Ever since the culture festival, strange “scouts” had begun approaching Rei.

“Your mana is remarkable. I’ve never seen a blend of light and darkness before. You’d be the perfect candidate for the next Demon Lord—”

“No.”

His answer was immediate. But they wouldn’t give up.

“If you became Demon Lord, this region’s rule would stabilize. With great power comes great responsibility, you know.”

“I told you—I don’t want to!!”

Even if he ran, they chased him.
Even if he refused, they praised him.

Rei had reached his breaking point.

“I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want attention. I just want to be normal. But… how do I make them accept that…?”

One day, he muttered something that made me freeze.

“Hey, what if… you became the Demon Lord, Mai?”

“…What?”

It was so out of nowhere I had to ask again.

“No, seriously. If you were Demon Lord, and I was your little brother assistant or something… maybe people wouldn’t bother me so much…”

“Absolutely not!! That would make us stand out even more!!”

I couldn’t not call him out.

“Besides, you can’t just say ‘I’ll be Demon Lord now!’ like it’s applying for a part-time job! And even as an assistant, you’d be in the spotlight! You’d end up running politics, Rei!!”

“Ugh… I know, but… it still sounds better than this…”

His face was deadly serious.
It was a desperate idea, born of being cornered.
And I couldn’t bring myself to laugh at him for it.

So I gently placed a hand on his head.

“Rei, don’t push yourself too hard. If you don’t take a break, you’ll break for real.”

“…But…”

“Listen. I move when people need me. But you’re not like that. You move on your own timing, with your own feelings. That’s the kind of magic you have. So it’s okay.”

After a long silence, Rei finally nodded.
His eyes were still tired, but a faint glimmer of light had returned.

That night—
I secretly used my mana to float a small glowing star in his room.
A charm for peaceful sleep—the very spell I once used in my past life to protect children.

“Good night, Rei. I hope you can be normal in your dreams.”

Macikado Mai, age seven.
In the quiet of autumn, I found both rest… and the strength of a sibling bond.