Chapter 419 – Not the Other Way
“There are far too many prisoners…… We need a headcount, and identity checks…… the Empire’s investigation team…… and the girls from the Royal Capital who were taken by the demons need to be accounted for…… Shinobu, we need your help, too.”
“Understood. Then…… I’ll handle the girls that were taken.”
“General, we’ll handle verifying the Demon Realm investigation team. Is that acceptable?”
“Hm? Hmm~……”
We couldn’t save Uncle Ben.
Uncle Ben vanished from before our eyes, still under Hakuki’s control.
He was teleported away along with Hakuki’s ogre subordinates.
For the time being, we decided to protect and identify the Imperial investigation team, the Demon World investigation team, and the Japone women who had been abducted in lieu of taxes—all seemingly held captive in this hideout.
“My apologies. This old man… I’m afraid I can’t move my body…….”
“Goroukou, we’re relieved you’re safe… and…..”
“We’re also ashamed… We allowed the enemy to completely……”
“Haha, you should just rest, Goroukou. Kesu-san, please look after the Lord. Ashisotu-san, I’d like your help over here.”
There were quite a lot of captives.
Checking the condition of every single one, confirming their identities… it looked like it would take quite some time.
That being said, I ……
“…… Huh? …… Where’d my Hubby go!”
“Hm, now that you mention it… Espie and Slayer are gone too……”
Sorry, everyone.
“Oh Honey? He gave me this magic crystal a moment ago and asked to take a short break…….”
I wasn’t slacking off… more like, I was in no position to do that.
“What the—?! The magic crystal… Oh, duh! Hey, Paripi! I’ve got, like, a gazillion questions for you! First, get your butt out here right now!”
[What’s that? Little Norja? You just found out a comrade you thought was dead is alive, and you’re being so rude?]
“So what if I’m rude?! And anyway, you lived?! Where the hell have you been hiding all this time?! And what’s this about my future Hubby’s lackey!”
[Exactly that. I’m the Boss’s loyal right-hand man ♪.]
“R, right hand?! N, no way, that’s for, like, helping my still-virgin Hubby get off… nope, not happening! My Hubby doesn’t even have that kink! The stroking and the pounding are my job!”
[Hihahahaha, what the hell is that? Hilarious. But, Little Norja, physically speaking, aren’t you a bit too… tight and squishy? Or rather, wouldn’t it be dangerous to accept the Boss’s Great Demon Spiral in that form?]
“No prob! All three holes are totally good to go, and this body’s, like, super portable too!”
[True enough, but Boss’s tastes are… Ah, actually, I know every genre of those kinds of books the Boss owned…]
“Huuuh?! You do?! Spill it now!”
[Eh, but~]
“Tell me! Don’t be stingy with your old pals!”
A short distance from the hideout, I checked my surroundings… No, I should probably go back right now and….
『Cease, child. Endure it… If you go now, Norja will attack you again and complicate things further, will she not?』
“Damn it! Those guys, having conversations like that when I’m not around……?”
I was overcome with the urge to shut them up right now, but even so, I had something more important to discuss with Tre’ainar first.
So I gritted my teeth and held back……
“Geez…… so…… what do you think? Tre’ainar…….”
『Hmm…… Hakuki’s parting words……』
My mind was completely occupied with something else.
The big bombshell Hakuki dropped at the end still had my head spinning.
『There are several possibilities…… could be that tis just a metaphor, a figure of speech, or it could have been a meaningless phrase… However…』
That’s certainly a possibility.
In fact, Espie, Slayer, Koujiro and the others probably thought the same thing when they heard Hakuki’s words earlier.
But for “us,” it’s different.
『If Hakuki is …… ‘like that’…… then some of the questions I have been holding onto might be resolved, which is troubling……』
“Questions you’ve been holding onto?”
『Indeed. Back in the elf settlement, when Paripi interrupted… the topic of brainwashing emerged, did it not?』
“Hmm? Ah, that’s right…”
When we were talking with everyone in the settlement. That reminds me……
――Hahahaha, who needs trust…… look…… just like our cute Norja there…… All it takes is a little something planted in the brain panay ♪.
――That’s pretty harsh. Hakuki’s demon remnants and the manipulated warriors of Japone, forcibly collecting from the people…… yet the real problem is …….
――If Benlinerve is among those who’ve been altered… Well, given that Norja here has clearly been tampered with… the possibility certainly exists…….
Oh, that’s how the conversation went, and then Tre’ainar muttered.
――Tis inconceivable……
That’s right. Back then, Tre’ainar was wondering about something, but even though I asked him about it at that point, he didn’t say anything until he had gathered his thoughts a bit.
“Maybe at that point……”
『Mm hmm, I was wondering about the same thing that Paripi asked Hakuki…… how Hakuki was able to wield Shiznautmy’s legacy so well……』
“I see……”
That’s why, if Hakuki’s last words meant exactly what he said, then everything would suddenly make perfect sense.
Which means……
“Could there be someone by his side too… someone only he can see?”
『…… In the first place, given that the situation between me and the child is as such…tis no surprise that others like us exist……』
“…… That’s true……”
Honestly, Hakuki’s words sent chills down my spine.
“Seriously? But if that’s the case, then why… No, what kind of phenomenon is this in the first place? I’ve gotten so used to it that I’ve stopped thinking about the fundamentals…”
『Indeed…… tis how it was…… I tried not to think too much on it, but the fundamental question remains… how this came to be in the first place?』
My heart was pounding.
It was such a shock.
Maybe it’s the same with Tre’ainar.
Why could I even see Tre’ainar in the first place? How could Tre’ainar possess me?
There was no way to figure it out by thinking about it, but I couldn’t calm my nerves.
『However… even so… if Hakuki is also ‘like that’… if that one is with him… Fufufu… How ironic……』
“Ah, now that you mention it, you were friends… right? Wait, no? Weren’t you enemies? But it seemed like you had a relationship where you acknowledged each other, didn’t it?”
I don’t really understand the relationship between the female hero Kaguya, Tre’ainar, Hakuki, and the Dragon King of Hades Vasalar.
Of course, since she was a Hero, I think Tre’ainar and the others were her enemies, but somehow it feels like their relationship can’t be described that simply.
But……
『Hmm? Ah, no, tis not what I meant.』
“Huh?”
『If Hakuki… was possessed by Kaguya…… Fufufu, my apologies for the crude expression, child……』
I thought he was getting sentimental, reminiscing about an old comrade-in-arms… but no. Tre’ainar was laughing cheerfully instead……
『I, the Great Demon King, am possessing a human who is the son of a Hero… and Kaguya, the legendary Hero, is possessing the current strongest demon in the Demon Realm, and a candidate to become the next Demon King… what else can you call this but irony?』
“………… ah …….”
I was dumbfounded for a moment.
Huh? He’s laughing at that!? I thought, but then again… once he said it, I started finding it funny too……
“Kuhahahaha, yeah, you’re right! Wouldn’t it normally be the other way around?”
『Hahahahaha, indeed it would! Is this not a most amusing twist of fate!』
I ended up laughing too.
And somehow, the heavy thoughts I’d been carrying, that strange sense of dread I’d felt, all seemed to lift.
After laughing for a while, I gazed off into the distant sky……
“But…… it looks like we’ll end up fighting… or worse, against that tag team. Thanks to Paripi just stirring things up even more.”
『Indeed…… Hakuki on his own is a real problem, so that pairing seems quite formidable. Well, whether ‘that woman’ will cooperate with Hakuki, tis another question entirely……』
“…… Can we even win?”
Tough…… I don’t think he’s the kind of opponent that can be summed up with just that one word.
Even without any prior knowledge, he is the strongest among the monstrous Six Supremacy, and on top of that, the thought that someone else might be by his side makes it even worse.
But, as if to brush aside my worries……
『What are you saying now, child?』
“Hmm?”
『Even if, by some chance, we were up against Hakuki and Kaguya as a tag team, would that be a problem?』
Tre’ainar has always been reliable……
『Tis obvious that the child and I are the strongest, is it not?』
…… Seeing Tre’ainar declare it with that ever-reliable smile, I couldn’t help but laugh along again.
“Kuhaha, that’s right. We’re definitely stronger.”
『Right?』
I feel refreshed.
“Somehow, thinking about it now won’t change anything, and it doesn’t matter anymore.”
『Well, perhaps when we meet again…….』
“Yeah.”
Either way, I don’t think I can win in my current state, so I need to train myself again to be ready for when we meet again.
That was the one thing that won’t change, no matter what happens.
『Well, indeed. That will not change.』
Tre’ainar, who read my mind, nodded firmly.
And I……
“And one more thing. I don’t know much about the other side, but it’s still the same no matter what……”
『Hmm?』
“No…… it’s nothing!”
『…… Hmm? …… Hmm…… Oh, right, um, never mind then! Um, fine, it matters not!”
It wasn’t nothing.
He read my mind again just now.
But Tre’ainar was pretending not to have noticed, so I’ll just let it go.
Honestly, even I’m too embarrassed to say it out loud.
――Even if it’s ironic, I’m glad you possessed me…… and not the other way around……
Something like that.
And……
“So, you two can come out now. We’re done talking…… Espie, Slayer.”
“”Huh?! …eh……””
The two emerged from the bushes, looking like they had a lot they wanted to ask.
“Big brother…… hey… What’s going on? Will you… tell us everything?”
“Brother… just now… you were talking to yourself, but it didn’t seem like you were talking to yourself… it seemed like you were aware of us, but you kept going anyway……”
Yes, I knew they were nearby.
But I had no intention of hiding anymore.
“Yes. I’ll tell you everything. About… my Master.”
Sads Translates 