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

===Part 6===
Tojou Basara continued with his deductive thought process as each of his inferences became more certain.

“………”

He continued to remind himself to think deeper. As Ramsas stood before him, he thought about his father Jin and also Sheera, and what they would think of their children, and what kinds of things they would do. —It would have been difficult to cover up the death of someone who held the highest position. That was even more so for an existence like Wilbert. …It was even more difficult than that to come back as a different existence. After all, the subordinates of Wilbert would have known him better than anyone else. Besides, simply coming back would have been meaningless. It was a necessary for him to take up a position that would allow him to influence politics and secretly lead the Moderates faction at the same time. If that wasn’t the case, then he wouldn’t be able to fulfil the wishes of those who adored the supposedly dead Wilbert. …That was why Wilbert created a fictitious older brother called Ramsas and chose to play that role. Indeed — Ramsas was Wilbert. Based on this assumption, Basara then began to think about what his aims could be.

“…In addition to changing your appearance, you were also able to change your own spiritual signature and magical power by giving Mio the majority of your own power. Even though the attribute of your power wouldn’t change because of that, it actually worked in your favour. Because you were returning as an immediate family member of the strongest Demon Lord, that made it easy for you to become the centre of politics.”

With that, Toujou Basara was able to derive the truth by tracing everything backwards.

“You also had several layers of insurance which could be used for Mio in the human realm, so it was like hitting two birds with one stone for you…nonetheless, in order for that plan to have been successful, it was absolutely necessary for you to gain the assistance of co-operators who would help to ensure that your identity remained a secret. They also had to be those with a strong say within the Moderates Faction.”

As for the person who was responsible for that role, there was no longer any doubt.

“Most likely…Sheera-san has been cooperating with you since far earlier than just the incident with Zolgear. Perhaps the initial stage of your plan — no, perhaps even before that.”

The relationship between Sheera and Wilbert was like that of equals. It wouldn’t have been strange if Wilbert asked for her opinion as he grieved over the state of the Moderates faction and the future of the Demon Realm. …Moreover. Basara turned his gaze towards the other side — towards Lucia.

“This is where I was stuck for a long time…Wilbert had tremendous charisma. If that’s true, it’s strange how Lucia-san is attached to you despite her serious nature. Under normal circumstances, one would normally think that she’d associate more with Klaus-san and the others, given that they were close to Wilbert.”

However, it was an entirely different story if he was considered to be Wilbert himself. Moreover, Lucia respected her mother more than Maria. If she heard about the plan from those two and was asked to assist in it, then that would explain the current situation of how Lucia was now attached to Ramsas as his aide.

[[Image:Shinmai v08 055.png|thumb]]

“And so — there’s probably one more, someone else who was a collaborator.”
At the end of the Great War, a man who was a member of the Hero Clan was tied to Wilbert’s younger sister.

''…My old man.''

The reason why Jin and the Moderates Faction — Basara now understood why he had visited Ramsas. Between Jin, Ramsas and Sheera, there seemed to be some kind of a bond between those who had fought in the past Great War as enemies. Rather than the feeling of them being comrades-in-arms or rivals, it felt more like they were companions who all shared a common secret. —Why? As Basara attempted to probe at the origin of this truth, it seemed like a delicate matter for the Hero Clan, and one that could potentially develop into a serious problem. And then — Wilbert was also worried about Mio’s fate as a newborn.

“Dad and you became brothers-in-law, and had the same problem — so…—”

It wasn’t surprising then that the two of them joined forces for the sake of their own children.

“After successfully disguising King Wilbert’s death, the fall of the Moderates Faction went according to your wishes. But not everything went as you planned, and unexpected events happened.”

In other words

“The Council made Leohart the new Demon Lord. Without you at the top of the Moderates faction, Ramsas, the Moderates Faction was suppressed, and there was nothing that could be done against the current Demon Lord faction which had aligned with the Council. Reality began to deviate from the original plan.”

Basara continued

“Leohart possessed immense charisma and the current Demon Lord faction expanded their influence. But, even with Leohart, your shadow as the great former Demon Lord still lingered, and remained a hindrance to the unification of the Demon Realm. It was such that they could no longer ignore Mio who had inherited your power.”

Everything after that was already known. In order to get his hands on Mio, Zolgear strayed off to kill Mio’s adoptive parents, after which Maria came to rescue her — and six months later, Basara met them. …That was exactly what had happened. Toujou Basara recalled the sequence of events. He started living together with Mio and Maria, after kicking them out once when the girls revealed their identities to him — when Basara asked Jin over the phone about when he had discovered that they were demons, Jin replied that he had known from the very beginning. The meaning behind those words could finally be understood now. —The encounter between Toujou Basara and Naruse Mio was decided long ago. By ruminating his thoughts out aloud, everything was finally clear to him now. Basara felt a certain sense of fulfilment in knowing that he had finally caught up with the situation.

“……After talking about all manner of such dreamlike things, are you finished now?”

Ramsas said with a low voice. Even after hearing the theory that had come out from Basara’s mouth, there wasn’t the slightest change in his stoic expression.

''…Well, I guess so.''

Basara had presented the possibility of ‘the truth’. However, it was still just ‘speculation’ without any evidence. Even if what Basara said was the truth, Ramsas wouldn’t acknowledge it. And unless Ramsas himself acknowledged it, Lucia would not acknowledge it either since she was his adjutant. Even if he asked Jin or Sheera directly, it was unlikely that they would reveal the truth.

''…It doesn’t matter.'' 

Their plan was set into motion because Wilbert disappeared from the limelight. If it was made known that Wilbert was still alive, then the Demon Realm would once again be eclipsed by the influence of the great Demon Lord. That was precisely why the plan was made in secret. The truth of Wilbert’s death would have to remain hidden for eternity. If Basara forced him to acknowledge that secret, it would be synonymous to trampling over the parental love that started the whole affair. Therefore

“Yeah…everything was just a figment of my imagination, a convenient story for me. I don’t intend to speak to Mio and the others without permission.”

The story ends there. After Basara revealed a wry smile at last

“It’s almost time for me to depart. Thank you for all the trouble.”

He slightly bowed towards Ramsas, and then

“Lucia-san…Sheera-san said that she would prepare a spatial tunnel for Mio and the others in Oldora Forest to go ahead earlier.”

“Yes, I understand — come with me.”

Lucia nodded in response to this, and she began walking towards the exit of the balcony. Basara followed after her, but halted when he reached the stairway. And then he turned around.

“———”

Ramsas had already turned his back to them, and he looked down over the city once again. But, whilst his back was turned towards them, Basara said

“In the end…even if everything that I just said is a fantasy or dreamlike story, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still Mio’s uncle.”

So

“Please come and visit us anytime. I think it’ll be difficult whilst the peace negotiations with the current Demon Lord faction are ongoing, and there are also various other things that make it difficult…but it can happen when all of these political issues come to an end.”

Toujou Basara promised.

“Until that time, it’s now our turn to protect you — just like you’ve protected us so far.”

He said that because those feelings were definitely mutual.