“We’ve always been told that the demons are our enemies. I don’t know the reason.”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t know either. But my grandpa was killed by demons.”

“There were plenty of people in my village who lost family members fighting the demons.”

I see. It seems that after so many years of fighting, the original reason for the war has been forgotten. I guess that kind of thing really does happen.

“Maybe the old folks know. Especially since many demons are long-lived, you could probably just ask one of them and get a quick answer.”

“Hey, Jonan! Don’t go saying dumb stuff like that. What if Jin takes you seriously?”

“That’s right, you idiot, Jonan! Demons are seriously scary, you know!”

“My bad, my bad. Jin, it was just a joke. Don’t take it seriously.”

“Ah, I’m fine. But… are demons really that terrifying?”

From the way these three were talking, it sounded like demons were really something dangerous.

“Demons are generally very skilled in magic. While only about one in ten humans can use magic, it’s said that all demons can use it.”

That’s true. The so-called Four Heavenly Kings in the Demon King’s castle used magic left and right. If I had been just a regular human, I would've been dead in an instant.

“And their personalities are supposed to be extremely brutal. They enjoy slicing people up and drink human blood like it’s some kind of delicacy!”

… They did try to use me as a test subject, after all.

But it seems none of these three have actually encountered a demon in person.

“Has this town ever been attacked by demons?”

“Apparently, there were attacks a long time ago. That’s when a powerful guy called the Demon King appeared and united the demons under the Demon King’s Army. But nowadays, humans are the ones attacking the demons, so it’s rare for them to get this close.”

“Exactly! After all, we’ve got the Hero on our side!”

“…………”

There it is. The Hero!

This is bad… No matter how you look at it, a Hero is definitely the Demon King’s mortal enemy…

“Sorry, but I don’t know anything about the Hero either. Could you tell me more?”

“Seriously!? Just how backwater is the place you came from!?”

It seems the Hero is a very famous figure in this world. Well, it’s not surprising. A Hero is bound to be incredibly powerful.

“The Hero was summoned from another world about five years ago. Despite being so young, he’s the strongest person in this world. He singlehandedly turned the war that had been evenly matched with the Demon King’s Army into a one-sided victory for humans!”

Marco’s explanation was full of excitement. It seems he really respects this Hero. Well, I guess every guy dreams of being like the Hero.

And being summoned from another world… There’s a chance that Hero might’ve been summoned from Earth, just like me.

“And a year ago, the Hero finally defeated the Demon King, who no one had been able to kill for years!”

“…………”

I see… So that’s why the Demon King wasn’t around when I was at the castle, even though his Four Heavenly Kings were. And instead of the Demon King, I was the one who got summoned.

“Thanks to the Hero, the Demon King’s Army is practically destroyed. Once we take out the remaining demons, this long war will finally be over!”

“Is that so… Well, that’s good to hear.”

It seems the Demon King’s Army is in shambles now. That was close. If I’d sided with the demons, I would’ve been on the fast track to destruction. Luckily, it looks like I avoided making the wrong choice.

“Oh, looks like we’ve made it back to town while we were chatting.”

While I was gathering information, we had already returned to the town.

Uh-oh! I almost forgot. There’s going to be a checkpoint at the town gate!

To sum it up, I made it through the gate’s check without any problems.

It seems they only check for criminal records and whether you’re a demon. All I had to do was place my hand on a crystal, and they said I could pass. I have no idea how it works. This world is a strange mix of high-tech and low-tech.

If they had checked for my occupation or something, I was ready to make a run for it.

“Jin, that big building over there is the Adventurer’s Guild. We’re going to sell this wild boar at the purchasing station first, then head over to the guild. If you tell them about being attacked by bandits, they might be able to help you out.”

“Thanks again for everything, Marco, Jonan, Milly. You’ve all been such a huge help!”

“Don’t worry about it, old man. Getting attacked by bandits is bad luck, but at least you survived!”

“Yeah, cheer up, Jin! I’m sure good things are coming your way from here on out!”

These three are really good people. As expected, humans are much kinder than demons. Meeting them was truly a stroke of luck.

“Hey, everyone! The expeditionary force that went to attack the demon settlement just returned with a huge victory!”

Just as I was about to part ways with Marco and the others, a loud voice rang out.