I’m Just an Ordinary Human

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Sometimes, there’s a monster pattern that appears while playing games.

Instead of rushing in individually as soon as the monsters spawn, they gather together in a swarm and then charge all at once.

The demons gathered outside the cave had that exact vibe.

The demons emerging from the cave didn’t head straight for the wall but halted in a place where their kin were assembled, waiting for more of their kind to come out.

Around two hundred of them had gathered.

They each puffed up and bared their teeth, as if ready to attack the wall any moment now.

“Let’s go. We’ll deal with those guys first…”

“Wait a minute, Aswel.”

“Yeah?”

I caught Aswel’s sleeve as he tried to stand up and stopped him.

“Let them pass.”

“Why? If we stop them, it’ll lessen the burden on the guards, right?”

“Attacking the wall itself might be a fundamental objective of their offensive.”

“That means…”

“So, if we block them, that group might reappear again until they attack the wall.”

“Exactly.”

Besides, it was wise to conserve the strength of the hero party as much as possible, since we didn’t know what enemies or situations might unfold inside.

“…Then, let’s do that.”

Despite saying so, Aswel wore a pained expression.

It seemed the mere situation of having to send enemies toward our allies was weighing heavily on his conscience.

With Opelite around and now the guards getting used to it, casualties were almost nonexistent, but it appeared his inherently good nature was acting up.

“Aswel.”

I held his hand and spoke.

“In return, let’s resolve this quickly. That will do.”

“…Thanks.”

Hearing my words, Aswel smiled brightly.

He seemed to feel better, stepping back when suddenly, I felt someone’s gaze on me.

No, it wasn’t just one person.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

All four of my heroines were looking at me with suspicious eyes.

I felt their stares and slightly trembled, raising both hands in a gesture of innocence.

I was not in the wrong; what you think is absolutely not the case, I expressed with my whole being.

“Uh…”

“It was about time to feel that way.”

At that, the four mumbled something incomprehensible and turned their heads back to focus on the movements of the demons.

“…”

Anyway, it seemed like I had steered through the situation well enough.

However, at some point, Nia started behaving somewhat like the other three.

Not just her affection and actions toward Aswel, but it felt like she was drawing closer to the other three as well.

It was a good phenomenon, but on the other hand, it felt a bit ambiguous to embrace that.

‘I’ve never seen that look before.’

Nia’s gaze was quite ordinary compared to the other three, yet within it was a sentiment of wariness that was utterly incomprehensible.

Why on earth was she wary of me?

“…”

By the way, was Aswel’s shoulder looking broader than before due to recent vigorous training?

*

“Let’s go.”

About 30 minutes later, with a deafening roar, countless demons descended down the mountain.

We moved cautiously and carefully so that the monsters at the back of the swarm wouldn’t notice us, and we stood before the cave entrance.

“Aria.”

“Yes… I can sense magic.”

Aria made a small sign of the cross and sprinkled holy water over our armors and robes.

Just this was enough to significantly reduce the side effects of the magic, so we quietly waited until she finished her preventative measures.

Thud.

Splash.

“Everyone, put these on. Anywhere is fine.”

I handed small lighting devices based on light magic to the others.

It was a convenient light source that included a special magical substance, adhering to the body without discomfort.

Most of them stuck it on their foreheads or wrists, but Aria was different.

“Done…!”

“….”

She attached it right in the center of her fierce bosom.

It resembled how someone I had seen in a previous life would place a drink on their chest.

And lastly, Rapierie and Serelin took out their secondary weapons.

Since both were using weapons that had many limitations in the cave, they attached daggers about the size of their forearms as sidearms.

Well, Nia was the same.

Unlike me, who used a pen, Nia cast spells barehanded.

Aria wasn’t one to rely heavily on tools either, so there were no changes.

The key point was Aswel.

Unlike the other two who switched to sidearms, Aswel was still holding the holy sword.

The holy sword wasn’t different from Serelin’s sword.

Both had to endure the same inconveniences in terms of movement and range.

However, the holy sword was a sacred artifact that should not be put away no matter what.

And Aswel, wielding that sword, had trained extensively for battles in tight spaces, so it wasn’t a significant problem.

“Here, be careful.”

Leading the way was Rapierie. With the agile movements characteristic of elves, she found safe places for the party members to step.

During this process, there wasn’t a situation of demons emerging to fight.

It seemed that demons appeared not only in this cave but also from two other directions.

Just like how the demons were gathering here, demons were likely assembling in other places too.

So, I predicted that when the next wave of assault began, the demons would once again ascend.

“The concentration of magic is getting denser.”

As Aria’s warning came through, everyone’s movements became even more cautious.

Thud.

“Huh?”

A dull sound was heard from where Rapierie’s foot landed.

It indicated that it was made of a different substance than the cave we had descended.

“Guess it’s about to get real now.”

The black material ground was flat.

That meant Rapierie no longer needed to be in the lead.

At the same time, the space widened significantly, so Rapierie and Serelin got back their primary weapons.

“It’s quite large…”

“That’s probably why those demons could keep coming. If it was any smaller, they would have killed each other off.”

“Ah.”

Immediately, they could die pressed by each other’s bodies; what did it matter if the offense succeeded?

If this space had been smaller, it might have already been covered in demon blood and flesh.

The open space couldn’t be illuminated entirely by the light of the magic tools I had given everyone.

So, just as I was about to pull out a new magic tool, my eyes caught sight of Aria trembling.

“Aria? Are you okay?”

I reached out to her, and at the same time, her warning flowed out.

“Everyone, move carefully. This place is…”

Swallow.

“It feels like it’s not our world.”

*

Not our world?

For a moment, everyone misunderstood Aria’s words.

I too was momentarily stunned, but soon realized the meaning and froze.

“Aria.”

Then I asked her if what I was anticipating was correct.

“The black ground we are stepping on… It’s different from the Empire’s territory, right?”

“…Yes. To be precise, this land is filled with magic.”

Aria’s gaze swept around.

She started noticing sharp rocks that had risen from the ground.

“That too, all of it.”

Now that I looked closely, it wasn’t just some simple cave formations.

It was more like sharper shapes resembling spears.

In other words, this was terrain that could not normally appear in our world.

‘…It feels like a description I’ve seen in the original work.’

A land filled with magic. And rocks honed to resemble spears.

In my mind, there was only one place that fit that description.

“…The Demon World.”

“That’s right, somehow we are standing on the land of the Demon World.”

“…!”

“…!”

At this shocking revelation, everyone gasped in disbelief.

Even Aria, the one who made that statement, wore an expression that seemed to disbelieve her own words.

“I’d like to think of other possibilities, but… the density of magic flowing from the inside and the ground we’re stepping on cannot be caused by ordinary demons or demonic beings.”

That’s why it was a ‘speculation’ close to certainty.

Among what Aria had studied, the one thing that matched this situation best was the Demon World.

Then why is it called a ‘speculation’?

The reason is simple. None of us had ever been to the Demon World, so nobody knew.

“So, it might be tougher than we think.”

“…I’ve already been considering such things since we started our journey.”

Soon, Aswel’s reliable voice resonated.

At that, the voices of the heroines, who had been tense, gradually lightened up.

‘A Demon World…’

Meanwhile, I continued to think about the current situation while recalling the contents of the original work.

‘A Demon World… It’s not like such phenomena never occurred.’

What was mentioned in the main story didn’t include this.

Like Merukadie, it was briefly mentioned in an extra story.

[The Demon World and our world almost merged…]

From the Emperor’s lines, one could deduce it.

This current situation felt like the precursor to that.

Right now, this interior of the cave was part of the Demon World, but at the same time, it was also ours.

Hmm… Right, to put it differently, the term ‘erosion’ might fit.

So how did the original work respond to this ‘erosion’?

The answer lay with a person I knew very well.

[If not for the magic fortress, I would have become the Emperor of the Empire, not the Demon Lord.]

The magic fortress.

How did she resolve it?

“Look! I see something!”

Soon, my thoughts were broken, and everyone’s gazes turned to where I pointed.

There, one huge crimson pit was bubbling, scattering thick magic around.