The Foreshadowing of the War

Two years had pa.s.sed in the old castle of the snowfield, where the only things changing were the four seasons.

Alfra, supposed to be at a developing age, had yet to see much change in her height.
However, in regards to her everyday life, comparing the contents of her study sessions to before, it could be said that she"d made some progress.

In the morning, the time for training was replaced with studies of various subjects such as the common knowledge, history of the continent and extensive miscellaneous knowledge​ taught by Takashiro or Felmar. The lessons taught by Takashiro included even such dangerous topics as poisons and the vitals of the human body.

In her spare time, Alfra had even baked sweets together with Felmar. Latter was generally against Alfra, the "milady", entering the kitchen, but she still reluctantly taught her how to bake pies and cookies.

Takashiro and Felmar had started to call Alfra by "milady" and also asked her to call them without honorifics in return.
The matter was that it would not be good if Alfra, who had started to call Byakuren only by her name, still referred to the servant with polite suffixes.

There was also time when in the name of the outdoor survival training, she went over the snowfield and put up a tent at the foot of a mountain. At that time, Byakuren ordered Felmar to prepare sandwiches and Alfra ran around like she was on a hiking trip, so it could hardly be called a real training. Felmar"s sandwiches were very delicious.

This was the first time Alfra found out that the village she grew up in was over the mountain, beyond the vast woodland.

Keeping in touch with the human village from the castle on the snowfield seemed to be quite a difficult task.

"As I said earlier, targeting heart, lungs and the pancreas would not be very effective because they are protected by the armor."

The morning in the training area. Alfra, who was sitting cross-legged on the cold floor, was taking Takashiro"s cla.s.s.
The old butler, which spoke indifferently while maintaining elegant standing position, demonstrated by hitting his own right side.

"In any case, you should aim for the liver. Kidneys would also be quite lethal, but the opponent would last longer. It goes without saying that faster the enemy dies, the better."

Alfra also tried to hit her own sides.

"The biggest advantage is that you can insert the blade directly from the joint of the armor. However, when using a broad weapon, unless you lay it down lengthwise, you will hit the bone and won"t reach the organs."

Alfra nodded with understanding.

"When using something like a dagger, if you push it up from the bottom once again after stabbing, the results will be more certain. ―― Like this!"

She tried repeating his movements.

"Like this!"

"That"s right. In about a minute, they will bleed to death. Even if they somehow manage to stop the bleeding, it would be meaningless as their stomach will already be flooded with blood. They will be a dead meat"

"Dead meat!"

Takashiro was frighteningly competent even as an instructor of war techniques.

Midnight, a lingering moment after receiving "meal" from Byakuren.

"You don"t seem to be getting much taller. Don"t children of your age grow by leaps and bounds."

"Do you like taller people more, Byakuren?"

Having something she was insecure about pointed out, Alfra became sulky. She had turned 14 years old, but she still could not even reach Byakuren"s shoulders.

"I haven"t thought much about that. Well, you"ll be getting taller soon enough."

Was it just her imagination that Byakuren"s gaze halted at her chest for a second?

"It would be a different case if you were a man, but in my opinion, smaller girls are more loveable."

Feeling guilty about her own gaze, Byakuren immediately patched things up. However, Alfra"s shoulders twitched at the word "small" ―― It had simply become an additional blow to her wounded heart.
However, Alfra, which was sulking in an adorable manner, quickly smiled and tilted her head to the side.

"Do you like girls more than men, Byakuren?"

"….Huh?"

The question came so abruptly that Byakuren had to go over the sequence of the conversation inside of her mind. She could not understand its meaning at all.

"Takashiro said that "madam is not very fond of gentlemen"."

"Good grief…what are you two talking about at the practice field?"

"Hmm~ like about dead meat?"

Byakuren, which did not know what the dead meat was, decided to ignore it for the time being it.

"Well, if I had to choose, I"d say that I don"t like them."

From her words you could hear the connotation that she was fed up with them.

"You"re pretty so you"re popular, right? Takashiro was saying it."

―― That d.a.m.n Takashiro….

"You know, a long time ago, King of the barbarians used to live in this castle."

"Ah! You"re trying to avoid the question!"

"Just listen up. It"s a story about a man. At this place, you see, the ground was stagnating and a vast amount of magical power acc.u.mulated underground. “

"Underground?"

Alfra"s line of sight shifted towards the floor.

"It"s a veeeery deep place. That"s why the barbarians called this place a sacred ground and built a castle."

"Fueeh~ that"s kinda amazing."

"There was a demon that put their eyes on it, you see, so they killed the King of barbarians and made the castle their own."

"….That"s a bad guy, right?"

"That"s right. It is absolutely forbidden to have a dominion outside of the demon territory. He was a worthless man, called something Viscount…"

"Huh…"

"You wanted to talk about men, right?"

“Y-yeah…"

Byakuren, which smiled with the corners of her mouth lifted, startled Alfra. She was reminded of the cruel Byakuren from when they had first met.

"…What happened to that demon?"

"I killed him."

Looking at the happily talking Byakuren, Alfra felt that she truly was a demon.

"But demons with court ranks are really strong, right?"

"Who knows? It"s not like I"ve fought them. Because he was clinging to me, saying that he would take me as his wife…"

"Because he was…?"

"Just like this, I forced it up around his liver."

"Made him into dead meat!"

Alfra was convinced that the liver was a rather popular vital organ among the demons.

In the gentle sunshine of early summer, Byakuren and Alfra were both immersed in the bathtub.
Even during the early summer, it was still chilly in this region, which was located quite north on the continent. The snow had thawed and the coldness had also slightly eased, so they brought out a bathtub to the balcony and soaked in the hot water.
Felmar was the one which prepared a large amount of hot water and being a demon, she readily completed the heavy physical labor of transferring it into the bathtub.

Byakuren was tall but thin and Alfra was quite small overall. The bathtub was also of considerable size so they were able to use is quite comfortably.

"Hey, Alfra! Straighten your back probably. I can"t wash you if you"re curled up like that."

"I-it"s ticklish!"

Felmar was watching over the two frolicking with a smile on her face. Takashiro, was, of course, prohibited to approach the balcony that was in the middle of bathing time.

"You need more nourishment just as I thought, Milady."

Alfra plunged into the hot water to hide from Felmar"s gaze. Perhaps due to the combination of p.u.b.escent shyness and her underdevelopment, she seemed to be embarra.s.sed to show her body or to see it.

"You"re right. I wonder if it would be better to increase the amount of food…"

Byakuren muttered with a sigh while taking a hard look at Alfra. It was one of her recent serious concerns.

"There is still the deer meat we have procured the other day, so let"s have meat dishes today."

"Oh, that"s good. Let"s do that."

In light of Byakuren"s gaze, Alfra"s cheeks, which were submerged in hot water, were dyed even more more red. However, on the other hand, she also kept stealing glances at Byakuren"s body.
Looking from the side, they looked like close sisters taking a bath together. However, something more than that seemed to be flickering in Alfra"s eyes.

"Geez, Alfra. What are you shying away for? We"re all women here so drop that strange look."

Byakuren, having noticed her strange glances, extended her hands under Alfra"s armpits. Although Felmar looked at the scream that resounded immediately after with smiling eyes, her face was slightly clouded.

One day, Takashiro was doing a maintenance on the training gears that was used during the training at the practice field.
Alfra"s improvement was remarkable. To start with, her physical abilities were very good. Her agility, explosiveness, nimbleness and the lightness of her body, along with her endurance were exceptional. Takashiro suspected that this wasn"t only the effect of Byakuren"s blood and was largely connected to her original const.i.tution.
As for the technical aspect, whether it was because the teacher was exceptional or the student was remarkable, or perhaps it was the combination of both, she had achieved astonishing results.

Alfra herself didn"t have much desire to become stronger. However, if she got a good evaluation from Takashiro during training, it would get reported to Byakuren. Overjoyed, the latter would speak of the values of demons which held the power in high regard to Alfra and praise her a lot.
In the end, all Alfra wanted was to be praised by Byakuren.
Her motive was somewhat impure, but her feelings were frighteningly strong. In an amazingly short time, Alfra managed to absorb all sorts of techniques.
Faith can move mountains, was it?

In Takashiro"s opinion, Alfra"s special qualities would lose their advantage in a melee like a war, however, in a 1v1 fight, no normal fighters would be able to match up to her. He prided himself in having pa.s.sed that much over to her.

Training with his prodigious student was an extremely valuable time for Takashiro too.

At the time when the Sun was sinking in the ridgeline of the snowfield, Takashiro and Felmar were locking up the doors and windows for the night.
They split up and checked the back door and the slatted shutter. When Takashiro finished most of his duty, Felmar, which had also finished locking up, called out to him.

"Hey, Takashiro. About Madam lately…"

Felmar"s face appeared pallid under the dim torch lights.

"I wonder what on earth does she have on mind?"

It was an ambiguous question, but Takashiro understood Felmar"s thoughts exactly. Since it was also something that he was anxious about.

"That is not something that us, the servants, need to fret over."

"But isn"t perceiving your master"s feelings also one of the servant duties?"

Felmar answered Takashiro"s light curbing with sound argument. What the two were arguing about was, of course, not how a servant should behave.

"You know, in just four years, madam has changed a lot. This might sound bad, but there"s not even a shadow of her past self left."

"……"

"I wonder what is she planning to do with Milady? No matter what she does, they can"t possibly be together forever. Wouldn"t humans be the happiest living with other humans?"

Just as Takashiro opened his mouth slightly, he exhaled as if sighing and turned his face down.

"Milady has grown up in those four years. Well, her body is still small though. After four more years, she"ll grow up even more and become an adult."

"Yeah…"

Thinking about that, something bitter spread through Takashiro"s chest.

“But madam won"t change. Her appearance, at least. Same for me and you. Demons live ten times longer than the humans. Our bodies also grow at a similar pace…"

"You are…right."

"In four more years, Milady will catch up with the madam. After more time pa.s.ses, she"ll overpa.s.s even me and turn into a granny."

"We and humans live within the different flow of time, after all."

It was something that even Takashiro had thought about many times.

"Finally she"ll overpa.s.s you too and Milady will die. Definitely earlier than madam."

"…You"re right."

"….."After that. Neither of them said a word and a long silence lingered. The room was engulfed by the coiling heavily silence.  As if to escape from the awkwardness, Felmar opened her mouth.

"She can"t leave milady…in this castle forever."

Mm, a sigh like a groan spilled from Takashiro"s mouth.

"I hate humans. But milady is different. Such a straightforward and lovely girl is a rarity even within demon children."

"You"re right."

Takashiro"s face was becoming gloomier. Yes, it was unbearable exactly because she was so cute. As if putting those thoughts in words, Felmar said.

"That"s why, isn"t it better to return milady to where humans live before she becomes an adult?"

"…..Yeah. Humans belong with other humans, with those who share the same flow of time―― that"s normal and the biggest happiness for them…But, Madam must understand that too."

"You"re right. Madam is a wise person…but, you know, I wonder if Madam "really" understands it…."

"That"s…"

"Hey, how about advising Madam yourself? Me doing it would be, you know…"

"Tell her to return milady to the human village? If I uttered something like that…I will have to answer to her terrible anger."

Takashiro, with his forehead deeply wrinkled, whispered with a barely squeezed out voice.

"In the worst case, I might not be able to serve her anymore."

"N-nah, I doubt it"ll be to that extent…"

"Recent madam has that kind of part to her. Is that not what you are anxious about?"

"T-that might be so, but aren"t you very trusted by madam? There"s no way she"ll make you quit work….."

"Do you really think so?"

Felmar moved her mouth as if she wanted to say something. But, no words left her lips in the end.

Without an answer, the darkness of the midsummer"s night sunk deeply and heavily.

The short summer approached the end and began changing into the season when the coldness in the mornings and the evenings became more severe.
A matter of going to the town before the snow began and stocking up the food was brought up.
Demons generally did not have any need for food, but it was different for the human Alfra.

"How about coming along, Milady?"

Takashiro asked Alfra to accompany him to the city.

"Milady is already of age, do you not want to choose clothes and accessories yourself?"

However, Byakuren fiercely opposed.

"No! The town is dangerous. There"s no way I can let Alfra go to that kind of place!"

Wouldn"t Alfra feel nostalgic if she went to the human town ―― and start saying that she wanted to leave this castle and live in the town? That"s what Byakuren was afraid of.

"I will be accompanying her, so there will be no danger to――"

Interrupting Takashiro"s words, Byakuren stood up with a momentum strong enough to almost kick off her seat.

"Are you going to make me repeat myself?! I already said that I would not allow it!"

"I"m not going to the town! I mean, it"s too far away, right? I don"t want to not be able to see Byakuren during that time."

Alfra, which somehow understood Byakuren"s feelings, entangled her finger with Byakuren"s hand as if acting like a spoiled child.

"I don"t need clothes or accessories. I don"t need anything as long as I have Byakuren!"

Byakuren embraced Alfra"s thin shoulders and gently stroked her flaxen-colored hair.

―― They"re almost like a real parent and a child

Seeing the two embracing each other, Takashiro face turned bitter.

―― However, what will this girl, who"s saying that she does not need anything as long as Byakuren is with her, do when the time to part comes…

Suddenly, a sound of knocking was heard.

"Excuse me. I did call out at first, but my throat is not very st.u.r.dy, so it seems that my voice did not reach you."

A tall man was laughing mischievously, leaning on the door.

"I see a new face. I"m Senka. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The man bowed gracefully with a joking tone.
He was a person, who was about to bring great changes to the demons.
And somebody who Takashiro knew very well.

―― At this timing….

Takashiro swallowed back a groan.

―― Is this the devil"s bad joke?

Yes, that man was the Demon King, which had taken over the northern territory of demons.

"What do you want?"

Byakuren asked strictly.

"Oh my, such cold words even though this is our reunion in a long while."

"….."

"Still, I was surprised. You have changed quite a lot during the time we have not met. Is this some kind of bad joke?"

Takashiro"s face twisted at the frivolous voice that sounded as if it had seen though his thoughts.
Senka looked from Alfra to Byakuren with a great interest and looked up at the ceiling in a very surprised way.

"Why are you, who"s now become the Demon King, at this kind of place?"

"Demon King?!"

The eyes of Alfra, which raised a voice in astonishment, interlocked with the eyes of Senka.

Despite it being their first meeting, Alfra felt a fierce hostility towards Senka.
She observed the hateful Demon King with intense eyes.

He seemed to be a bit older than Byakuren. And taller too. He was two heads taller than Alfra.
His face was also very well-ordered and he looked like a prince from a fairy tale. His glittering, almost transparent blond hair that fell on his shoulders seemed gaudy and made Alfra"s impression of him worsen.

The thing she didn"t like the most, however, was how picturesque he and Byakuren looked next to each other.

―― They"re almost like the Prince and the Princess…No! The G.o.ddess and the Demon king!! They absolutely don"t look good together.

―― She"s way out of his rank!

Like a child a.s.serting her ownership, Alfra hugged Byakuren"s waist. Byakuren gently put her hand around Alfra"s shoulder to rea.s.sure to her.
Looking at the two, a bitter smile appeared on Senka"s face.

"Nevertheless…I"m really surprised. I had thought that you hated children, after all."

Returning a rather th.o.r.n.y gaze, Byakuren inquired.

"What matters bring you here?"

"….I have come to welcome you to the imperial palace."

Alfra"s eyes opened wide with anxiety. Imperial palace….was a word she hadn"t heard before.
However, she instinctively understood that the man in front of her was trying to take her beloved person somewhere far away.

"…..let"s change the location."

Byakuren"s voice was firm, but faint. Was it grief, or guilt perhaps, in that tone full of complex emotions?

"It is not the kind of matter that you would want to hide from others, right?"

Maintaining his original manner, Senka said gently but without giving her an option to refuse.

"Different location…"

Byakuren"s weak voice, the likes of which Alfra had never heard from her before, made her anxiety stronger. The weakness she showed as an absolute guardian evoked an emotion close to fear in Alfra.

"It is also a matter that concerns that girl"s future."

Senka"s gaze made Alfra feel like an invisible dark hole had opened under her feet.

"Please…"

Byakuren"s faint voice worsened Alfra"s unrest even more. The pitfall at her feet was deep and bottomless, making her feel like she was falling into the abyss.

"…..I understand."

With a big sigh, Senka nodded.
Byakuren brought her face close to Alfra"s ear, but soon she was pulled by Senka and left the room.
Alfra saw off the two with indescribable feelings of fear and anxiety. As if drawn by the darkness, her knees fell to the floor.

Alfra, with her eyes wide open in daze, was left alone in the room.

"I am going to ascend the imperial throne."

Senka brought up the main topic abruptly, without any preface. Taken aback by those words, Takashiro caught his breath.

"I don"t have much time currently. The process of gathering the scattered Kings is already in its last stage, so I cannot afford to leave capital free for a long time. I will briefly tell you necessary information and immediately return to the castle."

"If you are going to be crowned, that means….you have been approved by the three Kings in the capital?"

Having composed herself, Byakuren asked.

"That"s right. However, even within the three Kings, there is somebody who does not think highly of me so the situation is a bit delicate. Well, the approved itself has already been pa.s.sed down so there shouldn"t be any problems."

There were currently 16 Demon Kings among those who were called oriental demons. In order to attain the throne, approval of the three out of them, the three Kings which govern the capital, was required.

"That being said, the easterners are grumbling, so it can"t exactly happen right away. There might be a fight, but I do not intend to take that much time."

"I see…."

"According to the customs, there should be no problems as long as I have the approval by three Kings, however…in actuality, things don"t move forward that smoothly.―― It"s a troublesome matter."

Although his demeanor was intimate, Senka"s gestures and the att.i.tude were overflowing with confidence and the aura of a ruler.

"Has the date of the coronation already been decided?"

"Not yet. I was thinking of doing it by the end of the year. Takashiro, by that time I will of course have you attend at the castle too."

"Understood."

"Of course the same applies to you too, my lady. I am also thinking of welcoming you to my castle after the coronation."

Byakuren cast her eyes down, as if trying to avoid Senka"s gaze. The shadow on her face was deeper than the one cast by her eyelashes.

"Needless to say, I will not let you refuse. Have you forgotten our promise?"

Her beautiful face twisted bitterly and guilt, mixed with self-pity, spilled together with her sigh.

"I have already said that I do not have much time, didn"t I?"

Senka asked silent Byakuren all the more gently. Even some caring could be detected in his gaze.

"Please let me think…for a short while."

Her unmoving heart wanted an extension of time.
Senka sighed and overlapped his hand with Byakuren"s hand which was so cold it almost felt bloodless.

"For me, welcoming you at my palace is just as important as ascending to the throne."

"….I do feel apologetic"

The voice ingrained with confliction also sounded like that of a wrinkled old woman.

"I am not blaming you, my lady. Please do not make that kind of face."

With a caring face, Senka lightly kissed the back of Byakuren"s hand.

"….I understand. I have not even completed the coronation ceremony first, after all. Next time I will come for you as Emperor Senka."

"Okay…."

Takashiro quivered.
The temperature in the room dropped so low that it could be felt physically. He took a side glance at the battered Byakuren. It was as if her feelings had leaked out.

"Please say goodbye to that girl by that time. I cannot afford to bring a human child to the castle."

Senka"s face, which was peering at the downcast Byakuren, still harbored the signs of trust. Having caught that expression, Takashiro thought.

―― Can Madam really do such a thing?…..

"I would like to greet that girl before leaving, but I seem to have overstayed my visit. Please allow me to excuse myself."

Senka went out on the balcony, but as if having remembered something, he looked back.

"Oh right, it would be better to increase the number of servants. A castle where n.o.body comes out to greet you even when you shout at the gates is nothing but inconvenience. Well, that"s going to be only for this year though."

The Demon King, which was wrapped in the presence of war just like his name, disappeared as if melting into the dead of night.

In a dimly-lit room, Alfra rubbed her puffy eyes and waited for Byakuren"s return.
Before she left the room, Byakuren apologized to Alfra in a quiet, whispering voice that only she could hear.

―― Why are you apologizing?

―― Why are you apologizing even though you haven"t done anything wrong to me? Large tears appeared in Alfra"s eyes.

―― That guy said that he came for her…is something bad going to happen from now on?

Without enduring the urge to cry, tears ran along her cheeks.
Byakuren"s fragile voice as she was apologizing did not leave her ears.

―― Is she going to do something that will sadden me?

Even when her lovely face was turned into a sloppy mess with tears and runny nose, Alfra still did not mind it. She took no notice.

―― She"s not going to disappear somewhere, is she?

Suddenly, she felt Byakuren"s presence outside the door.
Alfra reflexively stood up.

The door did not open.

She slowly approached the door. The presence was definitely there.
Alfra wiped her tears so her pathetic face wouldn"t be seen and patiently waited.

The door did not open.

Alfra waited with antic.i.p.ation.
When she put her hand on the door, she felt like she touched a sad presence.
Slowly, tears overflowed from her eyes, but she wiped her face and endured it. Because she did not want to be called a crybaby by Byakuren.

Still, the door did not open.

Gradually anxiety started to grow in her heart.
The moment the tears she endured overflew, she could not stop it anymore.
Alfra once again felt that a big pitfall had appeared beneath her. She could not see where the abyss with its mouth wide open was waiting. However, it was undoubtedly there.

That darkness was a trap created by Alfra"s vague fear. ―― Is Byakuren going somewhere? Is she going to leave me? ―― Because of their ignorance, children are often afraid of many things. The fear, born from such immaturity, manifested itself in the form of abyss opened at Alfra"s feet. That darkness was full of something terrible that her young mind could not comprehend, something terrifying, "something" incomprehensible and murky. She felt that she definitely could not fell there.
However, that thing was invisible. It was impossible to avoid.

Alfra, who was chained on spot without being able to take even a step forward, sat down before the door. She knew that with the next step, she would fall.―― so she thought.

The girl which was brought up by demons during her sensitive age, without ever mingling with humans.
That immature and young mind was completely gotten lost from her mother which was at the other side of the door.

Alfra raised her voice and cried. She cried and asked for help.
She waited and waited and waited for the door to be opened.

"I"m sorry"

She felt like she heard something.

The door remained closed that day.
For the first time in four years, Alfra didn"t receive blood from Byakuren.
—
Notes:
What Takashiro says is 一念岩をも通す which is basically an idiom saying that if you put your heart into something, you"ll definitely succeed. The 一念 part means pouring your heart into something and 岩をも通す part implies that even if you meet an obstacle that"s harder than a rock, you"ll be able to overcome it. (Source – )
眉間に深くしわを刻んだ is wrinkled forehead. I imagine something like this [img] addresses Byakuren with 貴女 which is essentially a respectful form of referring to a woman