Chapter 47: Vaito, The Semi-demon King

Asada_translation

The situation in the city begins to get worse, as the soldiers around the fake Saint looked like they were actually going to kill her.

"No, ah, ah!"

Saint Miradine cries out painfully as she's grabbed by the hair and dragged by the soldiers.

"I was just carrying out the orders of someone from the Senate! It's not my fault! Why do I need to die for doing what I was told to do!?"

Miradine clings to the cobblestones, tears streaming down her cheeks. The dignity of a Saint was nowhere to be seen.

"You're a Saint! At least act like one until the end!"

"I'm not a Saint! I'm just a low-ranking official!"

She shook her head and desperately resisted.

I can understand the anger of the soldiers who felt betrayed by the fake Hero's party, but this girl was just a tool used by the Senate.

Not much is known about the actual situation of the Senate, but they were definitely not a group that a low-ranking official like her could defy.

Eventually, Miradine was dragged up to the stone stage in the center of the city and held down by several people.

"The Senate! They've always been so proud and arrogant!"

"I'll never forgive you, prepare yourself!"

"No, no, no, I don't want to die! I apologize, please forgive me!"

"Kill her, kill her!"

"No!! No, I don't want to die!!"

Surprisingly, no one is stopping the scene in front of them. The hatred of the Senate was being put on her shoulders. It seems that the Senate's reputation was not very high amongst the general populace.

She may indeed have tricked many people to their deaths, though. Regardless of the orders given to her, their deaths were her fault. On top of that, the Senate themselves are our enemies.

Even so…

It's impossible to turn a blind eye to a girl who is about to be killed.

I quietly whisper to Mao's subordinates.

"I'm transforming. Stay away from me."

"What are you doing, Vaito-sama!?"

"Are you going to help her?"

"You're strange! Except for us, isn't everyone here an enemy of Vaito-sama?"

I know there's something wrong with me, but I don't like to see people die outside of the battlefield.

I transform and jump onto the stage. I grab the nearest soldier and throw him directly towards the crowd of people below the stage. For a brief moment, the soldiers weren't aware of the situation.

"A werewolf!?"

"There's a werewolf here!"

"Enemy attack!"

Their shouting creates a commotion, and soldiers begin to gather as if they were a beehive that was just poked.

I start with the soldiers on the stage, kicking them down to the ground. If any of them were persistent enough to get back up, I grab them by the helmet and throw them back down.

If they were still moving after that, I would kick them hard enough to launch them off the stage.

I quickly took care of about ten of them and took over the stage.

Compared to the fake heroes from earlier, these ordinary soldiers were much weaker. It was a piece of cake.

Since it was a good opportunity to do so, I'd like to give them a demonstration.

"My name is Vaito, a general of the Demon King's Army! I've bled those heroes to death! Your heroes are no match for us demons!"

At that moment, the soldiers stopped moving.

"Vaito!?"

"The Werewolf General Vaito!? The same one who destroyed Thubaen!"

No, I didn't destroy it.

When the soldiers heard my name, both the fierce soldiers of the standing army and the upset citizen-soldiers all stopped moving as if they were frozen.

"The legendary general who massacred 400 people…"

"No, it was 4,000! There's no one alive in Thubaen anymore…"

"A werewolf who broke the walls … It seems that even Thubaen's walls couldn't withstand his blow..."

Isn't there some kind of a twist in the tale?

If that rumor was true, I would be as strong as the Demon King.

I was going to beat up anyone who came at me, but I couldn't react when they shriveled up like this.

This is bad, I was planning to go on a rampage.

I looked around on the stage like a new comedian who forgot his material.

Oh, right, the Saint was still here.

I'm pretty sure she said she was a magician who specializes in making rituals more exciting.

I'm going to need you to do some work for me.

"Hey, if you don't want to die, use an illusion that'll scare them off. It's hard to get away in the middle of a huge mess."

"Why are you…?"

I guess she doesn't expect me to come to her rescue. Well, neither did I.

"I promise I won't take your life. If I abandoned you here, it would be the same as breaking my promise. Just hurry up, do you want to die here?"

After giving her an excuse, I rushed her to cast her magic.

"Yes!"

After nodding repeatedly, the fake Saint Miradine chants the spell in a flustered but familiar manner.

As soon as the chanting is completed, the surroundings become dark.

What happened?

"Gwahahaha!"

It's my voice. It has a lot of effects, but I can hear my voice coming above me.

When I looked up, I saw a huge werewolf towering over me.

It's a terrifyingly realistic illusion. I guess that's why they call it a specialty.

"Whoever wants to die first, come up here and fight me! All of you combined won't be able to fill my stomach! 4,000 or 40,000 people, it's all the same to me!"

The digits are increasing again.

The soldiers around him, on the other hand, had completely lost their fighting spirit.

The Hero was a fake, became a zombie, the Saint was a low-ranking official, and a huge werewolf came out.

With so many things happening at once, anyone would be demoralized.

My illusion shouts even louder to the crowd.

"There are werewolves everywhere! Werewolves are lurking even among you! Beware of them at all costs!"

Oh, that's right, I was dressed as a citizen-soldier of the Mirarudia army.

The soldiers start watching each other while listening to my illusion. Their attention was temporarily drawn away from the stage.

She put up a pretty good scene on the stage for an impromptu performance. Maybe she truly is a Saint.

In the shadow of the werewolf illusion, I quickly return to my human form.

I urge Miradine to climb on my back as I get ready to leave this place.

"Um, where are you going?"

The subordinates of the trader Mao who came with me asked me cautiously, so I gave them a brief reply.

"I'm taking her back."

"Is-is that so?"

"Be careful boys, and don't do anything rash."

They look at each other and reply: "What you say is strange in many ways…"

Is that so?

In this way, I escaped the chaos of Schwerm and returned to Ryun Height with the fake Saint.

After that, I heard that the Northern Front was in a strange state.

Distrust for the Senate was increasing among the soldiers, and most of the citizen-soldiers returned to their homes.

A rumor has begun to spread theorizing that Lanhard was a fake Hero, but the Senate went to great lengths to dismiss and silence it. All that was left was suspicion from Mirarudia's side.

Annoyingly enough, it seems that they made up a lie stating that I was as powerful as the Demon King himself. Now there were rumors that I was ranked as a 'Semi-Demon King' or a 'Little Demon King.'

Can you please stop making me stronger and stronger on your own?

It's kind of embarrassing because I'm not that strong.

The only people left in Schwerm were the standing army, the guards of each city, and the citizen-soldiers of Schwerm and Bachen.

Furthermore, it seems that they decided to check each soldier regularly to see if there were any demons mixed in.

Thanks to this, the time and effort required to manage the personnel have increased, and it seems that they are stuck in the middle.

Meanwhile, in the 2nd division, the Demon King's army continued to use the magic power that their master had stolen from the enemy, and as a result, all of the surviving wounded soldiers returned to the front lines. Since they were able to regenerate their limbs, they were easily able to come back.

Thanks to that, the soldiers have begun calling her the 'Holy Mother' or 'Holy Woman' of the 2nd Division.

It seems that it made her a little happy though, since she's been showing up to the Northern front more often.

"But Master, magical armor is both academically and strategically valuable. Please stop treating them so poorly."

"Human armor is not suitable for demons. Their hands are not the same size and their heads are different. And for ancient sorcerers, they were just extra storage for containing magic power. I'm sure they just used them for their original purpose. "

"Yes, but they're extremely valuable and have great vanity. Giving them to the generals could boost their morale! Why don't you at least leave one of the shields behind?"

Master's decision was indeed rational, but I don't think it's necessary to absorb everything.

Magical armor is equipment that most warriors want. When I was playing online games in my previous life, I used to be decked out in full magical armor.

Even though I'm in this new world where they exist, I can't even equip them since I'm a werewolf.

"That's it! If that's the case, then I'll make something and deliver it to the 2nd Division when I have enough magic power. It'll be a gift from the Great Sage Gomoviro! That will do, won't it? So don't make that scary face."

"Well…"

"How about a necklace that turns you into a zombie the moment you die and keeps you fighting?"

"How much do you love necromancy? Please try to keep them alive."

The master scratched her head as if she was troubled.

"When a necromancer creates magic equipment, you can't help but enchant them like that. You won't be able to make many if you aren't an expert, and you probably won't be satisfied with the helmets that give you courage and protection from the spirits of your comrades-in-arms…"

"No, I think that's fine?"

After making a few of these helmets and giving them away, her reputation increased even higher within the 2nd Division.

She should do this kind of thing on a regular basis, but Master is not very good at building relationships.

All sorcerers, including myself, are out of touch with the world, but necromancers are especially bad. They see the world in a completely different perspective.

In a different way from Commander Tiberito, the Master is also a problem child. Most demons that are strong enough to live on their own tend to end up like this. That's why they need sober and steady adjutants like us.

With its troops and morale restored, the 2nd Division has been able to maintain an evenly matched standoff versus the Mirarudian Alliance. With the addition of the new powerful equipment distributed, our position was strengthened even further.

They still have to be wary of the Alliance, despite their numbers being drastically reduced. If given the opportunity, they'll still be able to reoccupy Schwerm. Otherwise, the Northern Front would be safe for a while.

However, the trader Mao seemed dissatisfied.

"Why didn't you contact my subordinates first?"

"Because you stink. Reflect on it."

"I can see that I'm suspicious, but I won't betray you again. How impolite of you."

Apparently, he wasn't upset at the fact that I was suspicious of him, but more so that I underestimated his values as a trader. I guess it wouldn't make sense for him to betray me for no profit.

"For a trader, someone who can't calculate profit and loss is worse than a greedy coward. It's like being told you're a terrible merchant."

"I see. I'm sorry about that."

I don't know why I have to apologize.

Additionally, my subordinates were spreading various rumors.

"Hey, I heard the general was wandering around again."

"What's the Southern Front's general doing wandering around the Northern Front?"

"I heard that he went to defeat the fake Hero."

"I don't get it."

You guys go out of your way to speak about me behind my back in the office. You didn't even read the documents.

"Who was that woman he brought back as a prisoner?"

"A fake Saint who was in the same party as the Hero."

"Yeah, that one is quite a mess."

How long are you gonna talk about me, go home.

I want to say something, but because it's all true, I can't.

"Our general is pretty reckless, isn't he? Although he's known to be the strongest werewolf, he's always going out of his way to find trouble. Since he isn't afraid of danger, he gets very reckless.

"He's pretty easy going though, we have to keep supporting him. We can't let him die."

"Yeah, it's a big responsibility. The future of the demon race is at stake."

Am I in some kind of trouble?