Volume 1 Chapter 5 – The Demon Lord’s Ring

The Demon Lord’s Ring

Though there was still light out, something that might be called the ‘liveliness of people’ was not present in the village.
The image of an insular village deep in the mountains came to mind.

“It seems like a village where I’d be told that outsiders can’t be trusted.”

“Y, Yes… My village tends to dislike people that come from other places.”

So it’s really the case… I had just said the image I had.
I had hoped to get some food or traveling expenses if possible, but I guess that won’t be possible.

“My house is over here. It might be unpleasant for you, but please forgive me… I will be done soon.”

Aku got down from my back and started walking while dragging his right foot.
Watching his retreating figure gave me a feeling of melancholy. Aku may not have been able to be treated by a proper doctor.
While following Aku and attentively looking around the village, I wasn’t able to see any signs of modern civilization.

(The buildings are made from bare wood and hardened clay… and the roofs are straw.)

The air-conditioning units and antennas that would naturally be present in Japan were nowhere to be seen.
I was forced to realize again that this was a completely different world than Japan.
As I was looking around, villagers started to appear in the distance here and there.
Perhaps it was the influence of the GAME, but I promptly hid myself – if I was found by another player in the GAME, nothing good would happen; going into stealth was like an occupational disease.

“Counterattack Mode, changed – <<Stealth Mode>>”

The moment I said those words, my body became almost blurred and faded into the landscape.
In the GAME, it had the effect of dramatically decreasing your chances of being found, but it also had the demerit of greatly lowering your attack and defense.

After confirming that my figure was no longer visible, I felt relieved.
I was a bit nervous, but observing the reactions of others, they didn’t seem to be able to see me at all.

I felt vaguely uneasy at the fact that even this was just like in the GAME.
In this world — would everything work just like in the GAME?
If so, there were various other things that I needed to try.

“Huh… Mr. Demon Lord?”

As expected, Aku can’t see me either.
In these practically ideal conditions, there’s definitely something I want to try.

What about the <<Whisper>> that didn’t get used in the GAME that much?　It was a function for players to message each other.
When the game was first launched, there were obviously no smart phones. At that time, whisper was convenient, but in recent years it was completely outdated.

<<Whisper to “Aku” — Can you hear me?>>

<<Ominous is uncalled for. Don’t worry about me since I’m nearby.>>

<<Y, Yes>>

I was able to safely confirm that the whisper function was working.
As expected, I will have to try various things. If I had just stayed alone in the forest, there would be a lot of things I didn’t know.
I might need to be more grateful to Aku…

(But, I sure do have nerves of steel… Normally, this is the sort of situation where it wouldn’t be strange to cry and scream.)

It might be that my mind is being affected by this body’s original consciousness, “Kunai” himself.

(Stop, stop… that’d be horrible.)

Though I thought of it myself, it was a very frightening idea.
I hurriedly shook my head to shake off the wild idea.

“Hey, garbage! Why are you here!?”

Looking towards the source of those unpleasant words, I saw several villagers pointing and yelling at Aku.
Without even thinking about it, I knew right away. These must be the ones who were tormenting Aku. No, the whole village might be this way.

“Garbage, could it be… You didn’t run away, did you?!”

“This is no joke! What are you going to do if that devil comes here!”

“Do you understand the meaning of becoming a sacrifice!?”

The contents of what the villagers were unanimously screaming made my head hurt.
Do they even understand what they’re saying to a little kid?
Even so, it was rather difficult for someone like me, who wasn’t even a resident of this world, to cut into the conversation about this world’s circumstances.

It might be perfectly normal in this world to make sacrifices to a devil. Customs peculiar to a foreign country or things that were “unthinkable in Japan, but normal in a certain country” were not uncommon even in modern times.

(But even so…)

Even so, watching adults condemn a child was an unpleasant feeling.
If I just took him away while still in stealth mode, would we be able to leave without making a disturbance?

“If you find it unpleasant, then you should just ‘purge’ it—”

I froze at the voice that reverberated in my mind.
As for “who” that was, I knew right away. And there was an unbearable pain from the middle finger of my right hand.
I reflexively knelt down on the spot and held my hand.
The pain was so great, I couldn’t stand…!

“To dispose of those that I have judged unsuitable — ‘I’ have that ‘right’.”

Don’t screw around… that’s just in the GAME.
“Purging” and “disposing” of living human beings — there’s no way I can do that.

“You say some strange things. The one who made those rights, the GAME, the system, that insane country — it was all ‘you’.”

At those words, I reflexively stopped speaking.

“You are the ‘root of all evil’. If I’m a demon lord, then in the end, you’re the one who will bring ruin to the whole world—”

While gripping the ring as if to crush it, I forcefully brushed off the voice.
Something like this is just an auditory hallucination — believing that, I shut my eyes. Too many things have been happening, so I must be tired.

<<Aku, it’s okay to just ignore those guys and get your belongings.>>

I waited for a while, but there was no answer.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Aku flat on his back. There was a villager with his fist raised and cursing.
Unable to watch anymore, I dispelled my stealth mode.

As soon as I did so, the villagers were in an uproar. It’s understandable since I suddenly appeared, but their panic was pretty funny.

“Aku, hurry and get your belongings.”

“I, I understand…”

After watching Aku head toward the house while dragging his leg, I slowly lit a cigarette. During that time, the villagers continued clamor, and more and more of them gathered.
I suppose I should have asked them various things, but I didn’t feel like having a conversation with this lot.

“A, Are you a devil…? Are you one of its minions?”

“Please don’t harm the village! We sent a sacrifice!”

“This isn’t what you promised! Even a devil is supposed to keep a contract!”

While breathing out smoke, I reflected on the villagers’ words.
What they said about a promise or contract with the devil was interesting. Though I doubt the “other party” would abide by such a thing.
Rather, didn’t it propose the contract to tie them down?

“Sorry to keep you waiting Mr. Demon Lord!”

“D, Demon Lord!?”

“DDDDDemon Lord!”

(Hey, don’t say unnecessary things…!)

At Aku’s words, the commotion created by the villagers became even greater.
Even so, I didn’t have the energy to try to correct the misunderstanding of a group like that. Denouncing a child as garbage and making him a sacrifice on top of tormenting him together as a village.
Is it necessary to exert any effort for a group like that? Nope. Not at all.

“I, I’ll go contact his lordship.”

The man who knocked Aku over said this and began running.
A disgusting smile was pasted on that face.
As if he had remembered something, the man briefly returned to his house. When he came out, he appeared to have a bag in his hand. It was probably for holding a reward when he received it.

I unconsciously wrinkled my brow.

As though it were synchronizing with my emotions, the ring let out a suspicious light — but in this instance, I had no desire to stop it.
My right hand reached inside my coat and carelessly threw a knife at the man’s house.
The moment the knife stabbed into the wall of the house, a black flame gushed out of the blade. The flames instantly covered the wooden house and it was engulfed in black smoke.

“My, My house… My houuuuuuussssse!”

“——Hahaha! Fire is good to watch; it cleanses the spirit.”

I was taken aback at the words that suddenly came out of my mouth.
I hurriedly placed Aku on my back and ran away from that place. I get the feeling that if I give in and let myself go with the flow of the ring, bad things will happen.

(It’s like I’m an arsonist!)

Breaking into a cold sweat, I began to run at full speed. The scenery flew by and it felt like I was moving in fast forward.

“M, Mr. Demon Lord — I, Is that okay!”

“D, Don’t misunderstand, that was just helping them warm up. It’s no exaggeration to say that I was being kind. Yup, that’s how it is!”

I didn’t stop running.
My irresponsible mouth also didn’t stop running.

“B, But…! That did make me feel a little refreshed!”

Saying that, Aku laughed.
That may have been the first smile I saw since we met.

“Th, That’s right! As expected, my kindness is understood by others!”

At my own ridiculous words, I also burst into laughter.
Before we realized it, we were laughing together.
Looking at the sky, the bright sun was sinking and the veil of night was lowering. I felt like I could run forever in this tireless body.

“Mr. Demon Lord, how far are we going!?”

The wind rushed past his body as Aku yelled.
Until now, he had a slightly gloomy face, but now he had an age-appropriate cheerfulness and radiance. I reflexively forgot my own age and shouted back at him.

“To the city — let’s go to that Holy Capital!”

Thus, the demon lord/arsonist and the bright Aku’s journey began.
The various incidents caused by the two would create a great furor in the Kingdom of Holy Light, but…

—that is a story for a little further in the future.

Volume 1 -Descent of the Demon Lord- FIN

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One part of the data was made available.

“Status”
An attack or defense of “1” is the numerical value of an average human.
Whether it is a child or an adult, it will not change.
That is to say, “2” is twice that of an average human.
Furthermore, “3” is three times, 4 and 5 and so on…

If you forcefully placed it in modern times…
It would be something close to a top athlete or an olympian.
In this world, there is a great difference between 1 and 2, and to increase by one digit, there is a great wall that stands in the way. It might be called the “wall of talent.”

“Vitality”
Used for various things; it is even consumed when using magic.
Fundamentally, one can move with all one’s strength until it runs out.
An elite warrior would have at least 50.
This is a number that would allow for movements at full strength for two hours.

Kunai’s vitality is 600.
He is capable of moving at full strength for 24 hours continuously in the GAME.
He is a “monster” as well as a “demon lord.”

Author Note:
This is the conclusion of volume 1.
I am thankful to everyone who has read up to this point.
Starting in volume 2, the number of characters will increase and the story will start to move considerably.