Facing It Is the Beginning (13)

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I never thought my foolish son would do something to defy the king's will... I could have asked the king to have him brainwashed, but I found a better way."

"And that was...?"

"Yes... but it couldn't be helped. There were many fools who worshiped that boy and tried to maintain friendly relations with demons. The quickest and most efficient way was to use demons to kill them."

Hearing those words, the scene from that time flashed through Parna's mind.

That couldn't have happened. The demon who killed her master had undoubtedly been one they were trying to establish relations with, and there had been no sign the demon was being used.

"H-hey... what are you saying?"

As if pleading for it to be a lie, Parna asked in a trembling voice.

"You... are cruel."

"Everything is for the king. Many of those who served under that boy were exceptionally capable... I made them hate demons and turned them into Your Majesty's pawns. Parna here is one of the valuable, capable people I acquired that way, you know?"

With that, Militariel murmured, her gentle expression giving way to a vile smile.

"No... No. Then what? Are you saying it wasn't the demons' will that made them kill that man... my master, but yours?"

"That's... how it turned out. Though my foolish son is also responsible for following that path of fate."

"What... what did you do?"

"I went to the demon settlement where they were trying to establish relations and killed one of the demons. I dressed him in the uniform of the organization my foolish son had founded, so it would be clear he was connected to him. That's all. And that's all it took to destroy the relationship... between demons and humans."

Hearing that, Parna recalled a certain phrase.

"I swear we won't harm you! Please, believe us!"

Her master had kept saying that. But if Militariel's story was true, then that promise had not been kept. If anything, from the demons' perspective, they had been the first to betray them.

"No... That's a lie. But... he's your son!"

"Everything is for the king. Why do you think I, a mere human, know how this world works? It's because I have sworn such loyalty to the king. Yes... the king is everything to me! Because I understand His Majesty's wishes and suffering, I can kill even my own child if he is a threat. His Majesty's will is absolute, so far beyond us that we cannot hope to reach it!"

"Why... why are you telling me this now? If you'd kept quiet..."

"Because I asked His Majesty to brainwash you again. Your revenge is complete now. And you've even learned how this world works... You might not continue down the path of defeating the Demon King. That would be a problem. You... must keep fighting from now on."

Having learned the whole truth, Parna's body trembled, her expression one of despair. In the end, she realized that she too had simply been dancing to the tune of the way the world worked, as Kagami had said.

"Mi... Militariel!"

Then, hoping to strike back at the one responsible for everything, Parna gathered all the magic power remaining in her body into her hand and unleashed a full-power explosion spell at Militariel.

".........Oh? Oh my, oh my...?"

But before the explosion spell could reach Militariel, something appeared in an instant and blocked it, triggering a huge explosion right there.

"Y-you...!"

After a while, as the smoke from the explosion spell cleared, Kagami stood there, though he should have been knocked down by the king's attack. His complexion was so pale he looked ready to collapse, perhaps from severe exhaustion, but the wound he should have had on his back had been completely closed by Alice's healing magic.

"Oh my... I'm surprised you survived, but I'm also surprised you protected me despite looking ready to collapse. What are you thinking?"

"There's no need for Parna to commit a crime by killing a bastard like you."

"Heh... How amusing. Do you think I'd die from Parna's attack? ...But from the looks of it, you heard everything. Why didn't you act sooner?"

Kagami replied to Militariel, "I couldn't move," then made his way toward Alice, who had fainted and fallen.

"Honestly, I could barely breathe. I was on the verge of death... One more hit, even a small explosion spell, would've killed me. But Alice... she kept healing my wounds without giving up, even after taking that much damage in her tiny body."

"Thanks... You did great."

Then Kagami picked up Alice, who was lying down, and slowly carried her over to Parna, and—

"This time, protect her for me... I'm counting on you."

He said it while looking straight at Parna.

"You... don't hate me? I'm the one who did this to Alice."

"What you did was awful. It was awful, and you're not going to be forgiven easily."

"Then...! Hit me! I'm your enemy, aren't I? Huh? Come on, what's wrong? Just like I hated demons... you hate me too, don't you?!"

Then Parna began shouting as if trying to make excuses to herself.

But Parna had long since admitted her mistake. So, at the very least, she was trying to earn forgiveness by taking on as much pain as she had inflicted on Alice.

"Dosukoi."

"?!"

But Kagami merely gave Parna a light chop and did nothing else, then forcibly shoved Alice into her arms, making her hold the girl.

Parna looked bewildered by the sudden chop, but took Alice in her arms without resisting.

"That's ridiculous. This whole thing."

"P-pointless? What do you mean?! What I've been through...!"

"I get it. You agonized over it a lot, didn't you? You struggled and struggled, then acted based on the answer you finally reached, right?"

"Yes! So what do you mean, pointless?!"

"I'm saying it's pointless to take revenge on someone who understood you."

When Kagami said that, Parna looked taken aback.

"You realized your mistake, didn't you? You understand Alice isn't someone you should be fighting, right? Then you can atone for that mistake through what you do from here on. I'll just be here to see it."

At his words, Parna looked at Alice's unconscious face. There was the sleeping face of a young girl, no different from a human's. Remembering that she had hurt her, Parna felt guilty once more, and her eyes grew moist. The feeling that she had done something terrible had truly taken root within her.

"What matters isn't the past, but the future."

Then Kagami spat those words and turned toward Militariel.

Parna said nothing as she watched Kagami's back, then hugged Alice tightly, as if confirming she was really there, and began healing the back she had wounded with her healing magic.