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

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Chapter 264


　An unexpected conversation with the Demon King.
　We were originally supposed to fight the moment we met, but for some reason, he wanted to talk to me.
　I honestly don't know if it's a trap or if he really wants to talk to me.
　Or rather, I was just surprised that he called me by my name normally.
　He probably heard it from his commander or Ciel-san who was standing next to him, but it's really bad for my heart.

"Fumu. After all, you are not enslaving the dark wizard, are you."
"!?"
"You're the Black Knight, aren't you? I heard in the reports that you sided with the humans... I see, this is interesting."

　Demon King's gaze makes Ferrum's face turn pale.
　She looks at me and asks for help, but I can't help her because I am in the same position.
　Next, the Demon King looks at Nea, who is sitting in a chair with arrogance.

"And she's a necromancer... no, a vampire? If so, she must be the daughter of an eccentric couple who possessed the body of an evil dragon. That's quite unusual."
"Usato, help me."

　Is it only her attitude that's arrogant?
　I almost slumped my shoulders at Nea's weak voice, but then I turned my attention to Blurin, who was threatening the Demon King.

"Gruaa!"
"...Hou"

　Faced with the Demon King's pressure, Blurin lets out a cry.
　Blurin also seems to be pressured, but he is still braver than Nea and Ferrum, probably because he has been trained by Rose.
　Finally, the Demon King looks at me.

"You are the strangest being after all."
"I'm human."
"Kuku, that's an interesting thing to say."

　I didn't say anything funny at all.
　Rather, I said something serious.
　However, the Demon King laughed cheerfully and spoke to the maid standing nearby.

"Ciel, do you think that's a normal human being?"
"No, that's..."

　Ciel-san glances at me.
　Just as our eyes met, she lost her composure and slumped down on the spot.

"Hiih?!"

　I don't know why, but she's scared of me.
　Why? I have no recollection of this at all...! Why is this person so scared of me?!

"As expected of the infamous healing wizard. I never imagined that you have the art of imprinting mental scars on others through vision."
"Vision...?"

　What is he talking about?
　I don't understand what the Demon King is saying.

"Even to me, you are a mysterious being."

　The Demon King rested his chin on his folded hands and looked down at me.
　There was no hostility in his gaze, but rather curiosity towards me.

"You have a demon tribe, and at the same time a dark wizard as your companion. Why?"
"Do you need a reason?"
"Yes, I need a reason. To gain power? To understand us?"

　I haven't thought about it.
　There was no particular reason for making her my companion in the first place.
　Even though he said I gained power, it seems that I was able to assimilate after she joined our group, and without Ferrum's assimilation, I would still be punching and kicking as my weapon of choice. Eh, to understand the demon tribe? I don't think it's easy to understand the demons by understanding the extreme examples of Koga and Ferrum.
　Areh, what's the reason?
　Oh no, I really haven't thought about it at all...?

"Fumu, that's a face that says you're not thinking about anything. Are there people like that?"
"Hah?!"
"I see, so this is what they call unconscious goodness."

　The Demon King, seeing my expression, muttered as he put his hand to his chin.

"So, what is your opinion of the demons?"
"...They are people who live in a harsh land"
"I bet. That's how you would put it."

　It was probably the answer he had expected.
　The Demon King leaned back in his chair, looking bored.

"However, the majority of people other than you would answer 'enemy'."
"I guess so."

　No matter how many reasons they may have had, the demons were the ones who started the war.
　That fact will not disappear no matter what happens, and there is no way they can be forgiven.

"I guess you guys were summoned from a different time than the time when the previous hero was alive. Your lack of awareness in battle is evidence of it."
"..."
"In particular, when it comes to you, I even feel you have sympathy for the demons."

　That's right.
　I find myself feeling sympathy for the demons.
　But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop here.

"When the demons realized that the Demon King's territory was reaching its limits, did they have no choice but to fight?"
"...I never thought you'd ask me something so silly."

　Here, for the first time, the Demon King rolls his eyes in surprise.
　He sighed in exasperation and turned to me with a look of slight disappointment in his eyes.

"If the demons asked humans for help, do you think the humans on this continent would accept it?"
"..."
"Usato, don't ask me questions you already know the answer to."

　Yeah, I already know the reason why the demons couldn't do that.
　But I just couldn't resist asking.

"The reason why the demons had no choice but to rely on me was probably due in part to the conflict that I had caused with humans in the past. But there was another reason why they could not rely on humans."
"...Demi-human discrimination."
"That's right. Humans did not discriminate and ostracize demi-humans, but enslaved them. Even in these times."

　The most notable form of discrimination against demi-humans is the discrimination against beastfolk.
　Kiriha and the others live in a secluded area of  Lukvis.
　At Samarial, which we visited during our journey, Amako never took off the hood he was wearing.
　The place called Lingle Kingdom was a special one, but discrimination against demi-humans definitely did occur.

"Although things seem to be somewhat better now, there are still those who kidnap and treat demi-humans as slaves. There is no way that the demons would trust such people and honestly ask for their help. If they were not careful, they could even be treated as slaves."
"But why did you attack the Kingdom of Lingle first? There was still hope there."
"Ah, indeed, in the Lingle Kingdom, there would be almost no discrimination against demi-humans. It is also something that I grasped immediately after I woke up in this era."

　When he hears the name “Lingle Kingdom,” the Demon King seems to be nostalgic about something.
　If it was before the Demon King awoke, does that mean it was the Lingle Kingdom a few hundred years ago?

"Even before I was sealed, that country was ruled by a carefree king in human form. Even I had a hard time understanding what and why such a country survived in the age of war."
"...C-Carefree..."
"T-That's a harsh thing to say... but it's true."

　Ferrum and Nea are twitching their cheeks, but as for me, I am relieved by the fact that that country has not changed in hundreds of years from what it was then to what it is now.
　That's why I was curious as to why they attacked the Lingle Kingdom despite that.

"Then why didn't they just ask the Lingle Kingdom for help?"
"There is no way that a single country could do something about the demi-humans discrimination that pervades this continent. Even if it were possible, the surrounding kingdoms would never tolerate it.  No, before that, the demons do not have the time to wait for the discrimination against demi-humans in the continent to disappear."

　I knew that, no matter what, the demons were going to fight the humans.
　The problem to begin with was the conflict between humans and demons due to the old battles and the discrimination against demi-humans by humans.

"The more I look at you, the more I see you're not like the previous hero."
"I'm not a hero."
"As a person from another world. Since you have a beastfolk with foresight magic with you, I thought you were similar, but... you seem to be fundamentally different from him."

　Of course, there is no way that I am the same as the person from hundreds of years ago.
　Before I could reply, the Demon King spoke again.

"But yes. I guess you have something in common, you're both abnormal."
"Abnormal...?"
"I can roughly understand it from your actions up until now and the words we've just exchanged. There are so many things to mention."

　...Why does the Demon King have to say this to me?
　I know I'm an oddball, but to be called abnormal———.

"It's too late to say Usato is weird now..."
"Anyone who hits with healing magic is crazy, even if you don't think about it..."
"How can someone who swings people around and uses them as weapons be normal..."

　Why am I being attacked by the enemy and my allies like this?
　Areh, has the attack already begun?
　Ferrum, Nea, and Ciel-san's words make my cheeks twitch.

"There are similarities, but the crucial difference is that... he gave up."
"...He gave up?"
"Even though he was exposed to the malice of humans, he still stood by their side and tried to find the light, but what he was shown was ——— the ugly nature of humans and the cruel reality of the situation. A man who is continually exposed to malice and is still bound by his mission to protect people ends up..."

　After saying that, the Demon King looked at me with a look on his face as if he had just thought of something.
　Multiple layers of magic unfold in the Demon King's hand and spin.
　Seeing that, I stood up from my chair, becoming wary.

"Don't panic, it's just a little sideshow. It will be quicker to see it in person than to hear it from my mouth."
"What...?!"
"The evil dragon and Samarial are connected to the troubles you have been solving ——— let me show you part of the path of the horrific journey Hisago has taken."

　The Demon King throws the magic in his hand into the air.
　Instantly, particles of what appear to be the Demon King's magic rain down in the hall, and these form and color the figures and the scenery.

"Well, I'll change the flow of time only within this hall."

　Is the Demon King recreating his own memories?! What a hassle!?
　The view of the hall changes dramatically.
　As if even the scenery of the past was being recreated, a large hall was recreated with sunlight streaming in from outside ——— and many people were appearing in the room.
　Among them, I notice a familiar man kneeling dumbfounded in front of an old man wearing an expensive robe decorated with gold.

"———This person is..."

　The men's attire was quite different from that of modern people like us.
　He was dressed in the kind of armor you see in historical dramas.
　However, his armor was tattered, chipped in some places, and covered in a great deal of blood.

『Hero, you have now been chosen as the savior of the Kingdom of Heigar』
『Sa... vior? What, is that...』

　The magic was so powerful that it felt as if he was actually there.
　The summoned Hisago ..., no, Hisago-san is stunned, unable to comprehend the situation he has been placed in.
　This was the same situation as when we were summoned———,

『The Demon King is about to attack. Those filthy demi-humans are threatening us. You have been tasked with the honorable mission of fighting them』

　———No, that's not it.
　What is this creepy feeling?
　No one around him was looking at Hisago-san, not even the king-like man standing in front of him.

"It was a masterpiece."

　As I was even feeling nauseous at the strangeness of the scenery before me, the Demon King sneered at the king in front of Hisago-san.

"When I heard that a hero summoning was going to take place, I sent my familiar out of curiosity... but the people of this era were truly loyal to their own desires."
"Why do you call it a masterpiece?"
"Because the Kingdom of Hagar didn't need to summon heroes."

　———Hah?
　No, the King of the Hegar Kingdom said earlier that he wanted to defeat the Demon King...

"Even from my perspective back then, the Kingdom of Heigar was a small country that I couldn't even think of. Other countries at the time probably had the same impression."
"Then why summon the hero...?"
"Obviously, it's to gain military strength, right? In fact, what other purpose could there be?"

　Is that the reason they forcibly brought him here from another world...!?
　Next to me, who was completely stunned, only Nea had a bitter expression on her face.

"This was an era in which people were fighting each other for territory, resources, and other things. The Kingdom of Heigar was not even recognized as a worthy rival to the other kingdoms, and could only take a slice of the pie."
"But by successfully summoning the "Hero" Hisago, they gained power...right?"
"Well, thanks to that, those idiots ended up attracting attention to me."

　The Demon King nodded at Nea's words.
　I don't know how to express this feeling.
　I have experienced this kind of malice several times———the people who are now surrounding Hisago-san are the same as the sorcerers in Samarial.
　They want to use and dispose of someone who is not related to them for their own purposes.

"In other words, the reason why Hisago was summoned to this world in the first place was to be an expendable commodity to make humans kill each other."

　Hisago-san is a hero who, like us, was summoned in a completely different position.
　He was thrown into a very harsh situation all by himself, and all I could do was watch him.

——— seireitranslations.blogspot.com ———

Author's Notes:
The hero Hisago is summoned as a disposable tool.
No one helps him or teaches him anything, so the difficulty level becomes Lunatic from the time he is summoned.

The story related to Hisago will be slightly different from the book version, but don't worry, it won't have much of an impact on the main story.