Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Demon King's Speech
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"That girl is the Demon King?"
"What kind of nonsense is..."
Demon King.
To humans, it was practically the symbol of absolute terror.
The records in history books of the battles against demons during the time of the Demon King's descent.
How much blood had countless humans shed just to defeat the Demon King?
And yet.
That adorable little girl was the Demon King?
The history books described her as so grotesque that "even meeting her gaze would suffocate you."
The audience buzzed with disbelief for a moment.
Then, Erin, standing beside the podium, spoke up in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I swear on the name of Saintess Erin. I guarantee that the one standing on this podium is undoubtedly the Demon King."
"!!!"
It was the Saintess herself staking her name on it.
Who was the Saintess? The holiest woman in the world, chosen by the Sole God Igugwoden.
To the faithful, she was practically a walking incarnation. To the common folk, she was the benevolent figure who freely shared precious chicken dishes—beloved by all.
So, it was no surprise that the murmuring crowd fell silent in an instant at her words.
The Demon King bowed to Erin in thanks, then—
Turned to the people watching her and worked her lips.
"You must all be wondering: Why aren't the demons launching a full-scale war now that the Demon King has appeared? Why don't I feel the oppressive weight of Demonic Energy even though the Demon King is right here? Why has the Demon King come here in human form, no less that of a frail child? And—"
What kind of face did she have the nerve to show up here with?
The crowd quieted at the Demon King's strong words, but—
She nodded slowly, unperturbed.
"I imagine there are many other questions cautiously rising in your minds as well—"
At that moment.
From the back, someone shouted in a voice agitated enough to reach the Demon King.
"What do you mean 'face'? So you know it too! If you're really the Demon King, how dare you even think of setting foot in the holy capital of humans!"
As the priests and Imperial Knights moved to respond to the outburst—
"It's fine. Please wait quietly for now, everyone."
At Erin's restraint, the man was able to continue.
This was something the Demon King had requested beforehand.
"Our Lancefill family fought on the front lines two hundred years ago to protect the capital from the demons who followed you! Countless members of my family died then. Our fallen house still hasn't recovered. The thought of their leader reappearing fills my blood with boiling rage! Finally, revenge! Revenge for my ancestors!"
"......"
"But what? You want to talk? Shut up! I have no intention of exchanging even a word with demon scum!"
The man, still fuming after speaking, let out frustrated growls.
The Demon King waited silently for him to finish, then cautiously opened her mouth.
"Before I respond to you, there's something I must say to all of you first."
With that, she placed both hands on the podium and jumped.
"...Hyup...! ...Hyup...!"
Hop, hop.
"Why... why... won't it work? Hyaa...!"
Hop, hop.
The sight of the Demon King hopping in place made the crowd stir again.
"...?"
"What is it?"
Just as everyone wondered what this sudden performance was, someone pierced the truth.
"No way... She wants to get up on the podium but it's too high?"
"...!!!"
Unfortunately, those words reached the Demon King's ears—her face turned beet red again.
As her eyes wavered once more, Erin quickly approached.
"Demon King. Do you want to get up on the podium?"
"Y-Yes. If I do it from down here, no one can... see well..."
"You should have said so earlier."
"But then, the impact of this rare chance to speak to humans..."
"Okay, okay. Here, I'll lift you up. Demon King, stand side by side with me?"
The Demon King stretched both arms straight up as Erin instructed.
Erin slipped her hands under the Demon King's arms and lifted her onto the podium.
—Plop!
Thanks to the voice amplification magic, even the plop echoed far away.
"...Ahem."
Finally atop the podium, the Demon King—
Bowed her soul, tied to the dignity of demons, toward these fragile humans she could turn into humans with a mere gesture.
"As the Demon King, I want to sincerely apologize for all the sacrifices on the human side, including what was done to you. Even if we had our own circumstances, it's true that past Demon Kings terrorized you in cruel ways."
"And our demon kin have also died countless times at your hands. To you, they may have seemed like grotesque, monstrous horrors... but to me, to us, they were precious family."
"...!!"
"I could argue that point too. But haven't we spent centuries in a horrific cycle of blood washing away blood, killing each other without even talking? I want to stop it now."
"So first and foremost, I want to say I'm truly sorry. I know an apology from me, a later generation, solves nothing... but I'm sincere."
"......"
As the fuming man opened his mouth to reply—
"Calm down, lad. She's apologizing that sincerely. And didn't your ancestors kill countless demons while they lived?"
"......"
Killed countless demons—
Those words bound the man who had been unable to contain his anger moments ago.
After all, his ancestor was a history book hero who had beheaded a hundred demons.
Just as they killed my family and ancestors—
My ancestors killed their family too.
"......"
Once the speechless man regained some composure—
The Demon King, now calm, stepped down from the podium with Erin's help.
Plop—her feet hit the ground, and—
In her mind, she reorganized the speech she'd prepared diligently yesterday.
The speech for today.
She'd revised it endlessly for maximum persuasiveness, staying up all night.
Of course, as the Demon King, sleep was more leisure than necessity for energy recovery.
But that was before taking human form—now in a child's body, she needed some rest.
In other words—
Staying up to revise was her way of working hard.
She closed her eyes and sorted the key points once more.
They boiled down to this.
—What we want is sunlight. It's essential for our survival, and that's why we fought you.
If demons come out and settle on the surface, we'll inevitably emit Demonic Energy.
Though it doesn't directly harm human bodies much, it's true that the ominous feeling is hard to accept.
Even so, we're truly sorry—but please grant us land.
Due to dungeon locations, we might have to displace a few of your villages.
Long-term, no one can guarantee what side effects the spread of Demonic Energy might have on humans.
Yet, to end this horrific history, won't you grant us land—?
'......'
Even after her best revisions, these demands were clearly disadvantageous to humans.
From their view, they'd lose land and live threatened by their unpleasant Demonic Energy.
Their best solution—as always—was to wipe out the demons cleanly.
Seal the Demon King deep in the dungeon. That was most efficient.
That's why this speech was crucial.
Whether divine whim or true mercy for demons—it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Fail to gain human cooperation here, and her kin would suffer eternally in dungeons.
'The key is to evoke sympathy. And promise demons will take responsibility if long-term harm is proven... that should do it.'
Letting that man speak unchecked, bowing in apology before everyone—those were her sympathy plays.
She hadn't anticipated failing to jump onto the podium, causing a brief fluster—but a Demon King apologizing should move them.
Spreading wings would emit Demonic Energy, though.
She wasn't relying solely on sympathy.
With proper sunlight and Demonic Energy, demons outlive humans on average.
She planned to leverage that: we'd handle any future liability.
She'd also prepared areas where demons could help humans, beyond physical limits.
Humans needed gains for persuasion, right?
All to convince them and secure demon territory—
'......Now's the time.'
The Demon King opened her mouth to begin in earnest.
No.
More precisely, she tried to.
"What do you want, Demon King?"
"...Huh?"
"I heard you had a proposal for us humans, so you must want something."
At the words of the man who'd been silently watching from the front, voices rose from here and there.
"Yeah. Tell us, Demon King!"
She glanced confusedly at Erin, but.
"......"
Erin just smiled silently, offering no objection.
If there was a problem, she'd handle it... so this wasn't one?
"Uh... well, we... we need sunlight."
"Sunlight?"
"Yes. Demons can't live without it."
The man who'd heard—
Casually tossed out:
"Then just come out and live, right?"
"...What?"
"From what the Demon King says, not all demons instinctively rush to tear humans apart on sight like the rumors. So why not just come out, bask in the sun, and live?"
"No, you don't understand—we naturally emit Demonic Energy on the surface—"
Unlike the flustered Demon King—
The humans responded nonchalantly.
"What could go wrong? Talking to the Demon King is all part of God's will, per Saintess."
"Lord Igugwoden's Plain Fact says so."
"Any objections?"
"I'm for it. The Demon King isn't scary up close—she's cute."
"...What?"
"I'm a bit worried..."
"Hey, she's still a kid. You're the adult being immature... Just let her do as she wants."
"Her earnest effort is so heartwarming, even as a child."
"No, I'm not a child—my current body is just—"
"If you need sunlight, live outside from now on, Demon King!"
"As long as you don't swing weapons at us, giving some extra land is fine."
"Dungeon areas are sparsely populated anyway. The land's poor for farming."
"Saintess! Tell Her Imperial Majesty—we capital folk have no issue with demons living out here."
"...Huh?"
No way...
Just hand over land and tell them to manage?
Even though it's a loss for them, solved this easily?
It was absurd... but more than that, the Demon King felt overwhelming surprise.
"Why...?"
"Yes?"
"No, don't you hate demons? And our land will be hard for you to approach due to Demonic Energy..."
"That was two hundred years ago—those people are all gone."
"We killed plenty of demons too."
"That's true, but... how can you accept so simply... without hearing me out fully, when it's clearly a huge loss for you—"
"Lord Igugwoden said: Freely serve A Dish of Facts even to unbelievers."
"...!!"
Because it's God's will... you'll follow?
"Demons are unbelievers, so the Demon King too, right? Just a Dish of Facts."
"Isn't blindly rejecting demons just an old rule? Toss it and make new ones!"
Stunned by the reaction that made her prepared speech pointless—
For some reason.
"...Uuu..."
The Demon King felt her body tremble involuntarily.
Relief at the easy resolution?
Or had her fragile human body let in a fragile human heart?
Or was this emotion itself part of God's 'Plain Fact'?
Tears streamed from her eyes...
"Thank you..."
She wiped them with her short-sleeved arm.
"Really... thank you..."
"Whoa, the Demon King's crying! What do we do?"
"Don't cry, Demon King. That's why I told the priests to keep the scary-looking ones back..."
"What nonsense? The... Demon King. She's sweet. I'll buy you snacks, so stop crying."
Unable to properly respond, the Demon King sobbed openly before the podium until Erin carried her back to the cathedral on her back.
—What the Demon King knew and didn't know.
What she knew was, as God said—
[ Igugwoden: And honestly, these issues resolve from something really simple? ]
[ Igugwoden: Communication. ]
Just talking often solved more than expected.
Truly trivial things existed that seemed huge until aired.
And what she didn't know—
[ Igugwoden:
Change the Demon King into a form with tremendous persuasive power to humans
]
—Humans were profoundly simple creatures, instinctively weak before cuteness, loss be damned—
And she now embodied cuteness itself: 'Demon King-chan'.