"…Raise your head."
Her throat was tight.
This was not the kind of line delivered by an actor who had meticulously calculated every move and taken on ten roles at once on a single stage. Her heart was churning violently.
"Lift your head."
The girl raised her head. Pitch-black eyes turned to look at her.
"I ask you — why do you wish to consider yourself nothing but trash for eternity?"
"Great being. It is because I am precious to myself beyond reason."
The girl's lips curved into a thin arc.
"Because I am so precious to myself, I cannot lie to myself. I might one day think this way — that forcing Luke toward death was wrong. But for the village's sake, 'it couldn't be helped.' I didn't do anything wrong."
Daisy let out a soft laugh.
"No. It could have been helped. I could die for Luke. But I won't. This is what I chose. I chose Luke's death. I do not wish to hide that truth from myself."
"……."
"So I will kill my own brother with my hands. I will dye my soul with his crimson blood. I will live forever as nothing but trash. Great being — I dare to believe you will forgive me generously."
Because you are the same kind of creature as I am.
Daisy's eyes whispered that much.
Why did you acknowledge mere villagers — nothing but field-burning peasants — as proper human beings? Why did you go to such pointless lengths? I know the answer. Only I here know why you did it… You wanted to carry the villagers' deaths in their entirety.
Isn't that right? You didn't try to avoid it. You explained to them just how irrational your reasons were, how selfish and arbitrary your desire to kill them was.
You are someone who finds yourself so precious, so precious, that there is nothing you can do about it.
I know that.
Because I'm the same kind of creature as you.
"……."
"……."
According to myths that have been passed down in this world for ages.
Long ago, the human soul was a bit broader. Broad enough that one didn't need to devour another person just to get by. People were complete in themselves. All they had to do was love themselves — there was no need to love anyone else differently.
When humans became too perfect, the gods grew fearful.
The gods forcibly tore apart the human soul. Every person was split in two, sometimes into three or four. The human soul grew diminished, and without consuming others, it could no longer endure. Now humans wander the world for eternity, searching for their lost other half, the remainder of their soul, believing it must be somewhere out there.
"You are extremely dangerous."
"Yes. I am."
The girl nodded, as though she had heard the most obvious thing in the world.
"If I were to kill Luke... you would spend every remaining day of your life seeking revenge against me."
"That is correct, great being."
Once again, the girl did not deny it.
"Even if my life comes to an end, I will entrust my fate to another, and have that person pass their fate on to yet another, and so on, until the day when some descendant dares to take a king's life."
Daisy's parents trembled violently. But none of that mattered.
"I fear you."
"Yes."
The girl smiled.
"I fear the king as well."
"What must be done? Should I kill you?"
It wasn't a threat. I asked honestly, filled with my own fear and dread.
Daisy spoke.
"Your Majesty must slaughter not just me, but every human gathered here. Someone might seek revenge against you, after all."
"...And what if I were to agree to that?"
"A truly wise decision. All we ask is that you permit us to end our own lives."
Gasps of shock rippled through the villagers from all around.
Regardless of how those around us reacted, the girl and I stared only at each other.
"Ending our own lives. Your Majesty would have no choice but to allow it."
You lack the resolve to do that—that was what she was saying.
"Dozens of humans would take their own lives because of the king. Men, even as they weep in rage, will drive blades into their own throats. Mothers will weep as they kill their newborns, then use blades stained with their children's blood to slit their own. It may take hours."
You—the you who acknowledged us as full human beings—would be unable to intervene during those hours.
"It might take an entire night. It might take two days. After several days, some will eventually perish from thirst."
And still, you will not intervene.
Never.
Absolutely never.
Not because of anything else, but because of the conviction you yourself chose to bear.
"That sight—can you carry it with you for eternity, Great One?"
A sneer touched Daisy's lips.
"......"
The golems and fairies who shared my emotions were shaken.
The golems began to wail in low voices, and the fairies fluttered chaotically through the air in a panic. As the monsters grew unsettled, the villagers surrounded by them let out low screams or shrank back.
"That is my burden. Girl — it is not your concern."
The girl did not answer. She simply bowed her head respectfully. The choice is not mine but yours. That was the meaning behind the gesture.
I was silent for a long while.
I agonized, and agonized again.
"......"
Was it soft-heartedness?
Fool. Think of what happened with Jack Orland. This could become another repeat of that… but, even so, even so….
I glanced down at my feet. Daisy and Luke's parents were still prostrated on the ground. The father among them had been badly wounded fighting the golems. His limbs were grotesquely bent out of shape.
I let out a sigh. It seemed I was fated to die a fool even in death. It felt like I'd have to throw myself into the gambling pit once more.
"Jeremy. Heal this man."
I said, pointing at Luke's father. Jeremy didn't utter a word of complaint and drew a potion from her robes.
She soaked a cloth in the potion and wiped the man's wounds. To properly reset the broken bones, she twisted his limbs back into place at intervals. The man groaned.
"Tend to the rest of the wounded as well."
"At once."
Jeremy moved among the villagers, administering treatment. Though they didn't know what was going on, they instinctively realized they had survived, and their faces brightened. But my expression was colder than ever.
"Girl. Do you understand now why I healed them?"
"I surmise it is to win my favor."
"That's right, damn brat."
I growled.
"You've managed to earn my favor. That's what it means—I no longer wish to kill you. You gambled well with your own life and the lives of the villagers!"
"You flatter me."
The girl answered without blinking an eye. Damn brat. There was nothing a ten-year-old couldn't say.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
"I will make a wager with you. I will use every means at my disposal to win Luke's heart. If that boy Luke swears true loyalty to me, then damn it—Luke will not die, you will not die, your parents will not die, and none of the villagers will die."
However, I added.
"If, despite my utmost efforts, Luke still refuses to swear his loyalty… I swear by all the Goddesses that Luke, you, your parents, and everyone gathered here will all become cold corpses."
I explained the rules of the game to Daisy.
"Your brother is the most dangerous of all dangerous individuals. A simple loyalty oath won't suffice. It must be a magical slave contract that offers up his body and soul completely. That is the only way I will accept it. Furthermore, you must never, under any circumstances, reveal my purpose or intentions to your brother."
"……."
Daisy looked at me with a serious expression.
"Towards that end, you must temporarily become my slave."
"A slave?"
"Yes. I will brand you with that magical Slave Brand, ensuring you cannot act against my will in any way. Anything I prohibit, you will be absolutely unable to do. If you do not agree to this, I will kill you all, right here and now."
This was truly the absolute minimum safety measure.
Perhaps she sensed my sincerity. Daisy replied immediately.
"Understood, great being. I will become the king's slave."
"Even if Luke is made to swear loyalty and the wager ends in your victory, I have no intention of removing your Slave Brand. You are that terrifying and fearsome a human."
"Yes. I understand."
Daisy nodded her head.
What an arrogant little brat.
I had to tear two mid-grade Teleport Scrolls just to move the villagers to my Demon Lord's Castle along with the golems. Hundreds of gold coins vanished in an instant.
The villagers were to live under Village Chief Parsi's leadership. Only Luke and Daisy's families were kept behind for the time being.
And then, with meticulous planning, I set the stage for our little performance.
First, I burned the slash-and-burn village to the ground. I made sure the flames were big enough that the acrid smoke could be seen from anywhere in the forest. And sure enough, just as I expected, a boy came sprinting toward the village in a panic. I hid myself and watched.
The boy screamed.
"Dad! Mom! Daisy!"
And just as prearranged, Luke's father shouted back.
"No!"
With just that single word—"no"—the boy stopped dead in his tracks and immediately turned and ran back. In truth, there had been additional lines prepared after "no." But from that one word alone, the boy grasped the entire situation. He really was cut out to be the Hero.
The boy ran as if he'd gone mad. For a child, he tore through the forest like a wolf, darting left and right. If the assassination squad hadn't been tailing him, they would have lost him.
Eventually, the boy's pace began to slow, and I appeared nearby disguised as a soldier. Since I was wearing armor beneath my priest's robes, the disguise was easy enough. To make it look like a chance encounter, I glanced around in every direction and called out.
"I'm on patrol! Are there any survivors!? I'm on patrol! Damn it! Survivors—any survivors out there!?"
And from the bushes, the boy burst out.
"M-me! Soldier, sir! I'm over here!"
He's hooked.
I beamed a wide smile.
"Oh, for heaven's sake! Thank God, there really is someone alive!"
"M-Monsters... monsters attacked..."
The boy treated me like some kind of savior and rambled incoherently about the dire situation he'd found himself in. He was practically wailing, begging me to rescue him quickly.
"The village is on fire! Mom, Dad!"
"Good. You're a brave boy. Calm down. Calm down."
I bent down and stroked his cheek.
Luke — the boy who would become the Hero.
I gently caressed the cheek of one of the candidates destined to rip my heart apart.
"The subjugation force has entered the village by now. I was ordered to search the area for any survivors."
"The subjugation force? Really?"
Luke sprang to his feet.
"Can Mom and Dad really be saved? My little sister too? And the villagers?"
"Of course. I promise you. Soon you'll be together with all the villagers again."
Whether my reassurance eased his tension or not, the boy began to shed tears. He'd been certain his family was dead, only to hear they were still alive. He must have been overjoyed.
"Oh dear. You've calmed down, haven't you? That's it, come here."
I lifted the boy up.
"Your little sister's name is Daisy, right?"
"Sniff... Mister, you know Daisy?"
"Of course I do. And your name is Luke."
"That's right."
I gave a faint smile.
"I know all about your village. I've heard so much about it! Even about the girl next door you confessed to when you were seven――"
"Wha— Waaah! Waaaah! How does Mister know about that?!"
Because I am your archenemy, Hero.
I walked through the forest with Luke held against my chest. He was heavy. It wasn't just his weight that made him so, though. A life hung in the balance—so I believed.
Once again, the acting had begun.