I, Who Wanted to Be a Hero, and Her, Who Didn't Want to Be the Demon King

"So, this magic duster. Where's it defective?"

"… Beats me."

Fino sounded genuinely puzzled. From inside the register counter, where the magic duster sat looking rather forlorn, Raul stared at it and muttered with a thoroughly depressed look on his face.

"… The customer was so worked up, I forgot to ask."

It had been the morning's first incident. A gray-haired man had barged in out of nowhere, brandishing one of their receipts, ranting and raving and all but forcing them to take back the magic duster he insisted was defective.

… Pathetic, Raul thought, with a self-deprecating wince. It had been a long time since he'd dealt with a complaint that loud, and he'd been so rattled he'd forgotten to check not just for accessories, but for the actual defect itself. An inexcusable blunder. He really was no good at handling complaints… Well, at least Fino had been off restocking the floor, so he'd been spared having to put on that humiliating display in front of her. Small mercies.

"It's a magic duster, so it's probably something like, it doesn't suck up the dust or whatever… Either way, if we don't know the details we can't send it back to the manufacturer. Guess we'd better try it."

So saying, Raul lifted the accordion-style hose that extended from the magic duster. Beside him, Fino quietly piped up.

"What if some weird thing comes out of it again?"

"… Nah, this is a major-brand product. That shouldn't happen, but…"

… Error items spewing out their "Witch's Arms." For a moment, the memory of that recent nightmare made Raul cringe. But he steeled himself and flipped the switch.

… Nothing happened.

The magic duster in Raul's hands remained perfectly silent. No "Arms" came overflowing from the nozzle either, of course. Raul, who had braced himself for the worst, let out a relieved sigh.

"… Right. So it just doesn't work at all."

"Well, it's defective for sure. No wonder the customer was mad."

"… Honestly, I don't think he needed to get that mad over it."

Raul grumbled bitterly, then shrugged in resignation.

"Well, fine. Now we can submit a defect return to the manuf—"

His voice trailed off mid-sentence.

A puzzled look crossed his face.

… And in the next moment, still clutching the magic duster, Raul's body launched itself out from behind the register counter.

"Hm? Raul, where're you going?"

"No, that's not it! The magic duster's doing this on its own! … Wait, what, my hands won't come off! Damn it, is this another cursed item?! … Whoa?!"

Raul's strangled reply to Fino's casual question came out in a shriek. Before he knew it, his body, still gripping the magic duster, had shoved its way through the storefront door.

The instant he stepped outside, sunlight seared his eyes. He tripped on the lip between the sidewalk and the paving stones, lurched forward, and his shoes clapped sharply against the stones.

"Raul?!"

Fino came tearing after him. Just as Raul turned to look back at her, a strange sensation enveloped his body.

"Fino, whoa?!"

He had the uncanny feeling that everything below his waist had been hollowed out. He looked down at himself… and froze.

His body was floating in midair.

Or rather, to be precise, the magic duster in Raul's hand was hovering in midair, with nothing to support it… Wait, what?!

"What the hell is happening?!"

Raul shouted on reflex.

"I've never even heard of a magic duster that flies! Even for a defective product this is too much! Error items can rot in hell already!!"

His feet were paddling weakly through the air. His arms felt like they might rip out of their sockets at any moment. Kicking and flailing, Raul gave up and started bellowing.

"Damn it! I don't care what the company says, I am never selling another product from this manufacturer again, ever! I never liked them anyway! Their name is a stupid pun, their logo design pisses me off—"

"Child of the [Demon King]."

A voice rang out in Raul's ears: ice-cold and low.

Swallowing the rest of his tirade against the manufacturer, Raul scanned his surroundings. The deserted back alley spread out below him in the pre-noon hush; not a soul in sight to match the voice. The only thing he could see was Fino, far below, desperately stretching out an arm that couldn't possibly reach him, her face suddenly going stiff with shock.

"If you value this one's life, come to Warehouse Number Two on Ecolk Street. The building with the yellow roof. —If you swear to become the [Demon King], we will return this boy to you."

"You bastards, you're the ex-heroes from—!"

The voice was coming from the end of his arm… from the body of the magic duster he was still clutching. The realization that he'd been trapped finally hit, and Raul shook with rage. Damn it, what an idiot he was!

"Raaaul!!"

A pained cry reached his ears. The commotion had finally drawn people out of the surrounding buildings; he could see them pointing up at him. But none of that mattered now.

As Fino rapidly shrank into the distance below, Raul shouted with all his might.

"I'm fine! I'm fine, all right?! Don't listen to a word they say! Talk to the Manager right away! Whatever you do, don't come alone!!"

"Raul! Wait! I'll come save you—"

The desperate look on Fino's face as she shouted back made Raul's chest seize up.

"You idiot! Listen to me! I said, first go talk to the man…"

He yelled despite himself, but his voice no longer reached the girl.

Helplessly kicking at empty air, Raul looked down.

Fino's figure had already shrunk into the distance.

 

*

 

… Damn it.

Remembering the look on her face when he'd last seen her, like she was about to cry, Raul cursed again in his head.

The warehouse was dim and windowless, lit only by the dull glow of magic lamps. His arms had been bound behind his back with coarse rope, a gag stuffed into his mouth, and he was sprawled on the stone floor. Twisting his uncooperative body, Raul strained to look up at the man beside him.

The man was perched on a wooden stool, hunched forward with his upper body leaning against a sheathed sword. He was probably a touch past forty. He was about Raul's height, but the muscles bulging beneath his long-sleeved shirt and the faint scar across his cheek made it easy to picture how many fights he'd been through.

Raul had already glimpsed several others waiting in the back room. Different in age and build, all of them looked like hardened warriors who had survived countless battles.

Ex-heroes.

He remembered Fino's words, and felt the blood drain from his hands and feet. If that was true, then each of them was a monster of an individual who had clawed through a 0.01-percent acceptance rate.

Had Fino done what he told her and gone to the Manager? She wasn't stupid. She had to know she couldn't take on this many ex-heroes alone. But…

… Fino had to know exactly what their goal was, too.

"Raul, do you also think I should become the [Demon King]?"

That night. The lonely look in her eyes under the streetlight as she'd whispered those words flashed through Raul's head.

"But… I don't want to. I don't want to be the [Demon King]."

… Maybe, Raul thought. Maybe Fino would actually accept their terms. The [Demon King]'s mantle she'd been fleeing from… All to save him.

… Damn it!

Furious at himself for falling so neatly into their hands, Raul yanked at the ropes binding his arms, as if to punish himself. The rope chafed against his skin, biting in deep. A red haze rose behind his eyes from the rage boiling up out of his gut.

Fino, eyes shining, declaring that humans were amazing.

Working her hardest, lighting up every time a customer smiled, getting moved to tears at earning her own paycheck… always looking so happy.

He didn't want her to become the [Demon King]. Not someone like her.

… Was there any way to escape? Raul was glaring sideways at the man beside him, racking his brain, when the iron door of the warehouse was flung open with a crash.

"Raul! Where's Raul?!"

A voice came flying in with it.

He turned reflexively, and was immediately blinded by the backlight. He squeezed his eyes shut, but called her name anyway through the gag.

Standing in the open doorway, silhouetted against the light, was a small figure. Bursting into the warehouse like a bullet was the demonkin girl he'd grown all too familiar with.

Too soon. Raul ground his teeth despite himself. Her shoulders heaving, her silver hair and white apron flying, Fino had clearly come running straight here in her uniform, exactly the way she'd been when he was taken. There wasn't the slightest hint that she'd stopped by to talk to the Manager first.

"Don't move… Move, and I kill him."

Fino spotted Raul on the floor and started toward him, but the guard had stood up at some point and was now warning her off.

Something cold and hard pressed against Raul's throat. Sweat beaded on his palms as he glanced down: a pale blade gleamed faintly in the gloom. As his body went rigid, the door behind him creaked.

"Ho. So you came alone, like you promised. Good girl, demonkin brat."

It must have been one of the men who'd been waiting in the back room. The voice was dismissive, cynical, ice-cold. Raul felt the guard tense up slightly, and he dimly understood that this had to be the leader of these ex-hero washouts.

Fino narrowed her blue eyes warily.

"I take no pleasure in being praised by the likes of you."

"Ha. Fair enough."

Trailed by several of the other ex-heroes, the one who seemed to be the leader strolled past Raul where he lay on the floor.

…!?

The instant Raul caught sight of the man's piercing eyes, a strange feeling of déjà vu shot through him. But he couldn't quite pin down what was making him so uneasy. The man wore a high-collared black outfit, was tall, and looked somewhat younger than the one holding the sword to Raul's throat. His limbs were long, his frame lean; maybe that was why his shoulders, broad with muscle, looked so disproportionately wide.

He stopped just short of Fino and motioned for the men behind him to halt. Then, looking down at the small demonkin girl, he sneered.

"Well? Made up your mind yet?"

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating Raul on the stone floor behind him.

"Become the [Demon King], and the boy goes back unharmed."

So saying, he produced, as if to flaunt it, a pendant of conspicuously old-fashioned, ostentatious design.

A jet-black stone, dark as condensed shadow, hung from a heavy, gnarled chain. The instant Fino saw the crimson welling up across its surface like spattered blood, her face twisted in shock.

"That, that's Pops's pendant! Why, how do you bastards have it?!"

"—The 'Dominator's Bloodstone.'"

The man easily brushed aside her flustered demand, with a smirk.

"The symbol of the [Demon King], passed down in your clan… No, it's more accurate to call it a magic item. Activate it once, and it can invade and dominate the minds of every demonkin weaker than the wielder, forcing them into servitude. Your demonkin magic item."

Raul's eyes widened. Demonkin using a magic item? He'd never heard of such a thing.

"Granted, activating it requires an elaborate ritual and an absurd amount of mana. But you, with mana said to rival the previous [Demon King]'s, will surely make a fine [Demon King] yourself… Right, Raid?"

"… Raid?"

The instant Fino heard the name, her face went rigid.

As if savoring the girl's reaction, the man twisted his lips and turned his head. One of the men standing behind him stepped slowly forward.

"… It has been a long time, Fino-sama."

Fino froze where she stood, staring in stunned silence. Raul, too, found his eyes widening.

Carelessly grown-out, dull gray hair. Thin eyelids, and faint creases at his brow and at the corners of his eyes. A face of indeterminate age; he could have been a young man or middle-aged. Unmistakable. It was the customer who had stormed into the shop with the magic duster this very morning.

But then the man lifted an elbow and tore the piercing out of his ear, and in that instant his body began to change. The drab gray of his hair brightened into silver. The dull, sallow color drained out of his skin. The dim slate of his eyes flushed into a vivid, eye-piercing crimson… Damn it.

Why hadn't he noticed?! Raul bit his lip. He himself had been the one to tell Fino that a human's mana couldn't power an item capable of transporting a person. Let alone one that could lift a human body into the air… that was something only a demonkin could pull off!

The enemy wasn't just ex-heroes. No matter what Fino had said, the moment they were first attacked, he should have gone to the Manager. He'd been far too naive about all of this. Raul cursed his own judgment… But it was too late now.

"… So you bastards were working together! No wonder you humans knew who I really was—!"

Fino raised her voice in bitter accusation. In front of her, the man casually folded his arms.

"We go way back. From when you were still living comfortably in the [Demon King]'s castle… Of course, the previous [Demon King] was apparently never aware of his most loyal aide's cross-species friendships."

The man shrugged and laughed, openly amused.

"For us heroes to prove we were doing our jobs, we had to bring back demonkin thumbs as trophies. Whenever we were short, this one always managed to round up demonkin from who knows where. Thanks to him, we never had to bother going out to look for any… A demonkin and a fool, just put 'em to work the right way, eh?"

"Raid! … Is that true?!"

"… Demonkin can no longer win against humans."

In a quiet voice utterly unlike the one he'd used storming the shop that morning, the demonkin man shook his head in resignation.

"As I have been saying for some time, the only path to survival for our kind is to rally beneath Fino-sama… beneath the [Demon King], and join hands with the human heroes."

"That's right."

The former hero sneered, snorting in scorn.

"Team up with us, demonkin brat. It's the only way your people will survive. Strike fear into the humans the way we tell you to, prop up the value of the heroes' existence, and we'll protect you all. —Just like before."

"!?"

… Just like… before?

The casualness of his words made Raul catch his breath.

"Raul…"

Fino noticed the unspoken question in his eyes. She knit her brow, opened her mouth as if to say something, then hesitated and closed it again.

"… They told me before."

—After a beat, she muttered it under her breath.

Glaring at the ex-heroes in front of her with open contempt, Fino spat out:

"These heroes have a pact going on behind the scenes. All of them, all together… agreeing that none of them would actually take down the [Demon King]."

In that instant, the world in front of Raul went black.

"I'd appreciate you calling it common sense, actually."

The sneering voice came from somewhere far away, while Raul's mind drifted as if untethered from his body.

"Thanks to the evolution of magic items, we could have killed the [Demon King] anytime we liked. We let him live on purpose. Once the [Demon King] is dead, we heroes are out of a job. Naturally, we'd protect the [Demon King], wouldn't we?"

The words of the former hero passed through Raul's ears and out the back of his skull.

A vertiginous feeling, as if the whole world, his whole frame of values, was rotating around him.

Everything he had ever believed in crumbled away. And then, unexpectedly, a small chuckle came bubbling up from the back of Raul's throat.

… Ah, I finally remembered, Raul muttered. Hash Funk: the sharp-edged hero who in his youth slew thousands of demonkin and reaped a long list of honors… I knew that name. I'd known it for a long, long time.

It had started with a single card. A [Shiny Hero] card he had no idea where he'd put anymore. The hero on it, his cold, piercing eyes, had struck young Raul as so cool, so impossibly cool.

… Truly, what a fool I've been.

Twisting his body, weeping freely beneath the gag and laughing all the while, Raul had finally seen it through. The reason he'd thrown himself so desperately at becoming a hero had nothing to do with saving anyone.

The hero's title that everyone envied. The fame, the status, the money that came with it.

… I'd only ever been chasing the [Hero] title to satisfy my own greed.

He was no different from the man laughing in front of him.

The bitterness of it, the shame, the way it churned in his gut. It shook Raul's chest, and the tears that wouldn't stop wet his cheeks.

"… You know…"

And then, into Raul's ears, a voice cut in, quiet and tightly controlled.

"You guys. Why do you cling so hard to being a hero?"

He sucked in a breath and lifted his head. Through his tear-blurred vision, Raul saw the silver-haired girl glaring straight at the ex-hero Hash.

Her voice trembled as if she were holding back a flood of emotion, but she pressed on, deliberately quiet.

"Human society has all kinds of jobs besides hero, doesn't it? So why? Why do you cling so hard to being a hero?"

"… Hah?"

The man shrugged, as if she wasn't even worth taking seriously.

"What other job in the world is as honored, as respected, as lucrative as 'hero'? You'd have to be a real idiot to ask such a—"

"The idiots are you bastards!!"

Fino cut him off mid-laugh. Her small body trembling, she shouted with her whole being.

"You bastards don't get anything! Even I figured it out, and I'm a demonkin, once I started working in human society! Humans buy other humans' labor with their own labor! Any job is necessary, as long as it helps somebody!"

"Hah. What a childish thing to s—"

"… You bastards are useful to no one!"

She thrust a finger straight at the man and shouted, every word ringing.

"All you bastards ever did was pretend to fight the [Demon King] and deceive the humans. You're useful to no one. Human society doesn't need you! … Well, not that a demonkin like me has any right to say so."

Then, still glaring straight at the man, Fino slowly folded her arms. With that same ominous smile she'd worn when they first met, the silver-haired demonkin gave a haughty snort.

"But I'm relieved! I always thought humans were so amazing, so amazing, and yet you bastards are no different from demonkin in the end."

"!?"

For a second, Raul thought Fino had given up on humans, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. No! That's not it! Not all humans are this rotten! These guys are just, damn it, just a small minority of—!

"… I know. Raul, it's okay. I know."

But Fino, noticing the look on his face, shot him a quick glance and smiled, faintly amused.

"In other words, if there are demonkin-like humans among you bastards, then it stands to reason that demonkin can also be human-like… that demonkin can also work, can also become the kind of beings who create!!"

Huh… wait, what kind of crazy logic is that?!

The girl had soared right past every assumption he'd had. Raul gaped at her. But the girl who carried the [Demon King]'s blood was, as always, dead serious. With all her heart.

Lifting her gaze once more and surveying the ex-heroes arrayed before her, Fino threw out her chest in spite of her small frame and declared:

"Fuhaha, what a shame for you! I won't become the [Demon King]! I won't be one who takes! Like humans, I'm going to work and become one who creates!!"

In that instant, the man holding the sword to Raul's throat tensed. The edge bit into Raul's skin and he swallowed hard. But at the very same moment…

Hidden by the gloom and the backlight until now, Fino had been carrying something on her back the whole time, ever since she'd come bursting into the warehouse.

She loosened the cord tied at her shoulder with a quick tug, swung the load down off her back, hugged it to her chest, and grinned at Raul.

"… Eh?"

… Wait. Don't tell me, that thing is…

The box Fino was holding had a silhouette Raul knew far too well.

Raul gaped. The ex-hero washouts, unable to read what the girl was so confidently brandishing, looked openly confused.

Fino slammed her palm down on the row of switches along the top of the white box.

"Allow me to demonstrate the dreaded secret weapon dispatched by our company's head office: the air purifier!!"

She finished her grand proclamation, and hurled the box.

The instant the box left her hands, "Witch's Arms" came surging out of the openings at both ends, like a tidal wave, lashing at the ex-heroes in front of her with terrifying speed.

 

*

 

"Wha?!" "What the hell are these black things?!" "Hiiieee! They're going up my shirt?!" "I'm gonna get stripped! I'm gonna get stripped naaakeeed!!"

"Fuhaha, this time I set it to maximum output from the very start! Now you'll get a little 'purification' yourselves!"

Fino sidestepped the "Arms" with practiced ease, crowing triumphantly.

The dim warehouse had become a scene of total chaos. The shrieks and bellows of the panicking ex-hero washouts echoed back and forth across the narrow space.

The man who'd been holding the sword to Raul's throat dropped him the second the chaos erupted and bolted. Raul lay there, still tied, as the air purifier's tendrils reached for him. His face twisted in horror as he tried desperately to writhe his bound body out of reach.

But the "Arms" never quite reached him.

From the outside, it must have looked as if the "Arms" were sealed inside an invisible wall. Watching the perfect hemisphere of "Witch's Arms" that ensnared the ex-heroes, Raul finally remembered… Right. This one's the model rated for a six-tatami room.

"Let's get out of here, Raul!"

He'd been staring blankly at the writhing mass of tentacles when he came to his senses and looked up. Fino was suddenly right in front of him, kneeling on one knee. She cupped Raul's cheek with one hand and used a pair of scissors from her apron pocket to slice off the gag, then began working at the rope. A little force, and the bindings fell away. The moment the gag was off, Raul cried out.

"… Fino!!"

Wiping the leftover tears from the corners of his eyes with newly freed hands, Raul tried to get it all out in one breath.

"Thanks, Fino! I—"

"… Looks like it's too soon to be thanking me."

Fino cut him off and stood up. As Raul straightened up next to her, he froze.

Over Fino's shoulder, he could see the ugly smirk on the cold-eyed man's face.

Hovering above the shoulder of the girl who was spreading her arms to shield him: the magic-infused, blue-glowing tip of a sword.

Tucking her chin and glaring up at the man, Fino muttered through gritted teeth.

"You got out already, huh…"

"Heheh. Believe it or not, I was a pretty competent hero."

The man pressed the sword, still wet from cleaving away "Witch's Arms," against the girl's neck, his lips twisting into a smile… He was a clear cut above the one who'd dropped Raul and fled, or the ones still flailing helplessly in the "Arms."

"… Quite the entertaining little stunt. Looks like I was underestimating you."

"Fino!"

"… I'm fine."

Fino held a hand back to stop Raul from rising and replied calmly.

Even with a sword to her throat, she met the man's gaze without flinching. With unmistakable mockery in her voice, the girl proclaimed haughtily:

"Don't bother with empty threats! Your goal is to revive the [Demon King]—there's no way you're gonna kill me!!"

The instant the words landed, the man's face contorted with fury. He shoved Fino's small frame aside roughly and brought his sword down, full force, straight at Raul standing behind her.

"Wha?!"

A sharp, ringing clash of metal cut through the warehouse.

"I, you know…"

Raul grinned at the stunned look on the man's face.

"I almost made it as a hero too, you know!!"

In Raul's hands now was a sword, having parried the man's blow.

The sword Fino had been wearing on her slender hip beneath her apron, hidden from view, and which she'd discreetly pointed out behind her back while shielding him.

The blunted security blade, standard equipment at Magic Shop Leon, Royal Capital Store, now blazed in Raul's hands once more, alight with magical brilliance.

"I see. So you were a hero-aspirant…"

The former hero regained his composure and re-set his stance. The eyes looking down at Raul narrowed in contempt.

"But you didn't make it, in the end… A shame."

"… Yeah."

Raul nodded honestly. But he answered the man's jeer with a grin of his own.

"But thanks to that, I didn't end up a rotten bastard like you!"

The man in front of him was Raul himself. A foolish creature, dazzled by the status of a [Hero], blinded by greed.

"'Output Raise'!"

He spat that out in his head, tracing his fingers along the blade. The sword surged brighter, and the moment Raul lifted it high, he pushed off the floor.

 

*

 

The thrust he aimed at the man's dominant arm was easily avoided with only the slightest pull-back. But that was within Raul's expectations. With a twist of the wrist, Raul flipped his grip and swung the sword up backhanded. He couldn't put real force behind the tip from that posture, of course, but a magically reinforced sword was more than enough.

"'Output Raise'!"

5,000 ampyle!

The blazing blade grazed the man's arm.

He sprang back instantly, glanced at the red blooming on his sleeve, and frowned for a moment. Then he sank low and lashed out from below, a hard angle to defend. Raul barely avoided it, but the loss of balance left him exposed, and the man's blade came after him again.

"You've got some skill, I'll give you that…"

The man laughed as he wielded his sword.

"But in the end you're still an amateur. You think someone with no real combat experience could ever beat me, who's cut down thousands of demonkin?"

"…!"

… Galling as it was, the man wasn't wrong. The only real advantage Raul had gotten was that one surprise blow at the start. After that he'd been scrambling to dodge.

And…

Raul clicked his tongue bitterly… His mana was already running out.

His limit, a "Magic Output" of 5,000 ampyle. A magic sword that could ordinarily cleave through metal, and yet he hadn't been able to shatter this man's own magically reinforced blade. The moment he eased off the output even a little, his sword would be knocked away. He couldn't gauge the man's maximum output, but it was clearly far above his own, and the man was skillfully timing his peak output to coincide with each attack.

The unbridgeable gap in experience between them. Raul's 15-kilobyle "Magic Capacity" could sustain 5,000 ampyle for about a minute and a half. As the limit approached, the brilliance of his sword would ebb away, leaving only the dead weight of the dulled blade. His heart pounded wildly. Panic blurred his vision. Sweat slicked his palms and the tip of his blade trembled.

The man caught his unease and twisted his lips into a smirk. He slashed down hard at Raul's dimming sword. There was no time for Raul to dodge.

Sparks scattered. The impact rang through his body, and his knees gave out. The sword was knocked away, and Raul was thrown to the stone floor.

"Raul!!"

"… He's fine. I won't kill our precious hostage."

Layered over Fino's scream, the man's grating laugh reached Raul's ears.

"But… well. Maybe I'll just take an arm. As a warning?"

The man's voice was triumphant, arrogant.

—Raul saw the blade of the man's sword flash in his vision.

 

*

 

Reflexively, Raul closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. Getting captured was my mistake. They can have an arm. But Fino has to get away.

Absolutely, Raul thought. Absolutely, I am not letting Fino become the [Demon King]. No matter what. That's right. Absolutely, no matter what… wait.

… Uh, isn't this taking too long?

The pain and impact he'd braced for didn't come. Instead, there was the sound of something being slammed into the stone floor, and then a clattering, as if it had rolled away.

… Squinting one eye open, Raul looked down at himself, still slumped on the stone floor.

"Huh…?"

From head to toe. He even opened and closed both fists. Nothing was wrong.

… He had heard that a sharp magic sword struck so cleanly you didn't feel the pain at first. Apparently, Raul thought numbly, that rumor was true. Or so he thought, until…

"Wha…?"

A bewildered voice came from somewhere… And then.

"You really shouldn't, you two. Leaving the shop empty without telling anyone."

A sweet, soft voice tickled his ears from above… Honestly, this was completely beyond anything he could have imagined.

Sucking in a breath, Raul jerked his head up.

The first thing his eyes registered: a soft fall of chestnut hair. The fluttering hem of a skirt and a snow-white apron.

Raul cried out at the exact same instant Fino did.

"""Manager!!"""

"I came back to the floor and you were both gone. You really gave me a fright, you know."

… Where had she come from? When? The chestnut-haired beauty was looking down at him, frowning slightly and sighing.

"… Raul-kun, Fino-chan. You have to report your troubles properly, don't you? Report, contact, consult: it's basic working-adult etiquette, you know?"

"M-Manager, but, how did you—?!"

"Protecting my staff is the Manager's job."

… That wasn't really an explanation at all, but before Raul could press her any further…

"Yep, exactly!"

Another familiar voice came from right beside him, and someone hauled Raul up to his feet by the arm.

"Here you go, lost property: Raul-kun's sword. Come on, you two, this way, this way."

"Assistant Manager?!"

"Wait, Assistant Manager, weren't you supposed to be off today?!"

"… Heh. Yep, that's right. Day off. So look, see? I'm in plainclothes."

Pressing the heavy sword back into Raul's hands, the Assistant Manager, in a strangely casual blue check shirt and jeans, made a peculiar face.

"There was this customer I had to get in touch with, and when I popped by the shop to grab the paperwork, the Manager kidnapped me, and… no, no, I'm totally okay with this? I was planning to spend the day catching up on my recorded MagiBasket games, but obviously you two are way more important. Right. Right…"

… Was Raul imagining the wistful melancholy in the Assistant Manager's profile as he muttered to himself?

"Now, then."

Raul was being dragged backward by the Assistant Manager when he saw the Manager turn on her heel and face the man who was clearly bewildered by the sudden intruders.

"You don't really think laying hands on our adorable staff is going to end peacefully, do you?"

"Y-You, what the hell are—"

The man's voice climbed an octave as he stepped back. Something was off, Raul realized. The man's sword had vanished from his hand at some point. Raul looked around and found it lying on the floor, well across the warehouse, as if it had been flung there… But how?!

"I am Seara August, Manager of Magic Shop Leon, Royal Capital Store."

The Manager bowed politely, pinching the edge of her skirt in a cute curtsy.

"Should you ever find yourself in need of a magic item, please come patronize our store. We can also order items not on the floor for you. Although…"

That opportunity will likely be a while in coming.

So the Manager said, smiling, as in her hand she held something small. When Raul squinted, he saw it was a calculator. The Manager's favorite, that pop-orange palm-sized magic desktop calculator she always carried.

"Aw, man."

The Assistant Manager muttered, eyelids half-lowered, watching Raul and Fino's stunned expressions.

"… That guy. He's done for. Poor bastard."

"Wh-what do you mean?!"

"… Seara-chan… the Manager, she's a genius at magic construction."

The Assistant Manager mumbled, almost reluctantly, as Raul lifted his face.

"I mean, sure, I'm the one who taught her, but the Manager's got way too much talent. She can take items that were never even supposed to function and modify their 'Magic Field' until they work as proper magic items. Stuff that turns common sense on its head, totally original. And her 'Magic Capacity' for pouring into them is something else entirely."

His tone went a little resigned.

"How do I put it… I'm just a regular ME, but she… I sometimes wonder if she might rival the 'First Hero Bios,' the 'Architect of Artifacts' who built the very first magic items. Word of advice: never, ever make the Manager angry."

"Haa…"

Raul could only manage that, too stunned to say more.

Meanwhile, the Manager had brushed her chestnut hair back airily, beaming sweetly at the now-disarmed man as he tried to figure out what was happening.

"Let me calculate the length of your prison sentence for you, all right?"

Still smiling, her elegant fingers danced across a string of numbers, finally settling on the equals key in the bottom right corner. In a clear, carrying voice, she pronounced:

"'Equal'!"

In the next instant.

The light bursting from the calculator's tiny display seared Raul's vision.

 

*

 

"Oh dear, oh dear."

The Manager, holding the now-dim magic calculator in one hand, cocked her head adorably to one side.

"… Oh my, I'm sorry. It's been so long, I'm having trouble judging the strength."

The Manager kept smiling and muttering to herself without a trace of guilt. In front of her, the section of stone floor where the man had been standing only a moment before had completely vanished.

White smoke curled up from scattered, still-glowing stone fragments. Looking at the brutally gouged-out, peeled-back stone, Raul felt something cold shoot up his spine.

Scary! The Manager is seriously demonic-scary!!

… I'm going to take my job seriously, Raul resolved. No more secretly skipping the thrice-daily register-cash checks, or slacking on rotating the new stock. And under no circumstances, no matter how good the excuse, would he ever again be late or skip a shift without notice. Raul swore it solemnly to himself.

But the man wasn't on the now-vanished patch of stone floor… Instead.

"—I cannot let you kill this human."

A cool voice cut through the air.

When, exactly, had he slipped out of the "Witch's Arms"? … No: for a being whose mana so vastly outstripped any human's, had he ever truly been caught at all, even for an instant? The demonkin who had once been the [Demon King]'s right hand calmly released his grip on the former hero.

The man, saved at the last possible second by a demonkin, backed away pale-faced, pointing at the Manager and shouting.

"Raid! Take down that woman!"

The demonkin didn't so much as nod. He swung his arm. In that instant, a brilliant orb of light appeared in front of him and shot straight at the Manager.

But the Manager was quick. With a swirl of her skirt, she lightly stepped aside. The orb gouged a deep crater in the wall right beside her, with a sharp burst of sound.

"A demonkin…"

The Manager landed lightly and let out a small sigh.

"Oh dear. What to do? I hadn't expected a demonkin to be here, so I didn't bring any anti-demonkin items… This is a problem. I do hope this one will be enough."

Even as she muttered ruefully, she leveled her calculator at him. The demonkin lifted his arm again.

"… Oi."

The Assistant Manager's grip tightened around Fino and Raul's arms. His voice was hard.

Raul, who had been transfixed by the Manager and Raid's clash, snapped back to attention. The ex-hero, who must have picked his sword back up, was approaching them at a steady walk.

The moment their eyes met, the man grinned.

"Now then. Why don't you hand over the [Demon King]'s child, quietly?"

Whatever fear he'd shown earlier was gone. With deliberate, mocking steps, the man advanced.

This was bad, Raul thought. His mana was almost gone, and…

"… I see how it is."

But the next instant, what filled Raul's vision was the back of a rumpled checked dress shirt. The Assistant Manager, who had stepped out in front of the two of them, scratched the back of his head with an indolent air.

"So you're after our Fino-kun, the [Demon King] candidate, huh? That means, just like the Manager predicted, you're one of the rotten-hero crew. Am I right?"

"Assistant Manager! So you did know about Fino's identity?!"

"… Come on now."

The Assistant Manager shot back, exasperated, when Raul couldn't help blurting it out.

"You really think I wouldn't at least look at the new hire's résumé? I am the Assistant Manager, you know… Anyway, hey, you over there, rotten hero."

The Assistant Manager set his hands on his hips and glared at the ex-hero.

"I'm strictly second-string compared to the Manager, and frankly I'm not all that cool either, but… hands off our cute staff, asshole!"

"… Hm."

The former hero glanced at him and snorted, amused.

"Quite the bravado. But going by what I can sense, you don't have much mana to speak of…"

"Haha… too bad for you."

The Assistant Manager narrowed his already-thin eyes further and shrugged a shoulder.

"… When I saw the Manager going all serious on us, I figured I'd be needing this!"

So saying, he pulled an egg-sized yellow ball out of his shirt pocket and lobbed it with all his strength at the man in front of him.

"Wha?!"

The man somehow managed to dodge the unexpected projectile. But the ball burst on the stone floor where it landed, and the liquid inside sprayed in every direction. Smoke billowed up and engulfed the man in an instant.

"!?! Cough! Hack! Ngh! Hgh!"

"Tear-gas magic ball. The anti-burglary kind. Store equipment."

The man's choked gasps came from inside the smoke. The Assistant Manager peered casually into the white cloud, checking on his work, and added under his breath:

"Snuck it out of the register while the Manager had me in a headlock. The dye inside, once it gets on your skin, won't come off for three days. Last time we used one of these, cleanup was a nightmare."

"Assistant Manager! Amazing!"

"As expected of the Assistant Manager!"

Fino and Raul cheered in spite of themselves. But the Assistant Manager grabbed them both by the arm and broke into a run toward the exit, brooking no argument.

"… Sorry, but actually this is just a stopgap. The effect only lasts three minutes max. C'mon, let's get out of here while we can!"

"But, the Manager's still…"

"Yeah, the Manager will be fine, no problem! More importantly, I'm a hundred times more scared of the Manager getting mad at me for putting you two in dang—whoa?!"

In that instant, a light orb shot past so close it grazed his cheek, and the Assistant Manager skidded to a halt. The smell of his red hair singeing reached Raul's nose.

Without their realizing it, the Manager's battle with the demonkin had moved. Right in front of the warehouse's only door, the door at the entrance.

The relentless crash of impacts, the unforgiving craters opening up in the floors and walls. There was no way to pass through that crossfire of high-output light orbs without taking a hit.

The Assistant Manager threw a pleading glance toward the Manager, but the girl panting beside her own magic calculator clearly had no spare attention for them.

"Ah… no good. Yeah, we ain't getting out of here…"

Whatever bravado he'd had was gone now. After a moment, the Assistant Manager rested a hand on Raul's shoulder, his expression grim.

"… Look, Raul-kun. I'll level with you here: I'm completely useless in a fight. See, MEs are a peace-loving bunch by nature. Yeah. You can't really expect anything out of a former ME… So, I'd kinda like to leave this to our former hero-aspirant Raul-kun, if that's all right?"

"… Sorry, Assistant Manager. I, I'm out of mana, too…"

Raul started to say, on reflex. But then he looked from the combat-incapable former ME to the slender girl who hadn't even hit her "awakening" yet and still couldn't use magic, and Raul shook his head emphatically.

The sword in his two-handed grip was leaden, the clouded blade hardly inspiring confidence. But he was the only one who could fight… Besides.

That ex-hero was someone Raul, of all people, had to defeat.

"… No. I'll fight. I'll do it. Get back, you two."

Raul cut off his hesitation and spoke with iron resolve.

And then, Fino, who had been silent in thought all this time, suddenly looked up.

"Assistant Manager!"

She reached for his shoulder, stretched as high as she could, and whispered in his ear. The Assistant Manager's eyes went round.

"Eh… no way, Fino-kun! I've never done anything like that! Or rather, I've never even heard of doing that!"

"The simplest version will do!!"

In front of the flustered Assistant Manager, Fino pressed on with utmost seriousness.

"Like this, going all the way around it… and there just needs to be a switch! Come on, there's no time! If we don't hurry, that guy's gonna…!!"

"… Fine, fine, all right."

Finally giving in to Fino's earnestness, the Assistant Manager nodded. Suddenly, he turned to face Raul, who was still holding the sword.

"Wha—?!"

"… All right, all right, Raul-kun, stop. Just stay still. Don't move."

Caught off guard by the palm thrust at him, Raul flinched and instinctively pulled back. The Assistant Manager muttered something that sounded like an incantation. His hand wavered in midair, and the demonkin girl watched it intently.

After a moment, the Assistant Manager stepped back and snapped his fingers lightly.

"There you go, Fino-kun, done. The left hand's the switch."

"Thanks! … So, Raul, give me your left hand!"

"Huh?!"

Before he could make sense of a single thing, Fino's hand softly closed over Raul's left.

Her fingertips traced the back of his sword-gripping hand, gently stroking the backs of his fingers. The unbearably soft, warm sensation made a shiver run straight up his spine.

"Fino, hey, what are you doing all of a sudden—"

Raul's cheeks went hot in an instant. He tried to cover his fluster with an indignant protest, and that was when a blistering surge of heat poured in from where she touched him.

A torrent of energy that shook him to the core. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, in an instant, Raul's whole body was filled with a searing rush.

"Wha… what is this?!"

"What? You don't get it yet? Basically…"

The unknown energy now coursing through him left Raul completely lost. Fino tossed her silver hair and grinned.

"I had you turned into a magic item!!"

"… Wait, whaaaaaaaaat?!"

In front of Raul's slack-jawed face, Fino confidently gave him a thumbs-up.

"Same as the air purifier! As long as I have a magic item, I can still wield mana even though I can't cast yet! Fight with my mana, Raul! Don't lose! Fight!"

"You… what gives you the right?! Hey, Fino!!"

He shouted in protest at the absurd situation he'd been dropped into, but it was true. His whole body was burning with mana.

"Damn it…"

Steadying himself with a deep breath, Raul ran his fingers along the blade. He reached out with his mind, constructed the "Magic Circuit," and the moment he let the overflowing mana surge through it, his sword began to glow.

"'Boot'…!"

In a single instant, brighter than he had ever seen. The sword in Raul's hands flared with impossible, blinding brilliance.

"You insolent little—!!"

A foul curse made Raul snap his head up. The former hero, finally recovered from the tear-gas magic ball, came charging in, sword raised high.

But Raul's mana-flooded body felt incredibly light. The man's strikes, which had felt so threatening before, now seemed strangely slow.

He sidestepped the fury-laden blow with ease, and brought his radiant sword to high guard.

"This time, I won't lose!"

As the man staggered from his missed full-force strike, Raul brought his sword down on the man's blade with everything he had.

Two magically charged swords clashed… But the gap between them was overwhelming.

With an explosive snap the man's sword shattered and the broken shards spun off into the distance.

The man gaped, blindsided. Raul dropped his hips, then drove the pommel of the sword into the man's solar plexus.

The impact landed solid. As the groaning man crumpled to the floor, Raul let out a long sigh of relief.

"Raul!!"

Fino came running over, beaming. Raul shot her a look of mild exasperation.

"… You. Really. Turning a person into a magic item. What were you thinking?"

"Well, we won, didn't we? Raul, you were so cool!"

"Shut up."

Raul wouldn't even look at her, sulking. Faced with that stubborn pout, even the irrepressible girl looked faintly uncertain.

"You're not… mad, are you? … Sorry. I just couldn't think of any other way…"

She knit her brow, looking up at him in concern. Raul cut off the apology by sticking out his left hand.

"?"

Fino looked confused. Raul muttered, brusque.

"… Just, hurry up and switch it off. If I keep absorbing your ridiculous mana, I'm gonna lose my mind, you know?"

"Ah, right. Sorry, Raul."

Looking relieved, she nodded, and the soft warmth wrapped around his hand again.

A sweet shiver ran down his spine, and the energy drained out of him.

The return to ordinary sensation came as a relief, but he caught himself feeling a tiny pang of regret, and hastily shoved it away.

"Hey… Raul-kun, Fino-chan, got a sec?"

A voice came from behind them, and they let go of each other's hands with a quick, instinctive flinch.

When they both turned, the Manager was looking at them with a slightly bewildered expression.

"Oh, the Manager! When did you…?!"

"Where's Raid?!"

Wordlessly, the Manager pointed with her gaze. There, kneeling, was a single figure.

Raul caught his breath. Fino blinked.

"Fino-sama…"

There, where only moments ago he had been holding his own against the Manager, the demonkin, Raid, had bent the knee, bowing his head before Fino.

"That overwhelming mana you entrusted to that boy… it confirms it. The one who shall become the king of the demonkin is, after all, you, Fino-sama. The one who shall guide and save the demonkin can be no one but…"

In his cupped hands, Raid offered up—when had he retrieved it?—the very mark of the [Demon King] the ex-hero had been flaunting: the "Dominator's Bloodstone."

"… …"

Fino stepped away from Raul and walked slowly forward.

She stopped a short distance away and looked down at the kneeling demonkin in silence. Then, at last, she spoke.

"Raid… I know I keep saying this, but I will not become the [Demon King]."

"But, Fino-sama…"

Raid lifted his head, about to protest. Fino cut him off with utter confidence and declared:

"I'm not going to become the [Demon King]. I'm going to become a shop manager!"

"… Huh?"

Raul couldn't help it. The words just shot out of his mouth.

But Fino, ignoring Raid's similar expression, beamed at him triumphantly.

"Raid. You're right that as things stand, demonkin have no future. But it's not because demonkin lost to humans. It's because all we did was take, and we never knew how to create!"

"… …"

"If humans, who are so much weaker than demonkin, could do it, then demonkin can too! I'm going to work hard! So…"

Fino extended a hand toward the kneeling demonkin.

"Come with me, Raid! Let's work together! Let's learn from the humans the path the demonkin should be taking! We'll change the demonkin!"

"… Fino-sama."

The dignity of her bearing was almost impossibly large for her small frame. The demonkin gazed long at the small hand held out so resolutely. And then…

"—I cannot."

Quietly, he shook his head.

Fino's eyes wavered, and Raid rose slowly to his feet.

"I cannot change. Demonkin are demonkin, and must remain so. And… Fino-sama. You shall become the king of the demonkin, and one day, even of the humans…"

"!?"

"Until that time comes… if you will permit me the presumption, I shall hold on to this."

Crimson eyes, opaque to thought or feeling.

Lifting up the "Dominator's Bloodstone," Raid bowed deeply. And in the next instant, his form simply vanished into thin air.

"Raid…?! … Raid."

The girl looked around in panic, and then stood there, dazed.

"That demonkin was holding back…"

Behind her, the Manager spoke quietly.

"By my read, his 'Magic Capacity' was at least a hundred megabyle. Without dedicated anti-demonkin equipment, any human he came up against would be easy to kill, and yet…"

"… He used to be my tutor."

Fino murmured.

"He was Pops's right-hand man, but he was different from the others somehow… he'd protect Mom for me too, and he wasn't a bad person, really."

Fino stared at the empty space where Raid had been, sounding faintly forlorn.

"I really thought he'd come with us…"

"Fino…"

Raul started to say something to the clearly downcast girl. But before he could, the Assistant Manager clapped her on the shoulder.

"!?"

"… A-anyway, well!"

Fino looked up, and the Assistant Manager smiled brightly at her, his voice deliberately cheerful.

"The rotten-hero situation is wrapped up, our adorable staff are unharmed, so… let's call this a happy ending, shall we?"

"… Yes, that's right."

A bright, easy expression. The Manager picked up on the Assistant Manager's intent to clear the heavy air and nodded, smiling softly.

"Then we just need to do something about that air purifier and have Visor-kun escort these troublemakers to the police…"

"Wait, hold on, Manager! It's still officially my day off! If I go to the police now, I'll be there the entire day…!"

"But I have to keep the shop open… Right, Visor-kun? … Please?"

"Wha, wha, no waaaaay, my dayyy oooooofff!!"

No man could refuse the Manager when she pleaded, and the Assistant Manager wilted in defeat. Watching the exchange, Raul sighed inwardly.

That was when, at the edge of his vision, Raul caught a flicker of movement.

He looked up reflexively. The door to the warehouse's back room was now half open. The moment Raul saw it, a chill shot up his back.

Peering out from behind the door: the figure of a man in his forties. The one who'd dropped Raul as a hostage and bolted from the air purifier's "Arms," and apparently barricaded himself in the back room ever since. Hiding now, the man held something gripped firmly in his hands.

Raul could have killed himself for forgetting about him. He had been the only one who saw the man hide back there!

The moment the man's eyes met Raul's, his lip twisted bitterly, and he shifted his weight.

He stopped hiding, and aimed the muzzle of the thing in his outstretched hand straight at Fino's back—Fino, who hadn't noticed a thing.

Before he could even call her name, Raul's body was moving.

Raul shoved Fino aside to shield her, and in that instant a sharp gunshot rang out and slammed into his eardrums.

… A piercing impact tore through his abdomen, and Raul dropped to his knees.

 

*

 

"!?!" "Raul?!" "Raul-kun?!"

… The voices around him sounded oddly far away.

He pressed a hand to the throbbing pain in his stomach, over the hole in his apron. At the edge of Raul's collapsing vision, he saw the Assistant Manager break into a run.

Another gunshot. Then two more in quick succession.

He managed to lift his head and saw light orbs gouging up the floor under the fleeing man's feet, abandoning his attack. The man stumbled, and the Assistant Manager pinned him down… Ah. They're safe now.

Raul muttered as much in his head, and turned to look. And then…

"Raul!"

A silver-haired girl, supporting his collapsing shoulders with her thin arms, looking straight into his face. Their eyes met.

"Raul, what are you doing getting shot?! Hey, don't close your eyes!!"

Her tone was furious, but her brow was knitted tightly. After a moment her voice caught in her throat, and with a sob, Fino clung to him.

"… Nngh, I don't want this… I don't want this… Raul's been taking care of me all this time… and I haven't been able to repay you at all yet… so…"

Tears spilled from her wide eyes, streaming down the girl's cheeks in rivulets.

"… Raul… don't die… please… pleeease…"

"… Geez."

Raul muttered under his breath, and reached out a hand.

He brushed her tears, and they were warm. Despite himself, Raul let his eyes soften.

"… Well… maybe this is one way to repay me, too."

He muttered to himself, and reached into the pocket on his stomach. He pulled out the object inside and dangled it in front of the still-crying Fino.

For a beat, she just stared, blank.

… And then.

The girl's tear-streaked face broke into a relieved, joyful smile.

"… Raul!!"

… What a cliché, huh.

The girl flung herself at him, and Raul, flustered by the soft warmth of her hug, scratched his head sheepishly.

Fino refused to let go, clinging tight, and as he patted her back to soothe her, Raul held up the strap dangling from his hand in his other palm and gave it a long look.

The ominous-looking strap Fino had bought him with her first paycheck. The bullet had bent it out of shape and torn through the red chain, the rest of which had been blown off somewhere. But…

"Maybe…"

The corner of Raul's mouth turned up just slightly, and he murmured to himself.

"… Maybe a real hero protected me, after all."

Not the rotten heroes the [Hero System] had produced.

But the real hero who had fought, and fallen, for everyone's happiness.

 

*

 

"… So, Manager. How did you know where we were?"

The sound of a distant bell drifted on the air. The young staff of Magic Shop Leon were walking through the quiet, deserted alleys of the warehouse district at the edge of the city, headed for their store, which now bore a temporary-closure sign in its window.

Raul finally voiced the question that had been nagging at him. The Manager smiled softly and pointed at his collar.

"Heehee. That, Raul-kun, is your staff badge. Visor-kun's too, in fact. They've actually been turned into magic items."

"Eh?!"

Raul tugged at his collar reflexively. The Manager tapped the orange magic calculator in her hand with a fingertip and gave him a teasing wink, chestnut hair swaying, amber eyes glinting playfully.

"Sorry for keeping it secret. As long as you're wearing that badge, your location shows up here."

"Wait, so that means…"

"Yes."

The Manager smiled brightly.

"So I can tell right away if a staff member I sent out on an errand decided to take a detour, or sneak off somewhere to slack."

"Ha, hahaha…"

Raul forced a strained laugh and quietly thanked his lucky stars. Thank god. Thank god he had managed to resist every passing temptation on every errand he'd ever run. Thank god he was, on that one specific point, a diligent and upstanding employee.

He glanced back over his shoulder, and met the Assistant Manager's similarly strained smile… But while Raul's was relief, the Assistant Manager's was… how to put it. The look of a man who had already resigned himself to death. Raul silently put his hands together. Ah, Assistant Manager. You didn't know, and you've been slacking off carefree this whole time. My condolences. He was a good man, that Assistant Manager… Even if maybe just a little bit of a screw-up adult.

"N-no, but!"

Forcing a slight quaver from his voice, the Assistant Manager spoke up.

"Going toe-to-toe with a demonkin without any anti-demonkin items, Manager, you're really strong, you know? Hadn't seen it in a while, but I was honestly star-struck!"

Sensing the Assistant Manager's full-throttle subject change, Raul jumped in to back him up.

"Right? I was floored. I had no idea you were that strong, Manager."

"Well, obviously she's strong!"

But the one to react first wasn't the Manager. It was the demonkin girl walking beside him.

Puffing out her chest as if it were her own boast, Fino declared proudly:

"After all, she's the one who took down my pops!"

"Eh?!"

It took Raul a beat to register what she'd just said.

With the expression of a pigeon that had been shot at with a pea-shooter, of a rabbit that had been beaten over the head with a carrot, Raul turned to look at the Manager.

The Manager, under Raul's stare, gave a slightly troubled smile.

"Fino-chan… that was supposed to be our secret, remember?"

"… And so, Raul, just now? That was a joke!"

"Way too late!"

Raul reflexively retorted as Fino backpedaled in deadly earnest. When Raul looked up again, the Manager sighed in resignation.

"… My older brother was a hero."

"Yep."

The Assistant Manager picked up where the Manager had trailed off.

"The Manager's older brother, his name was Elt, was a good friend of mine. He was that rare type these days who really did become a hero for the genuine reason of trying to save people, not for the money or fame. Almost embarrassingly idealistic, that one was."

He started out light, but the Assistant Manager's voice gradually dropped.

"… Honest to god, he was a serious guy, you know? So that whole rotten-hero pact thing was unforgivable to him. He blew the whistle on it, but a brand-new hero who never even seemed to fight demonkin, no one believed a word. On top of that, the heroes' conspiracy got his license stripped. Even so, he went after the [Demon King] by himself. And in the end… the other heroes…"

"… So I decided I'd take down the [Demon King] myself."

The Manager murmured, and Raul turned to look at her.

"That was supposed to be my farewell tribute to my brother. To carry on the dream he set out to fulfill all alone… And, well, my own little revenge against the heroes, I suppose."

But the smile on her face was so very soft, despite the content of her words.

"It did end up causing the recession, which hurt the shop's sales, which was a bit of a problem… but I had to put a stop to the [Demon King]'s atrocities and the heroes' tyranny, the things my brother had been so anguished by."

"… That time really got me, though."

The Assistant Manager nodded along beside her and grumbled softly.

"The Manager just announces one day, 'I have something to tell you.' I'm bracing myself, sure this is the proposal, and instead she goes 'I'm going to go take down the [Demon King] for a bit'! You believe that? Sure I tried to stop her, but with what happened to Elt, when the Manager decides on something, you can't talk her out of it. And she said she'd be back in a week…"

"Wait, Manager, you took down the [Demon King] in a week?! And kept working?!"

"That was as much vacation as I could get. Visor-kun would have died of overwork."

"… No, seriously, that was hell."

The Assistant Manager's gaze drifted off into the distance.

"The temp we hired up and quit on us, the smug glasses-wearing sadist HQ sent to help was all mouth and no action, new product kept coming in nonstop, sales kept overlapping, the customers kept showing up like normal… I don't think I genuinely slept for a single hour that whole week. Even as a former ME, I seriously feared for my life. What an unforgettable experience."

"Haha…"

… The Assistant Manager's quarrel with this Gil person ran fairly deep, apparently.

Sympathizing with the Assistant Manager's grousing, Raul realized there was still something that had been bothering him all this time.

"Hey, Fino…"

"What?"

The girl answered instantly.

"Are you okay with it? I mean… the Manager… isn't she the one who, you know, killed Pops?"

Raul phrased the question awkwardly, and Fino blinked her blue eyes.

"… Truth is, I didn't really hate Pops all that much. He was scary, and yeah, I resented him for a long time, but… Pops cared about me in his own way, I think."

She let her silver hair sway and quietly shook her head, then added, "But…"

"Pops did terrible things to a lot of people. He deserved to be taken down… And so did I, who watched him do it and couldn't do a thing about it."

"…"

"… But the Manager didn't take me down."

She said that lightly, and lifted her head.

Fino gazed at the Manager with a look full of admiration, almost dazzled by what she saw.

"Instead, the Manager handed me a résumé. Said come to my shop if you want to change… What with Raid catching me and having to run from the ex-heroes and all, it took me ages to actually get here, but I'm really, truly grateful to the Manager!"

In front of her beaming face, Raul suddenly remembered the résumé she'd brought into the shop on her first day.

A startlingly beat-up, dog-eared résumé. But for her, just how much weight had it carried?

"… Or, you know."

Beside Fino, whose eyes were sparkling, the Assistant Manager stroked his chin and grinned. With a sidelong glance at the Manager, he added in a teasing tone:

"Maybe it was actually just because we were short on staff?"

The Manager smiled, her chestnut hair swaying.

"… Heehee. Who knows?"