01x06 - The Hero Shares His Tale of Burden

[bunniefuu]

Why am I telling him this?

My initial plan today

was just to help Mernes

improve his communication skills
through a mock interview.

Because after all...

When you said you were joining
to annihilate all humans...

You were lying, weren't you?

I always thought it would be Steina
or one of the others who asked me.

I never thought it would be you.

Didn't you ask me to think
from the other person's perspective?

and move the conversation
in the direction they're hoping for?

When I thought about things
from your perspective,

I realized something.

They're only humans.

Even without joining the demon army,
you could easily annihilate them.

Good job.

If you can understand
someone's feelings that well,

you're already a master communicator.

Very well. I'll give you a certificate.

Certificate...

Let's start with coupons for ten
free meals at the dining hall.

Don't change the subject.

Why didn't you annihilate them?

I'd like to know, too. Why didn't I?

Quit playing dumb!

Hey, that's dangerous!

Don't you regret it?

You protected them
and they threw you away in return.

You risked your life to fight for them.

Didn't you ever think it would be better

for all humans to die?

I did.

You must have investigated my background.

To a degree.

You're half-human and half-demon.

You were hated by the humans around you,

abandoned by your parents
and sold to a sl*ve trader.

After traveling from place to place,
you were bought by the assassin guild.

That's right.

Even the assassin guild

saw me as a disposable pawn
who would eventually die.

But for better or worse,

I managed to survive as an assassin.

I wish all of you...

would die!

So I more than welcomed the demon
queen's invasion of the human world.

Hurry up and make them
all extinct, I thought.

Your Majesty!

I have a report!

The gate is open for some reason!

What?

Very well. Seize this opportunity!

Advance!

-Yes Ma'am!
-Yes Ma'am!

I opened up several
routes for them in advance

and helped them from the shadows.

But...

Don't be afraid.
I don't plan to k*ll you all.

Our plan is to occupy
the holy city of Renaie.

As an outpost of the demon army,

we have plans to rebuild this city.

We also captured your fraudulent governor!

There's plenty of food in the castle!

Everyone can have their share!

Here you go. Please take turns!

-Why didn't they k*ll them?
-There's enough food for everyone!

And why are they taking so long to invade?

I couldn't stand it any longer

and used my secret channels
to make contact with Echidna.

I infiltrated the demon army.

It would be better to leave
the city and keep advancing.

We will depart tomorrow.

But the citizens want to
hold a banquet for us tonight.

Thank you so much
for saving us from tyranny

and returning peace to the land.

It's nothing.

We only did what was necessary for us.

This is really good.

I highly recommend this too!

Does anybody want more juice?

This is all wrong.

A banquet on the eve of invasion?

I understand how you feel.

But Queen Echidna has her reasons.

During long campaigns, the soldiers'
concentration tends to drop.

By seizing the right moment,
creating a relaxing atmosphere,

and talking to every subordinate,

she's hoping to raise morale.

Morale?

You've been working hard, lately.

You noticed?

This is ridiculous.

Our boss is one of a kind, isn't she?

I always thought this was an evil army
that wanted to wipe out humanity.

Yeah, I thought so too.

That's why I refused
when she invited me to join!

There are indeed a lot
of bad guys among the humans.

But that's no reason
to destroy the whole world!

But then, take a look.

This is why I changed my mind.

Besides,

no one who holds their liquor
like her can be that bad!

Darn right!

Mernes.

Why did you want to join the demon army?

There's no way I can say it now.

That I wanted to k*ll all the humans...

No particular reason.

Mernes, thank you for joining us.

I expect great things from you.

Once we have the Wisdom Stone

and turn the demon world
into a world without conflict,

I hope you'll come with us.

It will be a great place to settle down.

I'm going to bed.

So soon?

I wanted to talk to you more, Mernes!

Enough.

If things go sour,
I'll just defeat Echidna myself

and lead the demon army
to wipe out humanity.

After that. I ended up
becoming one of the Four Generals.

The demon army
was righteous and beautiful,

and their invasion successfully
proceeded at a hopelessly slow pace.

But then

a human came to stand in our way.

Do you mean me?

Do you remember what happened that day?

I've lost. Just k*ll me now.

If you don't, I'll end up annihilating
all of humanity one day.

Your face screams that you
have nothing to live for.

You should see the world more.

The world?

I've seen more than enough
to make me sick.

This world is rotten to the core.

There's nothing of worth anywhere.

That's because you see the world
through the eyes of an assassin.

The world you see through work

and what you see for yourself

are completely different.

You make it sound so simple.

Or so I've heard. I'm not so sure myself.

What?

But anyway, you have a chance now.

Under Echidna's leadership,

I hope you discover all that
you couldn't see before now.

If you still want to die after that,
I will do the honor.

Oh, and if you do anything wicked, I'll
do it too. You'd better remember that.

Goodbye!

After saying those pretentious words,
why would you stop being a hero?

To annihilate all humans?

It must be a lie.

I don't care what happens to them.

But you...

How do I put it?

You're asking if I hate the humans?

Yes.

You seemed to be
acting for different reasons.

Or you wouldn't be able
to say those things to me.

But why?

It's only natural to hate
the people who betrayed you.

You must have felt despair and hatred...

Hatred...

You...

Man, oh man...

I've discovered too many things
since joining the demon army.

Steina, who I thought
was aloof and capable,

is actually just a clumsy woman.

Lily, who I thought was a wild brat
is actually a serious, lovely kid.

And him, too...

I thought he was
a ruthless and cold-blooded assassin.

But he has emotions
like a normal teenager.

Besides,

the reason he went quiet
after hearing my motive

was not the bitterness of defeat.

It was because he sincerely sympathized

with me, who got banished by the humans.

Hey, stop crying.

You make me feel guilty.

Oh, shut up!

I promise I'll listen.

Please tell me the truth.

Well...

In the end, their voices called out
that I was useless and should be k*lled.

Of course it stung.

Huh?

Especially since I've
protected them for so long.

For so long?

Am I...

I'll start from my origin.

It was ages ago.

What am I saying?

It was the end of the industrial age.

Before knowledge of magic
spread worldwide.

The shape of the continents
was slightly different from now.

It was a time when the holy city

was a metropolis called Tokyo.

Rockets flew among the stars,

countless satellites watched over
the earth from above,

and unseen networks that transmitted data
at great speed covered the planet.

Though there was tension
from time to time,

most of the world was at peace.

Humans built cities all on their own.

But one day,

a hole opened in the very center of Tokyo.

Out came imps and dwarfs,

orcs and goblins,

succubi and dream demons.

All the creatures from what we
now know as the Demon World.

These creatures

were referred to as demons from then on.

They were just like Echidna.

Sick of the eternal darkness
of the demon world,

they rose to the surface
in search of the sun's warmth

and entered the human world.

Many demons began acting selfishly

and some began attacking humans.

As for the humans of the time...

of course they fought back.

What began as a disturbance
on an eastern island nation,

soon escalated to a great w*r
between humans and demons.

It didn't take long.

To my sadness,

both now and in the past,
humans have always been weak.

It took several of them
to defeat a single demon.

We need stronger weapons!

That's right. Only creating the strongest
weapons can protect us from the demons!

It is time for humans to work together.

To defeat the demons,
we'll have to create demons.

They're nearly complete.

Instilled with demonic power,

the 12 bioweapons can operate
independently and evolve without limit.

We shall call them

the Demonheart Series!

The only one

who survived until the end

was me.

A "bioweapon"...

What the heck is that?

I was a hero from the moment of birth.

I didn't know how to live
a normal life, otherwise.

After all, I was programmed
with one ultimate mission:

to protect humans and defend the world.

All heroes will one day grow old and die.

But I was created
to be exceptionally tough

and have an exceptionally long-life span.

The other Demonhearts

died in battle one by one.

Only I lived on as the hero.

No, that's not it.

Only I was denied death.

That's the correct way to put it.

Even when the industrial
age came to an end,

and the age of magic began,

I had to live on
for what feels like eternity.

It's gone on so long,
just thinking about it makes me dizzy.

Every time there was a w*r,

I participated without hesitation.

But having grown too powerful,

I was never granted a place to die.

Protect the humans, save the world.

Was it really the right thing to do

or was I a mere busybody,
preventing the humans

from growing independent?

There was no one
who could answer my doubts.

But then again,

I'm not so sure myself.

I couldn't abandon my duty
to defend the world.

When I was finally rejected
by the entire world this time,

I did feel a little sad and lonely.

But I don't think... I felt any regret.

On the contrary,

I was happy.

You were happy?

I see...

I was happy, wasn't I?

Yes, there's no doubt.

"Who needs a hero," "k*ll him now."

Those warm words from the world

gave me a rare opportunity.

For the first time in my life,

I could quit my duty as the hero.

I don't have to protect
the humans anymore.

When that moment arrived,

I decided to pursue
what I really wanted to do.

To be myself

and discover all the scenes
I couldn't see before now.

And so!

Assisting the demon army
is now the goal for my second life.

Wait a minute...

I'm glad that Echidna
didn't return to the demon world.

Do you know her father?

The Demon King, Cychreus.

I don't understand a word you're saying.

He went home right away.

I never got to talk to him...

I said wait!

Hey, why did I tell him so much?

-Don't they say a good talker...
-It's no mystery.

-When someone is willing to listen
-I too wanted someone to hear my story.

people come from all around
to talk to them or seek advice.

-They probably feel better...
-I'd hoped that one day

an extraordinary listener
would ask me those questions.

I didn't expect

that would be you.

You're not making any sense!

It was a few hundred years ago
that the Demon King Cychreus

invaded the human world.

-According to legend...
-That's right.

The mysterious great sage
who saved the world.

That was me.

Just how old are you?

No, more to the point...

what are you?

I'm just a former hero.

I happened to be born
with this incredible durability.

As for my age... who knows.

I stopped counting
when I exceeded 1,000 years old.

1,000...

You know, when you live that long,

you meet all kinds of beings.

Those you want to protect no matter what

and bad ones whom you
wish would immediately disappear.

Based on my experience,

you're all good ones.

Echidna and the Four Generals are a silly
bunch, but you're all good guys.

It makes me want to work hard
to assist you all.

What do you mean by silly?

So anyway, don't worry.

I will bring the Wisdom Stone
as a present for all of you.

I will help you achieve a happy life.

Enough...

I'm still at a loss.

You're never going to
explain it to me properly.

I'll explain as time goes on.

Besides, I never planned
to talk this much to begin with.

Then why did you tell me?

Well, it was probably
because you looked so serious.

I could feel it at that time.

It's true that he's bad with words,

but he has the most important
communication skill.

That's right.

Make me a master of communication.

He has the proper will.

A sincere stance is the most
important aspect of communication.

Though you're bad with words
and don't show emotion easily,

I could still feel that you
truly wanted to talk to me.

That's why I told you
my story without thinking.

Hang on to that honest sincerity,
and you'll do fine.

The interviews will definitely go well.

I'm sure you can
make them open up and talk.

Don't touch me!

Whatever. I'm tired.

I'm going to sleep here.

Hey, come on. Go back to your own room.

We still have work
at the dining hall tomorrow!

Goodnight.

Hey, Mernes. Wake up!

It can't be helped...

Only you haven't changed.

If it was really him,

he could be the bridge.

Father...