Demon King Daimaou: Volume 2

by Shoutarou Mizuki

  Akuto fired several shots from his Incantation Gun, but no matter how carefully he controlled the bullet’s path, it could only take out one or two of the bats at most. And when he was firing at one, another one would attack from an angle he couldn’t see.

  “Damn it!”

  Each attack did little damage. But there were so many of them. His clothes were ripped open, and little spots of blood began to appear on his skin. The longer he stayed here, the deeper they would start wearing into his flesh.

  Eiko and Hiroshi were experiencing the same thing. Eiko was taking down every bat she could see with precise strikes, but there were far too many of them. And all Hiroshi could do was curl up into a ball.

  “Korone!” Akuto screamed.

  “Yes? Please don’t ask me to help you. This situation is clearly your own fault, so helping you would not be in accord with observing you to see if you’ll become the Demon King, and keeping you safe from unnecessary harm,” Korone answered calmly. She was standing alone, far away from any bats.

  “That’s not it! Take Hiroshi and get out of here!”

  “That, I can do,” Korone said, and she began to rummage through her bag.

  She took out a pair of shoes with small tires attached, and for some reason held them up high before she put them on her feet. They were basically roller skates with engines, and when she crouched down and activated them, they flung her forward at incredible speed, bridging the distance between her and Hiroshi in an instant. Korone forcefully grabbed Hiroshi by the neck, turned, and quickly sped away, leaving behind the smell of burning rubber. It was all over in seconds.

  —I feel like I should compliment her on her skills, but for some reason, I just don’t feel like it. Why is that, I wonder...?

  Once he saw that Korone had made it to safety, Akuto turned back towards his opponent. His opponent, of course, was the shadow, as it was obvious that it was controlling the bats. Each individual bat was an artificial life form — when he looked down at their corpses on the ground, he could tell. They were very simple devices, but that made it hard to seize control of them. You could say that the shadow had tamed these artificial creatures. Moreover, creatures like these could be mass-produced. If the shadow was human, it had to be incredibly talented, and it wouldn’t be easy to defeat.

  But he knew at the same time that if he ran away, the shadow wouldn’t follow. And it felt like it was trying to avoid dealing him a fatal blow. But since Eiko had no intention of retreating, of course, she was being attacked without mercy. Things were just getting worse and worse. Even now he could see the number of tiny cuts and scrapes on her body growing in number. There was a chance she might eventually die.

  “This isn’t good at all. There’s something wrong with me...” Akuto whispered. It was a bad habit of his to always think calmly and clearly in situations like these.

  He had an idea of how to end this. It would be difficult, but for some reason, he felt like he could do it.

  In the end, being around Eiko was starting to have an effect on him. She was trying to accomplish something, even at the cost of her own life. Whether that came from trust in him, or from the importance of her goal, he didn’t know, but he had a feeling that he needed to see this treasure.

  Of course, it was dangerous to help Eiko in her goals. It was clear she was planning something. But instead of being used, and not knowing why, he would rather know the reason and choose his path for himself.

  Akuto shouted towards the shadow.

  “Sorry, I’ve changed my mind! I’ve decided I’m going to look at what you’re protecting! I’m not going to do anything really terrible to you, so please don’t hate me!”

  The shadow seemed surprised for a moment, but then the bats started to attack him with greater intensity. But Akuto was calm.

  —I’ll use this...

  He took one of the whirlwind bullets that he’d used a moment ago, and snapped it in two with his fingers. The magical signal activated, and a small whirlwind appeared in his hands.

  —I was able to control this mana. Which means that my own mana must be so powerful that I can’t control any magic that’s physically close to me... And if that’s the case...

  Akuto strengthened the whirlwind in his hands. The sound of the wind was like the sound of an explosion now — it was like a typhoon had suddenly sprang up in the room. The spiraling torrent of winds spread out in a circle around Akuto.

  The wind caught up all the bats as it traveled, and the artificial turf on the floor was ripped off the ground and flew upwards. The plastic graves went too, scattering the bone ash from the pots inside.

  “Aaaah!”

  The shadow let out a very human-sounding scream.

  Just like he thought it would, the whirlwind around him had gone out of Akuto’s control, and it was tearing up everything in its path. It was now strong enough that it reached the very corners of the room, and the shadow could no longer escape it by turning into fog. It was lifted up and blown about in the air.

  —I guess that’s enough...

  Akuto tried to lessen the power of the mana, but a moment later, he realized he’d failed. He heard an awful creaking noise amidst the howling winds. He looked up and saw that there was a crack in the ceiling. He didn’t even have time to panic before it started to cave in.

  There was a loud rumble as the earth began to roar. Rocks and display items from the museum above fell downward, and were caught up in the whirlwind.

  A few minutes later, Akuto finally managed to calm the wind. But by that time, the Great War Memorial building had been completely destroyed. Akuto and Eiko had been at the eye of the whirlwind, and so were unharmed, but a spiral of rubble spread out from them in all directions. The ceiling was now totally gone, and he could see the sunlight pouring in.

  —When I said to myself that I thought I could do it, this isn’t what I meant...

  Akuto regretted his choice, but at this point there was nothing he could do about it.

  He heard a chipper voice next to him. Eiko had gotten up.

  “Wow! Amazing! You did it!”

  “I’m not happy about it. What’s fun about breaking things?” Akuto answered, annoyed.

  “It’s fun! And it’s not like you need a reason.”

  Eiko didn’t seem to be concerned about her wounds, because she smiled with her face covered in blood.

  “...So, what’s the point of making me do all this?” Akuto said. In his mind, this had gone far beyond a joke, and his face was stern.

  Eiko tried to answer with a smile, but his stern expression remained unchanged. When she saw this, her smile vanished too.

  “What do you mean, ‘What’s the point?’” she said, pouting.

  “You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

  “Sure I am. But this is for your sake...”

  “I don’t care. You want me to go looking for this treasure no matter what it takes. Until now, I thought it might’ve been some kind of prank, but you could’ve gotten killed back there. What’s going on here? What is that treasure?” Akuto asked, and Eiko silently averted her gaze.

  But before she could answer, she dropped to her knees. She had too many wounds.

  Akuto wordlessly put his hands on Eiko’s body. He tried using magic like the first year students had been doing in the cafeteria yesterday. He was just working off memory, but this time, his mana didn’t go out of control. Healing magic was probably one of the types of magic that wasn’t his specialty. But it worked well for exactly that reason.

  Eiko looked surprised for a moment, but suddenly she spoke to him in an upbeat voice.

  “Hey, how about we make a deal? If I tell you, will you fall in love with me?”

  “If you ever turn sane,” Akuto answered as he looked at her wounds. Eiko’s face suddenly brightened.

  “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m perfectly sane.”

  “You are not,” Akuto answered immediately, and her face clouded.

&n
bsp; “Then I just have to be sane from now on, right?”

  “That’s right.” Akuto nodded.

  Once he was satisfied with what he saw, he took his hand off of Eiko. She looked a little disappointed. And then, as she began to check her wounds herself, she started to speak calmly. As calm as she was, though, what she said was terrifying.

  “The treasure is something belonging to the last Demon King.”

  “Is that true? Where did you hear that?” Akuto was surprised at this.

  “I can’t tell you. But I want you to get it and become a real man.”

  “How does getting something from the last Demon King make me into a real man? That’s a stupid way of thinking. Are you a black mage?”

  “Please don’t compare me with those people. I’m not one of those types who can never think outside the box.”

  “Then why...?”

  “You’re destined to get your hands on it. That’s all I was told.”

  “Destined?”

  “That’s right. The person I swore my loyalty to told me that. Something about how either they or you will be destroyed, and the survivor will control the fate of the world.”

  “That sounds like some kind of joke to me.”

  “It’s not a joke. I’ve never seen them be wrong about anything. And what’s more, they’re like you. That’s why I fell in love with them.”

  “I see. At least I know what’s going on now, and what some random person thinks of me, too.” Akuto sounded annoyed, but Eiko laughed sweetly.

  “Don’t be so mean to me. I’m telling you, I’m serious!”

  “If you’re serious, then why do you keep talking like you’re comparing me with another guy? And anyway, if I’m really destined to get this thing, you shouldn’t have to do anything.”

  Eiko’s expression suddenly darkened.

  “That’s just how a girl’s heart works. Any man who doesn’t know that is pathetic.”

  “I know that. I guess I’m just not good with women.”

  Akuto decided to just get away from this conversation, and began to walk away from Eiko, kicking aside the rubble as he moved. But Eiko followed him anyway.

  “Hey, how about I teach you about women?”

  “I’ll pass. Once I know the situation, you’re going to be nothing but a nuisance to me.”

  “Aww, knock it off. You don’t have to be so cold.”

  Just as Eiko said those words in a pouty voice, Akuto found what he’d been looking for beneath his feet.

  “Boichiro Yamato...”

  That’s what the name plate read. By the time he realized he’d said it aloud, it was too late to regret it. Eiko was already crouched at his feet.

  “It’s inside here, right?!”

  She’d already opened the grave marked with that plate.

  There was no pot of ashes inside. Instead, there was an old figurine of some character. It was just about the size that would fit into a palm.

  “A figurine...?”

  Eiko picked it up. It looked like it had been torn from a keychain.

  “There’s a button on the back side.”

  Eiko flipped it over and pushed the button. On its back, there was a hole that looked like it was for a speaker. It began to speak.

  “The shelf in the back of the Knight Equipment Research Lab... When all three are ready, play the audio...”

  That was all Akuto could make out. It was followed by what sounded like high-pitched static. Eiko handed it to Akuto.

  “A keychain recorder for children, huh? That last sound...”

  Suddenly he heard an explanation from behind him.

  “It’s part of the language used for programming artificial intelligences. A mage with the right knowledge can create that noise with his voice.”

  He turned around and Korone was there.

  “You scared me. You should’ve said something if you were there.”

  “I was too busy running away when the ceiling started to cave in. Was that your doing?”

  “Umm... well... It was the result of legitimate self-defense,” Akuto said. He decided to ask her about the keychain so she’d drop the subject.

  “So somebody recorded this message and put the keychain here?”

  “Obviously. Regardless, I’m willing to admit that this was self-defense, but I can guarantee everyone else is going to think that you desecrated the graves of the victims of the Great War.”

  “That’s... yeah...”

  —This is probably going to lead to even more weird rumors.

  Akuto looked up at the sky and tried to figure out what he should do next.

  ○

  Fujiko was in her secret room looking into a crystal ball, her mouth agape at what she was seeing.

  —That keychain!

  She was looking down at Akuto and the others from above. Fujiko had placed a transmitter in the Incantation Gun she’d given Akuto, and she’d been using it to track him with a small flying relay device called a “Monitor.”

  “This is impossible... But this time, you won’t be able to deny it!”

  Fujiko grabbed the jar that held her brother’s head and showed him the footage in the crystal ball.

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said, “I really don’t remember. But that keychain is definitely ours. We used to use that to leave messages for one another all the time. Mother told me that when I was gone for a long time, you preferred messages recorded with that to video letters...”

  “Don’t lie to me! If you remember that much, then why don’t you remember recording the message? Your memories are lies too, right? There’s no way I could ever have looked up to you! I’m starting to understand that!”

  Fujiko’s hair was flailing about as she shook her head in confusion. Her brother furrowed his brow, but all he did was attempt to console her.

  “Don’t get mad, Fujiko. It’s my fault.”

  “How can you say that stuff when you know you don’t mean it!”

  “Because I can only give you pre-determined answers,” he responded. Dead spirits were honest creatures.

  “That’s not what I’m talking about! Can’t you tell how disturbing this is for me? If your past is different than what I believed, then everything I’ve believed in...”

  Fujiko was frantic, but her brother was unmoved.

  “Don’t cry, Fujiko.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be weak and pathetic? The guy who ran away from his work without a trace of shame? But if that message was yours, then...”

  “Fujiko, I’m pathetic, and weak, and shameless, and I ran away from my work. I’m also a lolicon.”

  “Enough! What’s really going on here...”

  “Kyaaah!”

  Clatter-clang!

  There was suddenly a scream and the sound of something falling behind her. Fujiko turned around in surprise and saw Keena, who had tripped and been covered with books from the bookshelf.

  “Keena Soga!” Fujiko yelled. Keena stood up with an awkward laugh.

  “How did you get in here?! When did you get in here?!” Fujiko yelled louder, and Keena flinched. But her eyes quickly welled up with tears, and she kneeled before Fujiko, begging.

  “I’m sorry! My rice ball fell in a hole, and I ran after it and it came out here! I didn’t mean to bother you, but...”

  Fujiko face-palmed in exasperation.

  “You can’t honestly expect me to believe...”

  But in the next moment, Fujiko saw a dirty rice ball in the corner of her vision. It was covered with dust that it had clearly accumulated during its fall down the stairs. When she saw that, Fujiko decided that it would be stupid to get mad.

  “...Well, whatever. I’d forgotten that you knew about this place. Now get out of here. I’m busy...”

  Fujiko tried to wave her away, but Keena quickly leapt on the crystal ball.

  “Oh, it’s Ackie! Hello!”

  “Get off that thing!”

  “B-Big sister...” Keena suddenly loo
ked up at Fujiko.

  “Wh-What is it? And wait, ‘big sister?’”

  “That’s right! Please let me call you big sister! Oh, I know it might be rude, but I keep meaning to apologize for what happened earlier!” Keena said, her eyes strangely serious.

  Fujiko couldn’t keep up with Keena’s rapid changes of pace.

  “W-Wait a second...”

  “I-It’s okay! You don’t have to forgive me! But please forgive Ackie! If you’re watching him like this, it means you really hate him, right?”

  “W-Well... yes, I do. Of course I do.”

  “Yes, of course! Maybe you can’t forgive him. But Ackie doesn’t mean any harm. So why don’t we go chase after him together!”

  “Ch-Chase after him...?” The idea hadn’t occurred to Fujiko.

  “That’s right! Let’s go, big sister!”

  Keena said it again. What Keena was saying didn’t make any sense, but Fujiko found herself wavering. She’d been wanting to go on her own. And the way Keena was begging her made it hard to turn down.

  “Y-Yes, if you think that’s for the best...” Fujiko said softly. Keena clapped her hands together with a loud “slap!”

  “Hooray! Let’s get ready! I’ll bring us plenty of rice and things to eat! So just wait for me at the Tree of Confessions in the woods behind the school! Oh, I’m so happy! Now maybe we can find out about your brother, too!”

  —Huh? Wait...

  Fujiko tried to ask Keena what she meant, but by that time Keena was already gone.

  ○

  “I said I’m not going, and I meant it. I’m going back to the Academy and telling the student council,” Akuto said stubbornly.

  He was sipping tea from a kettle heated by an outdoor stove. The tent had already been pitched and he was relaxing by it.

  Eiko didn’t look like she’d given up, but when Akuto had started to threaten her, she finally fell completely silent with a pout on her face.

  Before long it was dark outside, and time to sleep. Akuto called Korone over and told her to watch Eiko during the night, then went into his tent. They’d pitched three small tents. One for Akuto, one for Hiroshi, and one for Korone and Eiko.