The next morning, I was alone in the audience chamber.
I read through the compiled documents there.
What was recorded was information provided by the Steel Knight.
He died before dawn.
He had wished for it himself.
I had even suggested a path for him to withdraw from the front lines and live with his wife and children, but the Steel Knight refused that as well.
He surely must have had his own reasons.
I did not press deeply, but he must have had his own reasons for being unable to choose that future.
If I were to state a personal opinion, I would have wanted the Steel Knight to join the Demon Lord's army.
A man of his caliber would be greatly welcomed.
If he disliked fighting, we would not force him.
It would also have been fine for him to remain a citizen of the Royal Capital, contributing to the development of people's lives.
However, respecting the Steel Knight's will must come first.
I did not want to do anything to belittle that.
I took the Steel Knight's life using magic.
It was a gentle end, free of pain or suffering.
The Steel Knight had a satisfied expression.
For him, the happiness of his wife and children must have been everything.
I think he was, from the start, a man who did not favor battle.
Though it concerns another, he was a hero who bore a sorrowful destiny.
(Everything could have been cast aside, to choose a future with family...)
Glancing out the window, I see it is a rainy day, with the sky mostly hidden.
Shrouded in dim clouds.
(I know little about the Steel Knight.)
The information came solely from the spies' reports.
The time we actually met and spoke was not long.
What was that hero thinking as he died?
Honestly, it was unclear.
I did not even try to understand.
Layering assumptions to pretend I knew felt like an insult to him.
If I were in the same situation as the Steel Knight, what judgment would I make?
When I think of those precious to me, his face is the first to come to mind.
The subordinates of the Demon Lord's army are also important, but he remains a special presence.
(Could I truly refuse the choice of spending a lifetime in peace with her, if I cast aside my mission and title?)
For instance, what if he were resurrected at this very moment.
Assume a way to return from undead to human was established.
Could I still continue as the Demon Lord for the sake of world peace?
I do not know.
I lacked the confidence to affirm any answer.
There's a terror in glimpsing the depths of one's own heart.
(…Perhaps it's best to stop here. It only breeds despair.)
I slump back against the headboard, my gaze drifting to the ceiling.
Indulging in hypotheticals only destabilizes my mind; a pointless exercise.
I am immortal, and that person remains unresurrected.
That is reality.
There should be no room for doubt.
What matters more is the information obtained from the Steel Knight.
Thanks to him, various facts have come to light.
From the time he participated in the Republic's recapture campaign, the Steel Knight began to be recognized as a hero.
Despite not having possessed significant power before, he had suddenly grown powerful.
I had suspected some hidden circumstances, and I was finally able to hear the account from his own lips.
According to him, he had undergone a highly confidential ritualistic magic in the Holy Staff Nation.
Its purpose was to newly bestow upon him the attribute of a hero.
To put it bluntly, it was an editing of existence.
The magic redefines an individual.
It forcibly regards the target as "possessing" latent abilities they should not naturally have, and drags those powers into reality.
The subject is essentially coerced into becoming a hero.
Though I speak of it simply, this is an exceedingly advanced form of magic.
It has clearly reached the realm of forbidden arts, and one could even call it an act befitting the divine domain.
At the very least, it was not something humans should be handling.
The fact that the Steel Knight was still alive was nothing short of miraculous.
If the very foundation of his existence had been tampered with in such a manner, he could have vanished in an instant.
It was impossible to selectively enhance only the physical body so conveniently.
Even if I attempted the same thing, I would almost certainly fail.
If I succeeded even once in a thousand tries, that would be considered a great miracle.
I am aware of similar spells, but none of them seem to be something one could wield in this modern age.
The Holy Staff Nation is a country with a long history.
They must have reconstructed that ritual magic from ancient texts.
Besides the Steel Knight, it seemed there were many others who had the same spell cast upon them.
Starting with soldiers and mercenaries like him, there were even slaves and ordinary citizens among them.
It was said that the Holy Staff Nation and the Magic Artifice Nation had jointly recruited participants.
Even the Steel Knight apparently hadn't been told the details.
Naturally, most of them couldn't withstand the spell's backlash and died.
In the end, only three individuals successfully adapted and became heroes.
The first was the Steel Knight.
The second was a war maiden in the Republic's reclaimed territory.
And the third was an unknown man, unknown even to the Steel Knight.
The Steel Knight had never met the unknown man, and their paths never crossed even after the procedure.
Therefore, absolutely no detailed information could be obtained.
However, I suspect this third individual may indeed be the "Demi-God" that appeared in the World Tree.
First, the timing of their appearance matches.
That extraordinary power can also be explained if we consider it an acquired ability through ritual magic.
Depending on their affinity for sorcery, possessing power far beyond the norm was not impossible.
The Holy Staff Nation and the Magi-Craft Nation apparently intend to continue producing heroes irregularly in the future.
Thus, they are strengthening their forces.
It is said that once they occupy the Demon Lord's Territory, they have even set their sights on continental domination by the two-nation alliance.
These three heroes this time are the precursors to that.
(I really can't believe they've gone and done this...)
I look up from the documents.
I had heard from my spies that the two nations were aiming for continental conquest.
However, I could not obtain the specific plans, as they were top secret.
I never imagined it would take such a form.
As a premise, it is a good thing that each nation is moving to slay the Demon Lord.
It also aligns with my own aims.
The act of summoning non-existent talents and artificially creating heroes is undoubtedly the stubbornness of humanity.
That obsession is worthy of recognition.
However, this attempt is not to be commended.
While their spirit to defeat the Demon Lord is evident, the price for it is too great.
Just how much sacrifice must be paid to bring forth a single hero?
The two principal nations responsible have indicated they intend to continue the same plan.
This absolutely must be stopped.
It is a taboo.
It could become a factor that disturbs the peace of the world.
There is also the fight against the demigods, but we should cut off the root cause first.