“Corpse King.”
“Tell Garm to just listen to my voice for now. She doesn’t need to follow.”
“Understood.”
I spoke to Nifl, who stood behind me without a trace of presence, and followed the man.
Ah, that’s right.
“Was Garm happy?”
“She was jumping for joy.”
“Good… what about Nidhogg?”
“I do not know. My instincts blocked out those remarks. I cannot hear the voice of that useless dragon from that point on. It is quite comfortable.”
“…I-I see. Well, I’m off then.”
“Safe travels.”
My lips twitched at the grumpiness emanating from Nifl.
The presence of Nifl, who saw me off respectfully, vanished like mist after her final words.
While drawing attention, I followed the man out of the arena and through the gate of the castle tower directly in front, entering the castle interior.
It was supposed to be a fairly tall building, but as I climbed the stairs inside, the view from the windows became increasingly higher at an impossible rate.
By the time I climbed one floor’s worth of stairs, the ground was as far away as if I had reached the tenth floor.
It’s probably an application of low-level space-time magic… Considering the rarity of space-time magic, I can expect this Kaguya person’s connections to be quite broad.
As I was checking the scenery from the window, the man suddenly stopped and cleared the way for me.
In front of me was a door so large it could be mistaken for double-leaf gates.
I looked up at the door, which felt heavy just by facing it, and realized the man who had been leading me was gone.
“I guess… I’ve arrived.”
The guide had vanished as if to say “help yourself.” In front of me was a clearly majestic door.
When my hand naturally reached out and touched the door, it began to move with a low-frequency rumble.
Beyond the door, which wasn’t even fully open yet, was an exquisite beauty wearing a kimono.
Pale white hair long enough to reach the floor, and a light pink kimono.
Her lips, twisted mischievously, and her almond-shaped eyes were so charming that they made the fact of her being a popular lord perfectly convincing.
“Hizaki, you have done well to come.”
A transparent voice moved my body as if beckoning me.
As I started walking toward Kaguya, her shoulders shook with laughter.
“Is my countenance a bit too stimulating for a man? Everyone else usually stops their feet, unlike you—”
“You’re of the Demon race, aren’t you?”
“—Hauah!?”
Kaguya stood up with a clatter, her body trembling uncontrollably.
“Y-You! Were you not captivated by my beauty!?”
“Sorry. I’ve got exquisite beauties among my subordinates, quite a few of them.”
Nifl, Nidhogg… even if they’re young, Garm and Hresvelgr are beauties/pretty girls. I probably saved the world in my previous life. That’s how lucky I am.
If that’s the case, I’ve saved the world twice over. I’m really stacking up that karma.
“W-What… to think my mischief would fail…”
Kaguya, who apparently intended to surprise me, let out a deep sigh and sat down.
However, her expression showed a curiosity even stronger than before.
“Well, sit. Or do you have no words to exchange with a Demon?”
“…I have no information that you’ve harmed humanity. It’s not like I want to massacre everyone without question; if you can prove yourself, I can trust you.”
“And if you cannot trust me?”
“Naturally, I’ll kill you.”
“How violent.”
Kaguya dropped her shoulders with exaggerated movements and looked up at the ceiling, resting her chin on her hand. She seemed to be pondering something.
After a few seconds of this, she slapped her knee as if she had hit upon a brilliant idea, saying, “Oh! That’s it!”
“Then, Corpse King. I shall reveal a piece of information about the Demon race. Well, perhaps I should say I’m entrusting it to you.”
At Kaguya’s casual remark, it was my turn to go wide-eyed.
“H-How—Wait, why do you know that name!?”
“Why are you turning red? It is a fine name.”
“Ugh, this chuunibyou nightmare…!”
I glared at Kaguya while throwing a massive metaphorical boomerang, and she let out a cackling laugh.
However—her expression shifted instantly.
“Let us move to make up for my failed mischief. If the information I am about to tell you can surprise you, I want you to trust me for now. Naturally, it is a story related to the Demon race.”
“Just knowing my name was enough to surprise me, anything more—”
“One hundred and eighty years ago, the one you defeated—was not the Demon King. It was the first-ranked Greater Demon who had usurped the title, King Bael.”
My thoughts came to a dead stop.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
It seems that when you hear a truly shocking statement, your movements stop as if you’ve received a physical impact. A new discovery.
Pushing aside my escapism, I ruminated on Kaguya’s words.
The one I defeated… wasn’t the Demon King…?
What is this woman talking about…?
“Ho… from that face, it seems you were more surprised than expected.”
Kaguya gave a faint smile at my reaction.
Maintaining her relaxed attitude, she waited for my next words.
“Don’t screw with me… you think I’d believe that?”
“It is the truth.”
“This is nonsense.”
Even as I spoke words of denial, the option to leave the room didn’t cross my mind.
It’s a lie. It would have been great if I could have just laughed it off.
And yet, the cold sweat running down my back and the alarm bells ringing in my brain wouldn’t let me do that.
I had to hear it.
“Tell me your basis for this.”
“Ho, and that would be?”
“The one I defeated was undoubtedly the Demon King. The invasion of this continent, Xenoma, and the reason the Holy Kingdom of Griffil summoned the Hero… it was undoubtedly him.”
Yes. It was impossible.
The entire continent recognized him as the Demon King. I defeated him and was forcibly sent back. As someone who had achieved their goal.
And that was… a fake?
Ridiculous.
“Prove it. Prove that information is the truth.”
“Hmm… I see.”
Kaguya, who had lowered her eyes and put her hand to her chin, broke her posture and sat cross-legged.
“The Knight, Furcas. You know him, yes?”
“…Tch, yeah. I’ve met him many times.”
The 50th-ranked Greater Demon.
He was an opponent that gave me a headache just thinking about him.
Free-spirited and incomparably powerful.
He was one of the beings I least wanted to antagonize among those I had met in this world.
“Do not make such a face. Most of the Greater Demons hiding in human society like myself have heard your name favorably from Furcas.”
“What… eh?”
“This is the evidence.”
“…………”
“Furcas… he was quite fond of you, was he not? Him, the Knight of the Demon King, taking a liking to you, the enemy of the Demon King… no matter how you look at it, it is strange.”
Knight Furcas.
Despite being a Greater Demon, he was a being that hunted other Greater Demons.
His existence was nothing but distorted.
I had simply thought he was [living freely].
Because Furcas never hindered me, I had stopped my thoughts right there.
On my way to subjugate the Demon King, I met him while hunting the subordinate Greater Demons. We fought once, he took a liking to me, and afterward, we met many times and he always treated me favorably.
I just thought he was that kind of creature.
“Bael. The one who claimed to be the Demon King had raised a rebellion against the [True Demon King]. He had grown tired of the True Demon King, who had long continued a peaceful coexistence with humanity.”
“…He had subordinates. Those guys believed Bael was the Demon King…”
“Yes, there were more than a few individuals who disliked coexistence with humans. Bael incited them and began the attack on humanity. Leading those of ranks below ‘King’.”
Every word Kaguya spoke clicked into place.
She picked up the inconsistencies I had overlooked back then while I was fighting desperately and resolved every single one of them.
“The reason you frequently encountered Furcas was likely because your goals were the same. His mission is the [subjugation of Greater Demons who rebel against the Demon King]. He operates on that function.”
“So Bael and the Greater Demons under him… were common enemies for both me and that guy.”
“That is correct.”
Well, of course he wouldn’t interfere and would take a liking to me. A sparring partner with the same goal… that’s exactly Furcas’s type.
Then the remaining question is…
“One hundred and eighty years ago, do you know that Griffil summoned a Hero?”
“Yes, though I have only heard bits and pieces.”
“Then this is simple. After I defeated Bael, who called himself the Demon King, the Hero was forcibly sent back. Even though the Hero was summoned for the reason to [defeat the Demon King]. What does this mean?”
“The catalyst for summoning magic is [mana and prayer]. It is heavily influenced by the perception of the summoner. Not the literal word ‘Demon King,’ but the ‘Demon King’ as they perceived it. The ‘Demon King Bael’ who was encroaching upon humanity. Defeating him… that must have been set as the objective.”
“I see… Well, in the eyes of the world, that Bael was called the Demon King, after all.”
I pretended to be convinced, but my heart was completely unsettled.
However, new questions kept surfacing.
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
