Chapter 249
- Ah, is that so? (5)
It had been 3 months since I met my first comrade, the Hero of Nature.
In the beginning, the hero who didn’t listen to me well and his comrades started listening well as their numbers grew.
This is the power of a group.
If they were of lower status than myself, I could win a mental victory, but the ones gathered here were the hero and his party.
It’s a situation where rough people have gathered!
Not many can stand out when everyone thinks they’re great in such a place.
“The world is under threat now. The threat of destruction at the hands of the Demon King!”
And among those few, my disciple was one.
“Even now, many are being killed by the Demon King’s armies. Their hope is us. If we don’t bring down the Demon King, all the humans on the continent… No, all the races will be in crisis!”
“Oh Oh Oh!”
Cheers and applause sounded from here and there.
Getting applause and cheers even though they were obvious words.
This is why they say even shitting gets applause when you become famous.
“Now is the time to fight. If we don’t fight, who will! It’s fighting the Demon King with the name of heroes on the line!”
At the hero’s words, other heroes also raised their holy swords and shouted cheers.
I wanted to say even if you aren’t here, the empire would take care of it, but I held it in.
“Seeing us come together, humanity has also started to come together. Already, several kingdoms have sent support troops. Not only that, but elves, dwarves, merfolk, as well as other races that were uninterested in the world, are also sending support. They all believe in us and are waiting for us to defeat the Demon King. Now is the time to fight. It’s time to bring down the wicked Demon King in the name of heroes!”
As the hero raised his hand, cheers erupted again.
Timing I wouldn’t believe even if someone placed a mole among the heroes!
It was a unity that I wouldn’t believe even with no mole.
“It’s over.”
“Well done.”
I nodded slightly at the hero who came over and bowed his head a little.
It wasn’t empty words, he did much better than I expected.
Or rather, was it more accurate to say he was more popular than I expected?
He’s practically treated like an idol by the heroes.
“So now… we fight?”
“We have to.”
“…Me too?”
I looked at the hero looking at me anxiously with contempt.
I was serious.
If you’re a sucker, act like a sucker… No, if you’re a hero, fight the Demon King like a hero.
“I understand.”
The back of the hero walking away dejectedly looked very pitiful.
So,
“Keep an eye on him.”
Since it was likely he would run away, I had to assign someone to watch him separately.
“Understood.”
Now one of my aides instead of the hero’s, I gave orders to Shuttle.
Ah, of course Shuttle didn’t leave my side. They were the type to run away hand in hand with the hero if they left for a moment.
It was simply because Shuttle’s words carried more credibility than me speaking to someone else.
A holy man from the respectable sect surely has higher credibility than a suspicious looking middle-aged man.
I watched with satisfaction as Shuttle secretly asked people to protect the hero.
And the result!
“What did you say?”
When Shuttle shook and repeated it to confirm I didn’t mishear, I hadn’t misheard.
“The Demon King fled.”
“Fled? The Demon King?”
“Yes.”
“Where to?”
“Except for some troops left behind to buy time, all the forces are going straight up the path they invaded on. Others guess maybe he is returning to where the Mared Kingdom was.”
“Guessing?”
“Yes.”
“The Nature God?”
“The god also doesn’t know the exact reason.”
Of course. The gods can’t see the Demon King’s location unless they’re looking directly, but by peering through nearby creatures.
Like looking at me through Shuttle, they’re looking at the Demon King through something nearby, so they can’t read his thoughts.
“What are the heroes doing?”
“They seem very confused, but they decided to pursue for now.”
“Naturally.”
The Demon Kings of the past fought with their lives on the line even knowing it would bring ruin.
No matter how unusual this Demon King may be, I didn’t expect him to flee.
Even I who knew his true form didn’t expect it!
-…Hey?
-Hmph!
It was about time for a ‘Of course he’d flee after learning from Master!’ but it was strangely quiet.
-Still sulking huh?
-Hmmph!
It had been fuming after I said I don’t believe in legends and such, but I had no intention of humoring it with those legends.
The legends it knows are surely the extent of what I know.
Having been together with me since being made in the Black Anvil, what I know is the limits of its’ knowledge, and what I don’t know are the parts it doesn’t know either.
Perhaps normally I would, but I don’t have time to play with it in this busy situation.
“The chances of a trap are high. They’ll confirm and pursue carefully, right?”
“They say the scouts are checking for traps while pursuing. They say the hero is handling the middle of the forces well, so have faith.
“If it’s him, I can believe it.”
The hero leading from the middle of the forces was none other than my disciple.
Putting his comrades at the dangerous vanguard and rear, vulnerable to ambushes and surprise attacks!
As long as he’s wary of aerial bombardments, my hero disciple shouldn’t die.
By the way, what is the Demon King after?
Increasing troops while retreating?
That will be difficult. Any nearby creatures have already fled towards where the Demon forces were made.
To gather new forces, he’d have to head to a new place.
Of course that would mean battle, and in the worst case, he could be ambushed from behind by the heroes.
So despite being unable to increase troops, he may have returned to where he came from.
“What were the characteristics of the ruined Mared Kingdom?”
“It was a place so unremarkable that its most remarkable trait was having nothing remarkable. Due to its location on the northern continent, it was known for its chilly weather and early winters, but this was a condition shared by all kingdoms in that region.”
“Waiting for winter, perhaps?”
“Hmm… That’s possible.”
The winters of the north were more than just cold.
The rapidly falling snow and freezing temperatures that turned water buckets to ice could claim lives just from traveling. It may have been an attempt to lure the heroes with the harsh conditions, unlike wild monsters.
Because the heroes and their parties were still human.
Simply cutting off their supplies with ambushes could force the heroes to retreat.
“Support will become difficult. We need to quickly request aid from the northern kingdoms to prepare…”
“Understood. There is a northern kingdom prince among the hero party from the Temple of Martial Arts. I will send a request for support through him.”
“Hmm… Good.”
Shuttle and I moved quickly, carrying out various administrative tasks as we thought of the only solutions available to us.
We spoke to the prince from the northern kingdoms who was active as a hero at the Temple of Martial Arts, requesting cooperation from the north. The northern kingdoms quickly contacted us saying they would prepare supplies.
The northern kingdoms, which had advanced mainly through magic to withstand the harsh cold, had countless anti-freezing items that would help the heroes.
And it seemed our efforts bore fruit!
A few days later, we received word that the Demon King had completely fled to the northern continent.
“We’ve finally found him, Master.”
He appeared before our eyes.
Huh…?
#3 Their Circumstances: A Certain Hero’s Circumstances
“Rest!”
“It’s rest time!”
“Send return orders to the advance team!”
At my order, the others began moving quickly.
Most were veterans so they swiftly formed ranks and built barracks.
Of course, not everyone was familiar with this.
Many heroes had died and been revived since the appearance of the Evil god apostle.
Half of these were those who became heroes after the Evil god apostle appeared!
Except for some heroes, they could be called dead weight, but they had very capable comrades around them so I had no choice but to bring them along.
According to Instructor, quality was quality but numbers were also important in order to fight the Demon King’s armies.
“The advance team has returned and camp preparations are 80 percent complete.”
This came from the mage who traveled with me as a comrade though from a different troop, thanks to his excellent communication magic.
“We should start dinner soon. Did the advance team mention anything in particular?”
“Other than removing some simple traps, nothing.”
“I see.”
I nodded and took out a continental map from my belongings, looking it over.
Our current location was just above the border between the central and northern continents. In other words, the outer edge of the northern continent.
“What could the enemy want?”
“To immobilize us with the northern cold?”
“As the Demon King, it doesn’t seem like he’d want to buy time…”
“Maybe he wants to divert forces and attack somewhere else?”
“That will be difficult. All the gods are watching the Demon King and his forces. The moment he moves, the priests will be notified immediately.”
The others around me took out their maps as well, offering opinions about the Demon King’s retreat.
They suggested various things – preparing their forces, utilizing the northern cold, increasing troop numbers, etc. – but couldn’t come to a conclusion.
“No, it should be this!”
“That makes no sense!”
Seeing the command staff descend into bickering again since the Demon King fled, I let out a small sigh and put on the friendly smile I learned from the instructor to calm everyone down.
“Now, let’s eat first before we start. We’ve only had bread since morning, right? We need a proper dinner to regain our strength!”
Hahaha!
I laughed loudly on purpose and consoled them, and the command staff that had been like a marketplace gradually quieted down. And after a while, the scent of sizzling meat stew and…
“Enemy attack!”
A soldier burst in, shouting urgently as he opened the door.
Dammit! The instructor said even dogs shouldn’t be bothered while eating!
Did he say they weren’t dogs so it was fine to bother them?
As expected of his disciple, the Evil god apostle.
“Dammit! How many are attacking this time?”
It would be a small-scale raid as usual.
But even if it was small-scale, it could still blow away a city.
For the enemy, it was unleashing unruly monsters that were hard to control. But for us, they were already strong monsters made even stronger by the Demon King’s power after being unleashed.
“An army of 50,000! And the Demon King leads them himself!”
“What did you say?”
Why?
That was the first thought that came to mind.
There was absolutely no reason to fight here and now.
He had been fleeing while continually sacrificing parts of his army to buy time. Yet he chose this terrain?
There had been several better terrain options while he fled until now. It was uncharacteristic of the Demon King’s armies.
“So he’s finally reached his limit!”
“50,000… With our reinforcements, it’s plenty to fight.”
But it seemed I was the only one thinking this way. Everyone else simply reacted as if what they had been waiting for had finally come.
In truth, charging to their deaths knowingly was characteristic of past Demon Kings. So this behavior made sense.
I thought this way because I knew the opponent was the instructor’s disciple and had various inside information.
That’s how I was able to realize.
“Strike down the Demon King!”
“The commander is the Demon King!”
That the man staring at us from the center of the Demon King’s army,
“Who is he?”
Was not the real Evil god apostle.
