"W-What did you say!?"
At that moment, Shien couldn't help but lose his composure.
"W-What is it?"
This time, it was Vivian who was alarmed by Shien's response.
"N-Nothing…" Shien used all he had to forcibly suppress his surprise, but he couldn't help but continue, "You said the Demon King was defeated a long time ago?"
"Y-yes." Vivian looked at Shien in surprise, as if she was trying to read Shien's expression. After a while, perhaps because she had figured out that Shien wasn't joking around, she spoke in a strange tone, "The Demon King was defeated in the war a thousand years ago by the Hero of this Mitra Kingdom. That's how the world returned to peace. Adventurers as a profession was also started then due to the lack of manpower from the damages caused by the war. Isn't that common history that even little kids know about?"
Hearing that, Shien's expression turned rather bad.
No, it should be said that it had turned even worse.
"What's with you?"
Shien's expression made Vivian quite worried, and her words had a thread of discomfort laced within them.
"… Nothing."
Shien seemed to want to say something, but he ended up holding himself back.
However, the question that needed to be asked, Shien did manage to still ask.
"Can you tell me about this in more detail?"
Shien thus requested of Vivian.
Vivian wrinkled her brow and motioned as if she wanted to ask something, but she stopped due to Shien's expression.
That's because at that moment, Shien had shown an expression of holding himself back that he had never shown before.
That look was practically like he discovered that the meaning behind his life was all wrong and that he almost went down the wrong path. Plus, it was as if that only happened because someone else tricked him, like he was betrayed and needed to know the truth.
That made Vivian start and stop, and in the end, she chose to remain silent.
"That's something everyone already knows."
Vivian started with that.
"You should already be aware. Ever since the creation of the world, the gods and demons have been constantly at odds. From there, a war across the entirely to history begun, and from there, one after another, humans, elves, beastmen, dwarves, and even demonic beasts appeared, right?"
Shien replied with a nod to Vivian's question.
That was indeed the history of this world that Shien had learned from Nien.
Vivian's explanation was basically no different from that goddess's.
"Since the gods are generally weaker than the demons when it comes to strength, and due to their naturally limited numbers, they've been at a disadvantage since ancient times. Even after creating humans, elves, beastmens, dwarves and other races, when facing the endless stream of demons, the gods still haven't been able to retake the advantage on the strategic scale."
"Therefore, for the sake of defeating the demons, the head of the gods, highest god Omnis finally created a ritual capable of summoning heroes from other worlds, and from it, summoned heroes."
"Heroes naturally came with powerful unique skills and their personal Holy Sword. Every single one of them can show awe-inspiring potential, comparable to even the strongest demons. So long as they manage to fully grow up, in the end, they could even easily surpass them."
"Every single time one of them joins in, the battlefield situation would be completely turned around, reversing the strategic situation for the gods and mortals and begin to gain the upper hand."
"Unfortunately though, demons still have a highest existence. A true king, so titled the Demon King."
The strength of the Demon King is such that even the highest god Omnis feared it.
Even for a hero, they would have a difficult time defeating the Demon King.
Thus, even though several heroes have appeared throughout history and reversed the situation with the war, the gods still could not fully subjugate the demons and grasp victory.
Up to this point, Vivian's explanation had no real differences with that of Nien.
Until…
"A thousand years ago, the one now known as history's strongest final hero appeared."
"That hero had a holy sword and unique skill far stronger than his predecessors in history, and he easily suppressed the Demon King's direct and most powerful subordinates. In the end, with the aid of the gods and mortals, he was finally delivered before the Demon King."
"Thus, the hero and Demon King finally entered their true final battle."
In that battle, it wasn't just the hero and Demon King involved. Even the highest god who was the head of the gods and the other three next highest goddess, as well as the six great demon lords who were directly under the Demon King all participated in the battle.
The strongest members of the humans, elves, beastmen, and dwarves also joined that battle.
"In that battle, the hero defeated the Demon King. The demons had completely lost, and even the gods had received enormous casulties and so could no longer continue the fight."
"Thus, under the hero's direction, the gods and demons thus declared that the war would no longer continue, and the world thus returned to peace."
"Afterwards, for the sake of allowing all races to repair their relations, highest god Omnis used her authority and split the world into three. Then she took the gods to one of them, and that world became the divine realm. Demons also retreated to another world under the leadership of the demon lords, and that world became the demon world."
"As for numerous races that compose of the mortal races such as humans, elves, beastmen, and dwarves, they remained on this world, and so this word became known as the mortal world."
"Thus, the war that had kept going for countless thousands of years had ended. The gods and demons set themselves in a mutual ceasefire, and the mortals begun recovery under the hero's leadership. The hero himself created a kingdom, became the king, and that's this Mitra Kingdom."
Thing are just like that. The war had been over for a thousand years. The Demon King had been defeated long ago and no longer exists.
"Currently, the mortal world, divine realm, and the demon world all still keep in contact."
"The gods still protect the mortals and grant mortal children their blessings."
"The demons, for the sake of developing the demon world, also have remained in contact with the various major kingdoms of the mortal world."
"In fact, even the gods and demons would occasionally have going-ons. Even though the enmity brought by the past war still has not been completely resolved, it has been weakened by time."
"After maybe another thousand year, the three races may no longer differentiate between themselves anymore and life together in peace. That's also something that many people look forward to."
Vivian's telling made Shien completely lose his capacity for speech.
"Then, the hero…"
Shien's voice was somewhat scratchy.
To that, Vivian looked intently at Shien and only spoke once more after a moment.
"Ever since the death of the founding king of Mitra Kingdom, heroes have never reappeared. The gods have also sealed away the hero summoning ritual, and it would no longer function."
That's natural right?
"Heroes are the gods' trump card for defeating the Demon King and the demons. Since the war was already over and the three races need to walk together down the path of peace, they are no longer needed."
"Or rather, if a hero had reappeared, that's what would be a big problem."
"That's because that represents that he gods are once more preparing to act against the demons. The demons naturally could not leave the greatest threat to them be without any reactions. When that time comes, the mortal races would also have no way to keep to the side."
"Therefore, if a hero reappeared, the peace between the three races could very likely be broken, and war could be reignited."
"To this world, a hero is the greatest spark to war, so it absolutely mustn't appear."
