Why is Dal here…
It’s too sudden.
Well, obviously she wants something with me, but I’m not ready. Sasha told me Dal was all right, but the fact that she’s here all of a sudden makes me doubt her a little.
Sasha is the demon king, and Dal her underling. And Sasha sent Dal to me because she’s suspicious.
That’s the worst outcome I can think of.
Let’s just stay cool. If she sees me getting nervous, she’s going to be wary too. And that would be bad if Dal really is the demon king or an underling.
“What is it Dal? This is sudden?”
“Mu? You’re the one who has business with me.”
She says while tilting her head.
I have business with Dal?
“What do you mean?”
“That should be my question.”
She looks confused. As she tilts her head, her red hair that stretches down to her waist shakes.
What does she mean? Think.
“Dal, did Sasha tell you to come here?”
That’s all I can think of.
If that’s the case, I have to prepare myself for the worst.
“Yes! Sasha said you were looking for me. And to give this to you.”
So she really did… Give what?
Dal starts rummaging through the pouch on her waist. She’s more lightly dressed than usual, and since I can see her cleavage, I look away without thinking.
“Here, Kyle! Hn? Why are you looking away?”
“It’s nothing.”
Dal hands me a folded piece of paper. When I open it, I see Sasha’s handwriting.
‘I knew you’d be all about readying yourself and whatnot and wouldn’t make a move. So since I knew you’d wuss out, so I arranged for you two to talk. Now get ready and ask her directly.’
I crush the paper in my hand, but Dal doesn’t budge.
It’s too sudden. Yes, there’s that whole thing about me preparing for it, but it’s barely been an hour since I talked to Sasha.
I haven’t even thought about what I’ll ask. At least give me time to prepare that.
I sigh.
“Kyle?”
Dal looks worried.
“Sorry. I just forgot I wanted to talk to you. Come in.”
“Mu! And what are you going to do if I do? Something you should not?”
“No, I just want to talk.”
“I see…”
She looks a little disappointed, and then starts looking around.
“It’s not that different from my room.”
“Well, of course. It’s the same inn. Sit down over there.”
What was she expecting? It’s not like I invited her to my house. There might be a few differences, but it’s obvious that it’s going to be mostly the same.
I tell her to sit down on a chair, and she sits on the bed for some reason.
She’s not listening!
She’s always like this. It’s like dealing with a moody cat.
Although we already have a feline beast person in our party…
Anyway, how do I start? I don’t know what to say. How do I ask her what I have in mind delicately?
She never used magic, so I’m sure she’s aware that she shouldn’t. But she still did when her friends were in danger.
…Don’t waver. Don’t get shaken.
It’s all right. Dal is a friend.
“Hum… So…”
“What? If you have something to say, you can just say it.”
I can’t say anything. I guess this is what Sasha meant by wussing out.
What I have to ask will hurt her. And thinking about hurting someone who cares about her friends makes it so the words don’t leave my mouth.
Thirty silent seconds pass.
I take a deep breath and exhale to calm myself, and Dal keeps looking at me silently.
“I’m sorry if it’s hard to say. You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to say it. But please answer me if you can.”
“Is it about my magic, Kyle?”
“Yes.”
I don’t like this tense atmosphere. My stomach was never strong.
“I figure you have mostly figured out what I really am.”
“I think so.”
Her voice sounds weaker than usual, and her expression is anxious.
Thinking about causing her pain makes my heart hurt too.
It sounds like she knows what’s on my mind. So she really does have demon blood in…
“Yes, I am a chimera. A humanoid composite of monsters created by people to oppose the demon king.”
“No, I don’t know about that!”
“I’m joking.”
She laughs like always, and I’m taken aback.
It’s supposedly something hard for her to say, but she’s laughing.
“I am half human half demon.”
“That’s what I figured…”
I’m not surprised.
“As you know, most demons went into hiding after the demon king was felled by the hero. My mother was one of them, and she lived disguised as a human.”
“Like Beriel?”
“Yes.”
Beriel… A kind demon we fought a year ago.
He also lived disguised as a demon. You’d never know he was a demon, with the way he was friendly even with travelers.
He also had a family. A human wife and child.
He struggled with being between demons and humans. Wavering between being pressed by his fellow demons to fight us, or stick with humans.
In the end, demons kidnapped his family, he had to fight us, and lost.
He survived. After all, even though it was a short amount of time, we got to know him.
And so, we fought to save his family in his place. But it was too late.
The demons that kidnapped his family were already gone. All we found were the gory corpses of his family.
It was like they toyed with them until they didn’t resemble people anymore.
“A* a * a * a * a * a * a * a * a * a * a * a!”
Beriel dragged his wounded body behind us, and saw what to him was a hellish sight.
He held the corpses, and while crying tears of blood, committed suicide without saying a word.
I will never forget his wailing.
We can’t say all demons are bad. Some are kind like him.
But still, a lot of them are sly. I wonder about Dal’s mother.
“My mother also loved humans. She believed we could understand each other despite being different.”
“So she had a kind heart.”
“Yes. My mother told me she had a fateful encounter with my father as she worked disguised as a human, and love blossomed between them.”
“I-I see.”
She kind of sounds like she’s bragging.
“My mother dreamed of having a loving family with my father, but he was already married. My mother was just his lover.”
“That’s awful.”
“Yes. After that, my mother’s anger was like a raging fire, and there was an intense back and forth between them. In the end, the king mediated between them and it was settled.”
“Hn? Why would the king step in?”
“Because my father was his younger brother.”
“…”
Wait, I can’t process this. So her father was the king’s younger brother?
I stare at her without thinking. Her face is beautiful, and her cheeks get a little red as she notices my gaze. Her eyes have long slits, and are red like her hair, looking like rubies.
Red hair and red eyes. The distinctive features of royalty in my country. The features of people with royal blood.
Dal is royalty…
