Chapter 5
Welcome to the Human Fan Club
part (3)
My meeting with Dia was 1,000 years ago… I believe I was 19 years old at the time.
I am a person with a rather unique background… My living expenses were guaranteed until I was 20, but I had no freedom. I was only allowed to live for the sake of magical training to increase my magical power.
I don’t remember much about myself, but since I have virtually no memories from before meeting him, I think it must have been an incredibly dull life.
Now that there’s no need to keep it a secret, I’ll be honest: I was born for the purpose of sealing Dia away.
It seems Dia was committing quite a few misdeeds back then, causing significant harm to humans.
But in those days, neither magic nor science was as advanced as it is now, and humans couldn’t defeat Dia. Even to seal him away, an immense amount of magical power surpassing Dia’s was necessary.
The great leaders gathered infants who were capable mages and decided to create a human who would become the “first me.”
The requirements were: healthy and physically whole. Possessing strong magical power.
And above all, absolutely must have the power to suppress demonic power… the power of demon sealing.
There were various other criteria, and from among them, they selected the one infant who best met the conditions.
When humans die, it’s said their souls cycle through reincarnation and are reborn as another person.
In that process, all memories, personality, etc., are reset, and they are reborn as truly new humans. However, it seems that human souls grow stronger with each reincarnation.
Simply put, as time flows, humanity grows little by little.
You might wonder what the proof is… but unlike 1,000 years ago, demons can’t easily enter and leave human towns now, so I think it’s true that humanity has grown.
For humans back then, demons were truly horrifying beings. Even against demons not as strong as Dia, they had almost no means of resistance.
So, the humans of that time utilized that reincarnation cycle and came up with an outrageous plan to create a strong human far more quickly than normal.
They created a special magic that, at the moment of death, would transfer all the magical power that person possessed to their soul.
The human who had this magic cast upon their soul was me, from long ago.
To be precise, it was me from long before I met Dia… but since I didn’t inherit memories before meeting Dia, I don’t know about that time.
Now, I store my memory information within my magical power, so I inherit both my magic and memories when I reincarnate. That’s why, even after 1,000 years, I still remember Dia.
Furthermore, it seems humans have a high magical growth rate until they are 20 years old. After living for 20 years, the person with this magic cast upon them would die.
This is why I remembered meeting Dia at 19. I used to think every day that I would die soon…
So, this was the foolish plan of that time: to repeat life and death in 20-year cycles to cultivate a strong human.
It seems creating this soul magic required considerable sacrifice. I think it’s a blessing in disguise that no one else like me was born.
And so, back then, I was confined in a tower in an obscure small country, away from prying eyes. They couldn’t let other demons learn of my existence, and if I were to die prematurely, the plan would come to nothing.
Even the ‘me’ of that time was far inferior to Dia, so my life was solely about magical training for the sake of future ‘me’s, just waiting for death.
It was always boring and painful.
The attendants pitied me and were kind, but I wonder if I was truly cherished as an individual human. I had no freedom and couldn’t accomplish anything. With ‘death’ looming before me, I couldn’t harbor any joys or goals.
I spent my days in emptiness.
That day, after finishing my assigned magical training, I was sitting in a chair as usual, blankly staring up at the room’s ceiling.
I didn’t even have the energy to turn on the lights in the dark room. The only thing I did was occasionally rock the chair.
That night was a night with a beautiful moon.
Although only indirect lighting was on, the moon was so bright that I could see my surroundings clearly.
I was looking up at the ceiling, recalling stories from picture books I’d read to kill time.
I thought how interesting it would be if some impossible miracle happened, like an angel from a fairy tale whisking me away somewhere. I was that bored and mentally strained.
That’s when Dia came for me.
I heard a sound tapping on the window, so I wondered what it was and opened it.
At first, I couldn’t see anyone and thought it might be my imagination. I was about to close the window when a hand slid in, blocking it, and Dia entered.
It was really like a situation straight out of a fairy tale.
`”Good evening, a pleasure to meet you.”`
He entered through the window, bowed his head elegantly like a gentleman, and greeted me.
Illuminated against the backdrop of the moon, he was truly breathtakingly beautiful and lovely.
When I saw him, I felt my heart pounding so loudly it was noisy.
I didn’t know if it was because I was moved by this dreamlike, beautiful scene, or from the expectation that he would rewrite my boring life. But, at that moment, I knew immediately that I had… fallen in love with him at first sight.
I realized right away that he was a demon.
The fact that he could infiltrate this far, and the features of his appearance I’d been told about, made me realize he was the demon I was supposed to seal. Even so, although I thought it was wrong, I was strongly drawn to him.
I wanted to know more about him, I wanted to hear all sorts of stories from him, I wanted to laugh together with him, I wanted him to save me from these boring days.
It was a moment when a burning passion, like a blazing flame, was ignited within me.
It was the first time in my life I had ever felt such deep desire.
The me of that time was already a person on the verge of death. It was a powerful impact, strong enough to blow away the darkness I held in my heart, arriving at the very last moment.
So…
I thought, “There’s no way I’m letting him get away.”
The moment I thought that, I almost unconsciously activated my magic, wrapping magical chains around his neck and binding him.
Looking back now, the neck was probably a bad choice, but I think I wanted to make him mine absolutely… I wanted to put a collar on him. Well, it’s a good thing he was a demon.
I regret it now. He was actually really perplexed.
Wrapped in the chains, Dia was surprised and fell on the spot, but he seemed sturdy and wasn’t hurt. When I pulled the chains closer and stared at him, I saw that, amazingly, his face was totally my type too.
It felt like a miracle, as if I had reclaimed all the happiness I’d missed out on until then. My feelings were so giddy, I could have easily believed it was a gift from an angel in a picture book.
Dia seemed taken aback but was waiting for me to state my intentions, so I honestly told him my feelings right then and there.
`”It’s love at first sight!! Please become mine!!”`
Ahaha, I think I might have been a bit too hasty.
It was, of course, my first time confessing. I was so embarrassed my face turned bright red.
But I had no composure back then, and since I couldn’t move about freely, I was frantic, thinking if I let him escape here, I’d never see him again.
In the end, these feelings bore fruit, so I think it was good that I said it.
◆―――――――――◆
“And that’s how we met. Fufu, it was truly the most exciting moment of my life up until then.”
“Ah, yeah, I see.”
Huh? What exactly did I just get told?
At the beginning of the story, I felt a rather helpless and sad feeling.
I never would have thought the young man before me had shouldered such a harsh destiny. I empathized with his lament about his boring life and almost teared up.
‘Ah, meeting Dia-san changed Akatsuki-san’s life for the better. That’s wonderful,’ I thought… but what happened in the latter half?
You wanted to make him yours, so a collar? You confessed while binding him with chains?
The story progressed at a breakneck speed partway through.
I’ve spent most of my life in human society, so Baldro-san told me I have ‘human-like sensibilities,’ but from the middle onward, I was just filled with, ‘Why would it turn out like that!?’
Humans really have all sorts of thoughts that are hard for me to understand…
But then, I wonder what Dia-san thinks hearing this story? Or rather, is this story even true?
Is this how humans and demons become lovers?
When I turned wordlessly towards Dia-san, he spoke.
“It was very passionate. I fell in love at first sight back then as well.”
“Really? I was so flustered that I couldn’t transfer my memories perfectly, and I don’t remember much after that… So, does that mean you gave me your OK?”
“There was a bit of a commotion, but the answer was practically decided from the moment you confessed, so that’s roughly correct.”
Seriously? It’s not a lie, and he fell in love at first sight with *that*…?
I look at Akatsuki-san’s body, his cheeks dyed red with joy.
I get the feeling he possesses strong power, but for some reason, I can’t perceive it.
Now that I think about it, in the story earlier, Akatsuki-san said he has the power of demon sealing, right? I’m not too familiar with it, but a textbook I read long ago should have said it’s ‘magical power with properties effective against demons and difficult for demons to perceive.’
I wonder if Dia-san knows how much magical power Akatsuki-san has.
When I focus and peer intently, I can faintly see the form of his soul.
It’s a large soul for a human.
That soul is, how to put it… it looks distorted and even painful, as if many souls were finely chopped up and forcibly stitched together. He probably feels no pain in his own body, but it’s somewhat agonizing to look at.
Seeing that soul, I thought he wasn’t an ordinary human.
Is it like this because he’s repeated reincarnation?
Calling Akatsuki-san’s confession “passionate,” or saying this soul’s form is “doll-like and cute”… Dia-san’s sensibilities seem off too, in a way. In a sense, I think they’re a good match. A miraculous couple whose personalities fit together all too perfectly…
This doesn’t seem like something I can use as a reference for expanding friendly relations.
“Um… thank you for telling me your story.”
Around the time everyone had finished the food on their plates, I expressed my thanks and bowed.
The conversation with these three was very interesting, and my curiosity was still not satisfied, but I decided to excuse myself because I wanted to hear from other demons as well.
“Not at all, I’m the one who’s sorry for making you listen to our long, lovesick story.”
Akatsuki-san said this, raising his face with a flustered look.
While I was surprised hearing the story, it seems he remains a polite person. Just knowing that humans this friendly towards demons exist made me glad I came here and could talk with them.
I thanked them once more and then left the spot to go talk to other demons.
Baldro-san seemed to want to talk more with Akatsuki-san and the others. He was saying ‘It’s unfair humans can reincarnate’ and wanted to ask more about Akatsuki-san’s soul magic, but after hearing that story, I didn’t feel envious at all…
I thought if Haru was interested in Akatsuki-san and the others, it might be better to let him stay there, but when I left, Haru naturally followed me, as expected.
“I’d be troubled if you left me behind.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
I apologized to Haru, who was complaining unusually.
After that, I talked with several other demons, but Haru didn’t seem very interested in them either.
I’m a weak demon, so I can’t live as long as Haru. Even an opportunity like this might be the last. So I have to do my best now…
Because that’s the only way I can repay Haru.
