The World I Was Supporting Was Real - Chapter 69



69. Encounter

“Y-yes! It’s me, Demon Lord! You can recognize me…?”

“Well, there aren’t many guys who can approach while this body is concealing its presence.”

The Demon Lord moved closer to Ballus, who had become human.

*Squish squish squish.*

“It seems like you got caught up in my mess and became human too.”

“You’re saying you were swept up in something…? My Lord, do you perhaps have any idea what might have caused this?”

To Ballas, whose appearance and even speech had subtly changed, the Demon Lord explained the events so far.

“Good heavens… a god from a religion worshipped by humans came to see you, my Lord?”

“That’s right.”

Ballas, who had knelt down and was listening respectfully to the Demon Lord’s explanation, asked, hand on their chin as if in disbelief.

“Do you know why this god sought you out, my Lord?”

“It seems the god took a liking to this body, it would appear.”

“I see…”

“The god supported your conversation with humans, my Lord, and changed you into this human form to help with that… I think I understand the situation, roughly.”

“Yes. I lost consciousness briefly when I encountered the light, and when I woke up, I was like this. The light you saw may be the same as what I saw then, I’m guessing.”

“Your words seem to ring true, my Lord. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain why I would suddenly… become like this.”

Ballas slowly bowed their head, examining their body.

It was fortunate that this was inside a dark dungeon because the sight of someone who appeared to be a fully grown adult woman, kneeling naked, was an extremely avant-garde sight.

“Humans have oppressed us demons quite well with such fragile bodies, haven’t they?”

“Oppression is a bit much, more like we just couldn’t communicate with each other. More importantly… you should probably put something on.”

“Are you referring to that?”

“Yes. From now on, you’ll be living among humans, and they find being naked incredibly shameful.”

“……Understood. Actually… it’s terribly embarrassing to say, but I was quite ashamed myself. For some reason, there was this feeling, like I shouldn’t be like this…”

Just yesterday, I didn’t need to wear rags; I was a being revered by all demons as wise and enlightened.

But just by becoming human, it felt like my comportment and mindset shifted to match it.

The truth is, the reason I hid deep in the shadows until the Demon Lord returned was because I was afraid of my fellow demons seeing me like this.

Even if I were seen, I could just explain it and things would be resolved. Balus knew that to demons, seeing a human in the nude was no different than how humans view other animals—

‘…But I can’t help it, it’s still embarrassing.’

“Understood. I’ll prepare something you can quickly wear. And, we should call for our kin too.”

“Our kin…?”

“Yes.”

The Demon Lord grinned softly.

“It’s time for everyone to feel the sunlight.”

* * *

A little later, inside the largest cave within the dungeon.

Inside the dungeon, the demonkin, clinging to life with meager magic, were gathered and lined up in an orderly formation.

Barlus, his chest and lower body covered by roughly made scraps of dead animal hide, shouted loudly toward the demonkin.

“The Demon King will be arriving soon! Everyone, show proper respect!”

“Yes!”

The demonkin, at first they had questioned why Barlus, a high-ranking elite demon, and their noble Demon King, who was essentially their lord, had taken on the form of a weak human—

There was no need to explain it one by one.

The Demon King, the pinnacle and origin of the demonkin, possessed the ability to imprint his very thoughts directly onto the hearts of all demons.

And soon after—

*Peep, peep, peep, peep.*

This dark dungeon was filled with the sound of chicks.

“My lord, the Demon King!!!”

All of the demonkin in formation immediately knelt, expressing their reverence to their sole master.

“For us… to kneel before humans…!”

“My lord…! We are truly sorry that you have taken all the burden upon yourself…!!”

“It might be difficult to completely trust the humans, but if it is the word of our Demon King, we can believe it!!”

Cries mingled with unnerving howls, the kind that scraped against the human ear.

It would clearly take time for them to adjust. And the possibility that things might not work out at all could never be ruled out.

Even so— the Demon Lord’s will, that trying was better than not trying at all, resonated within all of the demon race.

The Demon Lord waited until all the demons had regained their composure, then cautiously parted their lips.

“Everyone, you’ve all heard the story, but I’ll say it one more time. Starting from the dungeon entrance, the marked areas are the demon territory guaranteed to us by the humans. This territory was won through an agreement with humans, so you must not establish yourselves beyond this zone. Understood?”

“”Yes! Understood!””

The Demon Lord tilted their chin slightly, then stretched out a short, chubby hand.

And then, with their tiny palm facing down— they spoke in a remarkably dignified tone.

“Very well. Now follow me. I shall return the sunlight to you all.”

*squish, squish, squish, squish.*

Along with the Demon Lord’s footsteps—

An unprecedentedly peaceful demon procession began.

Demons with faces that could curdle blood, moving in formation in step with a little girl’s footsteps—

This sight, indeed, was the very peace of our era.

* * *

And so, one by one, the demons emerged from the dungeon.

Except for the vanguard who had clashed with humans— for most of the demons, this was the very first time they had ever faced sunlight.

“This is… what sunlight is like, huh?”

“It’s warm…”

A few of the demons, overcome with emotion, knelt on the spot, tears streaming down their faces.

The comforting warmth that soaked their skin – this was sunlight. The very thing we’d yearned to take from the humans.

“This isn’t the time to be standing around! Let’s quickly build our homes!”

“This land over here looks like it can be cultivated enough, right?”

Inside the dungeon, it was just a cave, and they could just make do. But the demons, too, needed food and shelter from the wind and rain, same as anyone.

The demons, as one, worked like a well-oiled machine, rapidly constructing their village.

They’d spent a long time inside the cave, barely surviving by hunting and gathering things like animals and mushrooms, so their farming techniques might’ve been rusty, but-

“Don’t hesitate! Just do as the Demon Lord told us!”

The memories of the previous Demon Lord still contained all of the demon’s habits, and the current Demon Lord was able to shove this ‘mental image’ into the minds of all the demons, so it wasn’t a problem.

“Ballus. How are the situations in the other dungeons?”

Ballus, who had been standing beside the tiny Demon Lord like a secretary, bent down, looking at her, and spoke.

“It seems everyone’s outside, spending their time building settlements.”

“Indeed. It looks like we’ll inevitably start clashing with humans soon.”

“Isn’t the proclamation already known to the humans?”

“Unlike us demons, there’s often a difference in thinking between those who decide and those who must follow among humans, you see.”

“……”

What the Demon Lord worried about most – magic power.

She could feel it. Simply from starting to cultivate a place to live here, magic power, like what you’d feel in a dungeon, had already begun to bloom from the earth.

Magic power, granting us demons strength and magical power far surpassing that of humans, is it a blessing, or a curse?

Regardless, the die has been cast.

Now was the moment to face the humans.

And—

“Seeing that border stone you mentioned, Demon Lord, it seems this side is human territory.”

One of the demons, who had been inspecting land for farming, spoke just as he reached the vicinity of the border.

I was just thinking of showing as little hostility as possible when I encountered a human, when-

* * *

Thump- Thump-

“……Um? Are you there?”

* * *

“I’ll be back.”

“Jake. You haven’t forgotten the proclamation, have you? If you go too deep, demons will appear–“

“I know, boss. Don’t worry.”

From noble mtl dot com

A small inn in the village of Cherryside.

A boy, preparing to gather wood, headed into the forest.

Demons. He’d never actually faced one, but living near the dungeon meant he’d heard enough of the adults’ stories to be sick of them.

‘They said they look disgustingly hideous, and just being near them gives you a headache and makes your skin crawl.’

Some adults even claimed to have felt severe nausea, so a bit of fear did prick at him—

“No. His Imperial Majesty and the Saintess said it’s alright.”

The boy was also from a province ravaged by the plague.

In those days when the future seemed utterly bleak, he’d seen with his own two eyes Saintess Erin arrive in his village and perform all sorts of miracles while distributing aid.

Besides, since His Imperial Majesty connected with God through the Saintess, it seemed he’d been ruling with remarkable compassion.

Honestly, I don’t really get it, but weren’t those old folks, who always b*tched about high taxes, suddenly praising the Emperor, and weren’t those minstrels, singing for coin, chanting the virtues of the Ainsberg Imperial Family?

So, surely the demonkin wouldn’t be so bad either— that’s what I thought.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Thunk, thunk.

Axe in hand, I plunged deeper, hacking at the trees— the instant I did-

“……▣◈▷◀▲■?”

“……!!!”

That chillingly awful sound made me whip around-

And there, a figure I’d never seen before stood, stock-still.

Bones jutting out sharp along its spine, piercing through the skin.

That unsettling blue-tinged skin, like it wasn’t even from this world.

Just from seeing its back… the boy knew it instinctively.

A demonkin!

The demons, said to be so terrifying you’d be swallowed by fear just from looking— they were right in front of me!

“U, uwaaah!!!”

The boy landed with a thud, flat on his back.

He sat there, stunned by the impact, unable to even think about running.

Was it because of the loud noise he’d made? The demon slowly began to turn its head.

‘Ah, no…!’

No matter what the Saintess had said-

The horrifying form of the demon, felt even from its back, was far too overwhelming for a boy still in his teens.

The boy dropped his axe, covered his face with both hands, and cried out.

“P, please, spare me! I beg you…! I won’t come near this area…!”

“◀○▲◎■◀…….”

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, but-

the thought of being truly consumed by the monster made him muster his courage, and he barely managed to open a sliver of an eye to see what was happening.

And—

“S-spare m-me… please…?”

—Finally, the hideous demon’s front faced him.

Its face, which could terrify anyone just by its back, was… well-

“◀○▲◎※◎…… (●ó⌓ò●)”

“……Huh?”

―Certainly, just looking at its face, it had that monstrous, hideous feeling I’d heard about.

“◎※▼◎◀●…… (◕‿◕✿)”

For some reason… it felt cute.

Just as the boy, realizing it wasn’t as scary as he’d thought, was quickly regaining his composure—the demon reached out a hand and spoke.

“※▼◎▼◎…… ( ⸝⸝•ᴗ•⸝⸝ )੭⁾⁾”

“A handshake… you want to shake hands?”

“◎▼■◆ ( *•ᴗ•*)⸝”

The boy cautiously reached out his hand to the demon.

He grasped the slightly unsettling hand that had cold, damp, and unfamiliar skin…

Unbeknownst to the boy—

This was the first moment a normal civilian and a normal demon had ever held hands.

Was that why?

In the boy’s ear, having unknowingly taken his first step, a voice, incredibly benevolent, spoke.

A celestial voice, naturally warming the human heart—

! ! ! ✪‿✪ 80,000 Won Donation, Huzzah ✪‿✪ ! ! !

Erasing the unpleasantness humans felt and their fear of demons, making the humans they encountered naturally understand the demons’ true intentions—

That was the grace of god, the normalization of demonic energy.