Episode 2
So then — why exactly was I still alive?
I’d driven the demon sword into my own chest, good and proper.
By any normal logic, I should simply have died there and then.
Teresia, the saint, had been nearby, and while she was a healer, even she shouldn’t have been capable of resurrection that could overturn death itself.
So why hadn’t I died?
The reason was actually very simple: because at the time, I was the demon lord.
A demon lord is a being outside the natural order of this world. A life form that doesn’t die so easily.
So even if I tried to kill myself by piercing my own chest, that didn’t guarantee death.
And in fact, here I was, still alive.
“Hmm, but isn’t that a problem in its own way?”
“What is, Yurina?”
…I’d given up resisting and was letting Teresia wipe down my upper body when she caught my muttering and asked.
Her touch was as careful and delicate as if I were made of spun sugar.
Being wiped down like this brought back memories of when I used to run fevers as a child.
Back then, Teresia hadn’t been the saint yet — just an innocent kid who cried easily and laughed easily.
Now — though I couldn’t see her expression, since she was wiping my back — she always wore that same gentle smile, which honestly worried me a little, as her childhood friend.
“Yurina…?”
She called my name from behind, her voice anxious, so I hurried to answer, “It’s nothing, really.”
“It’s just — well. I was thinking about whether it’s really okay for me, the demon lord, to be alive like this.”
“There’s no way there could be a world where it’s wrong for you to be alive, Yurina.”
“Teresia?”
“…Ahem. No, I understand why you’d worry, but I can tell you up front — you don’t need to worry about that.”
“Really?”
I tilted my head, and Teresia explained.
“To cut to the conclusion: right now, you aren’t the demon lord.”
“Huh, really?”
“As a matter of fact, reports are coming in that the monsters that had been growing more active across the regions are calming down. The emergence of dangerous monsters will still need time to investigate properly, but at the very least, the situation seems to be showing good signs.”
“I… see?”
“And as the saint, I examined your body thoroughly from head to toe while you were sleeping, and there was no trace of demon lord presence anywhere on you. It was very cute.”
“That’s a relief… wait, hold on, what did you just say at the end?”
“This is just my theory, but—”
Teresia cut off my question before I could press her on what felt like a remark I shouldn’t let slide.
“Your body, which carried the demon lord’s supernatural power, sustained what should have been a fatal wound from the demon sword, which itself carried a matching supernatural power. I believe the demon lord’s vitality and the demon sword’s lethality collided and cancelled each other out.”
“So something like a contradiction happened?”
“In this case, the two forces happened to be of roughly equal strength. In any case, thanks to that, the final damage you sustained barely stopped just short of being fatal. A blessing in disguise, I suppose…”
“Even if it was a coincidence, I think we owe the gods some thanks for this one.”
“Yes. Truly.”
Teresia let out a sigh, and her hand, which had been wiping my back, went still.
I started to turn around to see what was wrong, but before I could, she said, “Please — don’t look this way.”
“Yurina.”
“Yeah?”
“I am, you know, still quite angry with you. Even if things turned out well in the end, choosing to hurt your own body like that—”
“Yeah. But—”
“No ‘buts.’ Yurina, please, I’m begging you, treasure yourself. Even if you’re fine with it, seeing you get hurt makes my heart ache — it really does.”
“…Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Yurina. You’re kind, so even I can imagine why you made that choice back then.”
Gently, softly.
Teresia’s hand came to rest on my head.
She idly toyed with my hair for a while after that, then suddenly seemed to remember something and said, “Sorry about that.”
“Your back’s done — you can manage the front yourself, right?”
“Yeah, thanks, Teresia.”
“…I could do the front too, if you wanted?”
“I’ve got that part covered myself. But thanks for the thought.”
“I was only teasing. Don’t take it seriously.”
I took the cloth from Teresia and started wiping myself down.
She kept staring at me the whole time, so I asked, “What?” and she answered with a small smile.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just — getting to spend time alone together like this again, quietly… it feels like a dream.”
“Weird thing for me to say, but the demon lord’s properly been defeated and all, so we should get to have some quiet time for a while, don’t you think?”
And yet, the world had already begun moving down a path different from the story it was supposed to follow.
What effects might come from the fact that I was still alive?
Or, perhaps—
Would I need to choose my own death again?
…I didn’t know.
“Teresia.”
“Yes?”
After a moment’s hesitation, I said:
“In a little while… want to take a short walk with me?”