Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu

Support us on Ko-Fi or Patreon to make this translation and the translators keep alive.
Thank you for your support FrankMagri and ZaneofBane

A Quiet Story The Greatest "Enemy" To Face


This time it will be a short story from Ciel's point of view.

——— seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———

　I was rescued by the Demon King-sama and was able to return to the Demon King's castle after several teleportations.
　To be honest, the fact that I was being held by the Demon King-sama made me tremble in a ratio of two parts excitement and eight parts fear.

"Get some rest, you must be tired, right?"

　As I was lowered into the hall of the castle, the Demon King gave me such words.
　I roll my eyes in surprise, thinking that I was supposed to be asked to tell what happened at the ruins as it was.

"Demon King-sama... is concerned about me...!?"
"What kind of a man do you think I am..."

　Demon King-sama, who let out a sigh that he usually never does, pressed his forehead as he sat down on his throne.
　Apparently, it is true that he was concerned about me.

"I will talk now. Honestly, if I take a rest, I'm afraid I'm going to forget about it."
"...I see "

　I'm so mentally exhausted that I want to go to sleep, but I think I should talk about it when I can.
　While sitting on a chair that had been prepared before I knew it, I talked about the events that happened at that ruins.
　About ruins.
　About the heroes.
　About the healing wizard Usato.
　About Kannagi, a beastfolk who was a hero's follower.
　I speak while retracing my own memories.

"I see, you have been watching the situation from a very interesting position."
"Honestly, I prepared for death many times. Many times."
"You don't have to say it twice."

　The important thing is that Koga-san did little to protect me.
　No, maybe he was really protecting me from a dangerous situation, but from my point of view, he was pretty useless.

"Kannagi was defeated by a healing wizard, which is another surprising ending."
"He's even more crazy than the rumors say. He combined with a dark magician, a beastfolk, and even a monster."
"... As I thought, you are tired. You can rest now."
"No, no, it’s true!"

　I received a very sympathetic look from him.
　When I tried my best to show that I was sane by waving my hands to the side, the Demon King-sama let out a chuckle.

"It's just a joke ... The assimilation of dark wizards as reported by Hannah and Koga. I never expected that a dark wizard, who rejects even her own kind, would accept not only human beings but also other races... After all, he is an interesting presence"
"Were you paying attention?"
"Because he's a type of human that doesn't exist in my time."

　Rather, I would be surprised if there has been anyone in the past who can do something as messed up as that.
　Although I am disheartened by the human being Usato, who has done so many messed up things that I can no longer express in words today, I have been thinking about something that has been on my mind until now ——— I decided to ask him about why he sent me to the ruins.

"Why did the Demon King-sama send me to those ruins?"
"I knew something was about to happen at the ruins. I thought I would send you to see what was going on."
"Eh..."
"I had considered the possibility that the heroes had entered the Demon King's territory to defeat me. It wasn't so strange that they were there."

　Then, I didn't need to go, right?
　I was glad that he came to my rescue as a result, but many times I was ready to die because of Demon King-sama's antics...

"However, a group of heroes, huh. This is the first time I've seen them with my own eyes, but they seem to be quite extraordinary."
"They came to harm Demon King-sama, right...?"
"Yeah, because there's no other reason to come."

　However, Demon King-sama seems to be very calm.
　Does he not see the heroes as a threat?

"Fear not, Ciel. I will take care of it so that you don't have to worry about it. The results were a little different from what I expected, but that is also within the margin of error."
"...Error?"
"It's about Kannagi."

　Is that the beastfolk who was fighting Usato?
　From Demon King-sama's point of view, is it fair to say that she was one of the few people who knew the Demon King before he was sealed?

"I never thought she was where I was sealed."
"She also had something called the Hero's Katana."
"Ah, that thing, huh."

　Demon King-sama put his hand on his forehead as if he was remembering something.

"During my final battle with the previous hero, he didn't bring a sword, which is a powerful weapon, but... It's quite a strange idea to use it to seal Kannagi."
"Eh, is that so? Then, how did the hero defeat Demon King-sama?"
"For someone who has fought on many battlefields and built mountains of corpses with his magic, he no longer needs any supporting equipment such as the hero's weapon."

　Does this mean that he chose to fight Demon King-sama after handing over his powerful weapon?
　My cheeks twitched at the previous hero's absurdness. 

"He fought me with only an iron sword he had picked up somewhere and his own magic———and in the end, he was victorious and sealed me away."
"H-He really was a monster."
"This generation's heroes also have the qualities, though. After ten years...... or even five years of experience and training at the same level as his predecessor, they will probably be good enough to rival his prowess. Good grief, it's utterly terrifying.”

　Demon King-sama's mouth twists into a smile as he says so.

"But I knew at first glance that their mentality was goodness itself. They did not harm you, a non-combatant, did they?"
"Y-Yes."

　Even from my point of view as a member of the demon king's army, the group of heroes was a good people.
　Usato, whom Koga-san had been talking about so much, was dangerous... But if you look at it partially, he was a dangerous person, but was also a good person for protecting me and Keira-chan.
　... From the beginning to the end, I was salty only to Koga-san, but it can't be helped in his case.
　In fact, he was kind enough to heal his wounds.

"Then there will be plenty of opportunity to take advantage of it."
"What do you intend to do?"
"Play tricks. Be cunning, like a Demon King."

　Demon King-sama makes a scornful laugh.
　Although Demon King-sama should have lost most of his power, his smiling face looked somewhat joyful.

——— seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———

Author's Notes:
This concludes Arc 10.
After introducing the characters, we will move on to Arc 11. (Note: I will skip it)

The theme of the next Arc will be "Choice''.