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After parting ways with the former king and the Ancient Dragon, I set my sights southward. The Kingdom of Rubel had once stood there, but after being caught in a volcanic eruption, only a handful of survivors lived in hiding, clinging desperately to life. I wiped them out to the last. With Rubel gone, my next targets were Aquilus and Fraus. But I had no intention of touching Fraus—because that God was there. Zygos was displeased, but I had no desire whatsoever to walk into danger.

I’d heard the previous summoning had taken place in Fraus, but fortunately, there were also heroes in Aquilus. So, I would bypass Fraus and head for Aquilus instead. Apparently, there were two heroes in Aquilus, both residing in the same place—inside a large mansion in a major town. Judging from the scale, it must have belonged to a high noble. Why the two of them were gathered there, I didn’t know. Still, I decided to approach head-on.

…But before I even entered the town, one of the two came out toward me.

He looked like a boy, his presence so faint I might not have noticed him without Zygos’ power. Though I did sense something odd, so who knows, maybe I would’ve been able to notice him. The boy, apparently believing himself undetected, was cautiously observing me.

“Why have you come here?” I asked.
“Tch—you noticed…?”
“I did. Now, why are you here?”
“I was scouting a suspicious figure. Who are you?”

Resigned to being discovered, the boy bluntly asked about me. He seemed poor at games of deceit and probing, so perhaps honesty would serve me well; it might even become a good bargaining chip.

“I’m the Demon Lord. I came to erase as many people from this world as possible.”
“Is that… true?”
“Want me to prove it using one of the people nearby?”
“…No, I’ll believe you.”

I slipped behind him in an instant and whispered the question, and he immediately chose to believe. It was good that he caught on quickly.

“There’s another reason I came. You’re from another world, aren’t you? Do you have anything from your original world? To be precise, paper and something to write with?”
“From… my original world?”

The boy froze, as if thrown off by the sudden request. If neither he nor the other hero had what I needed, I’d have to head to Fraus, which I wanted to avoid. Meeting Finis wouldn’t necessarily mean a fight, but still, I’d developed a strange aversion, an unease that made me not want to face her.

“I have a few sheets of notepaper, and a pencil that’s been worn short…”
“Good. Could you give them to me?”
“They’re my only link to the world I came from. I can’t just hand them over so easily.”
“Then what would make you give them up?”

I smiled warmly as I asked. He paused, considering. Did he realize that if negotiations failed, I could always just take them by force? I wouldn’t want to be on the answering side of such a question, but asking it was always interesting.

“…If I give them to you, will you at least spare this town?”
“Fine. I won’t be touching Fraus anyway, so one town is negligible.”
“Then please, before you change your mind.”
“A wise decision.”

If he had asked me to spare all lives, I’d have taken the items by force. But one town, I could compromise on that. After all, I could no longer wipe out everyone anyway. At the moment, my true self was exerting more influence than Zygos.

As promised, he handed me a few sheets of pure white paper, bound together by a soft metal ring, along with a pencil barely longer than a finger. The whiteness of the paper spoke of advanced craftsmanship, and though I wasn’t sure what the metal ring was, when I touched it to my greatsword’s blade, it showed no sign of vanishing—proof that it truly belonged to his world. With this, my errand here was finished. It was time to move somewhere more populated.

“Well then, I’ll be going. You can keep watching me if you want, but be careful not to get caught up in what happens.”
“No. I believe you’re telling the truth, so I won’t be watching.”
“Suit yourself.”

Leaving the hero boy where he stood, I headed toward a more populated place.

◇◇◇

“So, you’ve finished erasing the people?”
“No, I left parts of Fraus and Aquilus alone. Couldn’t get them all, but I reduced their numbers plenty. The Demon Lord is calm for now.”
“If that satisfies you, so be it. And did you obtain what you sought?”
“Yes. This is paper and a writing tool from his world.”

I showed the notepaper and pencil I had received. The former king murmured, “Oh…” as he examined them.

“All that’s left is to write. I can’t go into detail, but I should at least be able to record the essentials.”
“Very well. You may use this room freely. However, you don’t appear to have much time.”
“Thanks.”

Having accomplished what I needed, I had returned to the former elven king. This was the only place in the world where I could feel at ease. Anywhere else, the ground beneath my feet could split open at any moment. Crude though they were, having a chair and desk here to write on was a blessing. I’d write quickly and then await the collapse of the world somewhere around Fraus, now the most populous place remaining.

Screams rose around me. The ground cracked open, swallowing people into the darkness below. As they fell into the void, I too was pulled down. And just as my consciousness began to fade into the dark, I thought I saw the figure of that girl-like god.

◆◆◆

“…Where am I?”

I opened my eyes. Apparently, I had been asleep on a bed. After we defeated the Monster King, returned to the capital, marched in the parade, and completed the ceremonies, I had somehow fallen asleep without even changing clothes. It wasn’t unusual in itself; it had happened before.

But usually, I would at least remember falling asleep like that or what I’d been doing the night before. This time, my memories of last night, right before going to bed, were hazy. And it wasn’t as if I had been so exhausted that my mind had gone blank.

Yesterday had been nothing more than a small party among close companions. Finally able to enjoy some personal time, we had gathered to congratulate one another once again. Just a few days earlier, we had been traveling together nonstop. And yet, those days had been so intense that it felt as if I hadn’t seen them in ages, almost like the time we defeated the Monster King.

Though now honored with a special status in the kingdom, we still enjoyed a fair degree of freedom. Today would be our first such free day. We would help rebuild the towns destroyed in the war and lay flowers for the comrades we had lost. “We owe this peace to you.” That was what we would go tell them.

Since I’d gone to bed without changing, I must not have bathed either. I decided I’d at least wash up before starting this new day.

(Still, what exactly happened last night?)

As I wondered, I reached into my pocket and found something there. A few sheets of paper bound by a metal ring and a short, sharpened wooden stick. Unfamiliar objects. I tilted my head, examining them.

First, the paper. Pure white, smooth to the touch, clearly high quality. Several sheets bound together, and on them… handwriting. My handwriting. But I had never seen such things before, and I certainly had no memory of writing them.

And what was written there was difficult to believe and yet impossible to ignore.