“…What the…hell…”
On the other side of the cup, the god looked at him as if he could see through anything.
“The sacrificed beings are affected by the outcome of the games. If the Hero prospers, so will the beings. But if the Hero falls midway… They will suffer great losses.”
“Why…”
“The price of power. If you pay that much, you can gain that much.”
Koji had not heard about that at all. Though, Zephalis likely did not think about it at all.
“…So, the people that were offered for my broken armor…”
“I don’t know. It is usually spread out so that the effects are not just focused in one place. Still, they would not be living happy lives.”
“Why…would you go to such lengths for a game…”
On the screen, they were now making the kobold remove his armor.
The Heroes, weapons in hand, were looking on with amusement.
“Because people need myths.”
“Myths?”
“Stories to make them worship gods. Propaganda to gather faith and increase their power. For that end, they create stories of Heroes who destroy demons.”
The kobold took out the hatchet and threw it down on the floor. The blade that had cut Koji’s neck.
“So…are demons just made up by you gods?”
“No, they exist. However, if we fought a real war against them, it would just destroy the worlds we wish to acquire. In order to avoid that, we made a pact.”
“What the hell…”
“It is the truth. A game of Heroes and Demon Kings.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Koji watched as the Heroes surrounded the lone kobold.
But the small monster moved.
“Wha…?”
His body bent back, and a black form rushed towards the boy with the whip sword.
Blood ran from his neck, but the kobold continued to pull the string, causing the dolls to explode and block the magic that came flying.
“Well, there is no point in staying here any longer.”
Yamami put his tablet away.
“He-hey! It’s not finished!”
“Exactly. And so there is no time.”
He quickly paid and then climbed up the stairs. Unlike before, he actually seemed to be in a rush now.
“Salia is expecting my help.”
He said as they walked towards the main road.
“What do you mean?”
“I believe that Evacus’s Hero has a secret plan to defeat all one hundred of those Heroes. Salia saw this, and used her kobold as bait.”
“So they can fight, one against one?”
“Indeed. And he probably believes that he can win.”
Yamami turned to him.
“Koji Itsumi. Allow me to ask you a question.”
“Wh-what’s this…all of a sudden?”
“Why do you want to go back to that world?”
He was no longer smiling.
The plain, kind man was gone. And a piercing intensity was flowing out from him.
And while the air was heavy, Koji still opened his mouth.
“At first, I wanted to go back if I could. I think I was mad about not being able to finish… Also, life here is a lot more boring.”
However, Koji now knew the reality behind the game.
“If what you say is true… I don’t think there is much meaning to playing. To being a Hero while others suffer.”
“So, you don’t want to return then?”
“…I don’t know. You told me so much that I’m confused… But…”
He recalled that face.
The angry monster.
“During these past two weeks, I’ve been thinking about that kobold a lot.”
“Do you hate him?”
“No…I don’t think so.”
There had been hate at first.
But what was in his heart at the end…
“I didn’t. Why he was angry at me.”
“You killed his friends, family and lover.”
“That’s…what I didn’t know.”
Ah, right.
“Because I thought he was just a monster… It was what I was told.”
“Part of a system to kill humans. Without love or emotion. A pawn in a game that must be defeated.”
Yes. And so until the end, he did not understand.
“But you feel differently now?”
“…Yes.”
“Let me tell you this. Even with emotion, kobolds are still monsters. They are still pawns in this game.”
Yamami said seriously.
“Heroes are messengers from god. And what he does is the will of the god.”
“And that includes killing defenseless creatures?”
“Monsters are evil. What is the problem with killing them?”
Perhaps.
After all, Koji knew that there were monsters that slaughtered and tormented. They ruined the lands.
Heroes were friends. Monsters were enemies.
That was the rule of the world.
“While you finished partway, what you were doing did help to bring peace to the world.”
“Then why do I still feel so horrible!”
He shouted angrily.
“You don’t have to tell me that! I’ve already heard it. But…”
He recalled the last words that the kobold had said to him.
Suddenly tired, Koji’s eyes went to the ground.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What?”
“If the Hero defeats the Demon King…will peace really come to the world?”
Yamami closed his eyes and opened his mouth.
“What do you think?”
“…Not that again.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
He looked up at Yamami. The waves of emotion were gone. He just wanted to know.
“Haven’t I told you? Gods are good. Monsters are evil. And so Heroes are right for defeating monsters.”
“Ah…”
“But if you don’t agree with that. What can I say?”
Yamami said as he walked out onto the road.
Koji was about to warm him, but that was when he noticed the difference.
There were no people around them.
Not just the people. But there wasn’t a single car either.
The sun was setting, casting red light through the buildings.
And there was no sound.
“Now, I can tell you about my position.”
Yamami declared as he stood in the middle of the crosswalk.
“As I said earlier, I am, for the most part, forbidden from playing the games. Because of my rank, territories and faith.”
He said self-deprecatingly.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Well, I am thinking that we could make a contract.”
The god laughed.
“You have a motive for returning to that world. The drive to find meaning. For what you did, for the existence of Heroes. And that kobold.”
“Even if you helped me to do that. What do you expect to get in return?”
“I want to use you for the events that are about to occur. I will be entertained and fulfilled.”
“You are quite blunt.”
Yamami laughed with a nod.
“I do not like to scheme. While I cannot tell you everything, I will tell you what truths that I can.”
“You won’t say later…that you didn’t tell me something because I didn’t ask?”
“That depends on you. But when making a contract, a degree of knowledge and craftiness is required.”
In other words, he better ask as many questions as he can now.
Koji thought for a moment and opened his mouth.
“So, I will be your Hero and play in the games?”
“Well, in a way. However, you have been killed once. So you won’t be allowed to start again. And so I must use a different method.”
“And how are you entertained?”
“I…am bored of being an outsider.”
He said with a sigh.
Now that Koji thought about it, this god said that he played games too. Perhaps being excluded from the ‘great game’ forced him to make do with these games here.
“And what’s your wish?”
“To help a friend.”
That was surprising.
Koji’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t expect that from a god.”
“We gods can have companions. If anything, we probably have more connections than you people.”
This friend was likely Salia.
“Is she your lover?”
“Do you think the world works based on such relationships? You definitely are a young one.”
“I was just wondering. But since you look a little irritated, perhaps you aren’t that indifferent?”
“We are not even the same race. It would be strange to have such feelings… Is that all you wanted to ask?”
Apparently, he was out of time.
Koji hesitated and then asked the most important question.
“…Will I… be able to come home again afterwards?”
“That depends on you.”