Mayuten ~The Demon King and the Hero Reincarnated as Twin Elementary School Students~ - Volume 4 Chapter 1

Volume 4 The Demon King and the Hero, Fighting for the Family

Chapter 1   The Demon King and the Hero, Receive a Message

It has been a week since Hikaru’s entrance ceremony.

On the way home, carrying their school bags, Isumi spoke up.

“Half a year has already passed.”

“What’s up? You sound sentimental.”

Smiling wryly, I prompted her to continue.

“Coming to this world, I was confused at every turn. But thanks to you, I managed to get by somehow. I want to express my gratitude.”

“Is that so? Well, thank you too.”

It’s strange when I think about it.

The Demon King and the Hero, who were supposed to be archenemies, are now attending school together as twins, getting along harmoniously.

It feels like a prank of the gods. No, it’s probably just one of Zekar’s playful tricks, after all.

“Living in this world, I can’t help but feel how foolish I used to be. I was praised as a hero, wielding a selfish sense of justice, believing that defeating the Demon King would bring peace to the world. Now, looking back, I’m embarrassed by my own ignorance.”

I nodded in agreement.

“I feel the same way. Being in a different world, in different circumstances, has helped me understand many things. It was all so foolish.”

“If possible, I wish we could return to that world. And this time, fight for peace. Whatever a hero can do might not be much, but still…”

Saying that, Isumi looked up at the sky.

“But, as you said, that’s impossible. We have no way of returning to that world.”

I also looked up at the sky.

Then, a thought occurred to me, and I said spontaneously, “Today, the sky is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

“Both in this world and the original world, the sky is blue.”

“You’re right.”

“Snow is cold, and seawater is salty.”

“Indeed.”

“There might not be such a huge difference between this world and that world.”

“You might be onto something there.”

“Or maybe they aren’t different worlds at all.”

“What do you mean? Are you suggesting that the original world exists in the past or future of this world?”

“Or perhaps it’s in some distant corner of the universe on another planet.”

“I see, I never thought about that.”

“Neither did I, until now.”

“Haha, that’s an interesting idea.”

Having such a conversation, we arrived in front of ou home.

As we rang the doorbell, Akari, looking a bit worn out, came out with a tired expression.

“Kageyo, Isumi!”

“Yeah?”

Something seemed different from usual.

She appeared flustered, or rather, a bit confused.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“Hikaru, Hikaru…”

In her eyes, I could see a hint of tears.

I gently held Akari and guided her back inside the house.

“Mom, please calm down.”

Once we were in the living room, Isumi asked Akari again.

“Did something happen to Hikaru?”

“An hour ago, she went to play at Mina-chan’s house. But she still hasn’t come back, and Mina-chan’s mom called me…”

Mina-chan is one of Hikaru’s classmates, and they are close friends. Mina-chan’s house is only a 5-minute walk from the Kamiya residence. That’s why Hikaru often goes to play there alone. There’s no major street on the way, and it’s not a particularly dangerous route.

“What should we do…”

“Calm down, Mom. Have you contacted Dad?”

“No, not yet.”

“Why not?”

“He’s on a business trip to Hokkaido today.”

Ah, that’s right. I forgot about that.

Contacting Dad might not be very helpful in this situation.

“What about calling the police?”

“I haven’t done that either. She might just come back unexpectedly.”

Hmm.

Being too passive might not be the best approach, but at the same time, causing too much commotion at this point might not be right either.

I said to Akari and Isumi, “Alright, let’s start searching for her, for now.”

Akari nodded and said, “Yes.”

Isumi agreed as well.

“That’s right. We should split up and search together,” I suggested.

However, I said to Isumi, “No, you should stay at home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hikaru might come back. It’s not good to leave the house empty.”

“Indeed, that might be true.”

Afterward, Akari and I searched around the neighborhood. I even used the ‘Detective Vision’ magic to avoid being noticed by Akari. It’s a spell that allows you to sense anyone you’ve come across before in the vicinity.

But, it was no use. There were too many reactions.

Of course, that’s to be expected. While we may not have had direct conversations with everyone, in the neighborhood, many people have likely seen us at least once. There’s no magic that can conveniently pick up just Hikaru.

We also visited Mina-chan’s house, but there was no sign of Hikaru there either. Even with Mina-chan’s mother helping us, we couldn’t find Hikaru.

This is getting really worrisome…

“Mom, I think we should contact the police and Dad after all.”

“…You’re right. Let’s go back home for now.”

We’ve searched for so long, yet still haven’t found her.

This doesn’t seem to be a simple case of getting lost. After all, Hikaru has visited Mina-chan’s house many times before, and there are hardly any side streets to get lost on. It’s unlikely to be a traffic accident. If not that…

As we made our way back home, Isumi was waiting for us.

“How was it? Did you find Hikaru?” Isumi asked as I shook my head.

Akari said, “I think we should indeed inform the police,” and headed towards the phone.

Isumi then said to me, “Kageyo, please come with me to the children’s room for a moment.”

“What is it? Right now…”

“Please, I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Intrigued by Isumi’s unusual expression, I nodded and followed her upstairs.

As soon as we entered the children’s room, I immediately noticed something unusual.

“This is…”

There were writings on the mirror.

“Is it a language from the other world?”

Those were characters from the world before our reincarnation.

“I guess so.”

“What does it say?”

Since she couldn’t read or write in the other world’s language, I read it out loud for her.

“‘Hero Shirene, Demon King Benes. I have taken your sister. If you want her back, come alone to the abandoned factory outside the town by 24:00 today’… After that, there’s an address written in Japanese. Most likely, it’s the address of the abandoned factory.”

…A message from the kidnapper.

“It seems they used communication magic.”

In the world we came from, there was a magic that allowed writing messages on distant mirrors.

In their world, where they lacked phones and the postal system wasn’t as advanced as ours, it was a reliable means of communication.

…And.

It was also commonly used for declaring war or making threats against adversaries.

Upon reading the message, Isumi clenched her fist and exclaimed, “Damn it!” as she hit the wall.

“Calm down, hitting the wall won’t solve anything.”

“How can I stay calm?! Hikaru has been kidnapped!”

“I know it’s tough, but we need to stay calm, or Mom will notice.”

“We should tell Akari and the police about this!”

“You’re right, if we can. But…”

“I don’t think we can explain these characters.”

“True, it’s not like they can read this language from another world.”

Sharing this with Akari or the police might make them think we’re joking or being irrational about our sister’s kidnapping.

“So what do we do then? While we’re here, Hikaru…”

“Let’s think rationally first. We need to figure out the meaning of this message.”

With that, I urged Isumi to calm down and started thinking about the message’s implications myself.