Chapter 12: A Demon Lord, it did Exist

Passing through the gate, what I first saw was people! People!! People!!! It was a huge sea of people. It seems like they made a huge plaza here since it’s crowded near the gates with people coming in and out. And since it’s assumed that the nobles and merchants will be riding in carriages, the three roads extending from the rotary are also considerably wide.

But what’s amazing isn’t just that. Most of the pedestrians are humans but if you look closely there’s cat-ears, dog-ears, rabbit-ears, elves, dwarfs, ah, there’s even a girl with wings too. It’s the world’s melting pot, kind of thing.

「Haha, Motsi, or rather, most of the Kingdom’s cities are all like this. People who come here for the first time are usually surprised.」 「Amazing. Really, for this many races to be here…」 「Even from a historical standpoint, the Kingdom had many demi-humans, you see.」

As he said so, Matt explained the details of the Kingdom’s founding. In the beginning, the place where the Kingdom is now was originally just a settlement of various demi-humans. But at one point, it seems like there was a massive monster outbreak coming from the western side of the Kingdom. The reason for the outbreak was confirmed to be due to the Demon Lord’s manifestation, and the settlements were to be overrun by the swarm of monsters. That time, one man gathered the twelve tribes skilled in Magic and succeeded in defeating the Demon Lord. And so the chiefs of the twelve tribes then became the Twelve Sages, and the man who gathered them became the Kingdom’s First King.

「Demon Lord, it did exist, huh…」 「Incidentally, although the Demon Lord was defeated, they were unable to completely destroy it, so it was sealed in the land where it first appeared.」 「Eh? Then doesn’t that mean that eventually, the Demon Lord’s going to revive?」 「Not at all. Nowadays, the Aureitas Royal Magecraft Academy was constructed on that land, and the current Twelve Sages are strictly monitoring it so that sort of thing won’t happen at all.」

That, won’t saying that jinx it? Hmm, I’m curious about the Twelve Sages’ strength too, but most of all, the Magecraft Academy. It’s a pretty exciting phrase, isn’t it? Going there eventually might be good too. Also, since there’s a Demon Lord, then there’s a Hero too right? Wait, doesn’t that make the First King the hero? Then that makes the Kingdom’s royalty descendants of the Hero, right? Well, that makes for a good fantasy too.

「Hm? Magecraft Academy? It’s not Magic Academy?」 「Yes, it’s Magecraft Academy. Magic is a lost art now, after all. There are Magic researchers, but there isn’t anyone who would teach Magic.」

What!? Up until now I was just casually using Magic. And he said that it’s already a lost art…. Rather, Magic and Magecraft are different, huh…. I want to ask what’s the difference, but I feel like asking more about it would be suspicious. So let’s not do that.

While I was still shocked by a lot of things, it seems like we’ve arrived at our destination. With a large door and a wide interior, and beyond the glass is a display window where the goods are arranged. The Breut Company’s main store seems obviously larger than the other stores nearby.

「Master, we have just arrived.」 「E-excuse us for intruding…」

Matt enters the shop with a brisk pace and behind him, I timidly follow. No, well, I mean, it’s a clothing store, you know!? Moreover, it’s for the ladies!! Though deeper inside there’s some for the gentlemen, most of them are really expensive, as a former male, it made me feel a bit overwhelmed.

「Then, how was it?」 「Not a single mistake. It seems Ludgar mistook Miss Lily as a new shop assistant.」 「Then there’s no problem at all.」 「Ludgar?」 「There’s an armored bear at the gates, right? He’s Ludgar.」

The one who answered my question was Arisa, who just arrived before us. It seems that they already have the certificate of request completion and will be going to the Adventurer’s Guild after this.

「Didn’t I tell you it’s fine to go ahead?」 「It’s fine. we did say that we’ll be guiding you, right?」 「That’s right. For us, you’re our savior. And we can’t leave our savior behind like that, right?」

It’s really embarrassing to be called that. Rather, you’re not going keep saying those kinds of things from now on, are you…? I should’ve le… No, that’s probably impossible for me. If it was the powerless me from before I died then it’s different, but right now I have this cheat-level power. Abandoning the people in front of me even though I have this power isn’t something that I would choose to do.

「Hmph~ You’re making that face again, Lily.」 「Mgh!! S-stop it!」

While I was pondering the meaning of life for some reason, Arisa’s poking my cheek. No, squeezing them? Was my face really that strange?

「Isn’t it fine not to think too much? Why is the one who saved us the one who’s most worried about troubling us? In reality, we really want to thank you a lot more, Lily.」 「Ummm… No, well…」 「That’s right, if not for you then Grey wouldn’t be alive right now.」 「Yeah, thanks to you, I can once again hold Lysha in my arms. You should be proud of it.」

They seem to be misunderstanding something, but the fact that they want to thank me is something I understand. Being thanked by people doesn’t really feel bad. Somehow, I felt like this was the moment that decided how I live my life in this world.

「I understand. Well then, I’ll be counting on you guys to guide me to the guild, m’kay?」 「Yup, leave it to us. We’ll do our best to put a good word for you.」

Saying goodbye to Mozes and his family, we left the Breut Company. Laughing together on our journey, my heart was exceedingly filled with warmth.