Pen and Paper Translations

This damned hero bastard.

The one wanting to hurl curses was the High God as well.

In truth, the current situation wasn’t all that bad for the High God.

Thanks to the Duke of West who was hell-bent on somehow attributing all glory to House West laid plenty of groundwork. Once rumors spread that the hero had subdued the Demon King, human piety would swell rapidly.

Humans, who had waited so long for the hero’s advent, would welcome this moment all the more.

However, the High God, feeling thoroughly offended, did not wish to share this glory with the hero who had deceived Him, nor with the Duke of West, who believed he could conceal much and even manipulate the gods as he pleased.

The High God wanted, by any means, to screw the two of them over. Yet He could not refrain from granting a reward for felling the Demon King. There was a considerable price to pay for breaking the rules He Himself had made. At worst, He might even lose a portion of the power He had painstakingly gathered.

So He pondered.

A way to make Xion and the Duke of West pay, without breaking His own rules.

There was just one idea that came to mind.

[Very well. I shall grant your wish.]

The High God formed a triumphant smile Xion could not see.

He had long since known that this generation’s hero harbored feelings toward the Demon King Reinhild that a hero should never possess.

Though the affairs within the Demon King’s castle lay in the Demon God’s domain and he could not freely observe the Demon King, it wasn’t hard to notice, just by watching the hero’s behavior, that he had fallen in love.

A hero in love with the Demon King… what a farce.

If such a hero planned to spend the rest of his days together with the Demon King, it would be only fitting to do everything in His power to thwart it.

[However, extending a single human’s lifespan is an enormous act that departs from the order of the world. There will be a price.]

It is only natural that a tremendous reward demands a great price.

If he disliked that, he could simply desire a different wish.

[For a human, no other race, to live nearly a thousand years is impossible. Since I cannot change your race, there remains only one method.]

“What is that price?”

[All beings in the world shall forget that “Rexion West” exists.]

Thoom—!

The light that filled the sky flashed pure white, and there was a vast resonance brushing past the ears.

He had heard that this was what immature clerics felt the first time they received an oracle.

That the same phenomenon occurred as when an oracle descends meant that the god had put “power” into His words just now.

These words would certainly come to pass.

If Xion wished for this, the being known as Rexion West would vanish from the world.

Xion’s face tightened. Not because he disliked this price. He placed a hand over his chest, which thundered in response to the resonance.

Though it had been forcibly stirred by the god’s power, he did not wish for his heart to pound because of anyone other than Reinhild.

All the more so if that being had hurt Reinhild.

“What do you mean, that everyone will forget me?”

[Rexion West shall be erased from the memories of all. From your birth, to your becoming a hero, to the Demon King… none of it will anyone be able to remember. Recorded documents shall be distorted, and the memories of those around you shall be erased. All the feats you have achieved shall disappear from the world.]

The High God was satisfied with this “price” He had wrung out.

It was an idea He had formed from observing how the humans of House West operated. Fools who tampered with history and falsified records, taking as the greatest joy of life the knowing of truths unknown to others. Thus, having themselves revised and erased would be the ultimate punishment.

Moreover, to say that the Demon King he cherishes so dearly would also forget every moment with him, how could he possibly accept that calmly?

Truly, it was a perfectly tailored penalty.

And it was a way to punish the Duke of West alongside Xion.

Once the being known as Rexion West was forgotten by the world, the hero’s feat of subjugating the Demon King would be attributed to an unknown party whom no one could identify. The Duke of West, shocked that this era’s hero was not of House West, would suffer at the realization there exists history he cannot control.

A price that punishes both the insolent hero and his house at once.

There could be no more perfect countermeasure.

“When you say memories will be erased… does that include the Demon King?”

As expected, anxious that Reinhild’s memory might be lost, Xion asked again.

The High God grew even more self-assured.

[Of course the Demon King’s memories shall also be lost.]

If Xion tried to change his wish, He would demand the same price no matter what argument he made.

Until Xion gave up everything and arrived at a situation where he could no longer meet Reinhild.

Go on then. Do as you wish, hero.

Whatever it may be, I shall perfectly foil it.

[If you do not desire that, then another wish—]

“Does that mean I can be remembered by Reinhild not as the hero, but merely as Xion?”

[…?]

The eyes of Xion, which had been lifeless like those of the dead, began to shine brightly.

Reinhild, who died in the agony of betrayal, deeming every moment with the hero Rexion West to have been a lie.

Did this mean that those horrific memories could all be erased?

When Reinhild opened his eyes again, could he be seen not as the hero who deceived, tormented, and gruesomely killed the Demon King, but merely as a human?

“Ah…!”

His chest swelled. Xion finally let out an exclamation.

It was regrettable that all his happy memories with Reinhild would vanish, but those memories had already been befouled and trampled under the contract between the High God and the Demon God.

Even the once-pleasant times would likely be remembered as pain by Reinhild.

In that case, forgetting was better.

Even if Reinhild forgot, Xion would remember every moment he had shared with Reinhild, so it was fine.

Xion was grateful for this opportunity to be by Reinhild’s side without suspicion or resentment, and to plant new memories once more.

He was confident he could fill all of Reinhild’s new memories and feelings with happiness and joy.

He would make sure it became so.

This was not a harsh price to Xion, but a blessing.

Even if it were a selfish choice, he would have no regrets.

Xion was so mad for Reinhild that he could not make a rational judgment.

[Oh, living long is not as good a reward for a human as you think. I shall give you a chance to reconsider, hero.]

As if making one last struggle, the High God added this, but Xion’s decision was firm.

Even if he had to live for long years in a sea of fire, if Reinhild were at his side, Xion could be happy.

Of course, he would prefer there not be literal flames wherever Reinhild was.

“My wish remains unchanged.”

[…]

Having already invoked His power and pronounced the price, He could not now take back His words. At this rate, only the impudent hero who had deceived Him would profit.

In haste, the High God repeatedly urged Xion to change his wish.

[Do you truly not understand what it means for there to be no one in this world who remembers Rexion West? Not only your existence, but also the feats and fame you have built up will be erased. You will be neither noble nor hero, and thus cannot live as before.]

There would be a hero who slew the Demon King, but he would not be remembered as Rexion West.

People would think that a hero who hid his identity slew the Demon King and then disappeared, spurning all glory. The second son of House West, Xion’s younger brother, would become the heir to House West and later the duke.

Wealth, power, honor, everything that had been Xion’s would be regarded as someone else’s; he could not go to the ducal house and say he would take just his share while grabbing a purse of coin. The temple would no longer welcome Xion, and having lost his status, even entering the capital would be difficult.

It meant he would exist in a state akin to one who should not exist in this world, yet still draws breath.

[While other humans die and new life is born, you will neither age nor die; you will not be able to fit in with the world of humans, and it will be hard to live among other long-lived races as well.]

“I know that hardship well.”

The mage nodded gravely.

Living on, belonging nowhere, is far harder than one might think.

Getting a false identity issued every time was quite a hassle, and being suspected of being another race because one does not age and receiving wary looks was irritating. Though in truth, he was about a quarter of another race.

[With nothing prepared, you must endure five hundred years alone. The human heart changes more easily than you think, hero. Even if your feelings toward the Demon King change, the wish cannot be undone. Even if, later, you wish to spend a lifetime with another human, a lifespan once altered will not change back. The same holds even if the other is not a beloved. You will have to watch, again and again, as every passing bond comes to the end of its life. Humans are frail beings who cannot endure such loneliness. Will you truly not choose differently while accepting all of this!]

At those words, Xion smiled brightly.

“If that alone lets me be with Reinhild.”

Hopeless. This generation’s hero had gone off the deep end—far off.

The High God lamented.