episode_0009

‘It’s dirty.’

A long time.

Feeling disgusted when you see humans.

It’s been almost a hundred days since I entered Tartarus. In the meantime, the only people I met were saints, Celts, and saints.

So, I forgot about it for a while.

‘It smells very bad. I really like this kind of person.’

How horribly hypocritical, obscenely pretentious, and hideously vicious humans are.

This is why I like humans. Noble elves, arrogant dragons, and greedy dwarves, all have their own weaknesses and flaws, but not as many as humans.

“Qu… !”

The servile warrior Fray de Siegfried.

He is the most ‘humane’ warrior of all time.

They fear those who are stronger than themselves, and are envious and jealous of colleagues who are more capable than themselves. They feel a slight sense of superiority over those who are less capable than them. It is truly ‘human’.

The result is different from the demons who make evil a virtue. Because you don’t admit that you are evil.

“Isn’t it a bit difficult to make a hasty decision?”

“Fuck.”

“Kya, you don’t even do that damn voice acting anymore? It doesn’t matter if you get caught or not, is this it?”

“Shut up. There is a limit to what we can tolerate.”

The warrior lowered Excalibur and spoke lowly as if he was whispering. The many negative emotions contained in that sincere voice were by no means impulsive. It was a mixture of deep resentment that had been building up for at least several years.

“Phew… Maria.”

“Yes, warrior.”

“Do you know why you are destined to be executed in the square of the Empire in front of all people?”

“It’s because I committed a sin.”

“No, it’s because of me. I asked the devil for a favor.”

hmm?

“The reason I came to visit you today was for that day.”

“Is that so.”

“I wanted to see the look on your face when you realized that the friend you trusted the most, the friend who even came and apologized when you were about to die, had betrayed you twice. A face overflowing with despair, hatred, contempt, and disillusionment is cut off in vain on the guillotine… I wanted to see Maria like that.”

Wow, that hero was even crazier than I thought.

Because a bastard like that is the hope, the continent will fall into ruin. I’m really curious about the mind of the sun god who made that bitch a warrior.

“Did I do something wrong to the warrior during my journey?”

“No, you were perfect. He was better than anyone else and shone brightly.”

“But why do you harbor such deep hatred for me?”

“You know what? Maria?”

The warrior’s golden eyes became sad and moist. The blonde girl’s eyes twinkled with a lot of resentment.

“When the light is too bright, the shadows around it are revealed very clearly.”

“… .”

“We first met at Eden Academy. Although our countries of origin were different, you, the saint of the sun, and I, the warrior of the sun, became friends faster than anyone else.”

“That’s right.”

“All the fields I learned there… You never miss out on first place in anything. I was always at the top of my class every semester, every grade, until I eventually graduated. As if God had decided so.”

“I just did my best.”

“Maria, do you know the feeling of being second place and never being able to surpass first place?”

Before I knew it, the hero’s Excalibur was quietly sheathed. The warrior continued speaking piece by piece.

“Even if I sit at my desk without sleep and study until my eyes bleed, I feel like I’m facing a wall I can’t overcome. Do you know what it feels like to face a person who can memorize everything at a glance, whether it’s math, literature, or alchemy?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, I don’t know. It’s natural. Because Maria was always first.”

Before I knew it, the hero was talking to the saint, completely excluding myself. The sweet baseness and inferiority complex that came out of it was truly delicious, so I just listened.

“But, do you know what’s even more absurd?”

“What is it?”

“When you realize that a genius with such unbelievable talent works harder than anyone else.”

“… .”

“When you see that insurmountable talent is building a wall of effort that cannot be overcome. I was dumbfounded at that time… ?”

The warrior’s tone became slightly more intense. The waves of emotion that were temporarily blocked by the breakwater become a tidal wave and slowly approach.

“It’s unfair… When a genius of geniuses like you puts in an effort that I wouldn’t even dare to follow… What are other people supposed to do? ?”

The tsunami comes sooner than expected. In an instant, without realizing it, suddenly, boom! do.

“How can I catch up with you!! What the hell!!”

Once a dam bursts, it can never be filled again. The water that builds up and explodes does not just stop.

“I have also tried cheating!! I also tried cheating!! I even paid the professor a kickback to receive the test papers in advance!!”

For a moment, I felt a deep sense of crisis from the hero’s appearance. Right now, the warrior didn’t have Excalibur or anything in his hand. Even more madness and murder than before burst out from the warrior’s every word.

“That was the first time I got a perfect score… I even beat Maria for a moment and came in first place. But Maria found a loophole that even the professor didn’t know about… ? In the end, the answer I received from that damn professor was wrong! You became first again!!”

“… .”

“Maria, Maria, Maria! What on earth do you want from me!! What can I do to overcome you!! Even when we formed a party and defeated the Demon King’s army! You were the only one who pretended to be noble and kind! Even when the military nation’s tank unit was stranded in the middle of the Demon King’s army! I couldn’t give up what I should have given up on my own! Everyone is against it!!”

“I learned that there is no such thing as a natural sacrifice in this world.”

There is “! Everyone lives like that! Throw away what you have to throw away! Save what needs to be saved! All previous warrior parties have done this too! however… I know what’s really sad… ?”

“Something.”

“You went into the Demon King’s army alone like that, and you created a story as great as a lie and commanded the army’s tank unit to save it… ! If only you were that successful! Who am I to say I should abandon them? I just made a rational decision!! Everyone is pointing fingers and accusing me of being trash!!”

I’ve heard of it.

The warrior Frey is the weakest of all warriors, and Saint Maria is the strongest of all saints.

A life in which a warrior who should be number one is blocked by a genius called a saint and is frustrated by the wall of second-in-command.

The warrior has been experiencing this for several years.

“… To be honest, I’m so happy right now.”

“Are you happy?”

“Yes, you failed. For the first time. You were defeated by the Demon King’s army and faced the fate of being guillotined. Even though I know that the continent will now be plunged into complete darkness, I am so happy that you have finally failed. I know I shouldn’t do this as a warrior, but so what? It’s been a long time since I gave up the name of a hero anyway.”

Although he was given the grand name of the Hero of the Sun, in reality, the warrior’s heart was rotting and crumbling.

What’s even more tragic is that there was always a saint by her side.

Because it is so crazy bright, the saint unintentionally brings out all the sins around her. Unless they are evil-minded people like me, the people around the saint inevitably go through their inner self.

And, he becomes aware of his own ugly side. The ugliness that he would not have paid attention to with ordinary people because they were all moderately evil must have been painfully felt by living with a saint made of pure white goodness.

What follows is a dark sense of self-destruction. In addition, we cannot leave out the cold gaze and cruel evaluations of those around her who always compare themselves with the saint.

The warrior has thus followed the path of corruption.

“… Is it so good?”

“Demon?”

“Joker?”

“Oh, no. You guys keep talking. Because I’m just talking to myself.”

Without thinking, my inner thoughts came out of my mouth. Fortunately, they didn’t pay much attention to me.

The warrior was busy pouring out his grievances and feelings to the saint.

What a novel idea it is to act in a good way and end up corrupting those around you.

If there is such a thing as a next life, I think it would be a good idea to try it out at least once. Of course, it may be a vain fantasy, but just imagining it is very enjoyable.

A devil’s temptation that might be included in a Demon World textbook? Life in the gutter that drags them into the abyss of corruption?

Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun than those boring and outdated methods?

He looks back at his ugly self and despairs of self-destruction, ultimately accepting corruption, transcending self-loathing, and colluding with the devil.

“Ah, I really can’t stand it anymore. I can’t breathe because I’m in the same space with you even for a second.”

“Warrior.”

“Don’t open your mouth. Yes that… No matter how restful and clear your voice is, to my ears it only sounds like the howling of an evil spirit.”

“… .”

“Maria will never understand me, but you are. A being that turns natural ordinariness into a shabby ugliness. I wish that Maria would disappear from the world forever.”

“You are in agony.”

“Fuck, I’m starting to hate the sun god. Why did I give birth to a saint named Maria when I was a warrior? If it weren’t for you, I would have fought the devil until the end and died a violent death.”

Ah, I don’t like that statement.

If it has degenerated into evil, you should definitely accept it. Why are you still attached to good?

“Hero? It’s okay to blame the saint, but don’t you justify yourself with that?”

So, I intervened. Anyway, the warrior has completely calmed down and won’t get excited again.

“Joker, what does that mean?”

The warrior responded harshly. Toward him, I slyly cooed.

“The reason they surrendered to the devil was purely because they were too scared. It’s because I don’t have enough sense of justice to risk my life to resist the devil. So, if it weren’t for the saint… Don’t blame other people for this shit.”

“… ! What do you know!”

“The heart of a second-in-command who was pushed aside by the first-in-command? That’s my specialty?”

“Ha, are you saying that your life is going to end soon and that you’re going to say whatever you can?”

“No no, it’s true? I am also the same as you. The only difference is that you are a saint and I am a devil.”

“What… ?”

The warrior’s demeanor changes in an instant. Because my words reminded me of who I am.

The second-in-command of the Demon King’s army, Joker. In other words, the devil is a person who has been overshadowed by the number one person for his entire life.

“Earlier, you asked the saint what would happen if a genius puts in effort?”

“… It was like that.”

“Do you know what it feels like to be a wall to a genius who doesn’t even try?”

“… !”

A great monster so powerful from birth that effort was a luxury. The world designated him as the lord of the devil and called him the Demon King.

“Kick, but there is a fundamental difference between you and me.”

“What is that?”

“You were jealous of the saint, and I revered the devil.”

“Qu… ! Well, that’s… !”

“Do you know why he did that? The reason why some people are purely happy when their colleagues become stronger, while others feel jealous and inferior.”

The golden eye, which shines brilliantly even in the dark, shakes like waves. Contrary to its bright exterior, it is a golden eye with a shabby, corrupted interior.

“It’s because your essence itself is ugly.”

“What, what?”

“When your colleagues do well, you should congratulate them. It’s common sense even to me as a demon. Our great warrior actually has a more corrupt essence than a demon like me?”

“Nothing, nothing, what… !”

“If you were a true warrior, you would have resisted the devil to the end, regardless of whether the saintess was successful or not.

That’s a hero, right? Or, has the meaning of the word hero changed without my knowledge?

Never being corrupted and protecting only right justice, wasn’t that what a hero was?”

“… !”

All the words I am throwing at the hero right now are sophistry.

Fundamentally, the goals of me and the warrior were different. To me, the Demon King was a means.

A tool that will bring chaos to the world. Therefore, the fact that the Demon King was strong could have been an absolute blessing to me.

But to the warrior, the saint was a rival. Who wouldn’t be jealous if their rivals outperform them? Unless it’s Saint Mary over there…

It’s a sophistry that can easily find a loophole just by remembering this simple fact, but unfortunately, our warrior doesn’t have that luxury.

What mental strength would be left in someone who had just gone through a confessional where they were wallowing in self-loathing?

I just suppressed my attempts to develop a defense mechanism to divert my attention from that self-loathing. So that we can be completely corrupted.

Now all that remains is up to the warrior. Either you dive in the swamp of self-destruction, or you live as you are now, blaming others.

“Quit. Joker.”

“Kick.”

“Hero, don’t take this man’s words into consideration. Everyone makes mistakes. What’s important is the future.”

“Child, saintess. what’s the matter? I’m taking revenge on that person with my words.”

“I forgive you, warrior. So, even now, humbly accept your past mistakes and move toward the light. That is true atonement and condemnation.”

Or, as the saint says now, reflect and repent. Although this is the type I hate the most.

“… I’ll go. Maria, die well.”

After saying those words, the hero turned around helplessly. A somewhat relieved-looking back glimmered faintly in the stark darkness.

“Warrior.”

The saint spoke softly and grabbed the hero.

“Why.”

The warrior answered briefly without turning around. It’s as if he doesn’t want to talk anymore.

“Everyone makes mistakes. Just don’t forget that.”

“… .”

With the saint’s last words, the warrior trudged out of Tartarus. With Excalibur, now quiet, on his waist.

The sound of the screeching iron gate marked the warrior’s exit.

As I stared at her fading back, I made a vague suggestion to the saint.

“Hey, saint. Would you like to make a bet?”

“You mean a bet?”

“Yes, let’s make a bet on whether that bastard hero will choose evil or good.”

“… I believe in the warrior.”

“Kick.”

He let out a bitter, evil laugh. The saint must have heard that sound and came towards me and opened her mouth as if angry.

“What on earth were you thinking earlier?”

“Hmm? What are you talking about?”

“What would you have done if the hero had run amok? It’s a shame the warrior didn’t cross the line. If he hadn’t done so, something big would have happened.”

At first glance, it may seem like she is angry, but the emotion contained in her words is none other than ‘worry.’

“This is the second time I came forward. When are you talking about?”

“The first word. Do you think I don’t know that the hero is acting?”

“Uh, what is it? Did you know everything? Then, could it be that the saint was also wearing a mask?”

“… If it had been just me, I would have reminded the hero of his mistakes, but it was because you were by my side. It could get dangerous.”

“Fuhahaha! You knew everything! I didn’t know that!”

“Ha… You don’t even have to be alert.”

Oh, perhaps that was the ‘strange feeling’ the saint was hiding?

I guess it wasn’t like resentment for the hero’s betrayal. To protect myself, I was unaware of the truth even though I knew it.

Well, that’s all in the past now.

“Still.”

The saintess lowered her head slightly and pursed her lips. She had her usual benevolent smile on her small lips, as if she had just lost her temper.

“It was really cool that you had the courage to come forward.”

“Kuhm.”

What is it? It’s not like I’ve received much admiration, but the corners of my mouth twitch slightly.

“I live and live and receive all the praise from the saint.”

The saint can’t even see my face anyway, so she has to smile heartily when I’m not holding her.