"What's wrong? Your expression is a bit strange." As they walked out of the cinema, Melanie looked slightly dazed. Leticia, who was walking beside her, said with a hint of mockery.
The reason for Melanie's expression was the movie they had just watched; she had never imagined that the plot of the film would turn out like that.
"I feel like those directors simply don't understand the severity of the war between humans and the Demon Race," Melanie said gloomily.
The corners of Leticia's mouth curled up slightly. Melanie's words were a harsh slap to her own face. "Heh, Malanie, who is shamelessly clinging to me, the Demon King, actually has the nerve to say such things. I'm truly surprised."
"No, that's not what I meant." Melanie quickly explained. She was just unhappy that the war had been twisted into such a ridiculous mess.
But she still couldn't bring herself to feel any hatred towards Leticia.
"I couldn't care less what you meant, and I don't want to hear your explanation." Leticia snorted coldly, cutting Melanie's words off sharply. "I'd rather you think more about that war, think about how many people died at the hands of the Demon Race, and how many of the Demon Race died at your hands."
Indeed, the brutality of that war was unprecedented. Countless cities were destroyed by the armies of the other races, and the once-prosperous human civilization was abruptly cut short.
Even after decades of recuperation, humanity had only just begun to recover some of its vitality.
"It's not your fault."
"Are you trying to absolve me? Malanie, ask your conscience, am I, the Demon King, not the greatest sinner?" Leticia reached out and poked Melanie's forehead hard. "Although I didn't start the war, I am the one who continued it."
"Of course, I don't think I was wrong. We of the Demon Race needed better land, so we launched the attack."
"No, that's not it." But Melanie shook her head firmly. "I've been to your world. Although its environment doesn't compare to the Human World, it is indeed the place most suitable for your Demon Race to live."
As she spoke, she paused and pointed to a milk tea shop by the side of the road. "Let's go talk over there."
"Hmm? Alright." Leticia nodded.
She was actually curious to hear Melanie's perspective on that great racial war; as the Demon King, Leticia didn't actually know much.
She had simply taken the baton of war passed down from her mother and continued running on the track.
Why launch a war? Why were their worlds connected? Leticia didn't know the answers to these questions, nor did she want to know.
She only knew that as the Demon King, this was what she should do.
Lead the Demon Race to win this war—these were her mother's last words. Although she didn't like this cheap mother of hers very much, Leticia acknowledged that she was her successor.
So she kept fighting.
And then, Melanie appeared out of nowhere, beheading the leaders of the other races one after another. Except for Leticia, the monarchs of the other races were basically all taken out by Melanie one by one.
The war ended, and its conclusion was faster than anyone had expected.
All the other races slinked back to their own homelands. From that moment on, large-scale combat ceased to exist, leaving only sporadic conflicts that occurred from time to time at the borders of the worlds.
"Do you know why the Demon Race wanted to attack the Human World?" Sitting in a chair, cradling a cup of warm sweet milk, Melanie asked.
Leticia shook her head. "I wasn't even born when the war started, and my mother was still just a child. How would I know what my grandmother, whom I've never met, was thinking?"
Strangely enough, while the Demon Race was the first to attack the Human World, the Demon King who started the war was also the first to die.
Less than ten years into the war, that Demon King—Leticia's grandmother—died suddenly.
After Leticia's mother succeeded to the throne, she continued to fight the Human Race, but because her abilities were truly lacking, she gradually lost control over the great noble families of the Demon Race.
At that time, those great nobles had almost completely hollowed out the Demon King's authority.
It was fortunate that Leticia appeared like a powerhouse descending from the heavens and firmly suppressed those restless nobles; otherwise, the situation for her and her younger sister would be exceptionally dire right now.
They would definitely be able to survive, but how they would survive was another question.
The Demon King's bloodline was something those nobles had coveted for a long time.
"In fact, no one knows why the war started." Leticia's answer did not surprise Melanie; she had long known that Leticia was completely ignorant about this matter.
Because, among those still alive today, truly no one knows the truth of what happened back then.
"Senpai Sani was just a little girl back then, but she is the person in our Human Race who understands that war most deeply," Melanie took a sip of milk. "She said she doesn't know why the war started."
"My grandmother's attendants died one after another very early on. My mother never knew why she had to fight until the day she died; she only knew she had to keep fighting." Leticia nodded, indicating that it was much the same on her side.
"The situation with the Elves and the Beastmen is the same; there isn't a single one who knows the truth of that year." Melanie repeated to Leticia what Senpai Sani had once told her.
Ending the war was just one of Melanie's goals; she had many others.
Watching her younger sister grow up, uncovering the truth behind the war, and finding her mom and dad—these were all Melanie's goals.
The first goal was almost complete; although her younger sister had grown up a bit crooked, she had at least grown up healthy and strong.
But she had gradually forgotten the latter two goals later on.
After being ordered by Senpai Sani to rest, Melanie slowly broke free from her previous obsessive state, and at this moment, she finally remembered her goals.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Do you want to know the cause of that war? Why did our several completely different worlds and completely different races end up fighting over something we don't even know?" Melanie clenched her fists, looking at Leticia with burning eyes.
"I do, but even if I did, I wouldn't cooperate with you." Leticia huffed twice. Melanie's words had indeed piqued her curiosity. "I will find the answer myself."
She hadn't thought about this question before: why did her grandmother start the war? Was it really because she needed the land of the Human World?
Leticia's intuition told her it absolutely wasn't like that.
Behind that war, there must be an extremely deep darkness.
"The truth, huh? It really does make one curious."