Mayuten ~The Demon King and the Hero Reincarnated as Twin Elementary School Students~ - Volume 3 Chapter 6

Volume 3 Elementary School Life of Demon King and Hero

Chapter 6   The Demon King and the Hero Have Secret Talk Behind the School Building

The place where Isumi brought me was a small space behind the school building. Although there were flower beds and such, it was a location rarely visited by students and teachers during this time.

“Isumi, what exactly brings us to a place like this?”

“Well, you see, our break time is short, and I’ll be straightforward.”

“Yeah?”

“Truly, are we fine with things staying as they are?”

As expected, that’s what this conversation is about. Understanding what she meant, I still chose to ask.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not asking as Isumi Kamiya, but as the Hero Shirene, I’m questioning the Demon King Benes.”

“What, you’re not going to say something like, ‘I won’t forgive you’ and come to kill me again, are you?”

“I won’t do something like that now.”

“That’s a relief. So, what do you intend to do?”

“Don’t you wonder about how our original world is faring now?”

Letting out a sigh, I responded.

“Yeah, it’s like, ‘The hero risked her life to defeat the Demon King, and the world became peaceful. The end, hooray!'”

She glared at me in response to my deliberately casual remark.

“Don’t make fun of it!”

“Didn’t you use the self-sacrifice spell, ‘Balas Eternity’ with that intention?”

“…At that time, I thought so. I truly believed that if peace could be achieved through my sacrifice, it would be my wish.”

“And now, you think differently?”

“I may not be the brightest, but I’ve learned various things since coming to this world.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“The history of this world. The endless cycle of wars and peace. I’ve come to understand that wars aren’t as simple as just killing some great evil to solve everything. It was none other than you who taught me that.”

Well, that’s true.

The tutoring I did wasn’t just limited to math.

I also taught her about the history, politics, and economics of this world.

Of course, I was studying hard myself while doing so.

“That’s the same in the original world, and I can understand that now.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. It’s all thanks to the tutoring.”

“Also, there’s something else I’ve realized in the past six months. You… the Demon King wasn’t such a wicked existence.”

“I’m grateful you understand.”

“I’ll ask again. How is that world now?”

“Do you think I know?”

“You’re smarter than me. At the very least, you should be able to imagine, right?”

Well, if I were to speculate…

“Most likely, ‘nothing has changed.’ The Demon King and the generals might be gone, weakening the demon race, but the absence of the Hero might have caused the human race to lose hope. Temporarily, there might be a lull in intense battles, but it’ll probably only be a short time until both sides regroup.”

“I see, that’s what I thought.”

“To be frank, there are plenty of replacements for the Demon King and the Hero. Perhaps, even if only for a short while, the absence of the Demon King and the Hero has unleashed unrestrained chaos.”

Isumi… no, Hero Shirene’s expression turned grim.

“Of course, this is all just speculation, a mere theoretical discussion. Peace might have actually been achieved. I can’t possibly know everything. However, one thing is certain.”

“What is it?”

“That we can’t do anything now, no matter how much we ponder. There’s no way to return to that world, and even if we somehow did, Isumi Kamiya and Kageyo’s bodies are incapable of doing anything. Furthermore, even if we were to revert to being the Demon King Benes and the Hero Shirene, after half a year of disappearing, it’s doubtful people would follow us now.”

“……You’re right, it might be that way.”

“That’s the reality. So, all we can do is continue living in this world as Isumi Kamiya and Kageyo Kamiya.”

Upon hearing my words, she added something else.

“Do you have any memories of going to the beach with your family when you were in kindergarten? Or any memories of playing with Sora before the accident?”

I see. She’s also concerned about that.

“It’s impossible. I read Kageyo’s diary, and I could’ve looked at photo albums too…”

“It’s not about that! You must understand. No, perhaps you’ve realized it from the beginning?”

Ah, yes.

I knew.

Although my thoughts weren’t that clear right after reincarnating, after living as Kageyo for half a year, it’s only natural that I’d figure it out.

I’ve kept quiet about it because I didn’t want to confuse her.

No, that’s not entirely true.

I simply didn’t want to confront it myself.

“Do you think we might have ‘taken over Kageyo and Isumi’s lives’?”

“That’s exactly it.”

“But Zekar said the twins were dead. So, the idea of taking over might not be accurate.”

Of course, it’s doubtful how much we can trust the words of that creator god.

“I tried to think the same way. However, Akari, Hikaru, Sora, and the others… we’ve been deceiving them all along. Is it acceptable to continue like this?”

That’s right.

Even if we assume that the twins died in that accident, it was still their lives, including their deaths.

Sure, if the twins had died in that accident, their parents and Hikaru would have been devastated, and Sora would have carried a greater burden of guilt.

Even so…

If we were asked whether it’s right to keep deceiving our family and friends, the answer might be a resounding “No.”

But…

“So what do we do then? Shall we now go and tell our parents and Hikaru, ‘We’re the reincarnations of the Demon King and the Hero from another world, and Kageyo and Isumi died a long time ago’? Who would be happy to hear that? It would only bring sadness. No, even before that, no one would believe us.”

“That’s true. It’s exactly as you say, but…”

“Or should we even consider suicide? That’s something nobody would be pleased about.”

“I know. I know, alright!”

I can’t help but resent Zekar for all of this.

It’s true that I did wish for the reincarnation of Hero Shirene.

However, that was merely for a new life – to be born into a peaceful family, perhaps as an unborn child. I never wanted to be reborn as a substitute for someone who had already died. And I certainly didn’t wish for me to be reincarnated as well.

“Hero Shirene, you really are someone brimming with a sense of justice.”

“My sense of justice was nothing but naive.”

“But even so, your pure heart shines so brightly to me.”

“…I don’t find any comfort in hearing that.”

Truly, this girl is pure, untainted, unlike me.

“Unfortunately, I don’t possess the same sense of justice as you do.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve come to realize that vague concepts like justice often lead to nothing more than self-satisfaction.”

My father, who was the previous Demon King, believed in justice and was deceived and killed by the humans.

Justice doesn’t always lead to the right outcome.

“That’s why I want to protect at least those around me.”

“Those around you?”

“My family. Akari, Hikaru, Sora, and Isumi, including you. Right now, I can’t do more than that. After all, I’m just an elementary school student.”

I could only say that and laugh self-deprecatingly.

“Family, huh…”

“Yes, family. I choose to believe that even Kageyo and Isumi, who have passed away, would want the same.”

“But is that the right thing to do?”

“Who knows? I don’t even understand what’s right and wrong anymore. Anyway, let’s get back to the classroom. The third period is about to start.”

“However…”

“At the very least, being late for class isn’t the right thing to do, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

We returned to the classroom.

However, at that moment, I was unaware of something.

Someone had overheard this careless conversation, which I thought no one else heard.

And because of that, it led to our precious family getting hurt.