Volume 8 - CH 9

Volume 8, Chapter 8: I met a Hero, Part 3

The battle between the [Saint] of Sail and the [Hero] of Suzaku was being treated as a minor quarrel.

…Not. The majority of people around us showed their true thoughts on their faces, but for now, the thought of letting the enemy know that something like a civil war happened between the countries of the light as they united to fight the dark powers was unthinkable, and for the sake of morale this story was kept to.

It must be hard for adults… I couldn’t say because I’m a 12-year-old kid. While I might have thoughts about human resources… well it’s someone else’s job already.

The fallout from the damage done to the castle was taken out of my hands, and it was decided that both the Hero of Flame and Sail would pay compensation.

The reason nobody asked for me to take responsibility was that the King and Queen of this country, Lucell, defended me.

From the perspective of the great nation’s heroes, even if they’re just the Mayor of a town somewhere, do you have to act like the UN? If a nation joins in on acting against the forces of darkness and is an obvious victim, their opinion is mostly acceded to.

Do unto others as you would have done to you.

Between the violently acting Heroes and the “Weak” girls that had been chatting with the King and his wife like me, there really wasn’t much to think about.

It seems even sympathy can be used against people.

Well, I am a Demon after all.

“I mean really, who could think that a gentle girl like Yuru-chan would fight such a savage brute.”

“Mah, Your Majesty, I’m glad you believe me…”

Although I was originally a bit angry, I don’t mind anymore.

After all, I was able to skip the ‘welcome feast’ that they had prepared, so instead I’m eating alongside the King and Queen.

…What’s this? Isn’t this more luxurious than the original spread?

“This is all because the cooks worked themselves ragged for you, Princess.”

“I see…”

Did the chefs get caught up in the fight before?

At that time, they seemed so impressed and tearful at my defense, I feel like their feelings have been ‘delivered’ through this dish.

When eating alone with those heroes, with national pride, benefits to be gained, and nastiness abound, the mood was heart pounding. It truly is best to have a variety of delicious things.

Even for a Demon, a life is best spent eating delicious things.

During the meal, I was told the backstory of Minkichi, the Hero of Flame.

I it seems like everyone knows a little, so it might be the same as the information collected by Noa or Fannie, however, depending on their location at the time, the information coming in might be different. I have been intentionally limited in my knowledge of the [Heroes] in Sail, so although this was a small country… actually because it was a small country, they gathered information to counter the threats of the great countries, so the information given by the King of Lucell was quite pleasing.

It’s like this:

Her name is Minkichi, but it’s obviously not a real name, it’s not even like the relatively good name of ‘Byoji-kun’ name. It seems like what you might use as a pseudonym to sell yourself as a net idol. That’s the feel of it.

… It’s so painful to hear that I felt chest pains.

Although Kan-chan and her crew are jealous of women, they’re surprisingly tolerant to girls who leave them alone, however Minkichi seems to have created a potentially large number of enemies, as all men and all women that men like are enemies to her.

Since that’s the case, with what she’s done to herself, that’s almost everyone.

As a hero, you have considerable reputation, but even for a hero, is that allowed? It seems to be the case, as the royal family of Suzaku is bowing their heads my way and asking for forgiveness.

Unlike the Sail Kingdom, the royal family of Suzaku seems to have a sense of shame…

Why are the current heroes so bad?

I’ve not yet met the [Hero] who took over form Yuuki-kun, but from my understanding, they treat this world like a game according to what the good dungeon master told me, looting anything that catches their eye.

However, looking into the histories, there were many good people who had been summoned as heroes.

In short, after the dawn of the modern age, Heroes (Lol) like them came to be.

Good or Evil have nothing to do with the strength of one’s soul.

Speaking proportionately, the soul of a human will be stronger in one who is fully faithful to their desires.

The deep souls which demons love taking ‘Work’ for are, in a sense, people with strong souls.

This may be a side effect of the humans from that world having lost their natural enemy. Without ‘Darkness’ on earth, souls like their can reincarnate over and over without being eaten by demons…

Even the Heroes seem to accept this world immediately.

Well, it might not be natural to consider a summoning a kidnapping but considering it for even a little… it’s troublesome.

Even after getting a reason, I think the ‘strength’ is what the ‘Heroes’ actually care about.

So, what is the strength of a hero? … I think while eating buttered crab.

With the case of the [Hero of the Holy Kingdom], who happened to be my childhood friend from back home in Atra, the basic attributes are the accommodation of the power of light spirits, and combat ability is raised by using the power of greater and greater spirits.

It’s like how my ‘Yurushia’ body is optimized for demonic powers, I’m able to move power freely by optimizing my body with spiritual power, even to fortify the body itself.

That’s why even if you have the power of 10 greater demons in one place, it’s able to compare to an [Arch Demon]in pure combat power.

However, I don’t think that the Hero of the Holy Kingdom would be able to be on par with an Arch Demon.

It’s pitiful to compare them with Kyoji, who’s been a hero for more than 10 years, but I can still feel the difference in ‘strength’ between Atra’s hero and Tess’s Hero.

So, what’s the difference? I continue to think while eating a cut of sautéed salmon.

It’s not fighting strength, but [Power]. There’s also the existence of this world’s unique mysterious Hero Arts, born from the long history of relying on Heroes.

However, I think that that only has a meaning in that it makes battle more convenient.

The magic of the level up raises the hero’s power, and in the early stages you move from Cypress Pole to Iron Sword, but after leveling fully as a hero, would a difference of that degree matter?

The Minkichi party members are so strong that they couldn’t be compared to the other citizens.

The magic used by Kyoji, [Dragon Squall] is also fairly high-level magic that could rain down on large enemies if used normally.

Kan-chan also easily used powerful magic that a mage would dedicate decades to train, and also used game-like sword techniques.

I think that this world’s unique power… is [Skills].

Skills. It’s a useful thing to be able to use any skill quickly just by learning it.

A unique thing on this world held by neither Earth nor Atra.

I won’t deny the use of [Skills].

With some training, you would get the appropriate ‘skill,’ which is the case in any world. But oh, this carrot is a sweet one.

In this world alone, if you develop a skill, there’s almost no chance of failure.

For example, it’s should be impossible for the body to move freely just by acquiring skill in [Kenjutsu].

Even if you don’t use a measuring spoon for cooking, how about knowing the right amount to add only by hand?

Even if general skills are understandable, there are special skills such as Appraise, where even if you have no knowledge, they can understand the name and status of anything they see.

B-besides, aren’t I complaining too much about a lack of benefits as a Demon?

Yuuki-kun told me that these skills, along with the Hero’s Secret Arts were said to have been created in the past by ancient sorcerers by sacrificing their lives.

I can understand that. It’s superficially similar to defensive support magic.

I can be convinced that the special support of the Hero’s Secret Arts is that, but I can’t understand how the heroes can learn ordinary magic and weapon skills, and that ordinary people can gain them without any problems.

I can’t be convinced that there’s a system in this world where anyone can learn these skills.

To do that, there would need to be a system to manage the skills of the whole population.

No world is normally like that.

If that’s the case, after creating the Hero’s Secret Art, it would be strange that nothing like a supercomputer was made to manage it or something like a magical management system was created.

Of course, I don’t think it’s a god.

… Seriously, it doesn’t feel like I’ll be fighting something like [New God Tokyo].

“…Ah”

“Oh, what did you think of, Yuru-chan?”

“Nothing…”

Ah, a murderer’s soul was in this one.

I feel much better now…

Yeah, I’m fine. Northern potatoes really are delicious.

For the time being… In conclusion, it might be easier to deal with the skills than deal with the heroes.

Author’s Notes:

This time, lots of explanations.

Next time, we enter the front lines.

App’s Notes:

I’m on my own for this and the next month of chapters since Piro has finals. On the up-side, my work until July will be pretty tame, so I should be able to put out full chapters still. (Albeit occasionally a wee bit late).

I’m really liking the whole circle of life worldbuilding here, it makes the presence of demons pretty interesting to see what happens when they’re gone when they’re actually important.

I love the little implication that Yuru’s servants have been lacing the food through this whole inner monologue.