Chapter 34: Long Time No See
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
We encountered significant obstacles while digging deeper into the unexpected, and then the obstacle said: it would tell us the truth.
Though it came with the condition that the manuscript couldn’t be edited, that wasn’t necessarily a dealbreaker. Our thought was, if the truth really was the truth—
Did they come together just to utterly destroy each other? Could that really be the truth we were chasing?
We began to teeter on the edge of abandoning this plan altogether.
—From The Bizarre Romances You Must Know, Part Six
“The story goes like this: The last Hero invaded the Demon Realm and was killed on the spot. Because of that, the next Hero, and the one after, and even the one after that, never had a chance to appear. The last Demon King thus became the longest-surviving Demon King in history.”
Crossed out.
“The story goes like this: The last Hero invaded the Demon Realm, killed the last Demon King, and successfully stopped him from destroying the world and harming the princess. Truly a cause for celebration and everlasting merit.”
Crossed out.
“The story goes like this: The last Hero softened the last Demon King with love and stopped him from destroying the world. All was well, a happy ending with joy and flowers.”
After the Hero stared at him blankly for a long time, the Demon King took the third draft a bit more seriously. Then he crossed out the jokes above, thought for a moment, smiled, and finally wrote:
“The story goes like this: The Hero and the Demon King got together and mutually prevented each other from having descendants. Thus, the Demon King eliminated all future Heroes, and the Hero prevented the Demon King’s future generations—from next generation to beyond—from ever appearing. This unprecedented achievement surpasses all predecessors in significance and accomplishment. Therefore, the author believes this Demon King is the most competent Demon King in history, and this Hero is the most competent Hero ever. Any objections are invalid.”
After spinning that wild fourth version of the story, the Demon King turned and glanced up, asking softly, “Is that right?”
The Hero’s mouth twitched after reading the three stranger versions of the story, then, still in the middle of the statement about himself, said, “Hmm…”
Comparing the options, it wasn’t… terrible. He nodded with some difficulty, leaned over to drape an arm on the Demon King’s shoulder, and gave his sleeve a little pinch.
THE END.
***
Actually, there was no real THE END.
After the Hero was once again thrown back into the human realm, the Demon King shook off the marquis and other demons and casually found a place to hibernate for winter. Time passed during their separation. The dragon, who’d once given the Hero a high-flying ride, returned as well. Winter faded, spring came, and flowers bloomed.
The Demon King awoke in some hidden corner, washing away all the despair and gloom from before. Awake and still very much the Demon King—energetic, going about his usual routines of eating, sleeping, researching, and commanding subordinates—he stayed too busy to dwell on anyone or anything from the past, only occasionally suffering from restless nights.
The Hero, once healed, reflected on his memories, frowned sadly, settled his emotions, and chose to hone his skills on the road. After an unexpected return, he said goodbye to neighbors and continued on as a kind-hearted Hero who followed his instincts, helping others along the way—though sometimes, when lost, he would glance at himself, at his hands.
After hibernation, the Demon King once again inspected the Death Realm. He marveled at the rabbits’ reproductive power, and after discovering several partial rabbit nests, he gave up on driving them out, allowing the magic vines and rabbits to reach a symbiotic understanding.
The Hero wandered near the Death Realm’s border, searching for the descendants of the rabbits he’d once lost here. With detailed preparation, he felt a bit confident about purifying them—but with so many nests scattered about, he became lost between one cave and another.
Sometimes the Demon King would swing lazily on a web woven by the magic vines, half-lying or gazing down. The wind still occasionally blew. Rabbits, welcoming spring, hopped happily among the magic vines and plants.
One day, when the Demon King spotted a lone large white rabbit again, he didn’t go down. He just sat there, enjoying the breeze or watching clouds and light with eyes half-closed.
The rabbit seemed to grow used to the Demon King’s presence, staying put even when the Demon King approached unexpectedly. He tried picking it up, then put it back gently. The rabbit continued nibbling on the magical plants without a care. The Demon King smiled. After scooping up one rabbit, he returned the now unafraid big white rabbit and left.
…
The Hero drifted between caves, lost amid the many rabbit dens he had recorded. Sometimes he’d return to places he’d been before, setting his tools at the entrance only to realize he had already come there.
Sometimes he wandered aimlessly, searching nearby for a den but finding none. Sometimes, while following rabbits along the path, one would dart past quickly, hesitating between two directions. Then both lead rabbits would vanish.
Then, one day, seeing clearly a big and a small rabbit, he decisively followed the larger one. He followed it to what was likely one of the original two rabbits. He found a den and set up his equipment, relaxing a bit.
Then the big rabbit escaped from the device and, after dashing around for a long time carrying odd things, returned near the magic vines. The Hero chose to follow the rabbits still at the site rather than chase after the big one and get lost.
…
The Demon King, once again swinging on the magic vines, bored, glanced at the sky and casually noticed a big white rabbit carrying strange objects. He went down to take a look.
The big white rabbit, unable to communicate with the magic vines or the Demon King, chirped anxiously. The Demon King listened for a long time, asked the magic vines if there had been any unusual activity recently, and was puzzled by their temporarily calm reply.
The rabbit chirped and even stood up. After confirming no abnormalities in the magic vines’ range, the Demon King thought for a moment about the large white rabbit, which ran around freely and had nothing to do with him.
After watching it a little longer, he followed it step by step, and then… He saw a group of rabbits transformed back into ordinary ones. Not far off, there were things similar to those in his own hands. The Demon King tilted his head, starting to question the safety of the Death Realm again, and renewed his concern for the magic plants.
After doubting the safety of the Death Realm and searching around occasionally, the Demon King eventually left. The Hero, meanwhile, kept missing the Demon King’s visits due to getting lost between places. By the time the Hero found his way back, the Demon King had already returned to the castle, casually accepting challenges from this person or that.
Then one day, while the Demon King was standing on the dragon’s back heading home, he happened to see a figure sitting by the great river — orange-haired, gripping a sword… and carrying some strange, unfamiliar objects. It was the Hero?
The Demon King examined those odd things carefully, which seemed familiar somehow, then pieced together a rough idea of the situation. After the Hero once again evaded the magical vines, the Demon King blinked and finally lifted his gaze to the bright blue sky. The weather was good.
After revisiting the old place, the Hero set down his purification tools, gazed into the water pooled in his palm, thought of the past, and gave a small, practiced smile. Then the Demon King jumped down. To the Hero’s surprise, he began speaking the thoughts he had just formed.
“Long time no see, Hero. There’s something I want to say about you and me, the Hero and the Demon King. Before we do anything else, I think we need to clarify one fact: Though the Hero and the Demon King are destined to kill each other, and there are reasons from every angle for this—tradition, the Demon King’s plan to dominate the world and destroy humanity, the Hero’s mission to vanquish evil and protect peace— from a deeper perspective, me killing you as the Hero is just killing one Hero. You killing me as the Demon King is just killing one Demon King. The achievements are too small. They’re not worthy of lifelong struggle.”
The Hero looked toward the suddenly appearing figure, beside rushing water and lush trees. In that background he saw a vast blue sky, fluffy clouds drifting behind the Demon King, who said from among the clouds:
“So, I think we can achieve something greater— for example, the Demon King stopping the birth of all future Heroes, cutting off the Hero lineage with only one remaining. Or the Hero stopping the rise of all future Demon Kings, making the current Demon King the last of his kind. This way, the previous Hero’s bloodline still exists, but the next will not appear. The previous Demon King remains, but the next cannot ascend. Preventing the rise of all future enemies—this would be a true achievement, something worth dedicating ourselves to. What do you think about this?”
The Hero considered this strange speech, then looked at the Demon King again. After a long pause, he lowered his head, thinking hard, and gathered all his doubts into one question “I… want to ask something first.”
The Demon King blinked, slightly raising his chin, and nodded: “Ask.”
“Do you like me?” When the words fell, the Demon King immediately expressed a negative answer. After hearing the denial, the Hero laughed once, then again. After thinking deeply for a while, he looked back seriously. “I think… what you said makes a lot of sense.”
—The Demon King was stunned when directly asked, blinked, his face slowly reddening. Then he lowered his head and said, “Of course… not.”
The Hero smiled warmly at this response, his eyes bright and clear. At the place where they first met, he reached out his hand, smiling just like he did a long time ago when he first arrived and practiced this gesture.
Back then, the Hero had set out to rescue the princess, and as he grew up, he willingly took on this journey and its challenges. Now, after a year and many events, the Hero reached out again, sure the misunderstanding was over.
In spring, the sky was blue, the clouds white, the breeze gentle, and the river clear and calm. When the wind blew, the leaves rustled just like the last time the Demon King appeared. The Demon King, after waiting so long, finally relaxed, blinked, blushed, and bounced over.
—In short, let’s be together with the goal of completely eliminating each other. That was not the Demon King talking about a cross-species romance with a foolish rival like the Hero.
Author’s note:
A small revision—splitting the final ending into two parts and putting back the last bit of The Bizarre Romance that had been cut to avoid breaking the mood.
This novel will probably finish and go paid (VIP) around Friday. If you want, you can log into the desktop version before then to download the official TXT. Before the paywall, you can use Moonstone to download all free chapters (i.e., the entire text).
Then, lying dead.jpg.
After writing the ending according to the outline, the ending itself became very detailed (orz). But if I don’t follow the outline… the chapters between endings become a mess of stuff I don’t want to write. So even after revisions, I’ll still write it this way.＿(：△」∠)＿
Later, there will probably be random side stories or little details that never found a place in the main text—like why the Hero is bad with directions, or why the Death Realm isn’t simply near the castle, and other small things.
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