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“How… how do you know the name of my birthplace?” Mephistophales asked in a stutter, unable to hide his shock.

I was right, after all. He likely said those words, since he thought no one in Anazumu would understand them, but by doing so, I realized it.

“That’s because I’m also from Earth. Incidentally, I’m from Japan. What about you?”

When I replied like that, Mephistophales nodded¹ dejectedly.

“Is… that so… huh… I’m Japanese, too, you know.”

So, we’re both from Japan?
I was surprised by this, too.

“I see.”
“Eh~… I’m truly… surprised. This is the first time… since I came to this world. …Still, when, and how did you notice, I’m from earth?”
“Mephistophales… It was because you’ve been using words like ‘cheat’, and then you uttered that line from Dragonar Story 2’s final boss.”

He reacted to the word “Dragonar Story”.

“Both of those… I was just planning to use them as a monologue, but… I see, does Dragonar Story perhaps still exist, even 300 years later? By the way, I came to this world three and a half years after Dragonar Story 3 had been released, you know!” Mephistophales exclaimed, somewhat excitedly.

What in the world is he talking about? 300 years…?
Moreover, he said three and a half years after Dragonar Story 3’s release… That would’ve been one month before Dragonar Story 4’s release day. In other words, one month before the day I died.

“Erm, that should have been one month before I came to this world, but…”
“Really?!”

I got the feeling, as if Mephistophales’ hostility and wickedness is gradually fading away. Where did his viciousness from our first meeting go?

“One month… earlier? When did you come to this world?” he asked.
“Erm… about 2 or 3 months ago.² What about you?”
“…!? Ah, for me it was more than 300 years ago, but…”
“Huh…”

300 years ago? Did he live in this world for such a long time? I mean, isn’t that too much of a time difference?

“How in the world is that…?” I wondered.
“I don’t know… Maybe it’s just a distortion in time…?”

Indeed, that’s probably the best way to describe it. Perhaps time is random… or at least that’s how it feels.

“At any rate… right?”

In place of his usual grin, Mephistophales showed a normal expression. He was probably looking serious, but because of that clown makeup, it looked like a smile, after all.

“I almost killed you by accident, you know. I nearly did. It’s a good thing you are stronger than me, Miss Alim. I wouldn’t want to kill a fellow earthling. I’d never have expected two people from Earth to be in Anazumu, much less from Japan…”

Two People… that’s where he’s wrong, isn’t he? I need to tell him that Mika is also Japanese. He wasn’t the one to… kill her, but I want him to repent for a bit.

“It’s not two people. It’s three, you see.”
“Eh… I-is that so…?! But… there’s no magic power here except for yours and mine…”
“…Yeah, just give me a moment.”

I bid Mephistophales to wait and went to get Mika’s corpse. He visibly started to tremble when he saw her.
Well, that probably shook him.³

“T-that girl… I remember her… from some time ago… She was your party member…”
“That’s right, she’s my childhood friend. I’d never have thought, I could live together with her in Anazumu, but… I guess it was fate, wasn’t it?”

As soon as I said that, Mephistophales started to sincerely apologize. In a loud voice. While his tears streamed down.

“Truly… I am so, so sorry… Because of me and the demons… your childhood friend… If only I knew, we had the same origin…”

The way he puts it, would he have been okay with killing humans from this world?

“Mephistophales… Erm, from how you’re talking, you make it sound like you’d have no qualms killing humans from this world? There’s no difference between everyone else and me. We’re all the same humans.”

When he heard that, Mephistophales made a face as if I’d just shot him with a nerf gun⁴, but a moment later, as if he’d realized what he’d just said, his tears started flowing once again.

“Oh, eh… ha, ha-ha… I’ve clearly turned too much into a demon… that’s how it is, you see. I’m really… truly sorry.”

I stayed silent and continued watching Mephistophales cry for some time.
From how he looks… I think it’s safe to assume that he’s no longer hostile to me, right?

TL notes:
I’m glad for Alim calling Mephistophales out on his hypocrisy, when the latter only feels sorry once his actions affect someone else from Earth. Though it’s probably easy to fall into a “me or them” mentality in a typical isekai setting, coming from a modern society to a medieval one, where people act much more savage. We also don’t really know what experiences he had with the natives when he arrived 300 years ago, so that very well might have made things worse.

1. This may be wrong. The original is うなだらせた, which would be the past causative form of うなだる. However, such a verb doesn’t exist. It might be うなづく/頷く (“to nod”), but it could also be something else.
2. It’s been 63 days at this point.
3. Both this and the previous sentence use 動揺 (“shaking/trembling” or “disturbance/agitation”). This might be meant differently (e.g. “he looks like he’s shaken” -> “no, he’s definitely shaken”).
4. The original is 豆鉄砲 (“pea shooter”). Here, it’s most likely from 鳩が豆鉄砲を食ったよう (“like a pigeon who’s been shot by a peashooter [i.e. wide-eyed in shock]”). I chose “nerf gun” as a more modern alternative.