I've sworn a new allegiance to the Demon King, but two questions arise.
　Why did she go to this mansion?
　And how did she realize that I was a human?

　I asked her about that.　

He said, "I've known for some time that Unu has memories of his previous life. Hence, I thought that you might know how to make 'gunpowder', and that's why I came here. --although I didn't think he was human inside, too.

　I see, the point is that it was discovered in the bathrooms just now.

　There are wards set up in this mansion, and it's not impossible to break them if you have the magical power of a demon king.

　It's not that I was careless, it's more that I was unlucky.
　No, I should probably say that the opponent was bad.

　But does she not care if there is a human lurking in the Demon King's army?
　This girl, even when she found out that I was a human, she was at ease.
　She looked at me without changing her attitude or even her expression.

''Don't you care if I'm human?''

In my previous life, I was human.

''But aren't you the commander-in-chief of the Demon King's army now?

Yes, sir.

　But," she continues, "even though I was born as a demon, it seems that I still have some human heart.

"Even though I was born as a demon, it seems that I still had a human heart.

...I see.

　I know a few demons who were human in a previous life, but they all lost their human hearts.

　It seems that when one is reincarnated as a demon race and possesses an inhuman power, one loses the heart of a human being.

　She was also called the "Demon King" in her previous life.
　Originally, she was a historical person who was somewhere between a human and a demon king.

　And because of that, she may have been able to acquire a demon body without losing the "heart" of her previous life. That's just my own imagination.

　--Just then, I'm curious about this person's purpose.

"Why did you give me this firearm?

"I figured you'd know how to use it. That flintlock is called a 'drifting thing'. On rare occasions, things can drift down from other worlds.

...I see.

　So that's what happens.
　But it's a causal story that the 'flamethrower' is flowing down to Nobunaga-sama.
　Will something related to that person flow down?

''But, crucially, there is no gunpowder to put into the flamethrower. The bullets, which are few, flowed down with it.

Gunpowder will fade over time, you know.
It is.
So you want me to make powder for you?

　She nodded with a curt nod.

''..........''

"...what's going on?　Why are you silent?　Don't tell me you can't make gunpowder?

No, I know how to make gunpowder.

　He had gathered that kind of knowledge in his past life in vain.
　I have at least some knowledge about making gunpowder.
　But there was one thing that bothered me.

''--I'm honored to have the Demon Lord's eyes on me, but where is the Demon Lord's ultimate goal?''

...the end goal?

Yes, sir.

　In other words, what I'm asking is, what are you going to do after you get the instructions on how to make gunpowder from me and have me defeat Basteo with it.

　Of course, the Demon King-sama is the general of the Demon King's army.
　So far, he hasn't oppressed or slaughtered humans or wasted any blood.
　However, what will happen in the future?

　No, after treating her like this, I found out that this girl is not such a brutal and ruthless person, but once she gets the strongest weapons in this 'other world', such as gunpowder and guns, people might change.

　I still wanted to confirm that part of the story.
　I ask the Demon King-sama.

''Demon King-sama--, what kind of world do you hope to have when you conquer this world?''

　I gulp and gulp.

　I just swore a new oath of allegiance just now, but if this person is going to become the Sixth Heavenly Demon King, as he was known in his previous life, then I cannot cooperate with this person.

　I myself am a human.
　I can't lend my strength to eradicate humans.

　If this person's ultimate goal is to eradicate humans and prosper only the demon race, or even only himself, then he might have to antagonize this person as well.

　He glanced at Sati with a sideways glance.
　He was originally born a human.
　The fact that I'm a human being, after all, cannot be abandoned.

　And after meeting this girl, Satie, I remembered that I am a human being even more.

　I asked the Demon King-sama once again to correct my true intentions.
　The answer that came back from her was--.

I'm trying to coexist with humans and demons.

　It was a decisive tone and expression.
　I decided to take him at his word.


　　†.


　The flamethrower--
　It is a very early type of gun invented in the West.

　Only two flintlock guns were brought ashore from the Portuguese on Japan's Tanegashima Island during the Warring States period and quickly spread throughout Japan, bringing an end to the Warring States period.

　The flamethrower itself is not a very powerful weapon.
　No, the gun itself is powerful, but it cannot fire continuously.

　No wonder.

　In the case of the flamethrower, the gun must be loaded with gunpowder and ammunition from the end of the tube, one by one.

　The advantage of a firearm is that anyone can use it.

　There is no need to train like a bow.

　You can hand it to the peasants and goblins out there and it will be as good or better than a skilled knight.
　That is its greatest and best advantage.

　However, I only have 10 guns on hand right now.
　And I don't have any gunpowder.
　We'll have to do something about the gunpowder first.　

　It would be great if we could find the raw material for gunpowder in this other world as well, but we don't have time to search for it.

　The only way to produce gunpowder would be to use the scientific method.

''The scientific method?''

　In his office, Satie asks after bringing him a cup of tea.

'The point is, I'm going to use alchemy.

I see.

　Sati agreed.
　In the first place, there is no great difference between alchemy and science.
　The offspring of alchemy is science.

　It's the same in this world.

　If you make water spring with fire, it becomes hot water; if you keep it boiling, it becomes steam.
　Ferment a grape and it becomes wine.

　That's what science is all about.

　In other words, it should be possible to produce glass artificially even if you don't have any glass at hand.

So how do you produce this glass?

　Sati asks a simple question.

'First of all, I'm going to gather a large amount of hay that's thirsty for the kakari.
I'm sure Giron and the others will be able to help with that.
"And the water in the old pond and the rotting guts of the fish and the animal carcasses.
..........

　Sure enough, Satie began to pull.
　I knew it wasn't something to talk about with a girl.

　But, you know, Satie.

Oh, you can leave the fish catching to Satie.

　And he rolled up the sleeves of his maid's uniform.

''Thank you.''

　I'll thank you for that.

　In fact, there is a need for "ammonia," or human urine, furthermore, but it would be terrible to ask Satie for it.

　If you ask for it, he'll probably provide it, but I'm a gentleman, so I can't demand that much.

　Shall I ask the residents of the town of Ivalice to provide me with that information?

　I'm not going to be able to get any more than a couple of hours of work done.

　--But this is a world of swords and magic, and it would be easy to let it ripen.

''Mix this with charcoal and sulfur, and you have what's called black powder.

　As I say this, I load the gunpowder at the end of the flintlock, and then load the bullets.
　Then I light the end of the flintlock with the magic of "Ignition" and pull the trigger.


　Gong!


　There was a loud roar outside the building.
　Satie and others are covering their ears with their hands.
　I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.

　With this, even if a knight is hardened with heavy armor (full plate), it doesn't mean anything.

　Rather, its weight makes it blunt and a good target.

　This might have created something extraordinary.

　I might have witnessed a moment that would change the history of this other world.

　With that thought in mind, I decided to head to the Demon King's Castle Dvorberg, the place of the duel with Basteo, the commander of the Demon King's 3rd Legion Legion, the place of the duel.

　I say to Satie, "I'm going into battle.

''I'm going out for a bit.''

　With that, Sati said, "Please wait," and returned to the pavilion.
　What does she want?
　There's still time, though, so it's not a problem.
　As I think about it, Sati comes back.
　She said, out of breath.

''I learned this from Demon King-sama just now...''

　She prefaced this by tapping the flaming stone, or flint, twice with a "click".

　It's the kind of thing you often see in historical dramas.

　It's the kind of thing the master does when he goes out, especially in a competition hall.

(Totally.)

　It's a custom that was abolished long ago in Japan in the previous life, but to have it done in another world...
　The Demon King has given me some strange wisdom, but it's not a bad feeling.

　I steeled myself to respond to the feelings of the Demon King and Sati, and headed for Dvorberg.