“I think the Demon Lord is right.”
Pilukaya broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled over the room.
“Yeah… I know. I’m a demon.”
“No no, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about right now, the current situation. I could see a few of the human reincarnates — they’re on their way here. Apparently they’re fired up to kill every demon and the Demon Lord both.”
Is it because the goddess told them to clear the world like a game?
Or is the idea that demons are enemies to be killed just as shared among the reincarnates as it is among the people of this world…
These aren’t the same as the first people I encountered. They’re from my world. I want to believe that talking things through would stop them from trying to kill me.
I want to believe that — but I should probably consider that a naive expectation.
“That’s fast. Not much time has passed since we defeated the Heroes. Which means this wasn’t organized by any kingdom — a handful of overeager reincarnates acting on their own?”
“Got it in one, my liege. Seems like they think they’re all-powerful, and that makes them above even kings. Do whatever they want, consequence-free.”
“Reincarnates intoxicated by their own power. I imagine the king has already written them off. Which means defeating them here won’t set any nation in motion.”
It’s probably the game mentality.
They were reincarnated by the goddess, gifted special powers in the process. So they’re more than protagonists — invincible, incapable of losing. And dying, of course, isn’t something they’ve imagined.
In my case, the very first people I met attacked me and nearly killed me on the spot, which forced me to understand quickly — this world has death in it in a way the original didn’t.
Without that understanding, there’s no getting through to someone.
“So, shall I go deal with them quickly?”
“Pilukaya-sama, you were only just revived — throwing yourself into combat so soon seems inadvisable.”
“Yeah, but that’s exactly why I need to shake the rust off on some easy targets. Low-risk, builds back the credibility. Sounds perfect to me.”
“Primila’s point stands. Pilukaya, you’ve already contributed more than enough. Please rest your body for now.”
“…Fine~”
Not willing to defy Lady Fiona directly, Pilukaya gave in with obvious reluctance.
So Primila or Lady Fiona would handle it instead.
I’d prefer not to give away any information about our side, and the best outcome would be no fight at all — but that’s probably wishful thinking.
“If Pilukaya says so, can we take it that these reincarnates aren’t a genuine threat?”
“Yeah, I’d say so~ At minimum they’re way, way weaker than any Hero. For me or Primila, one hit probably covers it.”
So being a reincarnate doesn’t automatically put you on par with Demon Lords, Heavenly Kings, or Heroes.
And the ones heading this way haven’t figured that out yet.
“Then there’s no need for us to meet them ourselves. Nothing changes. They’re just more intruders.”
“So the monsters should be enough?”
“For now, yes. If they somehow aren’t, Primila — take care of it.”
“Understood.”
Not a real threat. Lady Fiona says if, but she probably doesn’t expect Primila to need to step in at all.
Which means… this might be my chance to meet them and try to talk.
“Lady Fiona.”
“Yes?”
“If they really are reincarnates — could I try talking to them?”
“No.”
Refused outright. No opening to argue from.
Well, of course. A demon-side reincarnate wanting to meet with human-side reincarnates.
That could easily read as betrayal.
If anything, not being punished right here is already a lenient response.
“Even if they aren’t a threat to Pilukaya or Primila, the same doesn’t apply to Rei.”
“Yeah, that’s probably fair. Rei, they’d likely be dangerous for you specifically.”
…That’s the reasoning — concern for my safety. There’s nothing left to argue with when it’s framed that way.
Either way, whether I’m watching or not, I’ve already had people killed by the monsters and traps I built.
And now I’m hoping for a conversation with someone from the same world, like that makes it better. Is that the contradiction…
“…My liege. In that case — what if I were to serve as Rei-sama’s escort?”
Apparently taking pity on how deflated I looked, Primila offered that to Lady Fiona.
“…Pilukaya.”
“Yeah~?”
“Confirming once more — these reincarnates really are no match for someone like you or Primila?”
“I mean, they’re not going to bother training at that attitude, so… yeah, they’d be easy.”
“…Fine. Primila, escort Rei. If you judge at any point that there is danger, take Rei and leave immediately. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Th-thank you, Lady Fiona.”
Thanks to Primila’s suggestion, Lady Fiona gave permission for me to meet them.
She really is a merciful Demon Lord to her people.
◇
“These guys are useless. Looks like it’s on us to take down the Demon Lord after all.”
“They’ve got no cheats anyway. They did at least find us the location, so they were good for something.”
“Honestly, what pisses me off more is the ones who got skills from the goddess but still cry about wanting to stick with the Hero. Cowards.”
“They’ll be begging to join later and it’ll be too late. Let’s just take the glory ourselves.”
What a pack of idiots.
The goddess said it herself — they were reincarnated into a game world.
It’s just a game. Getting cautious, not wanting to die — that’s cowardice taken to a ridiculous extreme.
The king talked about building trust, but everyone here except them is a game character.
Let the NPCs role-play real relationships with each other all they want.
That self-appointed leader type, going on about waiting for the Hero to recover — the reason the goddess gave them power and told them to defeat the Demon Lord is because the Hero got wiped out. That’s the whole point.
Every single one of them is a coward or an idiot or just wrong.
Fine. They’d only slow things down anyway.
Defeat the Demon Lord and go home. And while they’re at it, maybe ask the goddess if they can keep the skill in the original world. An ability that stops things in their tracks would be useful anywhere.
“Is that it?”
“Yeah, looks right. Some kind of cave.”
“Didn’t see any creatures on the way here, though. Those soldiers lied to us.”
“Probably didn’t want to scout a Demon Lord’s lair and made something up to get out of it.”
“So the Demon Lord’s actually in here…”
Starting to doubt it, but they’ve come this far. Might as well check.
And if those soldiers lied — they’d be made to understand what it means to defy a reincarnate.
They stepped into the cave. Two figures were standing there.
…Those are demons, right. Pointy ears, skin with a faint blue tint.
So enemies, then. Or is one of them the Demon Lord?
“You two are reincarnates, aren’t you.”
No reason to be surprised by that.
Back in the human kingdom, reincarnates were common knowledge.
The goddess had sent so many here by now that it was just a fact of this world.
“I’m a reincarnate too. You’re probably here because the goddess told you to defeat the Demon Lord — but could we talk first?”
…Surprising.
Not the fact that someone had reincarnated as a demon. The fact that a demon was standing there asking to talk.
Probably the same kind as the cowardly reincarnates who’d refused to come along. That type.
A mob character asking to negotiate — which means what, exactly. Don’t kill me, basically.
Something put here to be defeated, begging not to be.
“You’re an idiot. Obviously we’re going to kill you — Demon Lord and demons alike. Reincarnating as an enemy character means the goddess thought you were disposable. That’s you.”