Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 5 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 3===

After having that sudden audience before her,

The new guest room they were brought to, was a luxurious suite that was worlds apart from the previous room.

Furniture, carpets, wallpaper, ceiling, no matter what it was, all of them had an incredible amount of details and felt extremely luxurious; an even larger area, and an even higher ceiling, all of the differences in the two rooms further amplified the differences felt in the spaciousness between the two places.

Just how big was the place? Six bedrooms, three living rooms, three dining rooms, and many bathrooms everywhere.

Although it was already obvious that the treatment from Klaus’s camp who wanted Mio to become the new Demon Lord was different from Wilbert and Lucia who wanted to extract Wilbert’s power from Mio, there was uneasiness over being welcomed to live in such a grand and magnificent Suite. However, even after asking for a more normal room from Klaus, that unmovable old demon only answered: [Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it immediately]. Laughing it off, he declined in a roundabout way.

Following Japan’s flow of time, the time right now was a little before dawn; but as they had already enquired Maria about the differences between the two Realms, they’ve already adjusted their body clocks<ref>internal body clocks</ref>, so right now they don’t feel tired.

Hence -- one hour after moving into the new guest room, Naruse Mio was now amongst some hustle and bustle.

As there is still some time before dinner, Mio had accepted Klaus’s suggestion and went into the city with Basara and Yuki to tour around. Other than Zest who was to serve Basara, there was someone else who came with them.

“--and right now, we have come to Aderbell Plaza!”

The young lady with a maid uniform said with her arms wide open with a big smile. Her name is Noel, the guide Klaus had sent to Mio and the others. As she had been very lively during her self-introduction with no fear and shyness towards Mio as Wilbert’s sole daughter, the two of them soon got along with each other pretty well.

A fountain and a stature of Wilbert was in the center of Aderbell Plaza, and with it being well accessible from many places, it is a hub where many people pass through.

The plaza was packed with many people, with many vendors and open-air shops attracting many customers -- just like downtown areas of Tokyo.

--However, this downtown area is still different from the ones in the Human Realm.

Firstly, the Moderates Faction and the Current Demon Lord Faction are in a war, and this town is no exception.

Many soldiers can be seen within the plaza, the sword hanging at their waists and their armour confirmed their preparations for war.  Secondly, it was something that is obvious -- everyone here is a demon. However, none of them have yet to notice that Basara and the other humans have been mixed into the crowd. The reason for that is in their clothings.

“…We really weren’t found out.”

“That’s right, just as I had said. Feeling more at ease now?”

Noel giggled while giving a reply to Mio. Mio, Basara and Yuki had indeed gone through a transformation, but all that could really be changed was their clothing. Basara had changed into a cleric’s clothing, and Mio and Yuki had changed into a maid’s clothing. That was all that is to their disguises. But yet the reason their cover has not been blown yet was--

“Demons that look completely different from us… there’s so many of them.”

Before Mio’s eyes -- amongst the bustling demons, majority of them are like humans. Of course, some of them are zoomorphic, while others are completely different from a human; but most of them are very much like a human, to the extent where they seem no different from a real human.

And one of them would be Noel; though her outer appearance is exactly the same as a human, it is the truth that she is a demon, and there isn’t any surprise from anyone at all when she came to this place. Thus, absolutely no suspicions would be raised at all even if Mio and the others came to this place, since they appear to be of the same race as Noel.

“There’s nothing unexpected about this at all. Our ancestors of the Demon Race were originally exiled from the God Realm… and since the Human Race were created with appearances similar to that of Gods, it’s mostly a given that we’ll look very alike.”

It has been said that amongst the Demon Race, there were many in the Medieval Times <ref>or Middle Ages</ref> who accepted hybridization and had left behind their future generations; amongst the ones remaining in the Human Realm, were the Vampires and Sprites<ref>supernatural legendary creature, often depicted as fairy, ghost, or elfs</ref>.

Relatively, some of them had chosen to bring their children back to the Demon Realm. Due to these children not being thoroughbred, they were often discriminated against -- and the Moderates Faction that Wilbert led became a haven for them. Very quickly, Wildart City filled with these demons who were half-human, and marriages amongst them happened often. With each generation, the number of demons who did not look like a human anymore soon increased.

「Speaking of which--」 Noel smiled and said:

"Although Mio-sama has Wilbert-sama’s bloodline, you look exactly like a human.”

“……..You’re right. Nn, right..."

When Noel exclaimed that, Naruse Mio remembered again… the fact and reality that she was not just a normal Human.

Rather than saying that this didn’t feel real to her or that she lacks consciousness about the situation… might as well say that she deliberately tries to not think about it. Even if she was forced to see the ones she had been forced to believe as her parents die before her and had learned the fact that she is the Previous Demon Lord’s daughter--

''…however,''

Despite having her normal daily life vanishing without a trace from the day the parents that raised her died – stemming from the dribs and drabs in the daily life with her adoptive parents, Naruse Mio still sees herself as a human. Although those precious days are never coming back, those little things are all that's left that’s precious to her.

And now, she's once again received another precious thing; Basara completely sees Mio as a human, and Maria isn’t forcing her to have the consciousness as one of the Demon Race; Yuki and Kurumi don't regard her as an enemy, and she has friends like Aikawa and Sakaki in school. Living a normal daily life with them all, is now what is most precious of all to Mio.

''…That’s right.''

I must not lose the precious daily life that I have, that is the very reason that I have come to the Demon Realm for.

''I want to live as a Human, with Basara – as Naruse Mio.''



With Noel at the lead, a line followed her towards the east, coming to a corner where shops have gathered.

「………」

Nonaka Yuki silently maintained her vigilance towards their surroundings.

--She had originally chosen to remain within the castle together with Kurumi and Maria, but this would mean that Basara and Mio would be out alone. This place is the Demon Realm, and those of the Demon Race are everywhere; even if Noel and Klaus have no problems with it at all, there would be a great disturbance once Basara’s real identity was uncovered that might very well put their lives in danger, so the more battle prowess present, the better it would be.

…But.

In the Demon Realm that is thickly laden with demonic power, not even half of 「Sakuya」’s power could be used, with the upper limit being just like in Zolgear’s Mansion and possibly less.

Basara uses the demonic sword Brynhildr, Mio has demon blood, and Zest is a demon; and with Noel who was sent by Klaus to guide them around, they probably should have enough power. With all these, the person who would most likely drag everyone down is Yuki. 

However, even if Zest and Noel are able to fight, they might not be reliable – as long as it remained unconfirmed if they will help our side, it would be for the best if Yuki came along with them – that was the decision they reached after she had discussed with Basara and Mio.

''…Also,'' leaving Mio alone with Basara is ''dangerous''.

That is mainly due to another different reason. If say, after they had left and if Mio’s face were to suddenly turn red for an unknown reason, or if the buttons on her maid attire were not done properly, or if her underwear were to mysteriously go missing, or the likes of it, she would never be able to accept what would happen after that.

Although, since Zest and Noel were also present and thus there isn’t a need to be too much worried about ''that'' happening, people must learn to expect the unexpected, so keeping an eye on them would be for the best. And thus Yuki had resolved herself, and kept up her vigilance, not letting up even once. In the end, Noel who was at the lead now turned around and said:

“…Um, Yuki-dono？”

“What is it?”

“You are a Hero, so I guess it’s normal for you to be somewhat nervous… but if you remain this tense, you’ll easily attract attention. Please do try to have a smile on, and have that smile remain there.”

“……I understand …Hehehe.”

“What's the use if you just say it out!？ What’s with your expressionless face, there’s not a shred of emotion at all!”

“However, Yuki… Noel’s right, you’ll be conspicuous if you’re too nervous, so do try to relax more.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologise… With you here, we can put ourselves more at ease.”

Saying that, Basara brought his hand onto Yuki’s head. Basara’s warm smile and care, moved Yuki into moving along with his hands—

“Basara--…”        “—stop right there.”

The moment she saw Yuki moving even closer towards Basara, Mio immediately pushed herself towards Basara, not intending to let Yuki have a head start.

“You… Why are you trying to put on a kissing show here in the middle of the road?”

“……Tch.”

“[Tch] yourself! Don’t get ahead of yourself!”

Mio grabbed Basara’s hand and pulled him away from Yuki.

“E-Everyone, please look this way~!”

From the side-lines, Noel at this moment raised her hand and said:

“The flower shop over there is pretty famous within Wildart City, and many of the flowers and plants in the city come from here!”

Probably worried that they’ll attract unwanted attention if the argument went on, she moved her raised hand and pointed in a certain direction, at a flower shop.

“Oh—it’s pretty unexpected that the royal palace would utilise the services of a flower shop on the streets.”

“Yes… The reason is that, the boss of that shop are on good terms with his majesty Wilbert.”

Hearing Basara’s curiosity, Noel gave her confirmation and gave a relaxed sigh after confirming the topic has been changed. Just then—

“Mn? Aren’t you Noel? Did you sneak out of the palace again to buy snacks again?”

A male whose burliness was completely disproportionate to the flower shop walked out. Those words seemed to have earned dissatisfaction from Noel, who then said while pouting resentfully:

“No way! I came out today together with new people to have them become familiar with the place!”

“I see, those few do indeed look unfamiliar… It is pretty unexpected that even you have begun to look after new people, so it seems that the problem of the short handedness in the palace has become this serious…”

The male boss said while observing Basara and the others.

“P-Please mind your manners, florist-san… Do you want me to complain to the one responsible for bringing in your stock and bring down your partnership?! If you want to apologise, do it now, Ortega-san!”

“Ha… Do you even have the power to do that?”

“There wasn’t a need to ridicule me like that, was there?! I’m speaking for real!”

“Hmph.”

After giving that reply to the raging Noel, the man called Ortega looked at Mio and said:

“Speaking of which – the young lady here, is Wilbert’s daughter, right?”



“—so after Wilbert had spent so much effort just to send her to the Human Realm, now those idiots call her back?”

Ortega’s words brought about a sudden breathless nervousness, instantly freezing the atmosphere.

''…W-Why?''

Mio began panicking. So, other than Ramsas who wanted to extract Wilbert’s power from her and Klaus who wanted Mio to be the new Demon Lord, there were people like Ortega who had opinions similar to her, wishing for her to remain herself? Although that is already surprising to her by itself – that is not the problem here. In order to prevent a commotion, the news of her coming to the Demon Realm was not supposed to be revealed to the public.

''So where did he get that information from?'' Basara and Yuki immediately took action, standing in between Ortega and Mio from the left and right, separating the two of them.

“—how did you know that. From what Noel had said, you are someone who has opportunities to exit the city, right?”

Basara asked with an aggressive tint in his eye, and Ortega impatiently scratched the back of his head and replied:

“Stop being so aggressive with this old flower shop man, little brat – don’t worry, I didn’t hear that piece of information from anyone else.”

“…So how did you know that?”

Ortega narrowed his eyes at Mio and said:

“I see, you probably don’t know how she looked like… You look a lot like Ashe-san.”

“Ashe… do you mean my mother?”

“Yes. Not only do you look like her, your eye colour is the same as her’s.”

Mio had always thought the ones who raised her were her biological parents, and as those memories were too overpowering, she never really thought about her biological parents, and only learnt their names, so—

“……She had died not long after giving birth to me, right?”

To Mio who said in a low voice, Ortega nodded.

“I see, so you already know it?”

“Yes, Maria – the girl who came to protect me told me about that too when she told me of my real identity.”

“……………..”                              “…………………”

Listening from the sides, Basara and Yuki who already know about it remained silent; but that silence was different from the silence from before – it was of worry for Mio. As that caused Mio to feel thankful – 

''…My biological mother…''

To date, she had learnt that her parents were her adoptive parents, and that her biological father was the Demon Lord—

She had learnt about that from Maria after her adoptive parents had been killed by Zolgear and after she had escaped the danger. Amongst the questions she had raised to Maria back then, naturally of course included her biological mother.

And what she learnt was that, it wasn’t just her biological father Wilbert who had died, her mother had died even earlier – not long after giving birth to Mio.

“—but boss<ref>kanji used was 主人 <Shu Jin>, which can mean master/owner/host/chief/head/landlord/etc…</ref>, why do you know so much about Ashe-denka’s<ref>-殿下, also [royal highness]</ref> appearance?”

Having remained silent up till now, Zest suddenly asked.

“Although Ashe-denka is part of the Demon’s lineage, I had heard that she had grown up in the Human Realm, and the Human’s blood within her is strong; Mio-sama’s appearance is like a Human’s, probably inherited from her mother. Ashe-denka had fallen in love after knowing his majesty Wilbert and became pregnant with Mio-sama, and soon took up residence in this Realm.”

''But—''

“Reportedly, his majesty Wilbert is a pure-blooded high-class Demon, and is too far apart from Ashe-denka whose demon blood is thin and had grown up in the Human Realm, so of course there were many who opposed their marriage. In order to let the Radical or Conservative Factions find any excuses for trouble, she had to live in seclusion in the city’s solitary tower – not only even a single portrait or even a single photo of her was allowed to exist, even the number of people who knew of her existence were few – so, just how do you even know how she looked?”

“--exactly because she lived that sort of life.”

To Zest’s question, Ortega lowered his voice—

“No matter how much Wilbert gave his time to interact with her, her life in the tower was no different from being under house arrest. To her, these flowers that I delivered to her were probably the only times she could get some happiness… so she requested through Wilbert for me to teach her how to nurture or look after beautiful flowers, and so I often went to that place.”

And said while looking at a faraway place in the sky:

“She was such a good girl… She had no qualms at all even though she had totally no freedom, always smiling more radiantly than the flowers I had meticulously cared for; even if those around her gave no blessings, as long as she could be with Wilbert, be by his side, bear his child – in other words, you, she would be completely happy and satisfied.”

“………I…….see.”

As to being the Demon Lord’s daughter, it all still felt surreal to Naruse Mio. That’s why, when the city’s maids and soldiers gave their welcome to her, she didn’t know how to react.

''—and she thought that this all was not too bad, at all.''

Because there wasn’t a need to change her thoughts. Because her biological father as the Demon Lord had transferred his power to Mio, Mio had become a target to be fought over and had resulted in her adoptive parent’s deaths; although Zolgear who had taken away Mio’s peaceful everyday life wasn’t free from blame, Wilbert too held some blame, but it’s useless blaming someone dead. The stuff with him and his wife, caused no emotions in Mio at all. To get revenge for her adoptive parents – that was Mio’s all before she met Basara; then again, the reason she had come to the Demon Realm was to solve the problems revolving around Wilbert’s power within her. Thus, even after hearing the story about her biological mother, she felt no special emotions at all, yet she still—

“………Thank you for telling me about my mother.”

“Although you do not know how your mother looked like at all, does knowing that you look a lot like you mother bring you some happiness?”

Ortega’s question, caused Mio to smile bitterly and reply:

“As to whether I’m happy or not, even I am not clear about that……… Since after all, I know completely nothing about my biological mother except her name – at least, I feel that it’s a good thing to know more about her.”

Hearing Mio’s thought, Ortega gave a deep sigh while saying: [I see]. Just then—

“Umm, Ortega-san, please let the news about Mio-sama remain a secret, ok?”

Noel who had lagged behind the discussion interrupted and said:

“If people were to find out that the information leak was from you and me bringing Mio-sama here were to be revealed, experiencing a death would be a given, if I were to say it.”

Ortega gave a [Hmph!]—

“No need to worry, quickly be on your way – staying any longer will be getting in the way of my business<ref>his flower stall</ref>.

Turning around after saying that, he then disappeared into his shop.