Chapter 4: 4

4 – You Mean the Demon King Army will Treat Me Way Better than Humanity? 1

「Uhm…」

『What the heck is she talking about?』

At the holy sword’s words, the Majin gives the sword a cold gaze.

「This is pertaining to a person’s happiness. I suppose it’s only natural for a sword to be clueless.」

『Bwuh?! That’s holy sword discrimination! Did you hear that, Rain?! I have feelings too, y’know?!』

「If that’s true, then why did you not feel that it was wrong to force a five-year-old to wield a holy sword and speak up? Could it be that the last holy sword in the world simply follows the orders of the Saviors or the king?」

『Grk, Nnn… T-that’s ’cause…』

Looks like she hit the nail on the head because all the bluster in the holy sword’s words was sapped out.

「Because…?」

『M-moving on! Uhm… More importantly…』

It seems like nothing is coming to mind.

「Why don’t we go and rescue those trapped children first?」

『Yeah that! That’s my Hero! You have your priorities straight!』

「…It is as Lord Rain says. Now that the threats have been eliminated, we should free the captured children as soon as possible… I was too distracted by this reunion with Sir Rain.」

We move deeper into the cave, following the children’s presence.

…Happiness… Joy…

I know what those words mean, but it just doesn’t click.

For example, a father, mother, and child walking hand in hand down the street while smiling. That seems fun.

You could call something like that a happy family.

The Six Saviors’ mission is to protect the peace and happiness of the people.

That probably doesn’t include us being happy.

No family, no lover, no friends. Plus, I don’t really value money, fame, or honor.

We’re just a group of people who are better at something than other people and we use our talents for the sake of humanity.

At least the other five have taken that as their mission in life.

So as the sixth member, I was taught all that and ended up operating like that.

I’m sure I’m the odd one out among the Saviors.

Kids who laugh happily while playing a game they don’t really know the rules to, the satisfied faces of lovers just walking along hand-in-hand, those who return home only to be greeted by someone inside.

All…mundane, yet things I will never have in life. I can’t help but think「That’s nice…」.

I thought that there was something wrong with me.

That’s…what I thought but…

「Eek.」

There was a crude prison keeping those who were captured within it.

Upon seeing us, they let out a terrified sound while they huddled together.

Most were children and women.

It seems that demons who resembled humans the closest were gathered.

Those with horns, wings, or even scales on parts of their skin.

From the lack of humans, I guess these children are the next exchange targets.

We caught the guy who kidnaps humans, so they probably couldn’t make a new deal.

If only the kids who were sold in the last deal were still here…

There were also children dressed in tattered rags. I left the room.

The female Majin smiled softly at the children, saying「It’ll be alright, little ones. You can go home now.」

『Hey Rain… What’s the plan?』

「Plan…? I have to help the human children too. The fastest way to do that is if that Majin holds up her end of the bargain.」

『That’s important too, but didn’t that woman also mention something about supporting you?』

「Ah…」

It’s no problem for me if she was just teasing me.

I wonder what she meant?

Rescue me from what…? What did she mean by make me happy…?

『D-don’t tell me you’ve fallen for the words of that silver busty woman?』

「Her chest was pretty silver.」

I have fought demons whose whole bodies were made of metal.

『W-well… There are things that I haven’t told you, but…uhm…』

The holy sword seemed uneasy.

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She may seem confident, but she can be quite vulnerable. The sword is unbreakable, but her heart breaks easily.

But I don’t know what’s got her so dejected this time.

「What? Is it about that time I got a treasured sword from some king as a present and then it broke the next day?」

『No, I…! I mean, who gives a treasured sword that’s useless except for its value to someone wielding a holy sword? Isn’t that like gifting a beautiful woman to a man who’s already taken? I took offense at that and hit it with a teensy-tiny bit of magic. It’s not my fault that it broke from that.』

I knew it was you.

I got yelled at by the other five for that.

They said I just destroyed ’cause I was jealous about another sword… Are you sure you’re not a cursed sword?

As I was thinking about all that, I felt a vast amount of mana coming from the prison room.

I hurry back to see only the Majin left, no girls in sight.

From the side, she looked a little tired.

「Space-Time Elemental magic…」

「I teleported them to a safe place. As one would expect, the distance was quite…great.」

It’s true that even though this is Demon Territory, where we are isn’t far from the border of Human Territory.

This is why this place was chosen as the exchange spot, but transporting a lot of children back to their homes would have been exhausting, both physically and mentally.

『Hey Rain… what’s with the lame reaction? That isn’t an element that just any demon can use, you know?』

「I was thinking how amazing it was.」

Sage and I can use it, but there are only two or three other humans who are able to use it.

The amount of mana consumed depends on the distance traveled, so it’s mostly used in battle to teleport behind an enemy’s weak spot.

To have enough mana to send that many people to a faraway place in one go… Looks like she was telling the truth about being a Big Four.

「Amazing, you say…? Fufu… Thank you very much.」

She’s considerably skilled.

Although it’s hard to imagine that right now as I look at her bashfully twirling her finger around her bangs…

『So? What about the human kids?』

「I handed one of the kids I teleported a document with information written on it. It contains details on the people who purchased the humans, so my allies on the other end will move to rescue them with all due haste.」

Then I guess there’s nothing for me to do now.

Guess I have time to talk.

『Right, then you’ll teleport those kids here. We’ll bring the other demon children here. Then once we make the exchange, we’re done, right?』

「Indeed. But before that, would you be willing to continue our conversation from before?」

『I would not.』

「She wasn’t asking you. Sure. To be honest, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.」

That latter half was directed at the Majin.

The Majin… Actually…

「What’s your name? If I asked you before then I’m sorry. I totally forgot.」

「…! N-no, not at all… I never introduced myself, so you have nothing to apologize for. It is I who was rude. I am Eleanor, Sir Rain.」

「Nice to meet you, Eleanor. You can drop the Sir stuff.」

「I cannot do that.」

Looks like she can’t let go of that.

「Ah, I see…」

「Regarding the previous topic, Sir Rain’s condition is far worse than I dared think. The fact that you are not even aware of how bad they are treating you is most likely due to the imbalanced upbringing by humans.」

That sounded pretty heavy.

『…』

The usually noisy holy sword is now quiet for some reason.

「First, I shall explain how placing you in an inadequate work environment, regardless of the Saviors’ lofty mission, is nothing short of…exploitative.」

「Exploitative…」

「Having done that, I hope that you would understand the superior and…fair benefits offered by the new environment that I am offering.」

「Fair…」

I think I sorta get what she’s trying to say.

Without my knowledge, I have been in a bad environment, and that will improve if I go along with Eleanor.

The human’s intentions are sullied and black, while her proposal is pure and white. That’s the image she’s going for.

I ask her to explain in greater detail.

「Of course, leave that to me. I am certain that by the time I finish explaining, Sir Rain will find himself a part of the Demon King Army!」

Said Eleanor, proudly.

There wasn’t a single trace of the cool and calm high-ranking demon from earlier.

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