"Do you want to be killed?" ....You mean...?　Huh ... you fool.

The demon tribe sneered at my words and then scoffed.

''Apparently, you don't know what a demon race is. If I'm serious, people like you will be erased along with this tavern!''

The bar has nothing to do with it...
Why do these kinds of crooks always want to tear down nearby buildings?

It doesn't matter. So let's take it outside.

'Who said I could make a suggestion?　It's my choice!

At that time, the demon race's right hand flashed slightly.

''【Jutsu Destruction (Soul Break)!

With a sound like glass shattering, the demon tribe loses the light in its right hand.
This guy.........was he seriously going to do the whole shop now?

--No, I can't understand the words.

[The Binding One, Diez-Obrigadio]........

I summoned a white arm and instantly restrained the demon race.
This arm is useful in situations like this, as it seals the opponent's magic power the moment it touches them.

''Nah!''

The demon tribe raises its voice in a hurry.
But by the time they realized it, it was too late.
The white arms wrapped around the demon tribe as they climbed up from its legs like a snake, completely restraining its arms and torso.
Now I can no longer use magic without a second thought.

''d*mn it!　Let go of me!　You fool! ....ugh!　The magic, it's not working...

Excuse me!

I called the clerk with the demon tribe in custody.

''Ha ... yes?''

Then a woman popped up from the counter and said, "I'll be back later, can you leave it as it is?

"I'll be back later, can you leave it as it is?

Oh, I understand.

The clerk replies, as if in a hurry.
I'm not going to waste my drink.
I took care of this one, so I'll be right back.

Hm?　Can't we get three?

When I looked, there were three people there with no sign of leaving their seats.

'Huh?　Because you're just going to end up playing it off like you always do anyway, right?

Toa replies in a cumbersome manner.

'No, no, no!　What's that?　He's an acquaintance of yours, isn't he?

I don't know who you are!

You don't know?　Then how did this guy know about Toa?

That's....

I was dimly aware of it.
That Toa was hiding something.

Nem is so engrossed in his meat that he no longer pays attention to us.
I wonder if his liver has been hardened by his journey with me?
He doesn't even look at the fact that he's a demon race.

''What about Sufilia?''

I'll leave it to Nito-sama. There's nothing much I can do to help you if I go with you.

Huh....

I let out a sigh and put my mask on.

'Oh well...'

He moves his white arm and takes the demons outside.
All the while, the three of them are enjoying themselves with beer, meat and fish.

'Nito?'

Then when we came to the entrance, Toa.....

What if I killed her?

I said.

'Huh ... me, you know?　This guy just tried to kill me, okay?

'Still no, and if it's Nito, what's the problem?'

That's true, but....

Okay, okay....

These guys are going to get into trouble later on, so I think it's best to turn them off.

I led the demon tribe out of the store and loosened the restraints so they could listen to me.

"d*mn it!　Let go of me!　Let go of me, human!　You humans messed with me!

Will you shut up or do I have to strangle you right now?

'Ugh! .....

What ... aren't you more honest than I thought?

Is it because I'm a demon?
She's very perceptive.
She understands that I could kill her in a heartbeat if I put my mind to it.

"And then what?　Why did you try to take Toa with you?

'Ha ha!　I'm going to teach people like you a lesson, geez!

I tightened the restraints.
He's a pain in the ass.
Are all demons this troublesome?

Answer me.

"To make Master Toatrica the next king...

The next king?　It doesn't matter how you know about Toa. I'm on my way to take the Toa home, and what is the Toa?　Where is his country?

Then the demon tribe grinned at my disordered question.

''I see.......it seems you don't know anything about Toatrica-sama?　What is it?　I want you to tell me geez!

I can give you a taste of what's to come if you'd like.

All right!　All right!　I get it! ........and stop it!

You want me to stop, you tell me, so that I can understand?

Then the demon tribe caught its breath and answered my question.

''Lady Toatrica is the princess of the demon kingdom of Ursula!

....

I wasn't too surprised to hear that.

A princess.........I see.
So that's what the castle meant, after all........
No wonder he's so selfish.
No, it's not that he's particularly selfish, but Toa does show that side of him from time to time.

"Lucius Rosef Ursula is one of the three Demon Kings who rule the Demon Kingdom. My king, the one who is equal to Lord Cassandra........

"You're a hard-assed guy," he shrugged, "but this guy doesn't seem to respect that Lucius in any way.

'Is that the name of the Toa's parentage?'

Yeah, you've already told me.　Now get this thing off me!

'No you haven't answered the question. Why did you try to take Toa with you?　Answer me about that. The same demon kingdom has a different king, right?　Then why do you take Toa, who has nothing to do with it?

Irrelevant?

Because, you know what?　The Toa are from that magical land of Ursula, right?　Didn't you say Shastaine or something like that, I believe?

"Huh ... that's your mistake. All the royalty are related to each other by blood. As the descendants of the first Demon King, any of the royals who are descendants of the first Demon King can become a king. Toatrica-sama in particular is Rosalia-sama's sister monarch, and is the most powerful demon race among the royal family. Chastain, where women have been enthroned as demon kings for generations, needs someone like Toatrica-sama.

It made sense.
So this guy was going after Toa.

I mean, was it Cassandra?

'It's King Cassandra!　It would be impolite!

He's a pain in the ass.

'So it's King Cassandra, then. So you're the one this Cassandra King told you to bring the Toa to, right?

Yeah, I already told you!

How are Toa's parents doing?　Why you and not the messenger of Lucius?

I don't know!　Of course, you'll be looking for someone from Master Lucius, won't you?　Right?　Can we go now?　I've told you enough, haven't I?

I could ask you a few more questions, but you'll forgive me now, won't you?
More than anything else, I need a drink now.

'What if we let you go?　Are you going to attack the Toa again?

Assault?　I was going to ask you to come along from the beginning, politely?

"You were the one who grabbed my arm, forcing me to do something.　Doesn't that qualify as "disrespect"?

Then the demon race shut up.
It doesn't matter what kind of race they are, they will shut up when it's inconvenient.

For now, let's show this guy my intentions here.

"I want to tell you one thing, I don't want to kill demons if I can help it. I don't feel good about killing one of the Toa's own people, and more importantly, I have no desire to do so myself.

The demon tribe seemed to be fed up with my questions.
They refused to give me any more answers.

You know what?　I'm not going to kill you. But if you're going to take Toa with you, you have to kill him. Do you understand?

'Oh...'

Then the man opened his mouth.

'I at least know the situation I'm in. I've made a mistake in assessing the competence of my opponent. If you let me off the hook, I'll shut up and leave.

I knew he was a sensible guy.
Maybe it's because of the fact that I just dealt with Saeki, but this guy is starting to look competent.
Are humans stupid creatures after all?
Or was this demon race clever by accident?
Either way, we're gonna let this guy go.

All right.

I released the demon race and unlocked the magic.

'Who are you?　You ain't no ordinary adventurer, are you?　Well, it's about as close as Lady Toatrica has allowed me to get to her. What's the matter with you?

I'm just an adventurer. Nothing more. I'm just a rookie with a lot of experience around here.

I'm not lying.
I haven't been an adventurer for very long.

Go. And don't come back.

You know what I'm saying?　I'll go back to the country and report this, okay?

The demon tribe didn't seem to be joking and said that normally.
And this guy is asking knowingly.
Still, he expects me to miss it.

In a corner of my mind, I feared that I would miss it.
But I tried not to think about it too much, because it would be harder to let it go.
It makes it harder to get off the ground.

'Yeah, do what you want. But I wouldn't recommend it.

'Whether you recommend it or not is irrelevant. I have a duty to report to you, and my intentions are irrelevant. What happens if I return to the demon kingdom?　Cukk.....

I wouldn't want to kill demons if I could.
Beastmen and demons dwarves and elves.
I really didn't want to do it, even then.

But I think we need to come to a decision about this.

I'm going to visit the Devil's Land sooner or later. The best thing is if it's called the home of the Toa. Wait until then.

I'm telling you.　You said my intentions didn't matter.

Tell your king that I will send the Toa to the Devil's Land. Tell your king that I will send the Toa to the Devil's Land.

"Huh ... you're still an idiot, aren't you?　You don't understand the story. We can't let them return to Ursula. That's why a search party has been sent.

I know ... he has to be killed here.
Otherwise, it's obvious that things will get messy later on.
Next he will come with an army and kidnap the Toa.

'Then ... until we kill him.

I slowly turned my hand to him.

'Guh! .....

'Reluctantly, but it can't be helped. We can't risk the Toa.

But when I was about to chant my magic, that's when I saw the Toa.

-- quietly, from inside the shop, the Toa appeared.

'Toa? .....

Why did you come out?

I'm not sure...

Toa keeps his gaze on me and doesn't say anything.
But I know what that stare means.

'Toa, we have to kill this guy........'

But Toa said nothing.

'I can handle this guy alone now.

You'll be fine...

Toa? .........

'How easy would it be to kill him?　But you can choose it. You have the power to choose. Don't you?


His tone isn't the usual Toa.
And the look in his eyes is strange.......was he that sharp?

Heh he said he'd let you go, he said he'd kill you, but that's not good enough.

The demon tribe shows a look of composure.

If I kill him here, it'll be the end of it.
We can eliminate the danger to the Toa for now.
But if we let it slide, he won't be the next one to appear.
And when that happens, I will not be able to overlook it.

"I don't want to kill demons...

It's not a person.

I didn't have to kill him.

Toa told me off. He doesn't have to kill me.

But...

"Masamune?"　I believe in you....

But.....

It's...

I believe in you. I believe in you...

....

I can't get my hands to stop shaking.
I'm not afraid.

I'm not....

Just a little bit, just a little bit of magic flowing through me, and I can kill this guy.
But I also know I don't have to kill it.
When the time comes, we'll be able to deal with it again, and we will.
And that will be enough.
I have the power to do it.

Then slowly, the shaking in my hands subsides.

...Okay.

I let my trembling hand drop as Toa's words led me down.

'Toa I'm........'

What the hell are you doing here, Nito?　Your meat is getting cold.　Let's get going!

What?

But then, there was the usual Toa I knew.
The look in his eyes was clearly different from the Toa I saw earlier.
The tone of his voice was different, too.

The usual Toa.

The demon tribe trying to escape from the place while I'm looking away.
I turned my gaze once again.

''Well then, I'm going to leave now.

The demon tribe was smiling.

We shouldn't miss it.
I know that.
But.........

Enough ... go.

It was my choice.
Besides it doesn't matter what I do.
I can do it.

But I didn't think you were still in recovery, did I?　Cukk.....

As he was leaving, the demon race muttered something strange.
I tried to find out what it meant, but at that time, his magic power had already disappeared from in front of my eyes.

''Transference........''

Not healed? ...what does that mean?

For me, an indecisive person who keeps worrying about even a decision once made, the decision to 'not kill' is tricky.
I will probably regret it later.
But it's too late now.

Let's go?

'Oh, yeah...'

With a few questions unanswered, I carried the bewilderment on my back and went back inside the store for now.