Present day, Beat has achieved the rank of "Silver Hero" and searches for Ricercare, who he assumes is still training in the magic arts. He finds out that his friend, although skilled at magic, has allied with the demon king in the forest. Beat won't believe this until he hears it from Ricercare's mouth, and so he rushes into the forest. He does find his friend, who is indeed on the side of the demons. He asks Beat, "For what reason did you become a Hero?" Beat replies that it was for the sake of their promise to defeat the demon lord. Ricercare is of the mind that there is no reason for the demons to be killed when they haven't done anything wrong.

Upset, Beat runs off, believing his friend has betrayed him. Sitting in thought, Beat is approached by a cute boy demon. This demon tells Beat about how kind Ricercare is, etc, etc, and Beat realizes that these demons are human-like in all ways but appearance. Later, he finds out that this boy is actually the demon lord, a whole 513 years old. Anyhow, the Silver Hero becomes another guardian to the demon lord and his followers, but more importantly he wishes to protect Ricercare.

It is highly tempting to call this a shounen ai, but it doesn't quite get there...yet. Ricercare is a man, but looks everything like a beautiful woman. Thus, many situational ironies occur. In the first couple volumes, Beat has yet to really prove how he got to the rank of Silver Hero. Everyone seems to help themselves just fine (especially Ricercare), no matter how riled up Beat gets for a fight. The artwork is lovely, but too many of the guys look like girls so it gets confusing at times. Overall, the story is fun but nothing incredibly original. There are also short stories for about the last third of the mangas. Again, nothing really original, but they are sweet stories if you are in the mood for it.

Rating -- 6.5

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