89 – Trash Hero
The greatest martial artist in the Demon Realm, Lord of Bloodstain.
Looking at the pathetic state of the Demon King Versella, he thought that he should personally deal with the hero.
He who could communicate with demons sent his own demon towards the kingdom to observe the movements of the hero.
One day, among the scattered demons, one brought unexpected news.
The hero, wielding the holy sword, was staying in unclaimed land with a female adventurer, alone.
Bloodstain found this strange.
If it was a party of heroes who set out to subdue the demon king, they should have all come to the demon king’s castle together.
From Noble mtl dot com
But according to the reports from his subordinates, there was only one companion with the hero.
Furthermore, for some reason, they had reached the unclaimed land and stayed there for several days without advancing any further.
“Grr… Could it be a trap…”
Bloodstain quietly pondered while exhaling hot breath.
He thought that the hero was setting traps and playing tricks to reduce the number of the demon king’s army.
So he first sent a few miscellaneous demons to see how the hero would react.
As a result, the demons he sent were unable to lay a hand on the woman who was with the hero and were killed.
According to the reports from his subordinates who observed the situation from a distance, the hero didn’t even fight back.
Having sent demons multiple times to carefully understand the hero’s intentions, Bloodstain discovered that the woman who was with the hero was the woman who had fought against him with that sword before.
“So it’s her…”
Bloodstain rose to his bulky feet and picked up his weapon.
He had sent demons to confirm many times, but he couldn’t find any traps or ambushes.
For some unknown reason, the hero had really settled in the unclaimed land with only that woman.
“Grr… Prepare for a full-scale attack.”
Bloodstain ordered his subordinates.
The large horde of demons he was leading gathered like a swarm at Bloodstain’s command.
I don’t know why that warrior is doing such reckless things.
But this was the perfect opportunity to kill the warrior.
Bloodstain was convinced of that.
* * *
Me and Meruru finished our visit to the demon shelter and safely returned to Kubel.
I was worried that Meruru might be feeling down, but it was groundless concern.
Meruru’s face was brighter than ever.
She seemed satisfied just to have settled in a safe place, even though she couldn’t go back with her sister.
Of course, Aruru, her sister, played a big part in persuading and comforting Meruru with kind words.
As soon as I returned to Kubel, I went to the guild and met Algott.
“Did you have a good time sightseeing in the capital?”
“Yes… well…”
“That’s good to hear. I hope Mirabel is doing well too?”
“Yes, but why is someone like the Commander of the Royal Order of the Knights working there, in the slums of the capital?”
The slums of the capital are impoverished neighborhoods.
The impoverished neighborhoods are underground sewers.
And the underground sewers are filled with various illegal activities hidden in the back.
In other words, it’s the slums of the slums of the slums.
The fact that the Commander of the Royal Order of the Knights is working as a supervisor there was truly shocking.
Algot responded without hesitation, as if he had anticipated my question.
“It’s connections.”
“Connections…”
“It’s what I’ve considered most important as I’ve engaged in various activities. Plant reliable individuals wherever they’re needed. Broad and powerful connections can be helpful in any situation. I became close with Mirabel while serving as the swordsmanship instructor for the Knights.”
Algot smiled at me.
“The reason I took on the role of Guild Master here was also to build connections in a new place. Just as magic power is crucial in battle for adventurers, connections become the power necessary for achieving what I want.”
“Do you have something you want to achieve?”
“Well…”
Algot’s smile disappeared from his face.
“I want to create a world where the demons in the demon shelter no longer have to live in the shelter.”
A world where the demons in the demon shelter no longer have to live in the shelter…
I felt like I knew well enough why Algot wanted to create such a world.
She had mentioned parting with a lover who had become a demon.
But if she sided with the demons, she would be no different from someone who is hostile to the entire kingdom.
Even if not all demons are evil, there are undoubtedly demons that pose a threat to the kingdom’s safety.
Accept the good demons, punish the bad ones.
This fairytale-like approach is currently impossible in reality.
Algot probably doesn’t know how to create such a world, so for now, she is running the demon shelter in her own way. Perhaps her obsession with various connections is because she doesn’t know when or where the power of those connections will be needed.
“It’s a difficult task.”
“Yes, it is. But I believe that someday we’ll find a way.”
I returned home after a long time and lay down on my bed.
As I closed my eyes, the things I had done in this world came to mind, swirling in the back of my head.
The demon ghost, Shari, floated around and looked down at me.
“Come to think of it, you’re also an unfairly treated victim,” I said to Shari.
If it weren’t for the endless fighting between humans and demons, Shari might have been able to survive.
The long-standing battle between demons and humans was creating many unfortunate people.
Shari lost her life, Algot lost his lover, and Meruru had to say goodbye to her sister.
Mireia had said that she lost her homeland to the demon lord, Bloodstain.
It’s difficult for the world to be happy for everyone, but everyone has suffered from the long-standing battle between demons and humans.
Can’t we live by simply accepting each other as we are, without being enemies?
It’s not about hoping for absolute peace or something unrealistic.
Even if humans live without demons, they can still fight and live peacefully depending on the circumstances.
Even if humans and demons fight each other, if it’s a natural relationship, peace can be achieved later.
But the current relationship between humans and demons didn’t feel natural; it felt like something was forcing the fighting.
It felt as if they were born with predetermined reasons to fight each other’s races.
I recalled the story told by the sage Eldervorn of the Karia tribe.
A long time ago, the story of when the Demon King and the Hero first appeared.
According to the story, the reason the Demon King was born was to protect the exiled demons from humans.
And the reason a hero was born was to protect humanity from the Demon King’s army, who came to annihilate mankind.
However, before humans banished the demons, there was a time when the two races lived together.
Is there really no way to go back to those times now?
“I don’t know….”
As I thought about it, I had a headache, which was unlike me.
I’m not such an exceptional person in this world.
I’m just an ordinary adventurer with a silver rank, working in the Kubele Adventurer Guild.
I’m not a hero, nor am I someone like Mireya, who has made a name for herself on the continent.
So even if there are things in this world that don’t sit well with me, it would be foolish to try and deal with that overwhelming current on my own.
Even if there are irrational parts, all I can do is solve the immediate problems in front of me.
“Yunoa deeply felt complex emotions towards the deeply rooted problems in this world.
As he thought, Yunoa may not be a hero or a great person.
However, because he came from a different world, he had values and potential that he could possess.”
What’s going on? The narrator said these words to me.
“Not only that, there were things that only he could do.
For example, saving Mireya from a life-threatening situation.”
Huh? What are you talking about?
Surprised by the sudden words from the narrator, I abruptly stood up.
Mireya was in a life-threatening situation?
Come to think of it, where is she right now and what is she doing?
I heard that after the battle in the Horn Gorge, Sudoh Pifnel left the capital.
But even when I stopped by Pifnel to go to the Demon Protection Center, I didn’t hear any rumors about Mireia.
If she’s an adventurer of her caliber, there should have been some rumors going around about her.
“Mireia thought that Yunoa had lost her life in the battle in the Horn Gorge.
And she blamed herself for it, fueling her hatred towards the demons even more.
The loss of her homeland to the demons, and the death of Yunoa, the only person she relied on.”
Now that I think about it, I didn’t really pay attention to it at all.
After the incident in the Horn Gorge, I immediately left Kubel, so maybe she didn’t know that I was still alive.
“Mireia, who was determined to kill as many hated demons and monsters as possible, headed towards the ownerless land.
She stood alone in the ownerless land, provoking the entire demon world without any support troops.
And she planned to fight until she killed all the approaching monsters and her life was exhausted.”
“What…?”
Mireia’s existence, which I had forgotten, comes back to my mind.
I didn’t intend for this, but she relied on me to an unusual extent.
At one point, she even had trouble making decisions without me.
So, considering that I suddenly died and disappeared, I should have expected something to happen.
No, even so, it’s too extreme to fight demons to the death.
It’s an abnormal way of thinking that can only be considered madness, but I thought Mireia might be capable of it.
“That Mireia is in a life-threatening situation…”
Honestly, I couldn’t imagine it well.
Perhaps the approaching demons are not the real danger, but rather, Milaya herself. No matter what, she won’t be able to hold out for long on her own. There must be plenty of demons who are strong enough to be feared among them. Honestly, I don’t think I’m to blame for Milaya’s reckless actions. However, now that I know her life is in danger, I can’t just leave it at that. It can’t be helped. I’ll go and show her that I’m alive. Then she’ll stop her foolish attempt to throw her life away. Thinking that way, I closed my eyes and lay back in bed.