And here is a third one. I think that this is a good chapter to stop on for today. Be sure to comment and tell me what you guys think of the chapters. I love reading people’s reactions. Enjoy.

The Preceding Hero"s Love Story
Now then……I wonder where I should start from.
Should I try singing about my meeting with her to our secret date in the middle of our journey and then all the way up to our parting like a poet from somewhere?

No, that was a joke, so don"t make such somewhat glad eyes.
Jeez, I wonder why the creatures called women like love stories like this.

……Olivia Fin Lutecia Leezelion. Since it"s stupidly long, it"s disrespectful but I"m going to abbreviate it to Olivia, got it?

First of all, it"s said that she died, but to be accurate, Olivia hasn"t died yet.
Although her body has rotted, her soul remains in this world.

Why do I know that you ask? ……It"s because, even now, Olivia is containing the Demon Lord.

The soul is something that can"t be seen but it certainly does exist.
I myself am living proof. The Sacred Sword that exists in this world is originally nothing but a simple vessel.
I, the Hero, had the natural abilities for it, and by pouring my soul, which should be called a fragment of the Sacred Sword, into the vessel, the Sacred Sword formed the shape of the original Sacred Sword for the first time.
Well, the story about the Sacred Sword is stupidly long like usual so let"s put it aside for next time. If I had to mention volume number, wouldn"t it be fine to say it"ll be about volume six?

……Now then, first is why we took the stupidly bothersome way of sealing the Demon Lord without defeating him.

It"s an extremely simple argument. ……It"s because he can"t be defeated. Of course, he"s the Demon Lord, you know?

And that"s how it should be. Human emotions, so greatly diverse and greatly varied, as long as every single possible human emotion is there, we won"t die.

Yeah. It"s "we".

Though, to be accurate, it"s the Demon Lord and the Sacred Sword.

That"s right, there"s no way the Demon Lord and the Sacred Sword will be destroyed as long as people"s emotions swirl.

And then, the thing called human emotions is something that will never disappear.

You could say that"s absolute. I"ll declare it. As long as people are here, our fight will never end.

Positive emotions, negative emotions……I think that it"ll seem like negative emotions are bad by saying it like that, but I"ll dare to use it just as it is.

The Sacred Sword which is the aggregation of positive emotions.
The Demon Lord which is the aggregation of negative emotions.

Which one surpa.s.ses the other and which one doesn"t, that much is clear.

They"re both the same.

Humans are creatures that display their emotions like fools.
In both joy and anger, they"ll equally move about.
Humans are simple creatures that are like fools.
While sinking in the depths of despair, thinking in that there might be someone that will save them, they die with an imaginary hope in their hearts.
While at the peak of happiness, thinking that someone might break that happiness, they make an imaginary enemy, and it turns into skepticism.

On the other side of positive emotions, there are negative emotions, and on the other side of negative emotions, there are positive emotions. They coexist.
There"s no way to erase either one of them. It"s because they are two sides of the same thing.

……No matter how many times we try to defeat him, it"s because the Sacred Sword exists that the Demon Lord can"t be defeated.
Even though it"s because the Demon Lord exists that I wield the Sacred Sword.

…………Whoa there, you"ve got caught up in this in a good way, haven"t you?
Rather, if you"re having a bad physical condition, properly lie down.
Here, I"ll change the towel for you.

Ahem. Well……In other words, if I"m going to keep it brief and say only the effect, 『As long as the Sacred Sword and the Demon Lord exist with each other, they won"t disappear』.

Alright, now here"s a question.

・Is there really no way to defeat the Demon Lord?

……Looks like you understand.

That"s right, defeating the Demon Lord……There is a way to temporarily erase him from this world.

Only one, by simultaneously destroying the Sacred Sword and the Demon Lord which were two sides of the same existence, it is possible to destroy the Demon Lord.

Why do I know about such a thing, you ask?

I "know" about it.
There"s no rhyme or reason. I just know about it.

……You understand what happened next already, don"t you?

Olivia, she became my subst.i.tute.

If it weren"t for my conceit, I think Olivia would have said that she loved me.
Because of that, she probably held feelings of guilt towards me right to the very end.

Ah, come to think of it, did you know that I came from a different world?

Yup. That"s right, Earth.

I was summoned from there by Olivia.

At any rate, even though it was fate that it was absolutely necessary to put an end to the Demon Lord, Olivia had regretted summoning me.
She said that she had wrecked my life.

You know, Olivia…………at the last moment, she apologized.

Free from the obstacles that were my and Sylvia and the others" feelings of wanting Olivia to live……She, called out to me.

She apologized for wanting me to live.

…………That was wrong. I wanted different words.

Dreaming of a different conclusion, wanting Olivia to live on, wanting her to smile……Even though, I fought for that……っ!!

……Now~ then, I guess that"s about it?

Concerning the result, Olivia died because of me.
But it"s not like I abandoned her. Absolutely not.

Did it sound like an excuse? Well……it actually might be……

「There"s no way……it would sound like one!」

Bernadette got up and hugged Yuu who was beside her and sitting on the bed.
It"s because for Yuu, his face that looked like he would cry at any moment was something that he didn"t want.

「Yashiro-san, I completely understand that you thought of Saint-sama with great care. Yashiro-san, I properly understand that you aren"t at fault! Hearing that just now, it seems like you still haven"t abandoned her. I don"t hate you, Yashiro-san!」

Gently, gently brushing Yuu"s head, whom she was holding tightly, close to his ear as if to whisper……As if to a.s.sert that she was by his side, Bernadette continued.

「……You really loved Saint-sama, didn"t you? You wanted to be told thank you by Saint-sama, didn"t you? To be told "sorry", you didn"t want to be apologized to, right? ……You wanted, to be together, didn"t you?」

In her breast, she felt something hot spreading out.
Strongly hugging Yuu"s shoulders who was starting to tremble, while desperately trying to make her voice that was similarly starting to tremble be a gentle tone of voice, the corners of Bernadette"s eyes became hot.

「I absolutely won"t doubt you anymore. To think they said that you left Saint-sama to die, I won"t doubt you. I mean, you loved Saint-sama this much after all. It must have been painful……It must have been mortifying. ……You"re really remarkable. ……You really did your best. It"s alright now.」

While holding Yuu who was sobbing like a child tight, Bernadette felt a pain in her chest that made her want to shout.
But, to relieve Yuu, to make Yuu relieved, "it"s alright", she gently whispered "it"s alright".

While wetting her cheeks……from that love that didn"t come true.