The Dream That Faded
Shatters. "Yoas... is dead?" The scarred demon Chopper's eyes widened in disbelief at the belated report of his subordinate's death, unable to mask his shock. "No, no. If the operation had simply failed, I could understand, but how the hell did that guy die?"
This operation had been meant to crush the budding threats on the northern lands humans called the Monster Front before they could grow, while simultaneously kidnapping humans to turn into Main and collecting human meat to feed the already-converted fodder. Of course, partial failure had been factored into the plan, but for all three objectives to collapse into total failure—and for the subordinate demon overseeing it to die in the process—was far worse than even the worst-case scenario they had imagined.
"I asked how the fuck he died!!"
"W-well... according to the kingdom's announcement, the Royal Knights took him down..."
"Are you messing with me right now? There's only one 2nd-class knight left in Valcart Kingdom—the king himself. Are you saying that bastard went out on some kids' field trip or something!?"
Yoas had been weaker than Chopper, but he was by no means someone who could fall to a knight below 2nd class by human standards. In other words, this meant the kingdom's last remaining 2nd-class knight—the king—had personally moved, which made no sense at all.
"I-I'm sorry! None of the survivors returned, so we don't have accurate information yet...!!"
"You goddamn piece of shit!!!"
When Chopper swung his fist with a curse, the head of the reporting Main exploded with a wet burst of flesh. The subordinates who had been watching immediately bowed their heads and begged for their lives, but the more Chopper looked at the Main before him, the more his hatred swelled. A single powerful demon like Yoas was worth far more than a hundred of these incompetent fools.
"Why didn't you follow him, huh? Weren't you supposed to be bringing back meat for you bastards to eat?"
Chopper found the sight of these Main—who had returned alive while his subordinate lay dead without even knowing why—utterly repulsive. They were pathetic livestock who had been failures even in human society and had only chosen to become Main out of desperation. What use were these wretches in wiping out humanity? It would be better to just kill them all and make proper Main again. He clenched his fist, ready to act on the thought.
"That's enough. These are livestock we've worked hard to tame. You know better than anyone that if we lose even these, operating in the north becomes difficult. Why are you doing this?"
"Master..."
Orden, Chopper's master, appeared and calmed him down. "Everyone out. If you don't find out exactly how Yoas died within two days, I'll kill you all with my own hands."
""""Yes!!!""""
Orden gestured with her chin to dismiss them, as if she had merely granted a brief reprieve before the inevitable slaughter. She then approached Chopper and gently stroked his head. "It wasn't your fault. Nor was it the fault of those incompetent fools. It was simply bad luck."
"......I'm sorry."
"Yes. Still, it's a bit unexpected. Yoas was quite clever. How did he end up dying while hunting for meat? If there had been an existence strong enough to do that, he would have avoided the fight and reported back, even if it meant getting stabbed in the back."
Orden knew Yoas well. After all, he was a demon she had personally sought out and made into Chopper's subordinate precisely because she didn't want to put her precious Chopper on the front lines. That was exactly why she couldn't understand it. Even if it had been an academy filled with students in training and professors teaching them, even with guards protecting the noble children—there was no way to comprehend how Yoas, who had killed powerful foes multiple times on the northern front and returned safely, could have been killed by half-grown flowers and idiots who didn't even properly understand demons.
"...May I speak for a moment?"
"Linnet?"
From behind Orden, who had been soothing the dejected Chopper, the nearly recovered demon maid Linnet spoke politely. "I received an order from Master to check on the capital's situation. Even though they were disposable, most of the pieces Master had prepared have been wiped out."
"We talked about that last time. So?"
"Among them were several academy professors. They were fools who cooperated for money without knowing we were demons. Master judged that even such idiots could be useful for obtaining low-quality but adequate information, so she hadn't disposed of them yet."
"......In other words, someone at the academy knew about the demons' movements and counterattacked?"
"I'm not certain about a counterattack. But Yoas was a demon I met several times on the northern front as well. For a demon of that caliber to die at the academy at this exact timing, I think it's better to assume something is going on there rather than dismiss it as coincidence."
Orden pondered Linnet's monotonous advice. Chopper, however, found Linnet's calm, calculating demeanor—treating Yoas's death as just another source of information—deeply unpleasant.
"You bitch. Your comrade's dead, yet you talk so coldly and rationally."
"The dead don't return. So even that death should be used effectively for the demons' sake. Isn't that far better than stupidly slaughtering the army you built with your own hands?"
The two demons snarled at each other. In the meantime, Orden seemed to have finished thinking. She pressed down on Chopper's head to stop him, then spoke to Linnet. "Linnet. You're going to the capital, right?"
"Yes. My recovery is complete, so I should depart again."
She had recovered somewhat from the lives lost to Walter. It was time to focus on her mission once more.
"Then, do you have any intention of infiltrating the academy?"
"......The academy?"
If she could, she naturally wanted to infiltrate. But while humans had many fools, not all of them were idiots. No matter how closely she resembled a human on the outside, the moment she used her vast mana and power, the changes in her body's structure would make it impossible for even the most foolish person to mistake her for anything but a demon. However, what Orden said next resolved Linnet's concerns.
"I actually have an interesting artifact."
"An artifact? You're going to lend me something that precious?"
"Yes. It's valuable, but honestly, I didn't think a high-ranking demon like me would ever need to use it."
As she spoke, Orden reached into her cleavage and pulled out a ring. "It reduces the wearer's mana to one-tenth. If you wear this, no one will discover you're a demon."
"......Not just appears reduced, but actually decreases it?"
"Yes. It seems to be some kind of restraint device from ancient times. So at first, you'll suffer quite a bit from mana depletion. But once you get used to it, you should be able to pass as human."
It was an extremely attractive yet incredibly dangerous proposal. The reason demons were overwhelmingly stronger than humans was their immense mana from birth. Their physical durability wasn't much different from humans. In other words, having mana reduced to one-tenth meant that if she encountered a knight like Walter again, she could die without even being able to resist.
"What do you think? Will you do it?"
"......Why are you giving this to me?"
"It's nothing special. I just want you to share any information you obtain through infiltration with us as well. Without your master's orders, you wouldn't give us information, would you? So I'm reaching out first. By the way, I'm giving this ring to you outright."
Even so, it was an extremely attractive offer. Above all, if she could infiltrate among humans without being detected due to her mana like before, that alone would be an enormous advantage. If things went well, she could approach the person responsible for the recent events without raising any suspicion, remove the ring, and cut their throat in an instant before returning. If it was given to her completely, she could continue using this artifact for assassinations and the like in the future.
"Understood. The mere fact that I won't have to repeat the act of finding and dealing with trash who can't sense mana makes this proposal extremely appealing."
"Good. Then I'll make you an identity as the most reliable commoner I have. Go straight to the academy."
"Hmm. Right now?"
Looking at the surprised Linnet, Orden smiled elegantly. "After all, Yoas killed over seventy students this time. The academy will definitely be recruiting additional personnel for the second semester."
"......Ah."
As a student. Linnet nodded in understanding and received the ring from Orden.
*****
Being able to think deeply enough to replace physical labor with mental labor thanks to a developed brain wasn't as good as it sounded. Being human, there were times when I wanted to simply accept the scene before me as it was, lost in sentiment, and use it as a psychological and emotional restorative. 'Really, I'd like to at least dream peacefully. But this damn brain arbitrarily concludes that images etched in memory are being replayed in the visual cortex and calls it a dream. It even tells me whose memory it is first, leaving no room for sentiment.'
Before closing my eyes, I had clearly collapsed onto the princess's shoulder and lost consciousness. Now I was in the state just before waking. This was nothing more than the harmful effect of damn mental labor that lacked any sentimental emotion.
"Carix! I told you not to run!"
"Ah...?"
"Eek!? Hryaaak!!!"
It was a memory from when I was seven. And the older brother running toward me after seeing the childish fall I had deliberately acted out was twelve. Since my birthday hadn't passed yet, by the calculation set by human civilization, there was a five-year difference between us.
"Safe!!"
"......It's out. I face-planted."
"Aah! Carix is bleeding from his nose!? Dora! Dora!!"
I would have rather scraped my knee if he hadn't caught me. It was the day when, because my brother had thrown his entire body from an impossible distance using mana he couldn't even properly control, the event of me taking a fall with my face occurred.
"Carix, are you okay?"
"Yeah."
Stuffing tissue that the now-deceased brother's maid had brought in a panic into my nose and speaking nasally, I plopped down on the prepared mat. This was the day my brother had forcibly dragged me, who had been reading books alone in my room, out of the mansion for a picnic.
"Carix is really amazing. When I was your age, I'd burst into tears and snot just from bumping into something."
"It doesn't hurt because Brother caught me."
"Hey. That's a lie. Your nose is bleeding and everything?"
"Yeah. It doesn't hurt."
Having a good head and even memories of a past life meant that social skills had already been formed. The 'me' my brother wanted was a younger brother who, fitting his age, would get excited and run around outside, fall down, and get hurt. So even if I got hurt while acting that out, this wasn't the situation to cry and throw a tantrum. If I ruined the mood by whining about getting hurt after he kindly suggested a picnic for his little brother, it would only make my brother feel bad.
"Brother. Let's play hide and seek."
"Oh. Sounds good! Then I'll be it, so Carix, run away!"
That was tag. Such a bad thought rose to the tip of my tongue, but I smiled brightly, nodded, and ran away only to get caught. Naturally creating an atmosphere where my brother could play with me, I acted like a child who had sufficiently enjoyed that day's picnic.
"Kugh! As expected, youth is unbeatable!!"
"Brother's too slow at running."
"You little—!?"
After enjoying tag for over an hour and eating all the lunchboxes the maid had brought, we lay on the mat looking up at the sky.
"......Brother. Did you finish your homework?"
"Ugh!? That's not something a little brother should worry about!"
"Last time too, Mother got angry at me because she was playing with me while you hadn't done your homework."
"Haa... Mother really is overbearing. Carix. Don't hate Mother. I heard that even though she learned magic, she went through a lot of bad things because she had no talent."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And because she doesn't want us to go through the same things, she scolds us every day like that. You know she's never forgotten your birthday or mine even once, right?"
"Yeah."
Still, my brother's hand gently stroking my forehead, saying he was sorry to me, was kind.
"Carix. Is it hard?"
"Yeah. A little hard. My legs hurt from running too much."
"......That's not what I meant."
I knew. As the second son called talentless beyond being dull, I had to grow up without interfering with my older brother's path as the heir. Mother and Father had no leisure to worry about me causing accidents. And because of that, the current situation where my brother was playing with me instead of studying and training would soon come back to me as scolding. Even so, I didn't want to avoid my brother coming to spend time with me.
"It's a frustrating era. Sword, spear, bow, magic. And even guns, the new weapons that have been rising lately. People who can't properly handle such weapons are all treated like idiots. This is wrong."
"What is?"
"......Carix. Even if we get scolded every day by our parents for having no talent, we shouldn't get used to the present. A person's talent isn't just one thing. The thought that you can't develop just because you have no talent for fighting is wrong."
"But I'm bad at studying too?"
"Studying isn't just one thing either. You might not know yet because you're still young, but someday you'll find what you want to do and bloom with tremendous talent."
"Then does that mean Brother hasn't found what he wants to do yet, so his talent isn't showing?"
"Idiot! That's not it! This brother already knows his talent!"
When I heard the answer my brother gave that day, I remembered my heart, which had always been beating steadily, speeding up to 1.3 times its normal rate.
"What talent?"
"The talent to create a world where my cute little brother can live easily! Carix, watch this brother carefully. Everyone is only paying attention to mana, magic, and power because of the northern Monster Front, but not me. This brother realized while studying. War isn't something only people with mana do. It's barely maintained because of the efforts and help of so many people!"
"So this brother is going to create an environment where those people can work hard, help others, and live with pride in what they do. I'm similarly weak like them. I can think and move from their perspective."
"And if I do that, the Monster Front will definitely become more stable, and I think it will become a world where Carix can also live while finding what he wants to do. ......Did you understand what I said?"
"Huh? Ah. What did you say? I was looking at the clouds because they looked like poop."
"Puhaha!! Yeah, what am I saying to a seven-year-old."
When I pretended not to know, my brother laughed and vigorously rubbed my head. I thought he was truly an amazing person. Unlike me, he didn't have memories of a past life, nor was he born with overwhelming talent taking on some role from another world's perspective. Unlike me, who only saw the world in gray or not, my brother was living while looking at a very distant place. Of course, even he was only twelve, so his dreams and goals weren't systematic, but if he continued to strive and study as the heir to a ducal house, it wasn't a dream he couldn't achieve. And when my brother took steps toward that goal, he would ascend to the position of duke. From then on, if I became his vassal and helped from his side, it would no longer be an impossible goal.
"Just don't get hurt and grow up healthy like now. Got it?"
"You catch colds more often than I do, Brother."
"Aah!! You bad little brother! When your brother talks, just answer 'Yeah!'!!"
"Uwaa!? Brother! My head hurts!!"
I had held expectations for the future you spoke of. Someday, while working together by your side, I thought I wanted to live completely as your younger brother, far away from that damn role. "Carix! After this brother graduates from the academy and goes to the Monster Front first, by the time you come, I'll have made the front lines comfortable! Look forward to it and wait!!"
Actually, as the heir, there had been no need for him to go. Even now, I could vividly recall my brother's face and voice from that day when he had been conscripted to the academy as if infected by Father's integrity.
━But... now in this world, you are no longer here. I should have shown my abilities and at least made you resent the me who had done nothing. Now, I can only pour out this damnable regret that can't even be fulfilled in dreams.
*****
Where is this.
"Ugh."
Damn fantasy. I didn't even drink, but my head feels like it's splitting.
"......So where am I really."
One of the things I had expected before collapsing was returning to our family. I had anticipated that Father would come down from the territory in shock at the news of his last heir's accident and personally take me back. But no matter how I looked at it, this was a room that wasn't in my memories. So when I opened the window━ Hmm. The capital.
"Wait. If it's this location..."
-Knock knock.
"Excuse me."
Simultaneously with the knock, without even waiting for an answer, a woman entered. In an instant, a passage connected to the sealed room and ventilation began. The curtains hanging on the window fluttered. However, it was less noticeable than the noble-colored hair fluttering before my eyes.
"Shouldn't you listen to an answer before entering?"
"Eek...!!"
The greatest treasure of Valcart Kingdom. Princess Lilith Valcart. The sight of her holding a washbasin and towel for washing her face, which didn't suit her at all, looked quite funny, and I ended up snorting.
-Clatter!!
"W-what...! What are you laughing at! You idiot, moron...!!"
The princess dropped the basin and flew at me with all her might. Reflexively, I—
"Uwaaaak!!?"
"What are you doing. Attempting suicide out of the blue is a bit much."
After dodging, I grabbed the back of the princess's neck as she nearly fell out the window.