Maou to Yuusha Volume 1 Chapter 1.1

 The Demon Lord captures villagers.

As the Hero and I gaze up at the sky, occasionally a spaceship falls. Perhaps it was hit, its navigation system damaged, or drawn by this planet's gravity, it trails a fiery tail like a meteor.

"That's quite a spectacle for fireworks. Or rather, not burning up in the atmosphere, it must be an incredible crystallization of technology..."

Thinking that people are capable of creating such things strangely delights me. Perhaps it's the influence of becoming the Demon Lord.

The meteor illuminates the surroundings and with a roaring sound that shakes the air, the falling spaceship passes overhead.

It crashed nearby, didn't it? Zugo! A sound reverberates in my stomach along with a shockwave.

Is this also the effect of "Wind Resistance Level 10" or the Demon Lord's effect?

The Hero lowers their posture and raises their shield to withstand the shockwave, but I manage to endure it with just a bit of dust in my hair, equivalent to a slight gust of wind.

"What should we do from now on?"

While fixing my disheveled hair caused by shockwaves that cleared the surrounding terrain, I pondered the future.

Being alone with a beautiful girl, thoughts like "let's have children like Adam and Eve" also come to mind, but as a Demon Lord, it feels a bit unsatisfying.

The problem is... I feel somewhat resistant because the Hero looks too young.

I wonder if anyone thought, "If you're evil, wouldn't that be lolicon or pedophilia? Just do as you please?"

Listen up. Doing evil, being evil is not easy.

Certainly, the Hero looks a bit too young, but it's not like they can't do anything.

Appearance matters too. This is important.

Oops, I got off track.

But in this situation, if I act indiscriminately, what happens next?

Think carefully. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around, right?

No matter how delicious the feast, you'll get tired of it if you eat it every day.

Even if you do as you please, a future where you get bored and lose interest is foreseeable. When people get bored of a toy, they either seek extreme novelty or treat it carelessly.

What would I do with something I got bored of? I can't imagine because I haven't had enough experiences with relationships to satisfy my desires.

...I feel like I want to wipe sweat from my eyes a little.

Setting aside my past, enjoying and discarding various things on a whim is a common practice for villains, but it's not particularly beautiful as evil.

Huh? Not denying it is also a villain's way? It's also part of being a villain.

"I feel chills. Did the temperature drop?"

Oops, did the Hero sense even the evil thoughts I was thinking about? They have quite a keen intuition. I should be careful about various things.

"No, nothing has changed. It must be my imagination."

The poker face I've honed over the years as a pleasure of evil is not for show.

If it were lecherous intentions or killing intent directed directly, this Hero would probably sense it, but I'm confident I can conceal mere erotic thoughts.

Ah, I remember concealing my lecherous nature so well that my younger sister once looked at me with eyes full of great expectations and asked, "Brother, are you not interested in women?" ... Seal it, seal it.

"I'm tired of hearing 'enhanced due to the deaths of so many.' Hero, are messages still dragging on there?"

"Yeah, they are. As expected, there's only status enhancement and skill unlocking."

"In any case, it seems likely that the world is determined by the increase in population due to advances in science, and the number of deaths in wars has also increased. In terms of the number of deaths, it doesn't seem as terrible as classical space opera."

I like fantasy, but I don't dislike space opera either.

I'm a fan to the extent of having a limited edition DVD box set of a classic space opera anime at home.

I bought it when I got some pocket money from doing various naughty things in high school.

I like that cold-blooded staff officer...

"Is that so? I don't feel it because there are too many."

It seems they don't understand. If possible, I'd like to marathon that DVD box set of all episodes.

"Well, if you think this world is just doing SF normally, you can't go wrong."

It was during such a conversation.

Huiiii... With a sharp metallic sound, something like a white fighter jet in the shape of a boomerang passed overhead.

Is it hit? It flew unstably with white smoke emitting from its wings, lowering its altitude near the horizon, making a scratching sound, and crashed into a nearby wilderness.

"It crashed. It made a loud noise, but... Did it land intact? The shape remains. I'll go search for survivors, but what will you do, Hero?"

"Will the Demon Lord take the lead in helping people? I'll go too."

"Wouldn't it be boring to be a villain without an audience? Besides, we might learn something about this world."

Pushing off the ground and jumping like a bounce towards the crash site.

Enhanced status is amazing. Just a little jump makes it feel like I'm flying half in the air.

At this rate, I'll surpass even ninjas and reach the level of some American comic hero.

Turning around during the jump, I saw the Hero also keeping up with a similarly long airborne jump behind me.

◇

"This is a spaceship, or judging from its sharp design, a fighter jet?"

I observe the crashed spaceship closely once again.

It measures about 10 meters in length and 30 meters in width. It's white in color, but where the paint has peeled off, it appears silver? It has a metallic sheen.

The overall shape resembles two overlaid boomerangs, connected at the fuselage and the tips of the wings.

What a cool design. I'm starting to want it.

There are marks on the ground where the fighter jet scraped the surface over several hundred meters, but looking at the main body, there aren't major scratches. Perhaps some sort of protective mechanism was at work.

"Hey."

I jump onto the fuselage of the spaceship where what seems to be a cockpit is located.

There's a canopy (windshield for the pilot's seat)... If safety were a priority, they'd have a closed cockpit for the pilot, with external views via cameras, retinal projection, or direct neural connection—projecting images onto the retina inside the eyeball, or directly feeding images to the optic nerve— or indirect views through full-surround monitors. I think it would be safer to push the cockpit itself more towards the center of the aircraft, but I guess the pilot's life isn't that valuable?

"Do you understand its structure?"

The Hero catches up and looks around the fighter jet with curiosity.

"To be honest, not at all. But if science has progressed as straightforwardly as it should, emergency controls and such should be intuitively understandable and operable by anyone..."

The lectures on SF technology development and such by my robot enthusiast friend in the same university club are quite informative.

"Is that so... I wonder."

I guess this Hero doesn't quite appreciate the romance of a man.

Well, they still look like they might enjoy shoujo comics.

◇

"This kind of fighter jet or combat spacecraft cockpit has something to rescue a pilot who has lost consciousness from the outside... Ah, there it is. It's a mechanically operated rotary lever.

I pull out the crescent-shaped handle, pull it out, and rotate it counterclockwise... and voila!

Grabbing the lever next to the canopy, which had warped and stiffened, I forcefully rotate it with a click! sound of air escaping, creating a gap between the canopy and the fuselage. I grab it with my hand and open it up.

It's been modernized, but the cockpit is similar to modern-day Earth fighter jets, where a high school-aged girl sits unconscious. Quite... no, she's quite a beautiful girl.

The girl has black hair and skin that's not exactly white but somewhat yellowish. She looks quite Japanese.

I was prepared for a flat-looking Gray-type alien or a hairy space creature, so this is a relief. I'm not particularly fond of the Gray-types... they give me the creeps.

She's human like me and the Hero? ...No, she has cat-like ears growing out of her head. Cat-like ears! I said it twice because it's important.

A cat-eared girl! Whether she's a beastkin or a demon, it doesn't matter—she's a beautiful cat-eared girl! Hurray for fantasy! Well, SF is fine too, but hurray for cat-eared girls... no, no, let's stay calm.

As the Demon Lord, I'm aiming to take this girl home with all my might!

Her attire looks like a stylish version of jeans overalls, more mechanic than a pilot suit.

There are tools in chest pockets and around her waist.

She coughs uncomfortably, spitting blood with her breath... oh no! I forgot!

"Activate Legal Magic: Environmental Adaptation V"

The cat-eared girl, who seemed to be in pain, stabilizes her breathing.

It's heavily polluted here... or maybe this environment is tough even for aliens.

"Activate Prayer Magic: Healing III"

I also activate healing magic. She was coughing blood due to soil contamination, and the impact of the crash might have injured her head or organs... Magic control is very difficult! I concentrate my magic into my hands and place them over the cat-eared girl, converting my magical energy into vitality. But the recovery magic and the specifications of the cat-eared girl are way too different.

This recovery magic is basic, converting magical energy into life force.

However, the flow of life force converted from the Demon Lord's magic is like water gushing out of a fire truck's hose, while the vessel of vitality she possesses is as durable and has as much capacity as a small wine glass!

Carefully... carefully. I reduce the output as much as possible and slowly... slowly...

"...Ah."

I hear a hallucination, like a water balloon bursting from being filled too much.

Bruises all over the faintly glowing girl's body disappear, and her breathing becomes calm.

From my perspective, I can see life force leaking from cracks in her life vessel, but there's plenty of vitality packed in there to prevent it from bursting anytime soon.

At least for about half a year, she should recover... I think. The aftermath might be a bit troublesome, though.

◇

I lifted the cat-eared girl from the cramped cockpit and laid her gently on the nearby ground.

"Cat ears? ...Feels like fantasy, but if they're aliens, maybe this kind of species exists too."

The hero, who had popped his head out beside me, also seemed intrigued.

"Dark Lord. I've been curious since earlier. It's an SF world, but magic can be used?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too."

"Environmental adaptation magic follows the laws of the world as classified by the Doctrine Magic. So, in a world where physical... magical laws differ, we shouldn't function properly. So, rather than me and the hero sneaking into an SF world, it's more likely that the fantasy world where the Dark Lord and the hero are supposed to be summoned woke up to science and developed technology."

"Hmm... a theoretical judgment. I think my speculation is correct too," the hero nodded slightly, agreeing with my opinion.

It was a conclusion reached by two people with fantasy backgrounds, so it shouldn't be too far off.

"Uh... ah."

Oops, the cat-eared girl seemed about to wake up.

Since there's no prince around, it'd be nice to wake her with a Dark Lord's kiss, but being too forceful would be unseemly. Let's act gentlemanly.

"Huh...? +A@ki〈0!?"

Oh, right, language barrier?

《Skill: 'Adram Empire Universal Language' has been added.》

"Hero, do you have any skill points left?"

"Yeah, apparently I can allocate them later, so I'm keeping some."

"In that case, should we go for language skills?"

I opened the language skill tree window... The newly added language, Adram Empire Universal Language LV1, was way at the back. LV1 seems to be the maximum level. It might be a refined language that's easy to learn and use, even though it's difficult to express complex ideas.

"Oh no, what should I do? These people are using a language I don't know. The automatic translator isn't working either, and they look like pirates or primitives based on their appearance? And that one's wearing armor and has a sword. Am I going to be killed? Ugh..."

Close, but isn't a cat-eared girl's speech supposed to end with "nya"?

She seems frightened after seeing the hero's sword and armor.

Well, the hero's attire does look too fantastical. Even people from modern Earth would be scared.

"Oh, um, miss. It's okay, you don't need to be that scared. Can you understand this language?"

I used the newly acquired 'Adram Empire Universal Language' to speak.

"Yes, I can! Phew, I'm glad you understand my language!"

The cat-eared girl's face brightened up. She's like a small animal.

"No, I just learned it now."

"Same here."

"Huh!? What?"

Her eyes widened.

Yeah, definitely a cat girl. She even has a tail, and her fur stands on end when surprised.

Nice reaction! I'll give a mental thumbs-up.

"Oh, um. It seems like a new language has been added to the automatic translator... I wonder."

It's quite a SF-like interpretation, but if this girl can be satisfied with that, it's fine.

I gave a glance to the hero, who nodded in agreement.

"Well, something like that. Do you understand the situation?"

"Well... I think so. Our mothership was almost sunk by direct hits from physical rounds... Um, so I decided to board a carrier aircraft as a retirement bonus... But then we were attacked by drone fighters, and our propulsion system got hit, so our altitude dropped..."

This cat-eared girl. She seems to have a pretty good personality.

She casually mentioned boarding a fighter jet as her retirement bonus and fleeing. She seems to have a knack for villainy.

"Huh, really? This planet should be completely contaminated with atomic fission-type reaction rounds and propagation-type contamination rounds. So why can both you and I breathe normally?"

Atomic fission? Were there nuclear weapons in her original world too? Soil contamination with radioactive contamination, or something like that?

Even with poison resistance skills, it would still be tough! 

More Over, while there isn't a corresponding term in Japanese, they fired proliferative contamination shells? Did they really shoot projectiles that further contaminate soil and the atmosphere?

"What's a reaction shell? Do you understand, Demon Lord?"

It seemed the Hero didn't quite grasp it.

"Ah... To put it simply, it's like a nuclear bomb. Probably meant to spread radioactive contamination along with the explosion, rendering the area uninhabitable."

Even though I used to be a science major, I'm fairly confident in my comprehension.

My knowledge of weapons and such was hammered into me by my circle of delinquent friends, though.

The term "nuclear bomb" seemed to resonate, judging by the displeased look on the Hero's face.

"The contamination level... It's definitely lethal. How can you stay so calm...? Am I already dead, like a ghost or something?"

The cat-eared girl held something like a smartphone in her hand.

Is it an analyzer? It seems capable of measuring contamination levels.

Don't worry, if you were dead, I'd have resurrected you with necromancy I acquired as a hobby of the Demon Lord, turning you into a faithful undead subordinate. Though your species would change a bit.

"No, I'm not dead. We're both alive. We're protected by magic, so it's safe for a few more hours."

"Magic...?"

The cat-girl looked bewildered.

I wonder if this world's SF is centered more on science and technology rather than magical science.

"It's magic. By the way, I'm the Demon Lord, and that over there is the Hero."

"Huh... Eh? Eeeh..."

The confusion on the cat-eared girl's face deepened rapidly.

Even for a young Japanese with an otaku mindset accustomed to light novels, accepting things like Heroes and Demon Lords might be difficult in a normal cultural context... No, it's normal to feel reassured.

How can I make them believe...? Alright, I've got a good idea.

"To make you believe, it might be quicker to show you some actual magic."

"Activate Contract Magic: Rank IX Contract Document Creation."

I specify my hand to activate the magic.

A crimson magic circle appears, and with flames rising from the circle, it transforms into a parchment.

It doesn't have to be parchment, but a contract with the Demon Lord should have a bit of elegance, not just plain copy paper... Though copy paper would work too, it's a matter of feeling.

"Teleportation... No way, what!? Materialization? Personal-level teleportation without a teleporter and generator is impossible, and material production requires even more cost and energy!?"

Teleportation and material production, huh. It seems like science and technology have indeed advanced quite a bit.

"That's why it's magic. Could you touch the center circle of this parchment?"

The cat-eared girl receives the parchment with a drawing-like pattern composed of intricate black markings.

Though compressed to extremely small sizes, the markings are actually minuscule letters, but she doesn't seem to notice.

Even for a Demon Lord, compressing text this much and arranging it into a pattern like a painting was quite a challenging task.

Unfortunately, the cat-eared girl's hands weren't paws; they had fingertips like humans.

When her finger touches the center of the parchment's pattern, letters gently float up from the parchment and expand around the cat-eared girl.

"Woah, w-w-what!?"

Surrounded by faintly glowing red unknown characters, the cat-girl seems bewildered.

"There's no danger, so please relax. You see the window in front of you?"

In front of the cat-girl, a window appears in Adram's Imperial language, saying "Yes" and "No."

"Demon Lord, what is this?"

The Hero seems to notice. Floating around the cat-girl are contract clauses written in Japanese, likely an unknown language to her.

It would be troublesome if she learned about it. I hope she stays silent until it's over.

The metal bracelet on my wrist makes a jangling sound as the chain attached to it rattles.

"Careful...! ...!?"

As the Hero tries to say something to the cat-eared girl, it seems he can't speak, his mouth opening and closing.

I heard a message earlier about subjugation... Something like that.

To subordinate the Hero and make him obey orders would truly be a privilege of the Demon Lord!

Since she drained quite a bit of my magical power in the short time we talked, it doesn't seem like it will be that convenient, but it's quite romantic.

"Could you press the 'Yes' on the window?"

Forcing her to press would constitute a breach of contract.

Since Rank IX contracts bind even souls, handling them requires caution.

"...Y-yes."

Though still confused, the cat-eared girl presses 'Yes' on the window.

She's stubborn, but seems to lose her ability to think clearly when confused.

Is she weak to aggressive sales tactics? It's an odd concern considering I'm the one deceiving her.

"The contract has been established. Rank IX Eternal Soul Contract is now in effect."

"Contractor: Rizerlitt von Carmillas."

"Contractee: Demon Lord Igusa."

"Contract Compensation: None."

"Rizerlitt von Carmillas dedicates her soul to Demon Lord Igusa as his familiar, swearing eternal loyalty until her soul disappears."

The terms of the contract in the Adram Imperial language are displayed along with the voice.

Normally, it would be displayed in Japanese just like the contract, but translation is provided as a service.

"Eh, w-what!? Waaaaah!?"

Shouting in response to the contents, the cat-eared girl was completely bewildered.

Today's lesson: Always read contracts thoroughly.

Now then, while the cat-eared girl screams, I concentrate magic in my eyes and examine the vessel of life.

As expected, reinforced both physically and spiritually by the contract with the Demon Lord, the overflowing life force that had previously been bursting from the vessel is now contained, and even the cracks in the vessel itself have disappeared.

If the vessel was breaking due to an excess of life force not manageable as a human, evolving into the Demon Lord's familiar seems to have resolved the issue just as I had hoped.

...The future where my life would have ended due to the backlash of healing magic has been avoided. For now, good!