CH 3

Encounter In The Forest

In the midst of the lush, dark forest, a beautiful girl with brown skin and white hair was surrounded by five men with horns that resembled a demon race.

The woman with a ponytail tied behind her back was wearing a black outfit that resembled a ninja outfit.

The men, on the other hand, were well equipped with leather protective gear of the highest quality.

But still, the appearance of demons is extremely rare. Considering that this is still human territory.

Regardless of sub-human race, it should be impossible for a demon to enter the human domain.

“Ha, ha, ha.”

The woman was leaning back against a tree as if she was wounded, and at her feet were the bodies of three of fellow demons who had been killed backstabbing.

Although the woman would definitely die from excessive bleeding if she continued like this, it looked like she wouldn’t be happy if she didn’t kill the men. It was clear that she had the moves of a skilled assassin, and it seemed that she was about to swoop out.

….Hmmm.

“Kill her immediately!!”

“Ugh!!!!!”

I jumped down and cut one of the men in two.

Taking The Seven Deadly Sins freely as a pre-breakfast exercise is the characteristic of the ancient demon king in the past.

“What?”

“Who are you, who are you!”

“How can that be! I couldn’t even detect your scent!”

The men distanced themselves from me and bent over their stance even deeper than earlier.

“Today’s mountain bandit savings are very rich …… Although I’m a little sorry for you guys, you seem to have some skills, so I’ll let you be my practice partner.”

I held my sword back in my hand and waited for them with an extremely natural posture.

However, they just stood still while sweat continued to ooze from their faces.

“——Don’t think about it anymore, let’s be more lively.”

“”””!””

Just after I had provoked them with this mishmash of quotes, the other side finally meant it too.

♢♢

Beautiful.

The dark-haired boy who floated down from my head as death was imminent silenced that assassination unit.

No, he was just playing.

While painting a beautiful miracle with the pitch-black blade that blended into the darkness, he was circling the assassination force.

He alternated maneuvering the sword between his forehand and backhand, easily defending the decapitation from the 4 men all together.

His movements that were as smooth and natural as if he could focus past the external perception, without a trace of excess, not only the sword technique, but also the physical technique that was revealed when his body made movements and moves between them, washed out to an unimaginable degree.

“Gah!”

“Guhoo!!!”

“Wait, wait, wait. …….!;”

Aptly starting a sword dance that gyrated like a dance, the assassination forces that had ravaged my village were constantly being cut down by the boy.

“Jyahahahahaha! … Oh!”

The boy who had been so engrossed in spinning around finally noticed that the last remaining survivor had begun to flee like a rabbit.

“Hey.”

“What…?!!”

He didn’t miss the assassin who quickly left the front lines, and threw his sword at a speed faster than arrow.

Whether it was himself or those guys, the difference between them is very far. Even the very act of comparing it to him seemed foolish.

“Guhoo!!”

If such a character with us, our village probably wouldn’t have had such a tragedy as being massacred.

Finally, unable to even maintain a standing posture, I could only rely on a tree to fall into a pool of my own blood.

The loss of too much blood made my vision dim, and my body’s intuition was draining away.

(Ah …… it seems that this is the end of me ……)

As the last survivor of the “Shadow Clan”, I have been desperately trying to live up to my mission.

However, ……

–Are you giving up?

(Give up is okay, I’ve tried hard enough to stay alive ……)

–Hoo. By the way, what would you want to become if you could be reborn?

(Reborn?)

–I’m a very arrogant man. That’s why I won’t hesitate to experiment with you, the poor thing who is going to accept death.

(Although I don’t quite understand, but ……)

—……

(This taboo white hair, I definitely don’t want. Although people in the village say they’re proud of it, I, —-, hate it the most.)

–Hoo-hoo. Although it seems like it has some kind of reason. But I like the argument of being true to your feelings.

(…… So there’s a god that’s like that too…)

—Oh, I’m not a God. I’m ……

–I’m Demon King.

♢♢♢

The sound of gurgling water could be heard, along with the sound of crackle and blast of the river.

“……”

Her vision gradually widened.

She pick up her body, which was lying there without any particular difficulty.

In front of her was a burning campfire, with a clear river flowing on the side.

After returning to consciousness for a time, she couldn’t help but feel a little dumbfounded by the view that was completely different from the one she had before she could no longer think and lost consciousness.

However, she slowly grasped the situation at hand.

I, it seems like I’m still alive.

Judging from the position of the moon, it hadn’t been too long ago, and from the fact that she was still alive, she could tell that the drama that had ravaged her had happened in reality.

“…… Eh?”

Forget the injuries caused by those chasers, even the old wounds from a long time ago have been completely healed …… Not only that, but she can feel that her strength has also increased dramatically compared to the self who was said to have reached the peak height of the clan.

“Have I really been reborn ……? …… what!?”

Then, finally, she was noticed.

The annoyingly white hair that had been on the edge of vision since birth had now turned into lustrous, brilliant black hair.

It was the same black hair as that boy’s.

It looked like she had truly gained a new life at the hands of that lord. Kageha had obtained sufficient evidence to support that conclusion.

“……”

Then, she noticed the bag at her side and checked its contents without warning.

Amongst them were rice balls made from white rice, which was rare in the human world, and the meat of animal that had been roasted with extravagant spices.

…… Tears couldn’t stop coming to her eyes.

In her chest, a blaze of emotion that seemed to reach some painful level spurted out.

She just didn’t think at all about the possibility of a beast approaching, and just let that passion vent and cried out indiscriminately.

What a merciful [Demon King] that was.

The ugly Demon King that Kageha knew was a fake.

Now she can make such an assertion.

That dark-haired lord, he was the real king.

Do you know the prophecies passes down by the Shadow Clan?

“When the original demon dies, the brave one who reappears will fight the greater demon.”

The mantra of his parents passed through Kaguya’s heart.

“Be the shadow of Hero”.

As a result, the whole clan had died out, and only she was left to fight for countless years. She was the only one who was stuck in this quagmire of constant fighting. During that time, not to mention Hero, no one who lent a helping hand appeared.

So hard.

So painful.

So sad.

No, it’s all over now.

Just this night, it was all over, to start over.

Herself, having died once, had been reborn again.

She made up her mind.

From now on —- I will become a『Shadow』that existed only for that lord.

♢♢♢

…… Crap, I’m hungry enough to cry ……

I hid myself atop a nearby tree and peered down at that bawling black-haired sister.

I’ve done a bad thing.

I didn’t want to waste the rice balls that fell to the ground, so I gave it away to her instead …… She was crying and eating it. ……

I’m sure she was angry because the foods were mixed with sand after that unfortunate incident. She was crying with a glint in her eye.

Sure enough, she couldn’t be fooled by just giving her some roast meat.

…… Well, I saved her and fed her, so I don’t think she’ll resent me for that.

I also helped her to strengthen her body structure, so there’s no need to worry, right?

I didn’t do any brainwashing because she didn’t look like a bad guy, but I was happy to be able to experiment on her hair color.

You could say we broke even.

Well, it’s about time to go. See you later, black-haired sister, good luck!