Chapter 824: Freabell Nidzveld ⑨

Frea-san told us that Illness-san was once called the Savior in the Demon Realm. In this case, the "once called" means before the spread of the terminologies Six Kings and Peerage ranks.

[Comrade and Duchess Lilia have probably heard about this before, but the Demon Realm of the past... before the system of Six Kings and Peerage ranks was established and order was brought about, it was a time when you could say that the weak were devoured by the strong. It was a time when combat power was all that mattered.]

[I remember reading a bit about it in a history book back in the royal castle.]

[I don't know much about it, but I did hear about it...]

Lillywood-san also said that before Alice brought order to the Demon Realm, it was a time when power was everything and small skirmishes occurring here and there were normal.

I've never heard of it in detail, but I imagine that it was a somewhat bleak time back then.

[At such a time, I had also spent most of my time fighting for my own survival, so I wasn't very well informed. However, there were also Demons that were famous enough to reach my ears. For example, the current Underworld King, Kuromueina. Among those who know the Demon Realm at that time, there is no one who wouldn't know of her who was called "The Strongest in the Demon Realm".]

If I recall correctly, it should be during the time when Kuro and the others who are now known as the Six Kings... like Isis-san and Megiddo-san, were living together.

[At that time, she had opted with the stance of accepting the state of the Demon Realm of that time and watched over it, but everyone understood that if she wanted to, she could easily seize complete hegemony of the Demon Realm. That's why the central part of the Demon Realm, where Kuromueina-sama was living at that time, the place that is now called the Forbidden Land, was treated as a kind of inviolable territory.]

In fact, at that time, if they had asked her for help or to mediate in a conflict, Kuro would have done so, but other than such matters, Kuro basically watched over others without interfering.

According to what Kuro directly told me, the Kuro at that time was only a bit better in thinking than Shiro-san, and she basically made any movements to bring about change.

After the battle with the God Realm, she seemed to have gotten over a lot of things and started doing various things, like creating a Magic Tool Trading Company. If there's a chance, it might be interesting to ask Kuro about those days in detail.

[There are several other Demons who had reputations just like her, and one of them is the Savior, Illness. She traveled around the Demon Realm, saving the weak and leaving without asking for anything in return or even saying her name unless asked. She was a true savior for the weak.]

[How should I say this... That's just like Illness-san.]

[It indeed feels the same as now.]

Because what Frea-san told us about Illness-san matched the image of the person herself, Lilia-san and I exchanged glances and chuckled.

[...As the Six Kings and the Peerage ranks were established and order was brought to the Demon Realm, rumors of her were no longer heard again, but for her to be working as a maid in the Human Realm, I was quite frankly a bit surprised.]

What is this? Just now, Frea-san looked at us and for a moment, I thought I saw a troubled expression on her face, but it was really only for a moment and her expression quickly returned to normal, concluding her story with a smile.

How strange. From what I've heard, they were just typical actions of the kind and gentle Illness-san... but something about it slightly, really slightly, bothered me.

Looking at Kaito and Lilia's reaction... Knowing that the two of them were very fond of Illness, Nidzveld didn't say another word again.

(...As only she knows her actual intentions, I don't want to stir up anxiety in them with selfish speculations of mine.)

Nidzveld's mind drifted back to the rumors she had heard about Illness in the former Demon Realm. Many of the rumors she had heard had called her a savior.

But she has also heard a few other rumors, calling her by another name... known as the "Arrogant Nihility". She doesn't ask for anything in return, not even a word of thanks... Even though she doesn't ask for anything from others, she judges and helps those she deems as weak.

(In fact, when I heard the rumors back then, I found her quite eerie. The information in the rumors were where and who she had saved, and nothing else. She's like a golem operating on a single formula: to save the weak. A being of nihility, holding unknown intentions and purposes...)

In a sense, Illness could be described as an arrogant person who seemed to think of everyone else as lowly trash, believing only in her own standard, and thus, some of the Demons find her creepy.

She was actually an unknown being. It was unknown why Illness was saving the weak or for what purpose she was traveling through the Demon Realm... Thus, some people found the empty Illness uncanny. Nidzveld was one of them.

The majority of people do recognize her as a kind-hearted savior...

As she was thinking about such a thing, Nidzveld suddenly gave a small smile.

(...However, well, those were just rumors, weren't they... At least, the girl I had just met was far from what I would call empty. And most of all... she looked quite "happy".)