98. Parting

"What? That might be an important clue, can you tell me? I can promise you something."

Izumi held his chin while thinking about Teckil's offer. He wanted to request to join the Cruel Brigade. But asking for something as obvious as that could get him in trouble. But still, it was an attractive offer, so he nodded.

"Well, it started when I was close to killing that high-level undead. Just as I was about to give the finishing blow, I heard it mutter. Its mutters were indistinct, for sure I heard "Majestic Boros" or something." Izumi explained.

"Majestic Boros? Boros, Boros, Avoros… huh? Majestic Boros, Your Majesty Avoros. Did it mean Avoros?" Teckil murmured while thinking about the key point that Izumi mentioned.

"Are you sure it said something like that?" Teckil tried to confirm once again. And Izumi clarified.

"One hundred percent sure. Or maybe I got the spelling wrong. That's what I've heard anyway."

Teckil frowned. If what he guessed was correct, then, this news couldn't be ignored as it involved the people of Evila and even then it would impact the entire world.

"Did you guess something?" Izumi suddenly asked.

Teckil nodded.

"This is news that I can't just ignore. If what you heard is not wrong, then it must have something to do with that person."

Teckil suddenly wrote something in his sketchbook. Because Izumi felt that Teckil would do something to let Avoros' men know that the new demon lord had noticed Avoros' presence. That would be even more troublesome.

"Hold on! What are you doing?" However, that didn't stop Teckil from writing so Izumi quickly grabbed the brush that Teckil was holding.

Teckil raised his head.

"What are you doing?" Teckil yelled to Izumi. But, Izumi yelled back at him.

"That's what I should be asking. What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious what I'm doing? My job is like this after all."

"You fool! Based on what you said just now, "that person" must be dangerous, right? And obviously, it's someone you know as well. From what I could think of, that person should be a higher-rank Evila just like you. Or perhaps that person was your superior, am I right?"

Teckil stiffened. He just mentioned "that person" once. But Izumi had already deduced who that person might be. Well, naturally Izumi didn't want to tell him that he knew Avoros already.

"Looking at your expression. My guess should be on the mark."

Since Teckil was still silent because of Izumi's words. Izumi kept on with his talk.

"In that case, you should stop writing! I could guess that you want to send something to your current superior. However, it would be a bad idea unless you spoke directly to your superior."

Teckil digested what Izumi had said. he replied,

"Why do you say it's a bad idea? My liege isn't who you think she is. She should be able to understand what I mean."

Izumi shook his head.

"You misunderstood what I said. Let me ask you, "that person" you mentioned earlier should be your former superior, am I right?"

"That's right."

"In that case, this will be easier to explain. A leader will definitely have loyal followers, not because of the country, but loyal to the leader. What I want to say is, "that person" must have loyal followers who are secretly lurking in the new leader's surroundings, waiting for the right moment to restore the glory of the old leader. And I even believe that one of you, the Cruel Brigade, who is the demon king's elite guards, must have someone who is still loyal to their old leader." Izumi explained hypothetically. What Izumi said was something that often happened in the kingdom era.

But, Teckil didn't believe it.

"That's impossible. The members of the Cruel Brigade have sworn allegiance to the current demon lord. Even someone who used to be loyal to the former demon lord has already made amends by helping rebuild the demon territory."

Izumi sighed. He put his index finger on Teckil's chest. Then he said,

"Let me tell you the obvious thing. It's arduous for someone to change their hearts or their beliefs. Especially if they were already devoted to someone they worshiped for a long time. I'm not trying to suspect members of the Cruel Brigade if such a person exists. But the reality is just like that. Someone tends to change their hearts if their convictions are unsteady. But remember, someone with strong convictions hardly changes his heart or his true nature!"

With that explanation, Teckil began to ponder Izumi's words. Izumi explained that to Teckil not without reason. Teckil instantly understood Izumi's intention that he shouldn't lower his guard even in the presence of people he already knew.

"You're right. I'd better send this message to my liege personally since she is the definite enemy of that person. I didn't know you were this smart. Not even a single member of the Cruel Brigade has the same thoughts as you. If I may ask, what's your name?"

"Izumi."

"Izumi, huh? Anyway, you're planning on returning to the demon territory, right? After that, what would you do?" Teckil asked.

Then, in a cold voice full of bloodlust, Izumi replied,

"Isn't that obvious? Naturally, I will seek out that person's loyal followers, then track down the real mastermind to seek revenge for my tribe's massacre. What else am I going to do besides that?"

Teckil smiled bitterly in response. Seeing Izumi's face, it seemed impossible to stop Izumi's intention of wanting revenge. In particular, he knew that Izumi was already strong enough to do so.

At that moment, Teckil decided to help Izumi because they had the same enemy.

"How about you go to Xaos, the capital of demon territory? I will give you a recommendation though. Instead of you fighting that person alone, isn't it better for you to gather allies who have the same goals as you?"

Izumi didn't answer right away. He turned to Hiiro and the others first, before glancing at Teckil one more time.

"You're not going to do anything to them because they're involved with me, are you?"

Teckil gestured to Izumi to stop with both of his hands. He explained,

"Calm down! I wouldn't do that kind of thing. Precisely something about you makes my liege even more interested in you. You see, my liege wants all races to get along well together. So for you, someone who can get along well with other races will be greatly looked forward to by her."

Izumi had a suspicious expression on his face.

"Is that so?"

"I'm not lying. Alright, I'll write you a letter of recommendation if you want to join the Cruel Brigade."

Teckil immediately grabbed his brush and wrote a letter of recommendation to Izumi. Not long after, he gave it to Izumi.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then keep it or burn it if you don't want to."

"Well, I happen to feel that it would be easier to track down that person if I joined the Cruel Brigade. So I gladly accepted." Izumi snatched the letter of recommendation from Teckil's hand. Then, he stored it in the storage space.

Seeing how the recommendation letter had disappeared from Izumi's hand, Teckil exclaimed.

"Space attribute? Your magic is space magic?"

"You can say so."

"No wonder you suddenly appeared behind me earlier. By the way, what's your tribe? I've never seen an Evila with your traits."

With Izumi's unusual appearance, of course, Teckil was curious.

Izumi replied,

"It's an oni tribe. My tribe has never had any contact with the outside world, so, naturally, no one would recognize us. Just like the Pheom race, where almost no one knows about their existence."

"Pheom, huh? It's true what you say. In fact, I've never even seen the Pheom race as well. It's just, I didn't expect that there would still be a hidden tribe and never show its existence to the world."

Pheom is a race consisting of fairies and spirits. Almost no one has ever seen them, because they don't interact with other races.

"The world is so big. The stronger you are, the more mysteries in this world will emerge." Izumi stated. What Izumi said left an impression on Teckil.

Because Izumi felt that the two of them had been talking for too long, Izumi said goodbye to him and returned to regroup with Hiiro and the others.

Teckil also left. Even though he looked relieved that Izumi wasn't an enemy, he still felt the pressure because Izumi was stronger than him. On his way, he murmured, "To think that Evila, Humas, and Gabranth can get along pretty well. I should report to Her Majesty real quick."

At the same time, Izumi also said goodbye to Hiiro and the others. Then continued his journey toward the demon territory capital, Xaos. He also whispered something to Hiiro the next time he went to the demon territory.