Several years ago.
The present age of hell was the best era for Lesser Demons to live in.
The strongest of the Primordial Demons, [Rouge], had gone up to the material world with [Blue] and [Vert], greatly reducing the number of higher-ranking demons. On top of that, because [Noir] was holding back the Phantoms, the war with the otherworld had come to a halt, and fighting had decreased drastically.
And recently, even [Blanc] had begun to quiet down little by little. Thanks to that, hell had entered an unprecedented age of peace since the day it was born.
At least on the surface.
*
The reason Blanc, the Empress of demons and the demon rumored to be the cruelest in all of hell, had suddenly become so subdued was known only to herself and her subordinates.
"Scribe."
"Yes, Lady Blanc."
"There’s somewhere I need to go for a while. Guard this place while I’m gone."
"...Understood."
About a hundred years earlier, Blanc had lost the only friend she had cherished like a younger sister in the Kingdom of Silveria, a vassal state of the Empire. In her rage, she had created the tragedy known as the Red-Stained Lake Incident.
Ever since that massacre, she had lived each day with a hollow emptiness inside her, like someone missing an essential part of themselves.
"..."
In all her countless long years, Blanc had never once found a friend she could truly relax with and speak to from the heart. And then, the very first friend she ever made had been betrayed by her fiancé, fallen into despair, and died before Blanc’s helpless eyes.
For someone who had always ruled from on high, helplessness was an incomprehensible emotion—and a deadly poison that gave rise to emptiness.
That was why, ever since that tragedy, she had continued wandering outside like this for no particular reason.
Disguised in the form of her friend.
*
"...How boring."
Empty.
"...How dull."
Meaningless.
"...I’m so lonely..."
She hated the fact that the girl was gone.
...Again and again, the thought kept surfacing that she should never have grown attached in the first place.
But that thought soon vanished.
She wanted to see Blanche again.
Because another thought already filled her mind completely.
"...Haah..."
At first, she had even considered using forbidden magic to revive her.
But whether she had been tainted by the human world or simply did not want to insult her, Blanc did not want to force her back to life.
"...Blanche..."
Blanc continued to wander aimlessly through hell.
Searching for something that might fill the emptiness inside her.
...
...
...
And then, the moment she found him was truly by chance.
...
"...This place..."
It was a quiet land, far from the battlefield—murky, but still.
To Blanc, who had lived in rich and splendid lands, it was an utterly ordinary place with no value at all. And yet she looked upon it with a strangely fascinated expression.
It was similar.
Because this place resembled that place—the land of the Kingdom of Silveria, where she had buried Blanche.
"..."
Blanc’s lonely footsteps echoed through that silent land.
...
How much time had passed?
In the land once filled with nothing but Blanc’s footsteps, another sound began to ring out.
A sound like metal being honed.
"...[Arch Demon]...?"
At the end of that sound sat a strange demon.
A demon seated atop a large rock, carefully tending a rough black greatsword as though it were precious.
"...Hm?"
The demon with the unusual ash-gray hair noticed Blanc as well.
"Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before."
A beautiful voice flowed from the demon’s lips as he looked at Blanc with curious eyes.
...That was the first meeting between the two demons.
*
A brief silence passed, and then Blanc opened her mouth.
"...I... I don’t really have a name. You can just call me Ria..."
Blanc, who had introduced herself as Ria without thinking, could not hide her confusion.
Ordinarily, she would have killed that demon ten thousand times over for speaking to her so casually. And yet, answering him without any sense of distance felt strangely natural, as if they had known each other for years.
And that wasn’t all.
He looks like her...
His hair, his eyes, his sex, his race—everything was different. And yet instinctively, she thought he resembled Blanche.
Blanche had been a human with white hair and red eyes, almost identical to Blanc’s own.
This demon, on the other hand, had slightly darker ash-gray hair and blue eyes.
A perfect opposite.
And yet why did he feel so similar to Blanche?
"Hmm... I don’t have a name either... I’ll just call you you. So how did you end up here?"
Blanc paused for a moment at his innocent question. She seemed to hesitate, but soon she spoke with vacant eyes, as if recalling something.
It was something she would never normally do, but for some reason, she wanted to answer him.
"...I don’t know. I’m trying to find something, but I don’t know what it is, so I just keep wandering... and wandering."
She laid bare the feelings she could never tell anyone as a queen.
"...I know I can’t stay like this forever... but... it doesn’t get any better."
She pulled out thoughts she had never shown anyone.
For some reason, she felt that it would be all right to reveal her true feelings to that demon.
...
"...Sounds like you’ve got a pretty complicated story."
He turned Blanc’s words over in his mind and gave an awkward smile.
"..."
Seeing that, Blanc looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment.
What a strange demon.
Normally, when two top-ranking demons of different lineages met, it was almost unheard of for them to have such an ordinary conversation.
Demons were instinctive fighters by nature, and a proud higher species to boot.
If a fight didn’t break out immediately, that alone was a blessing.
And yet this demon, instead of treating a stranger with hostility, was actually listening to words that were little more than lament.
Blanc had lived since the birth of hell, but she had never seen a demon like him before.
"...Why aren’t you hostile to me?"
"...Hm?"
"A different demon suddenly appeared in your territory. Why aren’t you thinking of fighting?"
It was the kind of question any demon would wonder in a situation like this.
"Well... because you don’t seem like you want to hurt me?"
But to him, the answer was simply obvious.
"...That’s all?"
As Blanc’s tone gradually turned incredulous, he scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well... I kind of wanted to try talking to another demon, and you’re beautiful, so I didn’t really feel like I needed to be hostile."
"...!?"
Beautiful...
Would you be my friend?
I’ll give you my body, sister. So please be my friend! Would that... not do?
At his words, a scene flashed through her mind. The memory of when she had first met Blanche.
The memory of that day she could never forget.
Blanche...
Blanche had been exactly the same. She too had looked at Blanc, a stranger she had just met, and instead of fearing her, called her beautiful.
"...Pfft..."
A sincere laugh, as if in disbelief.
That short, fleeting conversation with someone who resembled Blanche had absurdly enough drawn out a smile she had lost for over a hundred years.
To Blanc, the most precious thing in the world had been Blanche. And because his answer resembled the answer she remembered so dearly, that laugh had slipped out unconsciously.
He really is so much like her.
"...Thank you."
She, who had never once expressed gratitude to anyone, spoke words of thanks.
If the other demon lords had seen her then, they would have doubted their own eyes.
"...? For what?"
But he, not knowing who she really was, only looked puzzled.
"...Hehe... who knows? Think about it."
The ash-haired demon tilted his head, but Blanc—or rather, Ria—only kept smiling.
"Heh. I’ll come again next time, so when I do, listen to my troubles again."
"...Huh?"
*
After that, their bond continued through Blanc’s sudden visits.
"...Ria. My house isn’t your house, you know? It’s already been weeks. How long are you planning to stay...?"
"Oh? Have you forgotten who provided all the furniture, ingredients, and books here?"
"My apologies. Stay as long as you like."
Sometimes they exchanged light conversation.
"Hmm, so cooking is your hobby? That’s a rather refined hobby."
"Better than making fighting your hobby. What about you? What’s your hobby?"
"Hmm...[games], maybe?"
Sometimes they asked each other what they were curious about.
"...You’re going to teach me swordsmanship?"
"Yeah. I’m pretty strong, you know. It’s not my specialty, but I can handle a sword too."
"...If you’ll teach me, I’d be grateful."
"But there’s one condition. Every time I teach you swordsmanship, you have to teach me cooking."
"That’s all? That’s easy enough."
Sometimes they shared their strengths.
"Don’t you want to leave this place?"
"...? Why all of a sudden?"
"A place better than this barren land would suit you more. If you want, I could use my power to prepare somewhere for you to live. What do you think?"
"Hmm... sorry, but I want to live here. I worked hard to build this house, and all my memories are here too."
Sometimes she tried to persuade him.
"...You were reincarnated?"
"Yeah. I died in my original world, and when I opened my eyes... I was here. I figure that’s probably why I don’t have a lineage."
"...I see..."
Sometimes they shared a few secrets.
"Is there a demon you like?"
"...What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Apparently some demons date or even marry, like the races of the material world do. Would you ever think about that?"
"...Hard to say. I’ve never really thought about it yet."
"Then... what about me? In the words of your world, I could make you my kept man."
".........What...?"
"...Pfft, I’m joking."
With teasing pranks that were only half a joke, they continued their bond for years.
And because of that, many memories were made.
They created many memories together.
It was a very short time by a demon’s standards, but between them, a very long communion took root.
...
But that bond was not the end of their road.
...
One day that seemed as ordinary as ever.
Blanc, whose expression had grown much brighter over the past few years, as if she had finally put down a heavy burden, thanked him and turned away.
...It was her last farewell as Ria.
Because the day she had thought would be ordinary was the very day she would return to being Blanc.
"...So you can’t come anymore? Didn’t you say you were searching for something here?"
It was a very sudden parting.
For him, who still carried human memories, it was a sad day.
"Hehe, thanks to you, I already found it. Now I’m planning how to make it mine."
As Blanc said that, her gaze pointed only at him, though he himself seemed not to notice.
"Really? ...If things ever don’t go well, come find me again. I’m not as strong as you, but I should still be useful in my own way."
He had grown attached to Ria and considered asking her to stay, but in the end he chose to respect his friend’s wishes.
He had long suspected that she was no ordinary demon.
"...Okay. Thank you."
"No need to thank me. We’re friends."
"..."
Friends...
They had never felt the need to put it into words, but the two demons had already become exactly the kind of people worthy of that title.
"You’re right... Hehe. This isn’t goodbye, so don’t worry. I’ll come see you again someday."
"...Yeah."
With those words, the paths of Ria—no, Blanc—and him diverged.
Until the day they would meet again as queen and servant.
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