ty again to everyone who has been pointing out all the weird shit that appears

Chapter 16 – Battle, and Then Conclusion＊

The wind rang out as it blew across the meadow.
There stood two men, and watching those two was a young woman and a girl who looked of about 16.

The two women both possessed radiantly beautiful faces, and if you described the young woman as somebody who possessed a bewitching beauty, then the younger could be described as a single, graceful flower in the moonlight.

However, they weren’t the lead actors of this scene.
Instead, the ones who held the lead role were the two men with swords a certain distance away from them, facing each other down.

The two of them had fairly similar looks with intellectual and calm eyes, and were almost like mirror images of each other.
However, if you had to say what was different, one of them was a boy who had not reached 15 yet, whilst the other was a man in his mid-thirties.
Furthermore, their hair colour was different.

Whilst the boy’s hair was an inky black that housed a deep darkness, the man’s hair was a blonde that glittered in the light of the sun.
The quality of their hair was quite similar; both soft-looking, and cut just above their shoulders.

Having examined thus far, the fact that they were parent and child became obvious.

In other words, the boy’s hair colour was inherited from the woman standing there, and the characteristics and quality of his hair were inherited from the father standing opposite him.

“…I’ve waited impatiently for this day.”

The boy――――Luru, was talking to his father about how today was the day of the promise.
A long time had passed since the day they made the promise seven years earlier, and today was the day when he became a year older and turned 14.

In other words, it was the day that Luru’s dream would be realised.
For the sake of that dream, the man in front of his eyes, Patrick, was a wall that he had no choice but to surmount.

“Me too, Luru. You’ve become strong… Your body, and your heart too can’t even be compared with seven years ago. I’m sure that today you’ll surpass me… That’s your plan, right? ”

Whilst saying that, Patrick’s eyes housed a passion that showed absolutely no intention of losing.
Luru knew that Patrick wasn’t the type to lose intentionally as a parting gift to his son, but even so, seeing the state Patrick was in with his own eyes made him feel just a little nervous.

He looked straight at Patrick.
Seven years had passed since then, and even though Patrick should have aged too, not even a shadow of it could be seen from his appearance.
Because he had a gentle and calm atmosphere to begin with, and he actually often seemed a little older than his age, but because he hadn’t changed much, on the contrary, these days he often seemed younger.
His body was just as robust as back in those days, and Luru knew that just below his loose clothes were muscles that had been trained to the limit.
He was the opponent that he trained together with day after day.
You could say that they knew each other’s habits, each other’s strengths; everything.
The problem was clearly that the father had trained his skills to a higher level, and Luru couldn’t even beat him in pure arm strength, but the problem of skill aside, at least for this match, the issue of arm strength would not be a problem.

If Luru ran his huge reserves of mana to use for Body Reinforcement, he could probably win via brute force. However, as long as he had chosen not to do so and participated in a match of pure swordsmanship then Luru wouldn’t be using that mana. His father though, also suggested suppressing his own superior arm strength.

It wasn’t Luru’s suggestion, but in the end this match was just to determine whether or not Luru had properly learned the sword, so Patrick using brute force to win was pointless, and neither would Patrick find it enjoyable that way.

And Luru felt more or less the same.
To Luru, if he used his mana freely then he could suppress Patrick via brute force without caring about swordsmanship or anything like that.
However, doing so in this match would be classless, and to begin with, doing so would have rendered his training under Patrick as meaningless.
Luru learned his era’s swordsmanship so that the power that he wielded in the past as the demon king could be allocated to the position of a trump card.
But if despite that, during the final test when he would find out if he had properly learned this or not, if he started to freely use other techniques in the battle with Patrick, the test would have very little meaning to Luru.

That’s why the result was that Luru restrained his mana, his father wore a Magus Tool on his finger to decrease his physical strength, and hoped for the fair fight that this was going to be.
Before the battle, they had adjusted the Magus Tool while arm wrestling to balance the power, and right now their arm strength was certainly equal.

After this, all that was left was a battle of skills.
His father had a slight handicap due to being unused to the feeling of his weakened body, but to begin with, his father had the advantage in modern swordsmanship.
On top of that, this battle was something they had decided beforehand, so his father had practised his swordsmanship under weakened physical conditions until he could fight without a problem in expectation of this.
You could consider it as almost equal.

Having thought that far, Luru drew his sword, and took a guard.

“Of course… I’ll definitely surpass you. And when I do, the next instructor for the Royal Knight Order will be me.”

Patrick laughed at Luru’s joke.

“I’m surprised that something like that came out of your mouth… I thought that you’d definitely throw away your position as a noble, you know. If you intend on succeeding me, and I don’t have to worry about adopting somebody or giving you a younger brother, then that’s fine too, though… Well, that’s for later though. Right now I can’t hand my position over yet. After all, I have a wife I need to support.”

What came from Patrick’s mouth was another joke.
Even if he quit his job as a swordsmanship instructor, he still had this village.
Just that much would be more than enough to eat, and even if Patrick was fired as an instructor, if he decided to create a dojo and accept applications, a huge number of students would probably come in no time.
He possessed that much fame as a martial artist.

Thinking about it again, being stuck in a position where he had to defeat such a person made him shudder, but as the one once called the world’s strongest, having said that he had only learned these techniques for about 10 years, he couldn’t lose here.

So Luru spoke.

“You can still say that after all this time? …I’m looking forward to it. …Here I go, Father[/Tousan]!”

“Come! Luru!”

And like that, the battle began.

◆◇◆◇◆

Pressure was gradually released from their two bodies.
Their stances were like reflections of each other, both in a middle guard[chuudan] and the two showed neither any signs of unsteadiness nor any openings.

The time that passed with them in guard like that felt like both an eternity and an instant.
In terms of swordsmanship itself, Luru was inferior to Patrick.

However, he shouldn’t have lost in the ability to read the opponent.

In his days as the demon king, Luru had much experience with battle, and what that meant was that it worked no matter the opponent.

However, unlike those days, right now his body was that of a human, so Luru’s physical abilities were lowered, and his eyesight was no exception.

The shifting of his opponent, their breathing, the sounds of their muscles moving; the demon king’s technique of integrating all of these to predict the future was weakened in this era.

As a result, right now his ability to read the opponent was the same as Patrick’s, and even the possibility that he was a little inferior existed.

That’s why Luru naturally decided to give up on predicting things like where the opponent was going to strike if he went first.

He knew that if he attacked first, then Patrick would accurately see through his openings and attack there.

However, if they kept staring at each other, at this rate it would never begin.

He would just take the first move, and then everything after that he would leave to his instinct-sharpened responses.
There would probably be no time to think.
However, he had trained for many years in moving spontaneously without thinking.

Thus…

Like that, Luru kicked off the ground.

Of course, Patrick immediately sensed his movement, and moved his body to deal with Luru’s attack.

It seems that the fact that Luru would not swing his sword but thrust, was accurately predicted by Patrick, and lowering the sword tip just a little, Patrick bent his body horizontally and avoided the attack.

However, to Luru, there was no way that he didn’t know that was going to happen.
Sensing that Patrick would immediately take evasive action, Luru forcibly pulled back the sword that had been thrust, and shifting his body to the side, attacked Patrick once more.

“…-!?”

Patrick had been thinking that Luru could probably immediately get in another strike, but all the same, he was left wide-eyed by the speed.
Patrick naturally brought down his sword between his body and Luru’s sword, and repelled the attack just fine, but he had no choice but to take some distance; he had retreated until they were about the same distance apart as when they first started.
From the point of view of Patrick, who was aiming for a counter after being forced to move first by Luru, he didn’t think that it was a very good choice.
In fact, in Patrick’s gaze who was standing 5 steps away, what was there was not the calm gaze from before, but a burning glare.

Leaving aside how things might be under normal conditions, now that Patrick’s physical strength was decreased, he recognised that the one before him was not an opponent he could challenge while holding back.

It was what Patrick hadn’t seen in training even up until yesterday; Luru’s aggressive and greedy side.
He hadn’t really shown it in his sparring with his father, and Luru’s style of the modern swordsmanship that he had practised together with Rusty, was aggressive enough that it seemed difficult to cope with upon seeing it for the first time.

“Not bad, Luru. Why haven’t you used this fighting style up until now?”

Asked his father with a smile, who despite being a little surprised, still hadn’t lost his composure.
However, Luru could tell from his smile that his father’s fighting spirit was starting to heat up just a little.
Patrick had recognised Luru as someone worth fighting.
Realising this, Luru felt an elation like the one he felt fighting the hero in his previous life.

“Didn’t you say it yourself, Dad[/Tousan]? …That it’d be better to have one or two trump cards in hold. I don’t want to die, so once I become an adventurer I’ll be going all out then, but even so, I think it’d be better to avoid using all my cards, so… I’ve been thinking about it too.”

Luru’s trump cards…
In other words, they his mana and techniques as an ancient demon, but also the aggressive style of fighting that he was using against his father.
The techniques that he was now using were unmistakably close to the school of Orthodox Swordsmanship that he learned from his father, but if you looked at it and at Luru as a whole, you would probably immediately mumble:

‘That’s the Demon King’s fighting style.‘

If you had to describe them, his father was the stype of swordsman who would take away his opponent’s escape routes one by one and drive him into the corner, whilst Luru was the type of swordsman who would chase and destroy them no matter where they ran to.

Luru had learned his father’s method of pursuing the opponent, but Luru naturally absorbed this, and came up with a new style of fighting unique to him.

Were Luru a normal boy, he probably couldn’t have done this.
To customise and improve a sword system that had been passed down and rationalised over a long period of time was normally impossible.
However, Luru had piled up many experiences for this sake.

Creating a rational style of fighting that suited oneself, all without leaving the framework of modern swordsmanship, was not something impossible to Luru, but on the contrary merely an interesting project.

And the result was that Luru’s style of swordsmanship was a few steps more advanced than the swordsmanship system that had been passed down until now.
That advancement was not something so simple that you could immediately cope with it just by seeing it.

Even Patrick was no exception, and it was for this reason that he showed his admiration for Luru’s technique.

“Thinking about it, huh…? The foundations of your style are definitely the things I taught you, but… The details are different, and it’d be better to consider the ideology itself behind the movements as different, huh. …Are you a genius? But… It actually looks like the fighting tactics of a veteran backed with experience, but… Hmm.”

Patrick began to mutter this while they met blades a number of times.
Considering that after only a few exchanges, the answer that his father had come up with was almost completely correct, on the contrary Luru was the shocked one.

“Well, whatever… I more or less grasp what you’re trying to do. We’re both close to reaching the limits of our stamina. Shall we make the next rally the last…?”

Said Patrick, as he retreated just a little.
Luru could feel a might from Patrick’s spirit, incomparable to everything else so far.

The technique he was about to use…
It looked like an ordinary swing from above.

However, it was actually different.
It would be fine to call it a surekill technique that encompassed the entirety of the Orthodox Swordsmanship that Luru and Patrick had trained thus far.

Not just Patrick, but Luru and even Rusty could use this technique, but his degree of skill in it was incomparable.

However, right now there was only one technique that Luru could use to deal with this.
Thus, he resolved himself.

Like that, Luru and Patrick faced each other down, and at the same time, yelled the name of the technique.

“Let’s go, Luru… Single Longsword!!”

“Take this, Dad[/Tousan]… Single Longsword!!”

They met in an instant, and thus the outcome was immediately apparent.

The one standing in the end, without a single wound, was the blonde man.

It was Patrick.

/Chapter 16 END

Chapter 17 – Father’s Gaze＊

A dull pain shot through the back of his head.
The pain forced Luru back into consciousness, and he opened his eyes.

Having only just woken up, he looked around with an absent expression.
The scent of alcohol ran through his nose, but when he heard the clatter of drunkards, ‘Ahh, this is the tavern, huh?’ he realised.

“Have you awoken?”

A gentle, calm and kind voice called out to Luru, and he turned his gaze towards it.
It was a familiar girl with silver hair, glossy like silk, and eyes redder than fresh blood.
However, she looked a little older than she did in the past, and Luru suddenly realised for the first time that an intense seductiveness dwelt about her that she didn’t have seven years earlier.

“…Is something the matter, Oniisama?”

Asked Iris, seemingly in confusion. She was the girl who was officially the adopted child of the Cadisnola family, and it seemed that because they were legally siblings, when they were in the presence of others, Iris referred to him as Oniisama as she did just now.
Luru shook his head at her so she wouldn’t notice what he was thinking about just now[i.e. that she’s hot], and advanced the conversation in the direction of the question he was wondering.

“Umm… Why was I sleeping here?”

“That is because you were unconscious the whole time starting from when you lost to Otousama in the fight.”

At that concise answer, the memories from just before he collapsed rushed up again.
The memory of failing the fight.

And then, once again looking around at the surrounding drunkenness, he found that his father and mother were amongst them, and noticed that they seemed to be drunk; something rare for them.

Whilst looking at this scene, he thought.
‘Didn’t I lose the fight?‘
However, he mysteriously didn’t feel any frustration about it.
It wasn’t as though there were no feelings of ‘because I lost without using my true power’, but more importantly, it was because in the fight with his father, he felt that he did his very best with the swordsmanship he learned.
In particular, the very final exchange made him as elated as the battles he had with the heroes.
The happiness probably came from, for the first time in a while, knowing that an opponent existed that he couldn’t defeat in a serious match.
He didn’t like war, and in his previous life he wanted to avoid it if possible, but he by no means hated fighting in and of itself.
He liked it enough that were it a battle with only their two lives on the line, he would surely enjoy the fight.

“…But I still don’t get why we’re in the tavern. They seem to be celebrating quite a bit… Did somebody just give birth?”

Looking around the room again, Luru felt that the bustle in the tavern was different from usual, seemingly making merry to celebrate some auspicious event.
Hence his question, but Iris seemed to reply in disbelief.

“Goodness… Oniisama. Did you forget why you fought with Otousama to begin with?”

It was an obvious reply to Luru’s question.
Right.
Luru was fighting with his father to show the power he needed to become an adventurer.
And then he was supposed to win against his father, and leisurely start his journey, but…
Preparing a celebration for that in itself wasn’t anything strange.

However, Luru lost.
Despite that…
When Luru voiced these concerns of his,

“It was not an issue of winning or losing, was it? And indeed, did Rusty and the others not leisurely set off on a trip a few months ago after losing? Were they not were beaten down terribly, with a strength that would not be problem for you, Oniisama…?”

replied Iris.
Rusty’s group―――― Mii and Yuuri included ――――were not in the village right now.
The three of them had set off aiming to be adventurers before Luru did.
Though they were of the same age group, the reason they didn’t set off at the same time was because Rusty and Mii were born a few months before Luru, and accordingly, the time when they could register as adventurers came those few months earlier.
Seven years earlier, Mii and Yuuri tried their best to somehow get Rusty to remain in the village, but no matter how much time passed, his passion towards becoming an adventurer wouldn’t cool down, so they eventually gave up. Since there was no other choice, they began training so that they could come along with him.
There was technically the issue of who would teach them the skills, specifically the combat skills they could need to become adventurers, but because there was the adventurer pair that regularly came to the village, Iris, and finally Patrick as well, in the end there was no problems with finding a teacher.
But, because Rusty was learning swordsmanship from Patrick, taking that into consideration, Yuuri and Mii wanted the positions from rear guard to middle guard for themselves, so they chose Yuumis and Iris as their teachers, and in the end they left the village quite skilled.
Before they left on their journey, as expected, the three of them ended up stuck with fighting their teachers just like Luru did; Rusty fought with Luru, Gran and Patrick, whilst Mii and Yuuri fought with Yuumis and Iris. The result was that Rusty and the others suffered a crushing defeat.
In other words, the pride that was growing in the three of them was smashed to pieces with a massive hammer.
Having said that though, the fact that they had pretty much become skilled beyond any normal novice adventurer was evident from what Gran and Yuumis said, and since things were fine then, in the end they were permitted to leave the village.
In these seven years, Rusty, Yuuri and Mii had decided that to become an adventurer, they would first head to the royal capital and join Gran’s clan, and it meant that right now they were supposed to be in the capital, doing their best as novice adventurers.
The letters from Rusty and the others that arrived once a month said basically that, and they seemed to be having a great time; enough that reading this made Luru want to hurry up and leave for the capital, as though he were a normal boy from the countryside.
Luru heard that the families they left in the village received letters from them at regular intervals too, and despite being novices, they seemed to be flourishing as full-fledged adventurers.

Even the three of them who had lost in their battles against their teachers were allowed to leave the village.
If you thought about it just a little, you’d realise that there was no way that Luru, who had put up quite a good fight, would be forbidden to leave, but Luru somehow ended up with the idea that if he didn’t win then he wouldn’t be allowed.
It might have been a preconception born from his long time as a demon king, where loss was immediately tied to death.
Luru now realised that he had a disposition towards thinking that he had to absolutely win to achieve his goals, but because that wasn’t necessarily a bad trait, he gave up on correcting himself.

“And hence, this party is for celebrating your departure, Oniisama. …Though it may be presumptuous of me, it seems that it is also celebrating the departure of I who will be accompanying you… Having said that though, as expected the most important one is you, isn’t it, Oniisama? Incidentally, after we determined that there was nothing wrong with you, we immediately started the party here… Since then, Okaasama and Otousama have been in the middle of the tavern, speaking endlessly about their memories of you, Oniisama.”

Having been told that by Iris, Luru strained his ears to hear those ‘memories’ or whatever, and found that they were endlessly repeating stories from his first cries after birth, through to the fight with Patrick, and up until when he collapsed at the end from a single blow.
And the audience nodded along, going ‘mn, mn‘, and occasionally shedding tears whilst opening up drinks without end whilst they listened.

“…I’m surprised they haven’t gotten bored yet.”

Said Luru in shock, and Iris suddenly laughed in reply.

“Drunkards are probably that sort of thing, regardless of the era.”

Luru completely agreed.
And while he was at it, it didn’t apply to just eras, but to races as well.
After all, even to the demon race, parties were more or less this sort of thing.

Whilst memories of scenes that existed in this world in the distant pass came to mind, Luru nodded deeply at Iris’ wise words.

◆◇◆◇◆

Even this party that seemed like it would continue until the end of the world had to end, and as the number of dead drunk people, sleeping people, and people returning home became to steadily increase, the party slowly came to a close.
Medea and Iris returned home first.
Luru had actually planned on returning home with them, but Patrick said things like ‘since you’re a man, isn’t it fine to stay a little longer?’ and ‘drink, drink’ so he was denied the option of leaving his seat.
The legal drinking age in the Kingdom of Lezaad was fourteen. In other words, it meant that there was no problem with offering Luru a drink today. Having said that though, he wasn’t going to force Luru, and it seemed somewhat that this was just a pretext.
Since it couldn’t be helped, Luru listened to his father’s story on loop whilst drinking [i.e. the stories he’s been telling endlessly], when his father’s face suddenly turned serious, and after looking around to check that there was nobody listening, spoke.

“…Luru. Why didn’t you fight me seriously?”

In that moment, Luru lost his breath in shock.
Shocked enough that his father could probably see his expression stiffen.
And then, seeing Luru’s face, his father burst out in laughter.

“Pfft… Hahaha! It’s a joke, Luru, a joke. …You don’t have to be that shocked.”

Since Patrick said that, Luru responded by taking a breath.

“Geez… Please don’t start saying weird things… Dad[/Tousan].”

“Ahhahahaha. Right… It wouldn’t do for you to fight me seriously, right…? You want to hide it no matter what, after all.”

However, as expected, from Patrick’s slightly sulking words, it seems that he had seen through Luru.
He had probably realised it somewhere along the line.
And he felt dissatisfied with Luru hiding it.
Dissatisfied that his son had a secret he couldn’t tell his father.
They were feelings that Luru could sympathise with, but it was something rare for Patrick.

And realising that there was no meaning in hiding things any longer, he spoke to Patrick apologetically.

“…Sorry. It’s not like I was going to hide it forever. It’s just that… you said it too, didn’t you? That I needed to have one or two trump cards.”

Right.
Though it was something he did on his own, it was also behaviour that Patrick supported.
Because he needed to keep a move in hand so that he could expand his options in battle, and so that he could say with confidence that he could win.
That’s why he needed to keep a trump card in hand. Patrick was supposed to be following this way of thinking.
Perhaps because Luru had poked where it hurt, Patrick pouted a little.
Since he was acting more childishly than usual, perhaps he was weak to alcohol.
Thinking about it, Luru couldn’t recall Patrick drinking a lot at once.
Was this the reason why?
In that case, he should have been a little more prudent, but…

“I did say that, huh… It was our last battle. I thought that you’d bring out everything. But…”

Patrick continued, a little lonelily.
And with those words, Luru understood just how far his father had seen through him.

His father probably realised that Luru held some kind of mysterious trump card, but that was as far as he knew. He probably didn’t know what kind of trump card it was or how powerful it was, or else he wouldn’t have said things the way he did.
His match with Patrick was a match of pure swordsmanship.
In that kind of match, what Luru displayed was unmistakably all his power.

If Patrick wanted something more than that, they would have to loosen the restrictions on mana, but wishing for Luru’s true strength in a match where this had been decided on from the start was nothing more than asking for the impossible.

His father might have thought as far as Luru having learned something from Gran.
Realising that he held the might of an ancient demon, or anything close to that, was probably not something his father felt from him.

So he could probably ward off his father’s slight selfishness here.

But,

Since it had come to this, wouldn’t it be a good choice to show him everything?

thought Luru.

To Patrick who felt the possibility from Luru, wouldn’t it be good to throw everything he had at him?

thought Luru.

Luru had absolutely no thoughts of avoiding this because he was worried his father would become afraid of him.

Luru trusted Patrick that much, after all.
Patrick was without a doubt, Luru’s real father.

So Luru spoke with resolve.

“…In that case, how about one more match? This time… with everything.”

Because of the timing of the carriage, they’d be leaving to become adventurers not tomorrow, but the day after.
There was also the fact that Luru felt that it was worth taking at least that much time for.
And then. Having come around from his drunkenness, Patrick replied to those words with an amused expression.

“Oh?[Hohoh]… Are you being serious? You’re not saying this unwillingly?”

Luru continued.

“Of course. But… I don’t want you to hold back during the match either.”

“…? That’s obvious! Even today, holding back was…”

Patrick was speaking honestly, but this wasn’t what Luru meant.
Restraining his mana and bringing his arm strength down to match his son, was not ‘fighting seriously’ to Luru.

“That’s not what I mean… Using your mana, and not using that strength reduction Magus Tool, is what I mean.”

Perhaps because Patrick wasn’t expecting this, Patrick’s eyes widened, as though he were sobering up.

“Luru… Are you making fun of me? Even like this, I’m probably close to the top of all the swordsmen in the country, you know? For me to… No matter how talented you are, for me to seriously fight with a fourteen year old child, you say?”

Patrick glared at Luru, with a vaguely threatening gaze.
It was, different from his usual expression, Patrick’s face as a swordsman.
An oppression with bloodlust mixed in, shot through Luru.
However, this instead felt nostalgic to Luru.
Human experts of every field had challenged Luru countless times like this, and were defeated countless times.
Because of that, the emotion that rose up in him upon seeing his father like this was not fear, but instead joy.

“If you don’t, I can’t get serious. …This is our last battle. I don’t know if I’ll come back here again. You have your job too, so we can probably meet in the capital, but I can’t become serious in the true meaning of the word there, and I don’t think I would get serious anyway.”

If he did, things would become outrageous, in various senses.
He said it like that because he understood this.
Having said this much, it seems that his father understood that Luru was speaking honestly.
It seems that he didn’t believe him completely, but even so,

“…Alright. But, I really won’t hold back at all, you know? Don’t hate me if your injury delays your departure, okay?”

“That should be my line, Dad[/Tousan].”

Patrick looked stunned at Luru’s immediate reply, to which Luru burst into laughter, so Patrick spoke.

“If you’re going to say that much, then we’ll do as you wish… I’ll show you the power of the Kingdom of Lezaad’s top swordsman.”

---

‘the pride that was growing in the three of them was smashed to pieces with a massive boner‘ = ‘the nose that seemed to be growing long [jp fg of speech] was smashed and broken by a hammer with all (the hammerer’s) might‘

“…I’m surprised they haven’t gotten bored yet.” = (i am in awe at their ability to not get bored of listening to/speaking about this)

“That is probably what getting drunk means, irrespective of the era.” = “I believe that ‘getting drunk’ is that sort of thing, regardless of the era.”

Also I’m aware that ‘lonelily’ is probably not technically correct, but I hear people have been speaking and writing like this for like 200+ years now, so deal. Let’s make it official.

---

/Chapter 17 END

Chapter 18 – A Meaningless Late-Night Conversation＊

“…What are you doing?”

In the wavering candlelight in the Cadisnola residence, in the far side of Luru’s room resounded Iris’ sleepy voice.

After the party at the tavern, and Luru’s conversation with his father had ended, his father immediately went to sleep, but because Luru hadn’t been drinking properly, he wasn’t very sleepy, and it just so happened that he recalled something he wanted to do, and took out his tools and clanked around with them.
Iris who had probably already fallen asleep had apparently woken up to the sound of colliding metal, and wondering what it was, came to have a look.

Though feeling extremely apologetic about this, since it was difficult to fall back asleep once you woke up once, Luru beckoned for Iris to enter the room and showed her what he was working on.
Quietly entering the room, Iris looked at the numerous things spread out on Luru’s desk, and realising what he was doing, she nodded in assent.

“…I see, a Magus Machine, is it?”

The things lay on Luru’s desk probably looked like nothing but junk to an ordinary person, and a number of them were spread about.
Many of them were made of metal, but there were also things that looked like ores, or simple rocks spread about as well, and there was no way to understand what on earth he was doing.
However, the members of the ancient demon race often saw Magus Machines, and to Iris who handled them, seeing just this much was enough to make it plain to see.
She just understood that Luru was trying to create some kind of Magus Machine.

He wasn’t particularly hiding it, and ever since he discovered Iris in the ruins, he had been thinking about manufacturing and reproducing Magus Machines.
However, the surprising level of backwardness of this era made Luru hesitate to start trying.
The fact that technology had gone too far was also one of the triggers of the war between the humans and ancient demons, and as a demon king, this was something that Luru understood.
Having said so though, he also knew that Magus Machines had an aspect of them that made life extremely convenient, and because of that, he was thinking of one day endeavouring to spread not weapons, but things that made life easier.

The problem was that with this timing it was something he was quite hesitant to do, but since the Magus Machines that had maintained and guarded the ruins that Iris slept in seven years ago were collected via Gran and Yuumis, as a result of bringing them to the capital, it seems that the research of Magus Machines had progressed just a little.
There was nothing that you could call it except a world of difference from the ancient demon technology that once existed, but even so, it seemed that it had become much easier to create Magus Machines than before.
As expected, the effects hadn’t spread to this village, but in a city of a large enough size, it was no longer a rare sight to see Magus Machines, according to Gran and Yuumis, and also Patrick, whose main base of operation were in the city. Moreover, the two would occasionally bring Magus Machines under the name of souvenirs.

Since Magus Machines had diffused that far through society, this meant that Luru’s reason for abstaining from creating them had become weak, at the very least Magus Machines that had a comparatively simple construction.
He had to think about the danger of the mechanisms being used for weaponry, but if it was something that would be discovered in a few years, then perhaps creating them probably wouldn’t make that much of a difference, he thought.

Luru picked up the Magus Machine he was currently working on and showed Iris.

“…Can you tell what this is?”

Iris thought for a little, but it wasn’t that difficult a question.
On the contrary, it was something she often saw.
She had seen them countless times in her experiences, after all.
As expected, Iris immediately answered.

“It’s a Magic Cannon. …No, it’s a small-type… portable model, so it’s a magus gun{Magis Pistola} perhaps I should say. They’re, they’re created as a means of magic attack for those who have lost their mana…”

Luru nodded at Iris’ answer, and gave some small applause, as one would give to a student who had done well.
After that, he opened up his desk, and picked up something else to show Iris.

“Well then, what’s this?”

Iris looked at what Luru was holding, tilted her head, and then replied with a curious expression.

“…Is that too, a Magia Pistola? Is it a one that has already been completed?”

Iris made a guess in that direction.
You could say that it was an extremely proper guess.
What Luru held in hand was something quite similar to the Magis Pistola from earlier, and as a result of a slight design change, Iris thought that it was probably something adapted from the model earlier.
Iris thought that in the next moment, Luru would surely nod and confirm her assumption.
However,

“Nope…”

Contrary to expectation, Luru replied as such while shaking his head, so Iris tilted her head with a curious expression and asked,

“Then, what is it…?”

As Iris said earlier, no matter how you looked at it, what Luru now held in hand looked like nothing but a Magis Pistola.
From the grip of the gun to the gentle curve of the muzzle, it was a form that you wouldn’t mistake after seeing it once, and didn’t look at all different to the Magis Pistola that Luru held up earlier.
However, there were certainly differences in the details, and unlike the work Luru created which had no accessories or intermediaries, and was created with just the bare minimum materials, the thing Luru was holding right now had gears, and cylinders filled with liquid the colour of floating bubbles, attached to it, and was quite over the top.
It was something obviously made with a different thought process in mind from the initial planning, and was a queer little thing.
And this very thing was one of the reasons that Luru was now trying to create a Magis Pistola.

“You see, Iris, this is something I got from Yuumis. It’s not something that I created…”

At those words, Iris widened her eyes in shock.
Iris immediately understood the reality made apparent by his words.

Over these past seven years, Gran and Yuumis had brought souvenirs from the various lands they had gone to, but amongst them was a pseudo Magia Pistola.
The shock that Luru suffered when he first saw it was large.
The construction and materials were obviously different from the ancient demon race’s, and it looked comparatively new; something created recently.
According to Yuumis, it was something she brought from a travelling merchant, but the merchant had just randomly come into possession of it, and since he didn’t really understand how to use it, he was thinking of selling it as some odd trinket he had come across.
Luru told Gran and Yuumis to constantly buy anything odd they found, so in other words, Yuumis abided by this and bought this as a souvenir for him.
And immediately after he received the pseudo Magia Pistola from Yuumis, Luru had been trying his best to get it to operate, but in the end he couldn’t.
From its construction, no matter how you looked at it, it was a Magis Pistola, but even filling it with mana produced no reaction.
Luru who felt it strange had begun lightly deconstructing it, resolved that he mightn’t be able to put it back together, and the result was that to begin with, there was no part inside it for storing mana.
And this being the case, there was some other theory behind its operation, and it meant that it was a Magia Pistola that worked under some new mechanism.

In this era where they couldn’t even handle Magus Machines properly, there was a being who could create tools even Luru couldn’t analyse.
Luru felt shock, and then strong curiosity at this fact.
And then, though it was only a little, he did feel a sense of danger about this.

In the past, the Magia Pistola was for those who didn’t have mana, and was a weapon created under the concept of giving magical offensive ability to those very few people.
Because of that, the power would basically fall short of the magic a magician could use, and once you reached the level of the demon king or the hero, almost nobody used it.
However, as an exception, if the magic or mana put into the mana storage was high enough, it stopped being useless, and if you remodelled it, you could give it immense power, or use it to fire off a spell that would be difficult to use in succession in normal magecraft.

However, the users of the latter were few in number, and to begin with, even those who could create such a weapon were few in number, so in the end, it became normal for those with powerful mana and physical ability to battle it out with swords and magecraft.

However, even so, to the lower ranking solders and to the civilians, there was no mistake that it was a weapon that possessed the power to kill.

Considering this, if the modern era ended up in a situation where there was somebody who could create Magia Pistola, and one country monopolised it, it went without saying that things would turn into an extremely dangerous issue.

At the very least, as long as one Magia Pistola existed, Luru felt that he needed to properly grasp the production method in case the need ever arose, and for that, here in his room, every day he would spend time on endeavouring in the creation and improvement of the Magia Pistola.

When Luru told all this to Iris, Iris took the one that wasn’t created by Luru―――― the pseudo Magia Pistola ――――into her hands, and after taking a good look at it, spoke.

“Certainly… there is no reaction after filling it with mana. I wonder why… It does feel like it is draining my mana, but…?”

“I went as far as deconstructing it to find out, but in the end I still don’t know. Even though we’re finally about to leave the village, a huge problem came along…”

Saying this, Luru sighed, but Iris suddenly smiled.

“Though you say that, you seem to be enjoying yourself, Ojisama.”

Having been told this, Luru realised that his own face was smiling a little.

“Oh[/Are]…?”

“Since the old days, you were, how should I say this… You quite enjoyed solving puzzles, didn’t you, Ojisama? Thinking back… Right. The time when my father Bacchus’ treasured drink stash disappeared too…”

Like that, Iris began speaking about her memories of how in the past, during Bacchus’ drink disappearance incident, giving a backward glance at Bacchus who was in a bad mood, Luru began happily searching for the culprit who had drunk the alcohol without permission.
And around the time she finished talking, Iris rubbed her eyes.
It seemed that she had finally gotten sleepy.

“…It seems that I’ll be able to sleep soon, Ojisama. My apologies for having you accompany me this late at night…”

“No, to begin with it’s my fault for waking you up. Don’t worry about it. I’m about to go to sleep too, so…”

“I see… That’s good then…”

It seems like she was really tired, because her eyes began tearing up, and she returned to her own room.
After putting away the things on his desk, Luru went to sleep as well.
Tomorrow there was packing for the trip, and then his rematch with his father.
It wouldn’t do to stay up too late.

As for the day of the rematch, if possible he had wanted it to be on a day when there was no risk of his father suffering a hangover, but because they had decided that they would be leaving for the trip on the day after, there was no choice but to do it tomorrow.
If it came down to it, he could use detoxification magic too, and just remove the alcohol.

Incidentally, they weren’t going to invite any spectators.

Luru and Patrick were going to fight with all their power.
Thinking about the small chance that some accident could occur, it was just a little bit, but it wouldn’t do for the people of the village who were unskilled with fighting to spectate.

Iris’ level of power was the minimum required, and so in other words, this meant nothing other than the fact that there was nobody in the village who could spectate.
There was also the fact that he didn’t want his strength itself to be known to too many people.

That’s why tomorrow would be a simple 1 vs 1, a match between just two men.

Thinking about the match, Luru’s heart leapt.

In the fourteen years since he was born, not once had he honestly used his power as a demon king.
He had utilised it countless times in training, but that was just training in the end, and not a fight he could enjoy.
However, this time was different.
Because his father was a truly powerful swordsman.
Perhaps his true strength would rival the heroes he had met countless times, Luru hoped.

If it was now, when he was a human, with his lowered magical circulation ability and physical strength, then he would be able to enjoy the battle even more.
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t ever cursed this body that wouldn’t move the way he wanted, but in situations like this, where he’d be able to meet more difficult opponents, thinking about it like that made him even feel that this was perhaps not such a bad reality.

Like that, Luru extinguished the wavering light of the candle in his room, and got in bed.

Tomorrow would surely be a good day.

So he thought.

/Chapter 18 END

Chapter 19 – Battle, and Limit＊

The sound of something being flicked rang out in concert with something flying Luru’s way.
Upon catching it with a small SMACK, Luru found that it was cool to the touch.

Luru opened his fist and looked at it.
It was a coin representative of the currency that circulated throughout the Kingdom of Lezaad, the Lezaadian Silver Coin.
The front was of the profile of the queen that ruled the first generation of the nation, but on the back was carved the sacred beast said to protect it, the unicorn.
Why was this thrown at Luru just now?

The reason was something that only the man standing a few paces in front of him, Patrick, knew.

When the night had broken, and the morning was still misty, without anybody knowing, Luru and Patrick headed out of their house with wooden sword in hand.
The purpose was, of course, for the real duel that was promised yesterday.

As long as they were fighting seriously as promised, there was initially the problem of location, but in the end they decided to hold the battle in the forest a little distance from the village, in a clearing close to the ancient demon ruin.
Almost nobody came here, and additionally, even if there was a little damage, nobody would be troubled by it.
Though it was ‘fighting seriously’, the two of them made the distinction of not burning up the forest, and set their ability to a level where they could be careful about that.

That’s why they probably wouldn’t destroy the ecology of the forest either.

And then, when the two of them were facing each other, Patrick tossed the coin mentioned just now.

“…What’s this?”

As Luru tilted his head in confusion, Patrick spoke.

“I was thinking that it might be good as a starting signal, you see. Throw that up, and the moment it lands, our match begins, I was thinking.”

“…? Then couldn’t you have thrown it, Dad[/Tousan]?”

When Luru said that, Patrick replied,

“If I’m the one who throws it up, isn’t it possible that the fight will start without you being completely prepared? In the end, I just want to fight against your true strength… When you’re completely ready, Luru, you can throw that coin up. …Me? I’m ready whenever.”

Was that because he felt he still had room for composure, or was it bragging that because he was a swordsman, he was constantly ready for battle?
However, Luru decided to accept his proposal.
It was the truth that he was a little more worried about his control of mana than when he was a demon, and the time lag needed to use that mana and reinforce his body was not something he could ignore, once the opponent was somebody strong.
If the start signal were left to Patrick, then there was certainly the possibility that the battle would begin before he had prepared for battle, or circulated mana through his entire body.
That’s why to Luru, it was a convenient proposal.

Like that, Luru began to leisurely circulate his own mana through his body.
From his well of deep mana, he pulled out as much as he could, and after compressing it, passed it through his entire body.
More than when he was born, more than seven years ago, it was now much easier to pass mana through his body and compared to the past, it was something he could do comfortably.
However, as expected, once he compared it to his time as a demon, the response was slow, or perhaps you could say it was like the out-of-place feeling of forcefully pumping water into a hose that was blocked somewhere.
He didn’t know if it was because of the limits of the human body, or if he had gotten the technique wrong somewhere, but he felt that he had to make sure to take care about this so that this reality wouldn’t hold him back when he was truly cornered.

Watching Luru do this, Patrick’s eyes became sharp, and then he changed a little bit from how he was up until now.
Up until they had come here too, Patrick had been shocked upon seeing some of Luru’s body reinforcement when he used his mana, but in the end, that was nothing more than one portion of Luru’s entire mana.
This time, was different.
He poured into his body as much mana as he possible could, and reinforced himself with it after all.

Even now, Patrick’s cool-looking expression hadn’t faltered, but if you looked closely you could see cold sweat hanging from his brow.
He could probably feel Luru’s power.
However, the fact that it ended only with a cold sweat, instead showed Patrick’s strength of will.

Had a normal human been there, they probably would have fainted within just a few seconds.
That level of abnormal concentration of mana was now worn around Luru’s body.

“…Luru. To think you were this…”

At the words Patrick squeezed out of his throat, Luru smiled.

“Actually, I’m still not at my best yet.”

“…? You can’t be saying that you still aren’t being serious?”

“That’s not it. That’s not it, but… Right now there’s still some power that I can’t control, you see.”

Were he in the body of the demon king then he could completely grasp both his mana and his physical strength, so he could perfectly control it.
However, the fact that this wasn’t true right now was not something that Patrick had any way of knowing.

“I don’t really understand, but… if you’re being serious, that’s fine. …Luru, is it fine to start soon?”

If you looked at Patrick, you could see that he was itching to begin moving even now.
If you looked at Luru, you could see that his desire for battle was excited.
The confidence to start at any time, and defend against any attack was brimming from his body.

Seeing Patrick like this, because Luru had confirmed that he had plenty of mana spread through his body, he nodded.

“…Yeah. I guess… it’s time to start.”

-PINN-

Luru flicked the coin he was grasping into the air.

Spinning in the air with the queen and unicorn interchanging as the coin went up, it stopped for a moment at the peak of its flight, and then was guided by gravity as it accelerated to the ground.

And then…

-DONN-

The moment it could be heard colliding with the ground, in that instant, the forms of Luru and Patrick blurred.

◇◆◇◆◇

Together with the sound of something hard colliding with each other, the trees growing in the surroundings shook from the shockwave.
Just one exchange, just one collision of their wooden swords had that much effect.

Of course, because they were wooden swords, normally they would have immediately broken.
However, the fact that the two swords that the pair freely collided with each other was even now without a scratch, and were even now continuing to grind as they locked together, was due to the pair’s close to godlike control of the magical strengthening they placed on their swords.

Were there to be even a small mistake in the flow of, or the amount of mana, a normal wooden sword would probably crack and break from the pressure of the mana it was saturated in.
However, the mana that flowed through the wooden sword continued without a break even the size of an ant, and was no longer a mere wooden sword, but something that now held enough strength to be compared to even a sword made of metal.
You wouldn’t be let off unscathed if you were hit by it.
It was a weapon that now possessed that much destructive power.

“…I’m surprised, Luru. I didn’t think that there would be so little difference between us…”

In the height of their sword-locking, Patrick said this with a grin.

“I feel the same, Dad[/Tousan]… I really do still have a long way to go, huh… I planned on finishing this with a single hit, but you withstood it…”

Luru replied as such.
Honestly speaking, as long as they said they were battling seriously, Luru had planned on not easing up even a little.
He had planned to use up all of the mana that lay within him, and steal away his father’s consciousness in a single attack.
However, the reality was that that attack was stopped, and on top of that, it seemed that right now he and his father’s strength were competing against each other.
[tl: need to come back and reword once i’ve had enough sleep. basically rather than overwhelming him, instead they’re balanced-ish and are going back and forth to try and win in strength.]
The cause of this included the fact that his father was stronger than expected, but more importantly, was because Luru couldn’t draw out all of his strength.

As expected, the fact that he was now in a human body had a large effect.
Once he actually fought with somebody strong, it became obvious.
It might be dangerous if he fought the way he did as the demon king, relying on his natural born physical capabilities.
Having said that though, it seemed that he had plenty enough power to engage in close combat with the powerful human, Patrick.
In addition to that, considering that he could use large scale magecraft, he wouldn’t lose so easily.

They couldn’t just lock swords forever.
To Luru, it hadn’t been that long.
He waited for that one moment when Patrick’s concentration was upset, and took a distance, and from there immediately put power into his arms, aimed towards Patrick and stepped forwards.

It seems that Patrick had sensed the danger from Luru who after parting for an instant, immediately leapt in with a thrust.
He thought to immediately ward it off, but remembering what happened yesterday, he concluded that it would be a bad move.

Luru could attack once more even if Patrick avoided it.
To Patrick, even if he knew what move Luru would take next, he didn’t have the confidence that he would be able to deal with the abnormal power in Luru’s second attack from yesterday.

Because of that, since there was no choice, Patrick had no choice but to bet on smacking down Luru’s thrust.

Against the thrust that came at a speed that made the words ‘couldn’t be seen’ a reality, Patrick prepared in concentration to parry it downwards from the side.

However, Luru was thrusting at a speed that wouldn’t easily slow down, and even if he could do so, Patrick would probably attack him in that instant.
That’s why Luru now had no option but one.

And then, the two of them made contact.

The sound of sword colliding against sword rang out, and in the next instant, one of the swords danced through the air.

The one who won this bet, was again, Patrick.

In that instant, he was sure of his victory.

“It’s my win… -!?”

――――However, during that instant, Patrick realised that the Luru reflected in his vision did not have the eyes of somebody who had lost.

Thinking about it, it was strange.
The feeling when he robbed the wooden sword from Luru’s hands.

It was, too light.

Wasn’t it almost as though he was holding it one-handed?

So Patrick thought.

And the next moment, he noticed that there was something grasped in Luru’s hand.

That accumulation of jet-black darkness was, from its form, without a doubt the same as that of a wooden sword.

However, that black sword whose outline wavered, was clearly not something material, and was moulded from mana.

Luru’s face curved into a grin.

“Who’s win was it?”

Patrick’s sword was high overhead, and he realised that he wouldn’t be able to cope in time.

And Luru did not overlook that opening.

Luru thrust the black sword forward, and as though gouging Patrick’s gut, he advanced deeply into him.

By the time he had noticed, his consciousness was falling into darkness.

“Dad[/Tousan]… It’s, my win, huh?”

Only his son’s voice resounded in Patrick’s ears.

◇◆◇◆◇

“Good grief… my body sure hurts.”

While muttering this, Luru walked down the road to the village, with his unconscious father on his back.
Having said that though, this speed was almost no different from an average adult’s running speed, but to Luru it was not a very fast pace.

The reason being that right now Luru was suffering from what you could call intense muscle pains throughout his body.

Perhaps it would be best to call it an aftereffect of fighting seriously, or perhaps it would be best to say it was because Patrick was stronger than Luru had expected, Luru ended up having to use several levels more mana for body reinforcement than he had normally up until now, and the result was that he was stuck with the development of muscle pain.

In fact, since he was little, he had put in great effort in order to little by little add to the amount of mana he could use in body strengthening, but even so, the body of a human was far more frail than that of the demon race’s, and each time he did this, he would feel strong pain.

To begin with, at the time, when he used half of his total output then he could fight forever without any problems, but once he started using more than that, little by little the amount of time he could fight decreased, and once he tried releasing all of his mana, roughly fifteen minutes became the limit.

He understood from experience that earnestly and consistently doing this would increase the limit, and at present he couldn’t even see a limit so it would be fine to strengthen himself forever, but even so, each time he did so he would be struck with muscle pains, so Luru was sick of it.

Once he started living as a human like this, thinking back on the level of effort of the heroes that he had fought in the past, even feelings of respect began to well up inside him.

Luru’s physical body aside, his mana was the same as when he was the demon king, so if he could stand the muscle pain of that training then it wasn’t all that tough, but the heroes should have struggled with the mana limits of a human countless times.

Towards they who had overcome even that, and came as far as defeating the demon king, Luru truly felt awe.

And Luru felt that he wanted to be able to fight like those heroes one day, but considering today’s fight with Patrick, and the condition of his overworked body, that day seemed to be still far off.

It seemed that if he had a magic artillery then he could do some rather crazy things, but once he considered that he might meet people who could Resist, even that didn’t let him feel safe.
The power or weapons to nullifying magic and magecraft, or to extremely weaken it, was something that in the past, existed in no small number, and Luru remembered this clearly.
That’s why in regards to his abilities in close-combat… Luru decided that it was something he needed to think about and work on.

Before long, they reached the village,
Visible at the entrance to the village was somebody’s standing figure.
Once he strained his eyes, it seemed that it was Iris.
It seems that she had sensed Luru and Patrick leaving the village, and was waiting there for their return.

“Welcome back, Ojisama. How was the result?”

From her way of speaking, it seems that she more or less understood what they were leaving for.
They had used quite a lot of mana, and it didn’t seem like an ancient demon’s senses would have any problem in sensing it.
Luru didn’t feel that he had any reason to hide it either, so he obediently replied.

“It was my win. It was my complete victory… is something that I can’t say, but it wasn’t a tough battle. If we redid it, there’s no mistake that I would have won. Only… he was stronger than I expected, you see.”

It seemed that these words were surprising to Iris, for her widened eyes displayed her shock.

“…It is rare for you to praise somebody you fought, Ojisama. Was his skill that great?”

“Were he born in that era, let’s see, it depends on his weapon as well, but maybe he’d be a good match for Bacchus? You probably can’t beat him, Iris…”

“A match for Father[/Otousama]… I see. I understand.”

Iris nodded.
After that, the three of them headed towards their home.
Along the way, Patrick opened his eyes.

“…Uu… where is this?”

“Dad[/Tousan], you’ve woken up?”

“Luru huh… Ahh, that’s right. I lost, huh…?”

‘My…,‘ muttered Patrick in wonder, but he sounded by no means dissatisfied.

“I thought that the world was wide, but I never thought that my first defeat in a long while would be by the hands of my son, you know?”

Whilst saying that, Patrick got down from Luru’s back.
However, it seemed that he had also overworked his body quite a bit, and even now his legs were unsteady.

“Don’t overdo it…”

Saying that, Luru supported Patrick.
Iris supported him from the other side as well.

“Oh? Iris… You noticed?”

Said Patrick, in wonder.
Iris replied.

“I noticed that the two of you left early in the morning. After that, I waited at the entrance to the village. Mother[Okaasama] is still asleep.”

“I see… Iris, did you know about his strength?”

“In the past when I was rescued from the ruins, I had the chance to see it once.”

That was just the setting, and not the truth.
But, this was something that Gran and Yuumis had arranged their stories to match, in case it ever came down to it, so there was no problem with her reply.

“I see… It seems that there was no need to worry about you two becoming adventurers… I’m relieved.”

Said Patrick, as he cast his eyes down, before speaking again.

“But there are things that can’t be solved through strength alone as well. When that happens, it’s fine not to hesitate about relying on somebody else. Adults like me, or Gran or Yuumis, okay…? Understand?”

Luru and Iris nodded at his words.
It was certainly just as he said; that was exactly why there was nothing Luru could do about the war in those days.
That’s why, the fact that there was something needed besides just power, was something that he deeply understood.

After that, seemingly honestly relieved at the nodding Luru and Iris, Patrick leisurely began to walk to the house, and then spoke.

“Well then, shall we start packing for you two?”

After that was finished today, Luru and Iris would be setting off on their journey tomorrow.
It wasn’t as though they didn’t feel any loneliness about this, but their two chests throbbed, knowing that a new everyday would be coming.

---

‘At a speed that made the words ‘couldn’t be seen’ a reality‘ is  ‘at a level that made the term ‘couldn’t be caught with their eyes’ not a figure of speech‘

‘Luru thrust the black sword forward, and as though gouging Patrick’s gut, he advanced deeply into him.‘ You have no idea how difficult it was to stop myself from rewriting this section into blatant sexual innuendo. Aahhhh, Eris-sama, Reika-sama, Chie-nee-sama! Forgive me for I have sinned!

---

/Chapter 19 END

Idle Talk – Iris’ Feelings＊

Read here, my gay friends.
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Ohhh, Ohhh, Applaud! Applaud!
Read here, my gay friends.

/Side Story END

Chapter 20 – Departure, Stop-over＊

[tl: ill come back and reword this later. for now it’s pretty awkwardly written.]

The day of departure came surprisingly quickly.

The day that it was decided that they would become adventurers might have been too busy.
Having used up all energy in their bodies partying that night, and even leaving a day free, with their hangovers gone, everybody felt a strong sense of loneliness at the pair’s departure, and a few people even burst into tears.

However, once someone said that rumours of the two would immediately be heard in town, the atmosphere was stopped from getting any more depressing.

Thinking back on it, the time with Rusty and the others was just like this too, and Luru being on the side that was seeing them off, separated from them quite readily.

It wasn’t as though they were going to war.
Although you couldn’t say that it was impossible that they would die today or tomorrow, and that it would be an eternal farewell, it wasn’t a situation where they were cornered enough that they had no choice but to worry about such a thing happening.

The danger of the adventurer profession was incomparable to normal jobs, but they understood that at least it wasn’t a situation where they would immediately receive news of their death, and the two would be sending a few letters back to their parents once they arrived in the capital.

The villagers all knew that they were trained by Patrick, Gran and Yuumis, so they weren’t needlessly worried about the pair dying.

Behind the curtains of the carriage, Luru sat there, legs swinging back and forth as he burned the scenery of the receding village into his memories, deciding that he would not forget it.

Thinking about it, including his time as the demon king, he had almost never been on the side of those departing.

On the contrary, when he was the demon king, he would encourage the soldiers heading to the frontlines, seeing them off, and rarely appeared on the frontlines himself, so he had few experiences of being seen off himself.

He originally thought that this second life of his might be filled with only things he had already experienced, but leaving on a journey was the beginning of a very fresh experience to him.

“It’s a good sign, huh…”

Luru muttered this, and Iris who was dressed in traveling clothes, spoke with a smile beside him.

“In the past, you seldom had the free time to go on journeys, didn’t you, Ojisama…?”

Looking with desire beyond the mountains, Iris recalled them.
The past, the old days.
Luru’s old form.

“Even though Bacchus always got to go on trips… Why was I the only one who had to stay in the castle?”

“The most important person to our people is not somebody who can move on their own… And, it was because there was no replacement for you, Ojisama… We could not lose you at, any cost…”

Long ago, the demon king was powerful.
However, he was not absolute.
The conclusion of that battle was proof of this.

When he disappeared, just how many people had darkness borne in their hearts?
When he considered this, it felt as though his chest was going to split part.

Seeing Luru’s face, she probably understood what he was thinking about.
She spoke caringly.

“The past is the past. Please excuse me… I brought up that topic again.”

“Nah, my bad. I get that I’m overthinking this stuff but… I can’t help it.”

“No. It is because you are like this that the demon race followed you… However, shall we move on from the gloomy topics? Ojisama, let us speak about what we will be doing from now on.”

Because Iris suddenly began speaking cheerfully like this, Luru decided to switch gears as well.

“From now on, huh. For now, I guess our goal is the capital. The Lezaadian Royal Capital, Desielt. We’ll pass through a number of villages…. It seems like it’ll take about a week.”

“Once we arrive, will we be registering as adventurers?”

The requirements for registering with the Adventurers Guild was just your age, and a single silver coin.
Because they didn’t require anything else from you, Luru felt that hurrying up and registering was probably the most efficient.
But, there were some people he had to show his face to, or perhaps you could say that there was a promise he ought to fulfil.
Luru hadn’t forgotten this.

“That’s the plan, but… it might be better to go meet with Gran and Yuumis first. Those guys have created a clan in the capital so… that means that Rusty and the others are there as well.”

Hearing Rusty’s name, Iris grinned.

“I wonder if everybody has gotten strong. Have Mii and Yuuri been able to use their magic well…?”

Saying that, Iris looked into the air as though recalling something.
Leaving Rusty aside, Mii and Yuuri were Iris’ first human friends, as well the first beloved pupils she had brought up herself.
It probably couldn’t be helped that she was wondering how strong they had become in the few months that she hadn’t seen them.

Thinking about it, the training that Iris gave them was very harsh.
She recalled how even her tone of speech changed, and how Rusty, Gran and Luru who were training more relaxedly in the same place turned gazes of pity towards that hellish training that gave not an inch of reprieve.

It was only after recalling the things she did to them, that Luru realised how after his death, and the harsh training Iris went through, Iris had gone around attacking the church’s forces as a guerilla soldier.

The ancient demons were not fundamentally spartan in their training, but there certainly were some who went mad with their training, so perhaps Iris’ trainer was one of those.

There were traces of one of his long gone subordinates in Iris’ training with the two, so this guess was probably correct.

He understood as well that in order to have Iris who was nothing more than a child, combat ready within just a few years, there was no method but that.

However, having said that, there was probably no need to have even Mii and Yuuri go through that as well…

Thinking that, he thought of indirectly suggesting to Iris about not being too harsh, but the words that she gave as her reply were extremely unexpected.

“The only reason that I did so was because the two of them requested that I be as harsh as possible, and so…”

For a moment he wondered “Really?” in doubt, but Iris had no reason to lie.
Being the case, then it meant that those two wanted Iris’ harsh training themselves but, why exactly?
What spurred them towards such harsh training was too much of a mystery to him, and he couldn’t stand not knowing.
So, when he asked Iris about this,

“Even if it is you, Ojisama, it is not something I can tell you. It is what you would call, a maiden’s secret.”

She evaded answering.
The two of them probably forbade her to talk about it.
If that wasn’t the case, then Iris shouldn’t have hid it from him…

Having thought that far, feeling just a tad bitter, Luru suddenly gasped in realisation.
Wasn’t this the loneliness of a parent whose daughter was growing independent?

Coming to this idea, Luru murmured in his mind.

‘Bacchus. It seems that your daughter has grown into a fine young woman.‘

Speaking of which, just what had that guy gotten up to after he died, Luru wondered.
As Luru expected, even if he asked Iris she didn’t know, but Iris did assess her father as ‘a person who won’t die even if you kill him’ and Luru held the same feelings towards him.

In either or nine cases out of ten, he stayed alive even after Luru’s death.
And… just how had he lived?
There no longer remained any way for Luru to know.

However, it would be nice if in the end, Bacchus somehow found happiness.

So Luru thought.

Like that, the shaking carriage continued down the highway.

They passed through a few small villages.

Turning back to face Luru and Iris,

“We’ll be staying overnight at the next town, so prepare yourselves.”

said the carriage driver.
If they looked carefully, they could see a grey wall a little further ahead.

Up until now, Luru had never been to a large town, so this really was quite a sight to him.
As for Iris, she didn’t seem all that surprised and said,

“It is a large town, isn’t it? …Well, it’s no match for the Demon Capital Kuranu though.”

Kuranu was a town that once belonged to the demon race, and certainly its size and scope could not be compared to by a town like the one before them.
From Iris’ point of view, the sight of Kuranu was not all that long ago.
Was it because he died once that Luru could only faintly remember it? Or was it because he had forgotten it because he had grown older?

It was a sad thing, so he wanted to believe it was the former.

While he was thinking this, the carriage finally arrived at the city gates of the fortress city.

By the gates stood a number of soldiers, and it seemed that they were checking the people that were entering the town.

The carriage that Luru and Iris rode was no exception, and after checking the driver, the luggage, checking Luru and Iris’ faces, and asking about their origins, they jotted something down.
However, that was basically it, and immediately afterwards,

“Welcome, to Fortress City Finale!”

said the guards in a welcome.
It seemed to be a routine greeting because not a shred of emotion appeared on the driver’s face as he began moving the carriage again, but Luru found it somehow fun, and smiled at the soldiers.
When he did, the soldier gave him a prompt thumbs up, so Luru returned it.

Since they somehow understood each other, Luru’s mood improved.

As for Iris, she gazed at Luru with a smile, seemingly finding the scene heartwarming.

“Having fun?”

Being asked that, Iris smiled and answered.

“Yes of course!”

That smile was something rare for Iris; unlike her usual reserved and somewhat ephemeral self, she was giving a broad smile, brightly illuminating her surroundings like the sun.

◆◇◆◇◆

After entering the city, the carriage immediately headed to an inn.
There was already a place prepared to leave the carriage, and it was seemingly intended for such use to begin with.
Probably because it was on the way to the capital.
There was also a lot of pedestrians, and the streets were wide to accommodate for this.

The inn they entered was quite thoroughly cleaned.
As you’d expect there was no bath, but there was at least a place to pour water over yourself, and not only were the beds white, the meals were apparently delicious as well.

Because the sun had gone down but it was still too early for dinner, to kill some time Luru decided to have a stroll around the city with Iris.

“It’s dangerous with only you children.”

said the carriage driver in concern, but,

“We are intending to become adventurers, and my father has acknowledged my strength as well, so we’ll get by somehow.”

Luru replied, and after looking like he had just recalled it, the driver assented.
Seeing that the driver had that much faith in his father’s strength, Luru felt a little happy.
After that,

“Well then, shall we go, Ojisama?”

said Iris, so after nodding to her in reply, they left the inn and headed out to the town together.

/Chapter 20 END