CH 69

(Ichiko POV for the whole chapter)

“Now, let us introduce ourselves to each other first. I am the master of the ‘Eternal Aurora Palace,’ the Demon King, ‘Polar Queen of the Eternal South’. You may call me Polar Queen.”

Before me sits a lovely, fair-skinned, doll-like girl donning a mystifying robe of feathers that shift hues with each passing moment. Her outer age is in her early teens with blue eyes and hair that continuously changes color, just like her robe of feathers. Since she is seated, it is unclear exactly how tall she is, but she is probably almost the same height as I am. And her chest… is certainly about the same size as mine.

…But if this is what it is like in your early teens, by the time I am the same age as you are now… no, let’s not even dwell on it. It makes me sad.

“My name is Ichiko, the half Demon King ‘Blade Princess of the Unsettled Sword’. Please call me… Ichiko.”

As I sit in front of the Polar Queen, I straighten my back and state my name.

“Thank you for inviting me to such a breathtaking dungeon.”

“Mmm. You may compliment me more. Though from a defensive point of view, I cannot permit you entry to my dungeon.”

The Polar Queen is looking satisfied with her smug expression.

“This is not the time to be arguing with each other about these things. You mentioned your name is Ichiko. I would like to know about your situation. And how did you end up in Antarctica? Let me hear the whole story thoroughly. In particular, I am inquisitive about ‘that voice’.”

“Yes, I understand. That is also the reason I have come to this dungeon to inform you.”

I initiate my story.

I told her that I was originally a kin of the “King of the Devouring Black Fog” and that I was headed to the continent by the order of the Fog King. And that I had battled with the Spicy King on the peninsula that was the entrance to the continent.

And then the God of Calamity emerged, killing the Spicy King and intending to turn me into a Demon King, whereupon I was saved by the Fog King, yet I changed into a half-Demon King, thus being transported to this place.

And at the end of my story, when I watch the Polar Queen’s face…

“(Blank.)”

Her eyes snap open and she comes to a complete halt.

“Uh, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine.”

“Then…”

“Mutterings (Even so, I can understand that ‘that voice’ was referred to as the God of Calamity by the Fog King, and it is certainly the right opponent to call her that. But you encountered the God of Calamity? Furthermore, the Fog King defied the God of Calamity and prevented you from becoming a full-fledged Demon King? And to top it all off, you were transported to the Antarctic by the God of Calamity and are unable to establish communication with the Fog King? What is this? I feel like all of these bombs carry an order of magnitude out of proportion…),” the Polar Queen is mumbling something in a language other than Japanese. Based on her appearance, I assumed that she was not from that country, but I guess I hit the mark.

Well, let’s wait until things settle down for a while.

“I apologize for earlier. Your story has shaken me up.”

“No, it’s fine.”

After about 30 minutes, the Polar Queen somehow returns to her sense.

“Now, I have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“‘How much do you remember’?”

The Polar Queen poses her question with a serious expression on her face as if she had never experienced something like this before.

“What do you mean by remember?

“Ichiko. That’s your name from the time you were a human being, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

“Then, do you remember your last name?”

My last name…? …!

“I don’t… know… Why…? A human of that country should possess a last name but…”

“It is likely the work of the God of Calamity. Even I do not recollect my own name from my early days as a human being. Moreover, given the location of Antarctica and my age, I had a guardian, so there should have been documents related to me, yet I could not discover any such thing.”

“You don’t mean to say that back then…?”

I was trapped in a space filled with darkness by the God of Calamity, and at that time, I remembered that feeling of myself disappearing from everyone else.

And what is truly terrifying is…

“What is truly frightening is that when an individual’s records and memories vanish from the world, if you don’t properly question and recall them in this way, you won’t even notice that they are absent.”

Yes, the truly frightening thing is the fact that you cannot even register that they are gone. If you don’t question it, if you don’t think it’s strange, you won’t even realize it’s not there.

I am once anew horrified by the feeling that I had.

“You are still fortunate. Since you can retain the name of your human identity, the likelihood is that your acquaintances still remember you. Whether their memories are complete or incomplete may not be known.”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Yes. Kurokiri and the Polar Queen are utterly deprived by the God of Calamity of their existence as human beings.

Compared to that, my predicament is still favorable.

Then, what I should do from now on is…

“Polar Queen. How do you regard the God of Calamity?”

“To put it succinctly, I hate her, and if it were possible, I’d like to defeat her with my own hands. Because of the God of Calamity, ‘I’[i] was stripped of my family and the fact that I once existed there. However, she is also an opponent that I cannot defeat by any means. In this remote place, I am not even able to accumulate enough strength…”

The Polar Queen’s flames of resentment flare-up in a grand manner. But soon after, the flames fizzle out.

“I see.”

But I feel that… her response is positive. If that’s the case…

“Then, I will vanquish the God of Calamity. Would you lend me your power to do so?”

“Lend you my power…? What do you mean specifically?”

The Polar Queen’s eyes are lit up again.

“In order for me to conquer the God of Calamity, I have to gain strength at any rate. So…”

“So?”

And I…

“Let me train here until I can master the power of the half Demon King. And if possible, help me cross to another continent.”

I request the Polar Queen for her assistance, to which she replies with a nod of the head.

T/N:

[i] The “I” that the Polar Queen used this time is the general 私 pronoun instead of her usual pronoun