"Alex! Let's go deal with that demon once and for all."
I turned my head towards the voice.
It was an 8 year old boy and I was about his age.
Physically I was 8 but mentally I was 30.
"Let's go."
It had been a week since I woke up reincarnated in this world and it was taking a while for me to fully adjust. The worst part was trying to act like a child. It was embarrassing sometimes and if I didn't do I feared people would notice the sudden change in my behavior.
Sighing internally I followed the boy who knew the original Alex.
As we walked I took in my surroundings once more.
The buildings were made of wood but it wasn't that archaic. The look was archaic but the technology wasn't that far away from the level of convenience as my previous world.
There was running water and technology. It just wasn't run with electricity.
Magic.
There was magic in this world. People used mana stones to power things and that was how the world progressed. Mana stones were harvested from magical beasts and demons. When you killed one you could harvest their core and refine it into a mana stone.
I felt okay about killing magical beasts because they simply became a new part of the food chain and I could accept that they needed to be culled to a certain extent to prevent humans being killed.
However I had a tougher time with the idea of killing demons. They looked like humans and other than the horns on their heads or the tails on their behinds they were mostly identical to humans.
Of course that was just on the outside.
On the inside they were rumored to be creatures that lost themselves to their impulses and would attack anyone for any number of reasons. They also possessed incredible talent for magic so they were capable of causing destruction on a much larger scale than the average magical beast.
I just felt a feeling of hesitation to the idea of killing a demon though. Partly because I hadn't ran into one first hand but the other reason was...
Arthur Ganamede.
A little boy who was the same age as me but had the same body as a five year old. He was severely emancipated and underdeveloped for his age.
He had no parents and no one knew where he came from. Because of this a rumor eventually popped up that started a line of progressively worsening string of rumors.
'He's cursed.'
'He caused his parents to die.'
'He killed his parents.'
Then finally the one that sealed his fate was uttered.
'He's a demon.'
Then he was abused and ignored by the village. It never got to the point where they outright killed him, mostly because he had never hurt anyone, but it still made my heart ache for a bit. That was until I got a bit of confirmation from my golden finger.
[Quest: Kill Arthur Ganamede.]
[Reward: S-Rank Class]
[Failure: Past memories erased and loss of system.]
I exhaled deeply through my mouth.
It was not an easy thing to come to accept, but with the system giving me the directive I felt like it couldn't be wrong. So I joined my friends and went to bully Arthur again today.
We found him in his usual spot. Sneaking behind the tavern. Rummaging through the trash. Probably looking for food. When he heard our footsteps he slowly looked up.
*shiver*
I felt a shiver run down my spine as I made eye contact with Arthur for a brief moment. His purple eyes deeply unsettled me and while his expression didn't change I felt nervous from the way he looked at us.
However it was always like this. The next moment the nervousness diminished as the other kids went forward to start hitting the boy who never fought back.
I watched with an empty gaze. I felt bad watching the child, so I never stepped forward to hit him, but I secretly hoped they would accidentally kill him. The rewards were too alluring.
There was a class system in this world. Not like the game panel I had, that seemed to be exclusive to me, but a system where people received a 'god given' class that gave them different skills they could use. They were only able to discover these strengths by themselves or from a 'Status Stone'.
These were limited in number and uses though.
The class ranked from F-Class all the way up to S-Class. So the reward for killing Arthur was too great to pass up in a world where strength was directly related to your chances of living.
However today ended as another disappointment.
The kids left, breathing heavily, as Arthur laid in a pool of his own blood in the alley. I glanced at Arthur one more time before I left.
'He still has the same empty expression... I wish he would just die easily.'
However I figured he wouldn't be long for this world so I ignored it. Coming from a civilized society I couldn't just walk forward and end his life with my own hands.
So I went home for today.
'Maybe he'll bleed to death.'
****
"Alex did you do anything fun today?"
Alex shook his head to his mother's question. He smiled lightly and replied in a light voice.
"Not much! I played with my friends and walked around the village. Oh! I saw that Arthur kid today too. He makes me uncomfortable. I don't know why the village doesn't send him away."
Martha and Leonard Jule scrunched their faces.
They had heard about the boy named Arthur and they knew that while the rumors were ridiculous the boy definitely felt unsettling for some reason.
"You should avoid getting involved with him."
Alex nodded to his father's words.
He didn't really want to get involved either but for the quest he wasn't exactly going to do what he was told.
Alex spent the rest of the night with his parents and enjoyed another night of familial love that he hadn't felt in his past life.
However the night wasn't so peaceful.
Alex was having an enjoyable dream where he became a Sword Saint and had women on either arm. As he was about to devour them in bed he suddenly woke up.
He began coughing and struggled to open his eyes.
*cough cough*
"What's going on?"
Then a sharp pain landed on his arm and he suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline. He opened his eyes wide and slapped his arm where an ember had landed.
'Embers?'
His door was smashed open and his father's figure appeared.
"Alex!"
"Dad!"
Alex ran into his father's embrace.
"Wh-What's happening?"
"There is a fire... I don't know how it started but there is no way out... The doors and windows are all swallowed in flames. We have to pray that the villagers see the flames and come save us."
Leonard had a resigned look on his face as he held his son in his arms. Shielding him from the embers but unable to do anything in their current situation.
Alex however wasn't sitting still. He looked around frantically and even tried to kick the walls of his room.
It was all in vain but that only made Alex start to shout hysterically.
"NO! IT CAN'T BE LIKE THIS! I-I WAS SUPPOSED TO AWAKEN AN S-RANK CLASS AND BE THE HERO!"
Leonard looked at his son in shock. Unable to understand what he was saying but he fully understood that his son's mind was broken.
Especially because the boy hadn't even asked what happened to his mother.
Leonard turned around and looked at the inferno that had engulfed the previously serene living room.
There, by the couch, was Martha Jule laying lifelessly under a beam. Grief squeezed Leonard's heart as he forced himself to tear his eyes off his deceased lover and focus on his still living son.
He stood up and grabbed his son by the shoulders.
"Calm down Alex!"
The boy's eyes came back into focus and he looked at his father. Letting out a sigh Leonard spoke.
"You need to calm down... The air is running out in here so you need to stop screaming. Let's get on the ground. I'll lay on top of you in case the roof falls through... I love you son. You... You have to live."
Tears began to well in his eyes as he spoke to his son. They slowly laid down on the ground as the rest of the house began collapsing. Alex's room was the last place for the flames to reach but it was next. They both knew that they weren't going to make it so they started saying their farewells.
"I don't know how but I hope you survive this somehow Alex... You are such a mature kid and you seem so smart. I know you'll be able to make something of yourself if you end up surviving... I'm... I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you or your mother."
Alex's pupils shook as he looked at his father's crying face. Then he had a moment of resignation and spoke softly.
"I.. I'm not Alex..."
However instead of surprise or anger Leonard spoke with a soft tone.
"We knew."
Alex looked up in shock.
"Y-You knew? How long?"
"Since the day you changed... You seemed to remember everything but we just knew it wasn't you anymore... At least not the same."
Alex slowly nodded.
Of course a parent would notice even the smallest changes in their child. A sense of freedom filled Alex's whole being. He thought it would be harder to admit but it was surprisingly easy. He had felt guilty about pretending to be the old Alex but now he had said it aloud he felt relieved.
"I don't know if I was always Alex and just remembered my other life... But I felt like you were still my father. For the short time I was here I only felt warmth. I can't ever repay you for that but if I survive I promise I will make you proud when you look down from the heavens."
Leonard smiled lightly.
"I'll hold you to that. If you don't I'll come back and haunt you."
The two shared a laugh in the dire moment.
Then the ceiling collapsed on top of them.
****
I struggled to breath. An unbearable weight pressed down on my chest and a sharp pain came with every breath. My eyes slowly opened to the open night sky.
'I somehow survived...'
I looked down and saw my father's corpse on top of me. A beam had caved in his back but he had managed to keep me alive.
I tried to move but I couldn't even lift a finger.
"I'm... going to die."
Then I heard a sound.
I turned my head and saw a little black monkey scurrying out from underneath the debris.
"What..."
"It's an imp."
A calm voice cut through the still night like a blade.
****
Alex struggled to turn his head to find the voice but he couldn't.
"Ah. You probably can't move your head. Here. Let me help."
Slow footsteps approached.
Alex's eyes widened in shock,
"Ar-Arthur?"
Purple eyes looked down at Alex as the little imp climbed up Arthur's side and into his arm's.
"Please, call for help, if you hurry I might be able to get healed in time and survive!"
Arthur thought for a moment.
"I don't think I will do that."
Alex's expression fell.
"Is this because of the bullying? I-I'm sorry okay? I should have stopped them. There's nothing I can say to make it up to you but if you bring help I promise to stand up for you."
However Arthur shook his head.
"No that's not why. I can handle the beatings and the other abuse. That problem is that if you live you'll no doubt relentlessly search for what caused the fire."
Alex had a visible question mark on his face.
"What does that have to do with you?"
Then a smile slowly crept onto Arthur's face.
"Well... I started the fire of course."
The color drained from Alex's face.
"Eeee!"
The imp in Arthur's arms screeched lightly.
"Okay we started the fire. It doesn't matter either way he won't live anyways. What does it matter if he knows?"
"Ooo!"
"Fine."
Arthur stuck out his lower lip for a moment before turning back to me. He squatted low and came face to face with Alex.
"You can't believe my surprise when this little guy told me what you told your father."
At this Alex realized the imp was in his room the entire time. However he was only further confused by what Arthur was talking about.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well... I was shocked to find out that you were one too..."
"One too? One what...?"
Another creepy smile.
"Another transmigrator."
The words hit Alex like a truck.
"You're a transmigrator too? Then-then why did you kill me?!"
Arthur tilted his head.
"Didn't you also get a quest to kill me? Sorry I didn't just let you?"
Then the reality struck Alex.
The system... It wasn't unique. Arthur had one too and he had actually did what it told him to do.
"A-ah... I thought I was some sort of hero... How naive of me."
"Mmm.. Maybe you are the hero. After all the hero's job is to kill the Demon King."
A suffocating aura descended onto Alex and his breath hitched. He looked up at Arthur who slowly rose and looked down at him. His glowing purple eyes the only thing that Alex could focus on in this pressure.
"You guys were right though... I am a demon."
"Azzimon. Finish him."
The last thing Alex saw was the little imp jumping down from Arthur's arms at him.
Arthur moved his hands in the empty air in front of him.
Only it wasn't empty to him.
[Quest complete!]
[SSS-Class unlocked!]
[Class: Demon King (SSS-Rank)]
A smile stretched on his face as he snapped his finger to the imp that was greedily munching away.
"Let's go Azzimon. Before the villagers show up."
Then Arthur disappeared into the forest with the imp on his shoulders.