Chapter 5: A World in Chaos

“Sorry… what’s the demon world?”

“It’s the world where demons like us live. Well, just think of it as the other world you guys went to. Even we don’t know the details.”

Hmm…

“Got it. Continue from there.”

“Sure. Ten years ago, we demons in the demon world suddenly appeared in this world. We were panicked, but the humans were even more so. And they tried to eliminate us. That’s where the war started.”

Eliminate…

“Japan too?”

“Haha, Japan wasn’t that bad. This country doesn’t have weapons, and people just ran away. There was a military, but for some reason they didn’t attack.”

Hmm… sounds like Japan.

“Japan prohibits possession of weapons.”

“Seems like it. But other countries are different.”

Other countries…

“You demons didn’t just appear in Japan?”

“All over the world. And don’t call us monsters. We’re different from those unintelligent things. We’re demons. You’d be pissed too if someone called you an ape, right?”

So they’re different from monsters…

“Sorry. I don’t really understand.”

“Figures. Anyway, we’re demons. Let me continue. In Japan, there wasn’t much conflict at first, but in other countries there was. It was all-out war everywhere. Naturally, Japan started to feel the same way. More than anything, we demons had nowhere to live. And then one bullet started the war. The guys at the American military bases.”

I see. America has military bases in Japan…

“And then?”

“We’re not stupid enough to just sit there and get killed. If they’re gonna fight, we’ll fight back. So we took over the cities.”

It’s really war.

“Hey, what about the humans? Did you win?”

Ayaka asked.

“We had the advantage at first. The humans in this country were really weak, it was no contest. But they quickly counterattacked and started pushing us back. Since then, it’s been a struggle for control of the towns. Actually, it’s happening around here too. Around here, including Beppu, belongs to us demons, but places like Kumamoto are human towns. There’s often skirmishing around Mount Aso.”

A war between demons and humans…

“Yuu-kun, what do you think?”

“It’s a bit hard to believe.”

“Right…”

Even if they told me to believe it, it’s difficult. But right in front of me is a talking goblin.

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Well, I think you’ll understand once you actually see it.”

See it… huh.

“Hey, if we keep going down this road, will we reach a demon town?”

“That’s right. This area is rural and close to the mountains, so no demons live here, but Beppu city proper has nothing but demons. You might be surprised when you see it.”

Seriously…

“Would it be bad if we kept going?”

“Huh? What should we do? This is way beyond just contacting the police.”

There’s no one around, let alone police.

“Well, you two might be able to manage somehow.”

Hmm?

“What do you mean?”

“Like I said earlier, you two have mana. And an unbelievable amount for humans. If you insisted you were demons, they’d probably believe you.”

Us as demons…

“No, that’s probably impossible? We’re different from you.”

“Ah, I gotta mention this too… there’s all kinds of demons, just like with monsters. Just as I’m a goblin, there are orc demons, and demons whose forms are close to humans. Succubi were really popular with humans, you know? They’re so popular that there’s even a Succubus Church among humans.”

Succubi… I hadn’t seen any in the other world, but I knew the image—a sexy older sister who drains men’s essence. I, being well-read, had studied this.

“How ridiculous.”

Ayaka was exasperated.

“Absolutely.”

What I could say is that if it were Minato and Riku instead of Ayaka, they might have gotten a bit excited.

“Hehehe. Well, that’s how it is, so I think you’ll be fine going into the city. Though I can’t guarantee it.”

Hmm…

“We don’t know the situation or the common sense of this world now…”

“I still don’t really get mana or demons, and it’s not sinking in…”

We haven’t been able to organize the situation.

“Then shall I guide you?”

Hmm?

“Guide us? You?”

“Yeah. If you’re with me, no one will be suspicious. And I can teach you things as we go.”

That would be helpful, but…

“Why would you do that for us? It’s suspicious.”

Ayaka narrowed her eyes.

“I’m not forcing you. I just haven’t given you information worth the mana I received, so I’m offering. You can refuse. But I’ll return the mana.”

The demons’ rule of equivalent exchange, huh…

“What do you think, Yuu-kun?”

“I think it would be dangerous for just the two of us to keep going.”

“But what if it’s a trap?”

“If he were setting a trap, he wouldn’t need to give us information here. And if we don’t go to the city, we’d have to go the other way. Into the mountains.”

The word “stranded” came to mind.

“Don’t go further in. It’s a dead end. There’s no road.”

The goblin nodded and told us.

“Ugh, I’m getting confused. My head is spinning.”

Ayaka held her head.

“Ayaka, let’s believe in ourselves. We have enough strength to escape if something happens.”

We may have dropped out, but we’re not weak.

“Sorry. I’ll leave it to you, Yuu-kun…”

Alright.

“Goblin, guide us.”

“Sure. And my name is Elvis.”

That’s a cool name, come on.

“I’m Yuu. This is Ayaka.”

“Hehehe. Nice to meet you. By the way, are you two married?”

“No. We’re friends.”

“Hmm… I kinda figured. Well, get in. I’ll take you to Beppu.”

Elvis gestured toward the van with his thumb.

“Not that it matters, but how can you drive?”

“Haha, I think you’ll be surprised when you get to Beppu. We demons live just like humans. We drive cars, we watch TV. This world is the best.”

TV… are they broadcasting shows?

No, wait… come to think of it, there was a TV in the house we stayed at.

“Ah, by the way, I don’t know if it was your house, but we stayed the night there.”

Rather, wasn’t it the house of the humans who used to live there?

“Do whatever you want.”

“We ate the ham too.”

“That’s theft.”

Sorry.

“Do you have anything to eat? We’ve only had ham since yesterday.”

“Ah, yeah yeah. There are apples in the back seat, eat those.”

Elvis said that and got into the driver’s seat, so we headed to the back seat. And when we looked inside, we saw a mountain of red apples piled up in cardboard boxes.

“What are these?”

“They’re for sale. I grew them. I’m a farmer, after all.”

A goblin farmer…

“You really are just like people.”

“We’ve gotten used to it over ten years. Now get in.”

“Ah, right.”

Ayaka and I got into the back seat and took apples from the cardboard boxes.

“Is this safe?”

“There’s no poison. They’re normal apples.”

My appraisal skill confirms that.

“Let’s eat.”

“Yeah.”

As we bit into the apples, the van started moving.