Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 8 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 6===
Ultimately — even though it was only supposed to be once each it ended up being three times each. Somehow realising that any more than that would have been bad, they managed to calm their raging excitement, and they changed back into yukatas in the changing room so that they could return to their room. Hasegawa had tied her hair up when she put on the yukata, and her skin was flushed from the pleasure of the bath while the nape of her neck was stained with a cherry-blossom colour.

''…This is bad.''

Basara had become incredibly aroused by her sex appeal, and he shook his head as his desperately tried to calm himself down. And, when they arrived back at their room, they were just in time for the dinner that had been prepared for them. On top of the large table, a variety of tasty-looking dishes were lined up. There was a pot of shabu-shabu oysters, assorted horse sashimi, and steamed turtle in an earthenware pot. An ordinary man would be somewhat taken aback by such a menu, however, the loli-ero succubus who was in charge of the Toujou residence’s kitchen had made many similar dishes, and so Basara wasn’t particularly concerned.

“It’s quite luxurious…”

“We are humbled by your words…the chef of this inn did his best to create this.”

As one of the staff members who acted as a waitress said so with a polite tone, she slowly bowed to them.

“However, I apologise for how unsightly it looks on the table…”

And then she apologised. There were a large number of dishes laid out on the table, and just as she said, the table surface did seem somewhat tightly-packed. Hasegawa shook her head lightly as she replied

“I don’t mind…even though you don’t offer room service, you’ve already fulfilled my impossible request.”

On the contrary, it seemed as though Hasegawa chose to have this kind of high-class kaiseki<ref>Kaiseki: A traditional multi-course Japanese dinner which is considered to be the most luxurious and also a form of culinary expression.</ref> cuisine delivered together with the next course, which was western-style so as to cherish the time between just the two of them. —And so, the complete meal was ready shortly afterwards. Although the dishes had originally been placed so that they could be eaten face-to-face, they were arranged so that they sat side-by-side at Hasegawa’s request. When Basara inquired about her intentions, Hasegawa simply whispered sweetly into his ear

“It’s easier to eat with each other if our bodies are closer, right?”

After the staff finished the preparations for their meal, they bowed and retreated, allowing Basara and Hasegawa to begin their meal. As expected of a luxurious inn — all of the ingredients were first-class, and their work was both diligent and precise. The taste was elegant, and it was also delicious on Basara’s tongue. Although they were aware that it was poor etiquette to do so, they fed each other and poured sake for each other, just as Hasegawa wanted, and that made her truly happy…she intentionally flirted with him using her breasts, demanded a kiss from him in the middle, and she seemed pleased when Basara responded in kind. Hasegawa’s expression conveyed pure joy. After they finished their meal, Basara sat on the western-style sofa, with Hasegawa on his lap while he held her waist from behind as they took a break. As they gazed at the scenery outside the window, Hasegawa leaned in and left her body in his care.

“What would you like to do after this? Would you like to use the cypress wooden bath in our room, the large public bath again…or would you like to try the women’s bath this time?”

She asked him as she looked over her shoulder — therefore

“Sensei…before that, there’s something that I want to ask.”

“Yes, what is it?”

In good spirits, Hasegawa prompted him to continue. 

“Yes — sensei, I want you to tell me what you know about my birth.”

With a calm voice — Toujou Basara broached the topic that he had kept silent on all day. However, Hasegawa maintained her smile. She simply narrowed her eyes slightly.

“—While you were over there, did Jin tell you something about me?”

That was all she asked. So in response, Basara shook his head slightly.

“No. When I met my old man again in the Demon Realm, I learned from him that my mother was the younger sister of the former Demon Lord Wilbert. And, the fact that I also have another mother aside from her.”

“If that’s all you’ve heard, then how did you arrive at the conclusion to ask me about it?”

The tone of Hasegawa’s voice didn’t deny it, which meant that it was the truth.

“In order to fulfil my purpose in the Demon Realm, I had to compete against people who were much stronger than me…that’s why I asked a succubus to create a drug for me, so that I could activate the demon blood which flows through me.”

And then

“When I drank it, a part of Brynhildr’s memories flowed into me. I guess it’s because of the evil spirit that possesses the demonic sword. When I activated my demon blood, my synchronisation with the demonic sword Brynhildr was enhanced.”

That was when Toujou Basara found out.

“The reason why demonic swords and spirit swords can possess a user is because of the link that is made when one is chosen by the spirit or divine beast that resides in the weapon. But, the way that I became the wielder of Brynhildr is totally different to how Yuki was chosen by Sakuya.”

Because he saw that tragedy from Brynhildr’s point of view, he understood.

“At the time of the tragedy five years ago…my power went out of control, and I erased everything in my surroundings except for Yuki and Brynhildr. But, I was only trying to protect Yuki at that time, and I couldn’t afford to protect Brynhildr as well. Even so, Brynhildr remained without disappearing because it escaped inside me. And from then on, Brynhildr has continued to live on, inside me.”

And, on the day of the Sports Festival.

“Ever since I met Mio and the others, my life has been in danger when I’ve fought in battle several times, but at that time — when I was defeated by Sakazaki, I temporarily drifted to the boundary of death. If I died as the host, then Brynhildr also would have disappeared. Brynhildr instinctively realised that it was a crucial situation that posed a threat to its own existence, so it manifested when I lost consciousness, and defeated Sakazaki with my body and power…and so—”

“I see…”

Once she heard Basara’s words, Hasegawa muttered as if she finally realised.

“When I stopped Brynhildr who had taken over your body and went out of control — you found out about the conversation I had with Ornis while you were unconscious.”

It was that time when Brynhildr took control of Basara’s body, and used it to overwhelm and attempt to kill Sakazaki. Hasegawa had restrained both Basara’s body and Brynhildr’s rampage. At the time — Basara was still unconscious, but—

''…Even though Brynhildr was restrained, it still remained in a conscious state.''

In order to return safely from the Demon Realm, Basara had intended to become stronger by synchronising with Brynhildr further so that he could master its strength.

“Rather than Jin telling you, to think that it would be Brynhildr…”

Sakazaki revealed his identity as Ornis and tried to kill him. That was why Hasegawa didn’t hesitate to use her form and power as one of the Ten Gods, Afureia, to destroy Ornis. Basara wasn’t aware of the exact circumstances or situation of her conversation with Ornis, and most of what he understood was mere fragments. But, having been born and raised as a member of the Hero Clan, he undoubtedly knew of the meaning and existence of the divine race and the Ten Gods. …Moreover, after learning from Jin in the Demon Realm that he had two mothers, he was able to derive the truth by gathering the various pieces of information together. And Basara noticed — the door to reach the truth, as well as its key, lay with Hasegawa. As Hasegawa sighed and slowly blinked, her demeanour and facial expression turned into that of a bitter smile. She could no longer deceive him — so, Hasegawa Chisato slowly began to speak.

“…I made a promise to Jin. Aside from if he told you himself, if you found out on your own, then it was up to my discretion on whether or not to tell you the truth. But, knowing how much you adore and respect your father, even if you did find a way to find out more of the truth beyond what you heard from him, I didn’t think you’d pursue it…what made you change your mind to ask for my support?”

“Indeed…certainly, if I was still the same as I was a while ago, I would have accepted my father’s decisions unconditionally, and wouldn’t do anything unnecessary.”

However, Basara continued

“But right now, I have something that I want to protect…something that I absolutely cannot give up. Of course, I may never be able to surpass my father when it comes to battle. But, I don’t want to remain an existence who’s always just protected by his father. —So, please tell me.”

That was Basara’s way, and his determined words to leave the protection of his father.

“—As a woman who is precious to me, I want to know what your raison d’etre is, sensei.”

And so he asked again. Therefore

“……How much did Jin tell you?”

“During the previous Great War against the demon race, he and mother — he met Wilbert’s younger sister on the battlefield.”

Up until that point, Jin’s words could be trusted. So, Hasegawa turned towards the front as she began to talk about the details that Basara wanted to hear about.

“This is a story that I heard, but…one of your two mothers is a demon woman named Sapphire. She was an excellent commander who led troops on the battlefield. Among those who fought on the frontlines during the Great War, she was one of the best when it came to battle.”

That also meant that she had killed many of those from the Hero Clan, but Hasegawa didn’t mention that.

“I guess she had a strong sense of responsibility…late in the war, I heard that she volunteered for a vital role when Wilbert began marching his troops in the Demon Realm.”

That was how — their fateful encounter was born.

“Around that time, Jin and his comrades had been pursuing and launching attacks on the demons…Jin and her had already encountered each other on the battlefield before that, and they had already fought against each other several times already.”

“Several times…that means—”

“Yes. It seems that as the younger sister of Wilbert who was called the strongest Demon Lord, she had the ability to fight on equal footing against Jin. And this time, she wanted to quickly withdraw her subordinates from the area while Jin wanted to avoid the risk of harm to his comrades, so it soon became a one-on-one fight. There were no other heroes or demons who could have stopped them.”

Hasegawa then changed her tone.

“However…as the two of them began to fight on the battlefield, there was one person who joined to stop both of them.”

After taking a breath, she said ‘her’ name.

“That other person was the one who would eventually become your other mother, my cousin — Raphaeline.”

She was a goddess who had previously been dispatched from the Divine Realm to watch over the Great War between the Hero Clan and the demon race. Raphaeline had become one of the Ten Gods before Hasegawa.

“The holy sword Balmung that Jin used during the Great War was something that Raphaeline had secretly given to him after observing and evaluating him….”

However, while she lent power to the Hero Clan, Raphaeline loved peace, and she looked favourably upon Wilbert’s decision to bring his army in to create a truce — therefore, she also intervened in the battle between Sapphire and Jin. However

“They were in an abnormally tense state due to the battle, and because they saw Raphaeline as a nuisance, Jin and Sapphire-dono attacked her separately.”

Although Raphaeline first attempted to persuade them, she gradually became emotional towards both of them.

“—Before they realised, it had become a three-way battle.”

Hasegawa bitterly smiled. Jin was touted as a God of War, Sapphire was able to fight evenly against him, and even one of the Ten Gods, Raphaeline, had joined their clash. The shockwaves generated by the all-out clash between the three parties was tremendous, resulting in a huge dimensional distortion that all of them got caught up in.

“The dimension that they fell into was like an absolute prison that was isolated from the flow of time. Although they argued for a while, they eventually began to work together to escape.”

 Hasegawa didn’t know how much time they actually spent in there. But, it was no surprise that special emotions were born as they mutually acknowledged each other. While the three of them lived there by themselves — they faced serious problems.

“That space was…the nest of the ancient dragon Fafnir.”

Dragons were special creatures that belonged to a higher order, and were completely separate from both gods and demons. Among them, Fafnir was classified as one of the strongest evil dragons, and also one of the oldest dragons. Fafnir attacked Jin and the other two as they were intruders on its territory.

“—In the end, it seems that they were somehow able to repel Fafnir. Moreover, by defeating Fafnir, they were able to cause cracks in the dimension, and from there they were able to create a portal to return to their original world. But—”

While they tried to return to their original world — there was an existence that prevented their escape.

“Fafnir had more than one body…”

The dimension that Jin and the others entered was a nest that belonged to Fafnir, which meant that all of the other bodies which remained pursued them in order to avenge their comrade. There were twenty of them — it wasn’t an extraordinarily large number, but it was more than they could handle. That was why they couldn’t escape from the dimensional hole to the outside world. If they tried to, they wouldn’t be able to close the dimensional hole, and the swarm of Fafnir would be let out as well. So when Sapphire and Raphaeline gave up on escaping and tried to close the dimensional hole instead, they were roughly pushed out and returned to the outside world — to their original world. It went without saying who had done that.

“And — Jin was the only one who did not escape.”

That decision was made for the sake of preventing Fafnir from reaching the outside world. That was why Jin destroyed the dimensional boundary from the inside after Sapphire and Raphaeline escaped, and he alone remained inside the dimensional along with the swarm of Fafnir. Stunned, Raphaeline and Sapphire joined forces to rescue Jin, and they desperately tried to reopen the corridor to that dimension. However, although it was possible for them to make a tunnel to that dimension, they couldn’t open a tunnel to the one that Jin was in unless they had his power as well, since he was with them when they all first entered.

“But — the two of them still cooperated, and continued to combine their powers.”

Raphaeline was eventually able to detect the aura of the sword Balmung which she had given him, and she continued to discern the exact location of the space that he was in while Sapphire produced distortions in space using her gravity magic.

“At that time, they didn’t care about their status as goddess and demon…they wholeheartedly just wanted to rescue Jin.”

And so, they finally succeeded in creating a route to the dimension that Jin was in. The two of them instantly rushed into the dimensional boundary in an attempt to ascertain whether Jin was safe. They did so with absolutely no regard for their own lives.

“But…after the two of them rushed in, Jin had already defeated all of Fafnir’s body by himself.”

Raphaeline and Sapphire stood there in shock as Jin said “Yo, are you okay?” while he smiled. That was why they couldn’t hold back anymore.

“When Raphaeline and Sapphire returned with Jin to their original space…they became tied to each other as both of them desired Jin.”

[[File:Shinmai v08 249.png|thumb]]

As a result of connecting with each other, Sapphire soon became pregnant with Jin’s child. —If the existence of a child between a hero of the Hero Clan and the younger sister of the Demon Lord was to be discovered, it would be a major problem. On the other hand, if raised carefully, he had the potential to become the hope of the next generation. However, it was impossible for Saaphire to give birth to the child of a hero in the Demon Realm.

“So — Raphaeline took over the task of carrying you, and she decided to give birth to you in the Divine Realm.”

As one of the Ten Gods who held great power in the Divine Realm, she could give birth to a child. In this way, it also became a child that belonged to all three of them, and that made her happy. So, Basara was transferred from Sapphire’s womb to Raphaeline’s, and they had decided to split their roles up after taking their respective situations into account. After they finished discussing what to do, they made a promise to meet again before returning to their respective worlds. Jin returned to the human realm, Sapphire to the Demon Realm, and Raphaeline to the Divine Realm.

—Soon afterwards, a truce was reached between the Hero Clan and the Demons. Jin secretly entered the Demon Realm, and was successfully able to establish a cooperative relationship with Wilbert and Sheera through Sapphire, which helped in arranging an early truce. Everything had proceeded well up until that point. However, there was one person who had failed to keep their promise. It was Raphaeline. She had lied to both of them. Even if she was one of the Ten Gods…no, precisely because she held such a high position, the act of having the child of a demon as well as a human was absolutely forbidden. Even so, Raphaeline gave birth to their child, and after spending a short time together…her actions were punished as a first-class crime, and the sentence handed down to her was an erasure of her memories, as well as the freezing her soul.

“Aside from myself, there were two others who sided with Raphaeline, but all of the others agreed with her punishment…there was nothing that I could do.”

As a result, Raphaeline’s soul was extracted from her body, and bound to an eternal prison in the Divine Realm — in front of Hasegawa’s eyes.

“And, I brought you to the human realm and entrusted you to Jin. I told him about what had happened to Raphaeline, and also told him about her will.”

Raphaeline understood what kind of man Jin was. She knew what would happen to herself, and that was why she wanted to stop Jin from going to the Divine Realm. —However, there was a possibility that they would lose their child of hope if he did that.  

''Please cherish a future together with that child where humans and demons no longer fight'' — that was Raphaeline’s wish. Hasegawa looked back at Basara as she told him a single fact.

“Toujou…your name, Basara, was one that Raphaeline chose.”

After being entrusted with his child Basara by Raphaeline — Jin did not want to betray her will. However, Hasegawa still clearly remembered the red stream of blood that flowed out of the fist that Jin had clenched so tightly at the time, as well as the sound of his molars as he clenched down so hard.

“Afterwards…Jin secretly travelled to the Demon Realm and told Sapphire-dono about Raphaeline’s will that I told him about. She had been looking forward to reuniting with him and secretly living in the human realm with everyone together, but she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy happiness with Jin by herself, so she chose to live alone in the Demon Realm, and it seems that she even disappeared from Wilbert. Taking into account that she was connected to a member of the Hero Clan and one of the goddesses, she probably didn’t want to be a danger or a hindrance to Wilbert.”

After talking about all of that, Hasegawa let out a long sigh. She knew that the day when she had to tell Basara the truth would eventually come, and she had thought over how to tell him this story over and over again. Realising that one of her key responsibilities was now over, she glanced up.

“…………”

There was a single thing that overflowed and streamed down from the left eye of the boy that Hasegawa held most dear to her. Quietly, Basara was crying. When she saw that, Hasegawa was driven by a thoughtless urge to embrace him. However, she held back the right arm that she had extended and endured it. Having deceived Basara, she was no longer qualified to do such a thing. However, there was still more to the story.

“Even so, Sapphire-dono had promised Jin that she would come to both you and Jin in an emergency. And — she proved that those words were not a lie.”

Hasegawa continued

“After the tragedy five years ago… Jin left the <<Village>> with you and began to live in the city. At that time, you met her for just a while.”

“Eh…?”

As Basara raised his face to look at her, Hasegawa smiled as she said

“It was around that time when Jin had just started out as a photographer. At the time, you were still unable to recover from the shock of the incident at the <<Village>>, you locked yourself up at home, and didn’t go to school. Worried about you, Sapphire-dono was no longer able to endure. To be honest, it seems she actually wanted to rush to your aid immediately when problems occurred in the <<Village>>, but it was not possible for her to enter the village of the Hero Clan as a demon. However, she could secretly meet you if you left the <<Village>>. That was why she came to check on you in the form of a human. While you continued to suffer and blame yourself for the tragedy, she remained by your side. But, she decided to return to the Demon Realm once you settled down a bit, and she used magic to erase the memories of your meeting with her.”

The rest was just as he knew, Hasegawa said.

“Jin tried to get in touch with her while Wilbert’s plan to reform the Demon Realm was underway, but her whereabouts had become unknown…there’s no need to worry though. If Jin gets serious, he will surely be able to find Sapphire-dono.”

So — her own role was now finished. Hasegawa faced the front again as she said

“That’s everything…the story that I told you.”

Her body seemed to become weak as she said so.

“——That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

Basara quietly spoke as he declared so.