Chapter 28 (1/2)

“Solitude”

The demon gently stroked the children’s heads as they were entranced tucking into the sweets. The children smiled with glee as they were stroked, and leant up against the demon’s arms, but before long their eyes came to paint a vacant look as they slowly stood up.

As if still in a dream, the two siblings tottered off back into the town holding hands. It seemed like the rumor that the demon Warltrip  could manipulate people’s memories was true.

There are apparently cases of adventurous children in town who wander into the forest, and having got lost and pa.s.sed through the barrier to ward off humans, end up wandering into the demon’s hideout. In most cases, the children are scared and run away as soon as they see demon Warltrip . Warltrip  doesn’t want his existence to be known to the country, so he always captures people and erases their memories before sending them back into town like this.

Warltrip  actually respects children who aren’t frightened of him and gives them handmade sweets. This boy was apparently one of said children, boldly going to Warltrip  to protect his younger sister, and receiving sweets from him.

...He’s seriously got too much time on his hands.

We, on the other hand, were guided to his hideout by a man. Being called a hideout, I imagined it being a really plain house.

“This garden... you’ve taken really good care of it.”

“It’s one of my few daily routines. If I take my hands off it, I don’t really know what to do myself.”

Having been led by the man, where we ended up was an open hill with the fantastic scenery of flower fields and vegetable fields around, and an old atmospheric mansion towering at the top of the hill. It was a majestic house that made you wonder if there was even a “hideout” at all.

Going into this open s.p.a.ce, I felt the pressure and tingle of a magic barrier of sorts. Until touching the barrier, I didn’t notice that there was any magic at all. It was apparently quite high-level magic.

“Is this... the boundary?”

“Yes. If you’re not careful in making a human barrier, this place could be found really easily.”

“Then you should just live somewhere deeper in the woods, or somewhere a bit more obscure.”

“I can’t.”

The demon Warltrip replied to my light-hearted comment with a strange expression on his face. It seems he has some kind of reason for being there.

“Well, you should come in. It’s been a long time since someone’s come into our home. Most people run away the second they see me.”

“Alright, in we go.”

Warltrip opened the door to his mansion in good spirits. It was an old worn-out house, but no matter where you looked, it was spotless. The worn-out parts of the house created an indescribable aura. The furniture also seemed to be of high quality. The house was of an old design and the building felt dated, but everything still looked in good enough condition.

My eyes wandered over to the figure painting on the wall. The person was wearing waitress’ clothes. Or at least, it was probably a woman.

“... is this a picture of Root?”

“Huh? Wh-what’s this?”

The woman in the photo somehow looked just like Root. She was a carbon copy of him. That was why I couldn’t be sure if it was a woman in the picture or not.

“Hehe. It surprised you, right? I’d disappeared, and this is the reason I’m back here beside you talking to you.”

“... are you my gay stalker or something...?”

“What the h.e.l.l!!”

That’s a relief. Root just got scared and hid behind me. Stop trying to confuse me.

“She was my daughter and my wife... of the human race”

“Root, you...”

“That picture isn’t me! I’m a man, and I’m not married either!”

Yeah, I know. For a minute I couldn’t tell her and Root apart, but this woman’s eyes were blue. After I while I started to notice she wasn’t Root.

Warltrip took our two cups and poured some bright orange-colored tea for us. It smelled like the black tea I’d drank in j.a.pan. I wonder if they’d grow it in the garden outside.

“Ok, then. Shall I answer your question, your immature human. You want to know the details of how I betrayed people, right?”

“Yes. I’m quite interested. Sorry for being rude.”

“I don’t mind. Talking to someone is a great enjoyment of mine. I’ll sum it up. The only reason I ever betrayed the demon race and sided with the humans was because my wife, Reine. Giving in to my feelings for my wife, I betrayed the former demon king and fought together with the humans against the demon king. Due to my accomplishments then, I was honored with a t.i.tle. That happened 200 years ago.”

“So, you never intended to betray the dynasty, but you were truly on the side of the humans?”

“... no. The only one whose side I was truly ever on was Reine’s. The truth is I didn’t want to ruin the former kingdom either.”

Then, the demon began to talk. He talked about 200 years ago, the details of the night the country fell.

Warltrip  apparently received Reine, who was then a young child as a present from the demon king. He says that Reine was the princess of a certain kingdom. The demon race apparently had a tradition of treating kidnapping human royalty as a tool for their pleasure. Warltrip  had no interest in humans and thought that the effort required to take care of them was troublesome, so he originally intended to starve Reine of food, close her up indoors and kill her.

The only reason he didn’t kill her was because he didn’t feel like it at the time. The sudden words and actions of a young child filled with a desire for revenge filled him with enjoyment, so he decided to keep her. She just kept on growing, however, and while looking after her, Warltrip ’s feelings began to change.

Before he knew it, Warltrip had come to love Reine. Once he became aware of his feelings, he began to seriously pursue her as a love interest. Reine was reluctant at first, but eventually gave in to his sheer pa.s.sion and they ended up together. Reine had also come to have strong feelings of love rather than a desire for revenge for Warltrip , who she had lived with from a very young age.

The former demon king found out about their relations.h.i.+p. As would be expected, he nearly killed her immediately. The demon king was worried that Warltrip might grow fond of humans.

That was the deciding factor.

That very day, Warltrip betrayed the demon king and fled to the human country. During the war, Warltrip had consistently made great achievements as a leading warlord for the demon race and was seen as a threat by the humans. No-one believed that this sworn enemy would then become an ally to them.