A Pitiful and Wretched One
"What a pitiful and wretched soul."
“A q-question, you say?”
To the words of the beautiful demon woman, I could only express confusion. Her attitude suggested she had seen me before. Yet no matter how hard I wracked my brain, the only thought that came to mind was that this was the first time I had ever laid eyes on her face, let alone spoken with her.
No… In the first place, the only demon I’ve ever had anything resembling a conversation with is the Demon King, who at the very end asked me something like, “Hero, why did you die alone?”!
At that moment, a single realization flashed through my mind. Even while feeling a faint sense that it might be possible, I automatically shook my head in denial.
No way… That can’t be it. There’s no chance the Demon King who was fully armored in that black suit could actually be this magnificent woman…
I began automatically rejecting the fleeting thought that had crossed my mind, but she looked at me and spoke in a voice laced with both dignity and danger.
Her words carried the unmistakable weight of a monarch’s authority. Yet as I listened, the meaning hidden within them struck me far harder than any display of dignity.
Wait… No way… Is she really saying that this woman was the Demon King from earlier?
Her speech and conduct left no room for any other interpretation. I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming gap between the figure I had fought moments ago and the one standing before me now. It was like the difference between a predatory male lion and a graceful white swan.
But the shock lasted only a moment. I quickly realized this was no time to stand in a daze and forced my expression into the most serious mask I could manage.
To survive here, I have to choose my words perfectly… I can’t afford to waste this single thread of a chance I’ve been given.
Recalling the instincts I had honed from reading the room in my past life, I began analyzing the person before me—the Demon King.
In the original story, she had been mentioned frequently as the final boss to defeat, yet she only appeared at the very end as little more than background for the hero’s victory. There was no way to know her true character from the source material alone. However, from what she had shown me so far, I could at least form a rough impression of who she was.
The fact that she had come all this way herself simply because something felt off about her victory told me she placed great importance on principles and rules. At the same time, she clearly possessed a warrior’s pride.
Just from this, she already seems far better than those bitches who threw people away like used rags… If she has this kind of personality, persuading her might actually be easier than I thought…
After quickly completing my analysis, I stood before the Demon King, who was still regarding me with a cold expression, and let out a laugh that sounded steeped in despair.
“Haha… So you noticed after all? Well, I did think someone of your caliber would see through it.”
“No. That isn’t true.”
“…What?”
I spoke with firm denial in response to the Demon King’s words. For a brief moment, deep doubt clouded her face. Looking at her, I continued with a bitter smile.
“Of course, if we’re only talking about raw power on the surface, we may have held the advantage. But… from the moment we set foot inside this Demon King’s Castle, we had already lost. Not in strength or magical power, but in the most basic trust between comrades.”
Sensing there was more to my words, the Demon King asked cautiously. I looked at her and spoke in a voice heavy with complicated emotions.
“I… was abandoned. By the comrades to whom I had given both my trust and my affection…”
The hero before her wore an expression drowned in despair. The words that fell from his lips were shocking enough to shake even the Demon King.
“How could they… Even if they had fallen for another man, to plot something so filthy against the hero who bears the fate of the entire continent?”
The warriors of the hero party—those who had been bewitched by the porter they once treated as mere baggage—had used him and even planned to steal the honor of the man who would save the continent. Though demons were called evil by human standards, even they regarded trust between kin and comrades as a sacred bond that must never be broken.
Yet the members of the hero party, the greatest military power of the racial alliance, had schemed to deceive the hero for their own benefit… and in doing so, to mock and betray their own people and homeland.
From the Demon King’s perspective, it was no different from those who called themselves pure deliberately covering their own bodies in filth.
At that moment, as she revealed a flicker of bewilderment, the hero looked at her and spoke in a voice thick with deep regret.
“Yes… Even I think it is an utterly filthy deed. At first, I couldn’t accept it. Although… I knew their hearts were drifting away from me… still, I believed that in the end, if I saved the world as the hero, they would look at me again! I clung to that hope all the way to the final moment! Kgh… But… But those bastards…!”
“…”
The hero’s voice grew slightly heated as he spoke. Watching him, the Demon King remained silent for a time with a heavy expression.
This was a hero who had offered everything to save the world. In his eyes, that world must have been reflected most clearly in the comrades closest to him. After all, when warriors fight for their country, it is ultimately to protect their families and dear friends.
In that sense, the betrayal of those comrades was no different from the world itself driving a blade into the hero’s back.
Everything he had risked his life to protect had instead betrayed him. The Demon King could easily imagine just how crushing that despair must be.
To be abandoned by those you trusted… is truly a heartbreaking thing. Especially if you have devoted your entire life to them…
She herself would surely feel the same if ever abandoned by the citizens she had given her life to protect. As a ruler who had lived without a single shameful act, she could say that with absolute certainty.
While inwardly sympathizing with the hero’s pain, the Demon King smiled bitterly to herself about the true reason she had come here.
…As expected. This sort of thing does not suit Us. We have pondered it for some time, but…
The hero had deliberately chosen defeat despite possessing greater power than her own. Though questions remained about that fact, the Demon King recognized that she needed to seize this golden opportunity before her.
Although they had achieved victory against the hero party—their greatest foe—the demons’ overall war situation remained unfavorable. The racial alliance continued to ravage their borders, and a massive offensive was expected in the near future. And at this critical time, the strongest being on the continent had walked right into her grasp.
She was the Demon King, the most powerful of all demonkind. Yet the hero’s strength was clearly a cut above hers. This was an undeniable truth she could sense even now, without needing to prolong the fight until the end.
If someone like him were to side with her—with the demons—it would undoubtedly become the decisive foothold needed to instantly reverse the tide of the war that had been running against them.
Therefore, though she found it distasteful, the Demon King had concluded that she must draw the hero to their side, even if it required sweet words of persuasion. She had been considering all manner of methods to accomplish this.
Immense wealth and authority. Or even women. She had planned to tempt him with every desire a human might crave. If that failed, she had even calculated to speak of the comrades who had abandoned him, driving him deeper into despair before corrupting him completely.
However, at this very moment, the Demon King was withdrawing those dark intentions of using the hero.
Though their races and stations differed, she could understand the miserable fate he had suffered. No—precisely because she was the Demon King, it struck her even more deeply.
To this hero, she felt genuine sympathy. Instead of attempting to recruit him, she decided in this moment to grant what he truly desired.
Clumsy persuasion would be nothing more than an insult to this pitiful and wretched soul… In the name of final respect, the most fitting thing would be to grant him a clean, honorable death worthy of a warrior. That must be what he desires most…