather, had already walked.
That damn Irina. The more I chew on it, the angrier I get.
She had once envied the authority Five had been granted, but now she wasn't so sure. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener — and she understood, all too keenly, why Five envied her.
If she had never awakened the Emerald Tablet, wouldn't she have followed in Five's footsteps?
The mere thought sent a chill crawling up her spine.
"Well, anyway. I think we're done talking, so shall we get started again?"
"Ah, sorry. I did ramble on for a while, didn't I? I get a little sentimental on snowy days. You'll have to forgive me."
"It's fine. It made for a decent breather."
"Glad to hear it. No change of heart, then?"
"Uh... I don't think so?"
As if hearing her tragic backstory would make Esmeralda betray anyone. She'd already been down that road.
There was no point in dredging up sympathy now — this wasn't ancient history, it was happening in real time.
Besides, unlike Five, she was in the middle of resolving things. There was no need to lend an ear to a failure.
Five, evidently expecting nothing better, simply went on muttering her laments like an old woman complaining about the weather.
"Hmm?"
Just then, one of Five's clones — who had been lounging about, sighing away while the Hero was surrounded front and back — suddenly froze and turned her gaze toward somewhere far off.
"Did you just remember you left the fireplace burning at home?"
"My house doesn't use firewood."
"Fair enough. You're already burning, so I suppose you don't need it."
It had been a half-joking probe, thrown out on the off chance she'd let them go. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.
Esmeralda discarded the hope without ceremony.
Still, it was strange for her to be staring into the distance with a face that hard.
"Oh, I died. Hmm, when did I die?"
"Chopped up by your comrades?"
"Not that. Are you calling me an idiot right now?"
"Perish the thought."
Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders even as she quietly began gathering her strength.
Whatever the reason, it was good news.
Whether it was the Magic Tower's master or someone else entirely, it meant the battle elsewhere was over.
Which meant reinforcements would be flowing in — and sooner or later, that would loosen the noose around Esmeralda's neck too.
And conversely, it meant...
"I should be going."
"Ah, do travel safely."
"Not before I tidy up here, though."
...that her opponent no longer had any reason to take her time.
"Then let's pick up the pace, shall we? I'll raise the tempo. Do try to keep up."
"Oh, come on..."
The Hero, Esmeralda, found herself cornered in an instant.
By now, that was nothing new.
We were on a knife's edge.
The thought crossed my mind: did I really have to cut down Legion Commander Five with my own hands?
If I did, everything about me would flow straight back to the real Five, whose true body was elsewhere. This was a different situation from Eleven, who — like a man lost in a daydream — had never even known what precisely had been done to him.
But if I didn't resist, I'd die.
Even back when I was an idiot, I'd known what kind of temperament Five had.
Having already provoked her, I knew this wouldn't end with a kick to the shins. Which meant I had no choice but to face her here.
Talking my way out was probably off the table.
Her true body would observe my power with perfect accuracy, and that information would almost certainly flow straight to the Demon King.
Then my return home would slip even further out of reach, and forget about escaping the Hero's party — I'd end up hunted on both sides.
Well, technically I was already being hunted by the Hero's party, in a manner of speaking.
Apparently even a scrambled brain hadn't dulled my little problem, because it seemed simply being anywhere near a woman was a crime in itself.
"Now then. Shall we have a look at that special something you're so desperately trying to hide, even as we speak?"
"You're remarkably perceptive."
She even knew I was wary of revealing my strength.
Listening to her, apparently rumors had been circulating for a while now — whispers that my existence was something special.
Considering the whole Eleven affair, that was only natural.
Still, back then I could have at least papered over it with the 'half-blood' excuse.
"Well, if the world went the way everyone wanted it to, I suppose I wouldn't be breaking my back in a place like this either."
I steeled myself.
I hadn't met the Demon King yet, but that was no reason to die here.
I'd figure out what to do next as it came.
"Now! Let's just see about that—!"
A blade of refined flame rose above Five's hand.
And at the exact moment I thrust my own hand into the flames coiling around us, reaching to wrench away her control—
KWAAAAAAM!
Something black and viscous burrowed into that world of fire.
"Wha—?!"
The black, slimy something writhed, coiled around my body, and hauled me away.
The shape was familiar.
It was what I'd been fleeing from like a madman just moments ago.
Milia's magic tentacles.
"Jim really is popular, isn't he."
Milia Asrin had, after all, dispatched Five's clone and arrived on the scene.
As proof, something red dangled from her hand.
Five's head.
"You absolute lunatic."
Frankly, she scared me more than Five did.
I'd genuinely believed Milia wouldn't be able to bring down a Legion Commander.
Of course, her talent was as anomalous as a Hero's — but even so, I'd figured she'd fall short.
"You're right about that."
The answer to that question came from Irina, who arrived close behind.
Something about the soft smile she wore while holding a blood-soaked morningstar in one hand was deeply, profoundly unsettling.
Right. Alone, it would have been impossible — but with the two of them pooling their strength, not impossible at all.
Somehow, the thought that the two of them seemed to get along made my throat close up like a fishbone had lodged itself in it.
Anyway, it must have been a ferocious fight. The elegant dresses they'd worn were scorched and torn all over, leaving absolutely nowhere safe to look.
"If you stare like that, I'll get embarrassed, Jim."
"Ah — my apologies. Maybe pack a more modest dress next time?"
"...You're right. It is my fault. If that's what Jim says, then clearly it must be so."
What I meant was that there was far too much to look at, and my eyes couldn't settle on one spot.
Look, it was a good view, honestly.
The injuries were a shame, of course — but there was Irina's hem, burned and torn short, the stark white of her thighs standing out all the more for it—
"Ngh..."
—and Milia's enormous chest, one strap singed clean through, hanging on by a thread—
"Does it bother you?"
"Immensely."
"I see."
I'm not enough of a gentleman for this. It's a genuine problem.
The me of now could exercise a certain amount of restraint, but the usual me would have taken it as an open invitation and pounced.
No, wait — wasn't it an invitation?
"Wait for me, Jim. Once I clear out this woman, we'll be together forever."
"Mind your words, Milia. Jim is still public property."
It did feel like an invitation, but...
Something about it was just too off-putting.
Had I ever, in my entire life, been this popular?
Really, this much?
Why this much? Why on earth...?
"All right, you brats. Finished with your little comedy act? Then do whatever it is you're going to do — you're starting to get on my nerves."
"Oh, look at that. One little pest is still left over, Milia."
"A demon who doesn't know love. How pitiful."
"You people are actually, genuinely insane..."
Five recoiled, her voice thick with disgust.
"Jim, just wait a moment for me."
"Don't even think about running."
But the one who really wanted to cringe was me.