Volume 8 - CH 1.2

“… At least, I never thought of myself as such a leader.”

“yes?”

Despite my firm answer, Rurumu hangs back.

“Somewhere in your heart, you also think that you might be a demon king, so won’t you come to the demon territory with us?”

“No, you know…”

I answered in amazement at Rurumu’s words.

“Isn’t that because you guys asked me so much?”

Specifically, Rurumu, Amiyu, Ifa, and Mabel.

Rurumu, who believes I’m the Demon King, didn’t listen to me, and Amiyu and the others insisted that they would follow me because they couldn’t leave such small children alone.

So I had no choice but to go out of my way to buy an extra carriage and accompany them all the way to Rurumu’s hometown.

However, Rurumu still says.

“But you could have refused.”

“It’s unbearable for mere kindness to be pointed out like that.”

“…”

I hesitated a little and added to Rurumu who was silent.

“Well… I can’t completely deny it, maybe.”

“…”

“Anyway, it’s just after I was born. I have no memory of that time, so in the end I can only talk about speculation.”

“…”

“Although the impression that it’s an absurd story doesn’t change.”

“…I don’t think so.”

After Rurumu said that, she kept her mouth shut.

I am also silent as I ponder.

What I told her was actually a lie.

I don’t think it’s absurd to say that I am the Demon Lord.

On the contrary, if that’s the case, there’s one thing I can understand.

I’m talking about this reincarnation.

I came to this world after failing to reincarnate in the same world that I originally expected.

Since then, I’ve tried to recall the contents of the spell several times, but I can only think of one cause.

I couldn’t find a body that could reproduce the structure of my soul in the future of that world.

I don’t think so, but it’s not unthinkable.

Compared to ancient times when descendants of gods lived, humans in my time were much weaker. As far as reading the literature, it seems that there were once more magicians than me. So if the times continue like this and humans become even weaker, it wouldn’t be surprising if people like me who were good at magic weren’t born.

Then what is this body that meets the conditions in another world?

The humans in this world seem to be even weaker than those in the original world.  There are very few people here who can defeat dragons, such as the warrior who conquered Emishi several hundred years ago, or the great Onmyoji who was the father of onmyoji arts even in literature.

Except for the Hero and the Demon King.

It’s hard to imagine that a single aristocratic family with nothing to write about would give birth to someone who satisfies the conditions.

Heroes exist separately.

Then, isn’t this body belonging to the Demon King?

As Rurumu said, we have all kinds of circumstantial evidence.

There are parts of it that are hard to believe, but there is no evidence to deny it.

So for now… it might be better to think of myself as the Demon King.

“…”

However, it was the most inconvenient story for me.

I wanted to live as far away from people in power as possible, but… being a demon lord it is no longer acceptable.

If I do poorly, I could get involved in more political disputes than in my previous life.

But… in the first place, it may have been too convenient for me to wish for my reincarnated body to be a normal human with no special elements.

I had that much power in my previous life.

I’m sure it would have been impossible for me to reincarnate as someone like that.

I have no choice but to accept it.

I need to make up my mind and throw myself into the speculation that surrounds me.

That’s why I decided to accompany them to Rurumu’s hometown.

Even if i refuse, the problem won’t be solved. On the contrary, it may become even more important, and the demons may come to visit me.

It would be the worst if a dispute arises. If the imperial court finds out that I am the Demon King, things will get out of hand.

That’s why I thought it would be better to go to the demon territory at this time.

At least, I won’t have to worry about them coming to the empire and causing trouble.

Besides… I didn’t know much about demons.

All the demons I’ve met so far are enemies, except Rurumu and others, and I’ve buried them without even exchanging a word.

The literature only mentions their appearance and abilities, and almost nothing about their culture and customs.

That’s why I wanted to know.

Maybe we can improve the situation by talking with them

“…haa”

However… I can’t help but feel disappointed.

A lot of my plans for this life have failed.

I didn’t expect that the demon lord, who was the opposite of the hero, was me. 

It seems silly that I was thinking about where the Demon King was and what he was doing until recently. Coming here makes me laugh.

I wonder what I should have done.

It was a kind of inevitability that I was born as a demon lord, and it was just a coincidence that I met Rurumu. It’s not that I made a bad choice.

If I had to say, it could be said that the reason I rescued Amiyu from the imperial castle a year ago and left the academy was the underlying cause, but… thinking about it again, I had no other choice.

If I could live like that, I would have ignored the disciples who were being held hostage at that time, lightly dismissed that child’s attack, and would have thrown everything away and fled somewhere else.

And when I thought about it, Rurumu and the others knew the name of Lamprog.

So, in the end, the demons searching for the Demon King have found their way to me…

I even thought

Then I suddenly realized.

“Oh, come to think of it.”

“…? What’s wrong, Seika?”

I ask Rurumu, who frowns.

“You knew the name of Lamprog, didn’t you? Why didn’t you visit my house from the beginning?”

“…I’ve searched the Lamprog house many times. But no house has a child like you.”

“No, it shouldn’t be like that… hmm? In any house…?”

To me who tilted my head, Rurumu continued with a somewhat sullen look.

“At first, I wonder if it was the Lamprog family, who were imperial legislators. I visited and asked the people there, but I never met you. Can you tell me? Where the hell have you been?”

“…Could you tell me the name of the head of the house that you visited?”

“Well, was it Gaston Lamprog first? Next is Petrus Lamprog, next is Bernard Lamprog…”

I held my head in my hands and said.

“They are all relatives…”

The Lamprog family traditionally lets the brothers choose different paths.

That’s why there were people with the name Lamprog all over the empire, and among them, there were branch families that were more successful than the main family.

“That’s why I didn’t understand why I made a mistake…”

“I was in the head family.”

“I didn’t know.

Rurumu grumbled sullenly.

Well, putting aside the complication of being in a noble family… it seems that Rurumu once gave up on chasing the Demon King with the name of Lamprog.

However, this is how she met me.

I thought that the existence of destiny was impossible, but since i was reincarnated, it seems that i have continued to have a series of strange coincidences.

As expected, my theory seems to be shaken.