Chapter 9: Whoops, I Defeated the Demon King

"Huh? The demon king?"

When Beelzebub said the word, I responded with a question before I could stop myself.

The idea that we might meet a scary-sounding person like that had completely slipped my mind.

"Well, the medal is presented by the head of state. Obviously the demon king's going to be involved. It's fine; our ruler is a kindhearted soul."

"Th-the demon king… What will I do…?" Ever since she heard the words demon king, Halkara had been sweating for reasons that clearly had nothing to do with the heat. "If I slip up, I'll be killed… They'll tear off my skin, then burn me alive…"

"They'll do no such thing! If you insult the demon king, you'll be burned alive!"

So she'll get incinerated after all?!

However, I couldn't deny that Halkara might blunder and incur the king's wrath.

"Halkara, behave yourself, all right? It might be best if you steered clear of anything alcoholic. You might end up barfing on the demon king or something."

In the past, when Beelzebub had been taking care of her, Halkara had come very close to vomiting down her back.

"All right… I want to demonstrate my good breeding… I'll end every sentence with a subjunctive clause, as it were, um, should be."

"That's creepy, so don't."

When Laika had heard "demon king," she'd also straightened up slightly. Apparently, everyone was anxious. Meeting a king was enough to make you nervous on its own, and this was a demon king. It would have been stranger if we'd managed to stay calm.

"You've all begun to look a bit grave. The demon king is a friendly sort, so you can just act as you usually do."

Even if she said that, there were insular types who were friendly to their own people but cold to outsiders, so we couldn't get careless.

"No, the demon king truly is a mild-mannered individual. Demonkind has a few rough types, but as long as our leader is around, there won't be a problem."

So Beelzebub told us, but we were in unfamiliar territory, and we were still a little on edge.

In the midst of that atmosphere, we left the carriage and entered the sturdy stone castle.

However, the building's interior was pretty complicated.

We went outside, then entered again from somewhere else, went underground, then climbed stairway after stairway… What is this?

"Why is it such a labyrinth in here?"

"If we do this and enemies invade, we can make them lose their way and wipe them out before they find it again. It's a remnant of the past."

That part did seem a bit demon-like.

"No one ever assumed that a big army would reach this castle. The idea is that if we make them lost, we'll be able to defeat them for sure."

After that, she made us walk for about two kilometers. We had no problems with regards to stamina, but it was significantly taxing.

Then, just about the time our nerves had started to relax…

"All right, the demon king is just past this point."

My back went rigid again.

"So it's time, is it? Proper manners, proper manners…"

If I talked too much, I might slip up, so I'd stay silent as much as possible. I should be able to fool them that way.

"Um, excuse me… I, Halkara, have developed a stomachache."

Timidly, Halkara raised her hand.

"So you finally tried faking sick." Beelzebub saw straight through it. "No need to worry. The demon king will forgive anyone, even you. All right, come on!"

Beelzebub pulled Halkara along after her.

It did look as if Halkara was consciously trying to be careful, so there probably wouldn't be any problems.

Finally, we entered the demon king's hall. Even the doors that formed the room's entrance were about four meters tall. The four demons who were in charge of them worked together to push them open.

"Welcome to the demons'stronghold, Vanzeld Castle."

As we entered, a voice suddenly addressed us from the side.

It was an individual with pretty sheeplike horns on either side of her head. She looked to be about the right age for middle school. Although, yes, that was only her apparent age.

"Oh, hello. We're terribly honored to have been invited."

"And I'm glad to be able to meet you. You're Miss Azusa the witch, aren't you?"

"That's right."

"Wow! The real thing! Please let me shake your hand!"

She squeezed my hand tightly. Maybe the way her tail flicked around was an indication she was in high spirits. It forked into three branches, and it moved in an odd way.

Since I was standing still, the rest of our procession had stopped, too.

"Madam Teacher, if you stay here talking for too long, won't we keep the demon king waiting? I really don't want to end up being impaled more times for each minute we're delayed."

Halkara was completely focused on staying in the demon king's good graces.

"Oh, you must be Miss Halkara the elf! I love your Nutri-Spirits; they're delicious! Please shake my hand!"

This time the girl shook hands with Halkara. She seemed to have a frank personality.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow… Your grip is too strong!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't control my strength properly. Here, have a Recovery spell."

Immediately, the girl applied the light of a Recovery spell to Halkara. Clever girl.

"Thank you very much. Um… I'm sorry, but do you think you could let us move along? We have to go greet the demon king. I'll be in big trouble if he's like, 'Off with that elf's head,' or something…"

"What? That wouldn't happen. It would be mean."

"Oh, but your values are different from elf values, you know. You may say he's kind, but I take that with a grain of salt. Given the circumstances, I plan to act ladylike and harmless, even if I have to pretend to be a totally different person. In less savory terms, I'll trick the demon king."

"You're going to lie?"

"Not with any ill intent, of course. It's only that such etiquette is an important part of human relationships. You can't just let everything hang out right from the start."

"Listen, Halkara… She's probably someone close to the demon king. You really shouldn't talk about falsifying and tricking, etcetera."

Halkara was careless about these things, and she tended to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

"Oops, you're so right. I'm sorry, but do be extra careful not to mention this to the demon king, please. In return, I'll give you three crates of Nutri-Spirits."

Halkara stole a glance at the throne, which was up ahead.

However—and I only registered it then myself—the throne was empty.

Hmm. Hrrrrmmm… What could it mean?

"Um… Beelzebub, the demon king's not here."

"She's right in front of you."

…I thought that might be it.

Pinching up the edges of each side of her skirt, the sheep-horned girl curtsied lightly.

"I am the demon king, Provato Pecora Ariés. I don't really like greeting people from high places, so I came down here."

Well, sure, of course. Of course this girl was the demon king. When I looked around again, except for Beelzebub, almost all the demons were kneeling.

"I…blew…it…"

Halkara had turned white.

She knelt immediately. Actually, what she did was closer to prostrating herself with her forehead on the ground!

"Your Majesty, I'm terribly sorry! What I said about tricking and falsifying—those were just figures of speech! Really and truly, honest! Please believe me!"

She had said some pretty rude things, after all. This wasn't good.

"Huh? Big Sister Halkara, you'd said you were just going to fake sick. Does your tummy hurt for real? Is it making you curl up?"

"They say that sickness begins in the mind. It's possible that she was so intent on faking illness that her stomach actually began to hurt."

Falfa and Shalsha, you're just adding insult to injury right now.

"In the end, I did come here, so please don't say that."

"My, my! You actually considered doing something like that?"

The demon king was still smiling brightly, but that was its own kind of scary.

"No, I—I was merely worried that I might commit some rudeness… King Prot Pakona Elias…"

"Listen, you, the demon king's name is Provato Pecora Ariés," Beelzebub said with disgust.

Halkara froze up. She looked a bit like a frog.

"Lady Azusa, she's diligently accumulating discourtesies. Is this going to be all right?"

Laika, who was watching from behind me, seemed to be getting seriously worried.

I couldn't deny the fact that she might pull off a combination technique.

The demon king crouched down and patted Halkara's shoulders lightly.

"Do get up, please. You aren't my vassal, so there's no need for you to bow like that."

Oh, good. By all appearances, she'd be forgiven.

"While I'm alive, no harm will ever come to any of you."

"Y-yes, Your Majesty! I understand!"

This time, Halkara raised her head energetically, like a soldier.

Whudd.

Her skull slammed squarely into the demon king's chin.

It was a complete surprise attack, which was probably why the demon king fell right over backward.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow… I'm sorry, I wasn't looking up, and I… Hmm? Your Majesty? Why are you lying down? Huh…? Y-you're joking, aren't you…?"

Nobody responded to Halkara.

Silence…

The air had frozen completely solid.

She'd gotten in a flawless attack on the demon king.

"Your Majesty, please pull yourself together! Oh! She's—she's unconscious!"

She probably had a concussion. After all, no matter how strong you were, if your brain got shaken enough, you'd pass out.

Laika began trembling violently even before Halkara.

"Halkara, really, you're unbelievable… You've really and truly done it this time…"

The elf didn't respond.

She'd passed out on her feet. Apparently, her mind was refusing to think.

The demons had noticed the abnormality, and they began shouting.

"The demon king has collapsed!" "Carry her to the infirmary immediately!" "How can this be?!"

Rosalie offered her own perspective as a ghost. "She looks like her soul might pop out. Man, that's not good. If she accidentally leaves, she won't be able to get back."

"Laika… Hey, this is really bad, isn't it? What's going to happen to Halkara?"

For a little while, Laika stayed silent. Then, for some reason, she shook her head.

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean? That's so ominous."

Shalsha tugged at my clothes.

"I haven't gone over the demon legal code carefully, but even by human law, those who harm royalty are generally executed. We can't talk our way out of this."

"No, but that was just, you know, an accident. She didn't do it on purpose. They'll be merciful, won't they?"

"It might not just be Halkara. They may execute Shalsha and the rest of us. That's how serious that was."

"Waaaaaaah! Falfa doesn't wanna diiiiie!"

Falfa started to cry.

Was this the Azusa household's greatest crisis ever…?

Of course, I'll ask Beelzebub! She'll tell us how to get out of this!

Even my lifeline looked ashen.

"If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have let her malinger. Legally, Halkara is definitely going to be killed. This isn't something petty like angering a provincial governor. No one has ever been spared before."

"E-even so, please do something…"

Beelzebub whispered in my ear.

"For now, stay quiet. If you don't resist, all of you except for Halkara are still technically guests, and you'll be taken to your room. You'll be placed under a tight guard, but still. They can't immediately put guests of honor in prison under suspicion of being accomplices, so you'll be placed under house arrest."

"All right, I understand."

"Then, about saving Halkara. There is one way."

"What is it?"

The existence of a possibility at all was a glimmer of light.

"The only one with the authority to stop or overturn the law is the demon king. Right now, Her Majesty is unconscious. If she stays that way, in accordance with the law, Halkara will be found guilty, impaled, and set on fire. At worst, it's also possible that the elf village where she's from will be destroyed."

"You don't need to give me the specifics. Still, I know roughly what we need to do now."

In short, the demon king had to tell them to stop.

"You're saying we need to wake up Her Majesty, right?"

Slowly, Beelzebub nodded.

"With humans, shaking them a little might be enough to wake them, but long-lived demons can stay unconscious for several days. That'll be too late. Even if you end up using force, you have to wake her up."

"Okay, I got it."

"However, I can't openly let you leave your room. It would make them suspect you were accomplices. Do something, but do it from your room."

"A-all right…"

We had no other options.

"About how much time do you think we have?"

"Well, they caught her in the act, so…not much. Understand that it would be within the bounds of reason for Halkara to be a corpse tomorrow morning. We need the demon king to wake up, but there's really no telling when she'll do that."

At that point, some powerfully built male demons came up. They were holding something that looked like sasumata, spear forks with U-shaped heads used to pin down fugitives.

"She's the culprit. Take her away!"

The men marched Halkara off, and other demons came up to us.

"For the time being, we'll show you to your room. As a precaution, refrain from going outside."

"Yes, thank you for your help."

…Although I don't plan to just sit in that room and wait.

You can be sure I'm going to get us out of this mess.

***

Our group—minus Halkara—was taken to the room for honored guests.

It was one room, big enough for all of us to sleep in together, like the room on the leviathan; apparently, staying in one big room as a group was part of demon culture.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but please avoid going out until tomorrow. Your room has an attached lavatory and bath, and meals will be brought to you at the appropriate times."

On the surface, the demon spoke to us politely, but the underlying message was, Don't leave this room.

However, house arrest was a good thing. They wouldn't be watching us all the time, so there were many different things we could try.

Right. All sorts of things.

"Okay. The situation's taken a very nasty turn, but it's obvious what we have to do," I said after I had everyone sit down. "The demon king herself is an understanding person, and I can't imagine she'd die from a single attack like that one. For that reason, I'd like to make a restorative medicine and use it to wake her up. That will take less time than creating a Recovery spell now."

"Lady Azusa, assuming we'll think about how to take the restorative to her later on, how do you intend to make medicine? This is a locked room. There are bound to be guards just outside and in the corridor, too."

I pointed past Laika's face, into the distance.

Laika turned around, then registered what I was trying to say.

"You mean we'll leave through the window and search for herbs to use as ingredients for the medicine—correct?"

"That's right."

I stood up and went to look out the window, specifically down below. We seemed to be on the fourth floor.

"There are no guards here. As long as we can fly, we can escape. We'll go gather things that might make good ingredients for the medicine. If you bring me all the plants you can get your hands on, I'll pick out the ones I can use."

"But Big Sis, where are we gonna find them? Most of the land around here is paved with stone, and there isn't even any grass growing there."

"Rosalie, you go look for some."

"Huh?"

"First, scout the area outside. This is the demons' stronghold. That means there's a good chance of finding vegetable gardens and medicinal herb plots near the castle. They'd need those during a siege. Even if there's nothing like that, there must be ornamental gardens, and I suspect all sorts of plants will be growing there."

Even among castles in Japan, quite a lot of them had arboretums planted next to them these days. Some had probably been created after the Meiji era, but I imagined it wasn't uncommon for feudal lords to use their vast lands to grow a variety of plants.

"Understood! For Sis Halkara's sake, I'll head out!"

Rosalie slipped through the wall and went outside.

For now, I'll pray that there is a plant area. In the meantime…

I opened the door and, as expected, a demon was standing guard there.

"Excuse me, I'd like to take some powdered medicine. Could you bring me a cup and spoon?"

"There is a cup in your room already. However, I imagine you wouldn't want to use the same one for medicine; shall I bring you another, together with a spoon and some water?"

The guard's expression was cold, but he did take my request.

I'd be using these implements to make the medicine.

Then, before the spoon arrived, Rosalie came back. That hadn't taken as long as I'd expected.

"Big Sis, you were right. There's an area in the castle with all sorts of plants!"

"Great! In that case, I'll head over!"

"Lady Azusa, I'll take care of it." Laika had kept her cool, and she stopped me. "If the person who brings your spoon registers your absence, it will complicate matters."

"That's true… But can you fly in that form, Laika?"

"I can transform into this one as well."

Laika's body shifted into a small dragon, about the same size as a person.

"This may not be the time, but that's…that's so cute!"

What is this?! That form would be so popular as a pet!

"Large-bodied dragons can already live transformed into small humans, so it's possible to change into a small dragon as well. Since there isn't much need to do so, I'm not all that used to it, but…"

Actually, I'd like her to stay this way forever, but it would be rude to say that, wouldn't it?

"In that form, you'll be able to sneak out and gather medicinal herbs quietly. Please do, Laika!"

While Laika was gone, I collected the spoon, the cup, and a pitcher of water from the guard demon.

If I was short on anything, I'd use the free tea and other things in the room and make do.

Falfa and Shalsha had nothing to do, so they'd squeezed their eyes shut and started praying.

Little children are praying to you, so please do something about this.

After a short while, Laika came in through the window. Her mini–dragon arms were filled with plants.

"Will this be enough, do you think? In terms of sheer variety, I believe there is plenty!"

"Well done, Laika!"

The plants differed considerably from the ones I was used to seeing in my area. The climate was far too dissimilar as well, so there was probably no way around that.

Even so, several of them seemed to be related species, so I should be able to do this.

"This is similar to thistle, isn't it? And this is a member of the aster family? Okay, this should work."

I ground several of the plants into a paste and used fire to dry some of them.

"Um, Lady Azusa… Will this have any medicinal effect?"

Laika was my apprentice, so she'd noticed something odd about my choice of plants.

"None. It's just very irritating and extremely bitter."

"What?"

"Creatures recognize bitter substances as poison. After all, if poison were delicious, they'd eat nothing but that and die. There are plenty of exceptions, but as a rule, foods that seem delicious or sweet are safe and necessary for survival, and things that taste bitter are not for eating."

Humans had become extravagant, and in an era where it was possible to eat lots of sweet things, this way of experiencing flavor had changed, too. Now some people called the bitterness of beer and fish liver delicious.

Still, that was mildly abnormal given the laws governing living creatures. Children liked sweet cake, and that was how it really should be.

If you followed that basic principle to its conclusion…

"If something bitter is put into your mouth, you reject it and instinctively try to spit it out. That will wake her up…or it should."

Please let this work…

It didn't take me all that long to make the medicine itself.

The cup was filled with a gloppy green substance. You could tell it was probably bitter just by looking at it.

"If we put this in her mouth, I think the extreme bitterness will wake her up."

This sort of penalty game turned up on TV a lot. They'd make people drink tea that was too bitter and things like that.

Since people would get suspicious if she made too much joyful noise, Falfa was using gestures to express the words "Woo-hoo! It's done!" without actually saying anything aloud.

"All right, now the question is, how are we going to get this to where the demon king is sleeping?"

"Do you know where she is?" Shalsha asked.

"Frankly, no clue. She did collapse, so I'm not even sure she'll be in her bedroom. She might be in a place specialized for medical treatment."

"Big Sis, I can go through walls! We'll know where she is then!"

Rosalie held her hands in front of her chest, showing how fired up she was.

True, she was probably the right one for the job, but…

"Beelzebub saw you, and it's very possible that the other demons will be able to see you as well. You don't have covert ops skills, either. Won't they find you?" She'd gone outside earlier, so leaving had been easy. If she was searching the castle's interior, though, the danger of the guards finding out would be much higher. "I'm sorry, but Halkara's life is riding on this, so I'd rather do something safer. Besides, if it failed, I'd feel bad about shoving the responsibility onto you."

"All right… You're right… I'm nothing but a delinquent ghost anyway…"

I'd accepted Rosalie's feelings by themselves and turned down the offer. That said, we still didn't have a way to break out of the situation.

Just then, the window rattled open.

Oh, we hadn't shut the window! Had they found out that we'd gone outside? But if they were going to cross-examine us, they'd come in through the door not the window, wouldn't they?

"I'm so glad it was open…"

The one climbing in was Beelzebub's subordinate Vania.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Lady Beelzebub told me to bring this to you. It's a map of facilities related to Vanzeld Castle. The full image is a military secret; there's no documentation, and it's doubtful whether anyone has a good grasp of it, but…"

Vania looked relieved after what was probably a nerve-racking maneuver.

What she'd brought out was most definitely a floor plan.

"Her Majesty is in a first-aid office in that detached two-story building. If you wake her up, things should work out somehow—or so Lady Beelzebub says."

"Thank you! This is terribly important information you've given us!"

Just then, the guard outside the room opened the door.

At almost the same moment, Laika shoved Vania through the door to the bathroom.

"I heard a commotion."

"Oh, I'm sorry. There are small children here, you know, and they were playing…"

"This castle's so opulent it's amazing. So picturesque and intriguing!"

Shalsha said, trying to force herself to act like a frolicking child. The way she spoke wasn't childlike, and it seemed pretty contrived.

Falfa pulled Shalsha along, running around the room noisily.

"Yaaaay! It's so big! You run, too, Shalsha!"

"Well, this isn't a cheaply constructed building where the sound will reach the floor below, so you may do as you like."

The guard must have been convinced, and he shut the door. That was close…

Vania emerged from the room, holding her head. "I banged my forehead."

This girl seemed to find a surprising amount of trouble; she was a lot like Halkara.

"I'm grateful for the map. The problem is how to get here."

There was no way they'd let just anybody into a place where the demon king lay unconscious.

"I have a Transformation spell, but if there are demons who can see through spells, it would be dangerous… I don't think I could fool a high-ranking demon."

"Lady Beelzebub sent me with a plan for coping with that as well."

"Really?! That's incredibly helpful!"

I guess I owe Beelzebub yet another favor. If she ever runs for some sort of political office, I'll have to make a speech supporting her.

Vania took out a headband with two horns stuck to it.

Plus a false tail.

"Put these on and pretend you're a dem— Um, Witch of the Highlands, your face is scary…"

"There's no way these silly little comedy props will fool them! Be serious!"

Come on, this situation is life or death for Halkara.

"No, I am serious. Both the horns and the tail are from wild animals, so you can't tell they're fake just by looking. If you add a hood to hide the headband, it will work out somehow."

"What about the tail?"

"I've brought demon clothes with a hole in the seat."

Hmm… I had issues with this idea, but maybe it was our only option. Besides, if I changed clothes, it would be harder to spot me.

"Put on this outfit, and we'll tell people you're a physician and go to the demon king. I'll guide you. I-I'd really rather not, but Lady Beelzebub ordered me to, so…"

Vania looked depressed, probably imagining something negative.

"If they find out about this, you'll be killed, too, won't you?"

"How did this turn into something so serious? It's a complete mystery…"

It's Halkara's fault. I'm sorry.

"I plan to get as close to the demon king as possible. Do you think we can do it?"

"Yes. The demon king's collapse is an emergency situation, so there's a good possibility that the retainers don't know the detail of which doctor has been sent for. If we say you're a physician, we may be able to get close… Or so I'd like to believe, at any rate."

We had no idea whether this would work, but we'd give it our best shot.

"All right. Vania, lead the way."

"Yes, understood. We'll go out the window, then make for the demon king on the pretext that you are a doctor."

Then I had to leave instructions for the group that was staying behind.

"Laika, if the enemy charges in here, take my daughters and flee outside. I don't intend to lose, so I'll meet you somewhere for sure."

"Yes, and for my part, I'll protect these two, no matter what happens," Laika answered with a dignified expression.

"Rosalie, you go with Laika. Either that or make use of the fact that you're a ghost and run somewhere where the demons won't find you."

"I'll hide in the walls. I don't think the demons will be able to see me in there."

That makes sense. Unless they had X-ray vision, they wouldn't know.

"In that case, I'll pray for good luck for all of you. Pray for luck for me, too!"

***

I disguised myself, then escaped through the window with Vania.

"All right, now we'll make for the demon king. Please don't forget that you're supposed to be a doctor."

"It's all right. I've got a doctor kit, too."

In addition to the outfit of a medical professional, they'd gotten me a wooden box meant for carrying medicines. I'd transferred the restorative into one of the glass bottles and put a lid on it. Beelzebub was pretty thorough.

As we got closer to the building where the demon king was, we hit checkpoint after checkpoint, but as soon as my companion announced, "I'm Vania, a subordinate of Lady Beelzebub. In accordance with Lady Beelzebub's orders, I've brought a physician," and showed them something like a staff ID, they let us through.

Vania and Beelzebub were genuine demon staff members, so they suspected us less than I'd thought they might.

Besides, if a doctor really had been called and they didn't let her through, there was a good possibility that it would be deemed an unforgivable offense. They had to let us go.

If we kept forcing our way ahead like this, we'd win.

Finally, we reached the building that held the demon king. We got through the checkpoint at the entrance, then went up to the second floor.

A whole gathering of apparent demon executives was up there. Beelzebub was among them.

"Hmm? What are you people?"

A stern male demon executive spoke to us.

"I'm Vania, a subordinate of Lady Beelzebub. I've brought a physician…"

This wasn't a petty underling we were dealing with, so Vania was trembling a little.

"A physician? I hadn't heard that Beelzebub had called one. Something's not right here."

Oops. This wasn't good.

Beelzebub was looking down. Apparently, she hadn't run the story by these people.

"This is in order to save Her Majesty. Could you let us pass?"

Vania spoke up, trying to get through the situation somehow. She was surprisingly gutsy.

"We have a list of the names of the physicians who examine the demon king. What's your name?"

Argh… How should I know?!

"That doctor's horns look pretty fishy to me. Are those false? Let me see."

The jig was up.

Well, I wasn't planning on much jigging anyway, and I wasn't about to back down, either!

"I guess there's no help for it!"

I took off my hood and tossed aside my horned headband.

"I am Azusa, the Witch of the Highlands! I've come with a medicine that will wake the demon king! I'll revive her right now, so clear the way!"

I was here to save people. I had nothing to be ashamed of.

"I didn't know it was possible to be this shady! Comrades, apprehend these two!"

I couldn't just obediently let myself be caught, either.

Immediately, I closed in on a male demon—who had big horns, like the king of the bull demons—and I decked him.

Whudd!

For a moment, the demon doubled over as if I'd broken him. Ordinarily, that would have taken him down, but…

"Why you… What is this human?"

He hadn't even passed out. All the demon executives were big shots.

Well, there was no point in standing around being impressed.

I launched a roundhouse kick next! Then a karate chop, followed by another roundhouse kick!

The attacks struck home in rapid succession, and the demon switched to fighting defensively.

Now's my chance. I got in close and hit him with my fist!

The man had finally lost consciousness. He slumped to the floor, bleeding from his nose.

I took a little breather. My medicine box was in the way, so I set it on the floor and checked out the situation.

There were about ten enemies. Even though she was a leviathan, Vania had been caught with relative ease. Beelzebub was playing innocent—"I know nothing about this, nothing at all!"—and holding the attention of two people who were questioning her.

Even so, there were about five enemies left between the demon king's room and me.

Perfect. I'm doing this.

"Let me through to the demon king!"

I strode up to the group that was guarding her.

"Defend to the death, men! You're cleared to use magic!" another executive ordered, and in response, a volley of ice- and wind-blades flew at me.

The attack ripped my clothes just a little. I sustained some minor wounds.

But that was it.

"What, is that all? That was about like being bitten by a mosquito."

I saw dread run through them.

If this was all they had, they'd never be able to stop a level 99.

"If you get in my way, I'll take all of you down!"

I moved at high speed—and materialized right in front of the enemy.

"Good afternoon. For the sake of my personal convenience, take a nap, all right?"

I hit him with two punches in a row! And a kick!

This time, I used a Teleportation spell.

I appeared behind another one and hit him with a series of punches!

"There's no telling where the enemy will appear!" "She's too devastating!" "Somebody cast a Recovery spell!"

The demons were panicking. I was gonna keep this up.

I appeared behind them again, and this time I used a jump kick!

I sent one of them soaring.

I punched the guy next to him, too! One clean hit to the chin!

While I was at it, I got behind the one who was restraining Vania and kicked him in the back of the head! He dropped where he stood.

"You saved me, but Miss Azusa, what in the world is your status…?"

"What is it? Well, it's level ninety-nine."

I clobbered the remaining enemies in a similar fashion.

My opponents had no way to stop a strategy that combined teleportation with hand-to-hand combat. Leveling up over and over really was a shortcut to becoming the world's strongest.

I knocked down the soldiers who were guarding the demon king's room, armor and all.

In the end, I'd wiped out everyone except Beelzebub.

"I—I had no idea this would happen."

Beelzebub was petrified, too.

"If you got serious, you could raze an entire country by yourself…"

"I made a bigger show of it than was necessary. Still, I should be able to care for the demon king as much as I like now."

Taking my box of medicines, I entered the room where the demon king had to be.

***

The demon king, Provato Pecora Ariés, was asleep on a big canopy bed.

Great. Now if I manage to get the restorative medicine into her mouth, things should be all right.

I brought the medicine closer to the demon king's lips. I had to get her to open her mouth, so I'd need to touch her face a little…

In that instant, the demon king's eyes opened—and she butted me with her head.

Clonk.

I didn't dodge in time, and my head took damage.

Ow-ow-ow-ow… My defense was high, too, so the damage wasn't that bad, but even so.

"I sensed the approach of a miscreant, so my instincts roused me."

The demon king was already awake.

I see. Even if she's unconscious, she's able to detect enemies? That's a demon king for you.

…Wait.

If the demon king saw me as an enemy, wasn't that a bad thing? In multiple ways?

"Um, Your Majesty, I didn't come here to try to defeat you…"

"Azusa, Witch of the Highlands, fight me."

I had no idea where she'd taken it from, but the demon king drew a large sword.

Well, this got ugly fast.

"Your Majesty, I only brought a restorative medicine to wake you up. I have no intention of attacking you."

"But that green potion is obviously poisonous."

Frankly, you couldn't see it as anything but poison. I wouldn't want to drink it, either.

"You only think so, that's all. If you drank it, you'd start wanting to say, 'Oh, that's nasty! But give me another glass'!"

"I can't trust you! If you want me to believe you that badly, fight me, Provato Pecora Ariés, and prove your innocence!"

"H-how would that prove anything?"

"It's simple. If your goal is to harm my person, you'd never let me live. However, if you really intended to save me, you won't kill me, even if you win."

I see. That does make sense, in a way, but—

"But that only works if I win by a mile, doesn't it?"

"If you die, then you die. All that will remain is the fact that I killed an assassin."

She made her awful declaration without even blinking.

I could technically have refused to fight and made a run for it, but if I did, I'd completely lose my chance to explain myself. The situation could escalate into all-out war, and Beelzebub and Vania might be killed.

All right. I'd come to an internal conclusion.

We'd just have to let our fists do the talking.

Once more, I recalled my status.

*****

AZUSA

Class: Witch | Level 99

HP: 533 MP: 867

ATK: 468 AGL: 841

DEF: 580 INT: 953

MAGIC

Teleportation, Levitation, Flame, Whirlwind, Item Appraisal, Earthquake, Ice and Snow, Lightning Attack, Mind Control, Break Spell, Detoxify, Reflect Spell, Mana Absorption, Language Comprehension, Transformation, Spell Creation

SPECIAL ABILITIES, ETC.

Knowledge of medical herbs; immortality due to powers as a witch; EXP acquisition boost

EXPERIENCE POINTS

10,854,486

*****

An ATK of 468, 580 DEF, and 533 HP. I should be more than capable in a hand-to-hand fight!

"All right, Witch of the Highlands. I'll judge your strength for you!"

I launched myself into a run, charging at the demon king, and she swung her enormous sword in a high-speed horizontal slash.

Foooooooooom! That was all she'd done, but it made a noise like a violent wind!

"Whoa!" For now, I shifted into an evasive maneuver, out of its path!

"What? You evaded that…? Your agility is incredible."

The demon king looked bewildered.

I would have expected no less of a demon king. Her abilities were definitely advanced. With all my previous enemies, I would have been able to dodge and then hit her without any trouble… Although I wasn't sure whether it would really be okay to do that.

I closed in one more time, but that sword really was dangerous.

She was swinging the blade around rapidly, apparently having studied the art.

I could have gotten in close anyway, but I didn't want to fight like a gambler, and I shouldn't. I wasn't allowed to lose. There were too many lives riding on me.

As befitted someone who called herself the demon king, my opponent was pretty powerful. If she swung that sword once, most opponents would die almost instantly.

That said, I wouldn't let her land blows that easily. My agility was at 841. If stats in this world could reach a maximum of 999, I was practically there.

That meant it wasn't easy to inflict damage on me.

I kept evading.

"Honestly! You keep scampering around! It looks like I'll manage to hit you, and then I don't!"

That's not it, demon king. I wasn't barely managing to evade at the last moment through luck. I was doing those split-second dodges because I could.

However, I had more to lose than my opponent did.

"If you take too long here, that elf's life will be in danger."

The demon king, who'd taken some distance, taunted me.

It was the wrong gibe to make. Those words set fire to my heart.

"Hurry and come at me, Witch of the Highlands!"

"I don't need you to tell me that."

To protect the lives of my family, I refused to compromise.

I sped up as fast as I could.

Then—I threw a punch that had all my strength behind it…

…at the demon king's sword.

Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang! A metallic sound went up from the blade I'd hit. It sounded as if I'd struck it with another sword. So my hand was an actual weapon now?

Maybe it was because she'd taken the impact straight on, but the demon king staggered.

"Whoops…" She backed right into the wall, then stopped.

"I think that's the match, demon king."

"That call is premature. I lost my balance, but you aren't even close to cornering me."

"Ah. So you don't know yet."

I've always wanted to say that.

"Wh-what do you mean?!"

"I've already destroyed it, you see."

After a slight pause, the sword crumbled into fragments.

Stunned, the demon king dropped the now-useless sword.

"That can't possibly…"

"You can train your body as much as you like, but there are limits to how far weapons can be reinforced."

The sword had been in my way, so I'd gotten rid of it. That was the shortest route to saving Halkara.

Once I'd pulverized the weapon, it was my turn.

I sped up more.

I slammed my hand into the wall, right by the demon king's face.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!

It was a thoroughly ferocious smack that put cracks in the wall.

The demon king's expression finally warped.

"Yee…yeek…"

Apparently, she couldn't fight without her sword.

The way she was backing down would have been unthinkable if she could still fight.

"Checkmate, Your Majesty."

I kept the anger out of my face, smiling as much as I could. Still, I was taller, so I probably seemed pretty intimidating anyway.

"If we keep going, I'll win. Continuing isn't a good idea, is it?"

The demon king was looking up at my face through her lashes. The trembling might have been the reason she couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Will you listen to what I have to say?"

"Ah, ah…all right…"

"Spare Halkara please. She's just scatterbrained; she doesn't mean any harm. In addition, absolve of blame the demons who tried to help my family and me. It was all an unfortunate little mistake. If you say you'll forgive us, Your Majesty, everything will end well."

"...…"

"Do you understand? That's important, so answer me properly. In words, please."

"Yes, my sister."

I get the feeling she just called me something odd.

—Just as I thought that, she put out a hand, reaching for my cheek.

Huh?! What's going on?! Can she use some sort of martial art after all?!

I couldn't sense anything that suggested she planned to kill me, though.

"I'll listen to whatever you say, my sister! I'm quite looking forward to it!"

"Um, what do you mean by your 'sister'?"

"I've often thought that I wanted someone stronger than myself to idolize. I suspected you might be perfect, Miss Azusa, so I tested you."

Tested? She intentionally picked a fight with me?!

"I would like to continue to love and respect you, Sister."

"Um, Your Majesty… I'd be honored to have your love and respect, but first, would you guarantee the safety of Halkara and the others? Also, could you remove your hand, please?"

"Oh no, don't speak so politely. Phrase it as an order: 'Provato, release my family,' like that. Ah, and also, lay your hand on my cheek, just as I'm doing now."

Finally, she retracted her hand.

I think this girl may have some rather odd proclivities…

Come to think of it, a long time ago, I read somewhere that the more powerful a person was, the more likely they were to be rather masochistic.

However, this was to save Halkara. There was no point in balking over giving an order.

"'Provato' isn't very cute. I'm calling you Pecora."

After all, her name was Provato Pecora Ariés. Although, with demons, I wasn't sure which was her first name and which was her family name.

"Yes, my sister."

Hiding my slight bewilderment, I put my right hand on Pecora's cheek.

"Oh, Sister…! What are you doing?"

In spite of what she said, she looked happy. Since I was doing exactly what she'd asked me to, that was probably only natural.

"Pecora, set Halkara free. I guarantee that she meant no harm, and well, ordinarily, they might execute her even so, but… If you say to retract it, then it can be retracted."

"All right, Sister. After all, I could never hurt my elder sister's friend."

Pecora (which was what I'd call her from now on) went out to where her executives were lying like piled-up corpses and told them, "Miss Azusa didn't intend to attack me. None of you is to consider her an enemy."

The executives who were still conscious prostrated themselves.

"In addition, though Miss Halkara head butted me, spare her. Miss Azusa's family must not be harmed."

A messenger demon was summoned immediately, and they went to where she was being detained to deliver the news.

Apparently, Halkara would be safe now. Good, that's a relief.

"It looks like it worked out one way or another."

Beelzebub gave a weary sigh.

"Oh! We're saved, too, then… I'm so glad…"

Vania had been tied up in coils and coils of rope. It had to have been quite a predicament, but she looked rather silly.

"A lot seems to have happened while I was unconscious. At a later date, I will conduct a review to see how the country functioned in my absence. For now, move ahead with the preparations for tomorrow's ceremony so that it can be held on schedule."

The demons nodded, then scattered in groups of twos and threes to do their jobs. She was calm, but I'd have expected no less from the demon king: Her dignity was in a league of its own.

"Oh. Your Majesty, could you also send word to my family that things have been safely resolved, please?"

"If you don't say it like my elder sister, I shan't listen," Pecora said primly.

"…Pecora, send word to my family, too. As quickly as possible."

"If it's an order from you, Sister, I'll have it done right away."

She'd listen to anything I said as long as I phrased it as an order, which was technically a good thing.

Haaaah… That's one job over with, and I'm tired.

When people's lives were on the line, it did make you tense. Even at level 99, your shoulders got stiff. Maybe I'll take a little break.

"Pecora, let's have tea. Tell them to prepare some for us."

"All right. We've made quite a mess of this place, so I'll have them get it ready in the building next door."