“Ever since then, I can’t stand to eat our food…,” confessed Rino in a sad whisper. “And I could no longer bear to watch my daughter wither away, so I decided to enter the human world in search of good food!” boasted the King. “I can’t believe you invaded the human world just for that…,” said Shinichi. Though weary of the King’s alarming attachment to his daughter, he could sympathize with their decision, remembering Rino’s crestfallen face and their soul-crushingly unpalatable food. Given parbegut meat was being served to this world’s supreme ruler and his darling little daughter, it must’ve been the highest-quality food available. Even still, it was undeniably stomach churning. This was more than enough reason to invade the human world. In fact, wars were waged over black tea in human history, so Shinichi really wasn’t in a position to criticize. Just as Shinichi felt he was starting to get a grip on things, the Demon King resumed his speech. “Don’t misunderstand my intentions,” he warned. “Yes, I came to the human world and built a castle, but I have no intention of slaughtering the humans to take their food.” “Uh, really?” asked Shinichi in surprise. “Yes, I told Daddy I’d hate for him to do something so cruel,” added Rino with a happy smile. “It’d be so much easier just to destroy those maggots…,” grumbled the Demon King discontentedly. “Daddy!” The Demon King coughed to cover his remark and continued. “Anyway, because of my gentle daughter’s sweet mercy, I chose this deserted mountain range as our base.” “I see,” said Shinichi, who decided to take his word—for now. He thought back to the battle the day before. They all fought in a narrow valley closed off by mountains. It was true it didn’t seem particularly suitable for farming, good for raising livestock, or even easily accessible. It’s not surprising it’d been abandoned, and it wouldn’t have been profitable to develop such infertile land anyway. “And yet, the humans sent their army without a declaration of war, even though we’d done nothing to them!” shouted the Demon King in a rage. “Yeah, well, I also get their point of view, too…,” said Shinichi, sympathizing with the humans. Even though the lands were wild and served no use, the humans had come face-to-face with strange monsters suddenly appearing near their country. Hell, this area might have even been in their territory. Left alone, these creatures could certainly have invaded their lands, and the humans decided to make the first move to prevent this from happening. It wasn’t a terrible decision, really. But they did miscalculate one thing: Their enemy was the almighty Demon King. They had no hopes of defeating him. (Not that he had a desire to harm them to begin with.) They really should’ve first sent out a scouting party to evaluate the entire situation. “Though they only deployed six thousand soldiers, they caught us off guard and killed many of my loyal followers, who came along seeking better flavors.” “……” “I was enraged, of course, and killed half of them outright, driving the rest away.” “…Well, I also understand why you might act that way,” said Shinichi. If you try to kill someone, it’s only expected they’ll try to kill you back. It didn’t matter if you’re in another world. This was the rule. It always held true. Rino became flustered when she saw Shinichi’s pained expression and tried to explain further. “Please don’t be sad, Shinichi. No one died.” “Huh? But he just said he killed half of them…” Shinichi was troubled by this blatant contradiction, but he didn’t have time to think about it any further. The door to the dining hall suddenly swung open. “Your Highness, we have a problem, moo!” came a voice. “What the—?” As the figure approached, Shinichi rubbed his eyes, unable to believe the sight in front of him: A sturdy body was crowned by a bull’s head, the same one that’d fallen to the ground the day before. “Kalbi, it looks like your body is doing well already,” said the Demon King. “Yes, thanks to Celes, moo,” he replied. Upon hearing the King’s concerned tone and looking at the beast’s flexed biceps, Shinichi decided he wasn’t just a look-alike. “Is this a joke…?” He wasn’t talking about the twisted humor behind naming the minotaur Kalbi. He was talking about how Kalbi’s head had been cut off, how he’d been undeniably dead and yet was standing here in front of them, which meant— “But more important than that, Your Highness, they’ve returned, moo!” “…Of course,” said the Demon King, bored half to death by this completely expected turn of events. He stood from his chair and placed his giant hand on Shinichi’s shoulder once again. “Let us depart,” he commanded. “……” Shinichi said nothing in response. He just kept imagining the nightmare that awaited them once they teleported to their destination. “The Demon King’s here!” roared the armored knight, brandishing his sword. The warrior, ranger, priestess, and sorceress responded to his battle cry, drawing their weapons. It was like they’d all gone back in time. The day before, they’d been reduced to nothing—yet, here they were, standing in the same field in the same exact way. “What the…?” Shinichi recoiled, but he’d already started to understand the situation. All the while, he was overcome with a familiar sensation of spine-tingling fear. This time, though, it wasn’t because he was afraid of the Demon King. “To think they’d casually have a spell for resurrections in this world…,” he muttered. The dead came back to life. This obviously would’ve been impossible on Earth, where death was irreversible. But this world had the miracle of magic, just like a video game. But if death could be reversed, what problems would they face? Shinichi understood this concept intellectually, but his brain couldn’t process his surroundings. The knight and his party continued attacking the Demon King in the distance. “Today’s the day we take your head! Slicing Ga—” “Land Bite.” Instead of letting the knight finish, the Demon King cast a powerful spell right off the bat. A mass of stony teeth erupted from the earth, skewering the party and immediately destroying them. “Damn them all,” grumbled the Demon King as he walked to the corpse of a pig-faced orc, killed at the hands of the party. “Wake from your eternal sleep. Resurrection.” As the King chanted this short spell, a mystical light enveloped the corpse. In an instant, the cuts on his skin started to vanish, his heart began beating again, and the light returned to his unfocused eyes. “Uugh… Your Highness? Oh no, I’ve inconvenienced you again, haven’t I? That’s unacceptable, oink,” he said. “Pay no mind. More importantly, round up those who are uninjured and bring the fallen to the castle. Celestia’s ready to begin resurrecting them,” instructed the Demon King. “Understood, oink!” acknowledged the orc as he dashed off toward the castle, a little unsteady on his feet. After all, he’d just come back to life a moment before. “You’re rigging the game, bringing the dead back to life,” said Shinichi, still surprised by the scene. It threatened to reverse his understanding of the nature of the world. But for some reason, the King’s face became clouded when he heard Shinichi muttering softly. “If anyone’s cheating, it’s them! Look!” he said, pointing at the skewered bodies of their enemies. He indicated the mysterious light suddenly surrounding the cadavers and taking them from the scene. “Their corpses disappeared… Did they teleport somewhere?!” asked Shinichi. “I know not what trick they use. I’ve attempted to prevent this by leaving no trace of their bodies, like I did yesterday. But they still come back! You can’t possibly expect me to let this go!” Shinichi made a guess based on the Demon King’s indignation. “So normally, someone can’t respawn without a body?” he asked. “Exactly! The Resurrection spell is more effective the less damaged the body is, so if there’s any less than half a head, it’s impossible,” replied the King. Up until this point, Shinichi had assumed anything was possible in the demon world, but as it turned out, their magic had some limits. “And that’s why I left the bodies of those despicable human soldiers intact! Yes, I might’ve killed them. But I was considerate enough to leave half of them alive so they could carry the corpses to someone capable of resurrecting them, and yet…!” ruminated the King bitterly. “I see. So that’s why Rino said no one died,” remarked Shinichi. In other words, they could all be brought back to life. Since no one was dead, they technically shouldn’t have anything to complain about. Obviously, the knight and his party—and by extension, the humans—were capable of resurrection. The difference was they could somehow resurrect missing corpses, which was big news, because the Demon King was considered the most powerful being in this world. Does this mean there’s someone more powerful than him? If that were the case, they’d be powerful enough to take on the Demon King. But that hadn’t happened yet. Let’s see… I wonder where they come back to life. Maybe in a church or something… In a game, you kind of expect to respawn, so I guess I’d never given it much thought. At first glance, this place was like a fantasy video game, but it wasn’t actually a collection of electronic signals. It was a real world with living, breathing creatures, made of flesh and blood. And the demon world had its own rules and systems in place, even though they went against his earthbound knowledge and common sense. So no matter how much Shinichi thought about it, he was no closer to an answer. He simply didn’t have enough information. “Now then, Shinichi. As your summoner, I shall give you your task,” said the Demon King pridefully, in a voice appropriate for his royal title. “Do something about the humans who keep coming back to life!” he announced forcefully, entirely unsuited to the wishy-washy nature of his pathetic command. In response, Shinichi gave an exasperated retort. “Do something? I’m weak and puny! I mean, I can’t even use magic.” “I have no expectations for your strength, but I’m asking you to lend me your wisdom!” boomed the King. “Hmm…” Shinichi stroked his chin as he thought. “What? You’re not thinking about refusing, right? We spent such a long time casting the spell to summon the wise one. Oh, come on. At the very least, you must have enough wisdom to save us,” begged the Demon King desperately. “I’m flattered, but are you sure the spell worked?” asked Shinichi. He had no doubts about the Demon King’s magical strength, but if he needed someone with great wisdom, Shinichi was sure there were far better options than a student like himself… “No, it was successful. You’re unafraid to speak to me as an equal. That’s more than enough proof. Sure, the first insect we summoned was intelligent, but he had no courage. But you’re not so cowardly. And unlike him, you weren’t quick to die without cause,” he bellowed reassuringly. “Okay, so that’s why it had to be me.” Plenty of people were more intelligent than Shinichi, but not many had enough screws loose to casually chat with the almighty Demon King. I guess this was a one-in-a-million chance. Whether he was lucky or unlucky was up to him to decide. “Okay, before I give you an answer, I’ve got a question of my own: What happened to the first guy?” asked Shinichi. “My daughter began sobbing and begging me to resurrect him, so I gave in and sent him back to his world,” revealed the Demon King. “Which means there’s a way for me to return to Earth. And what happens if I say no?” “My daughter’s not here now to stop me… You get what I’m trying to say, right?” The Demon King peered into Shinichi’s face with a sinister smile. The angelic Rino may act as his moral compass, but the Demon King was still peerlessly powerful, ruthless, and egotistical. “So you’re basically eliminating all other choices…” Shinichi cradled his head in his hands and let out a sigh. But he already knew the reason he was chosen among the seven billion humans on Earth. He was fairly intelligent, he had that damned courage, he didn’t yield to those with absolute power, and— Coming up with an all-out plan to defeat the indestructible humans who’ve confounded even the Demon King sounds…like…fun. A smile so sinister it could rival the King’s spread across his face. He had a foul and dirty personality, finding joy in creating underhanded strategies to defeat his enemies, interested in plans that disregarded morals and social standards. This part of him had been latent, useless in the abnormal peacefulness and safety of twenty-first-century Japan. It’d be such a waste to throw away a fun opportunity for fear of death. I mean, we’re just all socialized to believe life shouldn’t be wasted. Back in Japan, he could only unleash his true nature in video games, but here, he could use it as much as he liked. He might go an entire lifetime without this kind of satisfaction again. Shinichi was gambling with his life and the chance to return to Earth, but this was a price he was willing to pay. There were very few fools who’d be willing to sacrifice their lives, which was exactly why Shinichi was summoned. “Understood, Your Highness,” confirmed Shinichi, finally addressing the King formally, as he knelt in front of him to declare his choice: “With these hands, I will definitely defeat these death-defying ‘heroes.’” This was the moment a traitor was born: the Dirty Advisor of the Demon King’s army who chose to fight against his own kind.
Chapter 2
12 min read