Memoirs I

<Report. The addition of Individual 'Shizue Izawa' and Fire Giant Ifrit has resulted in the acquisition new skills abilities.>

'JAAACKPOOTT!"

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Demon Lord Leon had already left. He had abandoned me, a sacrificial pawn.

He didn't even look at me. Now that I think about it, the only time he even acknowledged me was when he sealed Ifrit into me.

Did I hate him....No....I don't think so.

I didn't know what to feel. He saved me, and now he'd abandoned me. I've never been able to understand any of his actions, what he's thinking.

But I didn't mind being a sacrifice for him to escape, nothing mattered anymore anyway.

Leon-sama and his subordinates had left the castle, which seemed confusing to me, since Leon-sama regarded this place quite highly as some experimental facility.

There was apparently some Hero invading the castle.

*TAP* *TAP* *TAP*

Oh? It seems the Hero is here.

...

As soon as I laid my eyes on her, I knew I stood no chance.

But I had to fight, to atone for the sin of living all this time.

My training under the knights of Leon-sama had improved my swordsmanship to a respectable degree. The knight had praised me about my talent and hard work, for becoming strong even without Ifrit.

Removing all thoughts from my head, I prepared to engage the Hero in battle.

She just stood there, waiting for me to make a move.

So I did. I ruthlessly attacked her with all my might. But it was useless. The gap was too big. Her strength, technique, weapon, foresight, everything. She outclassed me in Every. Way. Possible.

Eventually, I had no choice but to rely on Ifrit's power. The maximum amount I could handle.

We fought for hours, yet she didn't even shed a drop of sweat.

Then I felt Ifrit falling asleep in my body, a side effect of consuming too many magicules. It was impossible to keep fighting. I lost, incapable of landing a single blow. I collapsed to the floor, confident that I had returned the favor to the demon lord. I sort of wished I could live a while longer, but I doubted a hero would ever show mercy to a magic-born like me. 

"Are you done?" I heard her say. "Why are you here?" It was a bit surprising. I was expecting to be killed immediately. My head turned up to her. The hero was a hunter of evil, and I was her foe, a majin, host of Ifrit. 

If she cut me down right now, I would have nothing to complain about. I had nothing to live for anyway.

What whim of hers prompted these questions?

Timidly, I opened my mouth. Then I told her about how I was summoned to this world, how I had lived up to now… What I had done. 

It was selfish of me. I was a majin now, a tool of Leon-sama. I had no right, no expectation, to be believed at all. But it was true—having someone take an interest in me and listen to my story made me happy. 

It felt like I was leaving my mark on the world, an evidence of my existence. I could throw out my chest and proclaim to the world that I had lived, even if it was just in someone's memory. That's all I could ask for.

I doubted the hero would ever believe a majin's story. But that didn't matter. Even if I just created a nook in her memory to occupy, it would be enough.

"It's all right now. You're just a child, yet you've been through so much. " 

She believed me. 

Her words brought tears to my eyes. The next thing I knew, I was clinging to her, crying. For the first time since I came to this world, relief embraced me as I expressed my true feelings to someone. 

I wound up coming under the hero's care. 

Her face darkened at the sight of my burn scars. I was used to them; the way they spread across half my body was proof that I was alive. 

The hero tried to use healing magic to do something about them. It didn't appear to work. Merging with Ifrit had stabilized my body to its current state, scars and all. She thought for a moment and then took a pretty mask out from a bag. 

"You know." she said, "this mask helps boost your resistance to magic. You might be able to use it to keep Ifrit at bay inside you." She gave it a loving caress, then handed it to me. 

"It was given to me by the person who's the most important to me in my life. Take good care of it."

The instant I put the Magic Resistance Mask on, it immobilized Ifrit inside me and hid the burn scars across my body. And that wasn't all. With the will of Ifrit no longer dominating mine, all the oppressed emotions I felt over the years immediately welled out of me. 

The pangs of loneliness, the fear of dying as a majin. The deep shame of killing the first friend I ever made. The intense hatred I held for this unfair world. Putting on that mask helped me regain the emotions I had thought I had forsaken with my childhood. 

The hero held me tight until I was able to calm down. I remember how scared I was after that for a while—so scared that I couldn't even talk to anyone except the hero. But she never complained. She treated me warmly. And little by little, she loosened the ropes around my heart, teaching me how to converse with others once more.

The Hero Chronoa, she told me stories of the future. Of the mysterious precious person she had in her life.

'I too want a precious person'

When I told her that, her first reaction was to hug me. Then she asked me if she wasn't precious to me.

I panicked and corrected my mistake. She just laughed it off....It seems she was just teasing me.

"There will come a person like that Shizue-chan. Don't worry, you will meet that person, I promise you that."

But all good things must come to an end. The time had come for Sensei to go. To spare her the guilt of leaving me, I left first. I bid my goodbyes and started my own journey.

"Live a happy life Shizue-chan. I hope we meet again someday!"

Those were her last words. I cried the whole night after I parted ways with her.

The next few months were lonely. I roamed around the world, killing monsters, saving cities, and other jobs of the sort.

I came to be known as the 'Conqueror of Flames'.

Then I met those two children. They were otherworlders, just like me. I took them in, willing to do anything to make sure that their lives didn't end up as tragedies like mine.

Hinata Sakaguchi and Yuuki Kagurazaka.

Hinata was a genius, absorbing everything I taught her instantly. She eventually left us to go her own way, thanking me for all I'd done for her.

Yuuki was a different kind of Genius. He was reincarnated with a Unique Body Constitution that made him unable to grow older. However, in return he was unable to possess any skills.

He went on to establish the Free Guild, an international organisation for adventurers. I always stood behind him, supporting him whenever he was in need of guidance and help.

He eventually became one of the most powerful men in the Western Nations.

On the other hand, Hinata went ahead and joined the Crusaders of the Western Holy Church, becoming it's Captain not soon after.

It felt like I've completed my purpose in this world. But there was still a missing piece left.

My Precious Person. I hadn't found them.

And I was afraid, because I was running out of time. I no longer had the capacity to keep Ifrit at bay, even with the help of the Anti-Magic Mask.

So I decided to give up on constant battles, and take up teaching. I found 5 more children, little cute otherworlders.

But, unlike Yuuki and Hinata, they weren't a case of accidental reincarnation, instead, they were all forcefully summoned through rituals to be turned into weapons.

But those 5 were failed experiments. Upon reincarnation, they failed to awaken a Unique Skill, leading to their body possessing an abnormal amount of unstable magicules. They would die in just a few years.

There was no way I could let that happen. Yuuki did his best, but even he couldn't find a solution. But he did give them a place in the Free Guild Academy, with me as their Teacher.

Then the Catastrophe came along.

The Storm Dragon Veldora, who was sealed by my Sensei had disappeared.

This unlocked a memory in my head. Chronoa-sensei had told me something about this.

"Listen Shizue, there will come a time, when the Storm Dragon will seemingly disappear. When that happens, do everything in your power to stop people from going into the Great Jura Forest for at least 3 months."

"That's very specific sensei. But I'll do it if you say so."

"You're a good girl Shizue."

"I have another thing to tell you, go into the Forest yourself after 3 months of Veldora's disappearance. Whatever you're going through, I promise you'll find your solutions there. You'll find a special person there."

I certainly had many problems, so I decided to follow Sensei's advice and lead a party of adventurers into Jura. 

That single action changed my life.

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So many things had happened in my life, and I was tired.

Constantly holding Ifrit back, fighting for my life, raising children, these had taken a toll on me.

I was tired, and I wanted to rest.

And then I found him.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.

He was amazing. He saved me before I even got to meet him.

But alas, it seemed that this world hated me. Just after I met him, I reached my limit.

I didn't want to burden him with my problems. But I didn't have a choice.

He was definitely powerful enough to take care of Ifrit, and I didn't want to accidently harm the adventurer trio and the innocent villagers of Jura.

So I gave in. I gave in to Ifrit. And I handed my life over to him, to Ashborne.

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A/N: NEW CHAPTER!!

Hope you liked this one, since its quite different from the usual ones.

Don't forget to drop some POWER STONES and REVIEW the story!!