Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 8 Chapter 1 (section)

===Part 9===
After making that promise about Maria. The place where Basara and Lucia were headed was an exit that went through the back gate. In order to return to the human realm in secret, Sheera had constructed spatial tunnels to Oldora Forest in various unapparent places. Basara continued down the corridor along with Lucia as they took a route which went along the east side of the building.

“———”

All of a sudden, Basara narrowed his eyes. It was because he felt a familiar presence in the direction in which they were travelling. And then, whoever was on the other end also recognised his presence.

“—Toujou Basara.”

At the other end of the corridor where their exit through the rear gate was located — was someone who called out to him as they came along the opposite route coming from the west side of the castle. It was the young man with whom Basara had crossed blades with, and even cooperated with in Lundvall. It was the Current Demon Lord Leohart. He was probably being guided through the castle by the maids and guards of the Moderates faction. Leohart had broken away from the gaze of the head maid and come to this place on his own, leaving his companions behind. He stopped in the centre of the hallway where the exit was located, impeding any further advance that Basara and Lucia could make. When they came face to face with each other

“…I didn’t think we’d meet again. I heard that your departure was set for today?”

As a courtesy of the one who had stopped him, Leohart was the first to open his mouth and ask such a question. Therefore

“Yeah…I’m about to join up with Mio and the others so that we can return to the other side of the dimensional boundary.”

In return, Basara nodded and asked

“How are the talks with the top brass going on your side?”

He had heard that the meeting was scheduled for today, but it surely wasn’t this early in the morning. Of course, Leohart and the others probably had some time to spare. However, Basara had other things to worry about.

“At a time like this, and what’s more, to come from the rear entrance…are the talks supposed to be highly confidential?”

The top-level discussions between the leaders of the Moderates faction and Current Demon Lord faction should also serve the purpose of acting as a check and balance against other factions. In order to maximise the influence of this, it would be better to initiate the visit proudly through the main gate in accordance with regular procedure. The reason why this wasn’t done was because

“You’re taking into consideration the feelings of the people from both factions…”

“Yeah…this ceasefire was something that I decided upon without any prior preparation.”

Leohart nodded as he continued

“While it is imperative that quick political decisions are sometimes necessary, and even though we and the Moderates faction want to resolve the political situation between us despite being at war in the past, it would be cruel to rush the hearts of the people. Considering their feelings, I decided that it was necessary to give them some time to settle down.”

Lucia then added

“It isn’t a problem for us or the Current Demon Lord faction to announce that we’ve had a meeting, it’s simply the form that we allow it to take. It should still have a sufficient influence on the other factions.”

“Indeed…that would be better.”

If peace negotiations were carried out whilst neglecting the feelings of the people, that would only result in a reluctant peace. If there were many who decided to rebel, then there was a risk that it could spark an internal conflict. 

''…I guess with this, I can rest assured.''

Apparently, it seemed as though Ramsas and Leohart were earnestly seeking what lay beyond peace, and weren’t just after a simple peace treaty. Basara felt a wave of relief as he thought about the risks of timing. When Basara looked at Leohart who stood before his eyes once again, he noticed that a few changes had occurred in the few days between their last encounter and now.

''…His atmosphere has become a little softer, has it not?''

Although he was young, and the kingly air that hung around him didn’t seem to have changed, he could no longer feel the tense pressure from Leohart that he had felt when they faced off in Lundvall.

''…Well, I guess that’s how it should be.''

Having come here for the intent of peace negotiations, unleashing pressure and bloodthirst into the air would be foolish and useless.

“Heh…so this is the son of Jin Toujou?”

Out of nowhere — Basara’s ears caught a voice. As he searched for the source, he saw that there was a young man who had moved towards them in an instant from among the group of people that Leohart had brought along.

“——”

In that instant, Lucia who was by his side held her breath and stiffened up. She had probably been unable to see the movements of that young man. The young man completely ignored Lucia as he said

“I heard that you were evenly matched against Leohart, but it sure doesn’t seem that way to me now that I see you standing here.”

He stared into Basara’s eyes with bloodthirstiness and a belligerent smile.

“Yo, nii-chan…why don’t you show me that technique of yours which you used to put that guy on his knees.”

As he spoke, he casually reached out with his hand towards Basara. In that instant

“————”

Basara narrowed his eyes. He immediately assessed the strength of the man who stood before him. His strength probably wasn’t far off from his leader Leohart’s — moreover, there were seven other people with an equivalent power level to him who stood before his eyes. Unfortunately, the current Moderates faction did not possess the ability to oppose Leohart and all eight of these people at the same time. On the contrary, even if Basara joined forces with Mio and the others and they all worked together, their chances of winning would be low. Basara had only been able to corner Leohart in Lundvall because he was lucky. Even if he was able to unleash the same Gravity Slash like he did at that time right now, Leohart could easily evade it. —But, what if this meeting was just a ruse to launch an attack on the Moderates faction? Even if he escaped now, they could become a target of theirs again.

''…In that case.''

What could he do to prevent that from happening? He couldn’t allow Leohart to avoid that blow, and he alone would also have to defeat all eight of the people who stood before him. Therefore

“———”

Toujou Basara accelerated his thoughts instantaneously to go in search of a solution. At the same time, a reaction came from the group standing some distance away from them. The seven people aside from the young man all revealed fearless expressions. And then—

“Oh — …how interesting.”

The man who stood before him grinned once more. They had probably noticed what Basara was about to do. His thoughts had already been read. …But, those who had the numerical advantage were unlikely to expect or think too much about defeat. In their eyes, it only seemed as though Basara was trying to do something reckless. But — if one could push through the opening in their minds to cause an upset and hesitation, then everyone in the group would become confused. To make that happen, the most effective strategy would be to brutally kill off the first one. So—

“—Stop it, you two.”

Unexpectedly, a cold voice rang out. It was Leohart who had stopped them.

“You idiot, I told you to be quiet if you were going to come along!”

The head of the young man who was involved with Basara was struck with a staff-like object by a woman. It was one of the seven people who were over there.

“Ouch, that hurts…what are you doing?”

In response to the young man’s complaint, she yelled

“What hurts is probably that stupid head of yours! Sorry, this idiot said something rude.”

After the woman who drew her staff apologised, she turned back to the man again

“In the first place, who goes and starts a fight against someone we’ve offered a truce to!? What’s wrong with your head!?”

“No…nothing really, I wasn’t the one who decided on the ceasefire.”

“Shut up! Plus, it’s not Leohart, it’s His Majesty. Do something about the way you address him in public…hurry up and get over here you idiot!”

After she said that, the young man walked back over to the other side where the others were.

“We’ve only come here today to introduce our new system…we have no intention to fight.”

As Leohart said that, Basara let out a sigh.

“Then, they are…?”

Basara asked without removing his stare from the group of people standing some distance away.

“Oh — they are the new group who will assist me.”

The young Demon Lord responded. In order to elaborate on his explanation to Basara, Leohart continued

“Since all of the Council are now dead, we’ve decided to carry out a restructuring of our political organisation with new members…they are the [Eight Demon Generals], and up until now, they’ve each led their own armies for each of their respective directions. All of them are just as accomplished as I was in the last Great War.”

Leohart explained their situation

“They will not only become my aides, they will also become the new representative members of the parliament. If more than half of those eight people agree with each other, they can raise an objection to any of my decisions, and they also have the authority to completely dismiss any of my decisions if all eight of them are in agreement.”

“In order to prevent the authority of the king from spiralling out of control, huh…”

“Yes…I won’t let this become a repeat of what the Council did.”

Leohart nodded in response to Basara’s words. But — it was reassuring that they had said that there was no one more qualified to lead them than Leohart. Nonetheless, in the unlikely event that Leohart ever became a corrupted being like Belphegor, they would lay their judgement upon him without mercy.

…Originally, Leohart wanted his adjutant Balthier to act as the leader of parliament. —However, Balthier had gone missing ever since that decisive battle. He had also approached Gardo for that role, but he had firmly refused, and stated that Leohart should leave that open to the next generation. Leohart had considered Luka as a candidate since he had also participated in that decisive battle, but the gentle Luka had always said that he wanted to pursue the path of research rather than politics, so Leohart respected that decision, and allowed Luka to return to his original place at the Academy. 

“…Then, what about Takigawa?”

Basara felt worried about him after all. When Basara suddenly asked that

“As for Lars, it is difficult to decide on how to deal with him between us and the Moderates faction. The agenda for today’s talks includes how we will manage his affiliation and treatment. Personally, I’d like his political aid in the future…but it seems he has no interest in politics or government. He refused because he wants to be able to act freely with his own responsibilities. He’s waiting in Lundvall right now.”

“Well, I guess we won’t be able to meet then…I wanted to say thanks and goodbye to him before heading back to the other side.”

Basara continued

“But, will he be okay…? His position as a spy, and also various…”

“There’s nothing to worry about in that regard. His actions actually ended being beneficial to both us and the Moderates faction. In any case, things shouldn’t be too bad for him.”

“I see…I’m glad there aren’t any problems.”

Basara said as he chuckled. Upon seeing Basara’s bright smile

“———”

Leohart felt a chill run down his spine. —Just a moment ago, Basara was his opponent. Leohart couldn’t imagine any possibility in which Basara would have stood a chance against him and the Eight Demon Generals. Basara should have fully understood that as well. …But even so, Basara intended to go through with it. Perhaps Leohart and the others had seen something that they were unable to understand. Something that was unknown to them.

“……Toujou Basara.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

In response to Leohart’s call, Basara looked over at him. His expression was defenceless, and that was why Leohart was driven by an impulse to check it, even if it was unnecessary. Riara had said — Basara was the one who killed Belphegor. It happened before the decisive battle that played a role in determining the future of the Demon Realm, and he even did it alone. 

“……It’s nothing.”

Leohart swallowed the question that had almost come out from his mouth. Even if he asked, it was possible that Basara wouldn’t acknowledge it, and even if he did acknowledge it, it would only make the Eight Demon Generals unnecessarily wary of him. If taken poorly, it was possible that there would even be some amongst them who would disagree with the idea of peace with the Moderates faction. The truth which would not bring happiness to anyone was best buried in the darkness. Even if — it was something which hurt Leohart’s pride. That was because it was also Leohart’s duty as a king to ignore the truth laid out before his eyes, if necessary.

“Well, it’s almost time for me to go…Mio and the others are waiting.”

“Yeah…farewell, Toujou Basara.”

With those words, Leohart and Basara went their separate ways. When Leohart looked back, Basara was already a fair distance outside of the castle. And then, his figure could no longer be seen.

“————”

Leohart also resumed walking slowly towards his destination. Just like how Basara and the others had returned to their own world, he now headed towards the place where he needed to go. It was in order to meet Ramsas, who was the leader of the Moderates faction, as the current head of the new-generation Current Demon Lord faction. They would then discuss the future of this Demon Realm.