Episode 37. Facial expression management completely disabled (1)
“Come home safely. Prause.”
A village at the western end of the Rexton Territory.
At the place that became the center of the second line of defense, Ella handed me a fragment of the Stone of Purification and said.
“Yes. Thanks.”
With this, you have collected all the stones of purification.
Originally, he tried to subdue the demon king and feed him to make Stella human, but now it was useless.
This was intended to be used to install anti-demon magic in the castle where a battle with the demon king is expected. If you have this, you will be able to use anti-demon magic even near the demon king, the source of demonic energy.
“No. There was nothing I could do in this war. Even though I’m an S-class adventurer…….”
“You, Acher, and Loggia, who softened the soldiers, were right. If the hero had arrived a little late, Loggia and you all would have died on the battlefield. Then, with no one to defend the third line of defense, it must have been our defeat.”
Suddenly, when the story of Loggia came up, it came to mind that the next Magic Guild Leader would be Glare Todia. He was the second wizard to break through the 8th tier, excluding the heroine Maria, so it might be natural in a way.
I also heard that Benos Todia will be appointed as the Imperial Knight Commander after Conver’s Imperial Knight Commander who died on the battlefield.
The Todia family, which had a strong influence in the empire, was firmly establishing its position in the empire.
“Is it okay if you go alone?”
Glare asked in a worried voice.
It was like asking if it would be okay with only four people to attack the enemy’s main base, rather than dealing with the demons coming in droves.
“It’s okay. It is better than rushing in and getting injured.”
For ordinary people without immunity to Magi, Magi was the worst disease of all.
Even if you’re an S-class adventurer, if you don’t have demonic immunity, you’ll be infected with demonic energy the moment you enter the Pandemonium. If you start to get infected like that, you will be busy dealing with the devil, not fighting.
In that case, it would have been better to take a certain power and return after dealing with it neatly.
Of course, you might wonder why I, like the warriors, do not have demonic immunity, so I have to go to the Pandemonium.
But as long as the warriors thought I was strong, I had no choice but to go with them. Even if you don’t go, they’ll definitely try to take you by force.
Furthermore, I was concerned about what the World Tree said to the warriors.
The fact that the memory of the demon king returned a little as a result of the causality consumed instead of speeding up the awakening of the warriors could be said to be the worst of any variables I have seen since coming to this world.
I had to go with them to see for myself how to respond to that.
But, as always, I believe I can do it somehow. Because the hero of this world is not the demon king, but the hero.
“Prause, you went well.”
Urca waved her hand.
“If you have any problems, please contact me right away. I will run.”
“That will never happen.”
There is no problem except for the warriors being defeated by the demon king. And if that happens, the destruction of this world will be inevitable.
It was a perfect bad ending.
“Don’t worry. You will never have anything to worry about.”
“Great! It’s very reassuring to say that.”
Urca reacted like an uncle and then threw a fist in front of me.
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“Then I’ll be waiting patiently. Just like how you freed our people from slavery, come and fight so that monsters will never reappear in this world.”
It’s a joke…….
The best thing would be for the hero to kill the demon lord without me stepping out, but wishing for that would be too greedy.
“It will happen even if you don’t tell me.”
I hit Urca’s fist. She bumped her fists and encouraged other warriors besides me. On the way, though, he was furious at Tina’s words not to look at her teacher.
“Prause.”
“What is it?”
Se-Ri stands in front of me with modest steps.
“The Marquis of Medys has been talking about it. Considering his dedication to the Empire so far, we have decided not to deprive him of his title as a nobleman. Instead, I decided to demote the title to baron and give it the most barren land the Empire has.”
“I see.”
I wish they had their nobility titles removed and even executed, but it would be impossible to go that far. From other people’s point of view, it’s just a story about the death of a commoner butler.
This is why status is important in the medieval worldview. Does the price of a life differ depending on your status?
“So don’t be too angry and go home safely.”
“…… Don’t do that.”
I said goodbye to the rest for the last time and turned around.
To my eyes, I can only see traces of the demons sweeping away, but others will see a purple mist.
Purple Mist was a demon known to anyone who was born in this world.
To enter a place like that would only look like suicide in the eyes of people who don’t know the circumstances.
I think so too. If there was no stone of purification.
“Maria, prepare the teleport.”
Maria, who was talking to the elves who were taking care of the battlefield, bowed her head a few times to say hello, and then she belatedly approached me.
“Yes. Master. Where should the teleport be located?”
“To the cart road minefield.”
Because that’s the closest place to the Demon Realm that Maria knows.
I took a deep breath. Even when the demon army invaded, I wasn’t so nervous…….
As someone who has never been in the military before, I felt the feeling of a soldier advancing toward the battlefield, and I calmed down my trembling body.
After tying up a bag containing necessary things such as food and potions, he said calmly.
“…… Let’s go.”
* * *
As soon as Kartrod teleports to the mine area, the fragments of the Stone of Purification he had started to glow. The fragments of the warriors also showed the same phenomenon.
This phenomenon appeared when absorbing demonic energy. It was proof that there was demonia even though it was invisible to the naked eye.
“You seem to have more demonic energy than before.”
Tina said, looking around her.
I could see the collapsed castle wall behind me, and in front of me, I could see the cart road mining area where the whole mountain had slanted.
Isn’t it just a bad thing because Magi can’t be seen? Rather, because I can’t see it, I was able to secure a far sight.
“It will take a while to purify this.”
“Master!”
Iris urgently called me and pointed me somewhere. It was the entrance to the Cartrod mines.
There were hundreds of corpses strewn about. All of them had defects in their bodies or only certain parts remained. Among them, there were things that looked like the body of a prisoner.
“It must have been eaten by a monster passing by.”
Since the legion of demons suddenly attacked, it was clear that the miners and managers were unable to evacuate.
There wouldn’t have been many wizards to evacuate them, and the knights watching from the border wouldn’t have had the courage to save them.
“Was it too early? ….”
I used the cartrod mine area to reduce the demons’ forces and persuade Rexton, but it didn’t seem like a good choice to activate it either.
If I hadn’t activated it, they wouldn’t have worked in such a dangerous place, and they wouldn’t have died.
“As expected, it is not easy to control variables.”
Muttering so much, the warriors openly expressed their displeasure.
“…… It’s terrible.”
“If we don’t kill the demon king, there will be so many victims in the future, right?”
“At this point, I think it would be better to completely nip it in the bud.”
The warriors looked down at the corpses and said as if they were determined.
“That’s why I came. Let’s move slowly.”
I move first and speak, and the warriors follow.
“Come to think of it, Ariel hasn’t been coming to the human world very often lately?”
Tina said while walking toward the castle.
“Didn’t I already tell you that the ghost of Phasma that dwelled in the sword disappeared?”
Since Phasma’s ghost disappeared, Ariel had no justification for being in the human world. Accepting that he was dead meant, in a sense, that I would not care about the human world.
“Still, I wanted to talk to you before going to the demon realm… …. The other spirit kings have contracts, so even so, it’s hard to call Ariel-sama because they don’t have contracts.”
If you think about it, yes. Ariel is the only one without a contractor.
For a moment, he thought about using another spirit king to call Ariel, but he quickly shook his head and dismissed the thought. For some reason, he was reluctant to invite Ariel to a contract.
Even though Ariel said he would accept, he has been cultivating love consistently for decades. She couldn’t think that she would be able to control her emotions overnight.
“We will share soon. Do not worry.”
“I guess so.”
Tina spoke more calmly than she thought. She doesn’t seem to have any inspiration.
“But Tina, isn’t Ariel a competitor too?”
“Wow, are you going to do that?!”
“…… No. Ariel and I are just friends.”
Ariel nailed it ‘as a friend’, and I was much more comfortable with friends.
“More than that…… “
I changed the subject while listening to the rustle of leaves coming from around me.
“First of all, I’ll have to deal with these guys.”
Looking at the monsters creeping out as if to welcome us, he said.
It hides behind a tree or bush and growls low with its red eyes shining.
It was a wolf monster.
Unfortunately, they were the monsters that gave them an opportunity to awaken as heroes. Of course, the warriors then and now are completely different.
“I’m sure you’ve already killed a few times, right?”
He pointed to the salivating wolves, creeping up step by step. His eyes are very bloody, perhaps because he is quite hungry.
“Of course.”
Tina and Iris drew their swords, Maria grabbed her staff.
“Let’s start.”
Before I could finish my words, a spark flew from the tip of Maria’s wand.
“Lightning”.”