A Pair of Wretched Fates
“At last, this long journey is coming to an end.”
Crickets sang through the night.
Against the full moon, the spire of the Demon King’s castle loomed ahead—the place we would soon reach.
“Do you think we can win?”
With the final battle before us, my companions and I sat in a circle around a campfire.
“Of course we can. You’ve been steadily chipping away at the Demon King’s strength all this time, Hero. All we have to do is finish the job.”
Hailey answered my anxious question with a warm, reassuring smile.
“Hehe! Don’t worry! It’s not like you have to beat him alone, right? If it gets tough, just lean on us anytime!”
Coco, the youngest of our party, spun the dagger in her hand and caught it again.
“Nothing loosens people up like a good chat. Once we defeat the Demon King, what does everyone plan to do afterward?”
Scrape. Scrape.
Clepin, sharpening an arrowhead, looked around the circle.
Belnusha answered with a mischievous grin.
“Isn’t the rule that the person who suggests it has to go first?”
“Hmm. I need a moment to think. While I’m pondering, why don’t we hear from our leader, the Hero? Lonne! Stop hiding behind that book and join the conversation. This might be our last chance.”
At Clepin’s prodding, Lonne pulled her book higher to cover her face.
“After defeating the Demon King…”
I looked at each of my companions one by one.
The mage, Hailey.
The thief, Coco.
The archer, Clepin.
The saintess, Belnusha.
The alchemist, Lonne.
When we first met, they had all been greenhorns.
Now they were renowned heroes across the continent.
I felt the weight of how much time had passed since I came to this world.
“Well… I just want to rest for a while.”
“Boo~ Hero, that’s boring. Boo~ Boring men aren’t popular with the ladies, you know?”
Coco jeered, giving me a thumbs-down.
“Then what do you want? Some exciting story? Fine. After we beat the Demon King, I’ll become the strongest, right? Might as well conquer the world while I’m at it!”
“……”
Crack!
A spark popped from the fire.
An awkward silence fell.
“What? Why the weird atmosphere? It was a joke. You didn’t actually take it seriously, did you?”
“…Ahaha! Of course not!”
“We just lost our words because the joke was even less funny than expected.”
Hailey and Clepin hurried to smooth things over.
“Whatever. That’s enough about me. Your turn, Clepin. You must have something more interesting prepared.”
“I’ve fought all this time to create a happy world. So next, I should live a life that makes me happy.”
“A life that makes you happy… That’s a bit vague. What exactly would you do?”
“For me, happiness is a life where I no longer have to feel anxious.”
A life without anxiety.
It wasn’t a very satisfying answer, but I didn’t press her.
‘She doesn’t seem to want to talk about it in detail.’
I turned to the next person.
“Hailey, you’re up.”
“Mine’s obvious, isn’t it? I’ve been singing about my goal the whole time we’ve been together.”
“Ah~ Your dream is to build your own magic tower and become its master?”
“That’s only the beginning. Once I’m the master, I’ll create a society where even commoners can learn magic.”
Magic had always been the exclusive domain of nobles.
If she tried to spread it to commoners, the nobles wouldn’t stay quiet. It was an ambitious goal.
‘Still, with the fame of being the Hero’s party that defeated the Demon King, even nobles wouldn’t be able to touch her easily.’
I looked toward Belnusha next.
“What about you, Saintess?”
“I’m the same as ever. The prosperity and peace of the continent. The Goddess’s will has always been constant, and her will is the same as mine.”
Exactly the answer I expected.
I turned to Coco.
“And our adorable youngest?”
Coco sprang to her feet as if she had been waiting for this.
“Marry the Hero!”
“Tsk. Still too early.”
At my firm refusal, Coco’s fox tail bristled.
“Aww, why! I’ve grown a lot by now!”
“Sorry, but to me you’re still a little kid.”
“Then how much bigger do I have to get?!”
“At least as big as the Saintess.”
Coco whipped her head toward Belnusha.
Her gaze lingered pointedly on the saintess’s chest and hips.
“C-Coco…? Your eyes are making me very uncomfortable…”
“That’s basically just fat… If I got that big, it’d be hard to work as a thief…”
“That’s too much! I’m not fat at all!”
As Belnusha blushed and protested, Clepin chimed in.
“Well~ The Saintess does move the least out of all of us. She could easily gain weight.”
“Even you, Clepin?!”
The tension broke, and everyone burst into laughter.
“Oh, right. We haven’t asked Lonne yet. Lonne? Lonne?”
“……Yes.”
Lonne, still hiding behind her book, answered a beat late.
“What will you do after we defeat the Demon King?”
“I, I… well, that is…”
Thud.
While Lonne stammered, Clepin lightly elbowed her.
“…I just want to return to my cozy workshop and do research.”
A strange atmosphere lingered.
‘Hmm. Everyone’s trying to lighten the mood before the final battle, but she’s not playing along.’
I felt oddly grateful to Clepin.
She must have been signaling Lonne to be more considerate of my mental state.
Clap, clap!
I clapped my hands to change the subject.
“That’s enough. Let’s stop here. We’ll finish the rest after we defeat the Demon King—on the way back to the kingdom, in a happy mood!”
Lonne’s hands trembled as she held her book, but I assumed it was just fear of facing the Demon King.
***
Clang! Clang!
I deflected the fist-sized scales raining down like a storm with the Holy Sword.
Kraaaah!!!
The long, grueling battle was finally nearing its end.
The Demon King Silvina Ryuaq unleashed Dragon Fear once more, but its power and presence were no longer what they once were.
One of the horns that had sharpened her magic had been severed by my hand.
One of the massive wings that had covered the sky was torn apart by my companions’ combined assault.
But these were only wounds meant to keep her from escaping.
The Demon King does not die.
She is, in a word, immortal.
To defeat her, we had to activate the sealing barrier we had prepared.
“Yip!”
Coco, charging nimbly, was struck by the Demon King’s tail and sent flying.
It wasn’t a meaningless attack.
Thanks to her, an opening appeared in the Demon King’s guard.
I rushed in and brought the Holy Sword down on her tail.
It was the perfect chance.
“Saintess! Lonne! Hailey! Now!”
Lonne moved first.
She dashed across the ground as if wearing roller skates from my old world.
Rumble, rumble!
After drawing the sealing magic circle with the prepared magic potion, it was Hailey’s turn.
She poured her own mana into the ground, activating the potion.
Finally, Belnusha’s turn.
“May the Goddess Tarantiel watch over us!”
As the holy magic incantation followed, divine power began to pour from the sealing circle.
Kraaaah!
Panicked, the Demon King severed her own tail and tried to escape the barrier, but it was futile.
Ding!
The barrier magic was already complete.
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief and retrieve the Holy Sword.
“Hero! It’s not over yet! You need to give me the Holy Sword to complete the sealing!”
“What? You never mentioned that before.”
“Hurry!”
When it came to magic, she knew better than I did.
Without a shred of doubt, I tossed her the Holy Sword.
Thud!
The Holy Sword traced an arc through the air and was caught by Clepin, who stood nearby.
But…
‘…Huh?’
Clepin caught the sword, yet made no move to assume a stance.
Shouldn’t she be doing something with it to finish the sealing?
Kraaaah!
Realizing she couldn’t escape, the Demon King turned straight toward me.
It didn’t matter.
All I had to do was turn around and step outside the barrier…
Ding!
…or so I thought.
“Huh?”
I, too, was blocked by the barrier and couldn’t get out.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
I pounded on the barrier with my fists.
“W-wait a second, guys? I can’t get out, you know? What’s going on?”
“……”
“Belnusha! Hailey! Lonne! Why is everyone quiet? I’m telling you I can’t get out! What the hell is this…!”
“Hero.”
Belnusha spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Actually, a few days ago, I received a revelation from the Goddess.”
“A revelation…? What kind of revelation…?”
“That once the Demon King is defeated, you will become a new calamity upon this world…”
For a moment, my thoughts froze.
“Hold on. Just hold on. What are you saying? A revelation? From the Goddess? She’s the one who summoned me to this world in the first place. That doesn’t make any sense!”
Ding! Ding!
I slammed my fists against the barrier, but Belnusha gave no further answer.
I looked at my companions and pleaded.
“Guys! You don’t seriously not trust me, do you? Me, a calamity? You’re basing this on one revelation from the Goddess?!”
“The Goddess said it doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not.”
Clepin spoke with a cold expression.
“What… what does that mean…?”
“She said that no matter what you intend, this continent will face another great disaster because of you.”
“So… just by existing, I’ll cause another problem? What kind of problem?”
“We don’t know that much. But the Goddess simply said that something terrible will happen, so we must seal you away with the Demon King.”
My arms fell limply to my sides.
I looked at Hailey.
“You all… You planned this a long time ago, didn’t you?”
“Hero. Until now, the Goddess has always guided us down the right path. Thanks to her revelations, we’ve overcome countless crises.”
“That’s not what I’m asking! If you were going to demand this kind of sacrifice… you should have at least given me some warning!”
“If there was even the slightest chance you would refuse, the fate of the continent would end right there. We had no choice.”
I turned to Lonne, who was avoiding my gaze.
“Lonne. That’s why you were acting strange yesterday, isn’t it? You were planning to betray me?”
“……”
“Answer me! Lonne!”
“……”
Rumble!
The ground shook.
A black film began to spread from the ceiling of the dome sealing both me and the Demon King.
The world was about to be cut off.
“Aaaaaah!!!”
Unable to accept being trapped, I struck the barrier with all my strength.
Crack!
Sparks flew, and an irresistible rebound threw me backward.
Sitting on the ground, I stared blankly at my companions—no, at the traitors.
I was furious, yet that very anger left me calmer than ever before.
“Let me ask one last thing.”
“Please, speak…”
“Throwing me away like a consumable like this—did no one object?”
Belnusha had her eyes closed in prayer, hands clasped. Hailey and Lonne turned their heads away.
Clepin stepped forward as their representative.
“Hero. I told you before, didn’t I? For me, happiness is living a life where I no longer have to feel anxious.”
“So?”
She smiled tenderly, tears in her eyes.
“Thank you. You’ve finally fulfilled my dream…”
With those words, the black film completely covered the barrier.
The world was perfectly severed.
I knew how powerful this barrier was—I had helped prepare it.
Even if the Demon King regained her full strength and I lent my power, this barrier would never break.
“We are both truly wretched. A pair of wretched fates, indeed.”
Then, in the darkness of the lightless barrier, I heard a human voice.
“Demon King…?”
Whoosh!
A sphere of light banished the surrounding darkness.
Standing there with arms crossed was a woman with blonde hair and emerald eyes.
“No. Unfortunately, I am not the Demon King.”
“What?”
One of the horns on her head was broken, and one of the wings on her back was torn.
“I am merely a frail, delicate dragon whose true name was discovered by the Demon King, forcing me to pretend to be him.”
She was, without a doubt, the Silvina Ryuaq I had just fought with desperate resolve.