Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 126

126: New Year’s in Listrea

In Listrea, they also celebrated the end of the year and the coming of the new one.

While customs varied by race and region, the basic tradition was to celebrate “quietly, together.”

The Listrea Demon Kingdom didn’t have many seasonal events. They didn’t even have a founding day.

According to His Majesty, that was because they had once argued over when the official founding date should be. He also said that the founding of the nation had been a chaotic, brutal time, and he didn’t remember the date very well.

Hopefully, a V-Day would be added to the calendar someday.

But in any case, compared to Japan, where there was a constant stream of new events, Listrea was a little… quiet.

That was why the New Year’s celebration was so special.

Since Rebecca and Samarkand were away, I headed into town with Liz and Harken.

Rebecca and Samarkand, as well as the disinformation and assassination units, would be spending the New Year in a foreign land.

There was nothing I could do for them, directly.

All I could do was send supplies, pay them hazard pay, rotate members, and create opportunities for them to spend their well-earned pay.

Since their work was… bloody… I was trying to make their working conditions as fair as possible. But with espionage, agitation, and assassination in enemy territory, a Japanese standard of fairness was an impossible dream. This was another world.

A grim world, embroiled in a war of extermination between different races.

…Well, my world, where humans fought over land, ethnicity, religion, and, more directly, money, was also quite grim.

At least the air was clean here.

“What’s the New Year’s celebration like in your homeland, Master?”

“Traditionally… the ‘Joya no Kane’ and ‘Toshikoshi Soba.’”

“The… bells?”

“Yes. At temples… religious facilities in my country… they ring a bell 108 times to drive away worldly desires.”

“…108 times?”

“Yes.”

“And does the sound of the bell have a magical effect that eliminates worldly desires?”

“No, there’s no magical effect.”

“Ah… right, of course.”

For Liz, a world without magic was the strange one. The magic of this world, too, was the result of endless competition and refinement. There were few practical—or rather, combat-oriented—spells. But if you included individual customizations, the number of spells was astronomical. And many had been lost to time.

“By the way, are there really 108 worldly desires?”

“I’m not sure. But I think so.”

“That seems like a lot.”

“Well…” I counted on my fingers.

“A maid’s cooking, a maid’s snacks, a walk with a maid, sleeping with a maid, a bath with a maid…”

“I see that your worldly desires are rather… specific.” Liz interrupted me before I could run out of fingers.

“By the way, Master, why do you like maids so much?”

“Liz, you don’t need a dramatic reason or a special occasion to fall in love with something.”

“So, there’s no deep reason.”

“That’s one way to put it.” I nodded. I leaned against Liz, who was walking beside me, and smiled.

“I’m happy I get to spend the New Year with a cute maid again♪”

“You haven’t forgotten that Harken is here, have you?”

“Of course not. But I’m still with Liz.”

“The first rule of guarding a high-ranking official is to remain in the shadows. Think of me as air, and pay me no mind.”

“But humans can’t live without air.” Harken laughed, rattling his jawbone.

“…I’m supposed to be guarding a high-ranking official, too…”

“Well, you’re a vice-commander. And a maid.”

“My actual profession is ‘assassin.’”

“Experiencing different positions and industries is important for career development.”

“What about you, Master?”

“I’m currently gaining experience as a supreme commander in another world, aiming for human extinction.”

“…That’s a bit too specific… to be of any reference…”

It was a career that would only be useful in Listrea, and I had a feeling it might become the catalyst for the creation of the term ‘war crime’ in this world.

“And ‘Toshikoshi Soba’ is a type of noodle. We eat it with the wish to live a ‘long and thin’ life.”

“…Not ‘thick and long’?”

“That’s a mystery to me, too. But maybe you can only wish for one or the other.”

So, my career might be a short one, too. I wouldn’t say that to Liz, though. She’d get angry.

“…Shall I make you some noodles when we get back?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you for your concern.” I shook my head slightly.

“In my homeland, we have a saying, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ …Respect the customs and traditions of the land.”

“…But aren’t you, the Lord of Disease, devising advanced strategies based on knowledge from another world?”

“That’s only half true, Liz. While I do reference that knowledge… it’s not advanced.” I said, my voice filled with self-deprecation.

“To exterminate an entire race… is the work of barbarians.”

Not with dialogue, not with words, but with intrigue, daggers, and poison.

Not with sincerity, but with ruthlessness.

I wasn’t the first to do it, and I probably wouldn’t be the last. There was no other kind of war.

“But… you still did it, right? …Why?”

And yet.

“You’re asking me, Liz?” I smiled.

Bridget had shown me kindness and saved my life.

Liz had protected me, and I had survived.

I had learned of a kindness that made me feel it was alright to discard my humanity.

To me, the non-humans of this world were kinder—more human.

So, I said,

“Mainly for the sake of a cute maid.”

“…Your reasons for fighting are… unusual, Master…”

“I don’t really think so.”

The reason I’d given wasn’t a lie.

I had just found something precious.

Something worth killing for.

That was the origin of war.

Where there was conflict, there was kindness, before there was hatred.

That was why war would never end.

As long as there were kind people, it would never end.

And yet, if you wanted to end war, to stop it…

…there was only one thing to do.

Sever the root of all conflict.

At least, what was perceived to be the root.

If a race declared war on the grounds of racial difference, then that race must be exterminated.

In this world, that race just happened to be human.

That was all.

That was all…