Demon King Daimaou: Volume 8

by Shoutarou Mizuki

  Hiroshi thought for a moment before he spoke. There was a serious look on his face. “If... If I do become a real hero, I’ll have to fight again, won’t I?”

  Lily could tell from his expression what he was thinking. She said, “Yeah. If the Demon King is a threat to those you love, you’ll have to fight him. I believe that in the end, it’s the right thing for you to do.”

  “So I’ll have to go through that... again?” Hiroshi whispered.

  “If you just don’t want to suffer, it means you’re still a kid. Fighting to protect something means suffering to do it. Now let’s get out of here. You’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  “This was a coat made for survival in harsh environments. We only ever made one, and it sold a long time ago,” the man with the curly hair said.

  “Who bought it?” Akuto asked, but the curly-haired man just crossed his arms in thought.

  They were in the back of the shop, in an employee break room. It was empty except for a tatami floor, a low table, and shelves filled with small, everyday items. The room was big, but there was nothing much to it.

  “The one who bought it...”

  “The one who bought it?”

  “Oh, right. I never gave you my name. My name is Issei Suzuki. I’m the manager here,” the man said. Akuto wasn’t sure if he was trying to stall them or not.

  “So who were you saying bought it?”

  “Hmm... It’ll take some time to find that out. Oh, I know. Why don’t you join me for lunch?”

  “Listen...” Akuto started to say something, but suddenly Keena’s stomach rumbled. The conversation came to an abrupt halt.

  “Haha, seems like that’s a yes.” Issei stood up and went over to the shelves. He brought out a bowl for each of them. “Is ramen okay?”

  He seemed to be less asking and more saying, “This is all I’ve got,” but Keena wasn’t satisfied anyway. “No,” she said.

  “Come on...” Akuto sighed. He knew what Keena was trying to say, but now wasn’t the time. Keena, however, said it anyway.

  “It has to be rice... white rice.”

  Issei’s eyes flashed for a moment. “That’s important to you, huh?”

  “It is,” Keena answered.

  “Wh-What are you talking about? Come on, apologize. It’s rude to say that when he’s offering us a meal...” Fujiko tried to interrupt to calm them down too, but Keena was having none of it.

  “Stay out of this. I think he’s one of us.”

  “One of... us?” Fujiko echoed. She didn’t know what that meant.

  “Yes. One of us. He brought out the right number of bowls immediately. And all of them are beautifully polished. This can only mean that he and his men eat ramen on a daily basis,” Keena said with a serious look in her eyes.

  Issei pushed his glasses back against his nose. “I felt the same thing when you asked for rice. You and I are of the same breed.”

  “Breed... what breed?” Akuto said in confusion.

  “I’m not sure, but I know it’s got nothing to do with us,” Fujiko answered.

  Yoshie, however, clapped her hands together in joy. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but it’s getting exciting! This is like when two psychics can recognize each other!”

  Keena, who may or may not have been listening to their conversation, suddenly pointed a finger at Issei. “Those glasses have an anti-fog coating! That means they don’t fog up on wintery nights when you’re eating ramen! It’s a superpower! Or well... no it’s not. But it’s something similar, when it comes to ramen. Let me see how important ramen is to you. And if you’ll give me some rice, I’ll show you how important it is to me!”

  “This makes me happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone like you. I call people like us ‘food singularists’! I never thought I would meet another one so soon.” Issei’s entire demeanor had changed.

  “Huh? There’s another one?” Akuto said.

  “There’s lots of weirdos in the world... I’m glad I’m not one of them,” Fujiko sighed.

  “Woah! So it is like a psychic power. Incredible!” Yoshie exclaimed.

  The others were all reacting in their own ways, but Keena and Issei seemed to have reached some kind of understanding. Issei took a bag of ramen, a hot water dispenser, and a rice cooker off the shelves.

  “Let’s see what you’ve got, then! I bought this rice for those few employees who refuse to eat ramen every day! If you’re truly one of us, you’ll know what type it is and where it’s from!”

  He placed the rice cooker in front of Keena. Keena opened it and grinned. “Sasanishiki.”

  “You figured it out already?!”

  “If you can’t tell by the smell, you’re no true rice lover. The problem is water, and how you cook it!”

  Keena started to scoop rice out of the cooker and into a bowl. By the time she was done, about half the rice had been loaded into the bowl. She immediately began to pile it into her mouth. After a few seconds of silent, violent eating, she grinned.

  “It’s from Yamagata. And it’s unwashed. And it’s old rice... The water’s from the tap. It was made on the ‘quick-make’ setting on the rice cooker. Even if you don’t like rice much, you could do better than that, right?”

  Issei’s eyes opened wide, like he’d witnessed something shocking. To the rest of the people in the room, this whole thing was a waste of time, but Issei seemed to feel some kind of rivalry between them.

  “Very well. I will teach you how to truly taste ramen, then.” He poured hot water into the bowl, swished it around a few times, and then threw it into the sink.

  “First, you warm up the bowl.”

  Then he tossed the ramen into the bowl, and with his right hand began to fill it with water. When a third of it was full, he used his left hand to crack open an egg.

  “You’re cracking the egg with one hand to make sure it gets in at just the right time! Yes, the steam from the water cooks the egg white instantly to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the noodles when it hits the soup!” Keena screamed in surprise.

  “You’re the second person to figure that out! And when the water’s been poured, you immediately put the lid on!”

  Issei’s hands moved quickly. His left hand threw out the eggshell and then grabbed the lid, putting it over the bowl immediately as soon as the water was poured. His movements were precise, fast, and accurate.

  “Wow... But this is instant ramen, isn’t it?” Akuto, who was a man who always told the truth no matter where he was, said a statement that was true.

  But Issei was unperturbed. “Don’t underestimate it, young man! This instant ramen’s been sold with precisely these flavorings for a thousand years.”

  “A millennia! The ultimate taste, unchanged for an eternity! Behold! ...Something like that?” Yoshie said, impressed.

  Neither Akuto nor Fujiko were as amazed as her. Meanwhile, Issei and Keena showed no signs of wanting to come out of the strange world the two of them now inhabited.

  “I know exactly how long the noodles need to cook. It’s not three minutes. The noodles continue to cook while you eat. Everyone knows that when you order ramen at a restaurant, you order your noodles hard. But any firmer than that, and you’re not a gourmet, you’re a traitor to the cause of ramenkind! I say to those people who order such things, ‘Are those noodles really any good?’” Issei said passionately.

  Keena seemed to agree on some level, because her eyes were shining as she listened. After two minutes and several seconds, Issei took off the lid and used his chopsticks to give the ramen a quick stir.

  “You need to stir the ramen to make sure the soup is evenly distributed. Don’t crack the egg yolk or let the white mix in with the soup if you want an even flavor!” Issei took a quick sip of the ramen.

  “Perfect!” Keena said, seemingly in awe. Perhaps she felt some sort of rivalry between them, because she began to take the pot out of the rice cooker and eat from it directly.

  “Owaaah! Slu
rp slurp slurp!”

  “Ooooooh! Om nom nom.”

  A strange kind of unison began to unfold before them. All Akuto and the others could do was watch.

  “There are kids starving in other parts of the world...” Fujiko sighed.

  “There aren’t. Not anymore. I mean, I know what you’re getting at though... The world’s in a bad place right now, isn’t it?” Akuto said quietly.

  But this strange scene quickly came to an end. The door to the room suddenly opened, and someone came inside.

  “You don’t need to worry. They’re the real deal,” a sweet voice said. Just listening to it made you sleepy.

  “I guess I can drop the act, then.” Issei finished his ramen and put it down. His voice immediately became serious, or at least, more serious than it had been.

  “Real...?” Akuto said, confused, and turned around.

  Standing there was a girl Akuto immediately recognized. In fact, it was a face everyone in the empire knew. Even Fujiko and Yoshie froze for an instant.

  “Empress... Kazuko,” Yoshie whispered.

  ○

  It’s not easy spending your life in a daze. After a while, Junko found, it didn’t make you depressed as much as it made you sleepy. Except for school, food, and bathing, she’d stopped going outside, and spent her days lying in bed.

  At first, she’d tried to stick to her daily training ritual, but her physical abilities were far worse now that she couldn’t use her mana, and she lost interest almost immediately. Her sword was just a heavy lump of metal now. She couldn’t use even use it as a walking stick. And she wasn’t allowed to take it outside, anyway.

  When she slept, she would only ever dream of the past, so even sleep became painful. The only moments of excitement she felt were when a new message arrived. When she heard the sound, she would leap up even if she’d been asleep. She knew exactly what she was hoping to find.

  —Sai...!

  Each time a new message came, she would hope it was from Akuto. But she knew how dangerous that would be. Every bit of information flowing in and out of her room was monitored. She wouldn’t be getting any messages.

  She’d woken up that day when another message came in, briefly hoping it was from Akuto only to be disappointed again. This time it was from Yuko. The only messages she ever got were either messages intended for the whole class, or from Yuko.

  “Yuko again, huh?” she whispered, still groggy as she opened up the student handbook where the message had come in. But the message there wasn’t what she’d expected to see. “What...?”

  It was a description of how Yuko had almost been kidnapped by Liradans, along with a message that Hiroshi had saved her.

  Junko turned on the monitor in the room to look at the news. There was a report on how the palace had been attacked by “rebels,” who were obviously the priests of the various gods.

  —Which means...!

  For the first time in a long while, she opened the window. The town was different than it had been just a while ago. There were Liradans in knight uniforms marching down the streets and ordering everyone to stay indoors.

  “Oh no...” Junko felt terror as she looked back at the message. She didn’t want to think about it, but if they were monitoring anybody’s emails, they were probably monitoring hers.

  Yuko must’ve known this, because there was another part at the bottom of the message.

  “If you can get to the place where you took me when I was in 5th grade, I’ll be able to help you.”

  The enemy wouldn’t be able to find out where she was going based off of that. But how could she get there in the middle of a curfew? She was just a helpless teenage girl now.

  “Think. Think. If you don’t act fast, they’ll be here soon.” Junko said aloud, trying to calm herself down.

  Even without Yuko’s mail, given her position as Yuko’s sister and her relationship with Akuto, she should’ve been kidnapped already. The only reason she hadn’t been was probably that Korone was telling Zero how she’d lost her spirit. But now that Yuko was fighting back, things had changed. She closed her window, grabbed her sword, and went out into the hallway.

  But it was too late.. There was a Liradan walking down the hall, and another on the opposite side.

  “...” Junko went back into her room and opened the window.

  —Could I jump? This is the 3rd floor. With mana, it would be an easy jump to make, but now it’s impossible.

  She heard the door open behind her. There were no other options.

  —I have to jump!

  She leapt over the windowsill. There was no sensation of floating like she was used to, just a cold sense of falling.

  “Kyaah!” she screamed. She couldn’t control herself as she fell, and realized that she might not even be able to land feet first.

  —Am I going... to die?

  The words flashed through her mind.

  —Akuto...!

  She desperately thought his name, hoping to see him again. And then she felt someone grab her.

  —Am I imagining things? No, this is real... is it...?!

  “Akuto!” she yelled as she opened her eyes.

  “Sorry, it’s not the boss. It’s me,” Hiroshi said. He sounded genuinely apologetic, not sarcastic or upset.

  “Oh, it’s you, Hiroshi,” Junko said in realization.

  “That’s not a very nice greeting, class rep. I did just save your life, you know.”

  “I’m sorry. Thank you for saving me,” she sighed in relief. “Did Yuko send you?”

  Hiroshi took her up high enough that the Liradans couldn’t follow. “That’s right. Let’s go see her. She’s waiting.”

  “The Asakusa amusement park, right? That’s where she wanted to meet me.”

  “Yes. There’s a good place to hide there, so I sent her there ahead of us.”

  “Thanks again. But wasn’t it too soon for a rebellion? Wasn’t there something else you could’ve done? I’ve heard that Zero can’t kill people. So wasn’t there a more peaceful way to handle things?” Junko asked.

  Hiroshi shook his head. “I agree that it was too soon. But since Zero can’t kill people, he’s kidnapping and brainwashing them.”

  Junko felt something cold run down her back when she heard this. “That’s horrible... But then what do we do now? The whole country is under his control.”

  “People still think of me as the hero who defeated the Demon King,” Hiroshi said with a firm resolve in his voice. “So my plan is to defeat as many Liradans as I can to protect everyone, then urge them to start a rebellion and defeat Zero. I’m going to prove that if everyone decides to work together, we can overcome oppression!”

  Hiroshi’s words were encouraging to Junko. If Zero couldn’t kill people, this was the only way. But something seemed wrong to her.

  “Are you... sure about this? I feel like something’s wrong,” Junko whispered, but Hiroshi shook his head.

  “If we defeat Zero, this will all end.”

  “Yeah... I’m sure you’re right,” Junko said, but something still felt wrong. And she realized what it was.

  —This isn’t what Akuto would do. No, what would he do then?

  ○

  “Empress Kazuko!”

  Yoshie quickly stood up straight. However, she was the only one who did. Fujiko’s religious beliefs prevented her showing any courtesy to the Empress, and Akuto and Keena treated everyone, regardless of rank, the same way.

  But all of them noticed that there was something different about Kazuko. She seemed to change the air around her just by standing there. She was beautiful, of course, but there was something unique about her smile. Just looking at it made you want to ensure that it lasted forever.

  It was all Fujiko could do to keep from kneeling. Kazuko, however, waved a hand and told her to relax before sitting in front of the table.

  “Relax. There are many things we need to discuss. Oh, Issei, may I have some tea? And that other thing, as well.”


  Issei stood up and brought a teacup and a small pot from the shelves. “Here you are,” he said, as he poured her tea.

  Kazuko took a sip and then smiled. “It’s very good,” she said. It was no exaggeration to say that just seeing her smile was enough to bring happiness.

  Nobody could say a word, despite all the questions they had.

  “And if we’re having tea, we must have this, as well. Nanko Plums from Kishu.” Kazuko opened the pot and took out a dried plum. She elegantly brought it to her mouth, and then smiled a wonderful smile.

  “Oh, these are so delicious,” she said. There was a kind expression on her face, as if the bitterness of the plum meant nothing to her. They could see that she was the other “Food Singularist” that Issei had spoken of. Which meant that she’d been here for a while now.

  “...Can you explain this?” Akuto asked.

  Kazuko looked towards Issei and nodded. He bowed and began to speak.

  “I,” he began, “am the man tasked with protecting the secrets of the black mages. I am the High Elder.”

  “...You’re the High Elder?!” Fujiko gasped.

  “The High Elder of the black mages?” Akuto asked.

  “There’s a legend among black mages,” Fujiko explained, “that there exists a high elder who knows true secrets of black magic known to no one else. But since nobody’s ever seen him, I thought it was just a rumor...”

  “Yes. And those ‘secrets’ refer, of course, to the Demon King.” Issei stood up. He opened the door in the back of the room and motioned for them to enter. Everyone followed. Instead of leading to the rest of the warehouse, the door lead to an oddly decorated room.

  “...This isn’t phase space. We’ve been teleported, then?” Akuto whispered.

  “Correct. This is where you were born,” Issei said casually.

  But it was anything but casual to Akuto. “...What?!” He looked around. It was the kind of room you might call a lab. The room was the size of a school classroom, and in its center was a clear cylindrical case. There were tubes and cables leading out of it attached to a panel with a console.