episode_0061

“If there were no Koreans in their past lives, the demon war would have undoubtedly been our defeat,” said Oneroi.

By the way, Korean… How long has it been since I heard such words?

It feels like it’s been almost a few hundred years…

Indeed, they are elves.

“Regarding your sacrifice, all the residents of this world should be grateful,” Oneroi continued.

“The words that came out of your mouth were so irritating that it made my ears itch. And no one showed that gratitude through actions. If they were so thankful, they should have helped us return to our homeland.”

At the end of the war, all we wanted was that.

To return to our homeland.

After a hundred years of war, all we gained were exhaustion, trauma, disappointment, and all sorts of shitty memories.

“Our elves… Even the elders of the elves and dark elves have discussed such matters. To let you go back.”

“But…?”

“However… realistically, we couldn’t do that.”

Then get to the point… I was getting impatient with these words.

But I already knew that elves tend to beat around the bush or drag on with their words, showing a bit of annoyance.

And that all these trivial stories eventually lead to the real story they want to tell.

“There is a possibility that the goddess is holding you back… but when the next demon war breaks out, it would be fatal if you were not there.”

“…”

“Yes. That’s right. Humans have forgotten about such facts for hundreds of years… they committed such massacres. There are very few Koreans left in this world now. And they are scattered all over. There was one in Brigal too…”

“Sangchul.”

“Yes. That was his name. That person…”

“I know. I heard it from my daughter.”

“I see… That’s right. There are only six Eboni left in this world now. The number is extremely small… and there are only two men left who can leave descendants. And practically, you are the only one who can do that.”

“…”

Among the remaining Eboni, there is only me and Roderick.

But that guy…

“…sigh.”

I let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. I understand one thing. But do you have to do that to a child?”

I understood the situation.

Only the Eboni, elves, and lizardmen still consider the demon war a serious threat.

Other races only see the demon war as an old story.

As generations pass, the fear and vigilance towards the war blur.

In contrast, the elves still have the generation that experienced the demon war.

So, they still regard the demon war with caution and seriousness.

As a disaster that must be prevented even by using ethically questionable means.

“…”

“…”

“What… what do you mean? That…?”

Kona broke the silence between me and Oneroi.

“When were you planning to tell Kona?”

“At least until he reached an age where he could be independent…”

“It’s enough now. He’s grown up.”

Children mature when they face difficult situations.

Regardless of their will.

Kona must be speaking politely and acting cautiously for that reason.

“If you don’t want to say it, I will.”

“No… I have to do it… Kona.”

“Yes…?”

“Kona… listen carefully to what I’m about to say from now on.”

“Yes…”

“You… about that mark on your chest… how much did you tell your mother?”

“Nothing… she just told me not to show it to humans. Why?”

“That mark belongs to a high-ranking demon. Have you ever seen a demon?”

“Yes.”

“Have you seen those demons following you?”

“Yes…”

“You are a special child. An elf child is very precious… they did such terrible things to you…”

“Oh, no. I’m fine…”

Kona probably doesn’t even know what’s going on and just says he’s fine.

He has become hardened to that extent.

“The mark on your chest… it belongs to a demon. A very powerful and dangerous one…”

“Why is that…?”

“Because… if a demon war breaks out, you have a role to play.”

“A role?”

“…Tsk.”

I can’t stand it anymore.

“If those demons attack us later, you have to take the lead and control them, make them fight each other.”

“…!”

“You…”

Oneroi looked at me with malice.

“Are you feeling guilty? If you’ve done it, just be honest about it.”

“I-I’m fine. Demons, well… just make them fight, right…?”

“It’s not that simple. You saw the demons with me in the mine.”

“Yes…”

“How did those demons look to you? What did you feel?”

“That… they didn’t feel close…”

“You felt like you had to obey them when they called.”

“That… that…”

Rakben, the demon who survived the demon war.

He saw Kona not as a Dark Elf kid, but as a ‘princess’.

Even the intelligent demons recognized Kona as their own kind.

As a being of high status that must be respected.

“If a demon war really breaks out, you have to control those demons and make them kill each other.”

“Make them… kill each other…”

“Yes.”

“That’s…”

Kona had already witnessed the deaths of his parents.

He understands what death is.

And making demons kill each other would feel no different from killing his parents with his own hands.

“Wait! You’re being too harsh on a child! That’s something that needs time to accept…”

“Harsh? You turned a child into a weapon of war, and you’re talking about who’s being harsh to whom?! Untie the leash around us first and then talk that nonsense…!”

He slammed his fist on the desk.

“…”

Oneroi glanced away.

The Elf society vividly remembers the demon war.

The demon war was truly a catastrophe.

The most efficient spear and shield against that disaster were our Ebony tribe.

But the Ebony tribe is on the brink of extinction, and one of the only two males capable of mating recently died.

The Elves must be in a state of emergency, and after many discussions, they decided to bring back the next most efficient weapon after the Ebony tribe.

Artificial demons.

Turning humans into artificial demons.

Even wild demons do not attack artificial demons, recognizing them as their own kind.

Moreover, if the artificial demon considers itself of higher rank, it will obey the true superior just like that.

In theory, it is a much more efficient and powerful means than the Ebony tribe, who have absolute resistance to magic.

In theory.

Just as demons consider artificial demons as their own kind, artificial demons also consider them as their own kind.

There were brothers who shared blood, friends, and even those who felt love for demons and betrayed humanity.

The artificial demons deployed in the war could not handle the stress.

When they became unable to operate on the battlefield, we were the last resort.

We, who were living well on a planet called Earth, different from here.

We… well, we managed to rely on each other.

“If you’ve made a decision without blood or tears, take responsibility for it. Get rid of half-hearted actions that are neither here nor there.”

“…”

“Phew… well, that’s enough. Anyway, it’s already happened… So, about that mine? Why was Rakben there? In the end, you couldn’t kill him either?”

“No. It’s not like that.”

“This is insane. Were you planning this all along?”

Rakben was deliberately kept alive.

Of course, there was a reason for that.

The reason for keeping a high-ranking demon alive.

If you combine that with what we just talked about, the answer is simple.

That guy is a test.

A test to see if Kona can kill monsters when he grows up.

Or maybe to give him the experience of killing monsters in advance to prepare for when a real war breaks out.

Either way, Kona is left as a sacrifice to kill.

Rakben is a guy who was active during the monster war.

He was subdued roughly… about 30 years before the end of the monster war?

At that time, artificial monsters were not deployed on the battlefield.

But from that time on, with the future in mind, they slaughtered intelligent monsters to create artificial monsters that they might make someday.

From start to finish, it’s all crazy, but from an elf’s perspective, it’s logical enough.

Thanks to Misty, I’m quite familiar with the way elves think.

“Ugh… I’m really sick of this… But why in the mine… Ah, forget it. I roughly understand that too.”

Mithril is a material resistant to magic.

If you want to seal a high-level monster, a mithril mine would be a good choice.

430 years ago, that land belonged to the elves, or there was some agreement or promise to the humans who owned that land not to touch the mine.

But over time, the mine was taken from the humans, or the humans forgot the promise.

But they can’t say they sealed a high-level monster there.

And the Brigal royal family, unaware of the monsters, accidentally broke the seal of the monsters while mining mithril…

The situation is really getting complicated.

“So what are we going to do… Oh, did Steria get involved…?”

“T-That’s not it. That’s really a story that has nothing to do with us. It’s the unilateral decision of Slone, the king of this country.”

“…That’s a relief.”

If even the elves and dark elves were involved…

“Well, yeah… Ugh…”

I keep sighing.

Glancing at Kona, he was still confused and unable to say anything.

“…B-But still.”

After a long pause, Kona finally spoke.

“If it’s not for the monster war… it’s okay, right?”

“…”

A cunning excuse.

But it’s also a valid point.

“Yeah. That’s right… probably.”

“P-Probably?”

“Because no one knows what will happen when you grow up.”

“I’ll be fine…!”

“That’s because no one really knows if that will happen! There’s no one among the artificial monsters who has grown up.”

“N-No one? Why…?”

“They all died.”

All the artificial monsters… were children.

Adults couldn’t withstand the magic that turned them into monsters.

Only children.

Only children survived the production process.

But even those survivors are gone now.

Traitors who sided with the monsters among the artificial monsters all died on the battlefield, and those who remained on our side with a shred of reason collapsed from mental exhaustion during the war.

And those who survived until the end of the war… all gathered in one place and collectively ended their lives.