We were deep in the woods, running away from the city's soldiers.
　My fists are clenched with anger rather than sadness as I'm beginning to understand the situation.
　As if concerned for my safety, Dora-chan's hand grabs mine and holds me close.
　That alone seems to soothe me slightly, and I gently stroke her head.

　Just then, we hear a sound of grass roots parting from deep in the forest, and a woman appears in front of us as we brace ourselves.
　It was a person we had never met before, a beautiful woman.
　Who's after us?　We thought so, and we braced ourselves, but Jack was the only one gasping in surprise.

"This way,

　The person who said that does not seem hostile and beckons us to the back way.

　...... What to do?

　For a moment, he looks at everyone else for a possible trap, but at that moment Jack does not hesitate to say

"It's okay, brother. She's on our side. Trust me.

　It was Jack's voice, full of conviction.
　You know Jack?　I was going to ask him about it, but I didn't have time to ask him about it, and then I saw a glimpse of soldiers holding torches from behind me.
　If you wait here, the soldiers will surround you. Then it's better to trust Jack's word and act now.
　We all nodded to each other and the woman led us deeper into the woods.
　Soon there is a hut in the clearing, and the woman takes us inside.

We'll be safe here for a while. It's far from town, and only a few people know about it.

　With that, the woman once again turns her head towards us.
　The dignified expression on her face and her eyes looking straight at me was somewhat intimidating, but her gaze was not on me or Helu, but on Jack.

It's good to see you, Jack.

"...... Oh, it's been a while, Miss Est.

　You knew Jack after all?　But when and where on earth?
　As Dora-chan and I stared at each other with a question mark in our eyes, our meaningful conversation continued.

You can see again, can't you?

"Yes, thanks to Mr. Jack. Thank you.

"...... Sorry about that.

"?　Why is Mr. Jack apologizing?

"As you can see from ......, I'm the same kind of monster that took the lives of your parents. It must have been very annoying to have a monster like this meddling with you, who is blind, and doing all sorts of things with you.

Mr. Jack. I told you. You don't judge a man by his looks. And I've noticed you before.

"What?

I did notice, although I only noticed it afterwards. I told you before that I wanted to see you first when my eyes were healed, so I went to see you once when I could see again.

"...... when.

"We didn't meet in person. I just watched from afar. I heard there was a charmer who grows demons out of town, so I went to see him. I saw you there, Mr. Keogh, and you next to him. At first I thought it was you, but it wasn't the atmosphere I knew. Rather, the pumpkin-headed gentleman next to him looked more like someone I knew well, and so

...... I'm sorry I didn't notice. I'm sorry I didn't notice.

No, don't worry about it. And more importantly, I'm glad we were able to pay our respects to that time in this way.

　It seems that they are talking to each other, creating a private space for each other.
　Well, is it time for me to join the conversation?

"Oh, I'm sorry, brother. This is Mistress Est. Well, I know her for a long time.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Keough. This is the first time we've met in person.

"Oh, oh, nice to meet you.

　I also greeted the other party with a straightforward hello.
　Esto smiles slightly as he sees us, but his expression changes to a serious one right away.

Do you understand the situation?

　It seems that Esto knows what happened in this city.

...... I have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking at, but can you explain it to me?

"Yes. . and there's not much I know about it,

　Speaking from Est-san's mouth.
　As expected, a few days ago, messengers from the Albrus Empire came to the city, as I had imagined, and first met with the lord, and then went one by one to someone who was in close contact with me, the city's demon cultivator.
　After he returned, the atmosphere of the town began to change.
　Because Est originally lived deep in the forest, he came to town only occasionally and above all, because he had no direct contact with me, he didn't suffer from memory tampering.
　After listening to the story, my sister Helu, who had been next to me until then, clenches her fist in anger.

It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one. ...... I'll never forgive you, and if I ever see you again, I'll kill you for real.

　Helle's face was clearly angry as she spat that out. And it was the same for everyone else.



"...... Papa, Rock and I can't forgive anyone who makes Papa suffer .......

　When I looked at her, I saw that even her normally meek and innocent face was twisted as if she had bitten down on a bitter worm, and her hand that held my clothes was squeezed tightly.
　It's the first time I've seen the face of a girl showing such dark emotions, and I was more heartbroken to see my friends like this than to see how they treated me.

...... Yeah, that's right. I can't forgive them for taking your place in the world, but I can't forgive them for taking your place, either.

　That's right. I used to be shocked that my place was taken, but it's not.
　She took Locke, Dora-chan, and Jack's place.
　Not only that, he took the place of the demons I'd raised.
　If it had been just me, I would have been shocked and that would have been the end of it.
　But I can't allow people who are not involved in the process of pushing me into this, no matter how much I think about it.

　Both Mina and her lord had their memories altered without their permission, and this meant that they had insulted their previous memories.
　I'm not angry at myself, but at the fact that the place of my friends is defiled, and I've become aware of this.

Let's do it. I've been tricked. Let's make him pay for it.

　Most of all, can we leave Lily, Fitis, and Amarnes alone while they're being robbed?
　No, no.
　I don't have time to break my heart. If you have time to do that, then punch that bastard in the face right now.
　So I stood up, looked at the faces and nodded.

The moment he nodded, he said, "I appeal to the monster inside that hut!　Now get out!　Or else set fire to the cabin!

　When I looked out the window, I saw that the city's soldiers had gathered outside the window before I knew it.

...... It seems that the footprints caught you coming here. I'm sorry, I can't be of any help when it matters.

　Jack puts his hand on Esto's shoulder and smiles graciously before I can call out to him, as he apologizes for saying so.

"What, Miss Esto saved us enough. She was the only one who remembered us and helped us. That's going to be enough to help you stand up. Thank you, Mistress Est.

"...... Mr. Jack

"I'll take it from here. I won't let you get one foot near this cabin of Mistress Est's.

　Say Jack putting his gentleman's hat back on and stepping forward.
　Hey, what kind of heroic position is that?
　As Jack is about to take the lead role, I also rush to the door.

The moment you open the door, brother, there will be an all-out attack with bows and arrows.

I guess I'll have to go to ....... So, is it going to work?　Hell

　She smiled at my question, no problem, and returned to her usual kitchen tone.

I'm not sure who you're talking to, brother?　They turn all of their bows and arrows into dust before they reach us.

"I'll take care of him, too, brother. We didn't change classes before. I'll knock you out like a common soldier.

　The two of them smile at me, and I give them a thumbs up to reassure them as well.

Oh, well, it's all yours. Both of you.

　As if to counter their opposition, Locke, who had been in doubt for some time now, speaks up and speaks out.

Poppa ......!　The Rock also fights ......!　Bullying the bad guys who bully Poppa ...... get them down!

"Thank you for rocking ......

　I said that and tugged at my clothes, but I wanted her to be as unruly as possible.
　I'm not sure if it's just my empathy for my daughter, but if possible, I wanted her to get along with humans and not fight with them.
　With that in mind, I had to get through this first.
　I pull myself together again, put my hand on the doorknob and call out to everyone behind me to confirm.

Then--let's go!

　Then he opened the door.
　The soldiers in front of me, holding their bows and arrows, were blown to the side.

What?

　What happened. It was only in the next moment that I understood.

What!　What happened?

"Ta, captain!　It is a demon!　A group of demons from the side!

"What, what?　d*mn, but the demons around here would be at best D class!　Don't break ranks to that level of demons!

"No, no!　Oh, that's not a D grade, etc.!

"What are you doing at ......, idiot?

　The soldiers are confused as they say, but from the flank he appears.
　A demon with multiple dragon heads on a single body.
　Although it was much smaller than the total length we'd seen before, three of them came together and swept the soldiers away one after another and then they stood in front of us as if defending us.

A hydra?　Silly?　Why would an S-ranked demon be in a place like this, albeit a child?



　Beside the astonished soldiers, I recognized the hydra.

"You guys ......!

　The baby hydra were born from eggs that Amanes had retrieved when he killed Hydra.
　I managed to return from the eggs, but because Hydra was a monster that grew up near the water's edge, I kept it in a nearby river, and it would occasionally come to check on me, as if it thought I was its parent, and it would often come running to my feet or on my arm and play with me like a dog.
　Before I knew it, they had grown so big, and then they came here to protect me.
　Just as I was about to be engulfed in such emotion, it happened again.

"Sir!　My God!　The demon!　Not only from the flanks, but also from the rear, an army of demons!

　You can see the various demons advancing towards you from behind the soldiers as they panicked.
　It's a cockatrice. A jack-o'-lantern. The Devil Carrot. A mash bamboo. Killer plant. Weedleaf.
　These are the demons I've raised.

You guys can go to ......

　They all beat the soldiers and occasionally kicked them away as they rushed toward me and surrounded me with their eyes to protect me as well as the hydra.

Oh, yeah!　Demons!　Never mind!　Except for the hydra, they're all small fry demons!　Everybody shoot!

　The general's body is grabbed by a branch and flown through the air, while the still-unfallen captain tries to give orders to rebuild the dismembered formation.

"Huh?　!

"Ho-ho-ho, if you think the forest is noisy, ...... you think I'd let such an outrage in my forest go unnoticed?

"Grandpa Ent!

　It was the keeper and master of this forest, the Ent that I helped develop the Entake.

It's been a long time, kid. Something's gone wrong. I came over here without a second thought. I see that you have many other acquaintances besides us.

"Huh?

　As I looked at the group of soldiers in response to the voice, I saw that they were being held up by a group of giant ogre-like guys who were blocking them from moving.

Kyou-dono. It's good to see you again. I've come to repay you for the work you did for our village before. I've come to return the favor.

"Ogre!

　Even the ogres that had come to grow the bahanero were there to wipe out the soldiers.
　I saw Bahanero spitting fire out of his mouth and burning the soldiers' asses.

　That's right. It's true that the imperial hero may have robbed the townspeople of their memories and bonds.
　But what I cultivated was not only human bonds.

　The bond with demons. That's what I've grown up with in this other world.