Chapter 20: True Intentions

[What the hell are you after?] - Rose

After kidnapping me I had been carried through the forest like a sack of potato's for over half the night until we finally stopping in a cave deep within the depths of the forest. At which point I had been unceremoniously dropped on the ground as the old man known as Manic Blade had gotten to work on making a fire. Not even bothering to look up while he set up the campsite he finally answered after a moment.

[You know... I originally thought that the shapeshifter bitch had called me here to try and kill me. Then I heard about a stupid student that uses chantless magic getting herself lost during a slime hunting expedition so I volunteered to see for myself.] - Manic Blade

[S-Stupid!?!??! How dare you...!] - Rose

[Imagine my surprise when I found not just one but two reincarnator's and demi's at that.] - Manic Blade

[Wait how do you....?] - Rose

[I'm assuming you were told of the few instances of reincarnator's in the past correct?] - Manic Blade

[Yes but I don't see what....] - Rose

[Were you told that all of them were human?] - Manic Blade

Finally lifting his head from what he was doing he stared intently at my face as if trying to gauge my reaction. His comment had caused me to freeze in surprise however as I tried understanding what he had said.

[All reincarnator's are... human?] - Rose

[They are. Which leads me to ask...] - Manic Blade

Standing up and pulling out his sword as he approached I frantically looked around for somewhere to run as I backed away. Seeing no way to escape I found my back pressed against the rock wall behind me as the old man pressed his hand against it clearly attempting to intimidate me. After letting the silence hang over me like a noose for a few seconds he continued, this time with his sword in his grip.

[...what are you exactly?] - Manic Blade

[I-I don't know what you mean?] - Rose

[Don't know what I mean huh? Let me ask you then... If the soul is human does it make sense for the body to be something else?] - Manic Blade

[Huh? Does that matter?] - Rose

[Leaving aside artificial reincarnator's like your friend back there yes it does. The reason all reincarnator's are human is that they invariably come from the place you call Earth, specifically Japan. However...] - Manic Blade

I gulped and my eye's widened in panic as his blade was pointed directly at my throat. Tears filled my eyes as the fear of death gripped me like a vice.

[H-However?] - Rose

[The one exception to that rule in history happened almost 2000 years ago.] - Manic Blade

[When the Demon Lord of Chaos was born on what is now known as the Demon Continent.] - Manic Blade

Pausing to see my reaction his eye's remained serious as I started praying to every god I knew, including the one from the shrine I visited as a child in this world briefly. I was going to die, he was going to kill me here. That's what those eye's were telling me.

[I-I don't know about that!] - Rose

[Oh really?] - Manic Blade

Yelling at him probably wasn't the smartest option but the tense situation and my lack of mana spilled over and I ended up screaming into the face of the person currently looking at me with eye's that held absolutely no mercy. Shrinking away but having nowhere to go I closed my eye's but the expected blade never came and when I opened my eye's again the older adventurer had stepped away slightly and was sheathing his weapon.

[I-I really don't know anything about a Demon... Lord?] - Rose

My eye's widened slightly as I suddenly remembered my status or more specifically one of my hidden title's. Immediately after I realized my mistake however and flinched as I expected the homicidal old man to notice my hesitation and immediately gut me. I was once more surprised however as instead of that he walked over to the firepit he had been building and continued stacking tinder.

[Sit down, I'll have the fire ready soon and we can get some food in us.] - Manic Blade

Cautiously slithering over to the opposite side of the firepit I briefly entertained the idea of running while he was distracted but his speed back when I had been grabbed immediately dashed that hope. I sat down on a outcropping of rock as far away as possible in case he got into a stabbing mood again as I silently watched him.

The next few minute's passed in silence until the old man got the fire started and pulled out some bits of meat he had stored in a large pack. Finally breaking the silence was me though as I asked him a question that had been bugging me since our little standoff earlier.

[U-Umm why didn't you kill me if you think I'm this Demon Lord thing?] - Rose

Staring at me for an uncomfortable amount of time his eye's suddenly softened as he smiled with a sad expression on his face.

[To be honest... You remind me of my daughter. She was such a fiery thing but got scared so easily and I always had to comfort her when she cried... And I don't believe that you will become a threat to this world willingly.] - Manic Blade

[Your daughter? What happened to her?] - Rose

[She... died. A long time ago.] - Manic Blade

The way he looked into the flames before him with a sad expression pulled at my heartstrings despite nearly being skewered by him earlier. I found myself feeling pity for him and the way he looked as if he was carrying the world on his shoulder's.

[I-I'm sorry for asking about her... She must have been loved dearly. I'm sure... I'm sure that she's happy, wherever she is now.] - Rose

[Thank you for that, hearing that from someone that has actually experienced the other side before means a lot to me.] - Manic Blade

I noticed a single tear running down his face and bit my lip as I went silent.

After eating the two skewers of meat that the old man had brought out I continued watching him in silence. It didn't look like he planned on killing me but it also didn't feel like he was going to let me leave. In the silence I found myself wondering if Karen had been able to go back with the rest of the group and hoped that she was doing okay. At this point she was probably panicking over what had happened to me. As I was in the middle of my reminiscing Manic Blade finally spoke.

[I met a summoned person before. A hero actually.] - Manic Blade

[At the time I was only a young whelp, no older than 8, fresh off the farm and eager to prove myself. I thought if I could defeat the hero in combat then I would be rich and famous.] - Manic Blade

[...?] - Rose

Staying silent as he laughed bitterly I waited for him to continue.

[I was defeated of course but I guess he saw something in me, something I didn't even know existed. He let me join his party and I followed him around all over the continent facing dungeons and mythical beasts. We even one time tried sneaking into the women's bath together and got the crap beat out of us by our female party member's.] - Manic Blade

[And... that is where I met my wife.] - Manic Blade

I saw him take a deep breath while closing his eye's, it looked like even though the memory was a good one it brought up less pleasant one's at the same time.

[Her name was Samantha, she was the thief in our party. A real firebrand, hell most times I couldn't tell which of us was the man in our marriage. She started out hating me but over our adventure's we became close and after a few months she was pregnant.] - Manic Blade

Smiling to himself as his eyes glazed over with memories remembered he gazed into the distance.

[The hero was happy for us of course but given her condition we couldn't adventure any more obviously so we settled down in a small village near the mountains. The next few years were the happiest of my life...] - Manic Blade

[I guess even after all that adventuring the life of a simple farmer was what I truly wanted...] - Manic Blade

[However... that all changed in an instant.] - Manic Blade

His eye's hardening again as a violent rage filled them his tone became hard as well.

[I came home from a hunting trip to find them both...] - Manic Blade

[...ripped apart brutally.] - Manic Blade

Choking back tears he forced himself to continue his story, I was halfway tempted to stop him out of pity but I knew there must have been a reason for him to bring up something so painful so I said nothing as tears ran down my own face.

[You see while I had been playing the dutiful father and husband demons had been multiplying relentlessly and attacking outlying villages... If I hadn't left the Hero's party I would have known that but out in the middle of nowhere like that we hadn't even heard of anything like that yet.] - Manic Blade

[Anyway I soon found the Hero again and joined his party once more, determined to get revenge on the creature's that had destroyed my life and after countless sacrifices we succeeded.] - Manic Blade

[It wasn't until it was all over that I realized that everyone else in the Hero's party was dead, even the Hero himself was on his last legs and we had used all of our potions during our battle. He died in my arms just like everything else I cared about.] - Manic Blade

[I haven't heard of anything that big happening before...] - Rose

The broken man before me glanced at me before snorting in derision.

[You wouldn't know about it of course, in fact very few people know all of what happened back then... when the Demon Lord of Chaos attacked...] - Manic Blade