The Stolen Fields
That was the first corpse I had ever seen.
They weren't my parents, but to me — an orphan who had nothing and no one — they had treated me no differently than their own flesh and blood.
They were the ones who would smile and tell Seria and me to get along, even as the two of us bickered constantly.
Just this very morning they had seen me off, telling me to travel safely. And now they lay sprawled on the ground, their necks and bodies torn apart.
I emptied everything I had eaten that day.
"Why...? Why on earth...?"
Why would anyone harm the people of this village — people who had never committed a single sin?
Worse, the knight in the red armor had claimed they were entitled to some kind of compensation for it.
It had to be them. The people of our village had neither the reason nor the power to commit something this horrifying.
Today's only variable had been those people.
"No... this isn't the time for this. I have to tell someone — anyone — right now...!"
Once I came to my senses, I ran through the forest path toward the village.
I had to let everyone know about this atrocity, and I had to take Seria back from those lunatics.
And when I emerged from the forest, I saw Hell for the first time.
The village buildings were burning, and the bodies of the townsfolk lay scattered across the streets, as if they had been slaughtered mere moments ago.
Their blood had not even finished drying.
The sunset glow and the suffocating stench of blood made my head swim.
I darted between the burning buildings, searching for survivors.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Hello!"
Tears blurred my vision. I would have given anything for it all to be a dream.
I simply ran toward the mayor's house at the center of the village.
And there, I came face to face with a human silhouette. Looking closer, though, it was not human at all.
Amid the blazing buildings, she stood in a black dress, holding a black parasol — even with the sun still hanging in the sky.
"Every human in this area should be dead by now. It seems you came from outside, then."
Despite the hell unfolding around us, she spoke to me in a voice far too serene.
I knew what that thing was.
The race that had driven humanity to the brink of extinction a thousand years ago.
She was unmistakably a demon. The crimson eyes no human could possess proved it.
Before long, she turned her head and looked at me.
Long, straight black hair, skin even paler than Seria's — and those red eyes, a stark contrast to it all. I found myself speechless.
Ah... I'm dead. So that was it. I was about to become one more corpse lying in that street...
"P-please... spare me..."
My face already a mess of tears, I crumpled to the ground.
I still had to save Seria... I hadn't even been able to bury my parents' bodies yet...
Every regret imaginable flashed through my mind.
"I didn't do any of this, you know."
"...I'm sorry?"
She gazed down at me with something like pity in her eyes.
"I take it you're curious about who did this?"
On my knees, I nodded.
She folded the parasol she was holding and lightly tapped its tip against the ground.
"To you, the memories of the earth."
And at once, the scene of the village before the flames erupted unfolded before my eyes.
Judging by the village clock tower, it was just after I had left with Seria.
The red knight and soldiers I had met during the day — even though Seria had already departed — had, for some reason, stayed behind in the village instead of moving on.
I could hear their conversation.
"Commander. We've confirmed the Hero has left this area."
The knight gave a nod, then issued them their order to begin.
"Not a single soul is to be left alive. There must be no survivors. Planting hatred of the demons in the Hero is what matters above all else."
"Yes, sir!"
With those words, the soldiers began their merciless massacre.
The baker's wife who sometimes slipped me an extra loaf of bread, the owner of the clothing shop I'd visited that very afternoon, the mayor with his greedy streak —
Even the children Seria and I had often played with — every last one of them was cut down by the soldiers' hands.
I couldn't speak. My whole body was trembling.
And when they seemed to have finished their work, they gathered once more at the center.
"I trust we can be certain there are no survivors?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now burn the village! I have a final task to see to."
As fire began to bloom all around them, the knight drew a piece of parchment from his breast.
The moment his hand touched it, a sinister energy settled over the area.
A thick, black miasma stained the earth, and from a magic circle at his feet, something not human revealed itself.
"Summoning me, a mere human? You must have come prepared to pay dearly for that."
It was the voice of the woman who had spoken to me.
The knight flinched, steadied himself with a deep breath, and answered.
"We demand nothing of you, demon. When the summoning ends, you may simply return to wherever it was you came from."
Wearing an expression of utter bafflement, she asked,
"You dragged me all the way from the Demon Realm for something so trivial?"
The knight looked momentarily flustered, but he answered boldly all the same.
"That's right, demon! The mere fact that you were here is more than enough!"
"Hmm~ So the humans pull every dirty trick themselves and plan to pin the blame on me. Not that I care."
The knight looked satisfied with her answer. He turned his back. And in that instant —
"But really, for the human who summoned me to be this pathetic — it's rather an embarrassment, don't you think?"
In that instant, the knight's entire body exploded.
Blood poured through the seams of his red armor.
He hadn't managed a single reaction. He simply died where he stood.
And that scene was the final echo of the magic.
"And that is how things came to pass, boy. Unfortunately, there was still time left on the summoning, so I found myself bound to this place."
She yawned, as though bored.
I, on the other hand, was shaking all over, unable to contain the emotions churning inside me.
Rage at the knight and his soldiers, terror of the demon before my eyes, worry for Seria — my mind was a wreck.
One mercy, at least: the demon in front of me seemed to have little interest in killing me.
So, to that woman who looked so utterly bored, I squeezed out the very last of my courage and spoke.
"Um... Lady Demon...?"
She had been gazing blankly at the flames; now she glanced over at me.
"What is it?"
I knew. I knew that if I so much as grated on her nerves, something like me would be reduced to dust on the spot.
"Could you... could you take me on... as your disciple...?"
She regarded me with listless eyes.
"And what, exactly, could you offer me?"
"Information on the next Hero."
A flicker of interest stirred in her lifeless eyes.
"You? And how would you know anything about that?"
"Because... she and I were family."
She looked at me as if I were an intriguing curiosity. Then she beckoned me toward her.
"You don't appear to be lying. But why would the Hero's family want to be taught by a demon like me?"
Clenching my fists tight, I answered.
"To stop her... to stop the Hero...! I will never let this Empire have its way...!"
I turned my head toward the burning village and gritted my teeth.
"I want vengeance! I want to bring judgment down on the ones who committed such horrors against my family, against my people...!"
She smiled, twirling round and round, as though I delighted her.
"How interesting. I like it. The Hero's family, becoming one of the demons... I imagine the Demon King will find it quite amusing as well."
The smile on her face was both chilling and beautiful.
"Very well. I'll take you with me. I'll even make you my disciple. But do understand — this will never be an easy road."
I already knew that if it were ever discovered I was still alive here, I would be hunted down and killed all over again.
And my desire for revenge — my determination to pull Seria out — was genuine.
I wanted it desperately. More desperately than I had ever wanted anything in my life.
"I'll do anything... anything at all!"
I bowed my head so hard against the ground I thought the skin might split and bleed.
"Boy. What is your name?"
"...Yuwol."
"From this day forward, you are reborn. Your name shall be... Sirius. I will call you Sirius."
Sirius... I figured that since I could never live under my old name anyway, a new beginning wasn't such a bad thing.
No matter what happened, I would endure.
If only I could see Seria again. If only I could have my revenge on them.
"My name is Amelia. The demon who will be your master — and the second-in-command of the Demon Realm. The sovereign head of the supreme demons, who kneels to no one but the Demon King."
Second-in-command of the Demon Realm. My jaw hung open.
Truthfully, I had already guessed she was powerful when she erased that red-armored knight — who had seemed remarkably strong for a human — without so much as lifting a finger. But I had never imagined she held a position like that.
Disoriented by how high above me she stood, I saw her beckon.
"Sirius. Come this way."
She gave her folded parasol a twirl, and a massive gate materialized before us.
"The summoning has ended. It's time we returned to the Demon Realm. Now, one last question."
She looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask whether I had any regrets.
"That vow — that you would do anything. Can you swear to it?"
I knew. The Demon King was the enemy of the Hero — and I would be entering the ranks of the woman directly beneath him...
Perhaps — no, with great likelihood — a day would come when I would have to stand against her...
But no other choice existed. Not for me.
"Yes. Master Amelia."
She smiled sweetly and held out her hand to me.
I swallowed hard, and took it.
The jet-black gate of the Demon Realm closed behind me, as if swallowing me whole.