The boy murmured dazedly.
"You're giving your… life to them?"
"Yes, Luke. That is ultimately the greatest sacrifice a human being can offer to another."
If Daisy had wrapped her arms around her brother and torn into his throat in one swift motion, I coaxed Luke into slowly walking into the spider's web. It was Luke himself who had flown into the web. I never revealed myself fully or laid a hand on him.
"Jeremy must have taught you this, so you already know. There's something in this world called a Slave Brand."
At the name Jeremy, Luke flinched. For just a moment, a tangle of confusion, fury, and regret flickered across his face. Only for a moment.
Luke wasn't mature enough to keep his emotions fully in check, but he wasn't so green that he could leave them to fester indefinitely either. He swung like a pendulum, balanced right on the midpoint between composure and immaturity. The arc of that pendulum was probably one of the most beautiful things in the world.
In other words, Luke was a boy.
"The Slave Brand binds you in near-total subservience to your master. You can't even kill yourself unless your master gives the order."
A boy who could make decisions in life but couldn't yet fathom the consequences of those decisions.
"That's not all. If the master orders you to kill someone, the slave has no choice but to comply. Even if the slave has no desire to take a life, even if he cherishes life above all else — if his master commands it, he must set aside his every emotion and conviction and carry it out."
A boy who was used to betraying others but still clumsy when it came to being betrayed by them.
"Imagine it, Luke. Can a human being endure that?"
"…No."
"Exactly. Most people can't. Maybe they last a year. Maybe they hold together for five years without breaking. But ten years, twenty years — let's say they live a whole lifetime like that…"
I spread both hands wide and held out my palms.
"Eventually, your very sense of self rots away and disappears. At some point, you stop valuing life. It can't be helped. Life was never that precious to begin with. Your beliefs, your convictions — they change, they twist, they find new justifications, and in the end you become a completely different person."
"……."
"You die in the truest sense of the word. It's an act of killing yourself — not just your life, but everything that made you who you are, all sacrificed…"
I whispered. Like a spider slowly killing its prey by wrapping it in silk.
"Luke. I don't know what sin you committed. But can you truly live for the sake of that person? Would you be willing to sacrifice everything you have for them?"
"……."
Luke quietly lowered his head.
After a moment had passed, Luke raised his face. A resolute, cold determination had settled there. When Luke fell silent, I had already predicted how this child would answer.
"If it's the only way."
"……."
"Godfather, I'll do it."
He's hooked.
From here on, there's no turning back, Luke.
"One last time, I'll ask you again. You're only sixteen. The life you have yet to live is far longer than the life you've lived so far. Even so, are you willing to sacrifice the rest of your life for the sin you've committed?"
"Yes."
There was no wavering in Luke's blue eyes.
"Very well. I respect your decision."
Daisy was my slave. If Luke became Daisy's slave, it was the same as skipping a stepping stone and becoming directly subservient to me.
In the end, both siblings who would have become Heroes were now in my grasp.
"Branding the Slave Brand onto your heart is an extremely painful procedure. There are only two people in our territory skilled enough to perform the Slave Brand surgery. Get the one you prefer to do it."
"Who are they?"
"Jeremy and Daisy. Fortunately, both are reliable people you can trust."
Luke's expression darkened instantly. I struggled to suppress the laughter inside me.
Of all people, the only ones who could brand him were Jeremy and Daisy! Luke had to choose between entrusting his surgery to the person who had practically half-led him into committing his crime, or to the very victim of that crime. There was no greater irony than this.
"Um, Your Grace. Is there perhaps anyone else?"
"Hmm? In our territory, there isn't, I'm afraid. It's a rather difficult procedure, you see. If you leave it to someone clumsy, you could lose your life in the process."
I explained in detail just how dangerous and cruel the slave brand surgery was.
Even Luke showed a trace of revulsion when I described carving through flesh to brand the heart directly. When I told him that branding elsewhere made it easy to destroy—and that engraving it on the heart was the accepted custom—Luke managed a difficult nod.
"…I see."
"Don't worry. Both Jeremy and Daisy are supremely skilled. With the two of them, success is guaranteed. Honestly, even if you searched elsewhere, I doubt you'd find anyone better than those two."
Now then, Luke. Which one will you choose?
The perpetrator, Jeremy? Or the victim, Daisy? Whichever you pick will lay your inclinations completely bare.
This is a momentous decision that will define your life. You must choose for whom—and because of whom—you will bare your heart. If your rage toward Jeremy burns hotter, you'll choose Jeremy. If your guilt toward Daisy weighs heavier, you'll choose Daisy.
Will you engrave your revenge against Jeremy onto your heart? Or brand your guilt toward Daisy into it? …Either way, I'd enjoy it immensely. I'll gladly watch the spectacle of your surgery with pleasure.
Aah—but still, it would be even better if you chose Daisy.
Personally, I preferred the option of picking Daisy. Jeremy was ultimately just a third party. But Daisy was different. They were siblings. Family. A younger sister turning her own brother into a permanent slave. That had a slightly more delicious sense of paradox to it.
And then there was Daisy's perspective.
Daisy had already undergone the slave brand surgery once—at my hands. That was the moment she had definitively come to harbor hatred toward me. She had sworn vengeance. And now, she would be the one inflicting upon her own brother the very thing that had been done to her.
What expression would she make?
After completing the surgery, what kind of face would she turn toward me?
When she committed the same act as the person she despised—when she became a human being on the same level as me—what sort of reaction would Daisy show?…
I can't take it. This is unbearable. If I'm not careful, I might just kiss Daisy again.
Luke, choose Daisy. Daisy is the correct option. Don't let your guilt become contaminated with something as petty as revenge. No matter how much Jeremy provided the cause, you're the one who kept committing wrongs afterward. Surely you won't shift the blame onto Jeremy.
Be strong! Be resolute! Ignorance is no excuse. Make hell more pure. A human's strength is determined by how much responsibility they take and for what. A man who might have once been called a Hero must not allow himself an escape through excuses. Don't disappoint me…….
"I……."
Luke opened his mouth.
"I want to leave it to Daisy."
"Understood. I'll pass along my word to Daisy."
That's it! Exactly that, Luke!
I cheered inwardly. Even if you were a substitute, you had every right to call yourself my son. From now on, I will acknowledge you as one of my own.
Just how great a sin was incest supposed to be—incest that was never even committed in the first place? It was nothing. Objectively speaking, it was no sin at all, no wrongdoing whatsoever. And yet, Luke, you placed the heaviest weight on the scales…….
What had just happened? What had taken place? What exactly was the weight that had been placed on the scales? It was Luke's own weight. Luke had judged for himself and, for something that amounted to nothing, laid down his own life. In this very moment, Luke had become his own judge and his own punishment…….
"I won't ask whose slave you'll become."
"Thank you, sir……."
"Don't mention it."
I gently stroked Luke's head.
"As you know, I have killed a great many people. In terms of sheer viciousness, the sins you've committed are in no way inferior to mine."
"But……you sacrificed yourself to create a better world. It's nothing like what I've done."
"No one has the right to sacrifice another."
I smiled.
"I'm glad that you chose to face your responsibility head-on instead of running from it. There will be times when it's hard. There will be times when it's painful. You will lose the right to rest, as other humans do. But not because you're a lowly slave."
I gently wrapped my arms around Luke.
"It's simply that the path you must walk is painfully clear. Where other people's goals lie far off in the distance, your goal is the path itself—the very steps you take. Others rest so they can move further ahead, but the moment you rest, you abandon your goal.
I pressed Luke's head gently against my chest.
"There's no reason or need to rest, since you have to keep walking. There's no rush. Someday, you'll come to understand what I'm saying."
"Yes, Master…."
Luke buried his face in my shirt and cried.
I slowly ran my fingers through the hair on the back of his head and grinned.
The procedure took place two days later.
On the ninth basement floor of my Demon Lord's Castle, there were prisoner cells and an interrogation room. That was where Luke's Slave Brand was carved into him. At first, Jeremy had tried to step forward to help, but once I explained the situation, he gave it up without much fuss.
"Oh my. I've been on edge wondering when you'd get caught, but it seems Luke finally found out."
"You'd best watch your back from now on. You never know when Luke might come for his revenge."
"A brat like him getting the drop on me at night? I'm not that weak, you know."
Jeremy chuckled.
"Ahh, but what a shame. I really wanted to see what kind of expression Daisy would make while operating on Luke."
"I feel the same way."
The two of us were currently waiting outside the operating room door. We were slumped against the hallway wall, sitting side by side, and we looked utterly pathetic. Anyone who saw us would probably think we were a couple of miserable homeless people.
The reason we couldn't enter the operating room directly was because of Daisy. That bratty little girl had flatly refused to let either of us inside. She'd declared that if we tried to intrude, she would abandon the procedure altogether, so we had no choice but to be stuck out here as outsiders.
"What an ungrateful brat. Look at how much I've taught her, and she won't even let us watch a single surgery… Honestly. This is why raising apprentices is pointless."
"Heh heh."
I let a triumphant smile cross my face. Then I pulled a small, square object from inside my clothes.
Jeremy's eyes went wide.
"Your Majesty, don't tell me—?"
"Who do you think I am? I am Dantalion. The most wicked, most atrocious Demon Lord in all of history."
Heh, I let out a soft laugh.
"I knew this would happen, so yesterday I set up Memoria magic in the operating room ahead of time."
"Kyaaah! Your Majesty, you're amazing! I love you!"
Jeremy made a grand fuss and showered my cheeks with kisses.
"And it's not just one, either. To observe from every direction in precise detail, I installed a grand total of thirty-six of them, covering every conceivable angle...! Just counting the gold coins spent on this endeavor, it came to several thousand pieces!"
"As expected of Your Majesty Dantalion! You truly know where to spend your money!"
"Hohoho. I'm truly looking forward to what kind of expression Daisy will make."
"Yes! Without a doubt, she'll show us a sweet and utterly special expression!"
The two of us squealed together and made an absolute ruckus.
A certain saying came to mind — "made for each other" — but I ignored it. What could I do? This was just an ordinary day in my Demon Lord's Castle.
The surgical instruments Daisy was using right now had come out of my own pocket in the first place. Daisy was obligated to pay usage fees for employing my possessions. There was absolutely nothing wrong with any of this. I truly, earnestly hoped that Daisy would put on a splendid show...