By the way, dragons and the like were called “god-beasts,” and they were categorized separately.
The reason none of these creatures were called monsters was because they were native to this world. Because they have been part of the ecology of this world all along, each of them had their own habitats away from where humans lived. As a matter of fact, the eight-legged horses in this country would all be Sleipnir by the standards of the world I came from, and the livestock such as cows and chickens all looked like they had been designed to look more monstrous.
However, if you asked what monsters were, the term referred to things like chimeras, which were a mishmash of different animals fused together, zombies, skeletons and other undead types, as well as goblins, orcs, and ogres, which looked almost like people, but no one would mistake them for sentient beings.
Ever since the Demon World had appeared, there had been a large outbreak of these monsters in the north of the continent, but even before the Demon World’s appearance, they had inhabited areas known as dungeons that were all around the continent.
Dungeons were underground spaces with a mysterious ecology. I was used to seeing them in games, but they actually existed in this world. Incidentally, I had heard that in this world there were people called “adventurers” who explored these sorts of dungeons, protected merchants, eliminated dangerous beasts that tore up the fields, and slayed monsters that come out of the dungeons as their way of making a living.
Before the Demon World appeared, monsters had been thought to lack intelligence. As a matter of fact, the monsters in dungeons, even the almost humanoid ones like goblins, only possessed intelligence on the level of animals.
However, among the monsters in the Demon Lord’s Domain, there were those that behaved as if they were intelligent.
These monsters acted in groups, used weapons and magic, and could put together strategies. These acted almost like “people” do. When mankind had failed in its invasion of the Demon Lord’s Domain, their lack of fuller knowledge about the existence of these monsters was the biggest factor in their defeat. Mankind had chosen to call these intelligent monsters “demons” to distinguish them from more animalistic monsters.
Now, let’s get back to the story. Basically, Tomoe said she had spoken with one of these demons.
Apparently, up until now, no one had ever succeeded in talking to a demon. With the sudden appearance of an army that spoke a foreign language, and with hostilities ongoing no less, understanding one another just wasn’t going to happen.
Liscia drew in closer to Tomoe.
“Just what did you talk to, and what did you talk about?!”
“W-With Mr. Kobold. They’re different from us… They’re short, and their whole faces, not just their ears, are doglike… On the day before our village was attacked, he said, ‘I can’t bear to see those with the same scent as me attacked. Hurry and flee.’ It was a miracle I could understand what Mr. Kobold said, but… thanks to him, we were able to avoid trouble…”
“So, to sum it up… Demons have a clear will of their own, is that it?” Ludwin said, as if groaning.
The people of this world only thought of demons as slightly smarter monsters. Like locusts swarming over the land, or barbarians that delighted in slaughter. From what I had heard, that wasn’t a mistaken impression when it came to monsters. However… For demons, perhaps another viewpoint was going to be necessary.
If demons had their own will, like Tomoe was suggesting, mankind might have been fighting a “war” against the demon race without realizing it. A war with no channels of diplomacy, at that. With their families being killed, their houses razed, and their countries stolen, mankind held great resentment towards the monsters and demons. If this was a war, it was possible that the demons resented mankind in the same way.
“If this knowledge spread to all of the other countries…” I began.
“…there would be chaos,” Liscia finished.
Liscia and I both slumped our shoulders.
I didn’t think dialogue would be possible with each and every demon or monster from the Demon Lord’s Domain. Those we could talk to, like the kobold who had let the mystic wolves escape, might only be a small portion of them. However, if people were to find out that even some of the demons are like that, the demon race would stop being the common enemy of all mankind.
Right now, even if it was only on the surface, all of the other countries were united against the Demon Lord’s Domain. If this information were to spread, what would happen to that? If it meant they tried to sue for peace with the demons, that would be great, but it would be completely unsurprising if some of them put their own country’s interests first, siding with the demons in order to invade other countries. If that were to happen, mankind would fall to pieces.
“Do you think the Empire knows?” I asked.
“…I’m not sure,” Liscia said. “It was only with Tomoe’s unique gift that someone was finally able to communicate with them. Even if they do realize it, they’d have no way to verify it.”
“So, basically, our country has a monopoly on this information for the time being. Good grief…” This was one hell of a thing to have fall in my lap.
She’s like a bomb. I can use her as a trump card, but if I mishandle her, it could all blow up in my face.
“I–I’m sorry…” Tomoe was wincing, so Liscia poked me.
“Oh, no, we aren’t blaming you,” I said quickly. “Actually, I’m glad you came to this country. It chills me when I think what might have happened if you had gone to another country instead.”
“Still, are you going to conceal this information?” Ludwin asked. “If people find out we hid such vital information, isn’t it possible we would be condemned as an enemy of all mankind?”
“…You have a point.” I wanted to clutch my head when Ludwin pointed that out. “Doing a bad job of hiding it and then having people think we’re harboring ambitions as a result isn’t a great plan. Besides, if this is a war, the current situation where both sides are fighting a war of extermination is not good. In order to make sure the war doesn’t continue until one sided is wiped out, we need to leak the information out little by little.”
I need to resolve myself. I continued to speak, looking at those around me. “‘Maybe there are those among the demons we could talk with.’ We’ll leak something that sounds like nothing more than a hypothesis to the other countries. If we do that, they should be a little more cautious. At the very least, they should try to discover if there’s any truth to the rumors.”
“As part of that process, isn’t it possible they will reach the same information that we have? Wouldn’t that eliminate the value of concealing it?”
“You’re wrong, Marx. Our trump card is Tomoe herself.”
“M-Me?!” she squeaked.
I nodded firmly to Tomoe, whose eyes were darting about in bewilderment. “Even if the demons do have a will of their own, there needs to be some means of communication to negotiate with them. For instance, while the other countries are still searching for a way to negotiate with the demons, we can talk to them using Tomoe as a mediator. That is a huge advantage.”
I didn’t know how much our kingdom would be able to negotiate for on its own. However, by having our own independent line of communication, we could prevent a situation where another country monopolized the right to negotiate and refused us any opportunity for dialogue. In exchange, we would be taking a burden on ourselves, but that was far preferable to leaving our kingdom’s fate in the hands of another country.
“So, Tomoe, our country needs to do everything it can to protect you,” I said.