by Ko Hiratori
“Please letusdefeat the demon lord!”
She made such an absurd request I just stared at her dumbly with my mouth hanging open.
Maybe even this weird Sister finally felt embarrassed, because her voice grew quieter. “...I want to defeat the demon lord. With Miss Haru. As women. I want to let women around the world know that we’re every bit as capable. And I want to show the men. I’m aware that it’s a silly, childish dream. But if we don’t do something that big, we can’t turn the world upside down.”
Turn the world upside down...?
That was the hero’s job. That’s what I dreamed of when I was a kid. But a woman doing it? Ridiculous.How crazy do you have to be to come up with an idea like that?
“I want to get stronger. So strong that I can defeat the demon lord and change the world. Even if it’s impossible, I want even a little power so I can inspire the next generation. I want to be the kind of person who can rally others. I don’t want to be the person with no confidence I used to be anymore.”
Maybe she had run out of breath shouting like that? Her shoulders were heaving. Then she bowed her head.
“I’m sorry I was rude. I won’t say anything else. I’ll obey you. I’ll do anything, so please make me your apprentice. That’s my wish.”
I sighed and wiped my face with my palm.What the fuck.Why’d she have to go and ruin the atmosphere? She really doesn’t understand how to read a mood if she thinks she can do all that and then just say,Do whatever you want.
Looking up at the ceiling, I sighed again and ended up laughing. What the heck. I never thought I’d see the day I’d be impressed with a woman.
Turn the world upside down...I saw myself—hiding out in the woods preparing for an attack—in her.
And this woman had met someone who was to her what Widge was to me. That chick Haru. And you really could mistake that one as Widge’s daughter—sheesh.
What a bunch of nonsense. This world, I tell ya.
“Right, well, let’s get started.”
I stood up and took my clothes off. She made a little urk sound and hid her face. After I had taken everything off and kicked away my underwear, I grabbed the nervous sister by her trembling shoulders and made her look up at me.
The area around her big eyes was bright red. She seemed like she was about to burst into tears. My body was covered in tattoos, patterns for transforming myself into a demon. The mark of a man who had forsaken humanity. I must have looked awfully creepy to someone who did the work of a Sister.
“Look at me. Look at every last part of me.”
She gritted her teeth, opened her eyes, and did as she was told, running her eyes over my entire body starting from the top. She sped past my crotch, and then stared at her own feet. She was so bashful even her chest was blushing.
Satisfied, I moved away from her. “Okay, you had a look. Now we’re even—for me getting you naked.”
“Huh?”
“If that’s not enough, I’ll give you what you want in return. For starters, you want to learn barriers, right? Sure, that’s fine. I’ll teach you.”
The Sister—err, her name was Kiyori, right?
Kiyori’s eyes opened so wide I thought they were going to pop out.
“What? Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Y-Yess, but...it’s okay with you?”
“I said I’d teach you, didn’t I?”
“And your condition is...?”
Oh, that. I glanced at her big chest and said, “Don’t worry. It’s like you said—I never once paid attention to women since I was born. I never intended to lay a hand on you. You’re not my type.”
“What?”
Well, I don’t blame her for being surprised. It was a secret I never even told Widge. I was raised among men, and the first one I admired was that wall man. And during all the time before I met my partner, my heart never once settled on a woman. And now and forever, my soul belongs to that man.
In other words, I have no interest in your naked body.
“I only fall for guys. I don’t feel like fucking women. Actually, women’s bodies seem jiggly and gross to me. My plan was to get you naked and then throw you out. I’d be like, ‘How could you make me look at that?’”
“...”
Oh?
Kiyori’s face was looking stupider by the second. Maybe she would be more appealing to men when she was this off guard. If I fiddled with her makeup a bit... It just seemed like she didn’t really have a sense of beauty.
And if she hurried up and got excommunicated, I could make her some clothes.
“H-Hold on, then why did you strip, too?”
“To apologize. It’s unfair to only make you do it, right? I’ll admit that much makes sense—out of respect for your determination.”
“If you get it, then please let me wear my clothes! And please hide your dangly thing!”
Kiyori covered her body with her hands and crouched down. She really did have a huge chest. Eww. I even told her I wasn’t interested.
Well, but for other men, her body was probably pretty alluring. The thought that Widge would probably like her made me jealous.
“Okay, first I’ll explain about the medium. Listen close, Kiyori. The medium has a bigger effect in dark arts compared to magic. Think of this as a very important basic principle a—”
“But could you please put on some clothes before we start, Master?!”
*
As usual, Widge had made it a bet.
I made him treat me to a drink with some of the money he won off me while he listened to me complain.
“Hmm, sounds like it’s going pretty good. That’s rare for eccentric old Igo.”
“Oh, come on. That studious dummy just barges in on me every day for training. I can’t believe you pushed such a pain in the ass off on me.”
“The reason you’re drinking less lately is probably because she’s been lecturing you, right? A Sister’s job includes nitpicking everyone’s health.”
“Are you serious? Why would I listen to anything my apprentice grumbles about? She’s just so obnoxious all the time that I drink a drop less.”
Widge must have thought something was funny, because he crinkled his face into a smile. Even full of wrinkles, nothing changed. He always smiled from the pit of his belly.
“I never thought I’d see the day, Igo. Well, if you live long enough, anything can happen.”
I gave him a thumbs down in response.It’s all your fault. You got that little girl involved.
“Now then, all the pieces are in place. Last time Haru wimped out so we couldn’t go, but next time we’re heading into the demon lord’s castle. Get pumped, Igo!”
He seemed to be having so much fun. Must be nice to not have any doubts. Nothing has changed for him since that day he snagged me. His twinkling eyes were always looking toward his dreams, and he didn’t even notice everyone around him getting caught up in it.
I didn’t care when I was going to die, but then I ended up going around with this guy till we grew old.Still, I’m happy just to be on the journey with you.
“But are you really okay with that, Old Man Widge?”
“Eh?”
“Those girls are just hopping a free ride down the trail we’ve been blazing together for decades. And they think of the demon lord as just some stop along the way. They only want to use it to better the situation of the socially disadvantaged or some troublesome thing.”
“Hmm? That’s encouraging. That’s how youngsters should be.” He grinned and said that a future written by old people was no future at all. So this was as far as we needed to go.
“I’m not the one who will defeat the demon lord—Haru is. If we can get her there, that’s plenty for me. If I can be satisfied that all these years weren’t a waste, then I can die happy.”
Ohh, I see how it is. Are you that serious about this Haru kid?
“I’m looking forward to it, Igo.” Widge squinted, looking off into the distance.
/>
Normal people wouldn’t go anywhere near that forest, but for us, it was home. If I have to die, that’s the place to do it. If I didn’t feel that way, I never could have teamed up with this dummy. That’s what I always thought.
“No, we should come back alive too.”
It was rare for Widge to look surprised, but he did. Well, of course he did. I was surprised myself. Who’d have thought I’d have something to do in this world after the demon lord was defeated.
“Your woman might be the one to defeat the demon lord, but mine’s the one who’s going to turn the world upside down. I have to keep an eye on her progress. I’m her master, after all.”
Widge lifted an eyebrow and whistled. I gave him a thumbs down as usual.
And I may have said all that, but this was my incomprehensible studious dummy of an apprentice I was talking about, so I wouldn’t live long enough. I would just go ahead and have high expectations.
“Igo,” Widge said, tilting his glass to make waves on the surface. “Remember how I talked you into joining me?”
...How could I forget?
You said you’d take care of my soul, that you’d break the curse on me, the guy who hated the world with all his might and called himself the demon lord. You said you’d cut it to ribbons with your sword.
That curse was lifted a long time ago—thanks to you.
“How would I remember that?”
“Right...it was twenty years ago, after all.”
“Thirty.”
“We won’t have much to do after the demon lord is defeated.”
“Probably not.”
“But you know, once the demon lord is gone, all the guys who were waiting for the chance to be the new demon lord will come crawling out of the woodwork. We’ll never be allowed a quiet retirement. How about leaving the tough stuff to the young ones and make our living beating the crap out of those guys?”
“If you say so.”
Live how you like, Widge.
You’ll be my hero till the day you die.
Mom
“Yeah, hmm. If I can complete a holy barrier that even the demon lord can’t break, I’m fine breaking the church’s precepts. Of course I am! The stuff those close-minded people say can go to—”
Kiyori pointed her thumb toward the ground and wentblam.
I’m pretty sure that just the other day she was still an elite Sister, serious and meek, but under the influence of who knows who, she’s turned wild. Now she’s teamed up with some trap specialist friend of Widge’s and is dabbling in some shady stuff that would definitely get her in trouble with the church if they found out.
It did make me worry a bit, but she can be bizarrely stubborn, so she’s finally realizing this grand collaboration between the power of faith and some kind of wild dark arts the demons use? Or something? I don’t really get it, but apparently she’s figured out some barrier that is totally amazing in all sorts of ways.
I’ve had enough experiences in life that I can tell people a thing or two—though I may not look it—but Kiyori might pass me up pretty soon.
Anyhow, thanks to her, it’s harder to say no now. Widge, who scouted me for his demon lord subjugation party, is saying he wants to go into the forest. With Kiyori, too.
Why are these people so worked up about the demon lord? He’s the only villain they have,and everybody thinks that if he’d just disappear, the world would be at peace.
But I don’t buy it. Oh, I’m sure everyone will celebrate with a bunch of parties and whoo-hoo around town, but that’ll simmer down quick enough—and the world isn’t so simple.
Even if the demon lord disappears, there are men all over the place who want to be him—even in this city on the frontlines fighting against the demons. There’ll be loads of ’em popping up.
But when I mentioned that to Widge as he was treating me to dinner one night, he scolded me. “That’s exactly the sort of thing someone with just enough life experience to be jaded would say. That’s why I keep tellin’ you to quit being a prostitute.” He dismissed my complaint with a weary look. “There is trash in the world. But are you saying that means you can’t believe in the kids? That can’t be true.”
No, it wasn’t. I remembered the boys I’d kicked the can up into the blue sky with.Sorry, Happy Friends Squad. You guys are still my hope.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff—pay attention to more youthful pursuits. I wanna show you the wider world.”
It was the same line he’d been feeding me ever since we first met. He says he wants to know how the world looks to me. And that he wants me to learn about this world.
I think I can trust this guy. At least...he’s trying to help me become an adult. He feels sort of like an uncle I can rely on. Except for that he’s always trying to seduce me, of course.
But I want him to understand that I’m scared to be an adult here. I can’t imagine it, and that’s why it frightens me.
And besides—there’s someone I like. And I can’t tell anyone in this world who it is.
If I can’t see my future, then someone saying,Onward!orDecide!only stresses me out. It’s like the summer of your last year of high school with no classmates or homeroom teacher to confide in.
“Plus weren’t you summoned here to fill that role? Do you even realize that?”
I do, but there’s another person in the running—that is, a classmate of mine. But he turned into a panty thief in this other world. Even if he becomes the hero, he’s the type who’ll cause a huge scandal.
I had no choice but to nod.
“I dunno what you’re being all wishy-washy about. You’re already stronger than anyone here. And ‘I don’t feel like it’ isn’t going to fly as an excuse.”
People who want to settle this with strength won’t accept that I just want to live my life. Pacifism is important to me.
I get their point, though. I probably do have a responsibility. One person shouldn’t have so many cheat skills. Public something-or-other. I have to use my abilities for the good of all. The pressure not to stick my head in the sand is really pressing down on me.
Someone will appear to end the story.
The night I saw the silver-haired man last, he said that to me.
I’m going to be the one to finish this world’s big story. I can’t leave it to someone else. Even if I’m scared, I have to go.
“You’re the one who got a Sister involved, right? Better steel that resolve,” Widge said.
As if resolve is so easy to steel.But I nodded.
We found the route that leads to the deepest part of the forest on a previous trip. I had come with Widge and his crew, and we got to the point where we could see the demon lord’s castle, but I froze.
Unlike that time, though, we had Kiyori with us now. She really helped us fight our way through, too.
We were the first adventurers to reach the demon lord’s castle. It hadn’t been easy. Widge and the others were all beat up. Kiyori was white as a sheet as she put up a barrier all on her own—to protect us from the demons outside.
So I couldn’t run away anymore. I walked alone down the dark corridor. No, not a corridor—it was more like a cave. The walls and floor were soft and slimy. Maybe I was inside some huge animal.
The demon lord’s castle...
The dungeon said to appear only at night was wet with bright-red blood.
The rain outside grew redder as we approached. Inside, it continued to fall; its color deepened, and it started to smell like rust. The heavy, cold drops even turned me red. I really don’t want to say this, but it made me think of Endless Crimson Rain.
Blood flowed from wounds in the cave walls, and when it congealed, demons were born.
This wasn’t the demon lord’s castle, but his scar. It was a place to confess horribly sad things. And the one who made this wound wasn’t a demon.
I’m dying. This is totally awful.As I cut down the demons that appeared one after another, I felt my own heart being worn down. I
wanted to see Lupe so bad. I wanted to eat something sweet.
But if I didn’t go, I wouldn’t get to see him, so I went. I knew I would hurt him, but if I didn’t hurry, everyone else would be in danger, and the one who wanted to end it most of all had to be him.
I could hear an animal breathing. Big, heavy footsteps and something rubbing against the wet floor. The short breaths sounded pained, yet the growling was deep enough to make the air quiver. Even though the person I most wanted to meet was right there, I felt like I was going to cry—because that familiar piercing gaze was stabbing me from across the darkness.
Even though you know I’m stronger.
But I couldn’t give up here. I had to meet him properly.
“Long time no see. It’s Haru.”
The air trembled with the darkness’s scream. It seemed I wouldn’t be allowed to chat; he spat blood rain and got me soaking wet.
But this other world is a sadistic fuck, so that much I was pretty used to. I smiled from across the darkness. When I remembered the profile of the silver-haired man who used to ignore the hell out of me at Blue Cat Nocturne, I actually felt like any attention at all was a good sign.
“You live so far away. It was pretty hard to get here.”
Of course, he wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say today, either. He screamed again and doused me. He’s really a hard-ass. Very demon lord.
Oh yeah, he said he was coming to the shop to people-watch. I wonder how he saw me. Maybe he thought I was an obnoxious chick. Maybe he thought (just a little) that I had a nice ass.
Just him coming in was enough to make a day lucky for me. Even rain was enough for me to shout,Yesss!and Madam would glare at me, wondering what I was so giddy about when it meant we would have fewer customers.
It was so fun, getting to fall in love in another world.
“Mister...”
I took a deep breath and cast away my sword. The darkness wavered and stung.But I don’t want to hold that thing in front of you.That’s what I concluded.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said, and I feel like there must be all sorts of other ways to end the story.”
