In one corner of the castle of ice, the Death King, Isis Remnant, quietly
flips the pages of the book in her hand.
Her expression is so tainted with loneliness that you can even feel the
coldness in it. The only sound that exists in that quiet castle is the
sound of books being read.
It has almost been a thousand years since the treaty of friendship
between the three realms, the Demon Realm, the Human Realm, and
the God Realm. During this millennium, the environment surrounding
the Demon Realm has drastically changed, and the Demons have been
accepted by the Humans and the Gods as good neighbors, and the world
has expanded greatly.
However, the world surrounding Isis remains closed… Or rather, it has
become worse than it was a thousand years ago.
Currently, the Demon Realm and the Human Realm have very friendly
relations with each other, and the Six Kings, the pinnacle of the Demon
Realm, were also related to the Human Realm in their own ways.
The Underworld King, who was naturally sociable and kind, made her a
trusted figure among the Humans and the Gods, and there were many
followers of the Underworld King, even among the Humans.
The World King was especially worshipped by the elves and some other
tribes, and in some regions, she has gained a large number of followers.
The War King has a rough personality, but his open and honest
boldness and the stoicism of his in regards to battles, making it that
many adventurers pray to the War King for victory when they were
about to throw themselves into dangerous battles.
The Dragon King provided the flying dragons under his command as a
means of transportation, and peddlers, in particular, began to think of
the Dragon King as a God of Commerce and carry around dragon
ornaments as good luck charms.
Since the Phantasmal King changes his appearance frequently and
rarely appears in public, even Isis, who was among the Six Kings,
doesn't know exactly know what he's doing, but it was said that he has
the largest amount of subordinates among the Six Kings, and that he
supports the peace of the world hidden behind the shadows.
And so, even the Six Kings had adjusted to the expanded world and
established their own standpoints… Yes, except for Isis, the Death
King…
To be precise, one could also say that the standpoint of the Death King
is also changing. Yes, as an object of fear, that is…
She was considered as the most fearsome and dangerous among the Six
Kings, and was feared as the symbol of death by both the Humans and
Gods.
She was angry and frustrated that all the other members of the Six
Kings were on good terms with the others, and she tried everything she
could to establish good relations with the Humans. However, it all
ended in vain before the magic power of death that she was clad in.
The Humans are especially sensitive to the emotion of fear compared to
the Demons, and as the World King feared, they had never accepted Isis
at all.
The hope she held had turned to despair, and as she shed tears to the
extent that she can't she tears anymore… Before she knew it, the
despair she held reached the point that she can only feel resignation.
As a result, she rarely leaves her castle of ice except for the Festival of
Heroes, and she spends her days flipping through the vast number of
books she has collected from around the world.
She doesn't know whether she could call it fortunate or unfortunate,
but she has more money than she can spend.
This is because there are many rare ores and gems in the land of death
where she lives, and many of them are coveted by many, she had
amassed a huge amount of money after giving permission to mine
them, and even if she doesn't do anything, huge amounts of money are
still delivered to her.
At first, knowing that most of the Humans wanted them, Isis tried to
offer them free of charge, but she ended up frightening them instead.
Regarding the permission to mine, she thought that she had given them
permission to mine wherever they wanted and as much as they wanted,
but those who were mining never go near the area around Isis's castle,
where the best veins of ore are located, and as if they didn't want to
provoke her, they were only mining a small amount from the veins at
the edge of the land of death.
And thus, she uses the money she had earned to buy books to distract
herself from loneliness, and Isis may have gathered a vast number of
books in her castle… The books she had gathered to distract herself
from loneliness, ironically, the loneliness of reading a book alone in her
castle has turned the loneliness she's carrying on her little shoulders to
become even greater, and as a result, her loneliness has turned her into
someone very gloomy over the last thousand years.
In the mountain range located in the northern part of the Symphonia
Kingdom's royal capital, Isis floats around.
She rarely goes out of her home except for the Festival of Heroes, but
that doesn't mean she doesn't go out at all, as she visits the Human
Realm a few times a year.
There are two main reasons for this: the first one is to buy a new book,
and the other is for her small hobby.
Isis has read thousands and thousands of books, but perhaps because
she is envious of the connections the other people had, among the
books she read, she likes to read novels that depict romance between
men and women.
She especially liked stories about men and women of different status
falling in love, as she always read them eagerly, putting herself in the
shoes of the female characters.
When she finished reading a novel she particularly liked, she would go
and collect some of the items and flowers that appeared in the story as
a souvenir, which had become a small hobby of hers.
This time, she had visited this mountain range because there was a
scene in the novel where the male protagonist went to pick a phantom
blue flower growing on the top of the mountain range to give to the
woman he loved.
But that's a story that had been adapted into a fantasy novel, so the real
blue flower that was growing on top of this mountain range… the Blue
Crystal Flowers may be rare, but they are common enough that it isn't
necessary for someone to climb this mountain range, much less
knowing if these flowers actually grow on top of this mountain range.
The animals and monsters that live in the mountains sensed her
approach and began fleeing, which is something that she's already used
to. Isis doesn't seem particularly concerned about it as she continued
ascending the mountain.
Those beings who happened to build their nest in her path like the
wyverns were unfortunately be visited by the walking calamity of
death.
[…Hindrances.]
After silently muttering so, Isis released her magic power of death
towards the surroundings, the wyvern's lives literally just ended and
they began falling to the ground like leaf beetles, forming into a
mountain composed of over 50 corpses.
When she reached the top of the mountain, she found the blue crystal
flower growing there, and with a smile of satisfaction, she plucked the
flower, casted a State Preservation Magic on it and stored it away, and
after fulfilling her purpose, she began to return back to the way using
the path she came from.
Thereupon, ahead of the direction she's travelling at, she saw a large
number of Humans in front of the wyvern's corpses, and as Isis
approached them, she tilted her head.
When the Humans, who were trembling as if they're frightened, saw
Isis's approach, their expressions turned pale, and the leader of the
group bowed his head, trembling in fear.
[D- Death King-sama…]
[…What are you doing here?]
[W- We are here t- to subjugate the wyverns.]
[…These ones?]
[Y- Yes!?]
When Isis called out to him, the man was clearly frightened as his voice
trembled when he replied.
That's to be expected, for these humans, encountering the Death King,
Isis Remnant, outside of the Festival of Heroes is considered as a
calamity that means death, as some of the members of the subjugation
team look at her in tears, and some of there have already fainted on the
ground.
In the Human Realm and the God Realm, she is known as a dangerous
being who will kill any beings she doesn't like, but as far as Isis is
concerned, putting aside unintelligent monsters like wyverns, she has
no intention of needlessly hurting Humans who haven't pointed his or
her sword at her.
However, the magic power of death she was clad in creates an image of
death against the subjugation team. They had already had their own
deaths in their minds many times, and their instincts were intensely
screaming for them to run away.
[......]
As if to say the mood she held after finding the blue crystal flower in the
place just as the story told was ruined, Isis showed a slight irritation on
her face, and at the same time, it was noticeable in her magic power of
death.
[Uwaahhh… Uwaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!?]
Was he an adventurer? One of them shouted out and began running
away, and as if it had sparked the trigger, one after another, the
members of the subjugation team began to flee from that spot as fast as
they could.
However, it's only the adventurers who ran away, and even though the
members of the Knight Order may be aware that they are carrying the
fate of their country on their shoulders, their bodies tremble to the
extent that their armor clatters, but still they remain in place and
continue to bow before Isis.
After coldly looking at such a scene, Isis walked past the trembling
knights with nothing more to say and began walking down the
mountains.
She knows it herself, but their unreasonable rejection towards her
irritates her, and as she continues on her way with a distinctly sullen
expression, different from the good mood she was in earlier, she
suddenly stops on her steps.
[…This magic power… Is that Kuromueina?]
Feeling the magic power of one of the other members of the Six Kings,
Kuromueina, from the direction of the royal capital, she moved her gaze
towards that direction and there, she saw the Spatial Annihilation
Magic that had been activated above the royal capital and immediately
disappeared.
[...…]
Seeing the magic that Kuromueina activated, Isis thought for a moment.
Because she's not feeling so good now after she encountered the
subjugation team, she thought that she would just talk with the goodnatured Kuromueina to get rid of some of her depression.
Settled with those thoughts, Isis began to slowly move forward on her
path towards the royal capital.
Perhaps, because she just thought of it as a mere whim and that if she
wouldn't mind even if she didn't see her, Isis moved slowly and only
arrived at the royal capital just as the sun is setting.
She doesn't know if it's because most of the inhabitants had heard
about it from the adventurers who had fled earlier, as most of the
residents had entered their homes, waiting for the symbol of calamity
to pass through their city with bated breaths.
It was already a familiar sight to Isis, and it could be said that whenever
she visits a city, sooner or later, it was always going to become like this.
However, the only one different from usual is that a young man was
standing at the end of the path that Isis was walking through…
The young man was looking at the approaching Isis with stunned,
frightened eyes. However, the way he was frightened was a little
different from the subjugation team that she had encountered earlier.
The men of the subjugation team were frightened because they knew
what kind of existence Isis is, while the young man seemed to be
frightened as if he had encountered something unknown to him.
[…What a strange magic power… Are you… A Hero?]
[ ! ? ]
Because of his unusual reaction, and the fact that he was clad in magic
power that feels a little different from the Humans of this world, Isis
asked, thinking that this young man is the one who holds the role of
Hero this year.
If he's a human from another world, there's a chance that he may accept
her… Isn't on her mind anymore.
She has already tried that many times towards those who hold the role
of Hero back then. However, the result was nothing different.
She understands that she is also an object of fear to the otherworlders
as well, and Isis herself isn't particularly expecting anything different,
as she had just called out to him as a mere greeting.
[…I repeat… Are you… A Hero?]
She already expected that he would be like that, but when the shivering
young man didn't reply, Isis just asked her once more.
Because of the fact that she was irritated with that encounter she had
earlier, her words laced with a little bit of sullenness are released with
the magic power of death, and after the young man's shoulders
twitched, he looked a little frightened as he spoke.
[…I'm an… otherworlder, but… I'm not… the Hero.]
[…I see.]
Hearing the young man's reply, Isis was frankly a little surprised.
She honestly didn't expect him to reply anything. She thought that this
conversation would either end with him trembling unresponsive or him
running away in fear, but even as the young man trembled, he replied.
To stand before Isis who was clad in magic power of death, a person
must have a certain amount of strength in their heart, but moreover, the
current Isis is in a very bad mood, making the magic power of death she
was clad in to be more vicious than usual.
He isn't as strong as the knight he saw earlier, but for him to be able to
reply even as she was displeased, something that knight couldn't do,
this young man may be a person with a pretty strong heart.
Slightly revising her perception to this young man, Isis holds out her
hand towards him.
[…I'm… Isis… Isis Remnant… Nice to meet you.]
[ ! ? ! ? ]
Introducing herself, she held out her hand.
Isis herself knows more than anyone that this is just a futile act. This is
only a formality, as it's proper to hold out your hand to someone you're
greeting.
It doesn't matter how strong-minded he is. As long as he's a living
being, as long as he doesn't have the power to oppose Isis, he wouldn't
be able to hold the hand that she offered to him…
[......]
Looking at the hand that Isis held out to him, the young man clearly
became more frightened as he took a step backward.
This is the ending that she knows of… A natural event that has been
repeated thousands of times, something that will never change. This
shackle… This curse that she had been burdened from the moment she
was born.
Isis had no intention of blaming the young man for his reaction, as she
tried to gently back away from him to not scare him further.
——-The scene that happened after that though isn't something that
Isis knows of. It's something that she hadn't expected.
A dry sound resounded in the silence, and the hand that was about to
pull away stopped.
[…!? (What is… he doing?)]
Before Isis's eyes, the young man suddenly slapped his cheeks with
both of his hands, and after closing his eyes once… His eyes with strong
will turned towards her.
Those eyes aren't those of the weak who are frightened of her, but they
aren't those of the strong who have the strength to oppose her like the
other members of the Six Kings.
They are the eyes of a challenger who is frightened and intimidated, but
is ready to face the challenges on his path.
Isis was sure of it. The young man in front of her is trying to challenge
himself. Even with his weak body and meager magic power… Even as he
doesn't have an ounce of strength to oppose Isis, and yet, he's still
trying to challenge her magic power of death head-on…
Her heart began to greatly tremble, and that feeling that should have
disappeared long ago… The feeling of hope began to rise up from the
depths of her heart.
It's impossible. There's no way he can do it.
Despite the way her heart felt, she couldn't drop the hand she held out.
No, she strongly felt that she shouldn't put it down.
As if in response to the small wish Isis faintly held deep in Isis's heart,
the young man trembled and slowly… he's really slow in his advance,
but his hand certainly started to move a little bit closer.
Clenching his teeth so hard that it was bleeding, like he was enduring
his fear… He's desperately trying to respond to Isis's wish.
If she were to describe it, it's a miracle that could only happen at this
moment of time.
If Isis didn't like the book she read, she wouldn't have walked out of her
castle today.
If she hadn't seen Kuromueina's magic, if she hadn't encountered the
subjugation team and felt displeased, she wouldn't have come to visit
the royal capital.
If she hadn't mistaken the young man for a Hero, she wouldn't have
called out to him.
And if the young man—– Miyama Kaito, hadn't met Kuromueina, he
wouldn't have tried to challenge himself.
All of these varying factors meshed with each other like a miracle, and
as a result—– this moment came.
After a really, really long time, Kaito's hand finally reaches Isis.
The wish that she had been hoping for thousands of years, and had
almost give up on getting it.
She, who had been despairing about why she was born with this kind of
power and for what reason she was born for.
She, who shed tears to the point that she couldn't shed tears anymore,
lamenting the changes around her… And yet, all the while, she
continued to wait for such an existence in the depths of her heart.
Even if he didn't have the strength to resist her magic power of death,
he still faced and overcame it, the being who could hold her hand…
[…My name is Miyama Kaito. It's nice to meet you. Isis-san.]
[…!?!?!?]
Directed towards her, the words were spoken with his gentle voice and
the warm smile he had… melted the ice that had enveloped Isis's heart.
And at that moment, Isis was strongly… really strongly convinced.
That she was born to meet this young man—- to meet Kaito…
"How unusual. Isis, I never expected that you would visit me…]
[…Lillywood… What do you think… would be a good souvenir?]
"A souvenir huh? Are you going to bring it to visit someone?"
[…Unnn… I found… a friend.]
Lillywood looked slightly surprised about the fact that she would
receive a visit from Isis, who doesn't often leave her castle, but her
surprise became greater when she heard the reason for her visit.
"You found a friend huh, is it a high-ranking demon? Or perhaps, a highranking God?"
[…No… a human.]
"…What?"
[…Like I said… a human.]
"Eh? T- That is… Is there someone among the Humans who holds that
much power?"
Hearing the word human that Isis told her, Lillywood asked, looking
unusually distraught.
However, the asked Isis just looked at her in puzzlement as she tilted
her head in wonder.
[…Kaito… isn't strong though?]
"…Hmm?"
[…Compared to their knights… he was much weaker… he also had small
magic power…]
"And yet, this human had become your friend?"
[…Unnn… Kaito… he held… my hand… and he said that… I could visit
anytime I want… with a smile on his face.]
"…Is that human actually a monster…"
Hearing the words that Isis happily said while her cheeks were
blushing red, Lillywood looked stunned, as if she heard something
unbelievable.
At least, Lillywood couldn't believe that a mere human could resist Isis's
magic power of death.
[…Kaito… said he's an otherworlder… but he's not a Hero.]
"An otherworlder? If his name is Kaito, is he male?"
[…Unnn… He was kind… and cool.]
"…That's strange. I've heard from my followers that attended the
evening party in the Symphonia Kingdom before that there was an
accident in the summoning of Hero this time… But I'm told that the
otherworlders who attended that evening party were that man who
held the role of Hero and two women though?"
Since Lillywood has many followers around the world, one of them had
attended the New Year's party held in the Symphonia Kingdom, and she
had heard about the accident regarding the summoning of the Hero.
However, she doesn't remember hearing about the existence that
matches with the person that Isis talked about.
[…Why… didn't Kaito… participate there?]
"I don't know, but it's certainly hard to imagine him having something
else to do around that time. At that point in time, it had only been four
days since they came to this world… In that case, it's possible that he's
being unfairly treated by the country…"
[...…]
"Ah, no, it's just a possibility, okay? It's just one of the plausible reasons."
[…I see.]
Seeing the obvious change in the atmosphere around Isis, Lillywood
hurriedly told her that it's just her guess.
"…Ummm, it's just hypothetically speaking, okay? But what if,
hypothetically, this Kaito-san had been unfairly treated?"
[…Whoever did that… I'm going to kill them all.]
"…N- No, let's calm down, okay? You look like you're going to destroy
the country…"
[…Any country that torments Kaito… should be destroyed.]
"...…"
Lillywood was convinced. If that really was the case, Isis would
seriously kill all those culprits, even if it meant destroying the
Symphonia Kingdom…
Wrily smiling upon the words that Isis said with a straight face,
Lillywood hurriedly sent a transmission to her subordinates with her
magic power and ordered them to investigate this matter as soon as
possible.
"H- However, look, if you do that, won't that kind Kaito-san that you
mentioned be sad?"
[…Ugghh… If Kaito will be sad… I won't destroy them… I will just leave
them half-dead.]
"…(For that Isis to obediently pull back… Seriously, what kind of person
is this Kaito-san?)"
Isis's reaction, which is unthinkably honest compared to back then,
surprised Lillywood again, and she decided to talk with Isis about the
first topic of their conversation, a souvenir.
At first, Lillywood was skeptical about the existence of this unknown
human, but when she saw Isis looking really happy as she talked about
Kaito, she also naturally smiled.
"…(A person that Isis gets so much into. I'm a little curious. Come to
think of it, the festival of the elves will soon be held in the Symphonia
Kingdom… Fumu, that should be a good opportunity for me, I'll go visit
them at that time.)"
[…Lillywood… Are you listening to me?]
"Eh, yes. It's your first visit there, so I think it would be better if you
bring something consumable. Since he's someone from another world, I
think food from this world might be good."
[…I see… Lillywood… Can I have some… fruit from the World Tree…]
"I don't mind, but could it be that you're planning to bring that?"
[…Is that no good?]
"I'm not saying that it's no good, but it might frighten them away if you
suddenly bring something too expensive."
Lillywood, who could be said to be extremely sensible among the Six
Kings who held each of their own unique personalities, let out a sigh
after hearing Isis's words, but still didn't complain and went along with
her choice of souvenir.
It's something she hasn't seen for a long time now, and seeing the
heartfelt smile he brought out from Isis's lips… She's feeling heartfelt
gratitude to Kaito for melting the ice in the Death King's heart…