Demon King and Hero

Side Story Part 3

"Let's see..."

My first break in a while.

After I cut the other demon kings' budgets, their minions had also started reducing their expenses.

Sure, there were complaints. But with the help of my stalwart backer, the demon god who knew exactly what kind of work I was doing, and the wonderfully understanding(?) demon kings, I could safely complete my work.

For only the third time in the demon world's recorded history, there was not a deficit, but rather, some savings started accumulating.

Thanks to that I could comfortably~ not go and play around, but instead I found myself reading a book in the demon-king-use-only library.

"Even though it's pointless..."

Although some demon kings did drop in every now and then, but the number of demon kings in existence was a grand total of seven. Of those, four didn't seek out, nor did they care for the library. Ergo, only three demons ever used this library, but despite that, in terms of sheer size, it could be said to be the biggest in the demon world.

"Well, it's quiet for me."

The human world is interesting.

From a demon's perspective, they have lifespans like ants, but even with those short lives, humans can bring out numerous changes.

Something I've been particularly interested in late was this.

『The heavens gift talents onto people in various ways. Some, a talent for agriculture. Some, a talent for commerce. Some, a talent for music. Some, a talent for the sword. Some, a talent for magic. But occasionally, the heavens grant particularly special ability to certain individuals. An incomparable intellect, one to be called a genius. An unfaltering resolve and determination, the willpower to continue where ordinary men would have given up a hundred times over. An unwillingness to be arrogant about one's own skills, continually honing their talents with effort. An indomitable courage, never to yield to evil in the worst of situations. Blessed by the gods, those who forge their own paths, never yielding to evil in the worst of situations, forever fighting to prove that justice exists in the world. With words laden with respect and honour, people refer to them by this title. The "Hero," or the "Brave."』

"Heroes..."

Even in the histories of the demon world, every once in a while there are records of demon kings being revived and tearing apart the human world. But most of them were either defeated, or sometimes, even killed.

A demon king's average lifespan was 20000 years. Humans could be considered long-lived at barely 100, and with an average lifespan of 60, how on earth do they beat a demon king?

"And the heroes are all young, too."

A demon king who had lived 20000 years lost to a human that lived barely twenty or thirty. You might as well call the species best at fighting humans, rather than demons. Plus, there were sometimes humans that killed demons when they were barely in their teens.

"Heroes..."

I didn't live a comfortable life after turning the demon world upside down from Internal Affairs.

A demon god could only be down in the demon world for so long, and when she's gone, I'm alone.

It's not just a couple of demons that have tried to kill me in that window of opportunity.

Well, sure, with me being a demon king and all, I didn't die, but I came close a few times.

"It would be good if I had a hero around..."