Chapter 13 (1/2)
Chapter 13 – Confession＊
Though it was established that it would be fine to talk about Luru and Iris’ situation, where to begin was one of the remaining problems.
It was just that Luru was of the demon race, but there was the problem of whether he should also tell them about his being the demon king.
However, he had also thought this through yesterday.
Right now, Gran and Yuumis were one of his few information sources, and they made for a good sample for finding out about the common sense of this era.
He wanted to know how normal people felt about the ancient demon race, and the demon king.
And since he cast a contract spell on Gran and Yuumis, no matter what they heard, they weren’t in a position to make it public.
The two might have thought it possible to remove the spell one day, but the contract magic that Luru used was quite a strong one, so at the very least, somebody who wasn’t at a level where they could easily rewrite Yuumis’ barrier magic would find dispelling the contract magic more or less impossible, you could say.
And if Luru were to believe the two of them, almost n.o.body in this era possessed such a level of magic sequence alteration skill.
In other words, they wouldn’t be able to so easily dispel Luru’s magic.
On top of that, even if hypothetically they could undo the magic, even if they did reveal his past, it wouldn’t really be that big a problem.
To begin with, if they went about saying that the son of a lower cla.s.s n.o.ble family in a small village was the resurrected demon king from thousands of years ago, just who on earth would believe them?
It was hard to think of it as any huge problem even if they went around spreading such a rumour.
On the contrary, it would be a bigger problem if his skill with magic was leaked out.
However, from here on, in order to protect himself, as well as in order to investigate the ancient demon race in this era, they were skills that he had no choice but to use.
It would probably be difficult to completely conceal it.
In other words, this information was something that would eventually be leaked.
Having thought like this, Luru decided that there was not a single thing about his circ.u.mstances that he needed to actively hide.
It was nothing more than some conservative thinking about not wanting to reveal it immediately after casting the magic on the pair.
Having thought that far, Luru finally opened his mouth.
“…I wonder just where I’m supposed to start? To begin with, I don’t think you two will believe me, but…”
It was a preface, perhaps you could say, or some words to defend himself later, but it seemed to damage Yuumis’ mood, and she said,
“You’ve already cast the contract magic, so just speak without reserve already. If this turns out to be nothing big, then it’ll be like, ‘Just what on earth were all these constraints for?‘, you know?”
Being told that, Luru realised that she was right, and thinking that he’d stop with the troublesome way of speaking, he decided to just frankly state the facts.
There was also the fact that he almost completely believed in Gran and Yuumis.
Even if they’d betray him, it would only be at a forgivable level.
“Well, you’re completely right, I guess. It seemed like a good idea… but I’ll speak frankly. I, and Iris as well, are of the ancient demon race.”
Gran and Yuumis lost their words at the truth that was spoken so frankly, as though it were nothing.
For at least a moment, the two of them probably thought that he was lying.
However, were that the case, they couldn’t understand the point of Luru going as far as preparing a contract spell.
Even if they spread such a lie, n.o.body would believe it.
Also, thought it wasn’t as though there was no possibility of this being a trap for the two of them, it was much too roundabout a method, and since he was skilled enough to create a barrier that even Yuumis couldn’t escape from, harming them directly would be a quicker, and more surefire choice.
Having thought this far, there was no choice but to accept what Luru said as truth.
Coming to this conclusion in their minds, unexpectedly, the first of the two to regain their footing was Yuumis.
“…’What kind of nonsense is this?’ ― is probably what I should be saying, huh?”
“I wonder about that. Honestly, I don’t have much common sense, you see… Iris as well. Neither of us can accurate grasp just how rare an existence the ancient demon race is, or how they’re viewed. That’s why I can’t even imagine what a normal reaction would be… But from what I can see about your reactions at least, it seems that just like the book I read, we demons seem to have become almost legendary or something, huh…”
To Luru who said as such, Yuumis jumped up and said,
“Obviously! Something like the ancient demon race… This is coming from someone researching it like me, but it’s a world of lies, fakes and delusions you know!? For something like that… to be before your eyes… Even if you said that, n.o.body would believe you, you know… To begin with, just how on earth can you prove this?”
“If you say that I’ll be… troubled, but for proof… at the least, the reason Iris and I could alter your barrier spell was because of that. It’s not something that anybody can easily do, right?”
Being told that, it seems like Yuumis’ words were stuck in her throat because she just muttered, ‘Uu…’ and sat back down again.
It probably hit where it hurt.
Yuumis’ skill was a certainty.
From Luru’s point of view, there was nothing but a feeling of oddness about the fact that despite her skill in magecraft, her ability in magic sequence alteration was so low.
It was because of this that Luru supposed that the technique he used basically didn’t exist in this era, and thus he said what he did.
After that, having watched Luru and Yuumi’s discussion and seemingly coming back to himself, Gran began asking questions in an apologetic and timid manner unsuited to his large build.
“I’d thought that you weren’t a normal kid, but for you to be an ancient demon… But in that case, ain’t it weird? For starters, your parents are definitely n.o.bles of this nation. They have a recorded family tree, and you can easily guess that there weren’t any ancient demons or anything in those records. But despite that, you say that you’re an ancient demon? As for Iris-jouchan, she was sleeping in those ruins. Because of that, it’s not like I can’t imagine it but…”
It was a completely justified doubt.
But there was the question of whether a human could understand the explanation.
The idea of reincarnation was a concept endemic to the demon race.
However, having throught that far, Luru remembered － ‘Come to think of it…‘
“Ah, right. A while ago, I asked Yuumis about what she wanted to become if she could be reborn, right?”
“…? Yeah. I wanted to become a bird. What about it?”
“You understand the concept of rebirth?”
“Well, yes. I do. It’s when the soul transmigrates, isn’t it? It’s romantic, right?”
At Yuumis who seemed like she was dreaming of something a little as she replied, Luru and Iris received a huge shock.
“Luru-sama… Just what does this mean?”
“I don’t know either but… it seems that she really does understand, huh…”
Yuumis wasn’t a human, but an elf. However, even so, in the past, such words coming out of an elven mouth was impossible.
The concept of reincarnation was endemic to the demon race; a religious faith.
The demon race had in the past, been dealt defeat.
This being the case, the religion of the current era should have been unified, and the likes of the ancient demon faith should have been consigned to the dark oblivion of history, but it seems that at the very least, the idea of reincarnation remained.
Religion was quite lacking in the village, so there were no establishments of the church there meaning that Luru hadn’t thought very deeply about it, but Luru now realised that it was something he needed to investigate.
Having said that though, right now this wasn’t what they were supposed to be talking about.
They were discussing Luru’s ident.i.ty.
Getting back on topic, Luru continued.
“Well… If you understand the concept of reincarnation, then this makes things a lot quicker. I’m not an ancient demon, per se, but somebody reborn from an ancient demon into a human. That’s why my body is that of a genuine human, and my parents are both humans as well.”
“Re-, -born… So there really was rebirth after all…!”
“It wasn’t a lie, huh…? There’s still something after death, huh…”