The Demon Lord started making the magic items in a spare room.
There's only one ready-made piece on hand, and she says it'll take about three days to finish enough for everyone. Today is Saturday, so they should be done by Monday.
With that, we can probably avoid any huge uproar about "otherworlders" suddenly appearing.
"Your Highness, are you all right?"
Princess Pricha still seemed a little unsettled by all this.
"Don't worry about me. I was a soldier. I'm used to harsh conditions."
The word "harsh" slipping out told me she still hadn't calmed down. She was clearly frustrated with the situation; in her mind, the war with the demons wasn't over yet—that's how it felt.
That said, she was actually the one pushing hardest for a ceasefire with the demon tribe. In that sense she and the Demon Lord are a poor match, but she doesn't hate or resent the Demon Lord as a person.
She's always kept the distinctions clear: race vs. race, nation vs. nation, and person vs. person.
"I'm just worried about what happened after we vanished."
Fair point. With both Princess Pricha and the Demon Lord gone, the brakes could have come off completely. Hardliners on both sides might be doing as they please.
Just then, our conversation lapsed and Filia and Sanctina came back to the living room.
Filia had gone to speak with the Demon Lord in the room where she was crafting the magic items; Sanctina had stepped out to look around the house.
"Hero, is your family not here?"
To Filia, something about the house must have felt off. Well, aside from the living room, kitchen, and my bedroom, most of the other rooms were basically empty.
"My parents are overseas—in a far-off foreign country for work. I was supposed to live here with my grandma. She passed away recently."
Grandma had been in and out of the hospital since roughly the summer of my third year of middle school. She chose this house so we could live together.
We picked a larger house so there'd be room if my parents came back at any time.
In this regional city, head a bit out into the suburbs and you'll find plenty of detached houses with decent space. Besides this place, there's still my grandparents' old house back in the real countryside. We rented here because commuting to high school from there would've been tough.
"'At least enjoy your school years,'" Grandma always said. Thanks to her, I got to attend the high school I wanted, and we planned to live together nearby.
"Then, that altar over there is…?"
"Altar? Oh—the butsudan. Yeah. It's for my grandpa and grandma."
"I'll go and offer a prayer."
Sanctina went straight to the small household altar in the living room and began to pray.
Back in their world, a saint prays regardless of sect; that's normal. The gods they address may differ, but in principle they pray to all gods—except the demonfolk's god.
"There's no one you need to tiptoe around here. Until you can go back, make yourselves at home."
Now, I should think about dinner.
First I need to see if they can handle rice and miso soup. It's only around two o'clock, but maybe I'll start a pot of rice and have them taste it.
Side:Princess Pricha
Return the Hero to his original world—that's why I agreed to join the Demon Lord subjugation.
Records in the royal castle, handed down from past Heroes, made it clear that defeating the Demon Lord was the key to sending the Hero home.
I bear no personal grudge against the demon tribe or the Demon Lord. The more time I spent on the battlefield, the more the meaning—and the reality—of conflict crushed me.
The world offered not a single kindness.
The clamor from outside tells me this place is different from our world. From the character of the Hero I spent years with, I could imagine something of his homeland.
I never thought we'd actually be living here for a while.
"Perfect timing—watch this for a bit."
I'm not used to simply waiting as time passes with nothing to do. Perhaps out of consideration for me, the Hero started doing something.
"There's sound…"
Sanctina was surprised. Sound flowed from a black panel in the room, and unfamiliar scenes appeared on it.
Is this a kind of farsight magic like the demonfolk or elves use?
"Hero, I can't understand the words this magic tool is speaking."
At my remark, the Hero startled. When he was summoned, he was given a ring-type translation magic tool and always wore it.
He and we can understand each other, but in this world, we can't understand the language.
"Oh, that's handled. I spoke with the Demon Lord—she's going to add translation to that magic tool she's making."
Filia had already realized and taken steps. As expected.
She was dispatched by the elves to serve as a chief strategist. She'd also been keeping watch on the humans who kept expanding the war against the demons.
"This is called a television—well, technically it's a video stream. I'll put on a channel where someone is traveling around the country."
Watching the "images," I could tell we were seeing a large city. Countless carriage-like things were moving, carrying people.
Judging by the clothing, I didn't see anyone who looked like the destitute poor.
I glanced at the Hero; in the next room—some kind of kitchen—he was doing something.
Seeing the Hero with the appearance he had when he was first summoned… it pains my heart.
We dragged a young man from a peaceful other world into war, forcing blood onto his hands. His Majesty promised he would grant the Hero whatever reward he desired, whether he returned home or not, and even paid part in advance.
But we kept from him the fact that, if he wished to return, there would be no time to receive that reward.
Still, there's no point in dwelling on regret.
The Demon Lord has no intention of returning, so that is what it is. But Filia and Sanctina—we must find a way to send them back.
For that, we'll need the Demon Lord's cooperation. It's galling, but true.
Even so… after hearing the Demon Lord's true feelings since we came here, the bad hunch I've carried keeps growing stronger.
Summoning from another world is a forbidden secret left by the gods. Following divine oracles, we summon a Hero from another world to save ours.
But this time I was involved as a principal actor, and I began to doubt the nature of the Hero and the war itself. And since arriving in the Hero's world, those doubts have only multiplied.
Why did the gods issue an oracle to "destroy the Demon Lord"? This Demon Lord is nothing like the ones in the records—she's gentle and avoids conflict.
That being the case, even those records on past Demon Lords are suspect.
When I asked His Majesty and the High Archbishop, all they said was that one must not doubt the gods' will—no real answers.
I sensed they were hiding something. What sort of arrangement existed between the gods and the human royalty and church?
In the end, I resigned myself to the fact that it might be beyond my reach to know.
For now, I must focus on finding a way to return the other two to their world without causing the Hero any trouble—
—in this other world, where, perhaps, the gods' eyes do not reach.