/
“Ahem. Am I correct in assuming that you’ve come to an agreement?
“Thanks to you. So where shall we start?”
Tia, who had released me, answered the question from behind me by turning her body toward Reil.
“I see. In that case, the immediate problem is that Lunaritia-san broke her shackles. …… Well, they are wooden shackles after all, so they can be broken inadvertently. I will not question you about that.”
“Eh!? Ah, guu… Ah, thank you very much.”
Tia replied to Reil, who smiled, with a bitter smile on her face. The Saint is quite shrewd, making sure that I owe her for this situation. Well, in the current situation, it would be preferable to have a debt, so maybe she even calculated that much.
“The most important information I want to ask you is the origin of the gem. How did it get into your hands and how did it get here? ….Please tell me all about it.”
“Alright. It’s a long story, okay?”
“It’s fine. The night is still long.”
Tia slowly told Reil, who was probably prepared to stay up all night, about us. That we have been to many different worlds. That in order to get out of there, we have to meet the hero, join their party, and then be “banished”. And in one of those worlds, we came across that [Demon Lord’s Heart]… Reil listened silently to the story, and eventually, when Tia finished speaking, she looked at us with a serious expression on her face.
“I see, the power of the Demon Lord of another world. ….”
“Do you believe me?”
“I have no reason to believe, but I also have no reason to doubt. Because, for now, If we don’t talk on the premise of “I believe you”, nothing will move forward, right? At least, nothing equivalent to the gem brought by Ed-san has been found in this world. In fact, if there were more than one such item lying around, the world would be destroyed in an instant.”
“Ugh!? I knew it was a dangerous thing, but is it that dangerous?”
“Of course it is. A gem that unrestrictedly emits contaminated mana without consuming anything in particular is like an offshoot of the Demon Lord existing in the world without being known to the public. If left unattended, contamination will spread from that point, but if someone unknowingly picks it up, the person will also be contaminated, and if someone other than myself destroys it, a large amount of contaminated magic will erode the entire surrounding area. It is not an obvious threat like a mighty magical beast, but as long as it irreversibly advances the destruction of the world, it is the supreme threat to all living things in this world.”
“Ooo….”
It’s dozens of times worse than what I imagined when I heard the story earlier. It is so bad that I honestly don’t understand why I am simply in jail without restraints.
“At any rate, I’m glad that Ed-san and his partner have an accurate understanding of the dangers of that gem. The only problem is that the information is ‘You know what we don’t know’. If Ed-san and your partner brought the gem, that’s one thing, but if you were in possession of a duplicate without your knowledge, then …”
“What’s the problem? You’ve already destroyed it, so that’s it, right?”
Tia tilted her head, but Reil shook her head with a serious expression.
“No, it isn’t. The fact that we don’t know why you had it means that the same thing could appear in the hands of you again. Frankly speaking, it has become impossible to both of you because of that single suspicion. As long as I don’t know when and where that gem will appear, I can’t let it out from under my watch.”
“Thats!?”
“Well, that’s only natural.”
Despite Tia’s surprise, I nodded my head with a mixture of resignation and understanding. If I were in the opposite situation, I would demand the same thing.
“Ed, are you sure?”
“It’s neither good nor bad. Heck, that matches our purpose. Did you forget?  Riel, The Saint-sama…”
“Ah, Hero!?”
“That’s right. In any case, we need to work with the Saint. Then it’s rather convenient for us to be together.
“I see. As long as the two of you stay in this world, we will be working together whether you want to or not. At least for six months?, right”
“Yes. I’ve heard it’s okay to be expelled earlier if we have developed a deep relationship with them, but I can’t see how long it would take for that to happen, so I think spending six months is the best way to be sure.”
(T/N: Uhh Correct me if I am wrong, I don’t remember the other criteria except 6 months)
“Then it’s settled!  It cannot be immediately, but I will release the two of you from the prison, placing you in my custody. After that, you will go on a journey with me to defeat the Demon Lord.”
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Thank you!”
Reil bowed politely, to which Tia and I replied with a smile. I thought this would finally be the end of the long night, but apparently Reil still had more to say.
“Haaa, it was a tough day for a lot of reasons, but I guess I can say it turned out well. I never thought I would be able to add someone who succeeded in subjugating the Demon Lord to my party…”
“Hmm? Ah, I see. Come to think of it, Tia, you did defeat the Demon Lord with Alexis and the others, right?”
I had never paid attention to this until Reil mentioned it, but it is true that Tia has defeated a Demon King.
“Hehehe, sort of! Oh, but it was Alexis who actually defeated the Demon Lord, you know? I only assisted him.”
“That’s still impressive enough. Um, Lunaritia-san? What exactly was the Demon Lord like?”
“Tia is fine. Demon Lord…huh? I don’t know how to describe it, but just it was the Demon Lord.”
“….That’s not even a single piece of information.”
“I-I can’t help it! It’s something that can only be described as the Demon Lord! It’s something …… black and terrific!”
“Haa…?”
I slightly furrowed my brow at her childish comment. It seemed that Reil felt the same way, and with a slightly troubled look on her face, she further questioned Tia.
“Um, do you have any more specific information? How big was it, how many arms and legs did it have, or if I had to say, what kind of magical beast did it resemble ……”
“It was …. umm ….”
“Tia?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand….Huh?”
Tia, with a furrowed brow, tilted her head while twitching her ears constantly. But how is that possible? Sure, from Tia’s perspective, that would have been more than a decade ago, but that doesn’t mean that the memory of the Demon Lord, with whom she risked her life in battle, could have been lost?
“Hmm, Demon Lord…Demon Lord… No good, I can’t remember anything”
“Hmm, If we go that far, does that mean there is some kind of cognitive inhibiting force?”
“Maybe. All I know is that we fought and beat them, but nothing concrete. ….”
“Hmm.”
I myself have never met a Demon Lord, so I can’t even imagine what the truth of the matter is. But if he were a Demon Lord capable of destroying the world, it would not be surprising if he were capable of making his own existence ambiguous. I don’t get it… what’s the point of doing that?
I don’t know. Well, if it’s said that’s the kind of creature they are, then that’s that.
“When I met the Demon Lord, I was …… surely very surprised, very angry, very sad, …. and finally Alexis plunged his Holy Sword into the Demon Lord, ….”
“O-Oi, Tia!?”
Suddenly, tears began to spill from Tia’s eyes. I hurried to reach out my hand, but I couldn’t reach Tia’s face because of the iron bars.
“Huh? Why am I crying?”
“Listen to me! Or rather, that’s enough. You don’t have to force yourself to remember! ”
“I agree. It is impossible that the battle with the Demon Lord was quite painful. I apologize for asking such an impolite question.”
“U-Un…… Huh?”
As Tia continued to shed tears with a completely unconcerned face, I quietly clenched my fists, feeling a sense of frustration that I couldn’t put into words.
(T/N: God damn this is getting interesting)