Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

—For now, let's return home together.

After overcoming the predicament, Basara had proposed so, but Mio was still wary.

Basara was a Hero. Mio and Maria were devils. And Mio and Maria had deceived Basara. Taking all that into consideration, there was no reason whatsoever for Basara to save Mio.

She could tell that Basara had no hostility, but she was hesitant about her decision for a while. She must have considered the possibility of a trap. Amidst that, Maria convinced Mio as her follower. That there was no reason for Basara to trick them into a roundabout trap. If he wanted to kill them, he could have done so previously in the living room or could have not helped Mio just now.

So, before long Mio gave a small nod on Maria's persuasion.

And now presently— Toujou Basara was standing in the kitchen of his own house.

He took a well-cooled barley tea out of the fridge, poured it into a glass and took it with him into the living room.

"Ah, thank you."

When Maria took the glass, she drank the whole tea in one go. Basara inadvertently raised an eyebrow.

"…Now, you sure drank that without any hesitation."

Wasn't that too careless in any event?

"Well, sure it was me who said to come back here, but…"

"—be a bit more wary, you mean?"

With "I already said it", Maria set the empty glass on the table.

"You have no reason to do something so troublesome as to bring us back home and poison the drink after following us all the way to save us, despite throwing us out of the house once before."

Besides,

"You seriously were angered when you found out that we deceived you. That was because you truly considered us to be your family. Then these ten days we spent together, the time you came into contact with us, were by no means a lie. So I believe it is fine to trust you."

Maria shifted her gaze and asked "Or am I wrong?".

"I see…"

So she actually did give it some thoughts.

"…Well, Mio-sama's personality is like that, so she will be a bit obstinate for a bit longer."

Maria looked to the door of the living room.

"I hope she will settle down a bit in the bath."

Japanese summers were hot even at night. Fighting outside in this humidity, you would sweat by all means.

Therefore, Maria had recommended Mio to take a bath as soon as they got back to the house.

"—Anyway, may I ask at this point?"

Maria said.

"About why you, a Hero, wanted to help us devils."

"Even if you ask… I just heard about your circumstances from my dad."

While scratching his cheek, Basara told her his reason for saving them. It was about Mio's circumstances, the Devil's general situation and the moderate faction, which Jin had all looked up. Therefore,

"My dad couldn't leave you guys alone and neither could I… I could never abandon you while I know of your circumstances. I mean, she bears no sin."

Naruse Mio had been living as just a simple girl. Having her life in peril due to other's conveniences was just too much. When Basara finished his talk with a serious tone, a natural silence befell the living room. Maria, who had cast down her eyes while listening to him, soon

"… I see, Jin-san did."

said with a meek expression and then suddenly raised her face.

"That sounds thankworthy, but— staying quiet when he knew everything, he is the worst."

"Well, I won't deny that."

But, he believed that it wasn't really her place to say anything, seeing as they had deceived him as well.

"—But, I see that you two Heroes helped us simply because of that."

Saying so, Maria gave him a look that asked for his real intentions.

"Actually, the villagers' decision to put us under surveillance is the kind of reaction you would expect, is it not?"

Maria's doubt was reasonable. No matter how much one sympathized with their circumstances, there was no reason for a Hero to help a devil. Yeah—''Normally there wasn't'', but

"I already told you that I don't have any ties with the Heroes or Devils…. Some stuff happened in the past, you know. Because of that, my dad and I are no longer Heroes now. Just simple humans, unrelated to the village."

Though it gave Basara's heart a never-fading wound.

But well, he was no longer tied down by the Hero's destiny.

"If I want to protect something, I will do so… That's all to it."

"Even if it's a devil— one who has inherited the Devil Lord's power? By protecting Mio-sama, you are putting yourself in harm's way, Basara-san."

Basara nodded a "Yeah" to Maria's reminding observation.

"As long as you don't cause any harm to this world or its habitants."

Upon that, Maria showed a wry smile.

"…You are such good-hearted people, both you and Jin-san."

"Not really. We're just wilful…. Like father, like son."

Therefore, Jin had readily decided to throw away the Hero status on the day the tragedy befell the village, the time when Basara caused that incident. So now— it was Basara's turn.

"…I understand. If that is the case, I will take you up on your kindness. Right now… Mio-sama needs as many allies as possible."

Maria's calm tone was filled with a heavy pressure. Then Maria corrected her seating position and bowed down deeply into his direction.

"Basara-san… My apologies for deceiving you so far. You will be dragged into our peril, but please take care of us. Please lend us your power, so Mio-sama will be safe."

A formal tone. The words of a subordinate who's worried about her master from the bottom of her heart. Therefore,

"Yeah. That's the plan."

Basara once again spoke out his resolve. He couldn't keep running away from the past forever.

In that case, he would pick up the sword again and fight. To his current self, neither Hero nor Devil mattered.

I want to protect Mio— There was no lie in that feeling. He believed in that feeling.

"Well then, ehm… Maria-chan."

"Just Maria is fine. After all, we will be comrades now."

"I see— Then, Maria, except for the part with the attack, let's live together normally like we have until now. We're still not sure about the enemy's aim anyway."

"Eh? But, they directly came after Mio-sama…"

Maria asked back puzzled.

"Well… It just doesn't make sense to me."

Basara made a serious expression.

"The guys from the Devil Lord faction should be after the inherited power from the previous Devil Lord Wilbert itself, instead of Mio. Moreover, she hasn't fully awakened the power yet. If she dies now, no one knows who would inherit the power next— In the worst case, Wilbert's power might vanish just like that."

But,

"When you were attacked at the park, ''she could have died'' if I hadn't made it in time. Of course you never know what will happen in an actual battle, but…"

Was it just a coincidence, or were they after something different? He could think of a few possibilities, but time would surely solve it. After all, the enemy wouldn't pull back in silence now.

"I'm sure they also noticed that you guys have been put under surveillance by the Heroes. If they recklessly involved unrelated humans, they themselves will become termination targets next. It's unlikely they'll attack in crowded places."

That's precisely was why they used magic to keep away humans from the park this time.

"Well if they attack next time, we'll get them for sure."

Upon that, Maria said happily.

"So reassuring. I only saw a bit of it, but you seem rather strong, Basara-san."

"Well, don't expect too much… I haven't really fought for five years now."

He had managed to materialize the magic sword Brynhildr, but his body had grown quite dull.

It still wasn't in its former condition. He would have to train from scratch in his free time or it would turn out bad.

"But. Earlier you erased my wind magic here. I was really surprised by that."

"Mh? Ahh…"

On Maria's words, Basara made a peaceful expression and

"I'm afraid that— was a fluke."

Basara shrugged his shoulders, whereupon Maria sharpened her eyes with "Oh please".

"There is no way you can erase magic completely on a fluke. Just what kind of technique was it?"

Maria was full of curiosity, whereas Basara showed a wry smile and dropped his gaze to his right hand.

"Sorry, but it really was a fluke…"

—Yeah, it had to be a fluke.

After all, that technique— became unusable after that incident five years ago.