The World I Was Supporting Was Real - Chapter 64



64. A Path No One Has Walked (3)

“That little girl is the Demon Lord?”

“That doesn’t make any sense…”

The Demon Lord.

For humans, it was practically a symbol of absolute terror.

The history books are full of records of battles against demons when the Demon Lord descended.

How much blood was spilled by countless humans trying to bring the Demon Lord down?

And yet.

That cute little girl is the Demon Lord?

The history books even say they were ‘so hideously grotesque that just meeting their gaze could stop your breath’?

The crowd couldn’t believe what they were hearing and the murmurings grew, and grew.

Erin, standing beside the platform, opened her mouth with a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I swear on the name of Saint Erin. I guarantee that the person standing on the platform is undoubtedly the Demon Lord.”

“!!!”

It wasn’t just anyone, it was the Saint who had put her name on the line.

Who is the Saint? The most sacred woman in the world, the one chosen by the one and only god, Iguogwodon.

To the religious, she was practically a walking embodiment of the divine, and to the general public, she was known as the benevolent figure who freely distributed that precious chicken dish – a person, literally, loved by all.

So, it was no wonder that the murmuring crowd fell silent in an instant, just from her words.

The Demon Lord bowed, expressing gratitude to Erin, then –

Mouthed words towards the people looking at him.

“I imagine you all are pondering these questions. If a Demon Lord has appeared, why haven’t the demons launched an all-out war? Surely if the Demon Lord is near, shouldn’t you feel suppressed by demonic energy? Why is it that the Demon Lord is here in the form of a human, even a frail child at that? And-“

Just what nerve did he have to show his face here?

The crowd fell silent at the Demon Lord’s strong wording-

But she, seemingly unconcerned, slowly nodded her head and spoke.

“I believe there are other various questions that are timidly rising in your hearts, but-“

At that moment.

Over there, someone shouted in a voice so enraged it could have reached the Demon Lord himself.

From noble mtl dot com

“What nerve, you actually *know*! If you’re really the Demon Lord, how dare you even *think* of setting foot in the holy human capital!”

Just as the priests and Imperial Knights were about to move at the sudden outburst—

“It’s alright. Please, just wait and be still for now, everyone.”

Thanks to Erin’s restraint, the man could continue to speak.

This was a part the Demon Lord had requested be left for him beforehand.

“Our Ransfield family threw ourselves into battle at the front lines to defend the capital from the demons who followed you two hundred years ago! So many members of our family died then. Our ruined house still hasn’t recovered. Just the thought of the leader of those hated enemies showing his face again, I can feel my blood boiling! Finally, revenge! I thought, finally, I can avenge my ancestors!”

“…….”

“But what? You want to talk? Shut your mouth! I refuse to even say a single word to the likes of demons!”

Even after finishing his tirade, the man huffed and puffed, unable to calm his anger.

The Demon Lord, without answering, waited for the man to finish… before cautiously opening his mouth.

“Before I answer your words, there is something I must first do for all of you.”

The Demon Lord said this, and then, placed both hands on the dais and jumped.

“……Heave ho……! ……Heave… ho!”

*Hop, hop.*

“Why… why… isn’t it working? Eeiiit… Chaah…!”

*Hop, hop.*

The Demon Lord, hopping in place, caused the crowd to stir once more.

“……?”

“What’s going on?”

Just when they were wondering what kind of performance this was, someone spoke, cutting through the confusion.

“Could it be… she wants to get on the platform but it’s too high and she’s having trouble?”

“……!!!”

Ironically, those words reached the Demon Lord’s ears—and once again, her face flushed crimson like a carrot.

Just as her eyes began to waver again, Erin quickly approached the Demon Lord.

“My Lord, do you want to get on the platform?”

“Y-yes… If I stay here, they, I, can’t see… very well…”

“You should have said something earlier.”

“But, then, the impact of being able to talk to humans for once…”

“Alright, alright. Here. I’ll help you up. My Lord, could you stand beside me?”

The Demon Lord stretched both hands straight up toward the sky, just as Erin had instructed.

Erin placed her hands under the Demon Lord’s arms, then lifted her bodily and set her down on the dais.

―*Boop!*

Because of the sound amplification magic, even the *boop-boop* sound was amplified, carrying far and wide.

“……Ahem.”

Finally standing upon the dais, the Demon Lord—

Bowed her soul, on which the dignity of the demon race rested, toward the pitifully weak humans she could turn into ‘what they once were’ with a flick of her fingers.

“I, the Demon Lord, would like to sincerely apologize for all the sacrifices made by the humans, including what I have done to you. Though we too had our reasons, it is a fact that the previous Demon Lords terrorized you in cruel ways.”

“And countless numbers of my demon brethren have also been killed by your hands. Perhaps to you we were hideous and grotesque monsters… but to me, to us, they were precious comrades and family.”

“……!!”

“I, too, might be justified in holding grudges. But within the gruesome chain of bloodshed, haven’t we spent hundreds of years without even talking, only repeating a history of killing each other? I want to stop it now, if I can.”

“Therefore, I want to express my sincere apologies first. I know that my apologies, as a descendant, will not resolve anything… but I mean it.”

“…….”

A man who had been huffing and puffing was just about to reply, when another interrupted.

“Now, calm down. Isn’t she saying she’s that sorry? And haven’t your ancestors also killed countless demons when they were alive?”

“……”

He had killed countless demons—

That statement, just moments ago enough to send him into a rage, now held the man captive.

After all, his ancestor was a hero, recorded in the history books as having severed the heads of a hundred demons.

As they had killed his family, his ancestors—

That meant his ancestor had also killed *their* families.

“……”

The man, speechless and having calmed down to a degree—

The Demon Lord, having regained her composure, stepped down from the platform once more, assisted by Erin.

*Thump,* her feet touching the ground, and simultaneously—

She mentally reviewed the speech she had worked tirelessly on yesterday.

The speech prepared for this very day.

She’d revised its contents countless times to add even the slightest bit more persuasiveness. Thanks to it, she hadn’t slept a wink last night.

Of course, she was the Demon Lord. Sleep, for her, was more of a pastime than a necessity for replenishing energy.

However, that was before she’d taken human form— now, trapped in the body of a human child, she needed a certain amount of sleep.

So— not sleeping, and rewriting the speech, that was her version of trying hard.

She closed her eyes, organizing the core points once more.

If she were to sum it up, it would be like this:

—What we want is sunlight. For our survival, sunlight is an absolutely necessary element, and it’s for this that we’ve fought against you.

If the demonfolk come out, take their place on the land, and live together, it’s inevitable they’ll emit demonic energy.

Even though that demonic energy doesn’t directly cause significant harm to human bodies, the fact that that uneasy feeling is hard to accept is also true.

Even so, we are truly sorry, but— please, we would like for you to give us land.

Because of the dungeon’s location, perhaps we’ll have to push out a few of your villages that are already settled there.

Also, it’s true that nobody can guarantee what long-term side effects the pervasive demonic energy will have from the human perspective.

Nevertheless, in order to end this terrible history, wouldn’t you please grant us land—

‘….’

Even after rewriting it to the best of her ability, these demands, even to herself, were full of conditions that were unfavorable to the human side.

From the human point of view, they would lose land, and their lives would be threatened by demonic energy, an unpleasant energy for them.

For them, the best solution was— as it had been up till now, to simply get rid of the demonfolk neatly.

To eliminate the demon king, and seal them deep within the dungeon. That was the most efficient method.

That’s why, above all, this speech was crucial.

Whether it was a whim of the gods, or if the gods truly took pity even on the demon race – this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

If we fail to gain human cooperation here, our brethren will only be born and die in dungeons again, groaning in pain.

‘The most important thing is to garner sympathy. And, to state that our demon race will somehow take responsibility if it’s confirmed to have negative long-term effects… That’s about it.’

Not stopping the person who argued with her, and bowing in apology right before everyone’s eyes just now, that was her own way of performing to win their sympathy.

She hadn’t even imagined that jumping onto the platform wouldn’t be allowed, which caused her a moment of panic – but still, she thought, wouldn’t they be moved if even a Demon Lord apologized?

She could unfurl her wings if she wanted, but that would definitely result in her releasing demonic energy.

It wasn’t like she intended to rely solely on the sympathy of humans.

Given proper sunlight and demonic energy, demons can, on average, live much longer than humans.

Using that point, she intended to appeal that she could shoulder the responsibility sufficiently if such a situation arose later.

She had also compiled a list of areas where, due to physical limitations, demons could provide help that humans couldn’t. Humans need to get something out of this as well, or they wouldn’t be convinced, would they?

Everything was, to convince the humans and secure rightful territory for the demons—

‘…Now, it begins.’

The Demon Lord, to truly start her speech, opened her mouth.

No.

To be precise, I was about to open my mouth.

“What is it you want, Demon Lord?”

“……Huh?”

“I heard you had a proposition for us humans, so I figured there must be something you desire.”

At the words of the man who’d been silently observing the situation at the very front, voices began to rise from here and there.

“That’s right. Tell us what it is, Demon Lord!”

I looked at Erin, momentarily flustered.

“……”

She was just smiling silently, making no move to stop them.

She’d said she would handle things if there was a problem… so I guess this isn’t a problem then?

“Uh… well, uh… we, we need sunlight.”

“Sunlight?”

“That’s right. Demons can’t live without sunlight, you see.”

The man who heard those words-

Spoke as if he was just throwing out a random, unimportant fact.

“Then why don’t you just come out and live outside?”

“……What?”

“Listening to what the Demon Lord said, it doesn’t seem like all demons have this instinct to rip humans to shreds the moment they see them, like the rumors say, so I was thinking, why not just come out and bask in the sunlight?”

“No, that’s… you don’t understand, but we demons, when we stay on the earth, naturally emit this thing called ‘magi’ and-“

Unlike the Demon Lord, who seemed flustered—

The humans, on the contrary, replied as if it were no big deal.

“Surely there won’t be a problem, right? Talking with the Demon Lord, according to the Saintess, is all God’s will anyway.”

“If it’s a matter of fact from Lee Gweo Gweo Deon, then it must be so.”

“Anyone have any objections?”

“I’m for it. Seeing the Demon Lord in person, he’s not scary at all, he’s kinda cute, actually?”

“……What?”

“I’m a little worried though…”

“Hey. You’re still just a kid. You’re a grown-up acting so immature… Let’s just do as they say.”

“It’s so nice to see someone so young working so hard.”

“No, this body isn’t that of a child, it’s just that the body I currently have is young―”

“If you need sunlight, then just come out and live outside, Demon Lord!”

“As long as you don’t swing weapons at us or anything, we could probably spare you some land.”

“There aren’t many people around the dungeon anyway. The land’s not great, so farming doesn’t do too well.”

“Saintess! Please tell His Imperial Majesty. We folks in the capital don’t mind the demons living among us.”

“……Huh?”

No…

They’re just going to give me land and tell me to get along?

They’re the ones losing out, and this is how easily it’s resolved?

Honestly, it was absurd, but… a feeling much stronger than absurdity was taking over the Demon Lord’s emotions: astonishment.

“Why…?”

“Pardon?”

“No, I mean, don’t you hate demons? And, the land we live on will become difficult for you to even approach due to the demonic energy…”

“That was true two hundred years ago, but those people are all dead now.”

“We killed a lot of demons, too, you know.”

“That’s true, but… how can you so simply… without even hearing my whole story, on this major issue where it’s clear you all are losing out—”

“Ego-God-nim said it! To gladly serve a plate of facts to the non-believers.”

“……!!”

So… because it’s God’s will… you’re saying you’ll just follow it?

“Since I’m a demon, maybe even the Demon Lord is a non-believer? We’re just giving a plate of facts, that’s all.”

“When you think about it, unconditionally rejecting demons is just a rule set by old people, isn’t it? Let’s push that aside and make new rules!”

For a moment, the response left me speechless, making my diligently prepared speech feel pointless—

For some reason.

“……uuu…….”

The Demon Lord, without realizing it, could feel her body trembling.

Was it the feeling of emptiness because it ended so easily?

Or was it because in her weak human body, a weak human heart was also seeping in?

Or was this feeling itself part of God’s ‘plain facts’?

Tears streamed from her eyes…

“Thank you….”

She said, and then wiped her tears with her sleeve, which was folded back due to her short arms.

“Seriously… thank you…”

“No, but… Your Majesty is crying! What do we do?”

“Please don’t cry, Your Majesty. See, I told the priests we should have moved the scary-looking ones to the back…”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Uh… Your Majesty. It’s okay. I’ll buy you some snacks, so please don’t cry.”

The Demon Lord, unable to even properly respond to their words, wailed for quite a while in front of the platform before being carried back to the cathedral on Erin’s back.

—The facts the Demon Lord knew, and the facts she never knew.

What she knew was, as the God had said—

[Egwogweodon: And honestly, these kinds of problems are usually solved by something really simple, you know?]

[Egwogweodon: Communication, I mean]

That many things resolved surprisingly quickly just by talking about them.

That there really existed things that, when laid bare, were utterly insignificant.

And what she didn’t know was—

[Egwogweodon: I’m going to change the Demon Lord’s appearance to one that has immense persuasive power over humans]

—Humans, when faced with something cute, are instinctively weak, unable to help but display it, and are incredibly simple creatures-

And she, now, was an existence that embodied the word ‘cute’ – “Demon Lord-chan.”