CH 41

Vampire Princess and the Final Stage

Translated by AmaLynne

「…Now, what do I do?」

No, it’s good that I stopped the hero, but what am I going to do now?

Because I can’t use transfer magic, and I don’t have any magic items for transfer.

I’m in the middle of a normal forest. I don’t remember where I came from.

Well, in short, I’m in a state of distress…

『Lean! You did good!』

「Uwaa!?」

I thought, and suddenly a voice echoed in my head.

This voice is…

『Uhh, Demon King-sama?』

『Left! That’s great, Lean, you did defeat the hero! Watch her for a while and I’ll send Tiana to you in a few minutes.』

『…In the meantime, I’m afraid that the hero might wake up and go on a rampage regardless of her injuries…』

『Rest assured, in her current condition, she will not be able to move even if she wanted to. I’m sorry, I’d like to send you home right now, but I’m a little busy. Just wait a little longer.』

Are you busy? Tiana-san?

『What’s going on?』

『Two of the Twelve Holy Apostles who we kidnapped… Asbal and Thrust are more stubborn than I thought. Tiana and Feria, as well as Zedd and Natsume, are pushing them hard, but they are not dying. But don’t worry, now that you have defeated the hero, there is no need to respond in case of an emergency. I have Rain and Gray on standby.』

…Wow, that’s terrible.

The ninth and tenth ranks in the hierarchy would have to go one-on-one with the executive, and now it’s four against two, and two of the strongest in the Demon King Army are joining them.

『That’s not to say… Ah, Rain struck a lighting. Along with that, Tiana… Grey rushed in… Ah, Thrust is dead.』

『…No, you don’t have to provide live commentary.』

『Hmm, is that so? Well, you just have to hang on a little bit longer. As soon we are done, I will send Tiana over to you.』

With these words, the telepathic communication was cut off.

「…Phew, looks like it’s going to be all right…」

No, I wondered what would happen at one point.

Well, that’s right, there’s no way that that Demon King-sama didn’t see my fight, so I’ll just settle it and leave it……at……that……Hmm?

The Hero, her eyes are open?

…No, no, no, it’s just my imagination. I mean, after taking such a big hit?

How can I wake up in just a few minutes? You’re kidding me, you hero.

…Ah, but she doesn’t seem to get up. As expected, it seems to have suffered a lot of damage.

I’ll just keep an eye on her from afar…

「………I wish I never woke up from this.」

……Eh, she talks?

◆◇◆◇◆

「What are you talking about? I mean, did you even speak?」

After some hesitation, I decided to talk to the hero.

The hero turned around at the sound of my voice, her eyes widened a little, but there was no answer.

…I don’t know, I feel something strange about the hero.

It’s kind of a mysterious discomfort, like a stuffed animal that seems to be in a different position when it wakes up than when it sleeps.

And I also feel a little bit of life in her eyes.

…Perhaps her mind has returned?

…No no no, there is no way that a heart that has been broken for three years can be restored so easily.

It must be my imagination.

「Oh, I kidnapped you for the time being… I have to protect you. Ouch… I ache all over…《Intermediate Healing》…Phew, that’s a little better.」

Remembering that I was enduring the pain for the moment, I cast a strong recovery spell on my body.

Well, the effect was subtle because of the status drop and the power of the hero.

「Lean-san.」

「Uwaa!? …Ah, Tiana-san.」

I don’t know when she was there. Please don’t transfer behind me.

「Thank you so much for your hard work. The two Twelve Holy Apostles are gone, so don’t worry. I’ll transfer you to the other side.」

「Yes, Tiana-san. Please transfer~」

「……Why are you so excited?」

Of course, after defeating the hero, I would be in a strange state of tension☆

◆◇◆◇◆

Tiana-san transfer me and the hero to…Huh?

This is not a conference room. I’ve only been here about three times… It’s the Demon King-sama room.

Demon King-sama is sitting on a throne-like seat, as usual, and all the executives are gathered there.

Demon King-sama is full of majesty and…

「You’re back, Lean! Well, you did a real good job! As expected of my……my vassal!」

……. No, I think I was imagining it.

Demon King-sama, in front of everyone, could you please stop hugging me? I’m seriously embarrassed and confused.

After the other executives helped me out and after a lot of petty embarrassment, we were once again faced with the final stage of our operation.

Restoring the hearts and minds of the hero.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most difficult task in this operation.

If this fails, we will be forced to compromise success.

That is… kill the hero.

「Hmm, it’s a difficult issue, isn’t it? Unlike warfare, which can be managed by force, this is a psychological problem. It’s a very difficult problem, where strength doesn’t matter..」

That’s right. …….

I thought I heard the hero speak just now, but I must have been hearing things in my ears. She’s hardly moved for a while now…」

「…You’d think, wouldn’t you?」

Hmm?

Eh, what?

「Actually, no, there is a way to heal the heart of the hero…rather, there is a way to reactivate it again.」

「Eeehhhh!?」

Such a thing exists!?

「And Lean held the key to that, too. Lean, you, did you perhaps change your occupation ranking to『Vengeful Demon』in the course of the battle?」

「Eh? Yes, I did… How did you know that?」

「She said a few words, didn’t she? It is not your imagination, but her mind has indeed been slightly revived, and her former consciousness is returning. It’s the effect of the Vengeful Demon.」

Eh, what? 『Vengeful Demon』has such a convenient feature?

What kind of convenient feature is that?

「Strictly speaking…『Vengeful Demon』has a constantly activated power to『identify those who share a desire for revenge and incite their desire for recenge』. The hero, who had her heart broken, lost consciousness, and became like a puppet, must have harbored a desire for revenge against humans in the little that remained of her mind. Lean power has strengthened that desire and has restored her mind to some degree.」

「I see. But it’s just a little bit, right? How can I fix it completely?」

「It’s easy. All that’s left to do is to take care of the… No, we just have to fulfill the duties that were instilled in her by the humans.」

……?

What do you mean?

「Well, seeing is believing. See for yourself.」

Saying this, the Demon King-sama quickly approached the hero and…

「《Extra Heal》.」

「…Wait there!? What are you doing, Demon King-sama?」

Demon King-sama, who had healed the hero’s injuries with the highest grade of recovery magic, ignored my complaints and spoke to the hero.

「Hey, hero, do you hear me? You can hear me, can’t you?」

「…………」

As I thought, she did not speak.

A little bit of heart healing is still a limit…

「I am the Demon King. I am Phyllis Darklord.」

「…demon, king?」

She spoke!

「That’s right. The Demon King. Your greatest enemy, the hero. And the last enemy. If you kill her, everything will end.」

「…demon king. demon king. demon king… kill. kill. kill. kill. must kill. must kill…」

…Uhh, isn’t this bad?

The goal of『killing the Demon King』that was forced to be imprinted on her, after her mind was broken, was activated and…

「……kill.」

…And the brave man thrust her sword into the Demon King’s chest before we could stop her.

◆◇◆◇◆

「Demon King-sama!」

「This guy…tsk!」

「Everyone calms down! I will not allow you to move from that spot!」

I and all the executives were about to jump on the hero… But Demon King-sama stopped us.

Even though she had been pierced through the heart and was blowing blood, her demeanor was more resolute than ever.

「…Hero. Now your work is done.」

「…………aa.」

「You did well. You have killed the Demon King. The last task given to you was to『kill the Demon King』, wasn’t it? All’s well that ends well, as they say. You killed me once. Then your task is over.」

「……………ov, er………?」

「Yes. You are no longer a hero. You are just a human being. You no longer have to kill demons you don’t want to kill or listen to orders you don’t want to listen to. You can go anywhere and say anything. You are free.」

「………………free……」

「Abandoned by your family, your heart broken, your life taken from you… It must have been hard for you. It’s okay now, isn’t it? It’s okay to expose your『heart』now.」

「heart……expose…………」

「Yes. I swear, no one here will hurt you. No one will hurt you. So say it.」

「Let……ha……I……I, am……」

「……what……」

「Hero… I didn’t want to be a hero!!!」

AN: I hate to stop here for some reason, so I’ll post again at midnight.

I’m sorry, just as I said I would keep up the posting rate.

Also, I’ll tell you something else in case you were wondering at the end.

The hero is a bokko (boxy) girl. The first person’s name is only blurred because the heart is dying, but the brave girl was originally a bokko (a girl).

The author loves “bokko” girls. In the initial draft, Lean was a “bokko” girl.