Chapter 109: I didn’t think about it
ㅤAs the sun began to set, the silhouette of an island appeared on the horizon.
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ㅤThe number soon increased, and I could see four islands within my field of vision.
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ㅤI cast levitation magic to accelerate the boat, aiming for the largest of the four islands.
ㅤWe managed to arrive at the island before sunset.
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ㅤI lifted the boat with levitation magic and pulled it up onto the sandy beach.
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ㅤ（We might use it again.）
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ㅤPerhaps I pushed it too hard, but the golem’s power core started smoking and stopped working. However, I still have a few spares.
ㅤThe damage to the boat is more serious. It was originally a simple boat not meant for ocean voyages, so it’s creaking all over after the journey so far.
ㅤNo matter how many power cores and magic I have, it would be impossible to return to Celesta with this boat.
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ㅤThere was no sign of human life on the sandy beach where we landed.
ㅤOnly the sound of waves washing against the shore echoed quietly.
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ㅤ”…It’s quiet, isn’t it?”
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ㅤAlmirash-san said after getting off the boat.
ㅤHer legs were wobbly after the long voyage.
ㅤI’m not good with vehicles either, but thanks to the Thief’s Blessing, I felt no change in my physical condition.
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ㅤ”Don’t let your guard down. There might be pirate survivors hiding.”
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ㅤ”Y-yes!”
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ㅤAlmirash-san gasped at my words.
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ㅤ（Well, there’s no sign of them so far.）
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ㅤI had been carefully watching the coastline as we approached the island, but I didn’t see any ships.
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ㅤ（There might be some kind of facility on the other side of the island.）
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ㅤAt first glance, it was an ordinary island.
ㅤThere was a large rocky mountain in the center, surrounded by a forest.
ㅤUnlike the Mist Forest, the forest had a southern, tropical vegetation, like palm trees.
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ㅤ（Hmm… I don’t remember seeing it before, but I have a sense of déjà vu. I wonder why?）
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ㅤAs I thought about it, something flashed through my mind.
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ㅤ（It’s a manga… It’s like one of those islands where you’re suddenly taken and forced to kill each other, and only the survivors can return.）
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ㅤThe island wasn’t that big, but it was large enough to hide in.
ㅤThere was a good chance that someone was lurking.
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ㅤ”Let’s set up camp for the night.”
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ㅤI called out to Almirash-san.
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ㅤ”Uh, what should I do…? I-I’m sorry, I don’t have any experience…”
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ㅤ”I thought so. Just leave it to me.”
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ㅤI used my minimap and my intuition as a Thief to search the surrounding area for a suitable campsite.
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ㅤA little way from the beach, there was a rock formation like a folding screen, with a recessed area at its base.
ㅤIt would conceal us, and we would immediately know if anyone approached. We could also escape if necessary.
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ㅤThere were no signs of monsters nearby.
ㅤThere was a place where monsters were clustered together, quite a distance away, but they were unlikely to come this far.
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ㅤ”This is the place.”
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ㅤI took out a complete set of camping gear from the Abyss Worm’s Infinite Stomach and prepared a campsite for the two of us.
ㅤI was hungry, so I started a fire, put a pot, also taken from the stomach, on the fire, and threw in some food, similarly retrieved, to cook.
ㅤEven though it was a warm region, it was chilly after sunset. Almirash-san and I both sighed in relief at the warmth of the bonfire.
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ㅤ”Minato-san, you’re amazing.”
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ㅤAlmirash-san suddenly said as I scooped ingredients from the simmering pot and served them into wooden bowls.
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ㅤ”What is?”
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ㅤI asked back as I handed her a bowl.
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ㅤ”You’re not fazed at all by this situation. You quickly secured a place to sleep and prepared a meal right away.”
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ㅤ”Ahaha… Well, my past self would be surprised.”
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ㅤI felt like I had become strangely resilient since coming to this other world.
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ㅤ”Your past self… you say?”
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ㅤ”I was originally in a faraway place, and I wasn’t like this back then. I was more timid and lived each day praying that I could just get through it safely.”
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ㅤ”I-is that so?”
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ㅤ”Because I didn’t have power.”
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ㅤI replied as I brought the bowl I had served for myself to my lips.
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ㅤ”Power is important to you, Minato-san.”
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ㅤAlmirash-san said.
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ㅤ”Well, I feel a bit resistant to being told that. I’m not a tyrant or anything.
ㅤBut it is necessary. It’s not okay to abuse power to get your way, but there are a sickening number of people in the world who do that, so I want to have enough power to protect myself.”
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ㅤI refused Imsoda’s offer in the Mist Forest, but it’s not that I want to be powerless.
ㅤI just don’t want to be either a victim or a perpetrator.
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ㅤ”I… For me, power was something I took for granted. Everyone feared and obeyed my power. It’s a power that’s mostly dormant, but even the small fraction I can handle was enough to intimidate other demons. Imsoda-san was about the only one who treated me without fear…”
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ㅤ”That guy…”
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ㅤI felt uneasy hearing Imsoda being praised.
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ㅤ”But if you have that much power, couldn’t you have done something about the Kraken and Oceanus?”
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ㅤ”My power resides in the Netherworld… I have very little power to interfere with reality. Yet, they sensed my power and gathered around me…”
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ㅤ”Eh? So, they were targeting Almirash-san?”
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ㅤWell, even if you don’t say it, that’s probably the case.
ㅤOtherwise, Almirash-san wouldn’t have lowered the small boat and used herself as a decoy.
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ㅤAlmirash-san nodded at my words.
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ㅤ”…Yes. The great power I possess attracts some powerful monsters. That’s why I wanted to leave human settlements quickly and snuck onto the ship… But then, because of me, the Kraken and the others appeared, and I put everyone in danger.”
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ㅤ”I see, so that’s how it happened.”
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ㅤI don’t know where Almirash-san came from, but the swarm of Sandworms that appeared north of Celesta might have been her fault as well.
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ㅤ”…I didn’t want this power. The demons are planning to invade the surface, relying on the Demon King’s power.
ㅤI’ve been saying that I want to create a place for the demons by talking to the surface people more peacefully. But no one listened to me… All the demons acted as if they were prostrating themselves before me, but I knew they were actually dissatisfied that I hadn’t awakened as the Demon King… And Imsoda-san, the only one I thought was listening to me, according to Minato-san…”
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ㅤAlmirash-san was an exceptionally moderate individual among the demons.
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ㅤIn that case,
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ㅤ（Perhaps Imsoda was using Almirash-san’s authority to control the other demons.）
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ㅤLike the regent of the Kamakura shogunate or the regent of the Heian period.
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ㅤ”I knew everyone was hiding things from me.
ㅤRecently, there was a human knight that Imsoda-san befriended, and I secretly contacted him to tell him my thoughts.”
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ㅤ”Could that be Cretias?”
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ㅤ”Y-yes. He listened to my thoughts and said he would become my knight…”
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ㅤ”…Come to think of it, he did say something about 『that person』 or something. He seemed to be outwardly obedient to Imsoda but inwardly rebellious.
ㅤBut, wouldn’t he have been wary if you, who looks exactly like me, contacted him?”
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ㅤ”Eh? No, it was contact in the Netherworld… I only obtained this body just the other day, so I didn’t look like Minato-san before that. Or rather, I didn’t have a physical form, so I didn’t resemble anything…”
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ㅤI also saw Imsoda’s true form in the Netherworld, and it certainly didn’t look human.
ㅤThe Almirash-san that Cretias “saw” must have looked completely different from the current Almirash-san.
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ㅤ”But that Cretias-san’s presence has become very weak… I was worried that something terrible might have happened to him.
ㅤMinato-san… you know, don’t you?”
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ㅤ”Yeah, well… we fought. He considered me his enemy, and it seems he accepted Imsoda’s invitation to get revenge on me.”
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ㅤ”S-such a thing…!”
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ㅤAlmirash-san’s face turned blue.
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ㅤ（It seems Almirash-san was deceived by Cretias’s outward appearance and couldn’t see his true nature.）
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ㅤCretias was originally a refreshing, handsome man and an excellent knight. Perhaps because he was a Royal Guard, he had a refined demeanor.
ㅤIt’s no wonder that a princess who had always lived in the Netherworld would be deceived.
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ㅤCretias also seemed to be quite smitten with “that person.”
ㅤHe’s a narcissist, so he probably got caught up in the storybook-like role of a knight protecting a princess.
ㅤHe had been exiled from his country and his pride was wounded, so a perfect object of worship appeared at just the right time – you could say that’s a cynical way of looking at it.
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ㅤ”Just so you know, I’m not going to apologize. Cretias was entirely at fault in that matter.”
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ㅤ”Is… is that so? I really have no eye for people…”
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ㅤI almost nodded involuntarily, but I managed to hold back.
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ㅤ”With Imsoda-san gone and Cretias-san’s situation worrying me, I thought I had to go to the surface quickly.
ㅤBut when I got to the surface, I realized that my power was having a huge impact on my surroundings.”
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ㅤ”Why was Almirash-san alone? It’s strange that there weren’t other demons with you…”
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ㅤ”I took the opportunity to escape… I knew that the other demons considered me a temporary existence until the Demon King awakened, and they resented me. If this continued, I was afraid that the Demon King within me would eventually awaken, and the current 『me』 would disappear…”
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ㅤ”What were you going to do after you escaped?”
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ㅤ”I wanted to know the real reason why the demons are obsessed with the surface. There should be the Demon King’s Museum of All Creation that the first Demon King left behind at the 『Navel』.”
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ㅤ”What were you going to do after you found out?”
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ㅤ”I was going to persuade everyone. I don’t know what happened in the distant past, but there’s no need to be hostile to the current surface dwellers. There must be a better solution… or rather, it’s probably just wishful thinking…”
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ㅤ”Then, some of the radical demons might consider Almirash-san a nuisance.”
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ㅤ”Yes… but I have to do it.”
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ㅤAlmirash-san said resolutely.
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ㅤ（No, that’s not what I mean…）
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ㅤMany demons only see Almirash-san as a “vessel” for the Demon King.
ㅤYet, if she keeps saying that she wants to coexist peacefully with the surface dwellers, even if they don’t openly oppose her, they must be speaking ill of her behind her back.
ㅤIn fact, there are probably some demons who openly call for Almirash-san’s elimination.
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ㅤDespite that, her perception of the situation is somewhat naive.
ㅤShe’s in a situation where she could easily be overthrown and eliminated in a rebellion, yet she doesn’t seem to have the slightest idea.
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ㅤPerhaps she’s well-bred and insensitive to the malice of others.
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ㅤ（That’s where she’s different from me.）
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ㅤI’ve lived my life fearing the malice of others.
ㅤThat’s why I’m sensitive to it—
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ㅤ（Well, Latifa-san’s case was a surprise…）
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ㅤThat’s because I never thought I would be envied by others.
ㅤSince I rarely envy others myself, I never imagined that I would be seen that way.
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ㅤI shook my head slightly and asked Almirash-san.
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ㅤ”So? How were you planning to reach the 『Navel』?”
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ㅤAfter a moment of blankness at my question, Almirash-san replied.
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ㅤ”…I… I hadn’t thought about that…”
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ㅤ
ㅤSeriously?