The red-scaled man bows in an exaggerated manner as he introduces himself as the leader of a freaking empire.

What?

The Dragon Emperor, Draskall Art Esmaladia. The rumors say that he had such a powerful affinity for fire magic that he evolved into a dragon himself.

Even the history books in my own nation sung his praises and spoke reverently of his power.

His crusade as he took over vast stretches of land and toppled nations to build his very own empire. How he slew a real dragon and used its remains to fuel his own ascension.

That he may even be a real dragon himself.

Such a man has suddenly appeared before me and is now bowing politely as if he didn’t just order a rather harsh sentence on someone. A sentence that is undoubtedly biased towards my wishes and not the laws.

Draskall Art Esmaladia stands up from his performative bow and a small grin finds its way onto his scaled face.

“Before we begin, you will be needing this.”

The Dragon Emperor casually tosses a small white charm that looks to be made of bone.

It arcs through the air towards me from the rather slow speed at which he threw it. I could easily catch it with my heightened reflexes but I am not stupid enough to do that.

I quickly dodge out of the way and let it fall to the ground.

No way am I just going to catch something a crazy powerful and totally suspicious individual throws at me.

I glare down at the tiny white token, glossy bone carved in the shape of a moon.

“What is that?” I growl at the emperor.

The Emperor, evidently taking no offense to my cautious actions, begins laughing at me.

“Don’t worry so much. If I wanted to cause you harm, I am more than capable of doing so without the need for petty tricks.”

Still glaring at the charm now dangling from a small branch sticking out of the ground, I sigh as a bit of tension leaves my body.

He has a point.

It took everything in me to take down my father who was only a Class above me at Class 4.

I am exhausted right now and already low on Class 3 cores after feeding them to the grinder.

This man however, he is in a league of his own.

The scent of power rolling off him is enough for anyone unfamiliar with who he is to instinctively understand that he is far above them.

A Class 6.

If he wanted to, I would be dead in an instant and I wouldn’t even know what happened.

The fact that he has not done anything yet clearly shows that he has other plans in mind.

I am sure that he can see my thoughts on my face. I have never been good at hiding them, and I lack the presence of mind right now to even think about locking my face in place anymore.

The Emperor grins like a little kid pulling a prank as he makes a throne appear from the ground.

Smooth deep black basalt tears its way through the earth in sharp heavy motions.

The throne that forms is opulent, but at the same time refreshingly casual enough that it looks perfectly natural wrapped around the wiley Dragon Emperor.

Glowing red veins run through the wide chair causing a soft red glow to reflect off of the glossy black surface.

The Emperor, evidently pleased with his work, plants himself in the throne and kicks his feet up over the edge of his demonic looking seat.

Placing his hands behind his head, he finally lets his smirk relax before speaking again.

“As for what that is, it’s an anti-divination charm. Capable of keeping that bratty little witch from looking in on you.”

I raise my eyebrow at just how, well, relaxed this emperor seems to be.

Are you really allowed to act like this in your position?

Though, I suppose you can do whatever you want if no one is strong enough to tell you to stop.

I bend down and pick up the dangling crescent moon and hang it around my wrist.

it’s kind of pretty to be honest.

I doubt I want to know what creature the bone is from though…

“Ah, wait. What about-”

I turn to look at Alice and Prim and begin to speak when I am promptly cut off.

“Here, for your girlfriend. The other one has no need for such a charm though.”

He tosses another charm, this time in the shape of a star.

I catch it out of the air and hand it over to Alice, while still keeping my eye on the lazy red scaled royal lounging on his throne.

I really don’t get this guy. And if he says Prim has no need for the charm, that means he likely knows things I really wish he didn’t.

I don’t know why Prim does not need it, but I would rather not give away anything by asking.

Shit.

This was why I had planned to keep the demon squad away from powerful people.

Their senses are too goddamn good.

“You mentioned a ‘bratty little witch’, who exactly are we hiding from?”

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His face breaks into an obnoxious grin once more at my question that already has me regretting opening my mouth.

I just know this guy loves to hear himself speak from his aura alone, and I just gave him the go ahead.

“You know that every kingdom has a Class 5 or Class 6 backing it, right? Well yours’ has a particularly annoying woman who is always losing her mind over something and complaining to me about it.”

Ah, he must be talking about The Oracle who stands behind the Alcott Kingdom. I believe she is a mage who has a higher form of divination magic, if the rumors are to be believed.

She does not directly rule over the kingdom like a lot of people in her position do. Rather, she hangs back and merely advises the current ruler, preferring to be more free herself.

I have never met her myself as my family was new nobility and I was more or less kept confined to the house for training.

Personally, I would love to know less. But, I can see The Emperor already starting to begin his rant.

“Honestly, she is such a pain, you know? As soon as the Demon Lord Title was announced she started freaking out and contacting all the other nations in hopes of opposing this ‘dangerous threat.’ Her panic spread to all the world leaders and it just won’t stop getting in the way of my plans.”

His rather gesture heavy explanation went on for a while as he lazed about in his throne, complaining all the while.

“...anyway, I would like for you to play the role of the Hero for me. Sound good?”

Ah, crap… I tuned him out too much and have no idea what he is talking about.

I scramble to refocus on what he is saying before answering.

“Uh… I am the Hero already.”

He is not even looking at me anymore, just playing with a ball of fire as he finally stops complaining about The Oracle.

I fought my father to the death just a little while ago, so why am I suddenly far more exhausted from just being in this guy’s presence?

He tosses the ball of fire up and catches it again before glancing over at me.

“Not what I meant kid. I want you to rally the people against the Demon Lord. Make a whole show of it and stuff.”

I am starting to hate this guy.

“And why should I?”

“Because you hate the discrimination don’t you?”

His words flow freely, as if everything he is saying is simply what is, and not any form of speculation.

I feel Alice grip my hand tightly.

In this world, such feelings are looked down upon, and in some nations can even get you arrested.

I need to be careful here, because Hero or not, I am in a rather awful position.

I mean, he did just arrest Jen for something that barely counts as a crime.

“And what gives you that impression?”

Trying to act as nonchalant as I can I give a vague response, but his next words completely break my poorly constructed poker face.

“You are a Hero are you not? One of the requirements is being from another world, and if you are indeed from the same world as the last Hero, I suspect you are likely to feel the same way as he did. You find the state of this world detestable.”

After dropping that bomb, he stops looking at me once again to play with his flaming ball that could probably turn me to ash no matter my attempts at defense.

I scramble to organize all the information he threw out, but he just continues on.

“He tried to fix it, but in the end he was… what’s the kind way to say this…” He struggles to find the words for a moment before deciding on a single way to describe the previous Hero, “naive.”

“Naive?”

“He believed in the good of humanity. That people would want to change.”

“Humph.”

I can’t help but snort at that.

I know better than anyone that such hatred is almost impossible to change.

My life on Earth was ended because of such hatred.

Every life on Earth was ended because people felt the need to blame their issues on anyone who was different from them.

“Stupid right?”

I can see The Guildmaster nodding along to The Emperor’s words with a hint of exasperation.

Why are you even here dude? You have not said a single thing since everyone left.

“...”

Unsure of the right response, I choose to just remain silent. No matter how much I want to call the previous Hero a dumbass out loud, doing so would only make the emperor think he is getting to me. That he is winning.

“Anyway, he thought if he preached enough, people would listen… Obviously that didn’t work out. Humans are rather dumb creatures, they will hate anything that is different. Frankly, I too find the abuse towards the other races rather disappointing.”

I almost find myself nodding along to everything he says until he utters that last sentence.

Now that statement is something I can’t let pass.

“Then why allow it in your nation? I see no laws in place to prevent such horrible acts. I see slaves in the street that are treated like garbage. If you are so disappointed in it, why not use your power to make a difference?!”

I can feel myself getting angry again, I know this is no way to talk to an emperor but I just can’t help myself. My emotions are still running hot and this guy is far too relaxed that it is only pissing me off more.

“Because it is useful.”

I feel my magic harden and accelerate.

“Excuse me?”

I know I can’t win, but I really want to punch this guy in the fucking face right now.

The only thing stopping me from trying it is Alice’s tight warm grip on my left hand.

The Emperor, indifferent to my now combative stance, just keeps talking.

“It makes them easy to control. I just point at something and claim it relates to their hated enemies and I can make them do anything I want.”

My magic is bursting out of me now but his attitude remains the same. Like I am nothing more than a fly on a wall.

You are causing untold suffering just for the sake of making people into your obedient little sheep?!

I am about to go berserk when Alice pulls me back and speaks out for the first time in this conversation.

“If it is such a useful tool, then why ask Lua to rally the humans? If you know she wants to change the discrimination then asking that of her does not make sense.”

The Emperor takes a moment to stop playing around before looking over at the two of us.

More specifically, he looks right into my eyes.

“Because having a Hero as well as a Demon Lord to pin their hope and hate on… well that is far more effective. That, and I really do feel horrible using the discrimination too.”

I feel my blood run cold. An impressive sensation considering I should not have any blood right now.

He knows I am the Demon Lord.

My grip on Alice tightens, so much so that I can’t help but worry about hurting her.

“Y-You said that you wanted me to play the Hero, right?”

I am struggling to contain a myriad of emotions right now.

What does this guy want?

If he knows what I am, why allow me to live?

I feel a sense of dread as I look over at the red suited emperor lazing about on his throne.

His playful grin now looks like something far more malicious.

“Correct! Oh, but I promise to make it worth your while.”

The ball of fire in his hands explodes into a thick haze of vicious heat that washes over us as he leaps from his makeshift throne.

He leans in with both his arms behind his back.

His sharp fangs peeking through only making me dread that grin even more.

He falls back onto his heels and spreads his arms wide.

“I will give you all the resources you need to war against the entire world!”

“““What?”””

Alice, Prim, and I can’t help but all let out the same dumb noise.

What the hell is this dude on about?!