“...What should we do, Diablo?” Rem asked anxiously.
The enemy sounded strong, but being branded a criminal, starting a war, or becoming servant to the king sounded like overall worse options. He wasn’t exactly one for living in luxury in another world, but he wanted to wake up whenever he wanted, eat whenever it struck his fancy, and take quests from time to time.
And he’d finally become free. Why would he have to cast aside that easy life and take a job now?! He hated talking to other people, so showing up for work was almost impossible for him.
“It is bothersome, but... Well, if you offer a quest, I suppose I shall accept it.”
Rem nodded and shifted to the actual negotiations.
“...And what would be our reward?”
“Of course, we’ll prepare a suitable sum for your work. I hear that Greenwood recently fell under attack from the Fallen and suffered considerable losses. What say you that the king of Lyferia will send monetary aid to your kingdom? Rest assured, it will be a sum that any country will certainly be pleased to receive.”
“...We thank you for your sympathy.”
Noah’s offer was said so promptly that it almost sounded like he had planned for this ahead of time.
“Nn...” Shera cast down her eyes.
She would always babble without thinking too much about what she was saying, so seeing her swallow her words was an unusual sight.
“Very well!” Delouche clapped. “Diablo, go forth and exterminate the beasts attacking Caliture!”
The conclusion was clear, and, normally, one would simply bow their head and leave.
However!
Diablo pulled out his 《Tonnerre Empereur》.
“Hmph!”
“Hmm?”
Delouche tilted his head quizzically, while Noah was the first to be filled with a sense of suspense.
“Wh-What are you doing, Sir Diablo?!”
Even if it had all been decided, he wouldn’t be a Demon Lord if he let this slide. He aimed his staff at the king.
“Make no mistake! I am not obeying your orders. I merely lend you my strength since you requested it. Do not delude yourself into thinking you have a Demon Lord in your service!”
“Di...”
“...ablo?!”
Rem and Shera were shocked. Noah’s shoulders trembled as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
“...Kh.”
There were some among the king’s retainers who seemed ready to leap at Diablo already. Murderous tension filled the room... Except for Delouche. The king grinned broadly.
“Kahaha! Wonderful! I’ll commit it to memory! But don’t forget, I am the king of Lyferia—ruler of the races! Never will I tremble before a Demon Lord!”
“Hmph... I see that you’re not a coward who hides in the safety of his castle.”
“I will have you show me that the power that defeated the Demon Overlord is real.”
“Hmph. Who do you think you’re talking to?!”
The two glared at each other with indomitable smiles on their lips. Diablo then turned his back and made to leave the audience chamber.
“Ah, wait for meee!” Shera tottered after him in a half-jog.
Rem regarded the king with a flustered bow and took off after them. While the king saw them off with a smile, Noah’s expression was as cold as ice.
Chapter 2: Heading to the Southern Frontier
When given the choice between accompanying ten thousand soldiers sent as reinforcements or taking a carriage that would go on ahead first, Diablo chose the latter.
His reasoning wasn’t that he wanted to defend the races’ city from the threat of the beasts as soon as possible, but rather that he absolutely hated the idea of traveling with so many strangers. Of course, minimizing the races’ casualties was important, too.
And so, Diablo and his group boarded a large carriage of four horses and made their way south. They left the day after their audience (which was officially considered a conference), and seven days after leaving the capital...
They were on a mountain trail that couldn’t quite be called a road. On their left was the mountain, and on their right was a valley. The trees grew thick, and, at times, branches got in their way, meaning they would have to stop and have their escorts cut their way through. In the passenger compartment of this carriage, which was large enough to fit eight people, sat only Diablo, Rem, and Shera on a plank board that served as a bench.
Since it was a military carriage, it only had a small window for lighting. It was dim and they could hardly see what went on outside. The roof was loaded with plenty of food and water, and the driver sat at the reins outside with two escorts. These escorts were soldiers that would guide them to the battlefield, but their role was most likely to also watch over them. They kept their distance from Diablo’s group even when they stopped to eat and hardly conversed with them.
They continued their ride through the mountain trail, with Rem being visibly pale.
“Ugh... It’s a good thing this is a large carriage. A normal one would shake so much more, and I don’t know if I’d be able to take it.”
“You’re still weak to moving vehicles, are you?”
“...Yes.”
Shera, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically quiet. She looked out the small window and sighed. She was usually so thoughtless and bubbly, running around with her breasts bouncing despite her clothes, so it was unusual to see her like this.
Diablo did find it curious, but... If he were the type to reach out and talk at times like these, he wouldn’t be so cripplingly socially inept. So Diablo stuck to his silence, but Rem asked.
“...Is something wrong, Shera?”
“Mmm.”
An uncharacteristically vague response.
“...This isn’t like you. Don’t be shy and just tell us.”
“I’m not being shy... I just don’t really understand it myself.”
“...I don’t really understand what you’re saying, though there’s nothing unusual about that.”
“Aaaaah.”
It was a pretty harsh assessment from Rem, but it did make it easier to speak to Shera. After a short pause, Shera parted her lips to speak, “Well, you see... The kingdom of Lyferia attacked the Elven forest in the past, right? They called the Dark Elves Demon Lord worshipers.”
“...That’s what I’ve heard, yes.”
The king from three generations ago sent an armed force called a crusade, and the Dark Elves were driven out of the bountiful forests and forced to live in the poisonous, toxic woods. The surviving Dark Elves loathed Lyferia’s Humans for driving them out, as well as the Elves for abandoning them in their time of need.
Currently, they were heading for peace at Shera’s suggestion, but...
“This might be a thing of the past for the Humans, and Father has made peace with the kingdom of Lyferia,” she said, “But there are still Dark Elves who lived through those horrible things.”
“...You can’t forgive Lyferia?”
“No, that’s not it. I just don’t want something like that to happen again... And I want them to understand that the Dark Elves aren’t Demon Lord worshipers.”
“...I agree.”
“So I wanted to say that to the king, but I didn’t get the chance.”
“...That’s pretty well thought-out, coming from you.”
“Huh?”
Rem sighed.
“...You know how they say that there’s a proper time and place for everything?”
“Prop-her?” Shera tilted her head quizzically.
“...It means you have to pick the right time and place to talk to some people. Would appealing to the king about the Dark Elves’ innocence and the suffering they’ve been subjected to until now have been the right thing to do? I believe it would have been thoughtless. And I don’t think we were in the right place, either. An audience isn’t the right place to make selfish demands of the king.”
Really?
; Diablo had a feeling he should have been quite surprised with himself over how selfishly he’d spoken back there.
“...And most of all, it wasn’t the right time,” Rem continued. “It was the worst possible time. The dignitaries were beside themselves with anger. A fight could have started at any moment.”
“Yeah, I was really scared!”
The cause of said dangerous atmosphere could, of course, be attributed to one particular person.
“...So, what were you doing in the capital, Diablo?” Rem sent a cold glare in Diablo’s direction.
The question felt like she’d spat out something she had kept bottled up until now.
Well, I can’t tell her I got a coupon for a monster girl soapland, can I? It’s embarrassing! And some people think going to a brothel is cheating. Not that I went to the capital with the intention of going to a brothel! My intention was to switch Rem’s ring, after all...
There were double and triple reasons for him to not be honest about it.
“Hmph...” Diablo folded his arms. “I thought a situation might arise that you might not be able to resolve on your own!”
“...True enough. Doing this quest would have been impossible without you, Diablo.”
“That’s right!”
I dodged the question!
Rem turned the conversation back to Shera.
“...Let’s calm down and try to think this through. Lyferia isn’t going to send soldiers to the Dark Elves’ village anymore.”
“Right.”
“...The discrimination toward the Dark Elves is still a problem, but complaining to His Majesty about it won’t do much to fix it.”
“It’s not that simple, right?”
“...I understand how you feel... But if you don’t choose the right time to say it, you won’t get the result you want. Saying whatever you want whenever it crosses your mind is a child’s behavior.”
“I understand. Thanks, Rem.”
“Don’t mention it... You’re becoming more mature, little by little.”
“Heehee...”
Rem was a bit younger than Shera, but acted like an older sister. Diablo felt the same way, though. The Dark Elves had an arduous life imposed on them, all because of a misunderstanding relating to a ritual connected to the Demon Lord that’d been passed down to them. He thought they deserved to be saved. In this audience, however, Diablo nearly had himself branded as an insolent criminal and traitor.
If this quest goes well, maybe we can appeal to the king about it. It depends on the atmosphere when we meet the king again, but...
That thought passed idly through his mind.
“By the way, where are we going next?!” Shera suddenly changed the topic.
As soon as someone compliments her, she returns to this behavior.
“...The southern frontier city, Caliture,” Rem answered, glaring at her reproachfully.
“Hmm? Rem, did something happen to you there?”
“Huh? Why are you asking...?”
“I mean, your expression went all dark when you said that name.”
Diablo looked at Rem fixedly. He hadn’t noticed that sort of shift in her expression.
“...You have a knack for being perceptive about the oddest things.” Rem shrugged.
“So something did happen?”
“...Caliture is—”
As soon as she was about to finish that sentence, the carriage shook violently.
“Kyaaah?!”
Surprisingly enough, the one to scream and cling to him was Rem. It was usually Shera who jumped at him in times like these.
Diablo caught her slender body. He wasn’t used to touching girls yet, but managed to catch her in a time of emergency. He was used to that much.
“Are you all right, Rem?”
“Uuu... I’m sorry. I get anxious when my feet are off the ground, and then it shook, too...”
When she shivered so much, she looked like a kitten.
“It looks like something happened.”
The carriage shook harder and Diablo felt his body be pushed back. They were picking up speed. Moving fast on such uneven soil was dangerous, and it wasn’t like they were in a hurry to reach their destination.
Diablo looked around the compartment.
“Shera, where are you?”
Rem was frightened in Diablo’s arms, so Diablo figured Shera was looking outside... But unfortunately, he found her tumbled down onto the floor.
“Aiyaaaahaaaa...”
Her head was spinning, it seemed.
H-Hey, I can see your panties!
†
“What is that monster?!” A shrill voice came from the driver’s seat.
Monster?
The military carriage’s window was small and unsuited for looking outside. Diablo concluded now wasn’t the time to hesitate. With Rem in his arms, he got up and kicked the compartment’s right side door open.
A powerful wind blew in immediately and green scenery was flowing behind them. There should have been a valley on the right side of the carriage, but instead, a massive head filled Diablo’s field of vision. It was a stout monster with a neck, with holes where its eyes and mouth should be. Diablo recognized it immediately.
“A spriggan!”
It was the type that waited on the outskirts of certain areas in Cross Reverie.
Why did it appear in the middle of the road?!
“Is that a spriggan...?!” Rem asked, her eyes wide.
“Hii?!” Shera screeched.
The spriggan swung its thick arm, which had a mallet-like fist at the end. The carriage likely wasn’t fast enough to avoid it. If anything, it was just the right speed to make for a prime target. The moment he sensed danger, Diablo’s thought speed accelerated.
I have to repel it with magic! No, any spell capable of taking out a monster that large with a metal hide would take too long to chant. If I don’t make it, we’ll get hit for sure. Maybe I’ll be able to take it, but Rem and Shera won’t!
“We’re jumping off!”
Diablo shouted at the carriage driver. He already held Rem with one hand, so he picked up Shera with the other. With both of them in his arms, he hopped off the carriage.
Flight magic!
They jumped off at high speed, and if they were to land on the scraggy ground, they wouldn’t get away unscathed. Diablo took off to the air, and the next moment...
The spriggan’s hammer-like fist rammed into the carriage, crushing it. The sounds of metal bending, wood snapping, and the horses’ cries filled the air.
“...The driver and the guards...” Rem moaned.
It seemed they didn’t jump off. Trying to shake a large monster with speed was reckless. They should have abandoned the carriage and taken refuge in the forest.
“That’s awful...” Shera said on the verge of tears.
“...Kuh... What should we do, Diablo?”
“If it’s just the three of us, we could fly from here using flight magic.”
“...Yes. But...”
In a few days, reinforcements from Lyferia would cross this road. If they let this massive monster be, it would result in countless casualties. The minister even specified this monster as part of the enemies that attacked the stronghold when he gave Diablo this quest, and, as such, it was probably part of the quest’s objectives to defeat it.
“Hmph... Any fool who swings their blade at me will be met with fitting retribution!”
Diablo landed near the crushed carriage.
“I’ll make a diversion!”
Rem threw a crystal, summoning the summon beast Stoneman, a giant made of rock. It was called a giant owing to it being twice the size of the races, but compared to the spriggan, which was as large as the capital’s walls, it was miniature.
Stoneman rushed along the road, drawing the spriggan’s attention. Meanwhile, Shera used her own summon beast, Turkey Shot, to survey things from the sky.
“This big one is the only enemy around!”
Their work was surprisingly thorough. They’d always just stayed behind and watched whenever he fought high-level enemies, but now the two of them... Perhaps they’d seen Rose and Sasara serve as vanguards for Diablo before and decided to do the same together. They truly were maturing.
The spriggan brandished its fist again. Meanwhile, Rem’s Stoneman leaped at its face to punch it. A heavy sound echoed and the spriggan’s massive fist crushed Stoneman to bits, which dissolved into a black crystal that returned to Rem’s hand.
It lost without dealing any visible damage... But it did buy more than enough time. Diablo stuck out his staff, the Tonnerre Empereur.
Spriggans are earth element monsters, which means wind attacks are effective.
“...Rumble forth, air, and coil in spirals that gouge into the earth! 《Grand Tornado》!”
A tornado touched down, uprooting the mountain’s trees and tearing through the earth, sucking everything into its vortex. The spriggan’s surface crumbled, fragments flaking off and being thrown into the air. Its thick, hoarse voice rumbled along with the screech of the wind.
It was crying out in pain.
It was so massive that it completely filled Diablo’s field of vision, but while physical attacks couldn’t dent it, exploiting its weakness was effective. It was durable, but Diablo could beat it with brute force. Its attacks were powerful, but it was sluggish.
As the Grand Tornado’s effects died down, it was left with clear cracks in its metallic surface, with black viscous liquid seeping from its insides.
Blood? No, it looks like oil.
Cross Reverie never did display damage like that. For that matter, even when living things took damage, blood and organs didn’t come out either.
As it went on its third attack, Diablo fired off another spell. It was a repetition of this simple pattern. The metal giant boasted ridiculous defense, but it couldn’t withstand a dozen high-power spells. It swung up both arms, which suddenly bent with a loud noise, tearing and falling off, perhaps from their own weight. The ground rumbled and the spriggan stopped moving.
Diablo wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Phew... Finally.”
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord: Volume 11 Page 4