Chapter 3.5 - II -

 

Honestly, that conversation I had with God remained at the back of my mind ever since that time.  Questions like, “what does He mean by ‘Chersea’s greatest crisis’?” and, “Will there be another human-demon war?”, permeated my thoughts whenever I’m alone.

 

Devras’ face then appeared in my thoughts.  That guy’s the first person (male) in this world I truly had an enjoyable talk with.  It would be a shame if we ended up fighting against each other.

 

To know what God might was talking about, I went browsing through the library’s volumes of history books.  Maddie was at the table where we were before, floating free as she slept.

 

I didn’t know.  Though she may be Chersea’s Saint and the ultimate person concerned with this land’s daily affairs, I felt like I shouldn’t bother Maddie with this problem just yet.  I mean, she had been through a lot of heavy stuff recently, and I wanted her mind to take a break off in the meantime.

 

That’s why I’m doing this while she’s asleep.

 

Ah anyway, in other related matters, the good thing was that I could somewhat understand the letters of this world even when I just got summoned.  Chersea’s writing was quite complex, and there were a few punctuations present in their grammar system.  For example, narrative statements were usually written from bottom to top, and there were no quotation marks used to show dialogue.  You’d only know that it was a character-spoken statement when the sentence was written top to bottom.

 

Whether this is an effect of my summoning, or magic, I don’t know.  What I got was that this phenomenon was convenient for me.  Saved me a lot of time that would be spent on learning Chersea’s writing and language.

 

So anyway, after looking out for the right book, I finally found the thing I’m searching for…

 

‘Chronicles of the Demon War’

 

Since this thick book was the last one among a series of equally impressive volumes with similar titles, I assumed that the last one was the most recent record of the history of human-demon wars.  It was heavy, so I carefully pulled it off from its spot—a relatively tall shelf, and carried it back to my table.

 

“…”

 

Hmm…the Chronicles of the Demon War, volume XI.  This is the account of the most recent human-demon war, which started when the demon king, Melqart Buvor, succeeded in the infernal throne…  

 

 

The eleventh volume of the book about the human-demon wars was a detailed history of everything related to that topic.  It chronicled its background, which was said to have started the moment the previous conflict ended, and up to the legacy it gave to all races that were involved.

 

“…”

 

Well, I’m a fast reader, but I still hadn’t been able to finish the entire book.  I guess it would require several sittings—so I planned to read that again sometime later.

 

 For now, I just need to know about the summary of that conflict.  Maybe I’d get some clues about that crisis God is telling me…

 

“…”

 

Alright, so if you’re wondering, here’s a summary of what I understood.

 

The most recent demon war began with the succession of the demon king, Melqart Buvor, to the infernal throne of the demon race.  Upon uniting the entire demon lordships, he embarked on an ambitious plan to conquer the human realm—the first step in his revanchist desire after their defeat in the previous conflict with humanity.

 

Aided with a new, powerful form of magic, King Melqart launched an invasion that destroyed the kingdoms of Venn and Thelmose, as well as many other duchies and principalities that are in their path.  Many humans suffered and died; either from the murderous demons or the famine and plagues that followed their destruction.

 

The northern countries were the most affected.  They tried to ask for the help of the Empire of Chersea—the strongest human state, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.  The Imperials also sought to strengthen their defenses, should the armies of the demons arrive in their borders, and the process left the northern Cherseans to their ruin.

 

It was at this time that in the part of the Empire nearest the armies of the demon king, the duchy of Nerfes called for the aid of the heavens.  They collaborated with the Saint, who refused to evacuate and decided to stand with her loyal paladins.  Under the auspices of the great god, Gaius and his consort, Arame, they summoned powerful individuals to help humanity survive the bitter struggle against the demons.  These men and women are now called ‘Heroes’.

 

The war lasted for several seasons, even with the help of the heroes.  It is the most destructive and bitterest conflict ever to face humankind.  Millions died, kingdoms obliterated, the lands to the further north of Chersea turned to desolate wastelands.  But in the end, humans prevailed and drove the invaders back to their lands…

 

Ah well, it’s pretty interesting to note the names of the heroes brought together by the Saint of that time.

 

• The knight, Jimmy Nee Rubinforth (Maddie’s great ancestor, and Ruro’s first love).
• Terebia of the Bow.
• The shield-bearer Asteritt Falias.
• Magus Olime Tammy Feenas.
• Cassandra David, the Golden Sword of Heavens.

 

That last hero, Cassandra David…her name sounds familiar to me.  I didn’t know where exactly I heard of it, but it felt like I uttered that name before…

 

Anyway, long story short, the general history of the human-demon war was:  before heroes—defeat, after heroes—win.  A typical ending for any fantasy novel out there, I know.  But well, it’s on the after-effects of that conflict that I once again became interested.

 

Because, during the war, the heroes were supported by the duchy of Nerfes and other autonomous states of the Empire that were still functioning.  The Holy Palatial Gardens also helped the heroes, and that caused a rift in the relationship of those surviving northern duchies and the rest of the Imperial Chersea.  

 

When the war was over, the Empire was forced to grant further autonomy to Nerfes and elevated its status into a client kingdom, to preserve the Imperial authority in those parts.  However, it was too late.  In the next few seasons after the human-demon conflict, the northern states of the Empire rebelled and proclaimed independence from the Imperial rule.  

 

Why would they continue to be ruled under a country that didn’t care for them, anyway?  And so, that led back to the present, and the geopolitical situation of Chersea, the realm of humans.

 

Wait, nothing was answered in my questions.  This was ‘humanity’s greatest crisis’—at least, it was way back during those dark times.  

 

However, what about God’s words?  What crisis is He referring to?

 

 

Having hit a dead end, I took the book and put it back on its shelf.  Well, it’s not like I wasted time researching on nothing; I  learned more about Chersea’s past.  But I guess, to answer my questions, I  had to scan around the entire history section of the library, which was…uh…I guess it’d take a long while…

 

Who knows, I might stumble again on some interesting stuff if I did just that.

 

Going down the ladder that was for accessing the higher parts of the library (Chersea’s history books about the human-demon war occupied a tall shelf), I accidentally missed a step and almost fell crashing on the floor.  Fortunately, I grabbed hold of a sturdy part of the shelf before me, thus avoiding a painful accident.

 

“!!!”

 

However, some books that were out of their proper place were the ones that fell.  It caused a muffled crashing sound, which was good, since I didn’t want to disturb Maddie in her sleep.

 

Having gone down safely from the ladder, I picked the books that fell to place them back in their former positions.  I looked into the titles just to be sure I’m arranging it to help the maid sorting it.

 

“!!!”  

 

A book with blood-red letters for its title caught my attention.  Singling it out, I read the words on the thick leather cover…

 

‘Bloody Witch of Meldech’

 

Hmm…pretty interesting title, huh?  I wonder if this is a novel, or—

 

Oh right, this is the history section…

 

So Cherseans had legends like this classified as official history.  I mean, come on, the book title reeked of chuunibyou.  How could someone take this seriously?

 

The Bloody Witch of Meldech.  For several seasons, the people of Nerfes’ capital city were terrorized by this horrible creature.  A perfect bogeyman for the children, and the worst nightmare for the adults.  This demon in the shape of a human was never easily satiated with their blood…

 

A demon in human form, or a human with a heart of a demon?  Find out the—

 

“!!!”

 

I was shocked when the book—as heavy as it weighs—suddenly flew away from my hands.  I was about to run from fright when I saw Maddie behind me.

 

“What?  Was that you who knocked that book away from my hand?” I sighed with relief as I saw her.  I almost thought it’s a ghost, or something else.

 

“Ah yes.  Was wondering about that book you’re reading…”

 

“Oh, that?  It’s some weird book about a ‘Bloody Witch’ of something…”

 

“I see…” Maddie then uttered a spell that caused all the books scattered nearby to return neatly by themselves to their respective places.  I couldn’t help but marvel at the ability she displayed; it’s just way too cool for me to handle.

 

“Ah anyway, Kuro, can I ask you something?”

 

“Hm?  Sure, what is it?”

 

“Uhm…can you please refrain from mentioning this ‘Bloody Witch’ thing?” Maddie then brought the book that talked about that very topic; it seemed like she purposefully left it out with her when she returned the other books on their shelves, “I didn’t know that there’s still a copy of this book here; please forget anything that you read about it.”

 

Then, without uttering a word, she burned it to ashes.

 

“…”

 

Honestly, I’m all creeped-out by Maddie’s sudden change in character.  Even without her speaking, I could sense that she’s dead serious with her request for me to forget what I just saw.

 

“Kuro, please, can I count on your cooperation in this matter?”

 

“A-alright.” I was bewildered by the sudden turn of events that I thought little of my answer.

 

Ah, it’s not like it had something to do with me anyway, I hope…