Chapter Text
Before we get into this whole ordeal, I want to get one thing straight: don’t expect a happy ending.
No one learns anything.
The princess rots in the castle tower while the townsfolk weep.
Less of a story and more of a depressing afterword.
I’m not stubborn enough to admit there is no good in this world, but I’m not blind enough to reject the fact that for some, misery is their only company. A constant repetition of turmoil populating their day to day lives, a trade between the good will an average person is born in with events that damage, events that can plague and corrupt you into a being no one can recognize anymore. I’ve grown accustomed to second hand accounts of this damage, so I can no longer turn a blind eye.
Many have made the argument about this being an act of balance; every single good event created has an equal reaction in the opposing end. I reject this notion. I am a firm believer of an imbalance, that all of the misery and the pain only amounts to a percentage of what a good deed is worth. For every positive, a thousand negatives.
At least they amount for something.
Now, let’s get started. Role call. You may call me “Devil-kun”, or “Devil-sama”, or “The Wandering Devil” as many know me now. I’ve gone by many names in the past, too many to count, but there always seems to be a starting point for everything.
Numachi Rouka.
The name doesn’t have much significance to me nowadays, nor does it have any lasting power in any conversation. If I had to pit “Devil-sama” against “Numachi”, there would be a clear winner the second the game starts. Even so, I have some small attachment to my name, due to how long I’ve spent with the title and how much power names can have over someone who exists.
But this isn’t about me.
Well, in a sense, it is.
In fact, among all the tales of woe, despair, anguish, and gloom I’ve collected, this story may be one of the few where I had a role. One of the main cast; one of the names you see during the opening credits, one that plays a pivotal role. This, of course, was not from my own volition. In a way, I tried to forget this.
In fact, I have forgotten about this.
In fact, I had no memory of this in the first place.
But now I remember. I remember everything.
It’s up to you to believe if I regret any of it at all.