The demon people.

A race with horns, red eyes, and black mana – the descendants and symbols of the Devil.

3000 years ago, when the Devil brought the whole world to ruin, he indiscriminately committed evil deeds without distinction of the race to satisfy his desires.

Not only did he commit murder and rape, but also human experiments and various other horrific acts which appalled people around the world.

Accepting the devil’s seed and becoming pregnant, or transforming into a mutant through the mana received through human experiments – through this terrible process, ‘Demons’ were born, and uniquely, only humans were transformed into Demons.

Numerous opinions have come and gone about why it only affected humans, not elves, dwarves, or beasts, but the most potent hypothesis was the singularity of ‘human’.

Humans have a shorter lifespan compared to other races, and inherently poor physical abilities, but instead, they have tremendous ‘learning power’, which is said to have worked in a wrong way. In addition, human beings could accept the devil’s seeds more deeply because they were so distinct in terms of ‘Light’ and ‘Darkness’ than other species.

[Beings that will one day turn into devils.]

[Pretends to be human, but the blood of the devil flows.]

[They must be eliminated.]

However, other races, including humans, did not recognize demons as victims, or ‘humans’, but decided that they were ‘devils’. In fact, it was simple to ostracize them because they would become demons if they get angry enough to control their reason or fail to control their desires.

Even the holy church ‘Savior’ caused an unprecedented incident of indiscriminate slaughter of demons under the pretext of slaughtering all devil’s seeds. From the Savior’s point of view, the Devil tried to bring down God because he could not deny Him so he joined forces without dividing the hardliners and moderates.

After this maddening incident, the demons were divided into two factions.

One were those who truly became ‘devils’ and wanted revenge on the world, and the others were those who pursued self-control and lived as ‘humans’. However, the forces that became devils were soon eradicated and disappeared from the world.

Then the remaining forces, the demons who want to become human in pursuit of ‘self-control’, What happened to them?

While other great powers, including Savior, were at war with each other due to differences in ideology, demons seeking self-control took advantage of the opportunity to establish Helium. Naturally, most of the countries did not recognize Helium, but they were compelling, honing their strength in pursuit of self-control.

No matter how strong they are, the moment they invade, they will be attacked by other countries, so it is impossible to move around. Eventually, it was said that they should take advantage of the opportunity to organize it.

It was funny that 1000 years had passed since then.

However, within that time, discrimination against demons never disappeared. Humans weren’t the only race that hated them.

At this rate, it seemed that the wishes of the demons would never come true.

Until a book appeared in the world.

*******

Born as a princess of Helium and the daughter of a demon king, I suddenly thought of this.

Why are we demons being discriminated against by other races? Why do we, seemingly no different from humans, have to live with such harsh treatment?

Above all, why do we have to live as ‘humans’, not as other races?

Most demons were born in Helium and died in Helium. You might think of it as a frog in a well, but the demons who went outside usually suffered a bad tragedy.

It was common to lose a loved one or to be betrayed by a loved one and become one of the devils, and to return to Helium again after suffering discrimination that cannot be spoken out of the mouth.

Worst of all, they were treated as devils and killed without asking or questioning. Outside of Helium, they were often killed just because they were demons.

“Father. Father.”

“Huh? Why are you calling me?”

“Why do we have to live like humans?”

It was the year I turned 20.

I asked the King of Helium, my father. Do we really need to live like humans?

My father looked surprised for a moment at my question, and then put on a bitter smile. And he gently stroked my hair with his rough, clunky hands.

“Cecily. Do you know how we demons appeared in the world?”

“I know that the Devil did bad things to people and the present demons were born. Of these, only humans became demons.”

“Yeah. Our ancestors were originally humans. Even now, we are closer to humans than other races. So if we live like humans, we will be able to be treated as human beings.”

“But we don’t have to live like humans right now. Can’t we just live as demons?”

Dad smiled even more at my question. Then he slightly bent his knees and brought his to eye level on the level with mine.

As if to let me know that I was a demon, my face was reflected like a mirror in his blood-red eyes. Father faced me for a while, then gently grabbed my shoulder and uttered an incomprehensible answer.

“That’s our demon. Cecily.”

“… …”

“You don’t know right now, but one day you will understand your father’s words. That realization will definitely help you a lot in your ‘life’, so never forget it and engrave it. Okay?”

“…Okay.”

Even 80 years after that, I couldn’t understand my father’s words. I thought it would always be like that.

Until a book came out that completely changed the lives of demons. I was convinced that the lesson contained in that book was the realization my father was talking about.

But father shook his head and said no.

“Cecily. It’s true that the book revealed the tragedy of our demons and changed our lives. But that’s not the identity of the demons I’m talking about.”

Then what is it? How does Dad define us?

I had that question in my heart when I entered Halo Academy. I hoped that the answer could be found in the human society where I first stepped in.

That’s the way it should be…

“No.”

Why aren’t you a demon?

“Demons cannot become human.”

Do you dare say such words?

I stopped walking toward the restaurant and looked at the human in front of me. A human with impressive red hair and golden eyes that stood out from afar.

His face was thin, so it would be more accurate to describe him as pretty rather than handsome, and his physique was likewise slender, so he emanates a neutral image. If a girl dressed up as a man, it was pretty believable.

‘…Why?’

My mouth was bitter as if I swallowed a pill. But first, a question reigned in my head.

He was a person who interested Professor Magner. He was a man who refuted that demons were not dangerous, but that wizards who dealt with magic were dangerous.

At the same time, the first human she met – the princess of the Minerva Empire, Rina, also showed a deep interest in him and naturally became close. However, I didn’t have the opportunity to talk.

So, as we talked now, I realized that he was a very considerate person. I’ve felt it before, but every word he spoke lingered in my mind.

It was the same even now.

“…Mr. Isaac.”

“Yes, Ms. Cecily.”

“There is a contradiction in Mr. Isaac’s answer. Do you know?”

The red-haired man, Isaac, said a little while ago that I look like a human. I don’t look like the devil at all.

However, the demons spoke out words that could not be human. Indeed, it cannot be contradictory.

As I struggled to understand the meaning of his words, Isaac blinked his eyes a few times before opening his mouth.

“Miss Cecily.”

“Please speak.”

“Have you ever heard a human saying that he wants to be like a human?”

“Huh?”

What kind of nonsense is that? Puzzled, I shook my head.

I don’t know what Isaac wanted to say, but it’s better to listen carefully. Because his words had a lot of meaning.

Isaac closed his mouth for a moment when I shook my head and opened his mouth in a calm voice.

“You’ve probably never heard of it, and you won’t hear it forever. Because humans are human from birth. As demons are born as demons, you must live as demons.”

“Then I’ll ask you again. What does it mean to live like a demon? We have worked tirelessly to live like humans. It will be so in the future.”

Like Sakran who sacrificed himself in Xenon’s life, most demons aspire to live as humans. He wanted to laugh, talk, and have fun with people like normal humans.

That is the desire of the demons who pursue self-control, and it is a noble destiny. I thought so far.

Until a year ago, I only thought of that, but I couldn’t put it into practice, but thanks to Zeno’s biography, I seized the opportunity. I never wanted to kick that opportunity.

But Isaac didn’t know how I felt, so he answered with a carefree attitude to the world.

“Yes. That’s what I think of demons. Princess of Helium.”

“…So what is it? What you say is all contradictory.”

Now I was starting to get annoyed. I wondered if this person was making fun of me.

I don’t know why his sarcastic rhetoric that fed Professor Magner was here, but now I was just frustrated and bursting.

I waited for a while for Isaac to speak. But he showed no sign of speaking.

I couldn’t stand it any longer and was about to turn my back.

“It can be the brightest light, but it can also be the ugliest darkness.”

“…Huh?”

His mouth, which had been heavily closed, opened, and words that could not be easily escaped flowed out.

While I was stunned as soon as I heard him, he spoke once again.

“A more human race than anyone, who knows they can’t be human, but craves to be human.”

“… …”

Oh. That’s right.

“This is what I think of demons, and I think it’s how they live as ‘people.’ Cecily.”

That’s what my father said.

Demons were well aware that they cannot become human on their own. However, they desired to be human more than anyone else.

So, unless they become devils, demons have no choice but to be more human than humans. Because humans are born as humans, they have no desire to become a human by themselves.

Demons can truly become devils, but conversely, they can become more human than anyone else.

While I was lost in thought, Isaac shrugged his shoulders with a sly expression and continued with a polite, calm voice.

“Well… Not only demons, but other races don’t know what kind of existence they are. Please understand that what I just said is entirely my opinion.”

“… …”

“Ms. Cecily?”

“Huh? Oh, Yes. I heard you. Thank you.”

I came to my senses at Isaac’s call. He smiled when I came to my senses. I looked at his smile with blank eyes.

That smile really shined like the sun in the blue sky. It also felt more beautiful than any other jewel.

To the extent that I want to hold it in my hand and keep it.

“Then shall we go eat now?”

I answered his question with a sincere smile, not a playful smile.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“Huh? Suddenly…”

“Don’t worry. I’m older anyway, right? It doesn’t matter when Rina speaks informally too, right?”

“Uh… it doesn’t matter.”

It would be no mistake to say that dinner was more delicious that day.

******

After a good dinner with Cecily, I went straight back to the dorm. It’s because Cecily went back first saying that she had something to think about for a while.

‘By the way, I’ve definitely heard it somewhere…’

No matter how much I think about it, I think I’ve heard what I said to Cecily somewhere. If it wasn’t my misunderstanding, I heard it recently, but I can’t remember where I heard it.

After that, it was time to return to the dormitory and check the manuscript.

“Oh shit…”

As soon as I checked the manuscript, I had no choice but to spit out swear words. The frowning expression was a bonus.

Because…

“This is what I said.”

The advice I gave to Cecily was written right in my manuscript.

– – – End of Chapter – – –