Why?

Ever since I could remember, I had grown up surrounded by dragons and a devil.

“It’s Mr. Darkness~. So cute~♪ I wonder why Hare-tan says he’s scary~? So strange~”

I had no father, mother, or relatives, and only a few human friends. Everyone else was an adult dragon or dragonkin. And one devil. The Dragonkin Village was a secluded land so remote that it was difficult for outsiders—not only humans, but even demons—to enter. Ever since the first king, Parsia I, ordered the first head of the Fulgaud Family to govern this region, apparently no one other than dragonkin had ever set foot there.

Dragonkin were those capable of communicating with dragons and borrowing their power. At times, they even mated with dragons and left behind half-dragon children. That was how the Fulgaud clan prospered. The Fulgaud Family, which oversaw the Kingdom’s military affairs, kept the Dragonkin Village hidden and stationed dragons with each army corps. Dragons were stationed in the royal capital as well, and successive heads of the family apparently exercised tremendous authority.

Until sixteen years ago, the Fulgaud Family had remained at the very top of the Kingdom’s military. Until sixteen years ago.

I was born fifteen years ago. By then, my father was already gone, and apparently my mother died from the strain of childbirth shortly after giving birth to me. Mr. Darkness remained by my side in her place. People said devils were terrifying, but I never thought so at all. If anything, I had grown attached to Mr. Darkness, who carried an almost motherly air about him.

I had trained in combat with the dragons and dragonkin around me since I was little, and eventually became the strongest among the village children. Apparently, since I possessed electrical and sound-wave skills like 《Electrocution》 and 《Noise Cancel》, I was some kind of “prodigy”? I think I just smiled absentmindedly and said, “I dunno~.”

My level rose steadily until it reached something far beyond what was normal for my age. Even so, my friends treated me the same as always, and if anything, we pushed one another to improve and developed new techniques together. We trained in the forest beside the Dragonkin Village, ate lunch together, and took naps. Then we trained again and ate dinner together at night. I would lean against Mr. Darkness while reading books, and sometimes I even tried writing my own. They were very happy memories.

The barrier that had protected the Dragonkin Village for a thousand years was broken by the Inquisitors when I was thirteen.

“U… uuh.”

An unfamiliar ceiling. For Rose, who had been living outdoors, the first thing she normally saw upon waking was shabby cloth and wooden poles. Yet overnight, that had somehow become a beautiful stone house….

“Ah, she’s awake!”

A girl peered down at her. She was a cute girl with striking light-brown hair… Konoha.

“Haa. Calm down. How are you feeling? Do you think you can sit up? I absolutely refuse to nurse this girl myself.”

“I’ll get some water right now!! Does anything hurt, Rose-chan?”

Rose could not keep up with what was happening. She was certain that just moments ago she had been atop a clock tower battered by torrential rain, where she had activated 《Takemikazuchi》….

(Ahh~, so that’s what happened~)

“I ran out of mana, huh~”

“Here’s some water! Yeah, you suddenly collapsed, so it really scared me. Mr. Darkness caught you—well, more like cushioned your fall—so I don’t think you’re injured.”

Rose accepted the cup of water from Konoha and slowly brought it to her lips. Now that she thought about it, her body felt light as well. They had probably even used healing magic on her.

“Just so we’re clear, I had no intention of helping you. But Konoha insisted, so I had no choice. Be grateful.”

Meiro turned away and tossed Rose her freshly washed robe. Rose caught it, slowly pushed aside the blanket, and climbed out of bed.

“Ahaha… thanks. So, what are you after?”

Rose thought about it. The Fulgaud Family was now considered one of the greatest groups of traitors in the Kingdom. As the foolish clan that had raised its weapons against the current king, Elkdreil VIII, people looked upon them with open contempt. Since they had kept Rose, the head of that Fulgaud Family, alive, she assumed they must intend to use her as leverage in some negotiation.

Yet contrary to Rose’s expectations, Konoha’s response was so carefree that it completely deflated her tension.

“I’m not after anything. I helped you because we’re friends♪ Oh, do you want bread for breakfast? We have rice too.”

“…I don’t understand. I’m a member of the traitorous Fulgaud clan. Its head. If you handed me over, you’d probably get an incredible reward, you know?”

“Are you making fun of us? Unfortunately for you, we’re not short on money. Now hurry up and choose bread or rice, Melon Boobs. I’m starving.”

“That’s what I mean… Why are you going this far for me? There’s nothing in it for you….”

Even Rose, who rarely got angry, was starting to become irritated. No, she was not angry about being called Melon Boobs, all right?

“Rose-chan, do you think I saved you because I wanted something from you?”

Konoha asked sadly. Rose faltered at the expression on her face. Had she truly saved her simply because she wanted to become friends? That could not be true. After all—

“Yeah~. Everyone who ever approached me either wanted to kill me or invite me to join their rebellion~. Maybe you’re the latter? If so, that would make sen—”

“Rose-chan!”

Rose flinched. Konoha’s desperate expression overwhelmed her.

“If you say anything more, I’m going to get angry.”

Rose felt guilty. Even so, she could not believe her.

“Why…? Then why did you save me? Why… are you being kind to me?”

Her voice trembled. Rose genuinely could not understand. Her dark past had made her that way. The fun memories Rose once had, the happy memories—every emotion tied to them had been lost.

But Konoha’s resolve did not change.

“Isn’t it obvious? Because I want to officially become your friend, Rose-chan. Because I like you. That’s all.”

Rose involuntarily stepped backward before those forceful eyes and clear gaze. Despite herself, she thought—

(Why? Why did I feel ‘happy’ just now? I thought I threw that feeling away two years ago. I don’t understand. I don’t understand. I don’t understand, Mr. Darkness….)

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand you, Konoha. Can I really think of you as my friend? Even after learning my secret, you still want to be friends with me? Why? Why would you?”

“Because I like you, Rose-chan! Your smile is really cute, you have this incredibly soothing atmosphere, you talk in such a funny way, you give people funny nicknames, and sometimes you smile like you’re trying to hide something. I want to know more about that Rose-chan. And I want you to learn more about me and Meiro-chan too. So—”

Konoha hugged Rose. Rose flinched at the sudden contact, but Konoha only hugged her tighter.

“I want you to be my friend. Is that okay, Rose-chan?”

Once again, Konoha’s words overlapped with that girl’s.

‘Let’s be friends!! My name is Harey! Harey Viteroot! Nice to meet you, Rose!!’

(They were memories I thought I had lost. But they were still there, deep inside my heart. I still had a human heart left inside me….)

Tears spilled from Rose’s eyes. When they fell onto Konoha’s clothes, Rose hurriedly tried to pull away, but Konoha would not let her go. Wrapped in that warmth, Rose continued to cry. Konoha gently rubbed her back. Meiro quietly watched over the two of them.

“I-I’m okay now~. Thanks, Kono-non.”

“Mmm, I kinda want to keep hugging you a little longer. Your boobs are really big, Rose-chan! I’m jealous~”

“W-wait, Kono-non!? Hyaa!”

“Here, here~! Are there any itchy spots, ma’am?”

“Nnh! N-no, don’t… ngh! Hyaaaaaah!”

Konoha kneaded Rose’s breasts. Rose, who was unused to physical affection, let out sweet cries beneath Konoha’s touch.

“Stop that, Konoha. And Melon Boobs, I’d appreciate it if you stopped making weird noises.”

“Stop calling her that! Meiro-chan, you have to get along with her from now on too, okay?”

“I’m not her friend.”

“Mei-chan is a tsundere~!”

“Kh! You really are an annoying child.”

The atmosphere gradually grew warmer and more relaxed. Rose seemed to have calmed down to some extent as well. Seeing that, Konoha made a decision.

“Rose-chan. You already told us your secret, so now I’m going to tell you mine.”

“____!? Konoha, that’s—!”

“What is it~?”

“It’s okay. Rose-chan is my friend… I think we can trust her.”

“…”

Rose tilted her head. Konoha brought up her status screen and showed it to Rose.

“Eh!? Th-this is….”

“I’m Kushibiki Konoha. Hikari is a fake name. Well, I guess it’s not exactly fake—my real name is 【Moonlight】, and I’m the 【Demon King】. Though I don’t really know where that name came from….”

“D-Demon King? Eh, ah, whaaat!?”

“See? Now you’ve made a rare shocked face.”

“B-but the Demon King, as in that Demon King!? I heard something about one coming back, so I was thinking I could use them to help bring down the royal capital or something!?”

“Strategically speaking, that makes sense, but it’s not something you should say in front of the person herself. Yes, Konoha is the genuine Demon King. The third Demon King, Moonlight, following Couperin’s Tomb and Pavane for a Dead Princess. Apparently, the name is determined by a divine revelation from Full Moon-sama. I don’t know the details, though.”

Rose stared in shock while Konoha smiled awkwardly. Well, it was understandable. When people here heard “Demon King,” they imagined the same sort of thing we would. After all, historical records never described what the Demon Kings actually looked like.

“Judging from those skeletons, perhaps all Demon Kings have been humanoid. In any case, you aren’t the only one carrying an unbearably heavy burden, Rose. So relax.”

“Also, Meiro-chan doesn’t remember anything about her past, not even her own name. I was the one who named her Meiro!”

“Wow~, that’s heavy~. Way heavier than the secret I was imagining~”

It seemed this was going to become one very troubled party. Afterward, Konoha even explained how she had come to this world, adding yet another heavy secret to the pile.

“A Hero from another world, huh~. I figured we’d eventually clash~. My allies were supposed to keep your group occupied, though.”

“I don’t really want to go back to them…. Oh, right. We still haven’t heard your story, Rose-chan.”

“My story?”

Konoha turned to face Rose.

“Why are you trying to change the Kingdom? Why did people start calling you a traitor? I want you to tell me.”

“…It’ll be a long story, and probably not a very interesting one~?”

“That’s okay. Because we’re friends, I’ll listen to all of it. I want to hear it. And I want to accept it. I’m on your side, Rose-chan.”

“…”

Rose hesitated briefly, then opened her mouth.

Grrrrrrrrr.

“Meiro-chan, that timing was terrible….”

“Come to think of it, we still haven’t eaten~. I completely forgot~”

“Kill me… Just kill me… Uuuuh.”

Meiro crouched down, her face bright red. Konoha stroked her head to comfort her.

“Then let’s talk while we eat. This is your inn, right, Kono-non? I doubt our voices will carry into the next room, so yeah, let’s do that♪”

“Sounds good!! I’ll get everything ready, so you comfort Meiro-chan.”

“Uuuugh, my cool persona….”

“You haven’t had that persona for ages~”