The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

"Ciel, what do you think a curse is?"

Suddenly, the demon king asked me such a question as he stood behind me.

After taking care of everything, I was just standing behind the throne where the Demon Lord was sitting, so I thought seriously about the question before answering it so as not to give a strange answer.

Is a curse a grudge?　I am aware that it is something that is directed at a certain object, such as "I hate that person, I hate this person, etc. ......"

"Hmm, it's not funny, but ...... that's one form of cursing."

I could not say, "I am not expected to be funny.

The demon king is a generous man, so he is more than willing to tolerate a few gaffes, but I'm afraid that my boss, the chief maid of honor, will find out about it.

I'm afraid of her complaints.

I have a hard time listening to her lectures with no expression on her face.

What's the matter?　What's wrong?

"Oh, no. I was just wondering why all of a sudden you were talking about curses. ......"

How could he have known my face without even taking a glance at it? And did I look so weird that I was a moron?

I hurriedly reply to the Demon Lord who spoke to me without looking at me.

"A while ago, you told me about the evil dragon, didn't you?

"Yes.

"I was wondering about the humans there. The place where I expected them to go leads me to the story of the curse."

Evil dragons.

A story about a time when the world's most fearsome dragons came back to life, albeit temporarily.

By humans, I assume you mean a strange group of people led by a healing wizard.

Samariar. A kingdom now called the Land of Prayer. I'm sure it's not a kingdom with such a lofty name as the Land of Prayer.

What do you mean by that?

"Because it is the place where the most powerful curse I know of was placed on the heroes, a curse that will never be lifted."

An unbreakable curse?

As I nodded my head, the Demon Lord let out a sound as if recalling those days and put on his cheekbone.

"The battle between the heroes and the evil dragon took place in Samaria. Did I tell you that?

Yes, well, ...... yes.

"From my point of view at the time, it was obvious that the contest would end in victory for the heroes. After all, he had been given powerful weapons by the divine dragon. In addition, his mental state was extremely dangerous, so I knew that the possibility of victory by the evil dragon was infinitesimally small.

What do you mean, "in danger"?

Desperation. A string of betrayals, the heartless voices of the people who could not be saved... it's a miracle that someone who was already leaning towards our side, the side that destroys humans, tried to save Samaritan, no matter what his intentions were. It was such a good deed."

Harm is inflicted from the human side.

Even a brave man who risked his life for the sake of mankind.

Even I, who did not have much understanding, could understand that the brave men of that time were driven to a corner.

As a result, he saved Samaritan. Many words of gratitude were addressed to him after he had slain the evil dragon. Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for slaying the evil dragon. With such mere words, the heart of the wounded hero was healed, if only slightly.

"It's not a happy story when you consider that the heroes find hope in humans and bring harm to the demons."

"Hoo ......"

The Demon Lord let out a small laugh at my words.

"But that was only a trick. In the end, the humans we saved were sacrificed to magic by snobs blinded by the power of the heroes and died.

"That's ...... terrible, isn't it? Man betrays even his own savior.

"That's human nature. But here's the worst part.

The story itself is a tale of a hero's misfortune, but the demon king seems quite amused as he tells it.

"The many senseless sacrifices have left the hero with a curse that can never be broken."

"Is it a curse ...... witchcraft?"

No, it's not that simple. No, it's not that simple. If you want to make him suffer a proper spell, you have to unleash five or more spells on top of each other to make it work. Half-hearted magic will be returned as it is.

"How much bullshit was that ......?"

"How could you seal me up if you weren't so full of shit?"

Hearing this again, I realize that the heroes who fought against the Demon Lord were truly extraordinary beings.

"I digress. ...... Curses have many meanings. Expectations from others, hatred, jealousy, feelings directed at us turn into burdens and wear away our spirit. That is what was directed at the brave man. And then..."

The Demon Lord breaks off there and stares boredly into the void.

"The brave man who was killed for his own greed, who should have saved the people he saved, was struck with a sense of emptiness that his past battles had become meaningless, and with regret that people who should not have died had been killed because he was a brave man. It became a curse that would never leave him, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off."

Indeed, Samaria could be called a land of curses.

But why do the humans who lived before the Demon Lord was sealed away want to oppress their own kind with such impunity?

We demons have our troubles, but nothing like that.

Maybe it is because we have an absolute ruler, the Demon Lord, but either way, I still don't understand the human race.

What happened to the brave men after that?

"Nothing much. He just reaped the benefits of our demon king's army and fought me and was victorious. That's all."

.......

"Is that really all there is to it?"

"......"

I suddenly wondered. I wondered if the Demon Lord was hiding something.

Of course, I don't think that the Demon Lord would do anything to betray us Demons. In the first place, if he had given up on us, the Demon Lord's territory would already be a waste of land.

At my words, the Demon Lord puts his hand over his mouth in amusement.

"As I thought, I never get bored talking with you. You are the only one who would question me in this demon lord's territory, aren't you, Ciel?

"Uh, uh, I'm sorry about that ...... outburst. ......"

"Don't bow down to me."

I raise my head at the words of the Demon Lord.

Thinking back on it, it was a question that I had no intention of asking. Fortunately, the Witch King forgave me, but if the chief chamberlain finds out, he will give me a double hard time of a lecture and a complaint.

If that happens...well, let's not imagine it.

As I was shaking my shoulders alone behind the Demon Lord, he started to spin out his words in his usual cold tone.

"This is a little difficult to put into words. To put it simply --- the brave man held out hope for the future of the human species. Even if they are foolish and unbearable to look at now, people and ideas change as time goes by. They gave up on the present, which is nothing but despair, and looked to the future."

When you say future, do you mean now?

I don't know.　I don't know. He's cursed, after all. He can think of the future and the past, but he can't do more than that. ...... No, could he if he wanted to?　Well, now that he's dead, there's no way to be sure."

"......"

To be honest, I don't really understand it.

I tried to understand about the heroes, but I could not understand well what the Demon Lord said.

After all, what did that brave man think of appearing in front of the Demon Lord, and for what purpose did he try to defeat the Demon Lord? ...... But one thing I can say, that is...,

"But in the end, I guess you could say that he chose humans ......."

"To me, it's a foolish thought. Human nature never changes, and the future dreamed of by those whose lives have been consumed by fools is the same as it was in the past."

In the end, he sealed the Demon Lord for the humans.

Whatever your intentions may be, it is an unchangeable fact.

"...... Either way, it doesn't matter to those of you who live in the present. My battle with him is over. It is you, of all people, who have built the history of the demon tribe until I awoke from the seal. All I have to do now that I have awakened in this time is to let you win... that's all.

Saying this, the demon king slowly gets up from his seat.

I was about to speak to him, wondering what he was going to do, but he turned his head in my direction before I could speak to him.

"Ciel, call the commander of the second legion.

Yes, yes. But what are you going to do?

I don't want to continue to have only humans and demons fighting each other. I think it's time we gave them a chance to fight back.

"...... them?"

What the hell are they talking about?

At least it's not humans and demons.

"Well, well, well. I hope they haven't lost their fangs after a few hundred years.

He does not answer my question, but smiles coldly at me.

As I watched him from behind, I thought rudely, "I guess I don't know what the Demon Lord is thinking," and arranged to call the commander of the 2nd Legion as ordered.