## Chapter 939 – How Long Has It Been?

Anyway, the fact that Risha was a demon, and not just that, but the daughter of the Demon King and a princess, was incredibly shocking.

Still, Risha, who is blushing in front of me right now, trembling as she anticipates punishment, is just Risha.

“It’s quite fascinating.”

It’s not like Risha did anything wrong, and she’s my woman.

“Eugh!”

As I reached out to Risha, she made a cute sound and curled up.

“No, relax, I’m not going to do it here.”
“Th-That’s not what I meant…”

Still, there are things I’m curious about, and I need to come up with a plan.

“Risha, I have some questions.”
“…I’ll answer anything, so feel free to ask.”

I nodded and asked.

“Then, how strong was the Demon King during that Idol War?”

Demon King Peleizer.

It was an era when the term “Demon King” was thrown around, but this guy came down to this land as the representative of the demon realm and a conquering lord.

He must have been ridiculously strong.
Even Risha can use Death Beam.

“He was the strongest in the demon realm. Of course, I was young at the time… I didn’t know everything about the demon realm, so I can’t say for sure exactly how strong he was.”
“Is that so?”

It was hundreds of years ago, and she was young at the time, so she might not know.

Risha said she wanted to believe they had returned to the demon realm. Looking at that, it’s probably more accurate to think that they disappeared suddenly rather than returning to the demon realm.

There’s a lot to think about right now.
I don’t even know how to report this.

I’m glad I found out the truth about Risha, but I’m in a very difficult situation right now. Suddenly, the demon realm? We need to prepare for this situation.

“Then let’s skip that. Risha, this altar.”

I pointed to the altar.

“Why did this activate?”
“It seems that it activated in response to my body, rather than me doing it directly…”

It reacted to Risha’s body.

“What if Risha hadn’t come?”
“It probably wouldn’t have activated.”

It activated in response to Risha’s presence from the moment we entered this room.

“And it seems clear that the minotaurs and cyclops were all placed here to guard this.”
“…”

What should I do about this?

Anyway, I’ll have to report the threat from the demon realm. Even if the demons have declined, no one knows the truth. Hundreds of years have passed since the Idol War, so their power might have recovered.

They might be sharpening their swords in that distant land for a second invasion.

She said it was a barren land.

Let’s assume that and think about it.

“Risha, even so, there must be survivors left in the demon realm, right? No, let’s just assume that and think about it. Let’s say there’s a ruling class, whether it’s a dynasty or whatever.”
“…”
“This altar has been activated, so a signal has been sent, right? Will they notice it over there?”
“…”

Risha was silent for a moment in response to my question.

“…Of course, they’ll have no choice but to notice.”

I knew it.

“The demons wouldn’t miss the light that pierced through the dimensional barrier that had been severed.”

If the demon realm is still barren, they won’t miss a signal that could be an opportunity.

Of course, they’ll notice.

“In that case.”
“There’s a possibility that the demons might come down.”
“Hmm.”

This is a bit of a problem.
What should I do about this?

“Then, Risha, what about your identity? Now that a signal has been sent, they’ll realize that there are members of their race left on this land. Then they’ll be curious about who’s alive, right? Could Risha’s name come up there?”

If something activated the altar on this land, they’ll naturally be curious about who activated it. This is completely obvious.

“If this altar reacted to Risha’s body, then they can find out. So, if Risha’s dynasty is still in existence, they’ll pretend to be looking for the princess, and if rebels have usurped the throne, they might conduct a search to eliminate any possible seeds of rebellion.”

Looking at Risha’s age, it’s presumed that demons have very long lifespans.

If that’s the case, then what I said is possible.

If they have such nasty personalities that they would start a rebellion in the gap when the conquering army left to save the demon realm, then they’re not much different from humans.

Humans would definitely do that.
Then the demons will probably act similarly.

Of course, this is just an assumption, but we need to think calmly to prevent damage. Will the demons really come over after seeing this signal? Of course, not right away. These things require a period of preparation.

So, during that preparation period, we need to prepare.

“There’s a possibility of that, but… to be honest, I don’t really know what will happen. More than anything, hundreds of years have passed.”
“That’s true. So, I’m asking for Risha’s opinion. Will they know that the demon realm’s princess is on this land?”
“…”

Risha hesitated and answered.

“They saw me running away… so they might know.”

She said the leader of the rebels attacked. If he’s still in power, he’ll remember. Rebels are usually paranoid about the royal family’s bloodline.

Well… even if it’s not a rebel, it’ll be the same if the dynasty is still in existence.

The king there will naturally want to eliminate any possible rivals.

“Still, I think it’s too much of a leap to think that they’ll assume I did it just because the altar was activated.”
“I think similarly.”

That’s true.

“Anyway, the demon realm is screwed. No, you said things aren’t going well. Then they might come over after seeing that the severed connection has been broken, right?”
“…”

As I said that, Risha hugged me and shouted.

“I-I’ll apologize, so please forgive me now! I only have you now!!!”
“Huh? No, why are you apologizing? I’m not blaming you. I’m always on Risha’s side.”

I patted her back and answered.
She’s so flustered.

“I’m just asking because we need to come up with a plan. Risha is the only one who knows about the demon realm, right? Then let’s go up for today and talk about it after you’ve calmed down a bit?”
“…”

Risha seems to be worried that something big is going to happen because of her, but I’m always on Risha’s side, so there’s no need to worry. Even if I report this situation, I’ll somehow hide Risha’s existence.

It’s enough if only we know that Risha is a demon.

“Risha, what exactly is the demon realm like? Answer me.”
“…”

Risha answered from within my arms.

“…The demon realm is a declining world.”

Declining.

“For half of the day, silver and gray radiance dominate the world… and for the other half, ominous purple fills the world… it’s such a barren world.”

The daytime feels like a mix of silver and gray, and the night is purple.

“Around the time of the Idol War, there was great chaos because resources were being depleted.”

It’s a barren world, and resources are also being depleted.

“Unless some innovative technology or black magic has been invented… it won’t be very good. No matter how good the technology is, if there are no resources, you can’t do anything. Therefore, I don’t think very positively about the state of the demon realm.”

Risha’s perspective, who has lived there, is probably more accurate than my expectations.

“The reason I spent years trying to return was also… simply because I believed my family had returned…”
“I see.”
“Even if the demons invade, I don’t think they’ll be able to defeat the current human armies.”

I see…

“Then, as Risha said, I won’t worry too much for now.”
“…”
“But how should I report this situation?”

This is the problem.

I keep racking my brain, but I can’t figure it out. How can I report about the demon realm, which has almost no information, while hiding Risha’s existence?

“Katt, I think it’s best to destroy this site for now.”

Then, Cloudie said.

“If the people from the church find out your identity, it definitely won’t be good. They’ll probably go wild like Katt did when he saw the devil.”

Come to think of it, Hilde and Ari are the same.

“That’s true.”

If they see a demon, they’ll definitely try to cut off its head.

“That shouldn’t happen to Katt. Hmph… of course, it’s important to prepare as Katt said, but that preparation can only be done if Katt is there.”

Cloudie stroked my neck and said in a gentle voice.

“It’s not a battle, and I can’t allow you to take risks for something like this. Everything Katt has built up will disappear. Mama is right, isn’t she?”
“That’s right.”

Cloudie is right.

Since we’ve decided to hide Risha’s existence, we must never get caught. We can’t tell anyone, and we can’t leak any clues.

We’ll keep it a secret for the rest of our lives.

“Risha, you took the altar’s core, right?”

Cloudie said to Risha.

“Ah… yes, I did.”
“Then can you remove the altar? We can’t leave any traces.”
“…”

Risha looked at my face.

“Yeah… I’m in favor of destroying the evidence too. Risha, can you remove it without leaving any traces?”
“…Of course, the altar also has that function.”

I knew it.

“But I don’t think there are many people who know how to handle this altar.”
“Ah.”

Does dismantling the altar mean that Risha’s existence could be revealed to the demons in the future? Risha is also analyzing the situation and worrying about it in many ways.

This part is a bit concerning.

“That’s not a problem. Don’t worry.”

I won’t lose to those demon bastards.

—Nod.

Risha nodded and raised the silver orb high. —Kiiiiing. The altar, which had been stopped, began to operate again, and —Chwaaaaaaa. Silver flashes of light poured out from the orb.

—Gugugugugugu.

That was the end of it.

The altar crumbled from the edges and turned to dust. The dust was soon hit by the silver flashes of light and disappeared forever.

All that remained at the scene was just a round space.

“It’s completely gone.”
“The altar also has this function.”

You could call it a self-destruct function.

I searched the space. There wasn’t any dust or traces left. The altar had completely disappeared.

“It’s okay, Risha. It’ll be alright.”
“If I become a burden to you because of my race…”
“Don’t say that. We’re going to be together forever.”
“…I understand.”

Risha doesn’t have to worry.

“Katt, you made a good choice.”

Then, Cloudie grabbed my shoulder.

“It’s best to get rid of anything that could harm Katt.”

Cloudie said that while worrying about me.

She has an attitude that she can’t tolerate anything that could harm me.

She always worries about me.

“And Risha is Katt’s woman, so you always have to make decisions to protect her.”
“Yeah. That’s what a warrior is. I know that well. The most important thing in this world is me and my things.”

That’s true for everyone.

“Hehehe, as expected… you’re really reliable. Katt was always cool, but he’s getting cooler as time goes by. You’re the best.”
“Because I’ve gotten that much stronger!”

I’ve become so strong that even cyclops and stuff like that are now just pushovers.

Anyway, we cleaned up the scene like that and came out of the room where the altar was.

—…

The corpse of the cyclops with its head burst open was still there. In addition, the eyeball that I had pulled out of it was also rolling around next to it.

—Thud.

Risha picked it up.

“Magic power is condensed in the cyclops’s eyeball.”
“It’s a good health food.”

Let’s take it with the corpse.

“Ah, but Risha.”

Seeing the cyclops reminded me of something.

“The black magic originated from the demon realm… is that true?”
“That’s true.”
“Wow.”

So that’s how it was.

“Of course, there are various things called ‘black magic’ in the human realm, but at least the kind of black magic I use is from the demons.”
“Ah, so not all the black magic used here is from the demon realm, but only some of it is from the demon realm?”

Risha nodded.

“Originally, only the demons’ magic was called black magic, but humans can’t distinguish it accurately, so various things have become mixed up in the modern era.”
“I see.”

It’s become a mix.

“Let’s go up and rest for today.”

Catching the cyclops was a very big achievement.
Do the paladins know about this monster?

I don’t know.

“Risha, is there only one altar?”
“That’s… probably the case.”
“Then this was a dungeon created to protect the altar.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions yet. There might be something else. The two monsters we brought during the Idol War weren’t the only ones.”

There’s more?