Book 2: Chapter 3

Hero Ryuuya.

Borrowing the power of the Goddess of Light, he was the Hero that the Great Altlis Temple had summoned.

The black haired, black eyed Hero that was said to have come from another world that was not this one, together with a young Sylphid girl, went on a journey with the mission of subduing the Demon King Shuklous.

And then, after obtaining many companions, he destroyed Shuklous with a sacred sword that controlled the power of the Gods and prayers. Furthermore, when the Hero Ryuuya came to know of the existence of the Great Demon King Gramfia that lied dormant in the Dark Continent, he searched for a way to cross over to the Dark Continent together with his companions.

Before long, they got the Holy Dragon Exlet to obey, and after crossing over to the Dark Continent on that, they finally subdued Gramfia.

「……Wait a minute.」

As Shion was explaining, Nino interjected.

「What is it?」

「Dragons, they are Mazoku, aren’t they?」

「That’s right.」

Just as Nino said, Dragons were unmistakably Mazoku.

Sub-dragons and Flying dragons, and then firedrakes, and veil dragons[1]……There was no mistake that Gramfia had created these.

But, dragons known as a Holy Dragon were not among them.

「Also, there is one more thing. Going by the story just now, that Shuk-whatever knew of the Dark Continent?」

「It would seem that he did.」

That’s right, at the moment that Demon King Shuklous was defeated, he divulged the existence of the 「Great Demon King Gramfia」 and the Dark Continent and then perished.

There was probably some surprise for mankind’s side, but it was nothing strange. Behind one evil, there was an even greater evil, it was probably taken with that level of understanding. But when thinking of it from the common sense of Mazoku, there was clearly a problem.

For the Mazoku, there was a one and only Demon King. There existed no greater or lesser of it.

Naturally, that was the case for Gramfia as well. As a matter of fact, as far as the Mazoku of those times know, Gramfia had not even called himself something like the 「Great Demon King」.

And then, there was an even stranger point.

「Demon Kings……are able to create Mazoku but……」

「Yeah.」

「……There is also an exception that cannot be created.」

That’s right. If Shuklous were a genuine Demon King, starting with the Ogres, the existence of the Mazoku that appeared only in the Shutaia Continent could be explained. It meant that they were Mazoku that Shuklous had created.

But, however.

「Demon Kings……cannot create Demon Kings.」

That’s right, that was the exception. Those of the same race cannot be created.

That was the single exception to the Demon King’s power.

When Gramfia had come to learn of the existence of mankind and had started to send his subordinate Mazoku to the Shutaia Continent, Shuklous was already acting in the Shutaia Continent.

In other words, Shuklous couldn’t have been sent in by Gramfia.

Despite this, to the Hero that could use magic that could confirm one’s status, Shuklous was recognized as a Demon King.

In short, this indicated a certain fact.

「Shuklous was……a genuine Demon King.」

And then, Shuklous, for some sort of reason, grasped the existence of another Demon King, Gramfia, and the Dark Continent.

On top of that, he purported that Gramfia was a 「Great Demon King」.

As if to make it so that Gramfia were the root of all evil……

Naturally, Gramfia himself was unmistakably the enemy of mankind.

However, if one were to say that he was the root of all evil, that would be slightly wrong.

Besides, at present, there wasn’t any sort of point connecting Gramfia and Shuklous.

When looked at from mankind’s side, it’s a fact that they were connected. But from the Mazoku’s side, they couldn’t be connected.

「This is clearly strange. No……Shuklous’s existence, every part of it is strange.」

After thinking of it like that, the existence of the Alva were also strange.

The eerie Alva that appear through airspace transfer.

The mysterious Mazoku that are ambiguous even in inhabited places.

If those really are Mazoku, then just who in the world created them?

Did someone other than Shion──other than Demon King Vermudol form those?

「Wouldn’t that God of Life fellow be able to do it?」

「……Don’t be silly. What sort of gain could there be in something like that.」

Shion was surprised by Nino’s words.

Certainly, it was possible.

To sow a seed of life, it would be possible for the God of Life Philia.

But, in that case, there would be no reason to summon the Hero.

「……Let’s think about this matter at another time. As a matter of fact, there is another problem that seems like trouble.」

「Hーn」

After making a wry smile at Nino who had started rolling about on top of the bed, Shion took up a book that had 『A Report on Demi-Humans』 written on it.

「If I had to put it simply……Let’s see.」

It was there that Shion erased his expression, and made a face that said that he truly found it boring.

「At this rate, a war will happen. Also, it will be in between mankind……」

「How foolish.」

「Yeah, it is foolish. But it will happen. There are many fools that desire it.」

The Demi-Human Controversy.

That is a controversy that says that Demi-Humans are the same as Mazoku, and had started from the Demi-Human rejection argument that made them out to be creatures that were originally separated from the origins of mankind.

The ones that mainly support the Demi-Human rejection are the scholars of the St. Altlis Kingdom which has faith in the God of Life Philia. They are fanatic believers that worship the creed of the Great Altlis Temple which ranks the God of Life Philia as the supreme God.

The ones that they first made into targets of criticism was the Jiol Forest Kingdom where many of the Sylphid race who had long lives had lived. They said that the trait of long life itself was contrary to the God of Life Philia’s will.

Of course, believing something like that to be an irrational argument, many of the Sylphids were angered.

In the form of taking advantage of this, the Cylas Empire which had the Ore-man race known as Metalio as its core race, and the Canal Kingdom which was a mixed nation of various races expressed unsatisfied feelings for the St. Altlis Kingdom, and the Demi-Human rejection immediately developed into a huge controversy.

「So that, is why.」

Shion displayed a curious expression at the words Nino muttered.

However, noticing the meaning behind them, he did not press her about them.

It was because Shion himself had many ideas about it as well.

After all, there were extremely few Demi-Humans in this town.

「It is amazing how Luuty became the board chairman in a place like that, isn’t it?」

「Yeah, the rejection must have been difficult.」

That’s right, no matter how much the Demi-Human rejection argument was preached, there is no mistake that Luuty’s removal would be difficult.

After all, Luuty was the 「young Sylphid girl」 in the Hero legend.

Even within the book that Shion had bought, her name appeared many times.

「Well……That being said, it’s probably certain that she finds it difficult to stay there.」

Actually, if a war were to happen, there is no mistake that it would be a war between this St. Altlis Kingdom and the Jiol Forest Kingdom.

In that case, Luuty who was a Sylphid would also be unable to stay like this.

And then, no matter who wins, the strength of mankind’s territory would be greatly weakened.

「Mankind sure is foolish.」

「……It sure is.」

Nodding, Shion breathed a sigh.

Nino had noticed that a large tone of disappointment was mixed in with it but……she didn’t say anything.

No, it would be great if a war would hurry up and start, is was Nino was thinking.

At this rate, it would be great if Shion abandoned mankind.

Thinking of things like that, Nino buried her face into the futon so that her expression wouldn’t be seen by Shion.

Translator’s Notes:

[1] Not sure if I translated this one correctly. Original: 魔竜, read as: ベイルドラゴン

Volume 2, Chapter 4