Sendai Yuusha wa Inkyou Shitai

The Preceding Hero and the Preceding Saint

「I am sure that you have already noticed but……The weather outside has become strange due to me.」

Heading towards the labyrinth’s 31st underground floor, we descended down the long staircase.

With the Vampire Princess Paimon as the lead, the order was me, Bernadette, Kuon, the three stooges and Silber, and then Fiona.

「Well, I’m sure it is.」

It was only intuition, but having felt something close to conviction, I nodded without showing any particular surprise.

「I had just woken up, you see……Even though I tried to fix the crumbling weather, it had been such a long time since I had handled Maryoku, so I was in a bind.」

Is she seriously saying that she was only waking up when it has been over two weeks since all of this started happening……As usual, the Mazoku’s scale is huge.

「In order to regain mine own senses, I needed you of the miko lineage to carry out your duty. ……Kikiki!」

When we descended the stairway that was long enough to make me think “wasn’t this long enough for two or three floors worth of stairs?”, we suddenly saw the exit.

「Duty? ……Wait, what, is this?」

Having descended the long stairway and reaching the 31st floor, what spread out before our eyes was a room with enormous airspace and black walls that spread out and filled up our field of vision.

It was a room where there was no entrance leading to the next floor, and no matter which direction you looked, there was nothing but black walls possessing a luster like that of polished stone.

No, what is this? Something is on the wall……

「? ……What could this be? There is some kind of lettering on the walls……っ!? Th, these are, Sacred Letters. These are Sacred Letters, Yashiro-san!」

Having noticed that there were letters carved into the black walls, Bernadette ran up to a wall, and raised her voice.

「Sacred Letters? What is that?」

Hearing about the Sacred Letters, Angelica tilted her head.

「It’s one of the old magic languages. It’s one of the languages that are hard to learn, and the ones that try to memorize it exclusively only the people of the church. By the way, I can’t read them.」

And then, the magic that used Sacred Letters was a magic system called 『Holy Arts』, and in terms of anti-demon and anti-ghost, it’s a magic powerful enough to be a head above the rest.

「That’s right, ……The room of the 『Monolith』 engraved with 『Sacred Letters』. ……This place is, the innermost area of the Nordyord great labyrinth.」

Monolith……It’s a stone monument that is something like a relic and is occasionally excavated.

Inscribed contents are varied, from things like an empire’s history to a song that a person from the ancient days wrote.

They are manmade structures with historical value.

A room surrounded with such monoliths……Just what is written on them?

「Although not everything has been explained yet, I do understand that this labyrinth is sealing equipment that contains the 『Evil Deity』.」

Ahh, come to think of it, she did say that at the beginning. Though weaker than the Demon Lord, it was a troublesome opponent that needed to be contained……

「More accurately, it would be correct to say that it “was” sealed.」

「Was sealed? ……Then, right now, the Evil Deity isn’t here?」

「Umu. The one that was sealed after the 『Evil Deity』 was gone was me after all. ……Kiki!」

Distorting her pretty face, the corners of her mouth were greatly raised.

「Crossing over a time of a thousand years, you have done well to appear before me! Kiki, lineage of the miko, release me from this seal, and capitulate to my command!!」

With tension that looked like a *Baba-n!* sound effect would go well with it, Paimon declared that. ……But,

「No way, that’s such a pain.」

Of course, there’s no way I would accept that.

「Fue!? Wh, why?」

「Even if you ask me why, there’s no one that would agree to that after suddenly being told that.」

When I refused, Paimon’s fearless smile vanished, and, in exchange, she became flustered and made a face that looked like she would cry at any moment now.

「I, I mean! Sora had said that she would take me out of here, you know!?」

「I don’t know anything about that! Rather, who is this Sora?」

「You know not of Sora either, you fool! You are her descendant, are you not!」

「Descendant……Right, that. Why do I have to be that Sora guy’s descendant?」

We came here with me harshly being called the lineage of the miko or something, but I don’t think that I have something like that among my ancestors. To begin with, I’m not from Reynbrook and was born in Earth’s Japan.

「Ya, Yashiro-san……Do you not know of 『Sora』-sama!?」

「Eh……Is she that famous?」

Beside me, Bernadette came asking me that with a facial expression that looked like she had just received a culture shock.

Uumu, Sora, Sora, Sora……I don’t know her.

「Eh, Aniki, you don’t know who that is!?」

「Oi oi, that’s a name that even I know, you know?」

「Kuon and Angelica, even you guys know her!? ……Is it the name of some king somewhere?」

Not good, if even these two know of her, they must be a person of considerable fame. ……But, I really have no recollection of that name.

「Vivianne Minato Sora Angelic……That is the honorable name of the First Generation Saint-sama.」

「Wh, whaaaaatttt!?」

Oi oi, are you serious? If that’s the first generation Saint, then that would be the Saint of Baba-chan’s time, right? So she was called Sora……It kind of feels like if you only look at the middle, it’s a name like that of a Japanese person.

No, was she Japanese? Looking at it from this world, Luxeria is extensively knowledgeable about Earth which should be another world.

Although they don’t have a means of voyaging to another world, there is Summoning Magic that can call a Hero from Earth.

The likelihood that the First Generation Saint-san was also called here by Summoning Magic or something is high.

「Kikiki, how is that, how is that, Sora is famous, is she not?」

「Why the heck are you acting so proud of it.」

「Of course I am, Sora was planning on capitulating herself to me after all! Kikiki, that short Elf had hindered me many a time, but in the end, Sora’s heart turned towards me!」

Short Elf……That’s most likely Baba-chan. That’s only a guess though.

「It was planned? ……So in the end, she didn’t become your subordinate?」

When Fiona asked that, Paimon nodded, and just as she did, her tension dropped and she became gloomy.

「Right before her conclusion with the 『Demon King』, Sora had said this. 「Someday, I will definitely come to open it, so until then, stay in here.」……you see. Though, in the end, Sora did not undo my seal……」

*Shobo-n* Falling into a slump, Paimon started writing traces of letters on the ground. With her in this state, it looks like she had been considerably charmed by that predecessor-san.

Still, the Saint capitulating to a Mazoku, huh. ……Did Predecessor-san not want that and decide to seal Paimon in this labyrinth?

……No, most likely, that shouldn’t be it. Since Baba-chan was around as well, if they really put their minds to it, it would be possible to really kill this Paimon. Seeing as how they didn’t do that……Conversely, could it be that they sealed her because they didn’t want to kill her?

Paimon and Predecessor-san should have had a strong relationship of mutual trust. Strong enough for her to believe that even though the one that had confined her here did not visit and even now that a thousand years have passed, that the descendant of Predecessor-san had come to undo the seal.

「Well, right now, that does not matter. Lineage of the Miko Sora, hand to me a small dose of blood. It is possible to release the seal with that.」

Paimon held her hand out at us. And then,

「Are you, telling us to believe in something that a Mazoku said?」

Bernadette pointed the muzzle of her Magic Gun at Paimon. That voice cruelly cold.

「Oi, Bernadette!」

「Please do not be bewildered by the words of a Mazoku, Yashiro-san. Besides, there’s no way Saint-sama would capitulate to a Mazoku! Moreover, if it were me, to do something like that against the Mazoku that detest me, I wouldn’t be able to do it.」

Bernadette put strength into her fingertip.

「Don’t do it, calm down, Bernadette.」

「Conversely, I want to ask you this. Why, why are you able to remain so calm?」

When I close of the Magic Gun’s muzzle with my hand, Bernadette glared at me.

「Humans harbor unpleasant feelings against Mazoku. It’s the same in reverse, it’s been devised that humans and Mazoku would mutually hate each other.」

「? What’re you saying……」

「It’s just that only the 『Hero』 and the 『Saint』 are not applied to that structure. ……Even Olivia, she didn’t harbor any unpleasant feelings against Mazoku.」

That’s right, just as humans unconditionally harbored unpleasant feelings against Mazoku, Mazoku also harbored unpleasant feelings against humans.

However, with me the 『Hero』 and Olivia the 『Saint』, we were the only ones that that arrangement didn’t apply to.

「Wh, why do you know about that?」

「I said it before, didn’t I? I “know”.」

I don’t know if it’s a proper arrangement. But, I certainly do understand.

「If you’re fine with my blood, suck it, Vampire.」

「Kiki, good answer. ……Well then.」

*Busuri*

The Vampire Princess’s fangs pierced deep into my arm.