And so, the story progresses

The next day, the representatives of the nations apparently gathered, so

we head to the Gahne Castle. Taizu may have been fast, but it is not like

the other countries will match that and be fast, too.

If the Taizu Castle is like a castle that you might see appear in the

medieval fantasies, the one of Gahne would be the rustic type that you

would find in movies.

Gahne is the one that gives me a wondrous impression when seeing it,

but the one I would actually like to live in would be the Taizu Castle

which is more relaxing. What would be the most relaxing would be a

cramped apartment or a very japanese residence though.

We were guided inside and, this time around, we weren't guided to the

throne room but the room used for conferences.

It is spacious enough and there were a lot of people on standby. Most of

them are soldiers and knights though.

Maybe they think they have entered the den of a Demon Lord? Everyone

aside from the people of Gahne are on edge.

Ah, there are also exceptions. King Zenotta and Pope Euparo took their

seats with nonchalant expressions. They waved their hands when they

noticed we entered.

"Looks like Taizu was the last one."

"I had the knights on standby from early in the morning. You could say

we came right in time in that sense." (Marito)

"That is questionable in itself… Oh well."

There's almost no soldiers from Gahne. There are people that look like

generals though. They know there's no threat, so there's no need to put

pressure.

Compared to that, Taizu has Lord Leano and Lord Fohl, as well as the

elites they have chosen, making for a total of dozens of people which is

increasing the density of people the most.

The runner-up would be Mejis -or more like, the Yugura Church. There's

the holy knights together with Yox as the lead, and the clerics closely

packed together behind Pope Euparo.

There's only 5 of King Zenotta's royal guards. I thought it was a show of

his surplus, but all 5 of them were making faces as if saying 'Eh, we only

have these few? Can we return alive?'.

The one sitting by the side of King Zenotta is most likely the

representative of Torin. There's a variety of demi-humans on standby

behind the demi-human with the appearance of a cat.

Torin is the major country with the most beast type demi-humans. Only

the king is apparently always a human, but most of the people around

are demi-humans. Meaning that this representative is not the king of

Torin.

"And so, that one over there is Serende, huh…"

I am a bit moved here. The ones on standby behind the representative of

Serende are demi-humans. But they are not your regular demi-humans.

Pointy ears, shapely faces; that's right, they are special demi-humans

called elves.

It is not like they are based after animals. Elves and dwarves existed in

olden times as a different race from humans. The actual pronunciation is

different, but the translation feature works with it, so the defining traits

should be the same.

Now that I look closely, there's also demi-humans that look like dwarves

on standby. They look like Cara-jii, but their skin is darkish, and the

amount of beard and body hair is outlandish.

Serende is a country that's ruled by demi-humans that are not beasts. In

tales, elves and dwarves are often depicted as not getting along, but this

has been resolved a long time ago, and demi-humans apparently get

along with each other for a long time now. It means that the effects of

Yugura's creation of Demon Lords wasn't anything to scoff at. There's no

doubt it was a real pain in the butt though.

Man, I have finally seen the representative of fantasy demi-humans: the

elves!

I have fulfilled one of my wishes. I wanted to see a female elf if possible

though.

"It would be better to not stare too much at them. It is rude to stare at

them as if they were a weird breed." (Marito)

"So you say, but they are also staring intently at me."

"Your black hair is rare after all." (Marito)

That's right. Everyone from Torin and Serende were staring at the

Earthling that entered the room with incredible eyes.

They must have been told the general gist of things, so they must be

wary of me with just the fact that I have an appearance like that of a

demon.

"Well then, let's sit."

"You should be going over there, right? There's 7 seats. Basically, that's

what it means." (Marito)

That's apparently what it means. That Gold, going out of her way to

make me stand out… I should have called Gestaf. No, even Haakudoku

could have worked… Nevermind, he would have fainted when seeing

Gold.

It can't be helped now that it has been prepared. Let's just sit obediently.

But there's Ilias, Wolfe, and Rakura behind me. Isn't this standing out

badly way too much?

A female knight, a demi-human, and a cleric. It may look like there's no

discrimination as a neutral party, but won't they think I am a playboy or

something? There's no worry about that, huh.

"Looks like everyone is here."

The last ones to enter were the lord of this castle, the king of Gahne and

Demon Lord, Gold, and Ludfein-san.

The gazes of interest directed at me were understandably taken away by

this person that proclaimed herself a Demon Lord.

The king of Gahne hasn't even had their name publicized regardless of

Demon Lord or not, and they didn't even appear in public at all. There is

a lot of deception everywhere.

But most of the gazes directed at her had hostility mixed in it. I am not

jealous at all about that.

"Now then, let's get right into it. Let's have each representative

introduce themselves. This one is the king of Gahne and a Demon Lord

which is a sworn enemy of humanity, the Gold Demon Lord. Nice to meet

ya?" (Gold)

Yeah, it feels like she is trying to provoke them. You could say that's just

like her. There's people who are directing hostility towards her and

those who are baffled, but that's good. This is a good opportunity to see

the relationship between the countries.

"Representative of Taizu, the king Marito Taizu."

"Representative of Mejis, the Pope of the Yugura Church, Euparo

Rosareo."

"…Representative of Kuama, the king Zenotta Kuama."

The representatives I am well acquainted with introduced themselves.

The biggest reactions the representatives of Torin and Serende gave

were from Pope Euparo, and then Marito, huh. Looks like his name as a

Wise King has spread.

Marito gave a cut and dry introduction, so Pope Euparo followed that,

and King Zenotta had no choice but to match that.

"Representative of Torin, a general, Odyus Gajugissa."

Oh, he was a general? All the demi-humans look strong, so I can't tell

whether they are soldiers or government officials. I would be able to tell

if they were wearing glasses or stuff like that though.

"Representative of Serende, 3rd prince, Washekt Serende."

So this one is a prince, huh. This is my first time seeing a prince in this

world. Marito and King Zenotta are kings, and I haven't seen the children

of King Zenotta.

But elves apparently have a long lifespan, so he might be the oldest

here… There's no way he would be older than Gold, huh.

Everyone's gazes gathered on me while I was finishing up my analysis.

Do I have to introduce myself?

"Looks like yer introductions are done. Well then, let's begin." (Gold)

Ah, seems like there's no need.

I am a bit relieved.

I would need courage to introduce myself with a pen-name in a place

like this.

"Wait, that person there hasn't introduced himself. Him being seated

must mean he is of a decent standing, right? Do you plan on proceeding

without having him introduce himself?"

The one who interjected was Prince Washekt. It seems like he doesn't

falter even in the face of a Demon Lord. Well, she looks like a young fox

girl demi-human after all.

"That person can't speak his name. He has to keep in check the Purple

Demon Lord who can control ya just by saying yer name. There's no

point in having him introduce himself with a fake name, right?" (Gold)

"…He may not be able to say his name, but he could at least speak his

standing, right?" (Washekt)

"That's true. Then, Ser, go ahead and say whatever fits." (Gold)

Don't say 'whatever fits'. Prince Washekt is annoyed.

But I haven't thought about anything to say for an introduction. I should

have thought of a name for the country together with Gestaf at an early

stage.

"I am the otherworlder that came from the same world as Hero Yugura. I

will become an enemy to anyone that's an enemy. That's all."

There's not much surprise. They should have had prior information

about this. In that case, what I should say in my introduction is 'if you

become an enemy, I will deal with you as one'.

I was thinking about using my business smile, but flattery doesn't work

on the people here, so let's go with simplicity.

"That's how it is. Torin and Serende, don't go directing too many dubious

gazes at him. He is a fearsome guy in a different meaning from Yugura,

ya know?" (Gold)

"…Hm." (Washekt)

Prince Washekt must have been satisfied with that, he crossed his arms

and sat back deeply on his seat. I am not planning on getting affection

here, but it is great to see he is not looking down on me.

"Now then, let's get to the main topic. As ye may already know, the

resurrected Scarlet Demon Lord will be beginning his invasion on the

human territory. The places that will become the main battlefields will

most likely be Gahne and Mejis." (Gold)

The Scarlet Demon Lord is hiding in the vicinity of the border between

the Gahne Nether and Mejis Nether. If he is going to do a direct invasion,

Gahne and Mejis would be the main stages.

Especially with the Gahne Nether being his home, the monsters on the

way wouldn't hinder them and might instead join their forces.

"We will deploy the chivalric order of Taizu mainly around the capital of

Taizu. Depending on the situation, we plan on assisting Mejis, too."

(Marito)

Marito is the one proposing the deployment of the military. The Scarlet

Demon Lord has an extremely limited amount of means to attack Taizu

with his army.

He would have to cross the Gahne territory and go through the national

border, or go through the Taizu Nether.

The former is plenty possible. A part of the enemies might flow there in

the middle of the battle. But the latter is almost impossible.

In order for them to cross the Taizu Nether, they would need the

cooperation of the Green Demon Lord. But I couldn't feel like he could

get the cooperation of the Green Demon Lord even until the very end.

They would simply become food for the giant draconic monsters if they

were to force it.

Even if they were to cross the Taizu Nether, they would have to go

through the Black Demon Lord Killer Mountain.

There's no land monster that can cross the death zone that can even

murder the strongest Demon Lord, and it is possible to find the flying

ones early.

However, I can't say there's no chance at all. If they throw away

efficiency with everything they have and choose a surprise attack no

matter what, this would be one of the choices they can take.

But such a rare eventuality has already been considered, so a number of

knights have been left in Taizu. Those knights will be buying time when

that happens so the main force can return.

"That would be a great help. We have the holy knights here, but we plan

on moving a part of our clerics to Gahne after all. It would make it a lot

easier for us if you were to supply us the numbers for that." (Euparo)

In terms of defense in Mejis, the holy knights would be the military force

that excels in drawn battles. But depending on the type of monsters,

there will be cases when the clerics who use mainly magic attacks will

be the core of the battle. There's no units that specialize in magic at

Gahne. Therefore, they are trying to exchange forces to a certain degree.

Issues with the line of command and the morale will surface when

exchanging soldiers with other countries. But it is hard for the morale of

the clerics to be affected when protecting a country with the same

religion as them, and Gahne has been trained to mobilize properly in

other countries, too. They should be able to cover for the weak points

and lower the demerits to the bare minimum.

"We may be below the knights of Taizu and Mejis in terms of individual

strength, but I hold pride in the fact that the coordination of Gahne's

army is top class. Use them well, okay?" (Gold)

"Don't even need to mention it. It would bring shame to the Holy Knights

if we were to squeeze out the reinforcements of another country."

(Euparo)

"As for Kuama… what should we do?" (Zenotta)

King Zenotta doesn't break character.

Him being able to ask for the opinion from others in this place makes

him strong in a way.

"It would be a good idea to deploy adventurers in two countries. I would

like you to have the soldiers of Kuama close to your country and move

mainly as support in the backlines. In the case monsters attack the

Kuama territory, we would have barely any leeway to provide

reinforcements after all." (Euparo)

In order to reach Kuama, they would need to go around Gahne and

Mejis. It is comparatively safer, but it is easier to invade than Taizu which

is hard to move to because of the terrain. He most likely wants things to

settle in Gahne and Mejis rather than his own country becoming a

battlefield.

You could say the Kuama soldiers are enough to defeat the enemies that

managed to slip through. It is hard to command the adventurers, but

there should be a decent amount of them that could serve to intercept.

"How to say it… it is sad since it feels as if I am being told my soldiers are

not needed." (Zenotta)

"Forcing them to a land they are not used to would just increase the

casualties unnecessarily." (Euparo)

"But the knights of Taizu will be moving to both countries." (Zenotta)

"The knights of Taizu… are on a level of their own after all." (Gold)

Pope Euparo and Gold were making bitter faces. Pope Euparo has visited

Taizu personally, so he has witnessed their skills. Gold has declared war

against them and been beaten black and blue.

Your average soldiers would just look like a gathering of civilians. That's

how dangerous of an organization the chivalric order of Taizu is.

"Also, the horses of Taizu have speed. They can return to their own

country in a short span of time if need be. Kuama doesn't have that

speed, right?" (Euparo)

"I have heard the rumors, but is there that much of a difference?"

(Zenotta)

"We have the horses that the knights brought for this time's conference.

You can have them compete afterwards." (Marito)

"I am looking forward to that!" (Zenotta)

King Zenotta is making a happy face as if super interested in this. He is a

king with bottomless curiosity.

"Torin will be reinforcing its own defenses." (Odyus)

"Same with Serende." (Washekt)

Prince Washekt and Odyus declared disinterestedly that they have no

intention to cooperate in contrast to the motivated King Zenotta.

The Scarlet Demon Lord would need to go through Gahne and Kuama in

order to attack Torin.

As for Serende, they can attack them directly through the Mejis Nether

route, but the threat of monsters has already dimmed in the Mejis

Nether, and the army of Mejis would turn the Mejis Nether as the

battlefield since they don't want their own territory to be ravaged.

If the Mejis army were to stretch their battlefield to the Mejis Nether,

they would have to go from the north in order to reach Serende. If they

have to take an even bigger detour, they would need to cross a mountain

range.

It basically means that both countries are in an almost safe reach. It can't

be helped that they would take the choice of just watching how things

unfold.

"Umu, got it." (Gold)

"You got it…? Is Torin and Serende not going to send even a bit of

reinforcements?" (Zenotta)

King Zenotta asked with a troubled face to both representatives, and the

two of them shook their heads in silence.

"Mumuh, can't you do something about that?" (Zenotta)

"Kuama King, it is pointless. It is not possible to negotiate this in this

place." (Marito)

The one who cut off King Zenotta was Marito. King Zenotta looked at

Marito as if saying he wasn't convinced.

"But Taizu King, the ones who will be troubled if Gahne and Mejis were

to be pushed back are—" (Zenotta)

"Those two are not the kings but envoys. Envoys are just mouthpieces to

speak the words of the king. These two can't change the decision of the

country by their own volition." (Marito)

"…I see. That's true." (Zenotta)

King Zenotta groaned with a sad face. It would be troubling if an envoy

were to promise on their own 'then, we will increase our forces and go

help you out!'.

"It is great that the Taizu King understands fast." (Washekt)

Washekt laughed with a face of 'good grief' as he watched this. Odyus is

also directing a somewhat cold gaze at King Zenotta. It is a bit irritating.

"…But you are here in order to fulfill your role as envoys. If you can't

even understand this and still demonstrate how unnecessary your

presence is here, it would be a show to the limits of your nations.

Understand at least that this isn't a place to look down on others."

(Marito)

Everyone there froze in an instant.

The reason is because Marito gave off pressure for an instant. That alone

was enough to make everyone there falter.

As for Pope Euparo, it was more like he was surprised by this. The

others are slightly scared. By the way, even King Zenotta who was being

covered here was pretty scared by this.

"Taizu King, this isn't the place to scare people either, I'll have ya know."

(Gold)

"I am surprised there's people who would get scared here." (Marito)

Gold was being cynical here, and Marito laughed sarcastically. By the

way, the knights behind you were also trembling.

Marito does show his emotions like a blade after all. Moreover, it is

extremely easy to transmit to others.

It is one thing with Prince Washekt, but Odyus must have been pretty

surprised there as a general.

"Let's proceed. For the means of communication… is it alright to use the

communication line of the Yugura Church?" (Gold)

"No issues. The Yugura Church has facilities in Torin and Serende, too. It

should be useful to report the state of the battle." (Euparo)

"That's certainly handy. Tell yer kings to swiftly contact us if monsters

attack Torin and Serende, too. Ya can freely decide whether to help out

or not, but it would be troubling if we don't know the location of the

enemy. We will be counting on ya for that at least, okay?" (Gold)

"…Understood." (Washekt)

Odyus nodded at the same time as Prince Washekt answered.

"We have been able to confirm the wills of each nation, I guess. Now

then, is there anyone with questions?" (Gold)

The one who raised his hand was the representative of Serende, Prince

Washekt.

He is looking over here. Meaning that it is a question directed at me.

"Resident of Yugura's planet, you called yourself the 3rd Faction, right?

We have heard that you have a number of Demon Lords and monsters

under your rule. In what way do you plan on participating in this

battle?" (Washekt)

That's rich coming from a country that plans on staying cooped up. The

others are also making those faces.

"We can move the monsters of the Mejis Nether and Kuama Nether to a

certain degree, but we will mainly be on standby."

"So you are not going to fight?" (Washekt)

"I would like you to think of this in the position of your own country's

soldiers. If there's an army that can fight with monsters by their side,

can tell the difference between enemy and ally, and doesn't lower

morale, we could send reinforcements there. Is there one?"

Everyone isn't reacting. Of course they wouldn't. Even if they can tell

them apart, monsters are still monsters. You can suddenly be told to

work together, but you would most likely not have a calm mind.

Humans and demi-humans can still communicate, but only a few of our

monsters can hold conversations.

"It should be possible to train the soldiers of Gahne for that, but it would

be difficult to coordinate with monsters that ya can't communicate

with." (Gold)

"I said standby, but we will always be hiding at the frontlines. You can

have them rush to the front when escaping or doing a strategic retreat if

you give the signal. You should be able to retreat without worries if the

monsters stay to fight, right?"

"I see. That would open more aggressive strategies." (Euparo)

Pope Euparo is making a face as if saying this is not bad. But I think

there's not much point if that makes them reckless and exposes them to

danger though.

But their retreats will be a lot more comfortable if disposable monsters

can become a barrier for them. The monsters could also carry the

injured soldiers, but let's tell them that at a later time.

But Prince Washekt seems to still want to say something. I urge him to

go on.

"The power of the Demon Lords is massive. If we are to defeat the

Scarlet Demon Lord, we should make the Demon Lords under your rule

clash against him." (Washekt)

"I refuse."

Such a demand gets an instant refusal. As if something like that can get

through.

"Wa—" (Washekt)

"The Demon Lords cooperating on my side are the Purple Demon Lord

and the Blue Demon Lord if we exclude the Gold Demon Lord. Both are

not suited for battle. They can't fight against the Scarlet Demon Lord."

Purple has been working hard in Kuama lately, but there's no doubt she

is still below Ilias.

"Even if so, a Demon Lord should be able to—" (Washekt)

"The Purple Demon Lord has the ability to control the target by calling

their name. But the Scarlet Demon Lord's true name isn't that. The Blue

Demon Lord can control undeads. We would need to use your dead

friends and brethren as monsters. Is there any lowlife here who wants to

wring every single bit of pride from their brethren's lives in this place to

work them like disposable mules?"

"Guh…" (Washekt)

If there's monsters with names like Dyuvuleori in the forces of the

Scarlet Demon Lord, there would be means to use the power of Purple,

but I have absolutely no intention of using it unsparingly.

"I will refrain from using the power of both Demon Lords for the

humans as long as I am having them act neutral. Also, I don't rule the

Demon Lords. We are simply allies who have reached consent after

conversation. Please refrain from using the words rule or serving. I don't

have the strength to stop the ones who are sensitive to such things after

all."

There's no doubt Dyuvuleori would have tried to kill Prince Washekt if

he were here. Ilias could have stopped him, but it would have made a

mess of the place.

I personally wouldn't have wanted to stop him though. Yup, I would have

thought 'Go get him, Dyuvuleori'.

But it seems like it was effective as a complaint. Prince Washekt ended

his questioning with a displeased face.

——-

Author: The order of people that were not scared.

Anbu-kun > Protagonist, Pope Euparo, Ludfein > Gold, Wolfe > Knight

Captains of Taizu, Ilias > knights of Taizu, Odyus, Mix, Rakura > Prince

Washekt, the bodyguards of other countries > the bodyguards of Kuama

> King Zenotta.

The rough sketch of the character designs this time around is the

protagonist. Finally after the 3rd one.

What I especially like about him is how rebellious he can get and his

unfriendly look when he doesn't use his business smile. The novel also

has an illustration of the talk mode of the protagonist.

There's also ones where he is smiling boldly, but it will most likely be for

the 2nd volume, so this time around it will be the standard face.