My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

The day after Crow died and was cremated, we were summoned to the conference room by Noah.

Ria still seemed unable to shake off the shock, but she appeared determined to face forward, following Crow’s last wishes. She sat beside Noah and listened quietly. The seat opposite where Crow used to be sat coldly empty.

“Everyone, thank you for mourning my son yesterday. But we can’t wait on this. For the sake of the ship’s route, we need to decide where to head next quickly. First, Akira, please briefly tell everyone what happened at the Demon King's Castle.”

I nodded and shared with everyone what had been discussed and heard in the audience chamber.

That the Demon King himself had proposed a plan to sacrifice humans from this world and our world to resurrect his wife, Misty Hermes; that his daughter, Lord Lattice Nail, tried to stop him but he wouldn’t be stopped; and that the origin of it all was that long ago the Demon King invited emissaries who desired hero-status and one of those emissaries killed his wife, and that emissary’s bloodline continues now in the Kingdom of Reytis.

Noah gasped as if remembering the history of the kingdom that preceded Reytis.

“You don’t mean… the Demon King in human history who trapped and killed an emissary of the Human race…”

“Yeah. It’s probably a distortion from the Human side. They say not one Demon returned alive. But if that’s the case, perhaps the Humans have been misunderstanding.”

“My god…”

Noah cradled his head in stunned disbelief.

I continued talking. If we stalled here, the day would be gone before I finished.

“My impression from listening is that the Demon King has a different kind of charisma than commander Saran. Whether it’s an act or innate, he speaks in a way that draws people in and has the ability to carry things out. When I heard all ten demon lords at the Ten Demon Lords' Council agreed with his plan, I thought that was ridiculous, but given this, it’s entirely possible. The Demon King isn’t berserk—he’s sane. And he’s determined to slaughter humanity in this world deliberately.”

People need reasons to act. The Demon King is good at finding and providing those reasons. Pushed into the Volcano Continent, long neglected for reasons they couldn’t understand, deprived of trade and exchanges with other races, the Demon Clan’s resentment had brewed. He stirred that up.

On top of that, he surrounds himself with yes-men yet the administration of the Demon Clan territory seems to run relatively well. He’s good at using people. At the very least, even in the lowest area called Morte, there weren’t starving demons collapsing on the ground. With no room for other races’ bandits to infiltrate, the security might even surpass the Elf race—perhaps the safest among the four races. Apart from how other races are treated if they wander into Morte, it’s an ideal domain.

“If we don’t stop him, not only us but the family and friends in our original world will be sacrificed.”

I nodded at Kyousuke’s words.

“But what about the world’s taboo? You can’t resurrect the dead, right?”

Nanase tilted her head.

I frowned. That’s exactly it.

“I don’t have the skill ‘Instinct’, but I’ve got a bad feeling. Maybe the Demon King knows some way to bypass the taboo. I can’t be sure.”

“If so, if we could apply that method when we return to our world, we could cross worlds without worrying about the taboo, right?”

“…”

“Akira?”

I understood what the hero meant, but it didn’t feel like that kind of bad premonition. It’s frustrating that I can’t put it into words. Something that would trigger my danger sense—like the very god who set the taboo wanting the destruction of humanity in this world...

Amelia peered at my face with concern. I shook my head; I’m fine. Maybe I was overthinking. When Darion attacked the airship, I talked to Divine Aitel through Amelia, and though Aitel detested conflict, he didn’t seem to hate humans themselves. If anything, aside from Amelia, whom he called his “beloved,” he was indifferent or saw humans as research subjects.