Chapter 86 The True Nature Of The Self-Destruction Disease
Let's organize things.
First, Reinhardt-san and the others are a tribe called Rustu, probably an ancient species referred to as the "Last Brave," who have been fighting against the demon king since ancient times.
They know that my childhood friend, Lukas Kamil, is the future Hero.
They contacted me this time because I am Lukas Kamil's childhood friend.
There are many questions that come to mind, but for now, let's focus on the "facts" that we know.
"Let me explain in order."
Sieg-san continues in a calm tone.
"The demon king has been sealed multiple times by the hands of past Heroes. However, no Hero has been able to completely stop him, and he keeps coming back."
This is a story that was also mentioned in "Last Brave."
The demon king, who is sealed and resurrected repeatedly, and the Heroes who appear every time the demon king shows signs of revival. The demon king is the same entity, like a human being the same person, but there shouldn't be a setting where the chosen young person is a reincarnation of past Heroes.
"At present, we can say that the demon king is on the verge of resurrection."
Sieg-san glances at me as if trying to gauge my reaction. I wasn't particularly surprised since I already knew this for many years, but it would be strange for me, as Lukas Kamil's childhood friend, to not show any response at this moment. So, I show my bit of uneasiness and let my gaze wander.
Although my slightly dramatic reaction didn't seem odd to Sieg-san, he continued without changing his expression.
"This time, the Hero who will seal the demon king is your childhood friend, Lukas Kamil-san. The crest that appeared in his eye on that day can be considered as proof of that."
The day the gold crest appeared in my childhood friend's left eye.
I remember it as the day when I regained my memories from a past life, the beginning of everything.
"The Rustu people have a special power that allows us to fight against the demon king. We have been using this power to help the Hero all along. Of course, we will not hesitate to help the Hero again this time."
It seems that the Rustu people are indeed equal to the ancient species. The heroine of "Last Brave" also possesses a special power that is very similar to the Hero's power, and she was often helpful to the protagonist and the party members.
There was a moment of silence. Perhaps feeling awkward about the silence, Leon-san spoke up with concern.
"You probably don't understand what we're talking about all of a sudden. Sorry, Laura-sensei."
"No, I've been feeling a bad feeling lately, like the monsters are suddenly getting stronger. So, I'm actually quite convinced."
I tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere by deliberately laughing out loud. Then, Reinhardt-san, who had been silent until now, chuckled in his throat and said, "You're brave, sensei."
――However, there is one thing that I can't help but wonder about. Was Iris's arrival at the royal castle as a Royal Alchemist trainee all planned? I have so many questions about the Rustu people, but first and foremost...
"But why are you telling me this?"
"...The Hero can fight the revived demon king, but he doesn't have the means to fight the demon king before he revived. The demon king's revival is not because the seal weakened, but because the demon king regained his power over a long period of time. To seal him again, we have to physically defeat the demon king and take his power away."
I nodded slightly at Sieg-san's words.
In "Last Brave", the heroine revealed the existence of the demon king, and then they spent some time trying to figure out how to deal with the demon king's seal, which was weakening. In other words, they were trying to figure out how to deal with the demon king before he revived, but in this world, the settings around the demon king and the Hero seem to be different.
But in the end, the Heroes couldn't do anything to the Demon King before his resurrection, and they ended up defeating the resurrected Demon King. So, rather than a difference in the setting, perhaps the ancient species of this world ―― the people of Rustu ―― have more information about the Demon King.
"We've been investigating for a long time to see if we could weaken the power of the Demon King who is still sealed before he fully resurrects. And while monitoring Lukas Kamil, who woke up as a Hero, we... well, to put it bluntly, we've set our sights on you."
From Sieg-san's tone, it seems that Lukas has been under the observation of the people of Rustu for a long time. And so have I.
While I was surprised by the fact that I had no idea about it, I tilted my head at the word "set our sights on". It sounded like they had found another use for Laura Ampère, who was just standing next to Hero-sama.
Before I could ask, Sieg-san asked again.
"Laura-sensei, do you know where the Demon King is hiding now?"
I tilted my head even further at Sieg-san's words. Of course, he must be hiding in the place where the Demon King was sealed before.
Since the Demon King of "Last Brave" was sealed in a place called the "Demon King's Throne", if I were asked where the Demon King is hiding, I would answer "the Demon King's Throne". However, an alchemist wouldn't know such a thing, so I shook my head at Sieg-san as if to say "I don't understand what you mean".
"Isn't he in the sealed place?"
"No. Actually, the Demon King has already escaped from the sealed place. And he is steadily accumulating power for his resurrection."
――It was an answer I hadn't expected. It's completely different from "Last Brave".
The Demon King of this world is no longer in the "Demon King's Throne" or the sealed place. If so, where is he hiding?
My eyes widened in surprise. Sieg-san continued, his voice even clearer than before, as if he were reading a story aloud to a child.
"The demon king can parasitize humans. He parasitizes them, steals the magic they possess, and amplifies it within himself. As a result, the parasitized human's body is destroyed from within by the demon king's amplified magic. Then the demon king searches for his next host."
――I instinctively thought that I had heard this story somewhere before.
The parasitized human's body is destroyed from within by the demon king's amplified magic.
Magic destroys people. The symptoms were exactly the same.
"...Self-destruction disease..."
――Yes, it was exactly like the symptoms of self-destruction disease.
My heart pounded loudly. Blood rushed to my fingertips. Cold sweat ran down my back at the thought of a cause I never imagined.
(Could the cause of self-destruction disease be the demon king...?)
There were only 2 common points among self-destruction disease patients. They had relatively strong magic, and they all developed the disease around the same time.
There was nothing else. Not their environment, their gender, or their own health. That's why people couldn't find a direct cause until now. It was called a rare disease and was feared.
However, if self-destruction disease was caused by the demon king, then the lack of common points might actually be understandable. For the demon king, who is not yet fully resurrected, the only 2 things that matter are ease of parasitism and the strength of the magic to be stolen. That's all that matters.
(Is the demon king targeting children who have less resistance than adults? Is it not impossible that the demon king is deciding the length of time before the patient dies on his own will? And in fact, in "Last Brave," the demon king took over a human body...)"
To be honest, my mind is in chaos right now. If I think calmly, the "hypothesis" that the Self-destruction disease is caused by the demon king may be overturned. But on the other hand, if I think based on that "hypothesis", there are many things that make sense.
Arnold, who had stronger magic power than Elvira, did not contract the Self-destruction disease. Perhaps it was because his strong magic power became a force to counter the demon king. Even looking at the data of past Self-destruction disease patients, many of them had magic power that was only average or slightly above average at best.
――Or maybe, Arnold was simply "not found" by the demon king.
I clenched my trembling fingertips and asked,
"Could the demon king be inside Elvira right now?"
Sieg-san, who had been explaining things to me, turned to Reinhardt-san. Naturally, my gaze also turned to him.
His amber eyes stared at me intently. I swallowed hard, but I didn't look away from Reinhardt-san's eyes.
After a long, long silence, Reinhardt-san slowly exhaled, and then,
"Thanks to 'The Drinking Water of the Spirits' that Laura-sensei prescribed to Elvira Rocco, the demon king has lost a lot of power and is probably resting inside her body."
――The demon king is nesting inside Elvira.
With the fact that Reinhardt-san told me, I let out a big sigh of "ah."
It wasn't over yet. Rather, now that I know the true identity of the Self-destruction disease, it's like I've finally reached the real starting point.
――The image of Arnold and Elvira, who are probably enjoying a peaceful time together as siblings, flashed through my mind. The image I imagined made my chest tighten.
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