The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

The Lonely Demon Lord and His Rebirth in a New World

I want to experience defeat.

I don’t even know when this thought first materialized in my mind, but I’d been going through life desperately clinging onto this wish.

I’d wasted most of my earlier days freeing humanity from divine beings and their devout followers. It seemed conflict trailed after my every move: Raise the army. Seize the country. Slaughter the heroes. Spread my influence. Exterminate the gods.

And by the time I’d reached the end of that journey, I was known as the “Demon Lord”—treated as though I was a monster straight out of a fairy tale. The general population and most of my underlings didn’t see me as human but as an understudy for a god meant to be revered.

After all those years, I had only loneliness to show for my efforts, which was why I’d started to wish for my own defeat. If I pathetically fell to my knees, I figured someone would see me as human, too. At least, that’d been my line of thinking.

But my greatest wish was never to be fulfilled… There were no enemies left to defeat me.

It was inevitable that my life reach a checkmate. But I couldn’t give it up.

In the end, I knew that the Demon Lord Varvatos would die a lonesome beast. He’d been born to carry this fate. But I could make up for it in my next life. I could chuckle in good company and live out my days in silly merriment as I’d done in the past. It was still possible.

When I couldn’t bear the idea of spending another solitary moment, I’d scrambled to create a reincarnation spell and left a will behind for my underlings.

Then I’d let myself be whisked away.

…Yep. And now we’re here. I was a brand-spankin’-new baby with tears rolling down my face.

With my brilliant technique, I’d reincarnated far off in the future as a normal human. I was no longer the Demon Lord Varvatos but Ard Meteor—just your average villager.

How time flies! I was six years old in the blink of an eye.

There wasn’t much I could do in those years. And who could blame me? I was but a wee babe. I crawled forward, focusing on two things: acquiring language skills and amplifying my magical abilities. And that was the best I could manage. After all, I had the education and combat skills of your average kid, and I tried my best to whittle them into shape given the dire circumstances.

Which was why I hadn’t made any friends.

Eh, I’m an average villager. I’m bound to make a friend or two at some point. I tried to laugh it off.

The seasons came and went, six years became ten…and I had yet to make a single friend.

But you’ve got to see that I couldn’t do anything about it. That was the price I needed to pay in my pursuit of knowledge. I mean, we need to take in as much information as possible to live. Yeah, that sounds about right. I have to admit something: I wouldn’t have been able to change this situation even if I’d tried.

Upon memorizing every last vocabulary word, I would lock myself away in my father’s library, glued to books of all kinds and continuing to absorb the ways of this new era. You see, in life, wisdom trumps all else. I made the right choice holing up at home for all those years and reading books upon books upon books.

That day was just like any other. I’d trudged up to our home library to hunker down on the floor and read at my leisure. This wooden house was the kind you could find anywhere and was puny in comparison to my castle in my past life. But it was more than enough room for my parents and me.

I could feel the coolness of the floor against my butt as I turned the page of a history book.

“See? I told ya he’d be in here.”

“You sure do love your books, Ard.”

The door had been left ajar, and I could hear my parents chatting in front of it. My father’s name was Jack, my mother’s Carla, and both were human in every which way. Aside from being an attractive couple, they were perfectly normal villagers—nothing more, nothing less.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked.

“Nah, nothin’ in particular.”

If that’s the case, I guess I’ll continue reading.

…I’d somehow reincarnated three thousand years into the future. After my death, the world I’d unified slowly had dissolved into countless nations over the course of five hundred years. That paved the way for multiple periods of fierce power struggles, though it appeared the various peoples had achieved peace in the modern era.

That said, there was still evidence of demons wreaking havoc in the world. Or so I’d heard. It seemed they’d become more active as of late.

Apparently, a deity from a collective called the Outer Ones had been resurrected just ten years ago. They’d been my sworn enemies in ancient times and were better known as the “Evil Gods” in this era. It went without saying that this was an unprecedented calamity… And the ones who’d managed to save us all couldn’t be considered standard by any means, either.

“The Great Mages and the Heroic Baron? Quite an impressive feat to take down an Evil God, especially with three people.”

Even in my past life, I’d struggled to take on these deities. But these heroes had managed to do it with a team of three.

It was true that these were not your run-of-the-mill warriors, but the true reason for their strength must be the magical revolution that has taken place in this era, advancing the field of magic to incredible new heights. That was the only explanation that made sense. After all, these gods aren’t so weak that a handful of regular people can just take them out…, was what I thought at the time.

“Well, well. Hee-hee-hee.”

“Heh, looks like someone’s shy.”

The two were engrossed in an odd exchange that was totally beyond me, but I doubted it required my urgent attention.

I buried my nose back in my book.

How time flies! I’d turned twelve years old.

…Erm, friends? Yeah, none to speak of. I’d been meaning to make some—I swear. That’s kind of the reason I’d reincarnated in the first place.

I’d finally thought about getting to know some other kids since I’d maxed out my pursuit of knowledge and all. But what do you know? I’m absolutely petrified of strangers, and I can’t seem to strike up a conversation.

I know I’m not the Demon Lord anymore, but even if that’s the case, I’ve come to learn that humans are organisms quick to reject strangers. What if someone shot me a look of who the hell are you? or told me outright, Yeesh, I don’t wanna be friends with you? The thought alone was more than enough to put me on edge, and I eventually lost my ability to even approach people, much less talk to them.

…Okay, fine. I confess. All that talk about training and the pursuit of knowledge yadda-yadda-yadda was an excuse. The truth is, I was tangled up in fear and anxiety, and it left me practically immobile.

Yeah, I was called the Demon Lord in my past life. Yeah, I’d never been intimidated by any gods. But now, a smattering of neighborhood children is all it takes to terrify me… I’m sure you can see how this wouldn’t be “fine.”

Sensing a crisis close at hand, I decided to ask those who’d mastered the relationship game for their tips and tricks. In other words, I went to my parents. I mean, they’d mated and given birth, right? From my perspective, that was enough to declare them successful at establishing friendships.

…Well then, take a look at my father’s response: “Makin’ friends? Ha-ha, that’s easy! First, whoop them in the ass, then say, ‘We’re friends starting today!’ and—”

“Isn’t that how you make underlings?”

Cut to my mother’s answer: “Hmm. Making friends… I know how to make sex slaves, but friends…”

“I’m sorry, what kind of life do you live, exactly?”

It seemed they weren’t doing so hot on the social-acceptability scale.

When I finally realized I was looking in all the wrong places, I turned to Weiss—a handsome elven father and family friend of ours. He’d stayed at our house from time to time.

“I can’t say I have a lot of friends…,” he qualified, “but I think it would be good to show them you’re a gentleman, you know. If you treat everyone with integrity and honesty, I’m sure you’re bound to win someone over. And then you ask them to be your friend. Or something.”

Weiss could teach my folks a thing or two.

With his advice in mind, I hurried off to put my friend-making plan into motion.

Another month came and went. But this time, the ex–Demon Lord was living out his days giggling and tagging along with his friends…

Not. That kind of crap was nowhere to be found.

That scene couldn’t be further from the truth. For some inexplicable reason, people were actively avoiding me. I’d followed Weiss’s advice to a T: I never forgot to smile; I always spoke politely to everyone; I made each and every gesture excessively elegant and refined.

And yet, no one wanted to strike up a friendship, much less come and approach me. Why the hell not?

Come to think of it, I’d heard a group of kids talking about me behind my back the other day.

“That Ard guy’s pretty weird.”

“Weird? Try creepy.”

“Yeah, totally. Ew. Dude seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

It’d been a long time since I’d gotten the urge to destroy the world… Why did things have to turn out this way?

Another month for the books. Summertime. The days continued to be red-hot, but my attempts to connect with others remained ice-cold, stuck in the dead of winter.

And maybe it was from all this mental stress, but I sometimes caught myself crying for no reason and found a friggin’ bald spot on the back of my head… I’m sure you can see how this wouldn’t be “fine.”

With the way things are going, maybe it’s my destiny to be forever alone.

…I wasn’t doing myself any favors by sulking, so I got ready to start my daily routine.

“Okay, Mother. I’m off.”

“All righty! Take care, now!”

I left the house and trudged toward the mountain near the village. My goal? To practice magic.

The first thing I did was stamp down the foliage with my foot and elbow through the taller weeds to make my way up the mountain.

Well. Now that I’m here, it seems like today is a great day to take out my piss-poor relationship skills on some foliage, I thought when I heard a shrill scream.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!”

Based on that sound alone, I quickly surmised it was a girl.

But what would elicit such a cry in this peaceful mountain range? In any case, I figured I should hurry to the scene.

With the probing spell Search to pinpoint the target and teleportation spell Dimension Walk to transport my body to her location, I was instantly surrounded by a slight change of scenery.

“…Huh? Wh-where did you come from…?” sputtered a cute elven girl who was completely befuddled.

She was probably around my age and about a hundred and forty celti tall, which made her more than a full head shorter than I was. She was the epitome of beauty, and her features carried a lingering touch of cherubic innocence. Framing her head were locks of silver hair, sparkling like threads of the finest brocade under the sunlight, which filtered through the canopy of branches. Her hair reached down far enough to brush against her knees, and the ends were tied off daintily with ribbons.

“Graaaaaaaah!”

As I took in the sight, I saw the source of her distress from the corner of my eye. Unleashing a fierce howl was a giant wolf—large enough to make you crane your head to get a good look. Its bloodshot eyes zeroed in on us as its fur bristled, radiating pure hostility all the while.

“R-run away! I’ll hold it back!” The girl with silver hair sprang out to shield me and draw its attention.

It was as if she was the one saving some damsel in distress from a big, scary monster.

“Um, excuse me. A word?” I asked politely.

“Wh-wh-wh-what?! I—I—I—I told you to run!”

“But…can I ask why you’re so afraid? It’s just a mutt.”

“Wha—?! J-just a mutt?! Do you even hear yourself?!”

“Sure I do. I’m only telling you the truth.”

The wolf interrupted our conversation with a low growl…then pounced toward her, just as I shoved her out of the way and unleashed a spell.

With my left palm extended toward the dog, I summoned a magic circle at the tips of my fingers to shoot out flames—swallowing the creature in a split second and incinerating it whole. A few seconds later, the charbroiled wolf fell over with a heavy thud.

The girl began to chatter on excitedly. “…Y-you took down an Ancient Wolf in one hit?! And cast Mega Flare without chanting?!”

What’s with that reaction? I didn’t do anything worth getting worked up over. Plus, “Ancient Wolf”? That mutt? Yeah, right.

I mean, Ancient Wolves were monsters that inhabited the deadly belt of trees and the home of mighty spirits, the Holy Forest. There’s no way you’d find one anywhere near here, and they were actually strong, compared to ol’ Fido over there.

There was one more thing she had gotten twisted.

“I used regular Flare, not Mega Flare, you know.”

“…I’m sorry?”

Again, why was she so surprised? Did she really just mistake that move for Mega Flare? Seriously? Like, Mega Flare’s on a whole different level compared to your average Flare. The former was a mid-level fire spell, capable of roasting hundreds of people, and the latter was elementary level at best. There was no way anyone could mistake one for the other.

“…Y-yeah, you’re right! G-guess it was just a slip of the tongue! Ah-ha-ha-ha!” She blew it off with a guffaw, though it seemed suspiciously forced.

Then she looked up at me with her big eyes. “A-anyway! Y-you got a name, mister?!”

“I go by Ard Meteor. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“I—I see. I’m Ireena…” Her fidgeting caused her thighs to rub against each other as she nervously thrust out a hand.

“I-I-I-I’ll let you be my first friend!”

I couldn’t help but stare at the hand before me. This sudden development had me frozen in place, and when I finally calmed down enough to assess the situation…I was overcome by a fervent jubilation that swelled in my heart.

“…If that is what you wish, I’ll be your friend forevermore.”

The moment I gripped her hand, Ireena’s entire body gave a jolt and began to tremble. A few seconds later, she pinched her face with both hands while wearing an expression that had Is this for real? I’m not dreaming, am I? plastered all over it.

Then her mouth broke into a smile from ear to ear on her charming little face. It was honestly as bright as the sun.

Gazing upon it, I felt a certain nostalgia… This girl reminded me of someone I used to know: the one and only friend I’d had and lost in my past life. For a moment, it was as if we’d been reunited, and I couldn’t help but smile back in response.

“Oh, by the way, Ireena. You may want to reevaluate whether you should extend your left hand in greeting.”

“What?! I-is it bad?!”

“Yeah. Using your left hand means…and if you’ll pardon my forwardness…‘You dirty bastard, I’m going to friggin’ murder you!’”

“What?! N-no, I…I never meant it like that! I’m sorry!”

Oh, Ireena. She stood around looking all flustered and cute. It felt less like I’d made a friend—and more like she was my daughter.