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“—Now then, let’s enter the main topic of why I am here.” (Green)

The Green Demon Lord looks at Marito. No, to be more precise, it is the being behind him.

I am not sure whether he has noticed the presence of Anbu-kun, but judging from this current situation, he must have.

“So we were not in the main topic until now, huh.”

“It is true that I thought it would be more effective if I were to warn you directly. It is also for the sake of having you understand my intention after all.” (Green)

The reason why the Green Demon Lord came here personally. It is true that the Green Demon Lord himself wanted to have me understand his will.

This most likely comes with the intention of settling this matter peacefully.

A person he has no choice but to act carefully towards despite having absolute confidence in his own power -there’s only one person like that in Taizu.

“I don’t mind even if you don’t want to show yourself. Listen as you are, Haiya Yugura.” (Green)

“?!”

The fact that this is the name of Anbu-kun, the fact that Yugura is included in it, the fact that there’s a 3rd party that can’t be seen here; there’s an awful lot of info in that one statement, oi.

But this must be the Green Demon Lord’s way of explaining to the people here.

It also means he definitely doesn’t have any intention of answering though.

“I have to manage your talent as an Illegitimate. But I am not thinking about turning someone who runs away from me into my subordinate. Thus, maintain those chains of yours. If you do, you can live freely. That’s my will which I didn’t manage to tell you before.” (Green)

The Green Demon Lord must have been satisfied with this, he didn’t wait for a response, stood up, and left the room.

Niruryates, who was dumbstruck here, noticed that her own king had left, and hurriedly chased after him.

“He just said what he wanted to say and left.”

“Right. Moreover, just scattering chaos…” (Marito)

Marito and I know a variety of circumstances here, so we could digest the information of the Green Demon Lord and understand it, but the others are looking over here as if saying ‘explain already’.

I do want to explain it to you, but…

If I do, my life…

“Now that things have come to this, there’s no point in continuing to hide.”

Everyone’s gazes are directed at the voice that rang at the back of Marito.

There, a single man wearing what looked like a military uniform was standing there.

But what stole the words of everyone was most likely not that novel attire but that face.

“…Yugura?”

The Hero Index that Yugura Nariya left in Kuama. That face resembles the one of Yugura Nariya in that.

It is not like it is a complete match. It is a more mature one, like adding 10 years to the mid twenties face in the Hero Index.

The color of his hair is mainly black, but there’s gray hair mixed, and it would most likely be better to describe it as ashen color.

“This is my first time showing my bare face aside from His Majesty and Close Friend-san. My name is Haiya… Haiya Yugura. I stand by as the bodyguard of His Majesty.” (Haiya)

“No, this is my first time seeing it too.”

“I have shown you my appearance a number of times in a playful manner though.” (Haiya)

“I thought I would be killed if I were to see it, so I was averting my gaze with all I had!”

Anbu-kun, no, Haiya was laughing.

Purple and Blue were super shocked seeing this.

“Uwaah. It is true that he is not Yugura himself… He definitely wouldn’t talk like this.” (Blue)

“Right? But that face is without doubt the same as Yugura, you know?” (Purple)

“Hero Yugura has become a Demon Lord himself, so he wouldn’t age like this. The people who don’t know this fact would come up with their own conclusions, so I have been hiding my appearance though.” (Haiya)

My blunt opinion here is that he only looks like an older Yugura Nariya. I can understand why he would want to hide himself when the whole world knows that face due to the Hero Index.

“We would immediately know you are not Yugura himself since we know him personally, yeah? Considering what has been said until now, you are without doubt the Illegitimate that has the talent to affect the laws of the world that Nektohal is chasing after, right?” (Purple)

“Yes. I have caused an awful degree of problems for Taizu in regards to that.” (Haiya)

“Can you tell me in more detail about that?”

“Yeah, I showed myself with that intention after all. Let’s see… I really would need to explain from the beginning. From when Hero Yugura created me.” (Haiya)

◇◇

I understood that I had no parents and siblings since the moment I was aware, and was supported by the people of the village.

It was a remote village that you could find anywhere. The only peculiar trait of it would be that they wouldn’t try to interact with the other villages at all.

— “Haiya, you must learn. That is the fate that was bestowed upon you.”

I noticed pretty quickly that I was being treated differently from the other children.

They were helping out in the  fields, and yet, I was made to read a mountain of books and made to learn magic.

I obediently accepted once I was aware that the reason for this was because of my own talent.

—Aah, I have a different talent from everyone else. The village chief telling me to make this talent grow must not be a mistake.

But I at the same time found this strange.

I managed to understand that I should learn magic because I have the talent.

Then, how did the village chief know that I have the talent?

How did he manage to tell this even though I felt no talent from him?

I was curious about this, so I employed the magic I learned, and tried peeking at the memories of the village chief.

That’s where I saw Yugura carrying me when I was a baby.

— “This child can become someone like me in the far future. I want you to raise him as if he were the new hero.”

At that time, I thought I was the child of that hero, that I had without doubt inherited his talent, and that I can become someone that will be called a hero.

I was educated in a way so that I would grow obediently. They were deceiving a child.

Once I had nothing more I could learn from the village, the village chief ordered me to head to a certain cave. Told me that there was new knowledge left by the hero sealed there.

There’s a special barrier set on the cave, but it wasn’t an impediment for me.

When I went deeper in, there were memories of Yugura left there similar to that of the Hero Index.

That’s where I was told the plans of Yugura.

— “Heya there, Haiya. You learning about this memory must mean that you safely mastered that talent of yours, right? Let me tell you a bit of a harsh reality now that you have understood just how valuable that talent of yours is for the world.”

The memory of Yugura told me all the details.

About how Yugura himself created the Demon Lords, how he became a Demon Lord himself, and killed the other Demon Lords. How he created the Illegitimate system in order to prevent humanity from being eradicated by the Demon Lords in the far future.

— “As for the adjustments of the Illegitimate, it would be ideal if they were at least able to defeat the Scarlet Demon Lord. Any more than that, and the one who gave me this power would come and complain to me. But, to be honest, this adjustment failed.”

Yugura was worried that people with the complex of being chosen people would appear in the case the talents of the Illegitimate were inherited by blood, so he made it so that the Illegitimate would be like a sudden outbreak.

But that would lead the Illegitimate to lose their certainty that they will definitely exist when necessary.

— “There would be no point if there’s no heroes to save the world when needed. That’s why I created you. A clone created by using my blood that can pass on the talents of origin with certainty.”

I was the last measure left by Yugura.

I am a being that’s only allowed to save the world when the Demon Lords attack the world again and there’s no heroes present.

A human that was created as a spare hero. No, I was something resembling a human.

— “It is okay even if you are to lose interest in this world. I created you to make things right in a sort of way. Basically, I fulfilled my bare minimum duty.”

There was no information left of that at that time, but Yugura must have created me before he started working on space-time magic.

He didn’t have time to get involved with humanity and Demon Lords because he was stretching his hand towards a new forbidden realm.

The village was gone by the time I returned.

The adults killed the children with their own hands, burned the houses, and committed suicide.

Yugura prepared the village solely for the sake of raising me and set it so that, once I was raised well enough, there wouldn’t be any traces left behind.

I don’t know if the villagers at that time were created beings as well, but I don’t feel like investigating it now.

To be honest here, even though I learned about the meaning of my own origin, I wasn’t that shocked. On the contrary, it felt just right.

I was aware of the meaning of having a special talent that the people in this world wouldn’t ever be able to have, and that there wasn’t any opportunity of wielding this power aside from as a substitute hero that Yugura prepared.

If I were to blend in with the peaceful human society with this much power, I was sure it would create irreversible chaos.

And so, I decided to just continue waiting for that time to come just as Yugura planned. If it doesn’t come, I would just live deep in the mountains silently, waiting for the years to pass by.

◇◇

“Well, that’s basically my background.” (Haiya)

Haiya dryly explained that he was a being created by Yugura Nariya as a spare for when heroes don’t appear in this world.

There’s a lot I have to say about this, but Yugura Nariya really is someone who does a lot of inhuman things.

“So you made contact with the Green Demon Lord after that.”

“Yes. Nektohal was searching for the Illegitimate and, one day, he appeared in front of me. That man told me he was the envoy of the Green Demon Lord, and that he was searching for me. A being that resembles me; the Demon Lord that created Illegitimate. I ended up heading to the Taizu Nether, thinking that maybe I would be able to obtain something if I were to talk to him.” (Haiya)

It seems like the Green Demon Lord was told by Yugura Nariya about Haiya.

He tried to bring him under his management in order to avoid excessive interference in the world with the power of Haiya.

“And so, you ran away because you didn’t want to be under him?”

“It is true that I am the trump card of humanity against the Demon Lords. I did have my thoughts regarding being under the supervision of a Demon Lord, but I could understand the point of the Green Demon Lord. However…I felt an ominous air from his subordinate Nektohal.” (Haiya)

Haiya felt something like a conspiracy from Nektohal even while he was being told that they wouldn’t do anything bad to him.

He didn’t know if the Green Demon Lord was involved in this as well, so he was sure it wouldn’t be good to stay long there.

Haiya thought this, refused the proposal of the Green Demon Lord, and hid in Taizu.

“The result was that Nektohal brought monsters along with him and tried to capture you with forceful means…”

“I couldn’t grasp the intention of Nektohal completely at that time after all. That’s why I decided to hide myself and observe.” (Haiya)

After Nektohal left the side of the Green Demon Lord, Haiya formed a contract spell with Marito, and became a bodyguard under absolute obedience towards Marito.

He went so far most likely as repentance for having dragged Taizu into this rather than for information gathering.

“So, Marito was not told anything about this?”

“I could have been a bit more calm about the Demon Lords resurrecting if I had known though.” (Marito)

Marito was awfully flustered when I was translating the book Dokora gave me after all.

I remember his expression when he was trying to sell me to Mejis was close to the truth.

“I am certain that there were no hidden motives within the words of the Green Demon Lord just now. He is going to leave me be as long as I don’t utilize this power. That I should just live safely, tied up by the contract spell by the side of His Majesty.” (Haiya)

At the time when Haiya rejected the proposal of the Green Demon Lord, he most likely intended to tell him to live as he wished as long as he didn’t use that power of his.

But due to Nektohal desiring the power of Haiya, he couldn’t manage to tell him those words until now…

“But becoming the subordinate of Marito who is the spitting image of the Green Demon Lord is like a nasty way to get back at someone.”

“Aah, His Majesty was a bit younger at that time, you see. It is hard to describe how I felt when he was resembling the Green Demon Lord more and more as time went by.” (Haiya)

“That’s true.”

“But I think that it is because I knew that His Majesty is someone trustworthy that a day came when I would be able to believe in the Green Demon Lord who resembles His Majesty.” (Haiya)

Marito made a conflicted expression at what Haiya said.

Marito feels something close to narcissism of small differences.

The reality is that, even though the Green Demon Lord and Marito were raised in different environments, the way they face things is pretty similar.

The reason why I can somewhat trust the Green Demon Lord is most likely because I feel something similar to Marito in him.

“That said, you are similar to Yugura to an aggravating degree. Let me punch you a bit.” (Blue)

“Oh my, let me in on that, okay?” (Purple)

“You people…”

I actually thought that for a bit too.

I personally would like Haiya to stay invisible.

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