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

===Part 6===


"Hee--- I knew they would come one day, but it's rather early for these obstinate elders."

After the chance meeting with Takashi and the others, Basara returned home and contacted Jin in his own room.

---Jin, the head of the Toujou Household, left the house and was infiltrating the demon realm.

He had said that he wanted to get in touch with someone, but Basara hadn't heard anything in detail. That Jin wouldn't tell him about it probably meant that it still wasn't the time for him to hear it.

Jin's cell phone had a special magic chip in it that allowed him to have a call like this, albeit depending on some conditions like time or place in the demon realm. And,

"But to think that the elders let Kyouichi out of the <village>…"

Basara had told him the circumstances from start to end, whereas Jin said with an unusual serious tone.

"But Shiba-san said he's only an overseer this time and won't fight."

"Well, they had to give him some kind of ''shackle'' outside the village, but… be careful."

"Yeah, I know…"

The aftermath of the tragedy five years ago. The reason it was suggested to throw Basara into prison right after his <Banishing Shift> went out of control was because there had been a "Precedent Case".

Basara had been called a "Genius" by people, but the term to evaluate Shiba Kyouichi was "Over talented".

His all too moody character in view of that superiority made him cause "problems" and as a result, he was confined to prison for various years.

To be honest--- They were quite lucky under the circumstances without him joining the fight this time.

Thus, Basara shifted his attention to the pressing matter first.

"…Yuki fought together with us before, though for certain reasons, so I thought she wouldn't be all that hostile towards Mio. Even today we all went shopping together."

Of course Basara didn't think the <village> would let go of Mio so easily.

However. Somewhere in his heart, he was embracing a faint hope.

Even though she ended up inheriting the power of the previous Devil Lord, Mio never wanted any of this.

To begin with, Mio had been raised as a normal human girl until half a year ago without knowing about her devil bloodline.

So it couldn't be helped that they kept being wary of her as a surveillance target, but they wouldn't try to kill Mio by setting her as a termination target--- That was what he had wished for.

"What were you expecting? They have the sole mission to protect the peace in the human world."

"Yeah… I know. But I also have things I want to protect."

Basara tightly clenched his right fist.

"Yeah, right. I'm not going to question the nobility of their mission, but if we can't make a compromise no matter what, then we can only take them on."

"…Are you fine with that, Dad?"

It was different from taking on the current Devil Lord faction, which was after Mio's inherited power.

Even if they were chased out, they had once been comrades.

Another trouble was that the Hero Tribe, working on world peace, only considered Wilbert's inherited power as a threat.

That meant that they would mercilessly come to kill Mio, unlike the devils, who tried to get a hold of it and use it.

Even if they should win against Takashi and the others this time, it was quite unlikely that the <village> would revoke a statement that was passed once.

On the contrary, they would surely deem her more dangerous and send even stronger enforcers.

---Moreover, the Hero Tribe didn't just exist in Japan.

The appearance of devils and demonic beasts wasn't limited to just Japan.

It was necessary to protect the world, not just Japan. So the Hero Tribe had divided the world into many areas and each protected its assigned area, Japan being one of them.

So when they made an enemy of the Japan <village>, the Hero Tribes all over the world would inevitably become their enemy. But,

"I don't really care. That's just what it means to protect Mio."

Jin readily said on the other side of the phone.

"We're talking here about the guys, who wanted to chase you out of the village as a surveillance target, were eager to kill you if anything happens and even wanted to make me take on the role of observing you. Like I would care about some holy duty now."

"That's… true, but"

He knew that they had to take a clear stance to protect Mio.

''…But.''

At any rate, there was a reluctance inside Basara about making his former comrades his enemy.

Lose and it was all over. But winning would just increase the hardships.

He didn't know if he could find anything from a fight under these circumstances.

Moreover, of all things his first opponents were Takashi, Kurumi--- and even Yuki. That was just too ironic. However,

"Hey--- Don't tell me you're worrying about what happens after you win, even though you haven't even fought yet? Where does that composure come from?"

"That wasn't my…"

Basara hastily denied.

"I won't tell you to forget about the future, but don't be too greedy. Even if you wreck your brain, some things just happen. So focus on what's right in front of you first. At the least, you'll lose something if you lose and you'll protect something if you win. That's where you have to draw the line."

"….."

Right. What was he worrying about? The school nurse Hasegawa told him as well, didn't she?

He should draw a line he would never back off from and protect it.

Remember. What was it that he--- Toujou Basara truly wanted to protect?

"Right… Yeah, I'll do it."

Basara said so like shaking off the hesitation within him, whereas Jin laughed with "Good".

"I'll take responsibility. It doesn't matter that the opponent has 'Byakko'--- Go beat him up."

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