“My Lord, is it not dangerous to leave such a creature on the loose?” I asked.
“You need not worry. As I said earlier, it is weakened. It is not nearly as strong as when it was at its peak. It will rot away and decay on its own before I ever need to lift a finger of my own. Such is the nature of decay,” said the Demon Lord with a sweeping gesture.
The Demon Lord did not look in the least bit concerned, but he did put a hand to his jaw in thought as he went on.
“However, left to its own devices, the dragon will likely massacre a great many humans. Centuries of being sealed away combined with decay and its already short-tempered nature will have made the dragon’s thoughts a very simple thing. It will turn its destructive impulses on those who first sealed it away. If the hero left any descendants, then they will be first on the list. Then it will be the two heroes who were recently summoned . . . and the one who shares a similar scent. All of them will be its targets.”
“So it will become . . .” I uttered.
“Yes,” said the Demon Lord, reading my mind. “A rampaging beast. It is loyal only to its instincts, as terrifying as it is arrogant. Such a beast has no point in this world. However, it is also true to say that no purer a creature exists. Though I despise the dragon from the depths of my very heart, I will give it praise where praise is due. And that is why it must die. It should have died back when the hero ran his sword through its heart.”
“But it was the hero who sealed the dragon away. Was that not because he could not kill it?”
“You speak nonsense. The hero was more than capable of such a feat. It was not that he could not, it was that he did not.”
I did not understand. I felt confusion wash over me. Based on what the Demon Lord had said, I knew the dragon to be a troublesome creature, especially so for humans. And yet, the hero chose to seal the dragon away even though he wielded the power to slay it. Why would one intentionally take this course of action?
The Demon Lord glanced at the hint of confusion that I showed in the tilt of my head and pointed at himself.
“It was no different for me. I was allowed to live, but the methods were different.”
“And you mean to say . . . the hero did that?”
“He did. I was sealed away alive, was I not?”
Did that then mean that the hero was even more powerful than the Demon Lord himself? If he did wield such power, was his decision to keep the Demon Lord and the evil dragon alive an act of compassion and generosity? This seemed the most likely reason.
“It would seem the hero was something of a generous individual,” I said, testing my thought, but choosing my words carefully.
In my heart, however, I felt that showing such compassion for your foes was foolish. But the Demon Lord surprised me by grinning.
“Generous, you say,” he chuckled, as if tasting the word for himself. “I see . . . generous.”
“My Lord?”
I was confused by the shaking I saw in the Demon Lord’s shoulders. He leaned back in his chair and laughed, then turned to me with a look of joy on his face.
“Your name?” he asked.
“Erm . . . I am Ciel,” I replied.
“Well then, Ciel, as of today you are my personal attendant.”
“Oh?”
The words felt like they came out of nowhere. I was now the personal attendant of the one who stood at the very peak of the demon world. I froze. It was yet another responsibility that was far too much for me to bear. And yet, the Demon Lord rested his head on his hand, satisfied with himself.
“It is very boring being the Demon Lord,” he stated. “Without someone to talk to, I have nothing to do. But you have the most interesting reactions to what I say. Everyone else here is far too pure for their own good.”
“You make it sound as though I am impure, my Lord,” I said.
“That is exactly what I said.”
To be told such a thing so directly irked me, and even if rude, I felt I should speak up for myself.
“Erm, in my defense, I am . . . pure, my Lord.”
The Demon Lord merely grinned at my insolence.
“The ones I am talking about are always looking to offer themselves up for punishment, for some reason or another. If that is what you want, shall I punish you too?”
Now I understood. The chief maid and all the other servants revered the Demon Lord. No, the correct term for it was, perhaps, “worshiped”.
I do not want this person to shun my very being. I cannot allow for it.
That was the way that all of them thought.
And such was our fear that, at the slightest error, we prostrated ourselves and offered ourselves for punishment. This was what we felt we should do, but it was not how the Demon Lord himself felt about the matter. What I had learned in the few days that I had served him was that he valued the times during which we could engage in conversation.
Certainly, he was not as cold blooded and merciless as we all thought.
“I sympathize,” I said.
“That you understand is enough. It is sufficient.”
In that moment, I felt that our hearts grew just a touch closer.
I was about to find out that the Demon Lord was far more thoughtful and extraordinary than I had ever imagined.