episode_0169

Immediately from the next day, I started gathering information about the Demon King’s Soul.

Naturally, I thought it would be much better to find information about the Demon Lord’s soul in the demon world rather than in the kingdom.

Of course, there is a goddess Stellania in Kubel, but she created them at an extremely early stage and neglected them, so she was of little help in recognizing the characteristics of the current Demon Lord Soul.

The giant magic stone that Mariel was making to kill time was left in her lab for now.

For a while, the large magic stone grew bigger every time I visited, but at some point it stopped growing.

When asked the reason, Mariel answered as follows.

“Huh? I’m sick of it.”

The reason was that making the magic stone bigger was no longer fun.

Anyway, I think there will be a place for that large magic stone to be used later, so as the narration said, I kept an eye on it so that it doesn’t go anywhere.

It would be a good idea to take the opportunity and get it from Mariel.

The narration said that what I needed to find out was the ‘characteristics of the Demon King’s soul.’

Since the information in the narration often had different ‘ah’ and ‘uh’, I paid attention to that.

What I want to find out is not the location of the Demon King’s Soul, but its ‘characteristics’.

What this meant was that, rather than finding the location of a non-existent demon god, a location that Goddess Stellania had vaguely guessed, it was necessary to find out the characteristics of the demon king’s soul itself.

“Hmm… … .”

I was sitting in the lounge of the Demon King’s Castle, lost in thought.

This lounge was also a space created by people who had recently arrived from the kingdom.

There were comfortable chairs and simple utensils for making tea, as well as decorations and vases, making it a calming place.

Even if you are looking for information about the Demon King’s Soul, it is very vague.

First of all, it doesn’t seem like information that can be found in the kingdom.

How about thinking the opposite way?

If you put yourself in the position of a demon and seek information on a hero… … .

In reality, Xaviel went into hiding in the kingdom in human form and sought out information about the warrior.

He completely invaded a church that received revelations from the goddess, and even directly selected saints and got involved in the selection of warriors.

What is the reason?

Naturally, the information about the warriors was bound to be more detailed in the Kingdom than in the Demon World.

In other words, information about the demon king’s soul would be accumulated in the demon world.

Since the first Demon King appeared in the world, the Demons have gone through several Demon Lords.

And all the demon kings who appeared before Versella fell by the hero’s sword.

There was no way the demons, who were always on the receiving end of the warrior, would stay still.

They must have desperately searched for a way to protect the Demon King and overthrow the hero.

And in the process, their knowledge about the Demon King and Demon King Soul they serve must have naturally increased.

While I was sitting in the lounge of the Demon King’s Castle and thinking about this, the door slid open and an old man with white hair appeared.

There was only one old man in human form residing in the Demon King Castle, and of course it was Xaviel.

“Phew… What, were you there?”

As soon as Xavier saw me in the break room, he sighed heavily and turned around to leave again.

I immediately called Xavier.

“Hey, Mr. Xavier.”

“Something?”

“Why have you suddenly aged so drastically?”

Actually, I should have asked something more important, but I was so concerned that I couldn’t just ignore it.

For some reason, Xavier seemed to have aged drastically recently.

Even though he originally had the appearance of a human old man, I don’t think his gray hair grew this much.

My wrinkles became deeper and my waist became more bent.

Xaviel looked at me with sunken eyes and said.

“You… Are you misunderstanding something? I am not human. Appearance doesn’t really matter.”

“In that case, you have suddenly gotten older recently.”

“Hmph… … It looks like his complicated feelings are showing on the outside. Don’t worry about it.”

Well, he’s not a real human, he just has the appearance of a human.

Even though he looks older, his health doesn’t seem to be deteriorating.

“Well, I heard last time that you saw the previous Demon King fall several times.”

“What… If you live long, wouldn’t you end up seeing all sorts of things?”

“So, I have something to ask. If the Demon King had fallen again and again, wouldn’t he have definitely tried to stop it? In order to create a result where one day the Demon King defeats the Hero and the Demons win.”

“Thanks to you, that too was in vain.”

Although Xaviel’s words were sharp, he did not convey any genuine hostility.

In fact, he was often caught using the various facilities of the Demon King Castle, which had recently changed.

I heard that Versella has decided to adapt to the way the Demon King Castle is run, and has stopped nagging like she used to.

“Then, about the Demon King’s soul… Haven’t you done some research?”

In the end, I asked Xavier the question I wanted to ask the most.

Xavier was a person who had lived for a very long time among the demons.

It’s not just that they look old simply because they are transformed into human elders.

If you have lived for such a long time that you have witnessed with your own eyes the Demon King fall multiple times, wouldn’t you know something?

However, Xavier answered my question with a somewhat indifferent tone.

“You… Isn’t the purpose of eliminating the Demon King’s soul? But are you asking me that?”

“Do you still have regrets about the Demon King’s soul?”

I asked a question back to Xavier, who was grumbling.

He was the demon who most closely watched the process of the demon king’s soul taking control of Versella’s body.

Of course, it is true that the stronger demon king’s soul helps the demons win, but you also know how Versella suffered.

In the past, I wouldn’t have asked Xaviel this, but his attitude has also changed a lot.

If you ask him directly, he may deny it, but at least from what I saw, Xaviel treated Versella like a granddaughter.

More than once, I felt conflicted between the victory of the demons and the happiness of Versella.

Of course, it could just be my imagination, but… … .

“On the other hand, do you still have any attachment to being a hero? What would you do if you asked?”

“We have no regrets about being a hero. I too am called a hero, but it is only a name. Don’t you know? Originally, a warrior was something that came down through revelation from the church. If you are a hero in that sense, you are no longer in the world.”

“… … .”

“Just as there is a hero here who did not receive the revelation, wouldn’t there be a problem if Bersella also became a demon king without a demon lord soul? There is no need to forcefully continue the history of the demon king and the hero who have been fighting for a long time, right?”

“He is a warrior who has not received a revelation and a demon king who does not have a demon soul… … .”

Xaviel sighed softly and then spoke to me.

“… … Among the previous demon kings, there was one who wanted to gain victory over the warrior by amplifying the power of the demon king soul.”

“The power of the Demon King’s soul… … ?”

“Have you ever thought about the feelings of those who always lose? When it came to Versella, I thought that once the hero showed up, that would be the end. So I tried to do something before the hero showed up and before the hero took his place. Even though I failed.”

As expected, the demons also put in a lot of effort every time to achieve victory from the warrior.

This way, that way… … I tried all kinds of methods, but I felt the bitter taste of defeat from the warrior every time.

How would Xavier feel if he knew that the reason was because the world was structured that way in the first place?

I thought it would be better to keep it a secret from the demons that Goddess Stellania was the culprit of all this.

“Anyway, he found the reason why the Demon King was defeated by the hero because of his growth in power. They say they can’t win because the speed at which the warrior becomes stronger is faster than the speed at which the demon lord’s soul strengthens the demon lord. So, I tried many methods to find a way to amplify the power of the Demon King’s soul.”

“So… Did you find a way?”

“If we had found it, there’s no way we would have been defeated… … . But thanks to this, we learned many things we didn’t know about the Demon King’s Soul. That record will still remain. Because I created a research center and studied it. It’s a place called Calosium.”

After hearing Xaviel’s words, I was convinced that this was a clue to the characteristics of the Demon Lord’s soul.

A laboratory where the demons themselves desperately studied the demon king’s soul for the victory of the demon king… If I go to a place called Calosium, I might be able to find the knowledge I need now.

“But… It’s a place that even we demons don’t go near now. If you want to visit, just leave.”

I was about to ask for the location of the place called Calogium that Xaviel had mentioned, but Xaviel, who sensed my intention, spoke first as if warning me.

“Why?”

When I asked, Xaviel answered with a stern expression.

“What do you think would have been the outcome of the research to amplify the power of the Demon King’s soul? The place where Calosium is now is like hell.”

* * *