Chapter 9

Chapter 4 The Story of the Hero and the Demon Lord The next morning, at Red & Rit’s Apothecary. “—And then, Ms. Ruti defeated the gem beast,” Tisse said, reverence in her voice. “That’s Ms. Ruti for you.” The store was closed today, but we’d given up our day off to handle all the orders coming in from clinics treating the sickness. “I was just as surprised when I heard the story from Harmon yesterday. Defeating a gem beast alone like that is incredible,” I said. “Were you worried about her?” Tisse asked. “Of course I was worried!” “Then perhaps you can understand how we felt when we heard about you fighting Demis.” “I know, I’m sorry.” I bowed my head apologetically. Tisse and Rit both smiled at that. “Ms. Ruti and Torahime have not come back since then.” “They investigated the gem beast’s corpse, and from what Harmon said, they found something they wanted to look into.” “Is that so?” “I don’t know any details myself…,” I admitted. “Harmon relayed their message, but they couldn’t really share the specifics of our situation or the secrets of the world with him.” “That is true… Regardless, it is a happy feeling seeing Ms. Ruti choose to act on her own without any input from the rest of us,” Tisse said warmly. “Feeling a little lonely?” “Yes, just a little… But I have my own goal, too.” “A goal?” “For when the medicinal plantation gets bigger. I was thinking it would be nice to provide a place for the Assassins Guild’s operatives to work while they recuperate.” “Ahh. That’s a nice idea.” “Assassins have a difficult job, and it weighs heavily on many people’s hearts. By making a place for them here—in the Zoltan that I love, where they can live peacefully during times like that—perhaps I would lose fewer comrades.” It seemed even Tisse had found a goal for herself in Zoltan. “Well, being a former Hero and former heavenly king, they should be fine even if the demon lord shows up.” “I suppose so.” I’d never seen Torahime go all-out in a fight, but putting it in human terms, a heavenly king of the demon lord’s armies would be capable of crushing an army a million strong. Demis had presumably created the heavenly kings’ blessings to recreate the life of the first Hero who fought himself rather than lead an army. “Hehe, that’s an interesting pairing,” Rit said. “I bet it would give Demis a migraine.” “Hahaha.” Of course, God wasn’t as human as that. But it was still fun to think about and laugh. “Moving onto other matters, I came here because I received an important message.” “Oh?” Tisse had also been laughing with us, but she suddenly looked serious. I had just assumed she was here to ask about Ruti. We had sweets out on the table, and she was already on her second cup of tea. It certainly didn’t seem like she had some urgent task. “I ran into Madam Offler on my way here.” “Madam Offler… Then does that mean…?” “It seems she has completed the designs for your dress and suit. I will look after the store for you, so why don’t the two of you go to see them?” Rit and I took Tisse up on her kind offer and headed out to Madam Offler’s store. The neighborhood was quiet due to the disease going around…or, no, I guess it was always like this on cold days. “We’re closed today and people can’t get hand warmers, so everyone’s staying inside,” Rit explained. Loggervian heaters started giving off heat as soon as the reagents were combined, so you couldn’t stock up on them like you could with medicine. Technically, if you used magic to isolate it from the surrounding air, it should be possible to make one that only started heating up when you needed it to…but anything more than a brief delay and it would be more efficient to just warm yourself with magic. “This disease is troublesome, but it’s not so bad that it would shut down all activity around town. Seasonal illnesses like goblin fever and white-eye are a lot more dangerous.” “It’s really infectious, though.” Even if Taraxon failed to eradicate the flowers, it wasn’t really a deadly problem. But if it was possible to get rid of the disease entirely, then that would be best. “…It’s just…,” I murmured. “Hm? What is it?” Rit peered over at me. “You’re making a strange face.” “I just feel a bit conflicted.” What sort of face am I making? My thoughts were a little confused, and it seemed like I was smiling faintly. “Taraxon, Shisandan, Ruti, Torahime, Yarandrala… Everyone’s got so much to think about, and they’re doing things all over the place. Meanwhile, we’re on our way to the tailor to get ready for our wedding. It just reminded me that we really are trying to become normal people.” “…Yeah,” agreed Rit. “I think the old me definitely would have gone with Ruti.” Demon Lord Taraxon was here. It was a huge incident…and yet, Rit and I weren’t in the center of the action. Even at a time like this, my brain wasn’t in battle mode. It would have been unthinkable back when I’d been Gideon…but I’d stopped being burdened by the feeling that I had to act whenever something was going on. Even now, I would fight if I needed to. I had even crossed swords with Demon Lord Taraxon. But it wouldn’t be by my sword that any battle to change the world would be decided. It wasn’t long before we arrived at Madam Offler’s Wonderful Clothes. It had gotten cold recently, so there were a couple of groups of customers picking out winter outfits. Madam Offler looked busy dealing with them all by herself. “Welcome, come in!” she called out. Rit and I gestured to say we were fine waiting, and Madam Offler bowed her head apologetically. “Business sure is booming,” I said to Rit. “Maybe it’s because her store is on the higher end, but there’s usually only one, sometimes two small groups of customers when I stop by. It’s nice seeing it so busy.” “I wish more people knew about this place. Her clothes are tough, so they make good work outfits, too.” We chatted as we looked at the clothes, waiting for Madam Offler to be free. “That’s right! You have a good eye! The embroidery is a must!” Her operatic voice carried clearly throughout the store. Other customers seemed to be interested and glanced over, listening to her explanation. Time ticked by as we waited, and Rit and I chatted aimlessly as we perused, enjoying this moment of doing nothing. I felt like this was just another part of a happy life. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” “It’s no problem,” Rit said with a smile. “Red and I were having an enjoyable chat surrounded by all these lovely clothes.” Apparently, Rit felt the same way I did. “So…you finished the designs?” “Yes. I believe these outfits will suit your wedding nicely, but let me know what you think!” Ms. Offler pulled out a sketchbook from behind the counter and opened it up for us. ““Oooh!”” A white dress and tuxedo—standard for a wedding, but Madam Offler’s incredible attention to detail was clear in the design. They were both gorgeous! “Rit!” “Mhm, these are wonderful!” I could see Rit standing in front of me in a white dress. I think I felt my heart skip a beat. Rit hid her grin behind the bandana around her neck. “Good. I’m glad you like them… Your lives have been filled with adventure and excitement, as well as many joys and hardship. It almost feels like a miracle that, with everything you’ve been through, you would be getting married here in Zoltan.” Madam Offler was right. Rit and I had both had many branching paths in our lives. I don’t know what the odds were that in all of that, we would both give up being heroes and settle down in peace here in Zoltan. Or that we would reunite and fall in love… “Being such a miraculous event, I thought it best to go with a more traditional design so everyone at your wedding will know at a glance that you are the happy couple that’s about to get married!” Rit and I looked at each other and started laughing, unable to contain our joy. I felt truly blessed in that moment. “I’m so glad we came to you for this, Madam Offler. Rit and I would love it if you would make these clothes for our special day.” “Of course. Leave it to me!” she said reassuringly. After that, we left the shop and stopped by the church and a few other stores to let them know when the clothes were expected to be done. We’d taken another step in our preparations. The wedding would be two months and sixteen days from now. All we had to do up until then was follow the schedule. Right when spring came, we would reach another goal of our journey together… It was already dark by the time we returned home. The light was on in the shop, meaning Tisse must still be there. I’ll have to apologize to her… “We’re back. Sorry we’re so late.” “Welcome back, Red, Rit.” “Welcome home, Big Brother.” “You were gone longer than expected, so we have made ourselves comfortable.” “Ruti and Torahime! You’re back?!” It wasn’t just Tisse inside—Ruti and Torahime were there, too. “I heard you defeated a gem beast… That was a shock. Everything all right?” “Yeah. Fortunately, we made it in time, so there were no casualties.” I had meant it as a question of whether Ruti had gotten hurt, but she had taken it to mean whether she’d been able to save the others. By quitting as the Hero, I felt like Ruti had become a true hero. “Good job. But I was asking because I was worried about whether you got hurt.” “Oh… No, I wasn’t injured at all.” “That’s good.” But there was something I wanted to let Ruti know, just for her: No matter what, I’ll always be on the side hoping for your happiness. “So what were you investigating?” Rit asked Torahime. “Ruti and I were investigating the meaning behind the gem beast’s presence there.” “The meaning…? It escaped the ancient human ruins, didn’t it?” “It certainly did. However, why did it escape now, and why did the ancient humans create something so dangerous…?” “You don’t think they created it to efficiently raise the Hero’s blessing level, like the ogrekin with multiple blessings?” I asked. “It’s too strong for that.” Torahime shook her head. “It has too many abilities that would be unnecessary if it were fodder for the Hero.” “I suppose that’s true…” Then why? “The gem beast is a logger,” Ruti said confidently. “Huh?” Rit and Tisse both cocked their heads. But…I understood. “When we fought it the first time, I wondered what it used all the energy it got from consuming those jewels and creatures for…as well as what an iridescent ruby even is and why we got one from the gem beast.” “Mhm. You’re on the right track, Big Brother. The gem beast exists to gather fuel for the ancient ruins. The legendary iridescent ruby is what fuels the facility.” The reason that gem beast had appeared at the Wall at the End of the World was because Ruti, Shisandan, and I had wrecked the ruins, depleting their energy. And the reason one had shown up at the gem mine now was because the fight with Demis had done the same thing. “We got an iridescent ruby from the gem beast’s corpse again this time. Using that, it was possible to restore some of the functions of the ruins.” “You restored the ruins? Why?” “To investigate Taraxon’s goal. Based on what Harmon told us about Taraxon’s movements, he’s been on a journey helping people in need while gathering the Hero’s artifacts. It isn’t a demon lord’s journey so much as a hero’s journey.” “So that’s what he’s doing. I didn’t sense any malice when I spoke with him, either.” “Torahime and I discussed it, and the conclusion we came to is that having been defeated as the demon lord, Taraxon has gone back to the natural state of the Asura. So if we can find out more about the actions of the ancient Asura who fought as heroes against Demis and the demons to recover the soul of the first Hero, we might be able to understand Taraxon’s goal.” They’d figured all that out just from the gem beast… Ruti and Torahime really were amazing. “That’s great. So did you find out anything?” “Yes. Living as long as I have, I know more about the ancient humans’ technology than people do,” Torahime said, continuing off from Ruti. “Those ancient humans were incredible. Even as a member of the opposing side, I cannot help but feel awe. I could not begin to guess how many millions of books would be needed to record all the information stored in those ruins… However, we were able to find the information we needed.” “And…?” “The goal of the Asura is to annihilate Divine Blessings. Their method of doing so is to usurp the bond that links Demis to this world.” “Usurp the bond…?” “What Taraxon did by killing Demon Lord Satan and stealing his power, they intend to do to Demis.” “They want to defeat Demis? I don’t know how strong the demon lord was, but they live in this world, too… That seems impossible.” “Defeating Demis physically would of course be impossible. Instead, they are trying to become gods themselves…thereby robbing the people of their faith. If they can make every human believe they have no need for God’s Divine Blessings so long as there is an Asura Hero, then Demis will lose the bond that allows him to intervene in this world.” “So they want to replace God with hero worship?” “As for whether that’s possible…it seems even the ancient humans did not know. They were unable to make it a reality in the end, as hero worship was wiped out when the ancient humans became completely dominated by the battle between the Hero and the Demon Lord.” Torahime exhaled, then continued. “Humans are a fearsome species. They surpassed God’s expectations with the power of the true demon lord, and then when they lost that power, they did it once again through knowledge and inheritance. I can understand how even Demis had no choice but to eradicate humanity once.” “As a modern human, these stories of ancient humanity don’t quite feel real,” Tisse said with a shrug. “But if Taraxon’s goal is to carry that plan out now, then it aligns with the actions of the Asura.” “Even usurping the demon lord and attacking Avalon?” Rit asked dubiously. “If they were trying to recreate the legend of the previous Hero, then that could also be explained.” “What do you mean?” “Unlike this generation, the previous Hero did not emerge until after the world was dominated by the demon lord. The Hero destroyed the demon lord and built a new empire, imposing order over a world that had lost the single unifying government holding it together.” “So the plan was that, after Taraxon ruled the world as the demon lord, a different Asura would emerge as the Hero to defeat him and build their own empire!” “However, his war as the demon lord failed, so now he has returned to his old plan, traveling the world and saving people equipped with the relics only the true Hero should be able to wield. If his goal in doing that was to guide humanity away from Demis, then it would also explain his actions while he was with Harmon.” That was Demon Lord Taraxon’s goal. The world was filled with adventure and battle. There were people everywhere seeking a hero. So if a hero without a blessing granted by Demis continued to save them, they would eventually come to rely more upon that hero than God… “Taraxon and Shisandan are trying to usurp God by becoming the Hero, and they want to eradicate blessings from this world. If they succeed, the first Hero’s soul, which is sealed within my blessing, will also be released,” Ruti said, putting a hand to her chest. A lot of this was conjecture, but considering everything we had seen the Asura do up until now, it all seemed to fit. Their opposing goals—sowing the seeds of terror as the demon lord while trying to understand human culture as the Hero—had made their actions difficult to understand. “In that case, Habotan and Torahime should be safe.” “Safe for now, perhaps, but at some point, he will come to slay us as the Hero,” Torahime said. “I will have to raise Habotan to be strong for that day.” “You better not lose this time.” “Of course not… Hehe, it is odd to hear encouragement from a human.” I figured maybe I should tell Habotan the strategy I’d developed for fighting Asura when I got the chance. A calm atmosphere settled over the room. If we knew their goal, then it was possible to devise countermeasures. Even Torahime looked visibly relieved. “Big Brother, someone is coming,” Ruti warned sharply. Her instincts were telling her this was no normal visitor. Rit and I quickly took up our swords, which had been resting behind the counter. “Taraxon?” “Unlikely,” replied Torahime. “It should be impossible for him to slip through my barrier and reach us here.” Something moved in front of the open door. My nerves raced. “Good evening, my beloved ones. I am pleased to be able to meet you like this.” Huh? A chill went through my body. I knew that voice, just as I knew that face. On the other side of the doorway stood a woman with her eyes covered—Eremite, a cleric we had fought when we’d gone to an island with Tanta’s family last summer. She had worked in the shadows to lure Tanta and his Cardinal blessing to the church. However, this wasn’t Eremite we were looking at right now. “Impossible.” Torahime sank weakly to her knees. She trembled and looked down, as if scared to look up at the woman’s face. Rit and Tisse didn’t fully understand the situation yet, but they could both sense there was some sort of terrifying presence here. I glared at Eremite. “Demis…!”