Book 8: Chapter 15

「I see… So you were one of the past Demon King Army’s generals.」

「Don’t make it sound so bland. I was his most beloved subordinate, you know?」

They were in Vermudol’s office in the Demon King Castle. Lately, this room had become a place for granting an audience with Vermudol, and he was listening to what Lulugal had to say.

Facing each other at the table supplied specifically for visitors was Vermudol and Lulugal, but sitting next to Lulugal was the exhausted Lumon, the commander of the Lulugal Forest Stationed Unit… He still managed to keep a smile on his face, however.

Anyone would feel a little jealous seeing the beautiful Lulugal embracing his arm and snuggling close to him.

But for some reason, Vermudol didn’t feel jealous at all.

Perhaps it was because the exhausted expression on Lumon’s face told the whole story.

「I see, most beloved, huh?」

If she was at the past Demon King Gramfia’s side, then he might be able to learn some information that could solve the mysteries surrounding the Hero Ryuuya.

As Vermudol thought about this, Lulugal began to make an energetic face as if she just remembered something.

「Even now I can still remember, he was such a shy person. He would always say things like how my love was too heavy.」

「But I… I knew what was going on. You’d think he’d have it after having about two or three wives, but that person did not know true love… That’s why he was scared to receive my genuine love for him. That’s why he called it “heavy”. That’s why I…」

「Okay, hold on. Just tell me what happened. Why were you in the Lulugal Forest?」

Seeing Vermudol rub his forehead as if he was getting a headache, Lulugal responded with an annoyed tone.

「Because of love.」

「I don’t understand. I’m not proud of this, but I’m not familiar with concepts such as love. Please explain while refraining from using those kinds of words.」

「…I see.」

Lulugal face turned serious and began staring at Vermudol.

Seeing Vermudol adjust his seating upon seeing Lulugal’s serious eyes, Lulugal smiled

「Since we Mazoku have long lives, we do not have much attachment to the idea of leaving children behind… in other words, reproduction. This is mainly because the Demon King has the ability to create more brethren, and there is little concern over the need to preserve the existence of a race…」

「Please make it short.」

「I took refuge before the Demon King Castle was dyed red with the blood of the trash who called themselves wives, and made a love nest.」

「…I see.」

「This really isn’t going to work,」 thought Vermudol. No matter how you looked at it, the words 「love was too heavy」 meant exactly how they sounded. There was a serious problem with the woman’s personality.

But there was no doubt that she had once personally faced against the Hero.

「How about we change the subject. You said that you’ve faced against the Hero before. I’d like to hear the details of that event.」

「The details of that event?」

「That’s right. The hero, Gramfia… as of now, I don’t have nearly enough information.」

Lulugal made a suspicious face upon hearing those words.

「I don’t mind, but couldn’t you ask any other survivor from that era?」

「…There are hardly any survivors left that were close to Gramfia. Arum is the only one I can think of… but it seemed that she doesn’t have many memories about that.」

Arum was an Amoeba that was once an officer of the past Demon King, but after reviving so many times over the years, she’s steadily lost her memories over time. Vermudol heard of stories like that before.

「Oh, then are the current officers are all new Mazoku?」

Vermudol listed off the names of the Four Cardinal Generals in response to Lulugal’s question.

North General Altejio, Southern General Raktar, Eastern General Fainell, and Western General Sancreed.

Lulugal seemed to recognize Raktor and Fainell’s names.

「Putting the little girl aside, I’m surprised to hear that Raktar is one of your officers. I don’t know who the two are, but… Yes, I suppose there aren’t many that were close to that person.」

「That’s right. What I especially want to know is about Gramfia’s actions and the Hero. It is surmised that Gramfia’s actions were what drew the Hero here, but there’s just too little information.」

Lulugal nodded and sat on the sofa with her arms crossed.

Finally having been released, Lumon showed a relieved look on his face.

Lulugal didn’t notice this and continued to stare at the ceiling in silence.

「…You…」

After whispering something to herself, she returned her eyes to Vermudol.

Her eyes were more serious than they ever have been.

「Just what do you know about that person? Do not speak as if the only meaning of his actions meant nothing other than the cause of the Hero’s arrival..」

「Well, that’s why I’m asking you. There’s hardly anyone in this country that speaks of the past.」

「Unfortunately…」

Lulugal replied with an icy tone to Vermudol’s words.

「I was not involved in his decision-making procedures. That was Arum’s field.」

「…Is it a fact that he abducted humans and made them his slaves?」

「And just who said that?」

「It was written in books in mankind’s territory.」

Lulugal clicked her tongue upon hearing his words.

「What point is there in the “truth” from mankind’s point of view to a Demon King?」

「I understand the need to analyze the facts I encounter from multiple angles, but I have too little information to go off of.」

「Is that so? Then that’s fine. I’m glad we wouldn’t have to start arguing over the differences between the facts and the truth.」

That’s right, the facts aren’t necessarily the truth. The truth can be interpreted in different ways depending on the person, after all.

「First of all, what do you know about the first time the Mazoku learned of mankind’s existence?」

「Altejio was the first to discover that after he found Margaret.」

「…Oh, so that’s the name of that guy who picked up that blacksmith. Well, no matter. That was the first time Mazoku learned of mankind’s existence. But even before that, there was a time when we discovered there was something out there that was not Mazoku.」

Lulugal began talking about the past.

The first member of mankind to wash up onto the Dark Continent’s shores was indeed Margaret.

However, there was something else that washed up even before that.

It all started with a single rusted sword.

A Mazoku happened to catch sight of it stuck onto a piece of driftwood.

The clearly manufactured sword was brought to the Demon King Castle, to which Gramfia showed immense interest.

The concept of weapons had already existed in the Dark Continent at the time, but it was not something that was all that embraced.

Due to their high physical prowess and magical ability, the Mazoku did not need weapons. At the very most, it was recognized that Goblins or Beastia would create weapons to compensate for their own weaknesses.

But the sword that washed up was different. Although it might not have particularly enhanced the user’s abilities, it was excessively adorned with numerous decorations, and it was thought that the blade must have been quite beautiful in the past.

Ever since then, various strange objects such as pots or boxes would start washing up.

Those washed up objects stimulated some of the Mazoku, causing them to create similar things and slowly begin spreading them across the Dark Continent.

Putting aside the Goblins and Beastia, there were a few quirky Mazoku that would make it their life to collect these objects.

A change began to occur in the Mazoku who had always prioritized what was the most practical.

The same thing happened to the Demon King Gramfia, and he felt that the change was a good thing.

Gramfia began thinking.

He knew that mankind existed past the Sea of Farthest Ends.

He also understood that his underlings had begun creating a culture surrounding the creation of unique objects using crafty handiwork.

The Dark Continent had experienced such a large change from the arrival of just a single member of mankind. Not only were they making weapons, but the creation and usage of various tools were also beginning to change as well.

If just a single member of mankind could cause this must change, then how about if there was one or two more?

It was fine to wait for another one to wash up, but they might as well go and meet one themselves.

That was why Gramfia made an order to Arum.

He ordered that members of mankind with knowledge of culture and technology that the Mazoku did not have were to be brought to him.

The command was then passed down to Arum’s subordinates, and they swore to bring members of mankind to the Demon King using whatever means possible.

Many Mazoku failed to grasp where the unknown territory of mankind might be and ended up falling in the Sea of Farthest Ends after failing their Transfer.

But some of them did manage to make their way to mankind’s territory and began doing everything they could to bring people back with them to the Dark Continent.

One such Mazoku brought more jewels than he could hold in his hands to a certain furniture craftsman.

After claiming that he would hand over all these jewels if that craftsman were to come with the Mazoku back to the Dark Continent, his daughter declared on her own that she would do so in his place. So after leaving a mountain of jewels, the craftsman’s daughter disappeared with the Mazoku via Transfer Magic.

After lamenting over the fact that he had sold his daughter to the country of darkness, the craftsman and his family moved out of the country they were so familiar with as if they were running away.

Another Mazoku appeared in front of a tailor, whispering that he would grant any wish of his if he came to the Dark Continent.

The tailor wished for the death of the man who stole his lover, to which the Mazoku granted by turning that man into a lump of meat.

Having seen her husband murdered right before her eyes, the tailor’s ex-lover went insane, but the suspected culprit that was the tailor had suddenly completely disappeared from the town, and people made rumors that he was spirited away.

And then another Mazoku abducted a potter that was running away in fear. Many other cases like this occurred where members of mankind were taken away against their wishes, but Gramfia knew nothing of it.

At the time, mankind had no way of knowing about the Dark Continent or Gramfia.

The members of mankind that arrived at the Dark Continent passed on their technology to the Mazoku as per the deal.

Some of the Mazoku took this technology to heart and created all matters of things that ended up spreading across the Dark Continent.

As the Majin’s culture grew more diverse, Mazoku that built dungeons began to appear. Fascinated with the ranks in mankind’s territory such as lords and royalty, some Mazoku would accept the Demon King’s status above ground while at the same time enjoying themselves by creating their own castles below ground.

Mazoku interested in developing combat techniques that revolved around using weapons also began appearing.

A prime example would be Beldia, who was a close attendant to the Demon King Gramfia at the time.

Entranced by the self-taught spear technique she utilized, culture revolving weapons rapidly began expanding.

As magic technique development began to evolve, this was also the time when Fainell first awakened as a Magic Fist user.

Despite the wide acceptance of mankind’s culture, the concept of towns was the one thing that didn’t seem to catch on.

This was mainly because the Mazoku had strong individualism and enjoyed fighting each other with their newfound power. Excluding craftsmen, pretty much everyone they encountered would be treated as a rival. You could say their hearts were not wide enough to accept the idea of living together in harmony at the time.

But Gramfia had no intention of sticking to the concept of towns.

Even without towns, everyone was living comfortably, and he had heard that the members of mankind that had moved here had no complaints about their lives alongside the Mazoku that were assigned to them.

Gramfia felt that things were going just fine. However, that peace of mind of his eventually ended up getting broken by a single report.

「…The Hero’s invasion?」

「That’s right. The Hero and his companions came flying here from the west on a mysterious dragon while murdering everyone on his way.」

The fierce battle against the Hero’s tremendous power occurred all over the Dark Continent.

Any resistance made was futile as the Demon King’s armies fell down one by one against the assaults of the Hero’s band.

Even the Lulugal, who had practically secluded herself from the rest of the world within the Lulugal Forest, was asked by the Demon King Army to fight against the Hero’s invasion… and died.

Right before dying, she unconsciously left behind one of her seeds and fell asleep awaiting her revival.

「He held tremendous power. His comrades did as well, but the Hero was on a completely different level… He was a monster. It was as if each time he was pushed into a corner, he would grow even stronger… Those kinds of illusions are still a clear memory for me.」

「Maybe it wasn’t an illusion.」

「You jest. If being driven to a corner would make you or I stronger, then I would throw my body into the Sea of Farthest Ends again and again. Or I could even have myself enveloped in Raktor’s breath. But we all know that wouldn’t make us stronger, and that’s why we train ourselves, yes?」

「…Yes, I suppose so.」

Growing stronger when faced with a pinch. Mankind’s Hero Legend had numerous developments such as that, but if such a thing could make you stronger, then no one would struggle so much. The most that could happen would be that one would use all the remaining power they had in the most optimal way possible upon sensing that their death was near.

But did that really apply to the Hero?

The Hero existed for the sole purpose of taking down the Demon King.

Sancreed hasn’t exactly been in such moments of crisis yet, so it was hard to say for sure, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he had an ability specifically meant for combating a Demon King’s strength.

Furthermore, the concept of growing stronger with each defeated enemy definitely seems like an ability that a Hero would have.

「…In either case, that’s everything I know. Do you still believe that the fault lies in that person?」

「……」

Judging from everything spoken just now, aside from a few bits, Gramfia had done nothing wrong.

Other than the abductions that had taken place, the interactions between the Mazoku and mankind were a fair and proper deal.

There was also the possibility that the God of Life Philia caught attention to the deaths of mankind that were caused by the deals made with the Mazoku… upon which she deemed that the Mazoku were to be annihilated.

Perhaps the Demon King Shuklous who was created as the scapegoat for the 「source of all evil」 alone wasn’t enough to reunite mankind in peace at the time.

Or it could be that the abductions were the cause of Gramfia’s destruction?

Even then, things still don’t add up.

Even if any of those reasons might have been the cause for Gramfia’s destruction, none of them were applicable to Vermudol.

He was operating to remove mankind’s distrust and fear of the Mazoku, creating a country, and stressed the importance of maintaining peace in mankind’s territory whenever dealing with them.

While he might not be pure good, he definitely wasn’t evil that was meant to be purged.

Then that would mean that the God of Life Philia had a different reason for needing to destroy the Demon King.

That would be the easiest way to think of it.

Just what reason did the prepared 「Demon Kings」 such as Ykslass and other beings supported by Philia have to destroy Vermudol?

「…Current Demon King-sama?」

「Hmm? Oh… right. I admit that it was different from what I originally assumed.」

Lulugal made a face as if she did not quite accept Vermudol’s answer and then began embracing Lumon without saying a word.

「…Putting that aside, what reason did you have for doing what you did? I thought you loved Gramfia?」

「Hmm… It’s a bit hard to explain. Just think of it as that my love is now being sent to Lumon over here.」

「I see. Well, your love life is no matter of mine.」

Lumon made an even more weary face upon seeing Vermudol nod. His smile was looking to be more and more forced, as it appeared he was reaching his limit.

「Well, Lumon is an excellent commander. Make sure you do not interfere with his work.」

「Oh? So you mean that you have no issue with me being assigned to be alongside him?」

Vermudol raised his eyebrows in response to those words.

「Hmm? So you want to join the Demon King Army?」

「And here I thought that that was your intention from the very beginning.」

「It’s true that it’d help out a lot if you joined. However, the leader of the Eastern Army is Fainell. If adding you to the army would disrupt the chain of command, then it would cause some problems.」

Technically speaking, the Demon King Army was under Vermudol’s command, but speaking more broadly, it was mostly the Four Cardinal Generals that managed it.

So basically it wouldn’t simply be a matter of joining Lumon in the Eastern Army, but essentially falling under the command of the person she just called a 「little girl」 earlier.

The most important thing in an army is order. No matter how strong someone might be, if they cannot follow instructions, they will disrupt the order, and consequently, become a weakness.

「There isn’t any problem. As long as Lumon is by my side, I have no qualms with accepting that little girl as my superior.」

「I see. Then I’ll speak to Fainell about this.」

「Eh…」

Vermudol nodded while ignoring Lumon’s discontent voice.

To be honest, handling Lulugal seemed like a lot of trouble. If she could simply be taken care of by putting her by Lumon’s side, that was an easy price to pay.

「Make sure you follow Lumon’s orders.」

「Why, of course. If he told me to strip right here, I would do so. However, in exchange, I’d like…」

「I’m not going to tell you to do that.」

As Lumon tried to act distant from Lulugal, Vermudol couldn’t help but feel a little pity for him. It was then that a knock could be heard on the office door.

At the same time, Ykslass came in with a plate with enough tea for 3 people.

「Sorry for keeping you waiting. Here’s your tea.」

「That sure took a while.」

「Those three pushed this chore onto me because they didn’t want to do it. They said they were too scared.」

After replying to Vermudol, Ykslass turned her eyes to Lulugal.

Lulugal responded with a smile seeping with madness, and Ykslass nodded with understanding.

「I see. She certainly is a strange one.」

「I’d say the same about you.」

「Oh, please excuse me.」

Looking at the smiling Ykslass, Lulugal then hit her hand with a fist with an 「Ahh!」

「There was this little girl in green peeking into this room earlier. Was that your wife? I must say, I did not expect you to have those kinds of tastes. Well, it’s not my place to judge.」

「Oh, is that true?」

In response to Ykslass’s teasing, Vermudol let out a large sigh.

「…Just so you know, I’d rather you not spread any unnecessary rumors.」

Vermudol spoke those words as he looked up at the ceiling.