Bijo to Kenja to Majin no Ken

The cheeks have a strong floor feel.

- No, that's not just cheeks.

Strong planar feel that touches the whole body.

That feeling tells me that my posture remains lying down.

Little by little, my body's senses returned.

Tactile, auditory, olfactory, and - sight.

In silence I slowly open my eyes.

I can imagine what I can see when I open my eyes.

I was out of focus and realized where the space was.

- Dark darkness.

That's where I reached.

“The narrow space between the world and the world."

"- Are you all right?

From overhead, a man's voice echoes.

I sat down with Hugo, checking my physical movements.

"Honestly, I don't feel very good -"

I answer to the blond-haired man sitting in the invisible chair with my "right nagging".

"I'm not surprised to be here because I've been in this space before"

The blonde-haired man who was looking down at me - Leda said.

I couldn't live up to that word. Either way, that's because I was wary of activating the constraint.

But Leda laughs at me when she sees how it goes.

"Huhuhuhuhuhu, there's nothing to be alarmed about.

This is not Florence. So being in Florence doesn't work the force that works.

That's why... that's why I'm here. "

Indeed, Ledda said she wanted to change places to "a space where she could speak freely”.

I think about what that means, and I try to check the “constraint” that binds me.

But - my condition (status) never shows up.

"What's the constraint -?"

I couldn't help but overreact.

I can feel the word sounding strangely fresh, even though I just had a voice.

I can't use my skills. Clancy's constraints are not working. And no headaches.

"I see you were bound by some sort of constraint"

Leda laughed and said, niggling.

Leda gathers information from my every step of the way, and pokes at the facts from it.

The other person is someone who takes the alias "knowledge”. It's probably no use trying to force more concealment.

I thought it would be better to use this opportunity effectively than that.

"Now, it would be helpful if you introduced yourself a little."

Leda looks at me and says: Sure, I wasn't even named Ledda.

"I'm - I'm Kay Arakawa.

It's called Kay in Florence. "

When I say so, Reda smiles again.

"I mean, you're called by a different name in a world other than Florence, right?

Every time I get a reaction like this, I honestly don't feel good because I feel like I'm getting ahead of time information.

However, even if I am uncomfortable, I will not be able to satisfy myself with what I want to ask.

I decided to answer Ledda's question honestly, not paying much attention to the details.

"Even if it's not Florence, it doesn't change its name. Just not many people call me Kay."

"I see."

"I came to Florence a few months ago.

I don't know when I did that, but in Florence, I'm Clancy's messenger. "

The word "apostle of Clancy” also comes out of my mouth smoothly because of no constraints.

"I see, the apostle of Clancy.

It must have smelled delicious. "

That's what Leda says, she's laughing at Niyanya.

I showed a physiological aversion to that dialogue (line) on the boulder.

"Don't worry. If I were here, I wouldn't be driven by the urge to eat Clancy's messenger either.

- I thought you wanted to ask me something.

I don't know if it's okay to pepper all the dialogue (lines) about not being alert. But now that we have shown excessive vigilance here, we will not produce anything.

I suppressed my guard and quickly started talking about the questions to hit Reda.

"I - I found out how the demons started showing up in Florence.

And I know that the demons are still sneaking up on Florence through the transfer gates.

We defeated the demon to stop it and destroyed the portal. "

Leda listens to it and makes a slightly unexpected expression.

"Hmm - did you destroy the transfer gate?"

"Yeah, of course, that's what we've all accomplished together.

But as a result, we were able to destroy all three transfer gates in Loire. "

"Three - all of them."

Leda narrowed her eyes to the words I spoke, repeating and whining small.

"I have always believed that actively eliminating demons from Florence would be good for the people of Florence. And the idea remains the same.

But... there's been a little bit of confusion. "

"Lost?"

"- I don't know if the expression stray is appropriate.

Demon - I mean, if we exclude the Arabella apostle from Florence, wouldn't the power of Clancy, who is hostile to Arabella, be relatively greater? The creatures are the same. When a strong enemy (competitor) is gone, the species thrives.

Among the people of Florence, many have faith in Clancy. So I've come to believe that it's good for Florence to get rid of the Arabella messenger and increase Clancy's power.

But is that really true? I'm beginning to doubt it when I meet a “Clancy's Apostle” other than myself.

If Clancy's greater power doesn't help Florence - what I'm trying to do may be wrong. "

I dropped my gaze and told Leda to force me to reveal the stray inside me.

It would be a funny sight in a way, because Clancy's apostle speaks of suspicion of Clancy.

But Leda never laughed at it and quietly listened to me.

"-First of all, before answering that question, there seems to be something we need to talk about."

After a few moments, Leda says quietly.

I looked up at the voice and looked up at the blonde.

"There are some important elements missing from your story that you need to know.

And there's also a misconception of the facts. "

"Misunderstanding -?"

It is a language that cannot be heard by boulders.

I don't know if what Grace asked me was wrong or what I interpreted on my own.

But is there a clear mistake somewhere in what I understand?

Leda opened her mouth quietly as she looked at me with a wrinkle (wrinkle) between her brows.

"First -,

Clancy and Arabella are not hostile. "

"Huh!?

I felt corrected for the fundamentals.

The people of Florence have a wide faith in Clancy.

And Arabella is treated as an evil god, as was also the case in the statement of the Church Help (Asrina).

It may have been my own analogy to assume that the two were in a hostile relationship from there...

"Clancy and Arabella are side-by-side gods.

Florence is multi-god. Hence there are gods in Florence other than Clancy and Arabella.

Each of the gods is different from the other, and the doctrine is different. So in terms of which divine doctrine is easier to gather faith, differences arise. But that doesn't mean the gods are hostile to each other. "

"So Clancy and Arabella are saying that the contents of the doctrine may be in conflict, but that God is not in conflict with each other?"

"That's what happens.

On top of that, I ask you - do you know exactly what an apostle is?

I gave my answer to the question that was thrown without thinking too deeply.

"Apostle -?

Normally, I think it's a word that means' godsend '-? "

But Leda laughs out loud at my answer.

"Ahaha, I'm not asking you what you mean by common language. Think about it.

Did the Arabellan apostle you defeated appear to believe in a God named Arabella and to be turning to Him?

And you, the messenger of Clancy, have surrendered to Clancy and sworn your faith? What do you say? "

Sure, I don't even understand Clancy's doctrine properly.

And there's no way such a person is a 'godsend'.

"I mean - that's the thing.

It comes with the name “Apostle” or something, but it's not actually "God's mercy" or anything.

So what is an apostle? "

Leda tightened her expression once and then opened her eyes and answered her own query.

"" Apostle ”is simply the generic name of those who have travelled from different worlds to Florence.

I mean, the Apostle came from another world - he's just a human being. "

"What, because..."

It boiled down in my head that it was the same "ability to see the state of all things."

Until then, I assumed that my abilities were special.

And just like that, I assumed that Clancy's messenger, me, was special until now.

But I've met so many apostles.

If the Apostle simply refers to someone from another world - my presence from another world is not as “special" as I think it is.

"You know that the Arabellan Apostles came to Florence from a place called the Land of the Devil?

If you ask “Demon Nation," you'll think it's like some region in Florence. However, this name was only given in the past by the people of Florence to make it easier to understand the concept of "different worlds”.

In fact, the Arabellan Apostles come from a completely different world than Florence.

Those who come from different worlds will be “sorted” in the form of “apostles” of any God when entering Florence.

Sometimes even beings from separate worlds can be sorted as apostles of the same Arabella or Clancy.

In other words, those from different worlds could be the same Arabellan messengers in Florence. "

This story - to some extent, I can't even feel it.

Because I'm a Clancy's messenger, but I didn't think of the same Clancy's messenger, the "old man," as a resident of the same world as me.

At least there's no one in my former world who can really use magic like that “old man”. Though I used to jokingly refer to a man who had no ties to a woman as a “wizard”.

Leda keeps talking to me again, watching how I'm doing.

"As I told you earlier that there is no hostility to the gods who said Clancy or Arabella.

It's just - the apostle translates slightly differently.

In Florence, apostles of the same kind cannot harm each other.

Is it that recoil, a heterogeneous apostle has the habit of physiologically stimulating each other?

So as a result, the apostles of the Fae crave each other's power, hate each other, take each other away, fight each other.

I'm sure you know if you've heard the story too, but the people of Florence have a past caught up in the feud of these dissident apostles.

The apostles of the gods swept through Florence before that and took control of the people of Florence.

Until the earlier demon king ruled it out, his reign continued. "

I felt uncomfortable listening to Ledda.

Because there was a discrepancy between what I heard from Grace.

"- Wait a minute.

According to what I heard, the Arabellan apostle ruled Florence, but a group of Arabellan apostles came out that could defeat his people, and the group eliminated the demons from Florence. "

Hearing what she pointed out, Reda nodded quietly.

"The story is not wrong.

- But not even enough at the same time.

First, a dispute arose in Florence between apostles of different fae, such as the apostles of Clancy and Arabella. And the Arabellan apostle, who prevailed over power in that struggle, drove (creeping) other kinds of apostles.

Afterwards, a group that could defeat the Apostle of Arabella of his own people - which later became the King of the Demons - eliminated the Apostle of Arabella, who ruled Florence. "

Honestly - it's a subtle difference.

However, for what Clancy's messenger is involved, it means quite differently to me.

"That means - a long time ago, the messenger of Clancy also tried to rule Florence, arguing with the messenger of Arabella, right?

"That's what happens.

Whether you are an Apostle of Clancy or an Apostle of Arabella, there is no great difference. Because there is no such thing as good if you are a messenger of Clancy, or evil if you are an Arabella messenger.

If you dare to make a difference between these two - it would mean that Clancy and Arabella have different doctrines, different “methods” to use for domination. "

"Methodology -?"

"Yes, the“ method ”is different.

Arabella honors her power, and Clancy honors her faith.

This is Clancy and Arabella, because the bosses are different. "

Hearing it, I frowned subtly.

"That means -,

Arabella is trying to rule Florence with power, but Clancy is trying to rule Florence by gathering faith?

When Leda smiled contentedly at my words, she struck her hand as a small applause.

"Your answer.

Arabella's Apostle exercised control over others by power, and Clancy's Apostle aimed to rule by faith.

There's just a difference in means there.

And just as the threat of power by the Arabellan Apostle is now secretly imminent - domination by faith is spreading to Florence "

- It's been a pretty conceptual story.

I will clarify my question again so that I can sum up my story so far.

"Leda, I want you to tell me.

Does the spread of faith in Clancy mean - making the people of Florence unhappy?

When Leda heard the question, she broke her expression and smiled niggly.

"All I know is“ knowledge. "

“Knowledge” means “past”, not “future”.

So I don't know exactly about the future.

But if it's okay to answer with my subjectivity, I don't think faith in Clancy itself is any bad thing.

The problem is Clancy's messenger way.

For example, can you say that you obey God's doctrine and that those who have a thick faith will never harm others?

"-No."

That was also the original world. There are those who cry out God's name, hurt others while swearing their faith in God, and behave violently. Of course it wasn't a familiar story to me, but that kind of person did exist.

"As I said earlier, I don't see the spread of Clancy faith in Florence as evil in itself.

However, that faith may be abused by Clancy's apostle.

Because faith leads to control of the mind.

What happens when, for example, people have a thick faith in Clancy, when the Apostle of Clancy commands people to “die”? What happens if I order you to "hurt others”?

The people of Florence today, when the Clancy faith has spread, misinterpret Clancy's apostle as' God's mercy '.

But the actual messenger of Clancy is only a 'man (man)'.

It's all up to the person to do good or evil.

Whether it is happiness for people to have faith in Clancy spread therefore depends on the good and evil of the Apostle "

I listened to Ledda, who spoke quietly, and sighed (sighs) one big time.

Of course, there is the question of how far we believe in the story of Leda, the Apostle of Arabella.

But - I can't think of much reason why Leda has to lie to me.

"Has this answered your question?

It may not have been a direct response. "

I smiled a little bitterly and thanked Leda.

"No, I could sort out my thoughts. Thanks.

I - this becomes completely subjective to me - still think the metastasis gate was the right thing to do by destroying it.

If we consider the well-being of the people of Florence, we find it unacceptable that the apostolic goodness and evil that emerge from the gates of the transfer will determine their fate. "

- It's not all refreshing.

I just feel like I got the answer in me.

Leda looked at my expression like that and opened her mouth again with a small grin.

"Actually, there's one thing I'd like to ask you to do."

――

When I looked at Reda with a surprising (somewhat) shiver look, he tightened his expression and began to speak with a serious look.

"First of all, me and“ Deep ”respect the idea of the earlier demon king and are taking it over.

As you know, the demon king ahead had ruled out the "apostle” from the world of Florence in an attempt to rule Florence.

I mean, it's -- it's very close to your idea right now. "

They told me. Sure, I thought it might be.

Of course, what an unexpected story that the devil's king and my idea are close...

"In that sense, you're destroying the metastasis gates, which is a surprise to us.

Because somehow the absence of the transfer gates will definitely stop the "apostles” from trying to dominate Florence. I mean, me and “deep” think it's better to destroy the metastasis gates.

- There's just something very important there.

The Metastatic Gate is that not all three of them are in Roar. "

――

Somehow - I didn't feel that way either.

If the Metastatic Gate existed only in Roar, it would have been because I would not have seen so many demons in Harland.

But when I actually hear the existence of the fourth metastasis gate as a fact, I come up with the feeling that my struggle is not yet over.

"There is another gateway to the transfer that the" Apostle ”can make.

Unfortunately, for some reason, me and "deep down" are unable to leave their homes for a long time.

So, if you're willing to do that, I want you to go to the "last” portal and destroy it. "

"- Where's that transfer gate?

"It's east of the Kingdom of Harland, near a settlement in the woods.

It's called "Ferim."

"Ferim -?"

What is it? I think I heard it somewhere.

- Unfortunately, I can't remember right away, but it catches me.

I'm also concerned about the place name, but I was starting to wonder about something in my current conversation.

"Leda, I'm sorry, but there's one last thing I could ask you.

You use the word "apostle” well, not “demon man”.

I've targeted the world and people of Florence for the elimination of demons.

And at first, I thought that the Arabella Apostle of the Dark Class, who seeks the power of Clancy, was the Demon.

However, Lene pointed out that “demons” are not necessarily dark attributes.

Earlier you said that the word "apostle” refers to everything that comes from different worlds.

For example, the word "demon" should refer to some “apostle”.

What I'm trying to eliminate is the Demon Man, but in earlier conversations, it seemed like you were trying to eliminate all the Apostles themselves. He also said that the king of the earlier demons had eliminated the “apostles”, not the “demons”.

I wonder why this is?

Is there a difference between what I call a demon and what you call a demon?

Leda heard what I said and suddenly laughed out loud.

The attitude is slightly hampered by the boulder, just the content of the serious question.

Leda answered my question even as she looked at me with a slightly murky look on her face.

"It's a corner, so let's also talk about the characteristics of the Demon.

Those who migrate from different worlds - or “apostles” - mostly migrate with specific “advantages” when crossing into Florence.

Excellent strength, for example. The same goes for superior magic. Sometimes the acquisition of skills is faster than others. In my case, I have better memory than others to save knowledge.

“Apostles” with advantages have advantages but are therefore stronger than others and are able to acquire skills faster than others.

“Apostles” with such characteristics are obsessed with developing their abilities. Because that ability is better than others.

Cut it off, the "apostle” with the advantage begins to greedily seek strength to accelerate his own growth.

And on that extension line - there is a characteristic of physiological search for the power of a heterogeneous “apostolate". Because if we take in the power of other apostles, we can grow faster and faster than we can train ourselves into tunnels.

The “apostles” who excelled in those abilities fought to dominate Florence in the past.

As I said earlier, nothing was disputed over Florence's rule but the Apostle of Arabella.

And this is what the people of Florence called collectively the "apostles with the advantage” who brought themselves into contention and ruled over them.

"Demon Man" -.

In other words, as you say, “Arabella's Apostle of Dark Attributes Seeking Clancy's Power” is not called “Demon Man”.

For the people of Florence, the Apostle of Advantage is a Demon without exception.

So I'm a Demon with an advantage in Knowledge.

The “deep” you know is also the “demon man" who has the advantage of “magical power".

And then... "

Leda sees my face.

I...

What look did I have at this time?

- The "Apostle” seeks the power of the Fae “Apostle” physiologically.

When I first met Lene, I asked her, "How do you know I'm Clancy's messenger?"

Her answer was "because she physiologically seeks the power of Clancy's apostolate".

And I almost said the same thing, so I undone it.

Because I know if they are Arabella's messengers by looking at their condition (status), not their physiological desires.

But now that I think about it, this is crazy.

Until now, the Demon Man I've encountered was, without exception, of a higher level than me.

I can't spot the status of someone higher than I am.

However, the skills and numerical values (parameters) that I feel are listed in the status.

I have been able to spot 100% if my higher-level opponent is an Arabella messenger.

I mean, I was just - I wasn't aware of myself, I was “physiologically” looking for the power of Arabella's messenger.

So the condition (status) that I saw after gaining that physiological sense of reality specified that the other person was an Arabellan apostle.

And then...

And I'm “unusually quick" at mastering magic.

Sylvia said my magic mastery rate is incredible.

There are times when I became even more obsessed with mastering magic. I have been greedily trained.

I myself have a confusing "advantage”.

Now, when I first met Lene, I remembered what she said.

She said to me at that time, "What are you calling a demon based on? He asked."

What was her answer then?

She doesn't use any words like Clancy or Arabella.

She said it was no mistake to define "demon" as “seeking power, being an apostle and a dark attribute", but the demon said "not just a dark attribute" -.

- Yes, probably Lene must have known from the beginning.

That fact stunned me.

I chased the Demon Man and defeated the Demon Man, but I didn't understand who I was.

After pursuing visible numbers (parameters) and just thinking about knowing someone else's state (status), I wasn't properly aware of what I was.

From the people of Florence, what do I look like?

- The answer is, it immediately floats.

I...

I come from a different world, the Land of the Devil.

- It must have been 'Demon Man'.