Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 1 Chapter 4
Until your Sadness becomes Nil
Part 1
Around the time when Basara engaged the enemy--- Naruse Mio had already left the infirmary.
Right now, she was at the place closest to sky on the school grounds.
The rooftop.
Under the pale moonlight, Mio confronted a single girl.
It was her classmate and the Hero in charge of observing her--- Nonaka Yuki.
"---So, what's up?"
When Mio woke up in the nighttime infirmary, Basara was gone, as he had left his seat. The one that entered through the door of the infirmary a little bit later was not Basara, but Yuki. And,
"…I need to talk to you."
Following Yuki, who had told her so with a cold expression, Mio had come to the rooftop.
To Mio's uttered question, Yuki answered quietly--- yet clearly.
"Basara should have told you… about why I'm here."
"Yeah, he certainly told me."
said Mio.
"About who you are--- and your relation to him."
Mio, the inheritor of the previous Devil Lord's power, and Yuki, a Hero. Originally, their relationship should be that of archenemies. Still, so far they had avoided to get on that topic.
Mio wanted revenge on the current Demon Lord, so it wasn't wise to clash with Yuki and make the Hero Tribe her enemy. As for Yuki, she surely just acted out her duty as an observer of Mio. But there was something she understood one week ago--- when Basara transferred in at the beginning of the new term.
"So? I know about you, but so what?"
When she glumly told her "Get to the point", Yuki straightforwardly gazed at her.
"---Leave Basara. He'll suffer when he stays with you… Therefore, leave him."
"….. I figured it would be about that."
Mio knew, Yuki didn't consider Basara a simple childhood friend, she harbored a greater feeling for him. From Yuki's standpoint, the warning was more than warrantable.
Mio could relate to it. But… despite that,
"---Nope."
Mio denied outright, whereas Yuki narrowed her eyes. But, Mio didn't back off.
"Even without you telling me, I was quite worried about that fact. I pondered a lot about what to do. I even tried to chase him out of the house once, to prevent him from getting any more involved with my matters and dangers."
Yes. At first, Mio didn't want to get him involved either.
"…But you know, after knowing my circumstances, he still said he would protect me. That it's no troubles and that we're family. Therefore I thought about what I should do for him, since he said all that."
And she came up with an answer.
"When he's trying to protect me and fighting together with me, even though I don't want to involve him--- Then at least, I won't waste even the slightest bit of his sentiments."
Because,
"What I can do right now is to live up to his feelings."
If she were to obey Yuki's words here and leave him, that surely would be a betrayal towards him.
Mio spoke out her unwavering feelings. In regards,
"………I see."
Yuki muttered only that. At that time.
Along with a shrill SCREECH sound, a shock wave struck Mio. However--- before hitting Mio, it crashed into an invisible wall and dispersed. Mio had set it up beforehand. A magic barrier.
Mio gazed in front--- at Yuki, who emitted a green aura on her hand with the materialized sword.
"---Using force when words don't work?"
Right after saying so, she raised the corners of her mouth.
"Then--- I won't show any reservation either."
She didn't want to make the Hero Tribe an enemy on her initiative, but she would respond when someone picked a fight with her.
Kill her a hundred times. When Mio released her wind magic, the strong sweeping wind pressed Yuki.
"----"
However, a few lines of white sword flashes sparkled and the wind magic was cut off.
Seeing that, Mio clicked her tongue in her mind on her battle affinity with Yuki.
…She isn't a Hero just for show…
The parameter for battle strength could roughly be divided into four classes: "Power", "Speed", "Skill" and "Mana". In short, like the stats in RPG or simulation games, so she was taught by Maria. An omnipotent type would be the ideal, but basically one would strengthen the class he's compatible with. This meant power for Maria and magic for Mio, so they each chose a battle style most suited to their abilities. For Maria that would be a Hard Striker that utilized her abnormal strength, for Mio a High Wizard that released powerful magic at the enemy from a safe distance.
And--- most likely Yuki's type was Skill. Inferior to the Power type at close range and the Mana type at long range, but a class that utilized it's strength to the fullest at all kind of ranges.
Above all. Yuki most likely had real battle experiences that Mio could only dream of. But,
…That's not a reason for me to pull back here!
When Mio glared at her straightforward, Yuki said with her cold expression.
"You want to exploit Basara's kindness so bad that you would go this far?"
"If I'm exploiting his kindness, then what're you doing? Your ignoring his will and forcing your own selfish kindness onto him!"
"! I…"
Yuki inadvertently stiffened her expression, whereas Mio shouted.
"I won't make excuses--- Nor will I regret it! Apologizing to him about involving him at this point would be rude to him! That's why I'll fight together with him unreserved!"
Mio exclaimed with a decisive tone. What she spoke out was her own answer towards Basara's sentiments. This genuine feeling towards him--- She trusted it without a shred of doubt. But,
"….once more."
A chilling voice came out of Yuki's mouth. Inadvertently overwhelmed, Mio gulped.
"If you say that once more, I won't forgive you… You don't even know Basara in the slightest."
"That's…"
It hadn't even been a month since they met. There were things they were hiding from each other or couldn't speak about. But,
"Sure, I don't know him as long as you… Nor do I know anything about his past. But you see, I believe I know his current self!"
She knew more about the current Basara than Yuki, who only reunited with him a week ago after a long separation. How kind he was, how much he was thinking of Mio and Maria. But,
"…That's not true. If you properly knew him, you wouldn't drag him into battles to begin with."
Because, said Yuki.
"He can't fight like in the past anymore… actually, it should be painful for him to even wield a sword."
"What the… What do you mean…?"
Mio inadvertently asked back, whereas Yuki said. The truth about Toujou Basara--- to make Mio give up.
"Five years ago, to save us, he---…"
One breath,
"-----------"
These words from Yuki
"…..Eh?"
made Mio asked back dumbfounded. For a moment, she didn't comprehend what Yuki had said.
---It was the reason why Basara was chased out of the Hero village.
Toujou Basara's sin, and the wound in his heart that plagued him even now. And like Yuki had said, Mio knew nothing of it. Thus, her thoughts couldn't keep up with it right away. But,
"That's why Basara and Jin left the village… they lost their Hero qualifications."
added Yuki.
"You must have found it strange too. As to why two Heroes were living as normal humans."
"Ye… ah…"
Naruse Mio realized. Why Yuki was so angry at her. And above all--- How cruel she had been to Basara. Then Mio remembered Basara's words.
'In the past… when I lived in the country-side, some stuff happened. Guess you can call it a trauma… Even now, I sometimes dream of that time.'
…No way…
Mio was in a daze from her ignorance--- Suddenly the door to the rooftop opened.
Rushing in came Basara with a haunted look.
"Here after all…"
He must had run at full speed. All out of breath, his forehead was covered in sweat.
And seeing the traces of their battle and the sword in Yuki's hand, he frowned.
"What's going on, Yuki… She's still supposed to be an observation target. So why are you, the observer, drawing your spirit sword?"
When Yuki averted her eyes by looking down without a word, Basara faced Mio next.
"Mio, same for you… I told you not to fight with the Hero Tribe. Yet---"
At that point, his expression suddenly changed into a doubtful one. He must have noticed the look on her face.
"I, I'm…"
Mio tried to say something right away, but she couldn't speak well.
Because she was scatterbrained. Therefore,
"What's up? Why do you…"
Saying so, Basara tried to come over to her. As to stop him,
"---Well, she just heard about your past."
A smiling voice came at them from a different direction.
Toujou Basara looked. Apart from the rooftop they were on--- there was someone standing still.
A white mask and a black tuxedo. It looked human, but his other senses felt a ominous and overwhelming negative aura from it. He could tell by just confronting it. It was a devil with a considerably power.
…Not good.
Basara changed his expression into a stern one. It likely was the wire-puller here, but it was unexpectedly strong. He didn't know it's type yet, but it most likely had an A Rank power.
Mio was set as a S- Rank, but only in consideration for the possibility that she kept the previous Devil Lord Wilbert's power in her. By the normal standards of the village, she would probably be a B Rank. Yuki was a B+ Rank. It would be one thing if the opponent were an A- Rank, but at A or above, it might become a severe fight even with Basara's assistance, let alone Yuki by herself.
Currently it looked like it was standing there easy-going, but there was not a single opening for an attack.
Mio and Yuki must have comprehended the opponent's strength too, as they remained still like Basara, whereupon
"---Well, well, that was an really intriguing story. I knew there was an odd interference before, but to think the exiled Hero had shown up again. What's more, it's the son of the War Hero Toujou Jin. Quite the surprise."
Hearing the white mask say it so happily, Basara narrowed his eyes.
"The attack in the park before was your doing as well, huh…"
"Yeah. I had my eyes on you for a while. I thought for sure you were a normal human, but it turned out you were an ability user--- and even siding with the orphan of the previous Devil Lord. Moreover, you are quite skilled. It appears you also took out the other guys earlier."
"------!?"
On the white mask's words, Mio gulped next to Basara.
She must have been surprised that only Basara was attacked while they were separated. Furthermore,
Translator notes and References
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