Chapter 44: Hero Party (Interlude)

Lumani Tepes possesses a demonic eye that can see through a person’s soul.

She says that whether it’s a human or a demon, the shape of the soul is different, and while there are creatures with

unpleasant souls, there are also creatures with clear, clean, and infinitely pure shapes.

Among them, the soul of the hero Leo is infinitely clean and strong, a soul optimized for the job of a hero, so even if

you look at it with your eyes closed, you can tell that this man is a hero.

“It’s one of my abilities that I used quite usefully on the battlefield. As you well know. I can see souls even if I can’t

see, so even if I lose my sight on the battlefield, it was meaningless.”

“…Such a cheat…!”

“I don’t know what that means, but anyway, from the first time I met you, I knew you were Damian Radius. I can’t

forget someone with a soul like yours once I see it.”

She added that it was the first time she had seen such a brightly shining soul since the hero Leo, and although the

color of the soul gradually darkened as the war prolonged, she could never forget the firm soul that did not lose its

light.

“No matter how brilliant the soul is, it loses its light when it gets blood on its hands, but you were different. You

know what? You have a soul that is hard to forget once you see it. So from the first time I met you, I knew you were

Damian Radius. That’s all.”

Of course, she didn’t ask then because you seemed to want to hide your identity, Lumani continued, and I opened my

mouth with a slightly awkward expression.

“…Was that why you were interested in me when we first met?”

“Well, there was that, but it was just that I was very curious because you, who were clearly human, smelled like my

kind. When I looked closely, you were half-human.”

Lumani looked at my face with an interested expression, tilting her chin.

She seems to be very curious about the reason why the gender and race have changed.

Well, my lover Leticia, Leo, Chloe, and Irinia believed my identity too easily, so I didn’t need to explain anything, but

Lumani was different.

She was an unforgivable enemy who fought to the death until a few years ago.

I hate demons.

I despise demons and I was still disgusted by the blood flowing through my body.

The reason I chose the character Charlotte in the first place was just because I was interested in it as a ‘character’ in

the game.

Maybe it’s racially discriminatory, but I still hated demons.

Damian-nim.

Please survive until the end.

The voices of those who died on the battlefield, which still sound like a curse, linger in my head.

Come to think of it, the voices that I couldn’t hear when I returned to Earth started to be heard again after I came to

this world.

I laughed hollowly inside.

Well, since I came back to this world, am I supposed to keep the oath with the dead and remember it?

It may be a cruel word, but it’s a ridiculous word to me.

Are you telling me to feel guilty for the dead now?

Their words can’t bind me or hold me.

I’ve changed too much to feel guilty for each and every one of the dead.

Of course, the deaths of those I thought were close to me were sad.

Well, that sadness didn’t last long because it was buried in the war, but still, I don’t want you to think that I’m a

person who has no sadness or guilt at all.

It’s just that I can’t just be immersed in sadness, so I shake it off.

When I first possessed someone, I didn’t know I would take someone’s life.

When I think about the past, I sometimes miss those peaceful times….

W-What was that magic just now…! No, more than that, I almost got my neck cut……! Wait a minute! What are you

doing, attacking me out of the blue! I almost died?!

It’s natural because it was an attack to kill you, right? You’re an intruder, and you’re talking too much.

Intruder?! I just woke up and was stranded here… -.

No passing wolf would believe such an absurd excuse. It would have been a little believable if you said you were

stranded, but it’s a shame. You dare to enter this north, which is ruled by the Grand Duke Lisyantus, are you a traitor

who sided with the demons?

Uh……Huh? Lisyantus, you don’t mean….

…Nevermind.

When I suddenly opened my eyes, I was embarrassed by the pure white scenery and the cold, but Leticia, who

mistook me for a spy of the demons who invaded the north, almost cut my neck with wind magic.

If it’s a memory, it’s a memory, but it wasn’t a memory I wanted to remember.

It was really close, then.

If I had made a mistake, my neck would have been cut right after I possessed someone.

“If it’s been discovered, there’s no point in hiding it. You have an eye that can see through souls, I completely forgot.

I’m envious. I wish I had such an eye.”

“Hmm. In the end, you’re not going to explain why you became a woman and half-demon?”

“Hehe. Well.”

“…Right. If you’re the real Damian Radius, I can trust you in terms of strength. In the first place, don’t you have a

demonic eye if you were human, let alone now?”

I lowered my eyes at Lumani’s question.

Demonic Eye 

Since I’m half-vampire, I had some expectations that I might have a demonic eye with special powers.

Although I’m a half-breed, the blood of a demon, which is presumed to be the highest-ranking demon among

demons, flows in my body, so I thought that maybe I could have the ability to turn an opponent into stone just by

looking at them, like the monsters that appear in legends, as well as the opponent’s soul.

Well, those expectations didn’t last long.

Because there were no skills related to demonic eyes among the skills I couldn’t learn.

I thought it would be better if it was simply because my level was low and I couldn’t learn it.

And that possibility hit the mark in a month of acting as a professor at the academy.

Kiiiing….

The eyes that are quietly looking at Lumani sink low.

Lumani is right.

While I was at the academy, I occasionally caught beasts and killed criminals who were famous in the underworld,

and as a result of raising my level, my demonic eye awakened .

“There’s no lie.”

The ability of the demonic eye is to see through the truth.

In other words, it was an ability that allowed me to determine whether the other person’s words were true or false.

It’s not that I didn’t trust Lumani.

It’s just that I just checked that there was no lie in Lumani’s words.

Ah, is this not trusting?

I became a demon, and Lumani is on our side, but it was difficult to fully trust a demon.

Lumani would have known.

That I was using the power of my demonic eye on her.

Knowing that, she didn’t say anything.

Lumani laughed lightly, leaned her chin comfortably on the sofa, and asked.

“So, have I gained your trust?”

“It’s enough.”

“That’s good to hear. I passed your test.”

“I was rude. I’m sorry. But since a demon named Ryuryeon is one of the ringleaders in this incident, this was the best

way for us to trust each other, so please understand.”

Well, even if I didn’t ask for understanding, I would have used my demonic eye to check, but I don’t need to say that.

I lowered my eyes halfway and smiled slightly at Lumani.

Lumani, who laughed hollowly as if she was dumbfounded by me, said with a smile.

“You would have used your demonic eye anyway, even if I didn’t allow it. That eye, it’s not very noticeable.”

“Thank you for the compliment. It’s a pretty elaborate skill… no. It’s an ability. It’s an eye that determines the truth

of the other person’s words, so it wouldn’t be good if it stood out, right?”

“…An ability to determine the truth of the other person’s words… It would be suitable for interrogating prisoners.”

If humans and demons were still at war, it would have been a very useful ability if I had this ability when I was

human.

I reminisced about the past for a moment and nodded.

“It would have been a welcome ability in the past. I don’t want to use this kind of ability if possible, though.”

The corpses and the fishy smell of blood that I see every time I open my eyes.

Prisoners, war, I’m sick and tired of it now.

I opened my closed eyes and continued with a faint smile.

“I will also help, albeit weakly, with Ryuryeon and the organization she belongs to.”

“Weakly. You underestimate yourself too much. Just receiving the help of the Heavenly Demon is fear itself to the

demons.”

“Haha. It doesn’t feel real when someone who isn’t afraid of me says that. Ah. Now that we’re comrades, can I call

you Ms. Lumani comfortably?”

“There’s no need to be awkward when catching a common enemy. I welcome it too. I’ll call you Charlotte

comfortably. You can call me Lumani too.”

I was startled by Lumani’s words, who smiled with her characteristic bewitching expression.

“……That’s a bit much.”

“Then do as you please. More than that, why are you suddenly using honorifics when you used to speak informally?

There’s no reason to use honorifics when your identity has been revealed, right?”

“Ah, it’s a habit of this body. Even if I try to fix it, the honorifics are so familiar to me that I have to go back.”

At the unexpected sight of the two who would have growled and fought if they had met when they were Damian, the

forgotten divine archer and saintess muttered, looking at the two with awkward expressions.

“I feel like the two of us have been forgotten, don’t you?”

“…I guess so. Both of them are optimistic, both in the past and now.”

“Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s comrade. I didn’t know the day would come when I would join hands with a demon….”

And just at the right time, the door opened and Leticia and Leo entered.