Speaker 1: Our story begins in the dark castle of the current
Speaker 1: Demon Lord of this era. The outward appearance and atmosphere
Speaker 1: of the castle were harsh and unforgiving, befitting the presiding
Speaker 1: Lord tonight is vastly different from a normal one. The
Speaker 1: massive gates of the Demon Lord's chambers have been forcefully
Speaker 1: kicked open. A sinister smile crept up on the Demon
Speaker 1: Lord's mouth, as there was only one person who could
Speaker 1: have gotten this far into her domain, the legendary hero.
Speaker 1: That's right, the brave Hero has finally reached the last
Speaker 1: step of any hero's mission, and that's entering the Demon
Speaker 1: Lord's throne room and presumably fighting to the death. This
Speaker 1: means that this era's hero is not only strong, but
Speaker 1: courageous enough to come and challenge the overlord of the
Speaker 1: powerful demon race. The Demon Lord gave her praise to
Speaker 1: the hero for toughing it out and braving his way
Speaker 1: to get this far. It is brave, stupid, and most
Speaker 1: likely the final act that he will ever do in
Speaker 1: his life. But before the exchanging of blows, drawing of blood,
Speaker 1: gritting of teeth even happens in the supposed final fight,
Speaker 1: the sound of a blade dropping to the cold, hard
Speaker 1: floors can already be heard. This was not what the
Speaker 1: Demon Lord was expecting at all. She was all in
Speaker 1: on fighting tooth and nail to prevail against the champion
Speaker 1: of the human race, after all. Instead, what she got
Speaker 1: was a young man with crimson hair and dead eyes,
Speaker 1: crying while laughing like a crazy person. He looked disheveled
Speaker 1: and tired. Instead of the perfect picture of a valiant
Speaker 1: hero challenging the evil overlord, this guy was stumbling and
Speaker 1: mumbling his words to just end him now. So, in
Speaker 1: a bizarre twist of fate, no fights happened that night.
Speaker 1: The hero was instead pulled into the demon Lord's lap
Speaker 1: as she pats his head with one hand while smoking
Speaker 1: a cigarette on the other. She asserted that in life,
Speaker 1: both good and bad things happen. Giving up your own
Speaker 1: after one or two bad events is never the way
Speaker 1: to go. She inwardly thought that humans are such cruel creatures,
Speaker 1: and this boy is evidence of that. They forced a
Speaker 1: seventeen year old, handsome boy to fight against an all
Speaker 1: powerful being, a demon lord like her. The poor young
Speaker 1: man was pulled out from a different world and was
Speaker 1: forced to risk his own life to protect a stupid king,
Speaker 1: his poorly treated slaves, and the endlessly corrupt kingdom. And
Speaker 1: so this is how the story of a depressed hero
Speaker 1: and the demon Queen started. Where will this story go,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but it will definitely be interesting. Without
Speaker 1: any special reason, the demon Queen has decided to take
Speaker 1: care of the handsome young hero for now. She went
Speaker 1: as far as tending to him, giving him a comfortable
Speaker 1: bed to sleep on, while she spends her day sitting nearby,
Speaker 1: just lounging around and chainsmoking. Still, the irony was not
Speaker 1: lost on her. She was the demon lord of this
Speaker 1: realm after all. Helping the hero whose main quest is
Speaker 1: to ultimately kill her is a little odd, to say
Speaker 1: the least. After some time, the young man had finally
Speaker 1: opened his tired and bloodshot eyes slowly. The first thing
Speaker 1: he did was ask where he was, and he immediately
Speaker 1: heard a familiar voice perk up nearby. He thought that
Speaker 1: he had finally fulfilled his wish to die and was
Speaker 1: just chilling in paradise. Now. That thought made him contort
Speaker 1: his mouth into a weird looking smile combined with his
Speaker 1: dead eyes. The daemon lord saw this and jumped in fright.
Speaker 1: This young man had such a creepy smile. Once he
Speaker 1: finally realized that he was not alone in this room,
Speaker 1: he also jumped in fright and promptly asked if Madame
Speaker 1: Demon Lord had also somehow died and joined him in paradise.
Speaker 1: She quickly dispelled that assumption. Though the depressed Hero felt
Speaker 1: his body's various injuries and reckoned that he was still alive,
Speaker 1: the next question in his mind was where in the
Speaker 1: hell he really was. She casually explained that they are
Speaker 1: in one of the rooms of the Demon Lord's castle.
Speaker 1: On account of the Hero crying so much that his
Speaker 1: eyes turned as red as his hair and eventually fell
Speaker 1: asleep on her lap. That's when the demon Queen herself
Speaker 1: carried him over to rest in this room. Now that
Speaker 1: he was given the rundown of the situation, the next
Speaker 1: thing he wants to know is when does this woman
Speaker 1: plan to finally kill him. She lazily answered that there
Speaker 1: won't be any killing happening. She just won't kill the hero,
Speaker 1: at least not now. Instead of feeling relief from hearing
Speaker 1: that he gets to keep his life, he looked even
Speaker 1: more down trodden and disappointed. Instead, the halls of the
Speaker 1: Demon Lord's castle looked dark and bleak, the only source
Speaker 1: of light in the room being the moonlight from the
Speaker 1: open windows and the spark of the Demon Queen's cigarette.
Speaker 1: As she walked through her domain, she couldn't help but
Speaker 1: ponder just what in the world was wrong with this hero. Also,
Speaker 1: he's been here for quite some time now, and she
Speaker 1: doesn't even know his name. Thinking about him constantly got
Speaker 1: her blushing just a little bit. That guy was weird,
Speaker 1: or maybe she got it all wrong and she was
Speaker 1: the one being weird in this scenario. She was running
Speaker 1: errands all around the castle when she was halted by
Speaker 1: the sight of a bright light coming from the front.
Speaker 1: On the massive balcony on one side of the castle
Speaker 1: stood the young man that she rescued. He was just
Speaker 1: standing there, unmoving, like a statue, under the bright light
Speaker 1: of the shining stars and the night sky. It made
Speaker 1: the Demon Queen pause. She walked closer and asked the
Speaker 1: hero if he was enjoying the stars tonight. The young
Speaker 1: man barely paid any attention to her, let alone her
Speaker 1: casual question. He just gave a nonchalant high. Then the
Speaker 1: young man stated that when he looks at the star
Speaker 1: he remembers one of his good friends. To that personal
Speaker 1: bit of information, the Demon Queen did not know how
Speaker 1: to respond. She might not know what words to say,
Speaker 1: but the beauty of the night sky reflected upon her
Speaker 1: eye and beautiful face were plenty enough as a response.
Speaker 1: The Demon Queen thought that this might just be the
Speaker 1: right time to ask the hero his name. The brief
Speaker 1: look of life in his eyes was gone once again.
Speaker 1: After hearing that question. He had almost forgotten his original name.
Speaker 1: Everyone in this world just calls him a hero. Sometimes
Speaker 1: people call him hey, or kill the monster, or little
Speaker 1: shit or untalented dumbass monster, and many more. Demon Queen
Speaker 1: reeled him back a little and clarified that she wanted
Speaker 1: to know what his parents named him. That clears things
Speaker 1: up nicely, The Hero's name is a Tommy. While still
Speaker 1: looking up at the stars, not letting her eyes let
Speaker 1: go for a second, the Demon Queen wanted to present
Speaker 1: Etami with an offer. Hearing those words come out of
Speaker 1: her mouth in such a sultry voice made the depressed
Speaker 1: hero blush. His tears were starting to well up again.
Speaker 1: For some reason. She noticed this and was confused once again.
Speaker 1: It seems like this guy really likes crying every time
Speaker 1: they interact with each other. Etami started trying his hardest
Speaker 1: to wipe the tears away, but they just kept on
Speaker 1: flowing out. It's just that in this cruel world, he
Speaker 1: was called by his original name only two times. He
Speaker 1: was just glad to hear it again after a long time.
Speaker 1: She did not think that it was that big of
Speaker 1: a deal. She did not think that the human world
Speaker 1: had been even harsher on this young man than she
Speaker 1: initially thought. Demon Queen wanted to continue what she wanted
Speaker 1: to say. When she was about to call him Hero,
Speaker 1: she made the conscious decision to stop herself midway through.
Speaker 1: She wanted to call him by his real name, not
Speaker 1: by the name entitle that the Kingdom has forcefully thrust
Speaker 1: upon him. Etami, the sympathetic Demon Queen, took a quick
Speaker 1: step back, turning to Atami with a wide smile that
Speaker 1: flashed her adorably terrifying monster fang. With her arms stretched wide.
Speaker 1: Along with that beautiful smile on that blushing face, her
Speaker 1: demonic wings did not look so grim at all. She
Speaker 1: announced that starting today, Etami is free to live in
Speaker 1: her castle and serve the role of being her personal bodyguard.
Speaker 1: She promised that everyone would be calling him by his
Speaker 1: real name from now on. The sight of this supposedly
Speaker 1: ruthless demon overlord looked more like an angel sent from above.
Speaker 1: In Etami's perspective. Every time she says his name, his
Speaker 1: broken heart repairs itself bit by bit. And when she
Speaker 1: finally said that he would be happy here, the tears
Speaker 1: that were born from grief and debilitating sadness were replaced
Speaker 1: with tears of comfort and hope. For the second time
Speaker 1: in his life, Etami's wounded heart and soul began to heal,
Speaker 1: ever so slightly. The emotion filled night has passed and
Speaker 1: the sun has risen on the Demon Lord's castle. Ittami
Speaker 1: and the Queen were walking the halls together. It's a
Speaker 1: good thing that the demons in here don't know how
Speaker 1: the hero actually looks. Like this way, Etami can freely
Speaker 1: roam the castle under the guise of a new human ally.
Speaker 1: That last bit of information came quite as a surprise.
Speaker 1: He did not know that the demon faction had human
Speaker 1: allies to the point of making it possible for him
Speaker 1: to roam the castle without any demon batting an eye.
Speaker 1: She confirmed that they do have some arrangements with a
Speaker 1: few selected humans. Besides Atami, there are three more people
Speaker 1: that are formerly members of the Demon Lord army, though
Speaker 1: they are in human kingdoms right now as spies. On
Speaker 1: an unrelated note, she actually wanted to bring up something
Speaker 1: extremely important to Atami. She looked at him and only
Speaker 1: now noticed the sorry state of the young man. This
Speaker 1: guy was wearing a tattered, homeless hoodie and shitty pants.
Speaker 1: His whole fit was cooked from head to toe. It
Speaker 1: was abysmal. The Demon Queen's eyes lingered on his hands.
Speaker 1: They were full of battle scars from who knows how
Speaker 1: many death defying duels that he endured. When she continued
Speaker 1: scanning him up and down, she just had to ask
Speaker 1: how many times and when was the last time this
Speaker 1: young man had even changed his clothes. Iami meekly explained
Speaker 1: that he hasn't had the chance to change clothes since
Speaker 1: arriving in this foreign world. That cannot be possible, as
Speaker 1: far as the Demon Queen knows. The hero was summoned
Speaker 1: two years ago and the human king announced his arrival
Speaker 1: to shock the entire world. Back then, that was actually
Speaker 1: false information, as Etami arrived in this foreign world two
Speaker 1: and a half years ago. For the first confusing half
Speaker 1: year in this place, he was chained to a table
Speaker 1: where a creepy guy conducted painful and inhumane experiments on
Speaker 1: him day in day out. After that torturous six months,
Speaker 1: he was sent out into the world, with the merciless
Speaker 1: King assigning him so many quests that he had no
Speaker 1: time to even change his clothes. It was so bad
Speaker 1: that he had no time to even take a bath
Speaker 1: even if he wanted to. Just when the Demon Queen
Speaker 1: thought it could not get any worse, Atami just casually
Speaker 1: dropped a new trauma bomb while they were strolling the castle.
Speaker 1: She almost teared up after hearing this inhumane treatment of
Speaker 1: a poor and confused young man in the hands of humanity.
Speaker 1: Demon Queen felt so bad that she was compelled to
Speaker 1: give him new clothes. And now that Atami has mentioned it,
Speaker 1: the smell of death really does follow him wherever he goes,
Speaker 1: and it was not just in a metaphorical sense. He
Speaker 1: literally smells like his odor can kill a man outrightly
Speaker 1: before close. What Etami needs is a bath, and an
Speaker 1: extremely urgent one at that. He just smells so bad
Speaker 1: that even the demonic overlord could not bear it a
Speaker 1: sudden Valentine's Day poster in your feed, just to remind
Speaker 1: all the single guys that even a depressed hero has
Speaker 1: a girlfriend and they don't. There will definitely be more
Speaker 1: depressed heroes in reality after this, and to cope with
Speaker 1: their depression, they will have to go in search of
Speaker 1: their personal demon queen who will become the queen of
Speaker 1: their heart. Let's go back to our story. Today's mission
Speaker 1: is getting a Tommy a new set of clothes to
Speaker 1: get him out of his stinky starter kit. There is
Speaker 1: one Castle attendant that could help with that problem. Her
Speaker 1: name is Sibet, and the Demon Queen needs her as
Speaker 1: soon as possible. This tanned, demonic maid with a single
Speaker 1: horn on the left side of her head was just
Speaker 1: one call away to attend to her master's demands. Her
Speaker 1: curtsey might look graceful and full of disciple, but in reality,
Speaker 1: Sibet is quite a troublemaker. That smug smile alone is
Speaker 1: an obvious sign that she is not your typical subservient
Speaker 1: and well behaved made. The Demon Queen was surprisingly respectful
Speaker 1: to her attendant. She takes care of her people very well.
Speaker 1: She promptly introduced to Tommy to Sebet, the demon Queen's
Speaker 1: personal maid and good friend. Sabet respectfully curtseyed with grace
Speaker 1: once again, but the look she started giving him after
Speaker 1: that was quite sticky curious. She did not hesitate to
Speaker 1: get right into his business, trying to touch him while
Speaker 1: praising his nice looking face. He might look good, but
Speaker 1: he looks weak. In Sibet's opinion, that's only natural, since
Speaker 1: he's human after all. Sibet turned to the demon Queen,
Speaker 1: expressing her doubts about whether Etami could even last one minute.
Speaker 1: The demon Queen and the former hero had no clue
Speaker 1: about what this one minute thing she was talking about.
Speaker 1: The maid gladly elaborated that there is only one thing
Speaker 1: that a five zero zero year old demon queen needs,
Speaker 1: and she explained in the most family friendly way possible
Speaker 1: through hands, it's about time for their queen to do
Speaker 1: the deed, after all. If she was not being straightforward enough,
Speaker 1: Sibat just outrightly blurted out that the queen should finally
Speaker 1: lose her virginity or be one forever, and if the
Speaker 1: demon Queen does not hurry, Sibat might just go ahead
Speaker 1: and steal this new boy from her master outrightly jump
Speaker 1: his bones and all that. As they say, the demon
Speaker 1: Queen had to hurry up and grab it Tommy to
Speaker 1: cover his ears. While she instantly gave Sibet a salary
Speaker 1: cut for being so inappropriate. That stunt earned her minus
Speaker 1: one thousand gold coins. Based on her grim reaction, it
Speaker 1: seems like this was quite a regular occurrence for the
Speaker 1: unruly succubists made and something tells me that it is
Speaker 1: more or less for the same reason every time she
Speaker 1: was reminded of the anecdote that a boss who cuts
Speaker 1: your salary to minus a thousand is like a dragon
Speaker 1: who sheds its scales, it reveals its true form. It's
Speaker 1: time to go back to the original business of why
Speaker 1: they even called Sibet in the first place. New clothes
Speaker 1: for a tommy in this massive castle, they don't really
Speaker 1: have new clothes that will fit the frame of an
Speaker 1: average human. But what they have are the demon Queen's
Speaker 1: brother's wardrobe. Maybe one of those outfits will fit the
Speaker 1: young man. Cibet was quite reliable when it comes to
Speaker 1: these things. She really thinks things through when it comes
Speaker 1: to what's best for the queen in the castle. But
Speaker 1: still her succubis brain gets in the way from time
Speaker 1: to time. The exact moment when that happens was pretty
Speaker 1: easy to spot. It's when a bright blush appears on
Speaker 1: her tanned skin. Of course, the demon Queen can easily
Speaker 1: read what this unruly made was thinking in just a
Speaker 1: single look for a fraction of a second, and she
Speaker 1: won't has it to screw her head back in with
Speaker 1: a punch when Sibet starts thinking of lewd stuff. Today's
Speaker 1: clothing mission has led them to the castle's storage room,
Speaker 1: where some of the Queen's brother's clothes are quietly put away.
Speaker 1: There are mountains upon mountains of garments of many different
Speaker 1: kinds in this massive room. The three of them had
Speaker 1: to split up in hopes of finding something that will
Speaker 1: fit a Tommy. What's surprising is that these heaps of
Speaker 1: clothing belong to just one person. He must be quite
Speaker 1: a fashionista. Thinking about it pissed off the Demon Queen
Speaker 1: out of nowhere. Right now, her brother's girlfriend likes dressing
Speaker 1: him up like a doll. That was why his original
Speaker 1: wardrobe has been thrown to fill up this storage room.
Speaker 1: Ittomy was quite worried that the brother would mind if
Speaker 1: they took his clothes without permission, but the queen was
Speaker 1: quite certain that it would be okay. That brother of
Speaker 1: hers never wore these clothes anyways, He just likes to
Speaker 1: wear that one black coat that she gave him some
Speaker 1: time ago. Upon quite a decent chunk of time, looking
Speaker 1: through the mountains of fabrics, Sibet finally found something that
Speaker 1: caught her eyes and could fit a Toami. The queen
Speaker 1: then turned to the former and nonchalantly ordered him to
Speaker 1: undress so they could see how well it would fit.
Speaker 1: Ittami was quite prone to giving in to pressure, so
Speaker 1: he immediately started undressing in front of the two ladies,
Speaker 1: slowly exposing his toned body. The two women, seeing this,
Speaker 1: felt like lightning just struck them both. The demon queen
Speaker 1: even paused her chainsmoking for a while in shock. Iamy
Speaker 1: cluelessly looked at both of them and asked why they
Speaker 1: were looking at him weirdly, as if his ripped body
Speaker 1: riddled with scars everywhere, was not weird at all. Demons,
Speaker 1: no matter how brazen they might be, consider it rude
Speaker 1: to ask about scars. It's a cultural thing. But they
Speaker 1: both really wanted to ask Atami about his abnormal number
Speaker 1: of marks. Finally, after looking like a homeless bum for
Speaker 1: two and a half years, the former hero looked at
Speaker 1: least decent. Now he might not look like a valiant hero,
Speaker 1: but he looks nice. Of course, if you ask the
Speaker 1: Succubis in the room, she will gladly confess that Etami
Speaker 1: looked a lot better without any clothes on, pants and all.
Speaker 1: The Demon Queen had to step in and threaten to
Speaker 1: cut her salary for the second time today, or Ciba
Speaker 1: might have just jumped to Tommy right then and there
Speaker 1: when no one's around. The Demon Queen's personal maid likes
Speaker 1: calling her by her given name Calli. Today, she was
Speaker 1: busy with paperwork and se Bet wanted to give her
Speaker 1: a drink break. Demon Queen Calli does not like getting
Speaker 1: interrupted in the middle of work. But sea Bet was
Speaker 1: just way too curious as to where in the world
Speaker 1: did a Tommy got that many scars all over his body.
Speaker 1: Calli had some ideas, but it's hard to say where
Speaker 1: the young man got those marks without revealing the fact
Speaker 1: that he's the legendary hero. But anyone could easily tell
Speaker 1: that the guy has fought against monsters often. Sea BET's
Speaker 1: first thought was that a Tommy might have been a
Speaker 1: former adventurer or something, which was a reasonable theory. Calle
Speaker 1: neither confirmed nor denied her personal attendance assumption. Still, as
Speaker 1: far as Sibet knows, not even a demon can endure
Speaker 1: that many grisly wounds on someone's body. Besides, the mind
Speaker 1: suffers from wounds at that scale and quantity too. The
Speaker 1: Queen did not take that into account. It's just another
Speaker 1: addition to the pile of anguish that the young man
Speaker 1: has suffered. She knew all too well that constant battles
Speaker 1: are dangerous for the mind, especially battling against someone like
Speaker 1: her little brother. This little detail did not escape Sibet's
Speaker 1: sharp ears. Calli just slipped up and revealed that Atami
Speaker 1: had fought against the Queen's brother. Calli did not mince
Speaker 1: words any longer. She could easily deduce that Atami had
Speaker 1: fought her little brother at some point in time. Only
Speaker 1: her little bro could leave someone looking like that. But
Speaker 1: this was quite a revelation to her personal maid. That
Speaker 1: just means that Atami is supremely strong. Fighting against that
Speaker 1: monster is one thing, Surviving is another. On top of that,
Speaker 1: Etami is clearly just a weak human. On that note,
Speaker 1: Sibet remembered something crucial regarding this subject. Her voice started
Speaker 1: shaking as she informed the Queen that her brother would
Speaker 1: be returning to the castle to day. If those two
Speaker 1: meet each other now, there's no telling what might happen. Actually,
Speaker 1: there's no need to theorize what would happen any more.
Speaker 1: What Sibet was fearing was already underway. In the lobby
Speaker 1: of the Demon Lord's castle. Itami and the Queen's brother,
Speaker 1: who still have bandages covering the wounds all over his body,
Speaker 1: had already seen each other in this unlikely place. They
Speaker 1: laid eyes on each other, enemies that have fought and
Speaker 1: beaten each other within an inch of their life. They
Speaker 1: held neither animosity nor fear. But Lilbro was not going
Speaker 1: to let this human roam the castle casually like this.
Speaker 1: He told to Tommy to call his sword right this second.
Speaker 1: They had a gentleman's promise between them. Ittami swore that
Speaker 1: he will kill himself. For a moment, a different kind
Speaker 1: of smile surfaced on the former hero's face. He then
Speaker 1: raised his scarred hand to call his blade Sagi. He
Speaker 1: remembered the promise they made to each other. The legendary
Speaker 1: blade Sagi came bolting through the halls of the castle
Speaker 1: with incredible speeds, eventually finding its rightful place in a
Speaker 1: Tommy's hand. It's about time they fulfilled that promise between
Speaker 1: the two of them, whatever that may be. It was
Speaker 1: nearing dusk, and the two men went outside of the
Speaker 1: Demon Lord's castle to settle their differences. The way they
Speaker 1: would do it was as straightforward as it came. Ittami
Speaker 1: was obviously nervous as he stumbled over his words. He
Speaker 1: started the countdown, priming his hands forward as he counted
Speaker 1: from three. The Queen's brother looked him directly in the eye,
Speaker 1: seemingly sizing up the former hero. As he counted down
Speaker 1: to two, dark circles were apparent around to Tommy's eyes,
Speaker 1: but there was a new luster of life in them
Speaker 1: compared to when he first barged into the Demon Queen's
Speaker 1: throne room. He counted down to one. He began the
Speaker 1: fight by ordering his legendary sword Sagi to jump right
Speaker 1: into the fray. It was so fast that it whistled
Speaker 1: through the air, the blade swerving unpredictably, making it incredibly
Speaker 1: hard to avoid. But Lil Bro was quite a skilled fighter.
Speaker 1: He was a monster of the Demon Lord's army, after all.
Speaker 1: He casually jumped and hopped onto the legendary blade like
Speaker 1: it was a skateboard. Still, this was not the way
Speaker 1: to deal with a flying sword at all. He was
Speaker 1: now riding the blade, but its speed did not decrease
Speaker 1: even a single notch. Itttomy was awe struck by how
Speaker 1: bizarre Lil Brow responded to his fast paced attack as
Speaker 1: he called Sagi back to his hand. Both fighters were
Speaker 1: quite absent minded in this fight. They did not make
Speaker 1: the moves they would have otherwise made to neutralize the opponent.
Speaker 1: They even made the amateur mistake of accidentally bumping against
Speaker 1: each other once Sagi was beckoned back. Now they both
Speaker 1: lay on the ground. There weren't any significant injuries this
Speaker 1: time around. All Lilbro and a Tommy could say was
Speaker 1: holy shit. Soggi was also strewn on the dirt between them.
Speaker 1: There was a knowing silence between the two fighters for
Speaker 1: a moment. Then Lilbro started smirking, as if he were
Speaker 1: stifling an incoming laugh, until he could not hold it
Speaker 1: back anymore. He started laughing as if he had never
Speaker 1: experienced anything funnier than this stunt in his life. He
Speaker 1: knew that this young man with crimson hair did not
Speaker 1: even try to dodge the incoming collision between them when
Speaker 1: he was perfectly capable of doing so. Lil Bro was
Speaker 1: holding his stomach, dying laughing at the thought of such
Speaker 1: a sloppy second round fight when their first one was anything.
Speaker 1: But he continued to laugh while Atami's mind reeled about
Speaker 1: what he had just done. He really didn't dodge, In fact,
Speaker 1: he didn't even try. A second later, the two fighters
Speaker 1: were both dying laughing at the ridiculousness of everything between them.
Speaker 1: They didn't even know what was funny, but it was
Speaker 1: something that only the two of them shared. When the
Speaker 1: laughter slowly subsided, Lil Bro tapped the former hero on
Speaker 1: the shoulder and called his attention. They looked each other
Speaker 1: in the eyes, and it seemed like there was this
Speaker 1: special bond of brothers that survived a terrifying ordeal between them.
Speaker 1: It was like they knew each other on a profoundly
Speaker 1: deep level. Lilbro finally spoke honestly and told the former
Speaker 1: hero that he was glad that A Tommy was alive.
Speaker 1: It had been a few days since the young man
Speaker 1: had cried. But here he was again. Hearing those words
Speaker 1: from a supposed enemy made tears born from a special
Speaker 1: connection cascade down his eyes. These past few days or months,
Speaker 1: or however long it had been, it seemed like he
Speaker 1: had no control over his tear ducts and emotions at all.
Speaker 1: But today was different. He was in control, and he
Speaker 1: chose to let it all go. It was just like
Speaker 1: that night on the balcony with demon Queen Kali. Lil
Speaker 1: Bro called him out for crying like a little girl,
Speaker 1: but he got it. Meanwhile, two pairs of very suspicious
Speaker 1: eyes were clearly trying to peep from behind the foliage.
Speaker 1: Seabet was extremely confused. Just two months ago, these two
Speaker 1: almost killed each other to the point of morbid wounds
Speaker 1: and scars. But now they were talking like good friends,
Speaker 1: reuniting after a long time. Queen Calli just chalked it
Speaker 1: up to them being boys. Si Bete was a succubist
Speaker 1: skilled in the art of manipulating men, but even she
Speaker 1: found this boy's behavior weird and undecipherable, and Calli could
Speaker 1: not agree more. The battle from earlier might have ended
Speaker 1: up in a non confrontational manner, but Etami still felt
Speaker 1: drained after that encounter, mainly because of the emotional release.
Speaker 1: He kept pondering why he didn't even try to dodge.
Speaker 1: He recalled how the two of them sat there in
Speaker 1: the dirt with Soggi in between. Etami could actively recall
Speaker 1: Lilbro's sentiment of being really glad by the fact that
Speaker 1: he survived after all this time. It kind of made
Speaker 1: him feel the same way he felt when the demon
Speaker 1: Queen graciously gave him a place to live his life
Speaker 1: in the castle as the new Queen's bodyguard, her promise
Speaker 1: that everyone would call him by his real name from
Speaker 1: now on. In this room, he had only Sagi to
Speaker 1: talk to. He thought that he didn't deserve this light
Speaker 1: feeling that he was experiencing right this second. That might
Speaker 1: be the case, but he wanted to try. He wanted
Speaker 1: to at least try to live again among these demons
Speaker 1: that treated him so much better than the Kingdom of humanity.
Speaker 1: If he really wanted to go this route, the next
Speaker 1: thing he needed to figure out was how to even
Speaker 1: start At this juncture. He sat up as he was
Speaker 1: reminded of what his mother once said to him back
Speaker 1: in the day. A live person is a happy person.
Speaker 1: It was a pretty simple thought, but it could not
Speaker 1: be any more difficult to figure out for someone like
Speaker 1: Etami and his mountains of trauma and baggage. He knew
Speaker 1: that he was alive, so that was pretty much solved,
Speaker 1: but the trickier part to fathom was how in the
Speaker 1: world he could be happy despite everything he experienced. At
Speaker 1: that moment, the legendary blade Soggi seemingly hurt his dilemma
Speaker 1: and decided to respond in kind. It started emanating light
Speaker 1: from the gem on its hilt. Ittomy looked directly into
Speaker 1: the light, shocked at this surprising development. He was shown
Speaker 1: a vivid image of a little girl feeding a rabbit
Speaker 1: beast with a toothy grin, even though she was missing
Speaker 1: a tooth. The girl called him brother hero and asserted
Speaker 1: that happiness comes from giving and not receiving. Just look
Speaker 1: at her smile and how big it is despite not
Speaker 1: having perfect teeth. She doesn't care at all because because
Speaker 1: she's just so happy to have fed this rabbit to
Speaker 1: help a helpless being. Itami felt his head cleared up
Speaker 1: of any clouds. The answer was right there all along.
Speaker 1: Sagi just needed to guide and push him to it
Speaker 1: a little bit. The first step he wanted to do
Speaker 1: was to get out there into the world and do
Speaker 1: good for both his and other's sake. Itami just seemed
Speaker 1: a little too eager to even use the stairs, so
Speaker 1: he just jumped from the balcony out of his room,
Speaker 1: hero diving into the ground and asking one of the
Speaker 1: maids if she needs any help for anything. The maid
Speaker 1: was just doing her chores, singing without a care in
Speaker 1: the world, so she was shocked to hear and see
Speaker 1: the Queen's bodyguard appearing out of nowhere. Saibet was just
Speaker 1: doing her usual rounds around the castle and she saw
Speaker 1: this exact scene out in the courtyard. It Toammy was
Speaker 1: actually interacting with other people instead of gloomily isolating himself
Speaker 1: inside his room like usual. It was certainly a bizarre
Speaker 1: and new sight. She quietly watched from a distance as
Speaker 1: the young man bashfully helps the maid with her chores.
Speaker 1: The green haired maid was very into it. She was
Speaker 1: practically swooning as fireworks expled loaded in her heart and head.
Speaker 1: While Sibet was watching from afar, The first thing she
Speaker 1: thought about was demon Queen Cally and how her boy
Speaker 1: almost got stolen right under her nose. As if the
Speaker 1: exchanging of words and intimate glances were not enough, the
Speaker 1: two had already graduated to gradual physical touch in no time.
Speaker 1: Another day, another new shenanigan in the Peaceful Demon Lord's castle.
Speaker 1: Demon Queen Calli didn't even know what she was looking
Speaker 1: at in this situation. She just asked her personal maid, Sibit,
Speaker 1: if this thing was really necessary, with a grim expression
Speaker 1: on her face. The succubist resolutely answered that this was
Speaker 1: a matter that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
Speaker 1: She even went as far as essentially abducting poor a Tommy,
Speaker 1: securely tying him to a chair and gagging him with tape.
Speaker 1: This whole stunt looked utterly ridiculous to the Queen. Sibet
Speaker 1: just wanted her boss to wake up to the fact
Speaker 1: that her boy almost got stolen by another girl. Another
Speaker 1: maid in the castle, Callie didn't even know what this
Speaker 1: succubist was talking about, nor did she care too much.
Speaker 1: The maid felt sorry for her master. Sure she was
Speaker 1: the great demon Queen, adored by her people and feared
Speaker 1: by the enemy, but she was such a foolish woman.
Speaker 1: To this, Calli threatened to cut the maid's salary in half.
Speaker 1: But this type of intimidation tactic would not work anymore.
Speaker 1: It had gotten to the point that she could not
Speaker 1: cut what didn't exist anymore. Etami had lived in the
Speaker 1: demon Lord's castle for only two weeks now, and in
Speaker 1: that short span of time he kept on doing selfless
Speaker 1: deeds that led to the establishment of a fan club
Speaker 1: of some sort. The members included the maid girls and
Speaker 1: even the queen's little brother. This time, it had become
Speaker 1: clear to Calli just what was at stake. She finally
Speaker 1: saw what her personal maid was so desperately trying to
Speaker 1: make her look at. With these two fearsome women teaming up,
Speaker 1: it was not looking good for our boy. Sibet had
Speaker 1: an inkling of an idea she read somewhere that if
Speaker 1: they cut a male creature's balls, he would become calmer
Speaker 1: by nature. Calli was blinded by the rage that was
Speaker 1: building up. She agreed that Etami did not need those
Speaker 1: balls anyway. Saybet was just glad that her master was
Speaker 1: finally on board after being so blind for so long.
Speaker 1: The duo immediately set out to find scissors. Etami was
Speaker 1: all already freaking out as he heard this ridiculously unhinged conversation.
Speaker 1: He was helplessly bound and gagged so he could not
Speaker 1: even scream when the two finally decided that they would
Speaker 1: just use a sword after failing to find scissors. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Lil Brow and his tall, blonde girlfriend were visiting and
Speaker 1: paying respects to someone's grave not far from the castle.
Speaker 1: It was at this moment that he felt a tingling sensation.
Speaker 1: The brotherly connection he shared with a Tommy made him
Speaker 1: feel as if something was incredibly wrong. This prompted him
Speaker 1: to cut the grave visit short, as he needed to
Speaker 1: go right now and fast. Somehow, someway, he knew that
Speaker 1: his friend needed him, so Lil Bro ran as fast
Speaker 1: as he could to reach the castle right away. Inside
Speaker 1: the demon Queen's office, the two women were still debating
Speaker 1: on the exact method to cut Etami's balls off. They
Speaker 1: feared that if they used a sword, the young man
Speaker 1: might die, as humans just have inherently weak bodies. Unbeknownst
Speaker 1: to them, Lil Bro had already snuck in. He tried
Speaker 1: his best to figure out how to untie the bindings,
Speaker 1: but Sebet was just too good at it. For some reason,
Speaker 1: he did not even know what Etami did to deserve
Speaker 1: them treatment. Calli was starting to consider just leaving the
Speaker 1: former hero tied up for the rest of his life
Speaker 1: so they wouldn't have to cut his balls off. That
Speaker 1: plan might not work, though, Lilbro was just dragging the
Speaker 1: whole chair to get out of this place. First and foremost,
Speaker 1: Sibet wanted to propose another plan, but Calli already knew
Speaker 1: that it would most likely be lewed, so she stopped
Speaker 1: the maid from elaborating further. The next day arrived and
Speaker 1: it was as if the almost neutering event had never happened.
Speaker 1: Itami was lounging around the castle halls looking at a
Speaker 1: lone flyer posted on one of the imposing pillars when
Speaker 1: Queen Calli happened upon him during her usual rounds. He
Speaker 1: was so engrossed in reading the flyer that he didn't
Speaker 1: even notice the queen until she spoke up and asked
Speaker 1: him what he was looking at. The former hero was
Speaker 1: extremely fascinated by the fireworks flyer posted up. He didn't
Speaker 1: know that demons celebrated the Fireworks Festival too. It turned
Speaker 1: out that it was an interracial holiday celebrated by all
Speaker 1: every race on this continent had its own version of
Speaker 1: the fireworks festival. That's because on this day, everyone remembered
Speaker 1: those who were no longer with them. In this world,
Speaker 1: death was a universal experience, so it was only fitting
Speaker 1: that everyone celebrated those who had passed. Etomi was clearly
Speaker 1: fixated not just on the flyer, but on the event itself.
Speaker 1: Queen Calli could see that, so she went ahead and
Speaker 1: asked the young man if he wanted to go to
Speaker 1: the festival. Without a second thought it to me answered
Speaker 1: that he would like to, but he had the duties
Speaker 1: of serving as Calli's bodyguard, sticking to her closely at
Speaker 1: every waking hour. At times like this, he should be
Speaker 1: ready to protect the Queen in case something unexpected happened.
Speaker 1: Calli was kind of surprised to hear something very logical
Speaker 1: from this boy. Still, she knew that he badly wanted
Speaker 1: to go to the firework ceremony. Looking at his hands.
Speaker 1: He was even clutching a recipe for a firework tightly.
Speaker 1: She inwardly thought that a Tommy must have really wanted
Speaker 1: to go for some reason. Of course, there's a reasonable
Speaker 1: compromise to this. If he couldn't go without her, then
Speaker 1: they should just go together. The look in his eyes
Speaker 1: was quite dim, as if remembering something or someone. Demon
Speaker 1: Queen Cally started blushing at the fact that if she
Speaker 1: brought up the possibilit of going to the festival together,
Speaker 1: it would totally look and sound like she was asking
Speaker 1: him out on a date. Thinking that it wouldn't be
Speaker 1: too bad, she just brute forced her way out of
Speaker 1: the awkwardness and blurted out the question of maybe going
Speaker 1: to the fireworks festival together. She sounded composed, but her
Speaker 1: blush told a different story. She continued that since she
Speaker 1: also wanted to go to the festival, they might as
Speaker 1: well just go together to diffuse some of the thick tension.
Speaker 1: Now she wasn't the only one blushing it. Tommy was
Speaker 1: getting read up to his ears too. It seemed like
Speaker 1: the plan was locked in, but first they needed to
Speaker 1: give that firework recipe that a Tommy was holding so
Speaker 1: tightly to the demon firework Master. This whole interaction was,
Speaker 1: of course, under the scrutiny of three very familiar figures
Speaker 1: hiding inside a potted plant. Lil Bro felt like his
Speaker 1: ears were lying to him. Hearing his big sister ask
Speaker 1: someone out like that was surreal. Sebet assured him that
Speaker 1: they heard it all correctly. The demon Queen was going
Speaker 1: on a festival date with her bodyguard, so O Operation
Speaker 1: CALLI Exitammy was underway. It had just started from this
Speaker 1: minute forward. The agents even had cool sunglasses to go
Speaker 1: with the covert operation. The demon Queen and the former
Speaker 1: hero left the castle and headed to the outskirts of
Speaker 1: the demon territory, where the famed Granny Hag resides. She
Speaker 1: was a sweet old demon woman. If you see an
Speaker 1: old looking demon, then that must mean that they must
Speaker 1: really be old by human standards. She just turned her
Speaker 1: head lightly and greeted the demon Lord. Callie pushed to Tommy
Speaker 1: as she stated their purpose of visit to order a
Speaker 1: firework for the upcoming firework festival. Her bodyguard already had
Speaker 1: the recipe in his hands. It Tommy promptly showed Granny
Speaker 1: Hag the tattered firework recipe. It looks like it has
Speaker 1: seen better days. There are red stains all over the paper,
Speaker 1: which I assume were blood. Granny Hang was pleased at
Speaker 1: the sight of such a traditional recipe. She has been
Speaker 1: making fireworks for festivals for five hundred thousand years now
Speaker 1: and in that massive time frame, she could not even
Speaker 1: remember the last time she made a firework for a
Speaker 1: normal human. Itami is a polite boy. He respectfully handed
Speaker 1: the recipe to the old woman, thanking her for doing
Speaker 1: this favor. But before he could finish blurting out his thanks,
Speaker 1: the Granny demon had already brought out a strange apparatus
Speaker 1: to nick him in his hand. Queen Calli forgot to
Speaker 1: inform him that this old demon uses blood in making
Speaker 1: her fireworks. That's why she drew some from a tommy
Speaker 1: in the blink of an eye. The Granny already had
Speaker 1: a feeling that this particular firework would be interesting. She
Speaker 1: turned her head to her two visitors, curious as to
Speaker 1: what in the world is the demon queen doing with
Speaker 1: a human out in the open. What the granny saw
Speaker 1: was the two likely love birds tending to one another.
Speaker 1: Ittammy was still shaking in shock, while Calli blew on
Speaker 1: the tiny nick in his finger while synthesizing the would
Speaker 1: be fireworks. The granny posed a question to the two.
Speaker 1: She asked the kids if they knew how the demon
Speaker 1: started to celebrate the firework festival. Its Tomi confidently answered
Speaker 1: that he read somewhere the fact that five hundred thousand
Speaker 1: years ago, the first king of the human kingdom made
Speaker 1: the first fireworks that earned him a quick and loud
Speaker 1: disagreement from the old demon. She continued that the story
Speaker 1: try about the first king of humans was made by
Speaker 1: dumb humans for dumb humans. Furthermore, that pesky human race
Speaker 1: is always trying to appropriate the accomplishments of demons as
Speaker 1: their own. While she finishes up this explosive, Granny decided
Speaker 1: to tell these two the true story of the beginning
Speaker 1: of the firework festival, and it all started a long
Speaker 1: time ago. It was so long ago that the whole
Speaker 1: continent could still be considered a peaceful place. The events
Speaker 1: that led to the development of modern day fireworks started
Speaker 1: one night half a million years ago with a demon
Speaker 1: girl lounging around an open field. That open field is
Speaker 1: now referred to as the Demon Kingdom's territory. The demon
Speaker 1: girl loved laying down on the serene grasslands while taking
Speaker 1: in the sight of the beautiful stars. It was perfect,
Speaker 1: The night sky was gorgeous. But if she was asked
Speaker 1: to change one thing, she would love to bring the
Speaker 1: stars a little closer to her as if God had
Speaker 1: answered that request of hers. A bright light started flying
Speaker 1: through the air. It looked like a star that was
Speaker 1: trying to rise up and join the other ones up high,
Speaker 1: and then it exploded in a booming manner. The small light,
Speaker 1: at once emitted, was scattered all over the sky right
Speaker 1: above where the demon Girl was looking at It was beautiful,
Speaker 1: perhaps even more beautiful than the stars that she loved
Speaker 1: so dearly. She felt her heart skip a beat at
Speaker 1: the sight of the colorful burst. It was so close.
Speaker 1: She eventually got up from the grasslands and started running
Speaker 1: through the woods, trying to track down just where in
Speaker 1: the world did that exploding star came from. She knew
Speaker 1: that the mysterious thing came from this way, and she
Speaker 1: was desperate to get to the bottom of this mystery.
Speaker 1: The demon Girl can feel it. She can feel that
Speaker 1: she's just a few meters away from fulfilling her dream
Speaker 1: of bringing the stars in the night sky just a
Speaker 1: little bit closer, perhaps not just a little Perhaps with
Speaker 1: this she can actually get so close that she would
Speaker 1: be able to touch the beautiful stars. Before the demon
Speaker 1: Girl knew it, she was panting in exhaustion while tears
Speaker 1: were flowing down her eyes, thinking of the possibility that
Speaker 1: her dream was about to come true. What she found
Speaker 1: on the other side of the flying exploding star was
Speaker 1: a human, a young man cursing at himself for not
Speaker 1: getting the brightness of his so called firework quite right.
Speaker 1: The demon girl blushed at the sight of the young man.
Speaker 1: She knew in her heart that this person was the
Speaker 1: one that could grant her only wish in life, and
Speaker 1: maybe even more. She was inquisitive by nature, and the
Speaker 1: young man was quite welcoming. The demon girl had never
Speaker 1: seen something quite like this bright thing called fireworks. It
Speaker 1: sounded pretty cool to her. She wanted to see him
Speaker 1: make one of these things again. The young man immediately
Speaker 1: perked up. He stopped feeling bad for himself for not
Speaker 1: getting it right earlier. With renewed determination and motivation, he
Speaker 1: prepared to go at it again, just like her. This
Speaker 1: is his main goal in life. The spirit of ambition
Speaker 1: danced in his eyes as he vowed to make the
Speaker 1: biggest and brightest firework that the world has ever seen.
Speaker 1: It will shine even brighter than the stars above. What
Speaker 1: he'll make will shine so brightly that his mother will
Speaker 1: be able to see it now, no matter how far
Speaker 1: or where she might be. The Demon Girl could feel
Speaker 1: the kid's spirit as he expressed his will to make
Speaker 1: something that will be seen even by people in another world.
Speaker 1: She admired everything about that will and everything about that boy,
Speaker 1: like a beloved tale. It was like they were mixing
Speaker 1: imagination with real life. It was surreal. The young man
Speaker 1: caught himself getting swept by his emotions again and apologize
Speaker 1: for sounding so foolish when they've just met a few
Speaker 1: moments ago, but his determined look impressed the demon Girl immensely.
Speaker 1: Instead of admonishing him for being so ambitious, she just
Speaker 1: looked him in the eye and said, no, he was
Speaker 1: not being foolish or anything like that. It does not
Speaker 1: sound foolish to her, at least. The night that the
Speaker 1: two met was the same night that the budding seat
Speaker 1: of love started to bloom for the first time. She
Speaker 1: knows what it feels like to have a dream, but
Speaker 1: she doesn't know how to achieve hers until now. The
Speaker 1: Demon Girl thinks that the young man is incredibly brave,
Speaker 1: and in a world where dreamers are far and few between,
Speaker 1: having so much passion for one thing is wonderfully unique.
Speaker 1: Aiming for the extraordinary things in this mundane, every day,
Speaker 1: boring life is what makes life itself worth living. From
Speaker 1: that point on, even though they've just met, the Demon
Speaker 1: Girl has steeled her resolve to stand by the young
Speaker 1: man's side and watch his dreams unfold like stars in
Speaker 1: the night sky. She just wanted to share in his
Speaker 1: incredibly journey as those dreams slowly became a reality, a
Speaker 1: chance for her to love a dreamer like herself with
Speaker 1: each heartbeat until the last breath of her life. A
Speaker 1: few years ago, the Demon Girl had picked up her
Speaker 1: fascination with the stars from her mom. She asked her
Speaker 1: why they shine every night without fail and why don't
Speaker 1: they get tired. Her mom patiently explained that stars are
Speaker 1: like special friends who never get tired of making others happy.
Speaker 1: A star is someone who loves making other people smile,
Speaker 1: so every single night they put on their brightest, shiniest
Speaker 1: outfit just to put a genuine smile on your face.
Speaker 1: That is what stars do every night without fail. They
Speaker 1: twinkle and shine to brighten up this dark world. They
Speaker 1: make you feel safe and happy. The Demon Girl's other
Speaker 1: question remained, why don't the stars ever take a break?
Speaker 1: Her mom continued that they just don't. Stars are always
Speaker 1: up there watching over everyone. They're like guardians of the
Speaker 1: night sky, and they want to be there for everyone
Speaker 1: whenever they have the slightest urge to look up, no
Speaker 1: matter when that is. It's just their way of telling
Speaker 1: everyone that even when things seem dark, there's always a
Speaker 1: little bit of light to guide us. For some reason,
Speaker 1: the demon girl thought about this memory with her mom
Speaker 1: from long ago. She already knew the reason why. That is.
Speaker 1: She thinks that she had finally found the shiniest and
Speaker 1: brightest star in the world, and she saw it in
Speaker 1: that young man's spirited eyes. He has quickly become her
Speaker 1: own star, effectively fulfilling her dream to make the stars
Speaker 1: come closer just a little. It turns out that she
Speaker 1: just needed one from this moment. She would not let
Speaker 1: anything get in the way of her love and her dream.
Speaker 1: He has eyes full of hope, brimming with intense energy
Speaker 1: that can bring anything into life. Sure he might be
Speaker 1: a little bit of a show off and try hard
Speaker 1: all the time, but he perseveres and that's what matters
Speaker 1: in that sense. He is strong, stronger than most. He
Speaker 1: was kind, always smiling while doing all sorts of things,
Speaker 1: he finds happiness in all the little things, so she
Speaker 1: tries to help him with everything that she can offer.
Speaker 1: But reality is cruel. Life can only give you so much,
Speaker 1: and the Demon Girl can't help the young man when
Speaker 1: it comes to a lot of things. He works hard.
Speaker 1: He works hard for both of their sakes, to the
Speaker 1: point of passing out in exhaustion at times. She tried
Speaker 1: her best. As his wife, the love of his life,
Speaker 1: she supported him with all the strength she could muster.
Speaker 1: He was her dear star after all. The Demon Girl
Speaker 1: loved the young man for a long time. She loved
Speaker 1: him until he was an old man who could barely
Speaker 1: walk a few steps, and she still looked like a
Speaker 1: young demon woman. She loved Azumi the firework maker, until
Speaker 1: he finally finished what he could confidently say was his
Speaker 1: life's work. Even with gray hair and a wrinkled face,
Speaker 1: the man's eyes never changed. He still had the eyes
Speaker 1: of a dreamer, the eyes of someone who wanted to
Speaker 1: give something extraordinary out into the world until he was
Speaker 1: satisfied to call what he made a true firework. His
Speaker 1: eyes might still be brimming with light, but his body
Speaker 1: has gone frail. Every so often he needs to take
Speaker 1: a rest under the shade of the woods where the
Speaker 1: lovers first met. The Demon Girl told him not to
Speaker 1: force himself too much so many times already, but Azumi's
Speaker 1: still young at heart. But the detriments of time were
Speaker 1: not lost on him. He knows this loving wife of
Speaker 1: his has been constantly worrying about him these days. He
Speaker 1: could not find the right words to thank her enough.
Speaker 1: Countless thank yous will never suffice for the love and
Speaker 1: care that she gave him for many years. Even after
Speaker 1: all this time, the Demon Girl still blushes whenever Izumi
Speaker 1: is being nice to her. Tonight was the night the
Speaker 1: husband and wife were just waiting for the sky to
Speaker 1: darken and the stars to come out and play. They've
Speaker 1: been together for decades, yet the demon Girl still feels
Speaker 1: comfort when resting her head on Azumi's once wide and
Speaker 1: strong shoulders. At his twilight years, Izumi could not help
Speaker 1: but remember his mother and the house they lived in.
Speaker 1: He remembered how she was always smiling when looking at
Speaker 1: firework displays. He was certain that his mother's smile was
Speaker 1: brighter than any other firework in the whole world. But
Speaker 1: the nagging question in the poor young man's heart was
Speaker 1: when his mother would ever look at him like she
Speaker 1: used to look at those fireworks. For a long time,
Speaker 1: fireworks did not make Azumi smile. They made him weep
Speaker 1: and sorrow. Instead, works symbolized the uncertainty of his life.
Speaker 1: They reminded him of the cruel hands of fate, the
Speaker 1: cruel hands of the adults around him when he was little.
Speaker 1: Instead of being swallowed by the shadow of grief, he
Speaker 1: set out with the mission to make the brightest firework
Speaker 1: the world has ever seen. If he does that, maybe
Speaker 1: things will turn out differently. Maybe the scars of his
Speaker 1: past won't hurt so much anymore, and maybe, just maybe,
Speaker 1: for the first time in his life, Izumi's mother would
Speaker 1: look at him like how she looked at fireworks. The
Speaker 1: young man went on a mission to please his scumbag
Speaker 1: of a mother and reached the end point with something
Speaker 1: so much better. In his desperate attempt to make the
Speaker 1: brightest thing in the world, Izumi found the most radiant
Speaker 1: woman in his eyes. The moment when he finally saw
Speaker 1: the fruits of his decades long labor was shared with
Speaker 1: the woman he loves. He successfully made the brightest fireworks
Speaker 1: that the world has ever seen, but its luster paled
Speaker 1: in comparison to his muse. As Izumi's heart beat slowly
Speaker 1: fell out of sink, as the inevitable father time finally
Speaker 1: started catching up to him. He did not even look
Speaker 1: at the skies to see his masterpiece. He just looked
Speaker 1: at his wife's buseautiful smile. He trembles as breath becomes
Speaker 1: ragged and his heart loses its rhythm. The last thing
Speaker 1: that Azumi the Dreamer saw was the most beautiful thing
Speaker 1: in the world. Brighter than any firework he could make,
Speaker 1: Brighter than any stars in the sky. His wife's genuine smile,
Speaker 1: Her eyes are full of love and devotion, her mouth
Speaker 1: that never stops speaking encouraging words. Izumi had a tough
Speaker 1: start in life, and he ended it with a beautiful explosion.
Speaker 1: The demon girl got close to the only star that mattered,
Speaker 1: but time and life cruelly took him too soon. When
Speaker 1: the fireworks died down, she was left with the cold,
Speaker 1: dark night. No star in the skies could ever compare.
Speaker 1: Izumi has died with a contented smile on his face.
Speaker 1: He died a star's death. Now she is all alone,
Speaker 1: Back to square one, back to the days of not
Speaker 1: having anything to strive for back to a life without
Speaker 1: her star. Before totally succumbing to the wheels of time,
Speaker 1: Izumi managed to scribble down his last thoughts for his beloved.
Speaker 1: He expressed gratitude for the time they spent together. His
Speaker 1: last wish is for his ashes to be turned into
Speaker 1: a firework. The Demon Girl didn't know what to make
Speaker 1: of it. It was all so sudden. One second they
Speaker 1: were sitting together, the next she was alone. The next
Speaker 1: few days were a blur. She was in a constant
Speaker 1: state of confusion and disbelief. The next thing you know,
Speaker 1: she was back in the house burning Azumi's remains to
Speaker 1: get his ashes. She carefully followed the recipe that he
Speaker 1: learned from the years of watching her husband do the
Speaker 1: painstaking job of firework making. She fulfilled his final wish
Speaker 1: for his ashes to be turned into one last firework.
Speaker 1: In the woods where they first met, she quietly lit
Speaker 1: up a small arrangement of her husband's final will. The
Speaker 1: Demon Girl did all the motions right. She did everything
Speaker 1: without even thinking about it. It was like she's on autopilot.
Speaker 1: Izumi's soul, his ambition, his dream, his life, everything has
Speaker 1: been packed inside three tiny explosive vessels. His final explosions
Speaker 1: were not particularly massive, they were not particularly bright. They
Speaker 1: were modest, They were vulnerable. They were made with grief
Speaker 1: and love. It was Azumi's final contribution to the world.
Speaker 1: The Demon Girl watched as that young man she fell
Speaker 1: for instantly turned into nothing but a colorful memory, and
Speaker 1: when the colors died down, she was left with nothing
Speaker 1: at all. For the first time in a while, she
Speaker 1: had a different reaction other than the catatonic state that
Speaker 1: she was in. Her hands trembled while she reached for
Speaker 1: her face. The tears, the pain, the love, the longing,
Speaker 1: and everything in between. Everything came crashing down like an
Speaker 1: explosion of one massive firework. She was devastated. It took
Speaker 1: everything in her power just to stay upright. When everything
Speaker 1: had been released, she was left an empty shell of
Speaker 1: her former self. The Demon Girl, if you haven't figured
Speaker 1: it out yet, is named hang as in Granny. Hang
Speaker 1: Izumi was the one who taught her that where he
Speaker 1: was from, in a different world, people shoot a lot
Speaker 1: of fireworks once a year. He eagerly told her the
Speaker 1: story about how his mom was the happiest person in
Speaker 1: the world when that day comes every year, and when
Speaker 1: his mom was happy. Izumi was happy too. Izumi had
Speaker 1: long since connected his love of fireworks to his mom.
Speaker 1: It sounds stupid, but that was the only thing pushing
Speaker 1: him forward. Back then, Hang remembered Azumi saying that thanks
Speaker 1: to fireworks, he can still remember his mom's face, and
Speaker 1: maybe through fireworks, Hang will be able to do the
Speaker 1: same to him. Back to the present, thousands of years later,
Speaker 1: Granny Hang has concluded her story of how this day
Speaker 1: helps demons to not forget the faces of those they
Speaker 1: loved a long time ago. No matter how much time
Speaker 1: passes since a special person has perished, the fireworks that
Speaker 1: you both looked at will never let you forget their face.
Speaker 1: Any important person who you lost a long time ago
Speaker 1: will be alive in that brief moment of beautiful explosion.
Speaker 1: That is why firework recipes like the one that Etami
Speaker 1: carries are made. The bright light of the firework made
Speaker 1: from his blood, and this recipe will bring the person
Speaker 1: back to life for a moment, just a little moment,
Speaker 1: while the fireworks fire colors the sky with its hue.
Speaker 1: Just as the story concluded, Granny Hang handed the former
Speaker 1: hero the firework that he wanted to make with that
Speaker 1: tattered recipe. With this thing, he'll finally be able to
Speaker 1: see his teacher again. That woman was crass. She likes
Speaker 1: to refer to Etami as idiot boy back when they
Speaker 1: haven't even been introduced to each other. Today is the
Speaker 1: day that Operation Calli Exitammy goes in full swing, with
Speaker 1: Lilbro leading the charge. Tomorrow night is the official start
Speaker 1: of the mission, the night of the fireworks Festival. Lil
Speaker 1: Bro is taking this quite seriously, with Saber and his
Speaker 1: girlfriend forming the rest of the team. There is only
Speaker 1: one main goal. Lil Bro chose to demonstrate that goal
Speaker 1: using his unsettling voodoo dolls of his friend and big Sister,
Speaker 1: making them kiss vigorously. The Queen's personal maid is all in.
Speaker 1: She thinks it's a perfect idea. Lilbro's girl, on the
Speaker 1: other hand, feels quite queasy at the thought. She's quite shy.
Speaker 1: This was a perfect plan if it were not for
Speaker 1: one significant and glaring problem. Pulling out his unsettling voodoo
Speaker 1: dolls again, he started ramming the two against each other
Speaker 1: in frustration at the fact that Etami and Calli are
Speaker 1: not making any effort to kiss by themselves. The first
Speaker 1: step of the task force is to figure out just
Speaker 1: why these two young and good looking couples refuse to
Speaker 1: engage in some lip to lip action. When Lilbro asked
Speaker 1: for ideas, the first thing that came to the succubus's
Speaker 1: mind was that maybe the demon Queen does not like
Speaker 1: the size of a Tommy's package. Hearing this made Bilbro's
Speaker 1: girl blush to high heavens. It was good that Sebet
Speaker 1: was engaging with the planning phase, but Lilbro just does
Speaker 1: not see her suggestion being the case. He thinks that
Speaker 1: his sister does not like it Tommy because the poor
Speaker 1: guy looks like a burned stick or something even worse.
Speaker 1: Either way, the answer is quite simple. They should just
Speaker 1: make it Tommy more kissable. That is, when his girl
Speaker 1: comes into the picture. They desperately need her help in
Speaker 1: this mission. There's no one who can fix this problem
Speaker 1: other than his beloved girlfriend e. Tommy can probably be
Speaker 1: easily spotted if you just look at the corners of
Speaker 1: the castle where a young man could cry or something.
Speaker 1: It is Lilbro's mission to find and make it Tommy
Speaker 1: more presentable. After getting the fireworks dedicated to his teacher,
Speaker 1: Etami could not help but reminisce about his experiences with her,
Speaker 1: like that night in front of the bonfire after a
Speaker 1: bloody battle, the legendary blade Sagi was covered with the
Speaker 1: blood of enemies that the hero just slaughtered. Even up
Speaker 1: to that day, his teacher still liked calling him an
Speaker 1: idiotic boy. She just refused to call him by his
Speaker 1: name or even hero for that matter. This woman just
Speaker 1: looked at him like he was a clueless waste of space.
Speaker 1: Sometimes her crast tongue was quite harsh at times. That night,
Speaker 1: she asked him who he really was. Idomy was quite
Speaker 1: new to this world back then. He didn't even have
Speaker 1: the countless scars on his body and the gnarly mark
Speaker 1: on his face. He just answered that he was the Hero.
Speaker 1: This was back when he still held pride in being
Speaker 1: dubbed and labeled as Humanity's champion, the hero, when he
Speaker 1: believed that he would be the one to kill the
Speaker 1: demon Lord and save the humans or something idiotic like that.
Speaker 1: He was full of life and motivation back then, and
Speaker 1: the green haired mentor just looked at him with pity
Speaker 1: in her eyes. Then, upon realizing that he was serious,
Speaker 1: she stifled laughter by sucking an air not letting the
Speaker 1: rude amusement go, but she ultimately failed to contain the
Speaker 1: incoming chuckle. She laughed so hard that she started crying.
Speaker 1: When asked why the hell would she laugh at his mission,
Speaker 1: she just dismissed the pissed off at Tommy as it
Speaker 1: was nothing. She just felt like laughing. Back to the
Speaker 1: current day, in the demon Lord's castle, Lilbro's girl is
Speaker 1: disgruntledly roaming the halls in hopes of finding that bodyguard.
Speaker 1: She doesn't even like the guy, and she was supposed
Speaker 1: to make him kissable somehow. Actually, she hated that young
Speaker 1: man with a passion. Every time she thinks about the
Speaker 1: state that her beloved was in after his duel with
Speaker 1: a Tommy, she feels weak and then the anger takes over.
Speaker 1: She hates that new Queen's bodyguard to the bone for
Speaker 1: what he did to her man. Add to that the
Speaker 1: difficulty of finding a person in this gigantic maze of
Speaker 1: a castle. She could not help but tremble in rage
Speaker 1: as she pulls on her hair in frustration. After yapping
Speaker 1: and trying to control the sea of anger that she
Speaker 1: was feeling, it was like the heavens did not want
Speaker 1: her to lose control a Tommy was just standing there
Speaker 1: in front of her, lounging around like an aimless zombie.
Speaker 1: Fast forward to the night of the Fireworks festival, a
Speaker 1: handsome young man with newly trimmed hair was standing amidst
Speaker 1: the bustling crowd, seemingly looking for someone. It looks like
Speaker 1: Lilbrough's girlfriend did a magnificent job in making the former
Speaker 1: hero just a little bit more kissable. With a new
Speaker 1: fit and fresh cut, he looked much better than when
Speaker 1: he initially entered the demon Lord's castle looking like a
Speaker 1: homeless bum. The lights of the festival were bright, but
Speaker 1: the turnable darkness in the young man's eyes was still visible.
Speaker 1: He looked a lot better, though he kept on remembering
Speaker 1: his mentor that night when she asked him who the
Speaker 1: hell he was. His reverie was broken when a sultry
Speaker 1: voice broke through the murmurs of the crowd, calling on
Speaker 1: to him, calling his name. He turned around, still not
Speaker 1: used to the fact that the demons around him were
Speaker 1: kind enough to use his actual name. As soon as
Speaker 1: he laid eyes on the owner of the sultry voice,
Speaker 1: he felt his eyes dilate and his cheeks become a
Speaker 1: little warmer with blush. Demon Queen Calli was out of
Speaker 1: her usual combat armor attire, substituting it with a traditional
Speaker 1: festival robe. It was the first time that he saw
Speaker 1: her in a different outfit. His change in the drip
Speaker 1: and hair style department also did not go unnoticed. The
Speaker 1: demon Queen was surprised. Ye Tommy nonchalantly replied that he
Speaker 1: did get a cut. He has her Lilbro's girlfriend to
Speaker 1: thank for this one. For some reason, Queen Calli was
Speaker 1: still harboring some deep, deep hatred for that girl she likes,
Speaker 1: calling that Taublond a bitch. Just when the confused to
Speaker 1: Tommy was about to inquire about that choice of words,
Speaker 1: the Queen was already rushing to his Callie was quite strong.
Speaker 1: She's a demon overlord after all, so she could just
Speaker 1: easily drag her bodyguard through the streets to avoid talking
Speaker 1: about that hateful blonde amongst the crowd. That same woman
Speaker 1: was just standing menacingly near one of the festival stands.
Speaker 1: It looks like she also decided to wear a traditional robe.
Speaker 1: You can never see her eyes under those egregious bangs,
Speaker 1: so it is quite difficult to figure out just what
Speaker 1: she was thinking at any given moment, but at that
Speaker 1: moment you could tell that she was furious with what
Speaker 1: she heard. This was the gratitude she received for her efforts.
Speaker 1: A few days ago, Lilbro's girl essentially abducted a Tommy
Speaker 1: while he was roaming the castle halls like a zombie
Speaker 1: to give him a forced makeover. While she had him
Speaker 1: strapped to the chair, I Tommy did not know what
Speaker 1: was going on. Her mind was stuck on the image
Speaker 1: of her man's condition after that horrible fight. She had
Speaker 1: her scissors ready. It was supposed to be for cutting hair,
Speaker 1: but there were brief moments when she had the urge
Speaker 1: to just cut or stab at Tommy on the neck. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the former hero was just behaving politely. He was getting
Speaker 1: a free hair cut, after all. It's also too quiet
Speaker 1: in the room. He thinks that he should maybe strike
Speaker 1: up a conversation. Her thoughts were vastly different, though she
Speaker 1: got murder on her mind. Itami spoke up. He told
Speaker 1: her that his big sister used to cut his hair
Speaker 1: like this. That was way back when he was in
Speaker 1: a different world which he disguised as home village. But
Speaker 1: when he became a hero disguised as an adventurer. Now
Speaker 1: he can't go to his big sister for haircuts as
Speaker 1: it's just too far. Because of that, Etami has had
Speaker 1: this mess on his head for a long time now.
Speaker 1: This conversation was dangerous. There were multiple times when he
Speaker 1: almost slipped up and revealed himself as the hero. As
Speaker 1: the tall blonde continued to cut his hair with some
Speaker 1: occasional thoughts of slitting his throat, Etami was enduring the
Speaker 1: awkward silence between them. She finally opened her mouth and
Speaker 1: blurted out her first words to him. She asked him
Speaker 1: if he was lonely that nobody could cut his hair
Speaker 1: since becoming an adventurer. Itami honestly answered that that's not
Speaker 1: exactly the case, as there were some people in his
Speaker 1: time in this world that cared. He used to have
Speaker 1: the best teacher in the world and a little girl
Speaker 1: who used to call him big brother. They were happy
Speaker 1: back then. He could not forget how rambunctious, crass, and
Speaker 1: loud that mentor of his was. He also could not
Speaker 1: forget how sweet and caring that little girl that he
Speaker 1: looked at as a little sister was back then. But
Speaker 1: misfortune has never stopped following him in this god forsaken land.
Speaker 1: That little girl's innocent smile turned into pain and shock
Speaker 1: when her head was impaled on a stake. The best
Speaker 1: teacher one could ask for has died in his arms
Speaker 1: after a grueling battle with superior powers. One way or another,
Speaker 1: he always ended up losing everything, losing everyone important to him.
Speaker 1: Hearing Atami recalling his losses actually made Blondie cry unconsciously.
Speaker 1: In hopes of not looking soft, she insisted that she
Speaker 1: doesn't cry, she just condenses sweat in her eyes. The
Speaker 1: hairstyling session lasted quite long, but she was amazing with
Speaker 1: the scissors. Every cut was perfectly done. It was a
Speaker 1: one premium service all in all. At the tail end
Speaker 1: of the session, she started thinking about Noah again, also
Speaker 1: known as Lil Bro. She would not be able to
Speaker 1: forget the night that they found Noah after the fight
Speaker 1: against Etami. They did their best with what they must
Speaker 1: treat him. The poor guy could not even eat without help.
Speaker 1: Noah said that his opponent was injured as badly as
Speaker 1: he was, and they did not think much of it
Speaker 1: at that time. Now that they know who a Tommy was,
Speaker 1: how kind and hard working he is as a person,
Speaker 1: She begins to think about how much he must have
Speaker 1: suffered with all those grievous injuries when nobody was there
Speaker 1: to take care of him. Of all people, she would
Speaker 1: be one of the few that fully know just how
Speaker 1: it feels when you are left completely alone. She was
Speaker 1: an elf in the castle of the Demon Lord. To
Speaker 1: make matters worse, she has cut ears. In demon culture
Speaker 1: and even Elvin culture, having your ears cut is a
Speaker 1: sign of big shame. She had finally finished at Tommy's makeover,
Speaker 1: and it was glorious. This man that she just gave
Speaker 1: a hair cut to dared to touch someone who truly
Speaker 1: loved her, even despite all her flaws. Despite her shameful
Speaker 1: cut ears. Noah is a kind soul. He's the brother
Speaker 1: of the Demon Lord, but he's a good person. He
Speaker 1: easily forgave it Tommy for what they did to each other,
Speaker 1: But Blondie just cannot find it within herself to forgive
Speaker 1: and forget. As she was thinking of that, in the
Speaker 1: middle of the festival crowd, Noah came in and gave
Speaker 1: her a childish fright. Of course, that earned him a
Speaker 1: full powered hit on the top of the head for
Speaker 1: being a childish idiot. Noah and his girl eventually made up,
Speaker 1: and they are now going on a stroll around the festival,
Speaker 1: perusing the stalls and enjoying the celebrations while holding each
Speaker 1: other's hands. He got her a caramel apple to munch
Speaker 1: on while they were walking around. It looked like she
Speaker 1: likes sweets. For some reason, she wanted to look at
Speaker 1: Noah from the side, her cut left ear protruding out
Speaker 1: of her hair. But she was not the only one
Speaker 1: bearing the cut of shame in the vicinity. Noah had
Speaker 1: it too. Both of their left ears were shamefully cut
Speaker 1: for some reason. Noah called her attention while she was
Speaker 1: busy staring into his left ear. With his usual laid
Speaker 1: back tone, he admitted that she did a good job
Speaker 1: in making a Tommy ultra kissable. In fact, she was
Speaker 1: so good that even Lilbro himself wanted to give the
Speaker 1: guy a kiss. But on a more serious note, this
Speaker 1: means a lot to Noah, and he was grateful to
Speaker 1: his girl for going through with it, even though it
Speaker 1: was a tough ask. He knows that she hates humans,
Speaker 1: especially ones that dared to hurt her loved ones. She
Speaker 1: still went through with the assignment to help his friend,
Speaker 1: and Noah could not appreciate it more. In that moment
Speaker 1: of genuine words, she could not help but blush. Noah
Speaker 1: may be childish at times, but he can be quite
Speaker 1: mature in his own right. Moments like this one make
Speaker 1: her remember that horrible memory when she was captured by
Speaker 1: human poachers. Those people are messed up in their heads.
Speaker 1: They wanted to try what Elf ears tasted like. Her
Speaker 1: family does not have enough money to buy her back,
Speaker 1: so the kidnappers were essentially free to do what they
Speaker 1: wanted to the little elf girl. She was defenseless, vulnerable,
Speaker 1: and scared. But in that moment, the voice of another
Speaker 1: child yelling at the kidnappers to stop touching her gave
Speaker 1: the little Elf girl a glint of hope. The kidnappers
Speaker 1: almost forgot that they had another captive in one of
Speaker 1: the cages. They caught this kid with other demons near
Speaker 1: the border of human demon territory. It was a young Noah,
Speaker 1: a demon child that was evidently tortured throughout the span
Speaker 1: of his stay in this hell hole. The kidnappers agreed
Speaker 1: to take their grubby hands off from the Elf girl,
Speaker 1: but they would need to eat something else for that
Speaker 1: to happen. Their counter offer was that they'll just cut
Speaker 1: and eat Noah's ears instead. These kidnappers knew the cultural
Speaker 1: significance and shame that demons hold for those that have
Speaker 1: their ears cut. The kidnapper held up the elf girl
Speaker 1: in front of him, asking a little kid if he
Speaker 1: was ready to take on that shame for the sake
Speaker 1: of an unknown elf who was essentially abandoned even by
Speaker 1: her family. Noah does not even have to do anything anymore.
Speaker 1: His family is royalty, so they've agreed to buy him back.
Speaker 1: The kidnapper added that his father will be very disappointed
Speaker 1: when he comes back to the castle with the mark
Speaker 1: of shame. But even as a kid, Noah was as
Speaker 1: decisive as one can be. His father taught him that
Speaker 1: a demon's role in the world is to help weak creatures,
Speaker 1: and looking at the eyes of that poor little girl,
Speaker 1: there's no one in this place that needs help more
Speaker 1: than she does. Even if it costs him a life
Speaker 1: of shame, even if they take away his honor, even
Speaker 1: if it hurts like hell, he will gladly refuse himself
Speaker 1: as a proud member of the royalty. Nooah will clench
Speaker 1: his teeth and take the pain silently as a true demon.
Speaker 1: Until now, that grown up elf girl still remembers how
Speaker 1: resolute and determined Noah's eyes looked like back in that dungeon. Her,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, was just a helpless little girl
Speaker 1: that has given up hope, full of fear for what's
Speaker 1: about to happen. Those painful memories have never left her mind,
Speaker 1: even until now. Every day that passes by, the gratitude
Speaker 1: and love she feels for Noah continuously grow. She would
Speaker 1: do anything for this man. Back to our main couple,
Speaker 1: Calli and a Tommy have gotten out of the chaos
Speaker 1: of the main street where the festival stalls and the
Speaker 1: people were clamoring. They both prefer the quiet of the
Speaker 1: cliff above the market. Besides, this is the best view
Speaker 1: to watch the fireworks. It should be starting soon, but
Speaker 1: it looks like they arrived a little early, so they
Speaker 1: will need to wait just a little bit longer. Before
Speaker 1: the fireworks even started, the night sky was already putting
Speaker 1: on a show as a meteor shower started raining down.
Speaker 1: Idomy stared at the stars, intently, moved by its vastness
Speaker 1: and beauty. Queen Calli did not do the same. She
Speaker 1: wanted to look at her bodyguard. She wanted to fee
Speaker 1: figure out what he was thinking. While she was lost
Speaker 1: in thought looking at the young man, she started to
Speaker 1: recall their first meeting. For some reason, Ittami looked like
Speaker 1: a homeless bum. But what's more striking was how he
Speaker 1: looked like a lost soul that just wanted his suffering
Speaker 1: to finally end. Without thinking much further, Calli decided to
Speaker 1: ask him why he wanted to die that day. Ittami
Speaker 1: took a pause for a moment, thinking of how exactly
Speaker 1: to answer that extremely loaded question. He finally opened his
Speaker 1: mouth and just answered the first thing that came to mind.
Speaker 1: He wanted the demon queen to kill him at that
Speaker 1: time because he felt like he was at the bottom
Speaker 1: of a toilet clogged with shit. Ittomi did not know
Speaker 1: anything about this world at all. Because of that fact,
Speaker 1: he just chose to trust those that had summoned him here,
Speaker 1: the people that tore him away from his home world.
Speaker 1: And when he finally started to understand how this world works,
Speaker 1: he had already lost those people that have grown near
Speaker 1: and dear to his heart. Understanding the whole situation between
Speaker 1: demons and humans, he started hating himself. He felt shame
Speaker 1: and regret for his deplorable actions in hindsight, whenever he
Speaker 1: has to see his reflection in mere or in water,
Speaker 1: he's immediately hit with the urge to vomit. For someone
Speaker 1: deemed as the savior of humanity, the supposed hero of
Speaker 1: the story, his feelings for the whole thing were anything
Speaker 1: but heroic. To that, the demon Queen just posed a
Speaker 1: very simple question. She asked if Eammi understands that it's
Speaker 1: not necessary for him to be the hero of the story,
Speaker 1: as if he was just hit with a ton of bricks.
Speaker 1: His worldview started collapsing when Calli continued to ask him
Speaker 1: if he even wanted to be the hero in the
Speaker 1: first place. He has never heard of that question in
Speaker 1: the limited time that he has been trapped in this
Speaker 1: foreign world. What does it even mean to be a hero?
Speaker 1: Itami started spiraling until he eventually found himself recalling his
Speaker 1: time in the big city in his home world, with
Speaker 1: his sister constantly calling him her hero, but in an
Speaker 1: entirely different way of being one. In the new world,
Speaker 1: she calls him a hero whenever he saves her tummy
Speaker 1: with his amazing cooking. He always insists that she should
Speaker 1: not thank him for things like this, as she has
Speaker 1: been working two jobs just so they could survive. This
Speaker 1: much is nothing compared to what she has been constantly
Speaker 1: doing for him there in time lives, his sister loved
Speaker 1: him very much. To her, there is no one kinder
Speaker 1: and cuterer than her baby brother. Likewise, she believes that
Speaker 1: she's just doing what a big sister was supposed to do.
Speaker 1: She's even sad that she can't do more and provide more,
Speaker 1: but there is still hope and he does not need
Speaker 1: to worry. She is certain that she will eventually make
Speaker 1: a huge discovery in the field of string theory, then
Speaker 1: the money will come in like a free flowing river
Speaker 1: from that point on. Since their mom died, the siblings
Speaker 1: have had some rough times together, but she assured her
Speaker 1: little brother that there was no need to worry. His
Speaker 1: reliable big sister will eventually take care of everything and
Speaker 1: they will be able to live a life of comfort.
Speaker 1: It was at this very moment that the event that
Speaker 1: drastically changed the course of the sibling's life took place.
Speaker 1: The whole tiny apartment was filled with bright green light,
Speaker 1: and to Tommy was the source of this anomaly. Bit
Speaker 1: by bit, his body was consumed by this mysterious green light,
Speaker 1: seemingly consuming him from head to toe. The last thing
Speaker 1: he did before being transported to another world was called
Speaker 1: out to his sister with fear plaster all over his face,
Speaker 1: confusion in his eyes. The view of the apartment and
Speaker 1: his reliable big sister was slowly replaced by the view
Speaker 1: of a massive room that almost looked like a cathedral.
Speaker 1: Then came the grating, pompous voice of the man that
Speaker 1: made his life hell for the past two and a
Speaker 1: half years. The man called him the name that would
Speaker 1: stick and make him sick to the stomach whenever he
Speaker 1: hears it. Hero a foolish king with all the wealth, prestige,
Speaker 1: and authority in the kingdom. The man that would kill
Speaker 1: his will to live, has summoned him to have the
Speaker 1: so called honor to save the kingdom. Looking back, one
Speaker 1: of the first things that the king had ordered him
Speaker 1: to do was be grateful that his life had meaning.
Speaker 1: Now that alone should have been a massive red flag.
Speaker 1: He did not ask for this. He did not know
Speaker 1: where he was, who this arrogant prick was, and what
Speaker 1: the hell happened to his sister. That's how he ended
Speaker 1: up in this magical world, and the rest of the
Speaker 1: story of our depressed hero will be coming soon. Don't
Speaker 1: miss it. B