[1-11]: At the Same Time, In the Town of Kulga

Translated by Syxphis
Edited by Syxphis

The town of Kulga.

It’s one of the two largest towns in the kingdom of Giršten, and was once a bustling, lively town where vendors and travelers came and went every day…

At least, until the decisive battle between the heroes and the Demon Lord ten years ago.

Today, this town is under control of the demons, but that’s commonplace now.

The Western Continent, where the three oldest Demon Lords have their castles, as well as the Eastern Continent, where the younger Demon Lords have their strongholds, have been ruled by the demons for the ten years since the war ended.

It’s late at night, and the town is dark…but the town isn’t sleeping yet.

There are no people on the streets. The only people walking around at this hour are either drunk or just plain stupid.

Yet, the lights are still on in many of the stores.

The stores that are open at this hour all have one thing in common: They have demons as customers.

Even if all the people in the store are asleep, if the demons say, “Open up!” They have to start business at that moment.

Even if the store is out of food, they have to run around town to get the food to serve the demons.

Because humans are now slaves of the demon race.

In the war ten years ago, all the heroes who were the hope of humanity died, and most of the Divine Weapons they carried were taken by the demons.

Although there are no more heroes, it doesn’t mean that people can no longer fight.

There are people who have power even if they don’t have the qualifications to be a hero. And—

Heavenly Arts.

The power to exercise supernatural abilities that are said to have been given to humans by God, as opposed to the power of magic that can only be used by the demon race.

There are still many talented humans who can handle Heavenly Arts.

However—their hearts are broken.

They’ve lost their hope. Their symbolic Divine Weapons were taken by the enemy, and their hearts were painted with pure darkness, called despair.

That’s why humans became slaves.

They didn’t fight, they ran away from fighting, they lost their positions and became slaves who serve the demon race without thinking.

There are those whose will is that of a smoldering fire.

Yes—even in the town of Kulga.

There is a restaurant in the corner of East Street where the lights have gone out. In the basement of this restaurant is a secret underground warehouse that the neighbors don’t even know about.

On six tatami mats sit four people, three men and one woman, around a table.

The room is only lit by a small candle placed in the center of the table. The light is so weak that it’s difficult for anyone to see each other’s faces, but they can’t use a large light because it might get noticed outside.

Surrounding the room are a variety of well-kept weapons and armor. They were collected little by little in anticipation of a time when humans can use them again.

The armor in the town had been taken by the demons, however, this was not to deter the humans from rebelling, only simple harassment.

The demons are not afraid of humans at all. On the contrary, when they attacked them, the demons would happily say, “Now we have a reason to kill you,” and hit them with magic.

Because of this, the demons aren’t restricting humans from acquiring new weapons. Of course, if you have a weapon, they will be wary of you. They are always on the lookout for an opportunity to strike, and humans don’t want that to happen, so they hide them underground.

The smoldering fire that exists in this town:

“Rebellions”.

They are the only ones who are trying to take back the town, human dignity and the world from the demons.

There are only four in this room right now, but there are about twenty others in the town.

The four rebels, Rebellions, converse in the darkness.

“So? What did we accomplish today?”

The leader, Grint, begins the conversation.

Grint usually makes a living as a lumberjack. He’s tall, strong and people think of him as an impulsive hothead, but in reality, he’s a calm and thoughtful leader. 

The first person to respond to Grint’s question was the girl sitting to his right.

Her name is Yuri.

Her face is youthful and her body isn’t quite mature yet. When she’s with Grint, who is a big guy, they look like father and daughter.

She’s secretly proud of the beautiful golden locks she inherited from her mother.

She doesn’t know that her hair and shining smile have fans all over town.

“Alba and the others from the Silver Tree Branch Inn are willing to help us.”

“I see. That inn seemed to be having a hard time making ends meet since there are hardly any people coming in and out of town…I guess they’ve reached the limit of their patience.”

Recruitment of allies in the town is underway.

They have to be very cautious because they don’t know if someone would leak information to the demons. That’s why recruiting isn’t going as smoothly as expected.

“What else?”

“It’s nothing to do with recruitment, but haven’t the demons been on edge lately? I got tangled up with them three times when I was at the store today.”

“Hmm…”

Grint also felt the same atmosphere.

It may not be something that can be precisely measured…but the demons seem to be in a worse mood and their patrols are more strict than usual.

The person who answered is a man sitting across from Grint.

He was the owner of this hideaway store and the chief strategist of the Rebellions, Deal.

“I have an idea about that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, the demons who came to eat lunch earlier today were talking, and it seems that something sent by the Demon Lord will show up in the town soon.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure…but it seems to be quite important to them.”

It’s not clear what’s going to be brought in, but it is certain that the demons will be hypervigilant in the meantime.

Grint thought it would be a good idea to stay put and hide for a while…At the same time though, the fourth person who had been silently listening to the three of them decided to speak up.

“Maybe it’s a Divine Weapon?”

Gull, that’s his name.

He used to live as a hunter, but his bow was taken and now he works as a lumberjack with Grint.

He is characterized by his narrow, foxlike eyes, and people who meet him for the first time have a hard time figuring out what he’s thinking and feel like he’s suspicious.

This isn’t just because of his appearance, but also because he is always saying outlandish things.

“Divine Weapon…” “A Divine Weapon…”

Grint and Deal react negatively.

Yuri’s reaction is hopeful, though.

“Are you sure!?” (Yuri)

She suddenly stands up and shouts loudly, then hurriedly covers her mouth in fear of her voice being heard outside.

“No, I don’t actually know for sure, but…I can’t think of anything else that would be that important to the Demon Lord.” (Gull)

“I see…I think so too!” (Grint)

Grint nods, laughing to himself for a while.

“Hey guys, listen up!” (Grint)

“Rejected. No. I don’t like it.” (Deal)

“Hey! I haven’t said anything yet!?” (Grint)

“You don’t have to say anything. If it really is a Divine Weapon, you’d say ‘Let’s go get it’, right?” (Deal)

“Yeah, for the sake of Yuri’s favorite hero!” (Gull)

“I’m sorry, but…The Divine Weapon is a hero’s weapon! We’re trying to defeat the demons, so what’s wrong with getting it back?” (Yuri)

“Aye.” “Aye.” “Aye.” 

It is an immediate, but still isn’t unanimous.

Deal carefully explains his reasoning against it.

“For one, I don’t know if the hero who uses that weapon will show up when we get the Divine Weapon.”(Deal)

“But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any possibility at all, store manager!” (Yuri)

“You know that even if you have the qualifications of a hero, you can’t just use any Divine Weapon, right? You can only use the type of Divine Weapon that you are compatible with, so if you even had the qualifications in the first place, will a weapon that you can use appear?” (Deal)

“I’m not sure…” (Yuri)

When Yuri could no longer argue with him, Grint and Gull both said, “There’s no way he’ll show up.”

“Second, how are we supposed to get it back? The demons are incredibly cautious, so even those who carry it will have strong escorts. Even with our current strength, our hands are tied.” (Deal)

“…”(Yuri)

“Or, will you order our allies to get it back with the intention of destroying it? I’m afraid that even if you succeed, the demons will be looking for the culprit with all of their resources. If that happens, we’ll be finished anyway.”(Deal)

In conclusion, there is no merit in forcing a move like this.

Yuri still couldn’t give up though.

Under the table, she looks down at the book she is holding in her hand. The room is too dark to see the cover, but there is a picture of a hero bravely raising his sword.

This is a book of heroic tales that everyone has seen at least once in their childhood.

“But…if I have the Divine Weapon…the hero will surely come…”(Yuri)

“You know, Yuri. I’ve told you many times, don’t expect a hero to come.”(Gull)

“As Gull says, all the heroes died in the battle ten years ago. Wouldn’t that mean that even if you combine the power of all the heroes, you can’t beat the Demon Lord, right?”(Deal)

“So that’s why we are trying our best to do something on our own.”(Grint)

No one expects the heroes to come.

The despair engraved in their hearts from the heroes’ defeat ten years ago created a deep disappointment in the heroes.

It’s a shame that the hope that, “If the heroes gather their strength, the world will truly be saved!” since the first hero appeared has been shattered by the demons.

Yuri still believes, though.

Yuri feels that one day a hero will appear and take back everything that was stolen from them.

So, secretly, she makes up her mind.

—I’ll do it by myself…!

The girl challenges despair alone.