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 good-natured 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 high-ranking 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……
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<Author’s Notes>
The Death King’s Intermission Chapter has become awfully long.
I don’t know if it’s because yanderes have high heroine power as expected or something like that……
T/N: Shameless : How about checking out Saikyou Juzoku Tensei Cheat Majutsushi no Slow Life?