Ep.5 - Tale of the Demon Continent Across the Sea
Ep.5 - Tale of the Demon Continent Across the Sea
Helen inserted herself into the group and began her story.
Of course, before she could even start, she was met with a barrage of questions—
but her patience eventually wore down every woman's suspicion and wariness.
"We have no time to listen to an outsider's counsel. Please step aside."
Neva's wariness.
"But if you don't hear my story, the five of you will face even greater hardships. Please listen before you run even shorter on time."
"You're an archbishop? I've never seen a bastard like you before."
Philmark's suspicion.
"Well. I'm not exactly the type to handle things so diligently on a regular basis... so when the Great Thief-nim was ransacking the Holy Kingdom, I was likely off taking a nap."
"And they gave you the archbishop seat? A young stuck-up bastard like you?"
"Because my God-given holy power alone is exceptional."
"How did you know we'd be coming here and wait for us?"
Chichi's question.
"That's what I need to tell you now. I had a dream..."
"The cigar smoke is too much! *Keheung!* My nose stings!"
Kaede's random irritation.
"...My apologies for that. Anyway, let me speak in earnest now..."
"Seobang-nim, my nose aches, so lend me your body for a moment... I wish to cleanse my nose with your scent..."
"Ehht? W-wait! Why are you coming inside!? My clothes are tearing! Tearing!!"
"That crazy bitch...! I've let it slide this whole time, and she's been Seobang-nim this, Seobang-nim that until the very end!"
"Both of you, enough!"
"L-let's hear what this woman has to say first and decide. Philmark! Please, enough!"
At the five women's chaotic, directionless exchange, Helen let out a chuckle and once again filled her mouth with dense cigar smoke.
'Seems like a lost cause already, doesn't it. God.'
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About ten minutes later,
the five members of the hero party, for whom every minute and every second was precious, reached an agreement to hear Helen's story. They sat quietly and lent her their ears.
"Good. Now that you all seem to have calmed down, let me begin my story in earnest."
Helen calmly took a sip of her own strong liquor and immediately opened her mouth.
"First, shall I tell you about the duty and responsibility passed down through generations in our Holy Kingdom..."
"Nah. We don't need that crap, just tell us about the hero stuff. We're busy."
One might have been wounded by the thief's utterly rude remark, but Helen paid it no mind and began her story.
"The primary mission of the Holy Kingdom is to monitor the demon race and prevent invasions from the Demon Continent. God, who watched over that Holy Kingdom, granted humans the power to stand against the powerful demons—that is holy power."
"Ahh! Kaede-ssi, that tickles!"
"But Seobang-nim's scent is so lovely, I can't help it... *Kyareung...*"
"That's enough...! Delin, sit next to me!"
"...At any rate, there are several unique phenomena that arise from holy power. The most important among them is the precognitive dream. We receive God's revelations through dreams."
Dreams.
"Dreams?"
Delin reacted to the strangely familiar yet peculiar word. The handful of dreams he'd had since falling into this other world flickered through his mind.
"Yes. The dreams we meet when we close our eyes... ordinarily one sees meaningless scenes in those dreams, but those with strong holy power receive revelations within them. They are granted glimpses of the future in advance."
"So, you saw the future, is that it?"
Neva asked Helen.
Helen, instead of answering, took one more puff of her cigar and smiled.
"And in that future, you saw us."
This time Chichi asked. Though she was rather irritated because Kaede's tail fur had gotten all over her during their tussle, she nonetheless participated in the conversation with considerable seriousness.
"You're about half right."
Helen's playful answer. At that answer, Philmark added the other half.
"You must've seen demons. You Holy Kingdom bastards don't lift a divine finger for wars between other nations, but the moment demon bastards so much as fish in the nearby waters, you go into convulsions. You don't move unless it's related to demons."
"A fair point. And it is you who became the sole reason our Holy Kingdom moved. Why exactly did you steal the cardinal-nim's panties?"
Philmark jolted in shock at the unexpected question and scanned the others' expressions. Her face flushed red, and she even stammered as she defended herself.
"Wh-what bullshit! When did I!"
"Pfft!"
"Uek... you stole underwear from someone of the same sex?"
"Kk... kk..."
The wolf was appalled, and the witch and the knight struggled to suppress their laughter.
"I said that's not it! It's not true!"
"What's more, you stripped off the underwear she was wearing in the blink of an eye and fled, so Her Excellency the Cardinal suffered humiliation all day long. After that day, our Holy Kingdom's knight order searched for a person for the first time in its existence."
"Why would you... pfbt..."
Even Delin could not hold back laughter at Philmark's bizarre thievery. Her face burning bright red, Philmark flew into a rage and rattled off excuses.
"S-some other bastards said they'd pay handsomely if I stole them, so I just swiped them, that's all!"
"Well. In any case, you went on to steal them three more times after that... so in a way, I do respect you. It was the first time I'd seen Her Excellency the Cardinal that furious."
"You really wanna die...! Knock it off!"
"I did intend to knock it off. There are far too many other things to discuss. Anyway, in my dream I saw demons. But that's not the important part."
Helen's atmosphere grew distinctly heavier. As if reluctant to speak the words, she held her cigar in her mouth and steadied herself for a moment. Then, from her red lips, a rather grave word emerged.
"...A new Demon King has been born."
At the word "Demon King," every woman flinched in shock. Everyone except Delin felt an ominous portent from that word alone.
"Demon King?"
Delin, the only one who failed to grasp the situation, asked Helen. A new Demon King?
"Oh my. Surely this isn't the first time you're hearing it?"
"Delin, you're from the Holy Kingdom. But you don't know about the Demon King?"
Philmark looked at Delin quizzically and asked. The question threw Delin into a panic.
Ah! Come to think of it, I'd set up my cover as a Holy Kingdom noble!
"Ah, I know...! It's just, you said a new Demon King, so..."
"A man from the Holy Kingdom?"
Helen gazed steadily at Delin for a moment, enjoying her cigar, then soon turned the subject away with a faint smile.
"At any rate, a new Demon King... this means that the rumors about the Demon God's egg, which had only been whispered about until now, are in fact true."
Fuck.
What the hell was she talking about.
Delin diligently listened to the story and pretended to follow along, but the women continued their exchange without any additional explanation.
"But even if a new Demon King has been born, that's not exactly a problem for us, is it? That's an issue for the demon race." Kaede's question.
"That's not entirely true. Most Demon Kings pass without incident, but this time is different." Helen's answer.
"This Demon King will be stronger than any before. My precognitive dream couldn't properly show me the future." Helen's explanation.
"Which means..." Chichi's speculation.
"...An entity that hadn't even been born yet intervened in God's authority." Philmark's certainty.
Silence lingered for a moment.
That silence was as good as confirming that all their worries were true.
"So you're asking us to defeat this Demon King for you."
Neva asked.
"Eum..."
At that direct question, Helen agonized over how to answer, burning her cigar.
"I'm absolutely sick to death of playing hero, so this is rejected without the need to hear more. I'm definitely not doing it."
Philmark was first to voice her refusal.
"I'm too busy just trying to stay alive. I hate being called hero-nim and acting like some stupid errand girl... Hey! I said stop rubbing against Delin! This fucking bitch, seriously!"
"I am not rubbing, I am merely smelling!"
"I said get lost!"
"Kkaeng! That hurts! Hurts!"
Philmark shoved Kaede away, wrapped Delin tightly in her arms, and once again firmly rejected the hero party proposal.
"Leave the heroic stuff to the heroes present here. We'll just hole up in the hideout and stay hidden."
We?
Why am I included...?
"M-my opinion is..."
"Shut it."
Of course, Philmark wasn't the only one refusing the Demon King subjugation.
The women each chimed in with their own words and laid out their excuses.
"I share that view. A group of people this incompatible banding together—we'd all die before we even reached the Demon King."
"It's a refusal for now. I have things I need to resolve first, before any world-saving..."
"Kkiing... this one does not wish to go either. I would rather simply grow old with Seobang-nim here..."
Helen listened to their stories one by one, her cigar in her mouth, her gaze fixed on Delin.
Helen could feel it. All four women were rallying around that man as their center—but that very fact had become an obstacle.
When a person finds someone they love, they wish to stay. That is the natural way of the world. Human nature.
"Hm... well. I'm sure you all know already anyway."
But she had no worries whatsoever. Helen already held certainty over the future.
"If you continue to be pursued by all of Albator like this, you'll spend the rest of your lives on the run. Not one day will you be able to stretch your legs out in peace..."
The four women knew it too.
That there was no ordinary method to escape the queen's pursuit.
That no matter how many pursuers they cut down, their lives would be targeted without end until the day they died.
"...There is one way to resolve all of that."
"...What."
"Cross over to the Demon Continent. To a place where even pursuit cannot reach you. Go there, and then..."
Helen's cigar flared red. The thick fragrance swirled around her lips, then slowly rose toward the moon...
"Suppress the Demon King and enter God's Garden."