The tense atmosphere lingered for a while. Nobody spoke and, even though it was only a few seconds, it felt like much more time had passed.
“So…the Demon who came to attack the town isn’t bad?”
Tina asked before she knew it, as sweat poured down from her forehead. She stared at Kagami from behind Krul’s back due to fright. After staying silent for several seconds, Kagami looked at her expressionlessly and said,
“About that, hasn’t he already said he was truly sorry?”
Kagami’s words instantly broke the previously tense atmosphere.
“Eh…If that’s so, then us catching that person isn’t right…”
Tina muttered an unexpected response because of her bewilderment.
“No, that’s wrong. What I wanted to say was in regards to all the Demons who aren’t bad. Listen to them first, princess-sama.”
“They have no ears to listen with! Either way, that Demon attacked Balman. This is an indisputable fact! It’s enough of a reason to catch him!”
Although she had thought for a moment that her desire for revenge was wrong, Krul immediately began to cast Magic. At the same time, Palna began to form a magic circle. The man in front of her was weakening her resolve. He was a dangerous existence who drew out a portion of herself. Krul confirmed that with this exchange.
“Hold up, hold up! Look, humans also attack Demon towns, right? This attack is the same thing! There is no justice and evil in war, right? What I believe in is justice!”
“Under the justice we believe in, it’s natural to capture a person from an enemy country who came to attack, right?”
“Certainly! Well, still, listen to me. Although it’s true that he attacked, the condition of the Demon King is strange, so I will be going to investigate him. Look, although the manner it was given in was too strange, it was in accordance to the King’s order, and he is in a position where he can only follow it, as a servant.”
Rex, Palna, and Krul grimaced at Kagami’s vague words that were said without hesitation.
“The condition of the Demon King is strange? Exactly how is he strange?”
“It’s strange to give out an order to attack a town, since the Demon King hopes to reconcile with humans. I decided to go to the Demon King’s castle to confirm whether or not it was truly an order from the Demon King to attack the town yesterday, because it was suspicious. Since it is also on your mind, you guys should follow me. That’s it.”
Kagami’s remarks seemed to be really foolish. Rex laughed loudly, Palna looked at him with pity, Tina made an uneven smile, and Krul burst out in laughter.
“Isn’t the strange one you? The Demon King hopes to reconcile with humans? There is no reason to tell such an idiotic story, right? The Demon King is humanity’s greatest enemy.”
Krul replied back while full of confidence, regardless of whether her conclusion was correct. Rex gave a scornful smile, as if he consented with her.
“On what basis did you decide that on?”
However, Kagami didn’t understand how she could show off such a confident expression.
“There are plenty of things to base it on. In the past, it was said that the Demon King was the one who created many Monsters all over the continent. Up until now…a countless number of people have been killed by monsters, and it also means that…the previous heroes knew that they would lose their life by challenging the Demon King, right?”
As he listened to their complaints, Kagami hung his head and sighed.
There was a countless number of times that he had cursed. However, everyone spoke back to him in unison and scorned Kagami, as if Rex was correct. They would, without being discouraged, turn their eyes away and not listen about the present reality, even if they were complaining about the present relationship between Demons and humans in this strange world.
“It’s not the Demon King’s will to create Monsters, and isn’t it normal for him to fight back against people who are aiming for his life? It doesn’t make any sense to not kill an opponent who is trying to kill you. Using that as a basis to claim that he doesn’t want to reconcile…don’t be a slave to prejudice.”
“Pre…judice?”
“Since I have met the Demon King before, I can say that there wasn’t any malice behind the Demon King’s daughter’s hopes for reconciliation. The Demon King surely has no desire, at all, to eliminate humans. So, I can’t think that the attack this time was due to the Demon King’s will. I will go and confirm this.”
At that time, Rex approached Kagami with resentment, somehow feeling pressured, and grasped Kagami’s chest as he struck it violently.
“Shut up!”
A loud voice rang out and echoed throughout their surroundings.
“You said that you have met the Demon King? You said that the Demon King hopes to reconcile? Don’t spout bullshit! What do you…base it off of? It’s more likely that you were fooled by those lowly Demons!”
Kagami didn’t understand what Rex was so impatient about and only directed his sight towards him, who had violently struck him on the chest.
“Has the Demon King ever come to attack the town before now?”
That was all Kagami muttered.
At that moment, various events from the past began to run through Rex’s mind. The history of how many times Demon towns were destroyed, the massacre of Demons, and the existence of the country’s people who he knew looked up to him. Yet, the Demon King had never come to attack them. As for why this is, even without saying anything to Kagami, Rex had always understood it from long ago.
“If the Demon King were aware of this, there would have already been a war long ago. Besides, did you not think that there was a problem with having the Demon King’s Castle in a remote region, without any dungeons, making it easily targeted by humans from an island country like Hexal Doria?”
“Ah, I had also thought that was always a problem. He would not know what to do if we came to attack him.”
Tina, who had remained hidden behind Krul’s back, timidly uttered that, as if she were vaguely aware of it.
“Probably since it was a place that could suppress the influence of Monsters to a minimum. Although, it’s a good place that makes it difficult for humans to attack, because of the difference in height elevation…uuoh!”
The moment this was said, a massive Flame blade suddenly split into two and flew at Kagami in a straight line. Kagami, who realized this at the last moment, held onto Rex’s body, who was still holding onto his chest, and jumped away with him, evading it.
“It’s better for you to ignore him. You are being stupid…the Demon King is the enemy. There is a possibility that this man is being manipulated by the Demons. Pull yourself together, you guys!”
With a passing glance at Palna, Rex separated from Kagami’s chest, as if his eyes had finally woken up. He kicked Kagami up into the air and landed back on the ground after rotating once before wielding his remaining sword in one of his hands.
Although, at a glance, Krul and Tina appeared to be slightly lost, Palna’s face trembled and she strongly clenched her Staff as her fighting spirit flared up.
After Kagami saw Rex, who dropped down from the sky by kicking him, he muttered ‘Well, yeah’, with a disappointed look. Even if they could understand it, it didn’t change the fact that people had been hurt. They could end up killing him, regardless of whether he is evil or an ally, because it was easy to see this person as an enemy.
As for trying to understand each other, they would simply respond by saying that the damage would continue to be taken since they would preserve a portion of that harm. Kagami had also understood this, which was why he had given up.
“Well, Alice-tan, the path you want really is difficult.”
As such, Kagami laughed. He was just by himself the previous time he was accused. On the other hand, this time he had tried to step up by being an ally of the Demons. Clearly, there wasn’t a reason to not expect something from this method of approach, which was different from before.
Now, he could confirm the severity of this path. Yet, he was able to laugh because he could measure the possibility of the path from Krul’s response. The response clearly differed from previously. He couldn’t feel any possibilities back then.
“Yosh, let’s run away! We can surely run away easily now!”
Therefore, Kagami thought that he would 【Support that goal with all his might】. First, he needed to head towards the existence that was becoming the number one obstacle. He grabbed Menou’s collar and began to run.