The audience chamber of the golden land, [Eldorado].
"......It seems you've had a rough time."
Leon, sitting alone on his throne with a solemn expression, murmured those words.
Now that [Jonne] had calmed down, and the demons who had been loitering around [Eldorado] following her had returned to hell, his face looked a little brighter than before.
After all, the disaster called [Jonne], which had remained unresolved for decades, had finally disappeared. It was only natural for him to be pleased.
"......"
Unlike Leon, however, my expression wasn't bright at all.
No, it wasn't just that I didn't look cheerful. It was dark enough that even Leon, who was always taciturn, would comment on it like that.
'......I knew from the start this wouldn't be easy, but I never expected it to get this tangled...'
Once every two days.
I kept going back to hell on a regular schedule to build a connection with [Jonne]—more precisely, to help her and Ria resolve their grudge and bring her over as an ally—so honestly, it would have been stranger if I looked fine.
'I've gone six times already......and there's still been zero progress between them...'
Six fights.
Since Ria and [Jonne] fought in [Eldorado], I had visited hell six times. Every single time, Ria came with me, and as if it were the most natural thing in the world, all six visits ended in battle.
"Hehehe, I was kind enough to tell you there wouldn't be a next time.......Did you forget already?"
"That's my line. At least here, I'm not losing to you!"
I tried to wedge myself between them somehow and stop the fighting, but that was useless too.
In hell, Ria and [Jonne], both [Primordial Demons], were stronger than I was, so trying to physically mediate was nothing more than pointless flailing.
So from the second time onward, I tried persuading them with words instead, but compared to Ria, my speaking skills were like an elementary school kid standing next to an adult.
And [Jonne], just when it seemed like she was listening surprisingly well, would start blushing little by little once we crossed a certain point, then run off.
Still, if there was one silver lining, I had at least managed to get a [Contract] from [Jonne] that she wouldn't attack [Eldorado].
"As long as you keep your promise next time too, I can do at least that much for you."
I had only brought it up once on the off chance it might work, but [Jonne] accepted my request absurdly easily.
It seemed that keeping my promise to continue visiting while I stayed in [Eldorado] had moved her.
'......It's not like I got nothing out of this, so I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with having kept the [Contract] I made with Ermesia this time.'
Letting out a long, heavy sigh, I raised my eyes toward Leon on the throne.
"...Even if it's hard, it can't be helped. It's something I agreed to do under a [Contract]."
"In that case, when you return to [Eldorado] later, do you still intend to keep building ties with [Jonne]? From my perspective, now that the threat she posed has vanished, I think it would be better not to get involved with her again."
"Well... for an ordinary person, that would be the natural choice. But I think Jonne can become a demon who doesn't stand against humanity, just like Ria. That's why I can't help getting involved."
"......I see. If that is your view, then I won't try to stop you. You have your own way of thinking and your own values, after all."
Maybe because Leon and I were alike in a lot of ways, even though we had only known each other for a little over ten days, our conversations flowed surprisingly well.
Most likely, the fact that I was a [Hero] who still took the side of monsters struck a chord with him.
"That aside, are you planning to leave tomorrow?"
"Yeah. There are still a few things I need to deal with, so I can't stay in [Eldorado] for long."
Considering that the very issue I still had to resolve was related to Chloe, the person Leon had been searching for so desperately, the whole thing felt a little strange.
But for now, that was a truth I couldn't tell him.
"Then... the next time you come back, will it be when I kill that Demon Lord called Kazaream and claim the seat of a new Demon Lord?"
At Leon's words, declaring as planned that he would kill Kazaream, I nodded.
"Most likely, yes."
The plan I had given Leon was simple.
About a hundred years from now, I would steer the current Demon Lord Kazaream toward Leon. If Leon defeated him, then afterward Guy and I would back him and raise him up as a Demon Lord.
'......'
......Yeah. I was basically just piggybacking.
Even if I did nothing, Kazaream would target Leon on his own, and Guy would accept Leon as a Demon Lord because he liked him. Leon had no way of knowing that, so I was just taking advantage of it.
'Every time I solve something, it feels like I keep borrowing Guy's name, so my conscience stings a little......but still, this time I did rein in [Jonne], so it should be fine.'
Swallowing the same kind of logic Rain loved to use as an excuse, I continued.
"And if—though it probably won't happen—Jonne starts rampaging again while I'm gone, pass word to Her Majesty the Heavenly Emperor. If that happens, I'll step in."
Since Ermesia was connected to both sides, if anything happened, we could contact each other through her.
You might think we should just find a way to contact each other directly, but Leon barely engaged in outside affairs, so this was the only practical way.
And as for me, the only thing I had really done in the public eye was defeat Venenum, the temporary Demon Lord.
Even that was something only the upper ranks of each nation knew about, so calling it public was a stretch......but anyway.
"Mm. I'll keep that in mind."
Leon knew all that too, so he simply nodded in quiet acknowledgment.
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