A Senior's Advice
The former hero’s advice: “Why don’t you just accept it already? You know full well there’s no hope of escape. How long do you intend to waste your life in there?”
“Shut up. Get lost!”
Hector and his companions, captured by the demons and spending their days in prison. Watching them, Belzebeuty and the other demons continued their daily attempts at persuasion, but as always, their efforts ended in failure. The hero Hector and his party insisted they would rather die than work for the demons. Among the legion commanders and the Four Heavenly Kings, some suggested it was time to give up on them and simply execute the lot, but the Demon King, who held the final say, remained firmly opposed.
“We have plenty of time on our side. On the other hand, finding talent of their caliber isn’t easy. Warriors strong enough to fight Shamyuel on equal footing, and capable of causing such an uproar in that situation—they would surely be of great use.”
The Demon King’s declaration that she would generously extend her mercy even to those who had tried to kill her. The demons had no choice but to keep trying various methods to win them over, yet even after several weeks, their efforts had borne little fruit. Despite offers of immense wealth, high command, and power, the Hero Party remained unmoved. As the Demon King’s order to persuade them proved difficult to carry out, Belzebeuty’s worries only deepened—until that very day.
“Pardon me.”
“Hm? The hero?”
Just as Belzebeuty was about to leave the prison, the Black Hero appeared before her. He spoke to her about something, and Hector and his companions, watching the scene, instinctively furrowed their brows.
“Hector… That guy is definitely…”
“Yeah, I think so. He’s the Black Hero who took us down in an instant.”
“Ugh… I never thought that fake hero would come all the way here…”
“He’s probably here to persuade us too, right?”
The appearance of the Black Hero—the very one responsible for reducing them to this state—only soured their already foul mood further. Moments later, the Black Hero left Belzebeuty behind and approached their cell.
“It’s been quite a while. Have you been well?”
“Get lost, filthy demon.”
“I have nothing to say to someone who dares to falsely claim the title of hero.”
At the Black Hero’s words, the warriors of the Hero Party firmly refused to engage. They could clearly see his intent to persuade them, and even without that, they had no desire to speak with the man before them. He was a vile, blasphemous existence who openly defiled the name of the hero. Just conversing with such a person felt repulsive, so they resolved not to respond no matter what he said next.
Yet…
“That’s a bit harsh. No matter what, I’m still your senior. To treat me so coldly…”
—Grind!
“S… Senior?”
The words that slipped from the Black Hero’s mouth made them grit their teeth and flare with anger. Even though they had sworn to ignore him, the emotion burst forth on its own. Just then…
“I’ve arrived, Sir Hero.”
“!”
“Huh?”
A woman’s voice reached their ears. In that instant, the faces of the Hero Party members—who had been seething with rage—froze solid.
“Y… You are… D… Don’t tell me?”
“T… This can’t be… H… How… How could you…”
The sight before them filled the Hero Party with genuine horror. It was a shock so great it made them forget even the Black Hero standing right in front of them. There, in the form of a dark elf, stood Amelda—the elven paladin they all knew well from the former Hero Party.
“A… Amelda… How could this happen…”
“Y… You filthy demons! Did you dare corrupt Lady Amelda?!”
They erupted in fury at the sight of the figure they had long admired twisted into something hideous. But the very next moment, Hector and his companions were struck by an even deeper shock.
“Woof! Woof! Bark bark bark!”
“! W… What the hell is this…”
“….B… Bless… D… Don’t tell me that’s…”
“This is impossible… How… How could this be…”
Another former member of the Hero Party appeared before their eyes—Terra. Crawling on all fours like a dog, the beastkin warrior made Bless, a fellow beastkin who had always admired her, feel a crushing sense of despair. Terra, who now showed not a shred of reason left, behaving as nothing more than a beast. Yet even that shock was blown away the instant they saw what came next—an utterly unexpected, horrifying sight.
Standing between the two women, the Black Hero exuded the presence of their leader. Slowly, he removed the helmet he wore. When his bare face was revealed, the four members of the party felt as though they had been struck in the back of the head with a hammer. For a moment, their minds went completely blank.
And then, the Black Hero—no, Elan, the former hero chosen by the gods to save the world—looked down at his juniors and spoke in a calm voice.
“I have some personal advice I’d like to give you as your senior… At this point, you should at least be willing to hear me out, right?”
“…”
The current Hero Party members could only stare at the former hero Elan with dazed expressions. Watching them, Elan began to recount everything that had happened, his voice calm yet laced with quiet anger—the betrayal by the Hero Party members who had sold him out to a porter, the impossible choices he had been forced to make, and how his perception of the demons had changed through it all.
*
“I wonder if he’s doing well. He was so adamant about refusing to join hands with us.”
“Don’t worry. I’m certain he’ll succeed.”
I answered the Demon King’s question with a confident smile. She was currently disguised as Esther, walking beside me on our stroll. Hector was now infiltrating the Falcon Empire alongside Legion Commander Shamyuel to carry out their scheme. Though we were holding his companions hostage as insurance, I had my own faith that he would carry out this mission successfully.
I couldn’t forget the look on Hector’s face in that moment. Learning that the Hero Party had betrayed me, and that even the two women who had been with me had been reduced to such a state, must have been a considerable shock to him. Of course, the full story wasn’t that simple, but in the end, it made one thing clear: to the Hero Party and the Alliance of Races that supported them, we had been nothing more than disposable pawns. Meanwhile, the demons who had warmly (?) welcomed us after we were cast aside had kept their faith with me, and I had been genuinely moved enough to become one of them.
‘There was quite a bit of embellishment here and there, but… well, since the conclusion is what it is, they won’t be able to disbelieve it.’
For him, the fact that I—the former hero, of all people—had changed like this must have been the most decisive factor. That much was obvious from how openly he had expressed his anger during the interrogation and even upon seeing me claim the title of hero. In the end, I had asked the turned Hector to undertake a mission that would also serve as a test, and that was the situation we were in now.
‘There’s a non-zero chance, but it probably won’t happen. Generally, when someone with strong convictions has them broken, they switch sides completely.’
It was the same principle as how a normally kind person becomes truly terrifying once they turn dark—especially if they had a rigid, principled nature to begin with.
With that, our conversation about Hector came to an end, and the two of us began heading back into the castle, concluding what could only be described as a rather dull date.
“Well then, let’s call it a day here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll see you next time.”
At those words, the Demon King turned to head inside. Watching her, I gathered a bit of courage and spoke carefully.
“U… Um, Your Majesty.”
“…Hm? What is it, hero?”
“Well… If it’s alright with you… How about we go somewhere different next time?”
“Somewhere… different?”
The Demon King looked at me with mild curiosity. In response, I began to voice the thought I had been mulling over for some time. Now that we had disguises, why not try going outside the castle walls for once?