43“Duplicate or not, it’s commendable that he couldn’t even raise a finger against you. I should have expected as much.”

The voice is distinctly feminine, and it takes some time before I can make out the figure in front of me. It’s a woman of relatively great height with short, red hair. She looks like she might be somewhere around her early twenties, and she’s far from hard to look at. She must’ve seen my fight with Gabri.

“…And who might you be? An affiliate of the Seven Angels?”

“Just a regular human being, I’m sorry to say. I do know my way around a few spells, though.”

The woman is standing in front of a High King and not showing the barest hint of fear. This might be the first time I’ve seen a human be so unperturbed by this form.

“Sasha’s the name. It’s an honor to meet the High King himself. Or would you rather I call you Yuuto-sama?”

What she says is enough to trigger an involuntary flinch in me.

“Why do you know that name…?!”

The only people that should know it are the demons I have in my service and Khiel. How can she know…?!

“I know all there is to know about you, you see. I know about those two underlings of yours, Anri and Peta. I even know about Rina, the girl you pretend is your sister.”

Wait, really?! She knows that much?! Even Rina’s not safe from her. Is there a mole in my army that’s been leaking information?

I’m in no position to show signs of being nervous. I have to act with the fortitude the title of High King calls for.

“Just where did you get your hands on this information?”

“I’m sure you can guess. You should have a spell on you that lets you do that.”

I take some time to think before the name of a certain spell pops into my head.

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“Are you talking about Clairvoyance?”

“Well deduced. That spell lets its user cast their gaze wherever they might please. I just so happen to have another spell called ‘Clairvoyant Hearing.’”

“Clairvoyant Hearing…?”

“A derivative of the Clairvoyance spell, one that focuses on sound. These two spells allow me to gather information from all corners of the earth. That includes anything pertaining to the High King, of course. I’ve been observing you ever since your resurrection.”

Seriously? I didn’t think there could be a human who knew how to use the Clairvoyance spell, and then this Clairvoyant Hearing on top it all. I’m a little relieved that there’s no one in my army leaking information, though.

“…Are there more humans like you out there?”

“I doubt it. People say that there hasn’t been a clairvoyant in a good hundred years, and the same is said about clairvoyant hearing. I don’t think there’s ever been anyone in recorded history with knowledge of both spells apart from me. The same goes for angels and demons.”

That’s actually good to hear. If there were a few hundred people out there who could use either of those spells, things wouldn’t be looking so well for me.

“I came to this place because my Foresight spell showed me where the High King and an Angel of the Seven Stars would do battle in the near future.”

“…Impressive. So you can predict the future, can you? Quite the enviable quality.”

I try to hide my disposition by looking down at her, but I’m more than a little shaken behind the facade. This goes well beyond ‘knowing her way around a few spells’, doesn’t it? Just who is this woman?

“Heh. Such praise from someone with countless spells on hand comes off as awfully sarcastic.”

“It’s not, I assure you. My admiration is genuine –”

I stop talking when I finally catch on to something.

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Hold on just a minute. She’s been watching me all this time, right? That means…

“Don’t tell me. Do you know about that too?”

“That? Oh, you mean that you have the mind and soul of a regular human?”

I knew it! She overheard every last detail of my conversation with Rina! What do I do now?! The cat’s out of the bag!

“Oh, I’m sure that it’ll be quite the uproar when it turns out that the High King was once human.”

Sasha flashes a rather unpleasant smile. You can’t be serious. Did she come all this way to threaten me…!?

Calm down. I need to calm down. Don’t show her that she hit you where it hurts. I just have to bluff my way through this and make her think that it doesn’t bother me.

“Pah, let others know if you so desire. The demons that serve me care for me with all of their being. The structure of my order will never waver, even if it should be known that I have the mind of a man.”

“Of course. So you don’t mind if I tell, is that right?”

What. She’s taking me up on it now?!

This is really, really bad. Most demons absolutely despise humanity. There’s no saying what they might do if they find out I’m one of them. Just the thought of Anri’s reaction makes me shiver. She hates humans more than anybody else there.

“Hahah, I’m kidding. I mean, what do I get out of spreading the word? I don’t even care about how structured your own people are.”

There are no words that can express how relieved I feel right now. It’s a real stroke of luck that this woman doesn’t seem like the type to use that kind of information against me. Any less restraint and I might have found myself in a messy situation where I’d have to kill her just to keep her mouth shut.

“Then why did you choose to appear before me? To you wish to test yourself against me?”

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“Wouldn’t dream of it. I just told you that I’m an overall average human being, didn’t I? I wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell if I took you on.”

I don’t see how anyone who can use Clairvoyance and Clairvoyant Hearing qualifies as a normal person, but let’s forget about that for now.

“Besides, my legs are injured. Not enough to get in the way of a regular lifestyle, but definitely enough to keep me from fighting well. Not that it’d matter either way, me fighting you is a joke where my instant death’s the punchline.”

“…So you’re not here to try and end me.”

“Right. Don’t worry; I know my place here. I don’t even have a reason for wanting you dead.”

“…I see.”

The next few moments are doused in silence. Suddenly, Sasha bows her head.

“I have a request. Can we please be friends?”

“…!”

This really didn’t turn out the way I expected. For a split second, I’m totally dumbfounded.

“Fuh. Kukuh…”

I can’t help myself. I can feel the laughter bubbling up inside me.

“What’s so funny? I’m being serious here.”

“Pardon me, then. I just didn’t think I’d run into a human who wants to be friends with the High King, that’s all. I thought you’d be a little more straight-laced, but this is amusing nonetheless. Do you even realize what you’re asking me for?”

“Obviously. I came all the way here so that we could be friends.”

I can practically feel the determination in her eyes. She certainly looks like she knows what she’s doing.